"Ugh… looks like this is my limit… huff… huff," Butler Leon panted as he gritted his teeth and stepped onto the 500th floor before falling to his knees, drenched in sweat. He looked up and saw only two people ahead of him.
"At least Young Lady Sarah seems to be doing fine, still going toe to toe with Elder Julian," Butler Leon said with a faint smile as he watched Sarah on the 550th floor along with Julian, both climbing with ease. Then he heard some chatter behind him.
"Hey, are my eyes playing tricks on me, or is the information above his head actually showing lowest floor?" one of the rankers rubbed her eyes in disbelief, staring at Victor with a gawking expression.
"No, you're not wrong… and what the hell is that name?" another man said, looking seriously at Victor—only for his seriousness to vanish as his lips twitched when he read the name and his face turned a bit weird looking at him.
"Impossible, how can lower floor trash climb so high while most high-rankers failed?" another noble exclaimed, refusing to believe what he was seeing.
"Damn, his bloodline must be above S-class," another person said in disbelief like many others who made the same conclusion.
Leon, who turned his head back after hearing all the noise from below, felt his eyes nearly pop out of their sockets when he saw the figure.
'Heavens, how did this bastard climb so high?' Butler Leon cried out in disbelief, rubbing his eyes several times to check if he was hallucinating, only to watch Victor surpass the 10th person and continue advancing, leaving everyone else behind.
Gulp.
'He's going to overtake me.' Leon swallowed a mouthful of saliva as he saw Victor pass the 4th person and head toward him. His jaw almost dropped when he noticed Victor was completely fine under the crushing pressure, just like Sarah and Julian. He could only watch as Victor passed him by and stepped beyond the 500th stair.
Victor ignored everyone and everything around him—his only focus was the step directly in front of him. Nothing else mattered. He forgot his enemies, he forgot the treasures, he forgot the steps he had already left behind. He didn't even notice Leon as he passed, moving as though something from above was irresistibly pulling at his bloodline.
He didn't realize when, but at some point, he had already stepped past 600 stairs—and at this moment, he was in first place. Victor finally snapped out of his trance when he sensed two familiar presences nearby and saw Sarah and Julian, both drenched in sweat as they struggled to keep climbing.
He looked back over his shoulder and saw that many who had been following him had already stayed behind. Leon, in particular, was staring at him with his mouth wide open. Victor just shook his head and continued advancing.
"Eh… Victor?" Sarah, who saw him reach the 631st floor, paused and looked at him in disbelief. Even Julian turned back, surprised to see Victor still advancing upward without showing the slightest resistance.
'Could his bloodline be above SSS rank? I did sense his bloodline was strong, but not this high. Only the top Rankers possess such terrifyingly high-ranked bloodlines,' Julian thought, his eyes widening
"Wait, how is this possible? Is he going to break the record?" Sarah said nervously as she watched Victor climb past the 720th floor. Not only her, but the others were also nervous and shocked.
721st stair… 722nd stair… 723rd stair.
"Heavens, he reached the highest stair anyone has ever reached!" Sarah said as she clenched her fists.
724th stair.
"Heavens, who is this guy? He broke the record!"
"Damn, how can someone from the lowest floor do this? I refuse to believe it. The Akashic Records must have made a mistake—he must be some old monster who just came out of seclusion!"
Everyone's eyes widened in disbelief, yet none of them could look away. All their gazes remained fixed on Victor.
1000th stair… 2000th stair… 3000th stair… 6000th stair.
"How is this possible?" Leon muttered, his voice trembling as his mouth hung open. He truly thought he was dreaming.
'Is he really like us? No wonder he refused,' Natasha Celestia thought, her eyes quivering. She too believed the Records had made a mistake. How could someone this monstrous come from the lowest floor?
7000th stair… 7500th stair… 8000th stair… 9000th stair… 9900th stair.
"Ugh," Victor grunted as he suddenly felt the pressure bearing down on him.
"Is he going to conquer the Staircase to Wealth and finally see what's at the top?" someone said with anticipation. By now, everyone had forgotten he was from the lowest floor—even many high-rankers were hoping he would reach the top.
"Heavens, just a hundred more stairs left!" someone exclaimed. At this point, everyone had stopped their own climb, their eyes glued to Victor, nervous to see if he would become the first to conquer all the stairs.
9920th stair… 9940th stair… 9980th stair.
"Huff… huff…" Victor panted heavily as he stopped advancing and sat on the stairs to recover his stamina.
"Hey, is it over? Is this his limit?" someone said with a frown.
"Looks like this is his limit," another shook his head with a disappointed sigh.
Seeing Victor stop, the others resumed their climb.
Three hours later…
Victor stood up, having recovered his stamina, and resumed his climb. His movement caught everyone off guard.
"Heavens, I thought that was his limit, but looks like I was wrong!" one of the climbers said in an excited voice.
9985th stair… 9992nd stair… 9999th stair.
"One more… just one more stair and we'll witness history," someone whispered in a trembling voice.
"Ugh… damn!" Just as Victor was about to step onto the last stair, an overwhelming pressure—hundreds of times stronger than anything before—crashed down on him, forcing him to his knees. He gritted his teeth, struggling to resist.
[???? bloodline is reacting violently]
[Minimizing pressure]
Victor clenched his jaw and forced hismelf to get up and then put his feet on the 10000th stair.
[Ding Dong]
[ 'I am even more low profile' has cleared the Staircase to Wealth]