The transition to the Second Floor was instantaneous. Austin didn't even glance at the "Rest Zone" where other exhausted climbers were panting and counting their meager loot. He stepped directly into the portal, his Level 30 aura causing the nearby mana-detection stones to glow a frantic, pulsing red.
By the time he reached the Fifth Floor, the Tower Administration Office—a pocket dimension occupied by the Tower's "Watchers"—was in a state of absolute chaos.
"Identify him! Now!" roared High Administrator Vahn, his multiple eyes fixed on a screen showing a violet blur tearing through the Labyrinth of Stone. "He's Level 30 and he's clearing Floor 4 in under ninety seconds! Is it a bug? Is the system leaking data from the Higher Heavens?"
"Sir, we can't identify him!" a subordinate shouted, his hands flying across a holographic keyboard. "Every time we try to scan his Soul-ID, the system returns a [NULL] error. It's like his existence is too dense for our sensors to process!"
On the screen, Austin reached the Fifth Floor Boss room—the Gargoyle Sentinel.
Usually, the Sentinel was a wall for newcomers. It had a passive skill, Hardened Carapace, which reduced all incoming damage by 80% for anyone under Level 25. A team of twenty geniuses from the Azure Sun Sect was currently at the entrance, debating a three-hour strategy.
Austin walked past them without stopping.
"Hey! Kid!" the leader of the Azure Sun team barked. He was a Level 22 Warrior with a massive claymore. "That's a Boss room! You'll be crushed in seconds if you go in alone. Wait for—"
Austin didn't even turn his head. He pushed the massive stone doors open.
"Density... becomes Weightlessness," Austin muttered.
The Gargoyle Sentinel, a five-ton beast of enchanted granite, lunged forward. Its massive fist descended like a falling building. Austin simply stepped into the shadow of the strike. He didn't dodge; he reached out and tapped the Gargoyle's ankle.
[ACTIVE SKILL: REALITY FLIP]
The Sentinel's 80% damage reduction flipped into an 800% Damage Vulnerability. At the same time, its massive physical weight was flipped into a repulsive force.
The Gargoyle didn't just fall—it literally exploded upward, its own massive density tearing its stone joints apart as it was repelled by the very ground it stood on. It hit the ceiling of the boss chamber with such force that the entire Fifth Floor shuddered.
[NOTIFICATION: BOSS DEFEATED.]
[LEVEL UP!]
[LEVEL UP!]
Austin stood amidst the raining stone dust. Behind him, the Azure Sun team stood frozen, their mouths hanging open.
"What... what kind of skill was that?" the leader stammered. "He didn't even use mana..."
"It wasn't a skill," Austin said, finally looking back. His eyes were like violet stars, cold and infinitely deep. "It was a correction. Reality shouldn't be that heavy."
He didn't wait for their reaction. He noticed his XP bar. Level 35. The higher he climbed, the more the Tower's "Source Code" felt like a suffocating blanket. He could feel the Origin Will watching him now, a cold, mechanical eye starting to take interest in this anomaly.
"If I keep going at this speed, the Tower will try to auto-balance the difficulty," Austin thought. "I need to be in two places at once. One to distract the system, and one to reach the Milestone."
He sat cross-legged in the center of the boss room, ignoring the treasure chest that had spawned. He tapped into the Primordial energy pulsing in his heart.
[ACTIVE SKILL UNLOCKED: MYRIAD AVATAR]
CURRENT CAPACITY: 1 / 2 Avatars.
COST: 2,000 Primordial Essence.
Austin's shadow began to detach from the floor. It rose, swirling with obsidian smoke and silver light, until a perfect duplicate of Austin stood before him. Same violet eyes. Same cold expression. Same Level 35 status.
"You," Austin said to his avatar. "Clear Floors 6 through 20. Do it loudly. Destroy everything. Make the Tower believe you are the main body."
The Avatar nodded once, its voice a synthesized echo of his own. "And you?"
"I'm going to the hidden 'Glitch Zones' between the floors," Austin replied, standing up. "I need to hit Level 50 before the Tower Administrators realize I'm not playing their game."
The Avatar turned and sprinted toward the Sixth Floor portal, leaving a trail of shattered stone in its wake.
Austin, meanwhile, turned toward the corner of the boss room where the "Source Code" looked slightly frayed—a dimensional seam that only his Omniscience could see. He reached into the air and literally peeled the space apart like a curtain.
He stepped into the Inter-Floor Void—a place of raw, unrefined XP and chaotic data.
[WARNING: YOU HAVE ENTERED AN UNSTABLE ZONE.]
[LEVELING SPEED INCREASED BY 1,000%.]
[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 0.0001%.]
"Perfect," Austin smiled. "Finally, a challenge."
He began to walk through the void, his Manual of the Eternal Beginning spinning like a hurricane, devouring the raw data of the Tower itself.
[LEVEL UP!]
[LEVEL UP!]
[...LEVEL UP!]