The staircase to the second floor glowed faintly.
Gun stepped forward and placed his hand on the cold stone railing. The tower was silent again, as if the first floor had never happened. No goblins. No blood. No giant mutated boss.
Just quiet.
A small message appeared before his eyes.
[Floor 1 Reward Processing...]
[Ability Scroll Acquired]
Gun opened the scroll slowly.
A wave of information flooded into his mind.
[Avenger's Cut]
A silent assassination technique.Strike from behind an unaware target to instantly eliminate them.
Restrictions appeared beneath it.
— Works only on weaker enemies or those without assassination resistance.— Ineffective against highly durable enemies.
Gun blinked.
"So basically… a stealth execution."
He flexed his fingers around the dagger.
A faint grin appeared on his face.
"That's… actually perfect."
In Deepwoken, fights were brutal and chaotic, but the best players knew one rule:
If you can remove an enemy before the fight even begins, do it.
Gun tucked the scroll into his inventory.
"Alright then."
He stepped onto the staircase.
Light swallowed him.
The second floor looked completely different.
Instead of a cave-like dungeon, the room resembled a ruined courtyard. Broken stone pillars. Cracked tiles. Moss creeping along the walls.
Gun expected enemies to appear immediately.
Goblins.
Beasts.
Something.
But nothing came.
He walked forward slowly, sword resting on his shoulder and dagger twirling between his fingers.
"Huh."
His eyes scanned the area automatically.
Patterns.
Angles.
Movement paths.
His analysis instinct was always active.
But the courtyard remained empty.
No monsters.
No ambushes.
Gun frowned.
"Did someone already clear this floor?"
That shouldn't happen. Gun thought every climber of the tower had their own instance
Gun continued walking through the ruins.
Still nothing.
No enemies.
No boss.
Just silence.
Eventually he spotted the staircase leading upward.
The entrance to the third floor.
Gun scratched the back of his head.
"Well that was easy."
He walked toward it.
But just as he stepped onto the first stair—
A voice rang out behind him.
"Yo."
Gun stopped.
Another voice laughed.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Gun slowly turned around.
Four guys stood near one of the broken pillars.
He hadn't noticed them earlier because they were sitting behind the stone structure.
One of them stepped forward.
Another leaned against the pillar.
And on the ground between them—
A girl.
Small.
Slightly younger than Gun.
She had long dark hair and wore academy clothes.
Her knees were scraped, and she looked terrified.
One of the guys nudged her with his boot.
"Stay down."
Gun looked at the scene quietly.
One of the bullies grinned.
"We saw you walking around earlier."
Another one added,
"Thought we'd play with you too."
Gun sighed.
"...Seriously?"
The leader of the group stepped forward.
He looked confident. Stronger than the others.
Gun immediately noticed something.
Two glowing marks on his wrist.
Two Nexuses.
Gun narrowed his eyes slightly.
An Eldritch.
"Great."
The leader smirked.
"What? Scared?"
Gun shrugged.
"Nah."
He tilted his head.
"I was just wondering something."
The bully raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
Gun pointed casually at the staircase.
"If I keep walking… are you guys gonna chase me?"
One of them laughed.
"Of course we will."
Another one cracked his knuckles.
"You look like you'd be fun to beat up."
Gun sighed again.
Then he looked at the girl.
She was staring at him like he was her last hope.
Gun scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"...Man."
He muttered to himself.
"I just wanted to climb the tower quietly."
The leader smirked.
"What was that?"
Gun suddenly looked back at them.
His eyes calm.
"But if I leave…"
He glanced at the girl again.
"...you guys might actually kill her."
One bully laughed loudly.
"Oh relax."
"We're not monsters."
Another added,
"Maybe."
Gun stared at them for a moment.
His mind was already working.
Four enemies.
Unknown classes.
Leader with two nexuses.
Positioning.
Distance.
Weapon types.
Escape paths.
Every variable calculated.
He spoke again.
"You know what's funny?"
The leader frowned.
"What?"
Gun spun the dagger lazily between his fingers.
"I actually don't like fighting groups."
One bully smirked.
"Then you're screwed."
Gun smiled slightly.
"Yeah."
"But..."
He looked directly at the leader.
"...groups usually have one problem."
The leader raised an eyebrow.
"And what's that?"
Gun suddenly started walking forward slowly.
The bullies didn't move.
They were enjoying this.
Gun stopped about five meters away.
He spoke casually.
"Everyone follows the strongest guy."
The leader crossed his arms.
"So?"
Gun tilted his head.
"So if he disappears..."
The leader frowned.
Gun suddenly vanished.
One second he was standing there.
The next—
He was behind the leader.
The leader's eyes widened.
[Avenger's Cut]
The dagger slid silently across the man's throat.
Clean.
Precise.
Effortless.
For a moment—
No one moved.
Gun stepped back.
The leader's body collapsed onto the stone floor.
Blood spread across the cracked tiles.
Silence.
One of the bullies blinked.
Another stared at the body.
Twenty seconds ago they were laughing.
Now—
Their strongest teammate was dead.
Gun wiped the blood off his dagger on the leader's sleeve.
Then he looked at the remaining three.
"...Well."
He said casually.
"That escalated quickly."
The three bullies stared at him in shock.
The girl on the ground looked equally stunned.
Gun scratched the back of his neck.
"I kinda expected more screaming."
One of the bullies finally snapped.
"You—YOU KILLED HIM!"
Gun shrugged.
"He shouldn't have turned his back."
Another bully took a step backward.
"You psychopath!"
Gun frowned.
"Whoa."
He pointed at the body.
"He started the conversation about beating me up."
He looked at them calmly.
"So technically..."
He smiled slightly.
"...this is self-defense."
None of them laughed.
Gun rolled his shoulders.
"Anyway."
He lifted his greatsword.
"So."
"Who's next?"
The three bullies slowly spread out.
Anger replaced their shock.
The girl on the ground looked between them nervously.
Gun twirled his dagger again.
His voice calm.
But his eyes sharp.
"Good."
He muttered.
"Now the real fight can start."