The staircase of light ended in what looked like a… classroom.
Yeah.
After surviving a monster attack and an existential crisis, I was now standing in front of floating chairs and a glowing blackboard that said:
> [Welcome to Floor One: The Tutorial.]
Oh, wonderful. The Tower had school too.
Maybe next floor they'd give us homework and midterms.
I looked around. The survivors from before were scattered — bruised, pale, and traumatized — but alive.
And then… the voice returned.
> [Greetings, Challengers. This floor will test your understanding of Prana — the essence of all life.]
Prana.
Right. Because it wouldn't be a mysterious Tower without some philosophical nonsense.
Still, I listened — mostly because ignoring a cosmic god-AI didn't sound healthy.
> [You will learn to manipulate energy through emotion, focus, and will.]
So basically yoga, but with a death penalty.
---
We were told to sit on the floating chairs, which adjusted themselves like smart cushions.
As soon as I sat down, a pulse of blue light wrapped around me — warm, but not painful.
It entered my body like caffeine straight to the soul.
That's when the headache began.
Like someone was rewiring my brain using lightning bolts.
A few people laughed weakly.
At least pain still had a sense of humor.
---
> [Breathe. Feel. Channel.]
The voice guided us as small orbs of light floated around our hands.
Mine flickered like a dying bulb.
Meanwhile, some overachiever girl next to me was glowing like she had eaten a reactor core.
She looked peaceful, calm — and then BOOM, her chair exploded.
> "Well," I muttered, "that's one way to drop out."
I said that still the shiver that i can be also the one who can be dropped out by tower
---
Slowly, my orb stabilized.
A faint spark hovered above my palm — tiny, but alive.
> [Prana synchronization: 9%.] [Skill unlocked: Focus Stream – Tier 0.]
"Tier zero? Great, I'm officially useless with style."
Still, the warmth inside me felt… good. Like energy waiting to burst.
And for the first time since I arrived here, I wasn't afraid — just curious.
---
> [Tutorial complete.] [Proceed to the next trial.]
The classroom began to dissolve, and the glowing staircase appeared again — stretching upward into the unknown.
I took one last breath, cracked my neck, and muttered:
> "Alright, Tower. Show me what midlife crisis you've got next."
Suddenly another notification blinked in the air:
> [Say "Status Window" to view your current attributes.]
I hesitated for a second.
"Status window," I said, feeling slightly ridiculous.
A faint hum followed, and then a blue screen appeared mid-air — glowing softly, floating just in front of my face like a hologram from a sci-fi movie.
---
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Ekayan
Age: 21
Stats:
Prana – 9 (Energy Pool)
Shakti – 6 (Strength)
Mantra – 7 (Intellect / Spell Understanding)
Agni – 5 (Vitality )
Thread – 8 (Agility )
Adhya – 7 (Willpower )
Tej – 6 (Charisma )
Luck – 4 (Variance Factor)
Prana Core Status: Stability – 73% | Purity – 62%
Class: Not yet chosen
[Trait Unlocked: Observer's Instinct.]
[Skill unlocked: Focus Stream – Tier 0.]
---
I blinked.
"So basically… my soul just turned into an RPG character sheet."
Somewhere in the distance, someone shouted, "I got a Class!"
Show-off.
I looked again at my stats.
Average everything, below-average luck.
Figures. Even in another dimension, I'm still middle-class.
The glowing window faded slowly, leaving me alone again with the staircase of light ahead.
> "Alright, Tower," I sighed, "let's see how much worse you can get."
And then, I stepped into the light.