Locked to Extreme

The inside was busier than I'd expected.

Even at this hour of the morning, there were people everywhere.

The second I sensed anyone nearby, I bolted for a corner where no one could see me.

"It's the crack of dawn, isn't it?"

Why on earth were people climbing the Tower at a time like this?

I didn't want a single soul to see me looking like this.

"…Ah."

I was screwed.

For a second there, I'd completely forgotten what the Tower even was.

Of course it wasn't the kind of place with set operating hours. How had I managed to blank on something that basic?

I should've assumed there'd be people. Obviously.

Disaster. If I'd known it would be like this, I never should have transformed. I had zero confidence I could let anyone see me like this.

"…"

People might not pay much attention to strangers under normal circumstances — but that only applied when you looked normal.

A full-grown adult. A girl whose face, at least, was decent-looking. Wearing an outfit this eye-catching. Of course every gaze in the vicinity was going to stick to her like glue.

I decided to stay hidden for a while and wait it out. There didn't seem to be that many people heading in, so the plan was to slip inside the moment they went through.

"Haa…"

I must have been crouched there for about an hour. The loud, self-important chatter finally faded, and only then did I dare walk up to the Tower's entrance.

"I'm already exhausted."

Just getting inside had left me drenched in cold sweat.

It was so humiliating. This outfit, this staff — I couldn't imagine a day when any of it would feel normal.

If I'd been able to use even one skill before transforming, I wouldn't have had to come out looking like this. Hell, if I'd just had regular clothes to wear, I wouldn't have been skulking around at dawn in the first place. Seriously.

"Still…"

I could enter the Tower now. I could make money. The opportunity had finally arrived. That alone was enough to make me smile.

"…Let's go in."

The high heels — completely at odds with the rest of the costume — clicked against the ground, shattering the quiet of the early morning. The sound carried a kind of tension, like something was about to begin. From outside, you couldn't see a single thing within. Only endless darkness met the eye.

But the mana surging so hard it felt ready to burst free was my ticket inside. From now on, I could walk these halls too.

"Here goes…"

A class and a set of skills I hated. If I was going to awaken ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at all, I'd wanted something romantic. I still wanted to reject the whole magical-girl thing.

But as long as I could make money, none of it mattered.

Starting today, I was going to be rich. Once I'd saved up enough, I'd quit this magical-girl nonsense for good.

When the pitch-black darkness touched my feet, I opened the eyes I'd squeezed shut in fear.

It was even darker inside than I'd imagined — so alien that even standing felt wrong.

A space where nothing could be seen or felt. And then, before long, large white letters began to appear within it.

The Tower's system — something I'd only ever experienced through text on a screen.

"Oh."

There it was. The difficulty selection I'd only ever heard about. It felt strangely surreal. I'd never once imagined I'd be looking at something like this myself.

I hadn't expected to awaken. Honestly, I hadn't dared hope I'd ever set foot inside the Tower at all.

"Easy's the way to go, obviously."

No deliberation needed. I reached for the easiest option without a second thought.

I had no ambition. No desire to climb the hard way, no hunger to make a name for myself — never had. I just needed to earn a decent living. As long as I could scrape together enough to survive, the difficulty didn't matter. And for that, Easy — the safest route to a steady income — was the perfect fit.

"Time to freeload…"

I stretched a finger toward Easy. A small, pale finger — the kind that practically begged for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the label "frail little girl" — but I swallowed the thought and quietly made my selection.

"Huh?! Why not?!"

My voice rang out through the alien space. I couldn't keep my emotions in check — not when the Tower's system had just bulldozed my carefully laid plans.

"Why can't I?"

I'd clearly pressed Easy. Nothing happened. The only answer I got was that I couldn't choose it.

"There's got to be a reason."

I had no greed. All I wanted was to make a reasonable amount of money. The Tower refused to allow even that. A moment later, the Easy option vanished entirely.

"Then at least Normal…!"

In a panic I moved my delicate finger again, but it was no use — as if the system had already read my every move.

Three options disappeared. Easy, Normal, Hard… every choice I'd tried to make was now locked out.

When I came back to my senses, only a single difficulty remained selectable.

Extreme. The one difficulty I had absolutely, under no circumstances, wanted to pick. The one where you had to stake your life just to climb.

"What the hell…?"

Before I could even process the question, another notification appeared.

Unease flooded through me. The message explained itself with a calm, almost mocking nonchalance — as if it were deliberately toying with me.

"…Don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠screw with me."

Seriously. Cut the crap. What is this? EX skills, my ass. Ah. Magical girl. Right — this was EX-rank. A class I never even wanted, and of course it only mattered at the worst possible moment.

"This can't be right… can it?"

I wanted to curse everything. I'd never seen or heard of anything like this on the forums.

Had wanting an easy paycheck been that unforgivable? Had the simple desire for a comfortable life been pure arrogance?

Blocking every other option and then asking for confirmation? Who was it even mocking?

Was the Tower always like this? It felt like it was laughing at me. Like it knew exactly what it was doing. The intent was practically dripping off the screen.

"…Haa."

There was no going back now. The right to choose had been stripped away.

Still — now that I was in, I had to climb.

The system was being absurdly unfair, but it was still an EX-rank class, right? Magical girl or not… looking purely at the rank, it was a good class, wasn't it?

So it shouldn't be that hard. If the Tower had any conscience at all, climbing with an EX-rank should be easy.

It'll work out somehow… right?

I forced my trembling hand still and pressed the worst difficulty of all.

…The only thing I could rely on was a magical-girl class. How miserable was that.

"Tutorial…"

A freeload floor where you just had to kill a few easy monsters and you were done. I'd read that the item drops were solid relative to the difficulty, so it was always worth clearing.

"It'll be fine, right?"

Even on Extreme, the tutorial had to be easy.

People on the forums said it was basically impossible to fail.

Surely nothing life-threatening would happen…

Probably.

They said the tutorial spawned easy monsters.

The only annoying part was that the monsters varied slightly from person to person — apparently depending on the difficulty you'd chosen.

That was enough to make me tense. I'd finished transforming ages ago, but I still had no real confidence.

"…"

I was nervous. If I'd known it would come to this, I should have actually read my skills properly. Easy mode was already off the table, and putting off the skill check out of sheer laziness was about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to come back and bite me.

"Oh, shit."

Before I could finish the thought, the transfer began. I couldn't stand the swelling light and shut my eyes; when I opened them again, I was somewhere completely different.

"Looks like a game…"

A space blanketed in something I couldn't identify. An arrow floated into my field of vision, pointing the way forward.

So I just go this way, right?

I wasn't sure of anything. Instead of moving, I decided to check my skills first.

"…Status."

Looking at it again, there were way too many skills. Some of them seemed to have changed, and a few I still had no idea about.

Maybe I'd taken the Tower too lightly. I'd been proud of the little prep work I'd done, and yet I didn't even know what my own skills did.

"…Haa."

Might as well read through them. There had to be something useful in there… maybe.

"…Hold on."

What did I just read.

I was already short on instant-kill skills, and now a no-escape clause? Are you kidding me?

Okay — fine. Two skills left. There had to be something usable.

This one…

Okay, this was actually useful.

I still had no idea how I was supposed to climb the Tower, but looking at the ability itself, it wasn't bad.

Next. What was the last one?

"…What is this."

A description that meant nothing. Magical girls do not lose. Just that, repeated in a way that somehow felt chilling.

Even the last skill I'd been pinning my hopes on was completely useless for climbing the Tower. I didn't even seem to have a basic attack skill.

I'm screwed.

No matter how I looked at it, this was just torture with a magical-girl label slapped on top.

All I had was a ridiculous amount of mana, and that was it.

"…Is this for real?"

Wait…

Why can't I leave? Just once. Just let me out once. Please.

…Please, just let me live. Let me out of here.