It was over.

The 3rd Floor was finally over.

I was so mad. And so tired.

Even without a body, it seemed that being exhausted was still a thing.

Floating out in nothing, and I was just beat.

All that work...

All that work, and it ended before I could confirm anything.

I'd spent so much time.

Not getting a clear answer after all of that was so...

Well, just downright frustrating.

At the same time, I knew that what I was feeling was pointless.

[Floor Progression: 3/100]

That was just a single Floor.

There were 97 more of those.

17 of them, if it was just to get the option to return to Earth...

God damn... Just getting to the 20th Floor seemed far off.

I tried to let the anger go.

If I really wanted answers, chances were good I'd have more opportunities.

Besides, I had done really well.

I'd been rewarded for all the work I'd done.

I knew I shouldn't be angry.

The 3rd Floor had given me with plenty of Attribute Points.

That had been the real, logical, purpose of staying as long as I had.

I'd been overly curious about things, anyways...

Just because I couldn't confirm the ending...

Well, that didn't mean I couldn't take a very educated guess.

And I was pretty sure I understood what had happened.

Because I was actively trying not to freak out about it.

"Ping"

Selected Name: John

Username: [Locked]

Global Chat Access ->

[Restricted]

Full Menu Access: ->

[Restricted]

Total Days in Trial:

[116 Days]

Floors Completed: [3]

Current Floor: [4]

Unspent Attribute Points: [4]

I hadn't seen. I didn't know for certain.

As such, I decided I could save my panicking for another time.

Pushing those internal struggles off to the side seemed to be working for me.

Especially when I was in this place.

Everything seemed to drift, here. Emotions, concern, fear, questions...

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

It was really just me, and the Menu screens.

Unspent Attribute Points: [4]

I was tempted to see if I could spend those while I was here.

I'd never tried...

At the same time, maybe I should wait?

Spending those reactively wasn't great, but it would be better than dying.

If I needed them, and the situation called for it...

It was a pain, not being entirely sure what would be best.

Especially with four of those wonderful things, just sitting there.

Just waiting for me to put them to use.

At least I could congratulate myself for this.

Well done.

Well done, John.

I'd really outdone myself.

The 3rd Floor could have easily been rushed through.

I could have just cleared the minimum requirements.

Moved along, made visible progress right away...

The temptation had been there.

I bet that was how a lot of people made it through.

Clear the Floor, get to safety.

If the 10th Floor was supposedly safe, I knew there was always going to be some of that.

The easy way... I would admit that it was appealing.

Going the extra mile was hard, and putting in extra work was rarely "fun."

And yet...

It might be necessary?

Slow and steady was working for me.

With these new points, I had almost made up for the 2nd Floor's goose-egg.

Whatever I happened to spend them on, was going to be a huge help.

Plus, there was no guarentee every Floor was going to give me so much time.

Taking advantage of Floors like these... I felt that it might important.

Better to be prepared, than to rush to the next Floor and find myself overwhelmed.

That could be very dangerous.

No, I had done the right thing.

This was good. The results were good.

I relaxed and breathed in, letting the nothingness of this empty space fill me.

Mana... There really was a lot of mana here.

I felt like I was drifting in an ocean of it.

It made me feel at peace. Like I was soaring upward...

It was a real shame the [Trial] always seemed to be in a rush to toss me out of this place.

I was starting to like it here.

Strange as this space was, it was a real comfort.

"Ping"

Floor 4 - Minimum Clear Condition: Survive Until The Third Fight

Ah, and there it was. Right on cue.

I clicked my non-existing tongue, as I read the message over.

Hmm...

Third fight.

So... logically, that meant two fights prior to that?

That was a lot more fighting than I would prefer...

[Task… Pending]

Ah.

None of that, menu.

Title “Ambitious” - [Recognized]

Query: [Apply Title to Floor 4?]

[Yes]

[No]

Hell no.

No thank you.

No way.

[No]

To hell with that title.

There was no way I was ready for that sort of thing.

[Title Not Activated – Difficulty Reduced]

[Floor 4 – Task to complete: Survive Until The Third Fight]

Another "Ping" sounded.

[Floor 4 – Secondary Conditions:]

[Win the First Fight]

[Win the Second Fight]

I stopped, re-reading these screens a few times to be sure.

These conditions seemed backwards.

Why was the "Secondary Condition" before the "Clear Condition?"

That didn't look right.

Was this an all-or-nothing situation?

I felt like this looked like an all-or-nothing situation.

Which was concerning.

Fighting wasn't my strong suit.

I'd been working to correct that, but I had a lot of training left to do.

I hadn't gotten any combat Skills apart from Archery, quite yet.

Relying on Attributes to pull me through... that was only going to get me so far.

Was I ready?

The empty void began to shift.

I knew I would have to be.

With one last deep breath of mana, I was on my way regardless.

[Floor 4 – Start]