The Unfinished 50th Floor

Floor 50.

The goal of every gamer playing World of Phantasm.

The front line had always been the 47th floor — until an inexplicable bug forcibly teleported countless users straight to the 50th.

The gamers floundered for a moment, but once they got their bearings, each began to act. Nothing ventured, nothing gained — and if things went well, they could claim the glory of being the first to conquer World of Phantasm. Even a failed attempt would pay off handsomely, as long as they carried out intel on the 50th floor.

So they braved the risk and set out to clear it.

"I've taken a look around Floor 50."

A man cloaked entirely in black leapt down from a tall tree. It was Biyeong, one of the Linzea Guild's scouts.

"Unlike the 47th floor, the 50th looks pretty cramped. Well, I'd have to go in to know the details, but the layout is roughly like this."

Biyeong drew several circles on the ground where his companions could see. Four circles were arranged around a central one, enclosing it from every direction.

"The circle at the center is the Pillar of Light. That's almost certainly the heart of the 50th floor. Unique terrain features are placed to the north, south, east, and west of it."

"Unique terrain?"

The party's leader was a gamer counted alongside Bisque as one of Linzea's next-generation aces — Pokryeol Daedo, armored in gleaming plate and armed with a greatsword. He listened to Biyeong's report with his arms crossed.

"The Burning Gem. The Reverse Waterfall. The Winged Whirlwind. The Lightning Mountain."

"Truly unusual."

Pokryeol Daedo mulled over whether those four terrains might hold some hidden significance.

Biyeong went on. "I tested it, but there was no way to approach the Pillar of Light directly. It felt like running into an invisible wall."

"So we'd need to satisfy certain conditions to get closer to it? Then it must be tied to those four terrains surrounding the tower."

"That's the most likely explanation. For the record, the closest one from our current position is the Lightning Mountain."

"Good. We go there."

No one disputed Pokryeol Daedo's decision. They trusted him completely.

Near the Reverse Waterfall, Noir of the Linzea Guild was leading her own party. She, too, was one of Linzea's upper-tier gamers — a battle-hardened veteran who, like Bisque, had been through every kind of hell. Her surprise at the sudden teleport bug lasted only a moment; she quickly sized up the situation and gathered the other gamers around her.

Once her scouting was done, Noir led her party toward the Reverse Waterfall.

"Terrain like this usually only opens ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the center once all four regions are cleared, doesn't it? What about the other three?" one of the gamers trailing behind her asked.

"We're clearly not the only ones here, so there are plenty of other gamers after a clear. Bisque and Pokryeol Daedo, if nothing else, will see to theirs."

Other gamers would handle the other regions. Perhaps her old rivals were even now making their way to the Reverse Waterfall too — but if so, she could simply cooperate with them when they arrived.

"I never believed we could actually clear the 50th floor this time anyway. Priority one: gather as much information as we can."

Noir's goal was intelligence. A future attempt at the clear would demand every scrap of data they could collect. She was the kind of gamer who knocked on a stone bridge before crossing it.

Why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on earth did this bug happen at all?

A bug had appeared out of nowhere in World of Phantasm — and of all possible moments, it had struck during the Linzea Guild's own scheduled holiday downtime. Was that really a coincidence?

A bug someone triggered deliberately? But how... Could it have something to do with Ryu7017?

Ever since Ryu7017 had appeared, strange things kept happening. Noir couldn't shake a vague suspicion connecting him to the bug. There was no evidence, but some instinct whispered that the two were related.

I just hope Bisque isn't off causing trouble...

She'd tried to contact her, but thanks to the bug — or so she assumed — no call went through. Worrying about Bisque, Noir pressed onward.

Countless other gamers were on the move, all chasing the conquest of Floor 50. And as they fanned out toward their respective targets, one figure was moving in a distinctly odd direction.

"Hey — where the hell are you going right now?!"

Ryu Hwi ignored the Burning Gem, plainly visible in the near distance, and headed somewhere else entirely.

"That terrain over there is basically begging 'please clear me'! Anyone can see that!"

Bisque shrieked as she chased after him.

"Places like this are supposed to be cleared after you take the other four regions first! How do you not know that?!"

She vaulted the forest and jabbed a finger at the Burning Gem glimmering far off. Ryu Hwi kept right on ignoring her. She'd tagged along uninvited; he owed her nothing.

"Ugh..."

Bisque debated what to do for a moment — then went right back to trailing him. Pokryeol Daedo and Noir have to be on this floor too. They'll be busy working the clear, so I'll just stick with this jerk for now.

She couldn't pass up the chance to watch Ryu7017's play up close.

Ryu Hwi, for his part, had surveyed the structure of Floor 50 from a high vantage point and already understood how it was meant to be conquered. It was so obvious it drew a sigh. This was the final stage of a game labyrinth that had once defined an era — couldn't they have at least tried to be clever about it?

And the moment he looked out over those terrains from afar, YggON just had to open its mouth.

A scathing indictment.

[And yet...]

But the real problem wasn't the stale recycling.

Ryu Hwi postponed any thought of clearing the floor and sprinted off at full speed to confirm what YggON had told him. He moved so fast that Bisque could barely keep him in sight.

"Seriously, where are you going?! You're not even heading for the tower!"

Bisque shouted something behind him, but Ryu Hwi continued to tune her out.

Soon he was past the forest and out onto a vast, open plain. At its far edge, the silhouette of a mountain wracked by ceaseless lightning flickered hazily.

Bisque, who'd struggled to keep up, took in the view and let out a hollow laugh. "Haah. You're planning to go to that lightning mountain? There's one right nearby and you're going all the way out here for fun?"

She assumed his destination had to be the lightning mountain looming in the distance.

But Ryu Hwi, defying her expectations entirely, struck off in a completely different direction.

"Hey! Seriously, what is your problem?!"

Bisque finally lost it, her fury boiling over. "You said we were clearing the 50th floor! What the hell are you even doing right now?!"

"......"

"Hey!!"

Bisque gripped her enormous battleaxe in both hands. At this point, a fight would be better than being ignored one more second.

Just then, Ryu Hwi stopped walking and beckoned her over with a wave of his hand.

"Even the next ace of Linzea has a stake in this. Come here and take a look at this."

"What?"

Half-suspecting a trap, she approached him warily. Ryu Hwi pointed at a patch of perfectly empty plain.

What on earth was supposed to be here?

When Bisque shot him a doubtful look, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ryu Hwi kicked a pebble lying at the edge of the path. The pebble flew through empty air — and then, as if it had struck something, ricocheted away. Bisque's eyes went wide.

"It bounced off... nothing? Is something actually there?"

"Look closer. What did the stone hit that made it bounce?"

"......?"

Bisque obeyed without argument.

"Huh?!"

The air itself was rippling. Every time the surface wavered, strings of zeros and ones shimmered faintly through it, scattered in random order.

"What... what is this?"

"Oh, you know exactly what this is. Why are you pretending you don't?"

"No — but this is..."

Just as he said, Bisque knew perfectly well what it was. She simply couldn't bring herself to believe it.

"This is World of Phantasm. Not some second-rate game labyrinth. The greatest labyrinth of our era! This kind of... this kind of impossible thing cannot be happening. Do you have any idea how hard I've worked, how much I've—"

"You of all people — fighting on the front line — should know better than anyone just how mediocre a labyrinth World of Phantasm really is. And you still want to call it the best?"

Ryu Hwi scooped up another pebble and threw it.

"Watch. This is what World of Phantasm actually is."

The empty air rippled again and knocked the pebble away. Endless strings of zeros and ones. And those digits meant only one thing.

"It's not just here. Everything around us is unfinished."

"No! No way! That can't be true!"

Bisque denied reality even as she stepped toward the incomplete space. The instant her hand touched it, her fingers broke apart, dissolving into scattered zeros and ones.

"Gah—?!"

She yanked her hand back in a panic. The moment she was clear of the incomplete space, her dissolved fingers re-formed.

"That's your reality. The 50th floor — the goal every World of Phantasm gamer has been chasing — was never even finished."

They hadn't even built half of it. The overwhelming majority of what met the eye was an illusion — a hollow, empty shell with nothing inside. It might fool other gamers, but it could never fool YggON.

This was, from the start, a region that had never been properly completed. Ryu Hwi, like Bisque, had come all this way clinging to a sliver of hope — wanting to see the truth with his own eyes. And once he'd confirmed YggON was right, he was genuinely, deeply disappointed.

"Y-you... did you know the 50th floor was like this from the beginning?"

"Hardly. I only found out after getting up here myself."

"Then why did you come charging straight over here?!"

"Credit an excellent collaborator."

Ryu Hwi gave Bisque only half his attention as he scanned their surroundings.

The 48th and 49th floors might be unrendered too. Is that one of the reasons Latia kept delaying the clear?

A game labyrinth stuffed to the brim with deception and lies. He wanted to blast World of Phantasm to pieces as soon as humanly possible.

[The way things stand, even if the clear conditions were met, I doubt anyone could ever reach the tower.]

Even now, countless gamers were pouring their hearts into conquering this 50th floor. But their efforts were almost certainly wasted — because a floor left unfinished like this probably had no possible route to victory at all.

"It can't be..."

Bisque stared at the incomplete region, her face drained of everything but disbelief.

"So this — THIS is the true face of World of Phantasm? All those years I invested, for this piece of garbage? All that time, spent clearing an unfinished game like... like THIS?"

Whatever the other gamers felt, the Phantasma fighting on the front lines had given everything to the conquest of World of Phantasm. Years of obsessive effort, only to find the final destination was unfinished — her rage was only natural.

Ryu Hwi snorted at the sight of her and started walking again.

"Hey — where are you going NOW?!"

Tired of dealing with Bisque, he simply ignored her and kept moving.

"Ryu7017!!"

Bisque clenched her teeth.

Learning the truth about Floor 50 had hit her like a hammer, and she wanted to lash out at something — anything. Fine, then. If that's how it was, she'd take it out on Ryu7017 himself!

Bisque tightened her grip on the axe. Sensing her fighting spirit surge, Ryu Hwi stopped.

"Knock it off. I don't feel like wasting time here."

"Wasting time? Pledging my life to this game — THAT was wasting time! If this is how it ends, I'm taking my frustration out on you!"

"You were begging for cooperation a minute ago, and the second things stop going your way, this is what comes out? You Linzea Guild types really do specialize in nothing but garbage behavior."

Bisque's face twisted. An emotion beyond words echoed and echoed inside her chest. But in the end, she realized it was all pointless.

"Grrraaagh... DAMN IT! What is this?!"

Unable to hold it in any longer, Bisque hurled her axe to the ground.

The game she had poured years of her life into was, in the end, a hollow half-thing that hadn't even bothered to prepare a proper ending. What, exactly, had she been fighting for on the front line all this time?

Emptiness, yes — but the sense of loss cut far deeper.

"The thing I actually wanted to make never even got to see the light... and instead, this. This... this..."

Ryu Hwi watched her for a moment, then simply turned away. He had no intention of wasting any more of his time on Bisque.

"Don't tell me... you're still planning to clear it?"

"Clear it?"

Ryu Hwi stopped.

"Does a trash labyrinth like this really deserve a grand word like 'clear'?"

"Ah..."

"Garbage gets thrown out. That's all."

With those parting words, Ryu Hwi turned forward once more and walked on.

Bisque watched him go, then sank to the ground where she stood. Absurdity. Emptiness. listlessness. The truth that everything she'd striven for had been nothing but a mirage was eating her alive from the inside.

"World of Phantasm is..."

Garbage.