That night, when the clock struck twelve, Louis suddenly noticed a strange mark glowing faintly red on his arm — a small pattern made of three triangles.
It meant only one thing: the Multiverse Tower was now open.
The triple mark represented his three lives, something only he could see.
Louis touched the tattoo gently.
After five seconds, a red light flashed — and his body disappeared from the room completely.
When Louis opened his eyes again, he was no longer on the ship.
He was standing in a huge open square.
The platform was so large that he couldn't even see its end.
All around him, beams of red light appeared again and again, bringing more and more people into the same place. The number of players grew quickly.
Suddenly, a holographic blue screen appeared in front of Louis:
[ Name: Louis Maclaine
Race: Human
Level: 1
Physical Power: 14
Spiritual Power: 19
Magical Power: 6
Mental Strength: 9
Agility: 12
Bonus Points: 0
Skills: Sword Basics, Maclaine Family Sword Style (Incomplete)
Items: One-Handed Sword (Normal)
World Points: 0
Overall Rating: E ]
After reading his own stats, Louis sighed helplessly.
"These numbers... trashy, but acceptable. Luckily I was born into a knight family, or even these would be impossible."
This world followed the path of cultivation, with three main routes — Aura, Magic, and Spirit.
The Maclaine family was a knight family, so all their children were trained to become warriors.
But when Louis turned fourteen and still couldn't awaken his aura, he was labeled a failure — a shame to his noble house.
That was why they had sent him to the sea in the first place.
Without wasting time, Louis changed his in-game name to L.K. and replaced his face with a masked avatar.
It was common practice — in the Tower, most players hid their true identity.
After all, everyone here was a rival.
Sometimes you might even end up in the same stage as your enemy, fighting for opposite sides.
So hiding your real name was the safest choice.
Louis had no complaints about the weak stats or the basic skills left behind by his body's former owner.
" He must've spent most of his life sleeping," Louis muttered with a sigh.
As he walked across the huge square, his eyes caught sight of a section called The Safe Zone — worlds where failure carried no penalty.
However, the rewards there were small and the growth was slow.
Only people with no confidence chose that path.
To become truly powerful, one had to go to the Central Zone.
But that was where the Tower's hardest missions waited — and failure there could mean death.
The Multiverse Tower was not a game.
Even though it offered great rewards, many players gave up after dying twice, spending the rest of their lives farming small points in safe worlds.
Louis lifted his head and looked toward the distant center.
There stood a massive tower reaching straight into the sky, so tall its top was invisible.
He remembered the old legend:
"Whoever conquers all 100 floors of the Tower of the Multiverse will become an all-powerful ruler."
No one knew who started the rumor.
But everyone believed it.
After a while, Louis turned his eyes away.
He planned to start carefully — one mission in a safe world first.
It wasn't fear.
It was strategy.
******
When he entered the Safe Zone, Louis found a large hall full of people.
Then, a calm mechanical voice echoed around him:
[ Welcome, L.K. What assistance do you need? ]
It was the Tower's AI system.
" I want to start a stage."
[ Understood. Please choose the world you wish to enter. ]
A 3D screen appeared before him.
Names of many familiar worlds appeared one after another:
Death Note, Prison Break, Modern Family, Haikyuu, Slam Dunk…
When Louis saw Death Note and Prison Break, his eyes lit up.
According to his guess, Prison Break would involve helping Michael Scofield and his brother escape the prison.
As for Death Note, it would definitely revolve around L and Kira.
For most players, those worlds were hard because they relied on logic, not powers.
But for Louis — who knew the stories — they were opportunities.
After thinking for a while, Louis made his choice.
"I'll pick Death Note."
The system responded instantly:
[ Player L.K., you have selected the world: Death Note. Are you sure? ]
"Yes."
As soon as he confirmed, the space around him rippled like water — and the entire scene changed.
He found himself in a pure white room with five other people.
Including him, there were six players in total.
When Louis looked at the others, his eyes sharpened.
These were his teammates — or perhaps his rivals — who had chosen Death Note as well.
A voice echoed again:
[ Dear players, you have five minutes to prepare. After that, the mission will begin. ]
Silence filled the room.
Everyone glanced at one another.
They all knew that once the mission began, they could become enemies.
After a long minute, a handsome man in disguise finally spoke up.
"Hello everyone. My name is Crow. My current overall rating is D."
At once, the others looked at him with surprise.
A D-rank player appearing in the Safe Zone meant only one thing — he had already cleared several Central Zone stages.
Either he had only one life left, or he was one of those "collectors" who farmed points in easy worlds.
Crow didn't seem embarrassed. He smiled calmly and continued:
"I'd like to ask — is anyone interested in forming an alliance?"
No one answered.
Still smiling, Crow said,
"To show my sincerity, I'll share some info I've discovered.
The reason no one has cleared this stage yet, even though it's in the Safe Zone, is because the mission is extremely hard."
He paused, then explained:
"This world has two factions — the Police and the Civilians.
Each side hides secret agents from the other.
Our mission is simple: either find the main detective controlling the police, or uncover the true villain behind everything."
"This world is strange — ordinary humans, no magic, no aura. But they have some technology that could help us."
Several players nodded thoughtfully.
Louis's eyes gleamed. His heart beat faster.
If Crow was right, then this mission would be easy for him.
He already knew who L and Kira really were.
"Isn't this perfect?" he thought. "One week to finish the world — more than enough."
Crow kept talking:
"But it's not that simple. To find both identities within a week is very difficult.
To get an S-rank, you'd need to clear it within 24 hours — almost impossible.
I've checked this world once before and have some leads about the detective's identity. I'm looking for allies to confirm it. Any volunteers?"
Someone finally replied.
A man with a dragon avatar asked:
"If I join your alliance, how will the rewards be divided?"
Crow smiled.
"Brother, are you new? When you form an alliance, the system automatically divides the rewards equally between everyone in the contract."
"I see... then I'll join. Please take care of me, Mr. Crow."
Crow nodded and looked at the others.
"Anyone else?"
"I'll join."
"Count me in."
Soon, three people had joined his alliance.
Including Crow, there were now four of them.
Only Louis and a masked girl remained silent.
"You two, don't you want to join?"
Louis shook his head.
The girl answered coldly,
"Not interested."
Crow didn't push further. He simply smiled and said to his group,
"Once we enter the mission, choose the Police faction."
They nodded.
Then, the system's voice echoed again:
[ Five minutes are up.
You will now be transported to the world of the main mission.
Use your opportunity wisely — success brings the highest evaluation. ]
[ Teleport countdown: 10... 9... 8... 3... 2... 1... ]
In an instant, the white room vanished.
Louis and the other five players were wrapped in red light — and disappeared into the world of Death Note.