"Even gods begin to fear the things they cannot see."
---
Far above the chaos of the lower floors—above the first whispers of Hollow, above the corrupted trials of beginners—lay a sanctum where no mortal foot could tread. Not even the Chosen were permitted here.
It was the Watcher's Hall.
A vast, endless chamber of mirrors and silence, suspended in divine starlight.
Here, the gods observed. Not all of them. Only those granted eyes that could peer through time, through fate, through the Tower's endless walls. Eyes that bled truth.
One such being now stirred from slumber.
White-eyed. Featureless. Wrapped in translucent silk and black threads of law.
The Watcher turned toward the Tower's lower floors… and frowned.
> "An anomaly."
Its voice was not heard, but felt. Like cold fingers crawling beneath your ribs.
Dozens of images swirled across the mirrors. Blessings. Deaths. Floors. Blood. But one thread ran through them all—a thread of absence.
A figure with no name.
No presence in the divine registry.
No divine signature.
Only a mask.
Only… hunger.
---
Elsewhere – Academy Tower, Instructor Hall
A meeting had been called. Secret. Urgent.
Dozens of instructors—warriors, priests, magi—stood around a black crystal, which pulsed in faint red.
"He was spotted again," said one. "Floor Three. Wearing the mask."
"The same one that broke the Arc-Rank curse beast?"
"Same. No guild affiliation. No class ID. Just… gone when we send scouts."
One instructor, an older man with half his face burned from a failed divine pact, said softly:
"Is he even human?"
Silence followed.
No one answered.
But they all remembered the rumors.
A failure with no blessing.
A boy named Jin Black.
---
Present – Tower Floor 4: The Wax Choir
The fourth floor was a cathedral of screaming statues.
Pillars carved of bone. Choirs made of waxen angels who sang in eternal agony. The cursed relic of a god who'd once tried to rewrite mortality itself.
And through its center walked Hollow.
Jin's suit was clean. His gloves, bloodless.
The mask glinted beneath candlelight.
Monsters did not challenge him. The floor bent around him.
The deeper he walked, the louder the statues screamed.
It wasn't pain.
It was fear.
They were relics of a dead god, bound here to scream in false hymns for eternity. And yet… even they sensed the wrongness of the figure passing beneath them.
Jin walked like a man who didn't belong to this timeline.
Because he didn't.
---
The trial activated.
> [Floor 4 Trial – Choir of Broken Faith]
Objective: Survive for 10 minutes against 3 Seraphim Fragments.
The statues split open. Wings of bone unfurled. Choir mouths unstitched themselves to unleash shrieks that shattered glass and sanity.
Three angelic horrors descended.
They looked like gods.
Jin did not stop walking.
One of the seraphs launched a lance of golden fire.
Jin stepped aside.
Casually.
The lance struck a statue behind him. The entire wall erupted.
The seraph screamed.
Then it hesitated.
> [Anti-Divine Field – Active]
Light dimmed.
Wings faltered.
Hymns turned to choking.
Jin raised a hand and clenched his fist.
> [Soul Brand – False Light: Activated]
The first seraph crumpled into ash.
The other two turned to flee.
> "No."
Jin vanished.
When he reappeared, both seraphs were impaled on black tendrils that hadn't existed a second ago.
The Tower fell silent.
Not just the floor.
The entire structure.
For a moment, the Tower held its breath.
---
Divine Sanctum – Watcher's Hall
The mirrors cracked.
One after another.
White light bled from their cores.
The Watcher staggered back for the first time in centuries.
> "He does not belong to the weave."
"He is not written."
"He is not chosen."
Another god emerged behind the Watcher. Tall, golden, radiant with feathers of flame.
The Sun Deity.
He said nothing, only narrowed his gaze toward the lower floors.
> "Then who gave him power?"
No one answered.
But the Tower groaned.
And the Hollow God smiled.
---
Hidden System Response
> [Unique Trait Detected: Null Soul Anchor]
– Immune to prophecy, fate weaving, divine foresight. Cannot be tracked by celestial sight.
– New Effect: Rejection of Divine Law. Temporary disruption of localized divine mechanics.
> [Corruption: +9]
[Title Progress – "Godslayer"]: 7%
> [Hidden Quest Updated – "Malice Ascendant"]
Objective: Instill fear into a god.
Status: COMPLETE
The Tower logged the moment.
One of the gods had taken a step back.
The system recognized it.
Jin didn't.
He just stood there as the wax angels crumbled into dust behind him, breathing slow and even through the vents of his mask.
---
And somewhere deep in the Tower's soul…
The Hollow God laughed.
---