"Max, nephew! How do I kill them? Can you tell me?"
My uncle, who had just dragged me aside earlier, was now bouncing toward me like an excited gazelle. He had seen my two kills and was clearly impressed.
"Uncle, I wish I could explain it to you now, but even if I told you, you couldn't do it yet. Once I meet with my team, I promise I'll slice a Fallen just for you."
He didn't know I was immune to the zone. Above his head floated a giant "Headline" marking him as a beginner. I didn't want to confuse him with too many details, and honestly, I was trying to keep track of my energy recharge rate—one point every 10 seconds. That's how I could control my performance.
I wasn't bluffing when I promised him a Fallen. Once the four of us were together, it would be easy. The only tricky part was figuring out how time passed here. The burning sun hadn't moved at all, and it felt like an endless day.
Time to test something again.
"Show system time!"
As soon as I thought it, a digital clock appeared in my vision: 00:15:48. That meant just over 15 minutes left until a new in-game day began.
"Pin to the top right of my view."
I moved the clock to the upper-right corner, just like in the old MMORPGs. Now it was easier to track my energy recharge. After five attacks, I just had to rest for 100 seconds.
Little by little, the mysteries were clearing up. I didn't know if I was solving problems or making room for new ones, but I didn't care. I had fallen into Hell—whatever came next, I would face it.
"Guys, what the hell are you doing?"
The in-game chat system was smart. You could talk directly to just the people you wanted. That was me now, yelling at my team.
"Max bro," Rimel replied, "After I used my skill, the 'Energy' section changed to 'Magical Energy'!"
That made sense—her ability was clearly magic-based.
"That's fine," I said. "How much energy does your skill use?"
"Four points."
That threw me off. I thought all level one skills would cost the same.
"And how fast do you regenerate?" I asked.
"Every 20 seconds, I get 1 energy."
Double the cost, and slower recharge. Clearly, our abilities were built very differently.
"Max, mine's like Rimel's too," Toraman chimed in. "I have 'Magical Energy' instead of regular energy."
Magic users had it harder, even in Hell. No wonder people were biased.
"It must be because of your skills. Toraman, how many Fallen have you killed?"
"Only five," he said. "I used two skills, and then my whole body felt heavy. I barely made it back to the shield."
"Always watch your energy! If we run out, we're vulnerable—immune or not!"
That was the truth. Our immunity only protected us from effects, not from physical damage.
"Guys, don't let them hit you!" someone else panted into the chat. It was Şükrücük.
"What happened?" I asked. His tone worried me.
"Max, you were right," he said. "I got surrounded by three of them. They each hit me once, and then a warning popped up: 'Your Remaining Life Points have dropped to 1.' I ran back to the shield as fast as I could."
I bet he saw another relative among the mobs and got emotional again. That guy was supposed to be our tank!
"Stick to the plan," I ordered. "No rushing. Move slowly and carefully."
Then I tried something new:
"System, place the energy bar in the upper left corner!"
An orange bar appeared, showing my current energy level. Finally, a way to manage this properly.
"Wow! I can actually see my energy now!" Toraman said excitedly.
"Can we do the same for health?" Şükrücük asked, still shaky.
"Yes, you can," I told them. "Just like the clock."
"Good thing you told us," Rimel said. "I'm scared I won't be able to kill even one before time runs out."
It was normal for her to be nervous. She hadn't used her skill yet.
"Alright," I said, "we'll meet again at midday and assess the situation. We don't know the terrain well enough to fight and talk at the same time."
Once the chat ended, I began crunching numbers. I calculated that I could kill eight Fallen in one go. Including energy recharge time, each round would take about two minutes—even if I made some mistakes.
But here's the problem: unlike in other games, killing a few mobs didn't get us to the next level. Toraman had killed at least seven and was still level one.
Then again, this wasn't some cheerful online game. This was Hell. No one was going to give us a free pass.
I tried to push all those thoughts out of my mind. All I had to do was step outside the shield and kill enough Fallen to level up.
When I make a decision, I stick with it. I walked around the border of the Alcohol Zone, fists raised.
Back in school, we learned old sayings from our ancestors. Most of the time, we didn't take them seriously. But in the last three hours, one of them became painfully true:
"The math at home doesn't match the market."
I thought I could kill eight mobs every two minutes. But in three hours, I only managed to kill 450 Fallen. Yes—450—just to go from Level 1 to Level 2.
And still, nothing changed.
I'd been so focused on energy management that I completely ignored my Life Points. I also had to dodge attacks, avoid getting surrounded, and keep mobs from grouping up on me.
The excitement I had earlier was draining away, like a balloon losing air. A little voice in my head kept whispering:
"Go back inside the shield. Just kill one a day. Take it slow. Rest forever."
The comfort of that idea tempted me hard. I could become a respected veteran who never had to fight again. Just survive.
And for about an hour, I seriously considered it. I sat inside the shield, letting the idea swirl around in my head.
But then... I had a realization.