“Whoa~! That’s insane… Do you think I could ever get that strong…?”

Dreamers gazing at Ha Gangwoo, painting futures for themselves.

“He actually won… I need to hurry and pass the training ground test myself.”

Others burning with fervor.

Roughly a hundred Players wore elated expressions as they shouted their excitement.

“I’m jealous. Winning gives crazy rewards, and his rank’ll probably be solid too.”

“I heard the winner gets at least a C-grade Catalog—but I bet he’ll snag an A-grade. Seriously jealous.”

Envy for the victor’s prizes simmered among them.

Unlike the stands, brimming with laughter and zeal, Ha Gangwoo’s face was dark.

‘Suicide.’

Ha Gangwoo was certain.

The one who’d thrown that last, desperate attack was the demon—not Lee Ayeon. Yet the match had ended abruptly.

Only one explanation made sense: right before the demon died, Lee Ayeon chose to take her own life.

‘Pity.’

He’d wanted to kill the demon with his own power, to see it through to the end. But he’d been denied that satisfaction.

‘Whatever.’

He shook the thought off a moment later.

Once he stepped outside, there’d be no shortage of chances to test his strength.

Ha Gangwoo looked at the crimson-glowing ring and spoke his Activation Word.

‘Release.’

With a soft puff, his jet-black skin and eyes reverted to normal. The tail dissolved into a cloud of light and vanished.

Ha Gangwoo clenched and unclenched his palm.

He didn’t feel any change in his Senses—just a bone-deep weariness from the lowered Status.

‘Good.’

Lucifel’s Ring was every bit the absurdly good item he’d hoped for. And it seemed to gain extra effects based on level—now he craved leveling up immediately.

‘Finally, it’s over. What do I do first once I’m out?’

Ha Gangwoo swung his arms in loose circles, organizing his thoughts.

His younger sibling’s support fee was due in about four days. He needed money, and he needed it now.

‘Should I look for a guild as soon as I’m out?’

Now that he’d won the whole thing, he’d be registered as at least an A-rank Player.

Guilds would come knocking for sure—he just had to choose wisely.

A satisfied smile spread across Ha Gangwoo’s face.

‘This is where it begins.’

It was right as Ha Gangwoo savored the taste of victory.

Antero snapped his fingers—Tack!—and the debris of the shattered arena vanished without a trace. Nothing remained but the soft grass underfoot.

Antero walked across that grass, approaching Ha Gangwoo.

“That was fun, as expected. Congratulations.”

Tack—Antero snapped his fingers again. Ding—. A system window materialized in front of Ha Gangwoo.

[Congratulations on your victory~!]

[You have cleared the ‘Tower of Tutorial (5F)—For Victory Alone.’]

[Calculating your score…]

[You have completed the [House of Training—Spear][Sub] Quest.]

[House of Training-Whip][Sub] Quest completed.

[House of Training-Shield][Sub] Quest…

………

….

..

.

[Score measurement complete.]

[SSS Rank]

Ding-

[Antero will grant the reward in person.]

The rank was higher than he’d ever imagined.

Equal to the rank he’d earned from killing Lucifel!

*What kind of reward?*

Anticipation was already building.

Antero strode forward, closing the distance to Ha Gangwoo in long, easy steps.

“Congratulations. Here’s your reward.”

What Antero held out was a box gleaming with golden light.

“Thank you.”

Ha Gangwoo accepted the box with a smile.

*The box Lee Ayeon wanted so badly… what’s inside?*

He wanted to tear it open right then, but Antero kept talking.

“The Tutorial is over. Two ways out. Choose.”

The choice was forced on him, abrupt and final.

“Choose?”

Ha Gangwoo voiced his confusion, and Antero’s hollow eyes fixed on him as he continued.

“You’ve felt it — the Tower has an ultimate purpose.”

A purpose. He had a vague idea of it.

From floor one all the way to here, it had demanded slaughter.

“First: slaughter. It forces you to cut down living things.”

Antero was speaking Ha Gangwoo’s own thoughts aloud.

Killing monsters hadn’t bothered him, but he’d sensed it clearly on floor five.

Because in the end, it demanded he kill his own kind — other Players.

“And the second way is…”

Antero’s lips curled into a knowing smile.

“…to experience death.”

“Death?”

Ha Gangwoo went blank for an instant. Then a grin spread across his face.

*Interesting.*

He saw it now. The moment you entered the tournament, the structure demanded you kill your opponent to advance. And in the end, even the winner had to die to leave.

But Ha Gangwoo had no one left to fight.

Which meant…

*They want me to kill myself to get out?*

Just as he was sinking into thought, Antero presented the exit options.

“First option is simple. Suicide.”

Ha Gangwoo’s face twisted.

Suicide. Hadn’t he already tried that once? It didn’t sit well.

“And the second?”

He was curious about the remaining path.

Antero’s grin widened as he spoke.

“Second is — fight me.”

“What?”

For a moment, doubt flickered through him.

He’d fought Antero plenty in the training grounds. But the intent clicked into place instantly.

*He means fighting the real body.*

A smile of genuine interest bloomed across Ha Gangwoo’s face.

Antero caught his expression and pressed on.

“Choose. Which will it be?”

Ha Gangwoo answered without hesitation.

“The second.”

Antero’s lips curved up, thin and sharp.

“Knew you’d say that. See you up there.”

Antero left those words behind, and with a sharp snap of his fingers — *Crack!* — the world shifted.

The view shifted.

***

A plain stretching into an endless blue sky. This space was different from the 5th floor.

Ha Gangwoo scanned his surroundings, searching for Antero.

Green grass carpeted the vast earth, and hundreds of flowers spoke to the atmosphere of the place.

And he found Antero without much difficulty.

A man lay in the center of a thickly piled flower bed.

Ha Gangwoo walked over to where he was lying and looked down at him.

The image wasn’t much different from what he’d seen since the 1st floor.

White hair, hollow dark circles under the eyes—but there was something else.

‘What is this…’

He looked young. At best, he seemed no older than a middle schooler.

As Ha Gangwoo drew up right beside him, Antero, who had his eyes closed, slowly opened them.

“You really made it all the way here.”

Antero slowly rose to his feet. Standing up, his diminished stature was unmistakable.

“Is this your real body?”

When Ha Gangwoo voiced his doubt, Antero gave a dry smile and touched his own neck.

“Real body? The one you met—all of it was me. The one whose throat you slit was me, too.”

‘…’

It was a cryptic statement, but it seemed to mean his avatars were his real body.

As Ha Gangwoo stood there dumbly, Antero took a step forward and spoke.

“You didn’t come here just to talk, did you? Let’s get started.”

*Snap!!* The moment Antero flicked his fingers.

The view shifted again.

A land where no life could be found.

Like a desert, only a dry wind blew around them.

Antero looked at Ha Gangwoo, a meaningful expression on his face as he spoke.

“Make it fun for me.”

Antero snapped his fingers once more, and hundreds of weapons materialized in the air.

Then they began plummeting to the ground, pulled by gravity.

*Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!*

Hundreds of weapons on the barren earth—it carried the atmosphere of a battlefield.

Ha Gangwoo watched the sight and wore a cold smile.

‘I like it.’

So this was the Tower’s master—everything from the battleground to the mood suited him perfectly.

Ha Gangwoo reached out his hand and summoned ‘Celeritra.’

The sword formed in his grip, fitting snugly as always.

‘How strong is the real body, I wonder.’

Ha Gangwoo licked his lips, lowered his stance, and activated a skill.

[Swift Movements] [ON]

[Increases movement speed by 50%.]

A blue light enveloped both his legs,

[Attack Stance has been activated.]

[Your next attack deals 2x destructive power.]

A red aura rippled across his entire body.

And then.

‘Demonization.’

*Whoosh—* Black energy flared up around Ha Gangwoo’s entire body.

Red pupils in black sclera, jet-black skin, and a tail sweeping the ground.

Transformed into Demonization, Ha Gangwoo gripped his sword and charged at Antero.

*Clang!!!!*

The moment their swords clashed, a thunderous boom filled the air around them.

***

“Hah… hah…”

Ha Gangwoo lay sprawled in a field thick with flowers, gasping for breath.

‘How long has it been?’

Since arriving here, his sense of time had dulled.

There was only one way to check.

Ha Gangwoo opened the Auction House.

[Registered Items] (2/13)

[Rupicel Mineral]

– Time Remaining: 1 hour 32 minutes

– Current Bid: 10,000 Gold

– Buy Now: X

[Flame Petal]

– Time Remaining: 1 hour 32 minutes

– Current Bid: 1,520,000 Gold

– Buy Now: X

When he’d checked upon reaching the fifth floor, it had been sixty hours. Subtract the time he’d spent waiting for the tournament to start, and roughly thirty hours had passed since he’d entered this place.

‘I’ve been fighting for almost an entire day…’

Gangwoo recalled his battle with Antero.

This Antero was on a different level from the one he’d met in the training hall. Demonization, Extreme Strike Stance—no matter what he did, he couldn’t win.

Thanks to that, though…

[Weapon Mastery][E]

Grade: A

Type: Passive

Effect: Grants proficiency with all weapons. (Grade increases as skill is honed.)

Weapon Mastery had climbed to A-grade, yet his blade still couldn’t reach Antero.

‘Why is he training me?’

The thought struck him then.

He’d said he was going to kill me, but instead he brought me here and drilled me relentlessly.

From the way to swing a sword, to the principles of reading an opponent’s movements.

Ha Gangwoo pushed himself up from the ground, troubled by the contradiction, and asked Antero.

“Why are you going easy on me? Didn’t you bring me here to kill me?”

At Gangwoo’s question, Antero—sitting in the flower field—let out a wide yawn, then wiped the tears from his eyes and said.

“Never said I was gonna kill you.”

“What?”

“The second test is fighting me. Win, and you can leave. Well, if you ask me to kill you, I’ll do that too.”

Hearing this, Gangwoo let out a snort of disbelief.

‘Interesting.’

The man sure loved his riddles.

It’d been like this since the first floor. From the simple quests to their conversations, everything had a hidden meaning. As if telling him not to settle on an easy answer.

‘Is this whole process a Tutorial, too?’

It felt like he might be reading too much into it, but the design seemed too deliberate to be coincidence.

Ha Gangwoo sprang to his feet and stretched.

‘I want to keep fighting.’

Right here, he wanted to fight Antero over and over until he finally beat him.

But he was out of time.

Roughly three days remained until the deposit deadline for his sister’s storage unit.

Even if he fought without rest, he’d only have two days left to spar with Antero. It was a damn shame.

‘Can I not come back in once I leave?’

Ha Gangwoo clicked his tongue and looked up at the blue sky. A cool breeze stirred his hair.

If there was only a way, he wanted to cover his sister’s storage fees and then come back in to train under Antero.

‘…’

Then suddenly, that thing came to mind.

‘No way…’

Ha Gangwoo immediately opened his exclusive DLC Shop and checked the item.

[DLC – Warp Altar]

Grade: C

Description: DLC – Warp Altar has been updated. Now use the Warp Altar to travel long distances quickly and easily!!

Effect

– Grants 3 Warp Altars.

– Unlocks the Warp Altar system.

Quantity: 1

Purchase Price: 5,000,000 Gold

One of the items in the DLC Shop, the Warp Altar.

‘Would this let me come back?’

Ha Gangwoo stroked his chin, lost in thought.

Even if it didn’t work, he’d only lose one altar. Not too big a risk. But there was a problem.

[Gold held: 2,310G]

He was desperately short on gold right now.

‘Hmm… How do I get it…’

Ha Gangwoo furrowed his brow, sinking into thought.

Right now, there were only two potential sources of gold.

[Tournament Champion’s Gift Box (SSS)]

Grade: ???

Description: A special box given only to tournament champions.

This box, gleaming with golden light.

[Registered Items] (2/13)

[Rupicel Mineral]

– Time Remaining: 1 hour 30 minutes

– Current Bid: 10,000 Gold

– Buy Now: X

[Flame Petal]

– Time Remaining: 1 hour 30 minutes

– Current Bid: 1,520,000 Gold

– Buy Now: X

These were the only items listed on the Auction House.

Ha Gangwoo slumped down onto the spot and picked up the box.

‘Let’s open the box first.’

With a Poom! sound, golden radiance flooded the surroundings, and a single item emerged.

[You have acquired a Skill Catalog.]

“Huh?!!”

Ha Gangwoo stared at the Catalog, startled.

There was only one item, the same kind of Catalog he’d seen before, but his expression turned serious.

‘S.’

The letter S was emblazoned on the card.

A smile touched Ha Gangwoo’s lips as he immediately opened the Catalog’s status window.

[Skill Catalog]

Grade: S

Description: Randomly learn one S-Rank skill.

It was an S-Rank Catalog, no less.

Thump, thump—

Was it because an item beyond his expectations had popped out of a box he’d opened without much hope? His heart began to race.

“How much?”

Ha Gangwoo immediately listed the item on the Auction House.

If there were transaction records, the average price would be calculated automatically.

[Skill Catalog]

*Auction House Average Price: –

*Auction House Minimum Price (Buy Now basis): –

‘None. Must be because of the fee.’

Ha Gangwoo had a VIP pass so he paid no fees, but the Auction House took a 10% cut.

S-Rank Catalogs were in high demand, so people wouldn’t bother trading them through the Auction House.

‘What do I do.’

Ha Gangwoo propped his chin on his fist and sank into thought.

If he sold the Catalog, five million Gold wouldn’t be an issue. The item was worth at least hundreds of millions. But using it seemed smarter than selling it.

*An S-Rank item must be a pain to get hold of too.*

Even in the Auction House, S-Rank items came with level restrictions.

If he tried a direct trade, they’d haggle over conditions. Of course, there was a good chance no S-Rank Catalog was even on the market.

*I’ll just hold onto it for now.*

Ha Gangwoo decided to keep the S-Rank Catalog for the time being.

If he couldn’t scrape together five million Gold, he’d have no choice but to sell—but it didn’t seem impossible.

[Registered Items] (2/13)

[Rupicel Mineral]

– Time Remaining: 1 hour 30 minutes

– Current Bid: 10,000 Gold

– Buy Now: X

[Flame Petal]

– Time Remaining: 1 hour 30 minutes

– Current Bid: 1,520,000 Gold

– Buy Now: X

The reason was the Auction House items.

The Rupicel Mineral sat at just 10,000 Gold, with no bids yet—but the Flame Petal was already at 1.52 million Gold.

That told him something.

*Someone really needs this.*

A unique item that was still just junk material—the Flame Petal. And someone had bid 1.5 million Gold on it.

That revealed two key facts.

1. The bidder had capital.

2. They needed the Flame Petal.

A sly grin crept across Ha Gangwoo’s face.

*I bet I can sell this for a premium.*

Ha Gangwoo reached for the Auction House window.

[Would you like to retract your registered auction item?]

[Yes / No]

The moment Ha Gangwoo selected retraction.

[You have retracted the registered auction item: Flame Petal.]

The Flame Petal slipped back into his Inventory.

*Let’s test the waters first.*

And so the psychological war between Misha and Ha Gangwoo began.