Floor 4 was almost insulting.
Gun and Luna stepped out onto the island's next layer expecting another nightmare, another strange biome, another long fight.
Instead, they got a floor that felt almost normal.
It was bigger than Floor 3, sure. The terrain stretched farther, the ruins were more spread out, and the monsters were stronger on paper.
But in practice?
Gun barely had to break a sweat.
A few fast-moving beasts. Some low-tier mobs. A couple of ambushes hidden in the grass.
Nothing serious.
Gun tested his new movement with the Slimy Boots a few times, bouncing higher over broken stone and short cliffs, and Luna laughed the first time he nearly flew over a wall by accident.
"Okay," Gun muttered after another easy skirmish, "this floor is kind of lame."
Luna gave him a look. "Careful. The tower tends to punish people for saying that."
"Then let it try."
Nothing on Floor 4 proved him wrong.
They cleared through it quickly, and by the time they reached the staircase to Floor 5, Gun had already decided something.
This floor was just a transition.
The real challenge was next.
Floor 5 was different from the second they arrived.
The floor opened into a broad testing ground made of multiple floating islands suspended over a dark void. Bridges of stone connected some of them, but most were separated by large gaps. The air felt controlled, monitored, almost artificial compared to the wild island jungle of Floor 3.
It didn't feel like a battlefield.
It felt like an exam.
A system announcement flashed above them.
FLOOR 5 TEST: TEAM EVALUATION
Participation requires a team of 3 climbers.
Gun stared at the message.
Luna read it twice.
"…We need a third person," she said.
Gun folded his arms. "Obviously."
The floor wasn't going to let them continue unless they entered as a trio. That meant finding someone else before the test started.
Gun looked around at the other climbers gathered on the islands.
Some were already forming groups. Some were arguing. Some were looking for whoever they could convince to join them.
And then Gun noticed someone weird.
A child sleeping on a chair.
He was sitting alone near the edge of one of the platforms, head tilted forward, arms crossed, completely unconcerned with the chaos around him.
Gun blinked.
Luna frowned. "Is that… a kid?"
They walked closer.
The boy looked young, maybe fourteen at most, with short messy hair and a calm face despite sleeping in the middle of a tower floor full of dangerous climbers. He looked almost too small to be here at all.
Gun frowned.
"Why is a child alone in the tower?"
Luna crossed her arms. "Yeah, that's what I was wondering."
Gun stepped closer and tapped the chair leg with his boot.
No reaction.
He leaned down slightly.
"Hey."
Still nothing.
He tapped again.
The boy's eye twitched.
Then the kid suddenly shot upright with a glare so sharp it made both of them pause.
"Who the hell woke me up?"
Gun blinked.
Luna took a half-step back.
The kid stood from the chair, looking annoyed, and rubbed his eyes with the expression of someone who had been robbed of something important.
"I was meditating," he snapped. "Do you two have a death wish or something?"
Gun raised a hand.
"Relax."
The child's glare deepened.
"Don't tell me to relax."
Luna looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry. We just thought you were sleeping."
"I wasn't sleeping."
Gun tilted his head. "You were passed out on a chair."
"I was resting my eyes during meditation."
Gun and Luna exchanged a look.
This was already weird.
The kid finally seemed to notice their gear, their level of calm, and the fact that they were still standing there instead of walking away.
His expression changed slightly.
Not friendly.
Just less angry.
"You two looking for a team?" he asked.
Gun nodded.
"We need a third."
The kid scoffed. "No one wants to team with me."
Luna frowned. "Why not?"
"Because I'm a child," he said flatly. "They think I'll be dead weight."
Gun looked at him for a moment.
Then asked, "Are you?"
The kid stared at him.
Gun continued, completely serious.
"Are you actually useless?"
That made the boy bristle.
"Of course not."
Gun nodded once. "Then that answers it."
The kid frowned. "What?"
Gun shrugged.
"If you can fight, you're not dead weight."
He pointed toward the other climbers spread across the islands.
"Them being too stupid to see that is their problem."
The child stared at him for a second, like he wasn't used to hearing something that direct.
Luna softened a little too.
"We're not here to judge you," she said. "We just need someone who can help."
The kid studied them in silence.
Then he exhaled and crossed his arms.
"…Fine."
Gun raised an eyebrow.
"Fine?"
"I'll team with you."
Luna smiled a little. "Great."
The kid looked away.
"Don't make me regret it."
Gun gave a small grin. "No promises."
Once they had the third member, they finally got a proper look at his system profile.
He introduced himself simply.
"Name's Jack."
Gun nodded. "Gun."
Luna waved. "Luna."
Then Jack explained his class and nexus.
"Assassin," he said. "Voltbrand."
Gun's eyes sharpened slightly. "Nice."
Jack looked at him oddly. "You know what that means?"
"I know what lightning assassins usually do," Gun replied.
Jack snorted.
Then he held up two fingers.
"I've got two spells."
He seemed reluctant at first, but once he started talking, the confidence came back.
"First one is [Flash]."
He pointed toward the open air.
"It uses lightning to blind the enemy for a short duration, then I travel like a bolt behind them."
Gun nodded slowly.
"Useful."
Luna tilted her head. "So it's like repositioning and opening up the target."
Jack pointed at her. "Exactly."
Then he held up a second finger.
"Second is [Thunder Bolt]."
His voice got a little more intense now.
"I dive into the enemy at insane speed, my blade gets amplified by lightning, and I perform multiple slashes so fast each hit electrifies the target for 0.2 seconds."
Gun narrowed his eyes.
"…So basically a stun chain."
Jack gave a small smile.
"Yeah."
Luna looked impressed. "That's actually strong."
Gun nodded once.
"Especially for a team test."
Jack glanced at both of them.
"You two planning something already?"
Gun shrugged.
"Probably."
Luna smiled faintly. "Gun always is."
Jack looked at Gun more closely now, clearly trying to figure him out.
Gun noticed and ignored it.
Around them, the test area was filling up.
Five islands in total.
Five teams gathering.
Four other teams besides theirs.
Some were openly tense.
Others were already whispering and watching the others like predators.
Then the system announcement appeared again.
TEST PARAMETERS ISSUED
Each climber will be given a coin. Choose a leader of your team. The leader must act like one. Their coin will be slightly different. Find the leader of the other teams and hide who is your leader. For every correct guess, gain 20 points. For every team that correctly identifies your leader, lose 20% of your points. If you steal someone's leader coin, their team automatically loses and your team gains 20 points.
Gun read the instructions twice.
Then he glanced at Luna and Jack.
"…So it's a mix of deception and theft."
Luna nodded. "And probably combat."
Jack folded his arms. "No kidding."
Gun looked around at the other teams across the islands.
Five islands.
Five coins.
Five leaders.
One mistake could wreck a team.
He tapped his fingers on the hilt of his sword, already thinking through possibilities. Who would be best as leader. Who would act natural. Who could bluff. Who would attract attention. Who would hide too well.
Luna seemed to be doing the same thing.
Jack had gone quiet too, his eyes scanning the other climbers with an assassin's instinct.
Gun smirked slightly.
"Alright."
Luna looked at him. "You've got a plan?"
Gun's grin widened just a little.
"Not yet."
Jack frowned. "That's not comforting."
Gun shrugged.
"Didn't say it was supposed to be."
The system timer above them began to count down.
The test was about to begin.
Gun adjusted his grip on his weapon and looked from one island to the next.
Somewhere among those teams was a leader coin worth stealing.
Somewhere among those climbers was a bluff waiting to be exposed.
And somewhere ahead of them was the first real strategic test of the tower.
Gun exhaled slowly.
"We figure out the rest once we're inside."
Luna nodded.
Jack gave a short, confident shrug.
The three of them stood on the edge of the starting platform as the floor prepared to begin.