The 12th floor materialized around Kang Min in the form of a sprawling wasteland. Obsidian jutted from the earth in uneven formations across the entire landscape, and a red-tinted fog sat low over everything, thick enough to obscure the horizon. The air carried a pressure to it that the lower floors never had. This was where the Tower began in earnest.
Kang Min was not looking at any of it.
He was looking at the Blue Tiger, which was flat on its back at his feet with all four massive paws pointed at the ceiling of the fog, rumbling so hard the ground beneath Kang Min's boots trembled faintly. The beast nudged his boot with its snout and waited.
Kang Min stared at it for a long moment.
"You killed forty-something people," he said. "Elite players. You caved in full party formations by yourself." He crouched down slowly and scratched behind one of its enormous tufted ears. The rumbling intensified. "And now you want me to pet you."
