I watched the clock on the wall, its hands ticking away the seconds with a steady, relentless rhythm. Each tick felt like a reminder of my strange and daunting reality. I stood there in a state of disbelief, grappling with the enormity of what lay before me.
Ten years of isolation had left me numb, a hollow shell of the person I once was. The world beyond those years had been a distant, almost forgotten place, where the hatred of strangers and the weight of past failures had kept me from returning. But now, with the looming threat of the Tower before me, I found a strange comfort in the solitude that had become my refuge.
It was time to face the trials of the Tower once more. But this time, there was no luxury of starting on a high floor. This time, I would begin at the very bottom, on Floor 1.
The Tower's trials were straightforward yet brutally unforgiving. Progression was determined by the "Kill Count." Each monster slain contributed to this count, and with it came Leava, the Tower's currency. The more formidable the foe, the greater the reward. Yet, there was a cruel catch: the difficulty of a monster was revealed only after it had been defeated, a design that led many newcomers to their downfall.
To balance this peril, the Tower's system offered classes to the Challengers, though not without its own deceptions. When first transported to the Tower, a notification would appear, offering a simple choice: "YES" to accept the class. Unbeknownst to many, the "NO" option was hidden under the Challenger's foot, a cruel trick that left countless souls unwittingly trapped in roles they had not chosen.
Each class determined a Challenger's skills, equipment, and role. Early on, classes like the swordsman appeared advantageous with their strong attack power, but as the floors progressed, their lack of MP and HP proved a fatal flaw. Magicians, though, struggled with their limited magic and low attack power, unable to withstand the early challenges of the Tower's lower levels.
I had been fortunate. I had started on the 13th Floor, bypassing the initial trials of Floor 1 and its class system. I had never had to make that fateful choice, which had granted me the freedom to carve my own path. But now, as I prepared to descend to Floor 1, I was faced with the prospect of starting anew.
A sudden jolt pulled me from my reverie. A passerby had collided with me, sending me staggering. I scraped my hands on the rough pavement, and my knees bled from the impact. Wincing, I steadied myself and limped toward the nearest bus stop, a small bench offering a brief respite.
The first stage of the Tower's transformation began with an otherworldly spectacle. As I stood on the edge of what had once been familiar ground, the landscape around me started to shift and contort. Earth's geography bent and reshaped itself, bending to the will of the Tower. Roads twisted into new patterns, buildings stretched and warped, and the very fabric of reality seemed to bend under the Tower's influence.
Technology, once a hallmark of human ingenuity, now bore the mark of the Tower's dominance. Electrical grids hummed with an eerie resonance, streetlights flickered with a new purpose, and even the air itself seemed charged with an unfamiliar energy. Non-human elements of the world underwent a metamorphosis, taking on strange forms and functions that aligned with the Tower's mysterious agenda.
I watched from a distance as the Tower exerted its transformative power. A massive, undulating wave of energy surged forward, not water but a shimmering cascade of light and force. Its movement was both mesmerizing and unsettling, like witnessing the ebb and flow of an alien tide. The sheer intensity of its approach sent shivers down my spine, an instinctual warning of the Tower's immense power.
Bracing myself against the bench, I felt the wave wash over me with a sensation that defied description. It pulsed through me, filling my senses with a dizzying mix of exhilaration and disorientation. The world around me blurred and faded as unconsciousness claimed me, pulling me into a deep, dreamless sleep.
When I regained awareness, the world had undergone a profound metamorphosis. Before me loomed a sight unlike any I had ever seen—a bus, but not of this world. It hovered effortlessly above the ground, a sleek, spherical vessel adorned with pulsating neon lights. The air around it thrummed with a quiet, unearthly hum, as if it existed on the cusp of reality itself.
Bold letters emblazoned on its side proclaimed its destination: "Korea Tower's Pet Shop." In that moment, clarity pierced through the haze of transformation. This was my passage, my means to traverse the altered landscape and reach the base of the Tower.
As I stepped through its open doors, a sense of anticipation and resolve filled me. It was exactly what I had been waiting for. I rose to my feet, the pain in my limbs forgotten for a moment as I walked toward the open doors of the bus. Stepping inside, I was instantly transported to the base of the Tower.
YOU ARE READING
I Became a Ranker Before Rankers
Fantasy(REWRITING ALL CHAPTERS) Suddenly, I could see bright white lights creeping quickly towards me, so quick that I could only see what it was right before the impact. My weak body was no match for the large transportation bus that would not let anythin...
