One SSS Affix per Level: My Novice Club Can Slay Gods!

John nodded.

"Oh."

Morris froze.

The terrifying atmosphere he had spent so long building shattered instantly.

"No, my lord, what I mean is—"

Bang!

The office door was suddenly thrown open.

A soldier rushed inside, drenched in sweat.

"Mayor!"

"The great shadow just underwent a violent tremor!"

"Based on previous incidents, a new monster tide will emerge within three hours at most!"

Morris’s expression changed drastically.

"So soon?"

"The last wave only just ended!"

The soldier’s voice trembled.

"This tremor was far more intense than any before it."

"High-level monsters may emerge this time."

Morris hurried to the window.

The shadow of the giant tree in the plaza was swaying wildly.

Its thick trunk twisted continuously.

Branches swept across the ground like living creatures.

Even the entire office building was trembling slightly along with it.

John turned and headed outside.

"Lead the way."

"Wait!"

Morris hurriedly stopped him.

"My lord, perhaps you still don’t understand."

"No one who has entered the tree’s shadow has ever returned alive."

Zoey crossed her arms.

"If we go in now, we might still have a chance to solve the problem."

"If another monster tide arrives, whether those wounded soldiers outside can hold it back is one thing."

"But everyone else in this town will probably be buried alongside them."

Morris opened his mouth but could not find the words to respond.

Outside the window, a one-armed soldier was carrying crates of arrows with his remaining left hand.

Residents on both sides of the street had also begun sealing their doors and windows.

Several young children were carrying bundles of sharpened wooden spears onto the defensive walls.

Their movements were practiced.

This was clearly not the first time they had faced such a situation.

Morris remained silent for a long time before finally letting out a heavy sigh.

"Very well."

"However, before you enter the tree’s shadow, there are two things you must know."

John stopped.

"First, the moment an outsider steps within the giant tree’s shadow, every method of restoring health will cease to function."

"Health potions, healing spells, and even health regeneration effects granted by equipment will all become ineffective."

Nonoa instinctively hugged her staff closer.

Morris continued.

"Second, the tree’s shadow will continuously devour the Strength of anyone who enters."

"The longer you remain inside, the weaker your body will become."

"At first, you will merely feel tired."

"After that, your attributes will continue to decrease until you lose the ability to move altogether."

"This is only what happens at the outer edge of the shadow."

"No one knows what will happen once you truly enter its interior."

"But it will only be more dangerous."

John nodded.

"No problem."

Morris stared at his calm expression.

For a moment, he could not tell whether John was completely confident or had simply ignored everything he had just said.

"My legs are no longer suited for moving around."

"Have Glen take you there."

...

Several minutes later—

Glen led the three of them to the center of town.

Only when they truly stood before the giant tree’s shadow could they understand just how enormous it was.

The darkness occupied nearly half the town.

It was large enough to contain more than ten thousand people.

The outlines of its roots, trunk, branches, and crown were all clearly visible, as though a towering ancient tree genuinely hovered above them.

Yet when they raised their heads—

There was nothing in the sky.

The tree’s shadow on the ground, however, was swaying wildly.

Its leaves and branches rubbed against one another.

They could even faintly hear rustling sounds.

It was as though a violent storm was blowing against that nonexistent giant tree.

The ground was still barely visible near the edge of the shadow.

However, the closer it came to the center, the darker it became.

Eventually, it resembled a pool of thick black mud.

The moment light entered it, it disappeared.

Glen stopped at the edge of the shadow.

"This is as far as I can take you."

"The entrance is at the center of the tree’s shadow."

"As long as you keep walking toward the middle, you should find it easily."

Zoey glanced at him.

"You’re not coming in with us?"

Glen shook his head.

"The monster tide could erupt at any moment."

"I need to return and organize the defensive lines."

He tightened his grip on his sword and solemnly gave the three of them a knight’s salute.

"Good luck."

With that, Glen turned and left.

By the time the three of them looked back again, he had already run several dozen meters away.

His figure quickly disappeared at the end of the street.

The corner of Zoey’s mouth twitched.

"He sure ran fast."

"And what kind of ominous farewell was that?"

"What does he mean, he’s going back to prepare for the next monster tide?"

"Does he really have that little faith in us?"

John was the first to step into the shadow.

[Warning!]

[You have entered the area covered by the giant tree’s shadow!]

[Due to the effects of an unknown rule, all health recovery effects on outsiders have been disabled!]

[You are being eroded by the shadow. All attributes will decrease by 1% every ten minutes!]

[Lost attributes will gradually recover after leaving the shadow.]

The surrounding light immediately dimmed.

John had clearly taken only a single step forward, yet the sunlight behind him now appeared to be separated by a layer of gray-black film.

Nonoa followed him into the shadow.

She raised her staff and attempted to cast a healing spell on herself.

[Light of Healing!]

A faint white glow had barely appeared when the surrounding darkness swallowed it.

[Healing failed!]

Nonoa looked at the grayed-out skill icon and whispered,

"My healing really doesn’t work anymore."

John glanced at her.

"Your damage is more impressive than your healing."

"Have some confidence."

Nonoa’s eyes immediately lit up.

"Really?"

"Of course."

She hugged her staff.

The nervousness on her face immediately faded, replaced by a much more serious expression.

Zoey, however, did not lower her guard.

"We should still be careful."

"Neither Nonoa nor I has much HP."

"Without healing, we could easily be killed in one hit if we encounter real danger."

"Don’t worry."

John walked at the front.

"Even in the worst-case scenario, you still have me—"

The shadow beneath his feet suddenly turned into an empty void.

John’s body abruptly sank downward.

In an instant, he disappeared from in front of them.

"..."

From deep within the darkness, only a gradually fading voice remained.

"Fuuuuuck—!"

The drawn-out echo continued reverberating through the underground depths.

Zoey lowered her head and stared at the black shadow beneath her feet, which had already returned to normal.

A system notification appeared before her and Nonoa.

[Your party member "Endbringer" has entered the special map: Land of Fading Silhouettes!]

[Would you like to follow your party member inside?]

Zoey remained silent for two seconds.

"Even in the worst-case scenario, we still have him."

Nonoa worriedly leaned forward and peered down.

"Are we supposed to jump?"

"Of course."

Zoey took two steps back before sprinting forward.

"Let’s go!"

She leaped directly into the darkness.

Nonoa froze for a moment, then hurriedly hugged her staff and jumped after her.

The next second—

Screams echoed throughout the entire underground passage.

"Aaaaaaaaah—!"

"Zoey—!"

"How deep is this place?!"

Their voices continued falling farther and farther downward.

They did not stop for a very long time.

Bang!

John fell from high above and crashed heavily into the sand.

A vast spray of gray sand exploded in every direction.

He planted both hands on the ground and climbed out of the waist-deep crater before quickly surveying his surroundings.

This was a world composed of only three colors—

Black, white, and gray.

Gray dust floated in the air.

Dead trees were scattered in the distance, their twisted branches resembling hands reaching toward the sky.

Large numbers of animal corpses could also be seen among the sands.

Some had been reduced to skeletons.

Others still retained shriveled flesh and skin, yet it was impossible to tell what kind of creatures they had once been.

The strangest thing was that there was no wind here.

The dust suspended in the air remained perfectly still.

The dead branches did not sway.

Not a single sound could be heard throughout the entire world.