BOOM!!!!

Dokai’s body exploded.

It wasn’t an ordinary explosion of flesh and blood, but a soul explosion. Countless grayish-black pieces of his body shattered in the middle of the corridor, then were swept away by a wave of ash-colored souls. The distorted tentacles, the suffering faces, the mouths opening as if wanting to scream, all dissipated in an instant, transforming into cold smoke and dust drifting across the ice and snow.

The entire 27th floor corridor was swept across by that wave.

The spider silk trembled. The ice fragments were blown apart. The corpses of ice Golems, ice Wolves, and ice Goblins lying scattered on the ground were pushed back to both sides, slamming into the walls, emitting heavy thudding sounds.

In that moment, the entire battlefield seemed to fall into silence.

Even the ice monsters still screaming in the distance halted, as if they could sense that something extremely filthy had just been torn apart right before their eyes.

Thunder Dragon stood in front of the door of room 2705, its purple-black eyes looking toward where Dokai had just vanished. The scales on its body stood on end, electric light running along its spine, but it didn’t immediately roar.

It only lowered its body.

Wary.

Not because of Dokai.

But because of what remained after Dokai’s death.

Inside room 2705, Morie was still standing in front of the screen.

The lava veins on her pale skin were slowly fading. The azure Psionic light around her body was no longer as radiant as before. After continuously using Titan and Psionic powers at high intensity, her face was slightly pale, but her gaze remained calm to a frightening degree.

Elith stood beside her, her gaze never leaving the screen.

And Nanoe still stood there with the thin towel wrapped around her body, her brown hair slightly tousled and falling onto her smooth white shoulders. Her demeanor was still gentle, soft, even with a hint of laziness from having just left the bedroom.

But no one in the room felt she was weak.

Especially after the words she had just spoken.

In this place there are many living shields.

That single sentence alone had made Elith look at Nanoe with completely different eyes.

Right at this moment, a faint moan rang out from a corner of the screen.

Sunako was still pinned to the wall by spider silk, her whole body suspended like a worm wrapped in a cocoon. Her hair was a mess, her face pale, but her eyes still tried to look toward where Dokai had just exploded.

"Dead... is he dead?"

No one answered her.

Sunako swallowed her saliva, trying to struggle a bit, but the spider silk on her body immediately tightened, making her cry out.

"Agh! Gentler! I’m not an ice monster! I’m a pitiful, fragile, delicate hostage, and I’m still very valuable, you know!"

Thunder Dragon outside heard her voice and slightly turned its head to look over.

Krit?

Its gaze was very clear.

Valuable?

You?

Sunako saw that gaze through a nearby auxiliary screen, immediately growing so angry her face turned red.

"What do you mean by looking at me like that?! I’ll have you know, without me serving as a professional audience, would your fights even have soul? A great battle requires someone to scream, requires someone to be astonished, requires someone to serve as the backdrop for your strength, understand?!"

Thunder Dragon tilted its head.

Krit.

It turned its face away.

Clearly didn’t understand.

Also didn’t want to understand.

Sunako was so angry her eyes grew slightly damp.

"You rude winged lizard..."

Thunder Dragon immediately turned its head back.

Krittt?

Electric light flashed slightly on its horns.

Sunako froze.

Then, she immediately put on an obedient smile.

"What I mean is... great Lord Thunder Dragon, mighty, majestic, divine, your fur... ah no, your scales are shiny like precious gems. I’m just a small ignorant human, please don’t roast me into jerky."

Thunder Dragon snorted in satisfaction.

Krit.

Then it turned back to keep its wary watch on the corridor.

The atmosphere, which had been heavy due to Dokai’s death, was slightly diverted by Sunako. But that lightness didn’t last long.

Because the general chat channel had erupted.

[Room 118 – Oran: Dead... is he dead?]

[Room 804 – Sana: That soul monster was really crushed?]

[Room 330 – Owl: What did I just sense? Not magical energy, not cold aura either. It was like... a soul being torn apart.]

[Room 712 – Bardo: Has room 2705 gone insane? Millan said that killing Dokai would draw that thing here!]

[Room 606 – Garland: You believe Millan? If she really knew Dokai was that dangerous, why didn’t she warn us from the start?]

[Room 905 – Hellen: That’s right. Dokai charged in to steal the Boss first. Now that he’s dead, who is to blame?]

[Room 411 – Vera: Wait... do you all feel it? Something just brushed past.]

[Room 19 – Mikan: Don’t say it! I feel it too. So cold...]

The lines of messages continuously appeared.

Some were afraid, some were furious, some were gleeful. There were also those who began to clamp their mouths shut, no longer daring to say anything more.

Because no matter what angle they stood at, one fact was placed right before their eyes.

Room 2705 had killed Dokai.

Wasn’t pushed back by Millan.

Didn’t soften because of the so-called "everyone could die."

Morie had crushed him in front of all the Survivors.

This wasn’t just killing a monster.

It was a declaration.

Room 2705 would not accept being threatened.

Anyone who dared reach out to steal their reward had to pay the price.

Anyone.

Even Dokai was no exception.

Morie’s private chat frame lit up again.

[Millan: You really killed him.]

Morie looked at those words, her gaze unchanged.

[Millan: Morie, you will regret this.]

[Millan: If that thing comes, all the blood of those who die will be tallied on your head.]

Morie looked at those three lines but didn’t immediately reply.

She only slightly raised her eyes, looking toward the place on the screen where Dokai had just vanished. The gray smoke was still dissipating. The soul core had shattered. But within that pile of smoke and dust, there seemed to remain a few invisible chains, trembling like strings that had been stretched to their absolute limit before snapping apart.

Morie looked at them.

Then sent back a single sentence.

[Room 2705 – Morie: The first person who pushed him onto the battlefield was you.]

The message was sent.

Morie directly closed the private chat with Millan.

She had no interest in continuing to argue.

The reasoning that should be said had been said.

The result that should be done had been done.

If Millan still wanted to continue using morality to coerce her, then let her speak to thin air.

Elith looked at Morie, then looked at Nanoe.

"What if that thing really comes?"

The one who answered wasn’t Morie.

It was Nanoe.

She softly smiled.

That smile was very gentle, very soft, but her gaze was calm to the point that she almost didn’t look like someone hearing about the risk of an entire apartment complex being dragged into catastrophe.

"If it comes, then it proves Millan wasn’t lying."

Elith frowned.

"You’re not afraid?"

"Afraid?" Nanoe slightly tilted her head, as if finding this question very interesting.

The thin towel on her body slipped down a little with that motion, exposing her smooth white collarbone and a patch of soft skin. But that gentle appearance did not lessen the dangerous feeling she gave off.

On the contrary, it was precisely that softness that made Elith feel even more uneasy.

Nanoe looked at the screen, her gaze piercing through the ice-covered corridor, as if looking toward the distant fog beyond the apartment complex.

"In this world, the frightening thing is not that powerful monsters appear."

"The frightening thing is that you don’t know what value it has."

Elith fell silent.

Morie slightly narrowed her eyes, as if she had understood something.

Nanoe continued, her voice still gentle as if making household conversation.

"If the existence less than 20 miles from here was truly awakened by Dokai’s soul, then it is a danger. But the greater the danger, the higher its value in the eyes of Survivors."

"Hidden Boss. Monster outside the round. Special reward. Item drops not restricted by the current quest. An opportunity that could let the weak turn things around. A piece of meat that any strong person would want a bite of."

Nanoe smiled.

"As long as one of those thoughts surfaces in their heads, that thing will no longer be a disaster belonging only to room 2705."

Elith slowly drew in a breath.

She understood.

Morie also understood.

If that thing truly came, the Survivors in the apartment complex would not unite to flee. Some of them would be afraid. Some of them would observe. Some of them would try to probe. And some of them would not be able to resist their greed and would charge in.

This was the Endless Game.

Here, death and reward always went hand in hand.

Many would fear the Boss.

But there would also be many who would think that as long as they could kill the Boss, they could rise to the top.

Elith looked at Nanoe once again.

She shuddered.

Not because of cold.

But because Nanoe was truly too frightening.

This woman wasn’t pretending not to be afraid. She truly wasn’t afraid.

Or to put it more accurately, in Nanoe’s mind, fear was just a variable to be factored into calculations. She didn’t deny the danger, didn’t underestimate the catastrophe, and certainly didn’t deceive herself into thinking everything would be fine.

She only coldly calculated who would die first if the catastrophe came, who would be dragged in, who would be controlled by greed, who would become a shield, who would become bait.

Then, she smiled.

Gentle as an older sister.

Cold as a knife hidden in a sleeve.

Elith suddenly felt that Rover was truly very strange.

How could he make a woman like this willingly stand by his side?

No.

What was perhaps more frightening was that Nanoe wasn’t being forced at all.

She was enjoying this position.

At the same time, Morie suddenly frowned.

"There’s a notification."

Before her, a gray notification panel appeared.

Not just hers.

All Survivors in the apartment complex saw it.

[Ding!]

[An abnormal soul fluctuation has been recorded.]

[Notice: An unfamiliar gaze has just swept across the apartment complex.]

Just two lines of notification.

No warning of danger.

No notification of a Boss appearing.

But precisely because of this, it caused the entire apartment complex to fall into a chilling silence.

Because everyone understood.

The thing Millan had mentioned... had truly looked toward this place.