The night before Floor Three, Ethan slept for four hours.That counted as improvement.Mina still complained.They had agreed to meet at the Association at six in the morning, which meant Ethan had no reason to be awake at 1:38 reviewing old EAT Floor Three maps on a tablet.He knew this.He continued anyway.The historical map showed a relatively simple floor.Long passage.Two combat chambers.One environmental trial.A rest zone.Transfer gate.Current reports said the floor was no longer simple.Parties described shifting corridors, old doors leading to new spaces and occasional legacy resonance that produced environmental memories instead of ordinary traps.No confirmed deaths in the previous week.Several panic-related injuries.One party withdrew after seeing members who had died years earlier.Ethan stared at that report.Not resurrection.No biological return.The Tower could generate echoes.Memory projections.Behavioral models.He knew how dangerous the difference could bec

The title was wrong.Kieran said so immediately.Kieran: We cleared Floor Two days ago.Ethan looked at the old plaque above the rest chamber.SECOND FLOOR.Not a System message.A physical sign.Daniel examined it.Daniel: Legacy construction marker.Mara: So this section used to be called the Second Floor?Ethan remembered.Ethan: In an early EAT beta route, Floors Four through Six were built as the second internal zone.Kieran: So the old developers really did organize the route this way.Daniel: Do not sound so pleased about it.Kieran: Did I?Mina: You did.Kieran: Fatigue.The physical plaque became a useful reminder.Numbers depended on context too.Current Floor Five remained Floor Five.An old development zone called "Second Floor" did not change that.Daniel photographed the sign and attached the classification.[LEGACY ZONE LABEL.][CURRENT PROGRESSION: FLOOR 5.]Ethan: Good.They had returned from Floor Four, rested for a day, repaired equipment and entered again with curr

The old labels became a running joke.A physical marker at the next Association supply depot called the Floor Seven sector:FOURTH FLOOR — INTERNAL DEVELOPMENT ZONE.Kieran pointed at it.Kieran: I am vindicated.Daniel: You are not.Kieran: Fourth floor. I remain vindicated.Daniel closed his eyes.Mina: Stop reacting. It feeds him.The actual current progression remained Floor Seven.That was what mattered.The team had spent two days recovering after Floor Six.Kieran received a replacement shield.Not legendary.A current D-rank reinforced model purchased partly through mission compensation from the robbery intervention.Mara restocked arrows.Daniel replaced one sensor.Leonard repaired his sword.Mina upgraded a mana-conservation accessory.Ethan finally replaced the simple short sword.He almost did not.The old weapon had become meaningful because it represented starting over.Then the repair technician examined the chip.Technician: You can keep using it.Ethan: But?Technici

The sixth old development-zone marker appeared at the entrance to current Floor Nine.Kieran had stopped trying to convince Daniel that the old zone labels proved his naming theory.He simply photographed the plaque.SIXTH FLOOR — COMBAT PROVING ZONE.Then he sent it to the group chat with no explanation.Daniel: I am deleting the chat.Kieran: You cannot delete history.Ethan: We have learned that lesson already.Floor Nine was the last current floor before the first major milestone.That alone changed the atmosphere.More parties gathered at the staging area.Some had been climbing cautiously for weeks.Others had rushed once they discovered the early floors were survivable with enough numbers.Guild recruiters worked the crowd.Merchants sold supplies at prices that increased the closer they moved toward the transfer gate.Main PK recruiters stood near the far wall.Not hiding.Current law had not banned the entire guild.Only individuals with verified criminal activity faced arres

Floor Ten changed how people looked at them.Not because the public knew about the hidden fragment.Because current Last Dawn had reached the first milestone with all six members alive.The achievement was modest compared with Ethan's old Floor One Thousand clear.Current society did not see it that way.For new Hunters, Floor Ten was becoming the first point where the Tower stopped feeling theoretical.A team had to survive enough current mechanics to arrive.Last Dawn had.News sites posted photographs.Former EAT forums resurrected old arguments.One headline read:GLOBAL RANK #1 RETURNS TO FLOOR TEN.Ethan hated it.Mina: Technically true.Ethan: Misleading.Mina: Also true.The article barely mentioned Leonard, Mara, Daniel, Kieran or Mina.Ethan sent one correction request.Not because he wanted praise distributed evenly.Because the current clear had been six people.The outlet updated the headline.FORMER GLOBAL #1'S CURRENT LAST DAWN CLEARS FLOOR TEN.Kieran: Worse style. Bet