Grand Ecstasy fell into silence once Revto reveals the truth about the Reverse Tower. Only Claustrine manages to break the quiet as she remembers that there's more she needs to know.

  "W-what exact you protecting there?"

  "Hehehehehe... That's a secret."

  Revto goes back inside of Mateo's body as Grand Ecstasy watch with no objection.

  "Right now. You should focus on regaining your strenght Mateo. I don't want the ability I've give to you go to waste."

  "And what about you?" -Mateo.

  "I'm just gonna watch your adventures, like what I did back then." Revto speaks with a defeated tone.

  "You just gonna be an observer?" Beltrand's question as his head starting to ache trying to understand how Revto's mind works.

  "Yes. And don't expect any more help from me. Just like I said, I'm only here to entertain myself hehehe.

  "You're a weird individual."

  Revto didn't respond on Claustrine's taunt as she completely shuts herself.

  "Now what?" -Beltrand.

  "I still have many questions but I assume it's better to just test this new powers of mine."

  Claustrine notices something as she looks at Mateo.

  "You're surely excited about this Mateo."

  "You surely bet I am." Mateo is giving a bright confident smile.

  ~~~~~~°~~~~~~

  REVERSE TOWER: LAYER 7

  Gilmore, Niana, Kiana and the Knights are picking the daggers thrown by Kiana. Not a single word coming from them as everyone is still engulfed by looming dread caused by what they just witnessed.

  Gilmore throws the black daggers into Kiana's coat which is now placed and spread flat in the snow. The coat which also act as a BoS catches the daggers and put it into the portable magical storage. After dropping another batch, Gilmore looks back on the threatening deep chasm.

  A result of the White Queen's demonstration of power that shakes everyone's core.

  "Something in your mind Sir Gilmore?" Niana asked as she also drop a bunch of daggers in the coat.

  "Say Miss Niana. What is your opinion about Vielaratas?"

  Niana being taken back by the sudden question, ponders a little bit.

  "They're truly a very dangerous creatures that almost put humanity into ruin. I can say that if the gods didn't helped us, there's no way we can win." Niana's thoughtful answer.

  Gilmore just focus his gaze on the chasm with a serious mood. But deep down, the dread he's feeling just became even stronger.

  "This is the power required to even stand a chance against them?"

  Gilmore is getting hit by uncertainty for the future. A thought shared by Niana after she realized what's bothering the proud knight beside her.

  "We going to report this to the Trifecta."

  Gilmore goes back on picking daggers. Niana follows and help.

  "How about Sir Bhest and Kolig's group?" Niana's question.

  "It takes Grand Ecstasy and Wanderer days before they got a chance encounter with the Laffy. Waiting for them to return just wastes our tine."

  "Fair point."

  "Besides. We still not guarantee if the Laffy would co-op-"

  Gilmore's words is abruptly interrupted when a huge red magic circle appears just several meters away from them and the entrance.

  "Teleportation portal?!" Gilmore is shocked.

  Above the huge Magic Circle instantly spawns the Laffy, surrounded by the the beaten and unconcious squads of Bhest and Kolig.

  Gilmorez the Twins and the knights wielded their arms and prepare for the worst. Seeing the renowed fighters just defeated like that puts them in survival mode.

  "What we should do?" Niana calmly ask but deep inside, her heart is beating hard.

  "Fight. That's our only option." Gilmore's harrowing ultimatun.

  The air went silent as both sides wait for who's going to make the first move. Despite the bone chilling weather of the Bloody Ice, Gilmore and the others are sweating as the overwhelming presence of the pink monkey suffocates their senses.

  The Laffy quickly glance towards Gilmore which make him twitch out of fear, almost lunging backwards in reflex. Only cancelling after feeling no murderous intent coming from the primate.

  The Laffy just stares for a solid 5 seconds until a small magic circle appears beneath his feet. And in an instant, the Laffy disappears on everyone's sight, leaving the victims back on the entrance of Infinite Meadow.

  "Wha-What the fuck was that?" Kiana's bewilderment.

  Even Gilmore got put in astonished silence only to realized that there's more important matters that needs their attention.

  "Clerics! Heal the heavily injured, the rest tend for the others!"

  "A-aa yes sir!" The Knight comes back to their senses and quickly follow Gilmore's command. Helping the injured adventurer to the best of their abilities.

  "What's their status?" Gilmore's question to his female captain.

  "Unconcious and heavily injured but still manageable sir! I few others." The Captain's sad remarks as she gaze on the row of dead fighters covered with blankets.

  "Tsk! To think that monkey can kill our comrades that easily."

  "Sir, In my honest opinion. I think the monkey is not the cause of their death."

  "What makes you think that?"

  "The survivors recieve clean and precise piercing attacks from their bodies that avoids vital organs. The deads on the other hand suffers from multiple forms of injuries, commonly blunt force and wounds more akin of a wild beast's attack." The Captain's clear findings.

  Gilmore bewildered on the assessment as he struggled to comprehend that the Laffy spares the lives of people who enter his domain. Yet the Grand Ecstasy's report of him posessing some human intelligence rings even louder.

  "Lets just ask Bhest and Kolig after they recover. Right now, focus on treating them to the best of your abilities."

  "Yes sir!"

  The female captain then excuses herself. Leaving Gilmore pondering on what they just put themselves with.

  "This tower is so absurd..." Gilmore's comment.

  The expedition team returns in defeat. With few lives lost and the mission bearing no good results. The failed expedition caused a huge re-evaluation on what the tower is truly capable of.

  The tower is still open for the adventurers but the entrance to Infinite Meadow is close, not like that adventurers would dare to enter after the news of the failed mission spreads like wildfire through Yhigressia's a

  Adventurer Guilds. No adventurer in their right mind would try his luck diving into an area with "High-Hero" rank difficulty.

  Days later, after the report of the encounters by expedition team. The Adventurers Guild with the partnership of parner kingdoms release an important notice for the risk-takers who view the huge announcement on the wall as a warning due to how sinisister the information it contains.

  REVERSE TOWER: INFINITE MEADOW

  Overall Difficulty: High-Hero

  -A maddening empty green void full of uncertainty and frenzy. Once you got caught inside, it's either a messy battle for survival or a maddening stillness.

  (For more detailed information. Ask the guild receptionist for a copy.),

  -----------

  "After reviews from the guild. The White Queen would not be considered as a monster but instead would be treated as an Intelligent Being. No bounty nor mission would be issued or allowed to get commissioned. Highly advised to not don't provoke the White Queen."

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  ------------

  "After review from the guild. The Laffy will not be considered as a monster and instead would be treated as an intelligent being. But due to it's unpredictable nature, is greatly advised to not confront or provoke the Laffy."

  ~~~~~~°~~~~~~

  In outskirts of Nattunia. Grand Ecstasy are busy looking for monsters but not for a quest. Their search bear fruition when they spotted a small camp of goblins.

  "We finally find an enemy. What now?" Beltrand's question to Mateo.

  "Eliminate them all."

  "Okay. You heared him guys, geez. It's kinda embarassing killing weak monsters like this."

  "I'm kinda feel bad." Sophia frowns.

  "Don't feel bad Sophia. Those goblins don't feel the same to you." Shirna's sinister words.

  And just like what Mateo command. His friends make a quick work of the Goblins that it's a one-sided massacre. All of this as Mateo watch nearby. After some time, they regroup and wait for Mateo's confirmation.

  "Any changes Mateo?" Clausrtrine's question as she's also curious about Mateo's new powers.

  Mateo opens his status windows and look at his EXP bar...

  "Damn..." Mateo's dissapointed words as he sees that not even a single point of EXP got put in his progress bar.

  "I assume that's a bust." -Claustrine.

  "Let's find another monster."

  After an hour. They find another Goblin camp who spotted them as the green creatures wield their arms to prepare for combat.

  "This time. Just incapacitate them. Lets do another theory."

  "Ok!"

  Grand Ecstasy makes another quick work of the goblins as Mateo hide and watch. But unlike the first encounter, they only beat the goblins where they're too weak to fight back.

  "Mateo. Here's your goblins. Do what you want."

  Mateo accepts Beltrand's offer and he wield his sword. Mateo then walk towards one of the goblins and stab its chest.

  "?"

  Mateo struggles to plunge his sword to the goblin. A clear sign that his body really becomes weak that he need to exert sizable effort to just penetrate his blade to the heart of the goblin.

  The goblin finally dies and Mateo quickly open his status window.

  "This method is also not good huh?" Mateo then sigh as he see that his EXP bar doesn't increased even a bit.

  "Mateo. To be honest, I still don't grasp the concept of your new power. Not to offend you but how you watching us fight would make you stronger?" Helyna's sincere question.

  Mateo scratches the back of his head as he genuinely have no idea how to explain the new ability to his friends.

  "I can' really demonstrate the concept unlease I show you where Revto based this ability of mine. How about we go back to my home in Earth?" Mateo's suggestion which his friends agreed.

  "Good. We also need to report this to the goblin slayers. This amount of goblin encounters just outside of the Kingdom is quiet concerning." Beltrand's suggestion.

  And thus Grand Ecstasy returns to Earth but only to his room as he boot his computer while his friends watch.

  Mateo then install a private server of his childhood game - Ran Online. They waited an hour to just finish the installation which they spend watching videos on Youtube.

  "Woah... Helyna is mesmerized watching a concierto of a musician in the comfort of a bedroom."

  "Cuuuuute!" Sophia swoons on the cute cat videos.

  "Hmmm... So that's how it's made huh?" Claustrine watching a chemistry video.

  And the installation is complete and Mateo put his newly created account. Then his friends watch as he create his own characters.

  "What are you doing?" -Claustrine.

  "Creating my character."

  Mateo worried that he might need to create a normal character first which he required to level up into 190 first before he can create another character and choose the Extreme class, a very grueling task especially when he don't have friends in a MMO aged by time. But it's been years now since the last time he played the game and Mateo finds out that not only he can choose the Extreme class early, the class is completely different from what he remembers in the past alongside new classes he didn't recognized.

  "This game is still being updated?" Mateo's confused words.

  And alas. Mateo created his character named "HotdogXL".

  "Guys... Look at his carefully."

  Grand Ecstasy watch and listen carefully as Mateo explains the concept of EXP and the classes to his friends. Using the UI of the game as a stand in for his status windows only him can see.

  "So? You saying that you killing monsters increases your EXP and once you reach a threshhold. You level up?" Claustrine's question.

  "That's correct."

  "So just like adventuring then?" Beltrand's dismissal.

  "Not quiet but sure close enough." -Mateo.

  "But this system is like... More absolute?" Claustrine continues her inquiry.

  "Because it is. Minus the stats, my powers relies on following a very specific system. If I want to become stronger, I need to increase my numbers instead of just empowering my body through natural means. And that's going to become difficult."

  Mateo controls his character and he kill few low level monsters nearby. As expected, his character leveled up.

  "That's how I'm going to level up, by defeating monsters. Notice how this number got increased?"

  "Yeah. It's like the monsters have some value to them." Claustrine's observaation.

  "Remember our experiments earlier?"

  "Yes. You seems dissapointed after we kill those goblins." -Beltrand.

  "In this game. I also get EXP when my friends inside the game kill enemies nearby or I dealt damage despite how miniscule it is. But those goblin kills doesn't give me any amount of EXP even if I did the final blow. It means, boosting me is not an option."

  "And the kills should be in your whole effort in order for your EXP to increase. In order get EXP, you need to face the enemies and join the front lines." Claustrine's well thought conclusion.

  "That's exactly how it would work Trinne. The real kicker is, the higher my level , the lower the EXP I get to weaker monsters. Might even not get a single EXP from goblins once I reach a certain level. That means I need to fight stronger monsters just to maintain a stable source of EXP."

  "Just really like adventuring then." - Beltrand shrug.

  "But worse." -Claustrine.

  "I can't really say worse if I now get powerfull skills once I become stronger."

  "Uhhmmm... Yeah. You said you have skills now. What do you mean by "skills."" Claustrine raises his eyebrow.

  "Let's just say I'm officially a mage now that can cast numerous spells while also able to fight in close combat and use range weapons. That's my skills."

  "My goddess..." Sophia and Helyna's disbelief as they can't comprehend how powerful of a concept it is.

  "So you can become so powerful later on once you leveled up?" Beltrand's question with curiosity as he finally undestand the potential of Mateo's new ability.

  "If I can level up to even reach that point."

  As Mateo browse the skills from the game and his status window. He realized something as he remembered that there's a Shaman in his potential classes. If Revto based this system on his video game knowledge then... The Shaman on his status windows might be similar to what's on the game he's showing right now.

  Mateo taps on his Shaman skills section on the video game and scrolls down, looking for a very specific skill. As he do it, some skills icons on his status window are really similar to what is in the game which make him hopeful yet scared for a potential discovery.

  Yet, Mateo only reach dissapointment as despite how similar looking the skills set are. He didn't see the specific ability on his status window. Yet he also feel relief on a thought that he can't have such impossible ability.

  "Why you look so down?" Claustrine's question.

  "You see this?" Mateo points his finger to a shaman skill in the game with a gold heart icon.

  "Y-yeah. What's with that?"

  "That's a skill that can resurrect a

  the dead."

  "Ah I see... HUH?! RESURRECT A DEAD?!"

  Mateo's friends are in complete shock on his casual explanation.

  "A-a-a-are y-you s-saying y-you can a-also have the a-ability to r-ressurect d-dead people?!" Sophia's terrified and stuttering words as she find the idea heretical.

  "Hahahaha... That's only inside the game and no. I don't have the ability to bring the dead people back to life. It seems such concept is impossible even in a magical world so Revto can't recreate it." Mateo's melancholic words.

  The atmosphere went silent for a while.

  "Haha... Ok now that we finally understand your new ability. The new problem is how we going to make you level up with such restrictions?" Beltrand's question.

  "Y-yeah. We can't just let you fight monsters alone. You barely even managed to stab a goblin due to how weak you are right now Mateo." Helyna's concerned words.

  "Ouch Helyna. But worry not, I have one more idea that I want to test. And for this one, I need your help Sophia."

  "Huh me?" Sophia's curious question.

  ~~~~~~°~~~~~~

  Back in the forest outside of Nattunia. Grand Ecstasy are now facing another camp of 4 Goblins. The green creatures are holding with their dear weapons and with fear, as for Grand Ecstasy.

  "Just scream help if you can't handle them okaaay? They're too strong for you." Beltrand's advice sprinkled with mockery.

  "Good grief Beltrand." Mateo sigh.

  The only one in the front is Mateo with a sword on his hand. Far behind him is his friends casually watching Mateo.

  "Sophia now cast your totems."

  "O-Ok!"

  Sophia follows and put all of her buffing totems, giving Mateo a myriad of boosts for his body.

  Mateo, after basking to the buffs fi ally dashes forward. Despite the buffs, his speed is completely lacking and barely even above a normal soldier as the buffs only increase the power base on the base raw body capabilities of the reciever.

  If a person have a base value of 100 and recieve a buff that increases someone's capabilities by 10%. The reciever gets additional value equal to 10% of his raw body's value. Equalling into 110.

  And Mateo's body being extremely weak. The each buffs only give a miniscule amount of value for each aspect every buff gives.

  Mateo swings his sword and exerts all of his best and power. His movement is fericious and gritty that reminds him of his early days being transported in Yhigressia.

  Mateo notices a goblin positiones itself on his back and raise its wooden club. Despite knowing the attack, Mateo doesn't have the speed to dodge nor counter attack. He have no choice but to tank the hit.

  BLAG!!!

  "Mateo!" Sophia screams with worry.

  Mateo gritted his teeth after he force his guts to resist the impact to his head. The barrier and defensive buff given by Sophia also help to mitigate the bash's power and not make him faint.

  "AAAAAAAAA!!!"

  With a guttural scream, Mateo makes a full downward swing on his sword, planting his blade just half-way into the Goblin's skull. Mateo kicks the now dead goblin stucked into his weapon and face the remaining two.

  "BRING IT OOOON!!!"

  Mateo rushes to the remaining goblins and engage them in a brutal combat. Grand Ecstasy at first are indiffirent are now flinching on the sight as they never seen their leader fight in such ferocity before.

  "Mateo..." Claustrine's serious words.

  Mateo finish the fight with using his two hand to swing his sword and hit the last goblin's neck.

  "AAAAA!!!"

  With a scream, Mateo use last ounces of his strenght to push his blade deeper until finally, he decapitated the Goblin. Ending the battle.

  "HAAAA... HAAAA... HAAAA..."

  Mateo kneels and breath heavily. A once easy clean up for him turned into a genuine life-or-death situation.

  "Sophia heal Mateo please." Claustrine's gentle request.

  "Y-Yes!"

  Sophia run towards a

  Mateo and quickly start the healing process.

  Still catching his breath, Mateo hears a melodic chime like sound inside his head.

  "Status!"

  The three status windows appears floating in front of Mateo and there, Mateo gives a satisfied smile after his effort finally paids off.

  LVL: 2

  "Did it work Mateo?" Claustrine's question.

  "Y-yes. I just leveled up. I'm also feel a slight spike of power in my body."

  Mateo finally got a rest stand up and. He see his body stained by goblin blood and sweat.

  "To think I gonna fight in such ferocious way again." Mateo speaks as he wipe his sword clean and sheath it.

  "Is there really no other way to gain this EXP?" Helyna asked with worry after seeing the grueling fight.

  "In video games. I can also get exp by doing missions but I say that doesn't work in my case."

  "I guess we just need to just stay your side and ensure that you're safe while getting EXP." Beltrand's suggestion.

  "That won't do. Others needs to continue doing missions for the guild."

  "B-but? How about you? You can't just fight monsters on that state?!" -Sophia.

  "That's why you going to join me Sophia. Your buffs is a huge advantage and stepping stone for me to level up."

  "This is our current set-up now Mateo?" -Claustrine.

  "That's seems to be the case. Everyone, lets meet up again after a month. I think that would be enough time for me to reach close to your level of strenght."

  Suddenly, a loud grumble can be heared.

  "S-sorry..." Sophia shyly apologize.

  Mateo chuckle as Sophia's hunger manages to break the seriousness of the situation.

  "Haha... How about we have a meal first before we seperate ways?"

  "Sounds good." Claustrine smile.