Chapter 66

The silence after Kael’s words lingered longer than expected.
The campfire crackled softly between them while darkness stretched across the 28th floor. Unlike the lower floors, nights here felt different. The darkness wasn’t empty. It felt alive somehow, as if countless eyes were hidden beyond the edge of the firelight.
Aerin poked at the flames with a stick.
For once, he wasn’t smiling.
“What she said isn’t wrong.”
Mira glanced at him.
Aerin shrugged.
“If Rohas wasn’t there…” He laughed awkwardly. “I probably would’ve died two or three times already.”
“You would’ve survived,” Mira said.
“No.”
His answer came immediately.
Mira blinked.
Aerin stared into the fire.
“I would’ve died.”
The honesty surprised everyone.
Even Kael looked up.
Aerin scratched the back of his head.
“I know my limits better now.”
That alone showed how much he had changed.
The old Aerin would’ve confidently charged into danger.
The current Aerin understood danger.
Understood weakness.
Understood fear.
And because of that—
He was becoming stronger.
Rohas watched him quietly.
Then nodded once.
“A climber who understands his limits lives longer.”
Aerin smiled.
“Then I’ll keep understanding them.”
Mira rolled her eyes.
“That sounded much cooler in your head.”
The tension finally broke.
Even Kael’s lips twitched slightly.
Only slightly.

The next morning they continued exploring.
The 28th floor was strange.
Not dangerous.
Strange.
The creatures here weren’t particularly powerful compared to what they had already faced.
But they behaved differently.
Sometimes monsters that should attack simply stared.
Sometimes creatures ignored them entirely.
Other times groups of monsters would fight each other before Team Snail even arrived.
It happened often enough for everyone to notice.
“This floor is weird.”
Mira crouched beside the corpse of a creature that had clearly been killed by another monster.
“Maybe they’re territorial.”
Aerin inspected the wounds.
“No.”
Kael approached.
The creature’s chest had been torn open.
Cleanly.
Too cleanly.
Almost deliberately.
Like something had killed it for a purpose rather than food.
Rohas stood nearby.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“A predator?”
Mira asked.
“No.”
Rohas’ answer was immediate.
“Something smarter.”
The atmosphere grew heavier.

That evening they found tracks.
Large tracks.
Much larger than any creature they had encountered recently.
The footprint was nearly the size of Mira’s body.
Aerin stared.
“…That’s impossible.”
“No.”
Kael crouched beside it.
“It exists.”
The footprint wasn’t deep.
Which meant whatever made it wasn’t heavy.
That somehow made it more unsettling.
Something enormous.
Something fast.
Something light enough to move without sinking.
None of them liked that combination.

The next two days passed carefully.
The team remained alert.
Rohas helped with mapping.
Mira collected herbs.
Aerin trained whenever possible.
Kael observed.
The floor.
The creatures.
The patterns.
And something else.
The Tower.
Lately she had begun noticing things.
Not obvious things.
Small things.
Strange things.
Sometimes when she chose a path randomly, it turned out to be the safest route.
Sometimes she would think about water moments before finding a stream.
Sometimes monsters would glance at her—
And hesitate.
Just for a moment.
Only a moment.
Long enough for her to notice.
Short enough for everyone else to miss.
She never mentioned it.
Not even to herself.
Because she didn’t understand it.
And if she didn’t understand it—
She couldn’t explain it.

On the seventh day, they found the source of the footprints.
Or rather—
It found them.
The attack happened during lunch.
One moment they were resting beneath massive crystal-covered trees.
The next—
The entire ground exploded.
Aerin barely reacted in time.
Something enormous burst from below.
Mira screamed.
Kael instantly jumped backward.
The creature towered above them.
It had six limbs.
No visible eyes.
Its body looked like black stone fused with flesh.
Strange glowing veins pulsed beneath its skin.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Even Rohas’ expression changed.
For the first time since joining them—
He looked serious.
Very serious.
The creature turned.
Slowly.
Toward Kael.
And then—
It smiled.
Not with a mouth.
Not with lips.
But somehow—
It smiled.
Every hair on Kael’s body stood up.
The feeling lasted less than a second.
Then the creature attacked.
And unlike previous battles—
This one felt personal.
The monster wasn’t attacking Team Snail.
It was attacking Kael.
Directly.
Relentlessly.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Aerin charged forward.
Mira activated her healing skill immediately.
Rohas stepped forward without hesitation.
But even while fighting all four of them—
The creature’s attention never left Kael.
Not once.
As if she was the only thing it could see.
As if she was the reason it existed.
And for the first time since entering the Tower—
Kael felt something she rarely experienced.
Confusion.
Not fear.
Not panic.
Confusion.
Because deep inside—
A ridiculous thought appeared.
A thought she immediately wanted to reject.
Yet couldn’t.
The creature wasn’t trying to kill her.
It was trying to test her.
And somehow—
That possibility was far more frightening.
End of Chapter 66