A DEATH TRAP!!!

"What's the Sanctum faction?" Ethan asked, frowning as he hurried alongside Lin Yiwan.

Lin tightened her grip on her weapon. "They're like an anti-human player organization. In the game, they focus on sabotaging other players' progress. They disrupt missions, destroy supply lines, and do whatever they can to make survival harder."

There's a group like that? Ethan, still observing from his future self's perspective, was stunned. Neither Wang Zi Chen nor Lai Wenzhi had mentioned them before.

"Mr. Ethan, I'll cover you while we climb. Others will deal with them." Lin's tone was firm. Even as an S-Rank Combat Player, her main goal wasn't to fight; it was to keep him safe.

"Fine." He didn't argue. Not with Elder Chang Ye Qing's group already scrambling up the mountain as if their lives depended on it.

Ethan quickly shoved his belongings into his spatial ring and followed the evacuation team. As he moved, he saw squads of armed fighters branching off, charging toward the billowing black smoke. They were likely engaging the Sanctum faction.

A minor distraction in the grand scheme.

As they climbed higher, Ethan watched the approaching sea monsters. Every day, the red dots on the map multiplied, spreading like a plague. Entire regions were lost overnight.

Two days later, the situation worsened. The map showed a sea of threats, indicating almost complete continental occupation. And worst of all, a massive sea beast had been spotted at the base of Mount Everest.

Panic rose. The Combat Players mobilized quickly. One lifted Elder Chang onto his back and sped up the slopes at unbelievable speed.

For normal climbers, reaching Everest's peak took weeks. For high-tier Players, it took a fraction of that time.

Lin Yiwan's ability, [Aerokinesis], allowed her to control wind currents. She lifted Ethan onto her back, and with a burst of power, they shot upward, matching Elder Chang's escort.

The scene drew confused stares.

Who is this guy?

From the start, Lin had shadowed Ethan. Now, with the world falling apart, she was still protecting him? Others couldn't help but wonder what made him so important.

As they climbed, a deep, rhythmic thud… thud… thud pulsed through the mountain.

Ethan's blood ran cold.

That sound.

He recognized it too well. The heartbeat of the approaching leviathans. Each thump sounded like a death knell, growing louder and closer.

By the time they reached the summit, Elder Chang's group had already formed a protective circle around him. Blizzard winds howled, biting through their clothing.

"Elder Chang is activating his prophecy skill. Do not disturb him!" a guard barked as Ethan and Lin approached.

Lin nodded, but her eyes shifted to Ethan.

Mr. Ethan has a prophecy skill too… an SSS-Rank one at that. But he hasn't used it even once since this started?

She didn't dare ask. Without his permission, she couldn't demand answers.

Ethan stayed quiet.

What could he say? "We're all doomed"?

The group braced against the storm, watching as Elder Chang sat cross-legged inside a small tent, his eyes tightly shut.

This was Ethan's first time seeing another prophecy user in action.

When I use [Eyes of the Doomed], no matter how much I see, only seconds pass in reality…

But Elder Chang?

Twenty minutes later, chaos erupted.

The elder jolted awake, his eyes wide, face twisted in fear. He gasped, blood trickling from his lips, and shouted a single, alarming verdict:

"We can't stay on land! This is a death trap—A DEATH TRAP!!!"

Then he vomited a torrent of blood and collapsed, unconscious.

Ethan, observing: ???

What the hell? Since when do prophecy skills make you vomit blood?

Players rushed to help the elder. Healers swarmed in, but two hours later, the sky darkened.

Drops of liquid fell onto the snow.

Ethan froze.

Rain? On Everest's summit?

Then someone screamed, "Black rain! It's falling from the sky!"

Recognition hit Ethan hard.

That stench—

"Oh god. We're dead."

A bitter laugh escaped him. This wasn't rain.

It was ink.

The same toxic, suffocating ink from his death replay— spewed by the massive kraken.

Around him, people gagged and retched violently. His stomach turned. Vision blurred.

Then—nothing.

Ethan's consciousness shattered.

Back in the present, Ethan jolted awake, gasping. Wang Zi Chen hovered over him, his eyes wide with curiosity.

Ethan ignored him, mind racing as he processed the death replay's insights.

After a tense silence, Wang finally dared to ask:

"Ethan… did you see something in your vision?"