CHAPTER 1 - FLOOR 1 AND THE BEGINNING
they say the higher you climb, the closer you are to heaven. but in the tower of life, heaven is for the rich, and hell is where the poor begin.
the tower stretches into the sky like a way to heaven — 500 floors, each one stacked with steel, concrete, monsters, and secrets. cities float between battles, monsters rule the stairs, and only those with money or power ride the lifts.
for the rest, there's only the grind: floor by floor, death by death.
some give up. others rot in drektown, the slum that festers on floor 0.
BUT NOT Him
they say rock bottom teaches you things the top never will.
if that's true… drektown's a damn professor.
trash lines the cracked streets like decoration. the air stinks of rust, blood, and piss — maybe from the monsters, maybe not. no one cares. most people here don't even look human anymore. their bones stick out. their eyes are hollow. some ain't even breathing unless you count dying slow as living.
people here survive one of two ways:
they kill monsters… or they kill each other.
there is a lift — rusted, humming behind a bulletproof cage in the center of town.
costs too much for most. even if you had the money, you still need to unlock the next floor by reaching it on foot first.
so the lift's just another tease. a dangling rope no one can climb.
you'll rot here like the rest, aragi," they used to tell me.grey eyes can't do nothing. you ain't no real vindicator."
yeah?
watch me.
i'm not like the rest of these dying shadows.
i'm a vindicator.
and i'm gonna climb this cursed tower one floor at a time.
rip through monsters. bleed if i have to. kill if i must.
but i will reach the top.
no matter what.
People think monsters are the worst thing in the Tower.
They're not.
It's the silence before they show up.
The kind that makes your skin crawl and your heart skip like it's scared to be in your chest.
That's the real enemy.
Monsters come in all shapes — claws, sludge, wires, shadows — and they live between the floors.
They feed on fear, flesh, and the dumb ones who think they're ready.
That's where Vindicators come in.
We're not heroes.
We're not soldiers.
We're the poor bastards crazy enough to stand between the people and the things that live in the dark.
Only about 20% of the Tower's population gets chosen as Vindicators.
Chosen how? No one really knows. Some wake up with the mark. Others survive something they shouldn't have.
What makes a Vindicator different?
Power.
Strength beyond human limits.
And our eyes — always our eyes.
The lighter the color, the stronger the Vindicator.
Golden Eyes – the legends, the monsters who fight monsters.
Red Eyes – brutal, elite killers.
Blue Eyes – fast and sharp.
Pink – rare, deadly, mostly women.
Green and Yellow – average. Survivors.
Brown – bottom-tier. Weak. No real power. A death sentence.
And then there's me.
Grey eyes.
Not white. Not silver. Just grey.
Like a storm that never breaks.
People think grey's just a duller brown — nothing special.
They call me "False Rank" behind my back.
Say I'm pretending. Say I'm delusional.
But I know the truth.
I've felt it — something inside me waiting to burn through.
I just haven't hit the floor that'll push it out yet.
But I will.
And when I do,
they'll remember what they said.
Drektown was a grave.
And I wasn't ready to be buried.
That morning, I stood in front of the escalator — a rust-covered stair machine that led to Floor 1. No one else around. Just silence and steam from busted pipes.
> "If I die up there… at least I didn't rot down here."
I stepped on.
---
Floor 1 was exactly what the books described:
A dead building.
Cracked walls, shattered lockers, dangling lights.
Everything felt old. Abandoned. Forgotten.
Like whatever happened here… never finished happening.
I moved slow, my eyes scanning every shadow.
No sound. No footsteps. No breathing.
Just the hum of broken electricity and dust falling from above.
> "Maybe no monster spawned yet…"
I only had a broken knife. The blade was chipped. The handle wrapped in tape.
It wasn't made to kill anything. But it was all I had.
Then I heard it.
A soft dragging noise from behind a rusted door.
My heart jumped. I turned—
And saw it.
A thin, twitching body. Limbs like wires. Neck ending in muscle and torn skin.
No head.
Just a gaping neck stump and a twitchy gait.
> "Headcutter…"
E-rank.
Can't see. Can't hear.
Senses through ground vibration only.
I'd studied this one before coming here. It was the reason I even dared step foot on this floor.
I crouched low. Moved slow.
Crept up from behind and sank my knife deep into its back — right where the spine ended.
The monster spasmed once. Then dropped.
Dead.
My first kill
I reached down and pulled out the faintly glowing crystal from its body. Rough. Dull. Barely worth anything.
Didn't matter.
That moment…
I felt something rise in my chest.
Confidence.
---
I kept going. Room after room.
Found more Headcutters. Crawlers. Slugs.
All E-rank.
And I killed them. Fast.
Maybe too fast.
Blood hit the walls. I stopped feeling nervous.
Even started smiling a little.
> "This is it. This is what I'm made for."
Then I turned a corner.
And everything changed.
---
It was standing in the middle of a long corridor — blocking the path to the elevator.
Seven feet tall. Skin like stone.
Its eyes glowed red. Its breath fogged the air.
And when it took a step, the ground cracked.
B-rank.
That was impossible.
Monsters like this only appear on Floor 150 and above.
My knees locked. My chest tightened.
I turned to run—
But it had already seen me.
The monster roared.
I froze.
It charged.
And everything… went black.
---
I woke up on the floor.
My head pounding. My fingers numb.
I blinked.
In front of me—
The monster was dead.
Torn to pieces. Sliced clean.
Like it had been shredded by something sharp… and fast.
I sat up slowly. Looked around.
No footsteps. No blood trail.
No sign of another person.
Just the body. And a glowing crystal.
> "If a Vindicator killed it… they would've taken this."
But no one had.
I didn't think. I just picked it up.
Still warm. Still pulsing.
And I walked.
---
At the end of the hallway, I reached the elevator checkpoint.
Scanned my card.
BEEP. ACCESS GRANTED.
The lift doors slid open.
I used the last of my money and rode back to Drektown.
---
George Soros' shop was glowing like always.
Flickering signs. Rusted shelves. That weird vending machine smell.
I dropped the crystals on the counter.
The trader stared. Scanned them. Eyes widening at the B-rank.
"300 ren," he said.
I blinked.
Three hundred dollars.
Enough to buy real clothes. A
real weapon.
Enough to stop surviving and start climbing.
I didn't know what happened on Floor 1.
But I knew one thing:
That monster should've killed me.
So whatever saved me…
It wasn't luck.
It was something inside me.
And next time…
I'd make sure I was awake to see it.