An empty waiting room.
The administrators who had gathered to show their faces dispersed.

“Whew, whew. This is fun!”

Blinky operated her pad, watching the scramble for admission tickets.
Unlike the other administrators who only needed to train players from their home dimension, she had responsibilities as the overall supervisor of the exam.

“Blinky, why did you call me?”

Approaching her was the Earth-born administrator, Jusoohui.

“Did you come?”

Whether or not there were new players, she didn’t stop her cute act.
Since I had gotten used to her while staying on the first floor, I probably wouldn’t have frowned if I hadn’t.

Blinky asked directly.

“Do you know the Error Player?”
“I don’t know him.”
“But you used Sage’s Eye.”

A skill that allows you to view your opponent's status screen is certainly not common in the Tower of Struggle.
Out of millions, only a few might possess it.

‘It’s difficult to acquire, but even more challenging to use.’

It’s practically correct to say that Earthlings cannot use it.
Without a racial specialization bonus, the penalties are significant.

Jusoohui didn’t hide her displeasure.
The subtle disdain for Earthlings irritated her.

“…I could use it. Are you questioning me?”
“I’m not trying to question you.”

We were both in the same position as dropouts who had given up on climbing the tower.

Blinky didn’t particularly ignore Jusoohui.
In her eyes, all races were equally lowly.

“There are times when you meet someone from outside the Tower of Struggle, you know?”

What Blinky was curious about was whether Jusoohui knew the Error Player.
She thought that if someone could use Sage’s Eye, they must be acquaintances.

Jusoohui shook her head firmly.

“…I know him, but it’s not the kind of connection you think it is.”
“An acquaintance?”
“I know him from the news.”

It should have been a somewhat unique name.

‘Error Player. How could I forget that name?’

Though he didn’t win a medal, I remember he was quite famous.

In South Korea, where a good-looking third place gets more attention than an ugly first place, he had to be well-known as the youngest national representative and quite tall.

‘What happened to him, anyway?’

I heard he had a serious traffic accident and had to quit sports.
It was unfortunate in many ways.

“Really?”

Blinky stared intently at Jusoohui.
The emotion in her dragon eyes was clearer than ever—interest.

‘…Why is she so interested?’

From Jusoohui's perspective, it was hard to understand.
A dragon rumored to have lived for thousands of years, why would she be interested in an ordinary Earthling?

Reading the sincerity in Jusoohui's eyes, Blinky shouted as if it were impossible.

“You knew him before you were invited to the Tower of Struggle? That’s impossible!”
“Do you know him?”
“Not really, but still, that’s impossible. It can’t be.”

The Error Player is a dragon.
A dragon that enjoys amusement.

But how could an Earthling know him?

‘Unless he traveled through dimensions, it’s impossible.’

Elder dragons also can’t traverse dimensions.

‘…Could it be that the Error Player isn’t actually a dragon?!’

That was impossible.
The scent emanating from his soul felt undeniably draconic.

When using Dragon Eye, Blinky activated a skill from the Soul System, not her own power.

On purpose.
Just to be safe.

No matter how noble a being, there was no way they could block an SS-rank skill when they had just been invited as a player.

Therefore, the information Blinky saw was true.
Manipulating this was impossible.

‘The Error Player is a higher-dimensional dragon who can even control time and space!’

Having been tricked by the Illusionary Grimoire, Blinky made her own conclusions and whimsically created the intermediate processes.

‘The Error Player is a dragon that has reached a realm unreachable even by elder dragons!’

What should I call him?
‘A divine dragon?’

Wow!
To think I could see the play of a divine dragon with my own eyes!

‘Oh my goodness!’

Suddenly, Blinky’s expression brightened.

‘I knew she was off her rocker, but… she’s really out there.’

Jusoohui had no idea what that dragon was thinking.

‘Should I just quit?’

There are plenty of administrative positions in other floors, right?
I might need to think this over.

[First Floor, Seize Your Opportunity.]
The journey to claim your seat will never be smooth.
Countless paths, countless opportunities.
Nothing falls from the sky.

When I seized an admission ticket, the Tower of Struggle displayed a message as if it had been waiting for me.

‘The remaining one can wait until later.’

Once I secured Omega, it would be over.
There was no need to rush.

‘I’ll wait for the cooldown of Hatchling Breath…’

I did my best to hide.
But I couldn’t hold out long and was soon spotted.

“I found you.”

It seemed I wasn’t particularly gifted at stealth.
Even though I tried my best to hide, I was caught too easily.

“…How did you find me?”
“There’s this handy skill.”

The opponent was a martial artist.

‘The martial outfits may look similar, but is it the difference in people that makes it feel so different?’

Though I hadn’t encountered many martial artists, I was starting to get a grip on things.

The scum belonging to the Heukdo emitted a distinct aura.
Like the tattoos of a gangster.

‘Is it because I’m comparing them to the neatly dressed Eun Seoryeong and Baeksong?’

I felt a strong aversion each time I encountered them.

‘Well, at least the aversion I feel when killing them is also decreasing.’

The opponent approached, aiming their sword at me.
There was no fear in their bold strides.

“Do you not know who I am?”
“Who are you?”

The corners of his mouth twisted up.

“Don’t you recognize me, Yang Ji-wang, one of the Yunnan Twin Ghosts?”
“…What’s the Yunnan Twin Ghosts?”
“Keuhuh.”

He burst into laughter.

“There’s no use pretending you don’t know anything. It’s already too late.”

He stepped forward, charging at me.

‘It’s not that I can’t see him.’

I could easily respond to his movements.

‘Is this the average level of martial artists?’

He wasn’t particularly fast.
He was better than the ones I killed during crew making but still not impressive.

‘Compared to that guy…’

The middle-aged white man presumed to be from the Middle Realm.
He moved as if he could nearly fly with each step.

I couldn’t even think of chasing after him.

‘But this level is…’

A player from Earth could move like this without trouble.

So it didn’t make sense.
Why was only the Earthlings looked down upon?

Clang—!

I raised my sword to block his.
Naturally, I was in the state of using Heavy Strike.

“…My life force?”

At the moment our swords clashed, Yang Ji-wang’s expression hardened.

“What… what is this?!”

As he realized the reality, anger was about to erupt, but he collapsed helplessly instead.

The criteria for attacks were quite ambiguous.
From the opponent’s perspective, they would surely think they were the ones attacking, but the Soul System judged it as an exchange of attacks.

Not only that?
Life force is a law that defies the natural order.
When life force reaches zero, players cannot escape death.

[Absorbing the soul of Yang Ji-wang (Martial Artist).]
[Strength increases by 0.01.]

As I looked at his pointless death, the skills from the Soul System felt even more overpowered.

‘The power linked to my skills…’

Can I consider it power?

I picked up Yang Ji-wang’s admission ticket.
It happened to be the Alpha part.

‘I can always change it later.’

There must be a player who has at least two Omega parts.

I changed my location.
I heard a commotion in the distance, but I didn’t approach.

I wasn’t invincible.
Surrounded by numerous enemies would mean certain death.

I would never do something that could be dangerous.
That was my principle of survival.

“Hey, over there!”

Someone shouted.

“…Oh, Error Player!”

He was pointing directly at me.

‘The guy I saw in the waiting room.’
The one who had asked questions about the scramble for admission tickets while being scolded by a woman.

I felt that if I engaged with him, I might end up in a bad situation, so I pretended not to hear him and tried to walk away.

“Taekwondo! National Representative!”

The urgency in his shout stopped me in my tracks.

“Tsk.”

I frowned and waited for him.
The man approached, panting heavily.

“Ugh, ugh. Thank you. I appreciate it.”

While he caught his breath, I observed his status.

‘He’s armed.’

A spear.
The kind of weapon that is often said to be the easiest to handle.

‘I had a strange experience in the tutorial because of Park Ji-hoon and that Mori guy.’

If I had had a spear, or at least a shield, it would have been much more stable in many ways.
I set aside my regrets and waited for the man.

“…Taekwondo national representative Error Player.”

The man desperately clung to me.

“Please help me.”

What an unexpected request to make.
I held back my frustration and asked.

“What do you want help with?”
“…I need an admission ticket.”

He seemed to realize that his request was unreasonable, unable to make eye contact with me.

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue and said, “I can’t help you.”

Just as I was about to abandon him, he called out urgently.

“If you help me find the admission ticket! I’ll give you all the rewards that come from it!”
“…?”

As I showed interest, he started to speak rapidly.

“The administrator said there are admission tickets hidden all over the field. There are boxes, right? Inside, there are fragments of the admission ticket and bonus rewards. I found one…”

He pulled a fragment of an admission ticket from his pocket.
Two Omega parts.

Considering the level of this man,
The surplus Omega parts were clear evidence that he had succeeded in treasure hunting.

“…I got a skill from there. It’s not as good as the breath you have, Error Player, but still…!”
“…….”

Something about his willingness to offer seemed uncomfortable.

‘Is it a victim mentality formed from constantly being looked down upon as an Earthling?’

Thinking about it, it wasn’t a bad offer.

‘I could use him as bait in case of an emergency…’

But it still didn’t sit right with me.
I felt like I would lose more than I would gain by teaming up with this guy.

Did he sense my hesitation?
He spoke as if he had a trump card.

“…I’ve gained a skill. A search skill that allows me to sense where the boxes are.”
“Oh.”

The scales tipped in favor of gain.