Chapter 50: The Hidden Floor (2)
About a month had passed since I completed my Revolution, learned Shinwonryu, and heard the news that my friends had finally been selected as Regulars.
Of course, they had only been selected—they wouldn't descend to the 2nd Floor to take the actual test for another two years.
Right now, we were in the middle of the final test inside the Hell Train before heading to the 44th Floor.
And the test itself was incredibly annoying.
The content wasn't hard—it was just surviving a Guardian Rush for several hours.
The difficulty wasn't the problem; having to fight for hours was. Honestly, if it weren't us, no one would've been able to clear something like this. The conductor definitely tailored this test specifically for us.
"Seriously… looks like they gathered every Guardian they could find."
"Haha, yeah. Guess the conductor really doesn't like us."
"Focus. I'll take the Gray Guardian. You handle the Bloomer Guardians."
After roughly two hours of fighting progressively stronger Guardians, we'd reached the stage where upper-tier Guardians like Bloomer Guardians and Gray Guardians were appearing. At this pace, the final rush would arrive soon.
If I handled everything from start to finish, the others wouldn't get to do anything, so I planned to step in only occasionally.
Most people would be happy to get carried—but my teammates were far too battle-hungry for that.
"Luf, teleport him."
"Yes."
Hwarang slipped into one of Luf's Lighthouses and reappeared through another. Flames wrapped around his body, reinforced further by Shinsu amplification from the Lighthouse.
As Hwarang dove straight down from above toward a Bloomer Guardian, the monster lifted its head and fired a Shinsu cannon.
"GRAAAAH!"
Fwooom—
Blue flames had already formed around Hwarang's body. They easily withstood the Guardian's high-output Shinsu blast.
A moment later, Hwarang—his body wrapped in both blue and crimson flames—smashed down onto the Guardian's head. A few more fiery blows later, it collapsed, and Hwarang immediately turned, igniting crimson flames again as he sought his next target.
"Luf, next batch—those guys over there."
As Hwarang pointed at another cluster of Guardians, Luf frowned and deployed his Lighthouses.
"Ugh… there's a whole crowd of them."
"I've got your back. Don't worry. And when they're packed together, it just makes burning them all at once easier."
"Forming gravity field… binding targets… ah, right. Hwarang hyung—try charging in with some flair. I'll take pictures with the Observer."
"H-Huh?"
Hwarang, who had been grinning confidently, forced an awkward smile at Luf's sudden Observer request before charging forward with flames wrapped around his fists.
Luf secured a safe distance and snapped photos of Hwarang's back while still supporting the fight through his Lighthouses.
I casually beheaded a few Guardians and glanced toward Maschenny. She was handling a Gray Guardian alone—and, as expected, absolutely dismantling it.
She really was strong.
It's just that she usually got overshadowed by me—but she was a Zahard Princess and a direct descendant of the Khun family, overflowing with talent.
"Instead of standing there watching, how about you do some work?"
"Haha. You already know."
"…You're seriously annoying."
She grumbled while finishing off the remaining Guardians.
Then, at last, the final rush arrived.
The enemies were Last Guardians—the strongest class of Guardians aside from the God of Guardians himself. For a moment, I half-jokingly worried the actual God of Guardians might show up, but apparently even the conductor had limits.
With a relaxed smile, I adjusted my grip on Baekya.
"Guess I'll work properly now, as Her Highness commands."
"Don't use that tone."
"Ah—ah."
Chuckling, I slashed Baekya toward the Last Guardians.
Arie Sword Art, Third Branch, Third Form: Flash — Snow-Willow Branch Cutter
The floating castle I belonged to was part of the Second Branch, so normally I'd use Second Branch techniques—but I'd traveled so much since childhood that I was proficient in other branches as well.
A shockwave burst from Baekya, cutting the Guardians down in a single stroke.
They weren't even lined up—yet one swing in a single direction erased all the Last Guardians.
That was the result of Arie swordsmanship combined with Shinwonryu.
Thanks to Shinwonryu, my sword techniques had undergone subtle but profound changes. Lately, I'd started to genuinely enjoy using them.
Anyway—annoyingly time-consuming, but not difficult.
With that, we cleared the final test of the Hell Train.
All that remained now was the Hidden Floor.
I wiped away sweat that I hadn't even broken and checked a Pocket message that had arrived mid-battle.
— We're gonna be Regulars soooon! (^o^)/ Group photo! —
It was a photo from Albelda: her smiling brightly, Anna grinning beside her, and Vicente looking tired and reluctant, as if he'd been dragged in.
They were really close now—so close to climbing the Tower.
I should hurry up, become a Ranker, and go meet them.
Just as I replied to her message, the Hell Train's announcement music began to play.
— Ahem. Long time no see. This is Conductor Haegil.
Judging by the number of survivors… looks like exactly who I expected made it. Congratulations. The Hell Train's trials end here. Now it's time to relax.
But before that, one thing—an automatic transfer will occur shortly. Don't be alarmed.
Pop—
Just as he said, we suddenly felt our bodies lift from the floor, and we were transferred to another space within the train.
High above us, Haegil sat on a chair atop a tall staircase—this must have been the conductor's car.
Looking around…
"…Huh?"
There was no one else.
It seemed we were the only survivors who'd made it to the end of the Hell Train.
Was it really that hard?
"Yo. Congratulations to the Regulars who survived every hardship to the end. I'm Conductor Haegil. Once again, congratulations on clearing the train."
"Hard to celebrate when that last test had zero mercy, don't you think?"
At Luf's blunt comment, Haegil choked on whatever he'd been eating and coughed violently.
"A-Ahem! I merely adjusted the difficulty to suit you… anyway! I called you here to explain the true secret of this train."
So this was it.
In the webtoon, Bam's group opened it themselves with a key—I'd been wondering when the official registration would happen. Looks like it was before the Last Station.
"Those who clear the train earn the privilege of recording their name and existence into the train's system. That system is known as the Hidden Floor.
You may leave behind your current selves—the versions of you who cleared the Hell Train. Simply put, you can register yourselves in the Hell Train's Hall of Fame. But first, the rules."
....
Hidden Floor Rules
1. Anyone who reveals the Hidden Floor's existence in detail to the outside world will lose both their data and their memories.
2. Once you become a Ranker, only your data remains—you may never enter again.
3. After clearing the train, you cannot update your data, nor may you bring items or currency obtained inside the Hidden Floor back out.
.....
"…Those are the rules. Even I can only speak of this at this exact moment under my authority as conductor.
Keep that in mind."
After finishing his explanation, Haegil casually raised a hand.
"So—who's going?"
Obviously, we were.
All of us raised our hands at the same time.
It seemed everyone was curious about the Ten Family Heads and Zahard within the Hidden Floor.
"Heh. Just as I thought. You're a bold bunch. Very well—I'll send you over. Once you arrive, you'll see a massive door. Touch it to enter. Oh—and even though it's a virtual data floor… if you die in there, you die for real. Keep that in mind."
He waved us off.
Light surged from beneath our feet once more, and we were transferred to another car.
Just as Haegil said—and just as I remembered from the original story—
A massive door stood before us.
"Let's go."
I stepped forward first and placed my hand on the door.
A moment later, my teammates followed, all of us pressing our hands against it together.
The change was immediate.
The massive door opened, light bursting forth and enveloping us.
The next instant, we were pulled straight inside.
Shuuuaaa—
Ruuuumble—
The door slammed shut behind us.
We were dragged inward, then abruptly halted within a vast space.
The moment I saw the scenery, my eyes widened.
It was pitch-black, like outer space—yet streaked with light resembling a galaxy, softly illuminating the darkness.
"Woooah…"
Even Luf, who never forgot to take pictures, stared in awe, forgetting about his Observer entirely.
Hwarang scanned the surroundings with widened eyes, while Maschenny simply floated lazily in midair.
Seeing Maschenny, Hwarang, and Luf all beside me was a relief—we hadn't been separated.
As we each reacted in our own way, a gigantic mirror suddenly appeared before us.
It's here.
The scale.
....
"Hello! Visitors!"
"I am the Scale That Reflects the Past, tasked with reflecting you fairly!"
"From this moment on, I will reflect your pasts and generate the place you must go—along with your fated enemy! Without further ado… shall we begin?"
First up—Maschenny.
"…Found you! Your destined encounter is—well, you'll find out once you go in~!"
Next was Hwarang.
"…Found you too! Same deal—details omitted. Go on in!"
Then Luf.
"Done! You too—go!"
And finally, me.
"You already know, right?"
"..."
The tone practically screamed I'm too lazy to explain, just figure it out and go in.
At the scale's half-assed explanation, I responded just as casually.
"…You know, you're going to die later at the hands of some shirtless guy wearing his hat backwards."
"What are you even saying? Just go already."
I stepped straight into the mirror.
....
The space was left completely empty—with only the Scale remaining.
"Hmmm~ His past felt a little strange… but there were normal parts too, so I'll just…"
....
Somewhere within the Hidden Floor's Hidden Layer
A golden sphere flew through the air, darting about—
until it finally reached a single boy.
"…What is it, Hwang?"
The boy, wearing a red eyepatch, looked at the golden sphere.
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