After the contract, Sailor fell into oblivion, returning slowly, as if someone was deliberately in no hurry to raise the curtain.
Sailor felt his body before he realized he was alive. The stone beneath his back was cold, rough, unpleasantly real. Something was constricting his chest; his heart beat erratically, as if it had forgotten the proper rhythm.
He groaned and tried to move.
Pain answered immediately—sharp, deep, as if his bones were grinding against each other from within.
"Alive… or is this the third option now?"
He opened his eyes.
The Tower was still there. The same distorted walls, the darkness under the ceiling, the air saturated with ancient menace. But something had changed. The pressure that had once pressed him into the ground had weakened. It hadn't vanished—just become tolerable.
Sailor sat up, leaning on his hands, and immediately sensed something strange.
His body obeyed… but not fully.
His arms felt alien. His movements—slightly delayed. As if he were controlling himself through a thick layer of water.
And then he heard laughter.
Quiet. Muffled. Mocking.
"Ha."
Sailor flinched and looked around sharply.
No one.
"You know, I must admit," a voice sounded directly in his head, lazy and clearly pleased with itself. "You are remarkably stable for a human who just died… for the second time."
Sailor paled.
"Second time?.."
"Yes, yes," the voice continued. A smirk was palpable in it. "First—when they stuck a sword in you. Second—when you signed the contract without reading the fine print."
Sailor clenched his teeth.
"Are you doing this on purpose right now?" he asked aloud in a hoarse voice.
"Of course," the dragon sounded as if it were smiling. "I can't miss such a moment. You don't get to watch the same person die twice in a short span of time every day."
A chill ran down Sailor's spine.
"He's laughing… he's really laughing."
"Relax," the dragon went on. "If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't have had time to be afraid."
Somehow, that wasn't comforting.
Sailor slowly rose to his feet. His knees trembled but held. He took a step—and immediately staggered sideways. Darkness swam before his eyes.
"Careful," the dragon said mockingly. "New body. Well… almost new."
"New?"
"Your old one was dead," it replied calmly. "I held it together. Patched it up. But it's still a human shell, not a vessel for something like me."
Sailor swallowed.
"So… I'm alive thanks to you."
"Oh, spare me the gratitude," the dragon snorted. "You're my problem for the next two years. Not much to rejoice about here."
A semi-transparent window appeared before Sailor's eyes.
[Nameless Contract - Active]
[Connection State: Unstable]
[Compatibility: 17%]
He stared at the numbers.
"Seventeen percent?.."
"I'm disappointed too," the dragon sighed. "Honestly, I was counting on at least twenty. But you seem to be the type who resists even after death."
Sailor gave a nervous chuckle.
"And if compatibility drops to zero?"
A pause.
"Then you'll die," the dragon said calmly. "This time, for good."
Sailor fell silent.
"Great. Just great."
He tried to open his status.
The window appeared but looked… wrong.
His rank was still the lowest. Class—none. In its place:
[Condition: Nameless]
[Origin: Contractor]
Sailor frowned.
"Why don't I have a class?"
"Because the Tower doesn't understand what you are," the dragon replied with evident pleasure. "People love labels. The system—even more so. And you now are… an anomaly."
A shiver ran through Sailor's body.
"An anomaly in the Tower… sounds like a death sentence."
"Not always," the dragon chuckled. "Sometimes it sounds like the beginning of a legend."
At that moment, the air ahead wavered.
Sailor felt it before he saw it.
A presence.
From the darkness, a creature emerged slowly. Tall, twisted, with multiple eyes and bony growths. A thick, sticky threat emanated from it.
A 37th-floor monster.
Sailor instinctively stepped back.
"I can't handle this…"
"I said I'd help you get out," the dragon reminded him lazily. "But I never said I'd do everything for you."
The monster lunged forward.
Sailor turned and ran—and almost immediately stumbled. The creature was too fast.
"Damn it!"
"Pull yourself together," the dragon's voice grew colder. "I'll guide you. You'll act."
In the next instant, the world seemed to shift.
The monster's movements became clearer. The angles of its attacks—readable. Sailor didn't understand how, but he dodged, rolled, grabbed a shard of stone, and struck.
The creature howled.
He struck again and again, not thinking, not hesitating. Brutally. Messily. Effectively.
When it was over, Sailor fell to his knees amidst the remains, gasping for breath.
He was trembling.
"That wasn't me… not entirely."
"Congratulations," said the dragon. "You've taken your first step."
Sailor lifted his gaze into the void.
"What if I break?"
The pause was longer than before.
"Then," the dragon answered quietly, "I'll simply take control. That's precisely what the contract is for."
Sailor clenched his fists.
"Wonderful. Just wonderful."
A soft chuckle echoed in his head.
"Don't be afraid," the dragon said. "I promised to help you get out, after all."
It paused and added with obvious amusement:
"It's just that first, you'll have to conquer the Tower."