The children were now nearing the top of the vine, where it touched the boundary of the heavens.
The Tiger God of Blood was only twenty meters below the trailing players. Its breath smelled of rotting meat and ancient mana.
Suddenly, a sickening crack echoed through the sky.
The vine groaned. Near the summit, the fibers began to snap one by one. It was not the weight of the players that caused it; the rope was rotting from the inside out.
"The rope is breaking!" a woman shrieked. "Climb faster!"
"It won't matter," Kang Min muttered.
He looked at the Tiger God. Several players had realized the same thing. They saw the rope failing and the tiger closing in. They remembered the hidden clear conditions of previous floors.
"We have to kill the tiger!" Gwon shouted, his mind clearing briefly as the threat of permanent death outweighed the miasma. "The rope won't hold! Jump down! Fight it in the air!"
