Forced Transfer to the Final Floor

Monday.

The day Gabriel had promised began like any other.

«I'm not seeing any particular signs yet, though?»

5555 shared her vision with Ryu Hwi, scanning the scenery of World of Phantasm.

The city looked no different from usual.

«He says he'll open the path to Floor 50 for you—what on earth is he thinking? The Linzea Guild wouldn't welcome World of Phantasm being cleared right now.»

Ryu Hwi recalled Gabriel's words.

"The Linzea Guild would have to stop you.

But 'I' won't. I have my own reasons."

This had to be Gabriel Darius acting on his own authority, not the will of the Linzea Guild as a whole.

«Refusing Gabriel's offer was the obvious move. And Gabriel would have anticipated the rejection. In other words, he was planning to pull something from the very beginning.»

"Probably."

«Be careful. Until we know what cards they're holding, there's no telling what they'll do.»

"I know."

For now, all he could do was prepare so that he could respond to whatever happened.

Ryu Hwi wandered the city streets, keeping an eye out for anything strange, but nothing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stood out.

Then—

"Hey, you! Terrorist!"

Someone called out to Ryu Hwi.

Another random troublemaker picking a fight?

He sighed and turned toward the voice.

A girl in dark crimson armor... no, small as she was, she was a fully grown adult.

Ryu Hwi knew exactly who she was.

"Bisque."

Bisque, the Mad Dog of the Linzea Guild.

A gamer rated as Linpel's equal in raw skill.

So Linzea Guild's next ace had shown up here—had Gabriel finally made his move?

"You know me? What an honor, having the gamer of the hour recognize little old me."

Bisque smirked mischievously, feigning humility.

"As if I wouldn't know the infamous Mad Dog."

Ryu Hwi replied flatly.

"I have to know the faces of the people I'm going to put down eventually."

"You're even more insufferable than I imagined. Well then, shall we see how you handle yourself?"

Bisque reached for her axe, and Ryu Hwi's hand moved to the Peace Breaker slung across his back.

Assassins from the Linzea Guild could show up at any moment.

But if sending a single Bisque was the extent of Gabriel's plan, that would be genuinely disappointing.

"Eh, never mind for now? I'll have plenty of chances to fight you later. It's a holiday for the entire guild today, after all."

Bisque's hostility vanished just as quickly. She clearly had no intention of fighting Ryu Hwi here and now.

"The entire Linzea Guild is on holiday?"

"Yep. That vicious bastard told us all to do whatever we wanted and gave us time off. Not that it matters—on their days off, all gamers do is laze around in game labyrinths anyway, so the vacation's pretty pointless."

Ryu Hwi grew suspicious.

He'd assumed the guild was being mobilized for something, only to hear that all of Linzea was on holiday.

No—then again, even this information could be a decoy.

Bisque was a member of the Linzea Guild, after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all. It was entirely possible she was feeding him false information to lull him into complacency.

In any case, there was no room to let his guard down—

At that moment, YggON issued a warning.

"A system anomaly?"

"What kind of change could poss—urk?!"

Ryu Hwi's sentence never reached its end.

The 'change' arrived immediately.

The visible landscape wavered.

It wasn't an earthquake. His vision rippled and shuddered as if marred by static.

The anomaly wasn't affecting Ryu Hwi alone.

Bisque, caught in the same distortion, looked around in obvious panic.

"What the hell is this? Did you do something?!"

"It's not me—ugh?!"

The noise grew worse. It was getting hard just to stay on his feet.

Then, a voice rang out from somewhere.

A voice echoing across all of World of Phantasm announced the bug.

"A bug? What kind of bu...g even causes thi—..."

Bisque's voice crackled as if buried in static.

"What kind of bug is it this tim—"

Before Bisque could even finish, everything in sight was swallowed by static.

Even amid the chaos, Ryu Hwi could hear YggON's voice with perfect clarity.

Before the transfer took hold, YggON had already determined where they were being sent.

And that place was—

The very endpoint of this world.

"What's going on? A large-scale bug?"

"A bug in World of Phantasm happens all the time, doesn't it? What on earth blew up badly enough to make breaking news?"

"Let's see... a bug that teleported every gamer on the Tower and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in Tower City? Over two thousand gamers caught up in it?!"

More than two thousand gamers had been swept up. It was the largest incident of its kind since the Yggdrasil era began.

"And the place they were transferred to was... Floor 50?"

"So how is this going to play out?"

"Getting dumped on Floor 50 out of nowhere—isn't that dangerous?"

"Dangerous? Doesn't matter. Gamers would never pass up an opportunity like this."

It was the golden chance to clear World of Phantasm itself.

With two thousand gamers transported to Floor 50 all at once, they were bound to push forward with clearing the game.

People were thrilled, yet frustrated in equal measure. As things stood, there was no way to watch a live broadcast from a game labyrinth operating on a different time scale.

"Is World of Phantasm done for today?"

"They haven't even finished clearing Floor 47, have they? Probably not happening anytime soon."

"But this happened because of a bug. Who knows what could happen?"

'This is no ordinary bug. Someone forcibly manipulated the system.'

5555's fingers flew across her keyboard.

Tapping away at the holographic keys spread out in midair, she analyzed the 'bug'.

'How is a manipulation on this scale even possible? No—before that, what were they thinking pulling a stunt like this?'

When she'd first heard about Gabriel's offer to Ryu Hwi, she'd assumed it was a trap.

But Gabriel had gone and pulled the move of sending every gamer in the city and the Tower down to Floor 50.

She couldn't figure out what he was after.

Did he actually want World of Phantasm to be cleared?

"Ryu Hwi, can you hear me? Ryu Hwi!"

She'd been trying to establish a connection for a while now, but it just wouldn't go through.

'Because the system's unstable? Or is someone jamming me?'

Either way, contacting Ryu Hwi was impossible for the moment.

'Stay calm. First, do whatever I can from this side.'

5555's fingers raced across the keys.

'If I can just figure out how they touched the system!'

"Floor 50? He said Floor 50?"

He never imagined Gabriel Darius would go this far.

"Some scheme to force the clearing of Floor 50, even if it means dragging thousands of gamers into it? Just you wait, Gabriel. I'll shatter every single board you've set up!"

Floor 50.

Toward the unknown, Ryu Hwi strode forward boldly.

"Hey, hold on a second!"

Someone called out to him from behind.

"What is going on right now? You know something, don't you?"

Bisque looked thoroughly rattled.

Judging by her expression, she truly seemed to know nothing. If this were an act, she could have gone professional.

"Whether something's going on or not, you can find out by checking the information. This is Floor 50. The final destination every gamer in this labyrinth is supposed to reach."

"Floor 50? Why would we suddenly—"

"They said it was a bug, didn't they?"

It was surely Gabriel's doing, but explaining it all to her was more trouble than it was worth.

"Well then, off I go."

"Where do you think you're going?!"

Ryu Hwi looked back at her in exasperation.

"If you're a gamer too, then there's only one thing to aim for in a situation like this, isn't there?"

He pointed a hand at the Pillar of Light visible in the far distance.

"Clearing this half-baked game labyrinth."

Bisque's eyes went wide.

"Floor 50 is uncharted territory! There's no information on it at all. And you want to clear a place like that?"

"Isn't that what you people do every day?"

"Hah!"

The light in Bisque's eyes changed.

Her flustered expression vanished completely, replaced by a bold, blazing grin that shouldn't have fit her small, slight frame.

"Alright, now this sounds fun. Whether we can pull it off or not is beside the point—I'm not passing up a shot at clearing Floor 50! Let's go!"

Bisque marched right up and planted herself beside Ryu Hwi. He tilted his head at her behavior.

"Why are you standing next to me?"

"You said we're clearing Floor 50, didn't you?"

Neither of them understood the other.

"Don't tell me you're planning to form a party with me?"

"Don't tell me you're planning to clear Floor 50 alone?"

Only then did the two of them grasp what the other had meant, and they stared at each other in mutual disbelief.

"I know you're strong, but the upper floors of the Tower are a completely different dimension from the lower ones!"

"I'm not dismissing the Tower. I'm just confident I can clear it alone."

"That IS dismissing it! Tch, fine, follow me then! I'll show you just how terrifying the upper floors really are!"

Bisque started walking ahead. Ryu Hwi was caught off guard.

"You haven't forgotten that the Linzea Guild and I are enemies, have you?"

"As if I could. But even enemies cooperate when the time calls for it. That's what being a gamer means, isn't it?"

Shut up.

Ignoring YggON, Ryu Hwi glared at Bisque.

"Fine. I'll cooperate when the time calls for it, just like you said. But there's one big problem."

"Problem?"

"Teaming up with a Linzea Guild gamer is the one thing I absolutely refuse to do."

The next instant, Ryu Hwi vanished from before Bisque's eyes.

"Huh?!"

Caught off guard, Bisque stared blankly at his retreating back.

"Y-you've got to be kidding me, you bastard! You think I'll let you get away?!"

She immediately gritted her teeth and gave chase.

Ryu Hwi fully intended to shake her off completely, but Bisque was no pushover.

The stat bonuses that came with her level, and the boosts from her various skills.

There was nothing false about the title of Linzea's next ace.

Impressed despite himself, Ryu Hwi pushed his speed even higher.

The target was the Pillar of Light.

He would clear World of Phantasm, just like this.

And then he would bring World of Phantasm crashing down.