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John ignored the first three options completely.

His eyes were fixed only on the first-clear reward for Hell Mode.

His finger immediately landed on the final option.

”I choose Hell Mode.”

John spoke calmly and stepped across the black doorway.

Ophelia’s silver-white hair fluttered behind her as her slender figure followed closely.

The moment his vision passed through the barrier, everything suddenly twisted.

A sharp stench of acid mixed with the smell of coal smoke rushed toward him.

Before his vision fully recovered, John only felt himself stepping onto muddy ground.

The soles of his boots sank half an inch into the surface.

Hiss—Boom—Hiss—Boom—Hiss—Boom—

An extremely strange sound suddenly entered his ears.

The grinding of gears.

The dull exhaust of steam.

The noises were intermittent, carrying a feeling of complete decay and death.

John abruptly opened his eyes.

A system notification sounded.

[Notice: Successfully entered independent dungeon world — Odin Town.]

[Current Difficulty: Hell Difficulty]

[Dungeon World Status: Silent Death. World boundaries locked. Escape is impossible. You may only return after completing the Class Advancement Trial.]

The surroundings were extremely strange.

There was no sun above.

The entire sky was covered by a thick crimson color, resembling a sunset frozen in midair.

Apart from that, directly ahead of him stood a gigantic tree.

It was a towering ancient tree that pierced the clouds.

Its trunk was so enormous that hundreds of people would be needed to surround it.

Its dense, blackened canopy spread wildly in every direction, almost blocking half of the sky above the entire town.

Below the giant tree were countless scattered dark-gray brick buildings.

Tall and narrow clock towers.

Exposed cast-iron pipes.

Curved domes decorated with brass rivets.

Rust-covered steam valves.

A standard Victorian architectural style.

It was obvious that this town had already reached the Industrial Revolution era.

John scanned the collapsed street lamps and shattered shop windows on both sides of the street.

His gaze lingered briefly on the massive exhaust pipes.

He had to admit—

the style here was completely disconnected from Godfall Continent.

Even in his previous life, he had rarely heard of independent dungeons with this kind of civilization.

A faint bubbling sound came from beneath his feet.

John lowered his head.

At some point, the entire cobblestone street had already been submerged beneath an unknown dark-red viscous liquid.

It covered his ankles.

Occasionally, dark-red bubbles rose from the surface, releasing a sweet smell similar to rotting flesh.

And he had been standing on this substance the entire time.

”...”

For a moment, John really wanted to complain.

He was dirty now.

But the system gave him no time.

A notification appeared at the edge of his vision.

[Warning: You have entered a contaminated Blood Marrow Zone. All normal units entering this area suffer a 40% movement speed reduction!]

The moment the notification appeared, the dark-purple aura surrounding Ophelia trembled slightly.

The dual passive effects of:

[Primordial Blessing]

and

[Ancient Dragon March]

quietly flowed beneath the feet of the Dark Knights.

The 300% movement speed bonus directly canceled out the slowing effect.

The warhorses following behind stepped into the blood-like liquid.

Mud splashed everywhere.

Yet their movements were not slowed in the slightest.

”Lord, the smell here is unpleasant.”

Ophelia stood beside John.

Her dark golden vertical pupils scanned the silent streets.

Her voice contained no emotion.

”Stay close. Do not fall behind.”

John had already mounted a warhorse.

He tightened the reins and issued the order.

The entire army formed a wedge formation.

The front was narrow, while the rear spread wider.

They advanced along the main street toward the giant tree at the center of the town.

The doors and windows of the buildings on both sides were tightly closed.

Behind the broken stained-glass windows was only darkness.

The entire town showed no sign of life.

Until they had advanced roughly three hundred meters.

The blood-colored liquid beneath their feet suddenly began rippling violently.

”Gurgle... gurgle...”

The thick red liquid boiled like hot water.

Splash!

Immediately afterward, the calm blood pool suddenly exploded outward.

Dozens of pale and twisted figures rose from beneath the liquid.

They completely blocked the intersection.

They were humanoid monsters that had completely lost their skin and flesh.

Bright red muscles and tendons were exposed.

Their faces had no features.

Only enormous mouths split all the way to their ears.

Their gums protruded outward.

Unknown yellow viscous fluid covered their entire bodies.

”Gurgle—”

Behind these skinless monsters, several even larger shadows rolled out from the ruins of a collapsed clock tower.

They were literally rolling.

John frowned when he saw them.

They were enormous flesh spheres created by forcibly stitching and compressing multiple human bodies together.

Countless arms randomly grabbed around the surface.

Twisted faces were embedded within the flesh.

Every time they rolled forward, they left behind a deep black blood trail.

At the same moment.

Under the eaves on both sides of the street, several strange creatures suddenly appeared.

Their skeletons were completely exposed outward.

Their ribs extended like the claws of arthropods, piercing into the walls.

In an instant, every direction within sight was occupied by monsters.

John’s eyes narrowed.

The monsters’ attribute panels quickly appeared.

[Monster: Skin Ripper]

[Faction: Aberration]

[Tier: Four-Star]

[Level: Lv11]

[HP: 4,500]

[Attack: 620]

[Defense: 180]

[Skills: Skin Tearing, Flesh Stitching, Scream of Agony]

[Description: A creature that has completely shed its flesh and skin, possessing no facial features except a mouth split to its ears. Its body continuously leaks a pale yellow to amber viscous liquid — ”Yellow Marrow Corpse Oil.” When exposed to high temperatures, it boils and ignites, causing the creature to carbonize from the inside out.]

[Monster: Flesh Aggregation (Elite)]

[Faction: Aberration]

[Tier: Four-Star]

[Level: Lv12]

[HP: 4,900]

[Attack: 850]

[Defense: 300]

[Skills: Flesh Ball Crush, Flesh Devouring, Remnant Regeneration, Wailing Shockwave]

[Description: A massive flesh sphere created by stitching and compressing the remains of more than a dozen humans. Countless arms and distorted faces cover its surface. Its sharp screams leave deep black blood trails wherever it rolls.]

[Monster: Bone-Hanging Reaper]

[Faction: Aberrant Skeleton]

[Tier: Four-Star]

[Level: Lv13]

[HP: 5,100]

[Attack: 690]

[Defense: 220]

[Skills: Hanging Ambush, Rib Claw Stab, Bone Spike Barrage, Mass Fall Kill]

[Description: A strange creature hanging upside down beneath the street rooftops. Its bones are completely turned outward, and its ribs grip the walls like the claws of an arthropod. From a distance, it resembles a row of dried bone ornaments.]

The monsters were all above level ten.

Even the weakest creatures had more than 4,000 HP.

As expected of Hell Difficulty.

Even the basic monsters were terrifying.

”Deal with them.”

John coldly spoke four words.

Crack!

The 150 Undead Dark Knights immediately tightened their formation and surrounded John.

Their armor-piercing lances rose horizontally.

A flawless forest of steel spears formed, protecting John firmly at the center.

Their movement immediately attracted the attention of the monsters.