"If you're not strong… you die. That's not an exaggeration. It's the rule of the Tower."
The air was thick—filled with the sharp smell of burnt metal and fresh blood. It clung to the battlefield like a curse that refused to fade. Screams echoed through the shattered ruins—raw, desperate sounds that bounced off broken stone before fading into the endless void, like dying sparks carried by the wind.
Scar stood at the center of the carnage.
His greatsword was buried deep in the cracked stone floor, its massive weight keeping him upright. His chest rose and fell in heavy, uneven breaths. His hands trembled—not from fear, but from something far darker.
Rage.
Bodies covered the ground around him. Twisted. Broken. Some were burned beyond recognition, reduced to blackened remains. Others were frozen mid-motion, eyes wide, staring into nothing. They were all that remained of his team—the last of them.
Friends. Allies. Strangers who had fought beside him long enough to become brothers and sisters in battle.
Gone.
"Damn it…" Scar dropped to one knee, the weight of his sword—and his grief—pulling him down. His voice cracked as it left his throat, hollow and empty."Am I the only one who's still alive?"
The battlefield gave no answer.
Instead, memories rushed into his mind—violent, unwanted, unstoppable.
Ten thousand people.
That was how many had been summoned from Earth.
Taken from their homes, schools, workplaces, and bedrooms. One moment they were living ordinary lives. The next, they stood on cold, pale-white stone in a world that followed none of the rules they knew—neither physics, nor time… nor mercy.
There had been no warning.No explanation.
Only the empty void above them—and glowing messages floating in the air, words made of light.
[You have been selected as representatives of Earth.]
[Survive the Tutorial. Ascend the Tower.]
[Time Remaining: 999d:23h:59m:50s.]
It was as if an unseen system had written their fate in cold, uncaring code.
Before anyone could ask a single question, the ground shook.
And then—the monsters came.
They were not symbols.Not illusions.Not tests of the mind.
They were real.
Nightmarish beasts poured in from the edges of the land. Some crawled. Others flew. Some stood like living towers of muscle and bone, while others moved across the ground like living shadows. Their claws shone like knives. Their eyes glowed with hunger, shining like molten gold.
Some attacked without thinking, driven by instinct alone. Others hunted in silence—waiting in the dark, moving in groups. They copied voices. Cried like lost children. Whispered in familiar tones to lure the weak closer.
In the first twenty-four hours, over half of the summoned were dead.
The survivors did what they could.
They built camps from broken stone and metal. Threw together rough barriers from debris. Sharpened sticks into weapons. Armor, weapons, and glowing energy crystals, materials dropped from the monsters they killed—loot that gave them a chance to grow stronger. They used them to create stronger weapons, armors. They enhanced their gears, day by day. They shared food. Whispered advice. Traded discoveries.
People awakened abilities. Learned skills. Took on roles.
Some glowed with magic. Others were filled with raw physical power.
The Tower had given them something in return for their suffering.
A chance.
Two main paths appeared.
Mages and Warriors.
Mages used mana—the energy that filled the air, their bodies, everything. They shaped it into powerful spells. Some became support mages, skilled in healing, shielding, and strengthening others. Their presence could change the course of battle, allowing allies to survive longer and fight harder.
Others became offensive mages—masters of destruction. Fire. Ice. Lightning. Wind. They released nature's fury in its purest form, capable of destroying entire groups with a single spell.
Warriors, on the other hand, used aura—a deep, burning energy drawn from within. It hardened their bodies, sharpened their reflexes, increased their strength, and strengthened their weapons. They stood on the front lines, taking blows, swinging blades, holding ground no one else could.
Scar was one of them.
A warrior.
His body had been shaped by pain, hard training, and endless battle. Muscles hardened by combat. Eyes sharpened by loss. The sword he carried was more than a weapon—it was a story. Heavy. Brutal. Perfectly matched to the weight he carried in his heart. He had a small black beard, black eyes, with a scar on the left one.
He hadn't started as a leader.
On Earth, he had been quiet. Invisible. Just another face in the crowd.
But in the Tower…
Desperation changed him.
People followed Scar not because he asked them to—but because he never fell. No matter how many battles he faced, no matter how broken his body became, he always stood back up.
Again. And again.
Then there was Selena.
She was beautiful—but cold. Deadly. Silent.
A mage who mastered both long-range spells and close combat. Her magic was far stronger than anyone else's. Her sword skill was flawless. She was both storm and blade.
They called her the Dark Queen.
She rarely spoke. Never joined meetings. Rarely shared food or information. She watched everything—the tutorial, the monsters, the system itself. Careful. Smart.
She only joined battles during the largest waves. Took what she wanted. Then left. She even fought everyone who tried to stop her.
The only person who could stop her was Scar.
Scar and Selena clashed constantly.
They were rivals.
[Time Remaining: 0d:1h:59m:50s.]
The final wave arrived without mercy.
Monsters unlike anything they had seen before descended upon them. Bigger. Smarter. More violent. The ground shook beneath their steps. Even the air seemed to scream.
Scar had fifty-three people left.
Last Survivors.
They fought with everything they had—spears, blades, spells. They roared. Bled. Refused to retreat. Selena joined the battle as well.
Then—the Boss appeared.
A Big creature of bone and black flame, covered in armor made from dead monsters. Its eyes burned like twin suns. Its presence alone crushed hope.
Selena charged straight at it.
Her blonde hair looked almost black under the swirling shadows. Her cold, pale-blue eyes flared with bright violet light. Magic twisted around her like a living thing, and her sword shone with star-like power.
Scar and the others attacked as well.
The battle was brutal. Bloody.
At first, Scar thought they would survive.
He was wrong.
One by one, they fell—screaming, bleeding, begging. Scar fought until his voice broke. He screamed. He cried.
But the enemy was too strong.
Eventually, he stopped counting the bodies. Stopped shouting their names.
Only silence answered him.
When the Boss finally fell, Scar collapsed to one knee, leaning heavily on his sword.
Barely alive.
[Congratulations. You have killed the Tutorial Boss.]
[Tutorial Completed.]
[Transporting in 4m:55s.]
Energy poured from the Boss's body, twisting together as it began to form a dimensional gate—their escape.
Then the ground shook.
Scar turned toward the far end of the arena.
Light spilled through cracks in the void, like lines of gold breaking through darkness. At the center of that light stood Selena.
She was doing something.
Energy was being pulled from the place elsewhere—into a crystal clenched in her hand. She was taking the power of the entire tutorial… and more.
The crystal pulsed wildly. Unstable. Powerful enough to kill them all if it exploded.
Selena was trying to claim it.
[Tutorial Failed.]
[Error. Unstable Tutorial.]
[Error. Unstable Tutorial.]
[Error. Unstable Tutorial.]
"Huh—!? What's going on!?" His voice rose in panic as he looked around. The messages didn't make sense. Nothing made sense.
Something was terribly wrong.
"What did you do!?" he shouted, his voice cracking as fear and anger tore through him. "Selena—what did you do!?"
The ground shook beneath him. The walls cracked. The world itself began to collapse.
Selena looked at him.
Her eyes were calm. Cold. Distant.
She said nothing.
Her silence was louder than any scream.
The energy exploded outward, shockwaves tearing through the arena. Power rushed into her like wildfire. She absorbed it all, her body glowing in a dark violent magic, growing stronger with every heartbeat. The crystal faded until it was empty.
She absorbed it. All of it.
The dimensional gate vanished.
Cracks spread everywhere. The world was breaking apart.
"Answer me!" Scar roared, forcing himself forward, dragging his sword.
Three steps.
Then he collapsed.
Blood splashed across the stone. He had no energy left—not even enough to stand.
When he looked up again, Selena was surrounded by a bright light.
The world fell apart around him.
It felt like the end of everything.
Selena looked at Scar one last time. She said nothing. She only stared at him back, then she disappeared.
The last thing Scar saw was her fading form vanishing into the unknown.
[Initializing Transfer…]
[Error. Failed to Transfer.]
[Error. Failed to Tran—]
[Error. Fai—]
[Err—]