"Huh?!"
Upon opening the chest, Jan frowned in confusion.
He'd expected a treasure seeing how fiercely Dorakon had defended it—but inside lay only a ring and a letter.
He picked up the silver ring first. It looked ancient but well-kept, engraved with a strange, elegant symbol: a sun, half-covered by a crescent moon. Around the exposed arc of the sun, faint radial notches hinted at rays of light—almost worn away, as if the light itself was being swallowed.
Jan turned it over between his fingers.
"It looks expensive."
[Identify!]
[Royal Family Signet – ???? Ring]
Type: ???
Tier: ???
Effect: ???
"Nothing at all? Tch. I'll have Maria try later…"
He slipped the ring into his pocket and reached for the letter.
After breaking the royal seal, he began to read.
Dear sister,
If you're reading this, then it's too late for me.
I couldn't save Father.
I should have known it would come to this.
Don't trust the one with the golden hoop.
They will use you.
Like they used him.
Like they used me.
Your brother,
Dorakon
"This is all?" Jan flipped the letter. "What am I supposed to do with this? Deliver it to his sister?"
The system didn't show him any missions.
"Probably not..."
Holding the paper in his hand, Jan stood up, looking for anything else.
There was nothing—except for the tent in the back.
He tucked the letter into his backpack along with the rest of his loot and walked over.
As expected, the tent was empty.
With that, Jan left the chamber.
He had completed his mission. With no more health potions in his possession, Jan decided to leave the Tower.
The journey back to the portal was uneventful.
Monsters, once defeated, wouldn't respawn until the next day.
If left alone, however, they could saturate the tower, which creates a portal in the Endlesscape, allowing more to swarm through.
That's why the knights had to clear the floor daily—to prevent new monsters from settling in the Endlesscape, creating populations, and eventually attacking the town.
'Their solution is simple, but very difficult to execute.'
The floors were massive, and it wasn't possible to do everything at once.
The work had to be divided across days, with each group assigned a section.
And you can't throw soldiers into battle unprepared—they need potions, gear, and planning.
You also can't expect anyone to fight day after day without rest.
So, the knights took turns. Some were tasked with clearing the Tower, while others patrolled the town and held the walls against anything that slipped through the Endlesscape.
"The three counselors cared for their subordinates, and the existence of this system shows it."
However, this came at a cost. Over time, it allowed more and more monsters to settle into the Endlesscape and become natives.
It wasn't all bad. The knights prioritized the more dangerous monsters, like dark elves, not allowing them to spawn outside the towers.
Therefore, the monsters settling in the endlesscape were the weaker ones—like the wolves, hares, and goblins.
If they had more power and resources, the system would have been more efficient.
However, they were short on both.
"I kind of feel happy knowing that I somehow helped them today," Jan said as he stepped into the portal.
[Valkeries]
The moment he stepped back into the town, he was met with light.
Jan raised a hand over his eyes, squinting against the sun as his vision blurred for a moment.
The cool gloom of the Tower faded behind him, replaced by open skies, the wind, and the faint scent of grass and iron drifting through the air.
For a few seconds, everything felt too bright. Then, slowly, the world came back into focus.
The walls of Valkeries stood ahead. From where he stood, he could see the top of the guild building rising above the others.
Having the guild close to the portal was quite convenient—he planned to check on Sophia first.
A few minutes later, he was standing in front of the main door, pushing it open.
*Squeak—*
"Maria?! What are you doing here?"
Hearing his voice, she turned around with a smile.
"Jan, just in time—we have good news!"
His face immediately lit up. "What is it?!"
"Dad reached out to us!" Sophia exclaimed.
"Thank God, I was starting to get worried!"
"Me too!" Maria chuckled. "I was right—Saveth tricked them. They ended up on the 49th floor. As soon as they got out, Dad contacted us."
"The 49th?!" Jan exclaimed.
"I know, right?" Sophia, behind the counter, sighed. "It'll take them a while to get back here."
"Will they make it before the two-month deadline?"
"Of course they will!" Sophia exclaimed. "Don't underestimate them!"
"Honestly..." Maria looked at her sister. "We should at least consider the possibility they won't."
"You too?!" Sophia's eyes widened. "You know how Uncle climbed the Tower in just one year, right? And he was younger back then! With mom and dad, they should make it back in way less time!"
"But what if they don't? What if something happens on the way? What if Saveth ambushes them?"
"Well..." Sophia mumbled.
"I'm not saying they won't make it. I actually believe they will. But we should prepare for the possibility that we might have to fight without them in two months."
"Fair... but that also means we should think about how to fight without relying on some of the guild members too."
Maria sighed. "That's true."
"They haven't answered yet?!" Jan asked.
Sophia turned to look at the colossal stone crystal behind her.
"Eight of them have. We're still waiting on the remaining twelve."
"But since we sent an urgent pulse, they should respond in the next few days," Maria added.
"I've been wondering," Jan said, frowning. "Why are they scattered across the floors like this? Valkeries clearly lacks manpower—they should stay here and help the knights, don't you think?"
"You're right to think that, but they're tasked with a different mission," Maria explained.
"What is it?" Jan asked.
"Finding Saveth."
"What?!" He was shocked.
"Yes. Why are you so surprised?" Maria asked.
"But I thought you didn't know where he is?!"
"We don't," Sophia replied. "But we have a hunch."
"We think he's hiding in one of the lost floors," Maria added.
"Lost floors? What's that supposed to mean?"
"They're floors we lost access to," she explained. "Floors that were once connected to towns that got annihilated."
"Annihilated..." Jan echoed. "Because of the wave attacks?"
"Yes..." Maria said, her voice low.
"But if they're lost, how are you going to find them?"
"We believe the floors still exist. So there must be a way in—we just need to find it."
"So you guys are looking for portals too?" Jan pondered.
"What do you mean, too?" Sophia raised a brow.
"It just reminded me of the other heroes. They're also looking for the portal to the 50th floor."
"Well, at least the portals we're looking for definitely exist," Sophia said.
Jan's jaw dropped.
"Wait—you think the 50th floor portal doesn't exist?"
"R-Relax," Maria chuckled nervously. "What she meant is that, unlike the 50th floor, these floors used to be accessible. We could go in and out of them before."
"I guess that makes sense," Jan muttered, frowning. "We only know the 50th floor exists because of the system."
"Exactly," Maria nodded. "The Tower and the outside world are connected—but that wasn't the case before. They're two separate dimensions. If we lose one side, it doesn't mean we lost the other; we only lost the connection."
"And since you can't enter those lost floors anymore, that makes them the perfect place for Saveth to hide."
"Yes, yes!" Maria nodded.
"That's a good theory. Have any of the guild members made any progress?"
"Unfortunately, no."
Jan sighed.
"Well, I'm not surprised. Where would you even start looking for something like that?"
"We think the entrances might be hidden somewhere in the Endlesscape."
"Why's that?"
"Because the monsters from those lost floors are still swarming the nearest towns."
"Makes sense..." Jan nodded, "Wait, towns?! How many lost floors are there?"
"21 floors."
"WHAT?!" Jan exclaimed with widened eyes, "That's nearly half of the world!"
"..."
"Oh my god! Say something!" Jan was freaking out.
Sophia, next to Jan, put her hand on his shoulder, "Calm down, Jan! It's not like it's our fault!"
Hearing that, Jan calmed for a second, only for his eyes to widen in shock again, "Wait! Twenty-one?! So you're searching in twenty-one Endlesscapes—oh my go—"
Jan was about to freak out again, but Sophia squeezed his traps hard.
*Squeeze—*
"Ow, ow, ow!"
"I said, calm down!"
"Okay! Okay!!"
Watching that, Maria chuckled heartily, "We just look around five locations."
"Well, that's still a lot, but I'm glad it's just that." Jan sighed, "How come it's just five? Did you eliminate the others?"
"We didn't," Sophia said, "It was five from the beginning. These damn monsters keep taking down successive towns in every nation."
"Yes. Because of that, all the lost floors from each nation are clustered together," Maria explained, "So the monsters just spawn in the floors around them."
"Damn, those towns must have it rough."
"It's a living hell. Once they expand their domain, there's no stopping them."
Jan sighed. Things were getting more and more complicated.