《Infinite Saga》 1. The Orb In The Endless White Void(1) In a realm existing beyond reality, heaven, or earth. It was an endless empty white void. It had a clear white sky, barren of clouds. It also had unequal chipped tiles, obviously colored white, laid upon a concrete, that was also white. Although, it isn''t actually empty, it has something, well it has one thing. Client 1. It was created for unknown reasons, by an unknown being, placed in an unknown place. It was a spherical orb placed on top of a Greek-like pedestal, albeit it was not really placed, but floating an inch above the pedestal''s surface. A lot of questions can be asked from looking at this simple image. Is it placed in the middle? Is it alive? Is it really alone? Well, I don''t know, yes, and no. "Where am I?" The orb had no emotions nor could it move. But it could do one cool thing, talk. [Welcome] It may not have limbs, but it did have a consciousness. It didn''t know who created it, but it did know what it could do. It could express itself through words programmed in its system... body... or... I don''t know what''s inside an orb. "Who was that?" But thankfully the orb was born without being alone, there was something else. Who, the moment the orb got to exist, after blinking its imaginary eyes. The orb didn''t know what it was, but it talked, it could speak much better than it could. [Welcome] "Is that the orb?" [Welcome] "Stop repeating it!" Unlike the other thing with it, the orb was still getting used to releasing sound. The orb only knew one word, well... it knew others, but it felt stuck and just couldn''t come out. It''s not like changing the words mattered though, the orb didn''t even understand anything. It doesn''t know the meaning of what it said, nor the rambling of the other thing with it, so it had no choice but to just repeat. [Welcome] "Stop!" The other thing got closer to the orb and smacked it. "Why is it so hard!" The orb didn''t know what happened, but the sound was definitely getting louder, that it understood. Then the other thing got further away, much further away. It was saying another word, the orb didn''t understand what it meant, but the sound was the same for a really long time. It was like one word, just like what the orb¡¯s ¡°Welcome¡±. It stared and stared. The orb couldn''t do anything but watch as the other one slowly became quieter. Time passed, seconds, minutes, either way, it didn¡¯t matter as the orb couldn¡¯t even perceive time. "Just what are you?" The other thing got closer to it again and something came to the realization of the orb, something that it knew it could also do. [Zakil Exel] [Level: 0] [Strength: 2] [Agility: 1] [Endurance: 2] [Magic: 3] "What?" Something came out of the orb''s body, or well... something just came out of the orb or inside, whatever it was, the orb couldn''t see it, but it knew something just showed and the orb was the cause of it. The orb wasn''t that intelligent, so it didn''t care and just stared again, losing touch with time. ¡°Is this a Status Screen?¡± The other thing talked again, and it won¡¯t stop any sooner. The orb just stared once more, and it wouldn¡¯t change any sooner. ¡°Am I in¡­ another world! Yes!!!! I could finally have my own harem, my OP skill, but where am I?¡± It released a long sound. The orb was confused¡­ or it wasn¡¯t. It just ticked like it was starting to experience something. ¡°Is this some sort of waiting area? Wait, then that means it¡¯s a tower-type isekai! Wait, but that¡¯s not good. I won¡¯t get any woman by just climbing floors.¡± The orb once again learned another thing it could do. Something came out of its body. This time it knew it was out. It could see it. There was something above it. It doesn¡¯t know what it was. But it knew it was different from the other thing in front of it... front? Whatever. [Endless Tower] [Floor 1] ¡°So I click this right? Wait, am I ready¡­? Yah¡­ I am ready¡­ it¡¯s just the first floor.¡± The other thing clicked the other thing that came out of the orb¡¯s body. That sounds... confusing... anyway, both the other things disappeared. Just like when it first woke up, it was alone, in an endless white void. Client 2. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Time passed. Roughly around 4 minutes and a half. But the orb doesn¡¯t know that. It couldn¡¯t count. Nor does it know numbers. It was staring at the endless void until it was disturbed. ¡°Where is this!¡± It was like the other thing, but it looked different. The orb didn¡¯t know how, but it knew it was different. [Welcome] ¡°What was that!¡± The orb couldn''t understand the words. But it could recognize it was similar to before. It was almost identical, that it knew. But it still couldn¡¯t let go that it was definitely a different one. It just sounded the same. It heard it, but what it was seeing was different. [Welcome] The orb just sounded out the same thing. It already happened once. It was just repeating what it had done. ¡°Is it you?¡± The other thing was definitely different. The orb was sure of it. It could remember. It was unintelligent, but it could remember. The orb remembered that it didn¡¯t happen that way. It learned that sounding out the word just that many times changed something. It was learning. Slow, but it was. Insignificant, but it was. ¡°An orb¡­ in the middle of a creepy white void¡­¡± It got close. Well, it didn¡¯t know what getting close was. But in its eyes, it grew bigger. It knew it was about to be touched. That sounded wrong, but that¡¯s just the basic thought. [Kakil Senda] [Level: 0] [Strength: 3] [Agility: 2] [Endurance: 3] [Magic: 0] The same thing happened. Something inside of the orb appeared, glowed, shined, highlighted? More thoughts appeared, but it still didn¡¯t understand it clearly. It was just random lines in its mind. ¡°What is this? And what is this orb?¡± [Welcome] The orb couldn¡¯t resist. It sounded out its only known word once more. It felt a sense of joy doing so. Maybe it could feel emotions. It just didn''t know what emotions were. ¡°Hm¡­ what happens when I swipe this away¡­¡± The other thing moved and so that thing appeared again. The one that the orb could see. [Endless Tower] [Floor 1] It didn¡¯t know what happened to the other. But it felt a sense of worry. It did, just a little that you couldn¡¯t find it. It was just visible as the Orb didn¡¯t feel anything else. It was like having one ball in a ball pit. ¡°Floor 1¡­ what is that?¡± [Floor 1] It became bigger. The orb couldn¡¯t understand much but it could see changes. It could see movement and size. ¡°Is it telling me to click it?¡± The orb was trying to release something. It was trying its best to say something. There was something stuck in its body. It couldn¡¯t let it out. It tried and tried. ¡°Well, no harm trying?¡± The thing then disappeared again. It was just like the other one. And then that voice came out of the orb. [Start The Floor] It was longer. Much longer. It felt a little happy. Just the same size as that worry. But it did feel a little weird. Like, that wasn¡¯t what it was supposed to say. Or it was trying to convey. But it didn¡¯t know what those words meant, so that feeling didn¡¯t last nor even appear. It was just a guess. Just like the last time. Time passed. This time it was 7 minutes. The orb still didn¡¯t know time. It didn¡¯t even feel like anything was passing. It just stared. Stared at the endless void once more. The thing then appeared. But now it was much lower than the orb. It was looking down. ¡°Rrrrr¡± The orb didn¡¯t understand what the word meant. But it was the first time he heard that sound. It was short but felt like something. Something it just didn¡¯t know. ¡°Aghhh!!!¡± It moved. Just slightly. The sound changed, it was now louder but it was still just as short. A minute passed and the thing wasn¡¯t moving. It stayed. The orb started to not see it. It started to blend with the floor. The orb couldn¡¯t perceive it. To it, the floor, air, the void, and THAT thing, they¡­ they were all¡­ the same. The only difference was that one of them moved. A few minutes and the thing then moved again. The orb noticed that it was multiplying. The thing turned to small things and started to move fast. Some were getting smaller, and some were getting bigger, until everything disappeared. You could say¡­ it evaporated into multiple orbs. Client 3. ¡°Shit! Did I die?¡± Another thing appeared. It was once again different. The orb knew. It also knew that the words were far different. It was not something it had heard before. It was a different sound. It was quite happy to hear a new sound. Time passed and the orb felt more alive. [Welcome] The orb said. It''s just the classic line. "Is that a talking orb?" It was different once more. It just knew it. And it started learning more. ¡°Well, hello¡­ do you know where this is, little orb.¡± The thing talking was close to the orb. To its view, it was bigger. The thing was releasing sound a little slow and with something in it. It was looking at the orb. The orb felt a little emotion of embarrassment, so then it talked. [Welcome] ¡°Is that all you can say? Then alright, that¡¯s a good start.¡± It touched the orb. Then it knew what appeared once more. It was the third time already and it felt more and more familiar. [Sole Deron] [Level: 0] [Strength: 2] [Agility: 3] [Endurance: 1] [Magic: 3] ¡°This doesn¡¯t seem like the afterlife¡­ thank you mister orb.¡± The Orb still couldn¡¯t understand. But it did feel something. It knew it could do it. So it did. And that thing appeared in front of it again. [Endless Tower] [Floor 1] ¡°Ohh¡­ what is this?¡± The Orb succeeded. It didn¡¯t know what that was. But it felt happiness or more like proudness about itself. The other thing then touched what appeared out of the orb and the thing disappeared again. The orb was used to it and wanted to say something. It was trying hard once more. It remembered the feeling of what it just did. It tried remembering and it succeeded. The streak of proudness just wouldn¡¯t stop for the orb. I¡¯m happy for it. [Bye] A longer time passed. It was 6 minutes. The thing appeared again. It was just like the other one. It was lower than the orb. Simply put it was on the ground. It didn¡¯t move like the other one. And it didn¡¯t make a sound either. It was different. The orb stared at it till it disappeared in its sight as it blended with the floor. And so just like last time. The orb saw it once more as the talking thing disappeared into the air. The orb had the perfect message for it. [Bye] Even though it didn¡¯t know what it meant. 2. The Orb In The Endless White Void(2) Client 4. Another thing appeared in front of the orb. It was the fourth. ¡°Is this the afterlife?¡± It didn¡¯t say the same sound as the previous ones, so the orb was tickled. It didn''t have anything else it could do, so it talked with the first word it uttered once more. [Welcome] ¡°Where did that voice come from?¡± That line was rather familiar to the orb. It got its track back and it knew what it had to do. [Endless Tower] [Floor 1] Well, maybe it didn¡¯t know it exactly yet. But it''s something. Good job orb. ¡°Endless tower¡­ where am I?¡± The other thing was standing still. It didn¡¯t change, also known as, it didn¡¯t move. It was just there. Confused. ¡°Is this the afterlife? And¡­ are you god¡­?¡± The thing looked at the orb. It felt a feeling. It was the feeling of being stared at. [Welcome] ¡°Maybe¡­ not.¡± The thing got closer to the orb. It touched the thing above the orb and then it also just disappeared. It all happened way too fast. Faster than the others. Only a few minutes passed and another thing appeared. Client 5¡­ Client 6¡­ Client 7¡­ Client 8¡­ *** It tires my mouth to talk in the way the orb understands. Time passed, a whole new hour since the orb started to exist. Many different things appeared in front of the orb, and he learned nothing from them. All of them either just disappeared or turned into little things flying everywhere. And many more will just be the same. And so hundreds, no, thousands and tens of thousands appear. The Orb learned many things throughout its time. And the first started at Client 9 a human male, well, the first to say that he was human. ¡°Hah¡­ Damn¡­ Failed Life¡­¡± [Welcome] ¡°Hello¡­ you must be that orb I am staring at.¡± [Welcome] The man stood and stared at the orb for a few moments thinking about things in his mind. He then moved and crouched in front of the orb and said its greetings. ¡°How are you.¡± [Welcome] ¡°You must be the orb¡­ I mean I can totally hear it. Well then¡­ I am Jakson. A human.¡± And that is when the orb learned the word¡­ ¡°Human.¡± It was just like any of the sounds it heard. But like a programmed system, it picked the word and hooked it to itself. It learned that the thing he was looking at was a human¡­ Though of course just like any other humans the orb has met, all of them just die. Though the orb didn¡¯t know that. It didn¡¯t know the concept of death yet. Even if it had heard the word ¡°die¡± it never understood it like any other word. But when that human disappeared. The word Human, flew like a piece of line inside the orb. It couldn¡¯t utter it. It wasn¡¯t stuck nor did it try. It just knew it, but it couldn¡¯t say it. But when that human disappeared. The orb thought in its head Human It couldn¡¯t utter it. It wasn¡¯t stuck nor did it try. It just knew it, but it couldn¡¯t say it. More time passed by and more and more humans. The orb didn¡¯t learn much anymore. But it did understand some things. Just more of the words. The more it heard it, the more it learned. It did take a long time. Then a human came that was far different from the others. It was someone who lasted longer than 10 minutes. A feat no one has ever achieved. Client 28. ¡°AH!!!!¡± The man was yelling as soon as it appeared. His mouth was open large revealing a group of broken molding teeth along with a disgusting stench. He was naked from the waist up and had deep scars etched on his bulking muscles. ¡°Where am I?! And where is my sword!¡± The man felt in a hurry. But it then saw where it was. There was nothing around him other than¡­ [Welcome] It moved fast from its reflexes. It swung its arm hard behind it. The man immediately remembered he had no sword and backed away fast. [Welcome] It turned cautious. It didn¡¯t know what it was looking at. It was a mysterious ball that talked. The was a mercenary in a world of war. Even an orb is not something to be easily trusted. The orb didn¡¯t speak further, it just stayed and stared. It learned the process of a status screen then the thing that appeared above it. It won¡¯t move, nor talk, till the man touches it. Sounds wrong once again, but this is an orb. Let it go. When the orb stayed quiet, the man got more unrest. But as it stared at the motionless orb it moved closer. It heard it talk, but it didn¡¯t ever move. More than 10 minutes passed as the man slowly walked just 2 meters to the orb. He was steady and careful, maybe too careful. But it doesn¡¯t hurt to be cautious. It then touched the ball, it shone bright and gold. ¡°Magic!¡± The man jumped back once more and stared far. About three meters this time. ¡°You heretic! Who are you!¡± No magic came out though. And as its eyes read the thing inside the orb, it was confused. [Colo Gala] [Level: 0] [Strength: 7] [Agility: 4] [Endurance: 10] [Magic: 1] ¡°Sorcery!¡± The orb looked at the man as it was far and small. But it wasn¡¯t that small in its eyes, based on the size, the man didn¡¯t even look far. It was because he was huge. The Orb knew what to do next and so it did it. It presented the other screen, the thing it could see, to the man in front of him. To the human standing afar. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. [Endless Tower] [Floor 1] The man stayed far away. It wouldn¡¯t come closer. But it moved, it did, just around the orb. Forming a circle around it. It repeated a cycle multiple times. It lasted for hours. The man never got tired. But soon enough, a couple of hours would make anyone hungry. But as the man circled the orb, the orb got to thinking. It felt like its time was being wasted. It couldn¡¯t perceive time, or maybe it just doesn¡¯t know time yet. But it has been looking at the same thing moving around it. If it had normal eyes, it would be dizzy. The orb tried and tried as it watched the thing move around. It tried more and more and more. Till it remembered how it learned before. Then it succeeded. I¡¯m proud of it once more. [Climb The Tower] The orb didn''t understand what it said again, but it did know it was different from what he had said before. The man heard that and understood. But he was wondering where the tower would even be at. It knew the concept. In his world ¡°Dungeons¡± existed, ones underground and ones that go up the sky, a tower. Then it read that word. It said ¡°Endless Tower¡±. That orb was a key to a dungeon. The man immediately understood. Well, he misunderstood, but who really knows the truth? Is the white endless void the afterlife? Was it heaven? Is it hell? Is it for the dead? Or the alive? Well probably could just be both. No one knows. Even you. The man slowly walked to the orb. He wiped his head and released a soundless breath. He then tapped the orb and nothing happened. Then he tapped the thing above the orb and like everyone else, he disappeared. A few minutes passed, around 4. But, unlike before, the man appeared once more. ¡°Why am I back!¡± [Endless Tower] [Floor 1] [Floor 2] The man didn¡¯t last long though. It touched the screen once more and disappeared. And that was mostly it. The man was hung up on ¡°clearing¡± the tower. It was his duty. The duty of a warrior. Whoever he was, or wherever he was from. He was just doing the duty of clearing a tower and saving potential deaths that a ¡°dungeon¡± could cause. ¡°More!¡± The man appeared and disappeared. With more bruises and more injuries each time. It doesn¡¯t know the word break. It kept going and going. Later it earned a sword. Then a shield. And some armor. But his story was also insignificant. But he was the first. [Floor 13] It was the last stretch he had clicked. And he never appeared ever again. The orb learned nothing. It just stared once more, for hours alone. But it won¡¯t be alone for long. As each time one dies, another just appears. For the orb, that was just normal. It thought it was just a door, or something similar, where one enters, and never comes out. Just kidding, it doesn¡¯t know what a door is¡­ it just knew¡­ it will never be alone. That¡¯s the one thing it will never experience, but loss is¡­ Client 42. [Kiki Lace] [Level: 4] [Strength: 15] [Agility: 9] [Endurance: 7] [Magic: 3] ¡°You know Orb, I think you can talk¡­ just not well can you?¡± Asked by Kiki as she stares at the orb with glint in her eyes. [Welcome] "Can you... yell that?" [Welcome] Kiki still wouldn¡¯t give up. She shakes her head and tries once more. Now, with a presentation. ¡°No, much louder, like this. Welcome!¡± She shouted with a smile on her face and with her arms raised. Kiki raised her hands and stretched. Squinted eyes. Clenched fist. And a quiet scream inside with a release of a sigh. ¡°We can try next time, I''m kind of hungry.¡± Kiki stood up and pulled the status screen of the tower. [Welcome!] Before she could click anything, the orb had done it. It said Welcome with a louder voice. It lacked emotion, but that was progress. ¡°Oh see, I knew you could do it!¡± Kiki smiled brightly with shimmering eyes. Client 67. [Elice Can] [Level: 6] [Strength: 19] [Agility: 11] [Endurance: 13] [Magic: 2] ¡°You see this stick orb?¡± Asked Elice with a stick being shoved close to the orb. He raised his arms to the sky holding the stick and yelled. ¡°It''s just a stick!¡± He grunted softly. Wiggled the stick like a wand. ¡°But in my hands¡­!¡± He released his hands far to the sky. ¡°I could destroy the skies!¡± Elice yelled exaggeratedly. [Bye] Elice scratched his head from embarrassment. Blushed filled his face. He sat down and faced the other side to avoid eye contact with the orb. ¡°Well¡­ my magic stat kinda sucks¡­¡± He pouted. A few minutes passed and a sigh came out. ¡°So we really can¡¯t say goodbye to the sky yet.¡± Someday I will do it. I know I will.¡± Elice raised his hand to the sky. Clenched fist. He stood up and faced the orb. ¡°Watch me do it mister orb!¡± He smiled. [Yes] ¡°That¡¯s the first time you said that!¡± Elice jumped frantically. ¡°I made you say a word!¡± He yelled at the top of his lungs. Client 74. [Zack Rail] [Level: 3] [Strength: 10] [Agility: 9] [Endurance: 7] [Magic: 4] Zack walked towards the orb. He sat. Crossed his legs and looked up. ¡°Can you yell orb?¡± He asked the orb. [Welcome!] "So you can... I wish I had the energy to yell." Client 81. [Insan Eguy] [Level: 1] [Strength: 5] [Agility: 4] [Endurance: 7] [Magic: 1] Lying on the ground yelling loudly. ¡°Fuck!!!! FUCK!!! GET ME OUT OF THIS HELL!¡± [Welcome] ¡°Welcome my fucking ass! I lost my arm because of you!¡± Insan pointed his finger at the orb and yelled. Raising his only hand, he placed it on the orb and shook his arm frantically. ¡°Give it back! Give it back!¡± It didn¡¯t move. But that didn¡¯t stop him. Client 107. [Daniel Borg] [Level: 13] [Strength: 27] [Agility: 21] [Endurance: 36] [Magic: 27] Wood was placed precisely on the ground forming a campfire. Danial held up a huge leg of meat over the fire. ¡°Man! If you had a mouth you would drool for this.¡± He proclaimed as he took a huge bite. [Bye] ¡°Ahahaha! Is that what you feel right now? I mean meat is something you just can¡¯t live without eating!¡± He laughed loudly as he munched over his food fast. Client 238. [Owt Main] [Level: 1] [Strength: 5] [Agility: 4] [Endurance: 3] [Magic: 2] ¡°Ahhhh!!!!! I¡¯ll kill you! You! You! Hahahahahaha!!!!!!!¡± There¡­ really ain¡¯t a need to explain this insane man¡­ ¡°Fuck You World!!¡± He yelled as his eyes teared blood. His skin ripped from his own nails. Rolling on the ground. The orb got in more and more suicidal clients than he would have wanted. But things were just getting started. Oh mister orb, I pity you, I wish things get better. 3. The Orb In The Endless White Void(3) Client 678. [Velatha Oladan] [Level: 7] [Strength: 13] [Agility: 8] [Endurance: 7] [Magic: 41] ¡°Did you know elves can live for a long time.¡± Said the elf as she stood tall in front of the orb. [No] ¡°Well, we could. That¡¯s why, endless tower? More like, ¡°Try me¡±.¡± Laughed Velatha. Feeling embarrassed afterward. [Welcome] ¡°Yeah, I know it wasn¡¯t funny nor even made sense.¡± She turned away and started walking far. Client 1237. [Galso Eldrich] [Level: 26] [Strength: 65] [Agility: 19] [Endurance: 88] [Magic: 0] In front of the orb laid a wooden table that was roughly handmade. On a chopped log sat a man. ¡°You see, mister orb. Magic isn¡¯t all that important.¡± He said, filled with bitterness in his voice. [Yes] On top of the table laid a weird piece of human limb. ¡°I know you would get me. So what if I can just look at my detached arm and never get it back.¡± He laughed and teared up. Client 2346. [Gorlan Sim] [Level: 65] [Strength: 231] [Agility: 119] [Endurance: 179] [Magic: 116] ¡°You know mister orb, before I hated you for bringing me into this place. But now I know you are just like me. Dragged to this place for no reason.¡± He said, staring at his reflection through his sword. Then he sheathed back his sword. [Yes] ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for you, I would have gone insane already¡­ thank you mister orb.¡± He smiled, as a floating screen colored red appeared. [Raid The Next Floor] ¡°If only you didn¡¯t push me, I would just live on the lower floor, forever. Well, not like I can even do that.¡± Said the man. As he waited for the caring response of the orb. It was the only thing keeping him alive. [No] ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I was just joking. I know it wasn¡¯t your fault. Just remember me ok?¡± He clicked the next floor and disappeared¡­ forever. [Yes] [Bye] Client 5693. [Delta Sim] [Level: 48] [Strength: 98] [Agility: 129] [Endurance: 74] [Magic: 201] ¡°My brother used to tell me that heaven was the most beautiful place in the world.¡± She said as she hopped around looking at the sky. [Yes] The orb said with a slight sign of worry every time it replied to Delta. ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t replace you for heaven, thank you mister orb.¡± She smiled at the orb, which made it feel a slight guilt inside. [Welcome] If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. [Welcome...] ¡°Why did you repeat it twice? And did you feel sad for me for the second time? Well even if I didn¡¯t meet my brother in heaven, I know he is having fun there. Wherever that is.¡± She dropped down to the ground and lay upward facing the endless white sky. Client 15678. [Brisin Farmaer] [Level: 100] [Strength: 509] [Agility: 335] [Endurance: 600] [Magic: 1] From a distance, a blazing figure was getting closer and closer, fast, till it just stopped instantly in front of the orb. ¡°Just got back from my 100-mile run! Were you lonely without me?¡± Sweat filled her face and body. Her entire body was not possible in the realm of reality. Just the simple fact that she has a 10-pack was enough for that thought. It wasn¡¯t easy keeping such a chiseled body without that much exercise. [Yes] Her face filled with worry, she would never get used to hearing the orb¡¯s sad tone to her doing her morning routine. ¡°Aww, sorry¡­ Will never happen again! I will never leave you, mister orb!¡± She said high and proudly. Client 23456. [Jason Mak] [Level: 87] [Strength: 123] [Agility: 200] [Endurance: 467] [Magic: 789] As the orb stared at the endless white void waiting for Jason, he just appeared. ¡°AHHHHH!!!! The sky!¡± He immediately hovered his left hand above his eyes. ¡°I hate going into tunneled floors or any dark-themed floors!¡± He yelled out loud. Arm dropped. Eyes closed and body shut down. [Yes] ¡°It always blinds me when I come back from a dark floor.¡± Jason was lying down facing the floor with his eyes closed. [No] ¡°Yes, mister orb, you just never know, if you could be there, you would understand.¡± He remarked. [Climb The Tower] [No] Jason flipped himself up and faced the sky. ¡°Hahaha! Well, you know¡­ I don¡¯t wanna die¡­ I really don¡¯t¡­ I wish I could just stay on the lower floors.¡± [Yes] ¡°I don¡¯t wanna die!¡± He yelled for help. But after so long, he couldn''t help but just say it playfully. Client 69420. [Six Inter] [Level: 97] [Strength: 761] [Agility: 123] [Endurance: 537] [Magic: 1] Crouched to the ground. With his hands not visible going through some portal. ¡°Mister Orb! I just found this. What do you think is better, yes for the right, no for left.¡± He lifted both his arms out from the ground holding two different sets of clothing. With the one on the right clearly being lifted and moved around more frequently. [No] ¡°Really¡­?¡± He asked as he retracted his voice. He didn¡¯t like the answer so he placed the one on the left closer to him and blocked it with the one on the right. [Yes] ¡°So this one is better!¡± He yelled, throwing the other one to the ground. He stepped on it multiple times just to degrade it far from recognition. [No] ¡°What is it then!? Well, the other one got destroyed by¡­ some animals¡­¡± Six said, with a voice radiating lies throughout. [Bye] ¡°No!!! I¡¯m just joking! You¡¯re giving me the silent treatment again. No!!!" Six yelled and dropped knees down on the ground, staring at the orb, waiting for a reply. Client 88888. [Den Recon] [Level: 100] [Strength: 657] [Agility: 371] [Endurance: 510] [Magic: 0] The man sat down on the ground with his legs crossed. His eyes were shut as he meditated beside the orb. [Raid The Next Floor] After hearing the monotone voice and the bright red light that even went passed his shut eyes, Den stood up. ¡°Well¡­ Mister orb¡­ guess it¡¯s time for me to die.¡± [No] He shook his head. ¡°You already told it to me before mister orb. No one has ever cleared floor 51. And no one has ever reached a level past 100. It¡¯s time. I''d rather die in the tower than let you see me in pain.¡± [No] ¡°It¡¯s ok¡­ it¡¯s ok¡­¡± Den walked closer to the orb and laid his head on top of it. His tears dropped, making rain above the orb. If the orb could cry, it would. But crying was something it preferred, he knew, that the feeling of not being able to cry was something far more painful. ¡°Bye¡­¡± [B-] Before the orb could even say a word, Den hurried and moved to the next floor. [-ye...] *** Years, decades, centuries, millennia. The orb has been with many, many people. Humans and other species alike. And many died, in many ways. From the tower to suicide, or to starvation. It learned many things. It was able to become smarter. It was able to convey words. It was able to talk. It was limited, but it could. The orb felt much happiness. The joy in people''s faces. The amount of times they thanked it. The gifts it was presented. The jokes it was told. The dreams it heard. The impact it made on others. And yes it even knows the word impact. Yes, it could talk and understand. It has lived for so long. And at first, it could never feel the emotion of loneliness. But, loss, it might as well just be called loneliness. The orb felt much sadness. The fear in their faces. The tears from their eyes. The grief of their words. The limbs it saw. The many last words it was given. The nightmares it heard. The death it gave. The amount of attachment it had to the people it was with. And the amount of times it had to see them disappear and a new one just appears, replacing the other, without even mucof h a breather, there was not even a space for sympathy, no room to be sad. The orb felt much frustration. The number of faces it has seen. The amount of times it had killed. The amount of hugs it wanted to give. The amount of times it wanted to laugh, to cry, to be mad. The amount of times it wanted to yell. The amount of times it wanted to comfort someone with words other than [Welcome]. The amount of hatred it felt for itself. The memories it could never forget. It was simple¡­ the orb just didn¡¯t want to see another person. So what if many of them made it happy? So what if it will miss the stories they have told? So what? It just didn¡¯t wanna see another one of its¡­ friends¡­ to just disappear without even him knowing, until just a new person arrived. It was the most unpleasant way to know someone important had died. And so, it wished¡­ it just wished¡­ it wished¡­ it wished¡­ no one would ever leave him alone like those again. The orb couldn¡¯t move, nor could it be moved. The orb couldn¡¯t talk much. That was all, any other it could do? It could feel, it could express, it could think. The orb didn''t even know... how he could even care at that point, but he could. Client 100000 [Callan Satchel] [Level:0] [Strength: 1] [Agility: 1] [Endurance: 1] [Magic: 1] And 100 thousand clients later. It felt weird. Not uncomfortable, nor sad, nor regret, nor anger, nor guilt. It felt happy. It was like for the first time in its eternal life, it felt like something right just happened. That thing in front of it. That guy, it was the one that would reach the end. That man was going to save it, from endless suffering. ¡°This orb feels sad¡­ or maybe it just feels cold." 4. The Man In The Endless White Void Tap tap tap. Inside a dark room. Lit by the light of a laptop. Filled with the sounds of one''s keyboard and the finger tapping on the wooden desk. Sat a man in a crossed position on his gaming chair. On a bright laptop inside a dark room, paragraphs of words are displayed. It was a novel. Callan was your ordinary high school student. But at the moment, he was on his summer break. That just meant one thing to him. Write and write. Callan was an aspiring author who yearned for fame. Yes, fame. He didn¡¯t care about money or any of such sorts. He only wanted to be popular and known. Of course, if a person does want to be popular, novel writing isn¡¯t going to be your first choice. Actually, it¡¯s not even going to be on that list. The top will probably be either an actor or an online influencer. Being a writer won¡¯t make you popular. But Callan was different. He didn¡¯t want popularity to satisfy his desires, his reason is kind of sweet, that of a child. ¡°I¡¯m thirsty¡­¡± Callan straightened his back, stretched his arms, placed down his legs, and dropped his arms to the side. ¡°Just a few more hours and I''ll sleep.¡± It was midnight at that point. But to him, that was just how he really slept. It¡¯s truly unhealthy, and as some say, it might even kill you. But he has been doing that for years, there was no way that was true. As Callan stood up and went out of his room to get water, I''ll continue what I was saying. Callan was no ordinary writer. Or at least his goal was not just popularity. It was simple and bittersweet. Ever since he was a child, there was one feeling he had fun experiencing. That feeling was the feeling of inspiration. That enlightenment a person experiences when something they read, watched, or saw, just activates something in their heart, mind, and soul. It said something along the lines of ¡°WOW¡­¡± It was just a simple gasp, a gasp inside your body that it felt like you were being reborn. Callan wanted to make others feel that. Through his stories, through his built-up landing, to build a literal thousand chapters story just to give a simple message. For example, to deliver the most impactful ¡°I never gave up¡±. When the entire series was a thousand chapters of constant battles filled with tears of blood. But he could never do that. And the reason was simple, he sucked at writing. He has tried everything, even having someone''s work up on another monitor and copying their sentence structure. But that was stupid, it was never going to work. He just plainly, once again, sucked. But being the worst at writing wasn¡¯t going to stop him. Callan, in the span of half a year, has written 5 series which¡­ he dropped. Because no one was reading them. It wasn¡¯t getting attention as his grammar and ¡°pacing¡± sucked. To be fair, if he wanted to give a deep line at the end of his story his pacing had to be good. So that was his fault, not gonna lie. There was one secret though, that only he knew. ¡°Man, the water was cold as fuck.¡± Oh, he¡¯s back. Callan walked back to his desk and looked behind him towards his bed. The thought of sleeping crossed his mind. He shook his head and sat on his chair. ¡°I guess, I¡¯ll write ¡°For Ever¡± for now.¡± That secret was simple. Callan intertwined his hands and stretched them far. He raised his hands and reached for his ear pods. He started his playlist and began typing. Callan has written and dropped 5 series in just a few months. But in reality, he just stopped releasing them, it didn''t mean he stopped writing them. Callan just had one simple dream¡­ it was to be the most popular writer in the entire world no matter what it took. After reaching that spot and gaining the amount of dedicated readers he wanted. He would create a story, a slow burn, so slow that a single chapter may not even be a day. And for what purpose do you wonder? Isn¡¯t it obvious yet? Callan just wanted to be a writer¡­ a writer that changes someone''s life¡­ that changes it for the better. After 2 hours and finishing a 3 thousand word chapter, Callan laid back on his chair and stared at his bright laptop surrounded by the dark room. Then he blinked, and everything was bright. He understood immediately. I really died from being in front of a computer for too long¡­ you''re right Mom¡­ you¡¯re¡­ right¡­ His fatigue was suddenly gone. With a stretch of his arms to the air. Leg spread in a V shape. He stood up and looked behind him to see an orb atop a pedestal. It feels¡­ The man walked closer to the orb as he observed every little detail, to its brightness, shadow, and the pedestal it was on top of. It was a Greek-like pedestal. After looking at the orb, when he reached it, he laid his hands on top of it. [Callan Satchel] [Level: 0] [Strength: 1] [Agility: 1] [Endurance: 1] [Magic: 1] The orb shined with a light that blinded his eyes for a moment. He could see a slight text at the edge of his hands, as the others were probably covered by his own hand. He didn¡¯t pay much attention to it as he slowly caressed the orb. ¡°This orb feels sad¡­ or maybe it just feels cold¡­¡± His voice was filled with pity. He looked around and saw that he was in an endless white void. There was no sun, moon, clouds, nor stars. There were no walls in front, back, or sides. But there was just a floor, with uneven tiles and an orb in front of him. ¡°So¡­ it¡¯s just me and you.¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. [Welcome] ¡°Oh¡­ you could talk¡­¡± The man looked around once more. And with his face filled with nothing but a deadpan expression. Eyebags that are as dark as the color black. Pupils that didn¡¯t shine. A mouth that stayed flat and cheeks that dropped down. In just the span of a second. His face was filled with a smile as bright as the place he was at. ¡°Nice to meet you Orb, I¡¯m Callen, let¡¯s get along, ok.¡± The man removed his hands from the orb and started to stretch his entire body. I¡¯m free¡­ free¡­ from being a shit author¡­ His mind ran. It was filled with positive thoughts. Those that he has hidden from himself, or was that hiding for this moment. I can¡¯t be a shit author¡­ anymore¡­¡­ a¡­.. What am I saying! I¡¯m free! He observed everything in his surroundings and made a guess on where he was at. It was fully white, there was no other color you could see other than his own skin and clothing. He was fully presented as an eyesore in a beautiful painting of grace and tranquility. The place also smells like blood. Actually to say it just smells like blood was an understatement. It reeked of blood. It was the only thing you could smell. But it wasn¡¯t that bad. It was actually quite pleasant. It was like a newborn baby, presented with infinite possibilities. Callan arranged his thoughts and memory. Gellon¡­ He has died and he accepted that with no problem. I¡¯ll miss you¡­ His family? His friends? His home? His stories? What were those!? To him, all he had was this orb, an orb atop a pedestal. Goodbye forever¡­ my children. He wasn¡¯t sad, he hated that life, and everything in it. His current emotions weren''t denial, it was real. And him? He was now just a newborn baby. Presented with infinite possibilities. It could simply just be explained. That Callan was insane. Well, let¡¯s just let him have that. Callan stared at his status screen and saw a wall of number 1. Just like my viewership!... a¡­ ¡°Well, this status screen is kind of a disappointment. Guess I need to work out or something.¡± [Yes] ¡°Oh, you even agree mister orb. Wait, calling you mister orb sucks.¡± And so, 100 thousand clients later. I know it¡¯s such a far reach for your disbelief. But it was true. For the first time¡­ the orb¡­ it got a name¡­ ¡°A white orb¡­ you can display a screen, like a system, but that sounds stupid¡­ an orb in the endless white void¡­ snow¡­ light¡­ angel¡­ Oh! There was that one word I had to search up for something! Mirai¡­ cause you are my future.¡± The man smiled. He used a Japanese word that meant future. It felt a little odd, or uncomfortable, but the orb liked it. Though Callan later blushed and cringed from calling the orb such a name. [Yes] ¡°Oh, you like that Mirai?¡± [Yes!] ¡°I like your enthusiasm, anyway, so what am I supposed to do here?¡± Callan¡¯s voice was turning more and more lively as time passed by. His voice was starting to be filled with energy. Then a screen above the orb appeared. He knew instantly, it was the reason he was there¡­ and that, this really was his future¡­ [Endless Tower] [Floor 1] ¡°You serious? Is it really endless?¡± The man asked in confusion. He was in disbelief. It seems like he really needed to put his mind into the world he was just placed into. [Yes] ¡°Hmmm¡­ I¡¯m not the first person here am I?¡± Callan picked up from the reply of the orb. It wasn¡¯t completely monotone. It had real emotions placed in it. Callan, ever since he was a child, was a monster. Not some wild beast that bullied people or killed others. But he was a monster emotionally. He could feel what others felt, but he could never reciprocate their feelings. He never knows what to say to a sad person, or what boundaries are, or what happiness really is. Which really warrants him as a bad author. But it wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t work hard. Just to be seen as a normal person, Callen even had to study human psychology just to be normal. But that wasn¡¯t very effective in the end. [Yes] ¡°How many people? More than 10?¡± [Yes] ¡°More than 100?¡± [Yes] ¡°More than 10000?¡± [Yes] ¡°You sure you ain¡¯t playing with me Mirai?¡± [Yes] ¡°Ok, so above 100000?¡± [No] ¡°Then below 100000?¡± [No] ¡°Oh¡­ I''m the 100 thousandth. I don¡¯t know how to feel about that. Well, I know how you feel though, and it hurts¡­¡± Callan couldn¡¯t hold himself up and fell to the ground. He was the type of person to lie. And lie a lot. He did just put his mind to forgetting his past life, but that wouldn¡¯t be easy. And now he was starting to feel guilty once more. One hundred thousand lives was not a small number. Callan knew it. He could feel, he could see, just the sadness someone has to go through to be attached, love, to say goodbye to so many people. ¡°It¡¯s inevitable, isn¡¯t it¡­ I¡¯ll just die¡­¡± [No] ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so kind, out of 100 thousand people, I¡¯m probably the worst candidate to be with you. I mean just look at my stats!¡± [Yes] ¡°Hahahaha! Love your honesty there¡­ I guess¡­ if I''m gonna die either way¡­ let¡¯s see just how far I can climb your endless tower Mirai!¡± Callen stood up with energy. He jumped and stretched his arms out for one last time. He raised his right arm and placed it beside the screen. With his left clutched. His legs pressed and his heart was pumping. ¡°I can¡¯t make promises¡­ but Mirai¡­ I¡¯ll be back¡­ ASAP!¡± He yelled to the top of his lungs as it was cut by being teleported outside of the white realm to the first floor of the Endless Tower. This starts the journey, a long, long journey. Hope you can stay. [Bye...] 5. First Floor [Welcome To The First Floor] Mirai¡¯s voice echoed inside Callan¡¯s head. But it wasn¡¯t exactly like Mirai¡¯s voice. It was monotone and lacked any sign of emotion. It was the true voice of a robot. Just like how the orb used to sound like. Well, Callan doesn¡¯t know that. ¡°Well, it feels like I didn¡¯t even move.¡± The surroundings were just as bright as the infinite area. It was a giant cube colored white. The walls and floors had square tiles, and unlike the previous place, the tiles were all even. [Spawning Monster] [3¡­] ¡°Already? Where''s my weapon?¡± Callan¡¯s eyes panicked. His mind went uneasy. There was nothing in the room he could use. And before he could think of any plan. ¡°Rrrrr!¡± A goblin. It was a small green monster with a knife. ¡°This is unfair!¡± Callan wasn¡¯t allowed to think further. The goblin was running to him at a fast pace. Callan stood still as the goblin jumped to him. Callan gritted his teeth. Foot spread. Legs straighten. Fist clenched. The goblin jumped high. Stupid! Callan has written a lot of novels. Fighting was something he knew, even if it was just by words, as long as you kept composure and didn''t lose focus. Just like playing an FPS game, focus on the screen. And aim! ¡°Grrr!¡± A fist erupted below the goblin. The knife fell from its hands and Callan ran to pick it up. The goblin fell to the ground with great pain in his stomach. Before it could even stand up, Callan had stabbed its head with the knife. ¡°Fucking hell, that was a rush!¡± Callan fell to the ground. He has never exercised in his entire life. Even if everything he did was just walk less than a meter, the pressure was enough to tire him out. [3¡­] [2¡­] But the tower wasn¡¯t going to be kind to him. If he thought a single goblin was all floor 1 would be. That was a great understatement. ¡°Rarrrr!¡± Another goblin appeared. It was another one with a knife. I¡¯m gonna fucking die! Callan forced himself to stand up. He waited for the goblin to arrive and jump at him. If it jumped, throwing the knife below the goblin was enough to kill it. But unfortunately to Callan, the goblin never did such a jump to the sky. Rather it jumped to Callan. Knife aimed straight. Body forming an arrow. The goblin was coming at great speed. Callan couldn¡¯t react and move fast enough. He was grazed as he moved to the left. ¡°Ahhh!!¡± Callan was just a normal person. Worse, he was from the modern world. Such injury is something he has never experienced. No normal person could handle such pain and fight at the same time. The goblin landed on the ground safely. It took no stops and ran towards Callan once more. He was not that far and Callan was for sure not even paying attention. But even if his mind was not in enough focus, it doesn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t see. The goblin jumped a little crooked. It jumped aiming at the sides of Callan once more. Something went through Callan¡¯s head, it was an insane thought but he had no choice. The goblin stabbed its knife into Callan¡¯s arm. Callan took the chance of a single second of the goblin staying put as he stabbed it on its head. His eyes were turning blurry and blood was pouring out of his arm. The pain was getting the best out of Callan and he was seriously about to die. As he thought he was going to finish the first floor, his belief was once again crushed. [3¡­] Fuck¡­ Callan was catching his breath. He inhaled and exhaled heavily. His teeth were about to break on just how hard he was gritting on them. As a last resort, Callan pulled off his white t-shirt and then pulled the knife out of his right arm. But before he could even tie the cloth to stop the bleeding as he planned, the other goblin was already running towards him with its knife raised. I¡¯m fucking dead. Callan was very set on believing he was going to die. But either it was plot armor or a pattern or even luck, who the fuck actually cared, he was dying. The goblin jumped to the sky and even though Callan was not a lefty, he could still throw the knife as long as he held it tight. The knife hit the goblin and it dropped to the ground in front of him. Callan immediately tied the cloth around his right arm. One side was bitten by his mouth. The other dropped. Picked up, rapped around, then tied. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. [3¡­] Another one already! Let me take a break! Aghhhhhh!!!! The last one wasn¡¯t out of anger but from the pain. He could still think by god who knows how. But fuck it, he¡¯s going to live even if he needed to be stabbed more. Though it hurts like hell, so that''s just a lie, he''ll beg to not get stabbed more. The goblin was running towards Callan. It was the fourth one. It wouldn¡¯t be a bad guess that 5 would come out. If there were more, it was goodbye to his fucking life. Callan tried to stand up forgetting about the small injury on his right side. But the pain could be handled. ¡°AGGHHHHH!!!¡± Even if it took much pain. And screams from his mouth. It¡¯s not like he was disturbing any neighbors. Wait who cares about neighbors? He wasn¡¯t playing a fucking video game. He was playing his life for god sake. The entire right side of Callan was paralyzed. He could still move his legs but it was so painful it might as well just be a statue. His right arm was also just useless. And he could take that as an advantage. The goblin jumped forward to Callan. So it was a fucking pattern. The goblin had the knife pointed forward. Callan was thinking of some stupid wish fulfillment. In reality, he could just quickly move to the side and disarm the goblin. But he was not that fast. Even if he could imagine it. It¡¯s just imagination not a fucking reality. But what wasn¡¯t an imagination was his body. Callan used his entire body and took the knife with his right side. Causing his light wound to open up more. Using the pain and rage inside his body, he lifted his left knee so fast it made the goblin throw up so much blood. ¡°Aghhhhh!!!¡± As much as he wants to be happy from taking the fourth goblin, he just falls to the ground screaming. ¡°AAGGHH!!¡± Fuck! Fuck! This is why I hate pain, my God! I just got stabbed from an injury I also got stabbed from! "I''m gonna faint from the pain!" Callan yelled once more just to distract himself from the pain and the amount of dizziness caused by the small amount of blood loss. [3¡­] He was once again woken up from the pain by the sound of the countdown. Be the fucking last one! Callan was lying on the ground. He couldn¡¯t stand up no matter what. His entire right side has just been damaged to complete paralyzation. His blood was being spread to the ground as far as his limited sight could reach. The goblin spawned and was based on Callan¡¯s observation. The goblin would jump. It didn¡¯t matter if he was on the ground. The goblin jumped to the sky and Callan pulled the knife from his right arm and threw it. The goblin died and it fell directly on Callan. The handle of the knife hit his stomach painfully. The pressure was enough to even blow his organs out. Callan couldn¡¯t handle the pain anymore and fainted. On the other side, as Mirai waited for Callan to come back, Mirai was just counting on when Callan was going to be back. It really felt something special about Callan. Whatever it was, even if 100 thousand wasn¡¯t its first milestone of a complete round of 0, Mirai just couldn¡¯t help but hope. Actually, it didn¡¯t have a choice other than to hope. For the first time in its life, Mirai, the one who was supposed to govern the participants of the Endless Tower, the one considered by most or even everyone as the system. At that moment, while Callan was fighting through death''s door on the first floor, Mirai¡­ was¡­ [If Client 100,000 Dies] [You Die] [Opening Support Center] [Don¡¯t Let Him Down¡­] [****] The orb couldn¡¯t help but stay still. It¡¯s mind paused. The orb¡­ Mirai¡­ was shocked to its core. It was, for the first time in its life, the one in turn to die. Mirai collected its thoughts. It understood what a system was. He has heard way too many stories about systems. He had even heard an entire novel from a novel fanatic who remembered his favorite novel, word for word. Support Center. It said in its own mind. Mirai was an orb. The things an orb could see if you wouldn¡¯t have guessed it already, was an entire 360 degree. Yes, it could see everything from every angle. For thousands of years, it has seen, and stared, at the endless white void at every angle. For the first time in Mirai¡¯s life, it experiences darkness. Mirai¡¯s vision turned dark, a screen appearing in front. It was just like the screen of the list of floors. But now it wasn¡¯t above Mirai. It was inside its mind. [Support Center][1 Point] [Complete Heal][1] [Upgrade Stat Potential][3] [Increase Deadline Duration][10] [Skip Floor][20] There were only four options on the screen. Mirai looked at all of them fast. It understood immediately what every single one did. And then it realized something. It already had one point, which meant that Callan cleared the first floor. It didn¡¯t know how to remove the screen and struggled for a few seconds. It just remembered how it always opened its screens and learned it was just the same. The moment Mirai¡¯s eyes opened to the endless white void. First, it was blinded by the sudden transition from such complete darkness to the radiating brightness of the white void. Then its mind stopped for a mili-second. Callan¡¯s body was on the ground gushing so much blood and with its organs flowing outside of his body. Buy. But it didn¡¯t worry for long. It knew what to do. And for the first time in its life, just one of the many first once more. Mirai¡­ who after watching so many of its loved ones die, saved one for the first time. [Purchased Succesful] [Initiating Healing Process] But Mirai wasn¡¯t happy at all. It was angry. Angry that it never had such features to save the others. Those ones who were young. Those that were crippled. Those that cried. And those who despaired. Mirai was pissed. But remembering all the people it has spent time with. Once again, if it had eyes and it could¡­ it would have cried an ocean a long time ago. 6. Potential ¡°I¡¯m alive!¡± Callan was breathing heavily. He raised his hands above his eyes and stared. ¡°I¡¯m alive!¡± He stood up immediately. Walked towards Mirai and hugged it. ¡°I¡¯m alive!¡± Callan cried buckets above Mirai. It has experienced many tears falling above it. Even though it could never really feel the downpour of tears. Nor feel anyone''s touch. Just the thoughts and emotions were enough. Callan just cried and cried. It was the first time it had felt such pain and such danger. It was closer to death than he had ever been his entire life. Failing an exam and riding a rollercoaster was nothing in comparison with watching your own organs slide out of your own body. [Welcome] ¡°I knew it was you! Thank you, Mirai!¡± He continued to cry. Mirai just thought it was good to just let him be. Callan was already experiencing enough and so was Mirai. For the first time, it unlocked a system. A feature of its own. And it was something that could help the raiders. Even though it was still pissed as it couldn¡¯t have unlocked something long ago. The burden and guilt of all those people, that it wouldn¡¯t try to lie about, Mirai killed them. Even if it wasn¡¯t with its own hands. Mirai killed everyone. But there was no going back. There was only the future. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯ll write again! I¡¯ll love it again! I¡¯m not emotionless anymore!¡± Mirai didn¡¯t know what Callan was talking about. But soon enough it will know Callan more than anyone. It was time, this was Mirai¡¯s last chance. Using the system it was provided. It will carry the worst Client it has ever had yet. Or well¡­ was he? [Callan Satchel] [Level: 1] [Strength: 4] [Agility: 4] [Endurance: 4] [Magic: 4] One Hundred Thousand! It was a hundred thousand clients, yet out of all of those. Not a single one had such an even spread of stats at a level up. Nor did they have talent in both the physical and magical aspects. It was unheard of. Literally. Though of course, such things as magic swordsmen existed. Of course that was a possibility. But that was still just a few magic stat and more on the strength stat. But either way, a magic-to-physical ability ratio shouldn¡¯t be the main topic. It was that all stats are the same. All stats couldn¡¯t be the same. It was something Mirai had concluded as potential and talent. ¡°I leveled up!¡± Cheered Callan. He was extremely happy yet was still crying. He was, how many times do I have to repeat it, just a normal person. It was a surprise he even cleared the first floor. But it was not that amazing of a feat. Many have already cleared the first floor. Though just like the majority. Most died cause they couldn¡¯t survive the injury that they took from the floor. And that was supposed to be the case for Callan too. If it wasn¡¯t for Mirai, he was just another dead man. But Callan didn¡¯t seem normal. He was talented, he had a talent for everything. It was insane. And his potential¡­ ¡°All my stats got up by 3¡­ Is that normal?¡± Callan asked Mirai. As he rubbed his tears off his eyes. And cleaned his wet face with his clothes. [No] Replied Mirai. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Callan got to thinking fast. Was that a positive? A negative? Was it shit? Or was it ok? Or maybe it was amazing? Or higher, it was the best ever! Callan just couldn¡¯t get it out of his head. He has had a lot of greed ever since he was a child, pride was just a partner of that, and ego was the birth of the two. ¡°Is it good?¡± Asked Callan. [Yes] Callan could have just accepted the fact. But at the moment his greed and pride were at a high point. His ego was back alive. All he could think of was going higher. ¡°Really¡­ good?¡± [Yes] ¡°Yes!¡± Callan kneeled and raised his hands. He yelled over excitement. It was the greatest achievement of his life. I''m not lying, it really was. Well, enough of his life. No one cares. ¡°Ok, but even still! I almost died.¡± Callan got back to reality. His ego shut down and slept. The lingering feeling of death. And those horrifying sight of his organs. It makes him wanna puke. Even though he always thought that gore was not going to affect him. Either it was cause he was just glazing or that it was his own body. Whatever it was he still couldn¡¯t let go of the feeling. But who will, it was hell. The feeling of death was scary. It was far too horrifying. He had fun watching death scenes on shows and even fantasized about killing people. But now, it was just disgusting. ¡°Mirai, what else do I have to do?¡± Callan asked Mirai as he collected his thoughts. He stood straight. Fixed his posture. Stared intently. And with discipline in his mind and actions. [Endless Tower] [Floor 1] The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. [Floor 2] ¡°Is that it? Is all I could really do is to just climb the tower?¡± Callan tilted his head. Confusion filled his mind. [Yes] ¡°Is there a skill system window?¡± [No] ¡°An inventory?¡± [Yes] ¡°Oh! Can I get it now!¡± [No] ¡°Shop?¡± [...No] Mirai did have a shop. But unless it was a game of guessing the word. It could never explain it in detail to Callan. It was also a waste of time, as Mirai trusted itself to handle that. All Callan had to do was climb the tower and win. ¡°Weapon?¡± [No] ¡°Another room!?¡± [No] ¡°A tra¡­¡± A lot of time passed and Callan found out one simple thing about the place he was in. It was Hell. There really wasn¡¯t any better explanation. He was stuck in an endless white void. With Mirai, with only 3 abilities it had. A status screen. That was just stats and nothing else. It was stupid. A screen that showed the floors. It didn¡¯t even have any other descriptions. What a floor was going to be. Mirai didn¡¯t know it either. But it did know the later floors based on what others have told it. Callan also found out that you could climb a floor infinitely, and every clear is a level up. Though you could only level up twice on a single floor. And there was the third and final feature. [21:34:32] It was a timer. Or more specifically, a deadline. A point that you have to clear a new floor. Or in 5 minutes of not clearing a new floor, you just die. It was an inescapable thing. However, Callan did learn it becomes longer the higher the floors. But it still meant that death was always around the corner. Callan took a deep breath and started planning inside his head. He was shit. He may be talented as Mirai has said indirectly. But so what if you had talent or potential or any of that? If you rely on such a thing on a tower that just has nothing to offer to help you other than leveling up. ¡°Hard Work!¡± It was the only thing Callan could reach out to. Callan removed the tied clothing on his right arm and tied it on his forehead. ¡°It¡¯s time to be a nerd!¡± Callan had roughly 22 hours left before he needed to clear floor 2. He wouldn¡¯t be in a hurry. Even if he could clear a floor immediately in whatever way that was even possible. Just clearing a floor without utilizing the time limit was stupid. Callan found out that the unbeatable floor at the moment was floor 51. And that everyone cleared and cleared each floor till they faced near death and stopped. That¡¯s when they used the deadline timer as just the time to clear a floor. Even if they soon used the same tactic. It had already wasted way too much precious time. Callan was definitely not the first to think of such an idea. He didn¡¯t hear that from Mirai. But it wasn¡¯t like every single one of them were stupid. ¡°Game Plan!¡± 22 hours on the book. Callan used the 30 minutes to plan his schedule. Callan was lacking everywhere. His not exercising for his entire life, was not an exaggeration. It was true. Callan is 18 years old and is an aspiring author. He had not only made his body suffer through not exercising. But it also suffered from constant sitting and little to no movement at all. His physical body was lacking¡­ ¡°wait¡­¡± or was it? Looking at the stats. His strength, agility, and endurance were 4. Callan looked down on his body and removed his shirt. It was jacked. It wasn¡¯t that jacked. But he had some muscles. It was small but visible. He stood up and started to do some jumping jacks. He wasn¡¯t getting tired. Before just walking to his school made him so tired he had to just never stand up from his chair till lunchtime. But at that moment he could do it. Callan stopped before he wasted any more unnecessary energy. That unexpected development changed his plan. He wanted to first do some simple push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. But simple wasn¡¯t needed anymore. Callan was no professional. He never learned how to work out, so he only knew the basics. But he once read a manga about just doing 4 different exercises for 2 years. It should just be enough. And if it wasn¡¯t he already thought of plans for the future. Enough padding of words. The plan was final. For the first hour, Callan is to run as far as he can and as fast as he could. It didn¡¯t matter if he gets tired. The exercise was for his heart and willpower. He already had confidence in his willpower due to the determination he went through on the first floor. After the hour, that left 21 hours. The next 30 minutes are used as a break. If he wasn¡¯t that tired though, he wouldn¡¯t take a break at all. Push-ups were next, he would do as much as he could. Till he hears a bone crack. If it was just simple bone cracks those didn¡¯t count. He wanted real cracks that almost made his bone break. It only took 30 minutes. After that, it was time for his squats. His arms hurt like shit. It was broken, that was just it. But that didn¡¯t mean his legs weren¡¯t. After 30 more minutes of that, he stopped. His entire body was so tired he could just die. Callan lay on the ground out of breath. ¡°Is there no water!¡± Mirai answered with a no. There was no water. Callan didn¡¯t think about that water shortage and was running out of hydration. But thankfully the next part of the plan was rest. Yes, just rest. No more after that. It feels like a waste. But it wasn¡¯t. If he trains more with broken arms and legs, it would never heal in the span of 20 hours. And so, Callan thirsted. His mouth turned dry like a dessert. His eyes were burning like he was looking at the sun. His body was so tired it couldn¡¯t stand up. A few minutes passed and Callan was already regretting his life choices. He was so bored that it was hell. Just kidding, an author is never bored when left alone. Well... he isn''t. His body just felt uncomfortable. And so what did he do as a pastime? Well, he just continued his story inside his head. Yes, I know that he said he would forget about it. He even said goodbye and went through some phases. But what do you expect? He is a human. At New Year''s they make a resolution and in just a day it was broken like yesterday never happened. It¡¯s humans, I know you understand. And give him some slack, he loved his stories. He already cried about discarding all he said too, so yeah. 20 hours later and¡­ [Raid The Next Floor] Callan was standing in front of Mirai. It couldn¡¯t really talk with Callan¡­ he really couldn¡¯t speak much. That was a waste of water. That was just a stupid choice of movement. It benefits nothing but dehydration. ¡°I hope I get water on this floor.¡± [Yes] He asks for water? Fine then. Then water he will get. Oh, no... of course I won¡¯t drop him in the ocean. It¡¯s far too early, just a pond would do. 7. Second Floor(1) Smells of leaves filled the air. The rustling sound of trees ran around his ears. The soft and spiky grass danced around his feet. The waves of the water were a feast for his eyes. That dying man was the joy of his day. Wait, I got it wrong, this is the perspective of an animal. Now where is Callan¡­ Ahhhh!!! I never learned how to swim! Oh yeah, he was in the pond. Callan was drowning, literally. He spawned in the middle of a small pond. For someone who could swim, it would have been easy to get out. There were no animals in the pond either, it wasn¡¯t much of a problem. But Callan, he doesn¡¯t know how to swim. Just keep kicking! Kick! Kick! Gather water with your hands! Callan struggled. It was like a dog and a frog combined. ¡°Blrlblr!¡± It was the ugliest form of swimming the world will ever see. And it¡¯s funnier that he was drowning every turn of the step to land. Callan struggled, but eventually, he made it. ¡°Ahhhhh!!! What the fuck!¡± He was hugging the grass. The soil turned dark and ate a little of Callan¡¯s body. His legs spread. His arms were stretched. He laid face front to the ground. And his face was facing the side. As his ears got played by the grass. Which was starting to feel uncomfortable. ¡°Ahhhh!¡± He stood up immediately from shock. He wriggled his ears with his pinky and washed it down with water. He soon did notice his entire body was now colored mud and his white shirt was now colored black. [Welcome To The Second Floor] [Retrieve The Treasure Beneath The Pond] ¡°Say what?¡± His body shivered. His gulp was louder than the forest. Callan stared at the depths of the pond. It wasn¡¯t that big but it sure was deep. The water was clear, it was beautiful and captivating. There was not a single animal in the water. Nor was there any dirt floating. The only thing on the pond was the leaves floating above it. With that pond described, you now know that the pond¡¯s bottom is visible from the very start. But what if it was visible? That was the problem, it was visible. Callan kept on gulping his saliva. ¡°Fucking hell¡­¡± Callan took off his shirt and his pants, leaving only his underwear on. ¡°Muscles my ass, I look like a twig hahahahaha.¡± Callan wasn¡¯t a scaredy cat. Or whatever other words you can call someone like that. He fought a goblin, a monster he had never even seen in his entire life. In real life at least. But such a thing will still make you fear it. But Callan¡­ he wasn¡¯t really someone who fears death. More like he just feared of not achieving anything before he died. But before learning how to swim, he first lowered his head. ¡°Man! I was so thirsty!¡± He drank the pond water, he didn¡¯t care if it was healthy or not. Water is water. So, Callan jumped in the water and started training to swim. How do you swim? Well, I don¡¯t know. Neither does he. Callan just started to wiggle his feet to first learn how to float. Running for an hour wasn¡¯t as tiring as just trying to swim. Whatever the reason was, Callan looked stupid doing it. Wiggle and wiggle. Wiggle your feet making your engine fleet. It was going to take ages before Callan could swim properly. And so he just did another routine. Try to swim and also train his breathing. The pond was as deep as 5 times the size of the trees. It was incredibly deep. Way too deep. And Callan couldn¡¯t hold his breath that long. At the same time, it didn¡¯t even seem like there was something under the pond. What was he supposed to gather there? Nothing? Just reach it? Dirt? A stone? Well, I wouldn¡¯t bore you with the swimming of Callan. Time passed and Callan started to get hungry. He was already hungry when he was just staying on the ground in the endless white void, but Callan was someone who was trained to not eat. Not because of some religious training. No, it was because he was someone who didn''t do it till he was reminded of it. He was always so focused on writing and playing that sleep and food were just a waste of time. Unlike water, being hungry just makes your stomach grumble, it disappears soon enough. But thirst wasn¡¯t something like that. Your saliva will never be enough to just be water. And your body really needed water more than food. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. But at this point, it will almost be 2 days and Callan hasn¡¯t eaten anything. In his progress, he has started to finally be able to float for a full 20 seconds. It wasn¡¯t actually perfect, he seemed more like someone calling for help while drowning. But that has taken way too long, and food was now needed. Callan didn¡¯t take his white shirt and headed towards the forest. He first picked up some rocks and leaves to use for marking. ¡°Well¡­ I could try to make a weapon.¡± For a story, which is now seeming to be such an advantage for Callan. He once searched how things were first discovered. And one thing that intrigued him the most was making rope from tree bark fibers. Callan doesn¡¯t know trees, so he doesn¡¯t know what trees were the best used for making a rope, but he did know he just needed tree bark and that the best thing to use was dead tree bark. ¡°There! A ripped-off bark. Ok, so I just have to pull this...¡± Callan didn¡¯t know everything perfectly so please don¡¯t nitpick his process. ¡°Ahhhh!!¡± Callan yelled as he used his whole strength to rip apart a loose tree bark. It took him more force as he pulled out almost half the entire tree. ¡°Ok, this wasn¡¯t how you do it¡­ do you¡­¡± Remember this is fiction, if you want it to be correct, then fuck you! Just kidding. Callan picked the thinnest tree bark he could find and just ripped it from the thick piece of trunk he pulled out. ¡°Ok, so I just¡­ oh!!! This is much easier than I thought.¡± There were many pieces of tree fiber already loose. Callan just kept pulling and pulling. It was like trying to pull apart pieces of chicken. After he completed the piece of bark he got. He continued with the others. And because the task wasn¡¯t that tiring or took a lot of energy. Just like his normal life, Callan got distracted and forgot that he was supposed to hunt food. He pulled so much tree fiber that you could sleep on it and it kind of feels good if you don¡¯t pay attention to the pain of lying down on wood. Callan slept, he slept like a baby on top of the wood fibers. And so a few hours passed and he woke up from the pain in his stomach. He was once again hungry. ¡°Shit, I forgot to eat! Wait? I¡¯m not in my house¡­ I¡¯m in a forest¡­. And I forgot to hunt food¡­ hahhh¡­¡± Callan had enough tree fibers to make a long rope. In actuality, the amount was far too much. Callan was just planning on making a simple wooden spear. But with that amount of rope, you could almost make a hammock. ¡°Ok, I will first look for a sharp enough stone.¡± It wasn¡¯t that hard to find stone. The pond was full of it. And Callan didn¡¯t even need to swim. It was just lying there in an area you could walk on. So, after a minute of looking, Callan was able to find a perfect stone that was sharp enough to puncture anything. ¡°Well, time to make my rope.¡± I¡¯m tired of talking, you can just listen to Callan as he narrates himself. He is an introvert, the person he has talked to the most was himself. ¡°I just place all this together¡­ 1 bark, 2 fiber, 3 bark, 4 fiber. Ok, I don¡¯t know what to call this thing. Is this a bark or a tree fiber? Ehhh who cares.¡± ¡°Ok now that¡¯s thick enough¡­ wait it might be too thick¡­¡± ¡°Ok, a thumb thick is enough. The fibers or bark are not that thick and it¡¯s very str-o-ng!!! Tooo!!!¡± ¡°Man that was hard to break¡­¡± ¡°Now I just need to spin them together. Now one end goes to my feet. Step on ya bitch! Ok, now I¡¯ll just make a spiral out of these fibers.¡± ¡°Ok, now¡­ how do I tie this¡­ I just make a knot right? Yeah, a knot sounds good.¡± ¡°Ok, so a branch that is both long enough and also wouldn¡¯t bend.¡± ¡°There! Perfect. Ok so now I just place the rock to the side and then tie it together with my rope.¡± ¡°Well¡­ I didn¡¯t expect to run out of rope¡­ guess I just have to make more.¡± ¡°Ok there! Finally! A stone spear!¡± Callan raised his spear to the sky! Also, I¡¯m back. Callan wanted to test the power of his spear. He faced a tree and inflicted a blow at it. It left a hole as big as a fist, it didn''t even take that much strength either. ¡°Shit! That was good! Ok, now¡­ to look for something to eat¡­¡± Callan couldn¡¯t stop but hear his stomach scream. It was painful, but he could handle it. ¡°Now to the forest, I go.¡± Callan walked into the forest as he left tree bark on the ground as a mark. The forest was vast. He couldn¡¯t even see the end. All he could see was the bright sun above the sky. ¡°Grr!¡± Callan may have fought with goblins. But that was something in an open area. That fight could be won as long as you have the willpower and strength. But a fight in the forest. Now that¡¯s a different conversation. ¡°Ughh!!¡± Callan was tackled by an animal. He was pushed back and hit the tree to his side. Fucking ambush! 8. Second Floor(2) Callan was ramped to a tree. In front of him was a boar. The boar didn''t even take a second to break and started to run with its tusk pointed forward. Callan didn¡¯t have enough time to make a plan. All he needed and could do was to run away from the attack. He waited until the boar was 1 and a half meters away from him and dodged. He spun to the ground awkwardly, but he kneeled up and stabbed the boar. ¡°Graaaa!!!¡± Yelled the boar. Callan took the spear out and the boar was frozen for a second. In this second Callan tried to attack the boar again but then it started to run away. ¡°Oh hell nah!¡± Callan started to chase the boar and attacked it with his spear again. ¡°Graa!!¡± This time, now with an injury on its side and behind, the boar started running faster. Callan just stood still and after trying to run, the boar stopped. The spear was still stuck behind the boar. With the pain it had endured, it couldn''t move anymore, it was on the brink of death. Callan took the spear out and cut one of the boar''s legs. Now immobile, Callan jumped above the boar and rode it. It then stabbed the head of the boar with his spear. ¡°Fuck! That was fucking amazing!!!!!¡± Callan yelled. His heart was pumping so fast the entire time. It kept beating faster and was burning more and more. Callan didn¡¯t feel tired or scared at all. Actually, he felt so happy. The adrenaline of fighting was truly bringing him so much happiness. ¡°Ahhhhh!!! This is what humans are supposed to be!!!!¡± It was true. Humans were originally strong animals. Intelligence was a source of strength and also weakness. ¡°Fuck! Ok, now I''ll just drag this boar to the pond.¡± And so he did. Following the tree barks, Callan got back to the pond. Callan first wanted to make a fire before butchering the boar. As another normal thing a nerd knows. Making fire was one of them. ¡°Wait¡­ I have rope¡­ that means I can just use the bow method!¡± And so, Callan made a small rope and applied it to a bendable log. Callan made fire and used twigs as a source of fuel. Now there is something a nerd like him didn¡¯t know. That was how to butcher an animal. But butchering was just cutting meat. He doesn''t need to be a professional as long as he just avoids the organs there will be no health issues. Well for the most part. Callan took a long stick and threw it into the pond. He dragged the boar closer to the pond. He started washing the log and removed some extra fibers that he might swallow. He started to use his spear as a way to cut the boar, but with the length and extra strength needed to repeatedly slice the skin, it was far too unreliable. Callan just decided to pick a new stone. Wash it. Then slice the meat. He skewered the small pieces of meat with the long stick picked and washed them. Callan then headed to the campfire and started to cook the meat. ¡°Ok, I forgot to get wood to hold up the stick.¡± Callan couldn¡¯t just drop the meat, so he just carried it relying on his shoulders. Callan looked for branches with two other branches at the end of it. After finding two pieces of branches that met the condition. Callan finally started to cook and ate for the first time in a long time. Callan ate the whole stick and that was good enough for him. The boar was still beside the pond and Callan just ignored it. He couldn¡¯t waste time not practicing to swim. And so days passed. Callan practiced and practiced. After that, he eats once a day. It was not normal, but once was enough for him. Despite being a shut-in, he actually wasn¡¯t fat. Well, that was definitely because he just doesn¡¯t like eating. Which is just weird¡­ maybe he¡¯s an alien! Ok, I should really stop being sentient. ¡°Ok¡­ I¡¯m ready!¡± Callan stood above the pond. His feet were submerged in the water. His toes scrunching dirt. His hands were shaking. His eyes were red. Callan jumped and he kept his eyes open as he paddled as fast as he could to the deepest part of the pond. I¡¯m almost there. It didn¡¯t take long and Callan managed to go into the middle of the pond, which was also the deepest part of it. What do I do here? Do I just dig to find the- While Callan was thinking. When he touched the ground he immediately got transported in another plane. ¡°Shit! I didn¡¯t bring my spear!¡± But Callan didn¡¯t have to worry about his spear. He wasn¡¯t in some place to fight. No, no, he was there to wait for his death. Oh, I should probably mention before I forget¡­ the tower¡­ It''s hell alright. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. [Kill All The Monsters] [5¡­] ¡°What monster?¡± Callan was inside a pitch-black room. He couldn¡¯t move or see. He knew his eyes were open. He could touch it. But his feet wouldn¡¯t move no matter how hard he tried. And even if he blinked multiple times, he still couldn''t see. Though blinking was definitely making him feel weird. What is going to happen?! Callan was back underwater. He was beneath the lowest part of the pond. Above him were things that were definitely not there before. There were a total of 3 fishes above Callan and Callan couldn¡¯t waste time. He didn¡¯t have infinite air. As soon as he was teleported back, he just started swimming upwards. Screw those fish that now actually look like piranhas and if they were, well, Callan was dead. The fish was swimming towards Callan. And it wasn¡¯t just one. It was all of them. Fuck! This fucking tower tricked me! Oh, and it very much did. A piranha tried to bite Callan¡¯s leg. Thankfully he was able to retract it sooner. Fuck! Fuck! I need to get out of the water! Callan wasn¡¯t the best at swimming. But he has improved immensely. Callan was carefully dodging the piranhas. But only 3 dodges are really possible when you are in the realm of your enemy. Aghhh!!! Callan was grazed on his arm with the teeth of one of the piranhas. They really like my arms, don¡¯t they! Callan was holding on to his screams. Just one opening of his mouth was the sign of his death. Callan kicked one of the heads of the piranhas. It was a horrible choice. Callan''s momentum was halted and he slowed enough for another one to hit him. The piranhas were swimming around Callan, taking turns to attack him. Callan was finally getting close to the surface but he couldn¡¯t really swim to the land as he was surrounded. Once again, to get out of the situation, Callan had to make sacrifices. I leave the damages to you Mirai! Callan took the hit of one of the Piranhas. His left hand was bitten. Callan used the entrance to the free side and swam that way. The piranha bit his hand off and Callan was batshit going insane in his head. Agghhhhhhh!!!!!!!! He was going to faint from the pain, but he had to push through. It¡¯s just a hand compared to his entire life. Though definitely having your blood flow out of your hand is an incredibly painful experience, no less that he is literally in water. Callan got out of the water and he immediately screamed. ¡°AAAGGHHHHHH!!!!¡± He ran towards his spear and noticed that barriers were forming around the pond. He couldn¡¯t run. And at the same time, the pond was weirdly going up. Callan¡¯s eyes were filled with tears. He hurried to his shirt and he pressed his hand to stop the bleeding. He tied a cloth as tight as possible to his hand as fast as possible. ¡°Fuck shit!!!! Fuck!!! Aghhhhh!!!¡± Callan was biting his lips till it bled. His eyes were tearing up from the pain without even him noticing. He grabbed his spear and started to aim at the Piranhas who were swimming at him. He relaxed for a bit as the water wasn¡¯t high enough for the giant piranhas to get him. Callan fell to the ground and he started to actually cry. ¡°Fuck! Fuck! Why am I even here! I did nothing wrong!¡± Callan was out of breath. His left hand was gone and his eyesight was filled with tears. His lips were bleeding and his entire body was shaking. It only took a few minutes and the water was high enough that the three piranhas were already coming towards Callan. He held his spear with one hand and used his severed arm as a helping stand to carry the weight. He placed his left arm forward and placed the spear on top of it. He dealt a blow to the brains of one of the piranhas killing it. But the other two already surrounded him. The water was just at the waist of Callan. The piranhas weren''t as big as Callan but they were still as high as his weight. They were half his entire height. The piranha at the left was closer than the other one. Callan pulled his spear out and held the spear with both his hands¡­ wait he doesn¡¯t have his left arm! Callan got his right leg bitten. It was a lost cause. He will lose his leg. He knew that. The spear went straight down to the head of the piranha. Before dying it severed Callan¡¯s right leg. ¡°Agghhhhhhh!!!!!¡± Callan was screaming so loud it broke his vocal cords. His entire body went into panic and his spear broke. The other piranha got to Callan and it swallowed the entire lower half of his body. Callan was still conscious. As he saw and felt the piranha. He squished his right hand tight with the broken piece of wood. The stone spear has turned into a true wooden spear. The piranha started to bite and at that moment Callan stabbed the piranha and lost his aim due to the fatigue and loss of blood. The wooden spear hit the eye instead of the brain of the piranha causing it to bite harder and faster. And the only thing Callan could do was just stab deeper. Callan fainted, with his entire lower half gone¡­ he completed the second floor. For the second time. He has died. Buy. [Purchased Successful] [Initiating Healing Process] [Congratulations On Clearing The Second Floor] [You Have Unlocked An Inventory] 9. A Trauma For the second time. Callan woke up with his full body intact. His legs were there, his left hand was there. He had no injury. The only thing he lost was his shirt and his pants. He was¡­ well, naked. Callan felt the cold tiles. The sharp edges of the cracks on the floor. His hands stayed still. And so did his entire body. The only thing that moved were his tears. Mirai was sad. Even if she was able to save the life of Callan, that was all it could do. It couldn''t even help to talk to the person, relieve them of their tears, and comfort them. What was the point of saving a person when you watch them suffer more afterward? Callan was paralyzed. The shock he had received had made his entire body go numb. His mind can just be considered dead. But his eyes¡­ they teared of life. I¡­ I don¡¯t¡­ Callan had gone through a lot. From willingly letting go of his hand. To have his lower half ripped off from his body. Even now he doesn¡¯t feel his legs despite it being there. He knows it¡¯s there, but he just couldn¡¯t move it. No matter what he can¡¯t fucking move it! ¡°Fuck!¡± That was his first word coming back. And it might just be the last. [47:57:36] The time for the next deadline had increased to 2 days. Following the obvious pattern, every floor may either add 24 hours per floor or it doubles. Doubling was of course a better option, as the entire 48 hours might just be spent on Callan¡¯s mental recovery. 3 minutes had passed since Callan appeared, healed, and then woke up. His tears all fell to the ground making a small pond. Or well, the pond might be a scary word for Callan now. Once again, I will repeat it once more, Callan was just a normal guy. Experiencing your entire lower half to be ripped off your body was a pain no normal human could handle. Of course, Callan wasn¡¯t that traumatized. Actually, he could talk properly. ¡°Mirai¡­ how¡­ can I¡­¡± But there was something he couldn¡¯t do. It was moving his legs. Taken from the damage from the piranha, Callan lost the ability to move his legs. It is a type of paralysis that is caused by the mind and not even your nerves. But his case wasn¡¯t really that serious. Mirai¡¯s ability to heal was far more potent than the two can imagine. Callan was just acting like a baby. Like a pathetic kid who can¡¯t even handle dying. I¡¯m just joking, give him some slack, everyone would be traumatized if it happened to them too. ¡°Mirai¡­ why am I here¡­¡± for the meantime. All Callan could do was talk to Mirai. ¡°Look at me. I can¡¯t move my legs. At the same time, I¡¯m naked. I¡¯m worse than a homeless man.¡± Callan said. [No] ¡°Are your words limited? If so, can you say all the words you can?¡± Callan may have a paralyzed lower half. But he wasn¡¯t really traumatized. Or maybe subconsciously he is. Whatever type of medical problem was going on with him, he didn¡¯t pay mind to it anymore. To him, he just wanted someone to talk to. And it¡¯s just disappointing all he could talk to was an orb who couldn¡¯t even speak fluently. I know it sounds harsh¡­ forgive Callan. [Yes] ¡°Then do it.¡° Callan said. Mirai then started to say all the words it could. [Yes] [No] [Bye] [Welcome] [Start The Floor] [Climb The Tower] ¡°That¡¯s all? Wow¡­ that¡¯s kind of sad. I¡¯m sorry for that¡­¡± Callan felt the immense depression that comes from being mute. Well, Mirai wasn¡¯t mute, but it might as well be. ¡°Well ummm¡­ I can¡¯t think of anything anymore¡­ I just¡­ sorry.¡± Callan turned quiet. He didn¡¯t feel like talking. Neither did Mirai. The area was filled with absolute silence. Mirai had experienced many awkward situations. And after being with 100 thousand people, you might think someone will just turn into a master socializer. But in reality, there was no way Mirai could even be like that. It literally has 6 words it could say. Mirai couldn¡¯t even separate those words and make other words. There was absolutely nothing. Mirai could understand every person''s problems though. Mirai had a problem too, that it had nothing it could do to help anyone''s problem. Even if it could now emphasize emotions and tone. A yes and no, is worse than just being silent. And so it turned so quiet, Callan¡¯s ears felt like it was being stabbed by the air. Maybe because of what he had gone through. Just a slight pain, doesn¡¯t even feel like anything anymore. Callan endured. Despite everything that has happened to him, it was weird that silence was the lasting pain. Callan got to thinking. He practically has no legs. His life was at the very bottom it could ever be. Hah¡­ do I even try to move my legs¡­ or I just¡­ Callan looked to Mirai. Callan could feel emotions even from inanimate objects. The longer he looked at Mirai, there was this sense of loneliness it always felt. Yeah¡­ I have to¡­ even¡­ No! I have to! Callan forced his legs to stand up. He couldn¡¯t feel his lower half even though he could see it. His mind has totally removed the idea of a lower half to his senses. Callan couldn¡¯t think of any plan other than one simple thing. He had to move his legs so his mind would realize. It might sound stupid and too simplistic. But he had no choice. It was either paralyzed forever or looking stupid. Actually, it was dying or looking stupid. Shit! Was there even a need for comparison, a choice, only one was a logical answer. Callan raised his upper body with his hands. Oh¡­ I could move my left hand, but¡­ Callan moved his left hand but it was kind of tight. Like it was locked or something. But he could move it. It was hard, it may be slow, but he could move it. Stop getting distracted. Callan shook his head. He changed his attention to his legs. He stared at it and then started to wiggle it. As he touched his legs, it was like a thousand volts of electricity ran through his entire body. The pain made his entire body jump in the air. He could feel his legs but it was painful. ¡°Agghhhh!!¡± What was it? What was the feeling? It was more painful than being bitten. His entire leg felt like it was being twisted, but as he looked at it, it was ok, he could see it. It felt like it was covered in something uncomfortable and that his entire body felt like it was giving birth through both his legs. Shit! Is that it!? It was an extreme version of numbness. It was like his entire body realized that a limb existed that it never realized. It wasn¡¯t something that could be harmful. But it was definitely painful. His entire legs were being filled and fed blood and oxygen. After the painful process, the pain was hindering his breathing and soon his mouth was filled with foam and he had fainted from the pain. His eyes were open but it was all just white. [37:46:12] Multiple hours had passed already till Callan once again woke up. And due to everything that had happened. His body felt one more pain. And it came from his stomach. His entire stomach felt like a hole was formed in it. Callan could just die from the pain in his stomach. ¡°What the fuck!!!¡± He was absolutely hungry. It was hunger he had never felt before. Even if he only hadn¡¯t eaten for not even a day. The nutrition it took to realize his legs again took way too much unnecessary energy. ¡°Mirai! Open the floor to floor-¡± Callan threw up the only food in his body. His body was scared. It was scared of the second floor. It seemed like what Callan had thought of was right. His body was subconsciously scared and traumatized. But that shouldn¡¯t stop him. So what if his body was rejecting it, his body should realize he needed food more than just being traumatized. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Whatever the reason for his subconscious being traumatized yet his consciousness wasn¡¯t affected at all. That didn¡¯t even cross his mind. He was in a situation where his stomach was in so much pain while he was naked. Anything was really possible. There was no point trying to butt into things that weren''t going to help him. ¡°Mirai! Can you send me to the second floor on your own!¡± Callan yelled to Mirai. [Yes] And so, his mind went black. He went from lying down on hard concrete, hurting his privates to laying on soothing grass that started to make his body itch in only a few seconds. ¡°Oh fuck!¡± It made him jump and stand up. This caused him to stare at the pond in front of him. His mind started to turn hazy. His body was shaking. Is this seriously happening!? Callan¡­ fainted. *** Callan woke up. His eyes were blurry and it didn¡¯t wanna open. He raised his hands and forced himself to stand up. He opened his eyes and his heart sank. ¡°For fuck sake!¡± Callan struggled. He gritted his teeth. First clenched. Eye squinting. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Just! A¡­! Fucking¡­! Pond!!!!!!¡± Callan forced his way through his fear. He walked straight to the water thinking it would solve the problem. And somehow, it did make it better. Well better for the worse. He fainted and fell into the water. He soon woke up almost instantly. As his nose filled with water, he couldn¡¯t even breathe. ¡°Fuck!¡± His body unconsciously left the water on its own. ¡°Fine, I''ll just turn around!¡± His eyes wandered and it saw something he wasn¡¯t expecting. On the other side of the pond were clothes and the broken spear he had. Well of course there was also something weird in front of him. ¡°A white door? Is this how I get out?¡± it was a single glowing rectangular shape, perfectly matching his size. ¡°Well this is interesting¡­ why is it so thick though?¡± The feeling of his body got better as he turned his eyes away from the pond. He ignored the door for further inspection. He heads down to the other side of the pond by slowly moving to the edge of the pond. But there were some hiccups, here and there¡­ ¡°Water!¡± Just a single step into the water makes him dizzy and multiple sensations of fainting. Though he is lucky that the pain in his stomach is lighter than before. But that doesn¡¯t mean he could just play stupidly. While he was walking around the pond, he then saw the boar he was eating before. ¡°Oh shit! I¡¯m saved.¡± The boar, the same fireplace. All of it was still lit. And so was the stick above the campfire. ¡°Ok! I need to eat!¡± Callan munched on his food before continuing. He tried his best to not look behind him. Even though he really wanted to get over the weird trauma, his body just wouldn¡¯t allow it. And the pain in his head when he sees the pond is also bad. Just thinking about it gives him a headache. But, Callan was used to headaches, that was just a normal occasion to him before. He would not even sleep for a couple of days, which may have caused a constant headache for a week. But, he was just an addict. He had the ability any author dreamed of, it was just unfortunate that he sucked. ¡°Ok, time to go again.¡± Callan stood up and left everything on the ground. Mind you, Callan never heard the announcement that he had gained an inventory. He was unconscious when that happened. As annoying as it feels to know he isn¡¯t using one of, if not, the most useful mechanics in the entire world. There really isn¡¯t any way for him to learn it, unless he thinks about it. ¡°Man if only I had an inventory, I could just bring all those stuff¡­¡± As he was scooching over, a hollow space appeared in front of him. ¡°Wait, do I actually have an inventory now?!¡±. Callan yelled in confusion. Okay, I can hear complaints, but who wouldn¡¯t think of an inventory as they look at a boar with enough meat to last him for three more days? Callan reached his hands out and went inside the hollow space. It was fully white but at the same time, just looking at it made his eyes hurt. It felt dizzy like there was some sort of hallucination magic set in the inventory. ¡°Ok, I just won¡¯t look at it, my headache is getting worse.¡± Callan ran back to his boar and carried it to the inventory. ¡°Wait, it doesn¡¯t even fit¡­ can I make this bigger¡­?¡± The space had the shape of a square. The width of the square was just as big as his hands stacked together. Callan raised his hands and closed his eyes. He touched the edges of his inventory and forcefully stretched it out. ¡°AHHHH!!!¡± Callan yelled. However, it was unnecessary as making the square bigger was a much easier task than Callan even thought. When his arms reached as far as they could, Callan opened his eyes and found the inventory wide open. His face filled with embarrassment and his eyes blinded by the light. "Ahhhh!" Callan shrugged the embarrassment off and carried the boar to his inventory. He also took the 2 sticks that were placed at the sides of the campfire. Along with the wooden bow that made the fire and also the long stick that he used to skewer the meat. There was also some wood of course. After putting everything inside, Callan left the inventory floating beside him. It was still glowing and the items he put inside could be seen. But it was still hazy. It was like looking at a moving see-through slime. Callan walked slowly to his clothes. After arriving, the only thing that was there was his upper clothing. ¡°Well, that just¡­ I¡¯m still naked!¡± Callan picked up his shirt and wore it. In front of the clothes were the tree barks he made, or more like collected. ¡°You know I don¡¯t need a shirt¡­ I¡¯ll just¡­¡± Callan ripped his shirt to the side, making a longer cloth in the process. He then tied his own ripped-up shirt under his body and tied it around his waist; making a DIY mawashi. He walked towards the forest and sat on the ground. ¡°Ok, I have to make another spear.¡± Callan couldn¡¯t go to the pond because of his ¡°trauma¡±. Because of this, he couldn¡¯t make a stone spear as he had no stone to begin with. ¡°Well¡­ I mean¡­ I can just make a wooden spear¡­¡± But, he wouldn''t continue as his eyes began to wander. Callan looked at the tree barks and the ground. He was thinking about the pond as much as he could. He was imagining the flow of the water. The drops of rain. Even the piranhas that killed him. ¡°Just why am I still alive¡­?¡± Callan thought it through. He was definitely dead there. But his body was still intact. It was the work of Mirai, but how? That was the question that lingered in Callan¡¯s head. If Mirai had healed him, there was another question that lingers. It was farfetched, but it was a question that just made sense. ¡°Then how am I the 100 thousandth person, if Mirai could just heal everyone that dies?¡± Callan kept thinking. It kept going further and further from common sense. ¡°Does that mean I am special?¡± ¡°No, it meant me being the 100 thousandth person special.¡± ¡°Or, the number 100 thousandth was the thing special?¡± ¡°Mirai wouldn¡¯t be sad.¡± ¡°Wait, no, it was anger.¡± ¡°There was a sense of anger.¡± Callan kept on immersing himself in Mirai. His blood was starting to boil and tears were starting to fall from his eyes. Callan was special. He was an ordinary man, but that doesn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t change. He was now dead, which meant, everything did change. ¡°Mirai¡­ can heal me because of a system she was given. If I die, Mirai will die. I am the last hope, I can¡¯t die.¡± Callan said as he stared intently at the sky with eyes opened wide. ¡°Ehh¡­ stupid thinking. How could the tower have a system of its own.¡± Callan stood up and stared at the tree barks once more. ¡°Wait, did I just say she? Well¡­ I mean¡­ Mirai does sound like a woman''s name. But for some reason, ¡°Mister Orb¡± was the first thing I could think of what to call him. Huh¡­ do orbs even have a gender? Nah! ¡°She¡± it is.¡± Callan collected all the tree barks not even leaving a single one down. After finishing, he closed his eyes and thought of closing the inventory. ¡°I hope it¡¯s this easy.¡± When he opened his eyes, the square was gone. He then stood straight. Fixed his back. Aligned his feet. Arms on his side. He inhaled deeply¡­ and exhaled slowly¡­ ¡°This trauma is ending here now.¡± Callan decided that he wasn¡¯t going to make a wooden spear. He was going to make that stone spear whatever it took. So what if he faints on even the sight of water? Or the touch of water? Fuck his trauma, it''s his body, he is scared of what he wants to be scared by. ¡°Some water bullshit!¡± Callan turned around and directed his eyes to the pond as soon as he could. His body started to shake once more. His heart was palpitating, and his legs and arms just couldn''t stop moving. His mind started to ache more with his eyes were turning blurry. But Callan pushed through. He already had a plan to defeat such stupid trauma. They say, face your trauma. ¡°Well be damned, I¡¯ll even drown myself if I have to!¡± Well, that wouldn¡¯t really help, but we love his enthusiasm. Callan started walking towards the pond. As he reached the first line of water, he stepped in and his body felt like it was electrocuted. ¡°Shit¡­¡± He fainted, but it was all part of the plan. Callan fell to the ground face shoving deep into the water unconscious. But as the water has no air, Callan, just like in the first instance, couldn¡¯t breathe. His body had no choice but to wake up and run away from the water as soon as possible. ¡°You ain¡¯t leaving!¡± Callan still kept pushing and pushing. His body was no longer fainting from the touch of the water. Maybe because it already learned that it would die if it couldn¡¯t breathe. Whatever it was Callan just had to embrace the water. Embrace it till you love it. Callan went deeper into the pond till he had no choice but to float using his feet. But as his body was shaking from fear, floating was kind of becoming a struggle. ¡°It! WAS! Just! Like the first time!¡± As he yelled every word he could. Callan kept being submerged in the water. Callan closed his eyes and he started to dream¡­ water was nothing to be scared of, actually¡­ it was the moment you met her¡­ ¡°Shit! Am I good?¡± As his mind wandered around in his memories, suddenly when he opened his eyes¡­ his mouth was smiling and his body shook no more. ¡°I did it! FUCK YOU!¡± Though he doesn¡¯t remember what happened when he closed his eyes. Callan went out of the pond and ran towards the portal; happy and jumping. Callan just went through his stupidest fight yet¡­ and¡­ he won. 10. To The Level Limit ¡°I overcome my trauma!¡± Callan went to Mirai and told her about his adventure. ¡°I fainted so many times hahahaha! Then after that, I just closed my eyes¡­ then boom! I am good.¡± Callan posed heroically in front of Mirai. [Welcome] After calming down from a few seconds of laughter. ¡°Well, can I see my stats Mirai?¡± Callan placed his hands on Mirai and his stats popped up. [Callan Satchel] [Level: 2] [Strength: 8] [Agility: 8] [Endurance: 8] [Magic: 8] ¡°Eyyy! I am one level close to double digits.¡± As calm and happy as Callan was, Mirai was not. Mirai can never see the status of the person in front of her without needing their hand or contact. After some years, Mirai was able to read the status screen by just feeling it. And at the moment, she was sure. Callan was a rough gem. He might not be the best person Mirai had ever seen, but he is someone with the most potential. That was true, and the stats were just clear proofs. ¡°So, can I challenge floor 1 again then I can level up again right?¡± Callan asked Mirai. Mirai answered the question and then. [Yes] [27:33:12] Mirai showed Callan the time he had left. ¡°Wait! Being inside the floors still counts! Shit!¡± Callan didn¡¯t expect that being inside the floors would not stop his time. It was only obvious as technically, he wasn¡¯t in the waiting room and was ¡°challenging a floor¡±. ¡°Wait, but does clearing a new floor count in the timer?¡± Callan asked out of curiosity. Mirai then answered. But as he waited for the answer, Callan immediately thought of something else. [No] He didn¡¯t hear Mirai, and said ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­¡± Callan gulped, he realized something. If Callan had just cleared floor 1 once more, maybe he would have had an easier time on the second floor. His stats doubled and that could only mean that his strength has been doubled as well. He was far stronger than he was before. If Callan didn¡¯t want to repeat what happened to the second floor, he had to clear floors 1 and 2 once again. ¡°Ok! I know what to do! I have cleared them once! I¡¯ll just use additional strategies!¡± Good thinking there buddy. Callan took out the stones he had picked up just before leaving the second floor. ¡°Wait, can I still go to floor 2?¡± He asked Mirai. [Yes] ¡°Does that mean I can infinitely go back to the lower floors?¡± He added. [Yes] ¡°Cool! Well¡­¡± Callan felt excited once more. He had already made a stone spear before but now he wanted to make it better. Callan took 2 stones and started sharpening the other to as pointy as he could. It took him a couple of hours, but for him, as someone who enjoys doing absolutely anything unordinary, he didn¡¯t even feel time pass. ¡°Ok¡­ now a stick!¡± Callan opened his inventory once more. After looking inside for a few seconds, either his head is hurting more than usual¡­ or ¡°I forgot to get a stick¡­¡±. Callan had no stick in his inventory other than the stick used for cooking. Which is bent in some parts, making even that unsuitable. Well, it could work, but looking for straight sticks is better. ¡°To the second floor please Mirai.¡± Callan turned around and went to Mirai. After the floors appeared he instantly clicked the second floor and he was gone instantly. Mirai¡­ was used to people going to places and leaving her alone. Actually, she has gotten used to it. At some level, you could even say, the emotion of loneliness, is Mirai itself. But she really doesn¡¯t have any choice but to let it be. Many of her clients, even the ones she was really close with, didn¡¯t talk every second to Mirai. All of them had things to do. Training, crafting, or being on other floors. But Mirai wasn¡¯t really a needy person, she doesn¡¯t care if you talk to her or not. All she wanted was to see a living person smile in front of her. And even if all those smiles have turned into a grieving memory, Mirai, this time, believes, she will never have to experience another such memory ever again. ¡°Ok! I¡¯m back Mirai! It took some time to look for some straight branches, but I have a lot now.¡± Callan got back from his trip to the second floor and instantly started to work on making ropes. But as he worked he just kept on talking. ¡°You know, I wanna find some paper, I am not really good at memorizing, and I am quite sad that if I continue to write my stories, I don¡¯t have my spreadsheet to tell me the pieces of information I have forgotten.¡± Yeah, Mirai knew it, Callan will be the last. And God! She holds tight that he will be the last. I mean she has gone through it way too many times, but who could even see a person who smiles that much frown? ¡°I will definitely show you my stories, though they will suck, or I don¡¯t know, I never really got comments on the internet, but based on me not having any followers at all after half a year of uploading once a week, that¡¯s just what I came up with.¡± Callan completed making the minimum length of rope that he needed. Though of course, running out is also a possibility. He doesn''t really remember how long the last one was, he was just following his feelings. ¡°But hey, if I¡¯m actually a really good writer who just never placed an effort on publishing, then you will be the first and only one to hear the greatest story in existence! Nay! Ever! Well, I mean unless there was someone who already told you their stories and they are a more successful author than me¡­ Eyy you know what!¡± Callen bit on the rope as he tied the stone and the stick together. ¡°Fwack Wem!¡± Callan said, as his mouth was full of tree bark. ¡°Pwah! That really tastes shit! Well, I mean it just tastes like nothing, but still, feels so uncomfortable.¡± [Yes] ¡°See, even you agreed!¡± Mirai tried to stay as silent as she could. But if she had a face right now, she would just be smiling and laughing at how talkative Callan was, it was making her remember so many people who had the most impact on her growth. It was always those talkative people that taught her how to count, math, words, and many more. I wonder what you will teach me¡­ Callan. ¡°Well, I am done! I can¡¯t waste any time! Open to the first floor!¡± Callan had only 22 hours left on his time. You ask why so little already? Well, he did spend way too many hours grinding stone. Heh! Mirai opened the screen once more and Callan went to the first floor with his spear in hand. In just the blink of an eye, Callan was back in the white room that first almost killed him. ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t see any goblins on the ground¡­ how do I challenge this floor again?¡± ¡°Challenge Again!¡± Callan yelled. ¡°Wait, actually this word just makes more sense. Restart!¡± Callan yelled once more. And then the tower talked. Callan heard the monotone voice of Mirai once more. You know what, yeah Mirai does sound like a man¡­ ehhh¡­ who cares. [Spawning Monster] [3¡­] [2¡­] [1¡­] ¡°You¡¯re dead to me now!¡± The goblin spawned immediately. And as soon as it spotted Callan, it started to run. ¡°Huwaa!!¡± Callan yawned. He was starting to act cocky. In his mind, he already knew the pattern of the monsters. The first goblin will jump. ¡°Poot. Poot.¡± Called stabbed the goblin¡¯s stomach with his stone spear as it jumped to the sky. When the goblin was skewered in his spear, he plummeted it to the ground. ¡°I don¡¯t want some filth on my spear.¡± He left the goblin on the ground as he stepped on it and pulled his spear out. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. [1¡­] The other goblin appeared and Callan was the first to attack the goblin. It jumped straight to Callan. But to the goblin¡¯s stupidity, a spear is the most powerful weapon against airborne enemies that well, the spear could reach. ¡°Another filth.¡± Callan was talking in a deep voice as he spat on the goblin. He placed it on the ground once more and pulled his spear out. [1¡­] Callan had the greatest advantage. In a game, there is a concept that if you stay in the spawn area of something. You could always just pre-aim on a spot, and that player will die instantly. That concept is called, ¡°spawn camping¡± but a lot of games made things like spawn protection or a spawn area, specifically for this reason. But¡­ the place the goblin spawns at? It¡¯s just pitiful that it had to be in the middle of the room. ¡°Another shit!¡± Callan stabbed the goblin before it could even move. He raised his spear to the sky and held it with both his hands as he spun the spear in a circle. He went on for 2 seconds until he released all the energy to one side, releasing the goblin and launching it fast, crushing the wall. ¡°Heh, I¡¯m so cool.¡± As soon as the other goblin spawned Callan picked up the knife of one of the goblins and placed it in his inventory. He then picked up another one and stabbed the goblin in the head, before it could even realize it had just been born to a room. There was only one goblin left and Callan wanted to play a game. He went to the walls of the room and then threw a knife at the goblin to test his aim. The knife didn¡¯t hit the goblin, actually, it didn¡¯t even come close. But it wasn¡¯t that Callan was weak, actually, the knife just went too far. ¡°Hahhh¡­ well now I just look stupid.¡± As Callan sulked the goblin got close to him, and as it jumped into the air, Callan stretched the spear as high as he could and just smashed the goblin to the ground using the wooden part of the spear. As the goblin landed on the ground, Callan stepped on its head so hard that it crushed like a watermelon exploding. ¡°Ok, now that was cool.¡± [Congratulations On Clearing The First Floor] [You Will Be Teleported In] [5¡­] [4¡­] [3¡­] ¡°Well, that¡¯s all the weapons.¡± Callan stood waiting for the floor to teleport him out. The few seconds felt like years for some unknown reason. He played with his saliva, tapped his leg, snapped his fingers, blinked his eyes multiple times, and licked his lips. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve heard they hate that.¡± [1¡­] Callan returned to the endless white void, he stood in front of Mirai. ¡°Can you show me the time?¡± Asked Callan, as he rubbed his skin from the itch. After looking, Callan got to thinking. "Well uh¡­ I don¡¯t have much time left, should I just go to the second floor already?" Callan asked Mirai. His body didn¡¯t fear the pond anymore nor any mention of water in his mind. It was weird, but that wasn¡¯t what he cared about. Callan might not have any more broken trauma towards water, but he still remembers the hell he had gone through. ¡°Well I can do it, I have my inventory, I¡¯ll just bring a weapon! It makes things easier you know Mirai?! Like! I killed the goblins so easily! Like I just knew how to fight! Hahahaha! And those piranhas don¡¯t even have hands! Oh! I¡¯ll kill them!¡± Callan slowly went from worrying about another near-death experience to gaining so much confidence. He went through his status screen, seeing he was already level three. [Callan Satchel] [Level: 3] [Strength: 16] [Agility: 16] [Endurance: 16] [Magic: 16] ¡°Eyy! This is high right?!¡± Callan was happy, he now knew his stats would double every time he leveled up. He never felt any change, but those numbers showed him that he was far stronger than he had ever imagined. ¡°I went from a son that any parent would be embarrassed by to a powerhouse! Hahahaha! I mean I almost died twice! Thank you, Mirai! You changed my life!¡± Callan yelled to Mirai. He then hugged her and kissed the sphere multiple times. After finishing his showing of gratitude, Callan decided to do a backflip. He then overexerted his power and dropped to the ground. ¡°Well, I may be strong, but I¡­ yeah that¡¯s just it.¡± Callan lay on the ground and while he thought about how to do a cool backflip, he remembered he could just do a handstand with no need for skill, I mean he should be strong enough. He then placed his hands above his head and tried to do a handstand. As his body felt light, Callan succeeded. He had a slightly visible six-pack, and his arms were jacked. ¡°Oh my God!¡± As Callan stared at his body, trying to avoid gazing at his lower part, reality caught him. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Callan started to wonder how he even arrived in such a place. In the beginning, he did think of it as a new opportunity and life, but as he experienced just the first 2 floors, he retracted such an idea. But now, he went through so much change, he started to realize once more, the change the white void had shown him. Callan went to a blank expression. His mind wandered, Callan spent a long time fighting already. Well, that¡¯s at least what he thought of, he didn¡¯t really have the best memory. But now Callan was starting to miss his previous life. ¡°Wow¡­ I¡¯m¡­ wow! Before I always wanted to go to another world, but now I want to go back?¡± Callan was confused in his own belief. Everything he had ever believed was starting to hit him in the back. ¡°I know my beliefs were always just stupid. I mean I lack so much backbone that my decision changes my mood, I¡¯m just like a woman! But this? I mean, of course, this wasn¡¯t the ¡°Isekai¡± experience I wanted, but still, this power! I feel grateful but I also¡­ miss¡­ writing¡­¡± Callan cleared his head, he didn¡¯t like change, nor did he like thinking. His entire life he had always just gone with the flow, and that was the same with this one, he will go with the flow, even if that flow literally broke reality. ¡°Mira, do you perhaps know how to make paper out of leaves?¡± Callan asked Mirai politely. Of course, he knew that Mira, even if she knew, couldn¡¯t tell him how to make a paper. Using Mirai¡¯s vocabulary won¡¯t even reach the possibility of making paper. But Callan only wanted to know if Mirai knew, he didn¡¯t care how he would do it, he just needed to know that he could. [Yes] Replied Mirai. Callan jumped to the skies full of joy. Callan took out two knives from his inventory. He held one on each of his hands and faced Mirai. ¡°Well, I will test my physical limits for now.¡± Said Callan. He then looked into the sky and raised his right hand. He clenched his fist to the knife and declared. ¡°I will not even take a single injury! I tell you Mirai! I will kill those piranhas as fast as I possibly could!¡± Callan yelled at the top of his lungs. Callan took his stead as a warrior. First, he wanted to do some unnecessary backflip training. It seemed like his slight slip from earlier had left a bigger impact on his ego. Callan really was a weird man, he went from being hungry for murdering goblins, to being bored of it, to contemplating about his life, to asking how to make paper, and now back to training, especially his backflip due to spite. Mirai watched Callan. She was staring, she wondered how much time it would take Callan to be able to do a backflip. It may seem like a useless thing to even pay attention to. But Mirai had a reason, Mirai wanted to see Callan¡¯s true potential. The stats he had gained were still lower than some of his most talented clients, but his growth between levels was of the highest. The only real thing Callan lacked was actual physical experience. She had seen many fights in her life, despite only seeing one person at a time, there were a lot of times that her client did something called ¡°Shadow Fighting¡± It was, to her understanding, the concept of fighting someone you were imagining. As time went by, Mirai could even see these ¡°Shadows¡± and the longer time passed, even Mirai was confident she knew how to fight. When it reached the 10 thousandth clients, Mirai had always looked at their progress. That was why, Callan¡¯s backflip was of an interesting perspective. It wasn¡¯t the most battle-focused skill, but it was still a physical one. But as Mirai was thinking about this and the past, Callan, ¡°I did it! My God! I did it! I am gifted! I knew I was just too lazy to even work out! It was too much wasted time that I could do something else at the time! Hahahaha! To the next agenda!¡± Callan fought the air multiple times with his knife. Swinging randomly, sometimes even just cause the feeling of it was fun. Despite what Mirai expected, Callan wasn¡¯t actually improving on his skills. She didn¡¯t know it at that time, but the real reason for that was that Callan was just like a child playing with his toys. He wasn¡¯t even paying attention to it. Callan even used his make-ship spear and swung and stabbed it multiple times. Time went by, and after a very long play time, Callan got tired and rested for a few hours until the time had passed by quickly. [20:43:14] ¡°It had already been 5 hours!¡± Callan yelled as he was sitting on the ground; waking up from his long nap. Callan stretched his hands and leg. He stood up and walked towards Mirai, ¡°Well, it¡¯s time to fight the fish! Hold up the floor screen Mirai.¡± Callan yelled. [Bye] ¡°Bye, good luck to me.¡± The screen appeared in front of Callan and took a deep breath before clicking the second-floor button. But "Grrr" before fingers could touch the screen his stomach grumbled. Callan''s face was fully red, he just said goodbye to Mirai and then he immediately realized he hadn''t eaten. After a quick bite, full of embarrassment that he couldn''t even look at Mirai, he shoved it off and moved to the second floor, like nothing ever happened! Callan arrived for the third time on the second floor. The first thing he did was to go run over to the trees. He started pulling many leaves and placed them into his inventory. Callan didn¡¯t speak a word, and after pulling all the leaves out of multiple trees for more than an hour, he ran back to the pond. He took a deep breath and took in all the air he could, then jumped in the water. Callan then swam downwards to the bottom of the pond. I¡¯m ready¡­ I¡¯m ready¡­ After reaching the bottom of the pond, he touched the ground. Ughh¡­ Nothing happened. Callan kept tapping the ground until he realized he never said the words. He was left feeling stupid, he quickly swam to the top of the pond. He was silent even in his own mind, Callan was embarrassed to even face himself. ¡°Nothing happened¡­¡± After reaching the top of the pond, he took his breath back. ¡°Restart!¡±. After yelling, he took a deep breath then he dived back into the pond once more. No words from the tower were heard, but Callan had the confidence it would be different. Either way, he had no choice. Callan swam back down to the bottom of the pond, as his hand slowly made its way into the ground, when he touched the bottom of the pond, Callan was teleported once more to a black void. He couldn¡¯t move his body, but he could think. It was only a few seconds, but all Callan could think of was opening his inventory and taking his spear and knife out. Callan was teleported back to the bottom of the pond. He saw the three piranhas once more. After going through his trauma, the water never scared him anymore. But as Callan stared at those piranhas, his heart started to ache. Callan¡¯s heart pumped fast and his air suddenly decided to fly by. He was just at the bottom of the pond and he could almost not breathe. Shit! The fear of seeing the piranhas once more had ruined Callan¡¯s plan. But that wouldn¡¯t stop him, I just have to kill them! He swam fast up to the piranhas. All three, just like last time, were spread out from each other. With the distance between the piranhas, it was enough to fight each at a time. Callan reached the nearest piranha. It was alerted and started to swim towards Callan. He held his knife in his right hand and stopped. He was prepared to hug the piranha and stab it to death. The piranha reached a meter length close to Callan. As the piranha screeches at Callan, the others are soon alerted. He now had to kill the piranha as fast as he possibly could before the other two reached him. It launched itself towards Callan. He then moved to the side and stabbed as the piranha as it swam beside it. Callan didn¡¯t let go and hugged the piranha on its side. It kept on screeching in pain as Callan retracted his knife and repeatedly stabbed it until the water around them was clouded by blood. It was a simple after-effect, but these clouded waters and covered areas stopped the other piranhas from spotting Callan. They couldn¡¯t see the human and with their simple instincts, they swam faster smelling free food. Wait, I can¡¯t see! Callan backed himself off. He kicked himself forward using the dead piranha, as he was launched off to the sides, the 2 piranhas came swimming fast out of the clouded red water. Now that¡¯s straight out of a shark movie! Callan hurriedly grabbed his spear and then struck it into the open mouth of one of the piranhas. He couldn¡¯t see it, nor do fish even drool. But Callan can clearly see through its aura that the piranha was full of hunger. His spear went inside the piranha''s mouth. Callan didn¡¯t know if it had stabbed its insides but, he just pushed it in more. Then he exerted all his strength to move the piranha behind him. Callan then stepped on the wooden part of the spear and jumped forward with his knife. With his arms raised, he stabbed its head. But as his body was flipping forward, Hahahahahaha! Callan was grazed by the piranha¡¯s teeth. His sides, including his arm, started to bleed from multiple scratches. With the pain, taking over his entire body for a few seconds, the knife was left stuck on the piranha''s head as it swam fast down to the bottom of the pond. It was near death and could die at any time. Is that it? But he wasn¡¯t satisfied, he swam straight to the piranha and stabbed it multiple times. He reached the bottom bottom of the pond. As dead fish lacked enough weight to sink, the other two had already started to swim back up the pond. And why does this information matter? [Congratulations On Clearing The Second Floor] [You Will Be Teleported In] [5¡­] My spear! In the span of 5 seconds, Callan used all his strength to swim back to his spear. [2¡­] Nooooo!! But as he ran towards the previous piranha, he was too far from his spear. The timer passed and as he slightly grazed upon the wooden stick of the spear, he was immediately teleported back to the endless white void, and then he yelled. ¡°Noooooo!!!!! 11. Third Floor(1) Callan was teleported back to the white void with a big frown on his face. ¡°I lost it¡­ I lost my spear¡­ I mean, I can make a new one¡­ but I¡¯m a writer, so I know what a warrior¡¯s pride is. How can I have already used up two spears!¡± [Yes] ¡°Even you get it Mirai. Well, I¡¯ll just make a better one then, but this time, I ain''t ever losing it.¡± Callan sat back down to the ground beside the campfire he hastily made. ¡°Can I see the time, Mirai?¡± [18:37:21] ¡°Well, I still have a lot of time. Oh, wait! Before that!¡± Callan jumped back up again and walked to Mirai. He tapped on Mirai and his status screen showed it. ¡°Based on what I learned, I should be 32 by now! Damn! Hell Y-¡± But before he could finish his sentence, his entire body froze. [Callan Satchel] [Level: 4] [Strength: 19] [Agility: 19] [Endurance: 19] [Magic: 19] Callan¡¯s mouth was left wide open for a good minute. If only the white void had flies, one would have already found a good home and died. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ kind of disappointing¡­ but I guess it¡¯s¡­ O¡­P¡­ if I just double my stats every level up? Is it?¡± He asked Mirai. [Yes] ¡°Hah¡­ fine, I already made my way up this high, if I get more sad I¡¯ll just become an arrogant bitch.¡± Callan turned around sucking his lip. He sat back down on the ground and started to smash his rocks. You know what I meant. However, despite Callan¡¯s disappointment with his stats, Mirai felt a sense of joy. Though, of course, doubling his stats would have been an amazing result as that would just mean an eminent victory for Callan. But, those stats were still amazing. Callan spent a good few hours crafting a new spear. From going back and forth to the second floor, he did everything he could to make an indestructible spear. Well, it¡¯s still made from wood though. ¡°Okay! Finished! This time it ain''t just a branch, I fucking carved this stick from a trunk myself, hehehehe.¡± He rubbed his nose. ¡°Time, Mirai.¡± [10:12:45] ¡°What! 8 hours! I spent 8 hours on that! Damn! I really am getting too into this!¡± He paused a little bit and continued. ¡°Is¡­ that a good thing¡­?¡± [Yes] Mirai replied. Though, Callan didn¡¯t hear a thing. He always had a weird sense of focus, sometimes he couldn¡¯t even handle doing the same thing for a few minutes and sometimes someone could just rob him without him even seeing a thing. But¡­ for crafting? For woodworking? That was an unexpected thing to be into for a shut-in like him. ¡°Well, I wonder what else I can do. Got a full 10 hours left, I guess¡­ sleep is a good answer¡­ oh God! I haven¡¯t slept!¡± That wasn¡¯t true though, he did sleep before, twice even. But if he wanted to sleep more, who would complain about one good sleep? Then, like a giant baby, Callan slept on the floor for a very long time. It¡¯s kind of disappointing how confident he is about the third floor, which is really annoying. I guess he¡¯s still a human¡­ for now. [01:23:47] There was only one hour left till Callan was forced to go to the third floor. His eyes opened wide. Raising his back like a vampire, just waking up from his coffin. Slowly twisting his head to face Mirai, he yelled. ¡°I¡¯m not ready!¡± Callan panicked. He jumped up and started to walk in circles. ¡°Oh God! What am I gonna do?! I almost died on floor 2 and I don¡¯t even know floor 3! Mirai!¡± He yelled and ran to Mirai like a crying baby. Never forget, he is wearing something like a mawashi. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Do you know what the theme of the third floor is?¡± [Yes] ¡°Oh fuck, stupid question! I already asked you that. Wait, let me just relax. Be calm and collected.¡± He massaged his head. ¡°Okay, so is it a forest theme?¡± [No] ¡°Is it another water theme?¡± [No] ¡°Then is it just another one on one like the first floor?¡± [Yes] ¡°O! Really? Oh hell yeah! I can do this!¡± [No] ¡°Huh? Is it a strong one? Well¡­ I can¡¯t really list all the animals or monsters I know. I mean I would never have expected the second floor to be piranhas!¡± [Yes] ¡°Then¡­ I have no choice¡­ but to prepare. I don¡¯t know what to prepare but I will.¡± Callan had one hour, and that was more than enough to think of some stupid plan for the unknown. First, he laid all his weapons on the ground. His one spear and some spare knives. ¡°At this moment¡­ having more weapons ain¡¯t really an important thing. If it''s one-on-one, I¡¯ll just need at least five knives¡­¡± Callan blinked his eyes five times. ¡°...which I don¡¯t have¡­¡± *** Second, Callan took his spear and went to the first floor. ¡°Hah¡­ I guess this will be my source of knives¡­ which is made of iron, so it¡¯s like an iron mine too.¡± Callan started on the first floor once again. ¡°Restart.¡± After a quick session of five one-sided fights, he left after only 2 minutes. ¡°Collected all the knives.¡± Though after fighting and doing something, Callan still had a hole left in him. ¡°But it still feels so lacking! I feel¡­ so bored. But even then, I can¡¯t really train my fighting skills cause it¡¯s not like I have actual experiences. So shadow fighting is out of the options.¡± Callan dropped down to the ground and groaned. ¡°You know¡­ there is one option. That is to exercise. But I have a fight in 1 hour so it¡¯s not enough time. Guess¡­ I¡¯ll just¡­ talk to you Mirai.¡± Callan stood up and positioned himself close to Mirai. He looked below him, staring at the orb full of sorrow. ¡°Mirai, are you okay?¡± [Yes] ¡°I guess you''re used to it huh. Lost one hundred thousand people. We¡¯re they all humans?¡± [No] ¡°Huh¡­ that¡¯s interesting. Not like it matters though.¡± Callan sat down on the ground and leaned his back on the pedestal. He raised his right leg and placed his right arm on it. ¡°Plans, did you know Mirai that I am the most annoying person in the world. Well, at least a lot of people have said so.¡± [Yes] ¡°Ahahaha! We haven¡¯t even been together for a while and you agree already. For example, the plan, you heard that I wanted a plan right. Then where is it? It was just disregarded and feels utterly useless to even be there. But that¡¯s my life, full of utterly useless decisions that are always forgotten.¡± [Yes] ¡°You have been with a lot of people, so I know you get it. But what really bothers me the most is that I¡¯m self-aware. I know my fucking problems yet why the fuck can¡¯t I just resolve it! Why the fuck! Ahhhhh!¡± [No] ¡°It¡¯s okay, Mirai. I get it. They say it¡¯s not easy to change. But it''s been 4 years¡­ and I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m still the same.¡± Mirai didn¡¯t respond, she didn¡¯t really have any useful words to say. Other than the guilt of not being able to help, at least having no heart relieves the pain a little bit. ¡°That¡¯s why¡­ that¡¯s why¡­ I don¡¯t know. Life is shit, that¡¯s why being in this hell is the best thing to happen to me.¡± Callan laughed uncontrollably afterward. ¡°Just kidding! I¡¯ll choose a worthless life more than the protagonist in your life, Mirai. It¡¯s so much of a burden.¡± [No] ¡°You¡¯ll die if I die, right Mirai?¡± [...Yes] ¡°You¡¯re probably wondering how I know, but I just do. I¡­ just do¡­ I think that¡¯s my plot armor. Whatever fucking story, novel, movie, anime, tv series, this utter bullshit life is. All I want to say¡­ I¡¯ll be the most inconsistent main character in the world.¡± Callan smiled and stood up. ¡°Timer, Mirai.¡± [00:58:47] ¡°I¡¯ll do my best Mirai.¡± Callan walked back to his campfire and collected all his weapons back to his inventory. ¡°I won¡¯t die¡­ why? Well, I already died so my catchphrase doesn¡¯t work anymore. But, catchphrase, try number two.¡± Callan swiped Mirai, making the floors appear. ¡°I won¡¯t die¡­ do you know why?¡± He raised his index finger in the sky and placed his face closer to Mirai. ¡°The Universe has one rule. I will never die.¡± Callan clicked on the third floor, and he disappeared from Mirai¡¯s sight. 12. Third Floor(2) "Well, that''s the cringiest thing I''ve ever done. Though... It does look cool." Callan rubbed his nose and chuckled. "I''m 18 fuck it, I have 8th-grade syndrome damn it." [Welcome To The Third Floor] Darren snapped his head left and right. The room was almost the exact same as the first floor. It was an entire white room with perfect white tiles. The only difference was that it wasn''t a box¡ªit was a rectangle. [Spawning Monster] [3¡­] "Well, whatever the reason for the design change was, I''ll just have to... face whatever comes." Callan took his spear out. [1...] As the timer hit 1 and ended, a thin werewolf spawned at the opposite end of the room. "A kobold.". Callan held his spear with both hands and took a defensive stance. The kobold took an athletic stance and ran. In a second, the kobold had run a staggering estimated 10-meter distance. In an act of surprise, Callan instinctively blocked an incoming attack from the kobold''s sharp claws. However, it could have been more successful. "Fuck! You guys really like my fucking left side!" Callan was grazed on his left and the kobold backoffed immediately. But it wasn''t going to stop, it looked like it didn''t even back off. The kobold appeared to his left immediately and Callan had no choice but to let go of his spear. "Fuck!" He was fully hit that time and he was now on the brink of falling to the ground from the pain of being hit in the guts. But he didn''t let go of his spear for no reason. Callan grabbed onto the Kobold with both his arms, enduring the pain of its claws. With his strength, he easily crushed the Kobold''s neck and it died. "Sorry Mirai... I planned to not die today... but that wouldn''t work." [3...] "Fuck..." Callan picked up his spear and used it as a Cane. The kobolds are too fast, way too fast, unimaginably so. To the point where it would be impossible to fight them head-on. So, Callan had no choice but to use Mirai''s ability to heal as his main weapon. But, before the next kobold could even spawn, Callan weirdly noticed something. His plan was very simple, catch the kobold while it attacked. It may cause him to die, but Mirai could always heal him back to life, that was a guarantee. However, something might be able to avoid the extremes of death. [1...] --- Seeing Callan''s injury and his bent-over body that is desperately holding onto a pole made of stick, the kobold tensed both its claws and headed for a drilling attack at the middle of Callan''s stomach. It jumped, straight and ran with no alteration from its movement. With a huge smile on his face, watching at the man not noticing his speed. Then, it came into contact with its skin, the flesh, and its vulnerable spot- "Awrr?" His claws couldn''t go through, he wanted to go back and aim for the heart next, but as his claws couldn''t even feel the air behind the man¡­ before it could even run, its neck was already caught, and a second later, the kobold died. --- There was one great thing about an OP stat, it''s in the name, it was OP. Overpowered. Callan had an endurance of 19, even though the pain was just the same and not a single ounce of it was reduced, the damage is. He looked at his sides and the injury at his stomach, it was all visible, and blood was one hundred percent pouring, but it wasn''t that fatal. The kobold didn''t pierce through his flesh, nor did his sides even reveal his inside. "It was all in the pain!" Callan laughed, though, of course, tears also flooded his eyes. It was like eating spicy food, you cry cause it fucking hurts so much even if you won''t die. What a lackluster comparison to being shredded of your flesh. [1...] The next kobold spawned, it wasn''t going to be hard in any way, all Callan had to do was stay still and wait for them to kill themselves. With his stomach riddled with blood, the kobold stared. It wasn''t that it couldn''t move, but because it was thinking. Unlike a simple goblin, this monster wasn''t a stupid animal who would mindlessly attack anyone. A man standing still without much injury while the bodies of his brethren lay on the ground with their heads separated from their bodies, the kobold couldn''t just attack head-on. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Why did it stop moving?" A few seconds passed and the kobold ran to Callan''s side. "Oh, attacking my sides again huh." The kobold went to the left, in Callan''s eyes it was like a long blurry line of gray passed his left. Wait, passed? A stab went on his back. "Aghh!" Callan turned back immediately and tried to catch the pesky animal. But it wasn''t there, then it attacked his back again, this time it felt more painful, it stabbed the same exact spot. Shit this one¡¯s smart! Callan had to think quickly. With the kobold''s speed, there is no way it could catch it if it just attacks his blind spot again and again. It was a basic attack pattern for slow and big-game bosses. It was an awful taste in Callan''s mouth. The blood tasted like shit. Callan stood still for a second and then turned back. The kobold wasn''t there so he turned again immediately. Then again, and again. Again, again, again. It was like a dog chasing its tail. It was a useless tactic, but it helped to prevent the kobold from landing a hit for a few seconds, enough time for Callan to think. ... ... ... Well, enough time for a smart person to think, Callan jumped as hard as he could. He couldn''t think of a plan, he wasn''t smart. But, in reality, no one could kill a person faster than you. A frost gun? That''s fucking stupid. With his strength, Callan was able to reach the ceiling with a height of around 10 meters. He really wasn''t in the realm of humans. It was that easy too, that was just insane. The kobold stopped in its tracks, confused at what it had just seen. Then, at that moment, something very stupid came to Callan''s mind. The pain he was feeling was endurable, even if exerting his muscles made his injuries hurt more, it wasn''t as painful as what he had experienced before, and so... what if he added more pain? Immediately after reaching the top and touching the ceiling, Callan''s face looked surprised. The moment he started to fall he was panicking and screaming in fear. "Ahhhh!" He wiggled his body and moved as much as he could in the air, then splat! Callan landed face down on the ground. The kobold didn''t waste the opportunity and laughed as he ran to the stupid man who couldn''t even control his own strength. With such a vulnerable position, even the kobold knows that the neck is the only right place to rip apart. His claws faced each other, with their tips touching. He savored the moment... and his feet weirdly felt like it disappeared. It looked down, a hand held his leg and his feet were cut off. "Die, bitch." The kobold hurried his strike. Callan dragged the kobold''s leg, causing it to lose its strength. "Only a scratch? Useless bitch." Callan grabbed the kobold by the neck and squished it to death. "The nails of these kobolds are probably a good weapon." [3...] "Oh fuck, how many are left again? One... two... three... Fuck! Two more!?" Callan was running out of ideas other than to repeat his stupid play. But it was so stupid and anti-climactic that ending the third floor by jumping and landing on your face is not a good way to clear a floor. [1...] The kobold arrived and Callan jumped to the sky. He acted surprised just like last time and landed face-first on the ground. The kobold was very confused and didn''t move for a couple of seconds. Kobolds are pack creatures. They are creatures who have great speed and great decision-making for a monster. Seeing three of its own species lying on the dead... it wasn''t gonna be fooled that his enemy was that stupid. But, Callan persisted. He stayed on the ground acting dead, till his blood started to pile around his body. The kobold circled Callan, and as the blood became bigger and bigger, the kobold was getting more convinced at the outlandish play. Fuck! Why won''t it just attack me! I''m losing too much blood! I''ll pass out soon! Callan was left panicking, and so, he made a decision he didn''t want to make. Callan acted like he had just woken up, and at the sight of this act, the kobold attacked. A large wound was located on Callan''s back, the kobold was smart but it didn''t know everything, and so it ran at the injury, taking the almost wasted opportunity. I just saw it moved! Fuck! Callan turned around as quickly as he could and blocked the attack of the kobold with his right arm. But unlike the others, the kobold didn''t stop. It removed its claws and aimed down on Callan''s stomach. Even if it knew the claws couldn''t go through with just his strength, the kobold''s speed was enough to slowly dig through Callan. "Arghh!" The constant pain messed with Callan''s mind, every time he tried to move, the pain restarted his system. Callan tried to grab the kobold''s arm, but it missed. He tried to trip it''s leg, but it missed. There was no way of stopping a fast person other than tricks. The kobold reached into Callan''s guts and blood splattered everywhere. The kobold, held its ground, even when its entire face was covered in blood. Because of this, Callan was able to grab the kobold''s arm, drag its body close, and smash its neck. Fuck!!! [3...] Fuck! This kobold was sacrificing itself! Shit! Callan forced himself to stand up. His stomach was open at such a small size yet it felt so big. [1...] The last kobold spawned. Callan lay on the ground dying, covered in blood. After a few seconds of looking around, the kobold understood what he needed to do, he needed to finish the job. The man was almost dead, it was going to be an easy fight, and the kobold wouldn''t reject such a thing. It ran, fast. It arrived at the left of Callan and aimed at his half-closed eyes. Callan, was blinded in the left eye. He grabbed onto the kobold''s feet. Callan, was blinded in the right eye. He tightened his right hand into a fist. The kobold shoved his claws into Callan''s mouth and pierced through the other side. Callan, unconscious, finished his punch and grabbed onto the kobold''s head... The kobold ripped Callan''s head, along his life, dying at his victim''s own hand. 13. Death(1) ¡°Welcome.¡± Said a glowing white figure; like a mannequin. No privates, no face, no hair. ¡°Why are you here, ****.¡± Callan shook his head and blinked at awkward pauses. He closed his eyes and looked up. ¡°Don¡¯t call me that, call me¡­ hmm¡­ Asterisk.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± Callan released a slow and calming air through his mouth and opened his eyes. Everything was black. You couldn¡¯t even discern the floor, walls, or the sky. Even with the glowing person beside him, not a single thing reflects its light. He looked down on his body and he was in the attire he wore before he was transported into the white void. ¡°It just sounds¡­ unpleasant. You know what I mean?¡± ¡°Ughh¡­ you just want to sound mysterious.¡± Callan stretched his arms up in the air. ¡°Hahaha, well sta-¡± ¡°Yeah. Yeah.¡± Callan interrupted Asterisk and stood up. ¡°Well then, how about, we take a seat.¡± Asterisk waved his left arm. Synchronized with his hand, a circular wooden table appeared. Soon, a glass pot appeared, sprouting stems till white roses bloomed at the end. ¡°Fancy, though, I¡¯m not here to date. I¡¯m here to wonder what I¡¯m here for.¡± Callan asked. ¡°Hmph.¡± Asterisk walked to the back of the table and sat. A brown wooden chair magically appeared out of nowhere, catching his fall. ¡°Why don¡¯t you take a seat first.¡± Callan walked straight and stood at the opposite side of Asterisk. He reached his hand out in the air and grabbed onto something, then a chair magically formed from his hand. He pulled the wooden chair back and sat. ¡°So what am I here for? I¡¯m dead.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ what are¡­ you here for¡­?¡± Asterisk caressed a piece of white rose. Staring as he sways his head. ¡°Stop joking with me, **- Asterisk.¡± Asterisk plucked the white rose, sniffed it slowly, and threw it into the air. ¡°I was wondering why you were a glowing mannequin.¡± Starting from the bottom, his feet turned into really pointy black shoes, moving up to a long piece of black slacks. Halfway through the tighs appeared the tails of a black Victorian tail suit, hiding a tight black coat all above a white polo with long sleeves. ¡°Really? A butler suit?¡± ¡°It¡¯s our favorite.¡± Asterisk smiled with the face of a beautiful man that only existed in the realm of imagination. ¡°Yeah, I guess you¡¯re right.¡± Callan couldn¡¯t help but smile, but he stopped and asked again. ¡°So what am I doing here again? Is this the afterlife? Cause it doesn¡¯t look pleasant.¡± ¡°Hahaha! You¡¯re not dead.¡± ¡°Yes, I am.¡± ¡°You¡¯re asleep.¡± ¡°I¡¯m dead.¡± ¡°Why are you so in denial?¡± Asterisk pushed his chair back and stood up. ¡°You¡¯re in another world!¡± Each step he took felt like tapping wood. ¡°Where you have the capabilities humans could only ever dream of!¡± Asterisk placed his right hand on his chest, smiled, and looked up in the sky with his eyes closed. ¡°Wasn¡¯t that your dream?¡± Pink petals started to fall down around him. ¡°That wasn¡¯t my dream.¡± ¡°Then what is your dream? There¡¯s so many I always get confused, you know.¡± ¡°My dream was centered around being the greatest author in the entire world.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s stupid. You were still on that thing? It¡¯s been six years Callan.¡± ¡°Six years my ass.¡± ¡°Just because you restart every other month doesn¡¯t mean you just began. You¡¯re untalented, you know that. Just stop it.¡± Callan gritted his teeth and breathed heavily. ¡°Fuck you. Whatever, I¡¯m fucking dead anyway, why would I care.¡± Callan laid his head down on the table with his hands flailing down to his sides. Then the table disappeared and his head fell, and his body followed. Before he hit the ground, he was standing straight still, facing Asterisk. ¡°The fuck! You almost gave me a heart attack!¡± ¡°Why were you so scared¡­ if you are still alive?¡± Asterisk tilted his head to the left. ¡°Cause I am de-¡± Asterisk jumped and flew through Callan, interrupting his words and releasing a cold energy down in his stomach. Callan shook uncontrollably, his limbs felt so stiff they could break like glass. ¡°Fuck! Stop doing this shit!¡± ¡°You are sleeping.¡± ¡°I am dead!¡± Callan yelled in anger and turned around to a completely white sky. ¡°What.¡± He could feel the cold and uneven floors that were so sharp it could kill you while asleep. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m¡­ alive¡­¡± Callan turned to his left and saw Mirai. [Welcome] ¡°You¡¯re alive¡­ I¡­¡± A smile started to form on Callan¡¯s face. He moved his hands up and placed them all above him. ¡°So I was in hell.¡± ¡°Ah fuck it.¡± Said Asterisk. Everything once again turned black and Mirai morphed into the man in suit. ¡°Told you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re asleep you bitch. I can¡¯t wake you up. Just wait.¡± ¡°Just give it up. Why are you even here?¡± ¡°Because you need me.¡± Callan scoffed. ¡°Need you? What for? Oh wait, I am in hell. Cause my best friend who couldn¡¯t do anything is here with me.¡± ¡°What? I am your imaginary best friend, I¡¯m sorry that I can¡¯t come to life to help you. Is that my fault? You know, for the four years I haven¡¯t seen you, you¡¯ve turned into a real bitch!¡± Asterisk turned around and sat on a brown sofa. ¡°Well, then how can you be here? If I am asleep and this is some dream, how can you be here? How can you control everything?¡± Callan flew to Asterisk¡¯s face and stared. ¡°Because I am you.¡± ¡°I know that. You were made as my dream self. But that¡¯s not what I¡¯m pointing out. If you can do all of this! Why just now?! Where were you for every time I needed help!¡± ¡°Why are you tearing up? It¡¯s not that serious.¡± ¡°Why are you here!¡± Callan released a sonic wave, blasting Asterisk¡¯s sofa into the sky, while the man in a suit stayed in a sitting position. ¡°Because you need me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m crying, I don¡¯t need someone to make me cry right now. Do you know how much strength I¡¯m using just to not cry that I¡¯m dead?¡± ¡°You¡¯re asleep.¡± ¡°I died! My head was ripped out!¡± ¡°Mirai can just heal you back up.¡± ¡°Are you stupid! You¡¯re me! I know you understand it!¡± ¡°What? That just because you died, she can¡¯t heal you back up?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°But you killed the kobold you know. You did it.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± Asterisk just smiled. Another chair appeared below him and Callan was forced to move away and sat down on a similar chair. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I did. But, that¡­ I¡¯m still dead.¡± ¡°Do you really think that you can just simply be healed?¡± Asterisk quoted the ¡°Healed¡±. ¡°What are trying to imply? That as long as I beat a floor, I can be revived?¡± ¡°Yes. I know you''re smart, you¡¯re just untalented at writing, you should have been an engineer.¡± ¡°Shut the fuck up.¡± ¡°Hahahaha!¡± ¡°Then why am I here? Why are you here?¡± ¡°You wanna know the real answer?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Well¡­¡­¡­¡± Asterisk¡¯s head slowly fell to the ground. ¡°¡®Cause you need me.¡± ¡°Fucking tell me the real answer right now ****!¡± ¡°Why are you so mad. Chill.¡± ¡°Say it!¡± ¡°Fine, fine.¡± He stood back up straight and said. ¡°None.¡± ¡°What? Then what am I doing here?¡± ¡°Waiting.¡± ¡°Waiting for what!¡± ¡°To wake up.¡± ¡°If I am actually alive, then why do I have to be here and not just wake up? So I am dead!¡± ¡°Ughh¡­ we¡¯re back to this shit. You¡¯re asleep. Sleep. You¡¯re just here cause¡­ I don¡¯t know. Just cause. Just wait till you wake up that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°The fuck.¡± ¡°You¡¯re alive, can¡¯t you make some way to think that you are.¡± Asterisk sat back again in his chair. He waved his hand. Floating hands appeared beside Callan¡¯s head and massaged it. ¡°Fine. I am alive. Now that I think about it, I am.¡± ¡°Good. Good. Finally.¡± ¡°I mean, what type of story kills their main character so early in the story.¡± ¡°What? Main character syndrome? The fuck, you still have that? This wasn¡¯t what I asked for.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have main character syndrome, I am the protagonist of some story, I don¡¯t know what it is, but I am.¡± Asterisk¡¯s eyes enlarged. He quickly looked down to his left, then up, then back again, and again, repeatedly mocking Callan. ¡°I am! I¡¯m the one hundred thousandth client of Mirai. If I die, she dies. If that is not a protagonist story I don¡¯t know what is!¡± ¡°Uhuh.¡± ¡°Arghhhh!!¡± Callan wanted to yell more but he held it in and tightened his fist as much as he could. ¡°Just¡­ please. Just tell me why I am here.¡± ¡°I already told you.¡± ¡°Told me what?!¡± ¡°Nothing! You are here for absolutely nothing!¡± Callan stared at Asterisk. His eyes glowed with gold, after staring for a few seconds, Callan laid back on his chair. ¡°Then¡­ that¡¯s just bad writing.¡± ¡°Bad writing? What do you mean?¡± ¡°A plot point that means nothing? That¡¯s bullshit. Also, this is a solo infinite tower run, of course, they will capture every single thing that happens in my pov, so it really is just bad writing.¡± Callan waved his hands randomly. ¡°Callan, wake up. You¡¯re not in a fucking novel.¡± ¡°I am,¡± Callan said calmly. ¡°Okay, okay, fine, if you are in some story. Then, so what? That doesn¡¯t change anything.¡± ¡°It does, this is just a bad chapter that has no relevance to the main plot.¡± A table appeared in front of Asterisk and he placed his elbow on top of it. He wiped his face up to his hair and sighed. ¡°Wha- What?¡± ¡°I mean, this would just make people not read the chapter. It will¡­ well, be pointless and useless and they will probably drop the series altogether.¡± ¡°Callan. Ah- I don¡¯t know what you are on, but that¡¯s. So what?¡± ¡°What do you mean so what? The series will lose readers?¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going along with you so much already, so I will continue. What the fuck does the hypothetical outer world where your life is. I repeat. Your life(!) is just a fictional story that has nothing to do with you right now!¡± ¡°W-¡± ¡°No! I¡¯m not finished!¡± Callan¡¯s mouth was sewed shut. Literally. ¡°Callan. I do not know where this reasoning is coming from. But whatever 4-dimensional world you are talking about has nothing to do with you. To be honest, I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re here. I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m here either. But I won¡¯t lie that you need me. Cause I did not know you got this bad. I sometimes watched you write and I thought that was normal, what happened here? Your obsessions with novels again? Feeling sympathy for this author who is supposedly writing you? If you are in a novel and you said this was a shit concept, then why am I talking to you!¡± The stitches on Callan¡¯s mouth slowly slipped off to the floor. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°Callan. Relax. I know you''re just trying to run away from reality by thinking of this stupid shit. But just because you are in a really¡­ interesting¡­ situation. Let¡¯s say. Well¡­ that doesn¡¯t mean you are the protagonist of some story. It just means you got lucky.¡± The table in front of Asterisk stretched out till it reached Callan. ¡°But. But. It¡¯s. It¡¯s bad plotting. The man will not get any readers.¡± ¡°Fuck the man. Whoever you are talking to. Fuck him. Why do you care? That¡¯s his life. Not yours.¡± ¡°But.¡± Callan looked down and shoved his face into his hands. Asterisk took a deep breath in with his eyes closed. Then he sighed. ¡°Stop being so obsessed with your writing. This is why you¡¯re gir-¡± ¡°Okay fine, we¡¯re done ****!¡± Callan interrupted Asterisk. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare bring her up to this. She has nothing to do with this.¡± ¡°And so does your novel. Callan. You¡¯re eighteen already. Stop being so immature. You can¡¯t run away from reality anymore, because that reality is constantly trying to kill you. Just be happy you¡¯re alive.¡± ¡°But¡­ what am I supposed to do? ****? What the fuck am I gonna do! I keep dying! What the fuck is the point of me living!¡± Callan broke the table and fell to the ground. Asterisk stared at the hopeless man. It was a stupid argument. Fighting for an imaginary novel to this escaping reality. What was this conversation, made by a kid? ¡°Callan stand up.¡± ¡°Why should I? I¡¯m alive? So what? I fainted from blood loss on the first floor. Then I lost my bottom half on the second floor. Lastly, just on the third floor, I lost my head. The fourth? I¡¯ll probably just evaporate into thin air or burn to death.¡± ¡°And? Callan. You are not in the modern world anymore. If before you could run away from your problems by not addressing them and forgetting about them. This time, it is actually life and death. You are not a kid who just jokes that you wanna die cause of having too many assignments. You will actually die if you don¡¯t do something.¡± ¡°Ahhhhh!!!!¡± Callan yelled. ¡°And¡­ that is the actual Callan that I know.¡± Asterisk smiled. ¡°Stand up. I¡¯ll really tell you know why you¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Wait? So I actually have a reason to be here?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Then what the fuck was everything that we talked about?¡± ¡°Random bullshit that we could have skipped anytime.¡± ¡°Then why did we not skip it!!!! Why the fuck!¡± ¡°Well, cause I wanted to talk to you, yell at you, and educate you.¡± ¡°So this entire thing was pointless?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Well, unless if you think of it as a story, the characters got to know you more as the most obnoxious human being alive. Well, for a protagonist¡­ that¡¯s not a good personality. But¡­ I did say, why should we care.¡± ¡°Fuck you.¡± ¡°I know you want to. But, stand up please.¡± Callan stared at the asterisk by twisting his head upward from the floor. ¡°Really? Really man?¡± Asterisk chuckled. ¡°Just stand up.¡± ¡°Fine, what is the reason I am here?¡± ¡°Simple. To train.¡± Multiple dark green lines ran across the floor. Forming patterned squares as far as the eye could see. ¡°Training? If you can exercise and gain the muscles in your head, everyone will be buffed.¡± The floors turned gray and gained the texture of a chiseled stone floor. ¡°I never meant physical training.¡± Multiple columns elevated ground with glass cubes started to form. ¡°Oh God. Is this it? I¡¯ve only thought of it.¡± ¡°Yep. Welcome¡­ to my¡­ dungeon, Ca¡­¡± Multiple screams of agony blocked Asterisk¡¯s words. 14. Death(2) ¡°Now, how does it feel¡­ to be inside one of your abominations?¡± Asterisk asked. Callan quickly covered his ears and crouched down to the ground. Asterisk saw Callan¡¯s mouth opening and so he flicked his fingers. ¡°-urn off the screams!¡± ¡°Oh¡­ you can¡¯t hear me can¡¯t you.¡± Screams filled the entire place at the sound that could break one¡¯s eardrum. It wasn¡¯t pleasant and that¡¯s just about the noise and has nothing to do with the point that those sounds are screams of pain. ¡°Oh well.¡± Asterisk pointed up above a platform elevated from the ground behind a wall of green glass doors and drew a cross. The noise immediately disappeared. ¡°Finally. Like God! Why the fuck are we here?¡± ¡°I told you, it¡¯s training.¡± ¡°Training? For what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s mental training¡­ I mean, you can¡¯t even look up, let alone stand up.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I just feel like crouching you know. Asian sit. I mean, I can do it now, it doesn¡¯t hurt, just you know, feels good.¡± ¡°Who are you trying to fool? Look up.¡± ¡°No. Hell no.¡± ¡°Why? Are you disgusted?¡± ¡°Of course I am! This is a dungeon! Actually, it¡¯s more like a museum of every torture to ever be made.¡± ¡°Why? So?¡± ¡°What do you mean so!¡± ¡°You created.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ but¡­¡± ¡°But, what? You now can¡¯t even bear to look at the thing your emo phase created?¡± Callan stayed dead silent. ¡°What a hypocrite. I know you can handle it, but the sight of looking at it is a different matter. I know you don¡¯t care about the people dying. I mean¡­ if you do you''re a hy- no, wait, you¡¯re human. Never mind you are a hypocrite.¡± ¡°Why the hell are you bringing humanity into this? Hey, I ain¡¯t protecting them, just saying there is absolutely no relevancy.¡± Asterisk sighed. ¡°Imagine killing an ant. You do it a lot of the time, everyone does it, whether it¡¯s a child or an adult. Then do you care about the ant¡¯s life? It already has a short life span and you''re not even letting it live to its fullest. And don¡¯t even say it¡¯s just working without a soul, humans have no freedom, you¡¯re also working forever till you die.¡± Callan stood up. ¡°Just shut up man. Didn¡¯t even have anything to do with anything.¡± ¡°Well, open your eyes then.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± ¡°You fainted looking at your organs spill on the first floor, and even if you didn¡¯t afterward. At the same time, you even killed someone while your head was gone, that is some strong willpower and mental strength, however, you¡¯re far too lazy.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve changed if you didn¡¯t know.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t. You had 48 hours last time and what did you do? Make a spear. You didn¡¯t even use it on the third floor. So tell me, was it a waste of time¡­ or not.¡± Callan inhaled deeply and burst out, ¡°Fuck!¡±. ¡°So¡­ now can you go and open your eyes?¡± Callan sighed and looked straight ahead. Everything was back to black, but as soon as he turned to his back, in the black void stood one glass cage with a man getting skinned with a thin sharp knife. ¡°Oh¡­ God.¡± He immediately turned back around to the black void. ¡°Well, before we get started, I should probably first tell you how this is even possible, though this is just a guess.¡± ¡°Oh, finally! I even forgot about that!¡± ¡°Look at your hands.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­ okay¡­¡± Callan spun his hands side by side. ¡°I think you know what type of dream this is.¡± ¡°A lucid dream.¡± ¡°Well, do you remember how to know if you are in a lucid dream or not?¡± Then came a realization to Callan. ¡°There¡¯s no blur. Everything is so clear.¡± ¡°Exactly, you know, for someone so obsessed with magic before, you¡¯ve never tried or paid any attention to the magic stat.¡± ¡°Well, based on just looking at it. I don¡¯t know magic and I am stuck in a tower, so where will I learn it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but this is definitely caused by magic.¡± ¡°What! Oh my God! I can use magic! So this is illusion magic or the type that succubus uses?¡± ¡°No, Callan, this is not that type of magic.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ are you saying¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I am saying. It is the actual definition of magic-¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°-the power to make the impossible, possible!¡± ¡°This is it, I don¡¯t know how, but you willed everything in here into existence. So¡­ let¡¯s just see, how everything will go. Now train your ass off!¡± ¡°Magic¡­¡± Callan lost himself in thought.¡± Asterisk lifted Callan¡¯s body and turned it 180 degrees and turned on the screams. ¡°Ahhh!¡± Asterisk immediately turned it off and said. ¡°Are you not going to?¡± ¡°Fuck, fine¡­ I¡¯ll do it.¡± Callan slowly tried to look in front of him, but every time he looked, he immediately looked down. He repeated this until Asterisk slapped him in the face. ¡°This is just skinning. Can you not see I already turned everything back to the black void just to hide the other things from you.¡± ¡°Okay! Okay! I can look! See.¡± Callan stared with no expression on his face. A few seconds later. He jabbed his chin forward. Then again. Asterisk looked disgusted at Callan. ¡°You created this. Yet you can¡¯t even face it with a straight face.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know man! What am I supposed to do!¡± Callan turned his head to the bottom right. ¡°I was 12 then, I guess I just grew up. I was a monster.¡± ¡°You still are¡­ and you have the exact example to show that you are.¡± Callan growled with his mouth closed. ¡°If you¡¯re gonna keep bringing that up, fine! Fine! Can¡¯t I just run away from that now?! I¡¯m not even on Earth anymore!¡± ¡°Problems are not something you can run away from. Even if you kill the problem or go to a different dimension. ¡®Cause it will always be in your head.¡± Asterisk poked Callan¡¯s head with his finger. ¡°Ughh!!¡± Callan scratched his face with his nails and left a long mark. ¡°Just get on it for fuck sake! We¡¯ve been here for **** knows how long.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ really? Your narcissism did it for me.¡± Callan closed his eyes and inhaled. After a full minute of meditation, he opened his eyes. ¡°Turn the scream of this guy on.¡± ¡°Gladly.¡± The man in the glass cube sat on a wooden chair that hardly resembles the color of its wood anymore. Tainted with blood, a man fully exposed to his skin sat, with both his arms placed on the armchair. Other than a long robotic stick with a knife at the end of it, you would think the man can just stand up and run. Though, hidden by his body are sharp spikes all placed between his body and the chair, keeping him in place. The man¡¯s head was down, only his head was not stabbed into anything. Even his feet are nailed to the floor. Asterisk waved his hand and the man instantly regained all his skin. Then, the knife began again. Slowly peeling the skin precisely, minimizing the damage to the muscle. The man¡¯s head bounced up and he screamed. ¡°This is¡­ wow¡­ just¡­ this is not even rated R anymore. This is just¡­ like porn, it should not be commercialized. ¡°Hahaha! Always remember you made it.¡± Asterisk smiled. ¡°Wanna go to the next one? It seems you¡¯re quite okay with this anymore.¡± ¡°Wait, I am curious about one thing, of course, the blood is from the veins inside the skin, but just peeling isn¡¯t enough pain for this dungeon isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I did not expect you to care¡­ well, just look up.¡± A gray half-circle was placed right above the glass cube and a long tube went to the sky till it disappeared. ¡°Oh¡­ so alcohol.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°How do you light it?¡± ¡°By rubbing the knife on his body so fast it makes a fire. Can¡¯t waste precious space for a lighter.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the devil.¡± ¡°You created it, so you¡¯re the devil.¡± ¡°God, whatever fans I¡¯ll have, really won¡¯t like me anymore.¡± ¡°Hey, they might still¡­ but always remember, you don¡¯t care¡­ right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± The two explored for the next hour and the next hour, till time felt like it didn¡¯t pass anymore. Asterisk showcased as many horrifying and disgusting things as he could to Callan, even making him throw up multiple times. Callan, a man not fit to be a protagonist¡­ is a protagonist. Though he is just human, everyone has imagined killing someone, even torturing them to an extent. Just not everyone is comfortable enough to continue with it. Even him¡­ cause humans are not evil creatures, with a little love, anyone can warm up. So, give him a chance, his journey has just begun. Back in the endless white void. ¡°Hah!¡± Callan¡¯s eyes instantly opened. He looked to his left and right, and there it was, Mirai. [Welcome] Next to him were his campfire and his spear. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ back¡­¡± Callan stayed at the ground for a few seconds and immediately stood up. ¡°Thank you, Mirai. Time please, and¡­ I have to make a language for you now¡­¡± [Yes!] Even though that didn¡¯t match, the intent was clear, Mirai was just happy. [82:52:17] 15. Mirais Language The plan is simple. This time, the plan is real and will be followed. Train, that is the plan. That is all it will and is. Well, there''s also making an alphabet for Mirai¡­ but mostly, Train was in Callan¡¯s mind. [Callan Satchel] [Level: 5] [Strength: 23] [Agility: 23] [Endurance: 23] [Magic: 23] ¡°Not much growth like before, but it feels like it¡¯s still good.¡± [Yes] ¡°Okay, if Mirai says it, then it should. Oh yeah, I need to make an alphabet for you. Do I really have no way of making paper right now?¡± [No] ¡°Is it cause I can¡¯t make paper from any leaf?¡± [Yes] ¡°Oh¡­ then we¡¯ll just have to go to the stone era.¡± Callan went back to the second floor and walked to the pond. He picked up a stone and said, ¡°Hmm¡­ these are¡­ well, they are too small.¡± After staring at the piece of stone, his eyes went to the bottom of the pond, and something came to his mind. The pond was not that big¡ªactually, it¡¯s so small it can just be called a big puddle if you want. It was around 30 by 30 meters long in both sizes. But despite its small size, the bottom was almost the same. The pond was like an ice cream cone. Whatever the depth of the pond, it was definitely longer than the pond itself. It was really clear though, like in a game with see-through water. Callan remembered the line when he first entered the floor. [Retrieve The Treasure Beneath The Pond] ¡°What treasure¡­?¡± Playing in the water was fun, Callan was still a kid so even if he was really lazy, learning to swim was not even close to a troubling task. It was fun, much more fun when you¡¯re alone in such clear water. Callan dropped the stone and walked to the middle of the pond. He swam down to the bottom of the pond and laid his hand on the dirt. For whatever reason, his lung capacity had increased, and spending minutes underwater was no problem for him, so Callan decided to dig. Treasure? Then fine, I¡¯ll find treasure¡­ hope there is one though, I am kinda making Mirai wait. Callan dug with both his hands directly from the middle. After a few minutes, he had already dug a meter down with a width of half a meter. Callan swam back up, ¡°Ahhh!¡± He floated above the water to catch his breath. ¡°Well, I found nothing, should I even go back for more? But at the same time¡­ people do hide their treasures really deep into the ground¡­ well, to hide a body.¡± Callan held his breath and dived back down to the bottom of the pond. He continued for a few more restarts and finally at the moment he was going to give up. His hand bumped into something hard Finally! Callan hurried his hands, digging around this hard object. Slowly the object revealed itself, with a long half-cylinder top and gold color, it was treasure. After digging some of the sides out he pulled the treasure chest out of the ground. Then, he swam as fast as he could up and out of the pond. ¡°Ahhh! I can¡¯t wait!¡± Callan dropped the treasure chest on the ground. It was a small box that was just as long as his waist. ¡°Wait¡­ a keyhole, oh please don¡¯t tell me I need a key.¡± Callan tried to open the chest¡­ it didn¡¯t budge. ¡°Fuck!¡± He ran back to the pond to quickly get a piece of stone. After coming back, he smashed the chest multiple times. The sides were clearly gold-plated, but it still had a wooden exterior. It cracked. The top cracked and Callan¡¯s eyes were immediately filled with joy. He continued till the top finally had a hole in it. He pushed his hand inside the chest and felt nothing. He pushed until he reached the bottom, then the sides. ¡°What?¡± Then a flash of light started to emit from the chest. ¡°Ahh!!¡± Callan retracted his hand, but the chest came along with it. ¡°Come off!¡± Callan waved his hand aggressively but the chest just wouldn¡¯t come off. Then, the light combusted and he was blinded. A few seconds passed and Callan¡¯s hand still felt like something was stuck on it. ¡°Ughh¡­ what the fuck is that treasure? The start of life?¡± His eyes were still a little bright and blurry. ¡°Huh.¡± His right hand had a black glove made of silk. ¡°An item? Did I just get an item? What does it do?¡± Callan closed his eyes and tried to feel any change inside his body, but there was none. His breathing was still the same, his body was not in pain, his hand just felt like it had gloves on and that was it. Callan punched to the ground. ¡°Oh God!¡± It made a small hole bigger than his fist. However, that surprise immediately disappeared when he punched the floor again with his left hand. ¡°Oh¡­ never mind. Then what the fuck is this thing supposed to do? Just gloves!?¡± Callan was annoyingly frustrated. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°Ughh! I already wasted so much time spent on this, I need to get going and find a giant stone.¡± Callan just shoved his curiosity and wasted time in the garbage can of his mind. ¡°That was such a waste of time¡­ though¡­¡± He stared at the gloves. ¡°Hopefully not.¡± Callan headed to his pile of wood and picked some small pieces out, then, he went inside the forest, in the looks for a big rock. ¡°Hope I could put the rock in my inventory.¡± The last time he was inside the forest, Callan wasn¡¯t able to find some pile of giant stone. But, his purpose at that was to find food, and he did, so, once again, Callan found a boar roaming the forest. ¡°Well¡­ no harm collecting more food, though I still have more than half of the boar I last caught.¡± Callan dropped his wood first and rushed to the boar. He was so confident in catching this boar that he brought no weapon. ¡°Let¡¯s see if you¡¯re a weapon, black gloves.¡± Callan strapped his gloves more to his arm and punched the unsuspecting boar. With one hit and without even a struggle, the boar had its body deformed. ¡°You can place some aluminum in that and make a mold of my fist.¡± Callan laughed. ¡°It hasn¡¯t been long, but¡­ I really have grown so much.¡± He said while dragging the boar to his inventory. Callan picked up his pieces of wood again and headed deeper into the forest, or wherever really, just to find some piece of stone. After a few minutes of walking and two more boars, Callan was able to find a small cave. ¡°Well¡­ I can just¡­ there¡¯s no rock, but there are rocks.¡± Callan went inside the cave and instantly found a dead end. It was a small cave, really small, only a few meters deep. Callan dropped the wood again and stretched his body. He spun his right arm like a plane¡¯s propeller and punched the wall of the cave as hard as he could. The wall crumbled and multiple pieces flew far behind Callan. A huge hole the size of Callan was left at the wall. However, that amount of power wasn¡¯t easy to release. ¡°Fuck! My arms hurt so much!¡± The amount of strength he placed was too much for his arm to even handle, it could have exploded to bits if only¡­ if only¡­ what? Wait, arm? ¡°Wait, why does my arm hurt¡­ and not my hand? Oh!¡± Callan immediately opened his inventory to his left and took his spear out. He then grabbed it by the tip and sliced his right hand. It felt no marks nor did his right hand feel the pain. He did it again and stabbed his hand, but there really wasn¡¯t any mark or pain. ¡°It was a defensive item! Oh shit! This is actually helpful! Though I want to be more of a weapon user, not a close combater.¡± Callan dropped down to the ground and sat. His entire effort of breaking the wall was not that useful though, as a lot of the stones are basically too small or crooked to even be written or carved on. But, there was one piece that was big enough to be written some text on and was just as big as Mirai. It stood just a little above Callan¡¯s waist, which was perfect. ¡°I guess¡­ I have to punch more into the wall¡­ oh God¡­ my arm will be broken after this. I need to rest, I have no healing from Mirai.¡± Well, despite that pain, he still carried the rock and placed it inside his inventory. Thankfully, because of his stats and inhumane capabilities, his injury, or well, the possibility of an injury, he wasn¡¯t really sure, completely disappeared after just a few minutes. Callan repeated the process ten whole times, just to be sure that he had enough stone, or actually, more like rocks, to write on. ¡°Time, to go back.¡± He followed his marking and made his way to his white door. ¡°I¡¯m back!¡± [Welcome] ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll set them up and I¡¯ll start, sorry it took a long time, I also went to get some treasure and I got this.¡± Callan raised his hand. [Yes] ¡°Oh¡­ I can feel your urge to talk from that yes, you knew of this treasure right?¡± [Yes] ¡°Though I didn¡¯t expect it to be a glove.¡± [No] ¡°Huh?¡± [No] [No] ¡°So¡­ it¡¯s not always gloves, is that what you¡¯re trying to say.¡± [Yes] ¡°Oh¡­ okay we need that Alphabet stat!¡± Callan laid all 11 of the stones at the opposite side of his campfire/house with no walls nor roof set up. ¡°Okay, so, we will do this in the way of something like Morse code. It won¡¯t be perfect¡­ cause I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing, but just bear with me Mirai.¡± Callan took his spear out and held it upside down on the stone spearhead. He stabbed into the stone and started to carve. ¡°First, for the letter a, we¡¯ll just use two ¡®Welcome¡¯, not one, because one means it¡¯s just the word itself.¡± After saying it, Callan etched it into the stone. It took a complete minute just to write out a single word precisely. ¡°I give up writing it perfectly¡­¡± He curled his lips. ¡­ A few seconds passed and he sighed. He stayed quiet and just continued to carve into the stone. After a really long time, Callan successfully finished Mirai¡¯s alphabet. However after finishing it, what even was the payment for it? He passed out from the immense stiffness he gained from staying in one position for a very¡­ very long time¡­ [61:21:35] 16. Perception Training ¡°I¡¯ll just mix the words so the ones I¡¯ll have to write are much shorter than doing the same word repeatedly.¡± [Yes] ¡°Though it would be bad, like a very unsightly Morse Code¡­ eh¡­ fuck it. It will make my life so much easier and it¡¯s a waste of time to plan them. Hahaha!¡± *** Callan opened his eyes and immediately curved his lips up. He sighed and sighed, again and again. ¡°I hate having a lot of stamina, it just makes me into a better slave.¡± [Welcome] ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m awake now.¡± Callan sighed one last time and tried to stand up with his hands. He failed miserably, fueled by his laziness, and fell on his face. ¡°Ow.¡± His nose hit a sharp crack on the tiles. It didn¡¯t bleed, but it did hurt. ¡°Resistance my ass, it should be called skin level. Actually, never mind, it¡¯s right.¡± Callan stood up, scaling one of his rocks. ¡°Well, it¡¯s finished. You can tell me like¡­ umm, what the fourth floor is. Because my head was ripped at the third and the fourth, I¡¯ll definitely lose all my body.¡± Looking at the walls of stone, Mirai started. While Callan hurried to get a small stone to write the translated word. [Climb The Tower] [Welcome] Callan looked around his board of words. ¡°S¡±. [Start The Floor] [Bye] ¡°N¡± [Bye] [Bye] ¡°O. Hmm, Sno¡­ Snow?¡± Callan asked. [Yes] ¡°Oh God, I will die. I will freeze to death, I knew it. The pattern prevails.¡± Callan dropped his small piece of stone and went to his campfire. ¡°Well, now that those hours of work are done, I have to actually train now.¡± [Yes] ¡°Did you know I lost on the third floor simply because the enemy was too fast? If I had any fast reactions and good intuition, I could handle it¡­ but¡­ I don¡¯t. So that¡¯s what I¡¯ll do!¡± Callan threw a piece of wood in the air and closed his eyes. It dropped to the ground. ¡°Uh¡­ well, I was supposed to dodge it.¡± Callan covered his mouth and inhaled. ¡°You¡­ saw¡­ nothing Mirai.¡± [Yes] Callan threw another piece of wood and he closed his eyes. It landed directly on his head and bounced to the ground. ¡°I¡­ felt¡­ nothing. Well, just means I don¡¯t have any sort of perception. Again!¡± It sounded stupid, but Callan tried again. For the next try, he focused on the sound of the wood, it was actually perfect because the entire void had nothing in it, making it a very deafening place. Once again, it dropped on Callan¡¯s head without him noticing. He failed, again. That was just the third of many. ¡°Definitely the fire¡¯s fault.¡± What an excuse. On the fourth try, he stayed with the sound. It fell to the side. The fifth, it fell to the side again. The sixth fell on his head. The seventh, it fell to the side. The eight¡­ One whole hour later, Callan was able to detect the wood. But it fell on him faster than he could react. ¡°I did it! Well, I didn¡¯t do it, but I got it, so¡­ I kinda did it. Oh wait, now that I think about it, I didn¡¯t write numbers for Mirai¡­¡± His mind glossed the thought of writing on the stone once again, then his body gave up along with his mind before he could even start. ¡°I don¡¯t care, I don¡¯t need numbers anyway. Mwehehehe.¡± Callan took a deep breath and he threw the wood directly up in the air again. By simply listening to the disruption in the air, it felt like every part of the world was his body. Then he thought of it, it would be easy to just dodge the wood. When the piece of wood was almost close, he walked to the side and raised his hand. It landed on his hand perfectly and he clutched on it. ¡°Easy, bitch.¡± He smiled with a smirk. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. [Start The Floor] [Bye] [Bye] [Bye] [Yes] [Welcome] [Climb The Tower] [Yes] [Yes] [Welcome] [Bye] [Bye] ¡°Chill! Mirai that was too fast. What did you say?¡± Callan enlarged his forehead trying to remember what Mirai just said. He stared at the walls of text. ¡°Okay¡­ I definitely heard two O¡¯s there, one in the end too.¡± He clicked his tongue and stared more. ¡°Start The Floor, Bye. I definitely heard that. Okay, so N. Like, No. Then, Yes, Welcome. Okay, that is the letter W. So that definitely spells ¡®Now¡¯, wow, you are already doing two words. The next one has a W and O too. Oh¡­ ¡®Now two¡¯. Shit, I think I need to memorize this soon cause that took so long just to decipher two words hahahaha!¡± Callan took two pieces and threw them both in the air. This one¡¯s hard now. The two felt like just one item. They were two close, or that they made the same change in the air that it felt the same. In reality, air doesn¡¯t even make a sound cause an object can¡¯t bounce off the air. Callan was just able to hear the piece because he threw it so high. The wood both dropped on his head and he just stared at the ground. ¡°Okay¡­ I need a new tactic. Magic.¡± Magic, though it can¡¯t just be magic. More like any supernatural power. There were two ways Callan could think of a way to sense an object in the air. The first was to control the wind itself and feel every single change in it. The second was simply sensing the energy of the wood. The former was from an elemental point of view and the latter was from a mana pov. To put it short, one relies on the outside and the other relies on the inside. Both were something that only existed in fantasy. ¡°Fuck! But I am in fantasy! I have magic! But I don¡¯t know how to use it! Ahhh!!!¡± Like a child with 8th Grade Syndrome, he picked up a piece of wood and stared at it¡­ for minutes. He imagined circulating energy inside his body and wiring it through his arm, then pushed out to the wood. It flew. The piece of wood bounced off his hand. ¡°Ah¡­ what? Um¡­ oh. Ah¡­ Ya¡­ Hell yeah!¡± Callan fisted both his hands and shook. A huge smile was on his face, lips bit in. ¡°But I didn¡¯t feel anything though! It just flew!¡± Imagination, that was what Callan decided to think of it as of now. He thought of the energy moving out of his hand again, but this time it wasn¡¯t a blow but just a string. He formed an image in his head that a string-like energy was moving to a piece of wood. Once it reached the wood, he wrapped it around it¡­ then he lifted it. ¡°Yes!¡± He yelled, and the wood immediately dropped back down. ¡°I have magic! Okay! Okay! What if I do it fast!¡± He stretched the imaginary energy out of his hand in just a second and struck it into the wood. It bounced a little. ¡°Huh?¡± Callan looked closer and there was a very small dot that went through the wood. ¡°Ohh¡­¡± Callan¡¯s mouth was left in an oval shape for a whole minute. ¡°Hm¡­ so magic is basically¡­ well, magic. It has no element though. Oh! Is that why it¡¯s invisible? ¡®Cause it¡¯s baseless with no element, making it formless and imaginary. Though, does feel a little weird to imagine it that way. Ughh! Imagine¡­ imaginary¡­ I hate it. I feel like I''ve been sounding stupid since earlier. Not my fault!¡± Callan threw a single piece of wood in the sky and placed a line of ¡®magic¡¯ above him. He closed his eyes and focused on the line. Weirdly enough, closing his eyes made a white light appear. However, it could just be because everything is so bright in the literally white void. But there was a glowing one like it was vibrating. Then the line bent down like a trampoline. In a split second, it was cut. ¡°Oh wait!¡± Callan opened his eyes and saw the piece of wood landed in the same area where the point of the curve was. ¡°I know that was going to happen¡­ I was just too engrossed by the glowing line that I couldn¡¯t think of it. Tsk. Hah¡­ well¡­ it seems I got my perception¡­ though¡­ it¡¯s kind of cheating.¡± Callan walked to the campfire and cleaned up the floor. He placed all his trash into his inventory and left the area completely clean. He took exactly ten pieces of wood out and laid them in a horizontal order. One by one he raised each piece of wood with his magic, testing the limits of his focus and concentration. The first one was easy, he already did it. The second didn¡¯t feel much of a change, though keeping it still was kind of hurting his head for some reason. The third piece of wood made the rest bobbed, almost dropping all of them. Callan was starting to imagine more and more lines of magic just out of pure playfulness. This wasn¡¯t on purpose though. Relax, stop playing around mind. He approached the fourth one slowly, making sure that the first three still existed while taking the fourth. It was no easy matter, but he did it. Now, for the fifth one he did the same, they were all placed in his peripheral vision so there was no problem of them disappearing from his sight. His thin line started to wrap around the wood. Then, he lifted it, instantly dropping the first. He instantly grabbed it back up but he lost focus and dropped everything else. ¡°Guess four is my limit. This¡­ is amazing Mirai. Thank you.¡± [No] ¡°Thank you¡­ for bringing me into this world.¡± Callan smiled. Though¡­ a little tear dropped remembering what one man said that he never wanted to hear. But, he smiled, not breaking through his facade. Magic was his dream¡­ he was happy to be here. Forever here. 17. Testing Magic(1) [58:15:37] Callan threw two pieces of wood one after the other. He placed a grid of three magic threads each above his head. He closed his eyes and the darkness was filled with nothing but these glowing magic lines. He stood in the middle, his body formed with multiple lines only he had imagined coursing through his body. It was truly unnecessary. However, the magic on his hands was not. The third vertical line changed slightly and Callan moved his hand quickly. He aimed at the dot representing his hand directly under the curved line. He grabbed and caught the log, and then behind him, there was another reaction. With his speed, he caught it with no problem. Callan opened his eyes and said. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s¡­ good¡± He genuinely smiled. ¡°So how about I put an element in this formless magic?¡± Callan brought out his pile of wood again and brought his trusty bow. With the fire burning high, Callan brought his magic thread slowly inside the fire. But he stopped before it was any closer. The fire was too bright, to the point he couldn¡¯t even imagine the line. It felt unsafe¡­ though it really shouldn¡¯t. Callan turned away from the fire and first tried to place his magic thread up in the air. He imagined fire burning around the thread, waiting for it to actually be caught on fire. But¡­ there was nothing, he guessed it was actually not how it worked. He went back to the fire and went far, far enough that the fireplace was just as big as his index finger. He moved the magic thread far to Mirai. Then, with his fingers, he imagined picking that thread up, and just like a thread with a needle, he directed it through the fire. ¡°Huh.¡± It wasn¡¯t lit. ¡°Maybe I missed.¡± He questioned, retracting the magic thread back and just striking a long one directly into the fire. Just as expected, it wasn¡¯t caught on fire. ¡°So¡­ this is just invisible? How do I place elements on here or something? Well¡­ I could ask Mirai¡­ but magic is kind of complicated¡­ and¡­¡± Just imagining writing a sentence from Mirai was making his head hurt. Callan walked with a frown on his face to Mirai. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ you probably know how to use magic better than I do¡­ but¡­ hah¡­ okay¡­ fine¡­ I don¡¯t know how long it will take¡­ but tell me.¡± [No] ¡°Huh? So you don¡¯t know?¡± [No] ¡°Wait, no as in you don¡¯t know, or no as in you do know.¡± Mirai didn¡¯t reply. ¡°Okay¡­ so can you teach it to me?¡± He changed the question. [No] ¡°Oh¡­ but you do know how.¡± [Yes] ¡°Then why? Is this the type of magic that¡¯s like your own type shit?¡± He said, turning around and kicking a piece of wood to the fire. It rolled past it and started to burn alone on the far edge of his eyes. The floor wasn¡¯t really flammable. [Yes] ¡°Really?¡± He turned only his head back around. [Yes] Callan just stared with his nostrils up. ¡°Hah¡­ I¡¯m so bored!¡± Then for some unknown reason, a tiny wind slapped his face. It didn¡¯t really feel like anything¡­ but for some reason¡­ Callan felt the wind. ¡°Really? Really? Even in real life ****? Fuck my subconsciousness. Ughh! Okay! Okay! Time, Mirai.¡± [58:03:37] ¡°Okay, I still have a very long time. Now with magic on my hand¡­ literally, what else can I do with this¡­ a ball? Maybe?¡± He formed a ball in his imagination. Well, he can¡¯t see it, but it should be a ball. How will he prove it though? Callan took out a piece of stone. Stone this time, was running out of wood, and it was starting to get boring too. It was a simple test, he held the ball firmly in his hand, though it was a fake firm, cause he really couldn¡¯t feel it. Staring at the stone just standing right above it. Callan began to imagine something circling inside the ball, or just for the simple term, he was increasing its mass. He was taking longer just to imagine something circling in the sphere, but his hand felt like something was sucking it. His skin started to hurt and just randomly, he lost grip on his hand and it flipped. *BOOM Callan instantly jumped away hearing the loud bang. His arm felt drained, it was worse than when he was punching the walls. At least then it feels like they were just separated, but this time it was like sucked to his hand and it wasn¡¯t even changing back. ¡°Ughh¡­¡± His hand was still covered by the black gloves and he just swore at that moment to never see his hand again. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Once the little amount of smoke disappeared, the floor had a huge hole that could fit an entire 1-year-old baby. Callan¡¯s mouth just couldn¡¯t be any bigger. ¡°This feels like deja vu. I mean the mouth thing¡­ ugh¡­ I think I was about to get cramps on my jaws¡­ again¡­¡± Callan turned to Mirai and nodded his head wide. He avoided the sight of the hole and went to his campfire. He took out a piece of meat from the boar and just started cooking it. Though everything was with his left hand, he couldn¡¯t really move his right arm¡­ literally. ¡°It will heal¡­ it will heal¡­ IT WILL heal¡­ definitely.¡± A few hours passed and Callan didn¡¯t dare touch his magic for a while, at least until his hand started to actually move again. He just did seat-ups, ran around, and talked to Mirai. Some little breaks here and there, when he wasn¡¯t working his body he was reading the alphabet, trying his best to remember everything. [55:13:19] ¡°It will move again Mirai¡­ it will move.¡± [Yes] [Yes] [Yes] [Yes] ¡°That doesn¡¯t even mean anything¡­ I know, I know. I definitely just ran out of mana¡­ that was all.¡± ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡°I hope.¡± Callan sighed leaning against Mirai¡¯s pedestal facing the alphabet. ¡°Wanna hear a weird story Mirai?¡± [Yes] ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning to say it any sooner just because I was supposed to be busy¡­ but at the same time¡­ someone did tell me something.¡± *** ¡°Never forget that okay! Oh, also, I know you are¡­ but please don¡¯t be such an inconsiderate son of a bitch.¡± *** ¡°So¡­ well, you told me that the fourth floor with be a snow area¡­ and at the same time I would guess it was like the second floor. So¡­ I could just train nonstop, though I don¡¯t plan to go for a million years, I¡¯m pretty sure I still age¡­ right?¡± [Yes] ¡°So¡­ yeah¡­ I don¡¯t wanna make you feel lonely¡­ is it okay if I train on the fourth floor?¡± He looked above him. [Yes] ¡°Well¡­ it feels awkward so what was I saying? Ahh! Right! A story! Okay okay! So I was talking about how when I died on the third floor I was having a lucid dream and there was this weird guy, don¡¯t know what his deal was, but damn was he weird as fuck!¡± *** At the 50th hour, Callan was able to move his hand again. It didn¡¯t hurt anymore and never would he make a ball of magic ever again. Well unless he gets more mana, but whether that was from his stats or actual magic¡­ he doesn¡¯t¡­ know¡­ ¡°Can you take me to the second floor Mirai?¡± Said Callan, still laid back on the Greek pedestal. Callan instantly arrived and everything felt different. Not just felt, his eyes were being blocked by multiple spherical orbs. It was definitely magic, it was small and blue. That was mana. Blue. Racist. Blue. Oh, wait what? ¡°I could cry.¡± Callan did cry. He took his first step and his entire body shook like a ghost just ran through him. That feeling was something he already felt so he was sure of it. Callan first closed his eyes after just one step. My body felt like it¡¯s gonna explode, but every ripped skin just felt like it was being exchanged with diamonds. The orbs that made contact with Callan slowly entered his body. Then the others were attracted to the man like it was a soul mate that you found at the end of your life. The orbs knew it would die but it ran¡­ it entered and died. Callan exhaled deeply, he opened his eyes. There were no blue orbs around him, it formed an oval shape lacking with this vibrant and thick visible air. ¡°I don¡¯t feel a fucking change other than-¡± Callan threw up brown mush. ¡°Ughh¡­ that taste like shit! Fuck!¡± Callan took a piece of meat and started to brush his teeth with it. ¡°Is this what that disgusting black thing that covers cultivators'' bodies? Cause if it is¡­ why out of my mouth¡­ ughh¡­¡± Even brushing it with meat didn¡¯t remove the taste, and other than that the stench under him was also just disgusting. It was like smelling your vomit along with poop. What a deadly combo. Callan walked to the pond while he absorbed the mana as he walked. Though his face was still compressed due to his disgust. Absorbing the mana didn¡¯t even give any amazing feeling anymore¡­ it just tasted like shit. ¡°I¡¯m gonna cry! Again! For a different reason! It¡¯s such a beautiful view and it was ruined by this awful mouth shit.¡± Callan sat on the shore of the pond and washed his mouth repeatedly. Looking up and down was a weird sight. To a collection of beautiful baby blue orbs of mana to the shit taste on his mouth. Callan had never tasted poop, but that was it. It was worse than poop. Callan was so confused about whether to be entranced by the view or just cut his mouth off. After almost an hour of scratching and a very bloodied mouth later, Callan was finally able to relax. The pain wasn¡¯t even anything, it was better than the taste. ¡°I can finally witness this beautiful view.¡± Callan started to cry again. It was magical. The clear pond, that despite his disgusting mouth still didn¡¯t reveal a change in color. The reflection of the sun in the middle of the pond and the many floating spherical mana surrounded the entire area. That was the moment Callan knew¡­ that every part of this world¡­ was really fantasy¡­ not fantasy as in something different from the ordinary, but fantasy as in the beauty of the unknown. The fantasy of something you could not even imagine. Callan closed his eyes again. He laid down on the shallow part of the pond and rested on his head in his arms. ¡°The only thing missing¡­ is that I¡¯m still fucking naked.¡± ¡­ruined the mood man. 18. Testing Magic(2) ¡°Hmm¡­ what if I?¡± Callan walked to a tree and slashed his hand across it. *Krkrkr The tree started sliding till it completely fell to the left. ¡°Oh God. Fuck the spear, I got a magic weapon.¡± Callan felt instant guilt for his weapon and opened his inventory. He took out his spear and coated it with magic. He walked to another tree and- ¡°Wait!¡± He stopped before he could hit the tree. He imagined a small sphere at the end point of the spear with a little mass in it. It''s just a little sphere the size of a thumb. The moment the orb made contact with the tree, it exploded. The tree fell to the ground, leaving a crescent shape on each blown side. ¡°Okay¡­ I guess I have to train with the spear now¡­ hmm¡­ a spear is a better weapon¡­ the easiest to learn¡­ and the hardest to master.¡± Callan looked up at the sky and pointed his spear up. *** ¡°Took a couple of hours, but I¡¯m back!¡± Callan danced himself to his campfire. He opened his inventory and took a long piece of log at the far side of the campfire. ¡°Mirai¡­ can you teach me how to use the spear?¡± He sat down facing Mirai. [No] ¡°Figures. Hahahaha! I found many cool things I could do with magic Mirai.¡± Callan opened his inventory behind him. He stretched his left hand out and instantly stabbed it with a rock. Placing all the strength to his right hand, it broke when it landed on his left arm. ¡°Magic Armor.¡± Callan took another piece of rock and held it in his left hand. He formed an imaginary knife and started to carve the stone into a spearhead. ¡°Printer¡­ oh well, actually, I haven¡¯t thought of a conventional name for it yet. Magic Printer is kind of just¡­ too far. Though¡­¡± He took a random branch from his inventory. Grabbing the spearhead with his magic thread, he tied it around the branch. ¡°A spear¡­ it falls apart if I don¡¯t focus on it though. So¡­ not really a conventional weapon.¡± His hand retracted the spearhead and spun it in the sky. ¡°The magic threads could be a weapon though¡­ I just¡­ kinda don¡¯t want to abandon the spear. You know, humanity¡¯s first weapon. Well, my first weapon at least.¡± Callan stretched his arms up. ¡°You know¡­ I haven¡¯t peed or pooped yet for the past few days¡­ is that normal?¡± [Yes] ¡°So¡­ like¡­ it¡­ wow¡­ so I can actually just never poop and pee again?¡± [Yes] ¡°Huh. I wonder if that¡¯s the feature of this white void or the isekai part, ''cause I have never seen an isekai Main Character poop or pee either, even if they are stuck in a dungeon without toilet paper or a bidet.¡± Callan had spent countless hours on the second floor absorbing all the mana he could. He stood up and walked to Mirai. [Callan Satchel] [Level: 5] [Strength: 23] [Agility: 23] [Endurance: 23] [Magic: 26] ¡°Wow! Time check please.¡± He said like some sassy little bitch. [44:56:30] ¡°That was like some five hours. Only 3 stats? Okay¡­ okay¡­ I get it¡­ it really won¡¯t be fucking easy.¡± Callan held his hands high up like a guilty prisoner as he ambled backward. ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep again, and tomorrow, I¡¯ll take a bath¡­ with my really wet underwear. I¡¯m so disgusting¡­ I fucking need clothes asap.¡± The moment Callan woke up, that was the last day he was allowed to rest. Or at least that was the last day he could actually laze around. He had already explored his powers, made an alphabet, and most importantly, ignored his training once again. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Let¡¯s be honest, it isn¡¯t easy to change. A resolution for a new year is almost impossible to even accomplish¡­ not because it¡¯s hard, but because you don¡¯t want to change. Neither does Callan, but life isn¡¯t going to let that happen. The white void won¡¯t let that happen. ¡°Puwa!¡± Callan erupted from the bottom of the lake. ¡°Okay, that was cringe.¡± He looked down on his wiggling feet and a smile slowly formed on his face. It was just like yesterday that he didn¡¯t even know how to swim. Now, he could do it while he¡¯s asleep. Callan walked out of the pond and took leaves to dry his body with. He then tied his shirt around his waist again and picked up his spear on the ground. Wrapping both his arms around the spear, he hugged it tight and kissed it. ¡°You¡­ will bring me victory¡­ Ester.¡± It was a reluctant decision, but that name was the first to come into his mind, literally. Callan doesn¡¯t know spearmanship, he doesn¡¯t know how to actually fight other than the simple principle of ¡®if someone attacks, you dodge and then attack.¡¯. But a real fight isn¡¯t that simple, a real fight doesn¡¯t mean an exchange of attacks, it is simply who kills the other first. He did a simple stab into the tree. He retracted it and slashed above. It got halfway through until the spearhead had gone past the tree and pushing any further would break the body of the spear. The spear slid to the other side of the tree, free from anyone¡¯s hand. Callan walked to the other side and took his spear back up. He then turned instantly and stabbed the tree again. It was a mundane set of movements. What was the point of doing all that? Nothing. It was the movement of a man who does not what he¡¯s doing filled with the laziness that¡­ if he doesn¡¯t know, what¡¯s the point cause he will never know. ¡°Fuck¡­¡± He sat down without letting go of his feet, playing with the grass using his spear. Callan placed his hand on his knee and laid his head on his palm. ¡°I get a sword¡­ I mean, you swing down, you swing on the side, and you stab. Those are like the tree''s most basic thing for a sword. Though it¡¯s possible for a spear too, it has a very long handle that can¡¯t really cut¡­ it can just cause an impact. Might as well fight with a stick at that point. Huh, I just randomly thought about the monkey king and his stick.¡± Callan stood back up and just started to swing against a new tree. Mindless swings and attacks with no purpose other than to land your hit. ¡°So¡­ a spear is like a staff but it can pierce with its pointy head. Okay.¡± He was forming his own learnings of the spear, but that wasn¡¯t going to be his final thoughts, as it was all useless when it came to a weapon he just couldn¡¯t betray his spear for. ¡°I can also apply magic on the point or around the entire spear. I don¡¯t even have to look at it. Oh! That¡¯s why magic supported by an object is better than magic with no base is simply cause if there is a medium, I can imagine that medium producing that magic. Just like my hands!¡± Callan stabbed the end of his spear on the ground like a soldier guarding a gate. ¡°Though, I can just imagine another spear on my left hand.¡± He stabbed, easily piercing the tree with no effort. ¡°Well¡­ I guess if I am under pressure I can also just use the actual spear better as it needs less focus or thinking about. I can just put in my head ¡®coat the spear with magic¡¯ and it¡¯s that easy. Though at the same time having a weapon that can be any form is really good¡­ Fuck!¡± He threw his imaginary spear, however it just disappeared as soon as he let go of it. ¡°Also! Magic is invisible to the eye so it is such a good weapon! Ahhh! But the spear!¡± Callan just couldn¡¯t decide. One was about his weird form of dignity and the actual usefulness of a weapon with a lot of variety. That was the same reason he could never easily let go of his novels, even if they don¡¯t do good or are called trash, that sense of ¡®I¡¯ve already started it, I shouldn¡¯t stop, is what he goes through.¡¯. But, he could easily do it if some mental damage happened to him or just some hints of being disowned by his parents. Well, he doesn¡¯t have his parents anymore, so letting go of his spear might not be an easy choice. ¡°Fuck! Fine! Magic may be better! But it¡¯s useless if I don¡¯t master the weapons that magic will form! So for now! For now! I¡¯ll practice the spear!¡± *** [20:14:13] ¡°I have not slept for another 20 hours¡­ but I will not shut my eyes till I beat the third floor again!¡± Callan clutched his hands, arm curled to his chest, while he looked brightly at the sky. ¡°I¡¯ll be able to clear the third floor, right Mira?¡± [Yes] Callan was stuck like a snail hugging the pedestal Mirai was on. ¡°I¡¯m not scared¡­ okay¡­ just¡­ love you Mirai.¡± [Yes] ¡°You can¡­ put me¡­ in the¡­ third floor now¡­¡± Callan talked with a pause in each phrase. ¡°Wait!¡± He yelled, even though there was no point due to not even being able to see Mirai¡¯s hands or whatever she used to send someone to another floor. Mirai didn¡¯t respond, but Callan knew exactly that was just a huge sigh. ¡°Okay¡­ fine¡­ I can do it¡­ now.¡± Callan was back on the third floor. 19. Again [Welcome To The Third Floor] [Spawning Monsters] [3¡­] [2¡­] During the entire waiting time, Callan closed his eyes and focused on creating a magic barrier around him. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how long it takes¡­ I¡­ will take zero damage. Not once will you touch¡­ me¡­ kobolds.¡± [1¡­] The first kobold spawned. It was just like normal; it took an athletic stance and ran. It was like a carbon copy of the actual first kobold. Callan thought it would be different, unlike the goblins, but it didn¡¯t seem like that. He closed his eyes back up again and anticipated the hit on his right abdomen. The barrier was formed just around the estimated twelve centimeters away from his body. ¡­ It pierced through. Callan immediately imagined the shield folding and encasing the kobold¡¯s body. He backed a few steps in the opposite direction, just to avoid the fall. Once he opened his eyes, the kobold dropped to the ground as it tripped. Whether the magic stayed or not, it didn¡¯t matter, Callan stabbed the kobold with his spear on the head. [3¡­] While the timer was ticking, Callan picked up both hands of the kobold, sliced it off, and placed them into his inventory. [1¡­] The next one spawned. This time, the reaction was finally different. It walked backward slowly. It saw his kin lying on the ground while the man in front of him was standing still, with no injuries. ¡°Rrr!¡± The kobold growled at a distance. ¡°It¡¯s scared,¡± Callan smirked, but he couldn¡¯t keep his arrogance for that long. He closed his eyes again and concentrated. It didn¡¯t matter how long the kobold would take, it was not a race on time. This time, he wouldn¡¯t be so humiliated, nor would his head be ripped off. Though, it¡¯s kind of interesting to think that just before the current fight, he was struggling so much. If only he learned magic much earlier, he wouldn¡¯t be in such a situation. It was like the second floor. If he had just fought the first floor again, maybe he wouldn¡¯t have gotten his lower half ripped off. Now even if the thought of conquering the same floor you struggled so hard for, now easily with no stress or death in the next door, it was unsettling. It was deja vu. This has happened before. He discovered being able to level up again and discovered how easy the second floor was with it. Now, it was magic, but¡­ that was it. If the second floor¡¯s key to clearing was leveling up again, then the third was magic, what was the fourth? Callan didn¡¯t know. And it begs the question more when you realize not everyone could have known magic, that was statistics. So, was magic really the key to the third floor? Or is it something else? If it was, what was it? Cause if Callan doesn¡¯t discover it he- I¡¯ll die! His back barrier reacted. It almost pierced through his body because he was focusing on other things. Callan jumped forward and encased the kobold with magic again. This time he just imagined the magic had spikes on it, killing it. [3¡­] ¡°It¡¯s so easy¡­¡± That was not a happy reaction. If the second floor was dissatisfaction, the third floor was fear. Callan cut off the kobold¡¯s hands again and closed his eyes, covering his entire body with a thin magic armor. [1¡­] It spawned again. It will definitely take longer to attack now. He said in his head. Callan continued his rambling on the ways to defeat a tower. He never got the exact rates or numbers of successful ¡®clients¡¯ or ¡®challengers¡¯. Though of course, not really successful, as they all died. But, if he truly is the one with the highest stats and stat growth, how could he still be losing so badly? Was it because he was just a writer in the modern age? Despite having a fit body now. Not even fit, it was just inhumane at that point. He still couldn¡¯t even survive a single floor without the need for the revival miracle of Mirai¡¯s system. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. It is humiliating, but what is he missing? It can¡¯t be battle experience, nor wit, nor weapon mastery. Though it is a possibility, it¡¯s a really small possibility because¡­ well¡­ just because¡­ Ahhhh!!! Callan yelled in his head. I can¡¯t think of anything! There is no other way than thinking more than 800,000 thousand people didn¡¯t even make it past the second floor! It was a farfetched thought, but if that was the case¡­ then it was simple. The reason he keeps losing is simple. He said it already. It¡¯s ¡®cause he¡¯s a writer from the modern world. Callan felt two holes in the barrier. One was in front of him, and the other was to the left. The kobold was probably standing beside him observing the entire time. He quickly opened his eyes and looked to the left. He jumped to the right, then hardened his magic barrier, encasing and blocking any advances from the kobold. It couldn¡¯t react but it was immediately pinned down like a heavy metal was above it. [3¡­] Callan did the usual and he went back to thinking. Then, how can I do this? Something like what Taru did? He referenced one of his novels. [1¡­] I mean¡­ I did say he started from the start, but I never documented how he did it, so I don¡¯t even know how!! Callan knew all his novels by heart. He remembers them clearly in his mind. But the thing is¡­ there was no point in them for this kind of situation. He yelled again in his head and just inhaled deeply. If I have to actually start learning the spear from the start¡­ which is okay! I know I should have done so from the start! But I just thought there might be a way okay! Though that ¡®might be¡¯ didn¡¯t go away from Callan¡¯s head. The possibility of maybe finding a book that documents the art of any weapon would be an amazing discovery. I wonder if there is a floor with a city¡­ He wondered. But he instantly slapped himself in his mind. It didn¡¯t matter if one did exist, the fourth floor was a snow area, God knows there ain''t a way to find a book anywhere on the fourth floor. Callan won¡¯t be able to get a weapon art, the fourth floor gives an infinite amount of time until the given mission is reached. I will train, fuck it! A year! I¡¯ll leave with no other person for a year! I¡¯m already- fucking- His front barrier changed. -insane!¡± Callan struck straight, piercing through the head of the kobold. [3¡­] ¡°Guess it just gave up.¡± Callan sighed. ¡°I already trained a little bit¡­¡± [2¡­] ¡°So might as well¡­¡± [1¡­] The kobold spawned. It saw four of its skin dead, with no marks of injury on the man who killed them. It shivered. Despite the man looking like he would die from tripping on a rock, the man didn¡¯t even activate his instincts to run. That same man had killed four of its kind unscratched. But, it just couldn¡¯t understand why. Monsters rely on their instinct, to know their prey and to know who will make them prey. Without its average intelligence, he would have mindlessly run to the defenseless man, not even making a single strand of his hair stand. But, those other dead kobolds, it just couldn¡¯t, there was no way that man was prey. That man¡­ is a predator, despite his looks, he is undoubtedly a predator. Callan walked slowly to the quivering kobold, slowly itching backward. He held his spear with one hand, flailing it like a parade stick. The kobold wanted to just offer itself to die, but it still had the pride of a monster it couldn¡¯t ignore. It took a deep breath and ran. He would die, but it wouldn¡¯t be without a fight. The kobold headed for its back. Then the man¡¯s spear faced his face, the kobold immediately retracted his approach. The kobold stopped in its tracks. Human. Slow. It thought. Human. Not. Slow. It shook its head. The kobold launched its feet again, running as fast as he could. He circled the human, making it dizzy and hiding its track. It ran so fast that it made after images that shaped a circle. Then, it tripped. Head first on the ground. The kobold didn¡¯t even struggle to stand up, he was far too embarrassed, and either way, he was dead. ¡°Seriously, you take way too long,¡± Callan said. He lightly kicked the kobold¡¯s stomach, flipping it to face above. ¡°Stand up, I don¡¯t wanna end it like this.¡± The kobold looked up with fear in his eyes. It¡¯s body shook slightly, failing to hold it¡¯s shiver. Callan looked at the kobold with pity and disgust. This was the same monster that he did to. This monster with a face that clearly shows its struggle to hold its tears back. He didn¡¯t wanna spend more time. ¡°Stand up!¡± Callan yelled, tapping the floor with his spear. Making a giant hole in the process. Though, it was imbued with a small orb of magic. The kobold immediately stood up. ¡°Just fight me with all you¡¯ve got, and I¡¯ll do everything to match your level. Callan had no magic barrier around him, but he did have a single thread of magic, just to detect any incoming attack. It circled at his waist level. ¡°Attack¡­ you ain¡¯t just going to stand there are you?¡± Callan couldn¡¯t even smirk from his own taunt. The kobold ran, it didn¡¯t even try to go to the sides, or behind, it just ran straight with no care. He was already humiliated, but even if Callan didn¡¯t know, the kobold respected him. Callan struck straight, in the kobold¡¯s eyes it was slow, but it just thought that the man was going easy on him. He crouched down and moved to the side, avoiding the spear. The kobold stabbed his claws forward¡­ then, his entire world circled and the man looked really tall. He stared at the man¡¯s feet. ¡°Kr¡­ kr¡­¡± *** [00:02:12] ¡°I¡¯m ready Mirai. I¡¯ll¡­ be back. It will take a year¡­ so¡­ I¡¯m sorry for making you feel lonely.¡± Callan bowed 90 degrees. [Climb The Tower] [Yes] [Welcome] [Welcome] [Start The Floor] [Yes] [Welcome] [No] [Welcome] [Climb The Tower] [Welcome] [Welcome] [Bye] [No] [Welcome] [No] ¡°You too.¡± 20. Snow Peak In the middle of an ocean, laid an island, rid of any other in sight. It was a mountain¡­ a really cold mountain. With a peak reaching above the clouds, and the ground, made of ice. Not a single life existed below the waters, no fish, no shark, nothing alive. Waves didn¡¯t exist, nor did the waters move an inch. It was a dead ocean, housing a single island, that mysteriously froze its surroundings. Callan arrived on that island. [Welcome To The Fourth Floor] [Climb The Mountain Peak To Prove Your Worth] ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t expect it to actually be colder than snow. It¡¯s not a lie though, only the ground is ice, the mountain itself is just snow.¡± Callan was at the edge of the land, he crouched down and looked at the water. ¡°How is this possible though?¡± He then moved his eyes to his hands and legs. ¡°It isn¡¯t really cold either¡­ It actually just feels like glass.¡± Callan carefully tapped the edge and it cracked, sinking immediately to the bottom of the blurry ocean. ¡°It looks weird though, I¡¯ve been so used to the second floor¡¯s pond that I forgot an actual body of water doesn¡¯t just look like liquid air.¡± Callan stood up and stretched his back forward. ¡°Ahhh¡­¡± He scoffed and walked to the mountain, stopping at the separation of actual snow and ice. ¡°This is where I¡¯ll be for now.¡± Opening his inventory as he sat down. Before coming to the fourth floor, Callan slept for only 8 hours and spent the rest hunting boars and really only boars, as other types of animals didn¡¯t even seem to exist. There was another difference in this island that Callan could clearly notice, magic¡­ it didn¡¯t exist. Whether magic or mana or really whatever those blue orbs were called are actually rare or not, well¡­ just this situation isn¡¯t really enough proof. ¡°Could just not exist if I haven¡¯t cleared it yet. To prevent any further training to a higher level, guess they did somewhat think about this tactic. Hmmm¡­¡± Callan took out another giant piece of stone. ¡°Okay, now that I think about it, I forgot about that¡­ I don¡¯t think these floors actually go through a day-night cycle¡­¡± Callan slowly swallowed his saliva and inhaled deeply. His feet inch slightly back, biting his upper lip. Lifting his head up while his eyes got wider, Callan was about to bust in anger, but he jabbed his head down fast and shoved it off. ¡°Fine! I don¡¯t need to count the time! I will! And I mean it!¡± He raised his arms as far as he could. ¡°Train till I master the spear!¡± He yelled at the top of his lungs. Callan looked at the mountain top, covered by the soft patterned clouds. ¡°You know what, I kinda wanna climb it.¡± Without any hesitation, he ran. Unlike the forest, the fourth floor was an open ocean with the highest peak Callan had ever seen. It was like the embodiment of freedom. Truly a sight to behold. Callan felt free, so free! Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. His entire feet were submerged in the snow, but he proceeded, pulling and moving forward despite the holdbacks. Even with the time it took and the frustration of something like shackles on your feet, Callan started to climb. The entire mountain was covered in snow, it was like a snow cone that someone got too out of hand making. His hands pierced and fell from the snow, his hand was bathing in a field of sheep. Callan climbed higher and the higher he went, the stack of snow started to get smaller. Until at one point, he held on to a rock and turned around. The ocean colored dark navy blue with hints of teal, reflecting the shade of the beautiful sky, hiding in between those fluffy white clouds. The sun stood at the opposite mountainside of Callan, highlighting its shape, like an unhealed injury of Moses''s red sea. It took hours, really, hours, till Callan was able to reach the clouds. He stopped, not risking the possibility for the floor to fully activate its actual purpose. Though, he did fulfill one dream of every human in the world. Callan slashed the clouds in half. ¡°Hehehe¡­ that doesn¡¯t feel that good¡­¡± He did it again. ¡°That feels much better. Oh¡­ there''s no rain in these clouds¡­ that has no relevance in science at all~!¡± Despite the mountain going beyond the clouds, it was still thicker than a house. Callan punched himself a tiny hole and forced himself in. He had his knees up, shoulders squished, and head bent a little down. ¡°This is so uncomfortable, but it¡¯s so worth it¡­ I wish¡­ there was a sunset¡­ cause I would have definitely loved watching it. Hah¡­¡± Callan sighed at the sight of the same unchanging scenery. Even with his disappointment, he stayed in that cubby for an hour without really thinking of anything. ¡°Ha~!¡± Callan yawned, stretching his hands out¡­ and¡­ causing him to fall. ¡°Ahhhh!!!¡± Callan rolled down the mountain until he was able to hold his grip and slid down fast. ¡°Hahahaha! Great way to fall down, I guess!¡± Callan placed his feet just above the snow with no strain, making him smoothly slide down the slope of the mountain. Callan gathered his breath properly, relaxing his lungs and balancing his breathing. He stared at the ocean again, orange flares blinking at his eyes, wishing the sun would ever actually go down and show an amazing display of a sunset. After some hours of falling and almost reaching the bottom, Callan¡¯s feet randomly fell off the snow. ¡°What?¡± He questioned, as he actually fell. Then a short glimpse of a cave passed his eyes as he fell. Callan immediately clawed into the stone stopping his descent. He quickly climbed back up and reached into the cave. ¡°Oh¡­¡± He licked across his lip. ¡°This will be interesting.¡± The cave was small, it had the size of a cozy room fit for only one person. Callan could already imagine his entire future life in his little hole of captivity. ¡°Now that I¡¯m here actually, I¡¯ll also make clothes from boar skin, at least it¡¯s better than baby diapers.¡± Callan jumped back down in a hurry. After an hour of sliding, he quickly picked up the stuff he had removed from his inventory like a day before. This is why Callan had also denied the idea of even keeping counts of days, after gaining as much stamina as he has now, he could stay up for a day without even getting tired. There was no way he could accurately know the time, unless he counted each second, which he wasn¡¯t a high school prodigy to be able to do that. Callan took out his campfire set-up and placed it in the middle of the cave, he immediately lit it up and sat in front of it, his back facing the entrance. ¡°Hah¡­ well¡­ that was my first time hiking¡­ I didn¡¯t even notice. Amazing view, hours of joy¡­ I feel like¡­ this might just be the best time of my life.¡± He turned around to the same sky once again. He stood up and removed some leaves from his inventory. ¡°I did not bring these things for this situation, but hey, I believe it is one great thing.¡± Callan hung the leave¡¯s stems on the entrance by piercing them with a small, lengthy piece of stone. He covered the entire entrance, hiding the cave from most of the light, that it didn¡¯t even have much of already as the sun was on the other side. However, it was still bright enough, and the darkness was much appreciated after looking at the bright white void for so long that sometimes Callan couldn¡¯t even understand if his eyes were closed or he had gone blind. Using his magic he made small strips from the leaves, giving some bits of natural light in the cave. Though, the campfire was more than enough already. Callan stretched his back and slowly walked to his fire. He dispersed the fire with one big blow and laid down on the ground. ¡°Good day¡­ Good day¡­ I hope you¡¯re okay, Mirai.¡± 21. Self-Proclaimed Cultivator Callan groaned loudly and stretched his arms out; hitting the campfire. He turned his body to the side until he dropped to his face. After a few seconds, he stood up and stretched his back. He yawned. Callan held his back as he walked to the leaves. He placed his hand in the middle and opened his self-made leaf blinds, instantly blinding him. ¡°Ughh¡­¡± That was the first time Callan slept in such a tight place. ¡°I didn¡¯t know I could get this bad from sleeping again. It¡¯s been so long!¡± Callan brushed his eyes and looked at the unchanging ocean. It felt like an image made by a green screen. ¡°Just feels like an amazing painting.¡± Callan turned around until a slight disturbance in the painting appeared just at the corner of his eyes. He whiplashed his head back again and¡­ it was raining. ¡°Oh wow¡­ I didn¡¯t even know weather could happen, there was no water in the clouds¡­ where the fuck are these rain coming from?¡± Callan¡¯s exhaustion disappeared instantly. The water had finally begun to ripple and weirdly enough it was beautiful. The multiple taps of the rain on the ice, make it sound like a Christmas jingle played in glass. ¡°Such a beautiful sound! Oh God! It¡¯s giving me so much energy! This is music to my ears!¡± Callan already had a routine he wanted to follow before he even entered the fourth floor. The first of that routine was a simple exercise. It was: 250 one-hand push-ups, on each hand. 100 one-leg squats or also known as a pistol squat, Callan just didn¡¯t know that. 300 Curl-Ups. It was missing a run to really be what he referenced it from, but based on a snow area, Callan concluded it would have been hard to efficiently achieve such a thing. But, now that he knows the ground is actually made of mostly ice, it was actually possible. ¡°Can I do 100 miles? Hmm¡­ I can¡­ but it will take way too long, just, also I have no way to measure that! Then 50 times circling the mountain it is!¡± Callan dropped down to the ground and started his push-ups, doing one every second. After just 10 minutes he was already done. ¡°Hmmm¡­ wasn¡¯t enough¡­ I didn¡¯t really test it¡­ but 250?¡± After he defeated the third floor once again, he leveled up and figured out the pattern for the most part. [Callan Satchel] [Level: 6] [Strength: 31] [Agility: 31] [Endurance: 31] [Magic: 36] Callan¡¯s stats are gained through a simple pattern of three numbers, 3,4, and 8. Whatever the reason may be, that was his stat growth. He didn¡¯t really know the normal stat growth of people, but Callan knew that 8 should be basically two level-ups already. Now, why was he thinking about his stats? It was simple, if he was originally 1 stat point in strength, that just meant humans are that weak. When he gained the 4 stats, he was already able to perform like an athlete. So, then 31 divided by 4 was roughly the multiplied amount of strength Callan had over normal humans. Which was roughly 8 times stronger. ¡°Hmm¡­ so if some people can even do 1000 pushups in a few hours¡­ I should just do 1000 pushups and see where I go, actually, I need to see my limit, if not, my stats will never grow.¡± Callan dropped back down to the ground and continued for another 1000 push-ups each. Unlike other games or maybe stories with Status Screens, leveling up or increasing your level would be incredibly easy, but that wasn¡¯t the case in The Endless Tower. The first time Callan ingested Magic, he threw up immediately, either it was due to cleansing his body or it was too much, the answer is much closer to the latter. That meant only one thing, Callan had to push his body, the body which is already far too strong for a human, The exercises needed for his stats to increase, were not going to be easy in any perceivable way. It didn¡¯t even take an hour and Callan was already finished. He wasn¡¯t very tired, though he finally shed a sweat. But, that doesn¡¯t mean it was not challenging to keep up with his constant pace. Keep in mind, Callan was inside a mountain literally covered in snow, he may not feel the cold for some reason, but there definitely should be an explanation he wasn¡¯t sweating. But, the Endless Tower¡¯s weird mechanics aside, Callan decided to take a few minutes of breaks and sat on the edge of his cave, under the rainy bright sky. ¡°Hah¡­ this is just the first day¡­ I haven¡¯t even touched my spear yet¡­ but¡­ I already feel like¡­ I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Life was not going to be easy, Callan was able to focus on his repeated task, that was his whole special thing, but sadly, maybe that loneliness may swallow him sooner than expected. *** Half a year had already gone by and Callan didn¡¯t even notice the time. His routine had changed from his tiny numbers to adding two zeros to his original numbers. ¡°Swing down, swing right, swing left, swing up, spin the spear around the body. Repeat! Swing do-¡± Callan stood on the ice, making scratches from the wind released by his rapid movements. ¡°Hah¡­ Finally finished for the day. Man, I really hope my strength and agility stats have increased.¡± He said, completely ignoring the endurance stat. Callan sat down on the ice, facing the mountain. He laid down and rested his head on his arms. ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing the spear for a short time now, and I really feel so comfortable with it already¡­ but, I just don¡¯t know how to make a weapon art or any of those styles.¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Callan thought about the multiple cultivation stories he had read. They are incredible people who have mastered the thing called a weapon. Allowing themselves to really explore the grand strength of weaponry. That is what martial artists mostly are. But, even their martial arts were not original. Most have a history of martial arts starting from referencing animals they have seen fight. Then, it improves through fighting, losses, and many different factors. However, the main thing Callan was concerned about was¡­ the body. Martial artists know their bodies and everything there is to know about it. That is how they could create sophisticated practices to improve every part of it. Whether it¡¯s a xianxia or wuxia, it is a common idea to reach maximum mastery of literally anything. That type of thing took years¡­ Callan, despite his strength, feated his age. He was still human in an actual sense. There was never going to be a way for him to reach such lengths¡­ well, other than confirming he could not age. It wouldn¡¯t be far-fetched, he already doesn¡¯t poop nor pee, but he does need food for some reason. Callan closed his eyes and felt the magic coursing through his body. Of course, he felt nothing like always, but he just imagined feeling something, imagining the magic would actually make him feel something. He collected them all to his chest. Every single one he could, until he could not imagine anymore. His chest started to feel like it¡¯s bloated. Callan wanted to look, but he didn¡¯t want to ruin his focus. He pulled a small thread from his¡­ well, let¡¯s just call it, his core. Callan dragged the thread to his heart and pierced it into his veins. He just imagined the magic flowing through all his veins, leaving it up to loose control over a precise one that could also precisely kill him. Callan spread his magic throughout his entire body. It didn¡¯t feel like anything but he believed and so he continued. Then he just felt a random small pain, like a pinch. He calmed down and opened his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I did¡­ but if it was useless¡­ then I¡¯ll just have to fix it.¡± *** 3 more months. Callan was able to incorporate a couple of hours of meditation meant for circulating his magic through his entire body. After some trial and error, he was able to properly achieve some harmony in his body, allowing his strength to increase by a significant level. Though, Callan punched the edge of the ice as hard as he could with his left hand. The ice exploded, flying everywhere, after the short moment of spark, his hand was left bloodied with multiple holes revealing his bones. ¡°Tsk.¡± He grinned his teeth from the pain. ¡°It¡¯s still way too fucking dangerous.¡± Callan may have increased his strength, but as the term qi-deviation exists in the murim, it was like that, but more of suffering from success. His body already couldn¡¯t handle using magic to explode the floor in the white void, but doing that with his body? It was impossible to get out unscathed. Callan got back to a lotus position and started his morning meditation. He named this technique, ¡°Exploding Mana Circulation.¡± A little embarrassing, but it fits the theme¡­ whatever theme that was. *** Another 3 months later. Callan had already forgotten the concept of time, even skipping sleep for 4 days and thinking one had just passed. He officially passed the one-year mark of the first promise. Callan stood on the ground facing a giant hole inside the mountain. Like a giant worm went up the mountain. To his left and right existed multiple other holes varying in size. He walked to the furthest left and stood at a spot still full of snow and had no hole. |Spear Art: First Movement - Concentrated Point| Callan tightly held the spear with both his hands, placing them on his left side. He widened his legs and crouched a few inches down. He slowly inhaled deeply¡­ and struck, blowing a hole bigger than him. ¡°The more I do this, the more I think it should just be a rising dragon.¡± *** 7 months later. ¡°Woohooooo!!!¡± Callan came to view from above the sky. His entire body enveloped by his magic, dropped into the water. ¡°Fuck! That was fun!¡± *** 4 months later. With his feet coated with magic, he walked above the snow, his feet like a feather. With a body stood straight despite the steepness of the mountain. Callan walked up with his body slanted, defying gravity with just his core strength. *** 2 months later. ¡°Prototype 17.¡± Callan held his clothes up and stared at them. Despite the long time he had been in the snowy mountain and the lack of any actual knitting equipment, he had to cut the boar¡¯s skin precisely into an actual shirt. In the process, Callan had obtained incredibly unnecessary skill at butchering animals, though it did increase his crafting and knife skills. Going through way too many broken knives and a long process of studying a boar''s anatomy and even making his own ruler. Callan was exhausted, but now he had upper clothing¡­ well¡­ the bottom one is for the future. *** 5 months later. ¡°Welp, good morning self.¡± At a constant rate, Callan had already gone insane. Every time he finished his training routine, without even his knowledge he would just dig into the mountain without realizing he was. It was a somewhat good thing though, he was able to just use the sudden teleportation inside a dark cave as his mark for a new day. Though, he was already insane, so he just treated his ¡°episodes¡± as a very normal thing. *** 2 months later. After a long time of meditation, Callan didn¡¯t even need to sit in a lotus position to imagine magic coursing through his body. It had turned into a habit and it wasn¡¯t much of a good thing. Due to his over-reliance on his muscle memory, increasing the control over his mind and body had stagnated. ¡°Okay, it took me a while, but I just realized that¡­ umm¡­ well I have been using magic as part of my everyday life¡­ so I am definitely relying too much on muscle memory. Fuck!¡± *** 4 months later. ¡°Seriously, I have been for God knows how long, but I still can¡¯t fucking figure out how to input an element to my magic. How!!! Please! Someone tell me!¡± *** 8 months later. Written on a wall were movements in a spear art, carved by Callan. |Exploding Spear Art: First Movement - Rising Dragon| |Exploding Spear Art: Second Movement - Splitting Ocean| |Exploding Spear Art: Third Movement - Laying Air| |Exploding Spear Art: Fourth Movement - Dancing Troupe| |Exploding Spear Art: Fifth Movement - Diving Orca| The leaf-made blinds opened and the campfire was lit. ¡°Yeah, definitely cringe.¡± *** 3 years later. Callan opened his leaf-made blinds and he jumped instantly outside. Holding his spear he spun like a drill, flipping his body and landing on the ice without it breaking. Callan looked up above the clouds, striking the peak. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± He said, surrounded by multiple holes of broken ice. 22. Fourth Floor In the white void, Mirai had been alone, waiting for Callan for more than five years. She had become worried, really worried and that worry soon settled in permanently¡­ it was the reason every single one of his talented clients fell into¡­ the precautions of the tower. [Anomaly Detected] [Increasing The Tower Difficulty By One Level] Mirai hardened her emotions and just believed¡­ it had happened early before too¡­ but¡­ it was hard¡­ to survive. The tower was a sentient being just like Mirai, well that is just a guess. But the tower, just like the timer of challenging the next floor, was something the tower controlled, not Mirai. She doesn¡¯t know where the tower is, or who is controlling it, but there was really no point in guessing. That deadline, or countdown, or the limited time one needed to defeat a floor was made for the clients to have a breather, take in what they learned, and grow stronger. But, the intervention in the white void wasn¡¯t the only opportunity to train in¡­ floors¡­ like the forest was a place you could train in too. Floors with conditions needing to be met just to fight the designated monsters can just be called training grounds. However, the tower isn¡¯t so stupid to allow infinite time for someone to improve¡­ so if that person will improve¡­ the tower will too. Mirai regretted not telling Callan to hold his training for a little bit longer, but in reality, it was always inevitable. Even if she did stop him, observing Callan she knew he would never listen, that kid had determination, a weird determination enveloped by laziness. All Mirai could do now¡­ was hope that Callan pass it. Everyone had gone and done the same thing, just different floors. *** Callan walked up the mountain slowly, spinning his spear like a toy. He walked backward, looking down at the ice and the ocean. ¡°I¡¯m finally doing it. Goodbye Ocean, though I could go back here, I don¡¯t even think there is a poin-t to go back here.¡± Callan hummed as he walked for hours up the mountain. He could have reached the top anytime, but he was feeling something like performing jitters. Based on the amount of training he had done, and the amount of strength he had gained, he was really confident about the fourth floor, but even then, he really could not be truly confident. He reached the clouds for one of the many times he had, he dug through some of the built-up snow looking for his cubby. After whipping the mountain like a car window, he found his cubby and walked right in. His legs first went in, then his body that won¡¯t really fit. ¡°Oh¡­ did I get muscular?¡± He looked back to his chest and arms. ¡°Huh¡­ I never even noticed.¡± Callan wasn¡¯t as buff as a man on steroids, but he did have visible muscles that even oversized clothes could not hide. His legs dangled down outside the hole and his back was crouched down as his arms faced forward like he was overly sarcastic at his claps. ¡°It¡¯s time¡­ it really is. I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ve spent in this place¡­ but you know¡­ I¡¯m glad¡­ I¡¯m satisfied. This place made me grow, though it may only be physically and some control over magic, it was still worth it.¡± Callan looked at his spear, longer than his current position. He held it straight like he was a broken mannequin. ¡°I may not have mastered you, ¡®cause I¡¯m not the most talented in the world, but I did my best.¡± The mountain, despite its size and some hypothetical origins, had no other minerals in it other than stone. Callan¡¯s spear was the same as when he came, it was the only thing that didn¡¯t change. Callan now had a shirt, shorts, and a perfectly muscular body, yet the spear stayed as a wooden handle with a pointy rock attached to it. It¡¯s funny, in a humble beginnings type way. ¡°I¡¯m glad you never broke hahahaha!¡± Callan bent his right hand and grabbed above him. He pulled his entire body out and carried his entire body with a handstand. He pierced his toes back to the mountain and turned his entire body up again. Looking at the ocean, Callan walked backward until his eyes began to be blinded by the blurry clouds, the see-through censors of life. It was like going through a giant fur dog as a baby, his entire body felt hugged, loved, and comfortable beyond belief. But as he moved further beyond the clouds, it proved nothing good ever lasts¡­ now he has to face his death¡­ the death he so wished he never would see. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± Just a few steps away from the smooth bald cap of the mountain. ¡°I¡¯ve never been here¡­ and I never would have guessed¡­ that out of this snowy mountain and the frozen ocean¡­ that at the top¡­ you were fucking bald as fuck.¡± Callan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was time¡­ said it so many times it hurts to listen to. The ground was not made of stone, unlike the entire mountain which really didn¡¯t make the most sense, it was dirt. The bald cap which was about the size of a normal living room, was shed down revealing its brown stature. Callan scoffed at the sight of dirt, it was dirt, but he hadn¡¯t seen one in so long that it felt funny. When he was at the edge of the top, in the very middle, a sight of a little red flower came into view. It was a small rose standing lustrous above the clouds. ¡°Hello little guy¡­ is the reason why dirt exists here all for you? Wonder how it feels to be so special¡­ well¡­ I guess I know¡­ I¡¯m such a narcissist I believe I was special. Though that thought was something I¡¯ve believed I removed already, being here just brought it back¡­ and I know¡­ that¡­ it will be gone soon.¡± [Kill All The Monsters] [5¡­] ¡°Here it is¡­ I¡¯m above here so it will probably be birds¡­ which now that I think about it¡­ hah¡­ I¡¯ll have to rely on my magic a lot¡­¡± Which is a sentence, that really isn¡¯t true. [3¡­] Callan stood still, enveloping his entire body with thick magic and encasing himself in a blob of magic with a radius of 2 meters. [2¡­] [1¡­] Multiple giant bluebirds the size of two combined humans appeared around Callan. Twenty to be exact, it was a graveyard, that was an understatement. Callan still didn¡¯t know what appeared other than the chirpings, he stayed focused waiting for an attack. Then, every single corner of his barrier was poked and passed through. Callan wasn¡¯t prepared, he hurried went into stance, and performed his first spear art. |Exploding Spear Art: First Movement - Upward Stab| He opened his eyes and ran forward, the impact wasn¡¯t that big and his arms felt sore immediately, he never practiced for an instant way to attack, but that wasn¡¯t the time to think about how no matter how much you prepare, you would never be perfect. The bluebirds had red eyes and sharp furs, they were more like mutant birds than those cute bluebirds that they should be. Callan rolled down the mountain with the birds following just as fast. Fuck! What the fuck! I didn¡¯t count it but that was way too many fucking birds! I¡¯m gonna die! Fuck! Relax! Callan slapped his face hard. You¡¯re not gonna die. You¡¯re not gonna die. You¡¯re not gonna die. You can do this! It¡¯s not hard! Callan quickly threw his spear into his inventory. Despite being stressed he released multiple threads randomly around his body, trying his best to pierce the birds with his magic. He had no idea of their clear location nor was focusing easy, when his entire body was spinning 10 times a second. Callan was stupid and forgot he could just jump, and so he did. He turned around facing the birds as he fell much faster than rolling down. He immediately analyzed everything he could about the bird. They are big, huge I might say, but they seem to be really slow flyers, I could use that, I need to take some out while in the middle of the air, as in the ground, I¡¯ll really die¡­ well¡­ I¡¯ll kill of them in the air¡­ no, I should. The mountain was huge. It took hours just to climb to the top of it, and dropping it would take around an hour. If Callan could pick off every bird as he fell, that would be perfect, but they were already starting to get further away as they were far too slow to even catch up. Callan took a magic thread and formed a giant ball at the end of it. He began swinging it like a laso and fired. This probably won¡¯t do much, as I count, there are twenty of them, and none even seems injured¡­ my magic¡­ it won¡¯t be fucking enough. He stretched his left arm forward, releasing multiple strands of magic. Callan grabbed the feet of the bluebirds and tried to drag all of them in the middle of his magic ball- for the first time ever, his magic was cut, and it felt like a ball full of spikes just exploded in his head. The magic ball he fired hit the legs of one of the bluebirds, causing an explosion big enough to drag 3 others with it. After the smoke disappeared, Callan held his head from the constant ringing and pain, there was nothing but a scratch on the bluebirds. ¡°Fuck!¡± 23. Sky Battle Callan removed his left hand from his head. His left eye was closed, and his right eye was squinted to the point that his eyelashes had made the entire world pixelated. He stretched his right arm forward and held it in position using his left hand. He squished his right arm just to reduce some more pain. Despite the distractions of the pain in his head, he formed the biggest magic orb he could. If this doesn¡¯t even fucking work in the slightest! Shit! I¡¯m dead! The pain was starting to disappear when he threw the ball out of his hand. He opened his eyes much clearer than before, though he could still see the glow of his eyelashes just above his sight. The bluebirds were already far to the point where they looked the size of a normal human. The impact from earlier was so insignificant they didn¡¯t even try to run around or change formation. It was insulting, well it really shouldn¡¯t be¡­ Callan had permanently thought negatively. Shit! Shit! Shit! Fuck! Work! After a few seconds, it hit. Making an explosion, thrice the size of before. Callan didn¡¯t dare wait for the smoke to vanish. He stretched his arms to the side, forming long sharp spears using magic. The problem with giant explosive magic is that they are like a water balloon. As much as it will dampen you, it would also just affect your skin and won¡¯t really harm you. Against such tough monsters, that is the description of the magic sphere that could blow up rocks. The spear was just as long as Callan, it was thin yet had a smooth diamond mass in the middle, just to act as a support for his mind. Even though it had been years or also just a really long time that he had been using magic, he used structures to hold his magical shapes not entirely of focus. The moment the smoke and sparks disappeared, Callan closed his eyes as soon as feathers dropped heavily to his face. He quickly bent to the left. The fuck is that feather! That¡¯s why I can¡¯t blow it up, it¡¯s like metal. Which makes less sense as they could fly. Fuck! This tower keeps getting more and more illogical as time goes by. But, a feather falling was definitely a sign of the explosion working, it may just be a feather but that was an improvement. Callan¡¯s spear pierced lightly at two of the bluebirds¡¯ bodies. ¡°Kreeeeee!¡± ¡°Kreee!¡± They quickly spread to the back of the others. The ones the two hid at also quickly moved. This pattern repeated and Callan was quite intrigued, but he removed his curiosity and used their confusing movements as an opportunity. He threw more spears, and just continued and continued. He didn¡¯t really ever need to move his arms, they were just there for presentation and imagination. The injured bluebirds kept running, chasing the ones they hid behind away until more and more got injured and it became chaos for the birds. Their little chirps could be heard as panic and pain. Though it didn¡¯t really look like it as they didn¡¯t even have a problem to continue flying. One of the bluebirds at the back was hit in the wings. It quickly dropped to the top of another one. Then another bluebird picked the injured one up and threw it down like trash. Like a safe net, the bluebird closed its giant eyes and rolled like a drill directly to Callan. Fuck! I know how to swim but not in the air! Callan imagined his magic to his side spinning to propel him in the air, but of course that wouldn¡¯t work, Callan slapped his face. There were a few fundamentals about the applications of magic, and it all is based on one''s imagination. Magic could only affect physical things. The power and effect of one''s magic is based on the person¡¯s imagination of the effect it will have, and this imagination would only really be limited to the actual capability of your magic. In simple terms, magic couldn¡¯t be applied to air as you can¡¯t see air. Even if you think of it like an imagination of squiggly lines, your magic will form those lines, it won¡¯t actually happen. Magic is not a physical object, but an invisible force run by the things you could perceive. Though magic might not work, a physical object does. Callan opened and closed his inventory above him and multiple things quickly fell out, one of them was his spear. He grabbed his spear and immediately spun it as fast as he could. The bluebird passed Callan, just an inch of contact. Hope you die! The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. To Callan¡¯s mind, that was atleast one kill. Just 19 more to go, and death awaits him at the end. By counting, 14 of the bluebirds had an injury, a hole in their body that the spears had inflicted. Some even had multiples. While the 19 birds panicked, Callan targeted the other five who were clearly uninjured. He hit a couple of injured ones and missed a lot, his mana reserve has clearly not increased due to the actual lack of mana to absorb, but for some reason, it seems that just circulating magic around the body increases it. Callan was able to throw as much as he could without his arms even hurting nor his mana running out. Until only one bluebird was not hit, something changed with them. One bird grabbed another and both of them dropped hugging each other. They separated a few inches and both spun like a drill aiming for Callan. He once again spun his spear to the side, this time dodging with not much of a problem or any close calls. Then more came down, it instantly learned if it was actually intentional. The bluebirds dropped in succesion. One after the other in a pattern following my movement, of course, it would never work¡­ well¡­ but it kinda did. After only the 7th bird did Callan fail to realize the opportunity he had. He wasn¡¯t perfect, and clearly, the alone time for years had made his brain a little¡­ rotten. The 8th blue bird dropped to him and he aimed a giant sharp spear and threw as hard as he could, of course, still through his imagination. The bird stopped with a hole in its head and fell with its wings out and head facing upward. That bird died, and from what Callan knew, that was the first one to actually die. Now only eleven birds existed above. It had been a few minutes already, doesn¡¯t matter how long, but as Callan looked at the mountain he was reaching about the halfway point. It was a good pace, though what awaited him at the bottom was what he feared. Bluebirds, or their actual names which are ¡°Galajaro¡±, are giant furry birds with thick skins that live in the cold. They are not smart creatures, but they did have an instinct that acted more as a warning alert in their system. The scene they just witnessed had made them stop diving down, their distance ever so far away from Callan. With the birds not wanting to go down anymore Callan had just fired his spears, trying his best to target either the wings or the last bird who was still uninjured. Which was funny enough, the one all the birds kept fighting to stay behind at. Luckily for Callan, each time he successfully damaged the wings, which were thin enough to actually pierce through, the birds would automatically drop down and spin, which was just an instant death. The Birds became like a simple computer game in the 2010s. After the third bird, leaving only 8 in the sky. They soon realized that even staying above was not worth it and so in almost an instant all of them dropped down in unison. Based on how far up they were, it was like the second face of a wave fight, now he had a chance to take them all out, but even if he couldn¡¯t it would still bear great results. Simultaneously imagining exactly 8 spears, Callan repeatedly fired them at the birds. But they were not all stupid, just prey waiting for their deaths, they all stopped and flew to the side, then instantly went back to dropping. They couldn¡¯t see the magic attacks, but they clearly knew that there was an attack. The birds repeated this pattern, rendering Callan to only hit 3 birds. He gave up on the multiple attacks and focused on them one by one, taking 2 more out before they all passed him down. Callan breathed heavily from the exhaustion, his magic had finally caught up to him for a little bit. Then, thankfully, he immediately thought he could just throw more spears back down to the falling birds. He quickly turned around and faced a giant bird''s head, he retracted his spear to his body and coated it with heavy defensive magic. He was pushed back. One stayed! It¡­ was the one that I couldn¡¯t hit! The bird flew up and tried to attack Callan with its wings. Callan deflected multiple strikes and blew a huge one throwing the bird away. It had no mobility to actually cause much of a problem. Other than its heavy strikes that rendered even Callan¡¯s strength like a baby¡¯s, the bird could be killed instantly. The single blue screeched loudly and flapped its wings hard, pointing its beak up and then opening it. |Exploding Spear Art: Third Movement - Horizontal Slice| Callan split the bird in half. Its body started to fall at the same rate as him, but the bird''s blood constantly flew to Callan, covering him in blood. He moved himself a few meters to the side and saw the frozen water closing in. Every single one of the other birds had fallen past the ice and into the water. The floor is not saying anything about a clear¡­ shit, I think I¡¯ll have to really risk my life against these birds¡­ on land at that. 24. Bird Sharks Callan landed himself carefully on a floating broken piece of ice. The floor in a wide radius has been destroyed by the falling birds¡­ but, there was nothing on top of the ice other than the evidence of them dropping inside the water. The floor didn¡¯t notify any completion, that means despite the birds being underwater¡­ they were clearly alive. The water started to ripple with his appearance, Callan didn¡¯t wait and jumped away to the chipped pieces until he reached the untouched ground. He placed a magic thread below his feet under the water, just for protection. Then, a bluebird jumped out of the exact piece of ice Callan landed on. ¡°I knew it, I can¡¯t use much mana anymore, but that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t fight¡­!¡± He said while turning around and going into position. Callan placed the spear on top of his left hand and placed it in front of his upper stomach. With the spear standing straight, Callan used his right hand and jabbed the entire spear down as fast as he could. |Exploding Spear Art: Second Movement - Splitting Ocean| The bluebird was sliced in the middle and dropped to the ground like an inflatable. The ice in the same direction was also sliced in half, causing a ravine till it reached halfway to the edge of the ice. After watching the drop, in no less than a second, his magic thread was cut. Callan jumped back and landed right into position. Both his hands tightly held the spear and spread his legs with a short crouch. A bluebird came out of the water, destroying the ice like a bird shark. |Exploding Spear Art: First Movement - Upward Stab| The bluebird turned into a donut and dropped half of its body on the ice as it slowly slid into the water. Shit how many is that now? Based on past reactions, after this, they wouldn¡¯t dare fight me one by one again. Callan quickly recollected the events that had transpired. Every strike he had done and every actual confirmed death he had dealt. The answer was 8, it was starting to feel like a favorite number or just a really coincidental occurrence. There were 8 more birds below the water. Then the birds moved up the water onto the ice. Callan didn¡¯t wait until all of them were settled on the ice nor even if they had escaped the water. |Exploding Spear Art: Third Movement - Horizontal Slice| Two birds were sliced while one had its head cut off and three were turned into a vegetative state while jumping up the water. ¡°Kreee!!!¡± "Kreee!!!" "Kreee!!" "Kree!!!!" ¡°Kree!!¡± "Kree!!!" "Kreee!!!" ¡°Kreee!!!¡± "Kree!!!!" "Kree!!!!" "Kreee!!" "Kre!!!!" "Kree!!" "Kre!!! "Kreee!!!" "Kreee!!!" The screeching of the bird acted like an alarm clock that would wake up the entire neighborhood. It was like a nonstop bell. ¡°Ughhh!¡± Whether it was a tactic or not, it was working. The two perfectly fine blue birds stood on top of the ice and used the opportunity to remove the water from their feathers by shaking their body. Then their eyes turned red as their fur grew slightly thinner. Shit! Are they evolving or something!? It has been going well! I can¡¯t let you do this! Callan turned around and ran in the direction of the mountain with his hands sucked into his ears. Blood started to drop from the two bluebird¡¯s eyes as their fur kept getting smaller. When they turned into malnourished birds, they began to run to Callan. The three injured birds started to also bleed from their eyes despite having no legs to practically move. Callan dropped his hands from his ears and turned around. |Exploding Spear Art: Third Movement - Horizontal Slice| When the magic reached the birds it felt like rubbing wood with another wood. It only left a scratch on their bodies, as the birds kept getting closer. Who the fuck made these birds! What logic does getting smaller for speed also increase their defenses?! These birds are broken! Broken I say! I yell!!!! Callan stopped as his speed was just not fast enough for these birds. He was already at the actual floor of the mountain, but there would be no point running up as these birds could definitely fly. He looked at the vegetative birds and concluded that by just expecting the reason they were still transforming despite being disabled. The two birds attack Callan on both sides at an insane speed. Callan was completely enveloped with magic around him. He first struck on the left and quickly ricocheted to his right, blocking the other bird. This repeated for a few seconds with no clear winner at the exchanges. The three injured birds completed their weird transformation and flew. There was a clear hole in one of those bird¡¯s wings yet it was still able to fly by replacing the hollow part with its compressed feathers. Compressed! Callan didn¡¯t have much of a breather to really think of the logic behind the bluebirds. That was the first time he had a real reason. So the reason they are fast and have more defense is due to densing their feathers or maybe even their entire body and that is why their eyes are bleeding. I don¡¯t know why in the eyes though. He calmly thought in his head despite still struggling to escape his current fight that if he didn¡¯t solve it soon in a couple of seconds, he would die. Limit! Time limit! He repeated in his head. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The birds clearly had a time limit, their transformation is obvious to anyone that it was incredibly harmful. Callan shrunk himself down to the ground and raised his spear above his head lying horizontally. Then, he began to spin it from a specific pattern, performing a variation of his Fourth Movement. |Exploding Spear Art: Fourth Movement - Dancing Troupe| Callan escaped to the mountain and started to climb a few steps on it. Then he quickly jumped off and aimed his spear directly down, imagining a divine image coating the spear like an angel. |Exploding Spear Art: Fifth Movement - Falling Angel| Callan landed directly down into the water, witnessing through the edge of his eyes the incinerated half-bodies of the two birds. His entire body aches from the overuse of magic. If it wasn¡¯t running out earlier, it had definitely inched close to it now. Callan swam up with his spear and mind ready for an attack. He grabbed onto a piece of ice and lifted himself by throwing his body into the air. There was immediately an attack on his side. Callan directed the opposite end of his spear and parried it. But because of his position, it couldn¡¯t resist the impact and his spear smashed his side, throwing him far. He slid on the ice with a groaning pain of his inside that had definitely suffered a major injury. Using his spear, he stopped his slide and went into position. The birds were off the ground, flapping their wings like jet engines that with just one sonic boom, it was like they teleported. One immediately appeared on the right side of Callan. He leaned to his left and tried to stop the bird with his spear by holding it like a baseball bat. Callan coated the spear with an inch thick of magic. The moment it went to half the length in just a second, Callan retracted his spear immediately. Then, another one appeared in front of him. Thankfully, Callan had already retracted his spear, but upon impact, he was once again flung, now into the water. Unlike common birds, the Galajaros were able to survive in water. Their feathers were already heavy and so the pressure of absorbed water in their feathers didn¡¯t affect them much. The moment they dropped down the water, Callan was ready to strike. |Exploding Spear Art: Fifth Movement - Falling Angel| He incinerated the head of the bird and he relaxed his body. Callan sank in the water focusing on recovering his unstable magic. He was able to last a few minutes in the water, so it was the best solution¡­ well, if the birds couldn¡¯t swim. Callan¡¯s magic was running rampant in his entire body, mainly because the first thought that came to his mind was that. When his magic started to physically hurt him, the thought of it running wild just stuck like glue. He focused on every single strand, even grasping his hand to use as a reference. It was a good tactic that he had used ever since he was back on earth. Mainly used for when he sees a circle spinning and it just wouldn¡¯t stop in his head. Callan¡¯s magic barrier had an unexpected reaction. Shit! I thought they could just float in water! He thought. Callan blocked with his arm, coupled with a 5-inch barrier. He parried the wing of the bird and grabbed it. With his right hand, he stabbed into the bird and caused a giant explosion inside the bird through the tip of the spear. Callan used the blow of the magic to swim just a short length under the bird. |Exploding Spear Art: First Movement - Upward Stab| It didn¡¯t cause much damage but the bird was distressed enough to get confused for a while. Callan used this opportunity to swim back up to the shore, where another bird waited for him. I should have just finished him, but I don¡¯t have any mana anymore! Callan was about to reach the ice, but the bird behind him started his move. He couldn¡¯t just stop, so he risked it and still climbed up. The bird was far away, but it instantly noticed Callan. He moved much further inside the land and placed a single magic thread below the water, where he stood. The bird instantly appeared in front of him and Callan blocked his spear once again. This time he imagined a thick line of magic tied around the bird, dragging it back. It didn¡¯t break like last time and it actually worked. Callan was only pushed to a meter off the ice. Then the bird from before appeared behind him. Callan quickly turned around and blocked its vertical slash. It was a natural reaction¡­ despite the cracking sounds that Callan had tried his best to ignore. With his spear raised above his head, it cracked into two pieces and flew to the sky. Callan didn¡¯t even have time to shed a tear. With his magic barrier, he felt the other bird had already appeared before him. He jumped up to the bird in front of him and used its body to jump as hard as he could on the it¡¯s body. He flipped in the air and caught the upper part of the spear, grabbed onto the other bird¡¯s neck, and stabbed it in its eye. |Exploding Spear Art: Fifth Movement - Falling Angel| Unconsciously he had used his fifth movement again, giving his right arm more pain that he couldn¡¯t even feel it anymore. His arm¡¯s skin was already cracked like a solid desert, blood seeping at each line. If he didn¡¯t have that black glove, he couldn¡¯t even think of what his hand actually looked like. But, Callan didn¡¯t have time to stop nor even care for his pain. The bird dropped down to the ground and he limped off it. He pulled the spear out, but it was cut in half. Callan picked up the fallen spearhead and jumped into the sky, 10 meters in the air, just as far as he could with that energy left. Then, one last time. The bird didn¡¯t drop into the water when it was pushed. It was able to keep its balance and fly. Following Callan¡¯s jump, the bluebird flew to him in the sky¡­ while Callan held his spearhead tight. It¡¯s not even a dive¡­ it¡¯s just¡­ a¡­ fu- fucking stab! Callan opened his mouth wide, stretched his muscles far, and yelled out loud ¡°Agghhh!!!!!¡± |Exploding Spear Art: Fifth Movement - Falling Angel| Callan dropped into the water with no more strength to swim. But, he was awake¡­ [Congratulations On Clearing The Fourth Floor] [You Will Be Teleported In] [5¡­] I did it¡­ this will take a little longer to recover¡­ but I did it¡­ I¡­ did it. I survived my first floor. Callan arrived back to the white void after the timer. He immediately raised his left hand and said. ¡°It¡¯s okay, you don¡¯t need to heal me.¡± Filled with the satisfaction of his victory, and drained of energy, Callan slept soundly. [383:59:48] 25. Its Hard To Stand Up In The Morning A person can change at different paces. Some may even say they can never change. But, let¡¯s be honest, the reason why some can never change, is because they¡¯ve gone through so much shit, that the one thing that¡¯s holding them, if it disappears, there will be no change, they will just die. ¡°Mirai¡­ how have you been¡­ I don¡¯t know how long it''s been, I¡¯m sorry for leaving for so long.¡± Mirai recited her alphabet and interpreted, [It¡¯s okay] ¡°It isn¡¯t¡­ cause¡­ well, I did improve¡­ by a lot¡­ and I¡¯m happy about that¡­ just that¡­ now I¡¯m stuck here, my entire body¡­ I can¡¯t even move it. It aches so much that I am so bothered to even scream at the pain.¡± Callan said with a deadpan expression. ¡°Well, at least I have clothes now¡­ so I won¡¯t look like a dead man someone found at a beach.¡± Due to the excessive use of his magic, Callan¡¯s body was not able to handle the amount of magic that he exerted so frequently. ¡°I wanna see my stats so bad, but like, did my stats increase? Minus 3 for all of them¡­ well, if you still remember my previous one.¡± [Yes] ¡°Yes¡­ for¡­ remember or it increased.¡¯ Mirai said a two-letter word just for simple convenience, [Up]. ¡°So it increases, that means you remember it too, okay, I guess for someone like you who has lived for so long, it makes sense you have some good memory, well you probably have perfect memory.¡± [Yes] ¡°So envious. You know Mirai, I always told myself, if I ever reincarnate or maybe get 3 wishes from God or a genie, I¡¯ll ask for only three wishes. First. Perfect memory. It¡¯s self-explanatory, it would be¡­ as its name, perfect. Second was a perfect body. This one is kinda complicated, I wanted to fit so many things for one wish, not getting sick, having a good face, having a fit body, or like talent for that fit body to easily come by. The third was very simple. I just wanted to be happy, so I¡¯ll wish I was good at socializing.¡± Callan let out a huge sigh, his body was still in a lot of pain despite fainting and then waking up for he didn¡¯t even care how long. He reminisced about his past life, having a hard time even remembering anything. ¡°I have such a bad memory¡­ I hate how I can¡¯t remember Earth anymore¡­ I lost all my stories Mirai¡­ I lost my kids¡­ I lost¡­ what made me¡­ I changed¡­ and I don¡¯t like it.¡± Callan lay on the ground for hours, venting about his problems to Mirai, problems that he had a problem to say. Callan never had a good memory, it was a good question on why, but he just didn¡¯t, that was the explanation he wanted to believe. It was like one phrase, the phrase ¡°The worst feeling ever, is when you want to cry, no tears come out.¡± It was like that. Callan forgot his problems, well, okay, fine, he was in another world already so his problems should just disappear, like he¡¯d always done, forget them, he had. But, they do say, you never realize how important a person is until they die and completely disappear from your life. That was the feeling, it was disgusting, doesn¡¯t it sound so much better to have solved your problems, not successfully run away from them? The white void didn¡¯t help Callan¡¯s mentality in any way. ¡°It¡¯s so boring, it''s so pointless, I wish I just really died. Sorry if this hurts to hear Mirai, but I really don¡¯t care anymore. I don¡¯t care if you die when I do¡­ don¡¯t need a rest too¡­ if there was an afterlife, I¡¯ll accompany you¡­ it¡¯s better than this place¡­ it¡¯s better than living.¡± Staring at Callan, Mirai didn¡¯t even feel hurt from hearing that. Callan already had his entire life on the line this entire time and having someone else life hang with yours¡­ that was completely overwhelming. It didn¡¯t help¡­ that¡­ it couldn¡¯t even be changed, it was definite, and a higher power told Mirai that. As much as she wanted to have someone beat the endless tower so that at least someone, even if it wasn¡¯t her, could avenge every single one of her friends¡­ that¡­ she killed. She killed them¡­ its worse to see someone suffer¡­ more than killing them. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Callan was hurt ¡®cause of his responsibility to Mrai¡¯s life, and she is hurt that her own life is making someone suffer. Life is endlessly complicated, your reason for suffering could be suffering cause of you. So what was the point? Invalidate your emotions again just so you wouldn¡¯t be a reason¡­ maybe yes. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sorry about that Mirai. I didn¡¯t mean it. I¡¯ll¡­ work hard¡­ I¡¯ve already gone insane, this tower has already made me insane. Remember that Mirai, this tower made me insane, it was not you. So please, don¡¯t be accountable¡­ I¡¯ll try my best¡­ cause that¡¯s my life now, I¡¯ll just have to live with it.¡± A few days passed, and the white void was completely quiet the entire time. Callan slept to avoid the awkwardness. One day, after he woke up, he started to feel his feet and moved his toes a little bit. He moved each one of his fingers and even tensed his muscles. It took a few days, but Callan was finally healed. His mana didn¡¯t feel like it was back to normal, but his body definitely was. He turned his head to Mirai, knowing full well she was already aware he was awake. ¡°Can you sleep Mirai?¡± He asked. [No] ¡°Hmph.¡± Callan smiled and turned his head back. ¡°Then, you''re lucky. Because you won¡¯t feel the hardest thing about sleeping. It''s hard to stand up in the morning.¡± Callan stretched his entire body like a star and yawned. ¡°Even if the floor feels like it''s stabbing me, now after a long time¡­ it¡¯s like an ant is biting me. It¡¯s still annoying¡­ but I don¡¯t feel much pain anymore¡­ that was good, I needed to make that disappear anyway.¡± Callan leaned his entire body to the left, squishing his arm on a sharp tile. He placed his right hand back to the ground in front of him and slowly made his way up from the ground. His spine bent down. ¡°I just¡­ wanna sleep¡­ like forever.. and ever¡­ but I gotta work¡­ because the fifth floor is very soon, and I have a very bad feeling about it.¡± Callan walked up to his status screen and checked it. [Callan Satchel] [Level: 7] [Strength: 41] [Agility: 39] [Endurance: 35] [Magic: 45] ¡°Wow¡­ I¡¯m¡­ kind of flabbergasted at just how little my stats increased after so long. I trained for God knows how long, yet my stats only increase by around 5?¡± Callan slapped his head and shook his head. ¡°Time, please.¡± His reaction had thrown off the previous numbers after seeing his time have a completely giant change. [309:57:38] ¡°What??¡± He yelled at the top of his lungs. Callan jumped up and down, waving his hands. ¡°This may not be a lot of time considering what I spent on the fourth floor, but how the hell did this happen? Mirai¡­ what happened?¡± Callan wanted to regret his question after the halfway point of Mirai¡¯s explanation. She went on and on rambling on what happened, occasionally making Callan¡¯s eyebrows stretch due to his confusion about the letters being said. But, after she had explained the tower leveling up the difficulty due to Callan¡¯s exploit of spending too much time training, he completely understood the situation. ¡°Oh¡­ wait, then¡­ does that mean the previous floors updated too?¡± [Yes] ¡°Can I get levels again?¡± [No} ¡°Ughh¡­ pointless. Hah¡­ well, okay.¡± Callan turned around and looked at the floor he was lying on. ¡°It didn¡¯t even get teleported. Callan took a piece of stone in his inventory, just around the height of his knees. He carved it into a smooth half-circle top gravestone and etched a few letters on it. He carried the gravestone and laid it next to Mirai. ¡°Mirai¡­ I just thought about it¡­ when someone dies, the entire white void resets too doesn¡¯t it¡­ maybe that¡¯s why I can¡¯t see anything they have built in this place.¡± [Yes] ¡°Well¡­ thank God I¡¯m the last one¡­ so this grave never disappears.¡± He kneeled in front of the gravestone and caressed it. ¡°Rest in peace¡­ you were the best¡­ to ever exist.¡± {R.I.P.} {Ester} 26. A Home To Back To ¡°Well, now starts another boring few days, I don¡¯t even feel like training anymore, it took me years to be like this¡­ a few days¡­ yeah¡­ I¡¯m not a prodigy, I¡¯m just special.¡± Callan said to a tree on the second floor. Cutting literally any object using his magic was like cutting butter with a burning knife. Thinking of some common sense, he was completely right, the tower was a tower meant to be on death¡¯s door. Wether it was already a feature of the tower from the very start, or just like Mirai, it learned and developed, making itself much, so much harder. It was a horrible expenditure, instead of wasting time on pointless training, it was much better to just have a better home. Callan remembered one sentence from his life on earth. Not a lot of things were clear, but some were able to stick, things that just could never disappear. His family was not that rich, they could be said to be in the middle of the line that separates the poor from the middle class. It was a sentence from his mother who worked in the city. ¡°Being this old, I don¡¯t really ask for anything anymore, other than you graduating¡­ and I guess¡­ and I only dream now¡­ that¡¯s to be finished at work¡­ and always have you and father to get home to.¡± A home is important, it is so important, that¡¯s it, Callan couldn¡¯t handle thinking about it anymore. He chopped down as many trees as his anger at himself as he could, spending hours swinging his hand for no reason. ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± Callan opened his inventory and started to drag all the logs out. [Do You Even Know How To Make A Wooden House] Callan was able to take out every single one of the trees he chopped before Mirai was even able to finish that sentence. ¡°Nope, just placing logs like a building block. Though¡­ I need to make more ropes actually.¡± And so Callan¡¯s mundane days started. It was far longer than before, if he hadn¡¯t spent years on the fourth floor, the number of days he had felt like actual years, lots of time to develop significantly, but¡­ that really wasn¡¯t the case. He trimmed trees till they became bald, ripped their skin like a torture chamber, made ropes for days, swam in the pond for hours, occasionally absorbed magic when he was contemplating, and many more. Maybe, despite him being able to stand up in the morning, he really still hadn¡¯t let go of his wish. Deep down, even he knew it¡­ Callan didn¡¯t mind being on the brink of death on the next floor. It had only been four floors, four out of the 50 that the best Mirai had been able to beat. Yet, for someone he even proclaimed to be the most talented, giving up on the fifth floor? What was the point of all those years on the fourth floor? Just going insane? ¡°Well, this is some good progress.¡± [187:54:17] 8 days left and Callan was able to make a somewhat proper cabin. Five laying logs tall and one whole tree long, approximately 6 meters. Stacks of ropes were visible on the vertices of the house, acting like a design or change of color through the complete cover. Giant holes were dug in the logs, made for the rope to wrap around in. Shaped a little like a rectangle, Callan¡¯s house was missing a huge part, a roof. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Hah¡­ that took me days¡­ I feel bored.¡± Callan grabbed the tree from the bottom and lifted the entire thing with his hand. He shook it gently side to side. It didn¡¯t budge nor did a sound of scratching wood, Callan smiled and he placed Mirai inside the wooden box. Callan sliced a door in one of the sides and entered. ¡°First time?¡± He asked with a smirk and his hands on his waist. [No] ¡°Awww, wanted to be the first, well that will be so hard.¡± Callan laughed loudly afterward and sat on the ground. ¡°The fourth floor would be a boss fight, wouldn¡¯t it.¡± [Yes] Callan immediately closed his eyes and laid his head on his palm, then slid it above his head to his hair. He twisted his head and jabbed it to rotate, snapping his bone after a very long time of not hearing it. Callan didn¡¯t say anything and laid his back on his wooden box. Outside a giant rock came out of his inventory and was carved into four long nails. They floated above the four edges of the wooden box and were immediately jabbed just slightly away from the hole the ropes were gathered in. Then, the sliced-off pieces of the door floated to form its previous shape. It stood in front of the chopped side, and then both its ends were roped tightly in thick layers of loops. The part floated back to its previous position and Callan slid to the side, making him lay on the ground shaped like the letter L. A few days later, Callan was able to create his perfect roof, a flat group of logs just placed adjacent to each other. After placing it on the top of the wooden box, Callan sliced off 4 columned boxes that acted as a window for the house. [69:42:01] There were only three days left till the fifth floor and also Callan¡¯s first boss. For the first of the three days, Callan spent it trying to find the pieces of his spear. But, even though the holes on the ice and the holes on the mountain were completely gone, Callan didn¡¯t wanna give up. However, even he just lasted a day. It was like losing a really precious friend¡­ maybe that was why Callan was so accepting of death already. He had gone more insane on the Fourth Floor, it was not far to even say he formed quite an amazing friendship with his spear. Callan made a meter-long, 5 centimeters thick long pole. He designed it by sectioning layers by carving just a little ring on the separation. He smoothened up the wooden pole using his gloves, which despite its structure, was the best Callan could use, as leaves break a little too fast for him. He then made a spearhead with two hooks like vampire teeth on the side, just as a design he liked. After tying them together Callan stared at his spear and raised it to the sky. ¡°I¡­ miss¡­ Ester.¡± Callan walked back inside his cabin home, ¡°I¡¯m back¡­ Imma¡­ just¡­ sleep I guess¡­ sleep the sadness away they say¡­¡± 27. Underground Maze Chipped bricks infested by moss covered the endless hall. Vines hang from above, overgrowing the ground. The leaves and moss were both moist and emitted the awful stench of piss. Callan¡¯s bare feet felt like stepping on the cake¡ªdisgusting and unnerving. A rapid shock came from his feet to his upper body, repeating like pressing a button. He didn¡¯t even want to move, but the shaking from disgust continued. He pressed the moss harder, and everything just got worse. ¡°Ughhh.¡± He threw up a little and swallowed it. Completely defeated by his environment already, Callan looked slowly behind him. It was a wall, blocked from any other path other than forward. He inhaled deeply and immediately stopped from the razor-sharp stench of piss. Pieces of meat hurled out of his mouth. He couldn¡¯t contain it anymore. A piece of torch, surrounded by vines with burnt-up edges, was placed on an old rusted metal sconce. The fire burned the same size as the wooden base. Callan looked forward, the walls lacking any sconce, he took the torch out and began to run. He shoved the falling vines, causing fire on his track, but despite the speed he was going the fire wasn¡¯t getting extinguished. It was like a woman¡¯s hair blown by the hardest wind. After a few minutes of running in a straight line and a few eaten hurls, Callan reached a wall, splitting the path into two, one on the left and one on the right. ¡°What type of boss is in this maze dungeon?¡± Callan twitched his eyes, confused. He closed his eyes and sliced off two pieces of leaves. He tied both to his magic and sent them in each path. Magic was able to go through objects, though of course, it wasn¡¯t as powerful as it sounds, unless you¡¯ve seen a person¡¯s organs, it wouldn¡¯t be possible to crush their heart. That was the reason Callan took years just to circulate magic in his body. The leaves acted as a physical object that would stop as soon as it came into contact with a wall, demanding a quick change of direction. He mapped the dungeon inside his mind, each of his directions acted as coordinated lines in his head. A few minutes later, none of the two met a dead end, rather it was divided into a more convoluted path. Callan dropped the leaves and dispersed his magic. ¡°I guess I¡¯m left with no choice, my head can¡¯t handle splitting thoughts into more than two simultaneously.¡± Callan turned left out of intuition and it was also just the first thing that appeared in his mind. After some left and right turns, Callan reached a 3 split hall, one straight and two diagonal to each side. ¡°Oh my God! This just better be a good prank that every hall leads to the exit, it''s just that it''s very long¡­ cause for fucking God''s sake! I don¡¯t wanna spend more than an hour in this maze!¡± 3 Whole Days Later. Callan was starving as he ventured at full speed at each corner of the maze. He marked each taken dead end with a powerful punch, entirely fueled by his frustrations¡­ okay, fine, excruciating anger. It was not like he didn¡¯t prepare any food for the floor, as he just thought of it as like the first and third one, where it was a direct fight without much preparation. He still had a lot of food, he didn¡¯t really need much food to survive on the fourth floor, though they were all stripped naked. The maze stayed with the same structure as it had the first moment Callan entered the fifth floor. What¡¯s worse is that there wasn¡¯t even any announcement from the tower about what to do. He had been running around for three days straight without eating. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The reason Callan hadn¡¯t eaten despite his hunger¡­ was¡­ simply because of the dungeon. After 3 days, Callan just started to, regretfully, get used to the smell of pee that covered the entire maze. Even if he was hungry to death, there was just no appetite in a maze that just kept making itself look like a sewer to Callan. The floor of the maze was covered in overgrown vines. It hid the moss under the leaves, which prohibited him from avoiding them. He couldn¡¯t even block his feet with magic, as they were already stuck on them already. Callan could remove them with his hand¡­ but that was not worth the price. At the end of the third day, Callan was finally able to escape the maze. He entered into a giant square area, still enclosed with the same wallpaper. Thin vines fell from the flat roof, overgrowing the floor up to Callan¡¯s waist. It was a very uncomfortable sight, an ugly design. [Welcome To The Fifth Floor] [Defeat The Crazy Rat King] ¡°Oh no¡­ this is a reference to the fact that rats make me crazy, isn¡¯t it? How the fuck did the tower even know?¡± A giant rat appeared in the middle of the air. Its skin is full of scratches, blade marks all over its entire body. The rat dropped down to the ground and it rolled its eyes up and brought it back from the bottom. ¡°Oh wait¡­ it does know¡± Before Callan went to the fifth floor, he of course didn¡¯t forget about Mirai¡¯s knowledge of the floors. *** ¡°I know the fifth floor is a boss floor, but¡­ what type of enemy is in it?¡± He asked Mirai, as he sat on the floor. The Endless Tower, there may not be an actual visible tower, but having floors already indicates that it is. Centered around some plane, it had a very simple pattern. Accounting for the different floors Callan had already gone through, it was like an odd and even pattern. The first floor along with the third and fifth are odd numbers that share one common theme. They were against a group of enemies placed one by one. Which could be categorized as a 1v1 battle floor. As for the even floors, they were single-type biomes. A fight centered in a flat empty ground, but a place where the environment is important. A place that could be categorized as simply ¡°biomed floors¡±. Lastly, every fifth floor was a boss floor¡­ At the very start, Mirai wasn¡¯t able to clearly understand why only the floors divisible by 5 were different from each other. After a few moments, Mirai came to understand that those floors are based on the Client¡¯s memory. Monsters, creatures, and references from their past life. *** ¡°Though¡­ I guess it¡¯s one obscure memory, I appreciate it though.¡± The giant rat screeched, blowing every vine around it. Blocking Callan¡¯s entire body with leaves. He sighed and slowly removed the leaves from his face. ¡°Time to die fighting this giant crazy rat.¡± As soon as Callan got a clear view in front of him, his face first saw the back wall, covered by the blown-off leaves. In the middle was a giant clean circle, where the rat used to stand on. ¡°Wait¡­ where¡¯s the rat?¡± Callan immediately looked up. The giant rat¡¯s testicles dangled on its body, traumatizing Callan. |Exploding Spear Art: First Movement - Upward Stab| After stabbing up with a large concentrated magic, he jumped forward, rolling in the vines till he reached the barren circle. Callan didn¡¯t stop and still ran more to the other side. The giant rat dropped down, creating a giant crater around its body that reached more than half of the barren circle. The ground spiked up around him. The rat walked with giant movements using only his two feet. ¡°Okay¡­¡± Callan closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. ¡°It really smells like shit.¡±