Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A small, concentrated ball of electric Shinsu formed in his palm.

“Yes, precisely. Now eat it. Be careful—if you feel your body rejecting the pill, you have to shout for help and I’ll immediately stab you through the chest with a lightning spear. That’s the only way to shock your body enough so that it recovers from—”

He didn’t let her finish and immediately ingested the Shinsu, feeling his entire body crackle with static, the hairs on his arms and head rising as power flowed through his veins. His feet became lighter, movements more nimbles as he dodged his sister’s attacks, his field of vision sharper than ever before. He felt like he could dodge every hit that came at him for the rest of time—his mind had begun moving as fast as his limbs were, and his Shinsu had grown in power and tension. As Maschenny pulled her hook back to land the sharpest, quickest strike he’d ever seen her execute in his life, Ran ducked out of the way effortlessly. She used her hook to attack him again, but this time he caught it in his hand perfectly before it pierced his skin, gripping it with all the strength he could muster. Even Maschenny, a Jahad Princess, had a hard time holding onto her own hook, face contorting in shock and delight.

With one hard pull, the hook slipped from her grasp. Ran pulled it away, far, far behind him, until he tensed the muscles in his arm and prepared to strike back at her. He was probably doing this with too much fervour, considering how he genuinely wanted to kill her, but it didn’t look like Maschenny minded. If anything, she now seemed even more enthralled. When he swung the hook’s tip at her, she willingly got her hand pierced by it, smiling as it broke through her skin and bones, poking out on the other side of her palm. Then she used the momentum of the weapon to pull Ran towards her with her other hand, along with the hook.

He realised his mistake of not letting go of the hook too late—Maschenny pulled her leg back while he was in midair and landed the hardest kick he’d ever felt from anyone in the Tower right in his gut, and he was sure his intestines had been completely crushed. Maybe they would have been, if he hadn’t had the foresight to reinforce the area of his stomach that she kicked with Shinsu.

The kick’s impact was so great that he soared up in mid-air and landed hundreds of metres away from her, puking rather unspectacularly the moment he sat upright. Maschenny walked up towards him, grinning with her blue hook in her completely mangled hand.

“Not bad, kid,” she said. “You held out for almost thirty seconds after your first time eating that pill—probably a record for anyone in our branch, excluding me. While I was on my first pill, I could stand and fight for about a minute more.”

Ran wiped the remaining bile staining the corners of his mouth, wishing he’d waited until she arrived to puke right onto her, instead.

“Just work harder when you’re in the Tower, and you’ll be fighting entire wars while on that pill, while still being able to stand after you’re done,” she said. “Working your way up to five minutes while you’re a Regular is a reasonable enough goal. Make it at least one before you start climbing the Tower.”

“I’ll make it two by tomorrow,” he said, and she laughed.

Her smile soon faded when she realised he was being completely serious.

“You’re going to kill yourself before you even become a Regular,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I don’t care. I’ll do it.”

“You’ll make a good fighter even without the pill,” she said, and Ran nearly scoffed. As if she wasn’t the one who’d told him all those years ago that he would never even make it past the first floor of the Tower at the level he was at. “Who exactly are you trying to prove yourself to? Dad? Mother?”

“I’m not proving myself to anyone.” He got to his feet. “I don’t care about our parents enough to do that.”

Maschenny scrutinised him, eyes narrowing. “You’re entering the Tower at a really young age. That place is more dangerous than you think—your arrogance and lack of experience is going to catch up to you someday.”

“So be it. That’s the only way I can become a Ranker as quickly as possible.”

“I don’t get it. What’s that obsession all about? Do you want to kill me that badly?”

“Yeah,” he said, looking right at her unflinchingly. “I do.”

Maschenny sighed, and Ran couldn’t tell exactly what his sister was feeling right now. Her lips were still curved up, but her eyes didn’t seem to match her smile. “I’ll look forward to it, but you’ll definitely die if you try to kill me. Even if you climb to the very top, even if you become a High Ranker and rise up the ranks and train for many centuries under my father's army, you can never beat me. Because I’ll have collected most of the 13 Months by then, and you’ll have to not only have to fight against someone of Jahad’s blood, but also several other top-tier weapons of the Workshop.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ran said plainly. “I’ll still kill you, anyway.”

She grinned, and the previous odd look in her eyes had been washed away. “I’m glad you have guts. Most of the pathetics pawns of our family could never look me in the eye again if they said all that to me.” She handed the hook to him, the handle stained with her blood. “Here, have this. Since you were able to steal this from me, it means you’ve grown stronger faster than I thought.”

Ran took the hook from her wordlessly, eyeing her injured hand. Her eyes followed his gaze and she laughed. “Oh, that? That’s a trophy wound I’ll be showing Mother. She’ll probably be ecstatic knowing you’ve managed to injure me for the first time in your life.”

“We both know you just let me do that. If you’d been serious about dodging it, I would’ve never been able to injure you.”

“Hm… who knows? Maybe I was serious, maybe I wasn’t. But I really tried on that last kick.” She smiled. “So it's impressive that it didn't make you vomit your entire guts out. Literally. That's what it usually does to everyone else.”

“Gross.”

“Climb the Tower, kid, and become even stronger. You may be worse than a cockroach compared to me right now, but you may soon blossom into a rather pesky bee.”

Ran had only ever seen Maschenny’s Guide twice.

The first time, Ran had been three, or maybe four—his mother had brought him to Eduan’s floating castle, where Maschenny had gone to join them after a long time away on a mission, and she’d even brought Ran back a cup of strawberry yoghurt with her. That was the first and last time she’d ever brought him a gift, and he vaguely remembered his mother being absolutely dumbfounded about it. She might have whispered in Ran’s ear something along the lines of “So she is human, after all”.

It was his first time eating yoghurt, but it had quickly become his favourite food the moment he finished the cup.

Her Guide had been a short and stout Silver Dwarf with deep-etched wrinkles on his face, who smiled kindly down at him as Ran licked the remaining cream contentedly from his yoghurt cup. That day, Khun Eduan himself had appeared to talk to them, and his mother had been more on edge than usual—looking nervously between Maschenny, the Guide, and Eduan as they conversed softly a distance away from them, his mother and Ran very clearly not invited to the conversation.

Ran remembered thinking that the Guide was ridiculously small. When he conveyed that to his mother, she’d quickly shushed him.

“Guides are one of the most respected beings of this Tower,” she’d warned. “Because Maschenny is a Ranker Princess, she’s been allowed one of her own to accompany her. That’s how amazing your sister is.”

“But what are they talking about?”

“Very important things we could never hope to understand, Ran.”

When they had finished whatever it was they’d been discussing, Maschenny gestured for Ran to come over. Eduan had gazed upon him with bored eyes, while the Guide still had that same, cordial smile on his face. Ran was admittedly completely terrified to be right in front of his father—this was the first time he'd been faced with him up close instead of looking at him from a distance, and he made a decision, then, to never willingly go near him again. The man's entire energy felt like it was going to consume Ran whole.

If Maschenny was like a savage, divine being to Ran, then Eduan felt like a horrifying, cruel God that could even control the likes of someone like his sister. Ran was sure that the presence of a being like this in the Tower shouldn't have ever been allowed, but here Eduan was all the same.

Ran was so scared he wanted to puke. He was only three, but he could already feel the large, all-encompassing power that his father possessed, and how he would never be able to surpass it.

“Show Dad what you can do with Shinsu, Ran,” Maschenny said, and Ran wondered just how she was able to tolerate being so close to their father. Was she feeling exactly what Ran was going through right now? Or had she already become numb to the suffocating presence of their Family Leader?

Ran swallowed hard, and created a Baang of electric Shinsu in his palm. The Guide had been visibly shocked, and even something in Eduan’s eyes had shifted to something resembling perplexity.

Ran nearly flinched when Eduan opened his mouth to speak.

“Interesting,” his father said, frowning. “Not much tension, but the size of the Baang makes up for it. It seems that you’re right, Maschenny. I’ll have to discuss some things with Headon.”

Ran stared up at them as the Baang grew bigger and bigger, until it was as large as his face. The Guide’s eyes widened, while the two Khuns tried their best to hide their surprised expressions.

“Hey, he may actually be more gifted at Shinsu than you were at his age,” Eduan said, raising an eyebrow and looking at Maschenny.

She responded with a roll of her eyes. “No way in Hell. I could make my own spear the moment I turned two.”

“Yeah, yeah. Couldn't you tell I was joking?”

“Shut up, Dad.”

Was he making them proud? Was he impressive enough? Their faces didn’t look as happy as Ran had expected. He worked harder to make the Baang even larger, but the spell was broken when Maschenny smiled blankly and her cold fingers clamped onto Ran’s arm.

“That’s enough. Thank you, Ran. Mother will bring you back home now.”

Of course he didn't resist. Every nerve in his body was screaming at him to get away from Khun Eduan.

"Father was so scary," he told his mother in a small voice, and didn't realise he'd been shivering all over until she wrapped her scarf around his neck, an apologetic look in her eyes.

"I know," she said quietly, pulling him close to her side as they walked out of the castle.

Ran couldn't stop shivering until he was back at the fireplace of their home, and thought to himself that he never wanted to see his father ever again.

The second time he’d ever seen Maschenny’s Guide was the day after Maschenny had taught Ran the Lightning Pill technique, and it also marked the first ever time the Guide had paid a visit to their house. The man looked like he hadn’t aged a bit.

“Hi there,” the dwarf greeted, stretching a hand out. “I’m Orion Edrok, the Guide of the esteemed Princess Maschenny. Nice to meet you, Ran.”

Ran shook it, his eyes sweeping over the Guide. They were the same height, which made him happy for some reason. “Hi, Orion. I haven’t seen you since I was three.”

“Why, yes,” Orion said, eyes brightening with glee, like he didn’t expect Ran to have remembered. “What an astute memory you possess. You resemble your father and sister so much.”

His mother wouldn’t be too happy to have been left out. Sure enough, he peeked at her out of the corner of his eye and found her visibly sulking at the Guide’s comment.

“What are you here for?” Ran asked. Maschenny was nowhere to be found—she hadn’t returned home since last night, and she’d just arrived back on this floor two days ago. That meant the Guide had gone to their house independently, but for what?

“I’m here to see you,” Orion said, and his mother’s head jerked up in surprise. Ran hadn’t been expecting that, either. “Of course, I’ve been sent on Princess Maschenny’s orders.”

“Oh,” Ran said, immediately souring. “Why?”

If Orion had found Ran’s reaction strange, he didn’t point it out. “She wanted to know if you’ve made it to two minutes on the pill yet.”

“Naturally.” And he wasn’t lying. It took three more exhausting tries for him to hit that record, and he’d slept a good thirteen hours after that achievement. But did she really have to specially send her own Guide just to ask him that? Could she not have waited until she reached home to check on him herself?

“Ah. Wonderful. Your talent has grown even more since you were a child.” Orion smiled, though he looked a little fidgety. His gaze darted to Ran’s mother, who was watching them intently, then shifted back to Ran. “Additionally… I’d like to deliver some important information that will help you in your climb up the Tower.”

Ran cocked his head, waiting. “Okay. Go ahead.” So was this his true purpose of being here?

Orion looked even more nervous now, sneaking glances at Ran’s mother more often, who just watched him impassively.

Weren’t Guides supposed to be clairvoyant—something of a divine being, even? Why the hell did this guy look like he was shitting himself out of anxiety right now?

“Nine—no, ten years from now, if you value your life, don’t step onto the 50th floor,” he said, wringing his hands together. “Wait until the war passes. Princess Maschenny will let you know when it has, so that you can advance safely.”

Ran frowned. Orion said nothing more.

“What, just like that? No elaboration at all?” he said.

“I’m afraid that’s all I've been instructed to say, Ran. The Princess made it absolutely clear.”

“And why should I listen to the Princess?”

Orion flinched at the poisonous tone, and laughed nervously. His previously composed facade was slowly falling apart. “Well, s-she’s your older sister, isn’t she? She just wishes for your safety—”

“Are you telling me this with your Guide powers, or is this just because Maschenny said so?” Orion opened his mouth to reply, but Ran cut him off, “And why couldn’t she have just told me this herself?”

“O-One question at a time, please,” Orion said, smiling shakily. “First, no, the war is not something I can see, but is in fact what Princess Maschenny’s sister has predicted. And Princess Maschenny can’t come here to tell you herself because she left on another mission. More specifically, she’s gone to visit this important sister of hers—”

“What?” Ran’s mother said, walking right up to Orion’s face, enraged. “She left without saying anything? Again?”

Orion nearly physically jumped. “Ah, Your Highness—I mean, Miss Maschenny—Oh, oh drat, sorry, Princess—I mean, ma’am—” He withered at her scathing look, and he started dissolving into an apologetic mess. “Oh, my dearest apologies, a thousand apologies, how could I ever make up for my transgression, it’s just that you look so similar to your daughter, I mean, no, other way round, haha, silly me, your daughter looks similar to you, Princess Maschenny—um, I mean ma’am—Your Highness—AGH! Sorry, I’m so sorry…”

Ran’s mother stared at him, unimpressed.

“Stop it, Orion,” she said, eyes darkening. “I demand to know why that girl left without consulting me again. She does this every time. Claiming that she’ll stay for five days, then ups and leaves before the second day is even over. Does she not treat her own mother with respect anymore?”

“W-Well…” Orion looked away, shoulders shaking as he laughed nervously, quickly. “She—she has an important job to do. Yes, very important…”

“Which sister is she visiting now? Is it that hermit Princess with the Opera? The one who hasn’t even started her climb yet? Repellion? Repelsa?”

“P-Princess Repellista Jahad, ma’am,” Orion replied, cowering under her gaze. “Princess Maschenny has gone to gather some—some crucial information.”

Ran’s mother laughed darkly, looking like she was about to punch Orion’s face right in just for innocuously answering her question. “Alright,” she said. “I get it. Orion, go back to my arrogant daughter and tell her not to show herself in front of me again.”

The Guide’s eyes trembled with fear and shock as he looked to Ran for help. What, was he actually expecting Ran to step in for him?

He shrugged at Orion, who froze. It’s unfortunate, but he was going to be all alone on this one.

“U-Um… ever?” Orion said, voice becoming softer and softer. “Ma’am, I—I’m afraid I don’t quite understand—”

“What have I said that’s not already clear?” Ran’s mother drawled, and she looked eerily like Maschenny at that moment. “This is the last time I’m letting her piss me off. Tell her to either fully focus on her Princess duties, or at least keep to her promises whenever she comes to visit.”

Orion gulped hard, sweat beading at his temples. Ran felt kind of bad for him. “But—but ma’am, I’m sure it hasn’t been easy on the Princess to be away from you for long, either—”

“Oh, cut the bullshit,” his mother bit back, rolling her eyes. “I know she’s never spared a thought about me. The only reason she ever comes back here is to visit my husband, or to infuriate me with her complete disregard of respect for the person who raised her.”

He shook his head frantically. “Ma’am, I can promise you that Princess Maschenny will feel deeply saddened if she learns that you’re cutting her off—”

“I’m cutting her off?” She threw her head back in laughter, slowly crumbling into hysteria by the second. “Ever since she got that Yellow May and succeeded in that mission to capture the insane Eurasia Princess, her arrogance has grown to ridiculous levels. She hasn’t had a proper conversation with me in years. Decades, even! She used to be so—to be so mature before she became a Ranker, but now look at her! Refusing to even talk to her own mother! How absurd is that? Orion, tell me you think it’s crazy. Tell me!”

Orion was trembling like a leaf in the wind now. “I—ma’am, I—I don’t know what to say, I’m so sorry you feel that way, I promise I’ll convey this to the Princess in time, but—but I—I’m just a lowly Guide, haha, I don’t know… Princess Maschenny is very busy, so—I don’t—”

Ran’s mother grabbed onto his arm and he shrieked at the contact, squeezing his eyes shut in fear.

“Orion,” she said softly, her entire face blank and honestly scarier than if she had been visibly angry, “don’t pretend like you’re some ‘lowly’ Guide. You’re second-in-command next to the Chief Guide of the Jahad Family, aren’t you? You must know things. Why the hell is Maschenny visiting her sister now?” Orion opened his eyes, staring at her in shock. “And while we're on that topic: what exactly is the war that will happen on the 50th Floor? Is Maschenny going to be involved?”

Orion’s eyes flipped open as he slowly processed what she’d just said. His gaze drifted back down to her nails digging into the meat of his arm, already drawing blood, and he winced as if in preparation for what was to come. “I… I’m afraid I don’t have more information on—on any of that, ma’am—”

“Orion,” she said, her grip tightening. “Just tell me this one thing, this one thing, and you’ll never have to see me again. I promise.”

Ran silently observed the situation, finally realising what his mother was trying to do. She’d gone into a whole outburst about Maschenny leaving without telling her, but it was just a means to an end to get the Guide wrapped around her finger and extract information out of him. There was probably a part of Mother that genuinely was angry about Maschenny not talking to her anymore, but he was sure she was exaggerating the whole thing. She’d already known for a long time that Maschenny was out of her control, anyway.

“Ma’am, I..." At her unwavering, stony gaze, Orion took in a deep breath. "Fine. I'll answer—I’ll answer just one of the questions you asked,” he said, gulping. “Do—do forgive me, you have to understand that I can't reveal too much information or—”

“The war,” she said, final. “Tell me about the war.”

“The war… Okay. Okay. The war—it’s—it's going to be between two families,” Orion whispered, lower lip trembling as he looked around frantically. They were the only people in the house right now, so Orion had nothing to be afraid of, anyway. “Two of the Ten Families. It’s going to be a war like nothing the Tower has ever seen. I didn't believe it at first because the Tower has been so peaceful for so long, but Princess Repellista never lies.”

She tensed as her nails dug deeper into his arm, Orion letting out a sharp hiss in pain. She still didn’t let go. “Between two of the Ten Families?” She looked at Ran in disbelief. “Tell me our family’s not involved.”

“I—I don’t know, but I highly doubt it,” Orion said, gritting his teeth as his arm continued to bleed. “Princess Maschenny doesn’t think the Khun Family will be involved. She said it may be the—the Poe Bidau Family, but doesn’t know the other one.”

“Poe Bidau?” Ran’s mother looked deep in thought, mulling over Orion’s words carefully. “If so, then there’s no way the Khuns will be fighting. We’re too strong for them.”

“Y-Yes, precisely.”

“Does Ed—the Family Leader know about this?”

“Yes. Yes, and a few other Family Leaders, too. But, please,” he begged, “please don’t leak this out. If you do, they’ll execute me, ma’am. The Jahad Family will be out for my head. Really. Please.”

She finally relaxed her grip on his arm and moved away, looking a lot calmer than she’d been a minute ago.

“Of course. I won't tell a soul," she said, eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Thank you, Orion.”

“N-No problem,” he said, laughing discordantly, “really, none at all. Well—Nothing else you might want to ask? I presume? Ma’am?”

“No. That’s all.” She paused. “And I was serious about you telling Maschenny not to show her face here again. I’m done dealing with her flighty antics.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am.”

She turned away and walked up to her room. Ran looked at Orion, who smiled shakily at him.

“G-Good luck climbing the Tower, Ran,” he said. “You’ll be great.”

“Thanks.”

“Oh, silly me! Almost forgot.”

Ran watched inquisitively as Orion reached into his pocket for something, and his expression contorted into one of utter disbelief as Orion revealed a cup of strawberry yoghurt in his palm.

“What?” Orion said, noticing Ran’s expression. “You don’t like yoghurt anymore? I-It’s supposed to be your favourite food. Well, it’s possible Princess Maschenny got it wrong—”

“Wait. Did you get this for me?”

He blinked slowly. “No, it's from the Princess, of course. I-Is there a problem?”

Ran wrinkled his nose in disgust, shocking Orion even more. He took the cup from him, still refusing to believe it. Was this supposed to be a gift to discourage him from killing her, or something? If this was her intention, it wasn’t working.

He squinted. The yoghurt had chocolate syrup in it. He hated yoghurt with syrup. Ecstatic that he had a reason to dislike the gift, he looked up and said, “Tell her that I hate yoghurt with syrup.” And handed Orion the cup, who took it back with dismay.

He flapped his lips soundlessly for a moment, in complete disbelief, then sighed and pocketed the cup. “Yes, Ran. I’ll be sure to pass it on to the Princess. You take care—I'll be taking my leave now.”

Orion soon left the house in a hurry, visibly eager to get away from them.

Ran's mother appeared back at the top of the stairs, staring at him in shock. She must have witnessed what just happened, too.

“She gave you a gift,” she said, dumbfounded. “Seriously? She hasn’t given you one since you were three.”

“Right? I can’t believe it, either—”

Ran was cut off as her face abruptly crumpled, and she broke into tears.

He blinked dumbly at her, completely caught off-guard.

“That stupid girl,” she sobbed, burying her face in her hands.

He awkwardly walked up and sidestepped her on the way to his room, not making any move to comfort her. He didn’t know what he could do, anyway. He hadn’t seen his mother cry in front of him in years.

“That stupid, stupid girl.”

Headon, that eerie-looking rabbit man, never failed to send a chill down Ran’s spine whenever he thought of him. Maschenny had told him that Eduan and Headon had planned on making Ran become a Regular at a younger age than usual, but he didn’t get it—why would they plan for it? Did they want to accomplish something specific by sending him into the Tower?

Now, seeing Headon again four years after he’d been first chosen by him to become a Regular, he couldn’t help but suppress a shiver.

“Are you ready to start your climb, Khun Ran?” he said. His voice felt like it was coming from right beside his ear, and from every other direction all at once.

“Well, I don’t think spending any more time on this cursed floor will do me any good.” The silhouette of the ominous rabbit Administrator against his room wall painted a funny but terrifying image. “I’m ready.”

“I’ll give you five minutes to complete any last things you may have to do. Say your goodbyes, pack your bags, whatever.” Headon tapped his staff against the ground, conjuring up a door on his wall. “You won’t be seeing anyone from your family again for a very long time. Probably not until you become a Ranker.”

Ran grabbed the ignition spear Aguero had given him years ago. There was nothing else he needed.

“I don’t need five minutes,” he said. “I’m ready now.”

Headon blinked, then shot him a toothy grin. That creepy rabbit.

“Very well.” Headon raised his staff. “All your answers lie at the top of the Tower. Climb up, and you will reach what you seek.”

Then the door slammed open. His mother’s slightly dishevelled person appeared at the doorway, looking like she’d just recovered from an intense crying session.

Headon grinned again.

“Ran!” she said, eyes widening. “You’re leaving now?”

“Yeah. Bye.”

“Wait!”

His mother ran up, hovering in front of him like she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, then she ended up hugging him tight. Ran groaned. What a pain. She was dragging this out for him.

“Mom, can you not do this right now?”

She wrapped him in her arms tighter, and he swore his bones were about to be crushed.

“Shut up, kid. Who knows when I’ll see you again?” she croaked, shoulders shaking. Ran felt his sleeve getting wet from her tears and sighed. “I didn’t see your sister for five hundred years after she became a Regular. The next time I saw her, she was already on her way to becoming a High Ranker. I had to rely on silly rumours and gossip to know what was happening to my own daughter.” She snivelled. “Please, Ran. When I see you again, don’t become anything like your sister. Please come back to me as my son.”

“Of course I won’t be anything like her,” he said, frankly offended that she’d had any notion of it. “I’m going to kill her when I become a Ranker.”

His mother froze, and her grip on him slowly loosened.

“What?” she said, voice quivering. Her previously bright blue eyes had dimmed, and all the colour had drained out of her face.

Right. He wasn’t supposed to have said that. It slipped out from his mouth before he knew what he was doing.

Headon looked like his mouth couldn’t split any wider.

Oh, well. He might as well commit to it.

“You heard me,” he said firmly, icily. “I’ll kill her. That’s my final goal.”

“But—but she’s your sister.”

“Yeah. And you two also know what you’ve done to me all these years.” He tried stopping himself, but it didn’t work. The words just kept flooding out. “I don’t get it, Mom. Why didn’t you try to stop her when she took me to the Cliff and forced me to watch all our cousins kill themselves for a week? Why didn’t you stop her whenever she injured me to the brink of death during training? Or when she starved me for almost two months straight? Is it because she’s a Jahad Princess? Because it’s more important to obey her than to protect me? Because you were a coward who couldn’t do anything but mindlessly follow her and Father’s orders?”

She went completely still, mouth not even opening. Her eyes quivered and shook, but otherwise she made no move to stop Ran when he walked towards Headon, who was still wearing his signature rabbit grin.

“Bye, Mom,” he said, refusing to turn back to see her one last time. He simply didn’t care enough. “I’ll see you soon.”

The door opened, revealing a bright golden light that invited him to walk towards what led ahead. He vaguely heard his mother crying out his name, but it was covered up by Headon’s voice as they started warping to the Inner Tower.

“Your sister left without saying goodbye to your mother when she started her climb,” Headon said, that creepy eye fixed on Ran. “I imagine your mother must've been prepared for you to do the same.”

“Okay. What makes you think that I care?”

Headon laughed.

“Welcome to the Tower, Ran.”

Six Months Later

Ran had an easy time making his way up. It took just under six months for him to clear the first thirteen floors all on his own, and now he was spending his time waiting for the 15th Floor’s test to begin. He hadn’t even needed to use his ignition spear this entire time—relying on his own talents and combat abilities were enough to completely dominate all the other Regulars on every floor. He felt a little bad that it’d been so easy for him, but he had to become a Ranker as quickly as possible, after all. He had to get stronger and stronger, and he didn’t have time to feel bad for those who were naturally inferior to him. Whenever Regulars tried proposing to become allies, he never spared them a second thought. He wouldn’t need any teammates—he was going to reach the top all on his own strength. Other people would do nothing but bog him down. He’d seen firsthand how dysfunctional teams could become, and he wasn’t willing to subject himself to that kind of pointless trouble. Dealing with people required too much energy, because he simply wasn’t equipped to work with others.

He remembered Maschenny telling him that she had climbed the Tower all on her own, too, but she had an unfair advantage—the blood of Jahad. Ran, on the other hand, wasn’t born a Prince of Jahad, or anything. Well, not like a Prince of Jahad was really even a thing, anyway.

Ran did a quick survey of all the other Regulars in the 15th floor waiting room with him right now and mentally sighed. Once again, there wasn’t anyone remotely interesting to fight. Once again, he was the most powerful person in this place.

The Regulars here did seem a little different, though. So far in his climb, he’d never really seen anyone glued to their phones. But here, there was not a single person in the room who didn’t have a phone in their hands. They were all wearing the same intent expressions on their faces while tapping on their screens, too. And multiple people have been caught sneaking glances at him from time to time.

This floor was definitely weirder than the others. The only thing Ran hated more than talking to people was being stared at by people. Were they all planning an ambush on him? Was that why no one was talking out loud? Were they communicating with each other through their phones? Ran wanted to take his own phone out just to distract himself from the palpable tension in the air, but he opted for staring pointedly at his feet, instead. Even if they were planning a team ambush, they would never be able to outpower Ran. He’d done his own brief assessments of everyone here, and even if they combined all their efforts to fight him, they would still lose.

The only person who seemed like they might have a small chance not to embarrass themselves fighting him was a stiff-looking guy with a katana, who seemed like he had some sort of Samurai background. He could tell that this man was weighing him up, too, when they both made eye contact with each other. This Samurai man had teammates, with a girl in pigtails and a bald, idiot-looking guy with freckles dotting his face beside him, muttering quietly amongst themselves.

Then all three of them looked at him at the same time, and Ran wanted to punch something. Could all these people just quit staring at him?

“Good afternoon, Regulars,” a voice said, a purple lighthouse appearing in the room. “Thank you all for your patience. The 15th floor test is about to begin, so buckle up and get ready! Happy photo taking!”

Ran frowned. Photo taking? Was the 15th floor some sort of tourist attraction? Was that why everyone had their phones out?

Something was amiss. Why hadn’t the announcer elaborated on the rules of the test? Were they supposed to do their own research beforehand? But that was stupid—on every other floor, the announcer had always laid out the rules before the test began. It wouldn’t be fair to Regulars otherwise.

Had Ran missed something? Were the rules of the test hidden somewhere in this room, and he simply had yet to find it? Had everyone else already figured out what the test was supposed to be?

Whatever, he thought plainly. If this floor was going to be intentionally vague about the rules, then all Ran had to do was make sure he was still a step ahead of everyone. If everyone had their phones out as some sort of preparation for the test, then Ran would simply stomp down their fighting chance.

“The 15th floor test will begin—in three! Two! One! START!”

In a flash, he summoned an arsenal of electric Shinsu, sending it into everyone’s phones and overloading them before the waiting room doors even opened. Numerous faces crumpled in dismay as their phones stopped working, and Ran grinned as he summoned another ball of Shinsu, ready to strike down everyone in the room with him.

A flash. And another. And another.

Ran was blinded by the number of pictures that were being taken of him. With their goddamn flash on.

What the fuck? He sent his electricity into the remaining phones that were still functioning. But it didn’t work—their phones were unaffected, and more and more pictures of him continued to be taken.

Ran cursed inwardly. Was this the secret of the 15th Floor? It seemed everyone had been waiting for the opportunity to snap a photo of him, and that some had been prepared and even equipped their devices with a special function to be resistant to electric Shinsu beforehand.

He'd never found himself in a situation like this before, and this was majorly hurting his pride, but the only logical action he could do next was to get the hell out of there before he regretted it. With the severe lack of information he had right now, there was no way he would be able to guarantee his safety. Even if he was sure he could beat everyone in the room by traditional means, what if this floor had some special rule in place where they could hurt someone by taking their picture?

Ran proceeded to dash out the door at lightning speed and found himself on a wide plain, the bright Shinsu sun nearly blinding him when he went outside.

Where even more people were waiting, and more photos continued to be taken of him. He averted his eyes from the incessant camera flashes, cursing repeatedly.

No way. Why the hell were they doing this? Did taking photos give them powers?

No matter what, Ran just couldn’t figure it out. He continued sprinting away from the crowd, away from the cameras, fast as lightning, until he climbed up a tree and caught his breath atop the highest branch. This didn’t make sense. No one had tried actually attacking him—all they did was take his picture.

He didn’t have a good feeling about this. A headache was already building up at the back of his head from all those bright camera flashes.

The same purple lighthouse from before appeared above him. A bunch of Regulars were right below his tree, yelling out orders. They hadn’t yet noticed him.

“I saw him go into the forest!”

“Find him! We can’t let him escape!”

“He must be hiding somewhere!”

The announcer from the lighthouse spoke, drowning out the Regulars’ voices.

“Welcome, Regulars, to the 15th Floor: the Photoshoot! The grace period for a ‘Suspect’ to be chosen lasts for three hours, but it seems five seconds was all it took this week! I am excited to announce that the 521427th Suspect of the 15th Floor is Khun Ran, from the Khun Family!”

What? Suspect? What the hell were they suspecting him of?

“As some of you may already know, the 15th Floor has its own special set of rules, and is quite different from all the other floors you’ve been through so far!” The announcer continued gleefully. Ran gritted his teeth. Could they not have said all this back in the waiting room? They must have been withholding the details on purpose—given that Ran had never bothered doing research on a Floor Test beforehand, this was the first time it had actually been a significant disadvantage for him. And Regulars like Ran must have been why the announcers chose not to say anything about the rules in the waiting room. They were probably testing to see who was cocky and arrogant enough to not have properly prepared themselves for this floor.

“The 15th Floor Test is called Snap the Suspect! Or STS, for short! With your phones or cameras, snap a picture of someone and upload it to the Bureau Webpage, where our Test Administrators diligently sort through the thousands of pictures to determine which picture was the first to be submitted! The person whose picture is first taken and submitted to the webpage is chosen to be this floor’s Suspect for the next week! All Regulars must try their hardest to kill the Suspect before the end of the week for 10000 points, or, if you wish to go the pacifist route, imprison the Suspect without killing them for 5000 points! In both cases, you will be rewarded with instant advancement to the next floor, as well as the opportunity to buy any items you desire from the Bureau Shop using the points you’ve earned! The 15th Floor has a few sponsors from the Workshop, so there are plenty of attractive, valuable items you can only get from our shop! Nowhere else in the Tower will you be able to find items like we have over here!

“In addition, there are special safe zones on this floor which you can rent with points, where the duration of stay for each safe zone is limited to 24 hours only! I repeat, you can only stay in a safe zone for 24 hours! The fundamental rules of living in a safe zone are: One, no one can take a picture of anyone else within the same safe zone; and two, no one is allowed to kill anyone else within the safe zone! Any rules broken results in an immediate deduction of all points in the Regular’s possession! The details of how to rent a safe zone as well as their different types, capacities and prices will be sent to your pockets.

“Oh, and one more thing: since our Suspect this week is a member of the Ten Families, the points awarded for killing or imprisoning them are doubled, to 20000 and 10000 points respectively! However, if the Suspect manages to escape capture and survive until the end of the week, they will be rewarded with 10000 points and instant advancement to the next floor, as well as the opportunity to buy any items they desire from the Bureau Shop! In this case, as a penalty to all the Regulars for not managing to complete the Floor Test, 5000 points will be deducted from every Regular! That’s right, every single one of you! More details regarding the Test and other ways to earn points will be sent to your pockets soon! Now, once again: Happy photo taking!”

The lighthouse blinked out of existence.

Ran brought his pocket out in Visible Mode and read through all the details. This was the first time he actually felt a need to pay attention to information of this length.

RULES OF THE 15TH FLOOR

1. Each person can only take one picture of one person every week. Any picture with multiple people in it will be voided. The person whose picture is taken becomes the ‘Suspect’ of this floor.

2. There is always only one Suspect every week.

3a. There is a grace period of 3 hours every week after the previous Suspect is killed/imprisoned, where the Regulars spend the time finding a subject to take a picture of and make them the new Suspect for the next week.

3b. The Regular that takes the first picture of the Suspect is awarded with 1000 points. If the Suspect is from the 10 Families, the Regular is awarded with 5000 points.

4a. Kill or imprison the subject of the photograph, the Suspect, before the end of the week.

4b. Whoever deals the final blow to the Suspect gets 10000 points (20000 points if the Suspect is from the Ten Families).

4c. If the Suspect is imprisoned instead of killed, whoever contributed the most to the Suspect’s capture will get 5000 points (10000 points if the Suspect is from the Ten Families).

5a. There are safe zones situated around the floor that can be rented for a maximum of 24 hours. Pictures are not allowed to be taken of anyone in their own safe zones, and no one can be killed by anyone else in their own safe zones. The penalty for breaking these rules will be a deduction of all the points of the Regulars currently residing in the safe zone.

5b. L1 Safe Zone:

- Maximum Capacity of 2

- Water is provided free-of-charge

- Cost: 100/day (200 for Suspects)

5c. L2 Safe Zone:

- Maximum Capacity of 4

- Water and snacks provided free-of-charge

- Cost: 500/day (1000 for Suspects)

5d: L3 Safe Zone:

- Maximum Capacity of 10

- Water and three meals a day provided free-of-charge

- Cost: 1000/day (2000 for Suspects)

5e: Safe zones can only be rented out to those who’ve taken a picture of someone and submitted it to the Bureau Webpage, as well as to Suspects.

5f: Points can be paid by everyone renting out the safe zone, instead of only one individual.

5g: Rent your own safe zone by going to the Bureau Webpage and filling up an application form as well as your payment slip. Your request to rent a safe zone will be processed within five minutes.

6a. Suspects get 10 points for every Regular they kill, and 100 points for every Regular from the 10 Families that they kill.

6b: If the Suspect kills the strongest Regular on the floor besides themselves, they will be instantly awarded 5000 points.

7. An ex-Suspect who chooses to stay on 15F instead of advancing to the next floor cannot have their picture taken again the next time a Suspect is chosen.

8. Points can be earned by fighting monsters in the Inhabitable Zone. Monsters respawn every 18 hours.

L1 Monster: 30P

L2 Monster: 60P

L3 Monster: 90P

9. Suspects cannot kill themselves. [The Administrator of this floor will intervene if the Suspect attempts to in any way.]

10. The Bureau Shop will be open to everyone on the floor every Wednesday, from 2300-2330, for Regulars to buy whatever they need to apprehend the Suspect before Sunday 2359.

11. If the Suspect survives till the end of the week, they will be awarded with 10000 points and can buy anything they want from the Bureau Shop, but will have to surrender their most precious possession to the Bureau before they advance to the next floor.

Ran understood two things once he finished reading through all the rules.

First: the people at the Bureau clearly had some sort of vendetta against the Ten Families, with how the points drastically increased to reward the murder of any Regular from their bloodlines. Second: this floor wasn’t so complicated, after all. All he had to do was kill as many Regulars as possible, then make it till the end of the week to advance to the next Floor. If the Regulars wanted any sort of fighting chance, they should have immediately attacked him after taking his picture instead of letting him escape. They had a huge advantage in numbers back then, too.

Oh, well. They were going to regret making him the Suspect, either way. He peeked out from the canopy and found a bunch of Regulars milling around, clearly not knowing that he was right above them. If Ran had been any less skilled, the Shinsu pressure around him would have instantly let people know that he was nearby, but he’d been controlling and hiding his power since he began climbing the Tower. No ordinary F-rank Regular would be able to tell the true extent of his strength. This was going to be a piece of cake.

He climbed down from the tree and landed on the ground lightly.

“Hey! That’s him!”

“The Suspect!”

“Get him!”

He summoned the Sword of Light and pierced it through a line of Regulars, then turned and aimed for another group behind him, attacking them with vicious lightning. There were more Regulars dashing towards him from outside the forest, having noticed the commotion, but he easily struck them down, too. None of them so far had a good enough strategy to defeat him, clearly rushing towards him out of desperation to advance to the next floor.

It was clear to Ran what he had to do now. He didn’t need to rent out any safe zones for himself. All he needed was to beat everyone here.

His pocket showed the number of points he had quickly rising into the hundreds. Now, what did the rules say again? That if he killed the strongest Regular on this floor besides himself, he would be awarded with 5000 points?

The forest was empty right now—it seemed all the stupid Regulars had been taken care of. The smarter ones had all run away and saved themselves before Ran could get to them.

Ran cracked his knuckles, thinking over his next step. If he wanted to make the most out of his time on this floor, he should probably be racking up more points by either finding more Regulars to kill, or defeating monsters in the Inhabitable Zone. Both options seemed pretty enticing to him right now, but there was still something about this floor that he didn’t quite get. It was clear that the more points you had, the more power you would hold—so there should be some Regulars taking advantage of that and renting out a bunch of safe zones for themselves just to reduce the competition. The number of safe zones on this floor was finite, after all.

These Regulars were probably the ones with the most points, who hadn’t advanced to the next floor because they hadn’t killed or imprisoned a Suspect of their own yet, for some reason. Or if they had, simply chose not to continue climbing the Tower and instead stayed on this floor. Maybe one of the people belonging to this group was the strongest Regular on this floor. If so, Ran should head to the area with the safe zones now and try to find them—

“Hey, Ran. You’re still as ruthless as I remember, but you don't seem to have grown any taller. What a pity.”

Ran turned around, shocked at the voice he’d just heard. Sure enough, another familiar Khun was standing right behind him, wearing a cocky smirk on his face. Ran was struggling to remember where he’d seen him before, and his stomach swooped when he finally recalled his identity.

No. It couldn’t be.

“You?” Ran said, putting his lightning spear away. “Why the hell are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

“I’m flattered you remember me, kid,” he said, grin splitting wider. “But well, it’s really not surprising, considering my mom tried to kill you and everything.”

He was so, so confused.

“So you didn’t kill yourself, after all? I don’t get it, Tyson,” he said. “I even spoke at your funeral.”

A grown-up version of Tyson grinned and tilted his head, cracking his neck with a ‘pop’. “I couldn’t take that horrible existence anymore, so I ran away. And Headon found me. I heard my family thought I killed myself, and that my mom blamed you for my death. I didn't believe it when I heard that she even tried to kill you. That’s kinda funny, isn’t it?”

“I don’t see how it’s funny at all.”

“But it’s pretty impressive that you escaped from a House Head,” he continued, ignoring him. “My mom definitely wasn’t weak. You must’ve grown a lot stronger now compared to when we were kids.”

Ran wanted to laugh. This was completely ridiculous.

“I felt sad, you know,” Ran said. “I went to your funeral even though I wasn’t obliged to. And all that did for me was give me a near-death experience with a House Head who wanted to kill me.”

Tyson raised his eyebrows. “You felt sad for me? That’s a first. I didn’t think you were capable of feeling anything.” He eyed the spear in Ran’s hand, crackling and buzzing, the static energy in the air creeping up. “You were always so emotionless during training. The only thing you ever cared about was defeating everyone else. We used to be friends, remember? When people started seeing your true, monstrous abilities, I didn’t care. I still wanted to talk to you like we did in the past. But you completely shunned me when your power got to your head, and you realised just how superior you were to everyone else.”

Ran glared at him. “I didn’t do it with malicious intentions. My family told me to cut off everyone I’d been talking to and focus only on improving myself. They gave me no choice.”

Tyson rolled his eyes. “Blaming it on the family is easy. So easy. It doesn’t change the fact that you ruined my life. If you had still remained friends with me, I wouldn’t have felt so bad about being defeated by you, over and over again. But I couldn’t stand it. Not when you always had that bored look in your eyes…” Electricity swirled around Tyson as his eyes burnt a bright blue. “That look like you were better than me. You understand, don't you? Why I couldn’t stand it!”

Ran dodged as a huge wave of electric Shinsu shot towards him, the trees getting caught in the aftershock and being uprooted one by one. Tyson didn’t stop—he just kept attacking, over and over again. His Shinsu reserves had definitely grown in tenfold since Ran had last fought him. How many years had it been since they’d talked? Twenty? Even more?

Wait. Ran blocked his last attack as he came to a realisation. Was this guy the strongest Regular on this floor? It was possible, wasn’t it? If he killed him, and he really was, then Ran would get 5000 points.

But he looked at Tyson again and realised that, despite everything, there would be no point in killing him. Ran wouldn’t feel good about it, because Tyson had already died once and he didn’t want to be the cause of it again.

Maria's words rang in his head, then. I want to change the Tower.

Ran couldn't kill Tyson. He was just another victim of the awful, toxic environment that was the Khun Family, and now they were both at the mercy of the Tower. Where everything depended on beating everyone else and advancing to the next floor. In the end, the Khun Family was really just a microcosm of how the Tower truly was. Killing other Regulars just to get some points? Just to climb the Tower and become a Ranker?

Ran was playing right into the Tower's hands. He'd once helped Maria because he felt that she had noble intentions, but he realised now that he was a hypocrite. He blamed Maria for siding with his sister, but how was he any better? He'd already stepped over many people throughout his climb so far, and it had almost been a no-brainer to think of killing Tyson, too, even when he was aware of how much trauma their families had put them through. Even when he was aware of how cruel the Tower was.

In front of Tyson, Ran felt like he was small and afraid and twelve again, reverting back to the little boy he used to be who was afraid of angering his family and did whatever they asked him to. And now that fear and guilt had extended to Tyson, who had been hurt by Ran’s own actions, so hurt that he ran all the way to the Tower.

“I never felt that you were inferior to me,” Ran said, fully sincere, as he dodged another attack. “I just did what I had to. I wanted to continue talking to you, too, but it wasn’t up to me. It really wasn’t. I wish it could have been different—” A particularly sharp spear whizzed past his ear and landed in the tree behind him, “—and I’m sorry for making you feel that way. I knew how much pressure your family was putting on you, too—”

“Stop lying!” Tyson yelled, conjuring an even larger spear and slicing off the trunks of the trees in one huge swing. Ran sprinted away from the falling, collapsing trees, swerving and ducking away from the sharp branches. “I know you never gave a shit about anyone who wasn’t evenly matched with you. You pretend you don’t have a superiority complex, but anyone with eyes can see it. You craved the attention of your family, and they fed into your ego even more. You completely defeated me, and it wasn’t even hard for you—”

“Fuck, Tyson, I was twelve!” Ran shouted, anger flaring up in him. He was being ridiculous at this point. Ran was trying to be the bigger person and let Tyson go, to show him that he didn't want to fight, but it seemed that the other Khun wasn't having the same idea. “What the fuck did I know when I was twelve? Nothing! I was stupid and young and scared, alright? Yeah, I’m sorry for pushing you away, but what choice did I have? You can’t keep blaming me forever! I’ve already blamed myself enough for your death, which didn’t even happen!”

Tyson laughed, cruel and mocking. “Well, you can make it happen now. You're thinking of killing me, aren't you? If I'm the strongest Regular on this floor and you kill me, you get 5000 points. It's a great deal. I don't see why you shouldn't try—”

Ran, even more enraged now, let go of all his inhibitions and charged at Tyson, tackling him onto the ground.

“I'm not,” Ran said, knee pressing into his arm. Tyson looked up at him, eyes wide and almost afraid. “I'm not thinking of killing you at all. Even if you're the strongest Regular.”

“Why not?” Tyson said, struggling to get out from beneath his grasp. When Ran looked closer, he could tell just how much Tyson resembled his mother, Avery. Just thinking of that woman gave him some really bad memories. “5000 points is a lot on this floor. The only other way you'll be able to get it is if you kill all the monsters in the Inhabitable Zone everyday, or if you kill a lot more Regulars. Both those options require too much effort. But killing me—killing me is easy.”

“But I won't,” Ran said.

“What a hypocrite,” Tyson spat out, holding up a conjured spear to Ran's throat. “You've already killed those Regulars from before, and you choose to let me go? I've terrorised a whole bunch of people on this floor, too, and they're not going to be happy when they realise that you've let me escape alive.”

“Yeah, maybe I am a hypocrite,” he said, leaning his throat into the spear’s tip, and Tyson stared at him in shock as beads of blood started being drawn out. “I don't want to kill you. I'm tired of making my cousins suffer.”

Tyson shook his head, laughing, his hand trembling as he held the spear. “You're too late, Ran. You're too late.”

“I know.”

They both looked at each other for a few moments, speechless, then Tyson sighed and put the spear away, wiping the droplets of blood trickling from Ran’s neck with a handkerchief that he took out from his pocket. “I was only goading you on just now,” he said. “I know I'm not the strongest Regular on this floor.”

Ran accidentally dug his knee harder into Tyson’s arm, who let out a hiss of pain under him. “Fuck, sorry,” he said, standing up and stretching out a hand to Tyson, who reluctantly took it and got up to his feet, too. “But who is it, then?”

He was careful to leap away if Tyson showed any signs of wanting to attack him again, but the other Khun seemed to have mellowed out surprisingly quickly.

“I have a few guesses,” he said, dusting off his shoulders. “But I should give you some context on this floor first. Let's move further in—we’re too close to the other Regulars right now. There may be some observers nearby.” He grabbed Ran’s wrist and led him deeper into the forest. “My safe zone is here in the forest, and it's about to expire in a few hours. But that'll be enough time to tell you everything.”

Tyson’s safe zone turned out to be a simple, decently-maintained hut in the woods, with an invisible force field around it that kept other Regulars out. When Tyson held his hand out into the force field, it scanned his biometric data and let him in. Ran could enter after him, too, when Tyson grabbed his arm and dragged him along inside.

“Alright,” Tyson said, once they were safe inside. “What do you want to know first?”

Ran contemplated the hut. It was surprisingly orderly and clean, and Tyson had all his clothes folded neatly on his bed. It looked like he'd been getting ready to pack up his things before he left.

“Was it a shock to you when you found out I was the Suspect?” Ran asked.

Tyson stared at him wordlessly, mulling over his response, then shrugged. “I knew you would get to this floor sooner or later. But my bets had been on later rather than sooner—I didn't think you'd become a Regular at such a young age. How long did it take you to get to this floor?”

“Six months, more or less.”

Tyson looked like he wanted to punch him, yell at him, and maybe even kill him. Possibly all at once. Then he sighed, looking like it took a mountain of effort to dispel his emotions, and he pressed a palm to his forehead. “I should've known.”

Ran felt kind of bad for telling the truth, but it wasn't his fault the previous floors were all so easy. “How long did you take?”

“Almost five years,” Tyson said bitterly.

“But why haven't you advanced to the next floor?” Ran questioned, doing his best to hide his shock at how long the other Khun had taken to progress. Was the disparity in their strength really that huge? He'd never really thought about the gap between him and his other siblings, simply just focusing on the moment when fighting against them during minute-long duels, but being faced with it now… the reality was frankly kind of disturbing. “How long have you been here for?”

“It's been… about fifteen years? Maybe a bit more.” Tyson shrugged. “I used to do my best to kill other Suspects, and I've killed quite a number of them, but I chose not to go up to the next floor when the Bureau offered me the rewards. I didn't know why I did that back then, didn't know what the hell was running through my head when I refused to go up, but as I stayed here longer and longer, the floor tests slowly lost their meaning. I realised that I honestly didn't regret choosing not to go up, and that I wouldn't mind just simply living on this floor. As long as I accumulated a number of points, I could just rent out safe zones, kill whichever Suspects as I pleased, and live a nice, quiet life. Away from the prying eyes of our family. Away from the uncertain future.” Tyson sat down on his bed. “Now there's a bunch of Regulars on this floor who depend on me to kill the Suspects for them, and disseminate the items that I buy from the Bureau Shop. I used to be quite the generous person myself, and I thought nothing of it when people asked me to buy whatever items they wanted. And it frankly didn't affect me since I had so many points in my possession anyway. But soon I realised that they were all just stupid leeches who couldn't do anything for themselves. So I stopped, and now there's a sizable number of people on this floor who hate my guts for refusing to help them. Many have tried taking my picture every week to make me the Suspect, but they've never succeeded. None of them are fast enough to catch me, anyway.”

Ran frowned. “Are you sure you're not the strongest Regular on this floor? From what you just said, it sure sounds like it.”

Tyson grinned. “I'm flattered, Ran, but I know I'm not. There's at least two other people who fit the bill better than I do.”

“Who are they?”

Tyson patted the spot beside him, and Ran took a seat on the bed next to him. Honestly, Ran could've never expected even a day ago that he would be sitting beside and talking to his ‘dead’ cousin again.

“There's this girl called Eve who's in a similar situation as me. She's killed many Suspects before, too, and has been on this floor even longer than I have, but she chose not to go up. I've never fought against her before, but I heard she's particularly ruthless to people from the Ten Families. Whenever a Suspect from the Ten Families shows up, she's always the one to end them first. And she makes it extra painful. There's a rumour that she has a specific body part that she dismembers and collects from all her Ten Family victims. An eyeball from a Khun, a hand from an Arie, a nose from a Ha, a toe from a Yeon… It's pretty fucked up. She's been out for my blood for a pretty long time, since I'm a Khun, and everything. But she hasn't managed to find me yet.” He looked at Ran, seeming oddly embarrassed now. “That's why I quickly went to find you the moment I found out you were on this floor, before she could get to you first. I figured if I killed you before she did, at least I'd be less cruel about it.”

Ran blinked, not expecting that. “Oh. Well, thanks. But… I think I'll have to face her eventually, right?”

“Maybe. It'd be better if you didn't, because I heard she has a few secret abilities that have never failed to kill a Regular from the Ten Families before. Even if she is the strongest Regular, there's no point risking your life to get 5000 points. Running from Eve instead of fighting her is always the smarter move. All our siblings that came to this floor have all died facing her.”

“I don't care how dangerous she is. If she ever shows herself in front of me,” Ran said, “I'll kill her.”

Tyson shook his head solemnly. “You'll regret it.”

Ran ignored him. “What about the other one? You said there were two who could be the strongest.”

“Well,” Tyson said, “it's a guy called Novick. People suspect he's from the Ha Family, but no one knows for sure. He's one of the most mysterious Regulars on this floor, and he's been here longer than I have, but shorter than Eve. He used to be a Suspect, but I heard he killed everyone who tried taking his picture. He survived until the end of the week because there was no one left who dared kill or capture him. But he chose not to go up to the next floor, for whatever reason. After that, he started gaining a number of followers because they were all so afraid of his power, but he rarely ever shows himself in public. He used to be the one who killed the Suspect every week, and always gave away whatever items he bought with his points that his followers wanted from the Bureau Shop, but he stopped doing that and hasn't continued for the last thirty years. He hasn't killed a Suspect in really long, either, so no one knows what he's doing right now. It's possible he's just garnered so many points from killing all those Regulars before that he could just rent out safe zones and live here for the rest of eternity.”

Ran hummed thoughtfully. “He does sound like he could be the strongest Regular. Maybe I should go find him. You said he was probably living in his safe zone now, right?”

Tyson’s eyes widened. “Find him, and then what? Kill him?”

“Yeah.”

“But how do you plan on even finding him? There are thousands of safe zones on this floor alone—it'd be impossible to comb through all of them before the end of the week.”

“The Bureau Shop opens in two days, right?” Ran said, getting up from the bed. “I'll see if there's anything of value I can get there. Then I'll find him and kill him.”

“It's impossible,” Tyson said, standing up, too. “I've tried luring him out before, but he doesn't fall for anything. This is a man who hasn't shown himself in thirty years, Ran. What makes you think he'll come out now?”

“Is there a way to broadcast messages to every Regular on this floor?” Ran said, mind turning. “I’d need a D-rank Lighthouse, at least. So if I could get one from the Bureau Shop on Wednesday—”

“You don't have to wait until then,” Tyson said. “I have one with me right here.”

He went into his closet and took out a bright, glowing Lighthouse. “I bought this a while back for 15000 points, thinking I would never use it. I've never really needed it, anyway, so I can just give it to you now.”

“Oh. Thanks.” He took the Lighthouse and observed its surface, thinking back to a certain sibling he used to have who would have longed for an item just like this. He had a crazy, almost unbelievable thought, then: “Hey, Tyson. Have you seen one of our siblings on this floor before, who wears Suspendium earrings and ties his hair up in a ponytail?”

Tyson thought hard, then shrugged. “I wouldn't know. Every time I saw someone with blue hair, I knew they would just get killed by Eve so I never bothered looking closely.”

Ran couldn't hide his disappointment. But what he said did make sense. “Okay, then.” Even if Ran had sped through the first fourteen floors, A.A. was probably on a higher floor now. Ran didn't know if he would ever catch up, but one could hope, right?

“But I did meet a sibling who was a Jahad Princess,” Tyson said, and Ran's entire world nearly stopped.

“She arrived on this floor around eight or nine years ago, and was the only one I'd ever seen who had made it out of a battle with Eve alive,” he continued. "Then she saw me and asked what my name was. When I told her, she got really, really weird, and just left. I had no idea what her problem was.”

Ran wanted to puke. “Was she wearing a blue scarf?”

“Yeah, and it had the Jahad Crest on it. She also had these bright, innocent eyes. No one from our family ever looks like that, so it really left an impression on me. I don't recall ever seeing her when I used to be in the family, either.” Tyson stared at him. “Hey, why the hell do you look so sick all of a sudden? Was she your ex-girlfriend, or something?”

“What? No. No, no way. It's just…” Ran shook his head. “We used to be close friends.”

“Well… what happened?”

“She became a Princess.”

“I don't get it.”

Ran shrugged. “Neither do I.”

They both left the safe zone soon after, Tyson carrying a backpack with all his possessions.

“If you're still planning on getting Novick out of hiding,” Tyson had told him back in the hut, “the fastest way to make an impression before you make that broadcast is to kill every single monster in the Inhabitable Zone. I'll watch by the side and look out for any ambushers, but once word of your feat gets out, it'll probably be harder to resist for him. There's a rumour that the only reason he hasn't shown himself all these years is because he doesn't think anyone else on this floor is a good enough match for him. Though that begs the question why he hasn't advanced to the next floor yet if all he wants is to fight stronger opponents.”

“If he's from the Ha Family, then why hasn't Eve killed him yet?”

“Well, first of all, that's just a rumour. And second of all, it's because she can't even find him.”

Now, as they arrived at the completely deserted Inhabitable Zone, Ran had a sudden chill settle deep into his bones. Something was definitely wrong. The Shinsu pressure in the air had randomly thickened, but went back to normal as quickly as it had—almost as if someone strong was watching them, but forgot to hide their presence and then haphazardly did so.

Tyson nudged him, breaking him out of his thoughts. The other Khun didn't seem to have noticed anything. Should Ran tell him about it? “Enter the arena. The monsters will start spawning once they sense your presence. Remember, just kill every single one. It'll be easy for you—I used to regularly hunt these monsters to farm points, but it was too boring for me. They were barely a challenge at all, even the Level 3 ones.”

“Then how’s this supposed to impress Novick?” Ran said, cracking his knuckles.

“No one’s ever hunted every single one in one spawning period before. It’ll be impressive enough.”

“Hm. Fine, I’ll take your word for it.”

Ran stepped onto a large, stone platform, where mysterious writing was engraved and lit up in bright yellow the moment he did. There was a sharp, metallic sound, like bars from a cage had just been lifted up, and sure enough, a dozen horned monsters materialised in front of him, roaring in anger. A forcefield then appeared and surrounded the arena, completely separating Ran from the rest of the floor.

“These are the Level 1 Monsters,” Tyson called out, watching him from outside the forcefield. “The Level 2 and 3 ones appear later.”

Well, this seemed easy enough. Ran summoned a large amount of lightning and struck down every horned monster in the venue, charring and burning them to the bone without them putting up any sort of fight.

“Uh,” Tyson said, “if you defeat all the Level 1 Monsters before five minutes are up, the Level 2 ones will just start spawning immediately.”

Ran stared at the burnt carcasses of the horned monsters. “Is this all of them?” His pocket displayed the number of points he had ticking up.

“No, they’re just the first kind. The other breed is coming soon.”

Several gigantic snakes began appearing around the arena, hissing and slithering as they tried wrapping around Ran, but he dodged their predictable movements easily. One of them started straight up shooting venom at him, but he quickly dodged and knocked it down before it had a chance to continue. His spear slashed through all their bodies like putty, and soon not a living soul except for him was alive in the arena.

The burnt and sliced bodies of the horned monsters and snakes started fading away.

“Level 2 incoming!”

Many vicious wolves appeared and snarled at Ran, charging at him all as a pack. He quickly jumped up in mid-air, then shot a lightning spear towards what looked like the leader of the group, larger and more aggressive than the others. To Ran’s surprise, the spear bounced right off its body and fizzled away. No damage was dealt at all. He conjured another spear, and another one, but they all did nothing to the wolves, when Ran was aiming to slice them right in half with every attack he'd sent towards them.

“Hold on,” Tyson said, panicked, “I recognise them. These are the wolves that develop resistance to the Shinsu quality of the most powerful Regular in the arena. But something’s wrong, Ran! These are Level 3 monsters, and I thought the Bureau stopped releasing them into the arena years ago because they were too strong against the Regulars. Anyway, why the hell did they appear before the Level 2 ones?”

Ran landed on his feet. “You tell me, Tyson! If they’re resistant to the Shinsu quality of the strongest Regular—” The wolves all charged at him, faster and stronger, their teeth stained with the blood of the previous Regulars they’d mauled. “—then it looks like it’s impossible to defeat them alone!” If they were immune to electricity, how else was he supposed to fight them?

Ran quickly enhanced his body with Shinsu and analysed the wolves’ bodies. If there was a blind spot anywhere on them, where would it be? Maybe their eyes? Or their snouts?

“Ran, I’m sorry!” Tyson said. “I didn’t think this would happen! The Bureau must be interfering in this! I think you should surrender now and get out of the arena, because like you said, it’s impossible to defeat these wolves alone!”

Ran leapt up into the air again. If he couldn’t defeat these creatures with Shinsu, maybe he should just beat them all up with pure physical strength. “No way I’m giving up now,” he said, and Tyson stared in disbelief as Ran pulled his fist back. “I’ll kill every last one of these dogs.”

He bolted down to the arena and punched the stone ground, splintering it into pieces. With his Shinsu, he lifted up the broken pieces of rock and hurled it at the wolves, sending them flying into the arena’s protective forcefield, where the moment they made contact with it they all started howling in pain.

Ran lit up. Maybe that was the key to defeating them.

He summoned a huge Baang and sent it straight towards the forcefield, where it bounced right off its surface and started rebounding faster and faster off the forcefield around the arena like a ping-pong ball. He summoned a few more Baangs and made them rebound around the arena as well, until they started picking up the Shinsu quality of the forcefield and began dealing actual damage to the wolves, tearing their limbs off as howls of agony ripped through the arena.

This should be the finishing move. He conjured a Shinsu lightning barrier around the wolves, backing them into the forcefield, where they shrieked at contact and started bleeding out even more.

“Yeah,” Tyson said. “Yeah, keep doing that!”

Soon, the wolves’ bodies started getting mangled to the point of no return, until they became shrivelled, dried carcasses on the ground. The leader of the pack gave a last, weak howl, and then he died, too.

Ran sighed in relief. He nearly had to use the Lightning Pill, or even ignite the spear Aguero had given him, but he was glad it hadn’t come to that. He was determined to save the pill only for Novick, and to never use the spear unless absolutely necessary.

No more monsters appeared. The forcefield slowly fragmented, and Ran was free to step out of the arena, where Tyson cheered and fist-bumped him.

“That was great,” Tyson said, grinning. “No Level 2 Monsters appeared, and those wolves were there for the first time in I don’t know how many years, but who cares? You defeated them all, and Novick’s bound to show himself now.”

Ran grinned back, honestly feeling more drained than he’d expected. The wolves had taken a lot out of him. Actually, this entire day had just been him fighting and running non-stop. “I’m just glad it’s over. Now, time to broadcast that message—”

Something shifted in the air. Ran quickly jerked upright, alert, while Tyson stared at him in confusion.

“What is it?”

Ran shushed him, then grabbed his arm and dragged them into the cover of the forest. Something had been out there in the arena, he was sure of it.

“Ran?” Tyson whispered.

“We’re being watched.”

This was no ordinary presence. Having been surrounded by multiple High Rankers throughout his childhood, he could easily tell when there was someone with a peculiar amount of strength nearby. Of course, this was no High Ranker, but seemed more like a really dangerous Regular.

Could it be? Had Novick come out to meet them himself?

No, there was no way. Ran held his breath as the Shinsu pressure thickened to unspeakable amounts.

This was no Regular. It was definitely the aura of a Ranker. And not just one, but two.

“Oh. I feel it now,” Tyson said. “It may be people from the Bureau.”

“The Test Administrators?”

“Maybe. They shouldn’t be out here, though—”

“Shh.”

Tyson and Ran watched silently as two men stepped out into view, seemingly having teleported into the area. One was muscular and intimidating, while the other seemed more sly and malicious.

“That Khun kid,” the muscular guy said, looking ticked off. “He must’ve gone into the forest.”

“I thought for sure those wolves would’ve finished him off,” the other one said. “It seems he’s not all brawn and no brain, after all.”

Ran’s jaw tightened. Those little bitches.

“Well, we’ll just have to rely on the other Regulars to kill him from now on,” the sly one continued. “The Administrator may get mad at us if we interfere in anything else—but who could blame us for not wanting to pass up the opportunity of getting rid of a powerful direct descendant?”

The muscular guy folded his arms. “He’ll be dead by the end of the week, anyway. Because of that special gift we’ve prepared.”

The other Ranker laughed slimily. “Of course. I’m looking forward to it.”

Gift? What gift?

Before Ran could do something impulsive, like go out of hiding and demand them to tell him what they’d done, Tyson pulled Ran further into the forest, having used an item that covered up the sounds of their footsteps, voices, and Shinsu aura.

“15000 points,” he told Ran. “Also a D-rank item. One of my best purchases.”

Ran was too occupied by what the Rankers had said to give any mind to the item. “I don’t get it. They said the Administrator would get mad if they interfered anymore, but they also said that they’d prepared a gift? What the hell?”

“The Test Administrators are from a faction of this floor called the Bureau, and they have really strong anti-Jahad and anti-Ten-Families sentiments,” Tyson said. “If the Regulars aren’t able to kill the Suspects, they usually take matters into their own hands, but they try to keep it subtle. Apparently they’ve kept a kill count of every Regular from the Ten Families since the Floor Test started, and it’s high up in the tens of thousands.”

“Is the Bureau allied with FUG?”

“That’s what everyone thinks, too, and it’s pretty much fact at this point, just that they’ve never explicitly said it.”

“I’m surprised Jahad or the Ten Families haven’t done anything about this floor yet.”

Tyson shrugged. “Why should they? The Bureau is only targeting Regulars, and Regulars from the Ten Families are pretty disposable. You should know from the way our family makes the children fight the moment they’re ten. The Family Leaders and Jahad don’t give two shits about their Regulars. The only people they may try protecting are Jahad Princesses, or powerful direct descendants like you. Not that they’ve ever tried. The Bureau has been in power on this floor for tens of thousands of years, and it’s even helping to weed out the weaker Regulars from the families. In a way, this floor serves to test the Regulars’ true strength. It’s a win-win for them.”

Ran took out the D-rank Lighthouse, humming thoughtfully. “I guess that makes sense. Anyway, I’m going to broadcast that message now and kill Novick before the end of today.”

“Okay. I'll defend the Lighthouse from the outside in case anyone attacks.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

The two Khuns climbed up a tree, perching atop the branches. Ran entered the Lighthouse and contemplated its controls, his eyes adjusting to the bright neon environment. If he remembered what Aguero had taught him, broadcasting something should be easy enough. He never thought he would ever need to use a Lighthouse in his life, but here he was now. If he ever met Aguero again, he should thank him for his foresight in teaching him some of the basics before he became a Regular.

He pressed a few buttons, adjusted a few controls, then spoke into the mic. If he’d done it correctly, his voice should be broadcasted to every Lighthouse in a hundred-kilometre radius on the floor right now. There was no way Novick could be out of his range, since the safe zones were all definitely near enough to catch the broadcast.

“Good afternoon, Regulars,” he said. “This is Khun Ran, the Suspect speaking. I would like to call for the Regular Novick to meet me at the Inhabitable Zone at 5 p.m. today. I repeat, Novick, please head to the Inhabitable Zone at 5 p.m. today. I would like to challenge you to a duel. Whoever wins will get to keep the prize of a C-rank ignition spear and all the points of the loser.”

He turned off the mic and exited the Lighthouse. Tyson was standing outside, staring at a point in the distance, looking strangely on edge.

“What are you looking at?” Ran said, and Tyson seemed to have snapped out of his trance. “Or did I say something wrong? Didn’t we agree on what I would say in the broadcast?”

“Yeah, no, nothing’s wrong,” he said, smiling. Ran didn’t buy it. “I was just… thinking about something.”

“About what?”

“Well… it’s hard to say.”

“Why?”

“Look, it’s really nothing,” he said, then changed the subject. “Also, I know you’re super strong and everything, but do you really think you can defeat all the Regulars that rush to the Inhabitable Zone and try to kill you?”

“I have a few tricks up my sleeve. But yeah, I think I definitely can.”

“Even if someone like Eve is there?”

Ran shrugged. “Pretty much.”

“Even if I’m there?”

That made him pause.

“I’m sorry?”

Tyson’s face changed. Ran’s eyes widened as Tyson’s Shinsu aura flickered and transformed into a dark, black lightning he’d never seen anyone from the Khun Family possess.

“No, I’m sorry, Ran. I disrupted the signal of your broadcast, so it didn’t get out to anyone. Not a single Regular heard it except us.”

Ran took a step back. “But why? Why would you do that?” What the hell was getting into him?

“I had to,” Tyson said, devoid of emotion, and Ran realised his fatal mistake of trusting him too late. “You understand, don’t you? I’ve always hated you, Ran. Why would you think I would suddenly change now and start helping you?”

Ran swallowed hard, his own blue lightning flickering around him. “Did you know those wolves would appear? And the Bureau Rankers?”

“I was the one who liaised with the Bureau, in the first place.” Tyson smiled, and he was back to the malicious Khun he knew two hours ago. “I had a plan in place, and they liked it. Now I’ve tired you out from those monsters, and it’ll be even easier to get rid of you.”

Ran glared at him, stepping further and further away from him. “You’re mistaken. I’m not tired at all,” he lied. “Don’t do this, Tyson. I already told you I have no intention of killing you. I don’t want to continue this cycle of hatred in our family—”

Tyson laughed, his lightning growing stronger and stronger. His powers were now completely different from when he had first attacked Ran. Like his Shinsu had gone through an entire transformation. “Come on, Ran. Just because you’re pretending to be the bigger person, doesn’t mean I miraculously don’t want to kill you anymore!”

Ran cursed and jumped down from the tree, landing on his hands and feet and sprinting away into the forest. He heard Tyson’s maniacal laughter as he followed after him, footsteps thundering against the forest ground.

“You’re always running away, Ran!” he taunted, as Ran dodged the successive bolts of lightning that were shot at him. “Do you think I’m not worthy enough for you to face in an actual fight? Answer me, Ran!”

“I told you!” Ran yelled, feeling his stamina draining the more he sprinted. His Shinsu reserves had already depleted considerably from the arena and from killing all those Regulars before, and he wasn’t sure he had enough to face Tyson in a fight without getting dangerously hurt—unless he used the Lightning Pill. But he really, really didn’t want to use it. “I don’t want to fight! I apologised for everything, didn't I? What the hell do you want me to do now?”

“Fight me, for God’s sake!”

“No, because I don't want to," he hissed, getting more and more annoyed at both his own gullibility and Tyson's irritating bloodlust.

“Am I too weak for you? Is that it?” A particularly dangerous bolt of lightning nearly hit Ran right smack in his back, but he swerved in front of a tree and its bark took the impact as it was immediately uprooted. A boom rang through the forest as the large tree fell onto the ground.

“No, I just don't want to fight! Why's it so hard for you to understand, you goddamn lunatic?”

“Oh, I'm the lunatic?” Tyson barked out a laugh. “Who the hell is stupid enough to make a broadcast to every single Regular telling them that you'll be there for a duel? It's a fucking death sentence, but your head is so far up your ass that you don't even notice it!”

“What, does that mean you’re trying to protect me?” Ran bit back. “You're not doing a very good job now, are you?”

“I'm not protecting you, dipshit,” Tyson yelled. “I'm killing you before anyone else gets a chance!”

“Then you're not doing a very good job of that, either!” Ran said, just barely dodging another bolt of lightning that whizzed dangerously close past his head.

“You'll be eating your words soon, asshole!”

A large force crashed into Ran’s back and his arm dislocated with a sharp ‘pop’ as Tyson roughly pinned him down to the forest floor, dragging Ran face first into a pile of musty yellow leaves.

Ran coughed, excruciating pain running through his entire body. Tyson laughed above him, twisting his arm further and making Ran hiss. “What now, Ran?” he taunted. “This is the end. You would've probably made it to the next floor if you hadn't met me, but it's too bad that you were naïve enough to trust me.”

Ran lay still, closing his eyes. He had no choice now.

“I'll give you a second chance, Ran, because I'm a kind person,” Tyson said. “I’ll imprison you instead of killing you, if you promise to hand me your ignition spear. It's a shame that I'll miss out on 10000 more points if I would just kill you, but I think it's a good enough trade-off for that valuable weapon you have.” He dug his knee into Ran’s back, making him yell out in pain again. “Come on, don't be embarrassed,” he said, with faux softness. “You and I both know there's no way out for you now.”

Ran smiled humorlessly. “I’m not falling for that. You'll definitely just try to kill me after I give you that weapon. You know, I think I understand you a bit better now, Tyson.”

“Huh?”

“I thought I could convince you that we could go back to being friends again, but it's clear that your inferiority complex is too strong for us to ever return to how we used to be,” Ran said, gritting his teeth as Tyson silently twisted his arm harder. His elbow was genuinely almost about to break. “You’ll always victimise yourself and blame me for all the reasons why you couldn't be strong enough. If you're just going to be like that, then I don't think there's any point in trying to mend our friendship.”

“You have some fucking nerve, huh?” Tyson said, his cold hand letting go of Ran’s arm and wrapping around his neck, instead. He squeezed, and Ran’s vision started darkening. “Saying all this bullshit to me when I could end your life any second now.”

“Tyson,” Ran croaked, stars appearing in front of his eyes. “I don’t get it. What’s the point of you doing all this? Why… Why don’t you go up the Tower anymore?”

Tyson’s grip loosened for a second, and Ran could finally breathe again, but it then returned even harder than before and Ran swore something snapped in his neck.

“I already told you,” he said, voice trembling. “There's no point in going further. This floor is comfortable enough for me.”

“Do you not want to become a Ranker anymore?” Ran said, voice barely louder than a whisper, his head getting lighter and lighter. “If you climb the Tower, you may find what you've been looking for all this time.”

“How do you even know what I'm looking for?” he said, voice rising in desperation. “You don't know anything about me.”

“But I know what you want,” Ran said. He could barely even talk now. “You want to be strong. If you climb the Tower, you can get even stronger than you are now. And once you do, I'll give you the fight that you desire. I promise.”

Tyson snickered. “Why should I wait until then? I'm going to kill you right now.”

“You can't,” Ran said. These were going to be his last few words. He prepared a small Baang of electric Shinsu between his fingers, and slowly brought his hand up towards his lips. “You can't kill me.”

“Why the hell not? I'll do it,” he threatened.

With all the remaining effort in him, he stuffed the pill into his mouth and swallowed.

“You can't kill me,” Ran said, his energy finally returning, “because I'm better than you right now.”

A beat, and then a dark, dark laugh.

“You’ve got some fucking nerve—”

Ran broke out of his grip and got to his feet, knocking Tyson on his back. The other Khun watched him in shock and rage, as Ran’s lightning surrounded his body in a protective barrier. He felt like he was being revived right now, as his broken bones were temporarily mended by the extra currents of lightning Shinsu in his body, shocking him to the point where he felt no pain.

“I'm sorry, Tyson,” Ran said, as Tyson laid completely still, dumbfounded. “I really didn't want to resort to this.”

Then he brought down a storm of lightning onto the ground, completely surrounding Tyson with his Shinsu and stunning his body before he had a chance to react. He was paralysed—there was no way for him to fight back.

“You—” Tyson stuttered, immobilised, eyes wide in fury, “You—You—”

“I had no choice,” Ran said icily. “You understand, don’t you?”

A flurry of cold, high laughter ran out from behind the bushes.

“Oh, wow,” a woman said, as she stepped out from the shadows.

Ran stared at her as she continued laughing. Who the hell...

“Wow, Tyson, you've really outdone yourself this time, huh?”

Tyson glared at the woman, but didn't say anything in response. He couldn't even move his lips now.

“Nice to meet you, Ran,” she said, turning to him and smiling poisonously. “I'm Eve.”

Ran quickly leapt away from her, eliciting another string of laughs from the woman. Eve? She was one of the people Tyson had mentioned before. The one he'd warned Ran about fighting.

“Come now,” Eve said. “Don't look so threatened. I thought Tyson would have significantly weakened you before I got here, but thank God you're in great shape. It's more fun now that you're stronger with that Shinsu you just ingested.”

Ran frowned. Her Shinsu presence was definitely familiar. “I recognise your aura. You've been watching and following us since the arena, haven't you? Have you and Tyson been in cahoots this entire time?”

Eve grinned. “Wow. You're powerful and perceptive. Yes, we planned to back you into a corner and kill you here. You know, you’d totally be my type if you weren't a kid.”

“I'm not a kid,” he snapped, and shot the Sword of Light through her before she could open her mouth again. It went through her, alright, but she didn't look injured at all.

“Oh, you silly boy,” she said. “My body is completely made up of Shinsu. You can't hurt me at all.”

What? “That's impossible.” He paused, eyes widening as he came to a realisation. “Unless you made a contract with the Administrator. But a powerful ability like that must come with some sort of restriction.”

“I like your attitude, kid,” Eve said, smile splitting wider. “Why don't you try figuring it out?”

If her body was truly only made up of Shinsu, then there was no point for Ran to directly launch any Shinsu attacks. Even physical attacks wouldn't work, either. It was similar to the wolves—he had to rely on some other method to beat her, and in this case, he had to figure out what her weakness was.

He had a feeling she wouldn't make it easy at all. Well, the only way to test that was to beat her up the traditional way, before four minutes—the time limit of his Lightning Pill—were up.

“I can't wait to pluck your pretty blue eyes out for my Khun collection,” she said, licking her lips. “Especially from a descendant of the most powerful branch of the family. You'll be reuniting with all your siblings soon—you should be excited.”

“Fuck off, creep,” he said, and charged right at her, swinging dozens of punches and kicks in a row at a lightning-quick pace, all of them slicing right through her body like it was water. Eve laughed and aimed a sharp kick at his gut, sending him flying into the trees.

He coughed as he got back to his feet. This didn't make sense. If she was completely made up of Shinsu, then how the hell did she manage to land a solid attack on him, almost as if she had a physical body? Or were only specific parts of her body made up of Shinsu?

“I'll give you a hint, kid, since I like you,” she said, walking calmly towards him. “You should watch me carefully when I attack.”

“What kind of lame hint is that?” Ran snapped, covering their area of the forest with electric storm clouds to hide his movement. He snuck up behind her, then landed several successive strikes at her back. But she didn't budge—all his attacks went right through her like she was a ghost.

Eve turned and smiled. “There you are.”

And she punched him right in his nose.

Her movement was so quick that he didn't even see what happened until he landed several feet away from her, head spinning. Not only was she Shinsu itself, but every movement of hers completely resembled its fluid motion, too.

Ran’s Shinsu reserves had recovered thanks to the Lightning Pill, but now he wasn't sure if it was going to be depleted again before the pill wore off. He spent a lot of his Shinsu enhancing the parts of his body where she hit, and it was taking more and more concentration and focus to even clearly see her in front of him. She felt like some sort of slippery hologram, one moment present and the other completely gone. Her presence was flickering in and out of existence, almost as if—

Almost as if her real body and holographic self were alternating turns.

Ran slowly got up, wincing as the arm Tyson twisted earlier rang with pain. It couldn't be, right?

He had to test his theory about Eve’s powers, but how could he do it while staying alive at the same time?

“I heard that you think Novick is the strongest Regular on this floor,” Eve said mockingly. “What makes you think that weak little man could possibly be stronger than me?”

Ran gritted his teeth. He had to focus; he could feel himself slipping away. Even on the Lightning Pill, the damage he’d sustained from Tyson and the monsters from earlier was slowly catching up to him. If he were in peak form, he was sure he could find her weakness easily, but this was turning out to be tougher than expected. Not to mention how he was still spending a portion of his Shinsu reserves keeping Tyson stunned and immobilised, as well.

“If you really are the strongest Regular,” he said, intentionally riling her up, “then I should be getting much fewer than 5000 points as a reward."

Eve’s grin turned sharp, and her Shinsu aura grew in power by tenfold. “Oh, you'll regret saying that, kid,” she drawled. “You're taking my earlier kindness for granted.”

Ran dodged as a huge wave of Shinsu flowers came flurrying towards him, but they managed to reach him, anyway, breaking past his Shinsu-reinforced limbs, the petals sinking and piercing into his skin. He used his lightning to strike them down, but they just kept coming. Just how much Shinsu does this crazy woman have?

When the waves of flower attacks finally stopped, his entire body was riddled with slashes and wounds, and he could barely feel his arms. Unbeknownst to him, while he was busy fighting back against the flowers Eve had suddenly closed the distance between them. She tilted his chin up with a finger, smiling sharply at him.

“You have a lot of potential,” she said, and Ran saw a surprisingly intense, muted despair in her eyes up-close. “More than all your other siblings I've seen. It would be a waste to kill you here, but I'm afraid I have no choice. Killing Regulars from the Ten Families is my lifeblood; it's the only thing that keeps me going.”

Ran stared defiantly up at her. “I think I know what your contract is.”

He had approximately one and a half minutes left on the Lightning Pill. If he wanted to finish this, he had to make it quick, but still had to stall for some time so his plan could work.

Eve cocked her head in pleasant surprise. “Oh, do tell.”

“To say that your body is made up of Shinsu isn't entirely accurate,” he said. “You have a holographic, Shinsu version of yourself that takes the place of your real body when you're not attacking. They alternate between opponents’ attacks and your own attacks—the hologram, the ‘Shinsu body’, takes over when the opponent attacks, and your real body takes over when you're the one attacking. The reason you're able to have a powerful skill like this when you're only on the 15th Floor is because of the body parts you collect from the Ten Family Regulars that you kill. There's probably also some sort of sick fetish you have with them, but I think it has a connection to your powers on this floor. If you give them to the Administrator, he grants you those powers."

Ran eyed the woman warily, who was very visibly stifling her giggles.

“Oh, kid,” she said, stepping away, “you've impressed me yet again. But you're not entirely correct. You're so close, yet still so far.”

He wasn't entirely correct? What else could the contract entail, then?

Before Ran could process it, Eve kicked his legs out from under him and then disappeared, making him fall chest-first onto the ground and knocking the wind out of his lungs. He blinked, face planted in the dirt, and the next moment she appeared beside Tyson, holding a knife to his neck.

Tyson, still immobilised, stared at Ran in shock, clearly not having expected this sudden betrayal from her. Ran’s mouth dried as he stared at the knife near his neck.

“You know, a Jahad Princess who was from the same family as you guys enlightened me a few years back,” Eve said, smiling sharply.

From the same family? Ran's blood went cold as ice. Was she talking about Maria?

“After she beat me in a fight, we had a long conversation, and she told me I should change my ways and stop going after Regulars from the Ten Families—I told her I would try my best, but I haven’t actually been acting on my words. I don’t know if I ever will. But she’s definitely helped me realise a few things about this Tower.”

Eve leaned closer to Tyson, pressing the blade against his neck and drawing beads of blood.

“Everyone wants to take advantage of strong and powerful people like myself, and like a stupid, blind little sheep, I went along with everyone’s desires without realising I was playing right into their hands.”

She looked at Tyson, eyes darkening.

“Take this cousin of yours, for example. He proposed to team up with me to defeat you, but I always knew what his ulterior motives were: he wanted to weaken the both of us by making us fight each other, so that he would eventually get the final win. With how gullible you’ve been so far, Ran, falling for his tricks left and right, I think I should at least take the time now to teach you a few life skills: Never trust anyone. Especially if they’re from the same family. There’s too much blood and competition for you to be true allies of any kind.” Eve turned back to Ran, head tilted. “You’re probably one of the youngest Regulars I’ve seen on this floor, so it’s understandable that you’re still a little naïve about the world. I was thinking of killing you before, but you know what, Ran? I’ve changed my mind, because I pity you somewhat. It’ll also definitely be a waste to kill you now, with how much potential you’ve got."

Her murderous gaze fixed back onto Ran, and it sent a chill down his body.

"So I've decided—if you don't surrender yourself to me right now and let me imprison you,” she said, smiling in faux cheer, “I'll have to kill your beloved cousin. Honestly, simply killing him is already letting him off easy. If I were you, I'd want to make him go through a much more painful experience than a quick death. He did betray you, after all.”

Ran stood frozen to the floor, the lightning pill already starting to wear off.

This was the worst situation he’d ever been in since he first entered the Tower.

“Well? What will it be?” Eve sneered.