Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Floor 10: Daddy’s Little Calamity

Before the snake could strike, James’s inventory glitched violently.

The mythic egg forced itself out of storage against all normal System rules. It materialized above his chest in a burst of dark energy that felt wrong and overwhelming at the same time.

[UNKNOWN EGG FORCEFULLY MATERIALIZING]

[HATCHING PROCESS COMPLETE]

The egg cracked open with black light spilling through fractures in the shell like concentrated death energy escaping containment.

A small girl appeared from the broken pieces while dark angel wings spread from her back with a sound like tearing silk. She had small black feathers on her wings that absorbed light instead of reflecting it. Her pale skin seemed to glow faintly with power that should not exist in something so young-looking. Her eyes burned with intensity that did not match her size or appearance.

She landed on James’s chest while her small feet pressed against him.

She looked at the snake about to kill him.

Her expression changed instantly when she understood what was happening. Innocent confusion turned to rage faster than a heartbeat.

She spread her dark wings wide until they blocked James completely from view.

"Leave my dad alone!"

Her voice was young and small, but the pressure coming from her was overwhelming despite her appearance. The air itself felt heavier. The temperature dropped. Death energy rolled off her body in waves that made surviving academy students throughout the mall collapse.

[MYTHIC HATCHLING SKILL ACTIVATED]

[DEATH ANGEL’S DECREE]

Black light cut through the ruined mall like a blade made from concentrated death energy that ignored physical laws. The light moved faster than the snake could react. It hit the snake’s body and passed through scales that had resisted everything else.

The snake’s HP dropped to zero instantly while the light erased its remaining life force.

[ABYSSAL VENOM PYTHON]

[BOSS HP: 16,980/35,000 → 0/35,000]

"HSSSSS—"

The snake’s hiss cut off mid-sound when death claimed it.

The massive body collapsed across the mall while shaking the entire structure hard enough to crack support beams. Concrete cracked beneath its weight and sent dust into the air. Venom pooled across the floor from the damaged mouth. The pale dead eyes that had been filled with intelligence finally went completely dark and empty.

The little girl turned back toward James while her glowing eyes dimmed and returned to normal. She smiled once like nothing terrifying had just happened, then collapsed against his chest and fell asleep while her dark wings folded around her small body protectively.

She looked innocent now. But everyone who saw what just happened would never forget the pressure that came from her when she attacked.

The System announced the clear.

[DISASTER BEAST SLAIN]

[ABYSSAL VENOM PYTHON DEFEATED]

[FLOOR 10 MAIN STORY CLEARED]

[FLOOR 10 CLEARED]

Then:

[FLOOR 11 UNLOCKED]

James was still on the floor at 1 HP while barely conscious. Finn and Aria stared at the dead snake, then at the small girl sleeping on James’s chest.

Nobody understood what just happened.

Finn moved closer while his voice came out shaken. "The egg... it came out of your inventory. It hatched. The child... she killed the snake after calling you dad."

James opened his eyes weakly and saw the girl on his chest. Her dark wings moved slightly as she breathed.

He tried to ask who she was, but his voice barely worked.

The girl opened her eyes halfway while looking at him.

"Daddy... you’re awake."

Then she fell asleep again while her small hands gripped his shirt.

James was too exhausted to process it properly.

Across Earth, every registered Challenger received a Tower announcement.

[GLOBAL TOWER ANNOUNCEMENT]

[FLOOR 10 HAS BEEN CLEARED]

[CLEARING PARTY: TEAM ZERO]

TRB offices across every continent exploded into activity within seconds. Guild headquarters lit up with emergency calls between strategy rooms. Training halls went silent as low-rank Challengers stared at the notification while trying to process what it meant.

Director Ciarán O’Shea in Dublin stood from his desk while reading the announcement for the third time. Team Zero. The same unknown team that triggered Floor 10’s Main Story had cleared it. He grabbed his phone and started making calls to every department head because this changed everything.

In Seoul, a high-rank guild team was reviewing Floor 10 preparation documents when the notification appeared. One member laughed while saying the floor must have been easy if Team Zero cleared it that fast without guild support or announced backing. Another guild member agreed while mocking the panic from earlier.

Then the System followed with another announcement that changed everything.

[FLOOR 10 DIFFICULTY RECALCULATED]

[PREVIOUS DIFFICULTY: HELL]

[CURRENT DIFFICULTY AFTER CLEAR: MEDIUM]

The mood changed instantly across the world.

The guild members who mocked the clear went silent while staring at the difficulty rating. Hell to Medium. That meant Team Zero had not just cleared Floor 10. They had eliminated whatever disaster event made the floor Hell-difficulty in the first place.

TRB officials across every office reached the same conclusion at once. The 45-day countdown that started hours ago was no longer relevant because Team Zero had removed the threat completely.

Public panic shifted into shock and confusion because nobody on Earth knew exactly what happened inside that mall, but everyone now understood that Team Zero cleared something far worse than a normal floor while the world was still panicking about the initial announcement.

Back inside the tower, the System began reward calculation.

[MAIN STORY BOSS REWARD]

[EXP AWARDED: 35,000 TO EACH SURVIVING PARTY MEMBER]

[JAMES GANNER]

[LEVEL: 14]

[EXP: 2,385/9,000 → 37,385/9,000]

[LEVEL UP!]

[YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 15]

[LEVEL UP!]

[YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 16]

[LEVEL UP!]

[YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 17]

[EXP: 7,385/12,000]

[ALL STATS +3]

[FREE STAT POINTS +15]

James’s stats updated automatically before stat distribution.

[STRENGTH: 37 → 40]

[AGILITY: 40 → 43]

[INTELLIGENCE: 60 → 63]

[ENDURANCE: 36 → 39]

[LUCK: 27 → 30]

[HP: 660/660 → 720/720]

[MANA: 1,140/1,140 → 1,200/1,200]

Because James was critically injured before the clear, his HP stabilized after the level-up instead of fully healing.

[JAMES GANNER]

[HP: 1/660 → 61/720]

[MANA: 982/1,140 → 1,042/1,200]

[UNSPENT STAT POINTS: 15]

The System distributed the Main Story clear rewards.

[MAIN STORY CLEAR BONUS]

[BONUS EXP AWARDED: 4,000]

[EXP: 7,385/12,000 → 11,385/12,000]

[ITEM RECEIVED: DISASTER CORE FRAGMENT — S-RANK]

Then MVP calculation appeared.

[MVP CALCULATION COMPLETE]

[MVP: JAMES GANNER]

[REASONING: HIGHEST BOSS DAMAGE CONTRIBUTION, CRITICAL WEAK POINT STRATEGY, DISASTER BEAST ELIMINATION LINKED TO BOUND MYTHIC HATCHLING]

[MVP REWARD]

[ITEM RECEIVED: ABYSSAL COMMAND SEAL — S-RANK]

[ABYSSAL COMMAND SEAL — S-RANK]

[EFFECT: GRANTS LIMITED ASSISTANCE WHEN REANIMATING HIGH-RANK BEASTS]

[USES REMAINING: 3]

The clear happened, but nobody celebrated.

Finn looked at Elliot’s body lying against the wall where the tail had thrown him during the fight. His voice broke when he finally spoke while staring at the corpse. "I pushed for Floor 10. I said momentum mattered. I said we could handle it if we moved fast before other teams caught up."

He stared at Elliot’s body while guilt crushed him from the inside. "I thought we were ready. I thought we were strong enough. I thought..." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

His voice cracked completely while the words died in his throat. "Now Elliot is dead because I pushed too hard."

Finn’s legs gave out and he dropped to his knees beside Elliot’s body while his shoulders shook. He tried to hold himself together and failed.

James did not know what to say while lying on the floor at 61 HP with a mythic child sleeping on his chest. He almost died multiple times before the egg hatched and saved him. The ogre died saving him from being swallowed. Elliot died creating an opening for Finn and Aria.

None of it felt real. None of it felt like victory.

The grief was heavy and messy and wrong in a way that made celebrating feel impossible.

Then the System announced:

[RETURN TO EARTH IN 60 SECONDS]

That forced them to move.

James saw the snake’s corpse and realized this might be the only chance he ever got.

He carefully shifted the sleeping girl off his chest while holding her with one arm. He forced himself to crawl toward the snake’s body even though his HP was still critically low and his body screamed at him to stop.

He touched the snake’s scales and activated Reanimate.

[REANIMATE ACTIVATED]

[TARGET: ABYSSAL VENOM PYTHON]

[REANIMATION FAILED]

[TARGET RANK TOO HIGH]

James felt anger rise in his chest because this was the strongest corpse he had ever touched and the System was refusing him.

Then the MVP reward reacted.

[ABYSSAL COMMAND SEAL DETECTED]

[HIGH-RANK REANIMATION ASSIST AVAILABLE]

[REMAINING ATTEMPTS: 3]

[USE ASSIST? Y/N]

James chose yes immediately.

[REANIMATE ACTIVATED]

[REANIMATION FAILED]

[REMAINING ATTEMPTS: 2]

The return countdown continued.

[RETURN TO EARTH IN: 10 SECONDS]

James tried again while the countdown dropped and his hand pressed harder against the snake’s scales.

[REANIMATE ACTIVATED]

[REANIMATION FAILED]

[REMAINING ATTEMPTS: 1]

[RETURN TO EARTH IN: 3 SECONDS]

James was furious now. He tried one final time.

[REANIMATE ACTIVATED]

[RETURN TO EARTH IN: 2 SECONDS]

[REANIMATION SUCCESSFUL]

[ABYSSAL VENOM PYTHON REANIMATED]

[REANIMATED SLOTS: 1/5 → 2/5]

[REANIMATED DIRE WOLF — LEVEL 9]

[ABYSSAL VENOM PYTHON — LEVEL ??]

Before James could read the full details:

[TRANSPORT INITIATING]

White light took them.

Team Zero returned to the Hale Estate basement training room.

They appeared in white light while the teleportation array released them.

James landed badly because he was still injured and holding the sleeping dark-winged girl.

Then Elliot’s body appeared on the floor with them.

No System message repeated his death because it already happened inside the fight.

The room went silent.

Finn stood frozen while staring at the body like his mind refused to accept it. His hands shook when he pulled out his phone and called TRB.

James sat on the floor with the sleeping girl against him because he was too weak to stand properly while his chest still ached from where the snake had hit him.

The floor was cleared. Team Zero was number one in the world for clearing Floor 10. Earth was already reacting to the announcement.

But inside the room, none of that mattered.

Elliot was dead.

Finn’s voice barely held together when someone answered the call.

He held the phone to his ear and stared at Elliot’s body.

"We cleared Floor 10," he said while his voice broke. "But Elliot didn’t come back alive."