The Next Morning.

I was sitting in the waiting room of the Eleventh Floor.

I was checking two things: the reward for clearing the Tenth Floor and the reward for ranking first in the Tenth Floor scoreboards.

The reward for clearing the Tenth Floor was a very straightforward weapon.

[Red Line]

Classification – Weapon (Chain Mace)

Attack Power +75

Effects:

1 – Blood Ring: The more blood the chain mace absorbs, the faster its attack speed becomes and the more its attack power increases.

2 – Bleed: Enemies struck by Red Line have a 30% chance of being afflicted with Bleed.

3 – Morph Extension: By channeling the user’s mana into the chain, the weapon’s length can be adjusted at will. Maximum 30 meters.

Grade: A

What the hell.

Are they telling me to become a guy who can use any weapon?

Chrk-chrk-chrk—

I gave it a light swing once. It didn’t feel bad.

I stored the chain mace in my inventory, then moved on to check the first-place reward for my score on Floor 10.

This reward was completely unexpected.

“...A ball?”

A small sphere tied with black thread.

[Brandvetar]

Svrandvetar

Classification – Artifact (Relic)

Effect: Once, and only once, opens a way through a situation where “victory” or “survival” seems impossible.

Usable Floor: 20 and above

Grade: Legendary

“Huh?”

Grade: Legendary.

The effect sounded vague but impressive.

But why was it only usable on Floor 20 and above?

Situations where victory or survival were hard to achieve could easily happen before Floor 19.

I attached a screenshot of the item description and uploaded it to the Transcendent Gallery. Comments from the senior users rolled in:

ㄴ LOL 😂 You gotta survive to Floor 19 first.

ㄴ Damn, I didn’t even know that kind of item existed. That’s wild. Legendary? I’ve seen legendary weapons a few times, but this is the first time I’ve seen a non-weapon one.

Seems like even the seniors from Easy and Normal Mode had never seen this item.

ㄴ Pioneer: ...Brandvetar is probably fine. Even if it’s a fate-twisting type item.

ㄴ Sword of Light: Yeah. That one’s acceptable.

ㄴ Absolute Monarch: I agree.

ㄴ Ice Queen: ...Frozen! Frozen in time!

The Hard Mode seniors left cryptic comments.

When I asked what they meant, they replied with, “You’re better off not knowing,” which just made me more uneasy.

I could guess what it was.

A “Fate-Twisting” type item.

Using one stronger than Brandvetar probably comes with some heavy price.

That’d be a clear-top risk.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*: Hey, leveling up is seriously hard as hell, but when you do level up, your stat gains even out pretty well, right?

ㄴ That’s ‘cause LOL you hit Fifth Rank mid-fight. Technically you were still Fourth Rank when you took out a Sixth. If your stats didn’t go up, time to reroll your life, bro.

ㄴ Admin: In the end, experience points are the Tower’s own judgment about your growth.

ㄴ Admin: Maybe your reward ended on Floor 9, but the Tower must’ve thought you deserved more for pushing through.

ㄴ Pioneer: I’m in Pandemonium now, so I honestly don’t know anymore.

ㄴ Spear King: Same. Things are way more volatile than Hard Mode.

The Tower’s judgment. Should I be thankful it acknowledged my effort? Can’t really say that. I’m still dancing on the edge of death here.

I wasn’t planning to enter the Eleventh Floor stage immediately.

Something was bothering me—Floor 13. In the previous generation, that was where a person the Pioneer had met during an exchange meeting had died.

I had already been thinking I needed time to review and organize my own techniques. My fight with Dekkan and my entry into Fifth Rank had made that necessity clear.

So I set a training period: until the next exchange meeting.

I glanced at the LED board mounted on the wall.

April 8th

07:12:34

D-17 to the Exchange Meeting

The exchange meeting was scheduled for April 25th.

I still had plenty of coins to buy food.

For the next 17 days, I would fully internalize this Fifth Rank, which still felt foreign to me.

I would make it completely mine.

I turned on my terminal and projected the footage of my battle against Dekkan onto the wall of the Eleventh Floor’s waiting room.

Every single move of the knight Dekkan’s was helpful in battle.

Title: Starting Valsenartz Swordsmanship Training

Author: ㅇㅇ*

– Gonna learn the sword technique and stabilize my Fifth Rank overall. Planning to train in the Eleventh Floor waiting room for about a month.

ㄴ Sword of Light: Yeah, that’s a solid plan.

ㄴ Gutter Swordsman: Definitely. That kind of process is essential.

ㄴ Admin: Smart move. Especially with Floor 13 coming up like the Pioneer said... You’ll need time for self-review.

ㄴ Pioneer: Well, considering the difficulty level you’re already dealing with, Floor 13 might not be all that special. You’re already in some serious danger. But Ban wasn’t someone who’d die easily either.

A climber who completed Hard Mode had died there.

There had to be a reason. Something must be waiting on Floor 13.

The ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) crisis I faced on Floor 10 was from a 7-star Hidden Quest that I voluntarily chose.

That challenge was only possible because I had the Transcendent Gallery.

And if it weren’t for the shard of the Holy Sword, I wouldn’t have been able to erase Dekkan.

It was one mountain after another.

ㄴ Absolute Monarch: Just reading the sword manual should be enough. I wrote it in detail. But you’ve got visual material too.

ㄴ Absolute Monarch: If anything’s unclear while training, ask.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*: Thanks. Like you said, it’s very detailed.

As I was about to close the Transcendent Gallery, I saw a new post.

Title: Climber Gallery—Why is no one guessing the Climber is in Pandemonium yet?!!!

Author: Suwang

– Why are people still saying it’s a bug or glitch? He posted a score over 4000 and no one suspects a thing? This is crazy. I’ll be the one to say it!!!!

ㄴ Seriously. Unless your brain’s a rock, it’s about time someone guessed it.

ㄴ Pioneer: For real.

ㄴ Spear King: What if they don’t even know Pandemonium exists?

ㄴ Suwang: Could that be possible...?

ㄴ Admin: Sure it could.

ㄴ Admin: No one below Floor 30 can access the Climber Gallery.

ㄴ Admin: And barely anyone ever gets summoned to Pandemonium. Even in our cohort, the highest we saw was Ban reaching Floor 12. He died on Floor 13.

ㄴ Admin: If Pandemonium climbers only started appearing after Strategy Union leader Targon began managing all mailboxes below Floor 30... Then it’s very possible that no one has access to that info.

ㄴ Admin: Sure, Targon probably knows—but regular climbers wouldn’t.

ㄴ Room Conspiracy Theorist: So from Targon’s point of view, he’d want to hide the fact that there’s a difficulty even higher than Hard?

ㄴ Gutter Swordsman: Huh? Why would he do that?

ㄴ Absolute Monarch: If Admin’s theory is right, it’s simple. His authority would be undermined. Just the existence of a level above Hard Mode would make people stop treating Targon as the ultimate authority.

ㄴ Absolute Monarch: If that happens, the Strategy Union can’t maintain its dominant position. His reasoning would be sound.

ㄴ Spear King: Yeah... even if there were Pandemonium climbers before Han Yuseong, convincing a few from early floors to keep quiet wouldn’t be hard for the Union Leader.

ㄴ Suwang: Problem... solved!!!!

ㄴ Admin: It’s just a theory, Suwang. Don’t get ahead of yourself.

ㄴ Suwang: Admin, your theories have never been wrong!!!

***

Climber Gallery

Title: Wow~ Excuse me? A private Tenth Floor score of 4,578 points?

Posted by: LifeIsPainByDefault

– I barely survived dragging my team of deadweights through the Tenth Floor, bleeding everywhere while soloing the Lizardman Chieftain. My score? 747.

4,578???? What unit of measurement is that, even?

Unless you slaughtered a Rank 6 or 7 enemy on Floor 10, that score is literally impossible.

That’s just not how this works!!

Damn it, Tower admins, get your sh*t together and fix your damn bugs!!!

Unaware that his angry outburst was, in fact, very close to the truth, ‘LifeIsPainByDefault’ was fuming.

ㄴ 😂😂😂 Yep, no way that’s not a bug. They’re not even trying to patch it lmao

ㄴ Like seriously? Does that look normal to anyone?

ㄴ Where’s SharpLance? Hey bro, that thing scoring 4,578 is your new target. You're f*cked.

ㄴ Alderaamin: Not my problem~~AAARGH!!

ㄴ SharpLance: I’m f*cked? You idiot. You think some anonymous guy just beat up a Rank 6 or 7 boss on Floor 10? Get a grip, Pain.

ㄴ SharpLance: That’s probably just some Easy Mode dude who did a ‘no damage clear.’ The system must’ve glitched and spawned like 5,000 Talon H-types. Super weak, die in one hit, flood the map.

ㄴ FistKing: That’s a very optimistic take.

ㄴ BlackHand: Makes zero sense. We’ve never had a bug like that before, and all of a sudden they start popping up with this anonymous guy? No way.

ㄴ Yo “Anonymous,” hurry up and get to Floor 30 already.

ㄴ In Hard Mode, getting to Floor 10 in under two months is fast. And you jokers are memeing?

ㄴ This guy’s not even Hard Mode and still simping for Hard. Where’s your pride? Spit it out!

ㄴ ImStillAlive: Y’all should be climbing. Who scored what, what difficulty—it doesn’t matter. What matters is not falling behind yourself.

ㄴ OK, whatever you say, Grandpa.

ㄴ Summary of letters from people who met “Anonymous” at the last Exchange Meeting:

ㄴ “Wore a red mask. Acted like a complete dick. Voice was low but nice. Looked cool because he was strong, but if he’d been weak, the d*ck part would’ve stood out way more.”

ㄴ 😂😂😂 That’s hilarious.

ㄴ Alderaamin: SharpLance, you win the reputation game on this one LOL

Hard Mode Tower Rank #35

Hard Mode – Floor 67 Waiting Room

Guildmaster Targon of Strategy Union stared at the Tenth Floor ranking board with cloudy eyes.

A score so unreal he couldn’t even begin to imagine how it was achieved sat firmly at number one.

《 Tenth Floor – Score Rankings 》

1st – Anonymous: 4,578 points

2nd – Guild Leader: 892 points

3rd – Black Star: 801 points

4th – In Pursuit: 793 points

5th – LifeIsPainByDefault: 747 points

6th – BlackHand: 721 points

(...and so on)

Targon had to admit that one of the possibilities he had previously considered was now likely the truth.

“It really might be Pandemonium.”

Pandemonium.

It wasn’t the first time he’d heard the name.

Over the years, he'd received monthly intel reports in letter form from players above Floor 5.

Across a long span of time, there had only been two confirmed reports of someone encountering a Pandemonium climber.

One had managed to friend them during an exchange meeting—only to later see the name go black at Floor 4, confirming death.

Another had spoken with a climber during a meeting, who openly claimed to be clearing Floor 3 of Pandemonium. That climber was never friended, and vanished without a trace.

Given they never appeared in the Climber Gallery, they were presumed dead.

If ‘Anonymous’ really was a Pandemonium climber, then as far as Targon knew, this would be the third.

Targon had entered the Tower nine years ago. The other two Pandemonium climbers’ fates were from six years ago.

The people from 21st-century Earth had only begun entering the Tower about a year ago.

“This one’s different somehow.”

He’d always assumed new Pandemonium climbers were just walking corpses. But this one—‘Anonymous’—had reached Floor 10.

And had posted a score from another dimension entirely.

“I’ve controlled all Pandemonium-related intel perfectly.”

The friend of the Pandemonium climber who died on Floor 4 had been rewarded with a position as mid-tier Strategy Union staff—now a loyal subordinate.

The two who witnessed a Pandemonium climber on Floor 3? Coincidentally, both had died on Hard Mode Floor 38.

Outside that loyal subordinate, only Bellasia, his right hand and raid captain, knew of Pandemonium’s existence.

That subordinate had enjoyed the fruits of power, and wasn’t the type to leak secrets that might threaten the Union’s authority.

“So come on up, Anonymous.”

Targon was split in two.

Half of him wanted ‘Anonymous’ to die like all the previous Pandemonium climbers—to preserve the absolute authority of Strategy Union.

The other half wanted to see just what Pandemonium truly was, through the eyes of someone who kept climbing.

Targon slowly stood. It was time for him to enter the Floor 67 stage. He owed it to the comrades and subordinates who had all died back on Floor 66.

Tremble... Tremble...

But his right arm, torn apart on Floor 66, still wouldn’t stop shaking.

SLAM!

Targon stomped the ground hard with his right foot.

Not like this. I can’t move forward like this.

***

Exchange Meeting: D-1

I realized I needed to change my appearance. All because of a post Suwang made yesterday.

Title: LMAO Hey Climber!!!!

Posted by: Suwang

– Bro, don’t wear the red mask anymore. The stuff people said in Climber Gallery matched exactly. Summary of letters from people who met “Anonymous” at the last Exchange Meeting:

“Wore a red mask, total d*ck personality. Voice was low but decent. Looked cool ‘cause he was strong, but if he’d been weak, he’d have just been a huge jerk.”

LOL Try a new look, my guy. There should be an appearance modifier for masks from Floor 10 onward, right?

I had already checked yesterday. There was something new in the “Miscellaneous” section.

[Mask-Type Item Appearance Alteration – Animal Series]

Cat, dove, rabbit, dog, tiger, giraffe... and more.

Why does this cost 25 coins?

Didn’t matter. I had more than enough thanks to the “Beyond Imagination! Floor 10 Score Ranking Bonus!” I’d received 5,000 coins.

So I used it to change the appearance of [Mask of Crimson Night]— To No.3, the pure white rabbit.

Click.

Once selected, the new appearance applied smoothly to the Mask of Crimson Night.

[Warning! Appearance alteration duration: 7 days.]

That was plenty.

My head was now inside a slightly oversized, snow-white bunny mascot helmet. The mask’s effects remained unchanged. Still a Super+ grade mask, still just as durable and hard to remove.

I snapped a photo with my terminal.

Title: Tried a new mask design. What do you think?

Posted by: ㅇㅇ*

Attachment: 9012832901.jpg (Rabbit mascot head with upright ears)

ㄴ Uh... what is this.

ㄴ The bunny head is cute on its own, but if that’s Climber, uh...

ㄴ Suwang: LOL I knew this was because of my post yesterday!!! Bunny Bunny!!! So cute!!!

ㄴ Archmage: What theater troupe are you joining? The design’s solid though. Bunny bunny, lol. We had similar stuff in our cohort, but this is on a new level.

ㄴ Demon Dragon King: Belltuuuui~ Bunny Bunnyyy~

ㄴ Sword of Light: ...You’re not seriously wearing that to the Exchange Meeting, are you?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*: Correct.

This time, I actually prepped a concept for the Exchange Meeting. I spent an entire day thinking about it.

ㄴ Suwang: There’s also voice changers, you know. 48-hour ones. Buy it, LOL

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*: Already did. Went with the middle-aged guy voice.

[Philosophical Middle-Aged Man Voice Candy – 48 Hour Voice]

Eat the candy, and your voice changes for 48 hours.

I wondered why it cost 50 coins—twice as much as the appearance modifier, even though it lasted less time. But the explanation made sense:

It harmonizes your original voice with the preset tone, so even if two people use the same voice item, they still sound different. The obsession behind its creation was almost unsettling.

Anyway, I was fully prepped.

One day passed.

Current Time: April 25th, 12:00

[Tower Exchange Meeting is starting.]

[Tower Exchange Server #1701]

[Tower Exchange Theme: Sparring]