The Tower’s New Rules

What did you expect? Another round of really difficult demands. Liam stepped out of the shimmering portal onto the 30th floor and found himself at the center of a beautiful town. The sun was up, the streets filled with noise, and hundreds of people covered the cobbled ways. Some were talking, some trading, while others were just sitting, resting.

Liam's frown deepened with a sudden appearance of a notification window right before his eyes.

[SYSTEM UPDATE]

Welcome to Tower Hub (Safe Zone). No fighting permitted here.

You will now be able to converse with other challengers.

The players can now view their status window according to their will.

The Tower Store Feature is now unlocked for buying items, skills, or even temporary guidance from the Administrator.

You may also freely come back to this town until you reach the 50th floor. This is your saving point.

From now on, the challenges will be in Arc-Based Progression. The choices you make in floors will affect what challenges will be up ahead, so choose wisely.

Timed challenges will be introduced. Not succeeding will lead to permenent death.

Liam blinked. He was absorbing all that information. "Status window?" he mumbled to himself with wonder.

"Open Status," he said instinctively.

In front of him opened up a translucent square window floating midair. The window read:

[Status Window]

Name: Liam

Level: 45

HP: 2400/2400

Strength: 79

Dexterity: 89

Agility: 115

Skills:

Enhanced Reflexes

Sword Mastery (Intermediate)

Nyx's Bond (Pet Skill)

Equipment: Steel Sword, Agility Ring

Gold: 0

Liam studied the details. Everything is extremely short and to the point but very impressive.

"This place is just like those towns in computer games," he muttered. Nyx stood beside him, turning his head curiously, wondering what was going on. Liam looked around the area again-there were people coming in and out, heading toward guilds, pubs, blacksmiths, and what seemed like a witch hospital. It was indeed a reset point, a chance to prepare for moving higher.

Afterwards in the Guild

Liam set off for Guild Hall first. Wherever it was, it was built high at the center of the town-a wooden construction roof adorned with banners bearing the Tower's insignia. The inside was a hub of chatter and a concert by adventurers trading resources and information.

At last, he stood at the reception desk, a bright-faced woman, warm greeting.

"Welcome to the Guild! How may I help you?"

"I'm looking for a room to sleep in," Liam said, scratching the back of his neck.

"That'll be ten gold per night."

Liam froze. "I...don't have any money."

The receptionist smiled kindly and said, "Well, that's fine. You can earn gold by selling materials or completing tasks. If you have anything useful, you can start there."

Liam frowned and reached into the bag hanging from a strap he took from the boy during the race. He rummaged for a moment, then came up with...nothing.

"What the-?" He stared into the bag with his arm still inside only to realize it didn't have a bottom. His eyes widened.

"A sub-space bag," he wondered in awe. He'd heard of such magical items - bags with infinite amounts of storage. He dug even deeper into it, pulling out the earliest things available: monster remnants-fang, claws, and even some hardened scales. He laid them awkwardly on the counter.

The receptionist blinked. "You'd better take those to the Butcher's Shop; he will pay you quite a lot for them.""How on earth did I not think of that?" sighed Liam.

The Butcher Meeting

Liam entered the butcher's shop at the end of town with the heavy, stench-laden air of meats and irons. Behind him was dragged his sack of monster remains.

"Got quite the haul for yourself, huh?" greeted the butcher, a burly dwarf with a very filthy apron, as Liam dropped the remains over the counter.

"I'll give you my 15 gold for it all."

Liam lifted an eyebrow. "What, just for taken monster remains?" "Kid, these are materials," the butcher replied. "People need 'em for crafting weapons, potions, and gear," he added before tossing a small pouch of gold to Liam.

He took them feeling the value in monster hunting.The Surprising Meeting

It was halfway into town, on his way to the Guild, when Liam bumped shoulders with someone. "Watch where you're going," the man growled, then turned to glare directly at Liam.

As it struck him, from the narrowed features of Liam, it was one of traitors-one of the people who had betrayed him and Clara-on lower floors.

That man didn't have a clue about him as he brushed off Liam with a sneer and strode past him. Liam clenched his hands into fists but reminded himself with a rush of self-control that around the Tower, fighting wasn't allowed.

"Let it go," Liam muttered to himself as he exhaled sharply.

A Bag of Surprises

Once back in his rented room, Liam plopped himself on the bed, having Nyx curl up beside him. The door locked tight, he poured everything from the subspace bags to the floor.

The weapons, monster cores, books, jewelry, and weird artifacts spilled onto the floor. Liam gaped.

"This bag... is insane."

He sorted through it all-in a careful manner-and found stuff he never knew he even possessed, including daggers, rare monster remains, and his clothes. Everything went back into the bag except his sword and the Hammer of the Dwarves, which he always kept in case he needed them urgently.

Liam leaned onto the wall, and for the first time in history, exhaustion set in. Now he was able to feel hunger, fatigue, and drowsiness. The Tower was raising the stakes. Handling those new limitations meant a harder way to survive.

"Tomorrow, I will check the blacksmith and pub," Liam muttered as he closed his eyes. The scout went back to the race, remembering those who had tried to betray him, and prepared for the upcoming challenges.

"I've come too far to stop now."

And Liam drifted off to sleep with Nyx sitting sentinel beside him, bathed in the soft light of the moon spilling through the window.

To be continue...