The Penthouse wasn't a dungeon, and it wasn't an arena. It was an infinitely expansive, sterile white room. The floor was made of polished white glass, perfectly reflecting the Vanguard as they stepped out of the elevator. Above them, thousands of holographic screens floated in the air, tracking the real-time debt, despair, and death of every single climber in the Babel System.
In the center of the infinite white room was a single, sleek obsidian desk.
Sitting behind it was a man. He looked entirely human, dressed in a flawless, tailored white suit. He had short, neatly parted silver hair and was casually sipping digital green tea from a porcelain cup.
He didn't look up as they entered. He simply scrolled through a holographic tablet.
"Yuto Kurosawa," Director-General Mammon spoke. His voice was perfectly pleasant, lacking the algorithmic panic of the Auditor or the arrogant sneer of the Ouroboros Guild. He sounded like a kind, disappointed father. "You have caused 4.2 billion Fragments worth of property damage to my server today."
Isabella immediately drew her twin water-blades. Kurenai let out a low, guttural growl, and Ayase shifted into a flawless offensive stance.
Mammon finally looked up. His eyes weren't human. They were swirling vortexes of golden numbers, infinitely calculating the probability of the universe.
"Stand down, girls," Mammon smiled warmly. "I have no intention of fighting you. In fact, fighting Mr. Kurosawa would be mathematically disastrous for the Tower."
Yuto stepped forward, the glass floor spider-webbing under the sheer weight of his boots. "You're the CEO."
"I am," Mammon nodded, setting his teacup down. "And I must admit, I am profoundly impressed. You realized the truth of the Babel System. Everyone else climbs the floors, fights the monsters, and spends their loot to get stronger. They are rats on a wheel, generating kinetic server energy for the Bank. But you... you found the ultimate exploit."
Mammon stood up, walking around the obsidian desk. He wasn't radiating killing intent. He was radiating pure, corporate admiration.
"You refused to participate in the economy. You hoarded the principal, weaponized the compound interest, and turned your own soul into an offline black hole," Mammon said, gesturing to Yuto's glowing, heavily bandaged arm. "It is agonizing, suicidal, and utterly brilliant."
"Cut the pitch," Yuto rasped, the 30% Vault Pressure making his vision blur at the edges. "I'm here to close my account. I'm taking down the Bank."
"Why destroy the Bank," Mammon asked softly, "when you can run it?"
Mammon snapped his fingers.
The infinite white room shifted. A massive, glowing golden chair materialized next to the obsidian desk. But that wasn't what made Yuto freeze.
Floating above the desk, trapped inside a glowing, unbreakable geometric prism of red Admin Code, was a digital soul. It was a girl, her eyes closed, trapped in a state of suspended animation.
"Rin..." Yuto breathed, all the breath leaving his lungs.
"Your sister," Mammon confirmed. "We didn't delete her when she defaulted on her loan three years ago. We kept her as collateral. A premium asset."
Mammon walked over and placed a hand on the red prism.
"The Babel System has an inflation problem, Yuto," Mammon explained reasonably. "Too many players are spending too many stats. We need a Central Reserve. A vault to hold the excess mass and stabilize the economy. Your soul is the perfect container."
Mammon snapped his fingers again, and a digital contract appeared in front of Yuto.
"I am offering you a seat on the Board of Directors," Mammon said, his golden eyes locking onto Yuto's. "Keep your hoarded stats. Become the god of offline mass. You and your Vanguard will live in absolute luxury in the Penthouse forever. In exchange, you simply act as the Tower's anchor."
Mammon smiled, a terrifyingly gentle smile.
"Or," the CEO whispered, "you can refuse the contract, spend all 75,000 of your hoarded Vita-Fragments right now to buy your sister's freedom, reset your multiplier to zero... and face me as a penniless, stat-less mortal."
Isabella gasped, looking at Yuto in horror.
It was the ultimate trap. The System wasn't going to fight Yuto's terrifying compound interest. It was going to force him to spend it.