Chapter 180: Arrival at the Lobby

"Welcome to my lobby, Candidate Kaelen Cross. It’s a pleasure to finally meet the hope of the human race, but I hope you realize this isn’t the tutorial world you conquered, and your achievements in your world don’t hold a grain of dust in the grand scheme of things, because no one is coming to save you here, and the only hands you can entrust your life into are your own." The Herald said with a diminishing tone and an ungodly smile.

"Yeah, thanks for the wise words. But can I ask why we have a dead body over here?" Kaelen replied indifferently.

His reply stunned the Herald as they stared at Kaelen for a long moment before they replied without looking.

"That’s the punishment for anyone who goes against my words."

"Against your words or against the rules? Correct me if I’m wrong, but Heralds are supposed to be guardians and supervisors of each lobby. It’s understandable to kill a candidate if they tried to get violent with you or maybe a fellow candidate. Am I correct?" Kaelen asked, and continued without waiting for a reply. "But you just made it sound like it’s within your right to kill us for going against your words, even if these words go against our will. It’s like killing me because I refused to after you asked me to kill myself. I’m not trying to challenge your authority, but I think it’s best to set clear boundaries in the role we’re all to play to increase our survival chances as a team, since our necks are all on the line here."

Kaelen’s eyes became sharp as he stared straight at the Herald after saying his piece.

He wasn’t trying to challenge them, but they had simply started it first the second he stepped into the lobby. The last thing he’d let the Herald do was intimidate him into being submissive, when he knew the rules and didn’t even need the Herald to survive.

His plan was to switch lobbies to that of Emir’s on the 9th floor, then recruit Lysandra on that same day to be with him. As long as he didn’t cross the line, the Herald couldn’t kill him just because they had the power, and neither could they oppress him into submission by taking away his rights to the lobby facilities when he had his return system that gave him everything he needed.

A 10,000 Quality-enhanced Starter Pack should be more than enough to sustain him for at least the next ten floors without interacting with the lobby’s facilities, and if he were strong enough, he could get to the ninth floor on his own.

That’s right. That was a key detail Kaelen understood from one of Kelsey’s replies to his question.

A candidate could definitely attempt clearing the floor alone, and if successful, it wouldn’t suffice for the entire party. Each and every one of the candidates in the party would have to clear that floor, either as a team or solo, in order to advance to the next floor.

In the end, it all came down to individual strength in the race to the top.

The Herald stared at him coldly for a moment, and Kaelen neither flinched nor shied away from the gaze as they entered a deadlock.

The other candidates simply watched with no intentions of getting involved, not out of fear. Some were clearly terrified by the Herald’s presence, but there were some who merely observed indifferently, in curiosity, and even rivalry.

While the rest held their breaths, waiting for Kaelen’s head to implode.

Then the Herald suddenly burst out in a fit of laughter. "Of course, of course. I’m sure we all understand the rule, and you just misunderstood my intentions. Y’all got three days to familiarize yourself with the lobby, learn your strengths and weaknesses as a team, and clear the next floor." They said while addressing the party, before shifting their attention back to Kaelen. "Good luck with that." They said with a smile, but there was something about the smile and the light in their eyes that didn’t sit well with anyone.

Not that Kaelen could care. As far as he could tell, the worst a Herald could do is halt the growth of the lobby, which then affects the team and affects potential sponsorships. In the end, if they all died, the Herald would be coming down with them.

That was the only rule Kaelen couldn’t agree with any better, and his goal for reaching Emir’s lobby before the tenth floor. Because if his team was loaded with small fries, even if they made it to the ninth floor, the tenth floor would definitely take longer, hence the reason why the ninth floor gave the candidates an opportunity to restock and recruit outstanding candidates for the final battle before the short-term break.

Kaelen nodded at the Herald with a forced smile, before shifting his attention to the towering dark walls around 200 feet high that surrounded them in a glade roughly 20 to 40 acres in size.

There were two angel’s gates. One at the north gate, the other at the south gate.

There was only one infrastructure in the glade, and it was a one-storey-tall building constructed with wood. Kaelen suspected that was the sleeping quarters, and one of the two gates was a portal to the next floor.

Judging by the size of the lobby, Kaelen could tell they wanted the candidates to not just fight inside the floors, but to build. A weaponry, a forge, a cookhouse, a farm, and many more.

As for who would attend to these facilities? It was none other than the candidates themselves. They’d have to learn these basic professions, which should be made available at the 9th floor.

But even at that, Kaelen still couldn’t see the need for such space that could sustain 60 people to live comfortably with enough space to not make it rowdy.

This made Kaelen suspect the six members per party would nearly be enough as they advanced the tower. And as each party rushed to recruit more candidates, that was the same way candidates would rush to leave their parties for a better one, and that would leave Heralds with little to no candidates in their party, which would doom them.

And when it came to deciding which party was best, it began the first ten floors, as it was easier to recruit more members with enough candidates than with little to none, as no one would be willing to join such a party, and even those few would have their eyes outside.

In the end, only one party might remain at the top with their Herald being the only surviving one out of all the many that had appeared during the introduction.

To ensure his own survival, and for his plan to succeed, that party had to be Kaelen’s, and that Herald had to be Emir.

He was going to make sure of it.

[You have killed Gargorath the World-Swallower]

[10,000 Reward Multiplier Triggered...]

[You have received 16,000,000,000,000 Evolution Points]

[You have received (1) Hidden loot bundle]

[10,000 Reward Multiplier Triggered...]

[Quality or Quantity?]

[Your contribution for killing the hidden boss has been calculated, here’s your rewards]:

"Hmm... seems like she finally tortured it to death. I guess it’s time to check our rewards."