Chapter 13: Enter Hell at Your Own Risk

Ethan paid no attention to them and continued eating.

For a moment, no one said anything.

One of the people from Lucian’s party finally looked at the others before speaking.

"Was that announcement we heard earlier actually true?"

The others exchanged looks.

They had just cleared the Normal and Nightmare difficulties. Even with their entire party working together, the battles had been far more difficult than they expected, yet in the middle of the clear, they had heard the system announce a new record.

Player Ethan had become the first person to solo the First-Order Goblin Dungeon on Hell Difficulty.

At first, they had assumed there was some kind of mistake.

But now Ethan was sitting beside the Elder, calmly eating monster meat as if he hadn’t just come out of a battle.

"Could there be another Ethan?" someone asked.

The Elder looked at him in confusion.

"What announcement?"

"The one about the Hell difficulty. We heard an announcement after clearing Nightmare. It said someone had cleared Hell alone."

The Elder finally understood what they were asking.

He glanced at Ethan before looking back at them.

"You mean... you’re asking if Ethan was the one who cleared it?"

"Yes."

The Elder nodded.

"As unbelievable as it sounds, he really did."

The group fell silent.

They had all heard the same announcement.

But hearing that someone had cleared Hell and actually seeing the person who did it were two completely different things.

The man who had spoken earlier looked at Ethan for a few seconds before shaking his head.

"Still, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal."

He looked at the others.

"There are seven of us. We just cleared Nightmare together. If one person can clear Hell alone, then we should be able to do it too."

His words seemed to give the others some confidence.

"That’s right."

"We should try it ourselves."

The man nodded and turned toward the Hell portal.

"Let’s go in and..."

He suddenly stopped.

His eyes fell on the countdown above the portal.

[Dungeon Reset: 00:52:31]

His expression froze.

The Hell difficulty was still on cooldown.

He had completely forgotten about it.

"It’s still on cooldown."

"Still, there’s no need to think too much about it."

He pointed toward the Hell portal.

"We’ve already cleared Nightmare. Once the cooldown is over, we can enter Hell ourselves."

A few people nodded.

That was right.

If Ethan could clear Hell alone, then there was no reason for the seven of them to believe they couldn’t do the same.

Lucian looked at the portal as well.

"We’ll enter Hell after it resets and see how difficult it really is."

"That’s right."

"If we already cleared Nightmare, Hell shouldn’t be impossible."

The man who had spoken earlier glanced at Ethan.

"Maybe he just got lucky."

Ethan didn’t respond.

He continued eating.

"Lucian’s eyes narrowed slightly. He had expected Ethan to say something, but Ethan didn’t even seem interested in their conversation.

He turned back toward the portal and looked at the cooldown timer.

He didn’t mind waiting. If Ethan had really cleared Hell alone, then he would prove that he could do it too.

"In that case, Elder, could you also get us something to eat?"

The Elder nodded.

"Of course. You just came out of the dungeon. You must be hungry."

He turned and called for someone to bring food.

A short while later, the food was brought over and placed in front of Lucian and the others.

They looked at it. But then, almost at the same time, their eyes drifted toward Ethan’s food.

There was nothing wrong with what they had been given.

But compared to the food Ethan was eating, it simply didn’t look as good.

One of the men in Lucian’s group looked down at the food they had been given and frowned.

"Why does his food look so much better than ours?"

The others noticed it as well.

"Yeah. Elder, are you favoring him?"

The Elder’s brows furrowed slightly. He didn’t like the man’s attitude, but he didn’t take the accusation seriously.

"You must have misunderstood."

He pointed toward Ethan.

"The food he’s eating wasn’t provided by me. He brought it out himself."

Lucian glanced at Ethan’s food for a moment before speaking.

"The Elder isn’t to blame. You probably misunderstood the situation."

He paused.

"That food might have come from the supply package he received from the trial."

Lucian looked at the others.

"Let’s eat first."

No one said anything else.

They quietly started eating, though the mood was much more serious than before.

A few minutes passed.

By the time they finished, the cooldown above the Hell portal had finally reached zero.

The portal slowly began to glow again.

"It’s ready."

One of them stood up and checked his equipment.

The others also started preparing themselves.

Before they could move, Ethan stood up, placed the remaining food back into his inventory, and walked toward the Hell portal.

Lucian noticed immediately.

"What are you trying to do?"

Ethan stopped and looked back.

"I’m entering the Hell difficulty."

The man who had complained earlier immediately stood up.

"What?"

He stared at Ethan in disbelief.

"You just cleared it!"

Ethan nodded.

"Yes."

"And now you want to enter again?"

"That’s right."

The man’s face turned red.

"We’ve been waiting here for the cooldown because we wanted to enter Hell too!"

Lucian raised a hand slightly.

"Calm down."

But the man was already angry.

"He clears Hell alone, then makes us wait for the dungeon to reset, and now that it’s finally ready, he wants to go in again?"

The Elder quickly stepped forward.

"Everyone, calm down. You have been waiting for the cooldown, and you have every right to enter."

Ethan looked at the group for a moment.

Then he smiled.

"You can enter."

The man frowned.

"Then why are you trying to enter first?"

Ethan shrugged.

"Because I want to."

The man’s expression darkened.

Ethan glanced at the Hell portal.

"If you want some advice, you should probably stick to the other difficulties."

He paused for a moment.

"Going into Hell might be too much for you. Some of you might not even come back."

The man’s face became red with anger.

"What did you say?"

Ethan didn’t answer.

"Don’t worry about it," he said casually. "You can play the easier difficulties. There’s no shame in that."

"That’s it!"

The man’s hand moved toward the axe on his back.

The Elder’s expression changed.

"Wait!"

Too late.

The man pulled out his axe and charged toward Ethan.

"Die!"

Before he could take another step, a hundred Shadow Wraiths appeared almost at the same time, surrounding Lucian’s entire party.

The enraged man stopped in his tracks.

The Elder’s face went pale.

"What... what is this?"

He had never seen such things before.

Lucian’s expression also changed as he stared at the Shadow Wraiths surrounding them.

Ethan’s voice came from ahead of them.

"I already warned you. Don’t blame me if you don’t make it back."

His figure disappeared into the portal.

At the same time, the Shadow Wraiths surrounding Lucian’s party vanished and returned to Ethan’s Legion.