Flashes of memories, the time that he had spent in the tower, the time he started with his friends and girlfriend, and how all of them stopped climbing the tower one by one flashed in his dreams.
His parents passed away in an accident when he was only six years of age, he had lived with his relatives after that for a while, but he did not like being a burden to them so he moved away.
He finished high school and then came to this city for his university degree. He never really had any interest in the usual work that people did… for him, work and money were not the end goal of his life.
He did not care about money all that much– a statement that contradicted his entire tower climbing career– so he had wanted to just work and live for himself.
But then he came across this unique game, this tough, challenge-filled, absurd game with absurd mechanics and rules that were unheard of among the other virtual reality games that existed in this world.
[Earth, December 12, 2052.]
In today's modern world where people usually play fully immersive VR games and eat lab-synthesized food on large scales, the games were a means to pleasure.
All companies wanted more players so they employed strategies that would attract more and more players, but that was not the case with [Tower of Beginning].
It was a difficult game that was influenced by the actions of the players. It was pretty common and there wasn't much world-story difference in it. However, it was a hellishly difficult game.
There was a tower of a hundred floors, but some couldn't even finish a tutorial quest given to them. There were a hundred floors, and yet, by the time players started reaching the tenth floor, more than half of the player base had already left the game.
Even the stubborn stagnant waters that remain behind could only manage to reach the twentieth floor after spending years on this game.
But, that was not the case for a certain player…
-Beep! Beep! Beep!
[Wakey wakey~! A new day's greeting us~!]
-Beep! Beep! Beep—!
-Cluck.
"Yawn~!"
KiRA… Kaizen woke up with a sleepy face right after punching the duck clock. It was as annoying as ever.
"Haaaa…"
But as soon as he got up and sat down on the bed, just like every single day, he picked up the sturdy clock and carefully put it down on the desk beside his bed.
"I should just break it. I don't think I would kill me for it, right?" He thought about how She would actually react if this clock broke, and then just shook his head.
It wasn't worth it. He could just endure it, it was a good morning practice anyway.
"Phew…" It was a new morning, a new day. The sun had not completely risen yet, but he could hear some commotion outside of his window.
Being on the second floor of the small building that he was living in, these kinds of commotions were pretty common. He did not mind that and instead picked up his phone beside him.
"Hmmm?" Though, as soon as he picked up his phone, he noticed a timer on the screen before him.
[00:57:51]
He did not put this timer and the blue screen that he was seeing wasn't something he had seen before either. But, he just waved it off for now.
"Hmm? What's this?" He simply opened up his old phone and as soon as he did, he was shocked to see the tens of notifications clouding his notification center. Many of them were calls from his uncle and aunt, as well as from Isah, his girlfriend.
"What the hell?" It was not common. Seeing Her call first thing in the morning was also not common since she usually texted him.
But this certainly surprised him. However, what surprised him even more was the news notifications present right under the call notifications.
"What's going on? What do they mean strange screens have appeared all around the world?" He saw the news articles that seemed obviously exaggerated. But then he saw the photos that were attached to the articles and was surprised since he remembered the screen pattern in the pictures.
'Isn't this the same one?'
He had just seen this blue screen when his phone was locked, so, with hesitant hands, he locked his phone and…
[00:55:02]
The strange blue countdown screen appeared before him once again.
"Wow!" He was stunned for a second more, but then he looked around him and saw the same blue countdown screen present on his computer screen, as well as the hologram screen of his VR capsule.
'Now this is quite something, alright.'
He was confused about what was going on, but there was also a hint of excitement present on his face right now.
"Let's see…"
He looked out of the window and the commotion that was going on was also about these screens.
People from his building had gathered in one place and were discussing what kind of tech-terrorist attack might be approaching them.
Some had prepared to leave their home with everything that they had while some were coming back after stocking up on necessities in case of the Apocalypse.
"Ptfff. Haha, people can be pretty silly, huh?" He laughed after seeing the faces of all those people and then went back inside.
He didn't think much about these screens. If the world was ending, then it was a good thing anyway. He had waited for that day for a while now.
"Yawn~!"
He had just woken up though, so he put all these things aside and walked up to the small kitchen area on the other side of the room.
Then he made himself some good instant coffee.
"Hmmm~." Nothing woke him better than this special good, cheap instant coffee. His coffee machine had broken down last week so he also missed some good espresso.
But this was great as well.
-Beep! Beep!
He was sipping on his coffee, not thinking about anything at all when his phone started ringing again.
"She must be anxious about these, hehe." He didn't have to take out the phone to know who the caller was. He knew it.
And he was right as well. It actually was his worry-wort girl.
"Hey there~. Good-."
[ "You! You dummy! What the hell were you doing all this time?!" ]
The shouts and loud voices were expected, so he didn't mind it. He was used to them anyway.
[ "Did you see those screens?! Kai! Did you see those marks on them!" ]
In normal cases, she would have scolded him for not answering her calls but right now, the thing that she spoke next was pretty unexpected to him.
"Marks? What are you talking about, Is?"
[ "You! You blind monkey!" ]
Now that was an insult he wasn't expecting.
[ "What are you doing!? Look at those screens! Look at the marks around them! Quick!" ]
She was in a hurry. This was serious.
"Yes…"
He knew when this girl was serious, and right now, he could tell this matter was really urgent. So, he closed his phone once again and the countdown screen appeared before him once again.
[00:45:48]
He had not seen it the first time since he was sleepy, and then he missed it because of his ridicule for the commotion. But now that he was looking at this screen closely…
"...!"
He could see some things that he had seen countless times before.
"Is! This…!"
[ "Yes! Did you finally see them?! Dummy! What the hell is going on?!" ]
These marks were something pretty unique since they were written in a script that could only be found within the [Tower of Beginning], the game that he had been playing for the last few years.
[ "I deciphered it and it says 'Time remaining until the maintenance period ends'. Do you know anything about it, Kai?" ]
"Time… remaining?"
His mind did not work for a moment, but then the coffee that he was drinking suddenly shook up his memory and reminded him of the last few notifications that he had received after clearing the 100th floor yesterday.
"What the hell…?"
This was unexpected. Very, very unexpected.
[ "You do know something about it, don't you? Could it be related to the tower-clear? Didn't you finally clear the 100th floor yesterday?" ]
He had texted her before sleeping so she knew about it. And, she was right this time as well.
"Yeah… I think it has something to do with that."
He received a notification that the game was going to go under maintenance after he cleared the floor. He did not think much about it since he thought that was it, that it was the end of his long journey.
He just wanted to sleep and think about all that later, but now that he was awake and his head was a little clearer, he was presented with a strange situation.
[ "Right?! I knew it had something to do with that so I called the others and told them as well! Dad was worried so I'm at my house right now… you should come here as soon as-." ]
"No, Is. I don't think I will be able to reach there on time."
The time remaining was a little too short to reach her house. It was a safe place, but he knew no one would take him there under all this chaos.
The cabs weren't going to work and everyone around the world was going to wait until the countdown ended…
"For now, wait right there. Take care of yourself for now, and wait until this countdown ends. We cannot say for certain what happens."
For all they knew, this could very well be some kind of prank from someone so, waiting was a better option right now.
"Let me call uncle and aunty as well. I'll call you back soon."
He did not want to hang up the call, but he did not have any choice here. If things were really related to that tower, then this was a pretty serious matter.
[ "Alright… I'll wait. But you take care of yourself! And be quick!" ]
If something was actually going to happen, then this place wasn't safe. He knew he needed to move to a different place so, for now, he reassured her and disconnected the call.
Then, he looked at the strange blue screen once again…
[00:40:02]
He did not have much time. So, if things were going to turn out like how they usually are in Webnovels and Manhwas, then he had no choice but to be ready.
"Take care of yourself as well, Isah."
Closing his eyes and clearing out all the negative thoughts, he took a deep breath and called his guardians.
Their place was much safer than this one, but they needed to be careful as well.
"The tower of beginning…"
He did not have a good feeling about this.
But hopefully, things won't be that chaotic.
There's no way that damned 100-floor tower could become a real thing and take over this world now, is there?