[TUTORIAL FLOOR SEVEN: PARADOX GARDEN]
Objective: Escape the garden before your mind collapses.
Special Condition:
• Dying restarts the floor.
• All memories retained.
• Pain multiplies with each death.
• Mental degradation begins at 3 loops.
Clear Bonus:
• +50 Achievement Points
• +2 Trait Refinement Seeds
• Unique Title
The garden was beautiful.
And that was the problem.
Wang Ling opened his eyes to sunlight falling through golden trees, mist curling around the marble path ahead. Flowers bloomed in unnatural shapes, and a still fountain murmured in the center.
It was the most peaceful place in the Tower so far.
Which meant it was a lie.
Behind him, Yue blinked awake.
"I… feel safe," she whispered, as if afraid to break the calm.
He said nothing.
He remembered this place.
Too many did.
It lured you in with serenity.
Then snapped.
[Floor Conditions Activated]
• You must reach the gate at the far edge.
• The path changes each loop.
• You are not permitted to die more than 9 times.
Death count: 0
They took three steps before the first paradox hit.
The path split into two. Left or right.
No signs. No clues.
Wang Ling took the right.
A garden statue smiled. Its head twisted like a corkscrew.
He knew.
He pushed Yue back just as the path exploded in reverse gravity — tearing him upward into a spiral of vines that flayed him alive.
Pain.
Then darkness.
He woke up again in the starting glade.
Same trees.
Same flowers.
Same sound of peace.
Yue blinked beside him again — unaware.
Because only the one who dies remembers.
"So that's how they break people here."
"You die. You come back. Alone. Again and again."
"And eventually, you lose track of what's real."
[Death Count: 1]
Pain Multiplier: 2x
Stamina Penalty: 5%
Second loop.
Left path this time.
Two garden maidens offered fruit.
He ignored them.
Still wrong.
The grass opened and swarmed with glass butterflies that shredded muscle and nerves.
Screams.
Darkness.
[Death Count: 2]
Pain Multiplier: 4x
Stamina Penalty: 10%
Title Gained: "Loopwalker"
Gain +1 resistance per death loop survived.
Pain resistance increased.
By the sixth death, most players began to scream endlessly — unable to distinguish between real time and memory fragments.
Wang Ling, on the other hand…
Started training.
On loop 7, he tested how fast he could react with reduced stamina.
On loop 8, he began marking trees in a pattern only he would recognize.
On loop 9, he experimented with the death radius of the angel statue.
Each time, Yue was unaware.
Still breathing.
Still innocent.
[Loop 9 Complete – All Paths Catalogued]
He reached the garden gate alone.
Placed his hand against the final statue.
This time, it didn't kill him.
The vines peeled back.
The sky cracked.
The Tower blinked.
[FLOOR CLEARED – PARADOX GARDEN ESCAPED]
Total Deaths: 9
+2 Levels
+50 AP
+2 Trait Refinement Seeds
Unique Title Unlocked: "One Who Remembers Pain"
Each death survived grants +1 bonus to Willpower.
Memory-based attacks permanently fail against you.
Yue blinked as they reappeared in the dorm.
"You… took the right path the first time. How did you know?"
He looked at her.
"I didn't."
Then walked to the window.
[Tutorial Floor 8 begins in: 23:59:59]
Objective: Survive a boss-tier monster with no weapons.
Environment: Ice chamber.
Special Rule: No heat sources allowed.
"You will freeze. You will bleed. You will kneel."
He didn't flinch.
Because even if the Tower sent Hell itself…
He'd already made pain his ally.