CHAPTER 280: ENTERING THE TOWER

"Before we begin, let me tell you the kind of creatures you’ll encounter inside that tower," Gabriel stated calmly, stealing everyone’s attention.

Sophie, standing by the side, raised a single brow when she heard this.

’How did he know information about the tower? Could it be he’s simply guessing or...?’ she thought inwardly to herself.

However, the confidence he displayed said otherwise — as if he was absolutely certain of what he was saying.

The others had the same thought but none dared to interrupt.

"The first floor is filled with weaklings," he said in a deep and firm voice. "They don’t grant any useful experience points, and you’ll hardly find any valuable treasures there."

"One more thing you need to take note of," he continued, pointing toward the projected tower image. "Each floor constantly spawns monsters. That means if a guild clears one and moves to the next, a new batch of monsters will spawn again."

Bunny raised her hand curiously. "So does that mean the floors are all connected, not dimensional?"

"Yes, they are. Be prepared to encounter rival parties."

The Blood Tower was unique — built in two dimensions. One for the natives and players who chose the non-human continent as their starting area, and another for those from the human continent.

No one knew why it was designed that way, and as illogical as it sounded, it seemed that whatever entity created it didn’t want humans clashing with the other races.

Gabriel explained this to the core members of Broken Dawn. Their expressions were a mixture of awe and confusion.

Just by looking into their eyes, one could tell they wanted answers — answers to how he knew all this. Not even the old scholars could give an accurate explanation of how the Tower worked, yet here Gabriel, who was just in his early twenties, was calmly explaining it as if he had witnessed it before.

"From floor ten and upward, the monsters will grow stronger, and the chances of stumbling upon rare treasures increase significantly."

Afterward, he began explaining the types of monsters inside.

"Now—blood-type creatures." His tone dropped lower. "They’re not the same as normal undead or demons. Some of them store blood in external sacs. Some use blood for their skills. If you just hack away like an idiot, they’ll respawn, or worse — explode."

A few of the elites straightened up.

Cassie listened intently. She rarely fought on the frontlines, but she needed to know this too.

Gabriel gestured to his own neck and heart.

"Two weak points most of the time — the neck node, where the blood curse circulates, and the heart. Aim for those. If you can’t one-shot, at least damage those areas. It’ll make it easier to get rid of them."

Samantha’s eyes lit up.

’So that’s how...’

Necromancers loved information like this. She could already imagine her skeletons targeting those points.

Gabriel noticed her expression and added, "Samantha, your summons can go all out on blood-type monsters. No need to hide your identity in there."

"Understood," she replied quickly, excitement leaking into her voice.

Some of the others especially the natives looked at her but said nothing. They’d already been briefed — she was one of them now, at least for this expedition.

Some time later, under Logan’s guidance, the newly crafted Hellfire Turrets were distributed to all the gunslingers.

As for the militants — those who were non-Awakened and formerly bandits — they were to remain stationed at the camp to protect it.

The Tower was a huge distraction, and Gabriel didn’t want any of his numerous enemies striking while they were away. He didn’t plan on starting from scratch if the camp was attacked.

**

In the end, Sniperbowlegend and BrawlerX were assigned to remain behind at the camp alongside a few players and the rest of the militants.

The players who were left behind were naturally disheartened. However, they understood the reason they weren’t chosen — they were too weak. According to Gabriel’s estimate, they wouldn’t even make it to floor ten and would suffer repeated deaths until they hit zero.

In a way, he was saving them.

They understood this as well.

Although disheartened, a new fire burned in their hearts. They swore to grow stronger.

BrawlerX looked as though he had swallowed a bitter pill. His expression was dark, as if betrayed by his best friend. For the past seven days, he had been anticipating the Tower’s arrival. He had even gone hunting to overlevel himself so that the early floors would be a walk in the park.

However, who would have thought such a change would come in a split second?

At the side, Sniperbowlegend remained completely calm and unbothered as usual.

BrawlerX couldn’t help but ask, "Aren’t you bothered that you’re not tagging along?"

Sniperbowlegend remained quiet for a few moments before shaking his head. "No, I’m not."

BrawlerX opened his mouth to speak, but after opening and closing it a few times, he simply gave up.

The only ones chosen for the expedition were Gabriel, Sophie, Cassie — because of her unique buff skills — Anna, Bunny, Ragnarok99, Samantha, and a few elite players.

They were the ones Gabriel was confident could climb higher than floor ten.

He let the silence sit for a bit.

Everyone had heard him.

Everyone had processed it.

No one spoke.

He scanned their faces once more to make sure it sank in — the part about floors respawning, the part about rival parties, the part about blood-type monsters.

"Good," he said at last. "If you remember only one thing from what I said, remember this — don’t linger on floors. Clear, loot, move. The Tower rewards momentum."

Bunny nodded fast. "So stalling is bad."

"Very bad," Gabriel said. "Some floors will even punish you for staying too long. So yes."

Sophie nodded. "That matches what I read in the records."

Anna tilted her head. "And what about other guilds bumping into us?"

His expression darkened slightly. "Avoid conflict unless they’re stupid enough to start it. We won’t waste energy on small guilds. If it’s a top guild, then I’ll handle them."

His goal was to climb as high as possible in the Tower, not to hunt other competitors — unless they came for him first.

With the final briefing done, he nodded at the others and took the first step into the Blood Tower.