Chapter 185: Entering the Second Floor

Kaelen left his room and came to realize that the reason why he wasn’t disturbed was simply because some of the party members had chosen to stay together instead of fighting over accommodation.

He used his mana perception to see that the only two women in the party seemed closer than normal. It was almost like they had known each other before the grand tournament, though one seemed to be quiet and stoic while the other was the stark opposite of her, clingy and talkative. But the former didn’t seem to have a problem with that and entertained her friend’s hyperactive nature.

The other two men from the party both had gloomy looks and sat in a room together, not saying anything to each other. Kaelen could guess they were both there without their consent.

The last man in the house was the most coordinated out of all the other candidates and was doing the most rigorous exercises inside his room, like he was about to jailbreak. He paused when Kaelen’s mana perception focused on him and tilted his head in a direction with a cold look, like he could feel Kaelen’s gaze.

But the fact that he was looking in the wrong direction made Kaelen almost laugh at the man for trying to show off.

He finally stepped out of the cabin and looked around for any signs of the Herald. As expected, the Herald wasn’t in the lobby with them but was probably watching from somewhere.

He didn’t know how to contact them, so he simply moved towards the angel’s gate on the north wing and began feeling around the behemoth gates for a way to open it.

Sure enough, the Herald’s voice came from behind him.

"What are you trying to do? Don’t tell me you’re trying to escape after only a few hours of sitting in silence."

Kaelen calmly turned to look at them. "I want to believe this door is the ladder up. Am I correct?" he asked.

"If you know that, then what are you trying to do?"

"Isn’t it obvious, or have you forgotten what we’re supposed to do here?" he shot back.

The Herald was taken aback. "Don’t tell me you’re trying to enter the second floor. This isn’t your tutorial world—"

"That’s exactly what I’m trying to do. So would you mind opening the gate for me?"

The Herald fell silent as they stared at Kaelen for a long moment.

"Are you crazy? Do you think you can solo an entire floor on your own? Do you think you would’ve survived on that first floor if it wasn’t for those candidates? You’re all brawn and no brain. It’s not like I care if you live or die, but losing another candidate will greatly affect potential sponsors if your party can’t meet up—"

"I’m not the one who killed the other guy."

The Herald’s gaze turned cold. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me. You can either open this gate for me, or I’ll be writing a formal complaint on the forum page. I’m sure that’ll blow up, and I’m sure the Herald Executioner will see it and call you in for disciplinary action."

The Herald was stunned before scoffing in cold disbelief.

"Are you threatening me?"

Kaelen was silent for a moment.

"I don’t make threats... it’s a cautious warning. The only help I’ll be needing from you is to open this gate whenever I want, and by the ninth floor, I’ll be out of your way. So let’s put up with each other till then. Again, you should be thanking me because my next action may or may not put this lobby on the map. Because if there’s even the slightest chance that I can clear the second floor alone, I’d do that without hesitation. That benefits you and the lobby, not me. I also don’t have a death wish. So, with that being said, open the gates."

The Herald smiled coldly. "Fine. I hope you do realize your Beginner Waystone has a 3-day cooldown period, equivalent to your visa card."

"Is that so..." Kaelen mumbled to himself.

What the Herald was trying to say was that the Waystone could only be used once during the 3-day grace period. If used now, it wouldn’t be available for the second time he attempted to clear the floor. There was no way around it.

It was good information to learn how the other candidates’ Waystones worked, but what she didn’t know was that his had been upgraded by his reward system and could be used infinitely as long as he could disengage from battle by outrunning the enemy.

"Thanks for your concern. But who said I would be making use of it?" he asked smugly.

The Herald scoffed coldly, and without another word, the gate began opening with a loud tremble.

The sound of it immediately caught the attention of the other candidates, and they all stepped out onto their balconies at the three edges of the cabin to see what was happening.

They were shocked to see Kaelen casually walking inside the dark gate as it began closing behind him.

"Liz, is that man entering the second floor alone?" one of the two girls with long blonde hair asked in surprise and disbelief.

The other, who had dark hair styled in a bob cut, didn’t reply but had a serious expression on her face as she stared at Kaelen’s back disappearing inside the gate.

At the same time, a notification flashed across everyone’s vision.

[Candidate(s) of Lobby #351 has gone live on the Second Floor! Tap to watch.]

Kaelen stepped into darkness as the gate closed shut behind him. Then, the space suddenly lit up to reveal a small, empty space with strange carvings on the walls that shook once before it began moving with a soft hum.

It was hard to tell if it was going up or down due to how smooth the ride was, but there was a small screen beyond reach that displayed an arrow pointing upwards and the number ’0’ blinking.

"Basically an elevator," Kaelen mused to himself when a notification flashed across his vision and the minuscule symbol of an eye appeared at the corner of his vision.

[You are live now!]

Kaelen was somehow comforted by that notification because it clarified something for him. The lobbies weren’t being broadcast, and the candidates had their privacy inside.

At the corner of his vision, beside the eye symbol, was a line of numbers that kept increasing at an incredible rate. Kaelen couldn’t even count how many digits there were because the number kept increasing by the second.

He suspected that was the number of viewers watching him. It was a massive number that soon surpassed the number of Evolution Points in his balance: about three quadrillion after his last advancement.

At the same time, several messages entered his inbox.

[You have received a voice chat from Lysandra Cross]

[You have received a message from Elyndra Silver]:

Do you have a death wish??

[You have received a message from Felix Gray]:

Why am I not surprised it’s you?

I would’ve been more surprised if it wasn’t you, and I’ve been meaning to reach out to you because I saw this coming.

Good news is, I believe you have a Waystone. Bad news is... it might not save you.