Prologue: The One Who Chose Earth
A beautiful blonde angel delivered that scathing verdict in a voice as lovely as her face.
"...What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means your overall evaluation is E-Rank."
I was at a loss for words.
I couldn't for the life of me understand what the hell this angel was talking about. I had opened my eyes as if waking from sleep and found myself in this peculiar space, a beautiful angel standing before me with her face twisted into a frown.
And the first words out of her mouth were... Overall Rank? What even was that?
"What is that?"
"...Hah. Has the farming really already dried up...? Human resources depleted this early... We barely even started recruiting, and already we're getting people who don't meet the qualifications?"
I couldn't make sense of the angel's lament.
"I truly have no idea what you're talking about. Could I ask you to explain?"
I asked as politely as I could, swallowing my irritation.
Honestly, I wanted to cuss her out and demand what kind of bullshit this was — but the being in front of me was an actual angel. I wasn't nearly strong enough to mouth off to something that belonged among the monsters of the Upper Floors.
"You. Don't you remember? Why you're here?"
"Well, I entered the Upper Floors of the Tower for the first time — the 60th floor, that is... and then..."
I flinched.
"...Ah. Ahh..."
My last memory.
Perhaps the angel's words had been the trigger. It all came flooding back.
I had died. On the 60th floor. At a demon's hands.
I had entered the Upper Floors, achieved my goal, and lost every last one of my comrades in the process. And then...
"I— I died. So why...?"
"Because you reached the Upper Floors. Anyone who enters the Upper Floors of the Tower of Training is revived once even if they die. And then they leave for another dimension. As a Hero."
"...A Hero?"
"That's right. A Hero. A kind of high-class mercenary who saves other dimensions from invasion. However..."
The angel swept her eyes over me with a look of distaste and spoke as if sneering.
"You're below standard. I wonder if any dimension would even want you?"
"...I don't have a dimension I want. A Hero? I don't want to do anything of the sort. Just send me back to my original dimension. That's all I need."
"Kyahaha! In this case, you're not the one who gets to choose. You don't really have a choice, you see. The Administrators are the ones who choose. Your dimension has already been destroyed. In cases like this, you don't have much of a say. You could go back if you wanted... but would you really want to go to a destroyed dimension?"
She scoffed, a laugh slipping out at my words.
"Earth is... gone...?"
"Yes. It's gone. This one's a lost cause. The power gap was just... well. Hmm... it's not really Earth's fault. The opponent was too much. Even a decently advanced civilization would've been crushed."
"Then... my parents... my little sibling... they can't have..."
"They're all dead."
"...That's a lie."
The angel shrugged.
"Why would I bother lying about that?"
My mind went blank.
Of course it did. I had poured everything I had into getting back to my original world.
And now... Earth was destroyed? Then what about my family? Everything I had worked for until now? All that blood and sweat — what had it all been for?
"Th-they said if I climbed to the 100th floor of the Tower of Training, I could go home...!"
"More precisely, they'd send you wherever you wanted, wouldn't they? A Hero who cleared the 100th floor would have every dimension begging them to come. But historically, no such Hero has ever existed."
She paused, studying my expression, then spoke with a hint of pity.
"...Well. What's done is done. Hmm. Ah. Time's up. Administrators, allow me to introduce this Hero candidate!"
The angel spread her beautiful wings, radiant with white light.
"His name is Yoo Shin-hoo. Origin: Earth. Highest floor reached in the Tower of Training: 60. Overall Rank: E-Rank. Class: Warrior. A 1-Star Hero. I'll display the details now. Administrators wishing to pick this Hero, please place your bids."
"...Hah. So it's come to this. Since no Administrator has made a pick... I will send him to a random dimension. Thank you to all the Administrators who participated."
I stared blankly at the strange spectacle unfolding before me.
What... is this...
"Hah. What else would it be? This was the place that proved you're trash."
The angel spoke with an expression of open irritation.
"...What happens to me, then?"
"You'll be sold off as surplus to a random dimension. Well, we'll at least avoid the ones with nightmarish difficulty. After that... you'll have to settle down and live there. Not like you have another choice."
She spoke as if she had already lost all interest in me.
"Ah, right. Procedure is still procedure... You said you wanted to go home earlier, didn't you?"
"...Yes."
"Well, it's procedure. This is your homeland right now. If you still want to go after seeing it in this state, I'll send you. Those are the original rules."
The angel swept her hand through the air.
A transparent screen immediately appeared in the empty space.
A desolate wasteland.
Seoul, reduced to something close to a desert.
Collapsed buildings and a dead city filled the display.
Image after image of a ravaged Earth flickered past.
Then the screen cut to another location, where two giants swung weapons at each other.
"Giants..."
"That's right. Giants. The race that invaded Earth."
I had known that much, at least — that the ones who invaded Earth were Giants.
"Earth was destroyed, and the humans, well, they're all dead. Right now Earth is being used as one of the Giants' dueling grounds. When beings of that caliber start fighting like that in their own dimension, it damages the dimension itself. Even now, Earth is slowly heading toward its end. Every human who, like you, said they wanted to go home took one look at this and gave up on Earth. Well? Are you still going to Earth?"
"I heard the time ratio between the Tower of Training and Earth is ten to one. Earth... didn't even last a year...?"
"A year? It didn't even last a proper month."
I was silent for a long time.
Then, with difficulty, I opened my mouth.
"...Can I go?"
"...Go where? Earth, surely not? You're saying you'll go? There?"
"...Yes."
"...Do you have a death wish?"
The angel stared at me in disbelief.
I nodded, with effort.
To be honest... I was exhausted.
I had run toward a single goal. I had wanted, by any means necessary, to see my family again.
And now I was being told they were all dead.
Earth itself had been destroyed.
I had poured everything into one purpose: saving Earth and reuniting with my family.
I had clawed my way through, surviving by sheer effort, watching countless geniuses overtake me.
My pride had been stripped away again and again. I had conceded so much. I had been robbed of so much.
"I can put this item to better use than you. I'll do my best for Earth."
"Wouldn't this skill suit me better than you?"
"With that talent of yours, this is as far as you go. If you climb any higher, you'll die."
Words I had heard more times than I could count. Even as a massive guild exploited me, I had smiled. I believed that guild could save Earth. It was packed with people of extraordinary talent, after all. I had even been proud to belong to it.
When the guild's top party all went missing, I gathered the ones who were scattering and challenged the Tower once more.
It had been brutally hard. I had wanted to give up more times than I could remember. And still I had climbed, and climbed.
The 60th floor was my limit. They had been right. My talent did not work in the Upper Floors. It's over, I had told myself. I had given up.
And now I was being told it wasn't over — and that the home and family I had yearned for so desperately no longer even existed?
I didn't want to do anything anymore.
I just wanted to go home. Even if it was ruined. Even if I died there. Even if no one was waiting to welcome me.
"...You're serious."
I nodded.
"...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to provoke you. Would you take it back, Hero? I can see your resolve is not a light one. Please — won't you lend your strength to saving another dimension?"
I shook my head.
"...You have no intention of reconsidering. ...I understand. May it be a journey you do not regret."
The angel bowed her head to me for the first time.
I wore a bitter smile as I was sent back to Earth.
And there, I met Earth's sole Administrator, Gaia — and seized a sliver of hope.