[Error Difficulty – 1st Floor]
{Aasal Hayes}
The ground rumbled beneath his feet as Aasal crouched behind the archway. His breath hitched. Whatever that thing was—it was huge. He'd never seen anything like it before.
A low growl echoed across the stone terrain.
The screen in front of him flickered. He yelled again, panic in his voice, "Give me a weapon! Give me something! Please!"
And then—
[Please choose a weapon]
Sword
Spear
Bow
Gauntlet
None
His eyes widened. "Sword! I pick sword!"
A sword appeared before him, floating and glowing faintly. But unlike with Ace, the other options didn't vanish. He blinked.
"…Wait. I can take more?"
Not one to ask unnecessary questions, Aasal immediately clicked on every remaining option. One by one, the weapons materialized. He quickly grabbed the spear, bow, and gauntlets, and put each into the digital [Inventory] screen that had appeared.
Only the sword remained in his hand.
[Generic Sword (Common)]
A basic sword given to initiates of the path.
Grants: Stable cutting ability. Good for beginners.
His hands trembled. "Okay. Okay. I've never fought before, but—"
The ground cracked.
From the clearing ahead, a creature emerged. Its size eclipsed any animal he'd ever imagined. A massive bear-like beast, its muscles bulged unnaturally, fur bristling like metal wires. Its bloodshot eyes locked on Aasal.
[Direbear - Level ???]
HP: ???
ATK: ???
DEF: ???
[Remarks: Run.]
Aasal's mouth went dry. "Oh hell no."
The bear roared and charged, instantly appearing next to him and swinging its paw.
He rolled to the side, adrenaline taking over. He realized there was no escaping—the only possible thing he could do next was fight.
[You have learned: Dodge Lv.1]
"How am I supposed to kill this thing?!" Aasal scanned the direbear and tried to figure out what he could attack. The only possible area he could hurt was the legs.
He slashed. His blade scraped the direbear's shin, which further angered it. The beast howled and entered a berserk state—its eyes wild, body twitching unnaturally.
[You have learned: Basic Swordsmanship Lv.1]
It swiped at him—barely missing him by inches. Aasal ducked, spun, and slashed again.
[Basic Swordsmanship has leveled up: Lv.2]
[You have learned: Dodge Lv.2]
A claw caught his arm, flinging him spinning back across the clearing into a jagged boulder which shattered on impact.
[You have learned: Pain Tolerance Lv.1]
[You have learned: Pain Tolerance Lv.2]
He gasped, nearly choking on the pain. Blood pooled down his side. His organs were definitely on the verge of failure, if not failing already.
The bear barreled toward him again.
He rolled—sending electricity through his nerves. He grabbed his bow and fired. The arrow bounced off its hide uselessly.
[You have learned: Archery Lv.1]
"Tch." He tossed the bow aside, grabbed his spear, and aimed for the legs.
The spear stabbed into the creature's left knee. It bellowed in rage.
[You have learned: Spearmanship Lv.1]
Every moment was a passionate dance of blood and movement. Dodge, strike, observe, switch weapons. His gauntlets helped him deliver a solid blow to its side. It faltered.
[You have learned: Gauntlet Combat Lv.1]
The berserk state began to fade—and so did its energy.
Chest heaving, the monster collapsed to one knee. But its hide was still too thick. Nothing was penetrating deep enough.
"Strike!"
Aasal raised his sword and charged.
He stabbed it through the eye.
But the sword didn't go deep enough to pierce the brain. The direbear screeched and whipped its head, sending Aasal flying.
He crashed against the cliff wall. Cracks spiderwebbed beneath his body.
[You have learned: Recovery Lv.1]
Blood oozed from his mouth. Barely conscious, he crawled with his only working arm and leg. He dragged himself back to the monster.
Only one vulnerable spot remained, and he no longer felt any shame for what came next.
With shaking hands, he pulled the spear from his inventory. And with one last thrust, he drove the weapon into the creature's rear with all the strength he had.
The monster let out a wretched, broken scream and started flailing around. Blood pooled out of it.
It collapsed but wasn't dead. Aasal did not have the energy to move anymore and collapsed on the ground near it, facing its chest.
He could see its heart beating beneath its skin—and it was slowly slowing.
Now it was a fight of who could survive the longest.
"I can't die yet. Not until it is dead," Aasal whispered.
[You have learned: Fainting Resistance Lv.1]
His vision was slowly starting to fade.
"Not yet… I can't die just yet," Aasal barely managed to think.
[You have learned: Will Lv.1]
The beast's heart finally stopped—and with that:
[Congratulations! You have cleared the 1st Floor!]
[All status effects and injuries are healed.]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Reward Unlocked: Healing Potion x2]
[Reward Unlocked: 40 Tower Coins]
[Bonus Reward: Sturdy Shield]
[Forum Access Granted]
[You have learned: Bleed Resistance Lv.2]
[You have learned: Survival Instinct Lv.1]
[Travel to 2nd Floor Waiting Room?]
☑ Yes
His vision blurred. The system prompt pulsed in front of him.
"…Yes," he whispered.
That was his last thought until darkness enveloped him.
The world blinked out.
He woke up face first on a bed—firm and cold. He thought he was back in his apartment but remembered what happened. Aasal sat up groggily and wiped the drool that had accumulated on the side of his lip. He looked at his body and noticed his wounds were gone and read the notifications that he missed when he was on his deathbed on the 0th floor.
He opened his [Status]:
{[Name: Aasal Khara Hayes]
[Age: 17]
[Race: Human]
[Talent: Clone]
[Class: No-Class]
[Skills: Basic Swordsmanship Lv.2, Dodge Lv.2, Pain Tolerance Lv.2, Bleed Resistance Lv.2, Spearmanship Lv.1, Archery Lv.1, Gauntlet Combat Lv.1, Recovery Lv.1, Survival Instinct Lv.1, Will Lv.1, Fainting Resistance Lv.1]
[Titles: XfhD#2q9… Difficulty Challenger (???), Beta Tester (Unique)]
[Conditions: None]
[Statuses:
Strength: 3
Agility: 3
Intelligence: 10
Vitality: 3
Luck: 0.5
Charisma: 2
Free Points: 0]
[Coins: 40 Tower Coins]
[Remarks: Needs work]}
Interested by the new things now in his status, he was going to go investigate—but an alert got his attention.
[Tower Forum: New Message Received x1413]
He checked the new tab, Tower Forum, and a bunch of messages awaited him.
[Normal Floor 2: Billy Badass – Holy crap I almost died from that wolf.]
[Normal Floor 2: Darthslayer – Yeah me too, luckily when I fell I stabbed it through its heart.]
[Normal Floor 2: PuddingBoss99 – My gauntlet didn't do jack, lmao.]
[Normal Floor 2: Ace – Lol y'all are just built weak.]
[Normal Floor 2: Billy Badass – Shut the hell up, Ace.]
[Normal Floor 2: Ace – 😎]
[Normal Floor 2: PuddingBoss99 – LMAOOO I'm dead 💀]
[Normal Floor 2: Darthslayer – Bro thinks he's special.]
[Normal Floor 2: Ace – That's cuz I am. Stay jealous.]
[Normal Floor 2: SwordFreak – Any other sword users here? I got Weapon Master. 1 point per level, and a few points in strength and agility.]
[Hard Floor 2: BrokenHalo – Only got 1 point and a minor boost to Strength. Why are y'all acting like this is a game?]
[Normal Floor 2: FrostByte – Because it kinda is?]
[Hard Floor 2: HoundKing – Only 37 people on Hard.]
[Normal Floor 2: BreadForDays – There's 602 on Normal. Where the hell did everyone else go??]
Aasal stared at the chat.
He read some more chats to gain information before he sent a message.
He tried typing.
[You do not have authority to speak in the forum. Access restricted.]
"Are you serious . . ."
He closed out of the forum, veins bulging.