[Congratulations to player "Raging Wolf" for achieving a perfect SSS rating in the world "Death Note."]
[You have earned 3,000 World Points.]
[Note: This world has already been cleared, so you will only receive the standard reward.]
[You can no longer enter this world.]
Robert stared at the system notifications, trying to control his shock.
It had been a week since Louis's fiery speech. Since that day, he had been the first to sign the contract Louis gave him — and soon after, the other knights followed his lead.
What they hadn't expected was that their new lord was the same person who had just achieved a perfect SSS rating. Using the strategy Louis shared, all of them had also managed to get perfect scores in their own stages.
There wasn't a global announcement about it, and the rewards were small — but a perfect rating was still a perfect rating.
Robert had tried to clear a stage last week. Although he was the first to receive Louis's strategy, he had to wait an entire week before he could test it himself.
Now, with Louis promising to share more hints for passing several "safe zone" worlds, Robert's loyalty — and the loyalty of the other knights — had grown stronger.
Even if these were only safe worlds, the rewards could still help them grow stronger and prove themselves to those who had exiled them before.
Meanwhile, Louis was wandering inside the Tower's space, thinking about whether he should begin the main story stages or stay a little longer in the safe zone.
Before he could decide, the familiar mechanical voice of the system echoed in his mind:
[You have a new message.]
["Ice Flower" is inviting you to a video call.]
"Open the video," Louis said.
A few seconds later, a floating 3D video window appeared before him.
Inside the Tower, no one could see another player's private space without permission. That meant that even if Louis was checking his status screen or speaking through video, others around him wouldn't be able to see or hear a thing.
Now, in the video, a masked girl appeared.
"L.K., it's me," she said.
"You haven't contacted me for a week, so I'll ask for a final answer today. Are you planning to sell your stage-clearing strategy for the Death Note world?"
Louis looked at the masked girl, known as "Ice Flower." Her outfit was very similar to his — both were designed to hide their real identities.
In the Tower, avatars could be customized freely to conceal one's real appearance, but gender and voice could not be changed. It was still easy to tell if someone was male or female.
"I want a cash deal," Louis said calmly. "Two thousand gold coins. What do you think?"
"No problem… but how can I send you the gold coins?" she asked.
That's the issue, Louis thought. Face-to-face trade? Impossible.
When she saw him hesitate, the masked girl said, "If you trust me, you can tell me your location in the real world. I'll come deliver the coins myself. After that, you can return to the Tower at night and share the Death Note strategy with me."
"That's not acceptable," Louis said firmly.
Revealing his real-world identity or location was far too dangerous.
"Then the only way left is to trade through the Tower's official channel," she replied. "But you know the fee is high — 30%. Are you really willing to lose that much money?"
Louis's eyes lit up. He had almost forgotten that this feature existed.
The 30% fee was ridiculous — six hundred gold coins out of two thousand!
Still, for the sake of safety, it was worth the cost.
"Let's trade through the Tower channel. I can accept the fee," Louis said.
The masked girl paused. "..."
Is he really that cautious… or does he just not want to meet me? she wondered.
"Fine then. Tomorrow night, we'll trade. Goodbye."
The moment she finished speaking, she cut off the call.
Louis didn't mind. He closed the video window and looked out into the distance. Then he decided to head toward the central zone.
When he arrived, the familiar system voice spoke in his mind again:
[Player L.K., do you require any assistance?]
"I want to challenge a world stage," Louis said.
[Please place your hand on the interface and wait for the system to assign your world.]
A glowing panel appeared in front of him. Louis placed his hand on it. After a few seconds, the voice returned.
[The world "One Punch" has been selected as your first-floor stage.]
When Louis saw that, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Alright," he murmured. "It's time to get serious."