The world ended on a Tuesday.
It was 3:17 PM when the sky split open like torn flesh.
Kael Veritas was in the middle of eating expired canned beans when it happened. Not that he cared. He hadn't cared about much in years. His rusted little shack was miles from civilization, surrounded by dead trees and the distant scent of rot.
He didn't have internet. He didn't have running water. He didn't even have a mirror—he'd smashed that a long time ago.
No one visited him. No one remembered he existed. Not even fate had bothered to put him in the kind of story where losers got a second chance.
But when the Tower came, even he couldn't be ignored.
It descended like judgment.
A spire of obsidian, so massive it pierced the planet's mantle and stretched beyond the stars. It cast a shadow over half the Earth. Reality warped around it. Air itself grew heavier. Planes crashed. Oceans split. Cities crumbled. The sky bled black lightning and whispers echoed in every language known and unknown.
"BEGINNING UNIVERSAL TOWER INTEGRATION SEQUENCE."
"ALL LIVING INTELLIGENT LIFE SELECTED FOR TUTORIAL TRIALS."
"WELCOME TO THE DEATH ASCENSION SYSTEM."
"CLIMB, OR PERISH."
Kael was torn from his shack without warning.
He didn't feel his body move. One moment he was alone with his beans. The next, he was in a circular stone chamber with a hundred other people—some terrified, others screaming.
There were elves. There were demons. There were humans from every corner of Earth. All standing on equal footing before something none of them could comprehend.
A giant black screen hovered in the air, displaying shimmering red text:
[TUTORIAL: TRIAL ONE - SURVIVAL]
OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE FOR 10 MINUTES.
REWARD: CLASS UNLOCK.
No one had weapons. No one had powers. Then the walls opened.
And hell spilled in.
Kael didn't even have time to scream.
A pack of six-legged creatures with fleshless skulls and slime-dripping maws tore through the crowd. Screams became gurgles. A boy next to him—just a teenager—was dragged down and split open in seconds.
Kael ran. He had no pride. No strength. No courage.
He just ran.
But even that wasn't enough. A monster tackled him from behind, its acidic saliva searing his shoulder. He screamed louder than he had in years.
It hurt. Gods, it hurt.
He crawled into a corner and covered his face. "I don't want to die—I haven't even lived!" he sobbed, voice hoarse, piss running down his leg.
The system answered him with indifference.
[TUTORIAL FAILED.]
[YOU HAVE DIED.]
Everything went black.
But something… flickered.
A whisper wormed its way into his mind.
"...System override... Forsaken Sequence... Activated..."
"Name: Kael Veritas"
"Status: Deceased"
"Potential Rating: ???"
"Class: [???]"
"Resurrecting subject through Second Awakening."
"Welcome, Host."
"You are now bound to the Forsaken System."
"Your suffering begins now."
Kael gasped, choking on blood as he woke in a pitch-black chamber alone.
His body was broken. His shoulder was half-melted. But something inside him clicked. Like a piece of his soul had been lit aflame.
A small, cracked blue window flickered before his eyes:
[Forsaken System Initialized]
Starting Attributes:
Strength: 0.001
Agility: 0.001
Constitution: 0.0001
Mana: 0
Charm: -3
Congratulations.
You are the weakest entity in the Tower.
Good luck.
Kael didn't laugh. He didn't cry.
He just stared at the window.
Then… he grinned.
It was ugly. Bloody. Twisted.
But it was real.
"I've got nothing," he whispered. "Which means there's nothing left to lose."
And that meant…
He could become anything.