The notification window’s sudden appearance left me dumbstruck, and a soft, incredulous exclamation escaped my lips before I could stop it. 0

“Huh?”0

I was so shocked that I struggled to process the situation. My gaze remained glued to the floating text for several seconds, and it took me a while to finally comprehend its meaning.0

What? The seventeenth to the nineteenth floors have collapsed? What could have caused this? Is it because I killed the Emperor? Or is it because we successfully defended the fortress?1

The root cause remained elusive. Since the sixteenth floor ended in such a drastically different manner from Ha Hee-Jeong’s previous life, there was no way to pinpoint a single reason.0

The other climbers were likely just as bewildered as I was. I didn’t even need to check the Community to know the forums would be ablaze with wild speculations and frenzied discussions. The feeling was so intense that I could almost feel the confusion emanating from it.3

- Seo Ha-Rin (Twentieth Floor): What’s happening? Is it true that the seventeenth to nineteenth floors have vanished, and we’re jumping straight to the twentieth floor?0

- Cole Grouse (Twentieth Floor): Yeah, what’s going on? This came out of nowhere.0

- Seo Ho-Su (Twentieth Floor): Did this happen because Su-Hyeok killed the Emperor or something?1

Even my party was flooding our chat with urgent questions.0

I replied to my party members, admitting that I wasn’t entirely sure of the details either, before reaching out to Ha Hee-Jeong for answers.0

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Twentieth Floor): Hey, Hee-Jeong. What’s...0