TOG 11 — Rewrite (WebNovel-ready)
Scene 1
"I told you, Yuri. He was hiding deeper in the Tower than most High Rankers even know exists."
Yuri's voice carried that smug certainty she used whenever she'd dragged something impossible into the light and expected the world to deal with it.
"This is Selena," she continued. "The current Caretaker. She stepped out of the High Council of Guides."
The silver dwarf beside Yuri—Evan, the one who'd traveled with her from the First Floor—looked like he'd just met a living myth. His grin was too wide, too honest, like his face couldn't decide whether to bow or faint.
"Hello, madam Caretaker," Evan said, almost reverent.
Yuri dipped her head politely—formal, rare—then turned and flashed me a grin like she was proud to have found me again.
She was armed the way Yuri always was when she wanted the room to remember her name.
The black needle I'd seen Baam carry once—back when she'd let him borrow it—rested casually at her side like it didn't belong in the hands of a Regular at all.
And coiled at her hip was the green whip—the one the lizard girl carried.
Yuri noticed my eyes flick to them and gave me a look that said: Yes. Both. Don't make it weird.
Then she leaned in, voice warm with teasing.
"And Crow… it's been a while, hasn't it? How's the Tower treating you?"
She paused just long enough for the smile to sharpen.
"Or better yet—how much of FUG have you ruined already?"
Rumors. Even up here, even this far from the test floors, the Tower still carried stories like blood in water.
I shrugged.
"It's not my fault they're too weak to find their own way through Zahard."
Yuri's grin widened—like she'd missed that exact tone.
"He's not even my enemy, truly," I added. "Besides… your uncle Jinsung practically kidnapped me. No one else in that pit could deal with me unless they wanted to lose their mindless toys."
As I spoke, I lifted a hand and drew out the pocket Yuri had once shoved into my hands like a problem she didn't want to explain.
The cloaking flicked off. Nothing dramatic. Cloaking was common—beginner-level tricks. But the pocket itself carried history.
I held it out.
Yuri's expression shifted—just a fraction. Less playful. More… checking.
"Did the information help you?" she asked.
For all her swagger, Yuri still cared in the way only dangerous people could—by measuring whether you'd survived the things she warned you about.
"Plentiful," I said. "Enough detail that I could start my own information trade and never need to fight again."
Her brow rose.
I smiled. "Don't worry. I won't. Even if I'm a pirate at heart… honor is still a reputation-ending weapon."
I passed the pocket to her.
Yuri caught it without looking.
Then, like the object weighed nothing—like the decision weighed nothing—she tossed it back at me.
"Trade me information if you're worried," she said, as if she was announcing a rule the Tower should've had from the start. "And be careful who you sell to."
I caught it on instinct.
"As long as the Ha family and Zahard aren't directly involved," Yuri went on, casual as breathing, "it's fine. My grandmother doesn't care about small stuff."
That was Yuri.
Setting standards. Making exceptions official just by saying them out loud.
I laughed—nostalgia, pure and sharp—because Yuri had always been the kind of person who wanted to peel every piece of you apart and call it curiosity.
"So what's a pirate," she asked, eyes bright, "and where do you come from?"
Before I could answer, Yuri turned like she'd already decided we were done being serious.
"I guess we can take a break here for the day, Selena," she said. "Are there any natural Shinsoo pool areas around here?"
Her grin angled back toward me.
"He can heat them into a hot spring for us."
Selena nodded once—small, clean.
And then she placed a hand on Evan's shoulder, guiding him aside as if to show him something only a Guide would understand.
Evan followed immediately, still wearing that star-struck smile.
Yuri watched them go, then looked back at me like we were about to start the real conversation.
Scene 2
"You might as well open your eyes, faker."
I slipped through the window like a gouged ember—heat without flame—then took a seat beside my target as if I'd always belonged in her room.
Her eyes stayed shut.
Her breathing was slow.
Her body tried to sell me the lie of sleep.
But my instincts screamed that everything else was wrong.
The wheelchair sat near the bed.
And yet the state of her leg muscles told a different story—tension where there should've been decay, strength where there should've been wasting.
A performance.
I leaned closer.
"If you want to play that game, little star… then I'll snuff you out as the Sun to guarantee the Night can grow."
I reached toward her head.
Her hand snapped up and caught my wrist.
Her eyes opened—wide, furious—glaring at me like my existence was the insult.
"You would help him over me?" she hissed. "What did he do to get this much support? Why does everyone pick him?"
Her voice sharpened, venom slipping between every word.
"Even when all three of us arrived at the same time… everyone focuses on him. Even you."
Jealousy.
Not love.
Not destiny.
Selection.
As she spoke, I felt it—soft pressure against the door.
Ears listening.
A presence that didn't breathe like fear.
A presence that breathed like calculation.
Khun.
I smiled without humor.
"Why wouldn't I help a naive idiot who still believes in the goodness of a demon's heart?" I whispered. "Better to end his romance early so he can outgrow you."
Her face tightened.
"That's what scares you," I continued, "that he might be capable of outgrowing you. Outgrowing that stupid cave you unsealed."
I slid my hand to her throat.
Her eyes flared—then panic struck like a bell being rung inside her chest.
For the first time, the mask cracked.
Then a hand landed on my shoulder.
Heavy. Certain.
A grip that didn't ask.
"Ras," a lazy voice said, low and irritated, "what did I say about doing that?"
I didn't turn. I didn't need to.
"Let her go," the voice continued. "And let's get back to business while I'm still hidden."
Jinsung.
My handler.
My leash—when he felt like holding it.
I exhaled slowly. My senses had already confirmed what I came for.
And making that scheming bastard at the door more aware was for the best.
"Don't say my name in front of such scum," I muttered.
I released her.
She sucked air like she'd been drowning, eyes shaking as they snapped past me to the man behind.
"She better be happy," I added coldly, "that I like the night sky with stars more than I like the sea without them."
Then I turned.
My body shifted—heat folding into shape—flame becoming movement.
I flowed back through the window and vanished.
Behind me, the room went quiet.
And the little star fell into darkness.
Scene 3
"Once you enter this cave," Selena said, voice calm and absolute, "you'll be at the testing area for the Twenty-First Floor."
The cave mouth yawned like a wound in the world.
"Your only requirement is to maintain the restriction: Shinsoo enhancement only. Reach the testing area… and survive."
Simple rules.
The kind that killed people.
I stepped out, rolling my shoulders as the last tension bled away—heat still trapped beneath my skin from the hot spring, Shinsoo packed so thick it felt like breathing inside a storm.
Selena was already doing what Guides did best.
Disappearing.
Not walking away. Not leaving.
Just… no longer being part of the scene.
A decision road placed in front of us, and the Guide vanishing the moment the choice became ours.
I spread my senses across the water nearby—searching for whatever lived beneath it.
A monster. A watcher. Something waiting.
Then I felt it.
A familiar presence.
Seated on a boat with other testers.
Baam's group.
I tilted my head.
"I'll just follow them inside."
My body folded down, light and bone reshaping until I was small again—feathers made of gold, eyes sharp, presence thinning.
A little golden crow.
I slipped into the air behind them and hid my existence inside the heat like I was nothing more than the Tower's own breath.
Then I followed Baam into the test.
Quiet.
Patient.
Like a rumor waiting to become real.