Across the room, a pair of glowing eyes turned toward him.
The Kharu Warden who managed the store had noticed.
The stone-like figure rose slowly from its seat behind the shelves, its movements calm and deliberate as it stepped closer to the counter. The conversations inside the store quieted almost immediately as people noticed the Warden moving, instinctively giving it space.
The Kharu stopped a short distance from Adrian and studied him in silence for a moment.
"You appear unstable," it said in its usual flat, emotionless tone.
Adrian blinked, trying to steady himself as the pressure in his head slowly began to fade.
"I'm fine," he replied, though the words came out weaker than he intended.
The Warden's glowing eyes lingered on him for another moment before it spoke again.
"You will end your shift for today."
The statement carried no anger and no sympathy, only the quiet authority the Kharu always possessed.
"Return to your residence and rest."
It wasn't a suggestion.
Adrian nodded slowly.
Without arguing, he closed the register and stepped away from the counter while the murmurs inside the store gradually resumed behind him.
Outside, the streets felt strangely quiet compared to the noise he had left behind.
Adrian walked home without really paying attention to where he was going, his mind replaying the events of the day over and over again.
Ronan missing girlfriend.
The four adventurers who should have already been dead.
And now the confirmation that they had died exactly the way he remembered.
By the time he reached his apartment, exhaustion pressed heavily against him.
He collapsed onto the bed without bothering to remove his jacket, staring at the ceiling while the voice from the dream echoed faintly in his thoughts.
Eventually, the weight of fatigue dragged him into sleep.
Morning arrived quietly over the city of Thalvoria, the pale light of dawn spreading across the rooftops and stone streets as the settlements beneath the Tower slowly came to life. Adrian walked toward DelveMart along the same route he followed every day, passing merchants opening their stalls and adventurers gathering their equipment for another descent into the dungeon.
At first, everything felt normal.
That feeling lasted only until he passed the automated notice board standing in the plaza near the dungeon district.
The board was a tall slab of polished obsidian embedded into the stone pavement, its surface filled with glowing lines of system text that constantly updated the public with the Tower's current progress. The structure had been placed there by the Wardens years ago so that everyone living in the city could see how far humanity had advanced toward clearing the dungeon.
Adrian slowed his steps as his eyes drifted across the board.
A new update had appeared during the night.
[Tower Progress Update]
[5 Floors Cleared]
[95 Remaining]
Adrian stopped walking.
"…What?"
For several seconds, he simply stared at the glowing letters, convinced he must have misread them.
That couldn't be right.
If his memory was correct, the highest cleared floor should have been nineteen, and Ronan's party had been preparing to challenge the twentieth floor just yesterday.
Yet the board displayed something completely different.
Adrian felt a faint knot form in his stomach.
Without wasting another second, he turned and headed toward the reception desk positioned near the entrance of the dungeon complex.
The area surrounding the Tower entrance had been carefully designed by the Wardens to handle the constant traffic of adventurers. The plaza was wide and open, paved with dark stone that formed a circular courtyard around the enormous gate leading into the dungeon. Several administrative counters had been built along the outer ring of the plaza where workers handled registrations, progress reports, and dungeon records.
One of those counters was staffed by a human receptionist.
She sat behind a curved desk made of smooth white stone, surrounded by floating system panels that displayed dungeon statistics and adventurer records. Her uniform was simple but neatly maintained, a dark vest over a light shirt that marked her as one of the civilian workers assigned to assist adventurers.
When Adrian approached, she looked up with a polite smile.
"Good morning," she said. "What can I help you with?"
Adrian gestured toward the notice board behind him.
"That update is wrong."
The receptionist glanced briefly in the direction he indicated before turning back to him with the same calm expression.
"I assure you, sir, the information displayed there is correct."
Adrian frowned slightly.
"It says five floors have been cleared," he said. "It should say nineteen. Eighty-one remaining. Am I missing something?"
The woman blinked in confusion.
"…Floor nineteen?"
Her smile faded as she examined Adrian more carefully.
"Sir, there must be some misunderstanding," she said gently. "No expedition has ever cleared beyond the fifth floor."
Adrian felt the unease inside his chest tighten.
He looked at the notice board again.
Then back at the receptionist.
"Sir… are you alright?" she asked, her expression beginning to show concern.
Adrian quickly nodded.
"Yes. I'm fine."
He turned away before she could ask anything else and began walking toward the Tower entrance itself.
Two Kharu Wardens stood guard near the massive gateway leading into the dungeon. Their stone-like bodies remained completely still as adventurers passed between them, their glowing eyes silently observing everyone who approached.
Adrian moved past them without being stopped.
Even though Adrian was not registered as an active adventurer, the Kharu standing guard at the dungeon entrance did not interfere as he approached. The Wardens rarely concerned themselves with who entered the Tower, as the risk of death inside its floors was considered a personal choice rather than a crime.
Beyond the guards stood a large magical interface embedded into the wall beside the entrance. The device functioned as a public access terminal that allowed adventurers to check floor availability and teleport to any cleared level they had permission to access.
Adrian stepped forward and placed his hand against the glowing panel.
He selected Floor 19, and the response appeared immediately.
[Floor 19 Locked]
[Available Floors: 1 – 5]
Adrian slowly stepped back.
His mind struggled to process what he was seeing.
"This made no sense."
Perhaps the Khura had temporarily closed the higher floors for some reason, though he could not remember hearing any announcement about such a thing.
With growing unease, Adrian opened his system window.
The familiar blue interface appeared before him.
And immediately something caught his eye.
[Iterations: 49]
Adrian stared at the number, his heartbeat quickening as a cold realization crept slowly into his thoughts.
Only a few hours ago, that number had been different.
A single, terrifying possibility formed in his mind.
"Had the world…Just reset?"