Drip.
Drip.
Fucking Final Essence…
Li Meilin panted, sweat dripping from her brow as she stared down at the towering bronze door before her. The cavern around her reeked of damp soil and stale musk—disgusting.
"Why is this happening to me?" She snarled, her voice echoing off the stone walls. Her knuckles were bruised and bleeding. "I can't stand how filthy this place is!"
She kicked the bronze door, which pulsed with crimson light.
Boom!
"Why was I even brought here? No—wait." Her eyes narrowed. "I saw Liang Xiu get one of those weird 'massages' before I ended up here too…"
Her lips tightened.
"That means he's probably in the same situation somewhere. And knowing that idiot," she growled, "he's probably enjoying himself. He probably didn't even bother gathering essence—instead bare-handing everything like some battle-crazed caveman! He probably wasn't listening to that so-called goddess either and just stared at her boobs!"
Her bare foot slammed into the wall and left a dent. She followed with sharp punches, knuckles cracking against metal.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"What right does she have flaunting breasts that big?!" Li Meilin roared. "If Liang Xiu sees those and thinks that's the new standard—how is Sister Yueqin supposed to compete?!"
Bang!
Bang! Bang!
"I should be making sure that moron doesn't ruin his engagement and destroy our families' alliance! Not trapped in some cave because a cowardly goddess decided to use us as cannon fodder!"
A chime rang through the chamber.
[The Tower & Final Existence are moved by your devotion to your cousin. They wish to reassure you that the Final Existence is not romantically interested in Player 16704. Please stop slandering them with every breath.
"Whether you're interested or not doesn't matter!" She screamed back at the message. "I know he's flirting with you—I can FEEL it. That no-good, smooth-tongued, battle-junkie delinquent! YOU BETTER NOT BE CHEATING ON YUEQIN!"
She slammed one final kick into the bronze door.
"I'm getting out of here. I'll find Liang Xiu and save Mom and Dad and his parents too. Then I'll punch that useless goddess in the face—twice."
Her breathing steadied. Her eyes sharpened.
"I'll claim the Highest Essence, become a god—then hunt down the Outer Gods and wipe them all out. After that?"
She smiled, wild and fearless.
"I'll get Yueqin and Liang Xiu married, keeping him so busy making children he'll never even have time to look at another woman. That's my plan!"
Her fist glowed with defiant heat.
"SO MOVE—!!!"
BOOOOM!
Her punch slammed into the bronze, and the entire chamber trembled. A crack raced across the surface—then another.
Creak…
Light pierced through the opening seams. Fresh wind swept in. The doors split apart with a groaning shriek.
Li Meilin lowered her fist, stunned.
"…Huh. I actually did it."
She stepped forward. The massive bronze doors slammed shut behind her.
BANG!
But she didn't even flinch. Her eyes were already locked ahead, fire burning behind them.
"No stopping now."
She walked forward through a stone tunnel. In the distance—light. Then a strange sound drifted toward her.
Thump. Thump. THUMP.
Fists. Fighting.
Li Meilin followed the sound into a hidden garden—lush, blooming, and out of place in the underground. A stone path wound through the flowers and bushes to a large pavilion. A small, tusked cat-beast scrambled away the moment she arrived, three tiny figures dangling from its jaws before it disappeared through the bushes.
Li Meilin ignored it entirely.
Her attention froze on the scene ahead—another girl was locked in combat, fists flashing, exchanging brutal strikes against a perfect ink copy of herself.
Before Li Meilin could even move, a golden screen appeared in the air.
Tutorial Progression Notice
Participants: 7/7—Group Formation Complete
Final Tutorial Trial Initiating
You will be transported in 10 minutes to an F-rank dungeon.
Objective—Final Tutorial Scenario
Prevent a mock dungeon break.
Place a Sealing Stone on each floor filled with monsters.
Rescue at least 12 civilian captives on the first floor.
Defeat the Dungeon Boss.
Secure the Dungeon Core to complete the clear scenario.
Performance will determine final tutorial rewards.
Failure Condition: Total Party Elimination
One of the two girls faltered under the savage flurry of blows—her outline shivered, then dissolved into a drifting mist that spilled across the garden like dry ice in water. The remaining girl watched the vapor curl away, expression unreadable for a heartbeat. She gave a soft, bored hum, then glanced toward the spot where the tusked cat-beast had fled.
"Ker're," she called, voice thin and cold, "we'll move up soon, so come here."
A small rustle answered from the bushes as the cat-creature slunk back, tail flicking. The girl turned her head toward the sound, then her eyes snagged on the new arrival stepping into the pavilion: Li Meilin.
Her lips twitched with amusement—then hardened. "Oh? Did someone else come by?" she asked, mockingly polite.
Li Meilin's gaze burned with defiance. The girl's expression twisted into a grin. "That won't do," she murmured. In one fluid motion, she lunged—fast, brutal, precise—sending a cutting palm aimed straight at Li Meilin's chest.
Li Meilin didn't flinch. The two collided in a whirlwind of fists, elbows, and knees. The girl's strikes were refined and precise; Li Meilin's were raw, furious, and unpredictable.
"Woah," the girl said, stepping back and shaking her wrist after Li Meilin's kick connected. "Pretty decent blow. Not bad. Tell me, girl—what's your name?"
They stared each other down, eyes sharp as blades. "I'm Li Meilin," she said proudly, fists raised. "Daughter of Li Teng and Liang Lianhua, of the Liang family. And if you want me dead, you'll be sorely disappointed!"
With a roar, she lunged forward again, jabbing at her opponent.
"Very well, Li Meilin," the girl replied, her voice dripping with icy amusement, "fight until you can't anymore. For before you stands the priestess of Nargath Ve'Rye!"
Mist surged from her, spreading outward as she extended her arms.
Li Meilin paused, eyes widening, and jumped back. The vapor thickened, stinging her throat. Cough! Cough! "What the hell is this stuff?" she gasped, stumbling further back toward the tunnel.
But a shadow moved up ahead—suddenly a leg struck out. "Ahah, no running for you~"
The girl moved like water through the shifting environment—graceful and lethal—probing Li Meilin's defenses. Li Meilin responded with raw ferocity, each strike a promise of resistance. Around them, the hidden garden seemed to hold its breath as the battle escalated, neither willing to yield.
Then—
Crunch!
A kick from the girl's side sent Li Meilin crashing to the ground. "I should have expected that sneak attack," she thought, grunting as she forced herself upright. She expected to see the girl's clone—but instead, a grotesque figure of mist and flesh loomed before her. Grey and hulking, its black chains coiled around muscular arms, wielding a massive axe, staring at her through a sack-like mask.
"What… what is that?"
A whisper slithered behind her, and dozens of hands grabbed her shoulders at once. She spun around—multiple clones of the girl she'd been fighting encircled her.
"Don't worry," one whispered, a cruel smile in her voice, "it'll only hurt if you move~."
The hulking executor raised its axe, ready to strike. Li Meilin panicked, elbowing one clone. "Get off me!!!" she screamed, kicking and twisting, then slammed her fists into the ground to flip several off her.
Frost Touch: Grade; Heroic
A chilling skill that allows the user to instantly freeze objects or surfaces with a touch or directed gesture. When activated, a thin layer of frost spreads outward, immobilizing targets and lowering the temperature in the immediate area.
Freeze small objects instantly; larger surfaces gradually. Freezing speed scales with essence expenditure.
Frost Mark: Frozen objects glow faintly blue, revealing affected areas.
Icy Grip: Freezes anything touched—including weapons, doors, and liquids—temporarily restricting movement or flow.
Activation: Requires 10% of current essence
Duration: 30 seconds for small objects; larger objects last until essence is depleted.
Cooldown: 5 minutes
Range: Touch-based, or up to 5 meters for directed freezing
Note: Prolonged use may numb hands or slow reactions. Heat sources and strong materials resist freezing.
Li Meilin's fists moved like thunder, each blow carving a shallow line through the floating mist-clones. Frost bloomed where her skin met air—thin crystals flaring and snapping as limbs frozen in place shuddered and shattered into drifting shards of steam. She breathed hard, muscles screaming, and swung again, slamming a clone backward into a folding stone bench. The replica shattered like blown porcelain.
But the executor did not tire.
The grey thing surged forward, chains rattling, the axe arcing in a blow meant to split bone. It struck with brutal, mechanical force—each swing aimed to tear rather than stun.
One strike grazed off Li Meilin's shoulder; the cold sang along her skin. She grunted, twisted, fell, rolled, and came up again, nails scraping stone, breath sharp in her throat. The axe crashed down where her head had been a heartbeat before, sending a spray of grit and petals into the air.
She felt panic press at the edges of her mind. Clones closed in like a tightening noose. Every time she toppled one, two more replaced it. The executor's footsteps thudded behind her, inexorable, the heavy axe rising for another cleaving blow.
Out of the corner of her eye the cat-beast reappeared—silent, absurd, its eyes black as pits. For a dizzy moment it looked twice its size: a maw yawning impossibly wide, jaws stretching to swallow her whole. Li Meilin flinched back—then, in an instant, it shrank again to normal dimensions as if her sight had been tricked.
She realized with a cold, growing dread they weren't trying to kill her.
They were trying to weaken her.
The clones kept her busy, the executor battered her defenses, and the cat watched for the moment her body gave out—then it would seal her away, mouth closing over her as it had other captives. Not to devour for good, but to take her intact: alive, subdued, and trapped.
If she died outright, the Tower's Mystic Bamboo Slips would revive her—and in doing so, expose the captors. Capture and concealment kept those who preyed on survivors safe.
That knowledge struck her like a blade to the heart. Rage flared—then something harder replaced it. Li Meilin's limbs trembled, not from pain, but from a decision sharpened into place.
She stopped struggling.
It was not a dramatic, cinematic collapse. It was a deliberate loosening: shoulders slackening, fists unclenching, and breath measured and small. She folded in on herself like a blade sheathed. The clones froze at the sudden stillness; the executor tilted its head. The cat's maw widened, smooth and practiced, and gently—terrifyingly—enclosed her.
Warm breath washed over her face.
The world narrowed to the leathery, living seal around her. She could feel the muffled thud of the executor's steps, the soft skitter of paws, and the thrum of other captives trapped somewhere within the cat's engineered maw. For a moment, she thought of Liang Xiu—of Yueqin—of the life she had sworn to fight for.
Then she did the hardest thing of all: she closed off the part of herself that struggled to resist. She folded away fear and fury into a cold, empty place behind her ribs—"freezing her heart."
As the cat-warm walls pressed tighter and the world dimmed, a strange calm settled over Li Meilin. Her limbs went limp in practiced stillness; she breathed shallowly, like someone holding vigil at the end of a long race. The cat carried her inward, its precise, unerring movements replacing the chaos of battle.
Shatter!!
[You have died.]
[Ding! Respawn point located. Countdown to revival: [3d 4h 1m] [03:04:00:59]
—
Shanghai, China – Lujiazui Financial District, Top Floor Penthouse
Unlike the rest of the world, who received blurry live feeds of their loved ones trapped in the Otherworldly Tower, he had received something else—a full, clear recording of the moments leading up to his daughter's death.
Li Teng sat in silence, elbows resting on his knees, his eyes locked on the floating screen before him. The veins in his neck bulged with restrained fury as he rewatched the clip. Again. And again. And again.
On the footage—his daughter, Li Meilin, bloodied but unbroken, fighting for her life—surrounded by shadows.
Then that woman appeared. Smiling. Speaking words he didn't recognize.
He paused the frame. Zoomed in.
A young woman—human by all appearances. Asian, black hair, sharp eyes. Her face didn't match any profile in the databases Li Teng had access to.
"She looks Chinese," Li Teng muttered. "But that language… it's not right. A dialect? No. Something else."
He replayed the clip where the woman spoke. The AI translator he'd brought in failed to recognize a single word.
"But Meilin understood her," he said, voice low and dark. "Which means this language must come from that tower? That could explain why I can't find her—she might originate from that place. No… that doesn't rule anything out. If my daughter was dragged there and learned those powers, the same could be true of this woman. She might be from Earth as well, just… with a different face."
"If that's the case, I need to find her stream. Find the stream, find a name, and then trace anyone who had a daughter with that name who went missing a week ago."
He turned slowly toward the butler standing nearby—a stone-faced man in his fifties who had served the Li family for decades.
"Prepare the calls," Li Teng said, voice shaking with rage. "Get the Liangs and the Sus on the line. I'm calling in every favor they owe me."
"Yes, sir," the butler replied with a bow.
Li Teng rose to his feet, breathing hard as his fury finally spilled over.
"I want whoever this woman is found. If she has family in China—kill them. Slowly. I want their sons crippled, their brothers broken, and their fathers begging for death while their wives, daughters, and mothers watch." His voice dropped lower, deadly. "For touching my daughter—I will erase their bloodline."
His hand trembled. He ripped off his glasses and hurled them against the window with a sharp crack.
But before the butler could respond, a golden panel suddenly appeared in front of Li Teng.
The Tower has sensed your desire to protect your blood.
A hidden condition has been fulfilled.
Special Quest Unlocked – "Foundation of Return"
Objective:
Establish a Returner Guild and prepare a secure infrastructure for Earth's future Returners from the Otherworldly Tower.
Requirements:
– Acquire and fortify a Guild Headquarters
– Recruit 20 returners within 30 days
– Form strategic alliances between nations
– Prepare Earth for interdimensional conflict
Rewards:
– Blessing of the Mother of Existence (Major Divine Favor)
– Final Truth: Veil of Atlas (grants operational immunity and protection)
– Global Authority Charter: Full government cooperation granted in
• China
• United States
• North Korea
• Japan
(More regions will be added as ongoing diplomatic negotiations conclude.)
Penalty for Failure:
– Bloodline Exposure to the Outer Eyes
Accept Quest?
[ YES ] [ NO ]
A storm ignited inside Li Teng's chest. He stared at the panel.
He did not hesitate.
His thumb pressed YES.