Alessio Leone's Perspective
Alessio didn't know whether to laugh at himself or promise Matteo a feast fit for a king.
While his mind churned like an overworked gear, aligning plans, arguments, and strategies to convince each of those girls that joining them was the best possible choice… the engineer simply opened his mouth and solved everything.
Damn Matteo.
The irony was almost cruel. Alessio had ten years of experience inside the Tower. Ten years of defeats, lessons, observations, and even one bitter death.
He carried within him a level of knowledge about the game that no one else possessed.
In essence—and quite literally—he was a reincarnated player. A strategist armed with information that could buy entire continents if ever put up for sale.
And yet, while he was mentally drafting a speech worthy of a courtroom lawyer… his childhood friend resolved it all with a few careless words tossed into the air, weightless, unplanned.
And it worked.
It worked in such a simple way that it almost hurt.
The girls—those very same ones he thought he'd need to persuade one by one, with patience and cold logic—exchanged quick glances, wavering between hesitation and acceptance, and then simply agreed.
Of course.
There was no official contract, no oath, nothing resembling the elaborate commitments of the guilds from his past life. But there was, nonetheless, a silent understanding.
They weren't officially a party.There was no signature, no system binding them.But for now, they were tied together by something even rarer: a promise.
They had made a promise to keep venturing together.
And for Alessio… that was more than enough.
He almost laughed—almost let himself burst out at the irony: a title as rare as a legendary item, The First Pioneers, now rested upon five heads that barely knew each other.
If it had been another group, an experienced team like the one he once belonged to in his previous life—if it had been the old guard of players—they would already be drafting contracts, planning alliances, writing endless clauses about loot division and item priority.
But here?None of that.
All they had were Matteo's words and the girls' goodwill.
And it simply worked.
Alessio drew in a deep breath, feeling the Tower's invisible weight pressing down on his shoulders. He knew, better than anyone, the gift they had just claimed in this dungeon. He knew that team titles were nearly impossible to obtain.
Even with ten years of memories engraved in his mind, he had scarcely heard of another like it.
And he certainly had no idea how to get one.
They had received a treasure.A gift disguised as a reward.A trump card that could shape their entire future.
Of course, only he understood that.And he needed the others to realize that, whether they liked it or not, they were already bound within the game—practically forever.
That was his plan.That would be the next step.
But for now… Matteo had already done enough.
Alessio cast a sideways glance at his friend. The mage adjusted his glasses with a satisfied look, probably thinking he had just made a witty joke. He likely hadn't even noticed the weight of what he had secured.
And for the first time in a long while, Alessio found himself wondering if maybe he should take a few lessons from Matteo about socializing.
Because in the end, his steel walls could protect against monsters.But not against people.
As he had personally proven.
After a while, Alessio let himself slide down until his back rested against the side wall of the hall. He could move again, but every fiber of his body still screamed in protest. The Tower's invisible toll weighed heavily on his madness.
His breathing came slow, deep, while the pain spread like embers under his skin.It wasn't lethal. It wasn't crippling. But it was enough to remind him that, no matter how much experience he had, he was still human.
With a sigh, he opened the system panel.The cold numbers floated before his eyes: 15:15.
Ten minutes…That was the exact time it had taken to defeat the boss and its two guards. Ten minutes of absolute chaos that had felt like hours.
Now the hall was eerily silent.The corpses were already beginning to dissolve into black particles, absorbed back into the Tower's code.
The others, sprawled on the ground when the battle ended, gasping like fish out of water, were now getting to their feet one by one, scouring the dungeon's corners for coins, gems, and scraps of equipment.
He, however, wasn't in a hurry.
Every attempt to lift his body was answered by a wave of throbbing pain in his muscles. It was an invisible suffering, bloodless yet burning inside. It wasn't worth forcing.And luckily, his new companions seemed to understand his condition. No one demanded his participation.
That said a lot.
Their time together—barely eight hours since they had first met—was already enough for Alessio to feel some trust. He wasn't worried about the loot being diverted, didn't think he'd be robbed. Not by this group, at least.
Eleanor, in his past life, had been remembered as one of the most honorable healers in the Tower. Integrity was simply part of who she was. Matteo, on the other hand… well, Matteo was Matteo. That was enough.
Besides, Alessio had already decided: he would not leave this dungeon today.That would be pure stupidity.Forcing his body after a fight like that would only lead to disaster. Time was on his side—and he would use every minute to recover.
He was still lost in that thought when he heard quick footsteps approaching.
It was Matteo.The engineer came running toward him, a goofy smile on his face and something gleaming in his hands under the flickering torchlight.
A helmet.
Matteo arrived panting, holding the helmet aloft like an Olympic trophy.His grin stretched from ear to ear, and his voice came out with almost childlike excitement:
"Hey, man… check this out. You're gonna love it."
Alessio raised an eyebrow, not moving much. He carefully took the object, turning it over in his hands.
He blinked.
And Matteo was right… he did love it.
He truly hadn't expected to find such an item in this dungeon. It was almost as if fate itself was helping him grow.
The piece looked as though it had been forged from the bones of a lion. More mask than helmet, it resembled a predator's face rather than simple armor.The front was molded from the beast's skull, its curved fangs forming a frame that descended to the wearer's chin, as if the jaws of the creature were forever clenched over one's own.
The polished bones gleamed ivory in the torchlight, yet still bore the scars of battle: deep scratches, subtle fissures, petrified marks telling the tale of ancient fights.The lion's eye sockets had been reshaped into narrow slits, revealing only the wearer's eyes—two blades of gaze carved into the void, amplifying the piece's menacing aura.
It was an intimidating item, but what truly caught Alessio's attention was its description.