[00:00:03]
[00:00:02]
[00:00:01]
[00:00:00]
[Ding!]
[Maintenance period has concluded. New content will now be introduced.]
-Bhrrrrrrrrr…!
"I-is this an earthquake?!"
"Aghhhhhhhhh!"
"Mom! Let's take shelter…!"
-Zaaaaaaaaaaa!
"…?"
"Kyaaaaaaaaa!"
"???"
"Dad…? What… what is that thing?"
On the twelfth day of the last month of the year 2052 of the Zayan calendar, the world changed for humanity.
[ "Breaking news!" ]
[ "Strange, sky-piercing towers have manifested in all cities throughout the world!" ]
[ "An inexplicable phenomenon has occurred throughout the world alongside the appearance of these towers!" ]
[ "Peculiar blue screens resembling the ominous countdown screens that were seen throughout the world have started appearing before people all over the world!" ]
[ "According to the experts, the towers that have erupted around the world resemble the 'Tower of Beginning' from a game of the same name which had been famous around the world a few years ago. However…" ]
[Ding!]
[New content
[Tutorial for the new content will begin soon.]
[Time remaining until Tutorial: ]
[00:54:51]
[After the conclusion of the tutorial, clear the first floor of the Tower of Cessation within <60 days> or else your world will be terminated.]
The world had become far more chaotic in just a few hours after the first appearance of the strange blue countdown screens.
The appearance of the towers had left countless people speechless. The way they appeared had caused chaos all around the world.
These weren't just structures… they were behemoths.
They didn't politely rise from empty fields or barren lots. No…
They tore through the world's fabric, obliterating homes, schools, and bustling public squares. Their bases sprawled across a radius of one and a half kilometers, a footprint that swallowed entire neighborhoods. Their peaks vanished into the clouds, so tall they disrupted flight paths, leading to catastrophic crashes that claimed countless lives in fiery, tragic blazes.
The towers' outer surface and walls were an amalgamation of beauty and dread. Their obsidian-like exteriors shimmered with an otherworldly luster, and carved onto them were glowing runes that pulsed like the heartbeat of something alive. Though, few could actually see it with their naked eyes.
These were the same forgotten scripts that had adorned the virtual halls of the Tower of Beginning, the game that had once been a maddening obsession for players like KiRA.
Each tower all around the world stood as a monument to the game's cruel legacy, its architecture a blend of the same ancient majesty and futuristic terror that the players had wondered about the origin of countless times.
Spiraling spires, jagged protrusions, and cavernous entrances that seemed to beckon and threaten all at once were nothing compared to what awaited on each and every one of the floors of this tower.
However, the appearance of the towers was not the only thing that had manifested as some game-like element in their world.
[Ding!]
[System integration will now begin…]
[Synchronization: 10%.]
[Synchronization: 20%.]
[Synchronization: 30%.]
[...]
[Synchronization: 100%.]
[System sync complete.]
[Please provide a registration ID.]
"KiRA." This was a pretty familiar process to him.
[Registration ID has been updated.]
[Ding!]
[Player registration has concluded. Rewards for clearing the Tower of Beginning will now be provided.]
[Ding!]
===Status===
ID: KiRA
Age: 24
Title: Conqueror of the Tower of Beginning (U)
Class: -
Level: 0
IX: 0
_–_–_–
Strength: 1
Dexterity: 1
Stamina: 1
Energy: 1
(Stat points: 0)
_–_–_–
Authorities: -
Blessings: -
Skills: Tenacity (Lv:2), Precise calculations(Lv:1), Wise eyes (Lv:1).
============
"Hmmm? The same skills that I got in the tower at the beginning, huh? Isn't that convenient?"
In the Tower of Beginning, the IDs were everything. They weren't just names, they were everything the system and tower recognized.
Age was calculated by the system and no one really knew why they included it within the status window along with all the other actual important things.
Titles were something you didn't see much within the tower. Even the [Natives] rarely ever had a title of their own.
Levels were the quantified assessment of one's experiences and life– or in simpler terms, they were what determined one's strength in the tower in most cases.
The class was the same as the game classes while (IX) was the main currency of the world. They were represented as coins, and they were recognized throughout the system and all the floors of the tower.
Players and natives mostly referred to (IX) as coins as well.
"My stats are shit. Is this normal?"
KiRA did not know why his stats were so mediocre even though he was well above the normal young adults both in terms of strength and skills.
But he did not mind them. He could always increase his stats with all the information that he monopolized.
Authorities were one-of-a-kind skills that only one individual in the entire tower could possess, Blessings on the other hand were boosts or buffs that people received temporarily.
And lastly…
"Hmmm. It's not too bad, I'd say." KiRA had faced even worse scenarios so a start as bad as this one wasn't all that bad.
And, this wasn't all there was to his status window…
[Ding!]
[For clearing the Tower of Beginning, you will be rewarded with the following rewards.]
============
Reward 1: One item possessed by the Player in their last moment. [Note: Certain items will be Restricted]
Reward 2: One unique stat possessed by the Player (Exception: Divinity). [Note: Stat points assigned to the obtained stat will be configured according to the player's current state.]
Reward 3: 50% of the IX possessed by the Player.
============
"Holy… mother of angels." He could not believe what he was looking at right now. "You've never been this generous, you know?"
The three rewards that he was receiving were not normal. They were the best rewards he had ever received from clearing any of the floors of the Tower until now.
In fact, the last reward on the list was simply too shocking to him.
"Hehe… Hahahahaha!!!"
50% of the coins he possessed in his last moments… even though he had spent the majority of his coins for the last battle, he still possessed an amount that one could never imagine at this stage of the game.
'This isn't the game anymore, I know. But god freaking damn!'
Money may not buy everything in the real world, but in the tower, money could buy you everything.
Happiness? Peace? Strength and knowledge?
These were small things. IX or as the players called it, Coins were everything within the tower. From increasing the level of the skills to buying items and making deals with the beings of the tower… One needed coins for Every Single thing.
"Kekeke~."
He was not as happy to see the other two rewards as he was after seeing this last reward. He simply could not believe how generous this system was right now.
"Phew. Let's calm down for now."
The world had changed. The nightmare that he never wanted to face in reality had actually come to life and there was nothing he could do about it except clearing the tower as he had done previously.
"So, let's see…"
He already knew what he was going to choose as his reward.
"Can I have the
[Checking the causality…]
[Ding!]
[It is possible to obtain Unique Stat: Purity.]
"Nice, I'll have it then."
[Ding!}
[Unique Stat: Purity has been rewarded to the ID: KiRA.]
Things were going to be pretty easy thanks to this. He was actually very happy right now.
"For the item, can I have my money wallet?"
[The item is Restricted.]
"Of course. Or else the balance would go to shit." The system and its causality was something that he still only partially understood.
"Then, what about my
[Said item was destroyed.]
"What the fuck? You mean I cannot have what was destroyed as well? Then what can I even have?" He had given his all during the last battle. There were only a few things that were left on him and in his inventory after the battle.
[Ding!]
[Showing the list of available items.]
Unexpectedly though, the list that was presented to him had more items than he had predicted.
"Oho?" Not only the items that he had in his inventory but also the items that he had left on the other floors of the Tower of Beginning were also available for him to claim.
"How are you going to justify giving me my Unity? Will there be restrictions on her?" There were many items that he could claim.
From the Archaic weapon that he had wielded to the Godly relics that could help him clear the initial floors, there were also consumables that could reshape his body and exponentially increase his stats but all of that was useless to him at the initial stages of the tower.
What he needed was not some very powerful weapon or any Elixirs. They weren't going to help him as much as the versatile Coins.
So, his choice was clear here as well.
[Ding!]
[Restrictions will be applied on the selected being according to the Laws of Causality.]
"But I can release those restrictions at least, right?"
[Affirmative.]
"Nice. Then it's obvious."
He was always thankful for how interactive this system was.
The tower was a better place due to the interactiveness of the System that governed the Laws and Truths of the tower.
"I'll Choose Unity. It's a good thing you showed me the list or else I would have mistaken the 'item' as an actual Item instead of an element of mine."
[Ding!]
[As a reward for clearing the Tower of Beginning, ID: KiRA will be awarded 50% of his possessed IX.]
[Ding!]
[You have obtained: 1,212,312 IX as a reward.]
[Ding!]
[As a reward for clearing the Tower of Beginning, ID: KiRA will be awarded ownership of his companion: ID: Unity.]
"The tower's name changed but the system is pretty much the same."
-OOOOOOOOOOONG!
In an empty underground subway station with no life in sight, before the hooded red-eyed individual, some mystical golden sparks appeared– which turned into a miniature storm in the blink of an eye.
⟪ Your achievements will be highlighted in the [Akashic records]. ⟫
⟪ May the fortune be on your side. ⟫
The system windows flashed before him, but they also disappeared in the next moment.
They weren't important right now… his eyes were all focused on the new Account Balance on his status screen, as well as on the being that had materialized before him just now.
"Vivi?" (Hmm?)
She resembled a small white sparrow with a few golden feathers, but one would not believe him if he told them this very being had helped him conquer tens of floors of the Tower of Beginning before she became the master of twelve unified floors.
"Viv~!" (Master~!)
He didn't expect he would see her in the real world but, from how the world has turned out, even this encounter was like a simple occurrence to him.
"Yeah yeah~! I know you're happy, Miss, but it tickles~."
KiRA's first destination was a dungeon. People did not know since they did not understand the true purpose of the hellish 'tutorial' but, the beginning was very precious.
Soon, their world was going to be attacked by beings that humanity had never witnessed or experienced. But, if there were other players out there like him, the death toll would be maintained.
He knew very well how his uncle would protect his aunt and how Is would take care of herself. He had already finished talking with them about what may happen so everyone was preparing for the upcoming Chaos.
"Call up the Shop, Unity. It's going to start now…"
"Viiii~!" (Yesss~!)
[Time remaining until Tutorial: ]
[00:00:51]
The tutorial was starting as well. And this time, with a kind of wealth that no human possessed currently, in a place that would give him the most advantage, he was ahead of everyone else.
[Ding!]
It was finally time to Level-up a little.