"FEAR NOT."
The voice came from everywhere. And nowhere.
It was layered—masculine and feminine, young and ancient, comforting and terrifying all at once.
"I AM THE GUIDE THAT WILL BRING YOU TO THE TUTORIAL SHORTLY."
The air pulsed with every word, vibrating against my bones. I could feel the sound inside my skull.
The eye's pupil locked onto something distant—then, horrifyingly, turned and focused directly on me. I froze, every instinct screaming to look away, but I couldn't. The slit contracted slightly, as if amused.
Then it turned again, gazing over the crowd like a god inspecting ants.
"YOU ARE ONE OF ONE MILLION CHOSEN FROM THE SUBSECTION OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE OF THE PLANET EARTH, FROM THE AMERICAN SERVER."
The words reverberated in my bones. A million. Chosen. From Earth. So that meant this… thing had brought us here. All of us.
The Guide's voice softened, though it still thundered inside my head.
"THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO REVERSE THIS DECISION. YOUR FATE IS SEALED. ADAPT TO YOUR NEW LIVES AS 'PLAYERS.' YOUR PURPOSE IS SIMPLE—REACH FLOOR 100 OF THE TOWER, AND ACQUIRE THE TRUTH."
Floor 100?
Tower?
Players?
It sounded like a bad parody of every webnovel I'd ever read. Except this time, I was inside it.
I laughed nervously. "No fucking way. . ."
"NOW, ALL CHALLENGERS SHALL CALL OUT THE SYSTEM WITHIN THEIR MINDS. SPEAK YOUR INTENT, AND YOUR STATUS SHALL RESPOND."
I hesitated.
Then, half out of instinct and half because I had nothing else to lose, I thought of the word: System.
Something flickered in front of me—a faint, translucent window, like an AR screen from a sci-fi movie. On it, glowing text scrolled:
[Welcome, Challenger.]
[Commencing initial roll for Gift.]
A shimmering cube materialized before me, swirling with light. Inside it, tiny symbols spun like dice.
All around me, the same thing appeared for everyone else. I could see people gasping, hands raised to glowing cubes, eyes wide with awe or terror.
The Guide's voice echoed again:
"EACH OF YOU WILL NOW RECEIVE YOUR [GIFT]. A UNIQUE POWER BESTOWED BY THE TOWER. GIFTS ARE RANKED FROM F TO EX. REMEMBER: NO TWO GIFTS ARE ALIKE. THEY ARE YOUR ESSENCE—YOUR STRENGTH, YOUR CURSE, YOUR DESTINY."
I swallowed hard. This was it—the part where every protagonist in every Tower story got their special power. I tried to smirk, but my hands were trembling too much.
"IN THE EASTERN HEMISPHERE," the Guide continued, "ONE FROM THE KOREAN SECTAR RECEIVED AN EX-RANK GIFT—AND HAS ALREADY REACHED FLOOR 30 IN MERE MONTHS. SUCH IS THE POTENTIAL OF THE CHOSEN."
Floor thirty… already? That sounded insane…I think? I had no frame of reference to really understand that person's feat. But before I could process it further, my cube began to spin faster. Brighter.
Then—error.
[Error. Unable to assign a Gift.]
[Challenger has already received a Gift.]
My heart stopped.
Already received? What the hell did that mean?
I looked around—no one else seemed to have noticed. They were all mesmerized by their cubes, gasping as their results appeared in golden light.
I forced my face blank. Don't attract attention. Don't panic.
If there was one lesson I'd learned from every novel I'd read, it was never let the system know you're special.
So, I thought quietly, Gift.
The cube shimmered again.
[Congratulations. You have acquired a Gift x2.]
[Would you like to reveal your Gift?]
"Yes," I thought immediately.
Light burst from the cube, and words scrolled across the window in clean, merciless text.
[Gift: Charm]
[Rank: F+]
[Type: Mental/Spiritual]
[Status: Evolvable]
[Gift: Incubus Constitution]
[Rank: A+]
[Type: Physical]
[Status: Evolvable]
I stared.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
Out of a million people, I got Charm? F rank? I couldn't even fight with this. I was going to die before I could flutter my eyelashes at a goblin.
And, what the hell was this Incubus Constitution? For some reason, this Tower seemed hell-bent on trying to get me onto the path of some sort of man-slut or something. I tried tapping at the system message before me, but nothing happened. Frustrated, I banged my fist against the system but nothing happened, still.
Looks like I'd have to find out in the tutorial.
Still, "Evolvable" caught my eye. That meant potential. Hidden mechanics. Maybe.
Hopefully.
"Yeah, I'm pretty much screwed," I muttered.
Before I could curse further, the Guide's voice returned.
"ALL GIFTS HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED."
The wings flared, casting shadows that weren't shadows.
"CONGRATULATIONS, CHALLENGERS. ONE AMONG YOU HAS AWAKENED AN EX-RANK GIFT."
A ripple of shock moved through the silent crowd. Even without sound, you could feel it—the shifting, the sudden turn of heads, the frantic gestures. Everyone trying to figure out who. Everyone suspecting everyone else.
The giant eye's pupil constricted again, scanning us like prey.
"MAY FORTUNE GUIDE YOU. YOUR FIRST TRIAL AWAITS."
Then, almost softly:
"PREPARE FOR TRANSFER TO THE TUTORIAL. EACH LOCATION WILL CONTAIN UP TO ONE THOUSAND PARTICIPANTS. THE DIFFICULTY WILL BE SET TO RANDOM."
Wait. Random?
The air around me began to hum. The white space trembled like glass under strain. I looked around—people were vanishing one by one, their bodies dissolving into static light.
"Random difficulty?!" I thought, panicked. "Define random!"
No answer. Just the red sun above, its eye unblinking.
Then it looked straight at me again.
And grinned.
"GOOD LUCK, PLAYERS."
Light consumed everything.