The only person left alive wasn’t just Lim Su-jin.
One of the stone doors emitted a blue light, and Park Ji-hoon emerged from there.

“Ah.”

Our eyes met.

“…How?”
Park Ji-hoon was startled to see us.
It looked like he had seen something he shouldn’t have.

I wasn’t doing anything inappropriate with the lady, yet he looked at me with those eyes.
I felt a bit disappointed.

‘...This complicates things.’

It was a chilling thought, but I had assumed that all the players who had entered would be dead.

Even Jin Cheol-hwan, who had constantly picked fights with me, and Lee Min-ji, who had been all over me like a senior.

Park Ji-hoon, who had received bonus points for moving faster than anyone, hadn’t been expected to pass the trial either.

‘Of course. It was designed for six of us to work together to clear it.’

I was a special case.
My skill tooltip had an error, which I exploited to pass.

What if I had the same skills as the others?

Even if I had used my tongue to persuade the knight and landed a strike, I would have faced a terrible result in the subsequent battle.

So, I assumed they all died and made a somewhat reckless plan to monopolize the solo clear bonus.
I could still go up to the next floor.

But now there were survivors?

Lim Su-jin didn’t know anything since she hadn’t entered, so that was fine, but Park Ji-hoon had challenged the trial and succeeded.

‘Is a difference of 1 point in stats more significant than I thought?’

I had spent 4 points on agility, but it didn’t feel like a noticeable difference.

“…….”

An awkward silence hung in the air.
Thinking about it, we weren’t really close enough to be chatting happily.

“Great! This is good!”
Lim Su-jin clapped her hands and smiled.

“Now that the two students have gained some experience, you should be able to pass through other places easily.”

Those were words that could only be spoken because she didn’t know anything.

Lim Su-jin thought the trials beyond the stone doors were dangers to be avoided at all costs.
In reality, they were opportunities to seize.

‘Park Ji-hoon probably thinks the same.’

He must be wanting to take the solo clear bonus for himself, having stumbled upon that information by accident.

‘Or maybe the opposite?’

He might think it’s dangerous and choose to cooperate instead.

Just as I predicted, Park Ji-hoon spoke first.

“Thank goodness.”

Park Ji-hoon sighed in relief and approached.

“It must have been quite dangerous.”
“I barely survived.”
“How?”
“…….”

I glanced at Park Ji-hoon.
I felt a sense of unease, so I hesitated to respond.

Was there a way to answer that would naturally divert his curiosity without instilling my doubts in him?

As the time for delaying my answer ran out, I gave a vague response.

“…The opponent was lenient.”
“The opponent was lenient? Why?”
“I don’t know the reason either.”

My answer made no sense, and honestly, it worried me a lot.

‘I need to watch my back.’

I had thought the assistant would definitely be on our side, but they weren’t actually on our side.
Likewise, I couldn’t consider Park Ji-hoon to be on my side either.

Especially since Park Ji-hoon realized that it was possible to pass the trial without the six of us cooperating.
From my perspective, he was someone I needed to be more wary of than Lim Su-jin.

“Hmm….”

Park Ji-hoon looked me over.
I returned the favor.

“What about the solo clear bonus? What do you want to do?”

Park Ji-hoon came out with a straightforward question.

“Solo clear bonus?”
Lim Su-jin, who knew nothing, asked.

“What’s that?”
“If you challenge alone and pass, you get a bonus. It’s a whopping 3 points that can be distributed freely.”
“Really?!”

Lim Su-jin looked surprised and stared at me.
Her eyes seemed to ask if it was true.

‘What is she thinking?’

I nodded, confirming that Park Ji-hoon’s words were indeed true.

“No, then you should tell us. Why are only the students receiving it?”
“Then go challenge it alone.”
“What?!”
“Don’t you care about what happened to those who aren’t here right now?”

Lim Su-jin's tone scratched at my insides.
Maybe that’s why my words didn’t come out gracefully.

‘I thought some would die, yet here I am, speaking as if I’ve picked up a windfall.’

Earlier, she had wanted to hit us with the remaining trials.
As I glared at her, Lim Su-jin flinched and averted her gaze.

“Honestly, I think it’s better to take the solo clear rewards if you can.”
“…….”

Park Ji-hoon was the first to express his opinion.

“From one perspective, the solo clear bonus could be considered a bonus. There could be players who have come up from the floor above with this.”

There was no room for counterargument.
It was exactly how I felt.

‘Still, it’s a shame.’

If it hadn’t been for Park Ji-hoon, I would have been able to take the other solo bonuses for myself.

‘It was a maximum of 15 points. The maximum isn’t guaranteed, though? It can’t be helped.’

I rationalized that sense of loss.

“Both places have returned to their original state.”
The places where Jin Cheol-hwan and Lee Min-ji had entered.
Both spots had lost their red light and had settled into darkness.
That meant both of them had been eliminated.

“Shall we take one at a time?”
Park Ji-hoon asked me.
Did it just feel like he was probing, or was that my imagination?

Once I started looking at him negatively, every action of his became suspect.

But I couldn’t just blindly start attacking Park Ji-hoon.

‘What if he really hadn’t done anything wrong, and he was just struggling to survive?’

Would I just be the bad guy then?

‘For now, let’s prioritize taking the solo clear bonus.’

We decided to clear one place at a time and leave the remaining one for later discussion.

The half-beast who killed the challenger, Jin Cheol-hwan, was Kuhul Tan.
He was waiting to be sent back to his original floor after fulfilling his promise with the administrator.

‘There probably won’t be any other challengers….’

The mission players receive during the tutorial is to work together with six fixed stat players to win.

The fact that Jin Cheol-hwan entered Kuhul Tan's room alone meant that the newcomers had challenged each trial one by one.
There had been a misunderstanding in understanding the mission.

Then the probability of players surviving would be zero.
Even if I couldn’t be 100% certain, it was evident that the chances were slim.

“How boring.”
Even after a while, the return didn’t happen.
Kuhul Tan began to feel a sense of doubt.

“What’s going on?”

Why wasn’t he being sent back?

“Ah.”

The corners of Kuhul Tan's mouth lifted sharply.

‘Is there someone who managed to pass the mission alone?!’

Or was Jin Cheol-hwan the only one who entered alone, while the others were clustered together, challenging the mission?

It didn’t really matter.
As long as it could alleviate this boredom.

Kuhul Tan waited for his turn in the vast cavity.

Unlike the new players, he wasn’t fighting with his life on the line, which was a bit regrettable.
However, watching the newcomers struggling to survive was quite entertaining.
This tedious wait wasn’t unbearable.

And then the time came.
A player emerged from the corner of the cavity.

“Here they come!”

Kuhul Tan rushed to greet his opponent.

“Ah.”
It was a familiar face.
A familiar face, but he couldn’t remember the name.

Kuhul Tan was the kind of man who didn’t bother to memorize the names of those weaker than him.

“What was your name again?”
“Kuhul Tan. Of all people, you’re here.”

Park Ji-hoon spoke as if he recognized Kuhul Tan.
Of course.

Kuhul Tan was one of the famous Seven Strong on the fifth floor.

From Park Ji-hoon’s perspective, it was the worst-case scenario.

“…It must be hard to persuade with words, right? Ah, what a missed opportunity…”
As Kuhul Tan watched Park Ji-hoon mumble to himself, he frowned.

“Were you scheming something cowardly again?”

Kuhul Tan had never teamed up with Park Ji-hoon before.
However, he had dealt with many Earthlings who looked quite similar to Park Ji-hoon.
Unpleasant memories lingered vaguely.

“All Earthlings are so cunning. They misuse their contracts with the administrators like this….”

In layman's terms, they were deceitful.

Park Ji-hoon was not a new player.
Therefore, his rightful place should be alongside someone like Kuhul Tan, a pioneer.

Yet he took the spot of a challenger instead.
He was colluding with the administrator.

‘Is that even possible?’

Kuhul Tan’s doubts couldn’t linger for long.

“No matter how strong the Seven are, here…”

Park Ji-hoon was the first to charge.

The man who called himself the assistant, Mori, was anxiously waiting for Park Ji-hoon’s undertaking to end safely.

‘The plan was good.’

Mori had initially doubted it.
He wondered if it could really happen.

─ It’s entirely possible. If I have this.

Park Ji-hoon took out a mysterious item, the origins of which were unknown.

─ Could it be a hidden piece?
─ It seems like it.

It was an item shaped like an old book, but its performance was excellent, contrary to its appearance.

[Phantom’s Ancient Book][S]

Upon confirming that information, Mori was persuaded by Park Ji-hoon’s subsequent words.

─ With your abilities and the power of this artifact combined, it’s possible. You can challenge again and receive all the rewards, including bonus points and rare equipment.

Surprisingly, it might actually be possible.
It seemed flimsy, but.

He had achieved something halfway.
Mori, as the assistant on behalf of the administrator, and Park Ji-hoon, disguised with the Phantom’s Ancient Book, entered the tutorial of Floor 0 as a player.

Now they just had to clear the mission on Floor 0 and gather the rewards.
Then they could escape from this damned Floor 5 and ascend to Floor 6.

But the plan was disrupted.

‘What the hell is that guy?’

The error, who should have died for challenging the trial alone, had survived intact.

‘Should I have killed that guy earlier?’

To strengthen control, the administrator could eliminate one of the new players.
Mori had sent back a loud man who had been barking aimlessly.

What if that power had been used on the error?

‘…It’s fine. Even if that guy survives, nothing will change.’

The stat points he took?
Honestly, it was disappointing and regrettable.

But it wasn’t Mori’s share.

Mori had something more important.
Rare equipment that could be received for clearing all six trials solo.

Park Ji-hoon would take the stat points, and Mori would take the rare equipment.
That was the agreement.

Losing points didn’t mean much to Mori.

The error and Park Ji-hoon entered through different stone doors.
They chose to continue the trial under the pretext of collecting the solo clear bonus.

‘...If only I could see inside.’

That was too much to hope for.
At the moment Mori tried to peek inside the cavity, the administrator would surely notice the anomaly and check it out.

‘That would be the worst.’

Therefore, Mori entrusted everything to Park Ji-hoon.

‘It’ll be uncomfortable because I have to suppress my power. But I should still be able to use my skills appropriately.’
Park Ji-hoon wouldn’t lose to a newcomer.

Mori sent appropriate messages to control Lim Su-jin.