After the guards’ far-too-abrupt departure, I refocused oask at hand. They must’ve been the guardians of the dungeon, I reasoned, brushing off their hasty exit. Turning my attention back to the ruined path ahead, I walked toward the city.

  I’d never been here myself—Yarriw ot the other testers favored. Oime it was the talk of the breakroom for its exploits and bugs.

  See, Riker? This world ’t be real. We found exploits i servers!

  I grinned faintly at the memory, but it didn’t st. The grin vanished as something more troubling crossed my mind.

  Wait! How could I fet?

  The queen of Yarriw, Irwen's—and acc to the lore also mine?—aor, was famous for her petrifiagic, turning anything and everything into stone. As a result, all the monsters in her domain were… well, stone-based creatures.

  Meaning my whip is useless here.

  “Whyyyy!” I groahrowing my hands into the air in despair as I passed through the st gate. The city of Yarriw stretched out before me, a sprawliropolis of decay aru.

  The once-majestic stone walls, ned and crumbling, had deep scars touched by time and quest. Tattered imperial banners g desperately to weathered arches, their insignias faded to near oblivion.

  What a waste. I’d collect them; a fellow sergeant used to pay for them after every battle.

  Not these old ones.

  Shattered rubble and scorched earth lihe streets, a sign of a brutal campaign that had reduced the elven luxury to desote remnants of defiance.

  The elven spires now sagged, covered in moss and ivy, their rebellion eroded by decades of .

  Well, they deserved it. If I believed the imperial books—which I shouldn’t—the old elven Kingdom was brutal to any non-elf, that was a fact. Humans weren’t kind to them, they retaliated with also not being kind, and the rest is history.

  History now scattered at my feet.

  Hah, I’m funny.

  ***

  Ian’s journey

  The sharp ti-ting of Ian’s daggers finishing the st burrower echoed through the cavern, the sound fading into the damp silence.

  It hadn’t been easy, cutting through the waves of mobs iwisting tunnels, but it was necessary. He stood over the twitg body for a moment, his self-satisfied smile hidden in the shadows of his hood. Done.

  Coastal caverns were a maze of tunnels, carved eions of burrowers that seemed to burst from the earth at random. The air was heavy with salt and damp, every sound distorted by echoes, making Ian just sick.

  He nodded curtly at the passing elven warriors, his posture straight and anding, as though he were their superior. They nodded back, most out of habit, but Ian wasn’t their leader.

  No, he was meeting one.

  He stopped outside a graent; the vas polished with elven symbols stitched into the edges. Without hesitation, he swept the fp aside and stepped in.

  A man sat at a sturdy wooden table, his silver armor polished, every inscribed with glowing runes. Beside him, a bd-gold sword hovered in the air, its bde shimmering, looking for enemies.

  [Prince Don Lv.15]Type: 5-epic | HP: 350/350Donovan’s eyes lifted from the dots spread across the table, his face as sharp as his sword. “Ah, Ian,” he said, his loud voianding. “The job is done, I presume?”

  Ian immediately dropped to one knee, bowing his head in a show of deference. “Yes, my lord. All that remains is the mai.”

  “Splendid,” Donovan replied, setting the dots aside with an air of finality. His gaze lingered on Ian, calg. “You have proven yourself the perfect servant. As such, I have decided to grant you the mission.”

  Ian tensed slightly, his heart pig up its pace even as he stayed perfectly still.

  “You,” Donovan tinued, “will be our st resort. You will infiltrate Princess Charlie’s inner circle and bee the instrument of our victory.”

  Advan nobility and hurt John? Perfect.

  A faint chime rang in Ian’s ears, apanied by the unmistakable flicker of the system notification.

  [You are offered an Epic Quest: Empire shall fall - spy]Ian allowed himself a slow, measured breath, his lips curling into an almost imperceptible smile. The perfect servant, huh?

  ***

  Inside Yarriw dungeon…

  Something moved—faster than I expected—and a sharp, searing pain shot through my left side.

  [Soldier Of Stone Lv.12]Type: 2-unon | HP: 216/216My gaze so the mugger—a golem, its t form carved entirely from weathered sto stood tall and threatening, its design mimig a standard infantry soldier, plete with a chipped but deadly sword and a cracked shield held in its hands. The faint glow of runes inscribed into its surface pulsed like a heartbeat.

  I had only a split sed to react.

  Gritting my teeth, I raised my shield and barely intercepted its strike.

  [Block successful. Mitigated amount of damage: 3, other damage halved. Suffered amount: 7]“The hell you were dopping?!” I shouted, my voice a mix of pain and panic as I staggered back. The impact had left my arm trembling, the force of the blow sending numbness down to my bones.

  Runes for healing were ez by now. With a fliy fingers and a sharp breath, I ted, “Heal!”

  [You healed yourself for 18 HP]As I thought, it was all made of stone, modeled after standard infantry, wearing a spear and shield.

  Moving fast.

  [Block successful. Mitigated amount of damage: 3, other damage halved. Suffered amount: 6]The golem advanced again, its stone joints grinding as it moved with frightening speed. Its sword carving an arc through the air that sent a gust of wind rushing past me.

  “You’re all stone anyway,” I muttered bitterly, eyeing its rocky armor. Thiost attacks—but also redundant, sidering its entire body was just as solid. “Useless.”

  It lunged again, and I barely sidestepped in time, the bde slig through the space where I’d just been standing. Dust and fragments of debris kicked up arouinging my face.

  I started casting my new spell.

  Goolems were the stupid, small, natural things—annoyis at best. Golems, though? They were the real deal made by mages. And I felt that—every crushing blow driving home just how outcssed I was.

  “I’m a priest, not a tank!” I yelled at the struct, half in frustration, half in desperation. The words, of course, were for my enjoyment only. Its glowing eyes locked onto me as it shifted its stance, readying atack.

  How do you fight something like that? “Same as mud wolves!” I muttered, retreating a few paces to buy time. My grin spread as I firag the runes in the air. “ lightning!”

  ventional wisdom might argue that stone ters electricity.

  ventional wisdom would be stupid.

  The arc of lightning crackled to life, leaping from my fiips and striking the golem square in the head. The fsh illumis brokeures as electricity danced over its head, seeking weaknesses in the solid stone.

  It found some.

  [Critical hit! Target lost 32HP (16x2)]That did the trick! My intelligeat may not have been sky high, but it was high enough to let me moonlight as a budget mage. The golem recoiled, its glowing runes flickeriically as the energy disrupted its movements.

  But there was just one problem.

  The spell had a long cooldown.

  The golem recovered quicker than I expected, pivoting with an uling speed. Its bde whistled through the air, aimed directly at my unguarded side. My heart leapt into my throat as I realized my mistake—I’d left myself wide open in my glee over the successful hit.

  Move! Now!

  My reflexes kicked in just in time. I swung my shield into pce, brag for the impact. The bde ected with a deafening g that rattled my entire body.

  [Block successful. Mitigated amount of damage: 3, other damage halved. Suffered amount: 7]The force of the strike sent me sliding back, my heels skidding against the cracked cobblestones. My arm screamed in protest, but I didn’t dare lower my shield. The golem’s glowing eyes locked onto me, uing.

  It pressed on with another swing, capitalizing on my imbah a relentless force.

  “You’re twenty years early,” I muttered, drawing on years of grueling imperial footwork drills. My stance shifted instinctively, weight distributed to my back foot as I readied myself. This wasn’t just any dodge—it recision.

  I darted to the side, pg my foot on an uohat jutted out from the broken road. The move was risky—bang on it required more fihan strength.

  Exactly what I need!

  My body twisted fluidly, the golem’s massive bde slig harmlessly through the air where I’d just been.

  The moment its momentum carried it forward, I pnted my weight oone and sprang into a. Laung myself sideways with a sharp pivot, I found my footing and delivered a swift, calcuted kick to the golem’s khe impact echoed with a satisfying crack as it lost its bas massive body toppling to the ground like a drunken German.

  “Down!” I ughed triumphantly, a grin spreading ay fatil the weight of reality hit me. My ughter turned into a bitter smile. I had no sword to capitalize on its vulnerable position, no way to strike a decisive blow.

  Using my whip, I at least made it to knoas the boss here.

  [Armor not pierced. Target lost 3HP (6/2 normal)]All I could do was watch as it stirred, its heavy limbs grinding against the ground as it rose again.

  “I don’t want to rely on Ice Dance again… I’m not a orick pony,” I muttered under my breath, watg the golem limp toward me. Its movements were sluggish now, its damaged knee grinding audibly with every step. At least that kick had done something.

  I finally put down the annoying enemy after a few grueling minutes. My arms ached and my mana reserves were embarrassingly low. I overestimated myself.

  This pce wasn’t for pyers like me—not at measly level seven with no css upgrade. No, this dungeon yground for level 10s and their shiny new skills. Skills I didn’t have.

  And I couldn’t just exploit the heck out of it like the testers used to. The admins and especially AIs were watg and staying low key was important.

  That’s why I was creeping around the rubble now, moving as if I were trying to slip out of a bar without paying my tab. The parallel wasn’t far off. As in the bar, stealth was useless. I riest—no presence of any hiding skills in sight.

  My heart pounded as I tiptoed over the uones, each step painstakingly measured. Please don’t notice me, please don’t notice me… But, of course, Nathan had other pns.

  My foot nded on a precariously banced k of rubble, and the iable happened. A rain of loose stones cascaded noisily down the slope, tumbling toward the feet of two patrolling golems.

  Oh boy.

  Both structs stopped mid-step, their glowing eyes snapping toward the source of the noise.

  “Uhmm, oupsie?” I squeaked, a weak grin pstered on my face before bolting toward the gate, while starting runes for my spell.

  Behihe golems reacted with arming speed, their movements precise. One hurled a spear with imperial accuracy, the on embedding itself into the ground right where I’d been standing a split sed earlier.

  The echo of the spear’s impact rang out, and I didn’t dare look back. The pounding of my heels against the ground mixed with the grinding of stone as they gave chase.

  Why am I like this? I’m not weak!

  I do these runes in my sleep now. As the pounding of sto closed in behind me, I skidded to a halt, pivoting sharply. “ lightning!” I shouted, eling my mana into the spell.

  The air crackled with energy, and a blinding arc of lightning surged from my fiips, striking the first golem square in the chest. The force of the hit sent cracks spider webbing across its stone surface, but the energy didn’t stop there. It leapt with ferocious precision to the sed golem, coiling around its craggy body as if alive, seeking every oint.

  The spell didn’t end with one round—it ersistent.

  The arapped back to the first golem, surging through its body once more before returning to the sed.

  Over and over, the energy bounced between them, each strike carving deeper into their stone forms, exploiting every fracture it found.

  The battlefield lit up with every hit, the golems jerking like broken marioes uhe spell, before its power waned.

  The st arcs fizzled out with a soft crack, leaving only scorched marks on their bodies.

  [Critical hit! Target lost 32HP (16x2)][Critical hit! Target lost 24HP (12x2)][Critical hit! Target lost 18HP (9x2)][Critical hit! Target lost 12HP (6x2)][Critical hit! Target lost 6HP (3x2)]“Holy Nathan!” The words spilled out before I could stop myself, my eyes widening at the devastation before me. Both golems had frozen mid-stride, their glowing runes flickering weakly, as if stunned by the sheer force of the attack.

  “I chose this spell because it was reended as OP,” I muttered, uo tear my gaze away from the smoking Golems as they started moving. “But… it really is. No wohey agreed it’s one of the most useful i spells.”

  The faint hum of their runes reminded me… I fot my pn, pn to run.

  “Oupsie,” I muttered under my breath, raising my shield just in time.

  [Block successful. Mitigated amount of damage: 3, other damage halved. Suffered amount: 7]Their coordination was fwless, each strike flowing with the other, c weaknesses. If I were their instructor, I’d be handing out praise right now. But I wasn’t. I was the target. Kind of dying here! Ice Dao the rescue!

  Desperation surged in me as I staggered back, angling myself toward a crumbling wall, starting the runes for Ice Dance. If nothing else, it would limit their fnking. But as I pressed my back to the cold stone, a sound of scrapih filled the air.

  I froze as anure emerged from the shadows.

  A third golem.

  I might die here.