The air was thick with silence as the latest System notification echoed across the skies. Every screen, tower, and terminal across the globe pulsed with one unified voice.
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SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT - GATE PROTOCOL ACTIVATED
Following the successful clearance of Tower Floors , the following permanent protocol has been established:
1. After each Tower Floor is cleared, a single Gate will appear within 3 months.
2. A Gate is not part of the Tower Trial. It is an independent world event triggered by the System.
3. Only one Gate will appear after each Tower Floor. No more than one.
4. Each Gate will be assigned to a single country, selected by the System based on unknown criteria.
5. Only Awakened individuals from the selected country may enter the Gate.
6. The Gate must be cleared within 30 days of activation.
7. Failure to clear a Gate will result in a global punishment affecting both Awakened and non-Awakened worldwide.
8. Each Gate contains 10 distinct stages, increasing in difficulty, and concludes with a final Boss Chamber.
9. The monsters and final boss inside the Gate will reflect the mythos and cultural legends of the host country.
10. Successful Gate clearance will grant each participating Awakener one Relic, significant stat boosts, and global recognition. The host country will receive direct national-level benefits.
---
The moment the announcement ended, the world erupted into chaos.
In Tokyo, emergency broadcasts lit up every screen. Kaito Yamada stood at the center of his small room, still wearing a loose tracksuit, eyes fixed on the glowing system window hovering before him. Aya stood beside him, arms crossed, her sharp eyes narrowing as she digested the full implications.
"So this is the Gate protocol," Kaito muttered. "No breaks between floors. This isn't a game anymore."
Aya didn't answer immediately. Her gaze shifted to the notification's final line, lips tightening. "It never was."
Kaito gave a dry chuckle. "One country per Gate. I wonder who gets the next one."
Across the world, newsrooms and governments scrambled to decipher the System's motives. The Vatican hosted emergency prayer circles. Washington and Beijing both summoned their top S-rank duos for tactical assessments. In Seoul, the Hunter Guild held a press conference, trying to assure the public that Korea would be ready when their time came.
Back in Japan, Aya turned to Kaito, the faintest worry touching her voice. "What if it's us again?"
Kaito scratched his head lazily. "Then we clean house."
"You're not taking this seriously."
"I am." His expression shifted, his joking mask fading. "I just know what we're capable of."
Aya stared at him a moment longer, then finally nodded. She trusted him—though she'd never say it aloud.
Meanwhile, at the Japan Awakened Authority Headquarters, the top-ranked surviving duo from the previous Gate—Duo No. 50—was summoned. Their names echoed through the halls like legend:
Kazuki Tanaka. Yua Morimoto.
The two had returned barely breathing, clothes torn and spirits fractured, after facing horrors beyond imagination.
Kazuki's voice trembled as he was interviewed by the council.
"There were ten stages. Each one worse than the last. We lost everyone. Fifty duos went in. Only... only two came out."
Yua interrupted quietly. "Not two. One."
She looked directly into the camera.
"Only Kaito Yamada and Aya Shirogane survived."
The chamber fell into silence.
Across the world, those names—already whispered with awe—were now carved into legend. And as the System's countdown began for the next Gate, only one certainty remained:
The Tower was far from done.
And neither was the System.
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End of Chapter 28