The portal hissed behind him, the gold light of the 7th floor fading into a bruised, sickly purple.
Kang Min stepped onto the Scalding Tidal Flats, and the first thing he felt was the heat.
Below his boots, the ground was a crust of salt and minerals, white and brittle.
Every few seconds, a low, rhythmic thud echoed from the horizon.
The sound of the acid sea beating against the distant cliffs.
『8TH FLOOR — THE SCALDING TIDAL FLATS』
『[TRIAL]: THE LONG WALK OF THE UNTOUCHABLE.』
『[MISSION]: REACH THE [SPIRE OF LIFE] AT THE HORIZON.』
『[CLEAR CONDITIONS]: SURVIVE THE THREE CYCLES OF THE SENTIENT TIDE.』
『[FAILURE]: DISSOLUTION.』
'In the Old World, this floor was a slaughterhouse.
We spent four days huddled on obsidian pillars, watching the acid rise inch by inch.
We lost a scout because a single drop of spray melted through his leather boot...it was so terrifying...'
He looked at the vast, empty expanse of the flats.
