The Void Between / Season 1, Episode 2
The Hunt
EPISODE 2: THE HUNT
PART ONE: PREY
CHAPTER 1: RUNNING
Kael ran through the artificial forest with the Hunger's roar echoing behind him.
His Pattern Recognition ability worked overtime, highlighting paths through the underbrush, identifying cover spots, marking the direction of the sound. The ability wasn't combat-focused—it was survival-focused, and right now survival meant one thing: don't get caught.
[THE HUNGER - STATUS: HUNTING] [DISTANCE: ~200 METERS AND CLOSING]
Two hundred meters. That seemed like a lot until Kael remembered that whatever was hunting him had been Level ???—a designation that meant "so far above you that the System won't even tell you how screwed you are."
He dove into a thick cluster of ferns, pressing himself flat against the ground. The dirt he'd smeared on his skin broke up his outline. The cloth wrapped around his feet had muffled his footsteps. Now he just needed to control his breathing.
In. Out. Slow. Quiet.
The forest went silent.
That was worse than the roaring. At least when the Hunger was making noise, Kael knew where it was. Silence meant it was close—close enough that it didn't need to announce itself anymore.
Something moved between the trees to his left.
Kael's Pattern Recognition screamed at him: THREAT. STAY STILL. DON'T MOVE DON'T MOVE DON'T—
He saw it.
The Hunger was nothing like the Shades or Stalkers. It was massive—at least eight feet tall and built like a nightmare given flesh. Vaguely humanoid, but wrong in every proportion. Arms too long. Legs bent backward. A face that was mostly mouth, lined with teeth like broken glass.
And it was looking directly at his hiding spot.
[THE HUNGER - LEVEL ???] [STATUS: INVESTIGATING]
It didn't attack. It just... watched. Tilting its head like a curious dog, nostrils flaring as it sniffed the air.
Kael didn't breathe. Didn't blink. Didn't move a single muscle.
The moment stretched into eternity.
Then the Hunger turned and loped away into the darkness, moving with a speed that belied its massive frame.
[THE HUNGER - STATUS: SEARCHING] [DISTANCE: ~150 METERS AND INCREASING]
Kael allowed himself to breathe. His entire body was shaking—not from cold, but from the adrenaline crash of nearly dying without even a chance to fight back.
Can't kill it. Can only endure. How the hell am I supposed to endure THAT?
CHAPTER 2: THE OTHER PREY
Kael moved through the forest in short bursts, using his Pattern Recognition to identify the safest routes. The Hunger's patrol pattern was becoming clearer—it swept the forest in wide arcs, returning to certain locations repeatedly.
It's herding, he realized. Driving prey toward something.
He didn't want to find out what.
An hour into the floor, he found another climber.
She was huddled in the hollow of a massive tree, clutching a bow with white-knuckled intensity. Human, maybe early twenties, with short dark hair and the kind of lean muscle that came from years of combat training. Her climbing armor was better than Kael's—reinforced plates over vital areas, enchanted to reduce noise.
She saw him at the same moment he saw her.
For a frozen instant, they stared at each other. Then she raised her bow, arrow nocked and ready.
"Don't," Kael whispered. "I'm not your enemy."
"Everyone's an enemy in the Tower." Her voice was barely audible, but the hatred in it was clear.
"I'm solo. You?"
That made her pause. "You're climbing solo? On Floor 3?"
"Climbing solo since Floor 1, actually. Unawakened when I entered."
The bow lowered slightly. "That's impossible."
"And yet here I am." Kael held up his hands, showing he wasn't reaching for his sword. "I don't want to fight you. I want to survive this floor. Seems like that might be easier together."
"Or you'll stab me in the back the moment the Hunger gets close."
"If I wanted you dead, I would have let the Hunger find you. Your hiding spot isn't as good as you think—it passed right by here twenty minutes ago. Only reason it didn't investigate is because it was tracking something else."
The archer's eyes widened. "You've been watching me?"
"I've been watching everything. It's how I've stayed alive." Kael took a careful step closer. "My name's Kael. I'm a gambler who got in over his head with the wrong people. I entered the Tower because dying in here seemed better than dying out there. I have no party, no backup, no plan beyond 'clear the next floor.' If you want to kill me, you can probably do it—I'm only Level 4, and you look like you actually know how to fight. But I'd rather work together."
A long pause. Then the bow lowered completely.
"Vera," she said. "I was part of a six-person team until Floor 2. Maze Stalkers got the others. I made it through alone."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. They were guild-assigned teammates, not friends. This floor is the problem—I can't outrun that thing forever, and my arrows don't even scratch it."
Can't be killed. Only endured.
"The System said we have to survive until it tires," Kael said. "Any idea how long that takes?"
"My party's intel said four to six hours. But that was for a full team moving together, trading aggro. Solo?" She shook her head. "No data."
Four to six hours. Kael had been on this floor for one. The idea of running and hiding from the Hunger for another five hours made him want to lie down and let the monster eat him.
"What if we don't have to survive the whole time?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"The System's challenge is 'survive until it tires.' But that doesn't mean we have to be passive. What if there's a way to tire it faster?"
Vera frowned. "How? We can't damage it."
"We can't damage it directly. But the forest is full of traps, right? Environmental hazards?"
"Pitfalls, spike traps, collapsing trees, some kind of poison fog in the eastern section..."
"What happens if we lead the Hunger into those?"
Understanding dawned in Vera's eyes. "It wouldn't take damage. But it would have to expend energy getting out. Burn through stamina faster."
"Exactly." Kael's Pattern Recognition was already mapping possibilities. "We're not trying to kill it. We're trying to exhaust it. And the more energy it wastes on environmental obstacles, the sooner it gives up the hunt."
Vera's expression shifted from skeptical to calculating. "That's... actually not a terrible plan. For a Level 4 gambler."
"I prefer 'strategic thinker' to 'gambler.'"
"Same thing, really." But she was almost smiling. "Alright, Kael. Let's try your strategy. But if it goes wrong, I'm using you as bait while I escape."
"Fair enough."
PART TWO: THE TRAP
CHAPTER 3: BAIT
The eastern section of the forest was marked by yellow-tinged foliage and the faint smell of something chemical. Vera had mentioned poison fog—not lethal to climbers, but disorienting. Presumably it would have similar effects on the Hunger.
The problem was getting the monster there.
"It tracks by sound and smell," Vera said as they crouched behind a fallen log. "Motion too, but that's secondary. If we want to lead it somewhere, we need to be loud."
"How do you feel about being live bait?"
"How do you feel about taking an arrow to the knee?"
"Point taken." Kael considered their options. "You're faster than me, right?"
"Almost certainly."
"Then you lead. I'll position near the fog zone and create a secondary target—split its attention. When it's disoriented by the fog, we both run for the next trap."
"Which is?"
Kael pointed. Through the trees, barely visible in the dim light, was a ravine—a deep crack in the forest floor that stretched for at least a hundred meters. "If we can get it to fall in there, it'll take time to climb out. More exhaustion."
Vera nodded slowly. "Multiple traps, chained together. Not bad. But there's a flaw."
"What?"
"Someone has to get close enough to the Hunger to draw its attention in the first place."
They looked at each other.
"Rock paper scissors?" Kael suggested.
"I don't know what that means."
"Gambler's game. Never mind—I'll do it."
"You just said I'm faster."
"Faster, yes. But I've got Pattern Recognition. I can see where it's going to move before it moves. That gives me a better chance of not dying during the initial contact."
Vera studied him with new interest. "You awakened an ability? As a solo climber?"
"Floor 2 gave it to me. Apparently solving the labyrinth's puzzle counted as demonstrating aptitude."
"Huh." She shook her head. "The System really does reward the reckless."
"Is that a yes?"
"It's an 'I'll cover you from range while you do something stupid.' Close enough."
Kael grinned despite the circumstances. "Good enough for me."
CHAPTER 4: CONTACT
Finding the Hunger again wasn't difficult. Kael simply walked into an open clearing and made noise.
[THE HUNGER - STATUS: ALERTED] [DISTANCE: ~300 METERS AND CLOSING RAPIDLY]
Three hundred meters. Given how fast that thing moved, he had maybe ninety seconds.
Kael ran toward the eastern section, not bothering to hide his trail. Every broken branch, every footprint in the soft earth, every gasping breath—all of it was a signal saying here I am, come and get me.
[DISTANCE: ~200 METERS]
He could hear it now. Not roaring, but moving—the crack of trees being shouldered aside, the thud of massive feet against the ground.
[DISTANCE: ~100 METERS]
The yellow foliage was ahead. Kael could see the fog now, rolling between the trees in lazy spirals. His lungs were burning, legs screaming, but he didn't slow down.
[DISTANCE: ~50 METERS]
He dove into the fog.
Immediately, his vision blurred and his balance shifted. The poison wasn't painful, but it was wrong—like being drunk and high and sleep-deprived all at once. He stumbled, caught himself on a tree, and kept moving.
[STATUS EFFECT: DISORIENTATION] [PERCEPTION: -50%] [BALANCE: IMPAIRED]
Behind him, the Hunger burst into the fog zone.
Even through his disorientation, Kael could feel its presence—a wrongness in the air, a weight of predatory intent. He heard it snarl, heard the sound become confused as the fog affected it too.
That's right, you bastard. Doesn't feel so good, does it?
He kept moving, following the direction his Pattern Recognition insisted was correct even when his eyes and inner ear disagreed. The ravine was ahead—maybe fifty meters, maybe a hundred. Hard to judge distance when the world was spinning.
An arrow streaked past him from somewhere to the left.
[ALLY ATTACK DETECTED - NOT TARGETED AT YOU]
Vera was shooting at the Hunger. Not to hurt it—to guide it. Each arrow landed just in front of the monster, herding it deeper into the fog, steering it toward the ravine.
The Hunger roared again, but there was something different about the sound now. Frustration. Exhaustion.
It's working.
The fog thinned as Kael reached the edge of the zone. Ahead, he could see the ravine—a twenty-foot drop into darkness, too wide to jump, too deep to climb out of quickly.
He skidded to a stop at the edge and turned.
The Hunger was right behind him.
For a terrible moment, they faced each other—predator and prey, monster and man. The Hunger was breathing hard, its movements sluggish from the fog's effects. Its glass-tooth smile was less certain than before.
Kael stepped aside.
The Hunger, committed to its lunge, couldn't change direction. It plunged over the edge of the ravine with a howl of rage that shook the trees.
[THE HUNGER - STATUS: INCAPACITATED (TEMPORARY)] [ESTIMATED RECOVERY TIME: 45 MINUTES]
Forty-five minutes. Not permanent, but breathing room.
Vera emerged from the trees, bow still in hand. "That actually worked."
"You sound surprised."
"I am. I thought for sure you were going to die in the fog zone."
"I nearly did. Pattern Recognition saved me." Kael moved back from the ravine's edge—the Hunger was already climbing, and he didn't want to be there when it got out. "How many more traps can we lead it through?"
"I know of three more major hazards. Collapsing trees, a quicksand pit, and something my party called 'the grinder'—rotating stone cylinders near the floor exit."
"If we hit all of them, think that'll be enough to tire it out?"
Vera considered. "Maybe. Or it'll get angry enough to stop playing by the rules."
"What do you mean?"
"The Hunger operates on Tower logic—it hunts, we run, everyone plays their roles. But I've heard stories about climbers who pushed too hard. Made the predators mad enough to break the normal patterns." She met his eyes. "If that thing decides we're not worth toying with anymore, it'll stop being slow. Stop giving us chances. It'll just kill us."
Calculated risk. Kael was familiar with those. His whole life had been calculated risks, right up until the one that sent him into the Tower.
"Then we better make sure the traps work," he said. "Come on—we've got forty-five minutes."
PART THREE: THE GRINDER
CHAPTER 5: ESCALATION
The collapsing trees went smoothly. Vera triggered a chain of weighted ropes while Kael drew the Hunger's attention, and three massive oaks crashed down on the monster's head.
[THE HUNGER - STAMINA: DEPLETED BY 15%]
The quicksand pit was messier. The Hunger nearly caught Kael as he crossed the bridge of vines above the pit, missing his ankle by inches. But it fell in, and by the time it dragged itself out, another chunk of its seemingly infinite stamina was gone.
[THE HUNGER - STAMINA: DEPLETED BY 32%]
Two traps left. And the Hunger was getting smarter.
"It's learning our patterns," Vera muttered as they rested in a safe zone—a small clearing marked by glowing mushrooms that the predator couldn't enter. "Did you see how it almost cut us off back there?"
Kael had seen. His Pattern Recognition had shown him the Hunger's new approach: instead of directly pursuing, it was trying to anticipate their movements.
"We're running out of tricks," he agreed. "The grinder's our last big hazard. After that, we're down to hoping it gets tired on its own."
"Or hoping we can reach the exit before it catches us."
"Where is the exit?"
"On the other side of the grinder. That's why my party called it that—you have to get through the cylinders to reach the portal."
Convenient. "So if we lead the Hunger into the grinder, we can use its recovery time to escape."
"Theoretically. But the grinder is dangerous for climbers too. My team lost our tank in there."
Kael processed that. "What kind of dangerous?"
"The cylinders rotate unpredictably. No pattern. You have to watch their speed and guess when to move. Even with five people, we barely made it through."
No pattern. The one thing his ability was designed to find.
Maybe that's the point.
"The Tower gave me Pattern Recognition," Kael said slowly. "It wouldn't do that if there wasn't a use for it on this floor. Maybe I can see something in the grinder that other climbers can't."
Vera looked skeptical. "You've had that ability for what, a few hours? And you think you can analyze something that kills experienced climbers?"
"I think I can try. And right now, trying is all we've got."
The safe zone's protection was fading—the mushrooms' glow dimming as their five-minute timer expired.
"Fine," Vera said, standing and checking her bow. "Let's go get killed in a meat grinder. At least it'll be memorable."
CHAPTER 6: THE CYLINDERS
The grinder was exactly as unpleasant as Vera had described.
A corridor of stone, fifty meters long, lined with rotating cylinders that jutted from the walls at irregular intervals. Each cylinder was about three feet in diameter and covered in blunt protrusions—not sharp enough to slice, but more than capable of crushing bone if you got caught between them.
And they were all moving. Spinning at different speeds, changing direction without warning, creating a gauntlet of constant motion.
[THE GRINDER - ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD] [WARNING: No safe pattern exists. Timing is critical.]
No safe pattern. Kael stared at the rotating cylinders and let his Pattern Recognition loose.
At first, there was nothing. The cylinders really did move randomly—no rhythm, no sequence, no exploitable cycle.
But then he looked deeper.
Not at the cylinders themselves. At the shadows they cast. At the air currents they created. At the tiny vibrations in the floor that preceded each rotation change.
Not a pattern, he realized. Tells.
Like poker players before they bluffed. Like card tables before they dealt. Every random element had an instant—just a fraction of a second—where its next action was telegraphed.
"I can see it," he breathed.
"See what?"
"The tells. Each cylinder gives a signal before it changes. It's not a pattern—you can't predict them in advance. But if you watch closely enough, you can react in time."
Vera studied the grinder, then studied him. "That's... a significant ability."
"I told you. The Tower rewards the reckless."
The Hunger's roar echoed through the forest behind them. It was coming. They had maybe two minutes before it caught up.
"Okay," Vera said. "Here's the plan. You go first through the grinder. I'll hold the entrance, slow the Hunger down as long as I can. When it commits to the corridor, I'll follow you through."
"That's suicide. You'll be trapped between the grinder and the monster."
"I'm faster than you, remember? And I've been through this once already—I know the timing, even without your ability. I can make it."
"And if you can't?"
She smiled, and for the first time it reached her eyes. "Then you get to be the Unawakened solo climber who made it to Floor 4. Make a good story out of it."
There wasn't time to argue. Kael nodded once, then turned to face the grinder.
Watch the tells. React. Don't think—just move.
He stepped into the corridor.
CHAPTER 7: THROUGH
The first cylinder nearly killed him.
Kael's Pattern Recognition screamed a warning and he threw himself backward, feeling displaced air as the stone pillar rotated through the space his head had occupied. He rolled under it, came up running, and immediately had to dodge another.
Left, right, duck, jump. The world became a blur of motion and reaction, his conscious mind shut down entirely in favor of pure instinct. The cylinders spun and shifted and he threaded between them with centimeters to spare.
[DAMAGE AVOIDED] [DAMAGE AVOIDED] [DAMAGE AVOIDED]
Halfway through. He could see the exit portal ahead, shimmering blue against the dark stone.
Behind him, he heard Vera's bow sing—once, twice, three times in rapid succession. Then the Hunger's roar, closer than before.
Kael pushed forward.
A cylinder changed direction mid-spin, catching him off-guard. The protrusions slammed into his shoulder, spinning him around and throwing him against the wall.
[KAEL VANCE: 98/140 HP] [STUNNED - 2 SECONDS]
Two seconds. An eternity in the grinder.
He forced his body to move, ignoring the pain, ignoring the damage notification. The exit was right there—ten meters, maybe less.
The final cylinder was the largest, rotating at a speed that created a wall of stone. There was no gap, no opening, just endless motion.
No safe pattern exists.
But there was a tell. The floor vibrated differently just before the cylinder slowed to change direction. A fraction of a second window where it was almost—not quite—still.
Kael watched. Waited.
The vibration came.
He sprinted forward, diving through the gap at the exact moment the cylinder paused in its rotation.
[THE GRINDER - CLEARED] [SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: First solo clear recorded for this floor variant.]
He tumbled out onto solid ground, gasping for breath, every muscle aching. The exit portal was three meters away.
Behind him, in the grinder, he heard Vera—a yelp of pain, the crack of her bow against stone.
Kael turned back.
She was trapped. A cylinder had caught her foot, pinning her in place while another rotated toward her head. In seconds, she'd be crushed.
He could reach the portal. The floor would be complete. He'd have survived.
Is that the kind of climber you want to be?
Kael grabbed his sword and ran back into the grinder.
CHAPTER 8: THE CHOICE
He reached Vera just as the cylinder began its killing rotation.
His sword wasn't made for prying—the blade was too thin, too sharp—but desperation provided strength. He jammed it between the cylinder and the wall, using his body weight as leverage, and for one impossible second, the rotation slowed.
"Go!" he shouted. "NOW!"
Vera ripped her foot free and scrambled toward the exit. Kael let go of his sword—it was already bending, about to snap—and followed.
They burst out of the grinder together, colliding with the stone floor in a tangle of limbs and gear.
Behind them, the Hunger appeared at the grinder's entrance.
For a moment, the monster paused, assessing. The corridor of cylinders stretched before it—dangerous, exhausting, designed to wear down even the mightiest predator.
[THE HUNGER - STATUS: CALCULATING]
Then it looked at Kael and Vera, lying helpless on the floor. Looked at the exit portal, shimmering with escape.
And it started through the grinder.
"Oh no," Vera breathed.
"Go. Portal. Now." Kael pulled himself upright, reaching for a weapon he no longer had—his sword was destroyed in the cylinder mechanism. "I'll buy time."
"With what? Your winning personality?"
The Hunger was smashing through the cylinders. Not dodging, not weaving—just plowing through by force, accepting the damage in exchange for speed.
[THE HUNGER - STAMINA: DEPLETED BY 75%]
Seventy-five percent. The traps had worked better than Kael had hoped. But the monster was still moving, still hunting, still coming.
He looked at Vera. "Can you make it to the portal?"
"Yes. But—"
"Then go. I'll distract it."
"You'll die."
"Probably." Kael smiled, and was surprised to find that he meant it. "But I was supposed to die twenty hours ago, in an alley in Meridian City. Everything since then has been borrowed time. If I can spend it saving someone else, that's not a bad trade."
Vera stared at him for a long moment. Then she pressed something into his hand—a crystal that pulsed with red light.
"Emergency flare," she said. "Blinds shadow creatures. The Hunger isn't technically a shadow creature, but it might react badly to sudden light. Use it when you need to run."
"I thought you were using me as bait if things went wrong."
"You came back for me in the grinder. That means you're not bait anymore." She stood, wincing at her injured foot. "You're an idiot, but you're my kind of idiot. Try not to die, Kael."
She ran for the portal.
The Hunger burst through the last cylinder.
[THE HUNGER - STATUS: EXHAUSTED] [STAMINA: 12%]
Twelve percent. Barely functional. If Kael had a weapon, if he had a party, if he had anything more than his bare hands and a light bomb...
The monster advanced, slower than before but still deadly. Its glass-tooth smile was fixed on Kael with something that might have been respect.
You've given me a good hunt, its posture seemed to say. I'll make your death quick.
Kael held up the flare crystal.
"How about we call it a draw instead?"
He threw it at the Hunger's face.
[EMERGENCY FLARE ACTIVATED] [BLINDING LIGHT - ALL CREATURES IN RANGE AFFECTED]
The light was incredible—brighter than anything Kael had ever seen, bright enough to burn afterimages into his closed eyelids. He heard the Hunger scream, a sound of genuine pain rather than hunting excitement.
And he ran.
Not toward the portal—Vera was there, needed clear space to escape. He ran sideways, along the edge of the clearing, drawing the blinded monster's attention through sound alone.
[THE HUNGER - STATUS: BLINDED (TEMPORARY)] [THE HUNGER - STAMINA: 3%]
Three percent. It was almost done.
The Hunger stumbled after him, following the sound of his footsteps. Its movements were erratic, desperate—a predator pushed past its limits, operating on pure instinct.
Then it stopped.
[THE HUNGER - STAMINA: 0%] [STATUS: EXHAUSTED - HUNT CONCLUDED]
The monster stood in the center of the clearing, swaying slightly. Then, without ceremony, it dissolved into shadow and vanished.
[FLOOR 3 COMPLETE!] [SURVIVAL OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED] [THE HUNTER HAS RETURNED TO REST]
[PERFORMANCE RATING: A-] [COMMENT: Exceptional teamwork and environmental exploitation. The Tower is impressed.]
Kael collapsed where he stood, laughing and crying and shaking all at once.
He was alive. Against every statistic, every prediction, every reasonable expectation—he was alive.
[LEVEL UP! KAEL VANCE - LEVEL 5] [NEW RECORD: Unawakened Solo Climber - Floor 3 (Cleared)] [NOTE: Previous record holder deceased. New record stands.]
PART FOUR: REST
CHAPTER 9: FLOOR 4 STAGING
The portal deposited Kael in a room of white stone and soft lighting.
[REST FLOOR REACHED - FLOOR 4 STAGING] [SAFE ZONE - NO ENEMIES, NO TRAPS] [SERVICES AVAILABLE: Healing, Trading, Information, Exit]
A rest floor. Every tenth floor was one—a chance to recover, resupply, and decide whether to continue climbing or leave the Tower.
Vera was already there, sitting on a stone bench and examining her injured foot. She looked up as he appeared.
"You're not dead."
"Disappointed?"
"Surprised. I thought for sure the blinding thing would backfire."
"It almost did. But the Hunger was running on fumes. Another thirty seconds and it would have caught me anyway." Kael limped over and sat down heavily beside her. "Thanks for the flare."
"Thanks for saving my life in the grinder. We're even."
The rest floor was larger than Kael had expected—a circular chamber with multiple alcoves branching off. One contained healing pools, another had merchant displays, a third showed scrolling information panels.
"What now?" he asked.
Vera shrugged. "I rest. Heal up. Decide if I want to keep climbing or take the exit. My guild will probably penalize me for losing the team, but..." She trailed off.
"But?"
"But I just survived Floor 3 with a solo Unawakened climber who's been in the Tower for less than a day. I'm starting to think maybe there's more to climbing than guild protocols."
Kael felt something warm in his chest. Not attraction—though Vera was certainly attractive—but something else. Recognition. Connection.
"Partners?" he offered.
"Partners," she agreed. "At least until one of us dies horribly."
"Reassuring."
"I try."
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching the information panels scroll through news from higher floors. Guilds advancing, monsters evolving, records being set and broken.
"Hey, Kael?"
"Yeah?"
"Why did you come back for me? In the grinder. You could have made it to the portal."
He thought about the question. About the sister he'd lost to the Tower, and the parents who'd worked themselves to death, and the twelve years of gambling that had brought him to Viktor Marrow's rigged table.
"Because I'm tired of running away," he said finally. "I spent my whole life running—from responsibility, from commitment, from anything that mattered. When I entered the Tower, I told myself I was choosing to die. But I wasn't. I was just running from life."
"And now?"
"Now I'm climbing. And climbing means going up, not away."
Vera was quiet for a moment. Then she reached over and punched him in the arm.
"That's surprisingly philosophical for a Level 5 gambler."
"I prefer 'strategic thinker.'"
"Still the same thing."
But she was smiling, and so was he.
[FLOOR 3 SUMMARY:] [CLIMBERS: Kael Vance, Vera Okonkwo] [TIME: 6 hours, 47 minutes] [KILLS: Environmental only] [THE HUNGER: Exhausted through combined environmental hazards]
[KAEL VANCE - LEVEL 5] [CLASS: Tower Initiate] [ABILITIES: Pattern Recognition (Passive)] [NEW EQUIPMENT NEEDED: Weapon, better armor]
[VERA OKONKWO - LEVEL 8] [CLASS: Pathfinder] [ABILITIES: Eagle Eye (Active), Forest Movement (Passive)] [STATUS: Allied]
[FLOORS CLEARED: 3] [CURRENT TOWER RECORD (Unawakened Solo): Floor 3 - Kael Vance]
Next Episode: "The Bargain" - The rest floor offers more than just healing. When a mysterious merchant presents Kael with an opportunity too good to refuse, he'll learn that everything in the Tower comes with a price.