When I arrived on the third floor, I expected the usual:
either pitch-black nothingness or that blinding white void the Tower seems to love.
But no.
This place… was a desert.
Massive mountains of sand stretched all around, constantly shifting — collapsing, rebuilding, reshaping like reality was stuck buffering. And there were way more people than before. Looked like the Tower merged everyone from the tutorial floor into one place.
Even then, the count felt wrong.
Less. Much less than the original 5,789.
How do I know?
Because a glowing blue screen was floating in front of us like a PowerPoint presentation from God.
[Current Survivors: 5,789]
Except the number kept flickering, glitching — and eventually settled way lower.
Honestly, until now, the only thing guiding us was that blue screen. It acted like some lazy, emotionless supervisor who didn't care if we lived or died.
Then a new message appeared:
[Welcome to Floor 2]
Floor 1 includes Selection + Tutorial.
Now… real trials begin.
Real trials.
Meaning everything before this was the warm-up.
Nice.
People around me started whispering, panicking, calculating their chances of dying.
"Bro, only this many survived?"
"What's gonna happen to us?"
"I swear I should've stayed home today…"
Before anyone could panic properly, the blue screen flashed again:
[Objective: Survive 10 Waves of Monsters]
Gate opens upon completion.
Ten waves.
TEN.
Some people looked ready.
Most looked like they wanted to uninstall life.
One overconfident guy muttered,
"Just survive? That's all? I killed a mosquito in the tutorial. Easy."
Yes bro, because mosquitoes and monster waves are basically the same thing.
---
The waves begin
The ground vibrated.
The sand shifted like something huge crawled beneath it.
Then they came — monsters bursting out of the dunes like nightmares trying to escape.
No dramatic music.
No countdown.
Just instant chaos.
People screamed.
Some charged ahead.
Some turned and ran like their life depended on it — which, to be fair, it did.
I didn't think.
I just used my power —
and the monster I hit vanished instantly.
No struggle.
No resistance.
Something felt off, like our powers were stronger here.
I glanced around.
Many others were doing well too — slicing, burning, punching.
But that didn't stop the deaths.
And this time…
the bodies didn't disappear.
Blood soaked the sand.
Limbs scattered everywhere.
Someone's severed arm rolled right next to my feet.
The smell hit me a second later — and I immediately puked.
This wasn't like the tutorial where bodies vanished neatly.
This was real.
My mind blanked. My breathing got messy.
Then suddenly, a cold wave washed through my head.
Observer Instinct.
My skill snapped me back into focus, like someone pressed the reset button on my emotions.
Hands still shaking, I forced myself to continue fighting.
---
20 minutes later — Wave 1 Ends
A notification drifted above us.
[Wave 1 Cleared]
[Survivors Remaining: 4,789]
More than a thousand people dead in just one wave.
A thousand.
Most of us didn't even know each other, yet the silence that followed felt… heavy. The kind where nobody wants to talk because reality is too loud.
But strangely — we weren't tired.
In fact, I felt stronger.
Sharper.
Like the monsters had injected adrenaline into my veins.
Some Tower buff was doing its work.
I checked my stats.
Monsters defeated: 20
Skill Points earned: 5
Twenty monsters… and that was just the first wave.
Someone behind me whispered, "If Wave 1 is like this… what's Wave 10 gonna be?"
No one answered.
We all had the same fear.
The Tower didn't let us rest for long.
Another notification blinked softly, almost mockingly, like it enjoyed our suffering.
[Prepare for Wave 2]
The sand around us trembled again.
People tightened their grips.
Some prayed.
Some cried silently.
Some tried to act brave.
Me?
I just stared at the dunes and muttered to myself—
"Bro… why am I here? I just wanted a government job…"
The ground split open.
More things crawled out.
And the Tower welcomed us into hell again.