Becoming the Dark Lord

It had been a while since the people in that room started asking questions. Luke stayed quiet, giving them space to process. Soldiers and merchants alike seemed shaken by the revelation. The same question kept circling back to the surface.

“Six hours? That’s not enough time, that’s insane!” said a middle-aged man, a merchant named Tom. He had accepted the system for the same reason most others did, the chance to change his life, whether by climbing the ranks of modern society or by trying his luck as an explorer in the New World.

Each person held a slip of paper containing the exact transcription of the final challenge’s two messages: the king’s statue at Bastion’s fortress and the third mechanism. Allison had handed them out once the discussion quieted.

“I know it sounds terrifying, but it’s not,” Ronan said. “I wouldn’t take that risk if it were.”

Erza remained silent, seated off to the side. There was a reason for that. Allison had planned the reveal herself, insisting it should only happen with everyone’s consent. Erza, on the other hand, preferred a simpler philosophy: if you don’t want to come, stay behind and die.

The others from the Haven wore mixed expressions; they hadn’t known either. Not Quinn, not Eugene, Miriam, or Gilbert. No one outside the main group had been told this secret.

“Nothing changes,” Allison said. “The plan stays the same. Everyone keeps working toward level sixty in their professions while joining the hunts to raise their combat class. Orcs, beasts, undead, it doesn’t matter. Everything that breathes is experience points.”

The reactions split the room cleanly in two. Those who had already ventured beyond the Safe Zone accepted it with grim focus. But for the workers and traders, the news hit like the end of the world. Soldiers saw it as a tactical nightmare, while the civilians saw it as a death sentence.

Luke glanced at his own notification history, where the king’s statue message still lingered, a silent reminder of what waited ahead.

*Mission Statue Activation Detected*

You have reached the heart of the kingdom, the Grand Capital. Well done, Challenger. The fate of this world now lies in your hands.

Hidden across the vast city lie three ancient mechanisms. They hold shut the castle gates, sealing the path forward. You must find them. Activate them. Only then will the way open. But be warned, the journey ahead will test you.

Each mechanism is protected by one of the Three Lords, sovereigns of their domains and unyielding in their power.

- The Orc Lord, who bathes the weak in blood and rules through brute force.

- The Beast Lord, whose primal dominion commands the creatures of the wild.

- The Midnight Lord, the tireless guardian of the Capital and eternal servant of the throne.

But know this, there is a cost. Once the ancient seal is broken, the Midnight Wardens will never again rest. They will rise and march without end, consuming all that stands in their path. Even the long-abandoned lands will fall once more beneath their shadow. The Midnight Lord himself will awaken, bringing swift and merciless punishment to those who dared to defy the sealed order.

Beyond the castle gates lies a portal, the only exit from this world. But passage through it is not freely given. It is watched endlessly, guarded by forces that do not permit escape without challenge.

At the very heart of the castle, upon a throne forgotten by time, waits the Midnight King. Those who cross into his domain must face the Witch, once sealed away for endangering the balance of the realm. But she is not the final trial. For the one who truly rules these lands watches still, unseen, awaiting the moment to pass final judgment.

It was the same mission everyone had access to, the one that had once stunned Luke. Now, it was just another challenge, something that could actually be achieved. Everyone saw it that way. Even a humble merchant who hadn’t reached level one in his class had accepted it without hesitation.

Was it difficult? For the weak, yes. But the mission seemed to promise nothing more than a large-scale war, one that could be survived with the right strategy. If they planned carefully, they could wipe out the enemy and take shelter within one of the three fortresses, safe and victorious.

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But that was before the real revelation, what the third mechanism had shown them.

**Final Tutorial Mission: Midnight War**

You’ve reached the final stage of the tutorial and now have access to the third and last mechanism. From your very first steps on this journey, much has happened, but don’t think the end is near. The true challenge begins now.

The Midnight War is the ultimate event of this tutorial world. In the Capital, the heart of the Kingdom, lies the last fortress. But nothing comes without a price. Activating the third mechanism will shatter the castle’s final barrier and put the exit within your reach. On the other side, however, waits the final army of the Midnight King, led by his most loyal and relentless guardian, the Midnight Lord.

Your objective is to survive the march of this army and reach the King for the final judgment. This event cannot be paused or reversed and will last exactly 6 hours.

When the War ends, no living creature may remain. Each mechanism you activated broke a seal of the castle and also a seal of the wall that kept the Kingdom safe. When the third mechanism is activated, the magic that kept the winter at bay will vanish. Eternal cold will sweep across everything. No warmth, no light, no life. Frozen death will consume every corner of this world.

You will have 6 hours to fight your way through the Midnight Lord’s army, reach the castle, and return to your world. If you fail, you will perish along with everything around you.

Objective: Survive the Midnight War and return to your world.

Requirement: At least 51% of tutorial participants must be present in the third fortress for the event to start at midnight. Once the third mechanism is activated, it cannot be stopped and the countdown to this world’s death begins.

Duration: 6 hours.

Good luck!

Luke watched them all, listening as voices braided into a low, worried hum while Erza stared into her cup of tea as if the rest of the room did not exist. There were others from Haven who clearly didn’t like being left out or felt uneasy about the final challenge, but out of respect for Allison, they stayed silent. If they had something to say, they would say it to her directly, not in front of Bastion’s soldiers, merchants, or other important people.

“You understand what this means?” Eddie asked Allison.

“I do,” she replied.

“And you still kept it from us?” a soldier named Gale demanded. “Look, this is serious. I have a family. A daughter. This is madness, and you hid it from us.”

Allison simply sighed. “We hid it for a reason. If you’d known, most of you wouldn’t have moved. A month and a half passed, so what happened? Most of the army hit profession level sixty. Everyone worked on weapons. The Midnight Wardens are nearly gone. Three fortresses have been made usable. Do you see what I mean? People grew powerful.”

Eddie pushed to his feet. “We need more time.”

“More time for what?” Erza snapped, her voice cold and brittle.

“To get stronger,” Eddie said.

A soft laugh escaped Erza as she turned her attention back to her cup. Luke knew why. The woman had already made up her mind; she was going back to Earth. Once she was granted permission to return home, nothing would stop her. She had only stayed in the tutorial for nearly three years at the request of her own Order. If it were up to her, she would have left long ago.

“Look, none of you are as strong as they are. Give others the chance to catch up,” Eddie said.

“We can’t,” Allison answered, flat and final.

Ronan looked at Eddie. “You don’t really get it because you’re not the type who goes out hunting.”

“Being cautious isn’t a crime,” Eddie shot back.

Luke stood. “No, Eddie. You’re missing the point. We can’t give more time because at this rate, before long every monster on the map will be dead.”

The man frowned, confused.

“That means even if ten years pass, nothing will change,” Erza said, stirring her tea with a spoon. “No Midnight Wardens, no orcs, no beasts, no undead—no way left to gain levels around here. Which means, my friends, you’ll all have to become vegetarians… or… kill yourselves.”

Luke knew that choice all too well. He had faced something similar long ago, inside the Forgotten Temple Dungeon. Trapped on the final floor, the only way out had been to steal a key from a chest on an island suspended over an abyss, guarded by a sleeping demon. The only way to grow stronger in that place had been to kill kobolds.

But there was a problem. If he killed them all, he would run out of food. He could have dragged it out, killing one a week, keeping himself alive a little longer. It would have meant stretching out the torment, surviving on scraps until starvation claimed him after the last kobold fell. Instead, Luke had gambled everything, he slaughtered them all at once and went straight for the final challenge.

Now, the survivors were facing the same kind of decision, even if the circumstances were different. They could survive here, on fruit, roots, whatever the land gave them, plus the weekly chests. But the truth was simple: once every other monster on the map was dead, there would be no point in delaying the inevitable. The tutorial would become nothing but an empty shell. No danger. No growth. No reason to remain.

“We’ve conquered the entire tutorial map,” Allison said. “We’ve charted everything, even the caves. At this pace, there won’t be anything left alive soon. Dragging this out any longer is pointless.”

Most of the faces around her showed understanding at her words.

“Six hours is still six hours,” Quinn said. “Winning a war like that won’t be easy.” Even those from the Haven had begun voicing their thoughts.

Luke stepped toward the center of the room. “The final challenge,” he said quietly, “is actually the easiest one of all.”