There was no light, no sound, no smell.
Only white.
An endless space with no floor, no sky—just an infinite whiteness that pressed against the senses like a coffin without walls.
Kim Jae-won opened his eyes slowly.
He was standing, barefoot. No injuries. No blood. Just… here.
Alive again.
His breath left his lungs like a whisper. It had happened. He had really returned.
"…It worked."
The last thing he remembered was his body crumbling on Floor 121, betrayed by the same allies who once bowed before him. His Core shattered. His Absolute stat torn apart by system backlash.
But the Tower gave second chances to no one.
No one but him.
> "Welcome, Climber."
A flat voice echoed across the space. Mechanical, genderless. The System. That cold, all-controlling god of this cursed structure.
A transparent screen flickered into view.
---
[Initializing Core Sync…]
[Verifying Identity… Success.]
[Climber ID: Kim Jae-won]
[Beginning Path Selection.]
---
> So we're starting from here again.
He remembered this place. The "Selection Room." Where most get tossed a few garbage classes and told to start climbing. Warrior. Mage. Thief. Priest.
He had chosen Necromancer in his first life. A slow path. Too slow.
This time, he wouldn't follow the Tower's rules.
Three glowing symbols hovered in front of him now:
A blazing sword.
A swirling tome.
A shadowed dagger.
> "Choose your Path."
He didn't move. Didn't even blink.
> "No."
---
[Input not recognized.]
[Warning: Refusing to select will result in random assignment.]
---
He stepped forward.
> "I said—no."
And then, he did something no one else in this place ever had.
He overwrote the system.
His Core pulsed, unleashing a pressure that shattered the symbols mid-air. A wave of black light rippled outward, cracking the white void like glass.
---
[Override Detected.]
[Class: Apex Conductor – Confirmed.]
[Core Stat Created: Absolute]
[Error: This class is unregistered.]
[Proceeding without system support…]
[Climber status: UNBOUND]
---
The void shook violently. A vortex formed beneath his feet.
He smirked.
> "Try harder, Tower."
Then he dropped—falling through the endless white into darkness.
---
[FLOOR 1 – THE DEAD PLAIN]
The impact jarred his bones, but he rolled into a crouch and stood.
Ash blew across cracked earth. The sky was gray, the horizon broken by skeletal ruins. In the distance, moans echoed—low and hungry.
Undead.
Hundreds of them, dragging themselves across the field.
Most climbers would panic here. No skills, no gear, just base stats and panic.
Jae-won cracked his neck.
> "Still slow."
A zombie staggered toward him—its jaw hanging loose, one eye missing.
He didn't dodge. He stepped forward and punched.
The skull caved in like cheap pottery.
> [+1 EXP]
Another came. He crushed its windpipe with a palm strike. Another—he tripped it and stomped the spine.
Every movement was clean. No wasted motion. No hesitation.
The Tower thought he was Level 1.
That was fine.
He had lived through Floor 120.
He knew how to kill.
> [Level Up! +6 Stat Points earned.]
> "All into Absolute."
---
The shift was instant.
His vision sharpened. His limbs felt lighter. His skin tingled like electricity buzzed under it.
> [Absolute Stat increased: 10 → 16]
He moved like a ghost. Where others would flail or retreat, he flowed between enemies like water—breaking necks, ripping jaws, shattering ribs.
The zombies weren't enemies. They were training weights.
> "Faster."
More rushed him. Dozens. Then hundreds. The field was a tide of decay.
He welcomed it.
His fists tore through flesh. His kicks split torsos. He used broken bones as blades. Blood soaked the ground.
> [Level Up! +6 Stat Points earned.]
[Level Up! +6 Stat Points earned.]
He smiled, soaked in gore.
> "Good."
---
Then the sky howled.
The earth trembled.
A message appeared.
---
[Hidden Condition Achieved.]
[Elite Boss: Bone Reaver Garlan has Awakened.]
---
The ground ahead split open.
A massive figure rose, armored in bone and rusted iron. Eight feet tall, eyes glowing red. A great axe dragged behind him, carved with runes of death.
> "You climb too fast… unworthy one."
Jae-won rolled his shoulders.
> "Then fall faster."
He stepped forward.
The Tower would learn what "Unbound" really meant.
---
[SYSTEM INTERFACE – KIM JAE-WON]
Name: Kim Jae-won
Level: 3
Class: Apex Conductor
Core Stat: Absolute – 28
Stat Points: 0
Skills: None
Titles: None
Status: UNBOUND
EXP to next level: 12/40
System Notes: Path is unregistered. Monitoring enabled.
Warning: Growth rate exceeds forecasted parameters.
---