"We’ll wait here as usual," Yara said before glancing at Elyes. "Ely, put up the barrier."

"Yeees..." Elyes dragged out the word lazily.

He tapped his staff against the ground.The gem embedded at its tip lit up with a warm golden glow. A glassy barrier expanded outward from him, forming a dome around their campsite.

There was no chanting... no complicated ritual. The man looked more inconvenienced by having to stand up than by casting magic. She suddenly felt very out of place. "Am I even needed here...?"

Yara, who was spreading a picnic blanket with the help of Jules, laughed softly. "Genesis has regulations. A party must have at least 6 members."

Misha paused for a moment as if processing what she had just heard. Somehow, that stung a little.

Then again, she lied her way into the party. She really wasn’t in a position to complain.

Elyes snorted. "Our 6th member left a few weeks ago and joined a guild."

"He didn’t leave, he betrayed us for a guild with a big name." Nyxie scoffed.

"We tried entering the 8th Floor without replacing him. The gate wouldn’t activate since certain floors require a minimum number of Raiders before they would allow passage. The 8th Floor is one of them," Yara continued to explain.

That made a lot more sense... In the end, she really was just there to satisfy the headcount requirement.

Misha never expected to end up being carried by a group like them. This was good for her though. Some people might have found the idea embarrassing, Misha wasn’t one of them.

If a group of experienced Raiders wanted to drag her safely up the tower, she wasn’t going to complain. Getting carried sounded much better than getting killed.

If anything, it felt oddly nostalgic...

Caleb had been carrying her in games for years. Whenever things became difficult, he would somehow end up doing most of the work in whatever games they played together.

Gaming with Caleb taught her an important lesson: If the strongest person in the party says "Stay behind me," then do exactly that.

It had worked surprisingly well for years. Granted most of those situations involved dragons, zombies, and questionable internet connections.

Well... the only difference was that this party lacked a mute button for her stupid questions.

At this point, she suspected that her greatest talent wasn’t fighting or even surviving. It most likely was finding competent people and attaching herself to them just so they could carry her all the way to the top floor.

"Why is the recommendation even needed?" She asked with a small huff. "I don’t plan on returning to Genesis after I finish my field experience anyway."

"Most people say that," Yara replied as she sat down on the picnic blanket.

Before Misha could ask what she meant, Nyxie finished a few quick stretches and rolled her shoulders.

"Alright! Everyone, I’m heading out!"

"Wait, wha–"

Swiiish!

Before Misha could react, Nyxie shot toward the forerst. One moment, she was there, and the next, she was already sprinting across the field at full speed. Her figure disappeared between the trees as if she already knew exactly where the goblin nest was located.

BOOOM!!

A distant explosion echoed moments later.

「 〔 SYSTEM NOTICE 〕

Goblin Extermination (7/100) 」

Misha stared at the number for a moment, then turned her gaze towards where the sound came from. "Um... Should we be worried?"

"No," Elyes said.

"Why not?"

"Because if the number suddenly jumps to 30, that means she’s having fun."

Thirty? What exactly was her definition of fun?

As if to answer her question, another explosion was heard from deep within the forest. The ground trembled faintly beneath her feet.

Misha stared in that direction. On the second thought, I don’t want to know...

「 〔 SYSTEM NOTICE 〕

Goblin Extermination (18/100) 」

"Shouldn’t we... at least help her?" Misha asked cautiously. No matter what, a hundred goblins were still too much for one person to handle.

Gerbaut didn’t even look up from the tea he was pouring into Yara’s cup. "She’d be offended if we did."

"V-very offended," Jules agreed.

BOOOM!!

Another explosion rang out.

「 〔 SYSTEM NOTICE 〕

Goblin Extermination (34/100) 」

Here, apparently, offering help was considered an insult.

Just how strong was Nyxie?

A hundred goblins and Nyxie had run off earlier without the slightest hint of concern.

Misha glanced around. Yara was calmly sipping her drink, Gerbaut looked completely unconcerned, Elyes was taking a nap, and Jules was helping arrange food on the blanket. Nobody looked worried, not even a little.

Either Nyxie was absurdly strong... or she had accidentally joined a group of lunatics.

"We are confident in our skills, so you don’t have to worry," Yara said with a soft chuckle as though she had read Misha’s thoughts.

"The first 10 floors of the tower are called Training Floors. Anyone born in the higher cities that wanted to become a Raider is required to start at Genesis." She took a sip of tea before continuing, "If you had actually listened in class, you’d know this is where people are taught how to survive. Besides, the first 10 floors are monitored by Rankers."

Misha blinked a few times in confusion. "Monitored?"

Instinctively, she looked around the field. There was no one. Just grass, trees, her teammates, and the occasional explosion from wherever Nyxie wandered off to.

She scanned the tree line again. The thought of being watched was oddly unsettling.

"They are not constantly watching us, of course. Especially those in a group like ours," Yara said as she smiled in amusement when she saw Misha’s reaction. "But yes, the first 10 floors are considered protected territory. If a large-scale disaster happens, emergency teams can intervene. People rarely die on these floors."

Rarely... Misha wasn’t sure she liked the word. It implied that people still died.

Beside Yara, Jules reached into his pouch and showed her a small bronze badge. The emblem engraved on its surface resembled a tower. "T-This is a Ranker’s badge."

"After completing at least 3 floors for your field experience and receiving a recommendation, you’ll be issued one. It will serve as your identification."

Jules flipped the badge over. Engraved on the back were several words: ’GENTLE GIANT JULES’

Misha stared, then stared some more. "The Gentle Giant?"

Jules immediately looked away. "I-I didn’t choose it..."

Nyxie’s laughter echoes from somewhere in the distance... Or perhaps Misha was simply imagining it.

"So if I don’t have a badge..."

"You don’t exist," Gerbaut commented.

Misha froze. Slowly, she turned toward him with wide eyes. "W... what?"

"Officially," Yara corrected. "You still exist, but you’ll simply be an uncertified Raider."

Misha felt marginally better.

"Which means if you die beyond the 11th floor, nobody is obligated to search for you."

Then she immediately stopped feeling better after hearing those words. With how things were structured, life inside the tower seemed far more organized than Misha imagined.

"But... how did you all know so much?" Misha couldn’t help but ask. "You’ve only reached the 7th floor, right?"

Yara let out a helpless sigh. "As I said, anyone who wants to become a Raider is required to start at Genesis. That’s why the academies are there for a reason. I’m originally from Gilead, a city on the 41st Floor. Elyes is from 51st. Gerbaut and Jules are both from the 21st. Only Nyxie is actually from Genesis."

Misha opened her mouth, then closed it. They all came from different floors?

"The tower has been around for years. People have already mapped the lower floors, documented and established settlements. Although most people are said to never make it past Exodus."

Misha frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Mortality rate spikes after the 11th Floor."

The casual way Yara said it made the statement even more unsettling.

"The Training Floors are dangerous, but there are safeguards in place. That protection disappears once you enter the 12th Floor."

Now that she thought of it, the existence of Ranker badges made much more sense. A medical license didn’t make someone a surgeon. It only proved that they were qualified in the medical field. The same principle was applied here. Rankers weren’t necessarily the strongest people in the Tower, even if they were responsible for maintaining order. They were simply certified to survive... or at least certified to have a reasonable chance of surviving.

As for Raiders? They were a different breed entirely. They looked at the floors above them, knew the danger, knew the death toll, they knew many never came back, and yet, they chose to climb anyway.