The two Ocean Pouch Nationcompetitors were deep inside the same forest where the Giant Thousand-Hand Centipede had first appeared.
Why would anyone step into a place the world now called a Death Zone—a forbidden land where humans weren't meant to tread?
Because they believed they could get rich off it.
They had set their sights on a B-rank resource hidden somewhere in this forest.
A B-rank resource meant two things:
Hundredfold Manifestation back home—real resources dropping into their nation's territory.
A B-rank Chest—the highest-tier chest discovered so far.
And a B-rank Chest wasn't "profit."
It was the kind of reward that could flip a country's fate overnight—turn a dying nation into a nation with teeth.
That was why Ocean Pouch Nation's ranking hadn't climbed much.
These two had spent most of their time preparing for this one gamble.
Their plan was simple:
Win the B-rank resource.
Explode their points during the Points Challenge Event.
Leapfrog everyone—maybe even Dragon Nation.
They had even convinced themselves they weren't reckless.
They were "skilled."
They were "ready."
They were "different."
But reality had a way of teaching people what maturity costs.
Sometimes, the price was blood.
They moved carefully through the forest—
and then the ground trembled.
Bzzzz…
Bzzzzzz… BZZZZ…
Something was moving under the earth.
Not a normal vibration.
Not an earthquake.
It felt… deliberate.
Like the ground had noticed them.
Hairline fractures split the soil—
then spread faster, deeper, uglier, as if something beneath was smiling and widening the cracks with patient malice.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Closer.
Close enough that their instincts screamed the same answer at once.
The forest's tyrant.
The Giant Thousand-Hand Centipede.
They reacted instantly.
They turned and ran, throwing everything into retreat—
no hesitation, no pride, no second thoughts.
But—
too late.
BOOOOM!!
The earth in front of them detonated upward.
Before either of them could take two full steps, the ground split open like a mouth.
SHHK—SHHK—SHHK!
A massive body surged out from below, rising like a living wall.
It cut off their escape.
And at that moment, the familiar voice rang through every mind—
the Will of Blue Star.
[Congratulations! Ocean Pouch Nation'scompetitors have encountered a Divine Domain: Forbidden Zone creature. Analyzing… analysis complete!]
[Name: Giant Thousand-Hand Centipede (A-rank)]
[Traits: A-rankDivine Domain: Forbidden Zone creature. Omnivorous. Prefers to live in groups. Cunning and treacherous. Excels at using terrain to hunt. Most enjoys torturing prey to death. If you fall into its hands—death itself becomes a luxury.]
The moment it surfaced, the two competitors were seized—pinned and restrained so completely they couldn't even struggle properly.
But this time…
the livestream didn't cut to black.
It didn't drag them underground.
It seemed… uninterested in hiding.
Which meant the world finally got what it had been denied before:
A clear look at the monster that had wiped out nations.
It was enormous—easily twenty to thirty meters long, maybe more.
Its back was a deep, ominous red.
Two long antennae writhed in the air, tasting the space around it.
No one could clearly see its eyes—either hidden beneath armor plating, or so small they vanished against the scale of its head.
And its mouth—
its mouth looked like a grotesque flower.
A "bloom" shaped like a chrysanthemum… except the petals weren't soft.
They were rings of sharp, metallic teeth.
But the worst part wasn't the mouth.
It was the legs.
Too many.
A thousand trembling limbs rippled along its body like a nightmare made physical.
Ka-da. Ka-da. Ka-da.
The clicking filled the air—relentless, mechanical, and skin-crawling.
Watching it move was enough to turn stomachs.
The livestream chat went cold with terror.
A suffocating hopelessness seeped through the viewers like poison.
Ocean Pouch Nation's audience was already mourning.
"So… this is what it really looks like…"
"We warned them not to go. Why didn't they listen? We're finished…"
"Does it look smaller than before?"
"Mom… I'm sorry…"
"I never thought Ocean Pouch Nation would end like this…"
And the two competitors?
They were worse than hopeless.
They were frantic—drowning in raw survival instinct.
They begged.
They screamed.
They sobbed.
"NO—no! Don't eat me! Please! Please!!"
"You can make us do anything! Just let us go! We'll never trespass again! We won't touch your territory—please!"
To the viewers, it looked pathetic—almost pointless.
Begging a Divine Domain: Forbidden Zone creature?
Even if it could understand human speech… why would it care?
Most people assumed this was just the body's last reflex before death.
A desperate ritual performed for the illusion of a chance.
But then—
something happened that no one was ready for.
A voice spoke.
Clear.
Deliberate.
And utterly impossible.
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