Chapter 56

For the first time since they had begun climbing seriously, Team Snail stayed in the real world longer than usual. It wasn’t because they were tired, nor because they lacked resources. If anything, they had more than enough to continue immediately. But Kael chose to pause, and when she did, neither Aerin nor Mira questioned it.
The next morning, her shop opened again.
The wooden shutters creaked slightly as she pushed them up, letting in the familiar light and noise of the market. It felt… normal. Predictable. The kind of place where nothing changed unless someone forced it to. Aerin lingered nearby for a while before heading off to train, while Mira sat inside for a bit, sorting herbs before eventually leaving for the orphanage again.
Kael remained.
Trading resumed as if she had never left. Customers came and went, some surprised to see her back, others already carrying rumors in their voices. A few asked if she had stopped climbing. Some assumed she had failed. Others joked about how long it must have taken her team just to reach where they claimed.
Kael answered none of it directly.
But she listened.
That was the real reason her shop was open again.
Between transactions, between weighing materials and exchanging coins, her questions slipped in casually. “You’ve been climbing recently?” she would ask, her tone indifferent. Or, “Reached higher floors yet?” as if it were nothing more than idle curiosity.
Most of the answers were useless.
The majority of her customers were climbers who hovered around the lower floors—ten, eleven, twelve at most. They spoke about wolves, resource drops, guild tasks. Predictable patterns. Repeated experiences. Nothing new. Nothing that matched what Team Snail had been facing beyond those levels.
If they hadn’t climbed higher, she didn’t push further.
She simply moved on to the next person.
Days passed like that.
The information she gathered was steady, but shallow. It confirmed one thing clearly—what they had been facing was not common knowledge. Either others had not encountered it, or they had not survived to speak about it.
Neither possibility was useful.
On the fifth day, as she closed the shop early, her thoughts shifted back to the tower. Not to the floors, not to the monsters—but to a face she had only met briefly.
The investigation team leader.
He had not been easy to approach. Not the kind of person who entertained unnecessary conversation. But he had answered her before, even if only a little. And more importantly, he had reached higher than almost anyone else she had encountered.
If there was someone who knew more, it would be him.
But he did not appear in the market.
Not once during that week.
So she waited.
And when waiting no longer felt useful, she stopped.
“We go back tomorrow,” she said one evening, her tone leaving no room for argument.
Aerin nodded immediately, energized as always. Mira followed, though her expression showed she had expected it already.
Their return to the tower was smoother than before. Faster. More efficient. The path they had taken once with caution was now something they moved through with quiet familiarity. Within a short time, they reached the 13th floor again—the place where the investigation teams were often stationed.
It didn’t take long to find him.
He stood slightly apart from the others, observing rather than engaging. His presence alone kept his team disciplined. Conversations quieted when he moved, and no one spoke out of line around him.
Kael approached without hesitation.
Aerin and Mira stayed behind this time, watching but not interfering.
The man noticed her before she spoke.
“You again,” he said, his tone neutral but not dismissive.
Kael stopped a few steps away. “I need information.”
His gaze lingered on her for a moment, measuring, weighing. “About what?”
“Higher floors,” she replied. “Creatures. Patterns. Anything that helps.”
There was a pause.
Not long, but deliberate.
“Why?” he asked.
“We plan to climb,” she answered simply. “No point going blind.”
It wasn’t entirely false.
But it wasn’t everything either.
The man’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if searching for something in her expression. Suspicion, perhaps. Or curiosity. But whatever he was looking for, Kael gave him nothing beyond calm certainty.
Eventually, he exhaled softly and spoke.
His explanations were detailed, structured. He described the types of creatures found beyond the 20th floor—more organized, more aggressive, sometimes even working in groups with a level of coordination that bordered on intelligence. He spoke about terrain shifts, about how certain floors favored specific elements—heat, cold, poison, pressure. He mentioned how patterns existed, but not always in ways that could be relied upon.
Aerin and Mira listened closely from behind, absorbing every word.
Kael did the same.
But something felt… off.
Everything he described made sense.
Too much sense.
It aligned with what most climbers would expect—gradual increase in difficulty, variation in creatures, environmental challenges. It was logical. Predictable in its own way.
And yet, it did not match what they had experienced.
Not completely.
She didn’t interrupt.
Didn’t question.
She simply listened until he finished.
“…that’s what we’ve encountered so far,” he concluded.
Kael nodded once. “You’ve reached how far?”
There was a slight shift in the air at that question.
“Thirty-seven,” he said.
Aerin’s eyes widened slightly. Mira inhaled quietly.
Thirty-seven.
The highest floor reached by any known climber still alive.
Only a handful had ever gone that far.
Kael didn’t react outwardly, but she registered it.
“Only five of us have made it that far,” he added, his voice steady. “And not all at the same time.”
That explained the authority in his presence.
Kael gave a small nod. “Understood.”
She turned to leave.
But his voice stopped her.
“You’re asking the wrong questions.”
She paused, glancing back slightly.
“If you want to survive,” he continued, “don’t look for certainty. The tower doesn’t give it.”
Kael didn’t respond.
She simply walked away.
Aerin caught up to her first. “That was… a lot.”
Mira nodded. “Thirty-seven floors… I can’t even imagine.”
Kael remained silent for a few steps before speaking. “We continue.”
Neither of them questioned it.
But as they moved deeper into the floor again, her thoughts remained elsewhere.
Everything the man had said was true—for him.
For others.
But not entirely for them.
Because the creatures they had faced… the ones that didn’t follow those explanations… had appeared too consistently to be ignored.
And yet, she said nothing.
Not to Aerin.
Not to Mira.
Whatever the reason was, whatever the difference meant—
She would figure it out herself.