The third planet.

  Where participants build a strong foundation before advancing to higher planets.

  On the first planet, because of everyone's weakness, and 490 days of struggle just to survive with their weak bodies, the participants really couldn't be worried about gathering points.

  The only worry they had was staying alive and filling their stomachs.

  On the second planet, because of the 'charm', most participants didn't even know how the season ended there.

  There was only a 2-day battle between the Queen and the Demon King after a 490-day cool-down.

  And during the cool-down period, they were only doing different tasks for the Queen to show their 'Love'.

  But here on the third planet, as level 3 creatures, they could finally start 'playing'.

  While the theme was fear, and they could turn into monsters at any moment, they found a way to counter it.

  And that was why many saw this planet as the first to build a solid foundation and gather many points.

  And the best way to deal with fear was simple.

  'Stay together!'

  When you are dealing with something scary,

  If you are alone, it's a lot scarier compared to when you are in a group.

  And that's why, to deal with fear, the participants learned to stay in groups and never do anything alone.

  With the big problem gone, everyone could gradually farm points.

  At the start of the new season, everything was normal.

  On the planet's surface, different cities that would be filled with 'living creatures' each new season were prepared for participants.

  But after around 100 days or so, some changes would happen.

  Crystalline monsters could appear in any city and change the citizens into the monsters they feared.

  Only from that point on could participants start hunting down the crystalline monsters and transformed citizens to gather Fear shards.

  But before the first 100 days, the only way to find any crystalline monster was the rank 1 participants from previous seasons, who were always the 'tycoons'.

  Because of their access to the 'safe room' and their starting point, they could start digging out their way to the surface,

  And after finding the participants on the planet's surface nearby, team up with them and go back down for monster hunting.

  The only problem was that only the beginning of the underground path could be dug out, not the depth.

  And because even tycoons didn't have a way to deal with the Fear down there, and needed to be with others,

  The first thing they would always do was to dig out a path to the surface while they had the chance.

  And why didn't they use newborns to team up with?

  The reason was their nature.

  If they used a group of newborns instead of participants, because newborns would feel extremely 'worried' about each other's lives,

  Their anxiety would be the best source to increase their fear in a moment.

  But at the same time, if they used only one newborn, without any living creatures that could truly die around them, they were the opposite.

  The participants wouldn't die for real, so the newborns didn't need to be 'worried' about their safety, making them naturally a lot more fearless in this way.

  That's why the tycoons would dig a path to the surface first.

  Then, after gathering a group of participants, they would return here secretly to explore the underground area, which was completely hidden and out of reach to everyone else.

  And with a newborn at the front of the group, they could always feel safer because if a newborn's fear reached 100%, and transformed into a monster,

  Unlike the participants, they would be sent back to their cards, rendering them unusable until the next season.

  The newborns weren't participants and couldn't change teams like participants to go around hunting others as 'Unborn',

  So the system would only change their state to 'unusable' for the current planet.

  And the only thing participants needed to do was replace the newborn with another one and continue exploring.

  But the Fear effect would increase the deeper you go in the underground path, and with more Fear, more crystalline monsters would appear.

  So the tycoon groups would go deep to a certain point, and then retreat.

  2 days later, the path would be filled with the same number of crystalline monsters, and they could clear it again to gather Fear shards.

  This way of farming would continue until the event day, which was 490 days from now.

  .....

  Underground.

  In a wide path,

  A group of more than 100 men and women was moving towards a certain direction.

  In front of the group was a man, leading them.

  He seems to be extra vigilant, checking everything on the path, the walls, and the ceiling with a big flashlight.

  But the crowd behind him wasn't as vigilant, and they were talking to each other in a relaxed manner.

  "With the point system going offline, is it fine for us to gather Fear shards?"

  "If we keep everything here secret, yes."

  "The rank 1 from the previous season is the tycoon over there.

  His name isn't registered yet because he hasn't collected his first fear shard yet."

  "And why didn't he do that?"

  "Because he thought it might not count as points for the season while the point system is offline."

  "So he is just gathering them without his infopad? Should we do that too?"

  "It's your choice.

  We were lucky to end up in a rank 1 team.

  While others are building a defense line and doing trades for the first couple of weeks without seeing a single crystalline monster, we can accumulate some fear shards."

  "If others don't find out."

  "It doesn't really matter.

  Do you think we were a team of 100 from the start?

  The tycoon started with 30 people, but others slowly found out in one way or another and joined the group."

  "What do you mean, it doesn't matter if others know about us?"

  "Because if there are more of us, we can explore the deeper parts.

  By the way, little sir, you have been with us for a while, and I still don't know your name?"

  "Morleone."

  "Oh, Mr. Morleone, nice to meet you.

  Why are you so quiet all the time? You know it lessens your 'fear' if you keep a conversation."

  The little gentleman called Morleone only smiled and didn't say anything.

  The man saw something in his hand and asked curiously,

  "By the way, little friend, what are you smoking?"

  Mr. Morleone, after puffing out purple smoke, showed his 'cigarette' to them.

  The participants who saw a sudden change in their fear meter flinched,

  "Y-you are smoking a fear shard..?"

  ...

  Third planet, Day 13.

  While heading towards the other safe rooms, Little Morleone came across a group of people.

  No one noticed his arrival, and only after a day did some people pay attention to him because he seemed too relaxed for this place.

  After knowing about the planet and how things work here from listening to these people, he already had a plan.

  And at this moment, while walking with these people, he wasn't actually with them anymore, and his goal was different.

  "I was wondering why I feel stressed all the time..."

  "So this purple smoke is Fear shard's smoke?"

  The crowd made distance from him immediately.

  Seeing the sudden commotion, the group paused.

  Everyone turned around to see what was going on at the back.

  The tycoon asked what was happening, and when he heard someone actually smoking a Fear shard, he almost fainted from anger!

  Seeing who it was, he said,

  "Friend, you seem fearless.

  How about you continue by yourself?"

  This little gentleman seems to be crazy.

  Why would he do such a stupid thing?

  Little Morleone nodded,

  and without saying anything, walked away with one hand in his pocket and smoking his 'Fear-cigarette' in his other hand as if strolling in the park.

  Soon, his figure disappeared in the darkness,

  And only a purple trail of smoke was left behind.

  The crowd was speechless.

  "He didn't even use a flashlight..."

  "Who is he again?"

  "Morleone.

  But I checked, there is no such name in the ranking."

  "So, he either lied about his name or is still unregistered?"

  "He seems familiar, though."

  *Shatter*

  The crowd suddenly heard a shattering sound from the darkness and became vigilant.

  But after waiting for a while, they didn't hear anything else.

  "Who said he looks familiar?"

  Someone raised his hand.

  "Me.

  He looks like this guy."

  And showed them the picture of the wanted criminal from the first planet.

  "That's someone on the first planet, but they are like twins..."

  "Higher beings don't have twins.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  And the last statue update says he finished the first planet as rank 1..."

  "Wait, he finished it by triggering that impossible special event!?"

  "I didn't follow his progress because I thought he was going to get caught on the first planet..."

  "So if the one we just saw is him, and he is unregistered, then..."

  The crowd became silent.

  Some frowned, some became excited, and some were astonished.

  All of them knew it meant he finished the second planet as rank 1, too.

  but this time, he killed the bounty hunters in a way that none of them had the time to send the news out.

  Everyone's gaze turned to the tycoon.

  He was the leader here, and if he gave them the green light, they could start the hunt.

  The tycoon looked at the darkness that the wanted criminal walked into and stroked his chin,

  "The other party is from the underworld.

  That explains why he doesn't fear anything in this place.

  What's scarier than 'Hell'?

  But to become rank 1 on two planets back to back without any support..."

  He looked at the crowd,

  "Everyone, I think the information about his stolen items is completely false if he really is the one we think."

  The crowd nodded.

  Finishing that special event on the first planet was impossible, except with a pocket filled with special cards.

  "Did anyone see a bounty hunter these days?

  I mean, one of those former imprisoned ones kept in the vault, until they are needed to come here and act as hunting dogs."

  "I saw a group of them coming out of a random place in the wilderness with a couple of hours' delay.

  47 of them to be exact."

  The crowd raised their eyebrows in surprise.

  "47? Doesn't that mean the evaluation of this criminal is a little too high, and they already thought of the possibility that he might advance to higher planets?"

  "This matter is not as simple as they try to make it..."

  The crowd looked at the tycoon again.

  He thought for a moment and said,

  "Did anyone see anybody from the second planet joining us recently?"

  The crowd shook their head.

  "So if it's only him, then..."

  Everyone’s hair stood on end!

  Did he kill everybody there?

  *Shatter* x10

  Suddenly, shattering sounds echoed through the underground path, causing everyone's fear meter to jump up by 5%.

  "That was 10 at the same time."

  "He probably came across a group."

  "What should we do now?"

  The crowd felt slightly scared now and looked at the tycoon again.

  The tycoon was speechless.

  "How about we—"

  *Ding*

  The sudden notification sound increased everyone's fear meter by another 2%.

  Everyone turned to the random, unprofessional guy who didn't put his infopad on silent mode before coming to the underground area!

  "M-My infopad was on silent mode!

  This was an 'important notification' alert that I can't do anything about..."

  The tycoon gritted his teeth,

  "And what was so 'important'?"

  And the man showed him his infopad.

  It was actually a coordinate of the wanted criminal that he got 'lucky' and received!

  "Look, he just registered in the ranking now, with... Only 1 fear shard? And his name is Mortal, which matches the bounty!"

  *Shatter* x15

  The shattering sounds, coming from farther in the darkness, echoed through the underground again.

  The crowd turned their infopads on and watched the ranking.

  But his ranking didn't change, and the number of his fear shards was still 1.

  Fear shards were like points, too, so if he picked up more, his points would increase naturally.

  "Why did he only take 1 shard?"

  At this moment, the tycoon suddenly turned around and rushed into the darkness!

  The crowd, who guessed the reason, went after him.

  Soon they arrived in front of 9 fear shards left on the ground.

  The tycoon gulped, and his fear meter went up by 10%, and so did the others, who figured out the reason for these shards to be left here.

  One of the participants with a '7%' fear meter asked in confusion,

  "What's going on?"

  And one of the participants with a '17% fear' meter answered,

  "W-we heard a shattering sound first.

  Then 10 shattering sounds, and 15 after that...

  But on the way here, we didn't see the first crystal remaining from the first sound,

  And here, we only found 9 crystals..."

  The '7%' guy was even more confused,

  "Which means?"

  And the '17%' guy answered nervously,

  "He is smoking the first fear shard,

  And then he used one out of the 10 shards left behind by the crystalline monster he faced here to register.

  He... left the rest behind...

  And probably if we go deeper, we'll see the other 15!"

  The '7%' guy asked,

  "Why would he do such a thing?"

  The '17%' guy, with an '18%' fear meter now, answered,

  "He is challenging us... He is challenging us to go after him!

  And by registering his name, he is telling us that others might receive his coordinates and get him first if we don't hurry..."

  The crowd of 7% fear meter gasped, and their numbers jumped to 20%!

  *Shatter* x27

  The crowd's breathing turned heavy.

  The sound of shattering was like the devil's whisper, asking them to follow him to the depths of the underground...

  "What is he trying to do?"

  "He is baiting us with those free fear shards to follow him..."

  An old lady said in a serious tone,

  "We can't go after him!"

  and made the crowd curious as to why.

  "No one knows what's at the end of the underground path.

  But the deeper you go, the stronger those monsters become."

  The crowd nodded; they already knew this.

  "That's why every time we reach a certain distance, we just go back and let the 'weak monsters' re-spawn."

  The crowd nodded again; they already knew this, too.

  "But in reality, they aren't re-spawning, but coming from the depths.

  I saw this in one of my trips here when we came back sooner to wait for them to respawn."

  The crowd became surprised.

  Someone commented,

  "If they are coming from a 'source' in the deeper parts,

  Then it means each group of monsters needs to travel from the source, and then each group stays in their territory?"

  The experienced old lady nodded,

  "Indeed.

  Which means the deeper we go, the more crystalline monsters at once we face.

  He is ranked 1 on two planets, which means he has two season-end rewards like our tycoon.

  He has many stolen cards that the agents didn't mention in his information.

  So, do you think it's hard for him to bait us all into the depths,

  and then suddenly stop killing those crystalline monsters and instead run away when the first wave of 'replacement monsters' comes back to their territory again?

  I'm pretty sure his chance of survival is a lot more than ours because he feels no 'Fear'..."

  The crowd's foreheads were covered in cold sweat now.

  "He was with us for a whole day if I'm not wrong..."

  "He sure was, and he learned everything about this planet from us!"

  "When did he even join us?"

  "No idea... He wasn't with us, but then, he was..."

  The speechless crowd turned to the tycoon again.

  He wasn't speechless this time, though.

  Instead, he had a cunning smile on his face.

  The crowd became surprised.

  "Sir, do you have an idea?"

  The tycoon chuckled and brought out his infopad.

  "Everyone, the bounty on this man's head is a wish, and there is no limit on the number of hunters participating in his hunt.

  He thinks we are greedy, and we will follow him to our death?

  Then let's share this greed with everyone!"

  And then he started sending messages with his infopad.

  The crowd didn't understand what he meant at first, but some of his friends received a 'sent to all' message.

  It was a full 'story' of everything that happened here, with the 'address' of this secret underground entrance.

  "Now, we can follow him without 'Fear'!"

  The crowd started laughing and brought out their infopads, sending messages to everyone they knew.

  These people understood a simple fact.

  Going alone was dangerous.

  And how deep could he go?

  The number and the strength of crystalline monsters would be too high at some point that he didn't have a choice but to come back.

  So they only needed to be strong enough to deal with that wave of accumulated monsters and have enough numbers to deal with him at the same time!

  ...

  The news of the 'wanted criminal', his 'secret plan', and the 'counter-plan' of the tycoon spread like wildfire.

  Just after reading the 'story', everyone knew what this criminal was trying to do.

  He registered his name, so they receive his coordinates every 1 hour.

  Because nobody traveled here alone, the one with the coordinates would surely go after him with a group of participants due to the bounty not having a limit.

  This way, he could just get rid of one group per hour.

  The other party, as a rank 1 of two planets, was ready and confident about dealing with them in groups.

  But the 'Tycoon' didn't let his greed fool him, and shared the news.

  Now, everyone on the planet was swarming towards the underground entrance to take a share of this free 'Wish'!

  ....

  Deep inside the underground path.

  Little Morleone summoned the wise-elderly number 1.

  The old lady who found herself in a dark place looked around in confusion.

  Then she heard some glass-like footsteps and a shattering sound coming from somewhere near her.

  *Ding*

  Hearing the sound, she checked her infopad and saw a fear meter, already at 10 %.

  She understood immediately that they were on the third planet, with Fear as its theme.

  "B-Boss?"

  The old lady called for the real scary entity in her team.

  "Greetings, young lady.

  Let's walk while we talk."

  Hearing the voice, while the tone and the way of speaking seem different,

  The old lady's fear meter dropped to 2% after recognizing it.

  "Yes."

  And she followed the voice while using a flashlight.

  Only now she saw where they were.

  To keep things 'scary', this planet limited the spiritual sense of the participants, and they didn't have their original laws either.

  They were as powerful as a level 3 body-wise, but lacked any laws and possessed only one ability.

  As the two walked, the old lady noticed her boss giving her something.

  It was his infopad that she received to take a look at.

  Reading the information about the rank 1 underground access, she was enlightened.

  "Oh, so we are underground now!

  I only heard about this place, but never been here.

  Are we going to start gathering Fear shards here?"

  But her Little Boss shook his head,

  "No.

  I invited some 'guests' down here that I need you to welcome them, and there are some family members outside that you need to pick up."

  And then stopped, gave her his storage card and even his handgun card before pointing at the ground while saying,

  "First priority is your life.

  Second priority is our lost family members.

  Third is the bounty hunters.

  And fourth priority is a path of no return, so our guests can stay down here... Forever."

  The old lady was dumbfounded.

  She didn't even know what was going on, or what he was talking about, and to make it worse,

  "Alright, see you later."

  He just left without any more explanation while taking out a purple crystal cigarette to smoke...

  She looked at where he pointed with her flashlight and saw some creepy drawings with 'blood'.

  Different arrows were pointed in different directions, and a distance number was in front of each.

  She recognized the 'drawing' to be the 'blood magic' he used in their first meeting to find the 'gathering of sinners'.

  Which, in reality, was the Crystal who used its 'hidden cameras' to locate these cities.

  *Shatter*

  The shattering sound brought the old lady back to her senses.

  Now she could only hear the 'shattering' sound of the crystalline monsters further away, and barely saw a trail of purple smoke.

  Not knowing exactly what was going on, and seeing her boss leave everything with her before departing, she 'summoned' the wise-elderly number 2 for help.

  This old man was smart.

  Around 10 minutes later, after the old man checked everything, he said,

  "Telling you your life is the first priority, should be because of the third priority, which is the bounty hunters.

  He wants us to deal with bounty hunters if possible,

  but because of the 'sun card' they have, he knows our invulnerability cards are ineffective against them if we can't finish them off fast enough,

  so he is telling us the first priority is not to put ourselves in danger dealing with them.

  And the fourth priority is to keep the guests, who can't be anyone except the other participants, down here.

  So we need to block their path of retreat.

  And how he 'invited' the guests was by registering his name.

  They are coming after him now, in groups, and because of the 'Fear' problem, their groups can't be small...

  And this drawing shows us where the cities are, so we can bring his lost soldiers for him, whom he calls 'family members' for some reason."

  The old man then looked at the ground.

  Fear shards were scattered everywhere,

  "And I think these Fear shards are here to 'feed' the guests..."

  And then moved his gaze towards the other side of the dark underground path, the opposite of where their boss went.

  "Alright, let's wait here.

  We can soon confirm how many guests are invited.

  Then, depending on their numbers, we can plan our next move."

  The two waited for more than 20 minutes until the sound of cautious footsteps came.

  The two nodded at each other and immediately used invisibility cards before jumping to the ceiling.

  Not long after, they saw many people with flashlights, following a newborn, coming their way.

  They were vigilantly checking everything while happily picking up the Fear shards.

  When the two elderly saw their number, they were at a loss...

  As far as they could see, people were marching cautiously towards the depths of the underground path.

  And surprisingly, there was no conflict picking up the fear shards between them because all of them were being delivered to one person, who seems to be a tycoon.

  Why? The two didn't know.

  But probably because he was the one that everyone 'trusted', and he could just divide the 'loot' later between everybody.

  This way, they could stay focused on the main 'mission', which was catching the criminal.

  As they waited for them to pass, they saw even more participants joining in a hurry, and once they arrived, someone would explain how things work here.

  From what the two heard, it was as they had guessed.

  Half an hour later.

  After they were gone, the two turned visible,

  Summoned a small newborn who seems to be good at stealth operations, gave her everything, and turned back to their cards before telling her,

  "The Boss is moving in that direction.

  You go the opposite way and continue until you don't see anyone else coming or you find the bounty hunters.

  You can call us out then."

  The little newborn girl nodded and used an invisibility card before disappearing into the darkness.

  .....

  Deep in the underground path.

  Little Morleone was still moving towards the center of the underground area with one hand in his pocket and smoking Fear shards.

  Lilith and the Crystal were watching him go deeper in disappointment.

  They wanted to see what he feared, and saw the reflection of that fear on the Crystals.

  But they didn't see anything because the monsters would shatter before taking any form within a 10 to 20 meter distance from him.

  It didn't matter how big they were or what kind of shape they originally had.

  All of them would shatter without exception.

  Little Morleone was now mumbling a song to himself too, while ignoring the crystalline monsters...

  "What do you ponder?

  The Autumn that has passed?

  The Spring that never came?

  The Hope that now drifts away,

  Or the promise long forgotten?"

  *Puffff*

  "What do you ponder?

  The eyes that never saw you?

  The hands that never reached for you?

  The friend who never brushed the dust of sorrow from your face,

  Or the heart that never spoke of love?"

  *sigh*

  "What do you ponder?

  Another spring,

  Another hope,

  Or perhaps… another friend?"

  While the poem seems fine, hearing it in this dark, creepy underground made it slightly scary...

  Only a certain notebook was secretly taking note of this poem, to add to its story.

  Nobody knew, but this little notebook had a secret.

  From the first day it was taken away by Little Mortal, it started writing the story of its new journey with him.

  [The records of the notebook's adventures]

  But at some point, it changed its name.

  Even itself didn't know why, perhaps because it admired its new boss too much.

  But it started recording everything about him as a bystander, and changed the title of the book to,

  [The story of Little Mortal, the strongest:

  The Unseen and Unbound guardian]