Earth, February 16th.
Over ten days passed by since Big D informed Almond about the upcoming dire circumstances of Earth.
Grand Abyss Labyrinth, Sanctuary Area.
On the Mountain of Radiant Zenith, Grim Breakers were gathered and preparing to dive into the Labyrinth gate that was about to open in an hour and start this month’s first cycle.
Everyone regularly talked about Almond and believed that he would return, mainly thanks to Lily’s influence.
Everyone had become Platinum-rank Adventurers last month by clearing the 8th Floor, having reached Platinum level 50, but also losing two comrades.
They were about to dive in again as they had worked a lot and improved themselves, especially Lily who was leaps and bounds ahead of others in terms of combat power.
Watching them from the pavilion’s roof, a cat and a bird were talking to each other.
“How’s Almond doing, Master? It’s been ten days since you confided him about the matter.”
“Well, he is still in the Devil’s Playground.”
The bird’s eyes appeared concerned. “Is he even fine? Entering in Doom difficulty was a bad idea.”
“No sane person stays more than five days inside, especially in Doom difficulty, but Almond has been in there for nine days now, which means he is already in a deep quagmire of the Devil’s playground,” Big D calmly said. “He can’t leave unless he overcomes whatever nightmare and suffering he is experiencing.”
“But you can take him out, right?” Madam Ruby asked.
“I could, but that would be foolish. If I pull him out from the middle of whatever he is experiencing, it would have adverse effects on him.”
“But it’s already been nine days since he is inside-“
“It’s his decision,” Big D snapped. “He made it despite knowing the risks. If he fails, we return to our old lives. If he survives and comes out sane before the deadline, we will continue to support him. Everything is up to him.”
…
“Hey, that newbie entered Devil’s Playground on Doom difficulty. He’s dead.”
“I heard today marks the tenth day since he is inside. I wonder what he will do after coming out?”
“Pff, it’s obvious. Either he will kill himself, or attack others, which will get him killed by enforcers.”
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“Bet. How many days he will stay inside though? The last one to get stuck inside stayed for over twenty days, right?”
“Yeah, and he went in two difficulties lower than Doom and then did an exploding suicide while laughing maniacally.”
Malin and a few others who were Almond’s Prana Batteries heard people talking in the Central Lobby and felt their mood souring.
“Damn, this can’t be happening. Boss still ain’t out.”
“I don’t think he will come out sane.”
“Many people are watching the gate of Devil’s Playground through various means, waiting for the moment he comes out. There’s a few livestream channels on for the past few days as well.”
“Tsk, everyone is waiting for the bad news, eh?” Malin clicked his tongue and snorted. “Still, I have a feeling that Boss will be fine.”
“But who enters Devil’s Playground on Doom difficulty right off the bat? Students don’t even go to the lower-difficulty. Boss Almond is insane, frankly.”
“Should we form an alliance ourselves?”
“If we ain’t getting an alliance with boss Almond as leader, then I’ll accept the offer I got.”
Malin looked at the group chat of the group comm he created, with members being all who were Almond’s Prana Batteries, and everyone was also pessimistic about Almond.
Suddenly, the twirl-horned demon with a muscular frame near Malin shouted, “Guys, he’s out! I am watching Mistark’s Eyeball livestream, and he is out!”
“Fuck, let’s go there, fast!” Malin said as he quickly dashed towards the Devil’s Playground entrance area.
Indeed, many people were rushing there, including enforcers.
“Make way! Don’t obstruct the enforcers, idiots!”
The enforcers were not living beings, but puppets of the Academy and they had absolute power within the academy in terms of abilities and raw stats.
Almond had just emerged and felt peace washing over him as he just closed his eyes and stood after coming outside.
He could feel that he had indeed become significantly powerful despite being powerless for ‘years’ in the world that Devil’s Playground created for him.
Despite knowing everything he experienced, saw and lived through was fake, the people, Lily and everyone he saw were fake, it was real.
It was real in the sense that he experienced everything.
It was real that he lost everything after giving his all.
It was real that he despaired and still fought.
It was real that the nightmare made him experience tragedies he didn’t even want to imagine, especially related to people close to him.
But one thing remained constant and only brightened as he spent more time fighting the world that was trying to break him apart.
His will.
And now, it has soared to a new height as he broke the 200-will barrier and reached 289.
His Mental Constitution peaked, hitting 1000.
All the information of powers and arcane he had was expanding within him with his heightened mental capacity.
With him being an Arcane Champion, his mind was in the process of increasing his Arcane Constitution already, creating new assets and sequences based on the powers he had.
With his heightened mental capacity, he was already creating new possibilities and he didn’t want to stop, so he just stayed at his spot with his eyes closed.
People were gathering, but no one dared to go near him.
“What is he doing?”
“I think he went nuts.”
“The moment he opens his eyes, he is killing himself. Want to bet?”
“I bet that he’ll kill your sorry ass.”
The students maintained a distance of a hundred meters while the six enforcers approached Almond slowly and stopped ten meters away from him.
Time passed and everyone was waiting for Almond to do something.
“Head of External Activities is here!”
Melissa Meron arrived and walked towards Almond while her eyes flickered with faint colors, observing Almond with extraordinary means.
‘He is calm. He isn’t doing anything like using abilities, but there seems to be activity in his Arcane Constitution…what is he doing?’
She stood a meter ahead of the enforcers, but didn’t do anything and just waited.
Almond had to make an action first, even if it was opening his eyes before she could ask him.
“Miss Melissa, can you tell me anything?” Zek asked as he walked towards her.
“Stay there, Zek. I am not sure right now as I can’t deep-scan someone’s state of mind. He has to open his eyes first, and we have to speak if he can speak.”
Meanwhile, nobody knew that Almond was just absorbed in increasing his Arcane Constitution.
He was done exploring possibilities and creations with his power sources and ideas as he acquired better elemental and technical assets for the next eight minutes as his Arcane Constitution reached 228 before finally snapping out of his focus and opening his eyes.
Noise entered his ears and a lot of people appeared in his vision as he raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“What’s going on?” he asked as he looked at Melissa.
Students stared at him, curious.
“You…” Melissa blinked. “Seem fine.”
“Of course, I am fine. I reached the peak of the Mental Constitution in Mortal-rank lifeform, so I am rather satisfied, but I don’t know how many days I was inside. Can I know how long I was inside?”