Next morning I stood facing Alia and Anastasia.
Today was the day. The small job of clearing so stupid floor.
Both of them looked worried sick.
Alia’s playful attitude was completely gone. She’d spent the last hour trying to convince to back out. Explaining again and again why this was a terrible idea.
The main reason? She couldn’t co with .
Diana had explained how Floor 80 worked. It was nothing like the other floors they’d faced before. Once you step in, you lose everything. No summons. No items. No artifacts. Nothing.
You get thrown into a new body. Assigned so random class. And you stay that way until the quest ends. Or until you die.
Then there was Anastasia.
She was even more worried than Alia. The kid didn’t understand what towers were or what any of this ant. But she’d heard enough of our conversations to know one thing.
I was walking into sothing that might kill .
She looked up at with those glowing gradient eyes. "Eren... when will you co back?"
Her voice was so small it hurt.
I crouched down to her level.
"I don’t know exactly. Diana said ti works differently in each floor. Could be days here but weeks there. Or the opposite."
I ruffled her purple hair. "But I promise I’ll be back before you know it. Till then, behave properly, alright?"
She nodded but didn’t look convinced. I stood back up and pretended to think.
"Aah wait. I forgot sothing. You’re the intelligent one here. The person I actually need to give this lecture to is soone else."
I turned and looked directly at Alia.
Then I leaned back toward Anastasia. Made a show of whispering. But it was loud enough for everyone in the hall to hear.
"Take care of that big dummy over there. And if she does sothing stupid while I’m gone, scold her properly. Understood?"
Anastasia’s worried expression shifted. She nodded with sudden resolve. Like I’d just given her an important mission.
A few servants nearby couldn’t hold back their giggles.
Alia’s eye twitched but she didn’t say anything.
I turned toward the entrance. "Take care. All of you."
But before I could walk away, Anastasia called out.
"Eren!"
I looked back.
"Take care too. And when you return..." She puffed out her small chest proudly.
"Anastasia will welco you with cookies! She’s been learning how to make them!"
Sothing warm flickered in my chest. I pushed it down.
"Well then." I grinned. "Looks like I need to settle things faster than I planned."
I turned to Diana who’d been waiting silently at the entrance. Listening to everything.
"Hear that? So you better keep up."
She didn’t respond. Didn’t even look at .
But I knew she understood.
-x-X-x-
So ti later I was walking inside the tower.
Diana walked ahead of . Behind us followed her assistant. That sa professor from before. The one who gave off cold CEO vibes.
The contract with the four houses was already signed and sealed. Simple terms. If Diana walks out of this tower without clearing Floor 80, she loses everything. Title. Position. All of it.
But if she walks out victorious? Those four bastards are finished.
Obviously that second option was the only acceptable outco.
I looked around as we moved deeper.
The inside of the tower was bizarre. Just a plain white void stretching endlessly. No walls. No ceiling. Nothing but emptiness. It felt like walking on top of the sky itself.
Far ahead of us stood a massive gate. The thing was enormous. Big enough for an entire army to march through at once.
Diana noticed staring at it. Then her eyes dropped to the axe in my hand.
"Why did you bring that?" Her voice was flat as always.
"Didn’t I explain already? Once we enter Floor 80, you won’t have any summons. You won’t have any items or artifacts either. That axe is useless."
I shrugged. "Yeah I rember. That’s literally the only thing you told . Even after I kept asking for more details about what’s inside."
"Because you don’t need to know." She kept walking. "The tower’s system will explain everything once we enter."
"Great." I rolled my eyes. "So so robot voice is gonna be more helpful than you. Good to know."
She ignored completely.
I glanced back at the professor trailing behind us. Her face was completely blank. Zero emotion. Like a carbon copy of Diana in that departnt.
Where the hell had I gotten myself into?
I turned back to Diana.
"I brought my axe because without it I feel incomplete. Whether it cos with to whatever world is on the other side or not... just having it in my hand makes feel whole."
I lifted the weapon slightly. "This thing has been with longer than my mory can reach. Even in my sad tis it was there to boost up."
Diana said nothing.
"But what about you?"
She kept walking.
"Why did you bring her along?" I jerked my thumb toward the professor behind us.
"You know only two people can participate in this floor. So why is she here?"
Diana’s body twitched.
She froze mid-step. Just for a second. Then she glanced back. Not at . At the professor.
That tiny slip told everything.
I’d known sothing was wrong from the very beginning. The mont she accepted my deal back in that eting room without putting up a real fight. That wasn’t how Diana operated.
She knew she had no choice but to enter this floor. The novel’s plot demanded it. And when she saw how stubborn I was about joining her, she didn’t waste energy arguing.
Instead she let think I was part of the plan.
Made feel like I’d won.
But in reality? She never intended to take through that gate. This professor was supposed to knock out right before we entered. Take my spot. Leave behind in this void.
That was her play.
Too bad I don’t follow other people’s scripts.
Before the professor could even begin summoning, I moved.
THWACK.
The flat head of my axe slamd into her chest. Hard. The impact disrupted the QUOR energy she was gathering from the core.
She stumbled backward. Gasping. Unable to breathe properly. Her body hit the white void floor.
I didn’t give her ti to recover.
I raised my axe high. She saw it coming. Her eyes went wide with fear before squeezing shut. Surrendering to what she thought was death.
But I wasn’t aiming to kill.
CRACK.
The wooden pole of my axe connected precisely with her temple. Just enough force to knock her out cold.
Her body went limp instantly.
And then sothing happened.
She started dissolving. Breaking apart into tiny particles of light. Like a character getting deleted from a ga.
Within seconds she was gone completely.
Unconscious people can’t stay in this void. The tower kicks them out automatically.
I lowered my axe and turned around.
Diana stood there with her cold mask completely shattered.
Everything happened too fast. She couldn’t process it. Couldn’t react. All she could do was stare at the empty space where her assistant used to be.
I tilted my head.
"So. Got any other choices left?"
I let the question hang. "Or is your little play finally over?"
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