"I can't believe people like that exist."
Har, who was standing alone in a blank white space, was still a bit confused when he thought about that golden-haired guy's behavior.
[Welcome to the customization space. You may create an alias and edit your appearance.]
The voice of the Tower echoed, pulling Har's attention back to the current situation.
'An alias... I haven't thought of one yet.'
Har tried to come up with a nickname, but all he could think about was what he would do once he entered the first floor.
"It's just a nickname."
He couldn't help but think of the main character from Minecraft.
"Steve."
Har typed his alias into the holographic screen that appeared in front of him.
"As for my appearance..."
He looked at the reflection beneath his alias — a messy mix of white and black hair strands that looked like they were fighting for dominance, yet somehow still stylish. He was 170 cm tall, with black pupils like the night and casual clothing.
"Well then, might as well match the name."
After saying that, Har began to adjust his appearance, as if he already had a clear image in mind.
The result was a man in his twenties with a short beard, dark brown hair, and violet-blue eyes. He wore a blue shirt, jeans, and casual shoes. You couldn't tell, but he had also deepened his voice.
Now, not only was his alias "Steve," but he had become a hyper-realistic version of Steve himself.
[DO YOU WISH TO CONFIRM THIS CONFIGURATION? WARNING: IT WILL BE PERMANENT.]
"I agree."
[CHARACTER CONFIGURATION SAVED SUCCESSFULLY. YOU WILL BE TRANSPORTED TO THE FIRST FLOOR IN 3, 2, 1...]
[TELEPORTING TO THE FIRST FLOOR]
A white light enveloped his body, and the next second, he found himself somewhere completely different — it felt almost like he had returned to the real world.
'I thought it'd be more... blocky.'
Har looked around. The world looked completely normal, except there were now nine squares, a green bar, five red hearts, and six bread icons in front of him.
'Looks like this depends on your stats.'
From what his brothers had told him, when Handers entered this floor, he had nine hearts and eight bread icons. Handalf, on the other hand, had six hearts and seven breads.
'I still haven't checked my status yet.'
Har decided to do that later. Right now, the Runners were gathering around a handsome young man with long blond hair and golden armor — his identity was obvious.
Curiously, there was no old man around, yet there were about thirty people visible. Something then caught his attention — a young man with blue eyes, a white robe, an iron sword, and a golden cross earring on his right ear.
'You've got to be kidding me.'
Har recognized him immediately. If that guy had pointed ears and wore green clothes, he'd be just like a certain character from his past life.
At that moment, the voice of the Tower interrupted his thoughts.
[Your character shows 100% compatibility with this floor.]
[Special Function Unlocked: Save Progress]
[-Save Progress-
Description: Allows the Runner to save progress on a certain floor and reload it at any time.
-Unlocked only on the First Floor-
-Each day, the floor resets except for what you've modified yourself.-
-Can only be loaded from the real world.-]
"Pff—WHAT THE HELL?!"
Har nearly lost his soul from the shock.
The other Runners looked at him blankly. It was their first time in a Tower world too, but there was nothing here that should surprise anyone like that.
Seeing their expressions, Har cleared his throat awkwardly and ran off.
The Runners stared at him like he was an idiot. Running aimlessly in a place like this? He probably wouldn't last long.
Once he was far enough that they couldn't see him, Har stopped behind a tree to process what he had just heard.
"This is insane... a function-level bug."
After reading the description again and again, excitement filled his face like someone who had found a treasure.
"With this, I can enter this floor as many times as I want... I can bring back armor, swords..."
The more he thought about it, the faster his heart pounded.
"...emeralds, gold, diamonds."
His heart raced wildly as he imagined his future.
Now Har believed that choosing the name Steve was the best decision of his new life.
"Our family's life will take a complete 180."
With that in mind, his eyes burned with determination again as he remembered his purpose for entering the Tower.
'Status.'
Har decided to check his stats and understand the meaning of the hearts and bread icons. From his previous life, he knew that hearts represented HP, and the bread likely had to do with stamina or hunger.
[-Status-
-Name: Harius Davius Jubileus-
-Alias: Steve-
-Race: Human-
-Strength: 7- -Agility: 6-
-Defense: 5- -Intelligence: 9-
Skills: None.
Special Function: Save Progress.
-Rank: E- -TP: 0- -Unspent Attribute Points: 0-]
"This is kinda tough."
He couldn't see any clear relation between his stats and his food bar. The only similarity was that his 5 defense might correspond to his 5 hearts.
"And... Rank E? That won't last long."
Har was confident he'd climb the ranks quickly. Ordinary people were considered Rank E. Once all attributes surpassed 10 points, you'd reach D-.
At 50 points, D rank. At 100 points in one stat, D+. And once all your stats surpassed 100, you'd advance to C-.
Each attribute point cost 1000 TP, and depending on your floor completion rating, you could earn extra rewards.
According to online information about this floor, the more times the green bar above the squares reset, the higher your final grade would be.
"The reward should be tied to the monsters you kill, but... what if it's not about quantity, but quality?"
Har's mind began to race again. He remembered what that golden-haired boy had said — "explosive alien." He probably meant Creeper.
"If you get 30 points for a Creeper... how much would you get for a Blaze? Or for the Ender Dragon... or even the Wither?"
Wild thoughts filled his mind. He didn't know how much TP he'd earn this time, but one thing was certain — this first floor was like an endless fountain of points.