The buzz of the city was just another background noise to Shoyo.
Slouched in the back of a quiet e-bus, white joggers creased at the knees and an oversized black shirt hanging loosely over his round frame, Shoyo scrolled endlessly through his phone. His sharp brown eyes flicked lazily from one clip to another. TikTok? Nah—this was BlackApp, the underground version where anything went viral in seconds.
"Another AI fake," he muttered, half-smirking as a video played of an enormous tower piercing through the sky in what looked like Berlin. Dark. Twisted. Unrealistic.
He scrolled.
Another video. Same tower. Different country.
"What, trending horror skits now?"
Scroll.
Scroll.
Scroll.
Tower.
Tower.
Tower.
The hairs on his arms started to rise.
"Wait… hold up."
Before he could process it, the ground groaned beneath the bus. Windows rattled. Horns blared outside. The driver cursed and slammed the brakes as the magnitude-6 quake hit without warning. People screamed, scrambled, and the bus leaned like it might tip.
But Shoyo didn't move.
Not until he noticed the pregnant lady a few seats up struggling to get out.
"Yo," he said, calm but direct. "Hold on." He stood, braced her, and guided her out last—just like any decent guy would.
And then he saw it.
The others were already outside, pointing their phones, murmuring in awe and fear.
Shoyo followed their gaze… and froze.
There it was.
A towering obsidian structure, its surface like a cracked mirror swallowing the daylight, its peak lost in the clouds. Something about it made his chest tighten. It looked exactly like the tower on "Skyrealms: Tower Ascension" — the old RPG he used to grind on back in elementary.
"Nah... no way..." he whispered.
BEEP.
A soft chime echoed in front of him.
Shoyo blinked. A glowing, semi-transparent blue panel appeared in midair—right before his eyes, invisible to everyone else.
[ Welcome, Player. ]
[ The Tower has chosen. ]
His heart dropped.
The panel flickered.
[ Syncing previous player data… ]
[ Retrieving profile: Ranker: "Reaper13" ]
His childhood username.
Eyes wide, heart pounding, Shoyo looked up at the monstrous black tower again.
"What the hell is going on…?"
---
End of chapter 1....