The weight of the crown was the first thing I felt. It wasn't physical weight—though the jagged circlet of black iron digging into my temples was heavy enough—it was the weight of a concept. The collective expectation of a million invisible eyes peering down from the higher dimensions. The crushing gravity of a Story that had already been written.
I stood on a dais of polished obsidian. Below me, the great hall of the Demon King's castle stretched out like a dark cathedral. Braziers of green soul-fire flickered along the walls, casting long, distorted shadows that danced with their own life.
This floor. I remembered why the twentieth floor was called 'The Wall'. In the Old World, this was where the dreamers went to die.
A system window, shimmering with a blood-red border, appeared in front of my face. It pulsed like a heartbeat.
『Floor 20: The Fable of the Villain (Meta-Story Milestone)』
『Main Scenario: The Hero's Downfall』
『Role Assigned: The Great Calamity (Demon King)』
