Floor 10: The Throne of the False God.
The Arbiter of the End raised its scythe. The blade was fifty feet long, composed of crackling purple Void Lightning.
"DELETE," the construct droned.
It swung.
VRRRRMM.
The air itself was sliced apart. A black rift opened where the blade passed.
"Dodge!" Su Mei screamed, flickering into the shadows.
Three of the ten finalists—rogue cultivators who had survived by luck—weren't fast enough. The rift caught them. They didn't bleed; they simply ceased to exist, their code wiped from the server.
[Survivors Remaining: 7.]
"It attacks the fabric of reality!" Jian Chen (the Azure Sword successor) shouted, his face pale. "My sword cannot block that!"
Lin Fan stood at the back, his Natal Desert Eagle glowing white-hot. The Aura of Tyranny he had farmed from killing the boy on Floor 9 was surging through his veins, giving him the Qi reserves of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"We need to break its stance," Lin Fan commanded. "Fatty! Zhang Wei! Draw its aggro!"
"Why me?!" Fatty Wu cried.
"Because you're round!" Lin Fan roared. "Go!"
The Raid Mechanics.
Zhang Wei didn't hesitate. He raised his Sun Scepter (Flashlight).
"Hey! Over here, you pile of scrap!"
He clicked the button. A beam of concentrated photon energy struck the Arbiter's optical sensors.
"ERROR. SENSORS BLINDED."
The massive Reaper paused, its head twitching.
"Now, Fatty!"
Fatty Wu squeezed his eyes shut. "Rolling Mountain Press!"
He rolled his iron wok like a bowling ball, smashing into the Reaper's skeletal ankle.
CLANG.
It did zero damage. But the vibration caused the Reaper to stumble.
"Su Mei! The joints!" Lin Fan ordered.
Su Mei appeared on the Reaper's shoulder. Her daggers, coated in the Shadow Poison of the Third Floor, stabbed into the hydraulic neck cables.
HISS.
Steam erupted. The Reaper roared, flailing its arms.
"It's vulnerable!" Su Mei shouted. "Lin Fan! Take the shot!"
Lin Fan stepped forward. He activated Seal 2: Sovereign's Blueprint.
The massive Reaper dissolved into wireframes in his vision. He saw the Core—a spinning blue cube located deep within the chest cavity, protected by layers of spirit armor.
"The armor is too thick," Lin Fan muttered. "I need a drill."
He looked at his gun.
"Soul Forge: Overcharge."
He poured the entirety of his Tyrant Qi into the weapon. The barrel began to melt, then reform, growing longer, thicker. The Sonic Bat's essence screamed.
"Natal Art: Void Piercer."
BANG.
One shot.
The recoil shattered the obsidian floor beneath Lin Fan's feet. He was thrown backward, dislocating his shoulder.
The bullet, a spinning lance of azure energy, flew across the void. It struck the Reaper's chest.
CRACK-BOOM!
The spirit armor shattered like glass. The bullet bored through the metal ribs and struck the Blue Core.
"CRITICAL ERROR. SYSTEM FAILURE."
The Arbiter of the End froze. Its purple eyes flickered.
Then, it exploded.
A shockwave of blue fire swept over the platform, knocking everyone flat.
The Loot.
The dust settled.
The Reaper was gone. In its place, hovering in the center of the platform, was a single object.
It was a small, golden tablet. On it was carved a single word in the Sovereign's native tongue (English): [ADMIN].
[Raid Complete.]
[Reward: The Admin Token.]
[Effect: Grants the user 'Owner Status' of the Tower. Control over Floor Teleportation. Access to the Sovereign's Vault.]
The voice of the Sovereign echoed from the stars.
"The Beta Test is concluded. Only ONE may hold the Token. The rest will be ejected to the Mortal Realm with their current inventory."
Silence fell over the seven survivors.
One Token. One King.
Su Mei stood up, wiping blood from her lip. She looked at the Token. She looked at Lin Fan.
"Lin Fan," Su Mei said, her voice dangerous. "We did this together. We should sell the Token and split the profits."
"Split?" Jian Chen stepped forward, greed in his eyes. "I say the strongest takes it!"
Zhang Wei stood up, helping Fatty Wu. "We should destroy it. This Tower... it brings only death."
Lin Fan lay on the ground, popping his dislocated shoulder back into place with a sickening pop.
He looked at the Token.
Access to the Sovereign's Vault.
That meant unlimited guns. Unlimited tech. Unlimited power.
He looked at his "team."
Su Mei (The Assassin).
Zhang Wei (The Moral Compass).
Fatty Wu (The Luck Sack).
"You're right, Su Mei," Lin Fan said, standing up slowly. "We should split it."
He walked toward the Token.
"Stay back," Jian Chen pointed his sword. "Let's vote."
"I vote for me," Lin Fan smiled.
He didn't draw his gun. He raised his left hand.
"Do you know what this ring does?" Lin Fan asked, showing the Ring of the False King.
"It makes people hate you," Su Mei narrowed her eyes.
"Yes. But the Sovereign gave me a hidden feature for reaching Floor 10."
Lin Fan lied. The Sovereign hadn't given him anything. But Lin Fan knew how the Tower worked. He knew about Environmental Hazards.
He looked at the floating gears they were standing on.
"Blueprint: Structural Analysis."
He saw the pin holding the main platform together.
"Sorry, Woodcutter," Lin Fan whispered.
He drew his Desert Eagle in a blur of motion.
He didn't shoot Jian Chen. He didn't shoot Su Mei.
He shot the floor.
BANG.
The explosive bullet struck the central locking pin of the platform.
GROAN.
The massive stone gear tilted violently.
"What did you do?!" Su Mei screamed as the floor became a slide.
Gravity took over. The survivors slid helplessly toward the edge of the void.
"Lin Fan!" Zhang Wei yelled, digging his sword into the stone to hold on. He reached out to grab Fatty Wu, who was rolling away.
Lin Fan didn't slide. He had used the recoil of his shot to propel himself backward, toward the Token.
He snatched the Admin Token from the air.
[Item Acquired: Admin Token.]
[Status: Tower Master.]
"Server closing in 3... 2... 1..." the Sovereign's voice counted down.
Lin Fan stood at the highest point of the tilting platform, looking down at his teammates who were clinging to the edge of the abyss.
"I told you," Lin Fan said, clutching the gold tablet. "I don't share."
"You traitor!" Jian Chen screamed.
"Villain!" Su Mei cursed.
Zhang Wei just looked at him. The sadness in the Woodcutter's eyes was gone, replaced by a steely resolve.
"One day, Lin Fan," Zhang Wei shouted over the roar of the collapsing void. "I will come for you. And I will break that false god's toy!"
"SERVER SHUTDOWN."
A blinding white light consumed them all.
The Sovereign's Palace.
The screen went black.
"And... cut," The Sovereign clapped. "That's a wrap on Season One."
"The survivors have been ejected," Unit Alpha reported. "They are scattered across the Myriad Spirit Realm. Lin Fan has the Token."
"Excellent," The Sovereign poured another drink. "Now the real game begins."
"The Tower is gone. What is the new objective?"
"Simple," The Sovereign smiled. "Lin Fan has the Keys to the Kingdom. Every Sect, every Empire, every hidden monster will want that Token. He is now the World Boss."
He looked at the map of the continent.
"Let's see how long the Villain lasts when the whole world is hunting him."