Menace

[The main challenge of the Second Floor has ended!]

[The contribution points are being calculated!]

[You have earned the required number of contribution points!]

'Obviously.'

[You have earned an exceptionally large sum of contribution points!]

[Would you like to register your name in the Tower's rankings?]

"That would make me stand out too much. So of course n-" before Nox could finish what he was saying, another message popped up.

[You will obtain new titles and skills upon entering your name in the Tower's rankings!]

'Interesting,' he thought, jumping up on a tree and sitting on one of its branches. He leaned on the tree's trunk and began pondering what he could do in his current situation.

Registrering his existence in the Tower's ranking wouldn't be ideal since other people may come to know about him. But obtaining new titles and skills wasn't something he didn't wish for.

However, was gaining new abilities worth standing out?

But things would be different if he could change the name that appeared in the rankings. That way, the one being ranked and his own personal self would be seen as separate existences by whomsoever viewed the rankings.

Well, it was worth a try, at least.

Back on Earth, the criminals he caught had given him many nicknames. Nightmare, Ghost, Strider, Crow, Dark, and Ace were a few of them. Undoubtedly, they were weird names.

However, there was one nickname that he really enjoyed.

'I would like to register as," he said, "Menace."

'Menace', the nickname given to him by one of his closest friends during his teenage years. Although it was neither cool nor special, it was close to his heart.

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{Author: The following is a glimpse of Nox's past.}

"A nickname?" asked Nox, confused. His voice was still very mellow due to him just entering his teens. Nox wore simple black shorts and a t-shirt.

"Yes! Won't it be cool if people called you by a nickname when you got famous?" excitedly inquired the girl sitting beside Nox. She wore simple black pyjamas along with a bright blue T-shirt.

The girl was in her late teens. She had long, beautiful blonde hair and fair skin, which complimented it.

Both of them were sitting on the roof of some building, under a beautiful sky, with not a single cloud in sight.

"Why would I get famous?" Nox inquired in a confused tone.

The young girl exhaled deeply.

'Why's he so dense?' She thought, getting up.

"Anyway, what would you like to be called if you get famous?" excitedly asked the young girl, moving towards the edge of the terrace and sitting on the railing.

"Well, being called 'Nox' isn't a bad choice..." he replied, following the girl.

'Which part of it being a nickname, did he not understand?' thought the girl.

The girl raised a finger at Nox and said, "You will be called Menace!"

"And since I will get famous too, I will be called," said the girl, turning her finger towards herself, "Tempest!"

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[The player's name has been set to 'Menace'!]

[The Tower's rankings have been updated!]

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[Rankings of the second floor (current batch):]

1. Menace (CP: 5580 )

2. Nuvian Zylven (CP: 2120 )

3. Saleh Wystaris (CP: 1480 )

4. Ulgril Flathand (CP: 760 )

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'I ranked first? Well, that makes sense.'

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[Rankings of the second floor (all time):]

1. (?) (CP: ? ) [Information has been blocked]

2. (?) (CP: ? ) [Information has been blocked]

3. (?) (CP: ? ) [Information has been blocked]

4. Menace (CP: 5580 )

5. Son Wukong (CP: 5300 )

6. Zeus (CP: 5120 )

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.

.

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"What's this?" mumbled Nox, examining the screen, "Why's the information about the top three not visible?"

It was weird, indeed. The Tower's rankings couldn't be manipulated by any entity living. Then, how was the information not visible for the top three?

Before Nox could think of an answer, another message popped up in front of him.

[The participants of the Second Floor's challenge will be teleported to the common area in one minute!]

This wasn't ideal. Nox had changed his name, but the people could still recognise him by his face.

'I wonder if there's something useful for this situation, here?' he thought, opening the store.

He scrolled through the store for a few seconds before he finally found what he needed.

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Black Mask (D)

A simple black mask that hides the user's face. It adjusts its size according to the user's face.

The user's presence is slightly decreased.

Price: 700P

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Buying the Nox from the store, Nox put it on. Even without any strings attached, it stuck itself on Nox's face comfortably.

The mask itself wasn't anything special. It was black in colour and had two holes for the eyes. No engravings could be seen on it.

He also activated the visibility of his cape. Since it would be dumb if people recognised him by the tracksuit he wore.

Suddenly, Nox's surroundings changed.

He now stood in an open field, surrounded by the same people he had seen at the beginning of the challenge.

Chatter could be heard throughout the field.

"The elf duo were really beaten by someone else?"

"Ya! That too, by a huge margin!"

"Not only that, but the all-time rankings were also changed!"

"What!?"

Nox strolled through the field, eavesdropping on a few conversations. Every conversation was almost the same.

All the players in the open field spoke about 'Menace': the new player, who had managed to get into the top ten of the all-time rankings, that had remained unchanged for many millennia.

But there were two other people that the crowd spoke about. Nuvian Zylven and Saleh Wystaris, the two elves who everyone believed would have dominated the challenge.

Nox noticed two elves, with unusually high levels of arcane, standing at the corner of the crowd. They spoke to each other in low voices.

'They must be the first and the second runner ups.'

After some more waiting, the players began to disappear one after the other. Soon, only Nox and the two elves remained in the open field.

"So you are the one called, Menace," said one of the elves, walking towards Nox. He wore a navy blue overcoat with a black shirt and pants under it.

"You are?" inquired Nox.

"My name is Zylven, and this is my companion, Saleh," the elf pointed to another elf walking beside it. The other elf wore the same clothes as Zylven.

"I see," Nox replied, "May I know why you approached me?"

The elves were a little confused by Nox's question.

"We thought that it would be better to get to know the man who was ranked higher than the legends of the Tower in the all time rankings," Saleh replied.

"I assure you, it was nothing more than a fluke," said Nox, trying his best to act dumb.

'Is it even possible to get that many contribution points in a fluke? Just who is he?' both the elves thought simultaneously.

Before they could ask any more questions, a man appeared behind them.

"Hello," the stranger politely greeted.

A blue cloth was draped over his entire body, leaving his arms uncovered. Although he wasn't too huge, his body was in perfect physical condition.

He would have almost looked like a regular player if it weren't for the mask he wore. The mask he wore was similar to the Tutorial's administrator's mask, except for the fact that it was red in colour.

"Greetings," Nox said, offering the administrator a bow.

There was one thing he had understood by now, the administrators were the highest authorities of their respective floors. Therefore, treating them with respect was the best thing to do.

"Who're you?" bluntly asked one of the elves. It looked like they didn't know about the existence of the administrators.

"You can call me Pen. I am the administrator of the second floor," calmly replied Pen. After all, it was common for people who had just started climbing the Tower to not know of the administrator's existence.

'Administrator?' thought both the elves simultaneously.

After a deep breath, Pen informed, "I am here to give you some rewards on behalf of the Tower," before snapping his fingers.

A screen suddenly popped up in front of the three players.

[You have obtained the skill: Translation(C)]

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Translation(C)

Be able to understand all the languages of the Tower, excluding a few of the ancient languages.

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'A Translation skill? This would come in handy!' thought Nox. Although the Tower automatically translated most of the languages, through this skill, Nox would be able to understand more languages, which he could not do before.

It was even possible that he could understand the languages that monsters spoke.

"What's this!? I want an attack or healing type skill!" Zylven demanded.

The administrator looked at him with a visible irritation on his forehead.

"Well, that's all you get. Bye-bye," P replied, snapping his fingers.

Suddenly, the elf duo disappeared.

"Why am I still here?" inquired Nox, looking around.

Although the administrator's face could not be seen due to the mask, the broad smile he wore could be felt.

"Why? Hahaha," Pen laughed, "Did you really think that I would need to come to see the players just to give them a C-rank skill? It's you I'm here to see!"

'Me?'

Nox was shocked for a moment.

But, the administrator's arrival and behaviour made sense. After all, he was able to get into the top five of the all-time rankings, a feat undreamable by most.

"My rewards," Nox calmly said. Talking with the administrator aimlessly would only waste time.

"What's the rush?" Pen inquired with a sour tone, leaning closer to Nox. He stared at Nox for some moments. Nox stood there, not even flinching due to the presence near him.

The administrator let out a massive sigh before finally opening a screen beside him, "Well, it can't be helped if you are in a rush. Let me check your status screen to determine the best reward for you."

This wasn't a necessary step since the Tower had already chosen a reward for Nox. The administrator was there just to deliver it.

But, it was also his first time witnessing someone get into the top five all-time rankings. So, his curiosity had gotten the better of him. He needed to know just what kind of skills and stats Nox had.

The screen contained the names of all the participants that had taken part in the challenge. He scrolled down the screen before finally stopping and pressing Nox's name.

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Error! Error! Error!

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"What is this?" the administrator whispered as he clicked on Nox's name again.

But the same 'Error' message appeared no matter how many times he tried to see Nox's status screen.

'What's happening! Just who the hell is he!?' The administrator thought, turning to face Nox.

"I apologise. It looks like I have run into some technical difficulties. Anyway, please accept this," Pen said as he took out something from his inventory.

It was the reward that the Tower had chosen for Nox.

The administrator carefully handed the reward to Nox.

'Hoo… this is…?'

It was a box, small enough to fit inside Nox's palm. It was made from fine wood, but its edges were covered in pure gold. The engravings on it were hypnotisingly beautiful, and the blue gem embedded on its lid was mesmerising.

Carefully, Nox opened the lid of the box.

Inside was an egg.