The squirrel ran around from player to player for about 5 minutes before disappearing into the tall grass. Aileen looked disappointed, but soon turned serious again.

“What’s the plan?”

Aileen asked Kim Suho’s party. Yun Seung-Ah had asked her to help Kim Suho, but he should be able to survive without her babysitting.

“If you want, I can cover for…”

Aileen stopped in the middle of her sentence. Kim Suho took out a cool vehicle in black and gold that resembled a snowmobile. It looked sturdy at a glance.

“Ah, um, we have a way already.”

Kim Suho scratched his head at Aileen’s shocked expression.

“Looks like he’s more prepared than us, Lady Aileen.”

“Kim Suho, what’s that? Where did you get it?”

Jin Seyeon expressed her surprise while Shin Jonghak looked envious.

“Er, I found it on the 2nd floor.”

“It’s fine.”

Aileen also felt envious, but took out a small kite shield.

“This is enough for us.”

Aileen snorted. Her confidence wasn’t unfounded as the Spirit Speech Master.

“This shield will become large enough to cover all of us.”

Her words turned into reality. The kite shield that only covered half her body suddenly expanded. Its weight didn’t change, but it grew so big Shin Jonghak had to carry it instead.

“For the next 15 minutes, this shield will block all attacks less than my total magic power capacity.”

“Pf, pfft.”

Aileen spoke seriously, but her cute manner of speech and the way her small head bobbed from side to side caused Jin Seyeon to snicker. Jin Seyeon instinctively moved her hand towards Aileen’s head, but stopped after realizing what would happen if she patted it.

“We’re going ahead. You can follow us after the first wave of attacks.”

Aileen informed the other party as she moved behind the kite shield.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Alright, get ready. Us four will move at the same speed like one body.”

“Understood.”

Aileen’s party accepted her Spirit Speech without resistance. Three, two, one! They shot forward simultaneously.

“We should get ready too.”

Kim Suho spoke as he watched Aileen’s group leave. Vanessa and Paolo Fermun finished their preparations, but Chae Nayun remained silent.

“Nayun, are you ready?”

A wave of arrows rained on Aileen’s group. However, none of the attacks could penetrate the kite shield.

“Chae Nayun, are you still wondering about SevenPoker?”

Yi Yeonghan nudged her as she stood in a daze. She snapped out of it and gripped her longsword.

“H-Huh? N-No, I’m just meditating to reach my peak condition.”

“Don’t lie. You didn’t listen at all.”

“I’m not lying. Plus, I already know who SevenPoker is.”

The mysterious SevenPoker dominated most of the games on the 7th floor’s Game Center. Chae Nayun felt like she knew his identity. She easily made the connection between SevenPoker and Extra7 since she already knew about Extra7’s incredible gaming skills. Chae Nayun wondered about Extra7’s true identity.

“I’m ready, so let’s go. I’ll protect the car.”

As soon as Chae Nayun spoke…

“Mmm, as I thought.”

A cheesy voice rang out next to them.

“The Guild Alliance members have arrived too.”

Kim Suho’s party turned to the side and spotted Zurahan arriving with his Ordinary People Alliance.

“Zurahan.”

“Nice to meet you, hero Kim Suho.”

Kim Suho glared at him, but Zurahan simply smiled.

“Hero? What hero?”

A displeased voice rang out. Kim Suho’s party only knew him as the loud baldy, but a select few knew him as Kaita, the Chameleon Troupe’s seat of silver.

Yi Jiyoon whispered, “Who are they?”

“You don’t need to know.”

Kim Suho’s reply made Kaita frown. “She doesn’t need to know? Aren’t you being a bit rude?”

“Let’s get going. We don’t need to trouble ourselves with these guys.” Kim Suho placed his foot on the accelerator.

“What? Where are you… wait, where did you get such a good ride?”

Kaita’s snake-like eyes flickered with greed. Kwaaaaa— Kim Suho stepped on the gas and the dwarven supercar shot forward, throwing dirt and grass on Kaita.

“Pfft. Ah, hey! You little fucker! Stop! I said stop!”

Kaita cursed and shot a silver ray of magic power, but the dwarven supercar already escaped his range.

***

[3F, Lv.4 Bell’s Hideout]

“…”

Jin Sahuk opened her eyes and felt hazy. She couldn’t bare the excruciating pain.

“Haaa…”

She sighed and raised her upper body. Then she infused magic power into her blackened body. It intertwined with the curse and burned her flesh. Jin Sahyuk clenched her teeth as she removed the thin film of her own flesh.

“—!”

Severe pain followed, but she could only survive by removing the curse that exposed itself. Jin Sahyuk fell to her knees.

“A-Argh…”

“Sahyuk!”

Her comrade rushed in.

“Are you okay?”

Jin Sahyuk looked at Rumi. She wanted to say something, but her lips refused to move. Her eyes wandered to Rumi’s hands as she mumbled inaudible words. Rumi held a bowl of well-cooked porridge, but Jin Sahyuk only felt fear. The curse interfered with eating and she would experience unbearable pain from swallowing any food.

“Ugh…” Jin Sayhuk shook her head.

“You have to eat to get better.”

“No, no.”

“Bell is trying hard to make a counteragent.”

“No, no.”

Jin Sahyuk stood in a hurry. She wanted to run away, but fell after a few steps. Rumi caught her thin body that felt as light as a feather.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry. Everything will be alright.”

Rumi gently soothed her. Jin Sahyuk remained in her arms and began to faintly sob.

“… It hurts… so much.”

“It’ll be okay… soon.”

Rumi felt heartbroken because she had never seen Jin Sahyuk like this. Jin Sahyuk would’ve easily overcome any normal injury with anger alone.

“If I… die…”

“You’re not going to die. Who said you will? Stop talking.”

However, the banshee’s curse covered 6 different parts of her body. These Lv.5 curses gave Jin Sahyuk greater pain than death.

“I…”

Nearly a month went by with no cure or improvements. A month felt like a year to Jin Sahyuk. Her willpower had melted away already.

“I’m so, so tired…”

Jin Sahyuk sobbed in Rumi’s arms.

“It’s okay…”

Rumi clenched her teeth. She wanted to take revenge on the man who made Jin Sahyuk like this. However, she didn’t have the power or means to do so. Above all, that wasn’t what Bell wanted.

“Haaa…”

Jin Sahyuk stopped trembling with a groan, but her heartbeat remained the same. She had fainted again. Rumi placed her back in bed as Bell returned.

“Bell?”

He looked back and forth between Jin Sahyuk and Rumi. Then he smiled.

“I think I’ll be able to get my hands on a counteragent.”

***

I drew my own conclusions after watching Boss and Tomer duel.

First, Boss possessed far greater talents and battle sense. However, Tomer’s stats and the skills she accumulated and perfected over the last 4 years posed a big problem. Tomer originally used aether and specialized in using her environment. She simply overwhelmed Boss with her skills.

“Uk!”

KWANG! Boss slammed against the wall. Tomer only used psychokinesis, a basic skill, but it synergized well with her magic power.

“Let’s do one more.”

Boss didn't give up. The process might be different, but the results would remain the same. Boss needed at least 3 more months to match Tomer.

“Hmm.”

I took my eyes off their duel and checked my inventory. Tomer gave me quite the treasures. I felt pleased at the mere sight of them and tore them without hesitation.

[You have used Skill Experience +30 Coupon.] [You have used Skill Experience +60 Coupon.] [You have used Item Experience +100 Coupon.]…

[Synthesis] increased to Lv.5, [Extraction and Permanent Materialization] increased to Lv.6, and my only special skill, [Algorithm], rose to Lv.5.

[Upgrading aether with advanced algorithm…] [Skill level 5 has been achieved!] [Challenge completed — Basic Understanding of Skills] [All stats have increased by 0.25.]

I finally unlocked the system I had been waiting for.

[You have successfully recovered your stats!] [Your body has perfectly adapted to the tower’s environment.]

▷Strength 8.000 ▷Stamina 7.935 ▷Speed 10.055 ▷Perception 10.355 ▷Vitality 8.005 ▷Magic Power 4.5

The experiences I gained inside the tower also applied. My stats rose 1.5-2 points higher than before.

“Sigh, finally.”

The real growth would begin now.

KWAANG!

Boss fell flat on her face after an earsplitting roar. Their second duel had ended.

“Hey.”

I called Tomer as she tilted her head at me.

“What?”

“Spar with me too.”

“Huh?”

Tomer silently stood before grinning.

“Pfft. Why so suddenly?”

“Just because. It made me feel a little uncomfortable seeing you bully Boss.”

“Oh yeah? Then come at me.”

I brushed my knees and stood up. However, Boss suddenly intervened.

“Stop it, Hajin.”

She looked at me with a serious expression and shook her head. “I understand how you feel, but I’m okay.”

“…?”

Ah, that’s right. I forgot that she took jokes too seriously.

“I’m the one who asked for a spar.”

I nodded after seeing Boss’ profound gaze.

“Oh, okay.”

Then I walked over to Tomer without any warm-ups. We counted in silence. One. Two. Three. Tomer unleashed her magic power and formed a dome around us.

“What’s the name of this skill?”

“Dome prison. It’s invincible not only against one, but many opponents. Watch.”

Tomer shook her hand and several fragments from the dome flew towards me. Aether responded by turning them into crystals and placing them in my inventory.

“Oh, looks like you have a pretty cool skill too.”

“Yep.”

“Then… Haa!”

Tomer moved so fast I couldn’t see her, but my body reacted first. KOOONG! Her fist made contact with my arm. Aether had moved my body on its own to block.

“…”

“…”

Less than a second had passed. A gun came to my mind. If only I had a pistol in my left hand. A handgun suddenly appeared thanks to aether. I aimed and pulled the trigger.

“Uk!”

The bullet scratched Tomer’s cheek. Of course, I hadn’t misfired. Tomer just dodged it at the last moment right under her nose. Only a monster could pull that off, but I simply smiled. I would’ve won just now with a shotgun instead of a handgun.

“I went easy on you, yet you…”

Tomer’s kick landed on my thigh.

“…!”

It felt like my leg would fall off even though aether’s automatic defense alleviated the pain.

Kieeeek!

Tomer prepared to throw me to the ground when Spartan appeared out of the blue and wailed.

“What’s that?” Tomer stopped as I widened my eyes at Spartan’s signal.

“People are trying to cross the bridge already.”

I pulled out my hood from my inventory. “Ah, about 30 people arrived a week ago.”

“Yeah. Those guys must be the allied djinns.”

“Show them who’s boss. I heard they’ve been meddling with the locals.”

I held the portable crystal stele in one hand. I had already recovered from Tomer’s kick with the [Lv.4 Orb of Regeneration].

“I’ll be right back. I’m heading out, Boss.”

I infused stigma’s magic power into the crystal stele and space warped around my body.

***

The Evil Society Alliance arrived at the World’s End Bridge that led to the 9th floor after kidnapping and torturing several Crevon NPCs.

“So we have to get past here.”

Kim Hakpyo folded his arms. The bridge’s name suited it. They couldn’t see where it ended and it looked as if beasts would jump out at any moment from the dark forest on either side.

“Get moving, guys.”

Kim Hakpyo sent the others first. He stood near the middle, safely surrounded by his subordinates.

“Don’t be scared. Nothing’s gonna come out.”

They walked for about 5 minutes with Kim Hakpyo’s encouragements. Suddenly, a flash of light came from the sky. It turned into a streak of wind and hurled towards them. An arrow reflected in Kim Hakpyo’s eyes.

“What!”

His henchman magician managed to form a barrier in time. TONG! The arrow couldn’t pierce through and fell to the ground. It seemed like an ordinary wooden arrow. That made him embarrassed for being so afraid.

“Ha, hahaha. What’s this? Is this supposed to be a trap?”

Kim Hakpyo picked up the arrow and showed it to his subordinates. They laughed along with him and no longer feared anything on the 8th floor.

“Hahaha… Mm? Excuse me, team leader.”

Silasen laughed until he discovered something and squinted.

“What?”

“Um, something’s dangling at the end of the arrow.”

“Huh?”

Kim Hakpyo looked at the arrow’s tail. A piece of paper hung from the lower side.

“What the heck is this?”

“It looks like a message. You should open it.”

“You do it.” Kim Hakpyo dumped anything that could be a trap onto his subordinates.

“Yes sir.”

Silasen unfolded the note without hesitation and tilted his head. “Hmm? This is…”

“What?” Kim Hakpyo took the note back. It only contained a single sentence.

[I will only allow 10 steps forward.]

“What’s this?”

“Please look below. There’s a drawing.”

Kim Hakpyo followed Silasen’s words and saw the lotus at the bottom right corner.

“A lotus…”

“It’s drawn with ink.”

In other words, a black lotus. Everyone knew who that symbol represented.

“Hmm.”

Kim Hakpyo thought for a moment. So Black Lotus almost reached the 9th floor too. However, that note wouldn’t change his mind. The Evil Society Alliance had 20 members including him. They had stolen various stat boosting items and skills. Kim Hakpyo felt confident they could win against anyone.

“Hmph, a mere rookie dares to be so bold? All the praises must’ve gotten to his head.”

His pride also played a big role. They wouldn’t just retreat without even confirming the enemy. Kim Hakpyo also believed he had far more experience. Only a handful of people could look down on him in the entire world.

“Set up barriers in case of an attack. You know the spell, right?”

“Yes sir!”

As expected of an Evil Society executive, he didn’t gloss over any details.

“Let’s go.”

First step, second step, third step… They walked with a heavy tension. Finally, they reached the 10th step as stated in the message. Black Lotus’ warning immediately proved to be true.

Kieeeeeek!

A bird cried and something black flew from the corner of the sky. Kim Hakpyo had prepared to face it head-on.

“Barriers!”

A total of 15 sturdy barriers shot up one after another. A mere arrow couldn’t pierce through all of them.

“Silasen, you figure out where that arrow came from…”

Kim Hakpyo leisurely gave out the next command when he realized something. His instincts roared as the arrow approached. Like a meteor, it split the atmosphere in half. A torrent of magic power caused the air to burn and the clouds tore apart as the arrow descended.

His thoughts didn't last long as the streak of light fell.