The boss.
It wasn’t just big.
It was absurd.
Some kind of giant, horned monstrosity stitched together out of scales, fire, and every horrible creature Ren would’ve preferred stayed in bad dreams.
The air was filled with heat, smoke, and the low thud of the boss’s footsteps shaking the cavern walls.
The fight was brutal from the start.
Ren was swearing almost immediately.
“This is why I don’t do dungeon fights!” he yelled, diving out of the way as a wave of molten rock exploded across the floor.
He was hopping, rolling, half-crawling around broken stone, desperately throwing buffs and emergency heals while the others attacked.
“I make potions, you lunatics! Potions!” Ren shouted, barely dodging a swipe that would’ve turned him into paste.
“This is exactly why I stay in my damn tent!”
It was pandemonium.
But this time, they had the potions.
Real potions.
His potions.
The kind that made the impossible survivable.
Gareth soaked the damage.
Lil slashed and darted through openings.
Moss picked off weak points with brutal precision.
Cassien hammered away, relentless.
And Ren—grumbling, cursing, panicking—kept them all alive.
Little by little, they chipped the boss down.
This time, with Ren’s ultra-powered potions pumping through their veins like liquid godmode, they chewed through the boss. No stalling, no panic-heals, just clean, brutal efficiency. When the berserk phase hit—when the screen shook, the boss tripled in size, and half the party started screaming—those potions kept them upright.
Not just alive.
Unstoppable.
Burn resistance, stagger immunity, instant-cast healing, and that nasty little critical surge brew Ren had slipped them just in case? Yeah. That hit hard.
The tank face-tanked four slams in a row.
The assassin ignored the fire pools and stood still.
The ranger kept laughing.
And then—BOOM. The final burst landed. The boss staggered, let out a tremendous death roar, and collapsed into loot and particle effects.
They had done it.
Not because they were the best fighters.
But because they had Ren.
And Ren had brought war in a bottle.
Everyone exhaled.
There were whoops, backslaps, cheers.
And then—
DUNGEON BOSS DEFEATED.
TIME FOR YOUR SACRIFICE.
CHOOSE WHO TO SACRIFICE.
All five names popped up at once.
Ren stared at the list, stomach sinking.
‘Sacrifice?’ he thought. ‘The hell is this?’
Before he could even react, a second notification appeared:
FOUR TEAM MEMBERS HAVE SELECTED: REN VARROW
“What the hell?!” Ren shouted out loud.
The others turned and blinked at him innocently.
“What’s wrong, Ren?” Lil asked, flashing a too-sweet smile.
“According to this prompt. I have to sacrifice my entire character! And suffer a one month cool down! Not just die and respawn!” he snapped.
Cassien shrugged, looking completely unconcerned.
“Come on, man. It’s for the guild.”
Moss didn’t even bother to look up.
“Yeah, suck it up. It’s not like you’re DPS.”
Even Gareth, the walking brick wall, rumbled, “Better you than us.”
Ren gaped at them.
These assholes weren’t even pretending to be sorry.
Another system prompt flashed:
SACRIFICED MEMBER’S LEVELS AND SKILLS WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO THE GUILD POOL.
GUILD MAY REASSIGN THEM TO OTHER MEMBERS.
The second that appeared, whatever sad expressions they had completely vanished.
“Oh, that’s not bad at all!” Lil chirped.
“Think about it! You’re not really dying—you’re contributing!”
“Guild family, man,” Cassien added, clapping him on the back hard enough to almost knock him over.
“Guild family forever!”
Ren clenched his teeth so hard it hurt.
“This is bullshit,” he muttered.
“Come on,” said Moss lazily.
“Take one for the team. It’s tradition.”
It wasn’t even the raid leader pushing for it anymore—it was Cassien, the cheerful off-tank.
Cassien was already rallying everyone, spinning it like it was Ren’s duty.
“Look,” Cassien said, “we don’t even know if this is the end of the dungeon. Maybe there’s another stage. Maybe we still need the heavy hitters.”
“We don’t!” Ren snapped.
“This kind of notification always happens at the end of the dungeon!”
Cassien just smiled that infuriating, careless smile.
“Yeah, maybe. But you’re just a Level 10 cleric. If there’s another fight, honestly? We don’t really need you.”
Lil nodded along without missing a beat.
“Especially now that we’ve got enough potions. If the dungeon clears or not, we’re golden.”
Ren stared at them, stunned.
He had left his comfortable alchemy lab, abandoned his room filled with cheeses and herbs, dragged himself into hell for them—
And they were throwing him into the fire without a second thought.
SACRIFICE FINALIZING IN 30 SECONDS
Cassien smiled.
Lil winked.
Stolen novel; please report.
Moss tightened his bowstring without a care.
Even Gareth, cold and impassive, didn’t say a word.
Ren’s hands curled into fists.
‘This is how they repay me,’ he thought bitterly.
‘Leave my comfy castle…and get sacrificed like a disposable item.’
And worst of all?
He didn’t even have Parkinson’s 19 here to trample them.
***
The crazy thing about the 30-second timer was that another screen appeared—
but it only appeared in front of Ren’s face.
SECOND CHANCE AVAILABLE.
Answer the following questions about alchemy to earn it.
YES / NO
Ren frantically smashed YES with his mind.
Instantly, the 30-second sacrifice countdown froze.
Everything around him paused.
Another screen popped up.
Begin Alchemy Knowledge Assessment.
Without warning, questions started flooding in.
What is the primary neutralizing reagent for dragonleaf toxicity?
If mixing phoenix ash with liquid mana, what stabilizer prevents explosion?
How do you distinguish goldenblossom from bloodpetal at a glance?
What potion base is required for simultaneous health and mana regeneration?
Identify three ingredients that must never be combined without an Arcane Cooler.
The questions were fast, detailed, and brutal.
Fantasy alchemy trivia that would have left any normal player screaming.
But not Ren.
He answered them all—firing off the answers so fast the system barely kept up.
Finally, the last question faded.
SECOND CHANCE OFFERED.
DO YOU ACCEPT?
Yes, he mentally slammed.
Hell yes.
Another notification appeared immediately.
If you choose YES, you will experience a five-minute flash forward of everything that occurs in this instance.
“YES!” Ren shouted mentally, hammering the button.
He didn’t even hesitate.
Anything for a second chance.
Anything to claw his way out of this betrayal.
The world around him blurred.
Colors ran together.
Sounds twisted and folded back on themselves.
And then he watched.
Watched as the five-minute flash forward began.
The scene unfolded perfectly:
The others were cheering.
Celebrating.
High-fiving like a bunch of giddy idiots.
“We fucking cleared it!” Lil shouted, throwing her arms up.
There were backslaps, laughing, and smiling faces everywhere.
For a brief moment, Ren smiled too.
Even though he was an introvert, even though he hated raids,
he had still liked being part of Prosperous Guild.
He liked being useful.
Wanted.
But that moment didn’t last.
Because then he heard them.
Real words.
Unfiltered.
Words they hadn’t meant for him to hear.
“I can’t believe Victor’s plan worked out,” Cassien said, laughing.
“I know, right?” Moss said, grinning.
“What do you mean his plan worked out?” Gareth asked.
“Well,” Lil said casually, “based on the dungeon text, we knew someone would have to be sacrificed. And who better than Ren? Someone we could dump without hurting the guild.”
They all laughed.
Laughed.
Ren felt the bottom drop out of his gut.
“Especially since the guild knew there was a high chance the sacrifice would let us transfer their levels,” Moss added.
“Yeah,” Cassien said, chuckling.
“Now we can dump Ren’s skills into Victor’s girlfriend, get the diversity bonus, and not have to worry about anything.”
“I know, it’s brilliant,” Lil said.
“Best solution for everyone—except Ren, I guess.”
“Do you think Ren would’ve taken this mission if he knew?” Gareth joked.
“Ha! Not a chance,” said Cassien.
“That’s why we didn’t tell him.”
“We’re gonna put him back in the guild, right?” Moss asked lazily.
The raid leader snorted.
“Are you kidding? Why would we take back a level 1 scrub? Sure, he might level fast, but the resources to get him back to fighting shape? Screw that.”
“And even if he does join another guild and wants revenge,” Lil added, “good luck with that.”
“Yeah,” Gareth agreed.
“Whatever crappy guild he joins, we’ll squash him like a bug.”
[System Announcement]
Congratulations to Prosperous Guild.
The four of them were still riding the high, laughing, half-celebrating, half-collapsing from the dungeon clear. Their screens lit up with the Prosperous Guild Clearance Banner, and—like tradition—they were prompted to enter their IDs for the credits roll.
“Wanna announce your IDs?” one of them joked.
“Hell yeah,” another replied, already typing.
[Credit Log – Vault of the Frozen Kings Clear]
Each name popped up in golden letters, framed by ice-cracked designs and aurora flashes.
Then came the usual guild tagline, scrolling across like a streamer banner:
Join PROSPEROUS GUILD to be PROSPEROUS!
Apply now. Dungeon-ready, fast-track raiding, loot-share contracts available!
They barely had time to smirk before the system continued.
[System Announcement – Global Level Shift]
Real-world Dungeon Link Established.
The Tower of Hrimspire has fully manifested in [REDACTED].
Reality-Locked Mechanics are now Active.
[New Quest Chain Unlocked: Worldbound Ascension]
Warning: This is not a simulation. Failure to progress will result in mythological spillover events.
Level 50+ parties are now responsible for breach containment.
They stared at the screen. None of them were laughing now.
The Bad Winter Begins.
Warning: The Tower of Hrimspire will now appear on Earth.
Failure to clear the twelve levels will result in [Reality-Linked Monster Emergence].
The screen flickered.
The raid ended.
And the four remaining party members just… sat there, blinking.
‘Bad winter?’
‘What’s bad winter?’
‘Real-life monsters?!’
No one spoke at first. Just shared the kind of panicked silence usually reserved for disasters or unpaid rent.
Then one of them opened their mouth and said what everyone was thinking.
“Wait. Real life? Like real real?”
They weren’t imagining things. A second announcement followed—unprompted and undeniably ominous.
[New Phenomenon Unlocked – Mythic Veil Fracture]
Known Mythologies: Unsealed
- Fenrir has stirred beneath the northern ice
- The Wendigo now howls across frozen treetops
- Draugr infest the shores of Newfoundland
- The Wild Hunt has been sighted under aurora-filled skies
- J?rmungandr’s coils tremble beneath the sea
Region Lock: None
This event affects all active and inactive players.
Towerbound had always bragged about being immersive.
Realistic visuals.
Heart-thudding sound design.
AI-driven NPCs that cried, cursed, and begged for mercy.
But this?
This wasn’t immersive.
This was apocalyptic.
The Tower of Hrimspire would now appear somewhere on Earth. A massive, frost-covered spire from the old Norse legends—rumored to pierce the sky and connect the world of mortals with the realm of forgotten gods.
And now, if they didn’t clear the next level in time… monsters from legends—actual myths—would start pouring out. Into the world. Their world.
Not just an event.
Not just a game.
A threat.
Ren’s heart pounded in his chest. He was angry at the guild. He was angry at himself for accepting this new mission. And he was panicking in his head about the fact that all of a sudden a mythological tower was going to actually appear on Earth?
He listened numbly when they had plotted his erasure—like he was an annoying tool they were throwing away after use.
Towerbound’s ID system wouldn’t save him either.
When a player was created, their genetic signature was locked to their ID.
Even if Ren restarted, even if he rebuilt,
he would always be Ren Varrow.
Always the same.
Always traceable.
There was no hiding.
No starting fresh.
They had planned everything.
They had sold him out.
Ren stared at the frozen vision of his so-called teammates, feeling something inside him break.
‘Fuck you,’ he thought viciously.
‘Fuck every single one of you.’
He could feel it building inside him, white-hot and furious.
‘I hope the second chance thing I just triggered actually is true,’ he thought.
‘Because if it is—’
A notification appeared in front of his eyes, glowing brighter than anything else:
SECOND CHANCE CONFIRMED.
SYSTEM REBOOTING.
PREPARE FOR TRANSFER.
‘You’re all going to pay,’ Ren promised, smiling as the world shattered around him.