Tower 1 — Ascent to Floor Five
The staircase spiraled upward, carved from stone that looked like it shouldn't exist.
Smooth, seamless.
Unbroken.
Cold, but not naturally so—cold like absence.
Ragnor gripped the railing.
"…I hate this Tower."
Lyra moved quietly behind him, bow drawn but lowered.
"I hate the part where things smarter than us hide in the walls."
Iris clung to Aetherion, unable to stop trembling.
"I hate the part where they laugh."
Aetherion didn't reply.
His cosmic senses rippled out, drifting along the walls like stardust.
Nothing.
No life.
No aura.
No monster presence.
Except DRM.
Small.
Silent.
Echoing lightly up the stairs ahead of them—never too fast, never too slow.
Just enough to make them follow.
Ragnor grunted.
"He just keeps walking like some creepy little death guide."
Lyra whispered:
"He hasn't looked back once… even after the boss…"
Aetherion stared at DRM's back.
"He doesn't need to."
Iris swallowed hard.
"Why…? Because he's strong…?"
Aetherion shook his head slowly.
"No.
Because he already knows what's on the next floor."
The Staircase Lights Dim
A soft click echoed down the corridor.
A sound like a finger tapping stone.
Ragnor froze.
"Oh hell no."
Lyra nocked an arrow instantly.
"Iris, Aetherion—!"
Iris hugged her book to her chest.
"T-that's him…"
Her voice shrank to a whisper.
"The boy…"
Aetherion's eyes narrowed.
"Yes."
Another soft click.
Closer this time.
Right above them.
Ragnor clenched his fists.
"Show yourself, freak!"
A laugh answered him.
Soft.
Cruel.
But playful.
"You keep asking…
but you're not ready."
Lyra spun.
"Where are you?!"
The laugh echoed behind her.
Ragnor swung blindly at the air—
"COWARD—!"
A small hand gently tapped his head.
Ragnor froze.
Then instantly spun to grab whoever touched him—
But there was no one there.
Aetherion activated a gravitational wave.
The wave hit nothing.
Absorbed into the dark.
As if swallowed by a hole no one could see.
Iris whispered in horror:
"S-something's wrong… he… he's not in the present…"
Aetherion stiffened.
"What do you mean?"
Iris pointed to the air behind them.
"He's stepping into moments that… aren't happening yet."
Lyra shook her head.
"That's impossible—"
"No," Iris said, trembling harder.
"It's temporal displacement.
He moves where he will be, not where he is."
Aetherion's eyes widened.
"A future foothold…"
Ragnor roared in frustration.
"I CAN'T HIT A FUTURE!"
The laugh echoed again—louder this time.
"You don't need to."
Ragnor clenched his fists.
"Then COME DOWN HERE!"
Silence.
Then—
A whisper from above:
"I wasn't talking to you."
Their blood ran cold.
Because that whisper…
That quiet tone…
Was directed at DRM.
DRM Stops Walking
They didn't realize it at first.
Then Ragnor bumped into Iris.
"Hey—why'd you stop—?"
But Iris wasn't looking at him.
She was staring ahead.
At DRM.
Still as stone.
Head tilted.
Mask angled slightly upward.
Red eyes glowing faintly through the slits.
Lyra exhaled shakily.
"He's… reacting…"
Aetherion nodded.
"Yes."
The stalker boy whispered:
"You took my toy."
Ragnor blinked.
"What toy—?"
Another whisper.
"That monster.
He was fun to watch."
Lyra's pulse spiked.
"You… wanted the King to kill us?"
The laugh came again.
"Maybe."
Iris covered her mouth.
"He's not talking to us… he's talking to DRM…"
Aetherion whispered:
"No.
He's provoking him."
The staircase vibrated.
Not the floor.
The air.
As if two invisible forces were beginning to overlap.
Ragnor stepped back.
"Oh fuck—"
Then they heard the whisper again.
This time right behind DRM.
"…do you remember me?"
Lyra whispered:
"…this again…"
Aetherion narrowed his eyes.
"He's trying to trigger something."
DRM tilted his head.
Not back toward the stalker.
Forward.
As if to say:
That question didn't matter.
The stalker boy giggled.
"You always pretend you don't.
That's why it's fun."
Ragnor whispered:
"'Always'…?"
Lyra's breath stopped.
"You mean… he's met DRM before?"
Aetherion shook his head.
"No…
it means DRM met him before."
Iris whispered:
"In another life…"
Aeterion's eyes sharpened.
"Or another timeline."
Then the laughter stopped.
And the voice spoke clearly:
"See you soon, brother."
The Moment Everything Changes
The torches went out.
The staircase went black.
Ragnor grabbed Lyra's shoulder.
"WHERE IS HE?!"
Aetherion extended his senses—
Nothing.
No presence.
No time signature.
No echo.
He vanished.
Not teleported.
Erased from the moment.
Iris collapsed to the floor.
"H-he's gone… b-but not gone… h-he still exists… he's just… somewhere else…"
Aetherion clenched his fists.
"That boy breaks the laws of this Tower."
Lyra whispered:
"DRM didn't respond to him at all…"
Ragnor grunted.
"Yeah… that worries me."
But Iris suddenly gasped—
"DRM is moving."
He was.
Climbing the last steps without hesitation.
As if that disturbing whisper meant absolutely nothing.
The others hurried to follow.
Ragnor gulped.
"I swear if Floor Five is worse than this—"
Lyra cut him off.
"It is."
Aetherion nodded grimly.
"Yes."
Iris hugged her book to her chest.
"It's the floor where—"
But she didn't finish.
Because the staircase ended.
And they stepped into…
A floor glowing with blue veins running across the walls.
A floor echoing with distant humming.
A floor that smelled like metal and blood.
A floor where the tower's machinery awakened.
The system message appeared:
[WELCOME TO FLOOR FIVE]
[THE TEST OF MEMORY BEGINS]
Ragnor whispered:
"…oh shit."
Lyra lowered her bow.
Iris took a step back.
Aetherion stared at DRM.
And DRM…
Tilted his head again.
As if he had been waiting for this floor.