[You have leveled up. Congratulations.]
[Strength +1, Agility +1, Spirit +1, Perception +1. You have gained 5 unassigned stat points.]
As if confirming all of this, a cold voice echoed in Subedei's mind.
Realizing what had happened, Subedei tightly embraced his friend's corpse and screamed.
"AAAHHH—!"
As if rejoicing in Zev's death, the Whispering Spirits began screaming even louder.
Tears poured endlessly from Subedei's eyes, as if they would never stop.
At this moment, the Whispering Spirits and their demonic whispers meant nothing to him.
Only Zev filled his thoughts.
Every memory he had shared with his friend—good, bad, joyful—flashed vividly before his eyes.
The words Zev always said to him, the promises they had made to each other, echoed in his mind.
It was as if even the heavens were paying respect to his friend.
The fog dispersed, and sunlight slowly began to shine down.
But even that meant nothing to Subedei.
Before long, all the Whispering Spirits vanished into the air, and the demonic whispers disappeared.
At that moment, a notification appeared.
[Congratulations. You have survived the Whispering Spirit Gathering until morning.]
[Would you like to proceed to the 6th floor? Or would you like to exit the tower?]
Subedei continued holding his friend, as if he hadn't even seen the message.
The tears from his eyes had stopped, his face devoid of emotion, his eyes lifeless.
Time passed quickly. Before he realized it, the sun had set, and Subedei's motionless body finally began to move.
He slowly raised his head and looked at the notification, which only made him feel worse.
"If I hadn't charged ahead back then, the two of us could have left this place alive together."
He began blaming himself even more.
But remembering his friend's final words, he forced those thoughts to fade away.
Subedei did not want to leave this place yet.
He calmed himself and wiped the tears from his face.
Silently, he began digging into the ground.
At last, he lifted Zev's body and buried him, carefully covering the grave.
Above the grave, he planted Zev's sword and his own spear.
Even after everything was finished, Subedei could not leave.
He sat in front of Zev's grave.
As if mourning Zev's death, rain fell inside the tower for the first time.
Subedei remained motionless, sitting silently before the grave.
Even as the rain soaked him, he did not stand up.
He did not want to leave.
The rain washed away all the blood from his body, streaming down along his skin.
Eventually, fog appeared from nowhere and gradually thickened.
Along with it, demonic whispers reached Subedei's ears.
He ignored everything, kneeling before the grave with his head lowered.
Whispering Spirits flew around him, but he did not move.
His body looked as lifeless as a corpse.
Then suddenly, he noticed the silver pendant around his neck.
The lifeless look in his eyes vanished, and light returned to them as Subedei snapped out of his thoughts.
He scrolled through the notifications in front of him and stared at the option to exit the tower.
[Do you wish to exit the tower?]
[Yes] [No]
Without thinking much, he pressed "Yes."
A black hole formed before him, growing from small to large until a person could enter it.
Subedei slowly stood up and stepped toward the black hole.
Just before entering, he stopped for a moment, clenched his teeth, and then stepped in without looking back.
At last, it seemed he had emerged from the black hole.
He slowly opened his eyes.
He was standing in the middle of an apartment room.
Subedei realized he had returned to his familiar home.
It was already night outside, and the room was completely dark.
He slowly approached the window and looked outside, finally becoming fully convinced that he was home.
Looking at the dark room, he quickly turned on the lights.
The sudden brightness made him close his eyes for a moment.
When he slowly opened them and looked around, everything was exactly the same as before he had disappeared.
As if proving that no one had been here for a long time, a thin layer of dust covered the room.
He had no time to think about anything else.
Taking out his phone, he slowly turned it on.
The battery was down to just a few percent.
Alarmed, Subedei quickly called the number saved as "Sister."
He tried several times, but no one answered, and a few minutes passed.
A terrifying thought crossed his mind.
"Don't tell me she's already entered the tower…"
Just as panic set in, his phone rang.
Subedei hurriedly answered it and saw that it was his sister.
"Hello?"
From the other end came a familiar female voice, filled with worry.
"Hello. Why weren't you answering your phone? Do you know how worried I was?"
Hearing his sister's voice, Subedei relaxed.
"My phone was broken. Why are you worrying so much? It's not like I died."
The moment he said that, an angry voice came from the other end.
"What do you mean, why am I worried? Don't you know what's happening right now?"
"People are suddenly disappearing and being taken to a place called the tower.
Black holes are opening all over the world, and monsters are coming out of them."
"Are you pretending not to know what's going on, or are you trying to make me angry?"
"Do you know how worried I was, thinking you might have entered the tower, or been killed by a monster coming out of a black hole because you weren't answering?"
Having barely escaped death himself, Subedei smiled bitterly as he listened to her scolding.
"Alright, alright. I get it. I'm sorry."
"Bye. I'll call you later."
From the other side, his sister said,
"Wait—"
But Subedei ended the call.
At last, he let out a deep breath and slowly sat down on the sofa.
Looking ahead, he saw numerous medals and trophies displayed above the television.
Seeing them, Subedei sighed and quickly turned his head away.
He then tried calling up his status.
[Status]
Name: Subedei
Profession: ??? King
Level: 7
Mana: 266
Strength: 33 (+6.6)
Agility: 22 (+4.4)
Spirit: 22 (+4.4)
Perception: 24 (+4.4)
Unassigned Stat Points: 5
Taking a deep breath as he looked at the stat points, he allocated them.
He added 2 points to Strength, 1 to Agility, 1 to Spirit, and 1 to Perception.
After everything was finished, Subedei finally looked down at his torn clothes and the blood covering his body.