The air in the vault tasted of copper and old magic. My boots clicked against a floor made of solid gold bricks. Everywhere I looked, I saw yellow. Mountains of coins reached the ceiling. Strings of pearls hung from the walls. Emeralds the size of my fist sat in open crates. It was a sight designed to make a man lose his mind.

A status window appeared in the center of my vision.

『**Floor 24: The Fable of Midas’s Vault**』

『**Main Scenario: Take What You Deserve**』

『**Objective: Loot exactly 10,000 Gold Coins and exit.**』

『**Looted Value: 0 / 10,000**』

I stared at the gold. I did not feel awe. I felt disgust. This floor was a trap for the desperate. The "Test of Greed" was a favorite game of the Constellations. They loved watching humans struggle between their survival and their desire for wealth.

*Take exactly 10,000? Or take nothing to pass?* I knew the trick. Most survivors recently cleared this by leaving with empty hands. They thought they were being clever. They thought they were proving their virtue to the gods.

*Idiots.*

The gods did not reward virtue. They rewarded entertainment. And there was nothing more boring than a man who refused a treasure.

I looked at the live stream chat. It was moving fast.

「 -Here it is. The Midas trap.- 」

「 -Kang Min will probably walk out with zero coins.- 」

「 -That’s the only way to get the true key. The forums are very clear about this.- 」

「 -Hey, Singularity, don’t be greedy. Just walk through.- 」

I ignored them. I reached down and picked up a single gold coin. It was heavy. Much heavier than a normal coin.

『**Warning: The Midas Curse is taking effect.**』

『**Your body is turning into gold. Movement speed decreased by 1%.**』

A thin layer of yellow metal appeared on the tip of my index finger. It felt stiff. Cold. If I took 10,000, I would become a statue. I would stay here forever as a decoration in the King’s vault.

*Is that the best you can do?*

I reached into my private subspace. It was a place only I could access. It was the reward for clearing the 666th floor in the Old World. Deep inside the [Floor 666 All Master] storage, I found a small, cracked stone tablet.

『**Relic: The Unbound Will.**』

『**Effect: Nullifies all status-based curses and mental interference.**』

I activated the relic. A cool sensation washed over my hand. The yellow metal on my fingertip vanished. The stiffness disappeared. My blood moved freely again.

*Now the real fun starts.*

I did not stop at one coin. I grabbed a handful. Then I grabbed another. I shoved them into my inventory.

『**Looted Value: 42 / 10,000**』

『**Looted Value: 105 / 10,000**』

The system window began to flicker. It sent me more warnings.

『**Warning! Curse intensity increasing!**』

『**Warning! Your heart is turning into gold!**』

I felt nothing. The relic absorbed the curse. I walked to the nearest mountain of gold and began to sweep it into my storage. I used my [Exchange] skill to swap empty air in my inventory with the treasure on the floor. Entire piles of coins disappeared in seconds.

*Why stop at 10,000? I am a thief. I will take everything.*

The Constellations wanted a show. I would give them one. I would rob them blind. These gods sat in their high seats and watched us crawl. they threw us scraps and called it grace. I hated them. I hated their rules. I hated their "fables."

"You want to see a tragedy?" I said to the empty air. "Watch your bank account go to zero."

A loud metallic grind echoed through the vault. The mountains of gold began to shift. Four massive shapes rose from the piles. They were Golden Gargoyles. Their skin was polished metal. Their eyes were glowing rubies.

『**Guardian of the Vault has appeared.**』

One gargoyle lunged at me. It was fast for its size. It swung a fist as large as a boulder. I stepped to the left. The fist hit the gold floor. Coins flew in every direction.

I did not draw a sword. I did not need one.

I drove my fist into the gargoyle’s chest. I activated **[Singularity] - Level 3: [Compression]**.

The point of impact caved in. The gold skin of the monster crumpled like paper. I felt the resistance of the metal. It was thick. I pushed harder. I forced the gravity to focus on a single point behind its back.

*Snap.*

The gargoyle’s torso folded in half. It fell back into the gold pile. It was not dead. These things did not have hearts. They were animated by the vault’s greed.

Three more gargoyles surrounded me. Behind them, several treasure chests grew teeth and eyes. Mimics. They hopped toward me on wooden legs, their lids snapping shut like jaws.

"More trash," I muttered.

I jumped. I used a gargoyle’s head as a stepping stone. I felt the cold metal under my boot. While in the air, I triggered a mass [Exchange].

I swapped the positions of the three gargoyles with the falling coins around them.

The monsters were suddenly disoriented. They were buried under tons of gold. I landed on the floor and ran toward the back of the vault. I saw a chest that was different from the others. It was made of black iron. It did not glow. It did not look valuable.

*The True Key.*

A gargoyle burst out of the gold pile. It was missing an arm. It roared. The sound was like metal scraping against metal. It charged at me.

I didn’t move. I waited until it was close.

I grabbed its remaining arm. I used its own momentum. I swung the gargoyle into a group of approaching Mimics. The sound of the collision was loud. The Mimics were crushed. The gargoyle shattered into pieces.

I turned back to the gold. I was not finished.

『**Looted Value: 15,400 / 10,000**』

The system UI was turning red. It was not designed for this. It expected a 0 or a 10,000. It did not expect someone to keep going.

『**Error. Looted Value exceeds threshold.**』

『**The Curse is not responding. Re-calculating...**』

*Calculate all you want,* I thought. *You cannot freeze a man who has already seen the end of the world.*

I reached the black iron chest. I kicked the lid open. Inside sat a simple brass key. I took it.

『**You have acquired the ’True Key of the Vault’.**』

『**Clear Condition Met (Alternative).**』

"I’m not leaving yet," I said.

I looked at the walls. I saw the legendary artifacts. A staff that could summon storms. A shield that never broke. I grabbed them all. I didn’t care about their stats. I cared about the fact that they belonged to the Tower.

The vault began to shake. The ceiling started to descend. The system was trying to crush me. It wanted to protect its assets.

「 -WHAT IS HE DOING?!- 」

「 -He’s robbing the whole floor! This is insane!- 」

「 -The UI is breaking! Look at the numbers!- 」

「 -Is he really the greatest thief? He’s a maniac!- 」

「 -Kang Min, get out! The room is collapsing!- 」

I laughed. The sound was sharp. I felt a surge of adrenaline. I loved this. I loved breaking their games.

"You think this is yours?" I shouted. I looked up at the invisible eyes of the Constellations. "Everything in this Tower belongs to me. I paid for it with my blood in the Old World. I am just taking back what is mine."

I saw a mountain of diamonds in the corner. I ran toward it. The floor was tilting. I had to jump over a crack that was opening in the gold bricks. Below the floor was a void of white light.

I reached the diamonds. I didn’t use my hands. I used a wide-range [Exchange].

The entire pile vanished into my subspace.

『**Looted Value: 890,500 / 10,000**』

The counter stopped. It couldn’t handle more digits. The red window went black.

The exit door was at the far end of the hall. It was closing. I had three seconds.

I used **[Singularity] - Level 1: [Focus]** on my own body. I shifted my center of gravity forward. I didn’t run. I fell forward at a high speed. I was a projectile.

I soared over the remaining gold piles. I flew past the last Golden Gargoyle, which was trying to grab my leg.

I rolled through the closing gap of the vault door.

*Clang.*

The door sealed shut.

I was in a quiet, white hallway. My breathing was heavy. My shirt was soaked with sweat. I looked at my hands. They were shaking. Not from the curse, but from the excitement.

I checked my inventory.

It was full. Thousands of gold coins. Gems. Artifacts. The black iron chest’s contents. I had cleaned out at least eighty percent of the vault’s liquid assets.

A system message appeared. It looked different. It was not the standard blue or red. It was a pale, neutral gold.

『**...**』

『**The Administrator is speechless.**』

『**The Constellations of the ’Wealth’ faction are filing a formal protest.**』

『**The ’God of Greed’ is staring at you with murderous intent.**』

"Let him stare," I spat. "Tell him to come down here and take it back himself."

I stood up. I felt heavy. My inventory weight was massive. But my body was flesh and bone. The curse had failed.

『**Main Scenario: Take What You Deserve - COMPLETED**』

『**Clear Result: THE GREAT ROBBERY.**』

『**Condition: You took everything. You left nothing for the King.**』

『**Reward: The ’Key of All Doors’ (Unique).**』

『**Reward: 1,000,000 Bonus Coins (Forced Compensation).**』

I looked at the bonus coins. The system was literally paying me to leave so it could reset the floor. It was a bribe.

*I’ll take that too.*

I looked at the live stream. The chat was a wall of text.

「 -He actually did it.- 」

「 -He broke the Midas floor. He robbed a god.- 」

「 -Look at his face. He’s smiling. He’s a literal monster.- 」

「 -The ’God of Greed’ just went offline. I think he’s crying.- 」

「 -Is this the power of the Singularity?- 」

The 24th floor was supposed to be a lesson in humility. It was supposed to teach us that wealth is a burden and that only the pure of heart can progress.

I had proven the opposite. Wealth was only a burden if you were too weak to carry it. And I was strong enough to carry the entire Tower on my back if I had to.