-1672- The twisted setting

Successfully conquering the final mission of the World Tree alone, Rozen reached its pinnacle.

If passing through the trials in this giant domed space and reaching the door on the ceiling while being besieged by countless Guardian Knights counted as success, then Rozen had indeed accomplished it—achieving something close to impossible.

Such a feat, if revealed, would surely shock all players in ALO and even astonish the game's administrators.

Logically, having achieved such greatness, even the game's operators should have acknowledged Rozen's accomplishment and rewarded him accordingly.

Unfortunately, as Rozen had foreseen, this mission—designed to be nearly unbeatable—ultimately brought no reward, only cruel reality.

After all, the game designers were far more cunning than anyone could have imagined, making it impossible for anyone to reach the top of the World Tree and expose their secrets.

Thus...

"The door... won't open..."

Indeed.

Rozen, who had truly touched the door, found that it neither opened nor triggered any system prompt. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't force it open; the cold door rejected him entirely.

What was going on?

Was he missing a key item?

Or had he not fulfilled a specific requirement to open it?

Usually, in virtual games, there are only two explanations for failing to open a door: lack of the necessary item, or unfulfilled conditions.

However, this door was different.

The reason it wouldn't open was even more malicious and ruthless.

That is…

"In the system's settings, this door can't be opened…"

Exactly.

In the system settings, this door was designed to be unopenable.

Or rather, it was set to only open for someone with administrator privileges, like a GM account or the game designer.

In other words, only those with administrator rights or game designers could reach the top of the World Tree. Ordinary players, even after passing trials akin to hell, would still be barred from reaching the pinnacle.

The notion that completing this mission would allow one to ascend the World Tree, meet the Elf King Oberon in the sky city, and reincarnate as an Alf was likely a complete fabrication.

"How twisted..."

Rozen's face darkened, his gaze becoming cold and filled with fury.

From a rational perspective, if the top of the World Tree hid unspeakable secrets, setting the door as permanently locked was indeed sensible. But if so, why design this task in the first place? Why create such a trial, or this door, making the World Tree's top an unreachable domain?

Yet, they went out of their way to create a mission impossible to complete, leaving a door that couldn't be opened, luring players to attempt it endlessly and gain nothing in return. It was as if they wanted to revel in watching players fly like moths to a flame, only to be burned—a vile, disgusting move that enraged Rozen.

But no matter how furious Rozen was, once he intruded into this domain, the enemy would not let him go so easily.

"————!"

It was as if the silent world suddenly came alive again, with countless enemies charging toward him.

Rozen turned around, looking behind him.

There, countless Guardian Knights were either advancing with swords and spears or aiming bows from afar, making it clear Rozen was surrounded and completely targeted.

"Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!"

A rain of light arrows once again shot out, forming a dense curtain aiming straight for Rozen.

"Boom!"

Rozen's wings flapped behind him, and he swiftly darted away, letting the arrows hit the door, bouncing off with a series of clinking sounds.

Rozen, now a blur, spun around while shifting directions, employing the "Illusion Acceleration" technique to create afterimages, like a high-flying acrobat dodging the rain of arrows, darting towards the oncoming knights.

In his hand, the Fairy Sword was raised.

"Splurt!"

When a Guardian Knight charged up to Rozen, he didn't even have time to attack. Under the swift flash of the blade, he was instantly cut in two, engulfed in flames, and vanished.

"Splurt!" "Splurt!" "Splurt!" "Splurt!"

The sound of slashing was relentless as one by one, the charging Guardian Knights were cleaved apart, each felled by a single blow, either disintegrating or bursting into flames, leaving no trace behind.

Rozen, as if venting his fury, charged into the ranks of Guardian Knights, dodging every attack using Fantasy Acceleration and delivering a storm of sword strikes, leaving trails of light that cut down all in his path. Every Guardian Knight seemed to be sliced in half by a brilliant flash, unable to resist and immediately dispatched.

Rozen tore through the army of Guardian Knights several times over, slicing open several breaches in their ranks. Even the rearguard archers couldn't escape his wrath, falling one after another.

In an instant, an untold number of Guardian Knights were slain.

Such power was truly awe-inspiring, something unheard of, leaving onlookers astonished.

If it were anyone else, even the most skilled, they would have long exhausted their HP under the relentless attacks. But Rozen, relying on "Mind's Eye" for clairvoyance and "Virtual Ether" for enhancement, dodged all attacks and left his enemies trailing in the wake of his afterimages.

Of course, Rozen wasn't merely venting his frustration meaninglessly.

In that moment, he gradually raised the state of his "Mind's Eye."

In the past, to avoid overloading his brain, Rozen allowed Gyokuto to limit his "Mind's Eye," using it at a divine realm level while temporarily sealing off the ultimate form of "Mind's Eye."

But now, he began to remove the restrictions, gradually increasing the power of "Mind's Eye."

"I refuse to believe there's no way to break through this predicament."

Rozen, while fighting through the Guardian Knight army, elevated the power of "Mind's Eye," peering deeper into this world.

He intended to gaze into the core of this virtual realm, to see it all, searching through countless data and programs for a flaw in the system's settings.

With this, Rozen felt his brain seemed to be ablaze, his breath grew scorching, and his vision started to distort, blurring slightly.

The resulting change was that time around him seemed to flow slower and slower, allowing him to see more and more, as if the swarming Guardian Knight army was advancing in slow motion. Rozen could clearly see each of their movements and even glimpsed events that would unfold in the next few minutes, like a slideshow flashing through his mind.

Until a certain moment…

"This is…"

Seeing something, Rozen froze in surprise.

Then, the corners of his mouth lifted into a smile.