Rin felt the change before he saw it.

  It wasn’t the ground that was shaking.

  It was the air.

  As if something invisible had suddenly become heavier.

  Silhouettes were appearing more often now.

  Not monsters.

  Humans.

  Some of them bore marks.

  Luminous symbols etched into skin.

  Partial halos.

  Thin, dark horns.

  Eyes that had become far too bright.

  The pacts were no longer discreet.

  They were visible.

  Then suddenly—

  A white flare split the black sky.

  A voice—pure, vertical.

  [The Eden Pact has been made official.]

  [A Contractor has been registered.]

  Rin lifted his head.

  Far away, on another suspended island fragment, a light was descending.

  And at the center of that light—

  Eleanor.

  She wasn’t floating.

  She wasn’t radiating in some grotesque way.

  But something around her had changed.

  A presence.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Denser.

  More structured.

  Wounds were closing at a distance around her.

  A man collapsed to his knees, grievously injured.

  She simply raised her hand.

  A golden light fell in a vertical beam.

  Flesh re-formed.

  Faster than ever.

  Cleaner.

  Rin understood immediately.

  It wasn’t just her skill anymore.

  It was amplified by the pact.

  A new line appeared.

  [The Architect of Restoration acknowledges its Contractor.]

  No first name.

  No explanation.

  But it was clear.

  Eleanor had accepted.

  Or had been forced to accept.

  A deep laugh suddenly tore through space.

  Not the Trickster.

  Heavier.

  A man appeared in front of Eleanor.

  Skin marked with burning runes.

  A black aura cracking the ground beneath him.

  He didn’t really look like a survivor anymore.

  His right arm had become a deformed, bony growth.

  [Contractor recognized by the 17th Demon King, the Instigator of Hunts.]

  Silence fell.

  He struck.

  The ground exploded.

  A wave of black corruption tore through the air.

  Eleanor tried to raise a wall of light.

  It cracked.

  She bled.

  For the first time since Floor 2.

  Rin understood something essential.

  The pacts weren’t symbolic.

  They gave a real advantage.

  Brutal.

  Direct.

  Dae-hyun appeared at a distance, his new shield vibrating faintly.

  He didn’t intervene.

  He watched.

  The Oath Etched in Blood didn’t speak.

  Mi-sun, farther away in her fragmented domain, saw the shockwave slice across the horizon.

  She smiled faintly.

  The gods weren’t looking for faith.

  They were looking for results.

  On Rin’s side

  He wasn’t looking at Eleanor.

  He was looking at the sky.

  The entities were watching.

  Not one.

  Dozens.

  Hundreds.

  Norse pantheons.

  Olympians.

  Egyptians.

  Demon Kings.

  Forgotten forces.

  Eden.

  Not all of them offered pacts.

  Many waited.

  They didn’t have enough “interesting” people.

  A new line appeared.

  [Stability: 76%]

  The fall was starting.

  On another island fragment, Jin-woo stretched while staring at the cracked sky.

  “Ah… it’s starting to get fun.”

  A shadow twisted behind him.

  A whisper.

  A laugh.

  The Crownless Trickster still didn’t speak.

  But it laughed.

  And Jin-woo laughed too.

  Rin understood.

  This was no longer an individual test.

  This was no longer a discreet choice.

  The pacts were drawing front lines.

  And soon, someone would have to decide:

  Dominate.

  Destroy.

  Or stabilize.

  Rin tightened his grip on his short blade.

  He didn’t want a god.

  But he wouldn’t be able to ignore forever the ones who had chosen one.

  [Progressive convergence detected.]

  Floor 2 had just entered its true phase.

  And for the first time since the Tutorial…

  Humans weren’t fighting only to survive anymore.

  They were fighting for influence.