A scream echoed through the forest.

  Yuna stopped instantly.

  The fog between the trees parted as something huge moved in the darkness.

  A man stumbled backward across the wet leaves.

  “Help!”

  The creature struck before anyone reached him.

  Claws flashed.

  The man crashed to the ground.

  Blood spread across the forest floor.

  The wolves surrounding the survivors lowered their heads.

  Something larger emerged from the fog.

  Yuna’s eyes narrowed.

  A massive black wolf.

  Nearly the size of a truck.

  Black fur blended perfectly with the twilight shadows between the trees.

  Its silver eyes glowed faintly in the twilight.

  Nightfang Alpha.

  The leader of the hunt.

  No one spoke.

  The remaining climbers slowly backed together.

  Yuna counted them quickly.

  Thirteen survivors.

  The Alpha lowered its head.

  The wolves around them began circling again.

  Waiting.

  Jin rested his sword on his shoulder.

  “Well,” he said calmly.

  “That explains the pack.”

  Yuna kept her eyes on the Alpha.

  “Everyone stay together.”

  The survivors obeyed immediately.

  They had already seen what happened when someone fought alone.

  A low growl broke the silence.

  The Alpha stepped forward.

  The wolves followed.

  The hunt resumed.

  “Here they come!” someone shouted.

  The pack attacked.

  Wolves rushed from the fog.

  Claws and fangs flashed through the twilight forest.

  “Tanks to the front,” Yuna shouted.

  “Anyone with ranged skills, spread out but stay behind the tanks.”

  A man raised a shaking hand.

  “I have Beast Sense.”

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  “Good,” Yuna said.

  “Tell us if it moves.”

  The Alpha growled softly.

  As if it understood the plan forming around it.

  Then it moved.

  The monster vanished.

  The Beast Sense player shouted immediately.

  “Left!”

  A dark blur shot through the fog.

  Jin moved first.

  His sword cut through a wolf mid-leap.

  Yuna stepped forward beside him.

  Her twin blades flashed through another monster.

  Behind them Lily raised her hands.

  Golden light spread across a wounded climber’s shoulder.

  “Hold still!”

  The wolves kept coming.

  Then the Alpha vanished.

  One of the climbers shouted,

  “It disappeared!”

  Yuna’s eyes scanned the fog.

  “Behind us!” The Beast Sense player shouted.

  The Alpha exploded from the shadows.

  Its massive body slammed into a man near the edge of the group.

  The impact knocked him to the ground.

  The Alpha’s jaws closed around his chest.

  The man screamed once.

  Then the sound stopped.

  Yuna froze for half a second.

  She waited.

  The vision should come.

  The memory.

  The final thoughts.

  But nothing happened.

  No images.

  No voices.

  Only silence.

  Yuna frowned.

  Why didn’t it trigger?

  A faint blue message flickered across her vision.

  Memory fragment conditions not met.

  The words vanished before she could react.

  The Alpha roared again.

  The battle resumed.

  Yuna forced the question aside.

  She stepped forward and cut across the Alpha’s shoulder.

  The massive wolf twisted away with surprising speed.

  Jin attacked from the opposite side.

  His blade struck the monster’s flank.

  The Alpha retreated a few steps.

  Silver eyes locked onto Yuna.

  It had chosen its target.

  The wolves surged forward again.

  Yuna raised her blades.

  “Focus the Alpha!”

  The surviving climbers pressed closer together.

  Wolves attacked from every direction.

  Steel flashed through the fog.

  Lily moved constantly through the group.

  Healing anyone who fell.

  “Stay with me,” she told an injured woman.

  The Alpha lunged again.

  Jin intercepted it.

  His sword clashed against the monster’s claws.

  Sparks burst into the twilight air.

  The two separated.

  Yuna moved in immediately.

  Her blades cut across the Alpha’s chest.

  Black blood splashed across the leaves.

  The pack hesitated.

  Their leader was wounded.

  The Alpha roared.

  Then it attacked again.

  This time Yuna and Jin moved together.

  Jin forced the monster backward.

  Yuna struck the exposed opening.

  The Alpha staggered.

  One of the surviving climbers shouted,

  “Now!”

  Arrows flew from behind them.

  The Alpha howled as the arrows struck its side.

  Jin stepped forward.

  His sword rose.

  A faint red glow flickered along the blade.

  Dragon energy.

  The Alpha lunged one final time.

  Jin’s sword fell.

  The strike cut through the monster’s neck.

  The Alpha collapsed heavily onto the forest floor.

  For several seconds the forest was silent.

  Then the remaining wolves slowly retreated into the fog.

  The hunt was over.

  The survivors stood still, breathing heavily.

  A calm voice echoed inside their minds.

  System message.

  Floor three cleared.

  Exit gate available.

  Yuna watched the forest quietly.

  Her thoughts returned to the moment earlier.

  A man had died.

  But Death Memory had not triggered.

  The system message replayed in her mind.

  Memory fragment conditions not met.

  Which meant the ability had rules.

  Rules she still didn’t understand.

  A tall stone arch appeared between the trees ahead.

  Soft blue light shimmered within it.

  The survivors stared at the gate.

  Relief spread through the group.

  Lily moved quickly between the injured players, healing cuts and claw wounds.

  Her hands glowed softly.

  One of the survivors sat heavily against a tree, clutching his side.

  “I swear,” he muttered, “if the next floor has more wolves, I’m turning around.”

  A few tired laughs followed.

  Another player looked around the clearing.

  “How many of us are left?”

  “Thirteen,” someone answered.

  The man frowned.

  “My group had more than that.”

  Lily glanced up.

  “How many?”

  “Thirty.”

  She hesitated, then added quietly,

  “We started in a different chamber.”

  Several players looked toward her.

  “Different chamber?”

  Lily nodded.

  “When we first entered the Tower, there were about two hundred people in our room.”

  The survivors exchanged uneasy looks.

  “So there are multiple starting rooms?”

  “Looks like it.”

  “Then how many players started climbing this thing?”

  No one had an answer.

  Yuna remained silent.

  None of this surprised her.

  The Tower had never been a single path.

  Jin leaned casually against a tree.

  His eyes moved briefly toward Yuna.

  “Interesting,” he said.

  She ignored him.

  After a moment Lily approached her.

  The healer looked nervous but determined.

  “If I try climbing alone,” she said quietly, “I won’t be able to save anyone.”

  She looked down at her hands.

  “I’m not strong enough yet.”

  Then she lifted her head.

  “Can I stay with you?”

  Yuna did not hesitate.

  “Yes.”

  Lily’s shoulders relaxed slightly.

  “Thank you.”

  Jin pushed himself away from the tree.

  His gaze moved toward the glowing gate ahead.

  “Good timing.”

  He rested his sword across his shoulder.

  “Because something tells me the next floor won’t be any easier.”

  The survivors slowly gathered their weapons.

  One by one they walked toward the glowing gate.

  Yuna stepped through first.

  The blue light swallowed her.

  Floor four waited beyond.

  And deeper inside the Tower.

  The real climb was only beginning.