Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Renée Chu & Ethan Jade

After finishing the trade with Arke, Fenric stepped out of the Trading Center.

"System, send me to the Samsara Tower."

Light flared—and he reappeared before a structure so vast it seemed to spear the heavens.

Samsara Tower.

Each level spread wide like an imperial palace terrace, stacked one atop another. From ground level, the 99th floor vanished into cloud, as if the tower truly pierced the sky.

Compared with the always-busySafe ZoneDungeon Hall, the Tower’s entrance looked sparse—relatively. In truth, plenty of samsara players milled about. For all its danger, the Tower was theonly reliable path to real power. Safe Zone dungeons never dropped high-grade abilities: no Superpower awakenings, no Devil Fruits, no Saiyan bloodlines. Those came from the Tower.

Danger or not, people chased strength. Human nature.

Nearby, a cluster of samsara players were huddled around a floating holo display, voices loud enough to carry.

"Damn! Wolf, Fox—check the rankings!Adamjust hitS‑rank overall—world #1!"

"No way—S‑rank? The only one?! That guy’s a monster!"

"Wasn’t there talk he’s acolonelin the Cindralock Dominion military? Is that real?"

"Pretty much confirmed... Ugh! Dog bastard taking the top slot—disgraceful!"

"Get real. Even A‑ranks are freaks—one A‑rank could wipe a regiment. S‑rank might as well be awalking nuke. Who stops that?"

"Not our problem. Let the big shots worry about nukes. We just clear dungeons. Today I’m runningThe Mountain Village Old Corpse. I swear I’m taking down that ghost—Renée Chu!"

"Bro, don’t get cocky. She’s beautiful, yeah—but resentment class. Also, she’s f@cking scary! Just find a safe bolt-hole and survive three days; that’s the main objective."

"I’m queuingKung Fu Jungle. Got tips?"

"Yeah: don’t fightFung Yu-Sauunless you have a death wish."

(Note: He’s the serial killer in the movie.)

Laughter. Nervous, but real.

"..."

Hearing them, Fenric’s brows rose.Someone actually hit S‑rank overall?Impressive.

Still—he had his own path.Knowing the plotwas his edge. One day, he’d climb higher than all of them. Maybe even clear all 99 floors... and find out whether that "become a god" rumor held truth.

He drifted closer to the crowd and looked up at the projected board they were staring at:

A top‑100 list, issued by the Samsara system itself.

#1 – Adam–S(red glyph)

The name alone screamed ambition. First human of the Bible? Bold.

#2 – Aurora Morwyn–A

Avatar suggested a woman. Jadeveil Nation’s descent.

#3 – Sventovet–A

Named after a Slavic war deity. From Winterveil country.

Slots below continued in descending order—A‑ranks filling out the rest of the board. Only Adam wore the lone S.

It reminded Fenric thatranking letter ≠ equal strength. Two A‑ranks could still be worlds apart.

He skimmed the list, then moved on.

Fenric stepped toward the Tower’s entrance—and walked face‑first into empty air that pushed back.

An invisible barrier.

A system prompt chimed:

"Hello, Samsara Player ’Shura.’ You are not currently eligible to enter. Cooldown in effect. Please return in: 29 days, 01 hour, 22 minutes..."

Fenric slapped his forehead. Right. Entry cooldowns.

Good thing he’d planned ahead.

He opened his personal warehouse and withdrew the glowing, card‑shaped token he’d earned fromInfernal Affairs.

"System, use Dungeon Cooldown Refresh Card."

The card dissolved into drifting starlight and sank into his arm.v

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