The moment Null Fang pierced the monstrous heart of the foreign entity, it unleashed a warped, Distorted screams—like a chorus of tortured voices screaming as one.
Its body twitched violently, spasming with unnatural resistance… until it convulsed one final time and fell limp.
Then—
> DING!
📟 [System Notification]
「BOSS DEFEATED — FIRST FLOOR CLEARED」
⬛ Progression : Advance to Floor 2
🏰 Gate to Floor 2 will open in 72 hours.
Shoyo blinked.
"…Huh?"
He took a step back. His breath came ragged, blood splattered across his cheeks and arms. The forest was dead quiet—like even the land held its breath.
"I thought… that wasn't the boss?"
"Then why…?"
"Was that thing even part of the Tower?"
As if answering, a golden panel materialized before him—not the usual cold-blue system UI. This one shimmered with spiraling circuitry and firelit gold edges.
Then… a voice:
📣 [SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT – SPECIAL RESPONSE PROTOCOL INITIATED] 📣
> ⚠️ Foreign entity was not part of Floor 1.
⚠️ Native Boss has been consumed by [REDACTED].
Due to Player [Shoyo]'s interference and successful neutralization:
✔️ Combat Resolution acknowledged.
✔️ Bypass granted. Floor marked as "Cleared."
✔️ Void Fragment " eliminated ".
💬 Note: You were not supposed to face that—yet.
Sho frowned. "That yet? What the hell does that mean—"
> 📟 Additional Notice:
[Null Fang] has registered Unique Combat Signature.
[Predator's Veil] bonded.
[Skill Fragment: Dimensional Echo] logged.
⚙️ Initiating Temporary Stabilization of Floor 1.
Estimated duration: 72 hours.
The panel flickered, then added one last line:
> 📌 You have been seen.
The Tower remembers.
WHOOSH!
A wave of purifying energy rippled outward from the monster's corpse. The corrupted terrain began to unravel—mutated flora and blackened stone restoring to their original forms, beginning from the epicenter.
Sho didn't move.
No smile.
His grip around Null Fang only tightened.
"…Then what in the world did I just fight?"
As the golden panel dissolved into sparks, the air fell still.
For a second.
💢 CRASHHHH!
A rift split midair beside Sho—like reality being unzipped—flashing neon with static crackles.
Out popped a familiar panel, flickering with barely contained outrage.
[???: YOU ABSOLUTE MANIAC.]
Sho blinked. Rolled his eyes. "Tch. Late as usual."
System: "EXCUSE ME?! I leave for FIVE MINUTES to run diagnostics, and when I come back, YOU'VE SLAYED A FOREIGN ENTITY?!"
Sho smirked. "Im not the one who started it, its only a self defense,,hehe".
System: "I SAID AVOID IT, NOT EXORCISE IT WITH A NULL BLADE, YOU GODLESS RAT!"
Sho tilted his head. "Oops?"
System: [Visibly malfunctions for 0.3 seconds out of sheer rage]
"Do you even REALIZE what you just did?! That thing was a fragment of a Voidborn Interloper! You know what those are?!"
"Big, gross, and now dead?" Sho offered helpfully.
System: "They're NOT supposed to be on Floor 1! That thing ate the native boss! I was literally ONE REPORT away from locking this entire floor!"
Sho crossed his arms. "Then good thing I got to it first."
System: "You handled it like a feral raccoon with god powers!"
The system frantically scanned the battlefield like a panicking admin drone.
Sho gave a sideways smirk. "Be honest. You're impressed."
System: "...Yes—but THAT'S NOT THE POINT!!"
A moment passed in silence, broken only by the hum of the recovering forest.
"Still… surviving that thing solo—no mana, no support? That's not just impressive."
Her voice dropped.
"That's terrifying. In a good way. Maybe."
Sho looked at his blade… then his hands. They were still shaking.
"…It felt real," he muttered. "Not like a game anymore."
System: "That's because it isn't.
Not for you. Not anymore."
Long pause.
Sho sighed. "So... you sticking around this time, or vanishing again while I fight its ugly cousin?"
System: "Rude. Also: yes. I'm staying. Gotta make sure this corpse doesn't respawn with a vengeance."
Sho yawned, tension finally draining from him. "Cool. I'm napping here. Wake me if something tries to eat me again."
System: "Fine. But if it does, stab it before I finish loading."
He gave a lazy thumbs-up and collapsed into the grass.
Sho flicked a blade of grass off his face. "Hey," he muttered, half-lidded. "You mentioned something earlier."
System: "Hmm? About how you have zero self-preservation instinct?"
"…No, after that," Sho said flatly. He sat up, eyes narrowing.
"Voidborn Interloper.
What is that?"
The System hovered midair. Its tone dropped.
"...You weren't supposed to hear that."
Sho raised a brow. "Too bad. Spill."
"Fine. But if the Cardinal System asks, I said nothing."
Sho leaned forward, interest piqued. "Go on."
📟 [System Analysis Log: UNLOCKED]
Panel appeared in front of Sho.
『Voidborn Interloper』
Classification: ⚠️ Unstable Floor Parasites
Threat Level: ☠️ SS-Class (Sealed Threat)
Origin: ⚫ Higher Tower Floors — 'Void Prison'
Nature: ❌ Non-Systemic. Not coded. Not born. Not recognized.
Objective: Unknown. Observed to consume corrupted code and overwrite native bosses to manifest.
Status: ⚠️ Should NOT exist on Floor 1.
---
System: "They're not bosses. Not players. Not Residents. They're… mistakes.
Born in gaps between system patches.
Like corrupted thoughts that gained teeth."
Sho frowned. "Then why was it on the Void Prison floor if it wasn't designed?"
System: "The Void Prison wasn't made to hold them. It was made to contain the residue of scrapped data. Like a digital graveyard.
Sometimes… something crawls out."
Sho muttered, "So what actually happened? That thing ate the boss? Seriously?"
System: "Exactly.
It devoured the original Floor 1 boss and overwrote it.
The system didn't even register the change until halfway through."
Sho squinted. "And if I hadn't killed it?"
System: "Worst-case?
It would've absorbed the entire zone, rewritten the floor, and spread corruption.
Floor 1 would've become a corrupted zone.
Players? Gone.
Residents? Erased."
"You didn't just win a boss fight, Sho.
You killed an infection."
Sho glanced at the lingering black cracks scorched into the soil.
Then grinned.
"heh…Cool. I don't want the Tower to be corrupted before I finish it."
System: "That's NOT the takeaway—!"
Sho stood up, stretching. "Voidborn Interloper, huh? I'll remember that."
His eyes sharpened with a smirk.
"If I see another one…"
"I'll plug that one too."
System: "SHO. FOR THE LOVE OF CODE—"
System: [Self-muting to prevent aneurysm]
"...Never mind."
The System disappeared...
Sho yawned again. "Hhmm… I should head back. I'm exhausted."
Sho stood at the heart of the recovering forest, staring at the lingering black cracks scorched into the earth.
"…Voidborn Interloper, huh?"
He flicked the Recall Stone in his hand, then smirked.
"I should call them. Things just getting good."
📟 [Recall Stone Activated]
🌀 [Returning to Earth…]
————————————————————
📟 [System Notice: Floor 1 Cleared ] [Temporary Lockdown Active]
⌛ Countdown to Floor 2 Activation: 72:00:00
[ Players may enter until the next Gate opens]
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