CHAPTER 205: 5TH FLOOR

Chapter 202: 5th Floor

The teleport from Floor 4 was a relief.

The hot, sulfurous air of the puzzle chamber was instantly replaced by a wave of cool, clean, and impossibly fresh air.

My ears, which had been ringing with the distant screams of Magnus’s trapped team, were now filled with the gentle, melodic sound of flowing water and soft, ethereal music.

We materialized not in a dungeon, but in a paradise.

We were standing in a vast, circular chamber so large it felt like an open-air valley.

The ceiling was a high, crystalline dome that projected a perfect, artificial sky of soft blue with gentle, swirling white clouds.

A glowing crystal sun, the source of the room’s warm, pleasant light, hung at its apex.

The floor wasn’t stone; it was covered in lush, vibrant green grass, soft as velvet. In the center of the chamber, a multi-tiered fountain carved from white marble gushed with water that shimmered with pure, liquid mana.

Smaller pools and gentle streams meandered through the room, feeding groves of fruit-bearing trees and beds of glowing, luminescent flowers.

This was Floor 5.

The First Rest Stop. A safe zone.

"By the..." Kaelen Vance breathed, his eyes wide with wonder. He dropped his staff and hesitantly touched one of the glowing blue flowers, which chimed softly in response.

"It’s... it’s beautiful."

Alex let out a low whistle, his heavy shield sagging in his grip.

"Is that... mana-water? Like, pure mana-water?" He stumbled over to the main fountain, cupped his hands, and took a drink. His eyes shot open. "My mana... it’s refilling! Fast!"

"This is a recovery ward," I confirmed, my own body relaxing as the oppressive dungeon atmosphere finally lifted. ’In the game, this was the first major checkpoint. Full restoration of HP, MP, and Stamina. A repair-shop NPC, a basic item vendor, and... the ranking pylon.’

Seraphina, who had been silent and thoughtful since the puzzle room, let out a long, slow breath. The tension seemed to melt from her shoulders. She ran a hand through her hair, looking less like a high-strung warrior and more like a tired student.

"A safe zone. Thank the spirits."

Even the Twins, Finn and Freya, emerged from the shadows, their usually guarded expressions softening as they took in the serene environment. Gideon simply found a spot under a tree and sat, his unsettling smile looking almost peaceful in the soft light.

"We did it, Chief!" Alex said, jogging back over, his face flushed with excitement and replenished mana. "We’re here! But... where is everyone?"

The chamber was massive, and it was empty. There were no other teams. No Leon. No Magnus. No Eric.

I pointed to the center of the room, right next to the main fountain. A single, towering pylon of smooth, black obsidian stood there, silent and inert.

"That," I said, "will tell us."

We walked over to it. The pylon was easily ten meters tall, its surface so dark it seemed to drink the light. As our team of seven approached, the pylon recognized our "cleared" status.

With a deep, resonant VMMM... sound, it flared to life.

Glowing, golden script began to etch itself across the black surface, the Tower’s live feed updating for all to see.

[ROOKIE COHORT - TOWER RANKINGS]

[FLOOR 5]

Team Anomaly (Leader: Michael Wilson) - Clear Time: 2h 15m (Total)

(Floor 1: 9m 42s - Flawless)

(Floor 2: 18m 22s - Flawless)

(Floor 3: 25m 18s - Hidden Route Bonus)

(Floor 4: 15m 02s - Flawless)

Current Points: 12,500

[FLOOR 4]

2. Team Azure Blade (Leader: Leon Lionheart) - Currently Engaging

3. Team Ironclad (Leader: Magnus Daven) - Currently Engaging

[FLOOR 3]

4. Team Regal Fire (Leader: Lyra Braveheart) - Currently Engaging

5. Team Inferno (Leader: Eric William) - Currently Engaging

6. Team Twilight Grace (Leader: Selena Veylan) - Currently Engaging

[FLOOR 2]

...[Remaining 24 Teams]...

The silence from my team was absolute.

"Number... one," Alex whispered, his voice trembling. He stared at the board, then at me, then back at the board.

"But... but Chief, the points. 12,500.

Leon and Magnus... they’re still on Floor 4. And Eric’s team is still stuck on Floor 3!

We’re not just first... we’re miles ahead."

The "Hidden Route Bonus" and the "Secret Boss" kill had given us a massive, insurmountable point lead. We hadn’t just beaten them; we had lapped them.

Kaelen just sank to the grass, his face pale, his eyes wide. He looked like he was going to be sick with shock.

"I... I was ranked 31st in the Midterms," he stammered. "Seraphina was 30th. Alex was 32nd... We’re the lowest-ranked team... and we’re in first place."

Seraphina didn’t say a word. She was frozen, her gaze locked on the pylon.

Her, a proud scion of House Croft, had been placed on a team of "rejects" and "failures." And that team was now, officially, the #1 team in the entire first-year class, crushing every single heir from the Great Houses.

Her entire understanding of the world—of hierarchy, of power, of "bloodlines"—was crumbling in real-time. She looked at me, her expression no longer angry, no longer confused. It was... lost.

"Rest," I said, my voice gentle but firm, breaking the spell. "We’ve earned it. Refill your mana, eat, sleep. We’ll be here for a while."

My team, in a state of collective shock, did just that. Alex and Kaelen, now giddy with their success, practically dove into the mana fountain. Seraphina sat stiffly on a marble bench, her bow across her lap, staring into space.

I sat under a tree, letting the ambient mana of the Rest Stop wash over me, my own reserves topping off.

’So far, so good,’ I thought, stroking Kuro, who had materialized to nap in the warm, magical grass.

’The plan is working. The team’s confidence is built, and their loyalty is cemented. Now comes the hard part: dealing with the fallout.’

The fallout arrived exactly forty-eight minutes later.

A shimmer of blue light from the teleportation pad at the chamber’s entrance announced a new arrival.

Team Azure Blade materialized.

Leon, Kiera, Ben, and the rest of his team looked... haggard.

Ben’s shield was visibly scorched and dented from the puzzle room’s fire traps.

Their healer, Misha, looked completely drained, her mana bar blinking red.

They had clearly brute-forced the puzzle after giving up on the riddle, triggering trap after trap.

They stumbled into the paradise of the Rest Stop, relief washing over their faces.

"We... we made it," Leon panted, leaning on his sword.

Then he saw us.

He saw my entire team, looking relaxed, clean, and perfectly rested, sitting by the fountain as if we’d been on vacation.

His face froze.

"Michael...?" he said, his voice laced with disbelief. "You... you’re already here?"

"For almost an hour," Alex piped up, his new confidence making him dangerously cheerful.

"The puzzle was easy once Kaelen and Gideon figured it out! We didn’t trigger a single trap!"

Leon’s scholar, Rian, who looked like he’d been personally electrocuted, stared. "Figured... figured it out? But the riddle was a paradox! The runic structure was flawed!"

"No, it wasn’t," Gideon said simply, his unsettling smile in place. "You were just looking at the wrong ’flaws.’"

Leon’s entire team stared at us, then at the Obsidian Pylon in the center of the room. They walked towards it, their steps heavy. They read the rankings.

I watched Leon’s posture, the very image of a heroic protagonist, visibly deflate.

He saw our time. He saw our "Flawless" bonuses. He saw our "Hidden Route" bonus.

He saw his own team, "Azure Blade," at Rank 2, but on a different floor. And he saw our point total. 12,500. His was probably around 3,000.

The gap wasn’t just a gap; it was a chasm.

Before Leon could even process his humiliation, another flash of light.

Team Ironclad. Magnus Daven, his face thunderous, his armor blackened with soot and poison stains.

His team looked even worse than Leon’s. The puzzle room had clearly been a nightmare for their brute-force tactics.

Magnus saw Leon. He sneered, ready to make a comment about their shared failure.

And then he saw me. Resting.

His eyes, and the eyes of his entire team, snapped to the Ranking Pylon.

I watched the blood drain from his face, replaced by a dark, furious flush.

Another flash. Team Inferno. Eric William. He, at least, had used his overwhelming power to simply blast his way through the puzzle traps, but his team was almost completely out of mana, his supports leaning on each other.

Another flash. Team Twilight Grace. Selena and Elara.

Another. Team Regal Fire. Lyra and Aurelia.

Within ten minutes, the six top-ranked teams of the Academy had all arrived, one after another, all looking like they had just survived a war.

And they all found Team Anomaly, the "reject" squad, lounging by the fountain, looking like we’d just finished a light jog.

The Rest Stop, designed to be a sanctuary, had become the most toxic, humiliated, and tension-filled room in the entire Tower.

Every single "hero" of the story, every noble heir, every prodigy... had been utterly, completely, and publicly crushed by the "Cursed King" and his team of F-Rank failures.

The shock was absolute.

The silence was deafening.

And I knew, as I watched Magnus Daven’s fists clench at his sides, it wouldn’t stay silent for long.

(To be Continued)