Elang: The Strongest Hunter in the Tower

CHAPTER 3: The Second Floor

"What a shame. This player was actually quite clever, yet he still fell on the very first floor. I'm rather disappointed; I thought we'd get a surprise, but it turns out there was nothing interesting after all," the Guide said, playing to the drone camera that was recording them.

"You're far too quick to jump to conclusions, Dragonfly."

The Guide gasped at the sound of the harsh, ragged growl. It spun around to see the wolf's massive carcass shifting. Suddenly, the beast's body was hoisted up and violently hurls aside.

Beneath it, Elang rose from the ground. His face and clothes were utterly drenched in blood, and he coughed weakly as he stood.

The Guide stared in disbelief at the wolf. Elang’s broken blade was driven straight through its heart. The blood soaking Elang from head to toe was entirely the monster's.

"I’m not dead yet. I am moving on to the second floor," Elang wheezed, forcing his trembling legs to stand upright, though he could barely keep his balance.

"Wow, what a twist! It turns out this weakling actually managed to slay three Grey Wolves!" the Guide squealed, instantly hyping it up for the drone camera. The lens pivoted back to Elang, whose pitch-black eyes glared with piercing intensity.

A status window materialized before him.

[Congratulations! You have completed the Floor 1 Tutorial!]

[Calculating Rewards...]

Elang ignored the Dragonfly Guide’s incessant rambling as it posed dramatically for the camera. His ears rang loudly, and every single inch of his skin felt as though it had been lacerated a hundred times over. Yet, his gaze remained locked onto the glowing system interface hovering in the air.

[Clear Rewards:]

Level Up! (1 -> 4)

Stamina: 3 -> 10 (Assimilation effect grants a permanent bonus)

Intellect: 4 -> 8

Willpower: 7 -> 12

New Skill: Focus Breathing (Rank F) - Accelerates energy recovery.

Items: Health Potion (Low Grade) x2

"Stamina increased to 10," Elang whispered, a wave of profound relief washing over him.

He could feel a fresh surge of vitality coursing through his veins, suppressing the burning agony from before. At the very least, he was now on par with an amateur Hunter—no longer inferior to a common farmer.

"Hey, Player! Don't celebrate just yet," the Guide warned, flying closer as its expression turned dead serious. "The first floor was merely a sieve to weed out the garbage. The second floor is where the Tower truly begins to prey. Are you seriously planning to proceed drenched in blood like that?"

Elang wiped the smear of blood from his cheek. He stared at the gate of light that had materialized in the center of the room—the threshold to Floor 2.

Back at school, he had always run away from his problems. He had always hidden in the restroom whenever Redi and his gang came looking for him.

But here, there was nowhere to hide. He would keep climbing this tower until the absolute end.

"I didn't come here to stop at the beginning," Elang said coldly. He took a limping but resolute step toward the radiant gate.

Just before he crossed the threshold, the system flashed an additional notification that made him freeze in his tracks.

[Special Warning!]

[You have drawn the attention of: 'The Overseer of Malice']

[The Hidden Title 'The First Breaker' has triggered a Special Quest on Floor 2!]

"A special quest?" Elang knit his brows.

In the game he played, a special quest meant massive rewards—but it also meant the risk of death skyrocketed by 80%.

"How is it even possible to trigger a Special Quest on the second floor?" Elang was utterly dumbfounded. Normally, a player wouldn't receive a special quest until they reached at least the fifth floor.

"What kind of quest is this going to be?" he muttered, an anxious dread tightning around his chest.

"Whatever it is, I have to be ready," Elang whispered, steeling his resolve.

He retrieved a Health Potion from his system inventory and downed the tasteless green liquid in one gulp. A refreshing coolness immediately spread through his body, knitting his torn skin back together, though his mental fatigue remained. With a steady gaze, Elang stepped firmly through the blinding gate of light.

Whoosh!

A brief, icy sensation enveloped his body, but it vanished as quickly as it came.

When Elang opened his eyes, he didn't find himself in a monster-infested forest or a cavern. Instead, he was standing in the middle of a room he recognized all too well.

"This is... the school restroom?"

Elang stood paralyzed. The rancid, damp odor, the cracked ceramic tiles, and the flickering, dim hum of the fluorescent lights. This was the exact spot where Redi frequently brutalized him.

[Floor 2: Hall of Mirrors]

[Special Quest: The Ghost of the Past]

Objective: Defeat your greatest fear.

Warning: Death within this illusion results in the absolute demise of your soul.

"What is the meaning of this? So it’s not just an illusion, it’s real? Or is it both?" Elang muttered, still trying to process the information on the status screen.

Suddenly, the restroom door slammed open with a deafening bang. Redi and his gang swaggered in, oozing their usual arrogant, thuggish demeanor.

"Hey, loser! How dare you hold out on the exam answers earlier!"

The sound made the hairs on Elang's neck stand on end. He stood frozen, his mind racing to make sense of everything.

"Defeat my fear? Am I supposed to kill them?" Elang’s anxiety and restlessness intensified. Even if this was an illusory world, how could he bring himself to kill human beings?

Redi stepped forward, his visage appearing far darker and more monstrous than Elang remembered. In his hand, a thick wooden plank embedded with rusted nails screeched as it dragged across the tiled floor.

"Why are you staying quiet, huh?! You think just because you stumbled into this bizarre place, you can act like a tough guy and play the hero?" Redi barked. He raised his hand, poised to deliver a devastating blow straight to Elang’s face.

"Once a loser, always a loser," Redi mocked, a sentiment instantly echoed by the raucous laughter of his lackeys.

Elang felt his entire body turn to stone. The crushing mental weight of years of real-world trauma felt like heavy chains anchoring his feet to the floor. His newly acquired Willpower stat of 12 felt utterly useless against the very person who had systematically stripped him of his dignity day after day, cementing his status as a loser.

[Warning! Host's Mental State is Highly Unstable!]

[Willpower stat suffers a -50% penalty due to the 'Trauma' effect.]

'Damn it! Why am I still terrified?!' Elang’s mind screamed. He desperately wanted to fight back, but his hands shook uncontrollably.

Thud!

A vicious punch slammed into Elang's cheek. The pain was excruciatingly real. Fresh blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. This was no mere visual illusion; the physical agony was one hundred percent authentic.

"Look at you, still a piece of garbage!" Redi laughed. His mockery echoed unnaturally throughout the entire restroom, sounding as though thousands of Redis were jeering at him at the exact same time.

"Shit!" Elang muttered, his head spinning violently as a sharp, agonizing ring pierced his ears.

***