Online Game: I Have A 100\% Drop Rate - Chapter 241: The Assessment’s Clear Condition, Forsaken Castle

Chapter 241: Chapter 241: The Assessment’s Clear Condition, Forsaken Castle

There was no hesitation in Violet’s voice. She knew. She had seen it.

And she had come to that conclusion based on experience.

“I only managed to escape because of luck,” she added after a short pause, her gaze lowering slightly, “and I have no intention of going back there until I am certain I can survive.”

Years had passed since that moment. And yet, even now, they still weren’t ready.

Leon slowly turned his head, following the direction Violet had been looking at this entire time, and after focusing for a few seconds, he finally saw it.

“Oh… shit.”

Far in the distance, barely visible unless you actively focused on it, stood a massive structure that dwarfed everything else in the [Forsaken City].

The [Forsaken Castle].

It was enormous, far larger than any building surrounding it, and even from that distance, it radiated an overwhelming aura that made it clear it wasn’t something ordinary.

There was something wrong with it. Something oppressive.

Leon could feel it even from where he stood, though thanks to his [Unaffected] passive, the pressure didn’t actually hinder him in any way.

He could tell, however, that someone weaker wouldn’t even be able to look at it for long without collapsing.

Violet noticed that.

Her eyes briefly shifted toward Leon, observing him silently as if trying to understand why he wasn’t reacting the same way others would.

’Not affected by Godrick’s [Demonic Fear], and not affected by the castle’s aura either,’ she thought, her expression remaining unchanged, ’how strange.’

Leon, however, wasn’t paying attention to her anymore.

His focus was entirely on the castle. If that was the goal, then everything made sense.

Still, something else bothered him.

“If you’ve all been here for so long,” Leon said after a moment, turning back toward the group, his expression serious, “why didn’t you just give up?”

The question was simple.

Dying here didn’t mean true death. It meant failure.

It meant being removed from the [God-Rank] assessment and falling back to a lower one, which was still survivable.

From a logical standpoint, that seemed like the obvious choice.

But the reactions he got made it clear that it wasn’t that simple.

“The [God-Rank] assessments are not like the others,” Violet said, “it is a trial meant for those who have the potential to become gods.”

Leon’s expression hardened slightly.

“And the punishment for failing…” she continued, “…is far worse than you think.”

That was when Alicar stepped in again.

“I knew someone who failed,” he said, his tone more serious than before, “actually, all of us here know at least one person who did, and none of us are willing to take that risk.”

What followed was something Leon hadn’t expected. They each shared what they had seen.

Alicar spoke about a friend of his who had lost his sight completely, becoming blind with no way to recover.

Godrick mentioned someone he knew who had lost both of his arms permanently, unable to regenerate them or replace them in any way.

Oasis talked about a mage she had known, someone incredibly talented, who had lost the ability to cast magic entirely.

And Violet…

“My best friend…” she said quietly, her voice lowering even further, “Her constitution was reduced to one.”

Leon’s eyes widened slightly.

“That meant anything could kill her,” Violet continued, her gaze distant, “and she didn’t survive for long after that.”

Silence fell over the group.

Every single example they gave pointed to the same conclusion.

Failing the [God-Rank] assessment ruined you.

It took away the very thing that allowed you to survive in this world.

And considering that this second assessment had an even harsher penalty than the first…

Leon didn’t even want to imagine what it could be.

“That’s why we stay,” Alicar said after a moment, a faint smile appearing on his face despite everything, “even if it takes decades, as long as there’s a chance to succeed, we’ll take it.”

Because the alternative was worse. Much worse.

Leon remained silent for a few seconds, processing everything. Then, slowly, he nodded.

“Alright,” he said, his eyes sharpening as a faint aura flickered within them, “I get it now.”

He turned toward the distant castle again. The others looked at him.

“If the only way out is through that place,” Leon continued, his voice steady, “then we just need to get strong enough to destroy everything in our way.”

A faint crackle of energy ran through the air around him, “And I’m not taking decades to do it.”

Hearing Leon speak so confidently, every single one of them turned to look at him with clear confusion written across their faces.

From their perspective, what he had just said sounded completely detached from reality.

Almost like he had just declared that he was going to walk up to the heavens themselves and challenge a god without hesitation.

There was a brief silence that followed his words, one that carried a strange weight as the group processed what they had just heard, and then—

“Huh…” Oasis’s usual cheerful expression flickered slightly for the first time since Leon had met her, her smile not fully disappearing but clearly losing some of its ease as she glanced toward him, “I don’t think he realizes how powerful the monsters here actually are, and honestly… I’m not even sure if that’s a bad thing.”

Her tone wasn’t mocking, but it wasn’t entirely supportive either.

She was unsure whether Leon’s mindset would help him survive… or get him killed faster.

“He’ll understand soon enough,” Alicar replied calmly, though there was a faint sigh in his voice as he looked ahead rather than at Leon, “Like I said, it won’t take long before he realizes this place isn’t something you can just brute-force your way through.”

Leon heard every word, and he understood exactly what they meant, because from everything he had seen so far, and from everything they had explained, the [Forsaken City] was far beyond anything he had faced before.

But even so—

’I still have [Celestial’s Might], don’t I?’ Leon thought, a faint grin forming internally as his eyes sharpened slightly, ’No matter how strong these monsters are, the moment I engage them, their [Combat Power] drops by thirty percent.’

Even if an enemy stood at one million five hundred thousand [Combat Power], once Leon attacked, that number would fall drastically, bringing it down to a level where he could at least fight back instead of being completely overwhelmed.

It didn’t make things easy. But it turned something impossible into something… manageable.

And that was more than enough.

Still, Leon had no intention of sharing that information with any of them.

Because as far as he was concerned, that ability was his trump card, not just against the monsters roaming this city, but also against the four players standing beside him.

While they were “allies” for now, that didn’t mean they would remain that way forever.

And more importantly, he didn’t trust them.

At the same time, it was clear that they felt the same way about him.

Because despite having spent years in this place together, none of them openly talked about their own abilities or talents in detail, keeping that information to themselves just like Leon was doing now.

“Alright,” Violet suddenly spoke, her voice cutting through the conversation as she slowly stood up from her position near the edge of the rooftop, “We should head back now, we still need to deal with those spiders before they spread any further.”

“Finally,” Alicar let out a small breath, “I was starting to think we’d just leave them there.”

He then turned toward Leon, offering him a small but reassuring smile that contrasted slightly with the seriousness of the situation.

“We’re heading back to our base,” he explained simply, making it clear that they had some kind of established location within this ruined city.