The moment Kael confirmed moving to the next trial, the start room vanished around him once again.
The familiar brick walls dissolved into fragments of light before an entirely new environment began forming around him.
A soft breeze brushed against his skin.
Then the world stabilized.
Kael slowly looked around.
For a brief moment, he genuinely thought he had arrived in some kind of paradise.
Massive trees stretched endlessly across the landscape, their leaves lush and vibrantly green. Colorful flowers bloomed everywhere beneath them, filling the forest with life and beauty.
Hanging from nearly every branch were fruits of all kinds.
Some looked familiar.
Others completely foreign.
But all of them looked perfectly ripe and unbelievably fresh.
Red fruits glistened beneath the soft light overhead. Golden ones hung heavily from branches while others carried strange colors Kael had never seen before.
The sweet fragrance filling the forest was intoxicating.
The combined scent of flowers and fruits created an atmosphere so pleasant it almost felt unreal.
And that was exactly why Kael immediately felt danger.
A faint chill crept down his spine.
This place was too perfect.
Far too perfect.
And the notification screen that appeared next only confirmed his suspicion.
[FLOOR 3 — HELL DIFFICULTY]
[Mission: Survival]
[Objective: Endure the Hunger Forest.]
[Warning: The gnawing hunger will corrode your mind. Some fruits may provide temporary relief. Choose carefully.]
[Duration: 2 Hours]
Kael stared at the screen with narrowed eyes.
"This trial is dangerous..."
No monsters.
No combat.
But somehow, this felt even worse.
A mental attack.
The warning itself already explained enough.
The hunger would slowly corrode his mind.
As for the fruits...
Some could apparently help alleviate the effect temporarily.
But the problem was obvious.
How was he supposed to figure out which fruits were safe?
Kael had a feeling eating the wrong one would end up very badly for him.
Almost immediately after the notification disappeared, Kael felt it.
Hunger.
A faint gnawing sensation began spreading through his stomach.
His expression instantly darkened.
"...Fuck."
He had literally eaten before entering the Tower.
And yet right now, it felt as though he had not eaten in an entire day.
Worse still, the sensation was rapidly growing stronger.
Kael immediately activated the Spectre X bracelet.
The AI system responded instantly.
Without hesitation, he began scanning the nearest fruits hanging from the tree closest to him.
A few seconds later, the result appeared.
Normal. No toxins. No detectable harmful substances.
Kael frowned slightly before moving toward another tree and scanning again.
Same result.
Then another tree.
And another.
And another.
By the time he stopped, he had already scanned fruits from five different trees.
Every single result came back identical.
Completely normal.
Kael’s brows furrowed deeply.
There was no way it was that simple.
Either the AI simply could not detect whatever abnormality existed within the fruits...
Or the fruits genuinely were normal, and the Tower mechanism itself was what determined the effect after consumption.
Either possibility was bad.
And neither eased his worries.
Seeing that the scans were useless, Kael quickly shifted his approach.
If there were truly fruits capable of helping him, then the trial itself should logically contain some kind of clue or loophole that allowed challengers to identify them.
There had to be something.
A pattern.
A hidden sign.
Anything.
But as Kael looked around, all he saw was an endless forest overflowing with beautiful trees and tempting fruits.
No markings.
No monuments.
Nothing obvious at all.
Meanwhile, the hunger continued growing worse.
Minute by minute, the gnawing sensation intensified.
Kael could feel it slowly affecting his thoughts already.
Without wasting any more time, he began moving through the forest.
He searched carefully while trying to identify anything unusual.
Anything at all.
But no matter how far he walked, the scenery remained the same.
Endless trees.
Endless fruits.
Endless sweet fragrance.
And the hunger only continued worsening.
Soon, Kael suddenly stopped walking.
His expression shifted slightly.
A thought had just appeared inside his mind.
What if the AI scans had actually been correct?
What if there truly was nothing wrong with the fruits themselves?
The notification had never explicitly stated that the other fruits were poisonous.
It only said some fruits could relieve the hunger.
Not that the others would harm him.
Kael’s eyes widened slightly.
Then suddenly—
He snapped out of his thoughts.
Only to realize his hand had already unconsciously reached toward a nearby fruit.
His expression immediately changed.
"...Shit."
He quickly pulled his hand back.
This was bad.
Very bad.
The hunger was already affecting his judgment.
If he had not noticed in time, he might have eaten the fruit without even realizing it.
Kael immediately backed away from the tree.
But the problem was...
Where exactly was he supposed to go?
The entire forest was filled with massive fruit-bearing trees.
The sweet smell lingered everywhere no matter where he moved.
It was inescapable.
Kael clenched his jaw.
At this point, he had already given up on trying to locate the so-called helpful fruits.
There simply was not enough information.
Eventually, he found a relatively open spot that was farther away from the surrounding trees compared to most areas.
Although even there, the scent of the fruits still drifted through the air constantly.
Kael slowly lowered himself into a cross-legged position before closing his eyes.
He began trying to calm his breathing while forcing his mind into focus, attempting every meditation and concentration technique he could vaguely remember.
But none of it worked.
The hunger only continued worsening relentlessly, becoming sharper, heavier, and more unbearable with every passing moment.
At some point, it genuinely began feeling as though he might starve to death right there despite his stomach technically not being empty.
Kael’s thoughts raced desperately.
He had no idea how much time had passed already, but he was certain the two-hour duration was nowhere near over.
At this rate...
He was not sure he could endure until the end.
Then suddenly, an idea surfaced inside his mind.
The health potions.
They were not food.
But they contained vitality and restorative energy.
Maybe that could help suppress the hunger somewhat.
Without hesitation, Kael reached into his inventory and pulled out a vial containing a health potion.
Then immediately drank it.
The cool liquid slid down his throat smoothly.
At first, nothing happened.
But moments later—
Warmth spread throughout his body.
And just like that, the unbearable hunger weakened slightly.
Kael let out a slow breath.
"...Better."
The effect was not perfect.
But it helped.
A lot.
So Kael remained seated there quietly while enduring the trial.
Time passed slowly.
Roughly eleven minutes later, the effect wore off.
The hunger returned instantly with frightening intensity.
Kael groaned softly as the gnawing sensation assaulted him again.
Without hesitation, he drank another potion.
Once again, relief came.
But this time...
The effect only lasted around eight minutes.
Kael’s expression darkened.
"...The effectiveness is decreasing."
Which meant if he mindlessly continued chugging potions nonstop, eventually they would stop working entirely.
And when that happened...
He would be finished.
So Kael made a decision.
He would endure the hunger as long as possible each time before drinking another potion.
That way, he could stretch out the effects for as long as possible.
And so the cycle continued.
The hunger grew.
His mind slowly weakened.
Then he drank a potion to suppress it temporarily before enduring again.
Over and over.
Time gradually lost meaning.
The hunger became maddening.
At some point, Kael could have sworn he saw movement deeper within the forest despite there clearly being nothing there.
Hallucinations had already begun.
His thoughts became sluggish, his breathing roughened, and every passing minute started feeling unbearably long.
Then another potion.
Then more suffering.
Again and again.
Until finally, the two-hour mark arrived.
And just like that, Kael survived yet another Hell Difficulty trial.