The monsters kept coming at me, but their hesitation was obvious.

Moments ago they were charging more confidently. Now? They crept forward, slower, —because apparently my magnificent display had finally reached whatever tiny, brain cell they had left.

"SHRRIEK!" A group of Granado variants came rushing in.

I met them head-on—spinning, slashing, piercing, thrusting my weapon in the most basic, no-nonsense way possible. No fancy shadow tricks this time. Just plain, efficient martial arts.

Although it wasn't nearly as powerful as my Shadow-Expanded style, I was still getting kills left and right—clean hits, monsters dropping like they'd been waiting their whole lives for someone to put them out of their misery.

Slowly, the number of monsters started to shrink. Some fell completely, shredded by my attacks. Others hesitated, unsure if they should keep coming.

And then, to my surprise, a few actually turned and ran, disappearing into the smoke and rubble. They weren't brain dead after all.

The Seekers noticed this too. Seeing the enemies falter, they attacked harder, cutting through the ones that stayed.

Soon the area cleared out as the remaining beasts ran deeper into the city.

SWOOSH!

I swung my spear one last time, wiping off the blood and remains."

"Thank you so much for helping us!" a voice called out—loud, relieved, and way too friendly for a guy still dripping monster guts.

I turned to see a massive man jogging toward me—brown hair tousled from battle, a combat vest scarred by claw marks.

In his hands—a one-handed silver broadsword and a matching silver shield, both gleaming despite battle dents. His armored boots clanked with each step, and a helmet with a glass visor hung at his side, battered but intact.

"My name is Adam!" he said, grinning so wide his mustache practically sway with it.

The beard didn't help either. Together, they made him look like that uncle who shows up at family gatherings with unsolicited life advice.

"My name is…" I stopped. Giving that out here was just asking for trouble later.

So I went with the first thing that popped into my head.

"Just call me MF."

Adam blinked. Twice.

"Em… Eff?"

I shrugged. "It's short. Easy to remember."

Before he could even appreciate my genius in naming, I turned my attention to his armor—a mix of medieval and modern design, but with traces of carbon fiber materials in the joints.

"Where did you get all your equipment?" I asked, eyes scanning him.

Adam scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.

"Actually… our guild building got devoured by the Tower Echo. We were too late to evacuate, so we ended up getting sucked in along with it."

For someone who had just lost his entire guild and building, he sounded calm—either he wasn't bothered by it, or he had simply given up on thinking.

"What's the name of your guild?"

"t's the Quarex Guild," Adam responded proudly.

I remembered the name instantly. What a coincidence.

"You're the guild leader, then?" I squinted my eyes as I sized him up from head to toe. Up close, the brown hair and hazel eyes matched hers perfectly."

"Is it that obvious?" he scratched his nose.

Now I understood why his guild was third-rate and why his daughter had to settle for being an instructor. The guy looked big, sure—but he was far too open book for his own good.

"Obvious or not doesn't matter. Now that I'm here, I'll be the one in charge as the most powerful person present. Is there anyone against that?" I asked, scanning the group for any sign of protest.

Some faces showed discontent, but no one dared to voice it. Fear, or maybe respect—kept their tongues tied.

I counted the survivors—around one hundred ten in total. Judging from their performance, about twenty of them were A-rank, while the rest ranged from D to B. As for anyone weaker than that? They were probably already dead. Natural selection at its finest.

"Anyone who came directly from the Quarex Guild, raise your hand."

My eyes scanned the crowd. Out of the hundred ten survivors, about sixty of them lifted their hands.

This was good news. Their guild leader was a pushover, which meant most of these sixty would fall in line the moment I make him my henchmen.

As for the others, they were either from different guilds or just unlucky individuals wandering through the area when everything went to hell.

"Good. Then start packing up your things. We're heading back to the forest. I scouted the area, and it looks like all the monsters were drawn to this city block, possibly because they found it… entertaining. We'll use that time to locate the stairs down and prepare for the Floor Boss fight."

The group froze, eyes wide and mouths slack. A few of them glanced at each other, struggling to process my bold plan.

"Wait… we're going locate the stairs?" one of the younger Seekers stammered.

"And… you're planning to hunt down the Floor Boss?" another whispered.

Sweat gleamed on their foreheads. They weren't just nervous—they were staring at me like I just declared we were all signing up for a one-way ticket to death.

A few even took an involuntary step back, instinct screaming at them that what I had just outlined was insane.

"You might think it's suicidal, but staying here is far more dangerous. We don't know when—or if—the rescue will arrive, and once those monsters get tired of their new playground, they'll head back to the forest, making it even harder to locate the stairs."

They didn't say anything because they knew I was right.

"Listen, we can hunt down the Floor Boss with our current lineup. As you've probably guessed, I'm an S-rank—and a veteran at that."

The moment I said "S-rank," and "Veteran" in the same sentence every head snapped toward me.

"Sir, I know you're strong, but we don't have enough equipment for a full-scale boss battle," Adam pointed out.

"This isn't my first time surviving a Tower Echo, so trust me on this. I've already estimated the strength of the Floor Boss based on the monsters here, and it's not unbeatable. Besides, the lower we climb, the less dangerous the environment becomes."

They exchanged quick glances, then nodded almost instinctively.

"So, what's your decision ? You want to sit here and die, or take a gamble with an S rank who's already survived this hell?"

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