Tower of Endless: Death Granted Entry

The blue status window rippled, a new notification drowning out his thoughts.

[MAJOR SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: COMPENSATION INITIALIZED]

[Interference value calculated]

[New Ascender’s evaluation completed]

[User’s Destiny (current) calculated]

[NEW FUNCTION UNLOCKED: FATE ALERT]

[DESCRIPTION: THE SYSTEM WILL NOW CALCULATE THE PROBABILITY OF YOUR DEATH GIVEN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, ENVIRONMENT, OR CONFLICT]

[Destiny value will increase in accordance with Ascended floor, rank, and performance]

”Fate what?” he blinked.

He started reading, trying to make sense of what was in front of him, but, like anyone in his place...

There was nothing. His, till recently, slave mind failed to comprehend.

He blinked a few more times. Skepticism, thick and bitter, rose in his throat.But his resilient mind overtook his frustration.

It was a natural response for someone who desired death for a long while but failed.

He checked the corner of his vision where the new alert was pulsing.

[CURRENT PROBABILITY OF DEATH: 30%]

He looked around the empty room. No monsters, no traps, no poisoned air.

”Thirty percent?” he muttered, his voice sounding rasping and foreign in the quiet. ”What could possibly kill me here?”

He thought about it again. If there was a chance he could die at all, how was he still alive after getting killed an unknown number of times?

’Was it the trees again?’

He looked at them far away, then dismissed the thought.

He also dismissed the message entirely, but the number lingered like a ghost.

A 30% chance that his heart would simply stop suddenly, his reversal would give up, and he would choke on the dirt and die.

It was all, to him, nonsense.

The system gave one final pointer before falling silent.

[USABLE SYSTEM FUNCTIONS: Identify Tower items when acquired under correct conditions]

Finally, the profile window refreshed. It displayed his height, his basic stats, and his new designation. The slave number was gone, erased as if it had never existed. In its place was a name he had no memory of ever hearing, yet it felt like a weight he had carried since the day he was born.

[Name: Moon]

Two different sets of stats were being displayed, but he paid them no mind.

Only the name.

Moon.

The name was the same on both screens.

The name sat there, beautifully written in silver, reflecting nothing.

He stood silently, staring at the unfamiliar name that had suddenly become his, a name he had no way of finding the meaning or origin of.

Ding!

Ding!

Snapping him out of thought, both screens gave a sound, the high-pitched blue tone and the metallic ringing of the crimson.

Same notifications. Same words written twice.

[THE TRIAL IS OVER.]

[CONGRATULATIONS.]

[YOU CAN DIE AGAIN]

Ding

Before he could digest the new message, Moon saw the 30% flicker to 31%.

A new, yet painfully familiar rift opened, like a wound in the fabric of space, and swallowed him without a warning.

[User getting transported to Second Floor]

The blue screen notified.

He resisted screaming amidst the strange, nauseous sensation, but before he could even enjoy the luxury of feeling, he saw it.

The Giant Eyeball.

The one who sent him to his hell.

The hateful gaze on him, almost a hit of murderous desire, a grudge was there.

Slave 135, now reclaimed as Moon, stared back. For a short moment that felt like eternity, their gazes locked.

He refused to avert his gaze even though fear was seeping into his bones, even when every instinct in him screamed of danger.

In the end, his lips parted.

His grudge was far worse than whatever this delusional eye felt.

”I’ll find you.”

It was the last thing he did before the moment passed, and countless images started flashing before his eyes.

”Ugggh...”

A pained growl escaped his throat.

It was not the transportation.

But his neck.

It was burning, like being seared with flames.

Agonizing pain ran through his body. He screamed as he passed through the rifts toward the Second Floor.

”AUUUUGH!”

He didn’t know if he was being branded again as a slave.

’No, this can’t be happening,’ his internal voice shouted in disbelief, while his agonized screams did not cease.

Thud.

Suddenly, he hit the floor. The pain was gone like a lie.

There was nothing.

But he couldn’t let go of his neck.

”Oh dear, Teacher Samuel... There’s a new ascender here!”

Someone shouted suddenly, before his vision even fully returned.

He couldn’t let go of his neck, or accept what had just happened.

He thought he had reclaimed his life at last.

He lost all sensation in his neck and the hand holding it, the heat still felt real on his skin.

He opened his eyes slowly, only to see an old man, very short hair properly combed, a white mustache, round face, and a fit body, walking toward him.

”That’s a rare time to get any new ascenders.”

The man, Teacher Samuel, spoke firmly, his tone was strict, like a military man.

”Are you in pain, or injured?” He asked Moon.

He extended his hand toward Moon, trying to examine his neck.

Fear crept in. Moon tried to resist the hand.

He had already prepared his new dreams as a free man, his new identity and background.

All were lies., but they were his.

And that was being erased.

But the hand of that man was not something he could defy or even dream of defying.

The strength it held was beyond anything he had ever experienced.

It was like a boulder holding him.

And that boulder moved his arm away.

”What’s this?” Said Teacher Samuel.

Moon closed his eyes. ’It was over.’