Chapter 204 Day One (1)

Ding!

Another chime sounded, sharp enough to make Misha flinch. This one did not come from the Arena. It rang directly inside her head, cutting through the protests around her. A familiar panel appeared beside the countdown, its translucent gray surface carrying an announcement she had not seen since her Observation Interface became inaccessible.

『 Observation Interface Restored. 』

『 Observation Profile is now online. 』

『 Live Chat: Enabled. 』

Of all the times for that damned thing to return.

Misha almost laughed, although there was nothing particularly amusing about the situation. The Tower had just informed them that they could die, the local authorities were powerless to intervene, and apparently Caleb had decided this was the perfect opportunity to restore her audience.

She almost thought back then it would be gone for good ever since her brother informed him he had to put it offline on her side before entering Floor Nineteen.

「〔OBSERVATION PROFILE〕

Tower Name: Gravekeeper

Current Floor: 21

Active Event: The Ten-Day Claim

—

Observers: 371

Favor: 12,100

Current Ranking: 14,973th 」

Messages began appearing almost immediately.

<The Saint Buried Upside Down> Oh, no. They actually signed it.

Misha’s attention sharpened. ’Signed what?’

Before she would formulate the question, another message appeared from an Observer whose name she did not recognize.

<The Scribe Who Burned His Hands> The Administrators’ seals have been accepted by the Original. The joined field is now lawful under their compact.

Something hot and ugly stirred beneath her fear.

Of course there would be a proper term for it. Somewhere, people powerful enough to interfere with the Tower’s regulations had reached an agreement, and now the participants standing inside the Arena were expected to accept the consequences.

She wondered how many of those Administrators had bothered to inform their contenders before registration. But judging by the chaos around her, Ashmoor certainly had not been given that courtesy.

The local audience was in complete disorder. The Observers, meanwhile, had apparently been granted front-row access to the entire event.

’You’d better have a damn good explanation for this, Cal.’

Her fingers trembled. Misha had noticed and curled them into fists, forcing herself to concentrate on the information she already possessed.

「〔SYSTEM NOTICE〕

«Survivor Rewards»

EXP +2,000

Tower Coins +1,500

«Top 5 Global Ranking Rewards»

EXP +5,000

Tower Coins +3,000

«1st Place — Exclusive Reward»

The Tower represented by the 1st-ranked Raider will receive access to an Exclusive Tower Shop.

—

All surviving participants will be returned to their respective Towers upon completion of Day 10. 」

Misha read the entire window carefully. They did not have to win to leave. As long as they remained alive when the ten days ended, the System would return them to their originating Tower.

Turning to Astrid, she saw the girl staring at the reward window, her face pale beneath the sunlight. Misha caught her by the shoulders.

"Listen to me." Misha leaned closer, waiting until Astrid looked directly at her. "Ten days. That’s all we need to worry about right now. We just need to survive for ten days, and the System will send us back. Even if we don’t collect anything, even if somebody steals our token, let them. Our priority is staying alive."

"The necklace–"

"Will still be there once we return." She kept her voice firm. "We’ll find another way to get it."

Astrid lowered her gaze, and for a moment, Misha thought she might argue. Instead, the girl took a slow breath and nodded again.

"Alright," she replied quietly. "Survive first."

Misha wished she could promise more. Unfortunately, promises were easy to make when the person speaking did not have to consider whether they could actually keep them... and Misha had already made enough promises that frightened her.

「 00:00:03 」

「 00:00:02 」

「 00:00:01 」

A low vibration rolled through the Arena as the dark portal widened. The noise around it warped with every second, until the crowd’s shouts stretched into a strange, distant murmur. Then the pull began. One by one, the contenders were ripped from the ground and drawn into the portal no matter where they were, vanishing like falling stars swallowed by the night.

===

Sunlight struck Misha’s eyes.

She stumbled forward and caught herself against a rough concrete wall, her free hand reaching instinctively toward the space where Astrid had been standing. Her fingers closed around empty air, and for one disorienting second, she remained there with her arm extended, unable to reconcile the sudden absence of the person who had been beside her.

Misha lowered her hand and looked around. She was alone.

A narrow residential street stretched ahead, its ground cracked in several places and lined with low concrete walls. Power lines crossed between utility poles overhead, while an old air-conditioning unit hung crookedly from a rusted bracket above the nearest window.

Something about the street was familiar, too familiar.

Then, she looked toward the house across from her. Its front gate was painted dark green, with a small section near the bottom where the paint had peeled away. A narrow flowerbed ran along the entrance, bordered by mismatched stones that someone had apparently arranged without much concern for symmetry.

Misha knew that flowerbed, and she knew that gate. For a moment, her mind refused to accept what she was seeing. But the longer she stared, the harder it became to deny.

Her stomach dropped. "No..."

She turned toward the intersection. A convenience store stood at the corner, its faded sign leaning slightly adobe the entrance. The building beside it had a blue water tank positioned on the roof, and farther down the road, a narrow utility pole stood beside a drain cover that had never sat properly against the ground.

"No fucking way..." Her voice sounded strangely small in the empty street.

Misha knew this place. She knew where the road turned, which houses had dogs, and which sections of pavement collected water whenever the drainage system became blocked. She also knew the shortcut behind the convenience store... because she had once lived here.

She slowly turned in place. The layout was unmistakable. The Tower had recreated the neighborhood from her world, or something close enough to it that she could stand here making herself sick over the difference.

Looking toward the intersection again, a familiar uneasiness spread through her chest.

Misha looked down at her hands and forced herself to breathe.

「 Fear and panic suppressed. 」

The fact that she recognized the surroundings did not make her safe. If anything, familiarity could become dangerous if it encouraged her to assume that everything operated according to the things she remembered.

Then, a distant shout carried across the rooftops. The voice was too far away for her to make out the words, but the alarm in it was unmistakable. A second sound followed, sharp and abrupt, like something heavy striking metal.

「Participants Remaining: 433 」

Misha stared at the number in disbelief. People had already died? Less than minutes after deployment? How was that even possible? Were they that unlucky?

She had expected violence once the participants encountered one another, but seeing the count decrease so quickly was different from understanding that it might happen. Misha dismissed the notification. She could not help those people. She could, however, avoid becoming the next number.

Her gaze moved toward the narrow passage beside the corner house. If the layout had been copied accurately, the passage would lead into a rear courtyard. From there, she could reach the apartment building near the main road without crossing the open intersection.

The building was tall enough to provide a useful view of the surrounding area. Although, it might also be occupied.

Misha considered both possibilities before leaving the awning.

She moved quickly but kept close to the walls, checking the windows as she passed. Most were closed, and she saw no movement behind the curtains. Then, the narrow passage appeared exactly where she remembered it. Even the loose concrete slab near the entrance was still there.

The familiarity gave her an advantage. She reached the rear courtyard without encountering anyone.

An old washstand stood beneath a narrow overhang, with a plastic bucket beside it and a rusted outdoor faucet protruding from the wall. The back gate was closed, although the latch looked as loose as she remembered.

Then she noticed something that did not belong.

A wooden chest sat beneath the washstand. The chest was dark brown, reinforced with narrow metal bands, and marked with a faint gold symbol hovering just above its lid.

Unlike the surrounding buildings, it looked unmistakably connected to the event. Something useful could be inside. Although Misha had learned not to become too optimistic about unopened chests after her experience in Floor Nineteen.

The chest opened without resistance, and inside lay a frying pan.

Misha ended up staring at it. For several seconds, she did absolutely nothing. Snapping out of her trance, she reached inside and lifted the folded cloth beneath the pan, checking whether another item had been hidden underneath. There was nothing.

She slowly looked back at the frying pan. "You can’t be serious..."

「〔Iron Frying Pan〕

Rank: Advanced (A)

Enchantment: None

Condition: Good 」

Misha closed her eyes.

Of all the weapons that could have appeared in a chest, the event had apparently decided to provide her with cookware, and not a sword. Not even a particularly sharp kitchen knife.

As improvised weapons went, it was not completely useless. At least she hoped so.

Misha looked toward the sky as she muttered, "Ha. ha. Very funny."

Click.

A faint metallic click sounded nearby.

Misha stopped moving. Her eyes went to rear gate, where the latch was being lifted from the other side.