Prologue. Who Threatened Me to Climb the Tower?
Prologue. Who threatened me to climb the tower? Who was it. It wasn't the strong who survived, but the survivors who were strong.
You have cleared the ... floor.
I wiped the blood-splattered cheek with my sleeve, breathing heavily at the familiar message floating before my eyes.
A small number of Constellations are shocked by your record.
The combat-type Constellations are interested in your fighting style.
As always, when I cleared a stage of the tower, messages from the Constellations appeared in the air. And as if waiting, a blue portal began to form in the air soon after.
A clear victory announcement that I had cleared one stage of the tower. But I always felt most uneasy right after that portal appeared.
A large number of Constellations are eyeing you as a candidate for Incarnation.
A large number of Constellations demand that you head to the next floor.
Ding.
A new mission has arrived.
To the Next Floor
📍 Subject: Proof
📍 Difficulty: A+
📍 Description: The Constellations are eagerly waiting for you to build your Status and become their Incarnation. Move your steps toward the next floor. Continue to grow. The choice is in your hands.
📍 Mission: Enter the next floor
🎁 Reward: Qualification of Incarnation
🎁 Failure Penalty: Death
“Haa…” A sigh escaped me. The Constellations’ missions I kept receiving. They cleverly mixed in the word “choice” to make it sound plausible, but the end of the message was always the same.
Failure Penalty: Death
Death if you fail…… Of course, refusing the mission meant death all the same. Would I pass through that portal and challenge the next floor? Or would I stop here and throw away my precious life? This was the “choice” they always offered me, and every time, I repeated the same thought.
Do those bastards not know the definition of choice?
But no matter what I thought, they just kept spouting whatever they wanted.
A large number of Constellations are urging you.
A time limit has been added to the mission 『To the Next Floor』.
Time Remaining: 00:01:00
I naturally rubbed the back of my neck as I read the additional message line sent by those unknown beings. They were the ones who had demanded so much from me. Of course, every time that happened I grew stronger, but I had never once felt grateful to them.
“Hey, you over there!” I infused my voice with mana so they could clearly hear me. The message reading “Time Remaining” was especially irritating today.
“I’d appreciate it if you got rid of that.”
So I flicked my finger toward the message.
A small number of Constellations express doubt at your words.
I slowly drew in a breath. I exhaled slowly, shaking off the emotions coiled inside me.
“I’ll show you something interesting.”
I picked up the sword I had set down. The trials I had challenged, whether I wanted to or not, simply to survive. As I mentioned at the beginning, the survivors were the strong ones, and I was one of the survivors.