[10th Floor]
「Temple of Trials」
"I'm telling you, it's a fucking scam, Dae-su!
I watched that bastard drop a Grade-B Mana Stone, and before I could even blink, the system log said it was 'claimed' by the environment.
Claimed my ass!
The Tower is just straight-up stealing from us now!"
Kwon, a man with a jagged scar running down his jaw and a temperament that could ignite a bucket of water, kicked a pile of rubble.
His armor was scuffed, and his cloak was singed at the edges...telltale signs of a rough run through the fire-traps.
"Shut the fuck up already, Kwon.
You've been bitching for forty minutes.
You missed the drop because you were too busy trying to pose for a screenshot that nobody is going to look at anyway.
You're a C-rank with the brain of a fucking goldfish."
Dae-su spat back.
He was leaner, his hair tied back in a messy knot, and he was currently wiping a thick coating of monster ichor off his spear.
"A goldfish?
You want to go, you prick?
I'll pose over your corpse next!"
"Try it.
I'll shove this spear so far up your-"
"Enough."
A calm, melodic voice drifted from the shadows of a nearby pillar.
The two delinquents stopped their squabbling immediately, though they both wore expressions of deep irritation.
They turned toward G-Dragonfly.
[G-Dragonfly] was a well-known name in the mid-tier community.
Not only was he a player but also a scout, a content creator, and the founder of a small but elite player academy.
He was currently squatting on a fallen marble block, his eyes glued to a high-end tablet.
His fingers tapped the screen ...scrolling, pausing, and rewinding.
"Oi, G."
Kwon grumbled, leaning his heavy axe against his shoulder.
"Why the hell haven't you gone live today?
It's unlike you.
Usually, you're streaming every second of a hunt, talking about 'engagement metrics' and 'marketable moments.'
It's weird seeing you this quiet.
You look like you're mourning a dead relative or some shit."
G-Dragonfly didn't look up and just adjusted his grip on the tablet, his face illuminated by the flickering blue light of the video player.
Dae-su walked over, curious now.
He leaned over G-Dragonfly's shoulder to see what was so goddamn interesting that it made a professional streamer ignore his audience.
He squinted at the screen.
It was a clip.
A very familiar clip.
A man in a black mask and a simple workout outfit was standing in a circle of towering Golems on Floor 1.
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
Dae-su groaned, throwing his hands up.
"Again? G, if I see that masked prick on your screen one more time, I'm going to throw up.
Seriously... I'll projectile vomit right on your tablet."
"It's everywhere!"
Kwon added, stomping over.
"Bnet, RedZone, even the morning news. 'The Super Rookie.'
'The Masked Savior.'
It's Floor 1! It's the literal kiddie pool!
People get lucky all the time.
Some guy finds a new exploit or a hidden meta and suddenly the whole world thinks he's the next S-rank.
It's nothing special, man....nothing but just noise."
G-Dragonfly finally paused the video.
He looked up at them, his eyes sharp, reflecting a level of focus that made the two feel suddenly small.
"Noise?"
G-Dragonfly asked softly.
"Yeah, noise!"
Kwon barked.
"Remember KidG0? Two years ago?
He cleared the tutorial in record time using that 'Flame-Step' exploit.
Everyone called him the 'Son of the Sun.'
Where is he now?"
"Who?"
Dae-su asked.
"Exactly!"
Kwon pointed a finger at G-Dragonfly.
"He's probably working in a mana-stone refinery or he's a red smear on Floor 5.
Trends die, G.
This 'Singularity' guy is just the flavor of the month.
If he was half as good as the hype says, he wouldn't still be stuck on Floor 1 dicking around with centipedes.
He'd be up here...probably pushing the Ruins."
G-Dragonfly sighed, a sound of genuine disappointment.
He turned the tablet around so they could see a specific frame of the video.
It was the moment Singularity had initiated the swal with a pebble to dodge the Centipede's mandible.
"Look at his left foot."
"What? He's wearing sneakers.
Big deal."
"Not the shoe.
The weight distribution."
"Most rookies, when they use a spatial skill like swapping, suffer from 'teleportation lag.'
Their brain takes 0.5 seconds to adjust to the new coordinates and stumble.
They have to re-orient.
But look at him.
He shifted his weight to his heel before the skill even activated.
He was already mid-swing in the new position before his body had physically arrived there."
Kwon and Dae-su blinked, confused.
"So? He's got good reflexes."
"It's not reflexes..."
"It's muscle memory that hasn't been used in a long time, but is so deeply ingrained that it bypasses the system's own limitations.
He isn't learning how to fight.... this shit is more like...remembering."
The two exchanged a look.
"Remembering?
What the hell does that even mean?
He's a rookie. He just got his player ID."
G-Dragonfly didn't answer that directly.
Instead, he looked back at the screen.
"I've spent five years scouting for my academy.
I've seen thousands of 'prodigies.'
They all look the same.
They copy the top streamers, they follow the Blue Dragon metas, they try to look cool for the camera.
They're all just... bland like unseasoned rice."
He tapped the screen again.
"But this guy? He looks at the Tower like it's a chore he's already finished once and has to do again because he forgot his keys."
G-Dragonfly stood up, his expression becoming hauntingly certain.
He lifted three fingers.
"This dude will climb up to Floor 10 in no more than..."
"Three?"
Kwon scoffed.
"Three weeks?
Yeah, maybe if he carries a lot of gold.
Floor 1 to 10 is a grind, even for a high-ranker's re-run."
"No."
G-Dragonfly said, his voice dropping an octave.
"Three days."
"Three days?!"
Kwon screamed, his voice echoing through the temple.
"That's fucking absurd!
That's physically impossible!
Even the record for the 'Heavenly Path' climb is five days, and that was with a full S-rank support team providing buffs and warp stones!"
"He'll do it in three."
G-Dragonfly repeated.
"I can see it.
I recognize talent in the broadcasting side...
He's the real deal.
The world hasn't even seen half of what he's capable of yet."
"Whatever, man."
Dae-su said, waving a dismissive hand.
"You've finally lost it.
All that 'talent scouting' has turned your brain into mush.
We need to get going.
We're already behind schedule.
I don't even know why the fuck we went back down to Floor 10 after reaching Floor 15.
We should be at the Ruins, seeing what the hell killed that Blue Dragon team."
Kwon nodded aggressively.
"Yeah! Floor 15 is where the real money is.
Why are we back here in this dusty-ass tomb digging through old pots?"
G-Dragonfly didn't look bothered.
He reached into his spatial pouch and pulled out a small, unassuming shard of black glass. It didn't glow, and it didn't have a high-rank aura, but the way he held it suggested it was worth more than his life.
"There was something I was testing out here."
G-Dragonfly said, a small, secretive smile playing on his lips.
"I didn't come back down to grind for some freaking experience.
I came for this."
He held up the shard.
『ITEM: 「FRAGMENT OF THE ANCIENT RECORD (1/10)」』
『RANK: HIDDEN PIECE』
『DESCRIPTION: A piece of a story that no longer exists in the current Tower.』
"A hidden piece?"
Dae-su leaned in, his eyes wide.
"Wait... only you knew about this?"
"I've been tracking the coordinates for months."
G-Dragonfly said, stowing the item away.
"Everyone is so focused on the 'New' Tower, the 'Global Coalition,' and the 'S-rank' bosses.
They've forgotten that the Tower is built on the bones of the old one.
If you want to know how to survive the Floor 11 Ruins, you don't look at the monsters...but look at the history."
He looked back at his tablet one last time before clicking the screen off.
"C'mon, let's go.
If we stay here any longer, I'm going to start talking like a philosopher too, and then I'll have to kill myself."
Dae-su interjected.
G-Dragonfly jumped down from the marble block, his movements fluid and precise.
"Fine. Let's go.
But mark my words...
By the time we hit the Floor 15 boss again, Singularity will be standing right behind us.
And you'd better hope you're on his good side."
"Yeah, yeah!"
Dae-su laughed, hoisting his spear.
"And I'll be the next King of the Tower.
Let's move!"
The three of them began to walk toward the exit gate of Floor 10, their silhouettes stretching long as they crossed the portal gate.
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