Chapter 1315

[Alert: Prepare yourselves!]

[Alert: The fifth stage will begin in 10 seconds!]

[Alert: 10! 9! 8! 7...!]

[Alert: 3! 2! 1...!]

[Alert: The fifth stage shall now begin!]

[Void: Bottomless Abyss]

A string of notifications popped up in front of everyone’s eyes.

“What?!”

Siegfried flinched in shock after realizing that there was nobody around him.

The world around him had turned pitch-black the moment the fifth stage began. His comrades were nowhere to be seen, the millions of Adventurers had vanished, and even Hamchi was gone.

‘This is darkness itself. It’s not the kind of darkness caused by the absence of light. This is literally a void where nothing exists.’

Siegfried arrived at that conclusion, as he couldn’t see anything, no matter how much he enhanced his vision.His eyes were superior even to the most advanced optical technology developed by modern science. He was capable of detecting surrounding terrain and objects even when there was not a single ray of light around.

But in this place, the Void: Bottomless Abyss, even his eyes were completely useless.

The only conclusion he could reach was that this place itself was a place of nothingness.

‘What do they expect me to do here?’

By now, Siegfried had already realized that the Void was quite different from the typical dungeons found on the continent. It tested one’s combat power, will, character, and ability to improvise depending on the situation.

This was the reason he concluded that the Void: Bottomless Abyss would also require something beyond mere combat power in order to clear it.

‘What is it? What are they trying to test this time?’ he wondered.

It was then.

[Alert: Time for revenge!]

[Alert: Prepare yourself!]

[Alert: You are the object of hatred!]

[Alert: Face your past!]

A string of notifications that made little sense popped up in front of his eyes.

Whoosh... Whoosh...

From within the darkness, creatures with blood-red eyes suddenly appeared.

“Huh?” Siegfried tilted his head and was baffled upon seeing the enemies.

He expected terrifying monsters to appear, but that was not the case at all.

[Void Mutated Squirrel]

[Void Mutated Stag]

[Void Mutated Wild Boar]

The enemies that appeared were mutated beasts he had fought long ago. Having the Void prefix meant that they were far stronger than before, but they were still just buffed versions of low-level mobs.

‘What the hell is this?’

Without giving it much thought, Siegfried swung his Annihilation’s Grasp and wiped them out.

Then, another wave of monsters appeared.

“Kiheet! Time for my revenge!”

Void Goblin Lord Gorgo appeared and unleashed a blue lightning spell.

“Eh?!” Siegfried was surprised, as Goblin Lord Gorgo was a boss monster he had faced back when he was a total newbie.

Of course, Goblin Lord Gorgo was still no match for Siegfried, even though he was buffed.

‘Don’t tell me... Do I have to face every enemy I’ve defeated? Then the next would be...’

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, a bunch of black spheres shot toward him. They were the Ray Zerglings, monsters from the Sohoca Ruins, mutated and buffed by the Void energy.

“Kieeeeek!”

Soon afterward, the Void version of the Lightning Python, the boss monster of the Sohoca Ruins, appeared.

‘This is way too easy.’

He concluded that the fifth stage wasn't that difficult. These were enemies he had already fought before. Even though Void energy had buffed them, the fact remained that he had experience fighting every one of them.

Their attack patterns were familiar, so their enhanced combat power was not much of a problem. In addition, Siegfried had now grown far stronger than before, so he did not feel threatened at all.

‘But will Lucifer show up...?’ He wondered if the former Chief Archangel, Lucifer, would end up appearing before him as well. If a version of Lucifer buffed by the Void energy were to appear, it would be a huge problem.

***

Unfortunately, Siegfried was wrong about something, as the Void: Bottomless Abyss was far beyond what he had imagined.

The fact that the enemies he once defeated were appearing again was not that big of a problem, as he was far stronger now compared to back then.

However, the real problem was their numbers and time.

“Please, stop coming out...”

Siegfried had been swinging his Annihilation’s Grasp for the past thirteen hours, yet the Void: Bottomless Abyss showed no signs of stopping. At first, he thought the enemies he had already killed would reappear one after another in order.

However, it did not seem to be the case; there was no order of appearance. At some point, the monsters appeared in random order, and some of the enemies he had already slain reappeared yet again.

Something like a fixed rule on how and when the monsters would appear did not seem to exist in this place.

One silver lining was that ultra-powerful enemies like Lucifer had yet to make an appearance. Siegfried was not confident he could easily win if a version of Lucifer buffed by the Void energy were to appear, so he was grateful that only weaker mobs had appeared so far.

Still, there seemed to be no end to them.

Siegfried fought without taking a break, and at one point, he lost track of time.

‘My eyes... I can’t focus anymore... Has it been twenty-four hours now?’

He was so sleepy that he was slowly losing control over his character.

Twenty-four hours had passed since the fifth stage had begun, but there were still no signs of the stage's end.

Then, twenty-four hours turned into twenty-five, and twenty-five turned into twenty-six.

[Alert: You have been playing BNW for 28 hours!]

[Alert: Extended gameplay may adversely affect your health!]

[Alert: Please take a break!]

Siegfried clenched his teeth and fought through the exhaustion even as his character flickered intermittently.

‘My eyes are about to close...’

No matter how tenacious he might be, fighting sleep becomes nearly impossible at some point.

‘I have to... keep going... I can’t fall here... Argh!’

Siegfried gritted his teeth and desperately endured the torture. He did everything he could to stay awake while killing the waves of monsters coming at him.

Another day passed just like that.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

He had no idea what he was doing anymore and was fighting purely on instinct.

Staying awake for two full days had clouded his mind to the point that he could no longer distinguish between what was a dream and what was reality. Now, his sanity was hanging by a thread, as he was forcing himself to endure without letting go.

‘When will this end? I can’t go on much longer...’

Still, the Void: Bottomless Abyss showed no signs of nearing its end.

Being sleep deprived and fighting wave after wave of enemies was one thing, but not knowing when this nightmare would stop made the mental anguish even worse.

Not knowing how much longer he would have to battle sleep and not knowing when this stage would finally finish made him want to give up.

‘I’m going to clear this damn stage if it’s the last thing I do.’

Gritting his teeth, Siegfried refused to give up.

If there was one thing he was good at, then it was being tenacious. In fact, it was this stubborn tenacity of his that had caught Deus’ eye in the first place.

His determination was not something that would break from merely this much.

‘Just two days? Bring it on! I’ll endure a week if I have to! I’m going to keep killing until I reach a million—no, ten million!’

[Alert: Congratulations!]

[Alert: You have cleared the fifth stage!]

After hitting the forty-ninth-hour mark, a notification popped up in front of his eyes.

“...Huh?”

Siegfried felt like the abrupt end of the fifth stage was lackluster.

All he did was force himself to stay awake while slaughtering the endless wave of monsters, yet he cleared the stage without defeating any special boss monster.

“Is this really the end? That was way too easy,” he muttered.

Meanwhile, the scenery shifted again, and the grassland came into view.

Luckily, all of his comrades were still alive, but they were all in terrible condition.

“U-Ughh...”

“...”

“ZzZzz... Zzz...”

Everyone had eye bags drooping down to their chin, and they looked completely haggard from lack of sleep. Some had already been knocked out after succumbing to sleep deprivation.

“Kyuu... Hamchi is so sleepy, owner punk...”

Even Hamchi was wobbling and on the verge of collapsing.

“Ah...” Siegfried gasped after realizing that more than eighty percent of his allies had disappeared. They had to have either fallen asleep or died after failing to endure the endless hunt of the fifth stage.

That was the true goal of the Void: Bottomless Abyss...

Humans were both weaker and stronger than they thought. Special forces soldiers would even undergo a training known as Hell Week, where they would endure staying awake for almost one hundred twenty hours with little to no sleep.

Here, they only needed to stay awake for forty-nine hours. And yet, less than fifty thousand out of the millions of people remained. Regardless of how powerful one’s character was, very few had the mental fortitude to suppress hunger and sleep while keeping their focus for forty-nine hours straight.

With this, Siegfried was not certain of one thing.

The Void did not just test one’s stats. It tested the actual gamer’s mental resilience and physical stamina as well.

As expected of a dungeon with a thirteen-star difficulty rating!

However, this much was nowhere enough to break someone as stubborn as Siegfried.

***

[Alert: Prepare yourselves!]

[Alert: The sixth stage will begin in twenty-four hours!]

[Alert: You will move on to the next stage in 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds!]

[Alert: You may log out and rest during this period!]

Fortunately, the Void gave them twenty-four hours to rest. It was not enough time to recover from the torturous marathon that lasted for forty-nine hours straight, but it was better than nothing.

“...At least this bastard has some conscience,” Siegfried grumbled under his breath and logged out.

He was still human after all, so he needed to sleep after pushing himself through a grueling forty-nine hours of gaming.

Meanwhile, a major announcement was made in the real world regarding BNW while Siegfried and the others were raiding the Void.

It was regarding the opening of new servers.

Two new servers were set to open, a Murim server based on an Eastern world and an Urban server based on a modern world setting.

Although both servers were still VR MMORPGs, the difference in their worlds meant that their growth systems and gameplay would greatly differ.

Those who would play in the Murim server would use Martial Arts skill trees, while those in the Urban server would use Superpowers.

Official Announcement

The existing server and the newly added servers will all belong to the same universe. Simply put, please understand them as different planets within the same galaxy.

2. For this reason, each account may only play on one server.

3. Anyone playing on an existing server must reset their character if they wish to move to a new server. Likewise, anyone playing on a new server must reset their character if they wish to return to the current one.

4. Server-to-server transfers are practically impossible. However, players who achieve ultimate growth may be allowed to possess one character per server. There is also a possibility that an existing character may be able to transfer to another server if certain conditions are met.

5. There are no limits to the world of Brave New World. One day, interaction between the three servers might happen!

As soon as the announcement was released, Hive Games Entertainment's stock price rocketed to the moon. The addition of Murim and Urban servers would bring in a flood of new players, and those who had grown tired of the current server and had quit the game would be drawn back to the game.

Of course, countless people wanted to enjoy both the current server and the upcoming ones, but that wasn't possible. The beehive’s philosophy of allowing only a single character per account still stood, and the fact that the three servers were set in the same universe meant that gamers would be forced to choose one server to play in.

Owning characters in all three servers was not allowed, but a handful of gamers, those who had reached the ultimate endgame growth, would be granted exceptions.

“Phew!”

Tae-Sung logged back into the game after getting enough rest.

He wanted to log in one hour before the start of the next stage in order to get ready for any unforeseen circumstances, but...

“Huh? What’s this?”

He tilted his head at the notification that appeared before his eyes upon entering his VR capsule.

[Alert: Please select a server!]

[Fantasy: Siegfried von Proa Lvl. 650 - Currently in the Void]

[Murim: Character creation available!]

[Urban: Character creation available!]

[Note: This account is a SUPER ACCOUNT and is permitted to play on all three servers!]