Kim Min-seong and Lee Soo-jung met.
It was purely by chance.

“Hyuh, Hyuh-ung!”

Kim Min-seong approached as if he were reuniting with a long-lost family member.
Lee Soo-jung followed behind him.

Two useless Earthlings.
Just the kind of races and numbers needed for the team right now.

‘And reasonably trustworthy.’

They might be disappointed if they heard that, but
Well, what can you do?

“Have you registered as gladiators?”
“I did, but….”

Kim Min-seong hesitated, fumbling over his words.
His hesitant demeanor, not able to ask outright, was quite pleasing to me.

‘It’s better than those bastards who think they’ll win for sure and want to snatch a single bean from me; asking for half a bean when they feel like they might die is much more favorable.’

It's not easy to jump directly into a match right after just becoming a gladiator.

“Follow me.”

When I suggested this first, the faces of Kim Min-seong and Lee Soo-jung brightened up.

“Just the two of you?”

Scarlet nodded as if she expected that.

“Since we have ten now, I’ll go sign us up for the Griffin Hunt.”
Scarlet headed toward the registration office.
After she left, Kim Min-seong asked with a trembling voice.

“Uh, the Griffin?”
“Why? Is it a strong one?”
“It depends on the work, but usually, they’re set to be pretty strong. They can fly, you know.”
“They can fly?”
“Yeah. They have a lion’s body and an eagle’s head, kind of like a quadrupedal eagle.”

Based on Kim Min-seong’s words, I imagined a Griffin in my head.

‘It’s a monster.’

I had faced a Giant Black Rager.
Fighting a large black lion wasn’t anything special.

A flying lion isn’t that unique either.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

Golrak approached and started talking.
Since we were now a team, it seemed he wanted to introduce himself.

Kim Min-seong and Lee Soo-jung were also players of the Tower of Struggle.
They had encountered various races on the first floor.
Seeing a Goblin didn’t make them jump or roll around in panic.

“The match is at 1 PM today. Be here at the Colosseum 30 minutes before.”

Scarlet returned and briefly informed us of the schedule.

“You three. Do you have weapons?”

I pulled out a dagger from my inventory.
It was the golden dagger I received from Daimus.

‘It has an attack power of over 40.’
Ordinary equipment wouldn’t even come close to matching the golden dagger.

“……”

Scarlet seemed speechless, astonished by the grandeur of my golden dagger.

“What about you?”

Kim Min-seong and Lee Soo-jung pulled out weapons that seemed decent enough.
They looked like they might have drawn them from a random box.

“…What’s this? Did you just get these yesterday?”
“Yeah, we got them yesterday.”
“But why are the weapons so good?”
“Uh….”

It wasn’t just the golden dagger that was problematic.
From Scarlet's perspective, their weapons also seemed unusual.

‘Blinky’s crap is backfiring.’

If she could handle it, it would be fine, I thought.
It wasn’t something I needed to worry about.

“I just did what I was told.”

Kim Min-seong vaguely explained what had happened on the first floor.
Scarlet frowned.

“Damn. The administrators are way too much. That crazy dragon actually ran a ridiculous game like that?”
“Yeah.”
“Sigh….”

It wasn’t just Scarlet who sighed.
The other team members grumbled in disappointment as well.

“Were there no players from previous cycles? No mini-games?”
“There weren’t. We were sent up right after a week of resting.”

Half of them had died due to the mini-games.
But it wasn’t entirely a bad thing.

Those who survived the mini-games were able to climb the tower from a more advantageous position compared to the existing players.

“…In that case, it’s not so bad.”

Scarlet, glancing enviously at the Earthlings' armed state, muttered as if realizing the potential.

“With this level of equipment, I won’t need to worry about it. Alright, later…”

Scarlet seemed to be about to dismiss the meeting.
At that moment, I interrupted her.

“Wait a second.”
“Why? Do you have something you’re curious about?”

Scarlet’s face flushed slightly.

‘…Could it be?’

I felt a strange change and questioned it, but I didn’t ask.
What I was going to say was something else entirely.

“Do you have any spare change?”
“……”

“You have to eat, right?”

I received money from Scarlet.
I promised to repay her after the match was over and got 10 Nero Cooper.

“Th-thank you.”

Kim Min-seong and Lee Soo-jung.
I expected that both of them hadn’t eaten anything.
I led the two of them to a nearby restaurant.

As expected, they didn’t care about me and scarfed down bread hungrily.

Even the Orc Grash wouldn’t eat that messily.

“…Didn’t you only skip a day of eating? Why are you eating so fast?”
“I didn’t sleep well. Maybe that’s why I was really hungry.”

No Earthling could make money on the first day.
Sleeping on the streets became natural.

‘Did they lose sleep?’

As tired as they were, their hunger grew.
Since they hadn’t experienced hunger on the first floor, the unfamiliar emptiness felt sharper.

“I’m glad to have met you like this. Truly lucky.”
“…Lucky. How much did you raise?”
“14. I distributed all the bonus stats I earned by gritting my teeth to luck.”

The equipment obtained from the mini-games and the points earned in the tournament.
Combining the two would create a rather decent player.
Even as Earthlings, they wouldn’t fall behind immediately against players from other dimensions.

“So, brother. What are your plans?”
“Plans?”
“Yeah. You always have plans, don’t you?”

Kim Min-seong looked at me with shining eyes.
Lee Soo-jung frowned at Kim Min-seong’s behavior.

“A plan, huh….”

To be honest, I had no thoughts whatsoever.

‘It’s just picking up coins that fell in front of me. Why do I need a plan?’

But Kim Min-seong’s gaze was strange.
He seemed to be expecting something, which felt quite burdensome.

“Normally, novels like this have hidden pieces and such, right? We should try to find them, brother.”
“Hidden piece?”
“Hidden equipment, skills, artifacts. Things like that. You’re going to look for them, right?”

Kim Min-seong’s tone was odd.

‘…Why is this brat talking about hidden pieces as if they’ve been entrusted to him?’

There was a certain conviction in his voice that felt solid.

It wasn’t that I found it unpleasant.
But his response full of expectation was somewhat uncomfortable.

‘Does he really think I’m a regression user?’

It was a misunderstanding that made my head spin.
I’d even feel like Daimus, who thought of me as a dragon, was an angel by comparison.

“…I guess I’ll look for it.”

I didn’t know anything.
I was just a new player who was summoned to the tower a week ago.

Hidden pieces?
There’s no way I could find them.
The chances were zero.

“…You should.”

So I decided to reverse the misunderstanding.

‘Just like that guy.’

Kim Min-seong and the Latino guy I killed yesterday knew I was a regression user. Why were they so happy about it?

A regression user who was killing people wasn’t killing me?
Am I someone useful for the future?

I was lost in my own delusions, thinking I had been chosen.

“Me? I should?”
“Yeah. You should be the one to find it.”
“……”

Kim Min-seong momentarily panicked.
Then, his expression brightened up.
A broad grin formed on his face.

“So I’ll be the one to find it? The hidden piece on the second floor.”

What is he talking about?

“……”

I nodded seriously, somewhat absently.
I didn’t want to crush Kim Min-seong’s enthusiasm.

“Let’s go. To catch the Griffin.”

The Colosseum is a multi-dimensional space.
On the outside, it looks like a single Colosseum, but inside, multiple spaces overlap.

That’s why many matches can be held simultaneously.

‘Though there are popular matches that are already set.’

The audience craves blood.
Other players hope to meet the same fate as themselves.

They either die and are eliminated or become slaves to the emperor.

Matches for points.
Or matches for players who can no longer use the elimination prevention option.

Particularly, matches for players with one prevention option left were very popular.
If they die once more, they won’t be able to enjoy the benefits of the prevention option.

“There’s a match coming up this time, senior.”
“……”

During lunchtime.
Daimus was skimming through the registration list when Agar, the manager of the second Colosseum, approached him.

“Don’t look down on me.”
“I can’t help it if you’re short, what should I do?”

Agar said cheekily, brushing off Daimus’s complaints.

“Are you going to be running the match this time? There’s a dwarf on that team, right?”

Ideally, they wouldn’t want players of the same race to die.
That’s the thought most ascenders hold.

Who knows?
That guy might have incredible potential hidden inside him.

‘Ritol….’

Daimus shook his head.

Putting a monster with bad condition in the match and subtly saving him in crisis?
That could only be done once or twice.

‘No more than that.’

Even the causality gained from the Earthling’s entertainment isn’t infinite.
Considering the others might take it away, the probability allowed to Daimus was close to dust.

“…But there’s an Orc too, right? Aren’t you interested in him?”
“Orcs are different from dwarves.”

Orcs are numerous.
One dwarf and one Orc weigh differently.

“If you ask me, I might help.”

Agar whispered in a voice tinged with a nasal tone.

A temptation.
The seduction of a female Orc…!

Daimus suppressed the goosebumps rising all over his body and pushed Agar away.

“Enough. That guy’s fate ends here.”

The life of a junior comrade and his own purity.
Daimus chose the value of his own purity.

“Eh. I’d be perfectly satisfied as a little senior.”
“……”

Ignoring Agar’s wistful gaze, Daimus checked the new members of Scarlet’s team.

“……”

[Error Player]

What’s he thinking, being in this party?