A commotion broke out at the entrance of the village. The hunters rushed there as quickly as they could but were immediately disappointed after noticing that their target has already left. They did not need to climb the tower; just by looking at the stone pillar next to the merchant tower, they could see that the name that was usually at the very top had disappeared. There were only two possible scenarios, either that person died or he managed to leave the zeroth floor.

“What should we do now? The target has left. We are never going to get back our treasures.” A hunter exclaimed frustratedly.

“What else can we do? We can only wait here for the others to come. Xia Shiyu and Mustafa should reach the village in a couple of minutes.”

The hunters vented out their frustration, kicking and stomping the ground. Yet, they remained powerless at the fact that Alex had already escaped. A few more daring hunters who kept a couple of Nazlock Coins to themselves, chose to enter the merchant tower and visit the special shop on the second floor. They returned a few moments later with a pale faced after facing the dominatng aura of the female shopkeeper.

When Xia Shiyu and Mustafa returned, they found the hunters aimlessly standing outside the merchant tower with a heavy mood. “What is happening? Did you manage to catch that murderer?” Xia Shiyu asked expectantly between two short breaths.

“No.” A hunter shook his head. “Look at the daily ranking on the stone pillar. Alex’s name disappeared. He is no longer on this floor.”

Xia Shiyu froze for a moment. She could not believe it. “What? So he managed to buy a First Floor Ticket already? Did he not have 387 points yesterday? He earned more than 600 points in just one day?” She blurted out.

The hunters could not help but feel depressed. Someone has already earned enough points to leave this floor and yet, many hunters were not even out of debt yet. The difference between them was staggering; they knew that Alex had a better hunting method and earned more points but earning 600 points in a day was simply too much.

“So… Is there nothing we can do? He is really going to escape with all our treasures?” Mustafa asked with a low tone. He clenched his fists in frustration, unwilling to accept the outcome.

“It is too late to do anything. We can only reach him once we are able to leave this floor. I thought we would be able to catch him by working together but I did not expect him to outrun us all even after being unjured by some arrows. That person must have a lot of secrets.”

“I knew we should have ambushed him while he was healing us. It was a golden opportunity and we could have gotten all his treasures while making him pay for his arrogance and selfishness,” Mustafa said angrily.

“If we attacked him there, some of our hunters may not have received proper treatment and we would be blamed for it. Alex has been on his guard. He deliberately did not heal us properly and kept us in a weakened state. We underestimated him and as a result, we lost the majority of our harvest in the tombs.”

“At the very least, all is not lost. We can still explore the Royals’ section and maybe in the future get back at Alex for extorting us. We can only focus on hunting and quickly leave this place.”

The hunters lamented and in the end, quietly returned to their house to rest. It was pointless to return to the tombs or the canyon; the daily monster rush would take place in a little over an hour.

 Thirty minutes later, the other teams, not involved in the chase, arrived at the village. Eric worriedly made his way to the stone pillar. His tense expression only relaxed after confirming that Alex had successfully escaped.

“He managed to escape or at least, that’s what the hunters are saying. They do not seem to be lying based on how moody they are.”

“You bet. If Alex was dead, I am sure these guys would be celebrating and sharing the loot they would have obtained.”

“It is a good thing that he left. He was not really helping us and now, one more person can earn a few bonus points every day from the bonus of the daily ranking.”

“True but if he stayed, we would be more likely to explore the Royals’ section.”

The hunters voiced out their opinions once they confirmed that Alex had left the floor. Now that the murderer was no longer in the village, the hunters felt more at ease. They were free to gossip as much as they wanted about him.

Only Eric stared absentmindedly at the stone pillar in silence. His right hand was firmly holding on to a folded piece of paper in his pocket. ‘So this is what he meant by if he was still here, I could ask for clarification. He had already planned to leave and should have had a First Floor Ticket in hand. I just wonder… What did he write on this piece of paper?’

“Is something bothering you? You look more pensive than usual.” Christina, one of Eric’s team members asked with a soft voice.

“Mmm. It is our turn to fight the monster rush today, right?”

“Yes? Is there a problem with that?”

“No no. Let’s rest for a few minutes and prepare. The monster rush should start in a short while. Afterward, we won’t hold a team meeting. I have something I need to check.” Eric replied calmly.

“Sure. I can arrange that.”

Time went by and soon, the emergency bell of the merchant tower rung. The monster rush was here; the monsters were very punctual. The battle took place as usual and helped disperse the heavy atmosphere of the village. Thanks to their enchanted weapons, the hunters made a quick work of the monsters, restoring peace in the village.

The hunters started cleaning up the battlefield but unlike all the other times, Eric left the supervision to his teammates. He headed straight to his house and locked himself in his room. Curiosity was killing him. He took out the folded piece of paper and for the first time, read the few words left behind by Alex:

[I said I want to live quietly as a healer but you may be interested in fighting on the frontline. I hope that this set of instruction will help you achieve your goals; they are the steps I would have taken had I been aiming to become the strongest:

1. Purchase a First Floor Ticket but do not leave this floor until you are certain that you can no longer earn anything from it or after completing the other steps. Keep the ticket as a backup plan in case things turn sour.
2. Purchase the Barracks and recruit as many guards as possible. The hunters will leave as they earn more points but the guards can help you protect the village. Try to get as many people to stay back as they will also benefit from it, especially the kids.
3. Once you are confident that there are enough guards to protect the merchant tower, leave the village and go explore the surroundings. Everyone has only been exploring the Canyon but there are many other areas that are accessible if you head in other directions. These areas may be a great source of points but also a source of Nazlock Coins. The writings on the walls of the tombs suggest that many treasures have been plundered by neigbours.
4. Collect as many coins as possible and purchase everything on the second floor of the merchant tower, especially the Artificial Elemental Seed. Keep it a secret from others though.

These steps can take weeks or even months to complete but they are genuinely the best approach if you want to become the strongest. Do what you want with this advice and maybe one day you will fight on the frontlines in my stead. Stay true to the words you told me.]

Eric stared at the piece of paper reading each line of words over and over again.

‘What he would have done if he wanted to become the strongest? Isn’t that pushing all responsibilities onto me?’

….

I was momentarily disoriented by the First Floor Ticket. I heard Levi grunting next to me. When I opened my eyes, I found myself standing in the middle of a cubic white room similar to the first room of the zeroth floor.

“Stupid teleportation talisman. I will never get used to them.” Levi complained. He carefully examined the egg he was holding, making sure that it did not suffer from the teleportation.

“We are not alone.” I said calmly as my eyes fell on the creature standing in front of me.

The creature was taller than me, with a sharp triangular face and two pairs of golden wings protruding behind its back. It was wearing a white robe, hiding its jagged body. Its two piercing eyes immediately focused on me, sending a shiver down my spine.

‘Looks as scary as I remember… Just like a monster coming straight out of a horror movie.’

I instinctively took a step back, knowing full well that this creature was not to be trifled with. It was not releasing any aura but the members of that race were all at least third circle creatures.

It lowered its arms, uncomfortably moving its abnormally long spiky fingers. “Greetings, Human! Welcome to the first floor of the Tower of Hope.” The creature spoke with its slow and unnerving voice.

I gulped down anxiously and forced myself to answer. “Greetings, Seraph.”