Plap... Plap... Plap....
Velmora gently patted Nathan’s Private Blade— like a mother dusting off her child’s pillow.
Nathan swallowed hard.
Even though it was just light pats, the sensation was still oddly pleasant—especially when Velmora occasionally blew on it again before patting it once more.
Meanwhile, inside the Tower, on the 10th floor...
Sophia still had no intention of leaving.
She kept killing every monster in her path.
She was beginning to learn about mana, EXP, skills— concepts that once bored her, now became her obsession.
[Congratulations. You’ve reached Level 30]
Sophia stood there, her fist still clenched after punching a four-legged monster to death. She let out a breath— then slowly opened her hand.
Is this power enough... to climb all the way to the top of this damn Tower?
She stared at her palm, quietly questioning herself.
She then opened the [Hunter Trade Center], something she had discovered a few system notifications ago— though it happened during a scene that never made it into the Chapters I’ve written.
She bought a light, simple hunter outfit using her accumulated Tower Points.
She looked down at herself— her body filthy, monster blood drying between the curves of her chest. Her hand still dripped with fluids from her last kill.
Her shorts were slightly damp from the sheer amount of sweat built up on her ass.
The newly purchased hunter outfit appeared in front of her through a shimmering system panel.
She didn’t put it on immediately—
her body was too dirty.
"No water stream around here? Damn it. How the hell am I supposed to clean up?" she muttered.
She took a deep breath.
After venting all her anger on countless innocent monsters, she finally decided to go home. The system responded instantly.
[Would you like to exit through the Tower gate? Or teleport directly to your desired location?]
"Desired location? Can I just... teleport straight to my apartment?"
[Yes. For 60 TP, you can travel directly to your chosen location.]
With no desire left except to find Nathan, Sophia said firmly,
"Alright. I want to go home. Take me straight to my apartment!"
[Use 60 TP to teleport to destination?]
A door appeared before her—a sleek, silver door that sparkled like something out of a luxury car commercial.
She slowly stepped forward and opened it.
She walked to her apartment window.
"It’s already evening?" she sighed.
Her phone vibrated on the small table beside her bed— the same phone that hadn’t been with her when she was summoned into the Tower.
Sophia glanced at it, then picked it up.
A missed call from her boss popped up.
"Hm? Was it because I didn’t show up to work today—" She paused.
"What? It’s been almost three days since I started killing monsters in the Tower? What the hell is this? A time difference?"
Sophia knew nothing about the Tower.
She’d only ever paid attention when Nathan talked about it— and even then, it wasn’t the Tower she cared about. It was his voice.
Inside the control chamber, Tower Manager Lilith stared at the row of transparent panels hovering silently before her.
Her eyes narrowed slightly when one of the feeds showed a girl opening a shimmering door—the teleportation gate just used by Sophia.
Lilith leaned forward, her hand touching the edge of the panel.
"Nathan..." she whispered, barely audible.
In her eyes—usually devoid of emotion—
a faint glimmer of moisture began to form.
Not from overwhelming sorrow, but from a quiet sadness that had been ignored for far too long.
Her hand trembled slightly.
"If only... you had climbed floor by floor like a normal human. If only you hadn’t leapt straight to this one..."
"...Maybe by now, you’d be on your way home. To see your mother."
Her tears didn’t fall.
But they lingered at the corners of her eyes—
like system notifications that never got tapped.
"But unfortunately..." Lilith continued softly,
"You’re trapped on a floor humanity will never reach..."
She gently stroked the panel.
For a moment, her divine gaze disappeared— replaced by the eyes of a lonely woman.
A ’mother’ too strong to cry,
yet too fragile not to feel.
Meanwhile, in a military-style training facility, David moved fast— as fast as a shadow, as sharp as a grudge.
His left fist shot toward his sparring partner. The man blocked it, but his arm instantly shuddered from the impact.
"Ggh—David, slow down!"
Strikes chaining together like relentless waves crashing onto a lonely shore.
Inside his mind, a different storm raged.
So what? if I don’t have a family?
So what? if I really am alone in this world?
Why does everyone think loneliness is some kind of failure?
A right hook smashed into his opponent’s helmet.
I still have someone I respect.
I still have a purpose.
I’m not some whiny loser like—
His hand stopped—just inches from the man’s jaw. The coach blew the whistle.
The moment shattered.
David stepped back, breathing heavily.
"...Sorry," he muttered quietly.
But behind that apology, his heart still thundered— not from rage,
but from the fear of losing something he didn’t even know how to name.
The Hunter outfit box landed on the bed.
Sophia tossed it without looking.
She walked toward the bathroom.
One by one, her clothes came off with no expression.
Bra—thrown onto a hook.
Panties—fell like a small defeat.
The shower turned on.
Water sprayed—not strong, but enough.
She stood under the stream, eyes closed.
Her hair slowly clung to her shoulders,
water running down her breasts,
then dripping along the curves of her battle-worn body.
She just stood there.
As if trying to wash away... not just grime,
but something deeper.
Silently, Sophia reached for a bottle of body wash.
She shut off the water.
One hand flipped the cap open.
Thick white liquid dripped onto her pink shower puff.
she began to scrub her left shoulder.
Her pressure light, but steady.
Bit by bit, the dry red smears of monster blood melted away. Her hand moved toward the center of her chest.