Online Game: I Started with Max Charisma and Caught the Goddess's Eye Chapter 444: The True Form of The Enchanted Lack

As Luca gradually reabsorbed his most extre emotions,

a flood of mory fragnts surged through his mind.

These were mories he had once possessed,

but had lost over ti for reasons unknown—

buried, forgotten, or forcefully taken.

Among those fragnts, Luca uncovered a vital piece of information:

During one of his past adventures with Sophia,

they had apparently encountered a being of imnse power—an Ancient God.

This Ancient God had once aided them greatly in their battle against Zenobia,

offering crucial support at a turning point in the fight.

Yet after the battle ended,

every trace of that Ancient God vanished from their minds.

Luca and Sophia had completely forgotten the encounter.

When the storm of mories finally subsided and Luca's consciousness stabilized,

he looked forward—and froze.

The Enchanted Lack was gone.

There was no tranquil lake in sight.

In its place stood a vast, pitch-black zone—

an area so dark that it devoured all light,

a void that consud even the faintest gleam.

As he gazed into the abyss,

Luca's instincts scread: this place was dangerously hostile.

"So this… is the true form of The Enchanted Lack?"

"What I saw before was just an illusion…

and the reason I saw that illusion was because my psyche had been torn apart."

Luca quickly pieced the truth together.

And his deduction wasn't far from reality.

Because his extre emotions had been severed from his soul,

his perception had been distorted—

causing the ominous darkness before him to appear as a serene lake.

Now, with his psyche restored,

he could finally perceive the trial's true setting.

He took a deep breath.

The darkness ahead was undoubtedly perilous,

but if he wanted to complete the trial,

he had no choice but to enter it.

The next objective was clear:

find the true entrance to The Enchanted Lack.

"If the trial description is accurate," Luca thought,

"then this entire shadowed zone is still The Enchanted Lack.

But it all looks identical…

which ans the entrance could be anywhere."

He had very little to work with—

only instinct and limited information.

Instead of rushing straight into the darkness,

Luca chose caution.

He began moving along the edge of the shadowed zone,

searching carefully for any area that stood out—

anything visibly or energetically different from the rest.

Sowhere in this overwhelming blackness,

was the true entry point.

Luca spent nearly two hours trekking along the periter,

his eyes and senses straining for the smallest anomaly.

He had neither reached the end,

nor found a single spot that looked aningfully different.

Which could only an one thing:

The true form of The Enchanted Lack… was endless darkness.

"What the hell is going on?!

Why can't I find a single clue?

Was my entire line of reasoning flawed from the start?"

The bizarre situation left Luca deeply unsettled.

He didn't believe his earlier deductions were completely wrong.

But then, why was there still no progress?

Just as he furrowed his brows, lost in thought,

a sudden flash of light flickered across the pitch-black surface—

so brief it was almost imperceptible.

Luca's sharp instincts caught it.

He imdiately turned toward the source—

but to his frustration, he was a fraction of a second too late.

All he managed to catch was the faintest shimr in the corner of his eye.

"Looks like I have no choice… I'll have to step into the darkness itself."

Gritting his teeth, Luca lifted a foot—

and stepped directly onto the surface of the black lake.

The mont his foot made contact,

he felt his power drain away, vanishing at an alarming speed.

Worse yet, his mories began slipping from his mind—

fragnt by fragnt, as if being swallowed by the void.

Realizing sothing was terribly wrong,

he instantly pulled back.

"This was a mistake!

The Enchanted Lack… it's trying to consu everything—my strength, my mind, my very self!"

Now he was trapped in a cruel paradox.

He couldn't find the true entrance to The Enchanted Lack.

But stepping directly into it would lead to oblivion.

Stuck in this dilemma, Luca chose to sit down for a mont,

finding a spot on solid ground and staring hard at the abyss before him,

his mind racing in silence.

As he thought, the pitch-black lake continued to expand.

After about fifteen minutes,

the creeping darkness had already reached his feet.

Alard, Luca turned around—

only to realize that behind him…

was also a stretch of black lake.

He wasn't on solid land anymore.

He was standing on a narrow strip,

a sliver of path sandwiched between two encroaching voids.

"My ti's running out.

Both of these lakes must be part of The Enchanted Lack.

And if they et… I'll have nowhere left to stand."

Panic stirred in Luca's chest—

but only for a mont.

He quickly cald himself again.

Remaining still any longer was no longer an option.

So, Luca decided to keep moving forward,

following the narrow path with no other option left.

As he advanced, the already-thin path grew even narrower,

squeezed by the ever-expanding darkness on both sides.

Everywhere he looked, there was nothing but the endless black surface of the lake.

It felt as if he were walking through a lightless hell,

a void where even ti itself seed to stretch and twist.

Though he forced himself to stay calm,

a creeping sense of despair began to grow inside him—

quiet, insidious, but impossible to ignore.

He didn't know how long he'd been walking when he abruptly stopped.

Just ahead, the narrow path ended completely.

Startled, he spun around—

but the path behind him had also vanished without a trace.

He was trapped.

There was nowhere to go—forward or backward.

The only surface left for him to stand on was barely the size of a writing desk.

And even that was shrinking by the second.

"This is it…

The mission's about to fail.

I'm going to be completely swallowed by this cursed lake…"

Panic surged through Luca's chest.

He was no longer able to remain fully calm.

"I must've missed sothing—

There has to be a clue I overlooked!

The trial is difficult, yes, but it's not supposed to be unsolvable!

Where is the real entrance to The Enchanted Lack?!"

The black water now lapped at his very feet.

He had less than five minutes left to figure it out.

In a desperate bid for clarity,

Luca forced himself to replay everything he had experienced since the start of the trial—

every detail, every mont, every sensation.

He was sure he hadn't missed anything.

And yet, the undeniable reality was that he had not discovered a way forward.

The proof was all around him—

a world drowned in darkness,

a trial on the verge of failure.

By now, the space he could stand on had shrunk to the size of a single small circle.

He was balanced on one foot,

perched like a statue above an abyss.

The entire world was black—

consud by the lake,

as if The Enchanted Lack were a monstrous maw,

ready to devour him whole.

But in that mont of crushing pressure,

Luca's mind began to work faster than ever.

And then—

it struck him.

"What if…

the entrance to the Mirror Lake doesn't exist in the physical world at all?"

"What if… The Enchanted Lack's true gateway is inside the dreamscape—or perhaps the mind itself?"

The new line of thought rekindled Luca's hope of completing the trial.

Without hesitation, he summoned a surge of Dreamweaving Mist around himself.

As the mist rapidly enveloped him, Luca slipped directly into the dream realm.

But the mont he entered, he found the dreamworld also shrouded in pitch-black void.

He didn't pause.

Luca imdiately exited the dream realm.

"Anywhere that's completely consud by darkness can't possibly hold the true entrance to The Enchanted Lack!

I have to reach my inner world—fast!"

With that, he dove into his spiritual realm without delay.

Almost instantly, Luca felt his strength deteriorating rapidly,

his mories unraveling—

a clear sign that the black surface of The Enchanted Lack had now reached his physical body.

This was his final chance.

If he couldn't find the entrance within his own spirit,

he would be completely subrged in the black lake—

his mind, body, and soul consud.

And that would an total death.

The mont he entered his inner world, Luca noticed sothing—

it wasn't covered in darkness.

And that alone gave him a sliver of hope.

"The entrance has to be here!

Even though ti moves faster in the inner world,

I still don't have much of it left!"

He began sprinting—no, pushing his way forward,

navigating through the landscape of his soul.

Luca's inner world was a dense, vibrant forest,

lush and teeming with life.

Scattered throughout the forest were small wooden cabins,

each one housing a different version of himself.

These versions were not illusions—

they were aspects of his complete soul,

fragnts of Luca, each embodying a unique side of his identity.

He believed that the true entrance to The Enchanted Lack

must lie next to one of those fragnts—one of those inner selves.

His power continued to bleed away.

His mories, once sharp and vivid, now felt distant and fragnted.

All the signs were clear:

his body was sinking deeper and deeper into the black lake.

Finally, he stopped in front of one of the cabins—

the one that represented his negative emotions.

He took a deep breath.

The loss of power and mory had left him in terrible shape.

Even within the spirit world, he was now moving painfully slowly.

This cabin… it was his last chance.

And deep down, he knew—this had to be the place.

After all, the very first part of the trial had been about absorbing and reconciling with his negative emotions.

The mont Luca burst open the cabin door,

his eyes imdiately locked onto a mirror hanging on the far wall.

Without a second of hesitation,

he rushed straight toward it.

The instant he touched the surface of the mirror,

a system notification echoed in his mind:

[You have discovered the true entrance to The Enchanted Lack. Objective Two Complete!]

At the very sa mont,

the sensations of power drain and mory loss vanished completely.

Luca's body was suddenly pulled into the mirror,

as if swallowed by its surface.

After a blinding flash of light,

he found himself standing in a space filled with mirrors—

mirrors everywhere, stretching endlessly in all directions.

And in every single one of them,

he saw a reflection of himself staring back.