Facing the Unstable Zone right before him,
Caelan naturally had no intention of giving up so easily. At the same time, he noticed that the enforcement corps was recruiting adventurers.
Without the slightest hesitation, he headed straight for the recruitment point.
"Kid, are you here to throw your life away?"
The watchman barked harshly as he looked at Caelan's refined, youthful face.
"This is my graduation certificate."
The watchman guarding the entrance flipped through the certificate for a moment, glanced at Caelan, then impatiently waved his hand, signaling him to go in.
In this world, there was never a shortage of people willing to risk their lives for profit.
Even freshly graduated high school students were no exception.
The moment Caelan stepped into the Unstable Zone,
he suddenly felt an attraction unlike anything he had ever experienced before.
That pull was as if he had been placed at the very center of a vortex. Clearly, he could still see the watchmen standing just a dozen meters away.
Yet no matter how he struggled or shouted, those watchmen seemed completely unable to hear him.
Could this be the special environment caused by overlapping space?
As this thought crossed Caelan's mind, the world began to spin violently. The chaotic suction left him completely disoriented, unsure of where he was.
Meanwhile, outside the zone, the watchmen stared toward the strange area with lingering fear.
"This damned place is getting more and more eerie," one muttered.
"A living person walked in just a few steps, and then—gone."
"Do you think the captain will request support from above this time? After all, other Unstable Zones have triggered SSS-class disasters before."
"Who knows? All we can say is that those guys who just went in are really pitiful."
…
When Caelan finally regained his senses,
he realized he had arrived in a completely different region.
The Unstable Zone he had seen earlier was nothing more than a barren wilderness overgrown with weeds.
But what lay before him now was a tropical paradise.
Palm trees swayed in the breeze, and the air was filled with the fragrance of coconuts mixed with salty sea wind. If this scene were paired with a glass of dry red wine from Califort Manor, it would be the height of luxury.
At that moment, a sweet voice rang out beside him.
"Wow—what a beautiful pink beach!"
"Handsome little guy, are you here to clear this area too?"
Caelan stiffened slightly and turned his head, only to see a blonde, blue-eyed girl with an exaggerated, curvaceous figure and wavy hair.
She was dressed in adventurer gear, with three teammates following behind her.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Kairifra. Handsome, it looks like you've been separated from your team!"
"If you don't mind, you can temporarily join ours."
Faced with the sudden olive branch from Kairifra, Caelan instinctively maintained a trace of caution.
"Thank you very much for your kindness, but I still have something to take care of, so I'll be leaving now."
After a brief, perfunctory response, Caelan directly activated [Flashstep], vanishing from the spot.
This time, however, he didn't go very far. Instead, he began exploring the surroundings with even greater caution.
An Unstable Zone was different from an ordinary instance.
Because it followed different laws, everything here was randomly generated—and once destroyed, it could never be restored.
In Caelan's understanding, this wasn't a traditional instance at all, but more like a massive battlefield.
As such, there was no limit to the number of adventurers who could enter.
Unstable Zones were filled with danger, but they also contained enormous opportunities.
Caelan shook his head slightly, quietly organizing the limited knowledge he had.
Then he began to carefully explore the area around him.
Sunlight.
Beach.
Waves.
Cacti…
Everything here was painted in warm colors.
Many adventurers, upon seeing the scenery, instantly relaxed their previously tense nerves.
"What a beautiful place—so hard to leave!"
"Yeah! This is the first time in my life I've ever seen the sea and a beach!"
"Stay alert. I've got a bad feeling about this place."
More and more adventurers entered this Unstable Zone.
Yet it seemed almost too peaceful—there wasn't even a single monster in sight.
Even Caelan, after exploring for a full half hour, found absolutely nothing.
When he returned to the beach, his brows were tightly furrowed.
Strange. Weren't Unstable Zones supposed to be full of danger, with powerful bosses lurking inside?
I've searched everywhere and haven't seen a single monster. That's not reasonable!
Caelan rubbed his temples. He could sense that something was off about this area, yet so far, he hadn't discovered anything at all.
So… what exactly did I miss?
Lost in thought, Caelan continued strolling along the pink beach.
Warm sunlight.
Humid sea breeze.
Cacti.
Rolling waves…
Everything looked completely normal.
Some adventurers had even begun testing the waters by surfing in the waves.
In such a beautiful place, how could there possibly be a shortage of anglers?
Without realizing it, Caelan had already walked up beside a fisherman.
"How's the catch?" he asked.
The fisherman didn't turn around, but frustration was written all over his face.
"Don't even mention it. I thought I'd get to experience the joy of sea fishing. Turns out this crappy place doesn't have a single fish biting!"
"If I'd known I was going to get skunked, I would've followed my teammates deeper into the zone instead!"
Caelan smiled faintly but didn't respond.
It didn't seem like putting down the fishing rod would make much of a difference anyway.
Fine, fine. A fisherman's ultimate destiny is to get skunked.
Wait—skunked!
Caelan's body suddenly stiffened, and urgency flashed through his eyes.
He got it. He finally got it!
Caelan abruptly drew his sword, his expression turning solemn as he stared at the sea ahead.
"Thousandblade Rend!"
In the next instant, sword in hand, he unleashed a ferocious slash forward.
In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of sword lights erupted, instantly blanketing more than a thousand square meters of ocean!
The blade energy, carrying terrifying power, slammed into the sea surface. The sensation was like blowing up fish with detonators—magnified countless times!
"BOOOOM!"
The deafening explosion sent seawater shooting dozens of meters into the air, forming a massive curtain of water visible to nearly all the adventurers nearby.
At that moment, the fisherman beside him was completely stunned.
He stared at Caelan in disbelief.
"Bro—if you like blast fishing, can't you do it somewhere else?"
"I'm fishing here, damn it!"
Caelan remained calm, though his brows knit slightly.
"Then tell me—why do you think there are no fish in this sea?"