The massive horn echoed across the entire city.
It was a deep, ancient, and entirely unnatural sound. It vibrated through the concrete streets and rattled the glass windows of every building. Down below, people completely stopped walking. Cars halted in the middle of busy roads, their drivers stepping out to stare at the sky.
BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. Every single cell phone in the city began to buzz at the exact same time. The screens flashed with a blinding red emergency broadcast.
The Tower had officially activated.
I stood calmly at my bedroom window and watched it. The structure was massive, pitch-black, and perfectly silent. It looked exactly like it did in my first life.
My heart didn't race this time. My hands did not shake. I did not feel the crushing, suffocating panic that had ruined me when I was a normal seventeen-year-old boy.
This time, I was perfectly calm.
I was calm because I knew exactly what was coming next. In just a few moments, glowing golden circles would appear beneath the feet of chosen individuals all over the world. The brutal selection process would begin. Exactly one thousand people from this city would be taken.
The media and the governments believed the selection was completely random. They thought it was unpredictable.
But I knew better.
In my previous life, I was selected on the third day of the Tower's appearance. I had spent those first three days hiding under my bed, crying and starving.
This time, I needed to be ready earlier. Knowledge of the future was a powerful weapon, but knowledge alone would not save my life. My current teenage body was incredibly weak. My mana core was tiny and unstable. My physical aura was so thin I could barely control it.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and focused my mind inward.
Deep inside my chest, the dark Absorption Core pulsed faintly. It felt hungry. It felt like a starving animal locked inside a cage. But right now, it was completely dormant. The core was waiting. It would only activate once I stepped inside the magical boundaries of the Tower. Outside in the real world, it remained silent.
Suddenly, a strange vibration ran through the wooden floorboards of my bedroom.
I opened my eyes and looked down.
A ring of bright golden light had formed directly beneath my feet.
Earlier than last time, I thought, my eyes narrowing. So, the timeline is already shifting. Fate is changing just because I am here. Good. Let it change.
I didn't step back. I didn't hesitate. I stood perfectly still as the golden circle quickly expanded. Ancient, unreadable magical symbols began to spin around the edges of the light.
A system voice suddenly echoed directly inside my head. It was cold, metallic, and completely emotionless.
[ Selection Confirmed. ]
[ Transporting Climber. ] The golden light flared, completely swallowing my vision. The real world instantly disappeared.
When my vision finally returned, I was no longer standing in my small, quiet bedroom.
I was standing inside a vast, circular stone chamber. The ceiling was lost in the dark shadows high above. The walls were made of rough, cold gray stone.
There were hundreds of other people standing all around me. They were normal people. I saw businessmen in expensive suits. I saw a baker still wearing his white apron. I saw high school students carrying their backpacks.
They were confused. They were panicking.
Some people were screaming for the police. Some were crying on their knees, begging to go home.
It was the exact same tragic scene as my first life.
Suddenly, a loud hum filled the giant room. Above our heads, a massive, floating black screen appeared in thin air. Glowing white words formed on the dark glass.
[ FLOOR 1 — Trial of Survival ]
[ Objective: Survive until the gate opens. ]
[ Time Limit: 3 Hours ]
[ Failure = Death ] The crowd erupted into absolute chaos.
"What is this?!" a man in a suit yelled, grabbing his hair.
"Is this a sick reality TV game?!" a woman screamed.
"Let us out! We're going to die here!"
I didn't move. I didn't scream. I just observed.
I remembered this exact floor perfectly. Floor 1 was the great filter. But memory alone wouldn't help me if my physical body failed to keep up.
A loud grinding noise echoed through the chamber. The massive iron doors built into the stone walls slowly began to rise.
Beyond the doors, there was only pure darkness.
The smell hit us next. It was a horrible, thick smell. The scent of rotting meat, wet stone, and dried blood rolled into the room like a physical wave.
Then came the growling.
The first monsters of the Tower were approaching.
Floor 1 was incredibly simple, but it was brutally effective. The system used basic monsters with very low intelligence. They were simple pack hunters. To a trained climber, they were nothing but target practice. But to a room full of untrained, terrified civilians, they were a complete nightmare.
The first creatures slowly stepped out of the dark tunnels and into the light.
They walked on four legs. They had tough, leathery grey skin with no fur. Their mouths were filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth, and their eyes glowed a sickly, glowing red.
They were Claw Wolves.
Individually, a Claw Wolf was very weak. But they never hunted alone. They were deadly because of their overwhelming numbers.
The human crowd panicked completely. People screamed and scattered in every direction, running blindly away from the doors.
That is mistake number one, I thought coldly.
Claw Wolves always targeted isolated prey. Running away from the group only made you an easier target.
I moved immediately. I didn't run toward the exit, and I didn't run randomly into the crowd. I ran directly toward a thick stone pillar near the edge of the room.
Positioning always matters. If I put my back against the solid stone pillar, the wolves could not surround me. They would be forced to attack me from the front.
The wolf pack finally charged into the room.
A terrified man in a business suit froze right in front of them. He was simply too slow to react. A wolf leaped through the air, its jaws snapping shut. Blood sprayed across the gray floor.
Terrible, agonizing screams filled the giant chamber. The slaughter had officially begun.
Noah Arclight, I told myself. Calm down. Control your breathing. Assess the distance. Three wolves broke away from the main pack and started approaching my pillar. There was one creeping in from the left, and two charging straight down the middle.
I quickly looked at the ground. Scattered across the stone floor were pieces of rusted metal and broken wood. In Floor 1, the Tower always spawned basic, low-quality weapons randomly for the climbers to find. I remembered that rule.
I reached down and picked up a heavy, rusted metal rod. It wasn't a sword, but it would have to do.
The first wolf lunged at my throat.
My Grandmaster mind instantly calculated the perfect counter-attack. I moved to sidestep the beast.
But my body was too slow.
My teenage muscles simply weren't used to moving at this high speed. I didn't step far enough. The wolf's sharp claw grazed my left arm, tearing through my shirt and slicing my skin.
A hot flash of pain shot up my arm, but I didn't panic. Pain was an old friend.
I gripped the heavy metal rod tightly in both hands and drove it violently downward, smashing it directly into the top of the wolf's skull.
CRACK. Thick bone shattered. The wolf let out a pathetic whimper and collapsed dead at my feet.
And then—it happened.
A sudden, terrifying burning sensation exploded deep inside my chest.
The dormant Absorption Core had finally activated.
Invisible energy rushed out of the dead wolf's body and surged directly into my veins. It was incredibly hot. It was violent. It felt completely unstable.
I dropped hard to one knee, gasping for air. It felt like I had just swallowed a cup of boiling fire.
Not now! I yelled in my mind. Control it! I forced my breathing to slow down. I imagined a tight box inside my chest and forced the wild energy into it. Slowly, a small portion of the wolf's dark energy settled safely into my mana core. The rest of the violent energy safely dissipated into the air around me.
My magical mana pool increased very slightly. My physical muscles felt just a little bit denser. Stronger.
So, it actually works, I realized, wiping sweat from my forehead. I can steal their power. But the pain... it's like my veins are melting. I forced myself to stand back up. The other two wolves were already attacking.
I swung the metal rod again. I moved a little faster this time. The newly absorbed strength had definitely helped, but it was barely enough to make a difference.
One of the wolves dodged my swing and bit down hard on my leg.
I didn't scream. I just raised the metal rod and slammed it repeatedly into the wolf's throat until its jaw released and it stopped moving.
Another sudden surge of energy rushed into my chest.
More fire. More pain. More terrifying instability.
My vision blurred, and the room spun around me. Two magical absorptions back-to-back were simply too much for my weak body to handle. My dark core throbbed dangerously against my ribs.
If I pushed this power any further, my core might completely destabilize and explode, killing me instantly.
I took a heavy step back, pressing my shoulders flat against the cold stone pillar.
Slow, controlled breathing, I reminded myself. Do not be greedy. Absorption means fast growth, but uncontrolled growth means a fast death. All around me, normal people were dying horribly.
But not everyone was failing. A few people were actually fighting back. Some individuals were showing incredible natural talent, displaying good reflexes and strong aura potential.
Across the giant chamber, I saw a young girl with silver hair. She had her hands raised, and faint, bright red flames were igniting around her fingertips. She was blasting wolves away with raw heat.
Elena.
She was already awakening her famous fire magic, much earlier than most people. She was still alive, fighting bravely to protect a small group of terrified civilians hiding behind her.
Good, I thought.
The massive three-hour timer on the black screen ticked down slowly. 2:45:00... 2:30:00... The Claw Wolves kept coming out of the dark tunnels in organized waves. The monster spawn rate was not infinite. The Tower controlled the waves perfectly to exhaust the climbers.
The true key to surviving Floor 1 was not raw power. It was stamina.
I refused to fight recklessly. I stayed perfectly positioned against my stone pillar, reducing the angles the wolves could attack me from. I only swung my metal rod when it was absolutely necessary to protect my own life.
And most importantly, I absorbed their energy very sparingly.
Every single time I let the dark core eat a monster's energy, the burning pain served as a harsh reminder: You have a weak body. You have a weak foundation. Do not rush this. One long, bloody hour passed.
The waves of normal wolves finally began to slow down. The surviving humans had instinctively gathered together into a large, tight circle in the center of the room. Looking around, I saw that roughly half of the original one thousand people were still alive.
That exactly matched my memory of the first timeline.
Good. There were no major historical deviations yet.
Two grueling hours passed. My arms felt like heavy lead. My breath was ragged.
Then, the final wave arrived.
These wolves were different. They were slightly larger, their gray skin darker and thicker. They were Alpha variants.
They were still not considered 'Rare' monsters—those legendary beasts only began appearing on Floor 5. But these Alphas were much stronger and faster than the normal pack members.
One of the massive Alphas locked its glowing red eyes on me and charged directly at my pillar.
I braced myself, raising my bloody metal rod. When the Alpha hit me, I felt the difference immediately. It was a massive, heavy impact. Its bite force was terrifying.
I tried to block the attack with the rod, but my tired arms failed me. The sheer force of the jumping wolf knocked me entirely off my feet. I crashed hard onto my back, my ribs screaming in protest.
Too weak, I cursed myself. I am still entirely too weak. The Alpha lunged for my exposed throat.
I gritted my teeth and abandoned my teenage instincts. I used a highly advanced, complex footwork technique that I had originally learned on Floor 70 in my previous life.
My untrained legs struggled painfully to perform the movement, the muscles screaming as they stretched past their limits. But the perfect, Grandmaster technique compensated for my lack of raw power.
I twisted my body sharply to the side, letting the wolf's jaws snap shut on empty air.
Using the momentum of my spin, I drove the metal rod straight up. I struck its red eye. I pulled the rod back and smashed its exposed throat. As the beast choked, I brought the heavy iron down directly onto its spine.
The Alpha collapsed, totally paralyzed, and died.
The magical absorption hit me much harder this time.
A massive wave of hot, dark energy flooded into my chest. The instability was terrifying. My fragile veins felt like they were literally melting under my skin. My silver aura flickered involuntarily, sparking around my body in chaotic bursts.
I dropped the metal rod and grabbed my chest. I almost blacked out from the sheer agony.
It's too much! I panicked.
I staggered backward and leaned heavily against the stone wall, sliding down until I was sitting on the floor.
Control it. Refine it into pure power, I ordered myself. Slow your breathing. Slow your mana circulation. Stabilize the core. I closed my eyes and fought a silent, desperate mental war against the wild energy inside my own body. After a full, agonizing minute of pure focus, the burning surge finally settled into my core.
When I opened my eyes, I clenched my fist.
My physical strength had increased noticeably now. It wasn't a dramatic, god-like power up, but it was incredibly clear. My muscles felt tighter. My mana pool felt slightly deeper.
[ 00:00:00 ] The giant timer on the black screen finally hit zero.
A loud, heavy horn sounded. The massive iron doors on the opposite side of the chamber slowly began to grind open. Beyond the doors, a wide, glowing white staircase appeared, leading upward.
Floor 1 was officially cleared.
Out of the one thousand people who started, only about four hundred had survived. The terrible sounds of screaming were completely replaced with an eerie, hollow silence. People were sitting on the bloody floor in total shock. The heavy trauma of reality was finally setting in.
I looked down at my hands. They were shaking violently.
It wasn't from fear. It was from the extreme physical strain.
The Absorption skill absolutely worked. It was the ultimate cheat code. But my human body simply could not handle rapid, repeated stacking of dark energy.
I realized immediately that I needed to do intense physical training between every single floor to prepare my muscles and veins for the stress of the core.
I picked up my bloody metal rod, using it like a walking stick, and stepped away from the wall. I walked slowly but purposefully toward the glowing staircase.
This was only Floor 1.
Every 5 floors, a deadly rare monster would appear to test me. Every 10 floors, a massive Guardian Boss would try to crush me. And somewhere, far above us on the higher floors, the powerful, corrupt human factions were already watching the screens, waiting for new talents to rise so they could control them.
This time, I won't climb blindly into their traps.
But looking at my shaking hands, I knew I also couldn't rush my growth.
I stepped onto the first glowing white stair. The brutal climb to the top had finally begun again.
***
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