The World Was Not Saved

The pressure to survive had never felt so real and desperate. Only after entering the Dungeon did Han Song clearly realize that the meaning behind his entry into this place was far more than a simple Class Change trial.

"Cultivating 'Supreme evaluators'... replicating the path of the 'savior'," Han Song muttered to himself.

In other words, it's an attempt to make him, like the True Savior Ye Fan, save the world.

He was no longer the clueless Survivor had just entered the Land of Darkness. With the relatively orderly environment of Zone 76 and the resource support from the Mutual Aid Association, he gained Attribute Growth and item support far beyond what ordinary Survivors could imagine at the same level.

If we disregard the difference in timelines and simply compare their strength and foundation, his current state does indeed resemble the "Protagonist template" in some fantasy works, where the protagonist deliberately Suppression their cultivation level and repeatedly hones their foundation.

This is a sample of a bold, even somewhat cruel, "cultivation experiment" conducted in Zone 76 —an attempt to replicate a path to "Supreme evaluation" in a relatively controlled rear environment, and to verify the possibility.

Han Song knew that many powerful regions had made similar attempts before him, investing resources to cultivate carefully selected talents in an attempt to achieve higher evaluations.

Without exception, the results were disastrous; they failed to even cultivate Forbidden Class, let alone touch the edge of "saving the world."

Only Zone 76, with its excellent development level, relatively tight organization, and strong ability to suppress the flow of information, was able to keep the information about the Trial Instance locked until now, thus securing this "long-awaited" but "relatively well-prepared" opportunity for him to try.

"You really think too highly of me." Han Song leaned against the broken wall, slowly slid down to the ground, letting the dust stain his robes.

He once thought he might actually be able to do it.

With his overwhelming individual strength, he did clear away some obstacles in the early stages with swift and decisive measures: supporting the remaining human settlements and beheading those ambitious individuals who were secretly influenced and attempted to drag civilization into an even Abyss.

They even evaded several insidious schemes and seductions originating from the World Will against "outsiders," and with the help of the blue skill [Fire Domain], they exhausted almost all their Mana reserves to build an impregnable fire Sanctuary in a relatively safe area, Ignite the last Tinder of civilization.

Han Song recalled, his eyes glazing over for a moment, looking at Hongyue with a kind of infatuation.

His consciousness began to sink, as if he saw a wrecked old ship sinking to the bottom of the sea, being entangled and dragged by countless slippery things.

The next second, he realized what was happening, activated the Perfect quality item on his body, and then burrowed straight underground.

"There's absolutely no fun left." Han Song smiled bitterly.

The turning point happened seven days ago.

His conflict with Dongli Cang, the director of the Superpower Management Bureau, escalated to an irreconcilable point, leading to a direct war.

The power of 17 points was absolutely overwhelming. A single straight punch infused with pure power pierced through Dongli Cang's lightning armor, blasting his chest and the still-beating heart inside into a bloody mist.

Dongli Cang died. He died cleanly and decisively.

Strangely, with the death of this bureau chief, the "Mutation" that had spread across the globe vanished instantly, the Mutation beings died in droves, and the sky seemed to brighten for a moment.

At that moment, Han Song truly believed he had succeeded—he had eradicated the "source of the disease," purified the world, and Civilization Tinder to continue.

The Sanctuary erupted in cheers of Surviving the Calamity, a sound that had once given him a fleeting sense of accomplishment.

However, just three days later...

Blood Moon rises.

The first "ghost story" has appeared. It is an existence that cannot be explained by any known biology.

It has no fixed form; it seems... immortal. After being temporarily killed, it will "reappear" in another place, in another form.

Then came the second, the third... as if opening Pandora's box. The fading of the Mutation seemed to merely make way for these even more terrifying things, which quickly replaced the Mutation ones and became the new, absolute rulers of this world.

The surviving humans were more vulnerable than ants in their presence and were wiped out within days.

The memory was interrupted by the cold, sticky touch against my chest.

Han Song froze, his breathing stopped, and he lowered his head very slowly.

Between his chest and the cold earth, something had appeared out of nowhere.

It was a music box no bigger than the palm of your hand, with an old-fashioned design. The lid was slightly ajar, revealing a pitch-black interior, as if leading to some Abyss.

No sound came, but in Han Song's mind, fragments of a distorted, off-key, vaguely familiar melody began to echo involuntarily...

The base of the Tower.

Su Luo followed the taciturn Iron Guard as they climbed the rough, uneven stone steps.

The interior of the tower has a strange spatial structure, with spiraling staircases that are sometimes as spacious as a plaza and sometimes so narrow that only one person can squeeze through sideways.

"We've arrived." The Iron Guard walking ahead stopped, his voice still calm.

Before them was a relatively spacious corridor, even covered with an old but intact blue-green carpet, in the middle of which a figure blocked their way.

A Smurf wearing an exaggeratedly smiling mask and a black cloak sat on a blue-green carpet, on which were some things.

This guy is blocking the road; it makes you wonder if he's collecting tolls.

"Welcome, welcome," the Smurf said.

"This is for sale."

The Iron Guard seemed to recognize the Smurf, took out his purse, and began selecting items from the goods laid out on the carpet.

"Besides buying cards, Relics, and potions from him, we can also remove unnecessary cards from our deck."

Iron Guard picked up a card, then grabbed some coins from his purse and handed them to the Smurf.

Su Luo forward and glanced at it.

No need for cards, just print them yourself. I can't afford Relics, and potions are unnecessary.

I said removing cards is more important than anything else.

Optimization deck structure and increase the probability of drawing key cards.

"A wise choice!"

Su Luo paid 75 gold and then selected a regular [Defense] card. The light spot representing the card flew out, made a soft click, and turned into light dust and disappeared. The total number of cards in the deck became 11.

After doing all this, Su Luo turned and left, and the Smurf behind her triggered the NPC's dialogue again:

"It's too dangerous to travel alone. Give me all your gold coins."

Upon hearing this, Su Luo glanced back at the Smurf who remained seated calmly, unchanged in his posture, thought for a moment, and then turned back.

I grabbed two bottles of potion and filled up my potion inventory.

"You're not going to pay?"

The Iron Guard was surprised.

"It didn't say you had to give it to me."

The two continued on their way and left.

The Smurf sat there, the smile on his mask slowly disappearing, turning into a "(￣へ￣)", before quickly turning back into Smile.