[Congratulations! For the first time in Beyond’s history, you have defeated the Floor Master, Dragon Zombie, on your first try! You have received 3 skill points as a reward. Current skill points: 10]

[Your achievements have reached a threshold, allowing you to obtain a third god’s true name! All gods eyeing you begin to compete.]

[You have obtained the title, ‘Zombie Dragon Master.’ All stats have increased by 2. The title’s effect will apply even when the title is not equipped.]

[You have obtained the entrance ticket to the SSS+ rank 2-man Event Dungeon, ‘Deadland’!]

[You have cleared Beyond’s 15th floor. You have obtained the qualification to challenge the First Dungeon’s 66th floor.]

[You have obtained 5 bonus stats. Your maximum HP and MP have increased by 2%.]

[Experience has been added to the skills you frequently used to progress through Beyond’s 15th floor.]

[You have received the only reward left hidden for the first explorer. Congratulations! Your luck stat has increased by 10.]

[1. Thorn Throne (Epic)]

It was hard to hear the notification messages as I had just used Crimson Roar. I calmly waited for the flames to subside and read the message log. When I saw the line about the Event Dungeon, I coughed.

“It was Wonderland before, now it’s Deadland…” I muttered.

Plus, this one was SSS+ rank though it was only for 2 people. Scary…

I murmured to myself, “Should I just sell it at the auction house…?”

At that moment, someone’s face flashed across my mind. It was the face of someone arguably the second strongest member of Revival and also loved the undead.

Unlike the regular Dungeon, monsters didn’t scatter into particles of light in Event Dungeons. Daisy loved the undead, so this Deadland was probably more of a wonderland than Wonderland itself.

“And this is the secret reward.”

[Secret. Thorn Throne (Epic)]

Its simple name made it even scarier. Since it was the reward for defeating that damned Zombie Dragon, it certainly couldn’t be simple. After mentally resolving myself, I grabbed the reward clearly labeled ‘Epic.’ Its name didn’t give any hints as to what kind of an item it was. When it materialized in my hand, I saw that it was a ring. It looked like it was made of dragon bones and glowed a hazy black color. Its surface was spiky as if it had thorns. If I wasn’t careful, I felt that it would prick me.

[Thorn Throne (Epic)

Durability – Unbreakable

Equipment Requirement – Kang Shin

Option – Strength +50, Dexterity +50. Constitution -20, Magic -20. When using attack skills, there is a 5% chance that dozens of dragon bone spears will shoot out. When attacked, there is a 10% chance that a bone spear will shoot out and attack the enemy.

Skill – Thorn Throne: Usable once per day. For 5 minutes, your body gets covered with an armor of bones. You reflect 20% of all incoming damage. At this time, the enemy becomes afflicted with the unavoidable debuff ‘soul contamination.’]

“!” My eyes widened.

This ring was deserving of its Epic grade. No, perhaps it was even worthy of the Legend grade! Though it decreased my constitution and magic stats, with its incredible strength and dexterity stat boost, it was still a 60 point net gain! I could easily make up the decrease in constitution and magic by distributing bonus stat points into them.

Furthermore, the chances of its option activating was high! It was incomparable to the Deathblood Ring. I did find it a bit perverted that the chance of the effect proccing was higher when I was attacked than when I attacked.

Regardless, the real kicker was the skill the ring contained.

“It’s here! It’s finally here!” I muttered like a madman.

I was hoping for a transformation skill, one that would let me display an even greater strength for a limited period of time, just like the Powered Form I had received from the 60th floor. Thorn Throne was precisely the type of skill I was praying for. Its offensive nature somewhat worried me, but I hoped it would be fine.

I immediately extracted Thorn Throne from the ring and stored it in the pocket watch. Then, without hesitation, I activated Skill Synthesis. I then placed Thorn Throne in the base skill slot and placed Powered Form in the supplemental skill slot.

Of course, there were more. I placed the ‘Electric Guardian Form’ skill, extracted from the armor given by Beyond’s 10th floor boss, Powered Lizard Knight. It was only a Unique grade armor, so it paled in comparison to Pure Black Desire. Naturally I didn’t bother wearing it. The reason I wanted a transformation type skill in the first place was because I had obtained Electric Guardian Form on top of Powered Form.

[Electric Guardian Form: For 5 minutes, an armor of lightning will cover your body. All incoming magic damage will decrease by 30%, and your speed and attack power will increase by 20%.]

It was a bit lacking compared to the Powered Form or the Thorn Throne, but it was still a transformation skill with excellent effects. It would only help, not hurt, as a supplemental skill.

I clenched my fist. “A man should be daring!”

I still had two skills left: Dragon Skin and Gigant Time. While Dragon Skin greatly boosted my defense, it decreased my speed significantly, making me reluctant to use it in most situations. Since I generally didn’t need to use Dragon Skin more than once per day, I decided to include it in the Skill Synthesis to amplify its effect.

It was the same for Gigant Time. By combining multiple skills together, they could help to lessen each other’s weaknesses. In truth, I had too many skills, so it was best to lower the count whenever possible.

I steeled myself and activated the mechanism. “Skill Synthesis!”

I let out a small sigh when the circular stone slab started rotating. I had a good feeling about it, just like the time I had created Absolute Soul. Considering all the skills that went into it, it was only obvious. If I didn’t like the resulting skill, I planned on synthesizing it away immediately!

Before long, the stone slab let out a brilliant light similar to when Absolute Soul was born. I held my breath until the stone slab stopped spinning. At that moment, something unexpected happened. The stone slab had been continuously shooting out brilliant light, but it suddenly crackled with lightning.

I lamented loudly, “W-What? I thought this skill couldn’t fail!”

The stone slab continued to crackle with lightning. Every time the lightning flashed, the golden brilliance that the stone slab was letting out became a bit darker. It also began to spin, fluctuating in speed as strange symbols flashed above it.

“Oh, please, no! Dear God, Buddha, Allah, the dungeon’s Lord, please let it succeed!” I babbled.

This skill can’t even fail! Stop making me all nervous!

As if to answer my prayers, the stone slab finally came to a stop. There was now a strange symbol that did not shine with even a hint of its original brilliance on top of the lightning crackled stone slab. Instead, it emitted an eerie black light.

Peika remarked, [Scary. Master, are you learning that?]

Ruyue commented, [Whoa, that’s dangerous, Shin.]

Sharana interjected, [Master, I think that mana both accepts and rejects everything. It’s…a very powerful and dangerous power.]

Hey, why are you guys making me worry more!? I was already feeling uneasy, but now that the elementals gathered and trembled, I became even more uneasy. However, I couldn’t just reject the skill and return it to its previous form. I had spent my precious skills for this.

I strengthened my heart and put my hand on the symbol. At that moment, electricity flowed through my body. A shock incomparable to when I obtained Absolute Soul roared inside me.

A skill that raised my league just by obtaining it! What the hell did I make!?

[You have obtained the Transcendent skill, Overlord.]

[You are a supreme being whose existence suppresses all. Once per day, for 5 minutes, you can equip an armor made of the black amorphous mana ‘Enigma’. Your mana will also be unionized with Enigma, transforming you into a 15 foot tall giant. ‘Enigma’ is a type of mana that reigns over all mana. It is so rare that not even a proper name could be given, so this ultimate mana is said to stand on the opposite side of divine power. Enigma affects even your weapons, granting you the ability to enlarge them up to 20 times by will and dying them with black mana.]

[As no being can completely analyze this mana, your attacks will become unpredictable and no attacks can display their full potential against you. While this skill is active, your HP and MP triples, and your stats double. When attacking the enemy, you have a 10% chance to afflict a random top tier status effect. When attacked by an enemy, you have a 20% chance to afflict a random top tier status effect.]

[Learning Overlord has increased all of your stats by 30 points. Overwhelm and Absolute Soul have reached level 5. Even while Overlord is not active, you are affected by a part of its effect. Your HP and MP have increased by 20%. You can afflict a random top tier status effect with a 1% chance when attacking an enemy and a 2% chance when being attacked by an enemy.]

[This skill has transcended the control of the dungeon. It cannot be further synthesized. You must reach a realm higher than your current realm to create a skill above this skill.]

[You have created a Transcendent skill! Transcendent skills are skills born under the dungeon’s system, yet transcending the dungeon’s system. Even existences capable of ignoring the dungeon’s influence cannot look down on this skill. Just by possessing this skill, all worlds’ enemies will be on guard against you. The Lord sends his highest praise at this amazing achievement. You have obtained 10 skill points. Current skill points: 20]

“… Aaa!” I exclaimed, dumbfounded. As I carefully went over the flurry of messages, I interpreted what this skill, Overlord, meant. The conclusion I reached was simple.

I had finally obtained it.

I shouted gleefully, “A way to defeat the world’s enemy!”

I have finally done it! A way to fight against them! A power not weaker than a god’s power, the greatest power I could wield! Perhaps it was the time limit, perhaps it was because I had incorporated all the skills I could, or perhaps it was my unnaturally high luck stat. I had no way of knowing. However, I knew one thing for sure.

By obtaining Overlord, I had taken a step forward towards the future I had to protect!

When I left Beyond’s 15th floor, Loretta stared at me with a blank expression. Now that I had learned Overlord, I could just barely begin to understand the very tip of the power within her. She was so powerful that I could barely wound her after using Overlord.

In other words, she was already a Transcendent who could wield Enigma as if it was her own. That was why I couldn’t see through her power all this time. After all, there was no way for me to estimate the strength of someone who wielded a power that was in a completely different dimension.

“Shin-nim, recently, you’ve been changing every time I see you. It’s making me very flustered. Um, you…defeated it?” she asked.

“Yes.”

Loretta’s question had simplified what had happened, so I gave a quick reply as I struggled to estimate the total amount of Loretta’s unfathomable power. After thinking for a bit, Loretta asked, “The power inside you…Do you know what it is?”

“Yes.”

Her question implied that she had already seen through my new skill and power, so I once again answered briefly. Loretta then sighed, seemingly from relief. Then, she asked as she stole a glance. “… Should I congratulate you?”

“Yeah.”

Seeing that Loretta’s tone had gotten brighter, I gave up trying to estimate her power and answered. Immediately, she continued, “Then, tonight, together in my cabin…”

I immediately refused, “No thanks.”

Loretta flapped her ears endlessly as she shouted, “I didn’t even finish! Shin-nim, stupid! Stupid, stupid!”

I replied with a grin, “Like I said, I can’t until I defeat the world’s enemy.”

She pouted. “But! But! When you reject me so cold-heartedly, my heart shatters into a thousand pieces!”

I shrugged. “You shouldn’t ask when you know you’re going to get rejected.”

“I thought you’d go with the flow and go for it!” she wailed.

I grinned. “I hope you realize it’s not working because you’re too scheming.”

“Wahhhh…”

Loretta drooped her ears down as she made a tearful face. I grinned and patted her.

“But as promised, we can play for today. I’m feeling a lot more relaxed now.”

Her eyes lit up. “Okay. Should we start with strip poker?”

I dashed away. “Bye, Loretta!”

“Aaaah! I’m kidding! Play with me!”

Seeing Loretta hanging onto my legs, I announced my surrender. I then really ended up spending the whole day with her. Of course, we didn’t play strip poker.

…Really!