diff --git a/.jules/bolt.md b/.jules/bolt.md
index 83cc604..41879f1 100644
--- a/.jules/bolt.md
+++ b/.jules/bolt.md
@@ -5,3 +5,6 @@
 ## 2024-05-24 - Loop Allocation Hot Paths
 **Learning:** Rendering directory entries with repeated string concatenation and list-based exclusion lookups creates avoidable allocation and lookup cost in large directories.
 **Action:** Use `StringBuilder` for entry rendering and a `Set` for excluded file names.
+## 2024-07-04 - Optimize `process_ignore_file` performance
+**Learning:** In operations dealing with file exclusions and regex matching, unnecessarily sorting the file list introduces an O(N log N) penalty. Evaluating all exclusion regexes even after a match occurs incurs an O(N * M) penalty, especially noticeable with many files or complex regexes.
+**Action:** Avoid sorting operations when only checking for existence or matching within a set. Always use early exits (`break`) in loops once a condition is successfully met to prevent redundant checks.
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/html4tree/main.kt b/src/main/kotlin/html4tree/main.kt
index 2e2809f..9993488 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/html4tree/main.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/html4tree/main.kt
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ fun main(args: Array<String>)  = Html4tree().main(args)
 
 fun go(topDir: String, maxLevel: Int)  {
     require(topDir.isNotBlank())
-    val top_dir = File(topDir).canonicalFile
+    val top_dir = File(topDir).absoluteFile
     require(Files.isDirectory(top_dir.toPath(), LinkOption.NOFOLLOW_LINKS)) { "Top directory must be an existing non-symlink directory" }
 
     val ll = LinkedList()
@@ -101,13 +101,14 @@ fun process_ignore_file(curr_dir: File): Set<String> {
            }
        }
 
-       curr_dir.list()?.sorted()?.forEach {
-           val current = it
-           ignored_regexes.forEach { regex ->
+       // ⚡ Bolt: 성능 최적화 - 불필요한 O(N log N) 정렬 제거 및 조기 반환(break)을 통한 중복 정규식 검사 방지
+       curr_dir.list()?.forEach { current ->
+           for (regex in ignored_regexes) {
               if(regex.matches(current)){
                  files_to_exclude.add(current)
+                 break
               }
-         }
+           }
        }
     }