\After leaving the town hall, the group paused on the steps, the towering silhouette of Myriad of Techniques looming across the road.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Divya exhaled. "Let's not go today."
Rohit nodded immediately. "I agree. My body's done. If I walk into a place like that right now, I'll either overspend or collapse."
Koushik flexed his fingers, the faint tremor finally obvious. "Hunting all day, fighting a Level 3 monster… I won't remember anything I buy."
Arjun took one last look at the tower before turning away. "We go tomorrow. Rest comes first."
No one argued.
They returned to the same small restaurant they had eaten at that morning. This time, there was no chatter, no curiosity—only exhaustion. They ordered the cheapest meals on the menu, simple bowls meant to fill the stomach, not satisfy the tongue.
As they ate, spoons clinked weakly against bowls. Even Rohit didn't complain.
"Feels strange," Raya muttered, staring into his food. "Surviving a monster attack and worrying about meal prices."
"That's reality now, the tower descended", Divya replied quietly.
After eating, they rented two modest shared rooms nearby—cramped, plain, but safe. one for boys and another small room for the girls. One by one, they collapsed onto their beds, their weapons set aside without ceremony.
Soon, breathing slowed. The room fell silent.
But Arjun didn't sleep immediately.
Staring at the dim ceiling, his thoughts returned to the system announcement from earlier.
Temporary Tower Admin.
"How much authority will they really have?" he wondered. Over movement? Resources? Punishment? Life and death?
The idea unsettled him.
If the wrong person gained that power—even temporarily—the consequences could be disastrous. Not just for him, but for everyone inside the tower. Survivors. Townspeople. Even people who didn't know how to fight back.
His fingers curled slightly.
Even if I know that I cannot do anything, but I can prepare myself for the worst
.
Whether he wanted the position or not didn't matter. What mattered was being ready—for whatever rules the tower decided to enforce next.
With that thought, Arjun finally closed his eyes.
Tomorrow would bring answers.
And danger.
He slept, preparing himself for what was to come
________
They woke up early the next morning, bodies sore but minds clearer than the night before
.
Without much discussion, they headed back to the same small restaurant. The owner barely looked surprised to see them again, only nodding as he set out simple breakfast plates—warm porridge, flatbread, and diluted soup.
As they ate, the mood was different from the previous night. Less exhausted and more focused.
Rita broke the silence first, her fingers wrapped around her bowl. "The monster tide is in eight days," she said quietly. "We can't afford to be weak when it happens."
Everyone looked up.
"We need to get stronger before that," she continued. "And more importantly, find a way to climb the tower properly."
Arjun nodded. "Agreed."
"So do I," Divya added. "Running blind won't save us next time."
Tim set his spoon down. "Some of our weapons won't survive another fight like yesterday's," he said. He tapped the nicked edge of his blade. "We should repair them now. Better weapons can come later, when we can actually afford them."
"That makes sense," Raya said. "A broken weapon in the middle of a fight is a death sentence."
Rohit leaned back slightly, arms crossed. "We should also buy potions, if possible." He glanced toward Rita and raised his hands quickly. "I'm not saying you're useless. You're not."
Rita snorted. "Good save."
"But in case of emergency," Rohit continued, "a potion is faster than waiting for a spell. Especially if you're out of mana or unconscious."
Arjun considered their words, then spoke. "First, repairs. Second, supplies"
He paused, then added, "After that… we check out Myriad of Techniques."
There was a brief silence.
Then Koushik grinned with excitement. "So we're finally going."
"Not to buy blindly," Arjun said. "Just to understand what it's about."
One by one, they nodded.
They left the restaurant one by one, still discussing their plans.
The moment they stepped outside, they stopped.
The street was far more crowded than it had been the previous day.
People filled the road—some standing in nervous groups, others arguing loudly, a few checking crude weapons or worn-out gear. Their clothes were mismatched and dusty, faces tense and alert. It was obvious at a glance that most of them weren't town residents.
"They're outsiders," Divya said quietly.
"They
are from outside of the tower just like us," Tim added. "Recently arrived."
Curious—and uneasy—Arjun approached a nearby group preparing to leave the town gate. Their weapons looked barely serviceable, and confidence sat on their faces a little too easily.
"When did you reach Maple Town?" Arjun asked.
"Yesterday," one of them replied casually. He rolled his shoulders as if loosening up before a hunt. "We rested the night and now we're heading out."
Rohit frowned. "Straight into hunting?"
The man laughed. "Of course. Sitting around won't make us stronger." His gaze flicked over Arjun's group. "We're better off than most, you know. Plenty of idiots froze up out there and got themselves killed."
Another in the group scoffed. "If they couldn't handle a few monsters, that's on them."
Arjun said nothing.
"Anyway," the man continued, tightening his grip on his spear, "we'll be back by evening with some kills. Maybe even enough gold to pay tax early."
With that, the group walked off toward the forest, voices loud and confident.
Arjun and the others watched them leave.
Only when they were gone did the weight of the conversation settle in.
"…They reached yesterday," Raya said slowly. "And they're already going out."
Rita's fingers clenched around her staff. "Some of them won't come back."
Silence fell.
Images surfaced unbidden—blood-soaked ground, broken bodies, screams echoing through the trees.
"We were lucky," Tim said quietly.
"No," Divya corrected, her voice steady but serious. "We survived because we were careful. And because we worked together."
Arjun looked toward the town gate, where the crowd continued to thin as more groups left.
"Luck runs out," he said. "Preparation doesn't."
The realization lingered as they turned away from the street—more aware than ever of how close they had come to becoming just another group that never returned.