Kang Min reached out, his gloved fingers adjusting the focus on the holographic cara lens. The image flickered, sharpened, and finally stabilized on his masked face. He was back. The static of the void had been replaced by the familiar interface of the stream, though the air around him still felt heavy with the residue of starlight.
「"Is this thing on? Good."」
The chat window, which had been a frozen wasteland of ’Signal Lost’ ssages, suddenly ignited.
『[Viewer_404]: HE’S BACK! HE’S ALIVE!』
『[Slayer_Official]: Singularity! What the hell happened? The Nesis appeared and the screen went black!』
『[Small_Change_Goblin]: Are you a ghost? Did they execute you? Tell us sothing!』
『[Noob_Stomper]: We thought you were deleted from the server, man!』
Min leaned back, his posture relaxed despite the exhaustion clawing at his muscles.
「"Calm down,"」 he said, his voice flat. 「"There won’t be any punishnt. After a review, the Council ruled the incident as a technical error on their end—a mistake within the constellation stream’s managent of floor-specific power levels. I’m cleared of all charges."」
『[Viewer_1]: A mistake? That’s insane. The Enforcers don’t just show up for a ’mistake.’』
『[Stan_Singularity]: I wish I could have seen it. Imagine being so strong the system has to take you to court.』
『[Small_Change_Goblin]: Only you could get away with that. You probably bullied the system into let you go.』
Min’s gaze drifted away from the cara for a mont as the mory of the last hour flooded back.
He rembered the sensation of being dragged through a rift by the Nesis, his body feeling like it was being unmade. They had taken him to the Celestial Court, a place that existed outside the Tower’s physical geography. It was a hall of infinite white marble, silent and cold.
There, he had stood before the Council. He recognized them instantly: the beings draped in flowing white robes, their wings tucked behind them—the Angels of the Administration. Beside them sat figures shrouded in absolute black, their faces obscured by veils of starlight. These were the Constellations, the voyeurs and masters of the stream.
The air had been thick with hostility until two specific presences intervened. The Artisan of Stellar Anvils and the Mother of Abundance had stepped forward. Because of the contracts Min had maintained with them, they had a vested interest in his survival. Their voices, sounding like the ringing of hamrs on steel and the rustle of a thousand leaves, had defended him against the charge of ’Exploitation.’
The "freedom," however, hadn’t been free.
200,000 Coins, Min thought, a phantom pain throbbing in his chest. Fucking greedy bastards. They called it a ’restoration fee’ for the 9th floor.
He knew the truth. In the constellation stream, even the stars—the gods themselves—craved coins. They used the laws of the Tower to squeeze every drop of currency they could from the climbers. He had paid the fine simply because he had no choice, but the bitterness of the loss stayed with him.
He shook himself out of the mory, his eyes refocusing on the current reality. He tapped the air, and a sequence of system windows appeared before him, visible to the millions of viewers watching the stream.
[SYSTEM: 9TH FLOOR [HALL OF MIRROR SHADOWS] — CLEAR!]
[EVALUATION: SSS (UNPRECEDENTED POWER DETECTED)]
[REWARD: CALCULATING...]
The screen flared gold.
[SYSTEM ANNOUNCENT: GLOBAL NOTIFICATION]
[Player 『SINGULARITY』 has achieved the impossible feat of 10 consecutive SSS Clears from Floor 1 to Floor 10.]
[Due to overwhelming achievents and unprecedented growth, Player 『SINGULARITY』 is hereby designated as a: TOP RANKER.]
The chat went into a complete, unbridled frenzy.
『[Viewer_77]: TOP RANKER IN 10 FLOORS?!』
『[Slayer_Official]: That has to be a world record. There’s no way anyone else has done that.』
『[Small_Change_Goblin]: 10 SSS clears... my brain literally cannot process that math.』
『[Ranker_Seeker]: He just skipped the entire mid-tier ladder.』
『[Viewer_10]: Look at the rankings! He jumped into the top 100!』
『[Noob_Stomper]: Is he even human at this point?』
『[Fan_Girl_X]: The King of the Lower Floors has officially taken his throne.』
『[Gar_Tag]: I’m clipping the system announcent. This is history.』
『[Viewer_44]: Singularity, show us your stats! We need to see the Top Ranker buffs!』
『[Small_Change_Goblin]: He won’t. He’s too arrogant for that. (But please do).』
『[Sword_Saint_Apprentice]: The way he handled that mirror... he deserves the title.』
『[Viewer_00]: The Top Ranker aura is already visible』
『[K-News_Live]: We are breaking into the stream to report this live to the capital!』
『[Stan_Singularity]: 10 floors, 10 SSS ranks. Perfectly balanced.』
『[Viewer_9]: Who is even going to challenge him now?』
『[Small_Change_Goblin]: The 11th floor is going to be a bloodbath. He’s too fast.』
『[Legacy_Player]: I’ve been climbing for 8 years and I’m still Floor 5. I want to cry.』
『[Viewer_1]: Long live the Singularity!』
『[Slayer_Official]: See you on the 11th floor, Top Ranker!』
Min watched the ssages fly by for a few more seconds before reaching out to the interface.
「"That’s enough for today,"」 he said, his voice lower than usual. 「"The 11th floor will have to wait. I have so personal business to attend to."」
He didn’t wait for the inevitable protests or donations. He tapped the "End Stream" button, and the red light finally died. The silence of the 9th floor’s exit chamber felt heavy, but for once, it was peaceful.
He leaned his head back against the stone wall and let out a long, ragged sigh. He reached up, pulling the matte black mask away from his face and letting it hang from his hand.
「"I’ve really missed eating food outside the tower,"」 he whispered to the empty room.
The thought of real, warm food—not mana-infused rations or system-generated energy bars—made his stomach growl. He thought of the small stalls near his old apartnt, the ones that sold spicy rice cakes and fried chicken.
「"I’m going to spend like crazy,"」 he muttered with a small, tired smirk. 「"I’ve earned a decent al."」
He stood up, looking at the portal that led back to the human world—the "Safe Zone" where the Rankers rested.
「"By now, the drama should have died down,"」 he said, his eyes reflecting the blue light of the pordays
"I can finally go back and continue about my life for a few days."
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