Theme: Sparring.

It was the only Exchange Meeting theme where killing was impossible.

Even if you died, the rules of the theme would resurrect you. No matter how many times you died during the Sparring theme, you’d return to your original waiting room or stage after it ended.

For me, that was comforting. At the very least, it meant that in this Exchange Meeting, I didn’t need to get emotionally involved. I could act however I wanted.

[Participants: 36]

Just like Senior Admin had once told me when I first entered the Tower, an unusually high number of participants had gathered.

While the maximum number of participants for an Exchange Meeting was technically fifty, normally only 5 to 10 people showed up. But when the theme was Sparring, the count always surged.

The reason wasn’t hard to guess.

In Dungeon or Quest themes, there's a clear goal to complete. But the Sparring theme? Its only purpose was combat. If there were just 10 people, the whole meeting would probably be over in no time.

FLASH—

My vision, which had been obscured by light, returned to normal.

Including myself, 36 people were seated. Vast yellow structures stretched out around us.

Next, I scanned the faces of the players.

If there was something peculiar, it was this: The usual numbers floating above everyone’s heads—indicating their residing floor—were absent.

There was clearly something different going on.

The others, who had been looking around like I had, all turned their gazes to me.

Naturally.

I was wearing a rabbit mascot head.

The pure-white bunny mask and my pitch-black Phaethon armor were painfully mismatched.

That’s why I had spent extra effort buying appearance-modification items from the coin shop to match my top and bottom to the mask.

This level of attention was expected.

[We will now explain the Sparring that is about to begin.]

A clear voice accompanied a notification window.

[In 1 minute, Sparring – Battle Royale will begin.]

A murmur of voices rippled through the players.

[Teams of 2. A total of 18 teams will begin the survival.]

“Wait, what? Sparring? Why is this a Battle Royale?”

“Are we seriously supposed to kill each other? At an Exchange Meeting?”

[Fight to become the final team standing. Because this is the Sparring theme, even if you kill another player, they will not truly die. They’ll simply return to their previous floor.]

There was a collective sigh of relief.

“Oh thank god. So we don’t actually die?”

“Aw man... what’s the point, then?”

Some players seemed oddly disappointed by the no-death clause.

So they added a survival mode to the Sparring theme, huh?

Probably just to create a setting where player-vs-player kills didn’t matter.

[In this theme, numbers above players' heads will not show their floor, but instead how many people they’ve killed.]

[Regardless of whether your teammate is alive, becoming the final survivor means victory.]

[Rewards will be based on a combination of survival time and kill count.]

[Now, check your teammate and aim for 1st place from your assigned location.]

FLASH—

The light swallowed my vision again.

When it cleared, the environment had changed.

A room enclosed by yellow walls.

I turned to the man who appeared beside me.

He tilted his head as soon as he saw me.

“...A rabbit?”

I responded.

“Yeah. A rabbit.”

I left the man—who seemed to be my assigned teammate—for now, and turned to face another man directly in front of me.

A brown-haired man drew a blade from his hip.

He strode toward me with clear intent.

“Sorry, but you’ll have to die. Right now.”

Unlike my teammate, this guy had quickly understood the rules and was taking action accordingly.

His teammate beside him was likely someone he had added as a friend before the meeting.

As the man charged at me, I activated my Protective Aura.

I stepped forward—

Aimed for the man’s right leg.

Low kick.

CRUNCH—

His body dropped to the ground like a sack of rocks.

“Uh...?”

His leg bent at a grotesque angle.

I opened my mouth.

“Don’t break.”

Stay in character.

“Even if it breaks, get up as you are.”

***

“What...?”

The Chinese player, Zhou Xin, stared up at the rabbit mascot—Han Yuseong—like he was insane.

Still, Zhou Xin tried to get up.

He couldn’t.

‘My ankle is completely shattered.’

The rabbit spoke again.

“So you can’t get up.”

“You did this to me...!”

The rabbit picked up a metal rod lying on the ground—

CLANG!

And smashed Zhou Xin’s head.

Then, the rabbit turned to Zhou Xin’s teammate, John, who had been watching.

“Can you guarantee... you won’t break?”

What the hell was this lunatic talking about?

“Haha... I’m not really sure what you’re asking.”

John gulped.

“If that’s what breaking looks like, then... I’d rather not.”

“Difficulty.”

A sudden question.

John twisted his lips.

‘Ah... he’s trying to figure out if I’m worth using as a teammate.’

‘Or maybe just as bait... Still, better to be used than dead.’

John raised both hands.

“Haha... Normal Mode. If you spare me, I’ll play bait or whatever you need.”

But the moment he answered, the rabbit threw another question.

“Your level and floor.”

John swallowed again.

“Floor 17. Level 23. Pretty decent, right?”

Han Yuseong considered it.

‘At least he’s past Level 20. Probably can use Sword Aura.’

Compared to himself—a Floor 11 resident at Level 45—John was underwhelming.

But based on how confidently he spoke, he was probably above average on his floor.

“You can kill me later or just give me survival points—anything’s fine, really.”

Then John saw it.

The metal rod descending like a bolt of lightning.

He had no time to act.

No time to speak.

It wasn’t the kind of attack one could block.

It felt more like an unpreventable natural disaster.

CRACK!

Another instant kill.

“Someone whose spirit is already broken is useless.”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The rabbit kept swinging the rod in the air.

And stayed in character.

Each time, he’d gathered air at the tip of the rod right before the final blow—

Minimizing pain, ironically, by maximizing killing efficiency.

‘Still, I prefer the sword.’

He was using the rod well, but it didn’t sit right with him.

It lacked elegance.

‘When was the last time I even had the luxury to worry about the feel of a weapon?’

Inside the bunny mascot, Han Yuseong felt utterly calm.

Pandemonium.

After walking that hellscape and narrowly escaping death countless times...

Now being in a situation where he couldn’t die felt surreal.

Nothing appeared next to the two corpses.

Even the blade Zhou Xin had held fell to the ground, but couldn't be picked up.

Han Yuseong drew his own sword from his waist.

Conclusion:

Only items originally owned or acquired within this stage could be used here.

“Hey.”

His assigned teammate, Gabriel, blinked wide-eyed.

“Uh... yeah?”

He nodded cautiously.

“Can you see the number floating above my head?”

Gabriel looked up at the bunny mask.

2

“Y-Yeah. It says 2.”

“I see.”

Gabriel immediately started introducing himself.

“I’m Gabriel, Normal Mode, Floor 17. Level 22.”

“Got it.”

Gabriel had hoped for a similar self-introduction from the bunny.

But nothing came.

“So... your goal is 1st place... right?”

“If we keep going, it’ll happen. Let’s move.”

“R-Right!”

Gabriel didn’t argue at all.

‘I have no idea what kind of psycho persona he’s doing, but he’s strong. So I can’t complain...’

He followed Han Yuseong.

The moment they exited the yellow structure, the wind blew across their faces.

Han Yuseong stood at a railing, observing the surroundings.

BEEEEEP—

A crimson light burst across the sky.

A red, megaphone-shaped object floated in the air like a balloon.

Both Yuseong and Gabriel stopped walking.

[Broadcast Announcement Incoming.]

[Five minutes have passed since the Battle Royale began!]

[Players dead: 6]

[Current survivors: 30]

[Survivor count will remain visible in the sky!]

[Now introducing two dangerous players who killed multiple targets right at the start!]

Gabriel’s eyes widened.

“...What, is that a projection screen?”

He’d seen plenty of those before being summoned to the Tower, but this was the first time he’d seen one inside it.

To Han Yuseong, it was familiar—

Just like the video projections from the Transcendent Gallery terminal.

On the screen:

Squelch! Squelch!

A mosaic-faced man repeatedly stabbed another in the abdomen.

“Hehehe! This feeling! This is it!”

“Whoa. That guy’s seriously nuts.”

Gabriel said “that guy, too”, implying he’d already seen one insane person.

He quickly realized it and shut his mouth, but Han Yuseong didn’t care.

The screen changed.

Gabriel’s jaw dropped and didn’t close.

Even mosaic-blurred, a rabbit head was still a rabbit head.

“Don’t break.”

CRACK!

The metal rod swung.

Splatter!

Blood sprayed across the white rabbit head.

Then the screen cut off.

Gabriel stared at Han Yuseong in disbelief.

[As you can see—our predators have already arrived!]

[But don’t worry if you haven’t done anything yet!]

[There are ways for the weak to kill the strong! They’re hidden all over the stage! Stay alive—survive!]

“Let’s move.”

“...Yeah, we should.”

Gabriel hunched over, scanning the structures for traps.

The rabbit walked forward slowly, bloodied rod resting on his shoulder.