After walking for what felt like hours, Sonny began to notice a subtle rhythm in the chaos.
'There's a pattern to the traps.'
His eyes narrowed as his spirit energy continued to sweep across the floor, walls, and ceiling.
If I move across a certain point, I trigger the arrow traps. But more importantly… there are hidden mechanisms like pressure triggers buried in the floor that activate more dangerous traps, like that boulder from earlier.
He paused, scanning a particular segment of the corridor. The layout wasn't random. Someone or something had designed this, intentionally.
'The key isn't just avoiding traps… it's knowing which ones not to trigger.'
Arrow traps, while deadly, were manageable. He could sense the mechanisms, anticipate their trajectory, and react in time. But something like the boulder? That was a different beast. In a straight corridor with no cover and no time to escape, triggering it would be a death sentence.
Moreover, Sonny had come to understand another crucial aspect of the Tower.
Depending on how one handled the traps, specific parameters would increase.
If he struck down a steel arrow, his Strength would rise. If he evaded a trap, it would boost his Agility. And if he took the hit and endured it, his Endurance would grow.
It was almost self-explanatory, an intuitive system. The Tower rewarded action and reaction alike. Whether against traps or monsters, every encounter became an opportunity to evolve. But more importantly, before leveling up, one had to raise their Attributes. That was a hidden rule. Exousia from slaying monsters was only one part of the equation, sharpening one's core parameters was just as important.
The entire mechanism felt eerily like a video game.
Unfortunately for Sonny, however, none of it applied to him.
No matter how many traps he disarmed, dodged, or even endured, his Attributes never budged. It was all because of his cursed skill [Shackles].
A skill that outright prevented him from leveling up.
And perhaps, because the system recognized his inability to level up, it simply decided there was no point in raising his stats either.
"Goddamnit," Sonny muttered, clicking his tongue in frustration.
What was even the point of a skill that locked him out of growth entirely? Could it be because of his mysterious Origin Ability, which had been classified as Divine rank? That alone would explain the restriction, something that powerful wouldn't come without a price. Still… limiting his stat growth too? Just what did that have to do with anything?
All strength drained from his knees.
For a moment, it felt like the only logical thing left to do was collapse and cry his heart out right there in the corridor.
"Fuck…"
Sensing his distress, Warp spoke up, her voice hesitant with concern.
[Master… um, are you okay?]
'No. I am not okay. How could anyone be okay in these circumstances?'
[...]
She fell silent. Perhaps realizing that anything she said would only come off as hollow, Warp chose not to press the matter any further.
Instead, she gently shifted the topic.
[Master, I know how you feel about your... Cough! Cough!... peculiar predicament. But now really isn't the time to dwell on that.]
Sonny wiped away his tears.
'You think I don't already know that? Don't look down on me.'
[Yes, yes, of course. Oh, something's approaching you.]
'Something, huh?'
When she said "something," there was only one possibility. After all, what else lived in the Tower if not monsters?
Tap! Tap!
Footsteps echoed ahead, drawing Sonny's attention forward.
In an instant, he leapt back and dropped into a combat stance, both pistols raised and crossed in front of him. Instinct took over because the figure that appeared was simply too strange.
A small silhouette, barely reaching his waist. Its skin was covered in bumps and looked scabrous, its eyes long and slanted. Most disturbing of all were the glistening fangs protruding past its thick lips, piercing through its own mouth.
The very sight of it filled him with disgust.
A monster (魔兽).
It resembled a goblin, but the reddish skin and predatory yellow eyes gave it a far more menacing air.
His gaze sharpened.
'Warp, what the hell is that thing?'
A reply came through their mental link almost immediately.
[Hmm... According to the Association database, it's a monster species called Dreadlings. As for its rank, don't worry too much. They're classified as Level 0, the weakest monsters recorded in the Tower of Nightmares. But don't let that fool you, Master. They're notoriously cunning... and sadistic. Especially when hunting Hunters. For example, they usually kill the men and leave the women alive for... 'other activities.' What lustful creatures.]
'Why did you have to emphasize that last part? Tsk. Great, now my head's ruined thanks to you.'
There was already more than enough exotic material floating around online, especially the kind found on 'those' sites. It wasn't exactly hard to imagine what she meant.
Irritated, Sonny clicked his tongue.
If these so-called Dreadlings were as cunning as goblins, then they had to be eliminated on sight. No, exterminated! Their entire race deserved to be wiped off the face of the Earth!
He briefly wondered if the creatures could respawn within the Tower. If that was the case, then so be it.
He would just keep killing them. Again and again, without end!
Just as that murderous thought cemented in Sonny's mind, the Dreadling tilted its head and grinned.
Its yellow eyes glimmered with malice.
Then, without warning, it shrieked. A sharp, guttural cry that echoed down the corridor.
SKREEEEE!!
In response, faint scuttling noises answered from the darkness behind it. Dozens of feet scraping against stone, growing louder by the second.
Sonny's expression darkened.
'A scout…'
It hadn't approached alone.
That much was expected. Weaker monsters always compensated for their shortcomings through numbers and cunning. Whether in the real world or in a reality-based game, the logic held true; survival through swarming, ambushing, and overwhelming force. It was a natural tactic.
Click! Click!
A flick of his wrist disengaged the safety on both pistols.
[Master, at least six more lifeforms detected. Fast-moving. Closing in from two angles.]
'Perfect.'
His smiled widened. He had been avoiding traps all this while and even got hit by a few in the beginning.
What kind of person would he be if he didn't return the favor?
The Dreadling charged first, brandishing a crude dagger of obsidian-like rock. Its movements were nimble and utterly animalistic.
Sonny fired once.
Bang!
The bullet tore through the creature's kneecap, shattering it completely. It shrieked again, this time in pain and toppled forward helplessly.
Sonny didn't stop.
He dashed toward it, slid beneath its falling body, and twisted mid-slide to fire another shot straight into its skull from below.
Bang!
The Dreadling's head snapped back, body convulsing before collapsing to the ground.
The scuttling grew louder.
From the left corridor, three more Dreadlings emerged. From the right, another four. All baring fangs, screeching with rage, their bodies twitching with bloodlust.
Sonny rose to his feet, wearing a calm expression.
He exhaled.
'Let's see if you freaks are really as cunning as they say.'
He reloaded without looking, muscle memory guiding the motion. Fortunately, he had some shooting practice in the Association before entering the Tower. Then he spread his stance, raising both pistols once more.
"Come on, then... Let's dance!"
The Dreadlings didn't hesitate. They charged all at once, an uncoordinated frenzy of limbs, fangs, and crude weapons. But Sonny wasn't overwhelmed. His mind was calm, and more importantly, he'd already mapped out the trap layout in this stretch of the corridor.
Every step they took brought them closer to death.
He waited for the lead Dreadling on the right to cross a barely visible crack in the floor.
Click!
There it is.
A metal bolt shot from the wall with a violent hiss.
Shunk!
It impaled the creature clean through the chest, lifting it off its feet and pinning it to the opposite wall. It writhed and howled, but the damage was fatal. Its cries quickly faded into silence.
Sonny grinned.
"One."
He pivoted and fired twice to his left, two clean headshots that dropped another pair of Dreadlings in rapid succession. Their corpses slammed into the floor, skidding to a halt.
A third one kept charging, even stepping over the bodies of its fallen kin. Sonny sidestepped, letting it come closer.
Then he stomped hard on a tile just behind him and leapt back.
Click. Click. Boom!
The ground erupted.
Spikes jutted upward from hidden slits, skewering the creature mid-run. Blood splattered across the walls and floor as the Dreadling let out a final choked screech before going limp.
"Four down."
The remaining three hesitated for a heartbeat, sensing the danger. Their gleeful frenzy morphed into wary caution. One barked in a guttural tongue, waving its claws in a crude signal.
'Trying to strategize, huh?'
Sonny's expression darkened.
"Too late."
He sprinted forward, charging into the chaos.
Bang! Bang!
Two more shots rang out, targeting the floor tiles this time.
With a resounding crack, part of the ceiling collapsed, triggering another hidden mechanism. Debris rained down, crushing one Dreadling instantly and blocking the path of the other.
The last one skidded to a stop, its eyes wide with confusion and panic.
Sonny didn't give it a chance.
He lunged, closing the gap like a launched bullet.
Boom!
His knee struck the creature's jaw with bone-crushing force, lifting it off the ground.
It tumbled back, dazed, limbs twitching.
Sonny landed, reloaded, and walked toward the twitching body.
"You had numbers. You had the element of surprise. You even had traps working in your favor…"
He aimed down, expressionlessly.
"But you didn't have me."
Bang!
The final shot echoed through the corridor like a closing door.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Breathing steadily, Sonny holstered his pistols and looked around at the carnage. Blood pooled beneath the corpses. Broken bodies littered the floor. And yet, despite the chaos, not a single scratch or injury marred his body.
A faint smile tugged at Sonny's lips, satisfied with the carnage left in his wake.
However, Warp was far less impressed, especially with the dramatic line he muttered before finishing off the last Dreadling.
[Master… what was that? I've never heard anything so painfully cringe in my entire short existence!]
Sonny clicked his tongue bitterly.
"I thought it sounded cool."
[Cool for a 90s action movie villain, maybe. Next thing I know, you'll be saying 'Hasta la vista' before blowing something up.]
'What's wrong with that?' He thought helplessly with a sigh then began reloading his magazines consisting of anti-demon rounds casually.
"Alright, alright. No more one-liners, are you happy now?"
[Yes. Wait, no... Ugh, now you just made everything weird. Say them if you have to, just... do better!]
Sonny stepped over a still-twitching Dreadling corpse. His boots made a wet squelch, but he didn't so much as flinch.
Then he suddenly stopped.
[More incoming?] Warp's voice sharpened.
"No…" Sonny said slowly. "I just remembered something. I wanted to test the camera feature on the SnapWarp app."
He looked around at the slaughter, scratched the back of his head, and sighed again.
"But I got too excited and killed all of them."
He raised a brow, hopeful. "Would it still work… if the target's dead?"
[What kind of question is that, Master? You know the answer. But since you asked… maybe, if you burn some Reality Points. That is, if you feel like resurrecting demon corpses for a photo shoot.]
Sonny grimaced.
"Yeah… maybe not."