[Blank has cleared the 5th Floor of the Labyrinth!]
[The 6th Floor of the Labyrinth will open in 1 hour.]
[20 days have been added to the Annihilation Countdown.]
[Time Remaining Until Annihilation: 119 Days, 21 Hours, 07Minutes, 34 Seconds]
-
└ …no way.
└ Did I read that right?
└ "Blank"…? That Blank?
└ You mean the guy who solo-cleared the first to fourth with no team, no support, and no guild?
└ THE Blank.
└ He just cleared the Fifth.
└ This is guy is crazy strong!
└ A fucking Lich Vein boss.
└ And in under half an hour.
-
As usual, a notification will pop up once you cleared the floor faster than anybody else.
-
[System Alert – First Clear Recognition]
Your achievement shall be recorded in the Hall of Firsts.
A name is required for the inscription. This name will be eternal, visible to all challengers who follow. Choose wisely.
Please input the name to be etched into the Hall of Firsts:
(....)
And as usual, I entered the name "Blank"
[The name 'Blank' has been registered.]
[Labyrinth – 5th Floor: Cleared]
[Cleared By: Blank ]
[Completion Time: 27 minutes, 49 seconds]
-
I pulled the mask from my inventory."Veil of the Hollow."
It looked simple—bone-white, with faint cracks and a black cloth lining the inside—but I could feel the enchantments crawling over it like smoke.
I slipped it on.
[Active Concealment Triggered.]
-
[You are being returned to Earth.]
[Please stand by.]
[Returning to Earth…]
-
By the time the light consumed me, I wasn't me anymore.
The teleport pulse hit.
Crowds pressed against the outer barricades. Hunters. Journalists. Drones buzzing overhead. Guards shouting orders to keep everyone back. The system message had gone out just minutes ago. People were losing their minds.
I stood still, in the middle of it all.
Nobody looked twice.
"They said it was Blank, right?" someone yelled. "The Fifth Floor! Who the hell is Blank?!"
"Did he come out yet? Where is he?!"
"Was anyone even strong enough to solo that floor?! It's supposed to be hell!"
I walked past a group of Guild scouts scanning everyone with ID tracers. The beam passed over me. Nothing flagged.
[Veil of the Hollow – Concealment Stable.]
While the world searched for Blank, questioned each returnee, fought to piece together what had just happened inside the Labyrinth…
…I was already outside. Already gone.
Just another face in the crowd.
-
And then, I have decided to go back to my place to rest.
I shut the door behind me and leaned on it for a second. The silence was heavy—but welcome. No echoes. No mana humming in the walls. No undead crawling out of the floor.
Just… normal.
I kicked off my shoes, tossed the mask onto the table, and slumped onto the bed. My muscles still ached from the fight. My knuckles were raw beneath the bracers. Emberfang had burned through almost everything in me.
But the 5th floor is done so it was worth it.
I grabbed my phone and went to check Astral Community, and I noticed it was already open.
The feed was a mess.
***
[BREAKING] — Fifth Floor Cleared! The One-Man Blitz: 'Blank' Stuns the World Again!
[ANALYSIS] — How Did He Solo a Boss Designed for Raid-Level Hunters?
[THREAD] — Blank's Build? Speculation Below (with clips)
***
There were hundreds of posts. Thousands of comments. My name was trending at the top across every platform. Even the system's own relay channels had been overridden by debates, reactions, and wild theories.
I scrolled. And scrolled. And scrolled.
"Blank just rewrote what we thought was possible."
"I swear I saw his face before he entered. Who has footage?"
"Was that fire skill even listed in any known tree?!"
"Do you think he's rogue faction? Some secret weapon?"
"Guilds need to find this guy now."
Then I checked my inbox.
It was overflowing.
-
[Guild Invitation – Zenith Corps]↳ "Join us. You'll never have to worry about gear, money, or status again."
[Guild Invitation – OathKeepers]↳ "We'll give you a seat at the council. You can lead our next dungeon initiative."
[Message from: @EagleHawk.PR]↳ "Name your price. We'll meet it. Let's talk."
[Request to Chat – 122 Others]
-
Guild invites. Sponsorships. Corporations. Factions I hadn't even heard of. All offering money, privilege, status… some even promising me entire squads under my command.
It was tempting. Almost laughably so.
And none of them knew they were sending those offers to the very person who had just walked past them minutes ago.
I dropped the phone on the nightstand, letting it buzz uselessly. Notifications kept coming, but I didn't care. Not tonight.
I pulled the blanket over myself and stared at the ceiling, the faintest trace of mana still crackling beneath my skin.
I had earned my rest.
And tomorrow…?
Tomorrow, the hunt would begin again.