**Chapter 11: The Anatomy of Nothingness**
The stone tasted like cold iron and static electricity.
As it slid down Zayne's throat, it didn't dissolve. It felt heavy, a dense singularity dropping into the pit of his stomach.
For three seconds, nothing happened.
Zayne stood knee-deep in the toxic swamp water, the massive corpse of the Hydra slowly sinking beside him.
Then, the pain arrived.
It wasn't a burn. It was a subtraction.
Zayne fell to his knees, clutching his stomach. He felt as if a black hole had opened inside his gut and was trying to pull his organs, his bones, and his very soul into it.
"Gkh..."
He coughed, and violet smoke spilled from his lips instead of blood.
[System Alert: Foreign Object detected.]
[System Alert: Soul Signature matching...]
[Error. Error. Error.]
The blue system windows fractured, turning into jagged shards of red and black code.
[Assimilation in progress...]
[The Void accepts the vessel.]
Zayne's vision went dark. He wasn't unconscious; he was seeing *too much*. He saw the grid of the world. He saw the code that dictated the water was "wet" and the poison was "deadly."
And he saw the eraser.
**[Class Change Initiated.]**
**[Class: Void Walker (Mythical) obtained.]**
**[Stats Updated.]**
**[Mana is being converted to Void Energy.]**
The pain vanished instantly, replaced by a sensation of limitless depth. Zayne gasped, sucking in air that suddenly felt too thick, too heavy.
He looked at his hands. They looked normal, but when he clenched his fist, the space around his fingers warped, the light bending like water around a drain.
"Status," his voice sounded layered, echoing slightly.
[Name: Zayne]
[Class: Void Walker (Mythical)]
[Level: 18]
[Void Energy: 100/100 (Replaces Mana)]
[Strength: 35]
[Agility: 55]
[Stamina: 40]
[Class Skills Unlocked:]
**1. Dimensional Cut (Active):**
* Cost: 10 Void Energy.
* Effect: Coats a weapon in Void matter. The next attack ignores 100% of physical defense and cuts through spatial coordinates. Cooldown: 5 seconds.
**2. Void Pocket (Passive/Active):**
* Effect: The user has access to a sub-dimensional storage space. Capacity: Infinite. Living things cannot be stored.
* Active: Can "devour" inorganic matter to restore Void Energy.
**3. Phase Shift (Active):**
* Cost: 20 Void Energy.
* Effect: Become intangible for 2 seconds. While phased, the user cannot attack but is immune to all physical and magical damage. Cooldown: 30 seconds.
Zayne read the descriptions. A rare, genuine smile touched his lips.
"Defense Penetration," he whispered.
In the late game, bosses had millions of armor points. A normal sword would bounce off. But *Dimensional Cut* didn't care about armor. It cut the space *where the armor existed*.
He looked at the sinking Hydra corpse.
"Void Pocket."
He extended his hand. The space in front of his palm cracked like broken glass. A suction force erupted.
The massive, five-headed carcass of the Hydra—tons of flesh, bone, and scale—distorted. It stretched like taffy, spiraling into the small crack in the air.
*Schluuurp.*
In two seconds, the lagoon was empty. The corpse was gone, stored in his inventory.
[Void Energy Restored: 100/100.]
[Material Acquired: Hydra Scales x400.]
[Material Acquired: Hydra Meat (Toxic) x500kg.]
"Convenient," Zayne noted. No more carrying heavy bags.
He checked the time.
[Time Elapsed on Floor 2: 00:15:30.]
He was moving at a pace that defied logic. But he wasn't done.
He opened the Global Ranking board.
**[Tower of Trials - Global Leaderboard]**
1. **Zayne** - Floor 2 Cleared.
2. **Elara Vance** - Floor 1 Cleared.
3. **IronWall** - Floor 1 Cleared.
4. **Viper** - Floor 1 Cleared.
Only three other people had cleared the first floor. And they were likely resting, healing, and celebrating.
Zayne wasn't resting.
He walked toward the exit portal of Floor 2. The swirling vortex of light waited for him.
"Floor 3," Zayne recalled the data. "The Hall of Mirrors."
It was a puzzle floor. It copied the player's stats and created a 'Shadow Self' that knew every move the player made. You had to defeat yourself to pass.
For a normal player, it was a test of skill improvement.
For Zayne, facing a copy of himself—a copy that possessed the *Void Sovereign* bloodline—was arguably the most dangerous fight in the entire Tower.
"A mirror match," Zayne adjusted his collar. "Let's see if the System can calculate zero."
He stepped into the portal.
***
**[Location: City of Beginnings - The Central Plaza]**
The plaza was now a refugee camp. Thousands of players were sitting on the cobblestones, nursing wounds or crying. The shock of the Tutorial was wearing off, replaced by the grim reality of their situation.
"Did you see the board?"
"Yeah. Zayne. Who is he?"
"Some military spec-ops guy? Or maybe a beta tester?"
Near the fountain, a group of well-equipped players stood apart from the rabble. They wore matching red armbands. The **Red Dragon Clan**. In the future, they would be a superpower. Right now, they were just thugs with a head start.
"Boss," a scout ran up to a large man in plate armor. "We found him on the leaderboard. He's already on Floor 3."
The Boss, a man named **Krav**, spat on the ground. "Floor 3? We barely survived the Golems on Floor 1 with a full party. Is he hacking?"
"Maybe," the scout whispered. "Or maybe he found a bug. If we can find him... maybe we can 'convince' him to share it."
Krav grinned, tapping the hilt of his greatsword. "Yeah. Everyone has a price. And if he doesn't talk... accidents happen in the Tower."
High above them, on a floating screen that displayed the Tower's status, the text shifted.
**[Announcement: Player 'Zayne' has entered Floor 3.]**
**[Current Difficulty: Mythic.]**
The crowd went silent.
"Mythic?" someone whispered. "I thought the difficulty was standard for everyone?"
It was. Unless the player was an anomaly.
Inside the Tower, the System had just realized that Zayne broke the balance. It was adjusting.
It wasn't just a mirror match anymore.