diff --git a/backend/config/database.php b/backend/config/database.php
index f2f48a8..4aaa135 100644
--- a/backend/config/database.php
+++ b/backend/config/database.php
@@ -14,6 +14,5 @@ return [
         PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION,
         PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE => PDO::FETCH_ASSOC,
         PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES => false,
-        PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_INIT_COMMAND => "SET NAMES utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci",
     ],
 ];
diff --git a/backend/public/index.php b/backend/public/index.php
index 2d8129f..72dbf44 100644
--- a/backend/public/index.php
+++ b/backend/public/index.php
@@ -32,21 +32,30 @@ if (file_exists(__DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php')) {
     });
 }
 
-// 2. Load Environment Variables if Dotenv exists or read .env manually
-$envFile = __DIR__ . '/../.env';
-if (file_exists($envFile)) {
-    $lines = file($envFile, FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES | FILE_SKIP_EMPTY_LINES);
-    foreach ($lines as $line) {
-        if (str_starts_with(trim($line), '#') || !str_contains($line, '=')) {
-            continue;
-        }
-        [$name, $val] = explode('=', $line, 2);
-        $name = trim($name);
-        $val = trim($val, " \t\n\r\0\x0B\"'");
-        if (!getenv($name)) {
+// 2. Multi-Path Secure Environment Loader (Prioritizes Outside-Webroot .env on CloudPanel)
+$envCandidates = [
+    '/home/urukprize/.env',                      // 1. Production outside webroot on CloudPanel
+    dirname(__DIR__, 4) . '/.env',               // 2. Dynamic 4-levels up from backend/public
+    dirname(__DIR__, 2) . '/.env',               // 3. Project root on Mac local dev (/uruk-prize/.env)
+    dirname(__DIR__, 1) . '/.env',               // 4. Decoy / fallback inside backend
+];
+
+foreach ($envCandidates as $candidate) {
+    if (file_exists($candidate) && is_readable($candidate) && filesize($candidate) > 0) {
+        $lines = file($candidate, FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES | FILE_SKIP_EMPTY_LINES);
+        foreach ($lines as $line) {
+            $line = trim($line);
+            if (str_starts_with($line, '#') || !str_contains($line, '=')) {
+                continue;
+            }
+            [$name, $val] = explode('=', $line, 2);
+            $name = trim($name);
+            $val = trim($val, " \t\n\r\0\x0B\"'");
             putenv("$name=$val");
             $_ENV[$name] = $val;
+            $_SERVER[$name] = $val;
         }
+        break; // Successfully loaded highest-priority environment file
     }
 }