2 A.M.
Lilly Rose swung her sword, locked in combat at the ‘Spirit’s Lake’ on the 12th floor. Nearly ten students were attacking her in unison.
“Tch!”
As soon as the final event, Night of Reckoning, began, students rushed to steal the points of the Red Player Leader, Lilly Rose.
From a Red Player’s perspective, the situation was highly unfair. Who would have thought the event would completely remove the Red Player penalty?
“Haaah!”
However, it wasn’t all bad. Hunting people down to steal points had been a hassle, but now they were willingly throwing themselves at her. It made accumulating points incredibly easy.
And honestly, they weren’t that strong.
Thud!
[You have defeated ‘Kim Hyuk-Su.’]
[300 points acquired!]
“Ugh! This is endless!”
Whooosh!
In the end, faced with the relentless onslaught, Lilly decided to retreat for now.
In the distance, she spotted Shin Young-Joon, a friend of Lee Seo-Jun, rushing toward her.
From what she knew, Shin Young-Joon ranked third in the Korean Academy of Magic.
If she fought him in her current condition, she would most likely lose.
“Tch!”
Lilly channeled all her remaining mana into her legs and sprinted forward at full force.
Fwoosh!
Her sudden burst of speed left the pursuing students staring in stunned silence.
“Huh? She’s running away!”
“Wow. She’s crazy fast!”
She ran for what felt like forever.
Eventually, she managed to shake off her pursuers and found herself alone once more.
Pressing her back against a massive tree, she tried to calm her racing heart.
“…Whew. That was close.”
A glance at her watch told her it was now 3 A.M.
There were about four hours left until the event ended.
But given how many points she had accumulated, this chaotic situation wouldn’t stop even after the event was over.
It was inevitable. She had been prepared for this.
Lilly opened her Smart Student Notebook to check her score.
[8,450 points]
“Insane.”
Her points had skyrocketed to 8,450 in such a short time.
Unless Lee Seo-Jun reached the 30th floor, first place was practically guaranteed.
“…I can’t let my guard down.”
For now, she had managed to escape, but the locations of Red Players were constantly updated in the Smart Student Notebook.
She had no idea what kind of powerful opponent might come after her next.
And then—
“…!”
Her body tensed. A chill ran down her spine as a primal sense of danger overwhelmed her.
Without thinking, she twisted her body to the side—an instinctual movement rather than a conscious decision.
KABOOOM—!
The tree she had been leaning against exploded, struck by something unseen.
Startled by the sudden ambush, she quickly regained her composure and bolted to the side.
KABOOM! BOOM! BOOOM!
Spells kept firing from the darkness.
The precise control evident in the magic made her wary.
Who the hell is this? Who can control magic like this…?
“Haaah!”
Lilly dodged the incoming orbs, sprinting toward the unseen enemy.
The magic attacks continued, but she deflected them with her mana-infused sword.
Finally, she was close enough.
With her target still concealed in the shadows, she swung her sword—
Whoosh!
—but missed.
Her opponent avoided the strike with an almost unbelievable level of close-quarters agility.
Schhhh—
At that moment, a new magical orb formed in the enemy’s hand.
It wasn’t imbued with any elemental property—just pure, condensed mana.
The opponent reached out, as if preparing to launch the spell.
Lilly instinctively moved to dodge.
But—
They didn’t cast the spell.
“…Huh?”
Instead, they simply pressed the orb against her body.
She froze.
In that brief moment, she was completely defenseless.
And then—
KABOOOM!
“Gahhh!”
A shockwave sent Lilly rolling across the ground.
At the last moment, she had enveloped herself in protective mana, avoiding the worst of the damage.
But the pain in her abdomen was unbearable.
“Ugh…!”
Gritting her teeth, she lifted her head to get a look at her attacker.
The figure remained shrouded in darkness.
Then, as the moon emerged from behind the clouds, their face was revealed.
Her eyes widened in shock.
She hadn’t expected this person at all.
“…Kim Sunwoo?”
Lilly stared at the man in disbelief.
Her mind was spinning.
If she remembered correctly, Kim Sunwoo was ranked 60th in the Korean Academy of Magic.
But the combat prowess he had just displayed was nowhere near that of a 60th-ranked student.
“…Wh-What… Who are you?”
She was so shocked that she didn’t even realize she was stuttering.
Kim Sunwoo glanced down at her and spoke casually.
“What do you mean? I told you we’d see each other soon.”
“N-No, that’s not what I meant! Aren’t you ranked 60th?! How does someone with your skill rank that low?!”
Kim Sunwoo smirked.
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m here to raise my ranking.”
“…That’s ridiculous.”
“Sorry, but I only have about twenty seconds left.”
“…Huh?”
Kim Sunwoo raised his hand.
A powerful surge of mana spiraled into a glowing sphere above his palm.
He aimed the orb at Lilly’s head.
A brilliant flash of light erupted.
Lilly squeezed her eyes shut.
A deafening explosion followed—accompanied by a sickening sensation, as if her head had been blown apart.
“…”
But the pain disappeared almost instantly.
As if she had returned to a perfectly intact body.
Slowly, she opened her eyes.
A white space stretched out before her.
A familiar room.
She immediately recognized where she was.
The first-floor stage.
And instinctively, she realized—
“…I died.”
3:10 AM.
Yoo Ara was walking alone around the “Spirit Lake” on the 12th floor.
When the event started, she had also been searching for Lily Rose to claim the top spot in points. However, Lily Rose was nowhere to be seen.
…She was definitely supposed to be on the 12th floor.
At that moment, the Tower’s Will whispered in her ear.
[“Red Player Leader” has been eliminated!]
[A new “Red Player Leader” has been born!]
“…What?”
The fact that the Red Player Leader had been eliminated—It meant that Lily Rose had been defeated by someone.
…By who?
This was bad. The points Lily Rose had amassed were a staggering 8,450 points. Now, an unknown individual had just obtained half of that—4,225 points.
At this rate, the top ranking would be snatched away by someone completely unknown.
“…This is a problem.”
With only three hours left until the event ended, there was no time to waste.
There was only one option—She had to attack as many people as possible and accumulate points quickly.
Just as she firmed up her resolve and was about to move elsewhere—A figure approached from not too far away.
It was a familiar shadow.
She recognized who it was at a glance.
“Kim Sunwoo?”
What was he doing here? Was he also after Lily Rose?
Yoo Ara briefly considered ambushing him.
“…Hmm.”
But for some reason, she hesitated.
She had an odd feeling—That even if she launched a preemptive strike, Kim Sunwoo might have a way to counter it.
Of course, it wasn’t fear.
It was just that, logically speaking, attacking Kim Sunwoo—whose abilities she hadn’t fully analyzed—was a gamble.
It would be much safer to target lower-ranked students and gather points steadily.
“…I should go after others instead.”
Yes, that was the better choice. There was still time.
Organizing her thoughts, Yoo Ara turned around and started walking toward the portal of the Tower.
Then, suddenly, a thought struck her.
Lily Rose’s defeat just moments ago.
Thinking about it, there were very few people in this Tower capable of defeating Britain’s number one mage.
Aside from herself, the only person she could think of was Lee Seo-jun.
But Lee Seo-jun seemed to be entirely focused on challenging the 30th floor, as he hadn’t shown up in the event rankings at all.
That meant—The person who defeated Lily Rose wasn’t Lee Seo-jun.
And she knew one other hidden genius with talent on par with Lee Seo-jun.
That person was Kim Sunwoo.
“……”
Yoo Ara’s expression turned serious.
Kim Sunwoo had just passed by, looking completely unharmed.
If he was really the one who defeated Lily Rose, and he hadn’t even suffered a scratch—
…Was that even possible, no matter how much of a genius he was?
“Haah…”
I let out a sigh of relief as I watched Yoo Ara walk away into the distance.
While I was walking alone earlier, my Killing Intent Detection trait suddenly activated, startling me.
And it just had to be Yoo Ara, so I was scared stiff.
Right now, I had just used Heart of the Great Nature in my fight against Lily Rose.
My mana reserves were nearly depleted—if I had ended up fighting Yoo Ara, I would’ve lost 100 times out of 100.
“That was close…”
I didn’t know why she changed her mind, but the fact that she decided not to attack saved my life.
I got lucky.
“Now I need to find somewhere to hide.”
With the Final Night event in full swing, all the students were fighting like mad to steal points.
There were about three hours left until the event ended.
After securing a massive amount of points from Lily Rose, I could afford to take a break from the fighting.
If I recklessly fought in my mana-depleted state and got eliminated, that would be a much bigger headache.
I made my way toward the Tower’s portal.
My destination—
The 10th floor’s “Midway Safe Zone.”
[“To enter the ‘Midway Safe Zone,’ you must pay 300 points.”]
[“Would you like to proceed?”]
300 points.
After my fight with Lily Rose, I had earned 4,225 points, bringing my total to 7,025 points.
It wasn’t even a loss.
‘Pay.’
[“You have paid 300 points.”]
[“Entering the ‘Midway Safe Zone.’”]
A bright light flashed, and my vision shifted.
“Whoa…”
Arriving in the Midway Safe Zone, I saw various buildings spread out before me.
Restaurants, inns, and more—it looked like the bustling center of a small countryside village.
I scanned my surroundings, but there was no one else in sight.
It seemed that everyone was too busy farming points elsewhere.
“Hmm.”
Well, it made sense.
Who would spend 300 points just to take a break?
Before heading to the inn, I looked around to see if there were any useful facilities.
The Midway Safe Zone allowed free use of all facilities as long as you paid the entrance fee.
As I walked, a signboard caught my eye, and I stopped in my tracks.
“There’s a hot spring?”
Not just any hot spring—a Mana Hot Spring.
The name alone sounded special, making me expect faster recovery.
“Heh.”
Might as well relax for a bit.
Leave a Reply