cerim

Chapter 589 - Gray kitten

I open my eyes back in the common area. After glancing over the notifications, I close them and move the rewards for the winner of the 4th event towards the final reward.

Only one event remains.

My body is restored to its previous state, and all the changes I made to it at the start of the 4th event are gone. Only a series of memories remains, along with many things I should improve on.

There is also a name of a person I will never forget, safely stored in my mind.

Sen...

Chapter 588 - Lioren

POV Lioren

I’ll never understand humans. They're strange, often weak, but every now and then, one is crazy enough to surprise even a demon.

Adrian used to be like that. He had his own rules, ones I could never understand. Following them he broke through Beyond floors at a speed that left even handlers speechless. Nathaniel is similar. He also has that spark that makes me want to destroy him, but even more so, I want to ignite it further just to see how brightly ...

Chapter 587 - Two monsters

POV Isabella Martinez

One of the doors is wide open, but the other one hasn’t moved at all. The floor’s clear like glass, and whenever we step on it, mana underneath swirls and ripples, kind of like water. Over the open door, there’s a barrier that only lets people in. Once you walk through, you’re stuck. You can’t leave. Right now, there are about 50 of us in here.

Some people are still looking around, trying to understand the situation. A few sit in th...

Chapter 586 - Not Noname

POV Brainiac

He is gone in a blink without me being able to track him. No movement of mana, no vibrations sent through the air. Something I even started noticing with Tacita at times is not even slightly present here.

I hear shouts and look back to see Noname now standing in front of the door with his hand on the white palm symbol. The door starts shaking, dust and dirt falling off the edges as it opens to reveal a similar room. Inside, a single person stands on a...

Chapter 585 - Dumb Human, Dumb Demon

As we walk up the metal stairs and head toward the elevator, Whitey lets out a little laugh. Just one, and then he stuffs his mouth with more pizza.

We reach the elevator and I press a single red button, which brings us upward. The higher we go, the better view he has of the shuttle and the surrounding nature. A dry, mostly reddish, rocky, and dusty area. Still, there is a rough beauty to it.

The elevator shakes, creaks, and stops, and the door opens to a metal mesh ramp. We walk ...

Chapter 584 - Roadtrip

Myrra stays with me throughout the entire twelve hours I spend creating items. She’s curious, but also unusually understanding when I need to focus. A few hours in, I even start talking a bit more, and she responds with a barrage of questions.

She even burns her hands a few times while poking at some of the items I’m working with. To her surprise, even using mana to defend herself doesn’t stop the burns.

Thankful for her presence I pay her back by creating an item according ...

Chapter 583 - My master

I look at her for a while before asking, “Ruler of Greed?”

“From you, I would prefer Ruby.”

“The Ruby I knew died and you aren't her.”

“That's true, but I like the relationship you two had. I want it too.”

“So greedy.”

“Exactly.” She smiles at me. “Your disciple is cute, you know. I promised your duplicate so I'm making sure Envy doesn't hurt her. He even sent one of his vessels to kill her, but I dealt with him.”

“Thank you fo...

Chapter 582 - Absolute Candidate

Ruby is just as I remember her. She looks barely out of her twenties, with long red hair and yellow eyes marked by a complex pattern. Her skin is slightly paler than usual, and she wears clothing similar to what Absolute Lissandra of the 2nd floor used to wear, sleek, suit-like attire that might suit a man more than a woman. Like all the avatars I've seen, she shows no emotion. There's simply no life behind those eyes.

The moment both of us appear, my eyes activate to their utmost, and ...

Chapter 581 - Start of the third event

The third event is going on in the same way as during the 1st tournament.

Each common area has dozens of dedicated places, each with its own huge screen. It’s a bit chaotic, the same as before since there are many challenges happening at once. Yet people are gathered around, with groups sitting on the hills and waiting for more notable participants to take on their challenges.

Such attention is primarily reserved for individuals from Hell difficulty. Whenever one of them steps f...

Chapter 580 - Brave

After making a deal with Savant, I don't return immediately. Instead, I move to my room, where I sit down and enter my mind space.

Whitey waits there, as he always does. This time he chooses one of these enormous salt mines we have on earth. The air is thick with the sharp, dry scent of salt that clings to the throat with every breath. Massive pillars of untouched rock salt stretch toward a ceiling lost in darkness, supporting the vast, excavated chambers. The walls glisten in the dim a...

Chapter 579 - An offer

POV Nathaniel

As Lily leads me towards the others I notice Myrra sneaking closer, her tall figure looming over the two unsuspecting disciples trailing behind.

Well, it had to happen.

I hear Pallius shout at the catgirl to leave him alone while my minion starts kicking as Myrra squats in front of her and rubs her cheeks, calling her something as silly as Minithaniel.

I think I'm starting to dislike how often my name gets twisted and turned into a nickna...

Chapter 578 - Half-Demon’s Master

To my disciple's disappointment, Velis doesn't react to her provocation, most likely due to his personality and the concentration-type skill he almost certainly possesses. Part of me wonders how rare concentration-type skills are in demons. So far, all the demons I have met have been on the more hotheaded side.

Vega tries to say something provocative again, but I halt the movement of her mouth by absorbing it.

“Congratulations on the win,” I tell Velis.

"Thank you very m...

Chapter 577 - Demon without heart

As Vega appears beside me, she looks up while I look down at her. Lily stands nearby with her disciple at her side, seeming hesitant. She and the others watched my minion lose in the finals, so she probably thinks Vega will be upset. Perhaps they expect me to say something to the disappointed little half-demon to ease the sting of defeat.

None of them knows her as well as I do.

My minion shows no hesitation and doesn't even put a mask on her face, not in front of me. She smiles br...

Chapter 576 - Clash of the disciples

The minion event, or rather the unofficial event, ramps up gradually. Even though some of the little guys are already outside, there aren't that many of them considering that the event area is huge.

Gradually monsters start appearing too, and weather changes influence the battlefield. Now the sunny day has been replaced by a blizzard that freezes the lake's surface, allowing several fights to occur at once.

Some disciples fight inside the buildings while a smaller group has decide...

Chapter 575 - Uselessly handsome man

Looking intently at the young lynthari disciple, I lift my hand high with my palm open. Above my hand, a golden thermal orb forms from flames of thermal energy blazing across its surface.

Energy floods into it until it expands with an audible thump. It grows from the size of a golden ball to that of a baseball, a football, and finally, a beach ball, and then it is even bigger.

It floats above me, drying the air with its presence as it emits a cracking noise and heat that makes the...

Book 4 is out on Amazon!

Hello, it's time to shill yet another release of HDT, but first, I would like to thank Kotikomori. She did amazing work on the cover once again! And damn, if I were her, I would have told myself to fck off long ago with how much I bother her over a single book cover. But no one makes Nathaniel look as punchable as she does.

This time, we are missing Biscuit from the cover, so I hope Biscuit cultists will forgive me. If all goes well, he should appear on the Book 6 cover.

Oh, and m...

Chapter 574 - Unofficial event

I watch the man leave. Once again I feel the urge to estimate his level but I stop myself and let it be. I turn back to the screen and continue watching the rest of the event with everyone else. Small groups have formed around the area and a few players from hard difficulty move about taking the last bets or paying out the finished ones.

A few minutes before the event ends I stand up and teleport toward the fourth round's zone. Victoria is still inside the event, but I decide to wait fo...

Chapter 573 - Hope it is worth it

I help the Witherclaw break free from another trap set by Leticia, Luna, and their group. As it charges forward, Monte shifts, growing to twice his height. Dark green scales spread across his body while his face stretches into a lizard-like shape, his movements turning sharp and predatory.

I disrupt their attempt to help their tournament winner as Monte clashes against the beast.

Leticia calls out to me in surprise, but I ignore her call and dodge aside as Luna, now the size of an...

Chapter 572 - Witherclaw

Staring at the window, a chuckle escapes my lips. Another follows, building until it turns into full-blown laughter. I keep laughing for a good ten seconds before finally stopping.

[Focus]

I open the notifications again and start doing calculations.

Thirty-eight minutes from now. Twenty-three minutes before the end of the event the Witherclaw should be valued at 38 thousand points, enough for me to secure the first spot. Even though Lissandra said that 25 mi...

Chapter 571 - One hour remains

My mana reserves are much lower now; that is how much it took to survive the island ‘landing’, along with the explosions, especially the one caused by the black mana destabilizing.

Still, I'm grateful to the monster for showing me what I can survive, and I thank it for reminding me not to underestimate my opponents no matter how capable I believe I am. As the hydra has proven, everyone has a trick up their sleeve.

One of the heads bursts open under strain as the beast overcloc...

Chapter 570 - Special grade beasts

My mana keeps regenerating, and plenty of it remains. After the first event, this abundance feels almost unusual.

Finally, I also locate another of the remaining three beasts, just as the Stormscale Basilisk dies—fallen under the attack of multiple Beyonders. Yet even there no one can be sure who got the points in the end.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who deeply dislikes this lack of information.

Flying over the beach and out to sea, I reach a small island. It’s close t...

Chapter 569 - Hunt continues

The third beast I was able to detect is the Stormscale Basilisk. It is serpentine, as mentioned, and the size of a building, yet impressively fast despite its mass.

It's immediately clear that it is much stronger than the beast I killed.

Its serpentine form carves through the forest, shimmering scales flashing with every movement. Every movement tears into the earth, splintering roots and crushing undergrowth beneath its weight. Trees bend and snap as its coiling body smashes thro...

Chapter 568 - This could work

The black spear pierces the heart, drawing in its mana. Slowly and almost imperceptibly, the heartbeat weakens, but the heart stays alive, continuing to feed the spear. The heart produces more mana than I can generate right now.

The spear pulls mana from farther and farther away, including the nearby mana batteries and the pillar on the opposite side of the room with the smaller heart.

At this point, I'm sure I wouldn’t be able to take control of it even if I wanted to.

I ...

Chapter 567 - Frustration

I exit the cave and propel myself higher into the air, rising toward the top of the floating island before stopping near its edge. Gathering a large amount of mana, I unleash a powerful pulse, sending it as far as possible in an attempt to detect any beasts.

I detect them, along with several signatures of attendees, mostly from Hard and Normal difficulty, with a few from Hell.

As for the beasts, there are thousands of them, tens of thousands, but most of the signatures feel weak.<...

Book 5 cover (this time, it's the final version, for real, I promise)

Remember when I showed you guys the Book 5 cover and said it was finished? Well, I LIED!

Here's the old post – https://www.patreon.com/posts/book-5-cover-119153542 You can check the previous version and compare it to the newer, truly final version I just posted.

If anyone dislikes it, meet me behind the mall at 9 PM. No witnesses. No buddies.

Chapter 566 - Start of the 2nd Event

Coming back from meeting with Jean, all of group 4 gathers in the living room. The two boxes with thermonuclear warheads are piled on top of each other and pushed into the corner. Someone even threw a blanket over them, and they are used as seating, funnily enough.

I sit on the couch near Dennis and Aaron and ask, “Are you still stealing stuff from other rounds and collecting information?”

Dennis lowers his voice, “You bet.”

“You two seem to be doing a good job. No...

Chapter 565 - A Matter of Control

Derick shakes his head and says, “We can assume there will be more tournaments if the system will follow the current schedule. In the future, when some of us will likely be close to level 400, it would be reasonable to make certain promises then or agree on a set of rules for after the end of the tutorial. The damage we can cause without even actively using skills is far too great to ignore. Even if you aren’t a mana-based build and release your mana, it should still be able to hurt or ev...

Chapter 564 - Ten Kings

It takes a few minutes longer, but gradually all of the 1st tournament winners gather.

Instead of joining the conversation, I just listen with one ear and let Vic handle it while I observe them one after another.

First up is Jean. There isn’t much to say about that guy. With Vic complimenting him and me observing him even now, I consider him among the very top people in the Earth’s tutorial.

Tacita would probably have an easy time with him, but with whom wouldn’t she? ...

Chapter 563 - Five Beasts

Another notification appears as we get outside. More placements. Another 1st place and a lot of shards. And my body is healed by the system in that incredible way as if it made missing parts appear out of nowhere. As before, I move the reward to strengthen the final reward for the tournament.

The next event is Beast Hunt, and as before, we now have a 24‑hour break before it starts, and in 12 hours we will get more information.

Someone tugs on my clothes and I look to the side wh...

Chapter 562 - A payment for a simple request

Victoria (Beyond, King) ⟶ Spacewolf (Beyond) +100 pts

Victoria (Beyond, King) ⟶ Maple (Hell) +20 pts

Victoria (Beyond, King) ⟶ CarrotCake (Beyond, King) +5,000 pts

These are some of the notifications in the feed I have. These ones are probably from a few minutes ago. As reliable as always, Victoria dealt with them and then went on to do her things.

Flying high into the air, I observe the battlefield. Now, without...