The users invited to challenge the third level of the Hellfire Difficulty with Weed:

Barton, Luria, Sen.

They felt strangely uncomfortable after being told they didn’t have to do anything.

“Is it true that he doesn’t need our help and can clear this alone?”
“Seems like it. It feels like he’s not even considering us.”
“He hasn’t asked our class or level. If he wanted anything, he would’ve asked what we could do.”

Just passing time and still getting reward loot—it couldn’t get better than this.

Stats, traits, equipment.

Any reward from the Hellfire Difficulty would be jackpot-tier, but since their lives were on the line, they couldn’t help but worry.

If the challenger failed, it would ultimately lead to their deaths too.

Weed had to clear the third level for them to make it back alive.

“He’s someone who beat the second level. I doubt he challenged this lightly. He must be confident in the third stage as well.”
“Still… no one’s cleared stage three yet.”
“He might be the first. Let’s observe for now. No reason to make a bad impression on the challenger.”

Barton, Luria, and Sen decided to tread carefully.

They were camped far from the abandoned stronghold and were relatively safe for the moment.

They decided to spend a few days watching the challenger’s movements.

Sen returned from scouting Weed.

“He’s sitting on a rock crafting something. Probably a magical item.”
“Looks like a magic bomb… I’ve seen mages make something like that.”
“So he does have something up his sleeve.”

If the challenger had rushed into the stronghold and died, they all would’ve died too.

Seeing him calmly preparing instead of charging recklessly eased their minds.

“Let’s eat first.”
“Sounds good. Let’s cook together.”

Since Roanoke had become a game where death was real, they made sure to eat well—as if every meal might be their last.

While setting up a simple tent and grilling meat:

“I’ll bring him some food.”

Barton approached Weed with food and returned with a pale face.

“He’s making… a sculpture.”
“A sculpture?”
“Huh?!”

In Royal Road, sculptor was a low-tier job—but in Roanoke, it was even worse. Practically garbage.

Weed carved Seoyoon’s statue while recalling his Royal Road days.

Though it had been over 20 years, people lived on memories as they aged.

“I started Royal Road because I desperately needed money.”

Back then, not only Weed but many people saw gaming as a source of income.

Item auction sites were immensely popular.

They’d sell gold and gear, work as mercenaries, and help others complete difficult quests.

“Everything was just to survive. And now, I’m in Roanoke again, for the same reason.”

Weed’s carving knife—something even goblins wouldn’t bother to pick up—shaved away the wood, slowly revealing Seoyoon’s form.

The blade was dull and the wood grain hard to work with, making it difficult to show his full skill.

“Carefully now. True artisans are picky about their tools, but skill can make up for the rest.”

Scritch, scritch.

The goddess Sarasvati, who governs art, music, and wisdom, has taken interest in your sculpture.
The Goddess of Art blesses your soul.
Art stat +2.

As Weed sculpted, divine blessings would occasionally appear.

“Pretty generous blessings for once.”

(In Roanoke, where hunting difficulty is much higher than Royal Road, sculptor players are nearly extinct.)
(So the Goddess of Art seems to be especially interested.)

“Figures… freeloaders get all the attention.”

In Royal Road, only masterpieces or greater works would attract the attention of Goddess Freya.

The goddess Sarasvati is astonished by your sculpture.
The Goddess of Beauty, Sete, admires your work.
Charm stat +2.

Message boxes chimed as Weed continued carving.

He was sculpting the 20-year-old Seoyoon.

Delicate and mysterious—a stunningly beautiful figure.

Honestly, her beauty was so extraordinary it made one question if she was even human.

“I made so many sculptures of Seoyoon in Royal Road.”

Weed always thought he would live alone.

Marriage was a luxury in a life where even basic survival was difficult.

Yet, unbelievably, Seoyoon liked him.

“Why? How?”

He suspected she was after his money, but her family was absurdly rich.

So he could only assume one thing:

“She’s after my organs.”

The ultimate internet paranoia.

But despite the doubts, fate brought them together.

And every time, he would be surprised anew—waking up to find a breathtaking beauty beside him.

“It never stopped being amazing.”

Even in dreams, it was hard to find anyone prettier than Seoyoon.

Compared to drama and movie heroines, Seoyoon always came out ahead by at least six or seven levels.

Fairy tales say the prince and princess lived happily ever after.

Living with Seoyoon, Weed had started to understand what that meant.

And then—

Ding!

Masterpiece! You’ve created a dazzlingly beautiful statue of a woman.

A sculpture by someone unknown to the world.

Made on the Ils Continent, where kings, nobles, and even slaves live.

A sculpture of such beauty that it could captivate anyone’s eyes.

This sculpture will become a treasure of the continent.

Artistic Value: 5,600

Options:

• Viewers gain +30% HP and Mana regeneration for one day

• Max HP +7%

• Magic resistance +10%

• Immune to charm magic

• Charm +10

• Grace +10

You’ve created a masterpiece worthy of the gods’ attention.
Fame +400
All stats +2 from artistic achievement
Charm +10
New stat [Soul Force] acquired: Soul Force +2
You’ve self-learned Sculpting by sheer talent!
Gained Sculpting Skill (Beginner Level 5) without a quest.
Legend Points +2 for crafting a historically significant piece.

A flood of messages.

All of Weed’s Royal Road experience had been poured into the sculpture.

“I think the rewards here are even better than in Royal Road.”
(Likely because the art world here is nearly extinct.)
(Soul Force is a rare stat that improves magic and spirit summoning skills.)

“Really?”
(Yes. In Roanoke, it’s a stat that raises the very essence of your existence.)

And then Weed realized something big.

“Sculpting has a massive loophole.”

Royal Road’s evaluation system considered historical value, public reactions, and market prices.

Roanoke had carried over that system as-is.

That left an opening to exploit.

“If I remake the successful sculptures from Royal Road here… I’ll get the same effects.”

So-called Sculpture Recycling!

By recalling and recreating masterpieces, Weed could earn enormous stat bonuses.

If he kept producing sculptures, he could even gain enough Legend Points to learn Mirror of the Abyss, a top-tier necromancer spell, before clearing the third level.

A trick only Weed could pull off.

“How did the other challengers handle this place?”

(Most lured soldiers from the fortress perimeter and picked them off. Some used traps or herded monsters. Assassin ‘Ran’ even infiltrated and killed knights but was ultimately hunted down.)

Weed had maxed his growth in stages 1 and 2.

The original plan was to pick off soldiers and evade knights in a high-risk strategy.

Even he couldn’t survive being surrounded by fully armed enemies.

“Still, I have good odds. If I spread them out over ten days, I could take them one by one.”

He would need to use stealth, ambush, and assassination to eliminate the threats.

But if he learned Mirror of the Abyss, things would change drastically.

“I could wipe out the fortress with dark magic.”

Raising undead to annihilate the soldiers and knights inside.

Then he could move forward with perfect growth.

“Even if I just cleared it, I’d get great rewards. But if I eliminated everyone…”

(You’d receive all possible rewards.)
“From an unclaimed difficulty, no less.”
(With your sculpting skills, I believe it’s possible.)

Experience, loot, achievement rewards—

Weed suddenly felt thankful for sculpting, a skill he used to look down on.

“Sculpting’s great… for scams and loopholes.”

A deep-rooted bias, still intact!

Just then, while working on another statue—this time of his daughter—Luria approached carefully with a food bowl.

“Here’s some food. If you’re not going to eat it, I can take it back.”

Trying hard not to provoke him.

But Weed wasn’t the kind of person to turn down free food.

“Thank you, I’ll eat it gladly.”

He set down the sculpture and started enjoying the meat stew.

Even though he’d become a skilled cook in real life while raising his daughter, nothing beat free food made by someone else.

You eat meat stew.
Fullness increasing.
Not delicious, but edible.

It was the first time he’d sat and eaten since entering the Hellfire difficulty.

Luria watched him eat for a moment before speaking.

“I think I know why I was summoned.”
“…?”
“I know how guys think. But even if the world’s ending, I’m not dating some stranger.”

Roanoke had rapidly devolved into a brutal world where strength was everything and morals were outdated.

Luria, with her cute looks, often got confessed to even at convenience stores or capsule cafes. She was on guard.

But Weed, chewing his meat, replied—

“I’m married.”
“Really?”
“Yes, that’s a sculpture of my wife.”

Luria followed his gaze.

A masterpiece sculpture—so beautiful, it was practically shocking.