[Sea Of Mazes]

Upon their arrival at the [Sea of Mazes] dungeon, Luk and Vanessa were greeted by an unexpected sight.

A vast crowd of players had surrounded the entrance, standing guard as if the dungeon was a hidden treasure waiting to be claimed.

"Mhm... I'll take care of them." Vanessa offered, stepping forward with a dangerous look in her eyes, ready to clear the path.

"No need for that, I'll take care of them myself." Luk interjected with a faint smile, gently stopping Vanessa

After all, he had his own reasons for dealing with them - his weapon needed to be fed.

As he approached the portal, the crowd of players instantly became wary, and surprisingly, they didn't know about his identity.

"Stay back! This dungeon is under the control of the Black Crown Guild! Trespass, and we'll have no choice but to eliminate you." One of the players exclaimed coldly as he pointed his weapon at Luk.

Hearing his words, Luk only laughed loudly.

But his amusement was short-lived, and his expression quickly turned icy.

"Die."

In the blink of an eye, Luk's demeanor transformed. 

Swish!

Splat!

Like a flash of lightning, he moved through the crowd, his movements so fast that the players barely had time to react.

His dagger slashed through the air, and in mere seconds, each player's head fell to the ground.

The blood from their severed necks painted the dirt, while the progress indicator on his dagger crept up.

"Let's go in." He simply said.

With that, they stepped through the portal together, leaving the chaos behind them. The moment they crossed the threshold, the environment changed drastically.

They found themselves in front of a large aquarium, the transparent walls of which revealed an endless underwater maze.

"Uhh... how are we supposed to clear this?" Vanessa inquired, looking at Luk with confused eyes.

"Don't worry about it~" Luk replied nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders as if the answer was obvious.

He then approached the glass barrier of the aquarium, tapping it lightly as if testing its solidity.

Gathering mana into his dagger, he prepared himself for an attack.

"Open sesame!" he exclaimed, a playful tone in his voice as he lunged forward, aiming his dagger at the glass.

But, just as the dagger was about to make contact, something extraordinary happened.

Swoop!

Without even a scratch on the glass, a special passage magically opened in front of them.

Luk stepped through the newly formed gateway with a grin, leaving Vanessa to follow him with a look of utter bewilderment on her face.

"Ahh... I missed this place." Luk murmured with excitement.

Vanessa's eyes widened as she saw the scene in front of her. They were directly on top of the whole aquarium.

From their postion, they could see other players navigating through the underwater labyrinth, each of them desperately searching for the path that would lead them to the end.

'How much did you play the game?' she pondered, casting a sidelong glance at Luk

He strolled beside her with a relaxed demeanor, a faint smile playing on his lips, seemingly oblivious to the struggles of the players below who were contending with sea monsters and the maze's complexities.

After a while, they reached the end of the aquarium, and in front of them stood a big creature with nine heads, swimming in a huge lake.

"Is that... an Hydra?!" Vanessa couldn't hide her shock.

"Exactly~" Luk nodded his head.

"Just wait here a moment... I'll take care of this Hydra in seconds~" He spoke michievously as he gazed at the huge creature.

'The real reason I've maintained my Level 1 status was precisely for this moment—to defeat this Hydra while still at Level 1,' he thought, a grin spreading across his face.

Without hesitation, Luk initiated a live stream, and within seconds, the stream's viewer count skyrocketed to 100,000 people.

{StealerOfPanties: Wow, I joined the live stream because it was from Unknown, but... is that a FUCKING HYDRA!?}

{ILikeFeet: Seriously! Look at the size of it! Plus, isn't this the [Sea of Mazes] dungeon????}

{MeAlsoLikeFeet: Isn't this dungeon controlled by the Black Crown Guild? Did Unknown just storm in here?}

{FeetLicker: Honestly, considering what we know about Unknown, he most likely did invade it.}

"Alright~," Luk whispered to himself, his gaze fixed on the Hydra.

He gripped his dagger in a reverse hold and sprinted toward the Hydra.

"Smoke filled room~, feel the tension build~" Singing a song, Luk jumped directly into the Hydra's head.

⋘ Activating unique ability: "Shadow Reaper"... ⋙

Instantly, a dark purple aura engulfed him, swirling shadows dancing around his form like whispers in the night. 

Swish!

With a swift movement, Luk's dagger sliced through the air, cleanly severing one of the Hydra's heads.

Yet, due to the creature's incredible regenerative abilities, the severed head quickly grew back in just a few seconds.

"One, two, three~, just pull the trigger~" However, Luk continued singing, as if that wasn't a problem at all.

ROARRR!

The Hydra roared in anger, one of its heads lunging at Luk in an attempt to bite him.

But Luk dodged the attack with ease and used the moment to climb onto the beast.

"Let's play~ some Russian Roule~tte~!" 

Splat!

KARRGGHH!

Stabbing one of the Hydra's eyes, Luk then darted towards its other heads, treating them like playthings in his deadly game.

{ShadowFan123: OMG!!! Are you guys seeing this?! #TeamUnknown}

{HydraHunter: RIP Hydra, didn't stand a chance against Luk. This is EPIC!!!}

{SilentWatcher: How is he doing this!? This is insane!!}

{LoliHunter923: Wait... wasn't a Hydra supposed to be as strong as a 3rd-floor boss?}

{BarbieGirlFan: Wow, so does that mean Unknown could easily beat the 3rd floor? Those guild master who couldn't beat the 3rd floor boss must be crying right now, ahahahha!}

ROARRR!

The hydra roared in deep pain, as only the middle head remained, and somehow she couldn't regenerate her other heads.

"Mhm~, wondering why you can't grow your heads back?" Luk asked, looking at the Hydra with a smile. 

"This dagger I have is pretty special. It can even stop something like 'immortality'," he explained with a sinister grin.

"So, I'm sorry! For your loss, of course," he added, before mercilessly decapitating the Hydra's last head with a swing of his dagger.

Splash...

The last head hit the ground, and the huge lake it had occupied froze over, revealing a indigo-colored chest in front of Luk.

"Well~, that's all for today, I guess." He sighed.

Turning to the streaming device, Luk flashed a charming smile and said, "Bye~" before turning it off.

In that moment, the shortest but most-watched live stream in the history of the [Tower of Trials] was created.

More than 200 million people watched Luk defeat the Hydra in just a few minutes.

Turning to Vanessa, Luk's eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Did you enjoy the show?"

Vanessa stood there, speechless, which made Luk sigh deeply.

Yet, he had achieved what he wanted.

⋘ It's detected that the player has killed a "Hydra" at Level 1! Awarding the special hidden achievement—"Killer of Ancients"! ⋙

⋘ You have leveled up! ⋙

⋘ You have leveled up! ⋙

⋘ You have leveled up! ⋙

⋘ You have leveled up! ⋙

⋘ You have leveled... ⋙

A bunch of notifications popped just in front of him, which made him smile deeply.

Each hidden achievement grants a "hidden" status to the user.

Typically from the achievement [Killer of Ancients], "luck" would be the reward, but Luk no longer needed it.

Therefore, the [Killer of Ancients] achievement, which usually grants "luck," instead bestowed "Authority" upon him.

The most important thing in the [Tower of Trials]...

⋘ You have gained the Authority "Monopolize"! ⋙

"Just what I wanted..."