The morning sun had barely kissed the freshly built stone walls of Deadhollow when Kai Ren wiped sweat from his forehead.
He was putting the final touches on the new irrigation channel that now ran straight from the river to the fields.
Thanks to his Earth civil engineering knowledge fused with the System, the whole thing had taken him only forty-eight hours.
Back on Earth this exact channel would've taken me two damn years, three coffee machines, and a boss who called me
"that overtime orphan kid." Here? Two days and I'm basically a god-tier farmer now. Life's weird.
Kai smirked inwardly, that mysterious aura still clinging to him like a permanent filter.
Then—
"MONSTERS INCOMING! SOUTH FOREST! LEVELS 80 AND UP! THERE'S A FREAKING ARMY OF THEM!"
the watchtower guard screamed like his life depended on it (which, to be fair, it did).
Kai's eyes snapped open.
The System exploded into his vision with its usual dramatic flair:
[EMERGENCY ALERT!]
High-Level Monster Wave Detected!
Venom Beast Horde (Lv.75-95) + Forest Goblin Raiders (Lv.80-100)
Estimated Enemies: 250+
Threat Level: EXTREME (You sure you don't want to run, Host?)
"First real test after Chapter 6 upgrades, huh?"
Kai muttered.
"System, you really had to add the sarcastic comment?"
He didn't wait for an answer.
"Evil Workers! Full defense formation! Poison ditches — ACTIVATE! Evil Drake — get your dramatic ass in the air!"
Poof!
Thirty-plus Evil Workers erupted from the ground like they'd been waiting their whole lives for this.
The Evil Drake descended from the sky with a roar that shook the trees, landed in a perfect superhero pose, wings flared, and actually sparkled for a second.
"MASTER! YOUR LOYAL SERVANTS HAVE ARRIVED TO CRUSH THE ENEMIES IN YOUR GLORIOUS NAME!"
one Worker yelled, striking a pose that looked suspiciously like a K-pop idol.
Kai facepalmed so hard it echoed.
"Guys… we're in a war, not an anime opening. Tone it down."
But the horde didn't care about tone.
The Evil Beasts charged like rabid dogs on steroids.
In the first five minutes alone, half the Workers got trampled.
One Worker tried to dodge dramatically, tripped over his own tail, and face-planted straight into a ditch.
"Master! I have failed you in the most stylish way possible!"
he cried before getting stepped on.
The Evil Drake dove like a green comet, but goblin archers turned him into a flying pincushion.
"MY WINGS! THEY DARE DEFACE MY PERFECT FORM!"
the Drake roared, sounding more offended than injured.
Kai was already sweating bullets.
This is NOT the power fantasy I signed up for!
He leaped onto the wall himself, manually cranking a ballista while evolved wolves tried to turn him into lunch. A Level 98 Evolved Wolf smashed through the stone like it was cardboard and lunged.
Kai dodged, but its claw left a nasty gash on his arm.
[poisoned Effect Applied: -15% HP per minute]
[Warning: You look like a sad tomato right now, Host.]
"Workers 1-15! Regroup and do the sacrifice thing! Drake, stop posing and COVER ME!"
Kai yelled.
The Workers immediately formed a dramatic circle around him.
"FOR MASTER'S GLORY! WE SHALL BECOME THE ULTIMATE MEAT SHIELDS!"
they chanted in perfect unison, then exploded into green mist to block attacks.
One Worker even turned to the villagers watching from below and shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause for our noble sacrifice!"
A few villagers actually started clapping before Lira (the 19-year-old fangirl supreme) screamed, "THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR APPLAUSE!"
The battle dragged on for forty-five brutal minutes.
Kai was everywhere — reloading ballistae, mixing his own blood into the poison traps for a last-ditch explosive upgrade, and personally sniping the Level 100 Goblin Chieftain who was busy smashing the wall like it owed him money.
When the Chieftain finally broke through, monsters poured inside. Lira screamed.
Kids hid behind their moms.
One old grandma actually picked up a frying pan and charged forward yelling, "NOT MY CABBAGE PATCH!"
Kai poured every drop of mana into his summons.
"ALL UNITS — FINAL POISON OVERDRIVE!"
The Venom Drake gave one last theatrical roar, turned into a living green nuke, and exploded.
The remaining Workers screamed "FOR THE THRONE!" and detonated their venom in a spectacular mist that made the entire battlefield look like a toxic rave party.
When the last goblin finally face-planted, the whole village went dead silent for three whole seconds.
Then chaos.
"WE WON!"
"MASTER IS A GOD!"
"CAN I GET AN AUTOGRAPH ON MY SHIRT?!"
The surviving Workers (only seven left) lined up like exhausted idols after a concert.
One limped forward holding a bouquet of glowing poison flowers.
"Master… we risked our nonexistent lives to collect these 50 fresh poison flowers for you… Shall we arrange them on your new throne in the shape of a heart?"
The Evil Drake, flickering and about to despawn, struck one final pose on one knee.
"Master's victory… shall be remembered in legends… and also in my dramatic diary…"
Kai just stared, then slowly facepalmed again.
"You guys are the most extra employees in two worlds. Just… put the flowers in storage before they melt someone's face."
Lira ran up, eyes sparkling like she'd seen a K-drama finale.
"Kai-sama! That was the coolest, most heroic, most manly thing I've ever seen! Marry me— I mean, thank you!"
Kai's brain short-circuited for a second.
"Lira, focus. We just survived a war."
Right on cue, the System decided to steal the spotlight:
[DING! CONGRATULATIONS, HOST!]
You have BARELY survived the Evil Horde Wave! (Hard Mode Bonus Applied)
Total Experience Gained: 312,700
LEVEL UP! Level 32 → Level 60
All Stats have increased DRAMATICALLY!
New Summon Tier Unlocked: Rare Evil AssassinYou may now summon 2 Rare Evil Assassins
Kai blinked at the new screen floating in front of him. Level 60 in one fight? Nice.
But why does it feel like I aged ten years?
Then a smaller, quieter message appeared in blood-red text:
[Hidden Note: Evil Origin Summons' true potential is still 87% locked. True Abyss Form unlocks at Level 700+.]
Kai's smile faded.
Why the hell does this System keep calling everything
"Evil" when I'm literally just trying to keep these people alive?
Before he could spiral further, the village gate creaked open.
A middle-aged traveling merchant named Roldan rolled in with his caravan, took one look at the smoking battlefield, the shiny new walls, the irrigation channels, and the still-flickering green mist, and dropped his jaw so hard it nearly hit the ground.
"By the Goddess… This is Deadhollow?! Two weeks ago the rumors said this place was a ghost town about to get wiped off the map! Now it looks like the damn capital! Did the Kingdom send an entire legion of engineers while I was gone?!"
Kai gave a tired, deadpan smile.
"Nah. Just a little weekend renovation project."
Roldan pointed a shaking finger.
"This… this is going to spread like wildfire.
Lord Baron Grimwald is gonna hear about it.
Heck, even the King might send someone! You've turned a dying village into a fortress overnight!"
Kai internally groaned.
Great.
Just what I needed.
More attention from power-hungry nobles.
My peaceful farming life is officially cancelled.
That night, while the village threw the loudest victory party in history (complete with off-key singing and free poison-flower-shaped cookies that no one dared eat), Kai sat alone outside his hut, staring at the stars.
He whispered to the System, "After Level 60… what now?"
The night air grew colder.
A new message appeared in pitch-black text, the voice ancient, deep, and dripping with malice:
[The Darkness is watching you.]
Kai's spine turned to ice.
He spun around, heart pounding, but the shadows were empty.
He swallowed hard.
"…System, you really need to work on your jump-scare timing."
[To be continued…]