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

There were no insects chirping.

No beasts roaring.

Even the sound of John’s footsteps against the sand seemed to have been partially drained away by some unknown force.

The dead silence was deeply unsettling.

Had they not personally entered through the giant tree’s shadow, they never would have associated this place with the endless monster tides appearing outside.

Visibility was equally poor.

Everything more than ten meters away seemed to be covered by a blurry filter.

The farther something was, the less real it appeared.

Just as John was about to open the map, a scream suddenly came from above.

"Aaaaaaaaah—!"

He raised his head.

Two figures were plummeting rapidly from the gray sky.

"Move!"

Zoey frantically waved her arms in midair.

John took one step to the side.

Bang!

Zoey crashed heavily into the sand and rolled several times before finally stopping.

Immediately afterward, another muffled impact rang out.

Nonoa plunged headfirst into the gray sand.

Only her legs remained outside, kicking helplessly a few times.

Then they stopped moving.

John: "..."

Zoey climbed to her feet and hurried over to grab one of Nonoa’s ankles.

"Help me!"

Each of them grabbed one leg and pulled.

Once.

She did not move.

Twice.

Still nothing.

John increased his Strength.

Pop!

Nonoa was finally pulled out of the sand.

Her hair was filled with gray sand, and the complete outline of a human-shaped crater had been imprinted across her face.

She remained dazed for several seconds before whispering,

"Thank you."

Zoey helped brush the sand from her head.

"Remember to adjust your landing posture next time."

Nonoa nodded seriously.

"I’ll try not to land on my head."

After resting briefly, the three of them opened the map again.

The surrounding area remained completely dark.

Only the marker from Zoey’s Class Change Scroll flickered with a faint red light in the distance.

[Quest Target: Shadow Archer.]

[Distance: Unknown.]

[Direction: Northeast.]

"Let’s head toward the quest coordinates first."

John walked at the front.

The moment the three of them began moving, a system notification suddenly appeared.

[Warning!]

[You have entered the special map: Land of Fading Silhouettes!]

[Your energy is continuously draining into the Shadow Realm!]

[All core attributes will decrease by 1% for every minute spent here.]

[This effect cannot be cleansed.]

[Lost attributes will gradually recover after leaving the Land of Fading Silhouettes.]

[The rules of the Land of Fading Silhouettes have overridden the outer layer’s Shadow Erosion!]

[Only Silhouette Erosion will now be calculated: All core attributes decrease by 1% per minute!]

[Special Title "Forerunner" activated!]

[Until you complete the exploration of the Land of Fading Silhouettes, all damage you deal is increased by 20%!]

Zoey’s expression changed slightly.

"One percent every minute?"

"Wouldn’t all our attributes fall to zero after one hundred minutes?"

John nodded.

"Theoretically."

In other words, they had to find the Shadow Archer, complete the quest, and discover a way out within one hundred minutes.

Otherwise, the monsters would not even need to attack them.

They would lose all ability to resist on their own.

The three of them wasted no more time and quickly advanced northeast.

The surrounding environment was simply too quiet.

Dust.

Corpses.

Dead trees.

No matter which direction they looked, the scenery was almost identical.

Without realizing it, Zoey and Nonoa gradually moved closer to John.

At first, there had still been some distance between them.

After walking for several minutes, the two women were practically pressed against him, one on each side.

After Zoey stepped on his foot for the third time, John finally turned his head.

"Can you move farther away?"

"Visibility is low. Staying together is safer."

"What does staying together have to do with stepping on me?"

"It was an accident."

The moment she finished speaking, Zoey kicked John’s shin again.

John took a deep breath.

Forget it.

There was no point discussing walking technique with someone who could not even pass her driving test.

Approximately ten minutes after entering the Land of Fading Silhouettes—

Zoey suddenly felt an itch above her head.

It was as though something was playing with her twin ponytails.

She reached up and scratched.

She touched nothing.

Yet the itching sensation grew increasingly obvious.

Zoey turned her head in confusion.

A pitch-black skull was floating behind her shoulder.

Two gray-white flames burned within its empty eye sockets.

Less than half a meter separated them.

The skull tilted its head.

Click.

Zoey’s pupils instantly widened.

"Aah—!"

She leaped into the air and wrapped both arms tightly around John’s neck.

Her legs coiled around his waist as well.

The impact sent John stumbling forward two steps.

Nonoa turned and glanced at the skull.

Her eyes rolled backward.

Thud.

She fell stiffly onto the ground.

John looked at Zoey hanging from his body, then at Nonoa lying on the sand.

"You two..."

The skull had already opened its jaws and lunged toward John.

John drew the Novice Club with his free hand and swept it forward.

Whoosh!

The wooden club passed straight through the skull.

There was no sensation of impact whatsoever.

[MISS!]

John’s gaze sharpened.

He could not hit it?

He immediately activated [Scan].

[Shadow Corpse Skull]

[Level: Lv.15.]

[Rank: Elite Monster.]

[HP: 4,000/4,000.]

[Physical Attack: 0.]

[Spell Power: 460.]

[Trait: Spiritual Body. Immune to all physical damage.]

[Passive Skill: Gaze of Terror.]

[Effect: Upon making eye contact with a target, a mental resistance check will be performed. Targets who fail will be inflicted with Fear or rendered unconscious.]

[Drops: Wraith Fragment, Shadow Dust.]

Physical immunity.

And it possessed a Fear-based control effect.

No wonder every investigation team sent by Giantwood Town had died after entering this place.

Without knowing the monster’s mechanics, ordinary warriors and archers would not even be able to damage something like this.

The skull lunged forward again.

A golden light suddenly shot out from behind John.

[Light of Healing!]

The golden light struck the Shadow Corpse Skull.

[Merciful Judgment activated!]

[Healing amount converted into 600% True Damage!]

Although healing effects had been prohibited by the Land of Fading Silhouettes, the True Damage produced after being converted by [Merciful Judgment] did not count as a recovery effect.

Therefore, it could still take effect.

[-4,320!]

The Shadow Corpse Skull instantly exploded into a cloud of black mist.

[Your party has killed Lv.15 Shadow Corpse Skull!]

John and Zoey turned around simultaneously.

Nonoa had already climbed back to her feet.

She held her staff with both hands, her expression unusually serious.

Zoey was still hanging from John.

"You’re awake?"

Nonoa nodded.

"Mm."

She looked toward the gray fog ahead.

"More are coming."

Rustle—

For the first time, a clear sound appeared within the deathly silent world.

One.

Two.

Ten.

More and more Shadow Corpse Skulls emerged through the gray fog, hovering densely in midair.

Gray-white flames ignited simultaneously within their empty eye sockets.

Zoey hurriedly jumped down from John.

She drew the Bloodfeather Longbow and fired an arrow at the skull in front.

The arrow passed straight through it without resistance.

[MISS!]

Zoey’s face darkened.

"Physical immunity?"

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

John raised the Fire Crystal Staff.

"Stay alive."

The fire crystal flared brightly.

"Fire Serpent."

Boom!

A massive serpent of flame charged into the swarm of skulls.

[-15,292!]

[-15,292!]

[-15,292!]

Several Shadow Corpse Skulls were instantly consumed by the flames.

[You have killed Lv.15 Shadow Corpse Skull ×5!]

The skill did not enter cooldown.

A second Fire Serpent followed immediately behind it.

Boom!

[-15,292!]

Another row of skulls exploded on the spot.

Nonoa also raised her staff.

[Mass Healing!]

A vast curtain of holy light descended from the sky.

It had no healing effect on John or the other two, yet it simultaneously enveloped six Shadow Corpse Skulls.

[Merciful Judgment activated!]

[-4,680!]

[-4,680!]

[-4,680!]

All six skulls turned into black smoke at the same time.