I was Born in the Final Demon Realm of a Dark Fantasy

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Let’s learn about [Powers].

Powers are abilities that everyone acquires when they transition to their final profession.

Unlike other learnable skills, these are absurdly overpowered, so if you obtain a power, you must prioritize raising its proficiency to the maximum first.

Powers are included in the skill category. Therefore, the method to increase proficiency is obviously to use them frequently, and they can also be linked with traits, so if you have the [Hidden Bloodline] or [Cruel Adaptation] traits, you can increase proficiency extremely quickly.

By the way, no matter how I think about it, the [Hidden Bloodline] trait urgently needs a balance patch. It’s too overpowered. There’s a reason people tell you to definitely take it…

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Another year passed.

I explored the Monster Forest with my newly arranged team members.

Fortunately, perhaps I should say.

No more overwhelming monsters like the one we encountered that day appeared.

And I completely perfected my own martial arts that I had been establishing for a long time, while simultaneously breaking through the fourth wall.

The moment of breaking through the fourth wall was different from before.

It was more similar to when I broke through the first wall.

The feeling of a completely new world unfolding.

Not only were there changes in vague concepts like martial understanding, but even visible things changed.

Most notably, my body.

Skin, muscles, bones—it was as if their very material had changed.

They became much firmer and more refined than before.

My body, which I was already proud of for being sturdy, became even more solid.

Now, if Jagan were to hit my body with all his strength, his fist would burst instead—that’s how drastically it changed.

Only then did I understand why special-class warriors could easily handle contaminated beasts that 1st-class warriors couldn’t face.

It wasn’t simply a difference in technique. It was thanks to a body that had become stronger as if it were a different species.

But strangely, as my body hardened, my bulk decreased. My once rugged physique became more agile and refined.

Perhaps all unnecessary elements had been trimmed away, transformed into a completely optimized form.

Upon becoming a special-class warrior, I was assigned to guard the king.

For the first time, I faced the existence known as the “king” here.

The ruler of these monster-like humans.

Though he appeared somewhat frail for a king, such thoughts quickly dissipated, perhaps due to the name “king” alone.

‘I guess that’s what happens when you get old.’

Even the old man I saw in the abandoned village wasn’t this frail, but perhaps one becomes like this when they get even older.

I didn’t think too deeply about the king. My interests lay elsewhere.

The only thing that piqued my interest was the story the king told.

The tale that his kinsmen lived outside the forbidden zone.

I had been curious about what kind of world would unfold beyond the forbidden zone, but I was admittedly disappointed to hear that the same humans lived there.

‘A nature that can withstand these monsters…’

That was quite fascinating. What kind of physical laws governed this world?

I didn’t try to understand it. No, even thinking I could understand it was arrogant.

Although I had become a special-class warrior, I had no opportunity to set foot in the forbidden zone.

The path there was strictly sealed. No one could enter that forbidden zone.

Even if one tried to sneak in, it meant immediate execution if caught.

Senior warriors explained why it needed to be so thoroughly blocked.

They said that in the forbidden zone, there lived beings so powerful we couldn’t even imagine them, and that we shouldn’t provoke them.

The reason the king spoke longingly of his kinsmen being outside the forbidden zone was because he could never break through and pass through it.

My reason for wanting to break through the fourth wall—killing the monsters in the forbidden zone—ultimately didn’t materialize.

At most, I would be called out on support missions when beasts that should only appear in the forbidden zone occasionally showed up in the Monster Forest.

Then one day.

The king declared he would pioneer the forbidden zone.

Something no one had dared to attempt until then.

It was a radical move not found even in history.

Naturally, there was tremendous backlash.

Rumors that the king had gone senile spread instantly.

But the king firmly pushed forward, and no matter how frail he might appear, no one could go against his will.

Thus, a forbidden zone expedition team was hastily formed.

Ten special-class warriors led one division. Each division commanded five lower-rank warriors and departed to pioneer the forbidden zone.

Dozens of divisions were deployed like that.

To enter the forbidden zone, one had to pass through a red curtain. Seniors said that curtain was a defensive wall created by ancestors to block monsters.

And that curtain enveloped the entire forbidden zone.

They said that while you could distinguish between day and night inside the forbidden zone, you couldn’t gauge the sun’s position, so once you lost direction, you couldn’t find your way back.

The blood-red land was literally the land of death.

Hell began as soon as we entered.

Before even an hour had passed since we set foot in the forbidden zone, another division that had gone on the expedition with us was completely annihilated without a trace.

What attacked us was a beast that looked like a jaguar. But its size was about five times ours.

It might have been considered small for this place, but in exchange, its speed was too fast.

In the blink of an eye, it closed the distance and with a single attack, cleaved a warrior’s body in two.

And when 50 such monstrous jaguars attacked simultaneously, three divisions couldn’t handle them.

Maybe it was fortunate that only eight jaguars attached themselves to our division.

After quickly handling one jaguar and breaking through, our division decided to distance ourselves. We weren’t in a position to help the other divisions.

Judging that it would be difficult to help Division 2, which most of the jaguars had attacked, we exchanged glances with Division 3, which was facing about 10 jaguars, and scattered in different directions.

I dragged along the fools who mindlessly wanted to rush in, not wanting to see their comrades die, while yelling at them.

In this desolate land of death, there wasn’t even a place to hide.

I didn’t look back.

Half of the jaguars that had annihilated Division 2 were chasing us, so we couldn’t go back the way we came.

Our steps were increasingly heading deeper into the forbidden zone.

We vowed to survive and return from that place.

Day 1, all 15 members of our division survived.

Immediately on Day 2, the jaguars chasing us caught up.

It was the natural progression.

Anticipating that they would chase us, we were already prepared.

We divided the division into two. One group to draw their attention and buy time, and another to hunt them down one by one.

I was in the diversion group.

Although my understanding of using power might still be lacking compared to other special-class warriors, my agility was second to none.

My body had been unusually weak from birth. But somehow, after raising my physical abilities to the extreme, my strength, agility, and flexibility far surpassed others.

My role was simple. To lure them away and escape.

I alone ran from 20 jaguars, leading them here and there.

Though I was slower than them, being smaller actually made it easier to dodge and evade.

When they tried to catch me all at once, I used that moment to make them tangle with each other.

That’s how we gradually reduced their numbers, one by one.

The battle continued all day.

As Day 3 dawned, the battle ended.

All ten special-class warriors survived, but two lower-rank warriors eventually couldn’t withstand the fierce attacks of the jaguars and fell.

Even though they were called lower-rank, they were all 1st-class warriors. They were warriors trained over many years in battlefields where only the strong survived.

However, even they struggled to endure in this forbidden zone.

‘We need to let them know it’s much more treacherous than expected. We need to regroup when we return.’

We had underestimated the forbidden zone. Perhaps that was natural since we had never set foot here before.

Carefully crossing the desolate fields soaked in blood, we sought an exit route to leave the forbidden zone.

But before we could even make a plan, that goal was shattered.

Suddenly, the ground trembled as if splitting, and a massive form surged upward.

And in an instant, five special-class warriors disappeared, swept away by the monster’s dark shadow.

A monster that suddenly emerged from the ground and devoured five special-class warriors. It resembled a maggot in appearance.

Except its size was larger than 10 jaguars combined.

The five remaining special-class warriors, including myself, attacked its yellowish body that had emerged, inflicting wounds, but the creature disappeared into the ground instantly, preventing us from finishing it off.

Despite its huge body crawling back into the ground, there was no sign of its presence from the ground.

It was obvious that if it surged up again, our division would be completely annihilated.

We could only pray that at least one of us would escape the forbidden zone if we scattered.

But at that moment, I made a decision. To be the bait.

When it first surged up, we inflicted many wounds on the maggot’s body.

Since those wouldn’t heal immediately, if we could just make the maggot show itself again, we could definitely finish it off this time.

I decided to be the bait to lure it out again.

“…I’m counting on you.”

My comrades didn’t say much and simply nodded.

I could feel their sense of guilt more clearly.

Originally, they were the kind of people who would have rushed at a pack of 50 jaguars without regard for their lives.

I took a deep breath and began running with all my might. I deliberately stomped on the ground to provoke the maggot.

I heightened my senses, hoping to feel even the slightest hint of it emerging from the ground.

At that moment, I felt a strange sensation.

It was like…

It wasn’t something I directly detected, but it seeped in suddenly, like a gift from somewhere.

An unexplainable intuition.

I instinctively twisted my body and changed direction.

And right at that spot, right where I had been, the giant maggot burst through.

“Bell did it!”

“Kill it!”

We attacked the maggot’s body with all our might as it emerged.

Flesh tore, and dark red blood poured down like rain.

The maggot’s massive body staggered.

Right at that moment.

Boom!

With a thunderous sound like lightning striking, something fell from the sky.

The maggot’s huge body was slammed to the ground in an instant and burst.

Seeing the massive black wings, I shouted at the top of my lungs without thinking. My instinct warned me. To run away at all costs.

“Scatterrrrr!”

At my words, my comrades scattered in different directions without looking back.

This was Plan B, set up in case we couldn’t defeat the maggot.

It was to execute the plan of “at least one person escaping the forbidden zone.”

I ran like mad, leveraging my advantage in speed.

But having headed deeper into the zone all day while running from the jaguars, it wasn’t easy to head back out.

I was eventually caught up.

A peculiar sensation brushed my back again.

This time too, I didn’t ignore it and dodged.

Swoosh-

As I threw my body to the side, a sharp sound swept by.

It was a bird’s foot with long talons.

Only then could I confirm the identity of that winged something.

It was a beast with bird feet and wings.

Its torso had a human shape, but its face resembled an eagle’s.

Covered in black feathers, it looked like an eagle that had stopped midway through evolution into a human.

After I just identified it and started running again, that eerie sensation immediately returned.

I immediately rolled to avoid it.

And ran again, and again trusted my senses to avoid the monster’s attacks.

As this repeated, that sensation became increasingly distinct.

I decided to call it the sixth sense.

The monster, seemingly frustrated, stopped attacking me and turned in the air.

But that was brief; the eagle monster reappeared within 5 minutes of my departure. With its comrades.

I desperately dodged attacks.

It was impossible to avoid them all.

Sharp talons raked across my back.

A burning pain spread as my flesh tore, but there wasn’t even time to scream. I had to throw my body according to my sixth sense.

I didn’t even know where I was running.

It had long diverged from the direction I was originally heading.

Dodge, run, counterattack, dodge again.

Amidst this endless struggle, I suddenly noticed a deep underground cave beneath my feet.

Finding such a cave in the middle of the desolate forbidden zone could only be called luck.

Without time to think, I threw myself into it.

Thud-

After falling for quite some time and landing, complete darkness filled my vision.

“Hah, huff… haa… ha.”

I gasped for breath that had risen to my chin and looked around, but couldn’t see anything.

The cave, without a speck of light, was so dark that I couldn’t see even an inch ahead.

As I felt my body, I found it covered in slick liquid.

It was sweat I had shed and blood from my wounds.

As the excitement subsided and reason returned, pain enveloped my entire body like a wave. Dizziness struck, and my vision blurred.

I painfully leaned against the wall.

“Ugh…!”

The pain became even more vivid. It seemed I had the deepest wound on my back.

‘I can’t pass out.’

Although I had no choice but to enter the cave, I didn’t know what kind of monsters might be here.

I took out dried meat from the pouch tied around my waist, chewed on it, and continuously surveyed the surroundings.

As time passed, my vision began to gradually adapt to the darkness. However, there was still nothing noticeable.

My sixth sense remained quiet.

The only thing that caught my eye was the curvature of the cave.

It was a wide and high cave, but it didn’t seem like any living beings resided here.

Especially, it looked too cramped for a large monster to live in.

The entrance was also narrow. Even if the beasts chased after me, it would be difficult for them to enter here.

Of course, having such simple expectations in this forbidden zone was foolish.

‘I need to sleep.’

Although my wounds were gradually healing due to my incredibly improved recovery after breaking through the fourth wall, I needed deep rest to properly recover my stamina.

‘One day. Let’s just hold out for one day.’

I sat there, spending the night with my eyes open.

On Day 3, I was the only one who survived.