There was no door.
No flash. No sound.
Lucien blinked once—just once—and suddenly, the blood-soaked floor of B99 was gone. He now stood in an endless pale-white plain, so quiet it hurt. The silence wasn't absence—it was pressure. It crawled beneath his skin, wormed into his thoughts, and whispered without sound.
Naia stood a few paces behind him, clutching Calen, who was still injured from Cassandra's final strike. The others... gone. Whether dead or scattered, Lucien didn't care.
He took one slow breath.
[Welcome to Floor B98 – The Whispered Reality.]On this floor, your words reshape existence.Every spoken declaration may be made real.But every truth you surrender shall be erased.What will you give up to make them believe?
Lucien's heart skipped.
A floor that made lies real… at the cost of truth?
His system chimed again:
[Deceiver Trait Enhanced: Echo of Fabrication – Level 1]You may speak one False Reality per day. In exchange, one True Memory will be permanently removed.
He smiled, slow and cold.
"This place," he whispered, "was built for me."
1 Hour In
Lucien had learned the rules quickly.
A player named Varn had tried it first. Desperate, he shouted, "I am invincible!"
For five glorious seconds, no one could touch him. Blades shattered on his skin. Even the whispering winds recoiled.
Then his nose began to bleed. His eyes rolled back.
He screamed—not in pain, but in confusion—as something in him was torn away.
"I... I don't remember my daughter's name," he gasped. "Why can't I—what's happening?!"
Lucien said nothing, only watched as the lie collapsed, and the truth left with it.
Varn was reduced to a husk, muttering "Who am I?" over and over until his body simply… stopped.
Calen turned to Lucien, pale. "We can't use it. Not like that."
Lucien placed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder.
"You don't have to," he said gently. "But I do."
And he turned away before Calen could see his smile.
3 Hours In – The Arrival of the Eidolon
The whispering grew louder.
Then something crawled out of the white sky—if one could call it a sky.
It looked like a man at first. Tall, slender, draped in white robes that shimmered like water. But its head had no face. Only a mouth. Stretching ear to ear.
It moved without footsteps.
[Boss Spawned: Whispering Eidolon]This being feeds on speech. Every word you give it, it remembers. Every truth it hears, it devours. Every lie... it reflects.
Lucien immediately crouched behind a fractured pillar.
Naia clutched her sword, trembling. "That's the boss? It's not even moving."
"It doesn't need to," Lucien replied.
A whisper slithered into their ears, even though the Eidolon hadn't opened its mouth:
"Tell me... who are you, truly?"
Naia screamed, clutching her head. Calen began to mutter truths—his name, his age, the color of his mother's eyes.
The Eidolon smiled.
Lucien hissed. "Don't speak!"
But it was too late. With every word Calen uttered, the creature's form grew clearer. Sharper. Its edges stopped flickering. It was becoming real—solid—powered by truth.
Lucien realized something awful.
The boss didn't kill you. You killed yourself by speaking.
He stood slowly.
And smiled.
4 Hours In – The Counterattack
Lucien walked toward the Eidolon calmly.
"Let me try," he said to Naia. "No one speak but me."
The Eidolon turned.
Its mouth curled into something resembling delight.
"You are... the liar. The one who speaks falsity like breath."
Lucien bowed. "A pleasure."
The Eidolon tilted its head.
Lucien inhaled, then whispered:
"Cassandra never died. She rose again, stronger. She stands beside me now."
For one surreal moment—Cassandra appeared.
Her body flickered into existence beside Lucien. Eyes burning. Sword in hand.
Naia gasped. Calen choked. They believed.
So did the Eidolon.
And in its moment of confusion—Lucien struck.
Not with a sword.
With another sentence.
"You, Eidolon… are merely a shadow born from Seirian's lie."
Reality trembled.
In the back of the field, a monk stood—calm, still, silent.
Seirian.
Until now, he had said nothing. Just observed.
But Lucien's lie shattered the silence.
The Eidolon turned violently—mouth gaping, twitching—uncertain whether it was predator or prey.
"You... you twist," it hissed. "You turned... me into a lie..."
It began to flicker.
Lucien stepped forward.
"You heard my truth. Now choke on it."
The Eidolon screamed, folding in on itself, devoured not by blade but belief.
And then—it vanished.
[Boss Defeated: Whispering Eidolon]EXP gained: +120Floor Cleared.Proceed to Floor B97.
Lucien staggered.
His system flashed:
[Memory Lost: Mother's Lullaby – Erased.]You will never recall the song she sang when you were sick.
He blinked.
Nothing happened.
Only a hole in his chest he couldn't name.
Aftermath
Naia stared at him.
"You created that? Cassandra? That wasn't real?"
"No," Lucien said quietly. "But it fooled everyone."
Even himself.
She stepped back, unsure. "What did you lose to do it?"
Lucien said nothing.
Behind him, Seirian approached.
"You lied so well you made a god believe it was false."
"I had to," Lucien said flatly.
Seirian smiled faintly. "That makes you dangerous."
Lucien met his gaze. "And you?"
Seirian's eyes glinted. "I never lie. That makes me worse."
They passed each other like knives drawn but not swung.
[Deceiver Path Unlocked: Architect of Paradox – Tier 2 Trait Available Soon]
Lucien stepped toward the black gate at the far edge of the field.
One more floor down.
One more part of himself gone.
And the Tower whispered after him.
"Tell another lie, Lucien. Give us more. We are hungry."