Online Game: I Started with Max Charisma and Caught the Goddess's Eye

Luca slowly opened his eyes, and the only sensation he had was pain.

From head to toe, every corner of his body was relentlessly sending signals of agony.

Although he managed to force his eyes open, he couldn’t make out anything around him. He could only vaguely sense that he seemed to be in a place of searing heat.

After an unknown amount of time, the pain eased slightly, and his vision finally began to clear.

He realized he was lying on flowing magma. Around him, countless volcanoes were erupting, and the sky had been stained a smoky crimson by the volcanic ash and fumes.

“No wonder it felt so hot! I was lying on magma!”

Luca scrambled desperately to reach a patch of solid ground free of lava.

Without the constant scorching damage of the magma, the Goddess of Life’s blessing began to take effect.

A soft green radiance enveloped his wounds, and he could clearly feel his vitality rapidly being restored.

“Sophia, are you alright? Can you hear me?”

The moment his condition stabilized, Luca’s first thought was of Sophia.

He was deeply worried about her—after all, she existed now only as a spirit.

And a being in pure spirit form was frighteningly fragile.

“I’m fine… just… weak. In the battles to come, I won’t be able to lend you any help.”

Sophia’s frail, halting voice drifted to him.

Luca finally let out a breath of relief.

In truth, he didn’t need Sophia to fight alongside him.

“As long as you’re safe, that’s enough. I don’t think another battle will break out immediately. This place looks utterly desolate.”

Since neither of them was in immediate danger, the only logical choice was to explore their surroundings.

Luca was certain of one thing: they were no longer in the real world.

When he shattered the seal at the convergence point, he had felt himself cross through the barrier between the two worlds.

Wanting to make sense of his surroundings as quickly as possible, he headed straight toward the tallest volcano in sight.

After all, only from the highest point could he hope to see the farthest.

When he reached the volcano’s peak, the sight before his eyes left him stunned.

Everywhere he looked, there were nothing but erupting volcanoes and rivers of molten magma.

“What in the world is this place?! Could Eternal World really have a region with such a dense cluster of volcanoes?!”

Luca muttered in disbelief, his voice low and unsettled.

He had spent a long time in Eternal World, and he was absolutely certain: neither the Kingdom of Clinton nor the Via Empire had such a region.

Even the fabled southern hidden continent, according to legend, was nothing but endless rainforest—no volcanoes whatsoever.

As Luca was still lost in thought, Sophia offered a clue.

“This might be the Wasteland of Bones.”

“The Wasteland of Bones?”

“That’s right. Only the Wasteland of Bones looks like this. It lies on the Wasteland Peninsula, northwest of the All-Beings Empire.

The entire land is covered with volcanoes, and they erupt constantly. Because the region is so perilous, even the All-Beings Empire has little knowledge of it. I only came across a few scattered texts about it in the library’s archives.”

Sophia shared everything she knew regarding the Wasteland of Bones.

After hearing her explanation, Luca felt a trace of unease.

If Sophia was correct, this was a place rarely touched by human presence.

That meant they could wander here for a very long time without encountering another soul.

While the absence of people meant they were safe from human threats, it also meant there was no guarantee they wouldn’t encounter monsters.

“Does the Wasteland of Bones have any unique monsters? And if so, how should we prepare to face them?”

Luca voiced the concern most pressing on his mind.

Sophia’s reply carried a note of regret.

“I don’t know the answer to that. In truth, I believe only the people of the All-Beings Empire have ever ventured deep into the Wasteland of Bones. Any intelligence they gathered surely wouldn’t be made public—it must be locked away in the empire’s secret libraries.”

Luca could only nod helplessly.

“Then it seems we’ll just have to take things one step at a time. In any case, we can’t linger here. The heat is unbearable. If we don’t leave soon, we’ll be roasted alive.”

Having made up his mind, Luca began moving at full speed in the direction he had chosen.

Although Sophia’s information indicated that the Wasteland of Bones was located northwest of the All-Beings Empire, here in this scorched land there was no way for them to determine direction.

The endless flows of magma and the relentless eruptions of volcanoes made the entire space feel utterly chaotic.

After advancing for about fifteen minutes, Luca finally caught sight of a fortress in the distance.

“That must be an outpost established here by the All-Beings Empire, right?” Luca quickly made his judgment.

“Even if no one is stationed there now, there’s a good chance it still holds supplies. We can rest there for a while!”

After exchanging a few words with Sophia, Luca hurried toward the fortress he had spotted.

Though it had seemed relatively close, in reality the journey was long and grueling.

Only after three full hours did he finally arrive.

The fortress looked ancient and decrepit, its gate completely rotted away.

By all appearances, it was a place long abandoned.

“I think you should be careful,” Sophia suddenly broke her silence.

“Maybe there are traps deliberately left inside. For a fortress to appear out of nowhere in the Wasteland of Bones—it feels far too strange.”

“I’ll be careful! But no matter what, we have to go inside.”

Without hesitation, Luca stepped through the gate.

The instant he entered, he was struck by a surge of palpable malice.

It was clear—something unknown dwelled within.

Immediately, he activated the flame magic runes.

Waves of searing fire rose up, forming a barrier between him and the surrounding space.

At that exact moment, the fortress walls suddenly collapsed.

From within the crumbling stone, hordes of burning skeletons burst forth.

Individually, these skeletons weren’t particularly powerful.

But their sheer numbers, rushing at him all at once, gave even Luca a jolt of alarm.

“No wonder it’s called the Wasteland of Bones! There are actually this many skeletons here.”

Luca muttered with a grim sort of admiration.

Yet his tone carried no panic.

The appearance of the flaming skeletons meant an imminent battle, but in truth, that was far better than the emptiness he had faced before.

After all, the unknown was the greatest terror of all.

If no monsters ever appeared, Luca’s imagination would keep running wild.

As time passed, he would inevitably picture the hidden monsters as being more and more powerful, until he ended up frightening himself with his own thoughts.

Realizing this, Luca quickly launched his counterattack.

Even without the Starseeker and the Origin Holy Grail, his own strength alone was more than enough to wipe out these flaming skeletons.

After a battle that was not particularly intense, every last one of the skeletons was destroyed.

Of course, the fortress itself was reduced to rubble in the process.

Gazing at the broken ruins that remained, he muttered in disappointment:

“What a waste… If the fortress had stayed intact, at least we could’ve taken shelter here for a while.

But now that it’s gone, we have no choice but to keep moving. And killing these flaming skeletons barely gave me any experience at all—their levels were far too low.”

Though he complained, Luca didn’t stop moving.

With the fortress destroyed, he simply pressed onward.

If there was one fortress here, then surely there would be others.

It was obvious this part of the land wasn’t the edge of the Wasteland of Bones.

If the All-Beings Empire had managed to build a stronghold this deep into the wasteland, then there was no way they had built only one.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Luca spotted another fortress.

Just as before, he sprinted toward it without hesitation.

This time, however, he had learned his lesson. He didn’t walk straight inside.

Instead, he deliberately created noise, drawing out all the flaming skeletons first.

Only after destroying them outside did he finally step into the fortress.

“Looks like we’re headed in the right direction now,” Luca remarked, glancing at the fortress walls.

This stronghold’s walls were far more intact than the last one.

That could only mean they were closer to the edge of the Wasteland of Bones.

“For now, let’s rest here. I’m exhausted—I can’t go on any farther.”

With that, Luca found a relatively clean spot and sat down heavily.

After all, his condition still hadn’t fully recovered, and the environment of the Wasteland of Bones was brutally unforgiving.

If he pushed on without resting, Luca’s condition would only worsen.

Although up to this point they had encountered only weak flaming skeletons, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t run into far stronger monsters ahead.

For safety’s sake, Luca needed to keep himself in the best state possible at all times.

Sophia wholeheartedly agreed.

She could also take advantage of Luca’s break to adjust her own condition.

After a period of rest, she had managed to accumulate a measure of energy—enough to reinforce the strength of her spirit form.

It wouldn’t be long before she could at least offer Luca a bit of support in battle.