When the Reclaimers first came back, everyone thought they were gods.
Tall. Glowing. Eyes burning with something that didn't belong here.
Some could move objects without touching them.
Some healed wounds in seconds.
And some… could level a building just by breathing wrong.
They called it Prana — the same energy that kept them alive inside the Tower.
Now it flowed through their veins like liquid lightning.
---
Governments tried to control them, of course.
You know how it goes — news conferences, military escorts, endless paperwork.
They even made a department for them: The Reclaimer Regulation Authority.
Basically, a bunch of old men in suits trying to give orders
to people who could bend steel with their hands.
Didn't work.
Half the Reclaimers ignored them.
The other half laughed and left.
---
Soon, the power balance flipped.
The government wasn't protecting people anymore — the Reclaimers were.
The Kalaj were monsters — terrifying, unpredictable.
Some hunted in groups, others walked alone.
The group-types shared similar traits — twisted flesh, eyeless faces,
masses of limbs that shouldn't exist.
But the solo Kalaj? They were worse.
Each one was unique — melting beasts, acid-bodied horrors,
pitch-black shadows, or green thorned creatures
that could tear a tank apart.
Even tanks couldn't stop them.
Only Reclaimers could.
---
Eventually, governments stopped pretending they were in charge.
Instead, they made a deal — an alliance.
Reclaimers would handle defense.
The world would handle everything else.
They called it the Tower Concord.
It sounded fancy — until you realized it was basically the world admitting:
"We can't do this without you."
---
But power never stays clean for long.
When you give people the right to fight gods,
they start acting like gods.
Reclaimers formed groups — Guilds.
Each had its own symbol, rules, and ego.
Some were noble — protecting cities, rebuilding zones, training new climbers.
Others weren't.
The biggest guilds became global forces —
Aetherion from South Prithura,
Crimson March from the North,
The Dawn Path from the West,
Helix Division and Dredclaw from the East.
They built fortresses — Outposts — around the largest cities.
---
Now, Reclaimers rule quietly.
With power too dangerous to question,
and memories of a place no one else can imagine.
---
And one of them — was my idol.
The Soul Devourer.
One of the Ten Strongest Reclaimers.
He had a hidden class: Devourer of Souls.
In an old interview, he said he got it on the 10th floor —
after his teammates betrayed him.
They left him to die, but the monster turned on them instead.
Bleeding out, alone, he fought back and killed it.
That's when his power awakened.
He said it felt like the Tower itself was watching — and rewarded him for surviving.
He became my role model — proof that even when the world eats you alive,
you can still bite back.
Sometimes, I wonder what it was like for them —
inside that Tower.
The fear. The trials. The blood.
And I wonder what it'll be like for me…
when the beam comes again.
Because deep down, I know —
it's my turn next.
---
When the fourth wave came,
I was at the supermarket buying groceries.
The beam appeared —
When the beam hit me at the supermarket, my first thought wasn't "Oh no" —
it was "Of course. The one time I actually buy groceries instead of ordering in."
As everything turned white, I had one coherent engineering-student thought:
"Three years of thermodynamics, and my final exam is cosmic death basketball.
Should've taken that internship at Aetherion Guild when I had the chance."
For a moment, it felt like I'd become weightless.
Like a feather drifting through clouds.
My mind was flying away from my body.
It was weirdly peaceful.
"Even though I've never smoked," I thought,
"I'm pretty sure this is what it feels like."
---
When I opened my eyes,
I wasn't standing on Prithura anymore.
No sky.
No ground.
Just… darkness — a black ocean stretching infinitely in every direction.
Where did everyone go?
Were they here too? Or was it just me?
I tried to move, but it felt like walking through heavy air —
a strange kind of gravity, light yet suffocating.
Then, one by one, glowing silhouettes began to appear.
Hundreds of people, floating mid-air, just as terrified as I was.
Some looked calm — the trained ones.
Maybe relatives of Reclaimers,
or graduates from those fancy Tower Academies.
I couldn't afford that.
I knew nothing about this place.
And even though I usually stay calm…
what do you do when you see people floating in pitch-black nothingness?
Still, it was doable.
I'd seen worse — on TV, anyway.
The Kalaj, the ruins, the chaos — that was all real back home.
But this… this was something else.
---
Then, a metallic voice echoed inside my head.
> [Welcome, Challenger.]
[You have been chosen by the Tower.]
[Selection Phase — Initiated.]
The voice was mechanical, yet divine —
like an AI trying to imitate a god.
---
Suddenly, the floor appeared —
a circular platform made of glowing blue crystal,
forming beneath our feet like ripples of light.
Symbols spread outward from the center,
spiraling toward a massive stone gate
etched with runes that flickered like digital code.
---
> [Rule 1: Survival is mandatory.]
[Rule 2: Only those who adapt may proceed.]
[Rule 3: Failure equals erasure.]
---
And just like that…
the Tower had begun.