Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Checkmate Before The Game

Next morning I stood facing Amelia and Anastasia.

Today was the day. The small job of clearing some stupid floor.

Both of them looked worried sick.

Amelia’s playful attitude was completely gone. She’d spent the last hour trying to convince me to back out. Explaining again and again why this was a terrible idea.

The main reason? She couldn’t come with me.

Diana had explained how Floor 80 worked. It was nothing like the other floors they’d faced before. Once you step in, you lose everything. No summons. No items. No artifacts. Nothing.

You get thrown into a new body. Assigned some random class. And you stay that way until the quest ends. Or until you die.

Then there was Anastasia.

She was even more worried than Amelia. The kid didn’t understand what towers were or what any of this meant. But she’d heard enough of our conversations to know one thing.

I was walking into something that might kill me.

She looked up at me with those glowing gradient eyes. “Eren… when will you come back?”

Her voice was so small it hurt.

I crouched down to her level.

“I don’t know exactly. Diana said time works differently in each floor. Could be days here but weeks there. Or the opposite.”

I ruffled her purple hair. “But I promise I’ll be back before you know it. Till then, behave properly, alright?”

She nodded but didn’t look convinced. I stood back up and pretended to think.

“Aah wait. I forgot something. You’re the intelligent one here. The person I actually need to give this lecture to is someone else.”

I turned and looked directly at Amelia.

Then I leaned back toward Anastasia. Made a show of whispering. But it was loud enough for everyone in the hall to hear.

“Take care of that big dummy over there. And if she does something stupid while I’m gone, scold her properly. Understood?”

Anastasia’s worried expression shifted. She nodded with sudden resolve. Like I’d just given her an important mission.

A few servants nearby couldn’t hold back their giggles.

Amelia’s eye twitched but she didn’t say anything.

I turned toward the entrance. “Take care. All of you.”

But before I could walk away, Anastasia called out.

“Eren!”

I looked back.

“Take care too. And when you return…” She puffed out her small chest proudly.

“Anastasia will welcome you with cookies! She’s been learning how to make them!”

Something warm flickered in my chest. I pushed it down.

“Well then.” I grinned. “Looks like I need to settle things faster than I planned.”

I turned to Diana who’d been waiting silently at the entrance. Listening to everything.

“Hear that? So you better keep up.”

She didn’t respond. Didn’t even look at me.

But I knew she understood.

-x-X-x-

Some time later I was walking inside the tower.

Diana walked ahead of me. Behind us followed her assistant. That same professor from before. The one who gave off cold CEO vibes.

The contract with the four houses was already signed and sealed. Simple terms. If Diana walks out of this tower without clearing Floor 80, she loses everything. Title. Position. All of it.

But if she walks out victorious? Those four bastards are finished.

Obviously that second option was the only acceptable outcome.

I looked around as we moved deeper.

The inside of the tower was bizarre. Just a plain white void stretching endlessly. No walls. No ceiling. Nothing but emptiness. It felt like walking on top of the sky itself.

Far ahead of us stood a massive gate. The thing was enormous. Big enough for an entire army to march through at once.

Diana noticed me staring at it. Then her eyes dropped to the axe in my hand.

“Why did you bring that?” Her voice was flat as always.

“Didn’t I explain already? Once we enter Floor 80, you won’t have any summons. You won’t have any items or artifacts either. That axe is useless.”

I shrugged. “Yeah I remember. That’s literally the only thing you told me. Even after I kept asking for more details about what’s inside.”

“Because you don’t need to know.” She kept walking. “The tower’s system will explain everything once we enter.”

“Great.” I rolled my eyes. “So some robot voice is gonna be more helpful than you. Good to know.”

She ignored me completely.

I glanced back at the professor trailing behind us. Her face was completely blank. Zero emotion. Like a carbon copy of Diana in that department.

Where the hell had I gotten myself into?

I turned back to Diana.

“I brought my axe because without it I feel incomplete. Whether it comes with me to whatever world is on the other side or not… just having it in my hand makes me feel whole.”

I lifted the weapon slightly. “This thing has been with me longer than my memory can reach. Even in my sad times it was there to boost me up.”

Diana said nothing.

“But what about you?”

She kept walking.

“Why did you bring her along?” I jerked my thumb toward the professor behind us.

“You know only two people can participate in this floor. So why is she here?”

Diana’s body twitched.

She froze mid-step. Just for a second. Then she glanced back. Not at me. At the professor.

That tiny slip told me everything.

I’d known something was wrong from the very beginning. The moment she accepted my deal back in that meeting room without putting up a real fight. That wasn’t how Diana operated.

She knew she had no choice but to enter this floor. The novel’s plot demanded it. And when she saw how stubborn I was about joining her, she didn’t waste energy arguing.

Instead she let me think I was part of the plan.

Made me feel like I’d won.

But in reality? She never intended to take me through that gate. This professor was supposed to knock me out right before we entered. Take my spot. Leave me behind in this void.

That was her play.

Too bad I don’t follow other people’s scripts.

Before the professor could even begin summoning, I moved.

THWACK.

The flat head of my axe slammed into her chest. Hard. The impact disrupted the QUOR energy she was gathering from the core.

She stumbled backward. Gasping. Unable to breathe properly. Her body hit the white void floor.

I didn’t give her time to recover.

I raised my axe high. She saw it coming. Her eyes went wide with fear before squeezing shut. Surrendering to what she thought was death.

But I wasn’t aiming to kill.

CRACK.

The wooden pole of my axe connected precisely with her temple. Just enough force to knock her out cold.

Her body went limp instantly.

And then something happened.

She started dissolving. Breaking apart into tiny particles of light. Like a character getting deleted from a game.

Within seconds she was gone completely.

Unconscious people can’t stay in this void. The tower kicks them out automatically.

I lowered my axe and turned around.

Diana stood there with her cold mask completely shattered.

Everything happened too fast. She couldn’t process it. Couldn’t react. All she could do was stare at the empty space where her assistant used to be.

I tilted my head.

“So. Got any other choices left?”

I let the question hang. “Or is your little play finally over?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep