It seemed like there wouldn’t be any need to disable constellation surveillance on this floor.

This place... just breathing here already made my head hurt.

I opened my mouth.

There were more than a few things I had to figure out.

I’d save asking the Pioneer senior for a little later.

First, I had a number of questions to ask the person in front of me—Ban Iner—directly.

“Do you remember the floors before this one?”

The silver-haired, blue-eyed woman, Ban Iner, tilted her head.

“Of course I remember. Floor 12 was Lizardmen.”

“Floor 10?”

“Hunting down the Grail beast of the Poiar Empire.”

“Any hidden quests or anything like that?”

“Nope. There weren’t any.”

Aside from the beast element, Floor 10 was entirely different.

Different objective, different setting.

“Floor 4?”

“Dungeon-type, golems.”

“Floor 2.”

“Quest-type. Subjugation of a troll that appeared in a village of the Skael Empire.”

The monsters in the dungeon-type floors matched.

But, as expected, the contents of the quest-type Floor 2 were completely different.

Which meant—

At the very least, the chance that this Ban Iner climbed the tower during the same timeframe as me was extremely low.

I was starting to conclude that she really was the same Ban who helped the Pioneer senior.

But then why is someone like that standing in front of me now?

“When did you arrive at Floor 13?”

“You’re asking some weird stuff.”

Ban strode up to me.

“Got here yesterday. Why are you asking?”

One thing was clear—

The Ban Iner standing in front of me didn’t have any doubt about her own existence.

“I was just curious.”

Ban smirked at my answer and stretched as she spoke.

“Well, either way, it’s good there’s two of us. This floor looked nasty as hell, but maybe it'll be bearable together.”

Ban added,

“So, does this mean we’ll be climbing together from now on? Like those climbers from other difficulty modes?”

I took out the Transcendent Gallery device.

“Can you see this?”

I didn’t use any Veil of Secrets or similar barriers—just made the device plainly visible.

Ban chuckled.

“You’re waving your bare hand in the air and asking me if I see anything?”

As I thought.

Ban Iner didn’t have anything like a terminal device.

Figures.

I was probably the only climber with something this unusual.

Which made Ban Iner’s existence in front of me feel even more incredible.

Someone who climbed to Floor 13 without even a Transcendent Gallery device.

Something I couldn’t even imagine doing.

“What’s your rank?”

I asked while using the device to snap a photo of Ban’s face.

It was a pretty rude question for a first meeting, but the answer came immediately.

“Sixth Rank. You?”

Grains of desert sand began swirling around Ban.

She didn’t just answer obediently—her attitude screamed, “Yeah, I’m Sixth Rank. So what?”

But since she wasn’t lying, I had no intention of lying either.

“Fifth Rank.”

“Wow, I was Fifth Rank up to Floor 5 too. You must’ve had it pretty rough, huh?”

So she probably didn’t start from absolute rock bottom like I did.

“It was... manageable.”

Ban stretched again while listening to my answer.

Her voice continued.

“The system alert for Floor 13 hasn’t popped up yet, right?”

“No.”

“It’ll show after the welcome ceremony. That’s what happened to me, too.”

Then, a voice spoke from nearby.

“Have you finished exchanging words as fellow Wavebearers?”

It was Maden, the tactician of the Silane race.

“Once the sun begins to set, we will conduct your welcome ceremony. That should be in about thirty minutes. However, be aware—during the ceremony, we cannot predict what variables may be triggered. So, return to your tents for rest and equipment checks before gathering again.”

Maden pointed to a tent with his right hand.

It was the tent immediately to the right of the one Ban had walked out of.

Maden’s voice rang out again.

“No one will be allowed to enter until the welcome ceremony begins, so rest without worry.”

I entered the tent.

But there was no way I could rest without worry.

I pulled out the terminal again and began writing.

Title: Pioneer Senior, Ban is alive?

Author: ㅇㅇ*

Ban Iner. This is her, right? But she’s a woman.

Attached Image: 238945285492085.jpg

(A woman, Ban Iner, looking in Han Yuseong’s direction)

ㄴ ...Ah, she’s alive?

ㄴ But why is she alive?

ㄴ Seriously, why??

ㄴ What the hell lmao how is she alive?

ㄴ Coffin lid opened?

ㄴ LOL grave absolutely smashed!

ㄴ What’s the number one thing you shouldn’t do inside a coffin?

ㄴ Obviously, open it and come back to life!

ㄴ Bolt upright!

ㄴ Gasp!

ㄴ RESURRECTION!!!!!!!! Ancestors shocked!!!!! Children shocked!!!!!

ㄴ Suwang) Your friend is calling. Come out, Pioneer!

ㄴ Pioneer) Uh... Yeah, that’s her. Ban Iner. She is a woman.

ㄴ Pioneer) What the hell? If someone in your friend list dies, their icon turns gray... hers did too.

ㄴ Admin) What’s the current status of Floor 13?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) Seems like we’re supposed to support the Silane race on a planet called ‘Halo.’ But the system hasn’t provided clear guidance yet.

ㄴ Admin) It’s not unusual for quest-type floors to delay notifications... The real issue is the planet Halo itself.

ㄴ Admin) In Hard Mode, Halo appears around Floor 46.

ㄴ Normal and Easy Mode~ never even heard the name ‘Halo’~~

ㄴ Sword of Light) The problem is, the goal of the Halo stage on Floor 46 wasn’t ‘kill all enemies.’

ㄴ Sword of Light) It was just ‘survive somehow.’

Survive.

That was all it asked. Yet that stage was on Floor 46 in Hard Mode.

My vision darkened.

ㄴ Archmage) That monster’s name was... Dranas, I think.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) Yeah, it was Dranas.

ㄴ Archmage) Dranas is almost completely immune to magic.

ㄴ Archmage) If killing Dranas was the actual quest goal, it should appear past Floor 70.

Seeing the Archmage senior get this worked up told me what a nightmare that thing must be.

ㄴ Admin) A floor where you’re expected to completely wipe out the Dranas monsters alone... that would be around Floor 75.

To repel monsters like that, the people of this planet must have lost all sense of fear or grief.

ㄴ Archmage) But even that’s not certain. In a place where something like that shows up first, there’s no guarantee stronger monsters won’t appear later.

ㄴ Elf Guy) Halo really is one hellish place.

ㄴ Sword of Light) Climber, your quest on Halo is to survive, not to kill those things.

ㄴ Sword of Light) It’ll be hard, but hang in there.

ㄴ Absolute Monarch) Just give up on the idea of fighting entirely.

ㄴ Archmage) What about Ban Iner’s state? Any abnormalities? Memory issues?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) She seems to remember things fine.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) But all her quest-type floors are different from mine. No connection to Resellin either. Floor 10 was different. Ah, dungeon-types matched though.

ㄴ Admin) Just because it’s the same difficulty tower doesn’t mean the worlds match. But in Pandemonium Tower Numbering 01, if climbers started at the same time, even quest-types should have identical contents.

ㄴ Admin) Therefore, the ‘Ban Iner’ in front of you didn’t climb this time around. She’s from the previous batch, from when the Pioneer climbed.

ㄴ Admin) So why is a climber from the previous batch, Ban Iner, still remaining on Floor 13? That’s the real issue.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) Yeah, why is she here now?

ㄴ Absolute Monarch) When did Ban say she entered Floor 13?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) Yesterday.

ㄴ Absolute Monarch) Yesterday... Then the Ban Iner currently with you probably thinks she’s just continuing her climb normally.

ㄴ Archmage) Must be one of the tower’s tricks. There’s definitely something going on.

ㄴ Sword of Light) Don’t trust anything completely. Not in this tower.

I heard voices murmuring outside.

I closed the gallery and returned the terminal to my inventory.

I stood up.

As I exited my assigned tent, Maden, the Silane tactician, approached.

“We’ll have to start the welcome ceremony earlier than scheduled. There are more casualties than expected—we can’t gather the full group.”

“Got it.”

Someone approached from my side.

It was Ban Iner.

“C’mon, I got my quest notification right after the ceremony too. Let’s get it over with and head to Floor 14.”

Her blue eyes looked at me.

“I don’t like this place. People here toss their lives away like disposable goods. Don’t even seem to feel fear.”

At her words, which mocked the Silane race’s nature, a sharp voice snapped back.

“Our lives are not tossed away like disposable goods! We sacrifice for the eternal future of Halo! It is a glorious task!”

Ban twisted her lips.

“Exactly what I mean. Glorious, my ass.”

“Ugh, ueeegh!”

Turiana could only make weird noises in response to Ban’s firm rebuttal.

She couldn’t argue further.

“Everyone, gather.”

Ten Silane warriors gathered around Maden.

“This is the minimum headcount. Let us begin the welcome ceremony.”

With a blank face, entirely unfitting of the term “welcome,” Maden handed me something.

It looked like a lump of light—almost like a glowing stone.

“This is the divine stone, Sikerlapis. One of the few weaknesses of the black monster, Dranas. Though calling it a weakness is a stretch—it’s just the most effective way to buy time, as they writhe in agony [N O V E L I G H T] the longest from this.”

The divine stone was lighter than expected.

With enhanced body control and focused aura in the arms, I could probably throw it pretty far.

“This only works if you drive it into the roots of Dranas. To reach the roots, you’ll need to traverse a long and treacherous path.”

Maden continued.

He explained why the term “Wavebearers” was used and why the welcome ceremony was necessary.

“Our Silane race suffers intense pain passing through that path. We even sustain serious damage. Most perish before reaching the roots. But Wavebearers, compared to us, suffer far less. Must be a racial difference.”

Suddenly, Maden knelt.

Thud!

Then, all the Silane warriors surrounding us knelt.

“Tch.”

Ban clicked her tongue.

“Kneeling again? Then just do the ceremony without me. This is a bit much.”

Maden ignored her and spoke his piece.

“It is our duty to push them back. We only ask that you drive the Sikerlapis into their roots properly. We’ll make sure you won’t have to sacrifice your lives.”

I didn’t buy that last part.

This place practically reeked of death.

“Welcome to the Azure Planet, Halo.”

And with that, the not-so-welcoming welcome ceremony ended.

『Pandemonium Difficulty Floor 13 is Quest-Type.』

Just like Ban said, the system finally issued a proper floor notice.

『Quest! – Drive off ‘Dranas,’ enemy of the ‘Silane’ race, by embedding ‘Sikerlapis’ into all six of its roots.』

“It popped up, right? The quest.”

Ban looked at me blankly.

“Yeah.”

She raised her right hand and pointed to the sky, now tinted by sunset.

“Let’s head to a nearby safe zone and scout the area.”

When Ban turned to Maden, a response came—permission granted.

Step, step.

I walked behind Ban Iner.

With deep suspicion, and a mix of... strange joy.