Doom Tower Floor 2 (Part 4)
Ha-seong had sensed it for some time now. Messages scattering like fragments before his eyes, letters glitching out with flickering noise. It felt like two different systems were clashing, each with their own will.
The existence he loosely called the system—the one that had granted him cheat mode. And the spire, seething with hatred for humanity, desperate to kill them all.
Am I just a shrimp caught in a battle between whales?
"This fucking tower seems like it wants me dead..."
It might be his imagination. Any other Survival climber who made it here could face the same thing.
Gurgle—
"Ah... I was careless."
Over half a year of treating the tower's interior like a luxury garden had its downsides. Even if he'd stayed on high alert, the result would've been the same. Who could've guessed the 4th floor would be this bullshit?
All his predictions were off: more rooms, doors opening faster, stronger and more monsters popping out. Wrong on every count.
"......"
He wasn't starving to death yet. Not even half a day had passed, let alone a full one. His throat was parched, sure. But it wasn't the scorching thirst where his throat burned and his blood turned sticky.
Yeah... not yet. But what about later? He needed a plan. Anything—
"Let's take it slow."
Rushing around like before would just play into the tower's hands. He had to proceed carefully, methodically.
Slash!
He dragged his kukri along the wall, leaving a long gash. Screeech—
And the next room, too. Moving only in one direction, into the next room, the one beyond, he carved deep scars into the right wall each time.
About two or three hours later, by his estimate?
Click.
It wasn't scary anymore; he'd gotten used to it.
Three... two... one.
When he opened his eyes again, the lights were back on, and every door he'd left open had slammed shut.
He hurriedly reopened the door to the room he'd just come from and checked the right wall.
"Hmm... it's still there."
Screeech— Screech— Screeech—
"Still there. Still there. Yeah, still here too. This one too."
This filthy huge space. By always turning right at dead ends, he wouldn't get lost.
Screeech—
"This one... no."
What if his guess was wrong? What if he was just wasting stamina?
As those worries gnawed at him, he opened the door—and spotted a knife scar on the left wall.
The 4th floor wasn't just "lights out, doors reset." There was another rule he didn't know.
Does the layout change? Like a Rubik's Cube?
Every room had scars on the right wall, but this one had a deep gash on the left.
[Black Mannequin]
And those familiar names hovering over the dolls he'd been seeing.
The dolls looked all different, and the name only popped up if he focused on them. Not like a game where monster names floated fixed above their heads.
"How the hell were we supposed to notice this?"
Like the goblin packs on Floor 1, he'd assumed they were just the hotel's main monsters. But a sudden thought hit him.
"Are these mannequins even really monsters?"
Even on Survival, there were too damn many dolls. And... he hadn't noticed at first, but each room had exactly one doll.
Except when he first arrived on 4F—there'd been two.
[Black Mannequin]
—So, Mr. Choi, the expert. The spire wants to kill climbers, but it has limits, right?
—Exactly. Survival rates keep climbing with strategies, and climbers endlessly loot resources on repeat runs. The tower doesn't just sit idle. And it kindly shows its rules via messages—and sticks to them. Absolute promises.
The ramblings of some self-proclaimed expert on TV suddenly resurfaced. He'd dismissed it as clickbait back then—
Not entirely wrong.
If it wanted him dead, it'd send monster hordes. Floor 1 could've had traps at drop points, hobgoblins, goblin packs, giant centipedes—all waiting.
This hotel's 4F was the same. One monster per room—now suddenly two at the entrance?
Paranoid delusions? Fine. But... that chill he'd felt earlier.
—This fucking tower wants me dead...
Because of Super Special Very Easy Mode, something only he couldn't spot. Breaking the "one monster per room" rule.
[Black Mannequin]
"Right side."
He turned the doll facing the left door to face right.
Simple from here: Swap positions of apparent Black Mannequins, memorize at least half.
And one more.
"You, get lost."
The wind-up monkey doll, trembling to reassemble itself, gleefully clanged its cymbals.
Pop-pop-pop... Off it went somewhere.
Screeech—
"Holy shit."
As it approached the door, it swung open on its own. The monkey vanished into the distance.
Proof it could open doors itself.
Clang-clang! Crash! Crash!
Did the hotel skimp on construction? Zero soundproofing.
Ignoring the racket, he tested every hypothesis popping into his head.
Plenty of time. At least the four days a human could last without water.
Click— Click— Click—
Countless cycles of darkness and reset. Even if exhaustion made him collapse on the floor and sleep, he'd get up, roam rooms, desperately hunting 4F's rules.
And... two days passed, by his feel.
Fuck.
His lips moved, but no sound came. Touching his mouth: cracked, flaky lips, dry, ashen skin.
Sweat from moving made his throat worse? Or miscalculated time? He'd heard four days without water was possible...
Gurgle—
His legs and knees, walking 18 hours a day by estimate, screamed in agony.
"Grrrh..."
Scree, screeech...!!
Grabbing the doorknob tore at his wrist tendons.
Insanely tired, insanely thirsty, starving. Two nights on hard floor: full-body muscle pain.
Click—
"Fuck!!! "
His parched throat cracked from the yell, stabbing pain splitting his mouth.
Lights had gone out nearly a hundred times now.
Yeah, tower, you're impressive. But here's the thing?
Screech—
"Ha... haha."
Probably not dying here after all.
[Black Mannequin]
Opening the door, the doll stared right at him—just like his first time on 4F.
The result of a hundred attempts.
He passed the doll, walls now scarred dozens deep.
Nothing else mattered.
[Black Mannequin]
Black Mannequins and doors he'd scouted then closed.
Leaving doors open for scouting was the mistake.
4F wasn't infinite. The tower's system forced endless loops.
First time on 4F, the [Black Mannequin] had faced him.
His guess was right. Black Mannequin meant exactly that: a black mannequin.
No trap—just an inanimate doll.
Not a monster...
In Super Special Very Easy Mode, a trap only he could fall for. The mannequins faced the "climber entrance."
Screeech—!
"Right scars: four... left: three. Front: one."
No hesitation—he opened the left door. A [Black Mannequin] waited right there.
Slam it shut, head opposite.
"Okay. One room saved..."
Lights out, back on? All doors close, some rooms reshuffle.
In other words... "Closed doors stay as-is."
Leaving doors open to mark paths was wrong.
Screeech—!!
"Ha..."
[Black Mannequin]
Doll with back to him, facing opposite door.
He'd left that door open while opening another.
"Like... solving a Rubik's Cube..."
His head spun. Throat burned, but suddenly his senses numbed the thirst. Intense weakness followed.
Was this the brain blocking extreme pain?
"Hurry..."
One lights-out cycle: any open door room reshuffles.
Thus... use [Black Mannequin] as markers. Preserve some rooms like punching paths through dead ends, change others.
"Opposite of entrance is exit, right? Common sense...? Right, Status Window?"
The silent Status Window ignored him, as always. No expectations anyway.
Click—
".........!!!!"
The darkness he'd come to anticipate.
Right after, he rushed back to the open-door room, flung it open.
Screeech—
"Ha, haha!"
The doll that had faced away now stared straight at him.
Finally looking at me, you bastard...!! Felt like getting a Pepero from a first crush.
He knew the rule. The solution.
Only one thing left: drag his exhausted body, repeat till death.
"...Almost there."
4F wasn't infinitely vast.
Screeech—
Even the creepy door screech now sounded cheerful. Escape from this hellish space.
Screeech— Screeech— Screeech!!
Fucking endless door-opening noise!
He kicked visible dolls aside, petted Black Mannequin pals, moved fast.
Dead end? None left. He'd cleared them all after countless tries.
Right, left— straight, straight, right, right, left straight left right straight straight—
Each door opened to a welcoming [Black Mannequin].
Blazing pace compared to nearly three trapped days.
Click!!
"Whoa, no. Too late, asshole."
Tower tried shutting lights late... but open-door rooms were already passed.
Ignore, open straight ahead.
[Black Mannequin]
Door opens—mannequin facing him. Opposite side: exit.
Click— Click— Click—
One door at a time, lights flickered desperately. Like fluorescent bulbs in a storm blackout—dizzying strobes.
Scary? Hell no. Thrilling. He felt the bastard's panic. Proof he was right.
And suddenly—
Screeech—
"......!! Found...!"
[EXIT]
That oh-so-welcome green sign.
Click! Click! Click!Click!Click!Click!Click!Click!Click!Click!Click!Click!Click!
Screeech slam! Screeech—! Slam!! Screeech slam! Screeech—! Slam!! Screeech slam! Screeech—! Slam!! Screeech slam! Screeech—! Slam!! Screeech slam! Screeech—! Slam!! Screeech slam! Screeech—! Slam!! Screeech slam! Screeech—! Slam!! Screeech slam! Screeech—! Slam!!
Now lights-out every second, doors flying open and slamming violently.
Every door on 4F crashing: earthquake rumble, building-shaking vibrations—
Clang!Clang!Clang!! Crash!Crash!
[Black Man]
Like it couldn't let the climber live—a distant monkey doll pounded cymbals furiously, charging him madly.
If that was a real monster... it'd be fucking terrifying, right?
"Yeah, doll?"
[Old Human-Faced Beast]
He smashed the creepy old-man-face-dog-body doll with his kukri—
You have successfully cleared Doom Tower Floor 2.
You are the first to successfully clear Doom Tower Floor 2.
A new privilege will be granted.
All towers' Floor 2 cleared. Tower curse is delayed.
Doom Tower Floor 2 first clear reward granted.
The tower selects a new climber.
The Mysterious Merchant brings new items.
His vision filled with a flood of blue messages.