I Don't Need To Log Out-Chapter 278: A Way Out

There were only a few ways to exit the Tower.

The first was simple: refusing to ascend.

Whenever a challenger cleared a floor, a system notification would appear, calmly asking whether they wished to proceed to the next.

It wasn't aggressive. It didn't rush. There was no countdown, no pressure—just a quiet prompt, waiting for a response.

If the challenger declined, the Tower didn't immediately throw them out. Instead, it asked a second question: would they like to continue to the next level?

It was a different thing entirely.

A level, unlike a floor, didn't always mean a drastic shift in challenge—it could be a side path, a different kind of trial, a detour from the main climb.

But still, the Tower gave them the choice.

And if they refused that too—if they said no to both the next floor and the next level—then the Tower would silently acknowledge their decision.

And eject them.

Just like that.

No dramatic farewell. No parting message. One moment, they were inside. The next, they were gone.

And they would never be allowed to return again.

That Tower, the one they had entered—the one they had challenged—would seal its gates to them forever.

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It had given them a chance, and in the Tower's eyes, they had turned it down.

Of course, that didn't mean all hope was lost.

There were other Towers in other worlds. The network of Towers stretched across planets, dimensions, entire realms.

They were connected in strange and mysterious ways, and though one might reject you, another might still let you in.

But the second way out of the Tower was much more absolute.

Death.

For most existences, death inside the Tower was final. That was it. Game over. Their story ended where their body fell.

But there were exceptions.

A rare, fortunate group. The players.

For them, death meant something different.

It meant the end of their Zeno.

Their body in the real world would remain untouched, but the moment they died inside the Tower, the connection between them and that world was severed. Permanently.

They would never be able to log into that same world again. Never see the people they met there, never walk its landscapes.

The world would move on without them. And they would be left behind unless they came back to that world physically.

But the Tower would still be out of limits.

Because each existence was granted only one shot. One entry. One chance.

Greed could kill you.

Cowardice could waste everything.

Step too far, and you were dead. Turn back too soon, and you left with only scraps.

The Tower didn't judge. It simply watched.

And acted accordingly.

But if you went up a floor and realised that you overestimated yourself...

Ah, though luck.

Anyway, good luck with that floor.

You wouldn't be able to read this anyway.

---

Arlon fell again.

He was familiar with this fall from before.

It wasn't like he went through this a lot of times. But once was more than enough.

He counted inside.

Fifty nine, sixty, sixty one...

After seconds had turned into minutes, he felt it, the hard ground.

He didn't hit it. Once again, it was like he had teleported here.

First, he listened to the sound. There was a very tiny buzzing in his ear.

He didn't think he would miss that sound.

Relief washed over him, but it didn't last long.

When he raised his head, he saw the last thing he wanted to see.

The creature was here with him!

It was probably also shocked to be teleported here like Arlon was when he came here for the first time.

He had no time to think, so he did the first thing he could think of-

He started running.

One step, and then two steps.

Even though his body wasn't in top condition, he could move.

He cast Haste on himself, causing his muscles to ache.

But he needed to run.

So he did that.

Without looking behind, he ran.

After running straight for a minute, he turned back.

And it was there, coming after him.

It probably thought that Arlon was responsible for this change of scenery and maybe also for the buzzing in its ear.

So, it also started to run.

But Arlon was the one shocked this time.

The monster... It wasn't running fast.

No, it was more like it was walking.

Arlon didn't want to stop to check, probably, but he was sure that no matter how much Arlon ran, he would be caught in seconds.

The creature was that fast.

However, Arlon slowed down and started walking.

And the gap between them didn't close.

The best part was that he knew why, but he still needed to test it.

First of all, Arlon continued walking after dispelling Haste.

He continuously looked back but walked at a steady pace.

After 8 hours passed, he walked a bit more, then he stopped.

The creature was still running. Of course, it didn't even spend one percent of its stamina only by running eight hours.

But it didn't come close.

Even though Arlon wasn't moving and it was running, the distance stayed the same.

And the reason was simple.

Floor ??? was like a time prison.

Arlon knew this since he had come here before, and Jiroeki had told him the way to go to the goal on this floor.

And it was to move for a year.

But just moving wasn't the solution.

No matter if they ran or walked, the challengers should move for at least eight hours a day for a year.

Arlon had thought that these were the rules on this floor, but it wasn't completely correct.

On his way back, Arlon had tried this.

But being alone, he had missed the key.

And this floor was actually magnificent.

The solution was easy.

Each challenger was given a daily quota.

Eight hours of movement.

No more.

It didn't matter if they sprinted or strolled, jogged or crawled.

The moment they reached their eight-hour limit, they were frozen. Locked in place.

And so was everything around them.

The floor didn't just trap the person—it locked the moment.

That way, they couldn't be moved from their spots.

That's why he couldn't be touched. Not moved. Not followed.

Even the creature, for all its overwhelming power, couldn't break that rule.

If they completed each day's movement for a year, they would arrive.

Arlon realized that he had made the best choice when he ran first.

Even just two minutes of distance at the beginning created a gap.

And that gap would never close—because when he stopped, the floor stopped everything.

Unless he made the mistake of standing still for more than sixteen hours and let the monster progress before him when a new day cycle started—he could reach there first.

Until then, he was untouchable.

Of course, this didn't mean the creature wouldn't reach Jiroeki's house.

Not exactly.

Because in this place, the locations were symbolic.

Time was the road, not space.

Both Arlon and the creature were moving through time, not just terrain.

So, even though the monster couldn't reach him, it was still advancing.

Still making progress toward the goal.

And they were standing at the same spot on time since both moved eight hours.

But that didn't matter right now.

Because Arlon had time.

And time was all he needed.