Hail World

Diving into the Dark Castle had been insane. But the payoff? Even more insane.

Dawei's body still buzzed from the high of guzzling half a lab's worth of untested elixirs. He'd brushed a wave of permanent attribute boosts that players would kill for—literally. But nothing compared to the last one, the holy grail of stat doping:

Sky Elixir.

Movement Speed +9. Attack Speed +3.

Those two stats alone could shape the meta. Since ancient times, players knew: "If speed is king, then the thief is the emperor." High movement and attack speed meant you could dance circles around your enemies. Even with trash gear, you'd live longer, hit harder, and never be touched.

"The faster you are, the later you die. Or the earlier your enemy does."

While HP and MP could be supplemented with consumables, permanent stat boosts to speed were rare as phoenix feathers. And he had just slammed one down his gullet like a protein shake.

But any joy vanished when Dawei looked at the map.

System Prompt:Zhugutra is enraged with you.Zhugutra has locked your position.Zhugutra will arrive in 3 minutes.

And the red dot was racing across the map.

"Damn, he's fast for a scientist!"

Dawei's thoughts spun. Zhugutra might be a non-combat class, but this was Mercenary World, a game that broke all the old rules. If he'd mastered a science that rivaled gods… there was no telling what this boss could do.

"He could throw a bottle of syrup at me and delete my entire bloodline."

No. Now wasn't the time to panic. He needed to run. Hide. Survive.

The one thing on his side? The sewer.

He'd already snuck past the Count using this same underground labyrinth. And if the system allowed it once, maybe it was designed as a backdoor for smart players to use.

"The sewers are the system's safety valve. I just need to stay moving."

So he ran. Like the wind. Like a man with a death flag hanging over his head.

He zigzagged through pipe junctions, twisted corners, doubled back. But Zhugutra's red marker on the map never stopped following—relentless, like a heat-seeking missile.

"This guy's built like a drone. Just slap some wings on him and call it a Predator."

Dawei veered left, then right. The walls around him suddenly shimmered with frost. His breath caught in his throat as a chill crept down his spine.

System Prompt:You have discovered an unknown area.

The temperature dropped fast. Ice crystals glittered across the pipe walls, and a low hum filled the air.

-1 HP... -1 HP...

He was taking environmental damage, but the passive skill he picked up earlier—[Life Recovery]—was doing its job. Blood out, blood in. Even exchange.

"Good thing I'm a walking potion keg now."

He glanced back at the map.

Zhugutra's marker had disappeared.

"Huh?"

System Prompt:You have temporarily exited Zhugutra's threat zone. Tracking lock has been suspended.

"Did I just... lose him?"

Dawei blinked.

He took a cautious step forward. The ice tunnel led to a narrow shaft, and beyond it—a strange white glow. He climbed out and blinked against the brightness.

He stood in a frozen world.

The sky above him churned with dark clouds and icy lightning. Endless snowfall swept across a white wasteland. At the end of the path stood a stone bridge, a hundred meters long, reaching into the storm. On the far end, embedded in a sheer cliff of crystal ice, a massive glowing wall flickered—like a mirror of frozen starlight.

And within that mirror, a figure lay dormant. Tall. Regal. Shrouded in armor of frost.

System Prompt:You have discovered the Hail of Eternity.

System Prompt:You have acquired new information: Vampire Earl Sindro.

"No way..."

Dawei's jaw dropped.

"This... This is the Count's bedroom!?"

So close. He had been so close. When he first crawled into the castle through the sewers, the Count hadn't noticed. But now, fate had taken him right into his den. Not metaphorically. Literally.

He immediately dove back into the manhole and slammed it shut, heart pounding.

"Brother almost died inside someone's bed. Through the damn toilet!"

Back in the sewer, Dawei regrouped.

"Okay... Okay... Zhugutra can't track me here. This map's on a separate plane."

But once he stepped out again, the chase resumed.

Zhugutra's marker reappeared—this time faster than ever.

Dawei ran. And ran. And ran.

His breath ragged. Legs burning. Pipes blurred past him. The scientist's rage chased like a curse etched into his soul.

Minutes later, a sound ripped through the tunnels—a roar that didn't belong in science.

And then he saw it.

A flickering shimmer of purple and black, woven through with threads of gold.

Zhugutra.

His name burned on the screen in violet flame, with a trace of divine gold. Just like Dioser—but more intense. More corrupted. A tier higher.

"Oh hell no... he's not just a boss. He's a main villain."