The sun shone down brightly.
I squinted against the light.

“Woooooahhh!”
“Newbie! Newbie! Newbie!”
“Get on with it! Damn it!”

I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening.
But it felt like a welcoming cheer, albeit a deafening one.
The shouts were so intense I thought my ears might bleed.

“...”

I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the brightness.
Only then could I see the second floor properly.

“Where is this...?”

We stood in the center of an arena.

“A... Colosseum?”
Someone murmured.

As I looked around, I noticed a stranger standing nearby.
Eun Seoryeong and Baeksong were nowhere to be found.
Where had they gone?

“...Who are you?”
“That’s what I should be asking.”

The others seemed just as confused, glancing around in surprise.

“Well, we can introduce ourselves later,” one of the women said, pointing ahead with a quivering voice filled with fear.

Grrrrr—.

A massive lion, about the size of a shuttle bus, stared at us, baring its teeth.

ROOOAR—!

The black lion didn’t charge immediately.
Did it possess an intelligence atypical of a beast?

“Welcome, new players,” the voice echoed from speakers hovering in the air.
It was the administrator’s voice.

“I know you just came up from the first floor and are feeling disoriented. But I have no reason to be concerned about that, do I?”
“...”

Just after the administrator finished speaking, the crowd erupted into cheers.

“Kill them! Kill them! Let them fight!”
“We’ve been waiting for this day!”
“Do you know how much I paid to see those Earthling bastards die?!”

What I thought was a warm welcome turned out to be a harsh reality.

It was blatant hostility.
On the second floor, Earthlings were treated even worse than on the first.

I gritted my teeth.

“Alright, let’s get started. Now that you’re players, you know what to do, right?” the administrator said.

As the administrator spoke, a message appeared before us.

[Second Floor: Survive.]
A warm welcome is a common occurrence.
Survive in the arena filled with hostility directed at you.

THUD—!

The chains binding the black lion snapped.
The lion, seemingly starving for days, drooled as it charged at us.

CRUNCH—!

It swallowed a player whole.
With a sickening crunch, the body was torn apart, blood splattering everywhere.

“AAAAAHHHHH!”

The scene exploded into chaos.
Players scrambled to flee or fight back against the overwhelming terror of the lion, their survival instincts kicking in as fear filled the air.

We needed a plan, and we needed it fast.

Even as an administrator, they couldn’t treat new players carelessly.
They were only allowed to control the trials under the authority bestowed by the floor’s owner.

Why couldn’t they act recklessly?
As the saying goes, “The fist is mightier than the law,” and if we’re talking about pure power, the administrator held the life-and-death authority over us.

But why, then?

The answer was simple.
Behind the new players stood the families of various dimensions.

Administrators feared both the law and brute force.
Specifically, they feared those who wielded the law and the fists.

They couldn’t afford to disregard them.

However, there was one race that administrators felt they could treat however they pleased.

That race was the Earthlings.

They had no families, no backing.
They weren’t protected by anyone, so it was perfectly acceptable to use them for entertainment.

Toys.
The administrator of the First Colosseum, Daimus, wholeheartedly agreed with that notion.

“Kill them! Devour them all!”
“Take your time and enjoy! Don’t finish too quickly!”
“Considering the ticket prices here, you’d better put on a good show!”

The audience roared loudly.
Some players shared the same status as Earthlings, while others had been born and raised on the second floor.

Their only joy was watching the struggles of players in this Colosseum.
What the Earthlings were about to show was more akin to a massacre than a struggle, but no one seemed to care much.

ROAR—!

The black lion howled.
It looked down at its prey with bared teeth.

Of course, after starving for days for this very moment, it was natural.

The lion’s eyes gleamed with hunger.
It seemed ready to devour the Earthlings at any moment.

However, it didn’t.
Displaying an unusual level of patience, it suppressed its desire to feast.

Instinctively, it understood that it needed to satisfy the audience watching.

The black lion glared at the Earthlings, then leaped, tearing into one of them.
The Earthling couldn’t even dodge the straightforward charge and became prey.

CRUNCH—!

The body of the unfortunate player disappeared into the lion’s maw.

THUD—!

The lion didn’t simply swallow the meat whole; it savored its meal.
It bit down around the waist, tearing the Earthling in half.
The fragile body could not withstand the force.

“AAAAHHHH!”
The torn lower half of the body fell to the ground, blood spurting out and intestines spilling forth.

“Ugh. Ugh!”
“What the hell? Why is this happening all of a sudden?!”

At the sight of the gruesome scene, the remaining Earthlings turned pale.
Some were crying, tears streaming down their faces.

While I had expected some level of brutality, I never anticipated being thrown into such a scene immediately upon arrival.

If it had just been a rough situation, I wouldn’t be crying out in anguish.
But—

The woman couldn’t bear the atmosphere any longer.

She could feel the gazes expecting her death.
The emotions in their expressions were too raw for her to hold back her tears.
The manic cheers from the crowd turned her mind to mush.

It was the same for the other Earthlings.
Although they didn’t cry out loud, they all felt the same sense of injustice and anger.

ROAR—!

The black lion charged again.
The Earthlings scattered in panic.

The audience roared with excitement.
Some were placing bets.

Men and women alike.
Who would be the last survivor?

“The males are in greater numbers, so statistically, they have a higher chance of winning.”
“Remember, the Earthlings who try to act tough are mostly male. The Black Rager is intelligent enough to target those who oppose it first.”
“Then you go for the females! I’ll bet on the males!”

No way could an Earthling defeat a Giant Black Rager.
Thus, it was a gamble on the gender of the last surviving Earthling.

Hell.
A massacre.

Earthlings fled.
The black lion chased after the moving meat.

In the midst of it all, the Error Player gestured.

THUD—!

As the lion was preoccupied with devouring one of its victims, a translucent ice wall rose up and trapped it.

“What—what is that?”
“Similar skills exist, but—”
“It’s Frozen Prison. A D-Rank skill.”

All eyes turned to focus.

“What the hell did you do on the first floor?”
“That weird dragon administrator is at work again. Don’t try to understand it.”
“An Earthling with a D-Rank skill….”

Even the administrator Daimus and the audience, who had eagerly awaited death, looked on in shock at the Error Player.
Their expressions were full of disbelief.

The Error Player frowned and muttered.

“Such pathetic reactions.”

I hadn’t used my skills.
My damage output was different from everyone else’s, just in case.

Using it in front of the administrator felt a bit risky.

What if I drew attention?
It was better to avoid giving them a reason to scrutinize me.

— Be careful. You never know what Blinky might do. I won’t be able to help you then. You understand what I mean?

Jo Seohui had also dropped hints about Blinky.

It’s strange how the girls seem to be wary of each other…

It felt like overreacting, but it couldn’t hurt to be cautious.
So I rejected Blinky’s suggestion and headed straight to the second floor.

This should be fine.

But the moment I stepped onto the second floor, I was thrown into the arena.
As prey for a savage beast.

After observing the situation, I activated my skill.
It might have been better to use it right away, but I needed to gauge the atmosphere first.
I couldn’t save everyone.

Frozen Prison.
A simple skill called the Ice Prison.

The translucent ice wall enclosed the black lion.
It activated faster than I expected.

If I really wanted to dodge, I could have. It’s easy enough.

About a second.
For players, one second is a surprisingly long time.

But the black lion couldn’t escape.

Grrrrr—!

It wasn’t that it was slow, but rather that it hadn’t anticipated my use of the skill.
Being preoccupied with devouring its prey also played a role.

“Everyone, stay calm.”

As soon as I trapped the black lion, a white man soothed the panicked Earthlings.

I was planning to use Hatchling Breath.

The atmosphere felt strange.

“Everyone bought skills, right? Let’s use those,” he said, addressing the group.

Blinky had hastily set up this mini-game.
It wasn’t just me participating in the betting on outcomes; other Earthlings were also leveraging their knowledge to increase their odds.

They likely had plenty of gold to spare.
Whether it was for skills, equipment, or artifacts, they would have purchased within their budget.

Their expressions changed.
It seemed everyone was determined to survive.

The experiences of the 0th and 1st floors haven’t been in vain.

In their own ways, they had adapted to the Tower of Struggle.

Not bad.

I could handle the black lion alone from here.
It felt entirely possible.

But if I did, all eyes would be on me.
To be honest, unwanted attention in a strange place was detrimental.

I didn’t want to draw attention to my existence; being known too much wouldn’t benefit me at all.

...Distracting attention is a good move.

I needed to blend in quietly.
Having instilled courage with Frozen Prison, I had played my part adequately.

THUD—!

The black lion slammed against the ice wall.
The sound was louder than I expected.
I could feel the lion’s weight resonate through the air.

“Let’s scatter.”

The white man stated his plan.

“Split up! When it targets one of us, we’ll strike from behind. Anyone with long-range skills—”

It was a shaky plan.
But I had no choice but to follow.
There was no better plan in sight.

The people exchanged glances, nodding their heads.
While some appeared frightened, they didn’t dare defy the majority.

THUD—!

The black lion crashed into the ice wall, thrashing to break free.
It was desperate to escape.

ROOOAR—!

The lion roared.
The scattered corpses only amplified the terror of its roar.

THUD—!
THUD—!

The lion kept slamming against the wall.
But the ice prison didn’t show any signs of breaking.

The audience began to react.

“What’s going on? Why isn’t it coming out?!”
“Damn it! Are you all cheating?!”
“That can’t be a Giant Black Rager! This doesn’t make sense!”

I checked the information on Frozen Prison.

...10,000.

My Frozen Prison creates an ice wall with about 10,000 durability.

10,000.
How substantial is that?

...Hatchling Breath deals around 5,000 damage.

Attribute damage is affected by natural forces.

So, it’s roughly 5,000.
The tooltip bug inflated that damage to 5,000.

Most players wouldn’t survive my Hatchling Breath.
They either had to have over 5,000 health points or possess skills to reduce attribute damage.
Otherwise, they were guaranteed to die.

Overwhelming violence.
That durability was double the damage output of Hatchling Breath.

It would take two powerful breaths that could sweep away the area to break through my Frozen Prison.

It really does have absurd durability.

If people weren’t watching, I would have smacked my forehead in disbelief.

Well, of course.

Wanting to avoid attention was purely my desire; it was an unachievable wish.

The moment I fell into this arena, being in the spotlight was a predetermined fate.

...Why, though?

Only Earthlings seemed to be summoned, yet I was included.
Had the Book of Illusions malfunctioned?

[Race – Earthling]
“...”

I was certainly a Black Dragon on the first floor.
But now, it seemed the racial settings had reset.

It appeared that upon passing through the portal, I had been reset as an Earthling.
That was why I was summoned here.

I can’t help it.

Even though I didn’t want to, to give credibility to the durability of Frozen Prison, I had only one choice.

[Race – White Dragon]

This time, I’d go as a White Dragon.
I would adjust my racial settings, release Frozen Prison, and simultaneously shoot Hatchling Breath at the black lion.

A white frost erupted forth.