The third time my throat was slit in the same alleyway, I stopped counting deaths and started counting *patterns*.

  **[Kael, Internal Monologue]** *Blade angle: 23 degrees upward. Left-handed assailant. Poison: distilled lunar belladonna—Tower greenhouse stock.*

  Blood pooled in my mouth as I slumped against the damp bricks. The assassin melted back into the shadows before I could turn, their boot steps eerily silent on the cobblestones.

  **[Kael, Internal Monologue]** *Professional. Not Corvin's theatrical style. Not Darien's brutal efficiency.*

  The poison froze my lungs mid-breath.

  Darkness.

  ---

  **Glorious tower – Reset**

  I gasped awake clutching my unmarked throat. The pocket watch's hands trembled at 11:59, its glass face cracked from my death-grip.

  **[Kael, Internal Monologue]** *Seven deaths. Seven routes. Same outcome.*

  My usual smirk felt hollow. This wasn't random violence—it was a *sanctioned hunt*.

  ---

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  **First Clue: The Poison**

  The apothecary's ledger nearly crumbled in my hands.

  **[Kael]** "Lunar belladonna orders this month?"

  The shopkeeper didn't look up from his mortar.

  **[Shopkeeper]** "Tower requisitions only. Restricted stock."

  I flipped a gold coin across the counter. His eyes darted to the door before whispering:

  **[Shopkeeper]** "The Quiet Ones collect it every new moon."

  **[Kael, Internal Monologue]** *The Tower's shadow operatives. But which floor controls them?*

  ---

  **Second Clue: The Boot print**

  In the alley's perpetual dampness, a single footprint remained pristine—as if repelling the filth through magic. The tread pattern matched Tower-issue stealth soles, but with one peculiarity:

  **[Kael, Internal Monologue]** *Right heel worn down 3 mm more than left. Recurring limp or...*

  My fingers brushed the imprint. A faint shimmer of abjuration magic clung to it—the kind used to protect precious tomes in the...

  **[Kael, Internal Monologue]** *Library wing. Fourth floor.*

  ---

  **Third Clue: The Silence**

  No matter which route I took, the attacks came only when I get out from the Count's glorious tower.

  **[Kael, Internal Monologue]** *Not random. Guarding something.*

  On the twelfth attempt, I saw it—a glint of silver in the fourth floor's upper window. A surveillance mirror angled precisely toward the glorious Tower's front door.

  **The Trap**

  I let myself be seen examining the glorious tower's front door.

  The knife came from behind, as expected. This time I twisted, catching the assassin's wrist—

  —and felt the telltale ridge of an old fracture beneath the glove.

  **[Kael, Internal Monologue]** *The archivist who "tripped" last winter.*

  Their knee slammed into my ribs. As the poison took hold, I finally glimpsed the insignia on their dagger pommel:

  *A quill crossed with a key.*

  **[Kael, Internal Monologue]** *Not a Tower Master's mark. Their* keeper's *sigil.*

  ---

  **Final Death: The Truth**

  **[Kael, Internal Monologue]** *They're not aware of resets... but they've been* targeting *me but for what reason?*

  The assassin removed their hood, revealing hollow cheeks and hollower eyes.

  **[Assassin]** "The Archivist sends regards."

  Their blade flashed.

  **[Kael, Internal Monologue]** *Not a Master. Something worse—a bureaucrat who noticed anomalies.*

  Darkness.

  ---

  **Glorious tower – New Loop**

  The pocket watch's gears ground as it reset.

  **[Kael, Internal Monologue]** *A player who moves without moving. Who watches without being watched.*

  For the first time in countless deaths, I felt the chill of true fear.

  ---