Upon the ruins.
A group of people, covered in dust and in a state of utter disarray, gazed blankly in every direction. The city that had once been a forest of towering skyscrapers was now completely reduced to rubble.
Buildings had collapsed; structures had been pulverized.
As the billowing dust settled, Licing stood amidst the debris, his soul still shaken. The others were so terrified by the scene that their spirits had nearly fled their bodies.
Looking up.
Licing saw a god-like figure from behind. The blinding sunlight pierced his eyes. That intense telekinetic force pulled the shattered buildings into the sky, causing them to orbit the figure like stars surrounding a moon.
This silhouette.
It was deeply etched into the depths of his memory.
Powerful.
Unparalleled in strength.
It was an unimaginable mental shock; no amount of descriptions read on the internet could compare to experiencing this sensation firsthand.
Regardless, they were alive.
...
A few days later.
ROAR!
A savage howl resonated in their ears. The surrounding zombies instantly swarmed toward that direction, forming a dense, black tide of undead.
It wasn't just ordinary zombies. Countless mutant zombies were mixed among them.
Tanbo and his group had found a Guardian and were hunting it with all their might. As long as they killed this Guardian zombie, they would complete the conquest of this world.
And then leave.
The bad news was that this Guardian possessed the ability to summon other zombies. Suddenly besieged by dozens of enemies, its deathbed counterattack significantly increased the pressure on everyone.
"I’m going to help!"
Tanbo decisively joined the hunt, sprinting toward the rear. This left Yoinge and Mei alone to block the zombies from their side. Not far away, a black tide came rolling in.
The groans of the zombies blended together, sending chills down one's spine.
Mei remained calm and composed. She said to Yoinge: "You go too."
Yoinge was stunned. "Can you handle this alone?"
Mei replied with only two words: "I can."
"Alright."
No more needed to be said. Mei had always been reliable. Yoinge decisively left that side to Mei and hurried toward the battlefield where the Guardian was being hunted.
ROAR!
A wave of blood-scented air hit her face.
Mei merely cast a single glance. In an instant, everything vanished like smoke. The dense tide of zombies exploded into a mist of blood. The residual pressure swept across the surroundings, shattering rows of buildings.
Resolved.
【Ability Acquired: Muscle Enhancement】
【Ability Acquired: Bone Enhancement】
【Ability Acquired: Hearing Enhancement】
"..."
The Hyperdimensional Space perfectly interfaced with the Endless Space. The interface refreshed frantically.
The zombie tide had yielded a large number of Tier 1 abilities and equipment for Mei, as countless light orbs densely surrounded her, all being absorbed into her Personal Spatial Storage.
Better than nothing.
Expecting high-grade item drops in this world was unrealistic; Mei had no real interest in these low-tier items. Returning to sell them was merely getting rid of junk.
Before long, Tanbo and his group completed the hunt, successfully killing a Guardian. The Guardians for each floor differed and weren't unique: whether it was a group or an individual, killing one meant the conquest was complete.
And so, WHOOSH!
White light flashed as Mei and the others departed the Zombie World.
Back in the classroom.
Everyone was still sitting in their respective seats. They couldn't help but feel as if a lifetime had passed, like they’d just woken from a dream. Only when they noticed the empty seats did they slowly snap back to reality.
They had indeed returned. Out of sixty students, forty-eight returned.
Conquering the Endless Space was that ruthless.
The counselor was spiritually exhausted: "My guidance ends here. From now on, you can conquer the subsequent worlds on your own. You are responsible for your own life or death. Go back and rest well; relax your frayed nerves."
The mortality rate this time was about average. The most stressed person was undoubtedly the counselor, as he had to do his best to protect the students' lives and minimize the number of deaths.
Yoinge looked at the time on her phone. They had spent about half a month in the Zombie World, while only a little over an hour had passed here.
The time flow for each tiered world was different; this phenomenon was perfectly normal.
"I’m so tired. Let's go back and rest."
The students' spirits were flagging, and they left their seats one by one.
Mei sat at her desk. She opened her phone, entering the Endless Space interface once more. She clicked on the second-floor world.
WHOOSH!
Her entire body instantly turned into a streak of white light and vanished.
“???”
“!!!”
The surrounding students were stunned.
She entered again? Alone? Everyone was speechless with surprise.
The counselor had said they could conquer the worlds independently, but that was extremely dangerous. And they had only just come out; this guy was really quite impatient.
Tanbo and Yoinge looked at each other. They had planned to invite Mei to conquer the subsequent worlds together, but it seemed she had no intention of doing so.
After completing a floor, there were two choices: stay on the current floor for another run, or move on to the next floor. Once the choice was made to move to a higher floor, it was impossible to return to a lower one.
You could only go up. Not down.
Mei chose the second-floor world.
...
A muddy road.
A dim sky.
Western-style architecture.
The second floor of the Endless Space was a world set in the Middle Ages. A dark, ignorant age of nobles and knights, kingdoms and wars.
And adventure and monsters.
Mei had lingered on the first floor purely for the sake of nostalgia. For the second floor, however, she felt no such sentiment. With a single thought, everything perished.
BOOM!
The second-floor world directly collapsed.
Conquest complete.
Regardless of Guardians or anything else, everything returned to nothingness.
The space interface refreshed frantically.
【Item Acquired: Bishop's Hourglass】
【Equipment Acquired: Silver Moon Knight Gauntlet】
【Ability Acquired: Shocking Shout】
"..."
Everything was thrown into her Personal Spatial Storage.
WHOOSH!
The students in the classroom hadn't even taken a few steps when white light flashed, and Mei reappeared in her seat. Those around her were dazed and could only stare in shock.
"So fast?!"
Before anyone could react, Mei picked up her phone and selected the third floor.
WHOOSH!
She vanished again.
“......”
“......”
“......”
Everyone who saw this felt their scalps tingle with a sharp intake of cold air.
This was a ruthless individual!
The Endless Space had a total of 100 floors, with every 10 floors corresponding to one Tier. The difficulty and power system of each floor gradually increased: the first 10 floors were all around Tier 1.
Conquering them was effortless.
Mei didn't even have the inclination to experience the atmosphere or background stories of these worlds. Total destruction: she’d entered speedrun mode.
Conquest in a single second.
The white light in the classroom kept flickering, and the other students stared wide-eyed, completely startled. What was with all this flashing?
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Before long, Mei had completed the first 10 floors of the Endless Space, finishing the first Upgrade Task.
【Upgrade Task 1 · Completed】
【Obtained: Energy Level Leap *1】
【Energy Level Leap Charges: 1】
Now, she had to consider which ability to upgrade.
In truth, there was no real need for consideration. Since the Energy Level Leap ignored all restrictions and limits, the most cost-effective choice was naturally to upgrade 【Veritas】!
【Energy Level Leap Charges: 1 ? 0】
At this moment, Veritas was forced to leap.
【Veritas · LV1 ?】
——
【Ability: Veritas】
【Level: LV1】
【Description: A unique tier independent of the Grade system. Those who enter this stage absolutely reign over their current grade. They cannot be eliminated unless by a higher-level Veritas.】
——
Leap successful!
Essentially, it was equivalent to increasing one level.
The original Veritas was already a unique tier outside the Grade system; now, it had been forcibly made unique again by Mei, taking another step forward.
Compared to before, the leaped Veritas was undoubtedly stronger. From now on, even powerhouses of a higher Grade than Mei would be unable to eliminate her if they lacked Veritas.
Her sense of security had significantly increased.
Mei was curious. Even without Veritas, what about Tier 10 if Tier 9 couldn't do it? Could Tier 10 forcibly kill her? The answer to this question was unknown, and Mei had no intention of seeking it out. She didn't like taking risks.
Overall, the result of the Veritas leap was very satisfying to Mei. She was also anticipating the power Veritas could gain after ten leaps.
Meanwhile, the speedrun mode continued.
Because of this, Mei became famous. Rumors were spreading throughout the school about a super-strong freshman who, on the first day of his introductory mission, started "playing with a flashlight" in the classroom.
Who knew if she was climbing the tower or repeatedly conquering the Zombie World? Regardless, anyone who could speedrun like that was absolutely a powerhouse.
Since that one class meeting, her classmates had rarely seen Mei, but their impression of her was deep, and they always kept a subtle eye on her. They were all very curious about which floor Mei had conquered so far, to the point where there were constantly posts about Mei on the school forum.
Furthermore, there had been some anomalies in the Endless Space recently. While ordinary conquerors couldn't perceive them, a few people seemed to notice but couldn't quite say what was wrong.
On the forums, the popularity of a discussion thread was quietly rising.
【Why has there been so much frequent déjà vu recently?】
【You too?】
【Yeah, I just finished the 23rd floor. But for some reason, while I was conquering it, I felt like many things were familiar, almost as if I had conquered it before. But I’m positive it was my first time reaching that floor.】
【Just an illusion?】
【Hey, you have that feeling too? I just finished the 34th floor. Honestly, I’ve had some déjà vu before, but never as frequent as recently.】
【Holy crap, me too!】
【Same here!】
...
10th floor.
15th floor.
20th floor.
Mei conquered up to the 21st floor in one go. The moment she entered the 21st floor, Phase One of the Main Mission was completed. Then, with a single thought, the world collapsed, exploding with loot.
【Main Mission · Phase One · Complete】
【Points Acquired: 5,000】
【Main Mission · Phase Two: Incomplete conquest means the end of exploration. Please complete at least one additional exploration and conquest of the same world to obtain more opportunities.】
【Mission Reward: 10,000 Points】
She didn't stop.
Mei continued her conquest of the upper floors with the momentum of splitting bamboo. It wasn't until she reached the 51st floor that she paused. By this point, she had completed four more Upgrade Tasks.
【Energy Level Leap Charges: 4】
Mei continued the leaps, choosing Veritas for all four.
【Energy Level Leap Charges: 4 ? 0】
【Veritas · LV5 ?】
【Ability: Veritas】
【Level: LV1】
【Description: A unique tier independent of the Grade system. Those who enter this stage absolutely reign over their current grade. They cannot be eliminated unless by a higher-level Veritas.】
【Supplement: Veritas should have already been unique, but the power of the leap appears to have shattered this limit. Beyond Veritas, the higher dimension is watching.】
Veritas didn't show any major changes after reaching LV5, but there was an added supplementary description. At the very least, it let Mei know that her Energy Level Leaps hadn't been in vain.
Beyond Veritas? Mei looked forward to it more and more.
...
The 51st floor.
The conquest difficulty of this floor was at the entry-level Tier 6, but in reality, the world's power system was far above Tier 6, even touching upon Tier 8.
Of course, existences surpassing the floor's conquest difficulty normally served only as background elements, just like Mei's shadow in the first-floor Zombie World. There was essentially no possibility of conquering them.
However, just essentially.
The 51st floor was a western-style fantasy adventure world, a masterpiece of the "Hero versus Demon King" type.
Ancient setting.
Adventurers everywhere.
Labyrinths and various monsters, and the soon-to-awaken Demon King.
As always.
Upon entering this world, Mei stood above the river of time, observing its past, present, and future, as well as the countless possibilities of this existence.
It was in this world that Mei discovered a fascinating item named 【Infinite Secretary】. Its sole function was world anchoring.
A Tier 8 item.
While it claimed to anchor worlds, in reality, it could currently only anchor universes. Through the Infinite Secretary, the wielder could move freely between anchored universes.
This was exactly the item Mei needed.
Even at Tier 8, one had to traverse the void step-by-step to reach other universes. With the Infinite Secretary, instantaneous movement between anchored universes could be achieved. The most important feature was its anchoring function; Mei only knew of certain entities in the "Space" who possessed such an ability. Her intuition told her this item was extremely important.
If she could elevate the level of the Infinite Secretary, could she in the future anchor different voids, merging countless voids into a single, massive system, and become an existence like a "Space"?
Mei knew she couldn't let this opportunity slip by.
With that thought:
BOOM!
The 51st-floor Hero's World was obliterated. Countless abilities and equipment drops filled the space interface, refreshing frantically. Yet, the Infinite Secretary was nowhere to be found.
【Item Acquired: Oblivion Wing】
【Item Acquired: Crown of Thorns】
Innumerable.
After all, Mei could not control the drop rates of the Endless Space; its status was infinitely higher than hers, and her probability manipulation could not affect its drop mechanisms.
Furthermore, this kind of total destruction wasn't targeted, making the drop rates entirely random, aimed at quantity rather than specificity. To precisely target a certain item, one had to participate in the relevant characters and events. Only then could the drop rate of a specific item be significantly increased.
With this in mind...
The world she’d destroyed was restored under the influence of the Space. Everything, every person, every event, remained exactly as it had been. There was no difference at all.
HUM!
The river of time surged.
Mei’s figure descended into the recreated Hero's World. Since this was the case, she would involve herself in the specific events related to the Infinite Secretary. If one attempt failed, then two; if two failed, then three.
It would eventually drop.
Mei was patient.
...
Endless Space, Floor 51.
Heroic Era, Year 980.
The sky was as clear and blue as infinite waves; the bright sun hung high, its warm rays bathing the land in a scene of serene peace.
In the next instant, a figure moving with extreme speed streaked across, its pressure overwhelming the mountains and land. In a flash, it severed rivers and shattered mountains, pulverizing the earth.
BOOM!
A figure clad in battered black armor rose from the shattered mountain, completely unscathed. The evil aura radiating from him almost solidified, causing the sky to grow dark and heavy.
"Hahahaha!"
The Demon King laughed loudly, his voice filled with overwhelming satisfaction. He wore a black helmet; no one knew the expression of frantic joy beneath it.
"This is how it should be!"
"Come, Hero! Give me a proper fight!"
BOOM!
As he spoke, the Demon King’s figure vanished instantly, moving so fast it was impossible to see. He left behind only a massive crater, with a faint, frantic roar as he tore through the air. It was as if the world itself was being ripped apart.
Tier 7.
This was the Demon King's true strength.
Then, a massive slash that touched the sky struck, nearly cleaving the land in two. The shockwaves rippled outward at unimaginable speed, churning up massive waves along the edges of the continent.
At the source of the slash, the silver-haired young Hero’s expression was as grim as it could be. The power he and the Demon King wielded was simply too great: if this continued, the entire world would be destroyed.
The Hero’s companions were watching from the side. One of them, a female mage, saw the Hero's hesitation and shouted in anxiety: "Sakar, now is not the time for hesitation! Defeat the Demon King first and talk later!!"
"I know!"
Sakar’s face was dark. This battle wouldn't stop according to his wishes; the Demon King was a total lunatic, a madman who only lived for battle.
His power was even greater than the Demon King’s.
However, once he unleashed his full strength to defeat the Demon King, the world would be on the brink of destruction. At the very least, the continent beneath them would be shattered.
Conversely, the Demon King had no such concerns, none at all. He didn't even dodge; he took the Hero’s slash head-on, being pushed back over ten kilometers before roaring as he deflected the slash into the sky.
"Hahahaha! Satisfying!"
Ignoring the wounds the slash had left on his body, the Demon King instantly closed the distance to the Hero. His fighting spirit surged more than ever: he hadn't had an opponent like this in so many years. The thrill of hot blood was something he hadn't felt in a very long time.
"Hero, what are you hesitating for? Cast aside your restraints and give me everything to defeat me! Put the world out of your mind! Embrace the resolve that even if the land and sky are shattered, it doesn't matter! Fight me with everything you have! Don't tell me you're thinking of boring trifles like life and death! Hahahaha!"
As he spoke, he brought down a fist. Intense magical power was unleashed and poured out without restraint, so terrifying that the earth trembled. Lightning crackled across the sky, manifesting a scene of the apocalypse.
"I can't worry about it anymore!"
Seeing this, Sakar grit his teeth and met the Demon King’s strike with his full power. The moment they collided, the world fell silent for a heartbeat before a massive explosion erupted.
An unparalleled shockwave swept across the entire continent, then radiated outward toward the rest of the world. Mountains, rivers, lakes, and oceans: everything was crumbling.
After an unknown amount of time, the sky was dim, somber dark clouds masking the sun. Volcanic ash erupted and surged toward the heavens. The continent had shattered into an unknown number of islands.
Upon the world's ruins, the Demon King was gasping for breath, and the Hero stood holding his sword.
Sakar surveyed his surroundings. He had won. However, the result was unbearable. The world was shattered beyond recognition.
His broken helmet revealed half of the Demon King’s face. His eyes were blood-red, and his unrestrained smile was exceptionally arrogant. He coughed up blood as he laughed: "That was truly satisfying..."
A flash of cold steel.
Sakar severed the Demon King’s head. "Everything is over."
Over? No. This was merely the prelude.
A figure entered Sakar's sight. It was a young woman, so ordinary she had no detectable magical reaction: he felt no threat at all. But this was on the battlefield against the Demon King: no ordinary person could have survived the residual shockwaves of the fight. The Hero immediately became vigilant.
The newcomer merely raised a hand and condensed a single point of light.
BOOM!
Sakar’s pupils shrank. The continent behind him was completely obliterated. He looked down and realized his heart had been pierced in a single strike, and he hadn't even had time to react.
...
"!!!"
Sakar woke up with a start. He was terrified. After calming down, he felt lucky it had all just been a dream. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
He looked at the nightstand beside him; the calendar on it read Heroic Era, Year 975. Not Year 980. As expected, it had all just been a dream. Sakar breathed a massive sigh of relief.
On the same day, the Demon King's Castle.
The Demon King, clad in his battered black armor, was held by the throat and lifted into the air by Mei with one hand, completely powerless to resist. Despite this, he was so excited his entire body was trembling.
Strong! Too strong!
The Demon King's power was not yet fully awakened, but he knew in his heart that even at full strength, he would be no match for the person before him: he had never encountered such a powerful opponent in his life.
Death? A trifle he didn't care about. What he wanted was a powerful opponent!
Mei let go.
The Demon King slumped to the ground, gasping for breath, his eyes filled with madness and excitement. He looked up, meeting Mei's gaze without a shred of fear.
"Give me five years! When I have fully awakened, we shall have a proper fight! Let me face you once more with even greater strength!"
Mei’s voice was as calm as stagnant water.
"Defeat the Hero, and I will give you a single chance to face me."
"Deal!"
Hearing this, the Demon King was ecstatic.
Following that, for a single heartbeat, time seemed to freeze. In the next instant, the Demon King could no longer find Mei.
In fact, this was Loop 3 of the Hero's World.
The first time, Mei had directly destroyed the entire world. The Endless Space then recreated it. Mei appeared after the Hero had defeated the Demon King, and they clashed, destroying the world once again.
Neither time had yielded the Infinite Secretary.
In this Loop 3, she decided to involve herself more deeply in the causality of the Hero and the Demon King, increasing the drop rate while providing the Hero with the best possible challenge. Mei would try all sorts of methods until the Infinite Secretary dropped.
【Main Mission · Phase Two · Completed】
【Points Acquired: 10,000】
【Main Mission · Phase Three: Reach ten conquests of the same world. There is a probability of triggering a hidden event to explore the current world more deeply. Please select one world to meet this condition.】
【Mission Reward: 20,000 Points】
Loop 3 meant Mei had completed more than one exploration and conquest of the same world, thus completing Phase Two of the Main Mission.
