The sound grew louder.
A slow sound of metal scraping stone reached Riven's ears, like a creature dragging a weapon it wasn't used to using. Riven crouched as he pressed his back against the cold, damp wall of the cell and shuffled to take a peek.
He couldn't afford to be afraid. Not without a weapon, nor access to his system.
[Tutorial Quest: One More Time]
[Objective: Find an exit from the tower and learn about the world outside.]
[Progress: 0%]
Riven took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of decay and rust.
The system brought me back, but why here?
As the swirl of thoughts failed to reach a realization, Riven peeked through the gap in the doorway. The hallway was dimly lit by blue and red lanterns on the wall. The dragging sound came closer from the left, behind the bend of the corridor.
Then, it came into view.
A man. Or what once had been one.
He—no, it—was tall, twisted, with rotting flesh and glowing glyphs covering its body. Its arms were too long, dragging behind it while carrying a cleaver. As for its eyes, they were void-black, with nothing inside the sockets.
[Failed Player – Lv. 3]
[Status: Corrupted | Soul Fragmented]
[Weakness: None Detected]
Riven felt his stomach churn.
Is this what happens when you die in the Merciful Floor? How merciful… Riven thought in sarcasm.
The monster paused as it eyed the cell. Riven knew that he had been found.
Riven was calm despite the imminent threat. His thoughts raced. He didn't have a weapon, nor did he have a skill. Therefore, he had to use the only thing that remained from his past life.
He raised his hand.
[Warning: Residual Authority Detected]
[Initiating Emergency Override Protocol…]
A pulse of black light came out of his hand, like tendrils of shadow. It was the authority he had once stolen from the system that now governed their world.
It was not a skill.
It was not magic.
It was a command.
A flurry of steps echoed from behind the doorway. Riven knew that his enemy was close—and he was right. The Failed Player jumped into view, its cleaver letting out sparks while slashing the hallway's walls.
It aimed to end Riven's life.
Riven moved before he realized it. The pulse of light from his hand exploded, sending system messages throughout the floor. The monster froze in place, mid-swing, like a puppet without strings.
Then, he bolted away.
His legs carried him faster than he could even hope. A deafening metallic sound came from behind as the Failed Player resumed moving. Riven navigated the labyrinth of hallways through sheer instinct until he found another cell.
A scream, filled with pain and rage, came from behind him.
Riven didn't turn back and simply ran through the cell's door, slamming it shut. He yanked down the bolt just as the cleaver smashed into it from the other side.
Boom!
The impact bent the door inward. Another hit, and it might break.
Riven turned around.
The room was different. It was cleaner, bigger, with sparse stone shelves on the walls. On one of them lay a starter weapon.
[Rusty Dagger – Tier F]
[+1 Agility | Durability: Low]
"Better than nothing," Riven muttered, grabbing it.
He turned just in time as the door exploded. Shards of metal sprayed across the room as the Failed Player lunged at him. Riven didn't think—he ducked, avoiding the cleaver. His body twisted as he drove the dagger upward with a veteran's precision.
The blade sank into the creature's eye. It shrieked and flailed, but Riven didn't let go.
"Fall!" Riven said through gritted teeth. Another pulse of black light surged from his hand into the dagger. The creature screamed as it spasmed.
Then, it went still.
[Enemy defeated. +50 XP]
Riven collapsed to one knee, panting.
[Memory Sync: +2%]
His hands trembled—not from fear, but from recognition. The dagger, the movement, the kill—he shouldn't have been able to fight like that, not with this weak body.
But something had come with him.
"Residual authority… Memory Sync… Did the system erase me, or tie me to something deeper?" Riven muttered as the monster in front of him dissolved into countless lights, dropping loot.
Riven collapsed on the ground, letting the dagger rest inside the creature's head. It collapsed to the ground with a clang, shattering as it did.
[You have obtained a Returning Shard.]
The clinical and monotone sound of the system told him, and Riven raised his eyes to see the lights condensing to form a small item. It looked like a triangle with an arch at the bottom.
[Returning Shard (Basic)]
[Fragment of a Returning Stone. (1/3)]
[Status: Inactive]
"That's how I get out, then," Riven said with a weak smile as he touched the shard. It was cool to the touch and almost weightless as it rested in his hands. "This is my ticket to freedom."
[Do you wish to place the item in your inventory?]
The system asked.
Riven accepted. The shard disappeared.
He sat alone, panting. One wrong move and he would have lost the life he had obtained through sheer luck.
Although he doubted it was simply luck.
The system wanted to annihilate him. Erase him.
"Then why did it send me back? Is this the real world?"
The questions were endless. But his time was limited.
Riven rose from the ground. After looking through the supply room, he found no other weapons he could use. The dagger had broken apart the moment the monster vanished.
[Error: Residual Authority Inactive]
The authority he stole from the system wasn't omnipotent. It was merely a key to access the hidden threads forming the system. The more he used it, the more the system became immune—and aware—of it.
"I need to wait a while, and change my location to use it again," Riven muttered to himself as he left the cell with caution. "I don't want a Judge to notice me. I'm far from capable of handling them at the moment."
Judges were inhuman beings created by the system. Their powers were vast and terrifying to fight against, as they possessed the authority to imprison players or kill them.
Riven had fought against them his entire life.
Now, the game begins again.