Marcus’s heart sank. He quickly looked back at the trial description engraved on the great bell. There it was. He had to reach the village and kill the Soul Vase Ghost within four hours.

"No way!"

Whether he could actually kill the thing was one problem, but if what Lonely Bell had said was true, the Soul Vase Ghost would already be gone by the time he arrived. This wasn’t just difficult—it sounded completely impossible. Hopefully the old man was exaggerating.

Marcus pulled out Silas’s map and carefully searched for the village. A moment later, he found it. It was a tiny settlement without even a proper name. The only reason it appeared on the map at all was because several famous monster-hunting grounds were located nearby, making it a convenient rest stop for adventurers passing through.

Black Ghost Peak, the home of the Soul Vase Ghost, lay west of the village. According to the map, it was a gathering place for ghosts and spirits, and even the weakest monsters there were Level 60. That alone was enough to make most players turn around. Judging from the information on the map, Marcus estimated the Soul Vase Ghost was at least Level 60 itself. Killing it would already be a serious challenge.

But that wasn’t even the biggest problem. The village was closest to Ironstone Citadel, the City of Mountains. Even if he departed from the Citadel immediately and pushed Blackie to its maximum speed, it would still take at least five hours to reach the village. Lonely Bell’s estimate had been perfectly accurate.

"You’ve got to be kidding me." Forget killing the Soul Vase Ghost. At this rate, Marcus doubted he’d even get a glimpse of it before the deadline expired.

"Elder Lonely, this mission is way too hard." He put on the most pitiful expression he could manage and immediately voiced his complaint. The trial hadn’t even begun, yet it already felt as though he had failed. Special Hard difficulty truly deserved its name.

"Stonehaven, Special Hard trials are supposed to be hard." Lonely Bell looked completely unmoved, as though this situation were the most natural thing in the world.

"But this isn’t hard. It’s impossible. How is that fair?" Marcus’s speed was already far beyond that of most Agility-based Archers and Rogues. On top of that, he possessed Blackie, a Super Divine Mount whose speed left ordinary mounts in the dust. Even so, his Movement Speed was only 32. Sure, there were probably a handful of players who could match him. His sister Amber and her Violet Thunderwing Steed immediately came to mind. But Movement Speed 50? At Level 50? That was absurd. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Lonely Bell clearly disagreed. "Stonehaven, if you possessed a flying artifact such as the Divine Artifact Wind-Walker Boat, which travels at a flight speed of 80, you could reach the village in less than an hour. If you knew Earth Evasion or Teleportation, the journey would be even easier. A Skywalk Talisman would allow you to set your coordinates to the village and arrive instantly." The old man straightened his back and calmly added, "If you have the strength, you can complete the trial."

"No way." Marcus almost laughed. He wasn’t some game administrator with access to every item in existence. He hadn’t even reached Level 50 yet. Where was he supposed to get equipment and abilities like that? This Special Hard trial was ridiculous. For the first time in a long while, even Marcus felt completely powerless.

"Elder Lonely, how about extending the deadline by two hours? Give me six hours and I’ll definitely finish it." Since things couldn’t get much worse, he decided to try negotiating.

"Stonehaven, after four hours, the Soul Vase Ghost will have stolen the Twin-Winged Ice Owl’s soul. Once it returns to Black Ghost Peak and absorbs that soul’s power, it will evolve into a Mythic Beast." Lonely Bell looked directly at him. "Forget six hours. Even if I gave you sixteen, could you still kill it then?"

Marcus had no answer. For a moment, he simply stood there in silence. He had never expected this would be how his first trial ended. The player sitting at the very top of Dominion’s Level Leaderboard was apparently about to lose a level before even reaching Level 50. If word got out, the forums would probably explode.

"No other choice, then." Marcus turned helplessly toward the women beside him. His mercenary group channel had remained open the entire time, so they had heard every word exchanged between him and Lonely Bell. At this point, he was already preparing himself for failure. He hadn’t died even once since entering the game, so perhaps this could be considered a new experience. He would leave, wait for the timer to expire, lose a level, then spend a day or two grinding the experience back.

With that thought in mind, Marcus began putting Silas’s map away and prepared to leave with his companions. Then Lonely Bell suddenly spoke again.

"When players take the Level 80 trial, they are allowed one opportunity to abandon the trial and receive a different one if they find it impossible to complete. The cost is one hundred million gold coins donated to the Temple." The old man paused briefly. "Stonehaven, since you are the first player to challenge the Level 50 trial, I’ll make an exception. Go speak with the Temple supervisor. If he agrees to accept the fee, you’ll be granted the same privilege."

"One hundred million gold coins?" Marcus nearly choked. That was ruthless. Then again, Level 80 trials were probably far more difficult than this one. Wealthy players would gladly pay such a fee if it meant avoiding disaster. Marcus himself certainly had the money—more than eight billion gold coins sat comfortably inside his inventory. That didn’t mean he intended to waste any of it. Looking at the current leaderboard, even if he failed this trial, or failed two more after that, he would still remain the number one player.

"Elder Lonely, I’ll come back in a few days." Having made his decision, Marcus started putting Silas’s map away for good.

Then he froze.

"Wait..."

As he folded the map, his eyes happened to pass over the village one last time. Something caught his attention. Marcus immediately unfolded the map again and examined it carefully. A few seconds later, the corners of his mouth twitched upward. The situation wasn’t hopeless after all. He kept his expression under control, but inwardly he was grinning from ear to ear. Carefully, he checked the map a second time, then a third. No mistake. He had seen it correctly.

After folding the map again, Marcus deliberately acted as though he had completely given up. He turned away, took a few steps toward the exit, then suddenly stopped and looked back at Lonely Bell. "Elder Lonely, since this trial is impossible for me anyway, could you at least tell me more about the Soul Vase Ghost? What kind of monster is it? What abilities does it have? Is it really that dangerous?"

He kept his tone casual. Before making his move, he wanted more information. And if possible, he wanted Lonely Bell talking. The more the old man revealed, the easier it would be to confirm whether the idea he had just discovered on the map could actually work.

Deep down, Marcus was already feeling hopeful, but he carefully hid it behind a look of simple curiosity.