Akira stood before the staircase to the Fifteenth Floor, but he didn't take a single step yet.
His heart was pounding—not from fear, but from something else.
Confusion.
Something felt wrong.
Terribly wrong.
He stared up at the endless stretch of white stone spiraling into glowing clouds and clenched his teeth.
"…System," he finally said.
Nothing answered.
Akira crossed his arms.
"System. I'm talking to you."
A faint, metallic chime rang inside his mind.
[SYSTEM ONLINE…]
There it was.
Its presence washed through his consciousness like a pulse of static electricity.
Akira exhaled.
"Good. Because we need to talk."
Akira pointed upward at the staircase.
"You told me—very clearly—that the tower only had ten floors. Ten."
[CONFIRMED. ORIGINAL TOWER BLUEPRINT: 10 FLOORS.]
"Then why," Akira said slowly, "am I about to climb the fifteenth?"
There was a delay.
A long one.
Longer than any delay the System had ever taken with him.
Akira's brow furrowed.
"…System?"
[PROCESSING…]
Another long pause.
[THE TOWER'S ARCHITECTURE HAS BEEN ALTERED.]
Akira felt a chill run down his arms.
"What do you mean altered?"
[THE TOWER HAS UNDERGONE AN UNAUTHORIZED EXPANSION.]
"…Unauthorized by who?"
[UNAUTHORIZED BY ALL REGISTERED ENTITIES.]
"That doesn't make sense," Akira muttered. "Someone had to build more floors."
[CORRECTION: 'SOMEONE' IS NOT REQUIRED.]
Akira froze.
"What does that mean?"
The System's reply felt heavier than usual.
[THE TOWER IS GROWING ON ITS OWN.]
Akira stared at the staircase again.
A structure—alive?
No… that was impossible… wasn't it?
He clenched his fists, frustrated.
"So the tower is spawning new floors out of nowhere? How?"
[TOWER BEHAVIOR DOES NOT MATCH ANY PREVIOUS PATTERNS.]
Akira tightened his jaw.
Something was clearly being hidden from him.
He paced slowly across the white marble floor, replaying everything in his head—the rising difficulty of each floor, the way enemies were becoming more aware, more unpredictable… and now the floors themselves increasing.
"System," Akira said quietly. "Be honest with me."
"Did you know there were more than ten floors before I asked?"
Another pause.
Then…
[PARTIAL TRUTH: I DETECTED AN UNKNOWN SIGNATURE ON FLOOR 10.]
Akira's eyes widened.
"Unknown signature? Why didn't you tell me?"
[UNABLE TO CONFIRM IF INFORMATION WAS ACCURATE. DATA CLASSIFIED AS 'AMBIGUOUS.']
"You still should've told me," Akira said sharply.
[Yes master]
[UPDATING PROTOCOL: ALL FUTURE AMBIGUOUS DATA WILL BE REPORTED.]
Good.
One problem solved.
But the bigger one—the tower itself—remained.
Akira inhaled slowly, letting the weight of the revelation sink in.
"So you're telling me I haven't even reached the original final floor yet… but the tower is already adding more floors?"
[CORRECT.]
"And it's doing this… why?"
[UNKNOWN.]
Akira rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"This is insane."
[AFFIRMATIVE.]
Akira glared at the disembodied voice.
"I wasn't asking you to agree—!"
[STATEMENT WAS NOT AGREEMENT. IT WAS A FACTUAL OBSERVATION.]
Akira blinked.
"…Huh?"
[THE TOWER'S BEHAVIOR NOW FALLS OUTSIDE ALL CALCULATED POSSIBILITY RANGES. THIS MEETS THE DEFINITION OF 'INSANE.']
Akira stared blankly.
"…System. Did you just call the tower insane?"
[YES.]
He dragged a hand down his face.
Of all the times for the System to develop… sass.
Still, he took a deep breath and faced the staircase.
"System," he said. "Tell me the truth—if the tower is growing, does that mean the difficulty is growing too?"
[CONFIRMED.]
[WARNING: FLOORS 11–20 ARE NOT PART OF ORIGINAL TRIAL SEQUENCE.]
[EXPECT UNFAMILIAR ENTITIES, ALTERED RULES, AND UNPREDICTABLE STRUCTURES.]
Akira didn't say anything for a moment.
Then:
"…So it's becoming something else."
[YES.]
"Something worse."
The System didn't answer this time.
It didn't need to.
Akira's Decision
Akira stared at the staircase once more.
Fifteen floors.
And the tower wasn't done.
It could become twenty… thirty… a hundred…
He tightened his grip on his sword.
He thought back to Seraphine—Keeper of the Fourteenth Floor.
Her warning echoed in his mind:
"The higher you go… the more the tower will try to turn your heart against you."
So she knew.
She knew the tower was changing.
And she didn't tell him why.
Akira's eyes hardened.
"…System."
[YES, AKIRA.]
"Open my status."
[DISPLAYING STATUS…]
A glowing screen appeared in front of him.
And something was different.
Something new.
At the bottom of his stats, flickering in red text:
UNSTABLE TOWER ENERGY DETECTED
PROXIMITY TO SOURCE: INCREASING
THRESHOLD: 14%
Akira swallowed.
"What… is that?"
[UNKNOWN.]
[THIS ENERGY SOURCE IS NOT PART OF THE ORIGINAL TOWER.]
"Is it dangerous?"
The System didn't answer right away.
[POTENTIAL DANGER LEVEL: EXTREME.]
Akira closed the screen with a wave.
Extreme danger… but also maybe extreme answers.
Maybe whatever was changing the tower was on a higher floor.
Maybe someone—or something—was behind it.
He took one step toward the staircase.
The air trembled.
But then—
A flash of gold appeared beside him.
Seraphine.
She materialized out of thin light, her expression uncharacteristically serious.
"You spoke with your System," she said quietly.
Akira nodded.
"So you knew."
"I suspected."
Her gaze drifted upward.
"I watched this tower grow… change… devour itself and rebuild. But even I do not know its true nature."
Akira frowned.
"You're the Keeper of a floor. Shouldn't you know everything about the tower?"
"No," she whispered.
"And if there exists a being who does… they are far above me."
She turned her golden eyes back to him.
"Akira. Before you climb further, I must ask you something important."
A soft wind blew through the chamber.
Her expression was neither threatening nor commanding…
…but pleading.
"Why do you continue climbing?"
Akira blinked at the unexpected question.
"Why?" he repeated. "Because I have to. Because I need answers. Because something or someone wants me here."
Seraphine shook her head.
"No. That is not what I asked."
She stepped closer.
"Not what you need. Not what the tower wants. Not what fate pushes you into."
Her voice was gentle.
Almost sad.
"Akira… what do you want?"
Akira froze.
He expected a warning.
He expected a rule.
He expected another trial.
But a question?
A question like that?
He lowered his gaze.
What did he want?
To protect the people outside?
To discover why he was chosen?
To uncover the truth of the tower?
Yes.
But that wasn't all.
He remembered his grandfather's words.
His promise.
His reason for fighting.
Akira lifted his head.
"I want to find out who I really am."
Seraphine's eyes widened slightly.
Akira continued:
"I don't care how many floors appear. I don't care if the tower is alive or broken or corrupted. I want the truth."
His voice steadied.
"I want answers—my answers. And I'll climb as high as it takes."
Seraphine exhaled, a faint smile touching her lips.
"Then go, Akira."
The staircase glowed brighter.
"The Fifteenth Floor awaits."
Akira nodded, stepping toward it again—
But Seraphine's voice stopped him one last time.
"Akira."
He looked back.
Her expression had turned cold.
Afraid.
"Be careful," she whispered.
"Because the deeper you go… the more the tower will try to make you question that answer."
Akira turned away.
"I'm not afraid of the tower," he said.