In the level 1800 hunting ground Land of Ancient Spirits.

Puck! Puck! Bang! Bang!

Flop!

Flop!

It was quite shocking that the access restrictions skyrocketed from level 200 to level 700 without any notice, but I ignored it because it was beyond my control.

I didn’t even pay attention to the expanded passage to Kuhana mentioned in the message, for I was confident of beating any enemy.

Aside from my remaining stat points that increased tremendously on my return to Earth, I obtained new level 8 and level 9 skills, even though I used five skill points for it.

In addition, I was equipped with the 15 Enhancement Ice Emperor’s guardian sword and a supreme attack that could produce an almost unbelievable level of power thanks to being able to overlap any skill a whopping five times.

What if I encounter the rulers of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Royal Districts, who I intentionally avoided during the Advance Party event? I was confident I could confront them without any fear.

Of course, it didn’t mean I would relax enough to be complacent or let down my guard.

That’s why I kept hunting so hard even though there was only little I could gain by leveling up now. It was just an expression of my confidence.

I did not pay much attention to the expanded passage to Kuhana in the message because I was confident that I could win overwhelmingly even if I met the rulers of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Royal Districts.

If I could go back to Kuhana, that would be fine with me, and it would also be good even if they showed up through the expanded passage leading to Earth.

Anyway, I didn’t care about the great chaos among all the players around the world because of that message. I just focused on hunting in the level 1800 hunting ground Land of Ancient Spirits day after day.

***

It has been 15 days since the message about the access restrictions up to level 700 and the expansion of the passage linked to Kuhana rang.

In the past, they might have discovered it right away because the red and black land that emerged in the middle of Australia was as big as its neighboring country, New Zealand.

But the world was full of monsters everywhere. In other words, people there had no choice but to group together as much as possible to ensure their safety.

Moreover, due to Australia’s terrain, the densely populated areas and large cities existed along the coast.

“Ugh? What the heck is that?”

“Wasn’t this just a wasteland before?”

“You bet. Even a month ago it was a wasteland with nothing but monsters…”

The members of the Heblock Guild, located on the southern coast, had no choice but to stare blankly at the vast red and black land which they had never seen before.

While they were watching it, the red and black land spewed out another round of soap bubbles, which then burst at the same time.

Pong! Pong! Pong! Pong! Pong! Pong!

As a result, the affected area expanded at a faster rate.

Then, one of the Heblock Guild members who was looking at the spectacular scenes blankly accidentally touched the expanding land with the tip of his foot, and he immediately heard a message.

You are now in the Land of Despair.

– You don’t belong to Kuhana.

: Your stat points decrease by 50%.

: Your health and mana decrease by 50%.

: Your passive skills decrease by 50%.

: Your active skills decrease by 50%.

: After you use a skill, its cooldown increases by 500%.

: Your combat power continuously decreases to a maximum of 50%.

: The automatic recovery of your health and mana is reset to 0.

“Oh my God! What the heck is this?”

After confirming the message, the guild member couldn’t help but be stunned.

Even though he had not suffered many debuffs, he definitely had suffered some pretty bad debuffs before. But the debuffs he was faced with now were the worst he had ever suffered.

Even though each of the penalties was devastating to him, the drastic increase in his skill cooldowns by a whopping 500% was shocking as he could do nothing after he used his skills until their cooldowns returned.

At that moment, an unidentified group appeared in the red and black land, the Land of Despair. They started attacking the Heblock Guild members right away. Of course, the Heblock guild members were not stupid, so they counterattacked immediately.

“Soar! Earth Barrier!”

“My body will be solid steel!”

“Poison Arrow!”

:

“Express Anger!”

“Chain Lightning!”

“Pour on the enemy! Fire Spirit’s Wrath!”

The Heblock Guild wasn’t one of the leading guilds in Australia, but it had its own main base and security forces who patrolled their territory. So they moved in an organized manner despite being startled by the sudden attack, with tanks blocking the strangers’ attacks with healers and enchanters backing them up.

Puck! Puck!

But the tanks’ Earth Barrier and Solid Steel could not block the attack of those who appeared in the red and black land. They were smashed by the enemy right away.

But the enemy didn’t bother to counterattack when the dealers of the Heblock Guild pushed them hard with strong attacks.

As a matter of fact, the dealers’ attack didn’t inflict any meaningful damage to the enemy.

To make matters worse, they now began to experience a drastic decrease in their physical power.

“Damn it! My skill cooldowns…”

“The power of my skills have also decreased by 50%! Man, this is too much!”

“Pull back, guys!”

“Before you confront the enemy, get out of this land of despair first!”

Of course, if they wished to, they could use their other defense and attack skills because they had obtained many skill points while leveling up until now.

But they knew that even if they could launch a strong attack on them, they would not be able to inflict any meaningful damage, so they chose to withdraw from the Land of Despair rather than counterattack.

At that moment, another message rang.

You left behind traces of setting foot on the Land of Despair.

– The traces will remain for 5 hours.

– It is impossible to get out of the Land of Despair while the traces are maintained.

-While the traces are still there, you can’t get out of the Land of Despair.

– When the traces disappear after 5 hours, you won’t leave behind any further traces for 30 minutes even if you set foot on the Land of Despair.

-You can exit the Land of Despair within those 30 minutes, but if you are still inside after 30 minutes, you will be affected by the traces for another 5 hours.

In the end, the Heblock guild members were stunned by the message that once they set foot on the Land of Despair, they could not leave it for 5 hours.

Only then did those who appeared in the Land of Despair open their mouths with a big smile.

“Lol. Don’t worry. The Land of Despair will cover the entire place called Earth. So you guys will never be able to get out of it. Oh, you have the sky and sea, so being birds and fish won’t be a bad option for you!”

They were obviously sneering at the Heblock Guild members.

At the same time, the man who spoke ordered an attack, and the Heblock Guild members who were trapped in this place helplessly collapsed at their attack without the slightest bit of resistance..