"Kuku— got another."
Perched high atop a jagged crag overlooking the golden fields, a sniper lowered his rifle. Smoke curled lazily from the barrel. Below, amidst the swaying reeds, bodies were piling up.
"Stupid idiots," the sniper sneered, adjusting his scope. "Because they're so busy fighting each other, they don't even know they're being sniped. Lucky for me, there was a hill near where I was teleported."
He patted his rifle, feeling like the king of the hill. "This kind of dog fight just doesn't fit me. I prefer to—"
"Now, now. This time—"
A shadow, massive and terrifying, engulfed the sniper. He froze. A deep, rumble of a voice vibrated through the rock beneath his boots.
"Who shall I get? Move."
The sniper turned slowly. Looming over him was a creature of nightmare—a towering, bipedal alligator draped in a red cape, holding a spear that looked heavy enough to crush a tank.
"What do you mean 'move'?" the sniper stammered, his bravado crumbling. "If you need a spot yourself, try somewhere else! This is my spot!"
The creature's red eyes narrowed. "If you don't want to move ..."
WHAM.
With a casual backhand that carried the force of a wrecking ball, the creature swatted the sniper.
"BUZZ OFF."
"UAAAAAAA!!"
The sniper flew off the cliff, his rifle clattering uselessly away as he plummeted toward the killing fields below.
The creature watched him fall with zero interest, then planted his feet firmly on the edge of the cliff. He surveyed the chaotic battlefield with the eye of a connoisseur.
"What the hell are you?!" The sniper guy who just fell came back shouted trembling.
"This is..." The creature planted his spear. "A fishing spot."
"Wha... fishing? After stealing someone els e spot" The sniper guy said. "That's my gun! Put it down!"
The creature ignored the gun. He looked down at the Regular with pure disdain. "Hey you. Who told you to drop it down the cliff?!"
The creature obeyed his order, dropped the gun, and tumbled over the cliff.
"Argh... You idiot!!" The guy shouted.
"Do you have any idea how expensive that gun is?!" the guy screamed in panic.
"Arr— constant nagging from the start," the creature grumbled. He leaned forward, his jaws parting to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth. "If you got a problem, bring it! C'mon!!"
The guy scrambled back, terrified. "Hic- Da... Dammit!! Just wait and see you damn alligator!!" He turned and fled.
"I'll put a bullet right through your head later!! Just you wait!"
The creature snorted. "Hmm. Just wait? Then, let's see..."
He turned his gaze back to the sea of grass. "Where... is a good hunting target?"
The creature, Rak Wraithraiser, scanned the battlefield. He wasn't interested in the weaklings scuttling about like insects. He was looking for prey. Real prey.
His eyes darted across the field.
There's... tons of them!!
He spotted a small green girl wielding a whip-like weapon that extended with terrifying power. What...? This power? That lizard? No... it's not the lizard. Rak grinned, his blood heating up. The weapon! It's strong—oppressingly so.
Wait...
His gaze shifted. In a secluded patch of tall grass, he felt something else. A faint, but distinct pulse of energy.
In this area... There's another with a similar feeling here...
Rak's eyes locked onto a speck of black and red in the distance. He saw the weapon in the boy's hand.
"FOUND IT!"
Deep in the reeds, oblivious to the predator watching from above, Baam crept forward.
He was trembling. Every rustle of the wind sounded like an attack. Ahead of him, a large, bulbous creature with sad eyes was grazing on the grass. It was a Da-an, a herbivore, but to Baam, it was a monster.
"What should I do?" Baam whispered, gripping the Black March. "This monster still hasn't found me... If I attack now... I might win..."
He raised the needle, his stance awkward and stiff. "Okay... Now—"
"Oy, stop that."
Baam froze.
"With a posture like that," a cool, unimpressed voice came from behind him. "Even catching a rabbit would be difficult."
Baam spun around. Standing there, hands in his pockets, was the blue-haired boy he had seen earlier—the one who had decapitated the red giant. He looked relaxed, carrying a large leather briefcase as if he were commuting to an office rather than fighting for his life.
"And—" the boy, Khun, pointed at the grazing creature. "The Da-an tribe is very docile. So it doesn't just attack anyone. Even in a situation like this."
As if to prove his point, a massive, muscular man ran past the Da-an screaming, and the creature didn't even look up from its meal.
"...Ah," Baam lowered his weapon, feeling foolish. "Phew... thanks. For stopping me..."
"Oh— it's nothing," Khun said, sitting down in the grass. "But you should be able to see the Da-an tribe everywhere in the Tower... Where did you come from that you don't even know them?"
Baam stiffened. The warning from Yuri and Evan echoed in his mind. Irregulars bring chaos. If the King finds out, it's death.
"Huh? Th... that is..." Baam stammered, sweat beading on his forehead. "I can't say..."
Khun watched him, his sharp blue eyes analyzing every micro-expression. That is... it's a bit...
"Ah— you don't have to tell if you don't want to," Khun said with a closed-lip smile. Guess he's bad at lying. If he didn't want to say, it wouldn't have been a big deal to just say some random things.
"Well, then—" Khun stood up, dusting off his pants. "See you later. That is, if you survive this test."
"Ah! Yes...! Thank you!"
Khun began to walk away, the tall grass swallowing his figure. But after a few steps, he stopped. A strange sensation prickled the back of his neck. A shadow, heavy and oppressive, had fallen over the clearing.
He turned back to the boy with the black hair.
"Hey, Black Hair," Khun called out. "Did you happen to bring a pet along with you?"
"Huh?" Baam looked confused. "A pet... what do you mean?"
Khun pointed a pale finger past Baam's shoulder. "Here— There's an extremely gigantic— alligator here."
Baam turned.
Towering over him, blocking out the sun, was Rak Wraithraiser. The beast stared down with glowing red eyes, steam puffing from his nostrils.
"I AM NOT AN ALLIGATOR," Rak roared, his voice shaking the ground. "I AM THE FISHERMAN, RAK WRAITHRAISER!"
"Ho— the alligator even speaks?" Khun noted dryly.
"HOW MUCH DID YOU BUY THIS FOR?" Rak ignored Khun and leaned into Baam's face.
"I SAID I AM NOT AN ALLIGATOR! YOU PUNY TURTLE!!"
"AND I HAVE NO BUSINESS WITH YOU!" Rak pointed a claw at Khun. "THE ONE I HAVE BUSINESS WITH IS THE BLACK TURTLE, SO YOU BUZZ OFF!"
"Huh...?" Baam pointed at himself. "Me?"
"With that black hair?" Khun mused. "What kind of business?"
Rak grinned, a terrifying display of teeth. "IT'S A HUNT."
"Hu... Hunt?!" Baam yelped.
"THAT BLACK TURTLE IS MY PREY! SO YOU BUZZ OFF! WHITE TURTLE!"
"Me? Why!?" Baam cried.
"Ok, I get it," Khun said, turning away with a shrug. "Since it's none of my business, I'll just step aside."
Hmph— should have done that from the start, Rak thought, turning his full attention to Baam.
Khun walked a few paces, his expression unreadable. ...What is it? Why is he clinging onto that black hair? Strange... He doesn't seem to have a single special feature... No, on top of that, how did a guy like him even get chosen to enter the Tower?
Khun glanced back. Baam looked terrified, clutching the needle like a lifeline.
He looks like— he's on the verge of death at any moment...
Khun sighed. "-Ah. Ended up caring about it-"
"Stop... Just a moment!!" Baam shouted, backing away as Rak advanced. "G... Ra... Rak-ssi? Why are you trying to hunt me? I don't have a lot of meat and I probably don't taste good..."
"THAT WEAPON," Rak growled, pointing his spear at the Black March.
"!!" Baam clutched the needle to his chest.
"I WANT A FIGHT— WITH THAT WEAPON!"
Rak lunged. His spear tore through the air with a sound like a thunderclap.
"POHUHUK—!!"
CLANG!
Baam flinched, waiting for the impact. But it never came.
Sparks showered over him. He opened his eyes to see Khun standing in front of him, holding his leather briefcase up like a shield. The massive tip of Rak's spear was stopped dead against the leather surface.
"Run!!" Khun shouted, straining against the weight of the monster's attack.
"Ah! Right!!" Baam scrambled to his feet.
"ARGH— ANNOYING LITTLE... TURTLES—" Rak roared, pushing harder.
Khun deflected the spear and grabbed Baam's collar. They bolted into the grass.
"STOP RIGHT THERE YOU DAMNED TURTLES!!!" Rak screamed, giving chase, his heavy footsteps shaking the earth. "ONCE I CATCH YOU, I'M GOING TO HAVE A FEAST ON YOUR SHELL!!"
As they ran, the azure sky of the 2nd Floor seemed to stretch on forever, indifferent to the hunt. The unlikely trio—a Hunter, a Strategist, and an Irregular—tore a path through the golden fields.
The Test of the 2nd Floor had truly begun.