[SYSTEM UPDATE: STAGE TWO – "PATH OF SHADOW COVENANTS" CONTINUES]
[PARTY MEMBERS: 2]
[WARNING: LOW GROUP COHESION DETECTED]
[COMMENTARY: If trust were water, you'd both be dying of thirst.]
The tunnels beyond the theater reeked of burnt oil and something older—like rusted chains and dried breath. The walls no longer felt like stone. They felt like regret pressed into shape.
Mirae walked ahead of Kyren now, silent.
She hadn't spoken since Rin died.
Not when the Tower applauded her.
Not when Kyren stood over Rin's cooling body and didn't ask why.
And not when the next door opened without a sound.
Kyren broke the silence first.
"You didn't hesitate."
Mirae kept walking.
"Neither did you."
"You didn't have to do it."
She stopped.
"Neither did you… but you made me."
The tunnel widened, leading into a cathedral-sized room of hanging platforms, each suspended by black ropes that writhed like worms. The drop beneath was infinite.
And the first platform was already cracking.
[SYSTEM ZONE: "SUSPENSION OF BELIEF"]
[EVENT TYPE: FAITH TETHER CHALLENGE]
[ONLY TWO MAY CROSS. ONE MUST ACT. ONE MUST TRUST.]
[WARNING: VOWBREAKER PENALTY APPLIES – TRUSTED ACTIONS MAY MALFUNCTION.]
A rope bridge hung before them—trembling, alive, and muttering in a voice only the Vowbreaker could hear.
"You lie so well. Let us see if gravity believes you."
Kyren's system pulsed:
[Current Trust Level: Mirae → 38%]
[Expected Rope Stability: 62% (Low)]
[New Trait Discovered: "Dead Weight Loyalty" – You can pretend to believe someone so convincingly that the Tower does too. But only once.]
Kyren turned to Mirae.
"We need to cross. You lead, I follow. If I lead… it'll break."
She stared at him. Long. Hard.
"You expect me to trust you after I killed someone for you?"
"No."
He stepped back, just a little.
"I expect you to pretend you do. That's all this Tower really wants."
She almost smiled. Almost.
Then she stepped onto the first platform.
It groaned.
Kyren stepped after her, matching her pace exactly. The ropes twitched, recoiled—then calmed.
A voice, low and gurgling, echoed from the deep:
"One of you will fall. The other will climb. Decide who deserves the lie."
Halfway across, the bridge began to dissolve behind them.
[SYSTEM CHALLENGE: SPLIT DECISION TRIGGERED]
[DECIDE: PUSH FORWARD OR PULL BACK]
[WARNING: CHOICE CANNOT BE SHARED. ONLY ONE MAY REACH THE PLATFORM AHEAD.]
Kyren's fingers itched. His system pinged again.
[OPTION: SHOVE FORWARD – Gain priority on next decision floor.]
[OPTION: HESITATE – Let her take the lead, gain 5% Soul Integrity.]
[Hidden Option: DECEPTION – Create a scenario where she chooses to fall.]
His hand twitched. Then he saw her body shift.
Mirae had made her choice.
She was reaching for something in her jacket—a vial. Red.
Kyren's eyes widened.
"You trying to bomb the bridge?"
"Trying to end the question."
The bridge cracked again.
Kyren lunged forward—not to push her. But to make it look like he was trying to save her.
Mirae reacted like a survivor.
She threw the vial—backward.
The bridge exploded behind them.
Only one platform remained.
And only one of them was still standing.
Mirae.
Her eyes burned into his.
"You would've let me fall, wouldn't you?"
Kyren stood, ash on his clothes, his smile thin.
"No."
Pause.
"But I would've let you think I might."
She didn't slap him. She didn't threaten.
She just nodded once.
And kept walking.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: MIRA SONG – TRUST: 31%]
[COMMENTARY: That wasn't a betrayal. That was a rehearsal.]
[REWARD: VOWBREAKER PATH +1 MANIPULATION NODE]
[NEW PASSIVE UNLOCKED – "SURVIVOR'S DOUBT"]
→ Every time someone considers betraying you, their Soul Integrity suffers first.
Kyren followed in silence.
The Tower didn't care who fell.
Only who learned from it.
[KYREN HAO – KILL COUNT: 2/5 | ASSIST: 2]
[CLASS: VOWBREAKER – TRAITS: False Catalyst, Murmur Beneath the Mask II, Loyalty Loophole, Survivor's Doubt]
[SOUL INTEGRITY: 64%]
[CURRENT QUEST: "The Cost of Pretending" – Let someone save your life while believing they shouldn't.]
[PROGRESS: 0/1]
[SYSTEM NOTICE: FLOOR ONE FINALIZATION – TIME REMAINING: 00:09:27]
[CURRENT LOCATION: PLATFORM DELTA – LOW SURVIVAL DENSITY DETECTED]
[PLAYER STATUS: 81% OF INITIAL HUMANS ELIMINATED OR ABSORBED]
[REWARD TIER: ADJUSTED TO DESPERATION MODE]
[COMMENTARY: You've made it so far. Would be a shame to start hoping now.]
The final hallway smelled like scorched metal and old breath.
Mirae limped slightly now—her right leg torn just below the knee from the blastback earlier. She hadn't complained. Hadn't asked Kyren for help. Not even once.
He respected that. Even as he planned how to use it.
They emerged into a final antechamber, round and pulsing with ambient red light. The walls were moving. Not like machines—like lungs. Breathing.
Across the chamber, three other humans stood near the far gate. Two girls—one with wild eyes and blood-caked braids, the other swaying like she hadn't slept in days—and a stocky man holding what looked like a rebar stake wrapped in barbed wire.
They turned when Kyren and Mirae stepped in.
One of the girls laughed.
"More survivors? Look at that. I owe you two rations, Grol."
The man grunted. He had no eyebrows. Or maybe they'd been burned off.
"That's assuming they're worth anything."
Kyren raised one hand.
"We're not looking to fight. Just survive the timer."
"How long left?" Mirae asked behind him.
Kyren checked.
[00:08:41]
"Eight minutes. A little less."
The girl with the braids stepped forward, her system pinging faintly. She pointed at Mirae.
"What class are you?"
Mirae didn't respond.
Kyren smiled.
"She's not the interesting one."
The other girl frowned. "Then who is?"
Kyren tilted his head, eyes cold and amused.
"Me."
He let his status screen appear briefly.
[VOWBREAKER – LEVEL 1]
[ALIGNMENT: TWISTED IDEALIST]
[SOUL INTEGRITY: 64%]
[KILL COUNT: 2 | ASSIST: 2]
[DECEPTION TREE UNLOCKED]
The silence that followed wasn't comforting.
The girl took a half step back.
The man—Grol—grinned.
"You're the kind the Tower likes. Makes us not want to trust you just by breathing."
"That's the point." Kyren nodded once.
"We're all leaving in eight minutes anyway," Mirae muttered, "unless something worse comes."
The floor beneath them rumbled.
Because, of course, it always did.
[SYSTEM INTERVENTION – STAGE ONE TRIAL: TIME ENDING]
[WARNING: RANDOMIZED EVENT SPAWN – LAST CHALLENGE TYPE: SURVIVAL CHARGE]
[NUMBER OF ESCAPE PORTALS: 3]
[NUMBER OF PLAYERS IN ROOM: 5]
[YOU DO THE MATH.]
Three portals formed.
Three.
For five people.
"Of course it's a test," Mirae hissed. "It's always a test."
Kyren didn't move.
Neither did the others.
The portals flickered blue and cold, spinning like hungry mouths.
[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT: ONLY PLAYERS WHO TOUCH A PORTAL WHEN TIMER HITS ZERO WILL BE TELEPORTED TO FLOOR TWO.]
[EVERYONE ELSE… WILL STAY.]
[00:05:00]
"So. Who's staying?" Grol asked, tapping his rebar against the floor.
Nobody answered.
Kyren stepped closer to Mirae, just slightly.
She noticed.
"You going to push me in?"
"No," he said.
Pause.
"I'm going to make sure you get in."
Her eyes flicked to his.
"Why?"
"Because I need someone who doesn't trust me—but still follows."
Grol growled.
"We'll settle this the normal way, then."
The girl with the braids laughed and drew a blade.
"Blood-forged diplomacy. My favorite."
[00:03:00]
The fight started with no signal.
Mirae threw a knife.
Kyren used the brief distraction to step behind Grol—ducking, dodging, then planting his foot hard against the man's ankle.
The rebar came down. Missed.
Mirae screamed.
Not in fear.
In rage.
Kyren glanced back.
One of the girls had tackled her. They were wrestling on the stone, too close to the edge of one of the blue portals.
Kyren saw the opening.
He moved.
Not toward Mirae.
Toward the other girl.
She never saw him coming.
His elbow cracked against her jaw. She hit the ground hard.
Kyren whispered,
"You'll thank me for this in the next life."
And rolled her—unconscious—into the closest portal.
[PLAYER "HAN SEO-YEON" – FORCED TELEPORTATION ACCEPTED]
[00:01:12]
Mirae was bleeding now, but on her feet.
Grol was still standing too, though limping.
Kyren grabbed Mirae's wrist.
"Portal. Now."
She blinked.
"What about—"
"I lied." His voice was calm. "You're the only one worth keeping."
She didn't argue.
They moved.
The second portal shimmered as they stepped into the edge.
Grol charged.
Kyren threw the rebar girl's body in front of him.
It worked.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: PARTICIPANT "GROL NAM" – BLOCKED]
[TIME REMAINING: 00:00:08]
Grol screamed.
Kyren looked into the last portal, the one still open.
"You're going to die here, Grol."
"You coward!"
"No." Kyren stepped back into the second portal's edge, Mirae beside him.
"I'm just better at losing when it counts."
[SYSTEM ALERT: FLOOR ONE COMPLETE]
[PARTICIPANT TRANSFER – INITIATED]
[KYREN HAO – DECEPTION PATH PROGRESS: 21%]
[MIRAE SONG – UNSTABLE TRAIT PENDING REVEAL]
[DESTINATION: FLOOR TWO – "THE ROOM WHERE NAMES ROT"]
[WELCOME TO THE TOWER OF EVIL.]
The light swallowed them whole.
And Floor One finally exhaled.
[KYREN HAO – STAGE ONE: COMPLETE]
[SOUL INTEGRITY: 64%]
[PARTY: MIRAE SONG (STATUS: WOUNDED / UNTRUSTING)]
[CLASS: VOWBREAKER – ACTIVE TRAITS: False Catalyst, Murmur Beneath the Mask II, Loyalty Loophole, Survivor's Doubt]
[FLOOR TWO – LOADING…]