A breeze of cool air drove a shiver up Alex’s spine when he appeared on the second floor. The darkness of night covered everything around him, adding a sense of desolation to the brisk air. It was a far cry from warm colors of the first floor. His eyes would need a moment to adjust.

It had only taken him a quarter of a day to clear the first floor; a sizable improvement over the three days it took him the first time around. But that wasn’t a particularly impressive accomplishment. The first floor was by far the easiest, serving only as a brief introduction to the kinds of things that could be found in the tower. Almost everyone made it through within a few days. Comparatively, the second floor was a different kind of beast.

The second floor was the dominion of trolls, and it was frequently called the rookie-killer. The dominion was massive, especially for an early floor. It was about three times larger than the first and fifty times more dangerous. It’s size, however, was balanced by having multiple ways to ascend to the next floor. But that was only helpful if you knew what the conditions were to activate the hidden portals.

Trolls were among the craftiest of monsters. Their strength wasn’t substantially greater than goblins, but they specialized in catching their prey in traps and whittling them down slowly. And they did most of their hunting at night. As a low-defense Spirit Fighter, he couldn’t afford to get caught out. Luckily, this floor actually had a day-night cycle. It would be best to find a spot to rest for the night and continue during the day.

With his vision severely limited in the deep darkness of the night, Alex picked a random direction and started walking. He’d need a place with decent cover to lie down and rest. A small cave or perhaps a tree with thick branches that he could lay his sleeping bag on. But it was so hard to see more than a meter away. It all reminded him of the time he and Emma were lost on the 12th floor. His heart dropped.

Wait… Emma! She’s still alive!

A mixture of relief and joy filled his heart. Chrono had sent him seven years back to the past. That's four years before Emma had died. During those four years he’d met, fallen in love with, and lost her. All of that had happened within the tower. She was still out there somewhere, and he needed to find her-

The ground gave out from underneath Alex and he felt his body drop.

A moment later his feet slammed into dirt, and he felt the shock of the impact ripple through his body. Somehow, he’d managed to land flat on his feet, and they stung with pain. The ache bit harshly throughout his legs, but thankfully they weren’t broken. He looked up and saw something slide across the opening that he’d fallen through, until it completely covered the night sky above. The muffled sound of troll chuckles rang from above.

He’d broken the first rule of the troll dominion: don’t fall into their traps. This could be a problem.

Alex surveyed his surroundings. Just as above the ground, he could barely make out what was ahead of him. And judging by how long it took him to hit the bottom, this hole was quite deep. He opened his map and saw that there was a path leading straight ahead. He hadn’t fallen into a simple hole. Rather, he’d fallen into the famous underground network of the trolls.

Unlike above the surface, the sun wouldn’t shine down here and that gave trolls the perfect advantage. They had exceptional eyesight, even under poor lighting conditions. That’s why they preferred to hunt at night. If they hadn’t closed the top of the clearing so quickly, Alex could’ve scaled the sides with his Pulse Dash and gotten out. In the daytime they’d be no match for him. Damn crafty trolls.

While it would’ve been nice to go back to the surface, it wasn’t entirely necessary. There would be portals sprawled throughout the underground network, too, though they’d be much harder to access than above ground.

With no other option available, Alex started walking straight through the only path ahead. Tiny, dimly lit candles provided the most minuscule of illumination through the underground network. Musty air filled his lungs as he walked, making it hard to breathe, and the tight corridors felt like they were choking him, rousing his deep hatred for confined spaces. Still, he powered through.

A couple hundred paces later and he heard a deep, monstrous grunt up ahead.

He could barely make out the outline of a body in the darkness. As he focused his vision on the monster, a status screen popped up above.

Troll Grunt HP: 12/48

Only 12 HP left? It’s wounded?

From the feint change in shadows, Alex could tell that the troll was attacking. He took up a fighting stance. A shimmer of light crossed his vision as a blade swung at him. He tried to avoid the sharp edge, but it caught him, slicing open a small wound in his arm.

This was bad. If he couldn’t dodge attacks he wouldn’t last long. Time to try out my new skill. Using the status screen as an indicator of his enemy’s location, Alex swooped in and placed his palms on the monster’s damp, rugged skin. He activated Spirit Blast, and a burst of energy erupted from his palms and exploded on the troll.

The monster fell and Alex heard the clank of metal falling to the floor. He hunched down and analyzed the item.

Iron Axe

Grade: Common

Quality: Poor

Perfect. I’ll need plenty of these.

He looked at his map and noticed that he had arrived at a T-intersection. The path to the right didn’t lead anywhere but the left path was much longer, going into the fog of war that limited the vision of his map.

He turned left at the intersection and continued his steady pace. Shortly after, a familiar, putrid smell entered his nostrils. Death. Up ahead, he saw the confirmation; a human body laid sprawled out on the floor. Unlike monsters, human bodies remained inside the tower and would decompose over time. This person must’ve been the one who weakened the troll but ultimately lost the battle.

Alex let out a sigh of sadness. This was one person he couldn’t save. And there’d be plenty more. The best he could do was rush to the top and defeat the Demon King. Countless people would die along the way, but he’d have to focus on the ones he could save. With deep regret, he left the body in place and continued down the path.

He walked down the same, monotonous passage for what felt like an eternity, only stopping to rest and eat a nutrition pill when his body felt completely empty. Trolls appeared here and there, but he made quick work of them. It was easy to lose track of time down here. He felt like he’d been walking through this pathway for at least half a day, but he couldn’t trust his own perception of time. Despite the call for rest from his mind and body, he wouldn’t allow himself to sleep here. He’d force himself to power through.

Countless paces later a new stench broke the mindless monotony and he was jolted wide awake. He recognized this smell immediately; poison gas. A grim realization quickly came to mind.

He was in deep trouble.