They were led into a modest office tucked away from the main hall.
The room was functional rather than grand. A tall bookshelf lined one wall, its shelves packed with worn ledgers, folded maps. Near the window stood an old wooden desk, its surface cluttered with scattered documents, ink-stained parchment, and a small crystal that pulsed slowly, ticking like a muted heartbeat. Two simple chairs faced the desk; a third waited behind it.
No guards followed them inside.
Paul closed the door himself.
"Sit," he said.
They obeyed. The door clicked shut, sealing the room.
Silence stretched.
Not the awkward kind—but the deliberate kind, heavy with intent. Divya shifted slightly in her chair, her fingers tightening around the armrest. The soft ticking of the crystal seemed unnaturally loud.
Arjun studied the room—the worn edges of the desk, the unfinished notes, the maps marked and re-marked with red lines.
This wasn't the office of a man preparing for expansion.
"I'll be frank," Arjun said evenly, breaking the silence. "Why are you helping us? Why give us information so freely?"
Paul didn't answer immediately.
He leaned back, folded his hands, and exhaled slowly. When he finally smiled, it was tired. Almost sad.
"To climb the Tower," Paul said.
Divya blinked. "You… want us to climb it?"
Paul nodded. "Outsiders are the key."
Arjun's eyes sharpened. "Can you explain?"
"This floor is peaceful," Paul said, gesturing faintly toward the window. "Too peaceful. Safe towns. Stable systems. Predictable threats."
"Sounds ideal," Divya said cautiously.
"It's a cage,a prison" Paul replied.
He leaned forward. "The level cap for the first floor is ten. Absolute. No matter how much you train, how many monsters you kill, you cannot go beyond it unless you climb."
Arjun's gaze flicked to the faint glow beside Paul's name.
[Paul — Level 10]
"So you're stuck," Arjun said.
Paul nodded once. "All of us are."
Paul gave a humorless chuckle. "And the resources are none worth mentioning. No high-grade materials. No advanced cores. No artifacts capable of breaking limits."
Divya's unease deepened. "So the only way forward is…"
"Through the Tower," Paul finished. "And we can't open the next floor on our own."
Silence returned—heavier than before.
Arjun leaned back slowly. "So you help us, outsiders, survive. Grow strong. Climb."
Paul met his gaze without flinching. "Because when you succeed… the Tower moves."
"And if we fail?" Divya asked quietly.
Paul's eyes drifted to the scattered papers on his desk—reports, casualty lists, half-finished plans.
"Then this floor remains a graveyard of potential."
The crystal pulsed once.
Paul straightened. "That is why I'm helping you. Not out of kindness."
His eyes hardened.
"But necessity."
The word lingered.
Arjun didn't respond immediately. His gaze drifted past Paul, over the desk, and settled on the maps pinned to the wall.
They were old. Revised again and again. Red lines crossed out, arrows redrawn, timelines overwritten until the parchment beneath was scarred.
Every path—every calculation—pointed toward the same symbol etched at the center.
The Tower.
The pieces aligned.
Outsiders.
Shared information.
The Monster Tide.
A peaceful floor capped at Level 10.
Paul wasn't helping them to survive.
He was helping them to move.
"You're investing in outsiders," Arjun said calmly.
Paul raised an eyebrow. "Investing?"
"You feed us. Shelter us. Share system knowledge you claim isn't public," Arjun said, tapping the desk once. "In return, you expect us to climb. To open what you can't."
Divya stiffened.
Paul didn't deny it.
Instead, he stood and walked toward the wall of maps. "Come."
They rose.
Paul gestured at the marked parchments. "This is the reality of the first floor. Stability achieved through starvation."
He traced a finger along one red line. "The Tower doesn't allow growth without risk. And risk only exists above."
Arjun glanced again at Paul's status.
Level 10.
Stuck.
"So you cultivate outsiders," Arjun said. "Because you can't afford to waste locals."
Paul nodded once. "Outsiders don't destabilize the population. When they die, the system doesn't punish the town."
Divya's breath caught. "So if they fail—"
"They were never meant to reach the door," Paul said quietly.
Silence fell.
Arjun leaned back, folding his arms—not angry, not defensive. Calculating.
"So we're keys."
"And honesty," Arjun replied.
Paul studied him for a long moment, then exhaled.
"You want the truth? This floor doesn't lack people. It lacks progress. Without climbers, the Tower never moves—and neither do we."
He gestured to the maps again. "Every Monster Tide, every regulation—timed to push outsiders forward. If they survive long enough… they climb."
"And if they don't?" Divya asked softly.
Paul glanced at the casualty lists on his desk.
"Then we try again."
The crystal pulsed once.
Arjun nodded slowly.
So that's it, he thought. We're not guests. We're ammunition.
"Alright," Arjun said evenly. "We'll climb."
Divya turned sharply. "Arjun—"
He raised a hand gently, stopping her.
"But we climb on our terms," he continued.
Paul's smile froze. "Meaning?"
"You give us everything," Arjun said. "Failures. Death rates. Routes that collapse. Floors that kill climbers quietly."
Paul stared at him.
Then he laughed—soft, surprised.
"You're not offended," Paul said.
"Offense is a luxury," Arjun replied. "Survival is not."
Paul's laughter faded into something like respect.
"You really are from a dangerous world," he said.
Arjun met his gaze, unblinking.
"You have no idea."
"Then why collect so much tax from the people?" Arjun asked quietly. "Gold alone can't justify this."
Paul didn't bristle. Instead, he nodded—as if he had expected the question.
"Gold isn't just currency here," he said. "It's protection."
Divya frowned. "Protection… how?"
Paul turned slightly, gesturing toward the window, toward the town beyond the walls. "The Tower accepts payment. Gold. Resources. Monster cores. Offerings made to the system itself."
Arjun's eyes narrowed. "And in return?"
"The Tower suppresses the surrounding threats," Paul replied. "It diverts monster movement, weakens nests, delays outbreaks."
Divya's breath caught. "So the Beast Tide—"
"Is an accumulation," Paul finished. "Monsters that couldn't reach the town earlier. The monster accumulates over time."
Paul's gaze hardened. "The more people live in a town, the more monsters attack."
Silence fell.
"So the taxes," Divya said slowly, "aren't for luxury."
"They're for survival," Paul corrected. "Miss the payments, and the Tower stops holding the line."
Arjun exhaled.
Gold wasn't wealth here.
It was a wall.