The Minotaur's corpse was still burning. Valen was high-fiving Jax. Seraphina was healing Boulder's broken nose.
The air shimmered with golden confetti.
[System Announcement: Final Round Concluded.]
[Winner: Party of Block C.]
[Reward Calculation in progress...]
Elian exhaled, sheathing his sword. It was over. He could finally rest. He could take his gold, upgrade his gear, and disappear before the guilds tried to recruit him.
[System Error.]
[Calculation Interrupted.]
[Administrator Override: The "Tower Climber Tournament" requires a Tie-Breaker for Individual Rankings.]
The golden confetti turned red. The cheerful victory music distorted into a low, guttural hum.
[Initiating Bonus Round: Floor 13 - The Mirror of the Soul.]
[Warning: Physical Stats Negated.]
[Warning: Weapons Disabled.]
[Objective: Wake Up.]
"What?" Valen looked at his hands as they began to dissolve into pixels. "Elian, what's happening?"
"Don't panic!" Elian shouted, reaching out to grab Seraphina's arm to tether them together. "It's a mental dive! Anchor your minds! Don't believe what you—"
He didn't finish the sentence.
The floor dropped out from under them. There was no teleportation light this time. Just a sudden, violent plunge into absolute darkness.
The Void
Elian opened his eyes.
He wasn't in the tower. He wasn't in the jungle.
He was standing on a floor made of black water. Above him, a grey sky churned with silent storms.
He reached for his back. The Reaper's Edge was gone.
He checked his belt. His potions were gone.
He checked his status.
[Status Window Locked.]
[Strength: N/A]
[Agility: N/A]
[Mental Fortitude: Calculating...]
"Psychological warfare," Elian whispered. His voice didn't echo. "Cheap trick."
He stood up. The ripples in the black water didn't reflect his face. They reflected something else.
Looking back at him from the water wasn't the teenage Elian. It was the 60-year-old Elian. The Sword Saint. Scarred, one-eyed, and broken.
"You saved them," the reflection spoke. Its voice was dry, like grinding stones.
Elian stepped back. "You're an illusion."
"You saved them in the jungle," the reflection continued, rising out of the water until it stood before him. "But you're just delaying the inevitable, aren't you?"
The scenery shifted violently.
Heat. Intense, blistering heat.
The smell of burning flesh.
Elian fell to his knees, choking on smoke. He knew this place. He knew this heat.
Floor 99. The Dragon Lord's Throne.
"No," Elian gritted his teeth, clutching his head. "I changed it. This doesn't exist anymore."
"Look," the voice commanded.
Elian looked up.
Valen was there. But he wasn't the young, hopeful swordsman. He was impaled on a spike of bone, his golden armor melted to his skin.
Jax was dismembered, his daggers broken.
Seraphina... she was crawling toward Elian, missing the lower half of her body. Her eyes were empty sockets.
"Elian," the illusion of Seraphina rasped, blood bubbling from her mouth. "Why didn't you save us?"
"I did!" Elian screamed, his composure cracking. "I went back! I fixed it!"
"Did you?" The old Elian walked around him. "You pushed them away in the tavern. You treated them like tools in the maze. You aren't their friend, Elian. You're their handler. You're just fattening them up for the slaughter."
The guilt hit him harder than any Minotaur hammer. It targeted the one fear Elian couldn't out-level: The fear that he was the curse. That simply being near them ensured their death.
The illusion of Valen lifted his head. "You should have died with us, Elian. Why are you the only one who gets a second chance?"
The heat intensified. Elian felt his skin blistering. The pain was real. The Tower was simulating the nerve damage of burning alive.
[Mental Stress: Critical.]
[Willpower Check: Failing...]
Elian curled into a ball. It would be so easy to give in. To accept that he was the villain. To let the darkness take him.
But then, he remembered something.
"Thanks. It's warm."
He remembered Seraphina's heal in the jungle. It wasn't the heal of a ghost. It was the heal of a living, breathing girl who had blushed when he thanked her.
They weren't dead. Not yet.
Elian stopped shaking.
"You're right," Elian whispered.
He stood up. The heat was melting his skin, but he ignored it. He walked toward the Old Elian.
"I am using them," Elian admitted. His eyes, usually cold, burned with a terrifying resolve. "I am their handler. I am their shepherd."
He grabbed the Old Elian by the throat. The reflection looked shocked.
"And if I have to become a monster to make sure they survive..." Elian tightened his grip. "Then I will be the worst monster this Tower has ever seen."
"I don't need your forgiveness," Elian snarled at the ghosts of his friends. "I need your victory."
He didn't deny the trauma. He swallowed it. He weaponized the guilt.
CRACK.
The illusion shattered like glass.
The burning throne room dissolved. The dead bodies of his friends turned into white butterflies and vanished.
[Trial Completed.]
[Psychological Profile: Anomalous.]
[Result: Trauma Conquered.]
The White Room
Elian gasped, his eyes snapping open.
He was back in the white room. He was on his hands and knees, sweat pouring off him, his heart racing.
He looked around.
The other nine members of his team were floating in mid-air, surrounded by translucent bubbles. Their faces were twisted in pain. Some were crying. Some were screaming silently.
Valen was thrashing, swinging a sword that wasn't there.
Seraphina was curled in a fetal position, sobbing.
Jax was clawing at his own throat.
They were still trapped in their nightmares.
Elian stood up, his legs shaking.
[Current Rank 1: Elian.]
[Time Elapsed: 3 Minutes.]
[Points Awarded: 10,000.]
"Three minutes," Elian panted. "It felt like years."
He walked over to Valen's bubble. He placed his hand on the barrier. He couldn't help them. This was a battle they had to fight alone.
One by one, over the next hour, they woke up.
Valen dropped to the floor, vomiting. He looked at Elian with wide, terrified eyes, as if seeing a ghost.
Jax woke up screaming, holding a dagger to an invisible enemy.
Seraphina woke up last. She fell softly. Elian caught her before she hit the floor.
She was shaking uncontrollably. She looked at Elian, her eyes unfocused. "I couldn't... I couldn't save them... everyone died..."
"It wasn't real," Elian said firmly, holding her shoulders. "Look at me. It wasn't real."
She blinked, focusing on his face. She realized she was gripping his vest so hard her knuckles were white.
[Floor 13 Trial Concluded.]
A new announcement board appeared in the center of the room. It showed the "Mental Resilience" scores.
Elian: SSS (Time: 3m)
Valen: B (Time: 45m)
Jax: C+ (Time: 52m)
Seraphina: C (Time: 58m)
...
The gap was horrifying. To the others, Elian wasn't just strong physically. mentally, he was an alien.
Valen wiped his mouth, looking at the scoreboard. He looked at Elian with a mix of awe and fear.
"What did you see, Elian?" Valen whispered. "My nightmare... it nearly broke me. How did you clear it in three minutes?"
Elian turned away, checking his inventory which had just unlocked.
"I saw the truth," Elian said simply. "And I accepted it."
[Rewards Distributed.]
[Unique Item: The Mask of the Stoic (Mental Defense +50%)]
Elian equipped the item instantly. It wasn't a physical mask, but a passive aura that kept his emotions unchecked.
"Let's go," Elian said, his voice back to its usual calm monotony. "This tournament has gone on long enough."