The golden portal in front of Asher pulsed with a deep, otherworldly energy.
Beyond it lay the Second Floor.
Asher exhaled, stepping forward.
The moment he passed through, his body shivered.
It wasn't just teleportation.
Something was scanning him.
[Analyzing Challenger…]
A mechanical voice rang in his mind.
Then a faint whisper.
Not the tower's voice.
Something older.
Something watching.
Asher clenched his fists.
Then, the world shifted.
When Asher's vision cleared, he was standing in a massive stone corridor.
The walls stretched endlessly in both directions, engraved with ancient symbols. Torches flickered with blue flames, casting eerie shadows on the floor.
A notification appeared in the air, glowing red.
[Second Floor Trial: The Labyrinth of Beasts]
1. Survive.
2. Find the exit.
3. The beasts hunt at night.
Asher narrowed his eyes.
That last rule the beasts hunt at night.
He glanced up. There was no sky. Just a glowing ceiling, giving off a dim blue light.
Then a deep, guttural growl echoed through the labyrinth.
Asher's grip on his sword tightened.
Something was already watching him.
Asher moved silently through the corridor, senses sharp.
The air was thick with the scent of damp stone and something… else. Blood. Fur. Decay.
A hunter's body lay crumpled against the wall.
His chest was ripped open, claw marks deep and precise. His weapon was still clutched in his hands.
Whatever killed him… was efficient.
Then movement.
A shadow flickered at the edge of his vision. Fast. Silent. Predatory.
Asher reacted instantly.
He spun just as a monstrous figure lunged from the darkness.
It was massive, wolf-like, but wrong.
Its body was elongated, its fur dark and matted, its jaws stretched too wide, filled with rows of jagged teeth. Its glowing yellow eyes locked onto Asher with intelligence.
Not an animal.
A hunter.
And Asher was its prey.
The beast lunged, claws aiming for Asher's throat.
Most hunters would be too slow.
Most hunters would die.
But Asher wasn't most hunters.
He moved before the beast even finished its leap.
A sidestep. A counter. A slash.
His blade sank into its ribs.
The creature howled, twisting midair.
Before it could recover, Asher's shadow moved.
A tendril of darkness lashed out, wrapping around the beast's neck.
Its eyes widened.
It tried to resist but Asher was stronger.
With a single, brutal pull, the shadow slammed the creature into the ground.
A sickening crunch.
Silence.
Asher exhaled, stepping forward.
Then he felt it.
The same whisper from before.
A voice in the darkness.
"You are not like the others…"
Asher's eyes narrowed.
He wasn't alone in this labyrinth.
Something else was watching.
Asher kept moving, deeper into the labyrinth.
The torches flickered. The air grew colder.
And then he heard them.
Whispers. Echoing through the stone halls.
Not human voices.
Something older. Something greater.
He clenched his fists.
Then a chime rang in his mind.
[A God is watching you.]
Asher froze.
Then another notification appeared.
[A Demon is watching you.]
His heartbeat slowed.
The Tower wasn't just a test.
It was a game.
And the gods and demons?
They were the players.
His jaw clenched.
He wasn't going to be their pawn.
He was going to burn their game to the ground.