Kael felt it that this floor 6th is kind of alive and breathing.
A subtle shift like a hand that had been resting loosely on his shoulder tightening its grip not to restrain but to measure.
Something had acknowledged him. Kael's spine stiffened.
"You felt that too" Kael said quietly.
Shen Yao did not answer immediately. His gaze was lifted toward the broken skyline eyes narrowed slightly as if listening to something far beyond the ruined city.
"Yes" Shen Yao said at last "That was not the tower issuing the command".
Kael swallowed it "Then what was it?".
"A correction attempt or the beginning of one".
They stood in silence as the pressure slowly receded leaving behind a faint ache in Kael's chest like a bruise that hadn't formed yet.
The system did not announce anything.
'Now that I think about it the system did not say I defeated the Unidentified boss entity but it just said conceptual interaction achieved but did not include into the unique bosses which I defeated why is that?'
Normally when the tower reacted it did so loudly. Notifications, Rankings, Rewards, Warnings, Timers.
This time there was only absence.
Kael exhaled slowly "I don't like it when the tower goes quiet".
Shen Yao's lips twitched faintly "No one does silence means its thinking".
They resumed walking.
The streets ahead were unfamiliar even by the fractured logic of the sixth floor. Building leaned inward at the impossible angles their edges blurred as if unsure where they ended. Kael noticed that some surfaces refused to reflect light properly while others reflected too much and it showed ghost images overlapping reality.
"Master" Kael said after a while "Earlier you said I'm accelerating unresolved processes".
"Yes".
"Does that mean the tower will...push back harder?".
Shen Yao stopped.
He turned fully this time studying Kael with a gaze that carried no judgement only assessment.
"It means that the tower can no longer pretend you are irrelevant".
Kael felt his pulse spike.
"That sounds like a problem"
"It will become one, but later so now don't think much about it".
Kael frowned "You don't sound concerned".
Shen Yao resumed walking "Concern implies uncertainty. I already know how it ends".
That answer did not reassure Kael in the slightest.
They reached a narrow bridge spanning a deep fissure in the city. Below broken streets spiraled downward into the darkness, layers upon layers of unfinished space folding into each other.
Kael paused at the edge.
"I don't remember this being on the map".
Shen Yao glanced back "It wasn't".
Kael looked at him sharply "Then how---"
"This is what happens when too many contradictions are resolved improperly, Paths appear where none were meant to exist".
Kael hesitated then followed.
As they crossed Kael felt it again that sensation of being counted. Like the being seeing you how long can you handle this situation and flip the table and make the character suffer more or reward more.
The system message popped up.
[Notice]
[Floor Environment Adjustment in Progress]
[Cause: Undefined Variable Detected]
Kael's breath caught.
"Undefined Variable?" he repeated.
Shen Yao smiled thinly "Congratulations, you have graduated from anomaly to inconvenience"
The bridge shuddered slightly then stabilized.
On the far side the city opened into a wide circular district. At its center stood a structure Kael hadn't noticed before a tall, skeletal tower of broken glass and metal spiraling upward its surface crawling with faint symbols that faded before they could be read.
The Central Signal Spire.
Kael's eyes narrowed "We're back here".
"Yes, but its definitely not for the same reason".
Kael felt it immediately, this place was different now.
Before the spire had felt like an objective something to reach to clear to complete.
Now it felt like a question.
The system popped once again.
[Main Mission Update Detected]
[Reevaluating Parameters]
Kael grimaced "That doesn't sound good".
"No" Shen Yao agreed "It sounds honest and its evaluating your whole mission process till now".
They stepped into the district.
The moment Kael crossed the invisible threshold he felt the resistance but like the boundary he used to draw and its conceptual. The space pushed back gently as if asking him to define himself before proceeding.
Kael did not draw the line.
He remembered Shen Yao's words.
'Do not interfere unless the world cannot resolve something on its own'
He simply walked forward, the resistance thinned, the spire did not react further.
Behind them something flickered.
Kael turned sharply.
A figure stood at the edge of the district, it looked like a player, human, and its level tag is visible.
Level 14.
Kael thought why cant he off his level tag, why need to show off every time.
The man looked around in confusion eyes darting between the warped building and the towering site. His grip tightened on his weapon as he noticed only Kael but not Shen Yao.
"Hey!!" the player called out voice tense "You did the floor change just now?".
Kael hesitated like how can he say all this happened because of him.
But Kael spoke first "Yes and you should leave immediately".
The player frowned "What? Why?".
"Because this area is no longer meant for you" Kael brain could not think straight about what he was saying to the player.
The player scoffed thinking what even this guy is saying "That's not how the tower works".
Kael felt it then.
The subtle pressure around the player how the space still treated him as the object to be processed a participant within expected parameters.
And then Kael felt himself.
The difference was unmistakable.
The player took a step forward and the ground resisted him.
He frowned and tried again and pushing even harder.
The space pushed back.
"What the hell---" the player was in shock.
Shen Yao glanced at Kael "Do nothing".
Kael clenched his fists and the player swore and activated his skill. Energy flared around him as he forced his way forward.
The space rejected him.
But this time it was violent and firm.
[Lost 132 HP]
"What did you do?" the player shouted fear creeping into his voice.
Kael swallowed "Nothing".
And that was the truth.
The player scrambled to his feet eyes wide now. He looked at the spire and then Kael again dread settling in.
"This floor- this floor's bugged" he said shakily "I'm reporting this".
He turned and ran.
The moment he crossed the district boundary the resistance vanished. He nearly fell from the sudden release then didn't look back.
Silence returned.
Kael Exhaled slowly "I didn't even touch him".
Shen Yao nodded "You didn't have to"
Kael looked at his hands "Is this.... Authority?".
Shen Yao considered him carefully 'Doesn't he realize the resistance given to the other player was not given by the tower and this 6th floor, it was Kael himself, his power its growing and his authority is strong has ever'
"This is the consequence of being acknowledged" 'By you'
Kael felt a chill.
"So what happens when more people notice".
Shen Yao's gaze drifted upward toward the unseen layers of the tower.
"Then the tower will be forced to decide" he said quietly "Whether you flaw or useful".
The spire pulsed faintly.
The system sounded once more.
[Main Mission: Floor 6]
[Object Modified]
[Condition: Await Stabilization]
Kael laughed softly with a mix of disbelief and tension "Its telling me to wait".
Shen Yao smiled not amused but satisfied.
"In my entire life I never saw the tower act like this and now its unsure what you are allowed to do next".
Kael straightened gaze steady.
"Then I guess, lets wait for it, not a big deal about it but I hope not it forgets what's its supposed to do".
Above them the tower is still thinking and reevaluating Kaels process and the rewards but something its own system is not listening to towers command, it felt very strange and ... interesting.