The transition ended without warning.
"Daddy's Home…."
There was no falling sensation this time. There was no pressure squeezing his chest. No violent displacement of space. One moment Kael was stepping through the gate from Floor 9 and the next his boots were touching solid ground.
This was Stone. Perfectly level and perfectly smooth.
Kael straightened slowly and took in his surroundings.
Floor 10 did not resemble a battlefield.
It was a vast circular chamber, its diameter easily exceeding a hundred meters. The ceiling arched high above so distant that it blurred into darkness, yet faint light seeped from nowhere in particular illuminating the space evenly. There were no shadows deep enough to hide in no corners sharp enough to use for cover.
The floor itself was made of black stone polished to the point where it reflected Kael's outline clearly. Thin geometric lines were engraved across it, intersecting and looping into complex patterns that reminded him of circuit diagrams rather than magic circles.
Around the outer edge of the chamber stood twelve massive stone pillars, each one etched with faded symbols. The runes were old older than most floors Kael had seen so far and they carried a weight that wasn't aggressive but authoritative.
This floor wasn't meant to intimidate. It was meant to judge.
Kael exhaled once and let his body relax but this time not lowering his guard but settling into readiness. Boss floors rarely attacked immediately. Floor 10 especially was known among veteran players as a turning point.
Not because of difficulty. But because of how it tested you.
The system responded.
[Floor 10 – Boss Floor]
[Classification: Mental / Perceptual Trial
Primary Mission:
→ Pick the odd one out.
Secondary Conditions:
→ Defeat the anomaly.
Failure Condition:
→ Incorrect selection will trigger hostile engagement against all entities in the chamber, if you defeat all the entities in the chamber, you won't get any rewards or any levels up, defeat only the anomaly.
Time Limit:
→ None.]
Kael read the mission once. Then again. Then smiled faintly.
"So, it's this type."
Floor 10 didn't test raw combat ability. It tested observation, discernment and restraint. Many players failed here not because they were weak but because they rushed.
Kael didn't rush. He stood still.
The chamber reacted.
The air rippled like heat distortion and figures began to appear.
One.
Two.
Three.
By the time the distortion stopped ten humanoid figures stood before Kael arranged in a wide semicircle roughly twenty meters away.
They were identical.
Each figure stood roughly two meters tall clad in dull grey armor that covered their bodies completely. The armor was functional but unadorned with no guild crests, no engravings, no visible enchantments. Their helmets were smooth, featureless and sealed.
No weapons were visible.
They simply stood there facing Kael.
Kael didn't move.
The system updated again.
[Boss Mechanic Initialized]
Entities Generated: 10
[Designation: Simulated Rankers of different worlds]
[Loading Historical Data…]
Light bloomed above each entity forming translucent panels of text.
Kael's eyes moved calmly from left to right.
[Entity 01
Name: Ralos of the Iron March
Era: First Expansion Period
Floor 10 Clear Time: 1 hours 41 minutes
Clear Method: Sequential Elimination
Final Rank: 1
Entity 02
Name: Veyra Ashmantle
Era: Second Expansion Period
Floor 10 Clear Time: 2 hour 58 minutes
Clear Method: Pattern Recognition
Final Rank: 2
Entity 03
Name: Kurn the Silent
Era: Early Guild Consolidation
Floor 10 Clear Time: 3 hours 12 minutes
Clear Method: Mana Differentiation
Final Rank: 3
Entity 04
Name: Havel Thorn
Era: Pre-Alliance Wars
Floor 10 Clear Time: 4 hours 06 minutes
Clear Method: Trial-and-Error
Final Rank: 1]
The list continued.
Ten names.
Ten individuals.
Each one a Rank 1 clearer of Floor 10 in their respective eras of different worlds.
Like my master said different world exist.
But there is one from our world, Solaris number one ranker in 9th position of 7hrs 54 mins.
Is it that difficult to find the anomaly.
Kael read every entry carefully.
Not because he needed the information.
But because patterns lived in details.
When the final panel faded, the chamber returned to stillness.
Ten identical figures. Ten historical legends and one anomaly.
Kael didn't draw a weapon. He didn't activate a skill. He didn't even step forward.
Instead, he observed.
The system had made one thing clear: these were not illusions. Nor were they resurrected players. They were simulations reconstructions based on historical data, behavior and presence.
Which meant one thing. They followed rules.
Rules written by the Tower.
Kael closed his eyes.
He didn't suppress his perception. He expanded it.
Not outward aggressively but inward refining it until every sensation sharpened. The ambient mana of the chamber was stable evenly distributed. The engraved lines beneath his feet carried faint energy currents looping back into the pillars.
Each simulated ranker emitted presence.
Which was subtle, contained and controlled their presence to the absolute
Nine of them felt… complete.
One didn't.
He used his talent Truth Appraisal of Authority Rank; He could detect all the truths and false within his authority.
Kael opened his eyes.
His gaze locked onto the seventh figure.
At first glance it was identical to the rest.
Same armor. Same posture. Same distance.
But something was wrong.
It wasn't leaking mana. It wasn't unstable. It was anticipating.
The other simulations existed passively waiting for Kael's decision. This one however felt coiled like it was already prepared to respond.
Not to react but just to respond.
"That's you" Kael muttered.
He took a step forward.
The moment his foot crossed a faintly glowing line etched into the floor the chamber reacted violently.
[Selection in Progress]
[Warning: Selection is irreversible]
Kael didn't hesitate.
He raised his hand and pointed directly at the seventh entity.
"That one."
The system paused.
Then….
[Odd One Identified]
[Selection Confirmed]
The reaction was immediate.
The other nine entities froze for a fraction of a second then shattered into particles of light, dissolving into the air as if they had never existed.
Only the seventh remained. Its armor began to crack.
It was getting ready for the second mission and its internal pressure rising.
Black fissures spread across its body, glowing faintly from within. The helmet split down the center peeling apart to reveal not a face but a mass of shifting darkness.
Images flickered within it.
Weapons. Battles. Deaths.
Fragments of every Rank 1 clearer that had ever stood on this floor.
A voice emerged. Which was not very loud. And did not feel threatening.
"We are the answer that persists."
The chamber expanded.
The outer pillars slid backward space unfolding as if the room itself was making room for what was about to happen. The floor thickened reinforcing itself.
[Boss Identified]
[Name: The False Constant
Classification: Adaptive Anomaly
Threat Level: High
Special Trait:
→ Learns from engagement]
Kael finally moved. He drew no weapon. He didn't need one.
The anomaly stepped forward its body reshaping as it analyzed Kael's stance, weight distribution and breathing. Its limbs elongated slightly, armor re-configuring into sharper more aggressive angles.
"Incorrect variables" the layered voice said. "Re-calibrating."
Kael closed the distance in an instant.
The movement used by Kael it didn't break the sound barrier, and it was not flashy, but it was just his motion.
His fist drove forward striking the anomaly square in the chest.
The impact didn't explode.
It collapsed.
The anomaly's torso caved inward, armor folding like thin metal under industrial pressure. The force propagated inward disrupting its core structure before adaptation could even begin.
The anomaly was launched backward, skidding across the reinforced floor and carving deep grooves into the stone.
Kael followed.
He didn't give it time.
A knee strike crushed the anomaly's abdomen.
A palm strike shattered its shoulder joint.
A backhand sent its head snapping sideways fragments of darkness scattering.
The anomaly tried to adapt its form shifting, runes rewriting themselves in real time.
Too slow.
Kael's movements were efficient, brutal and precise.
Kale did not waste any motion, and he did not do any dramatic pauses like some shitty main characters.
He struck repeatedly each blow targeting a structural weakness before the anomaly could compensate.
Finally, Kael grabbed the fractured helmet and pulled.
The darkness screamed.
Kael drove his fist straight through its core.
The scream stopped.
The body disintegrated collapsing into fragments of black light that evaporated before touching the ground.
Silence returned.
[Boss Defeated]
[Clear Time: 47 seconds]
The system froze.
Then….
[Floor 10 Cleared]
[Rank Achieved: 1]
[New Record Established]
Rewards flooded in.
[Bonus Rewards:
→ Fastest Clear
→ Perfect Selection
→ No Damage Taken]
[Title Acquired:
→ Anomaly Breaker
Title Effect:
→ Enhanced detection of irregular entities
→ Increased damage to adaptive enemies]
[Level up] x 5
Kael collected all the loot items
Kael stood still as the chamber reset itself.
The floor smoothed. The pillars returned. The system finalized the record.
A gate opened ahead.
Floor 11.
Kael looked at it calmly.
Then stepped forward.