"Sometimes, the end is merciful. Other times, it's just the beginning of the next crueler game."
— Inscription on the 0th Floor
Aren Drayke didn't expect to die that day.
The rain had been falling hard, thick and fast like wet nails tapping against the windshield of his broken little hatchback. The city lights were a blur. His ears rang. A truck horn screamed through the fog like a banshee.
Then…
Nothing.
Just black.
No pain. No cold. No fire. No light.
Just the kind of silence that swallows time.
Until a voice, smooth and mechanical, like a melody rendered in metal, spoke inside his head:
"CANDIDATE 9842–AREN DRAYKE—ACCEPTED INTO THE TOWER. LOADING TRIAL INTERFACE. PLEASE REMAIN CALM."
He didn't feel himself move, but the blackness around him cracked like glass and shattered. Light, harsh, and sterile, flooded in.
And then Aren was standing.
Alive?
Breathing?
He blinked rapidly, his hands rising to touch his face. He was whole. No blood. No burns. His body… felt stronger than usual. His weak knees didn't ache. His thin, underfed frame no longer trembled from too many skipped meals.
His clothes were replaced by simple gray garments. Tight-fitting, like a jumpsuit. A flickering blue interface hovered just above his right hand, pulsing faintly.
Around him stood hundreds…no, thousands, of people in a massive circular platform stretching endlessly in every direction. Above them, there was no sky. Just an abyss of shadow pierced by distant pulses of light.
Some people wept. Others screamed. A few simply stared in stunned silence.
"Where… where am I?" Aren whispered.
As if answering him, a voice echoed through the chamber. Not from any single direction, from everywhere at once.
"WELCOME TO THE TOWER OF TEN THOUSAND TRIALS."
The metallic voice rang.
"YOU ARE DEAD."
Some gasped, but they can make any other sound, the voice continued.
"BUT DO NOT WORRY, YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN."
The crowd again rippled with gasps and panic. But again, the metallic voice didn't give them any chance to protest.
"YOUR DEATH WAS DEEMED UNWORTHY. TO REDEEM YOUR EXISTENCE, YOU WILL NOW CLIMB. TO SURVIVE. TO EVOLVE. TO ASCEND. BE GRATEFUL THAT YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE."
Aren's head swam. Dead? He remembered the crash. The screech. The truck. His sister's name on his lips—
"EACH CANDIDATE WILL NOW RECEIVE THEIR STARTING CLASS."
His breath caught.
Blue holographic panels blinked into existence before each person.
All around, voices cried out in wonder and awe.
"Elemental Knight!"
"Mindweaver! I got Mindweaver! What the heck is Mindweaver!"
"Healer-class. Support role!"
One by one, the candidates began pressing their choices. Each selection lit their bodies with energy, transforming their clothes, their weapons, their very presence.
For whatever reason, everyone seemed to accept their death easily and was ready to start their new life in this weird place.
Aren thought maybe it was because of the constant itch inside his mind. He, too, was very quick to accept his predicament.He looked down at his panel.
And froze.
CLASS SLOT: ERROR
STATUS: TRIALLESS CONDITION DETECTED
INITIATING MANUAL OVERRIDE...
FAILURE.
YOU ARE NOT RECOGNIZED BY THE SELECTION SYSTEM.
What?
He blinked.
He pressed the panel again. Nothing.
Again. Still nothing.
Aren felt the tension in his limbs spiral into panic. Around him, people were shining with a brilliant light, conjuring flame, lifting heavy-looking swords with ease.
And he—
Nothing.
The voice returned.
"SELECTION TIME REMAINING: 30 SECONDS."
He frantically waved at the panel, shook it, and shouted. "Hey! Hey, it's not working!"
No response.
He turned to the girl beside him. "Excuse me! Mine's broken! Can I—?"
She looked at him with a blank expression as if to say she didn't know anything and backed away.
"SELECTION TIME REMAINING: 10 SECONDS."
Panic hit him like a second death.
Why him?
Why—
"SELECTION TIME ENDED."
A cold shiver ran down his spine.
"CLASS NOT SELECTED. CANDIDATE 9842 IS NOW DESIGNATED: TRIALLESS. PLEASE NOTE: TRIALLESS CANDIDATES RECEIVE NO SYSTEM SUPPORT."
"SURVIVAL IS UNLIKELY. INITIATING TUTORIAL TRIAL ZERO."
The floor beneath his feet cracked with sudden, brutal force.
Aren fell.