When the tower first appeared in the human world, it was said that vestiges of God could be found on the upper floors, beyond the tutorial.
As people continued to climb and time went by, most players gave up finding them on the middle floors.
There were accounts of powerful rankers who had acquired traits similar to those of legends, but in the early days, it was said that those encounters were numbered and only to be found beyond the 500th floor.
Psyche, having never ventured beyond the comfort of his living room, believed that to be the truth.
Until the day he set foot on the first floor of the tower.
[Warning! You have received damage.]
The realization came to him that day as abruptly as Adolphe's skill activated.
The shield between them, though delicate in appearance, was strong enough to hurl Psyche backward.
The recoil broke down the back wall, and Psyche landed on the next cell's bed, crashing against the already broken-down wood.
Bile and blood piled up inside his throat instantly.
In a matter of a few seconds, Adolphe was already on top of him, grabbing him by the collar. His right cheek a bright red color where Psyche's punch had just landed.
"Now you're asking for it."
Adolphe used his knee to hit his stomach, causing more blood and saliva to pile up.
He blinked several times to stop his vision from becoming too blurry.
Adolphe was a player at the 30th level with E-rank skills at minimum. Even if he couldn't use them on this floor, he still had the stats of a 10th-floor player.
However, even if he couldn't beat him, he would at the very least inconvenience him.
Psyche was an overthinker.
'This is what I should've done to that asshole guard.'
He had replayed his previous assault in his mind continuously in the first moments of the conversation with his brother. Even knowing he couldn't have changed anything, he could still prevent himself from getting hurt in the future.
He should've used all the information available to beat his opponent. And luckily for him, he knew Adolphe's stats better than some guards'.
His brother couldn't activate the shield again because of the active skill's cooldown, and without it, his defense wasn't as good as his offense. His body didn't have that much resistance because he never invested in it.
With the temporary strength of an E-Rank Player, Psyche managed to tolerate the gut-wrenching pain and firmly grabbed Adolphe's wrist.
He bit down with all of his might.
"Arghhh- You, bastard!!!"
Not wasting any time, he concentrated all of the remaining strength from his blessing in the hand that wasn't grabbing Adolphe's wrist. He made sure to keep biting down with all he could gather from what was left of his own strength.
While Adolphe grabbed his neck, trying to pull him away frenetically, Psyche's free hand reached down towards Adolphe's crotch.
Soon, the panicked expression on his face and the visible pain that reddened anger that colored his cheeks made Psyche's suffering in the last couple of hours worth it.
The images of Adolphe dragging him to the abandoned plant at 5 years old crossed his mind. Accompanied by Adolphe, pushing him from the balcony moments later.
Adolphe laughed as his friends threw stones at him at recess because he got an A+ in Maths.
Adolphe made him stand in the rain with his clothes wet because the girl he liked said Psyche was pretty.
Adolphe forced him to stand with a lighter in a puddle of gasoline for hours because he woke up feeling like it.
Adolphe awakened at seventeen and broke Psyche's fingers to celebrate.
Adolphe discovered health potions and used them to harm Psyche for two days until he ran out of them.
With years of unreleased desire for vengeance piling up, Psyche smiled as he made direct eye contact with his brother.
He grabbed, twisted, and pulled with all the strength resentment could build.
And it was a lot.
"AAAAAAAARGGHHHHH!!!"
Adolphe's miserable cries echoed across the building.
* * *
Beyond the first nine hundred floors of the tower stood a high, silver gate.
Since no human player had ever reached beyond the first 800th floors, these gates remained tightly closed. Never opening to reveal the marvels of this floor to new players.
Here, endless skies of still water hung above the cattle, and cloud-like grass decorated the mountains surrounding a flying palace.
The days passed by, yet the sky always remained the same. The sun never sets, but also never rises to welcome a new morning.
"No new visitors today either, huh?"
A whistle laughed and blew away the leaves on the surrounding trees, causing the bushes at their feet to part.
This was someone's voice.
It belonged to a child standing at the highest tower of the palace. He wore a silky white gown, with two gold bracelets placed on each wrist. One small, one big.
-Rattle.
The bigger armband on his right wrist produced a sharp sound as it gently hit another golden pendant resting on his collarbone. The child longingly touches the chain around his neck with his hand, and the bracelets rattle with every small movement.
His mirror-like eyes showcased boredom, unlike those of any child.
Would a child not enjoy the wind hitting their faces at the top of a mountain?
Or not want to swim upside down in the clearest of the sky's waters?
This child, having bathed in said waters and played among the same lands for a long, long time, was such an anomaly.
A child who didn't play.
A child who didn't laugh.
A child who didn't age.
Sometimes, not even a child at all.
He turned around and went down the stairs, turned left and right, opened some doors and closed others, until he reached the main courtyard. Meanwhile, his crystal clear eyes shifted. From blue to purple, and then red, and back to nothing, and changing again.
He went through the gates and crossed to the left wing of the palace. His height went from short to a little too tall, and his eyes turned black.
And he saw no one in the palace, but that didn't phase him, because there was nobody to see.
Usually.
As such, when he reached the throne room and found a woman sleeping, lying down in the seat in the middle of the room, without a care in the world, his surprise colored his cheeks and moved his ears a bit to the right.
He quickly composed himself and approached the altar, swiftly covering his necklace and hiding it between his clothes.
The woman in front of him seemed to be waiting in a deep slumber. But he knew better than to believe she was defenseless.
She probably wanted him to guess as much.
As he reached the base, he caught a glimpse of a sudden movement and moved his head to face a semi-transparent system window mid-air. He saw what he thought was white hair, but before he could guess any further, the woman moved slightly.
Her serene face caught his attention.
It was an expression of pure innocence, the same as that of a sleeping newborn. A being that had just arrived in the world, devoid of any viciousness.
'Could I kill her like this?' He thought, but what he said was:
"Mother?"
He called for her, his voice hoarse like the word hadn't been used in a long time.
The bright blue game-like window floating in front of the woman flickered as she woke up, seemingly reminding her of its presence to no avail.
The woman blinked and opened his eyes. Yes, his eyes.
She saw herself through them. Then, quickly moved her head and opened her own, as if it had been a mistake.
He despised it when she did that.
The previously seemingly young child, now taller and sturdier, clenched his fists behind his back. Now, burn-like markings could be found everywhere in his skin, and they appeared to darken right before he relaxed his hands.
Stretching out her arms, she smiled and called his name.
Her voice, very much like her looks, was tender, delicate, and frail even. Her eyes now the shiniest of gold, her olive skin smooth as that of a child's with silky, long, peach black hair falling behind her and landing on top of the seat as she stood up.
"How have you been?"
The lazy, almost drowsy tone gave him an uncanny feeling, almost like a memory of a cozy weekend morning where you woke your loved one up with breakfast prepared for them.
It was a voice that evoked all feelings of protection. Like that of an infant, a grandmother, or a starving person.
To him, however, the tender sound gave goosebumps.
As if responding to her question, the water in the sky rippled, and the wind fiercely crossed the mountains and found its way through the palace's gates, opening them abruptly.
A murderous red shadowed his vision. His scars were ever so slightly shifting around the corners of his eyelids.
And yet, he smiled tenderly and replied, "Good."