Only two out of billions had survived the trials.
On the tower's final floor, Kang Taehyuk and Seo Joonwoo stood in silence.
The battle was over. But their victory did not come without sacrifice.
Everyone else was dead.
Their corpses were littered across the floor chamber.
Some torn apart.
Others reduced to scattered limbs.
There was no celebration.
Only tears and each other left.
But this dead silence was suddenly broken.
The tower had responded to their victory.
"Congratulations. The 100th floor of the basic trials had concluded."
Then the tower spoke again.
"The advanced trials had been unlocked."
The towers words was projected in their status windows.
At the sight of the second line, they came to a hard realization.
Their already tired, tear-stained faces fell even deeper into despair.
This was not the end of the trials.
A bell echoed throughout the dead floor.
Suddenly, a door manifested before them out of thin air.
Kang Taehyuk was the first to move.
He stood a step back.
It was purely instinctual, a result of his countless harsh battles.
His body reacted before his mind could know what was happening.
Seo Joonwoo on the other hand, had stood still for a brief moment, trying to examine the current situation before making a move.
It did not look like a reward or an escape from here.
But a way forward towards the new floor.
Beyond the cracks of the door was pure darkness.
It was like an abyss.
Even standing in close proximity, made their instincts scream.
Kang Taehyuk's instincts burned violently.
Every inch of his body reacted to the pressure, urging action to be taken.
But this was different. The pressure was stronger than anything he had faced before.
Seo Joonwoo's expression darkened as he felt it too.
His body instinctively tried to move away from the door.
But he forced himself to stay standing next to Kang Taehyuk.
They took a single step forward together and pushed the door open.
The moment they stepped inside, the darkness pulled them in and the world around them began to change.
Everything went pitch black. It felt like the concept of time was removed completely.
After an unknowable amount of time, they arrived in front of the entrance to Floor 1 of the Advanced Trials.
The two found themselves returned to their previous standing position.
One glance at the entrance was enough.
This was an insurmountable wall, one that's impossible to climb over.
"This… isn't possible."
Seo Joonwoo collapsed onto his knees.
Kang Taehyuk did not speak straight away.
His body was still on alert.
There was nothing else around them, only the entrance remains.
If they had continued forward in their current condition, they wouldn't have a chance of survival.
The two went into a long silence.
The final floor which had took countless lives and left only the two barely alive.
This new entrance showed them that this was only just the beginning of their journey.
Seo Joonwoo finally spoke, his voice steady despite the current situation.
"If we go further… we die."
Kang Taehyuk closed his eyes for a brief moment.
He did not try argue. He understood it too.
The two of them was not enough.
However, they had another option besides entering the first floor.
A last resort they had both agreed never to use unless absolutely necessary.
But that moment was now.
Kang Taehyuk reached into his inventory and retrieved a small object.
It did not look powerful. It did not radiate light or energy.
But the moment it appeared, the space around it became unstable.
It was a unique time artifact obtained from completing the 99th floor.
Seo Joonwoo's gaze sharpened at a glance. Immediately understanding what it meant.
"Are you sure?" Seo Joonwoo mumbled.
"If we enter the first floor, we would die anyway," Kang Taehyuk said in a defeated tone.
"The pressure from the entrance alone was enough to immobilize us."
They looked at each other for a small moment. Then they both nodded.
The time artifact activated and out blasted a beam of light, dyeing everything white
The world fractured without a sound. The tower's floor distorted, light collapsed inward.
The two's bodies felt weightless and their senses were shut off.
Their entire history, everything they went through, began to reverse.
Together, Kang Taehyuk and Seo Joonwoo were pulled backward in time.
This was their second chance, to prepare better for the advanced trials.
To take and use any opportunity to get stronger and gather more people.
But most importantly, to prevent the numerous deaths that happened.
Then reality stabilized. Time stopped reversing.
The gears of time began to move forward again.
Upon opening their eyes, the two found themselves back at the first floor of the basic trials.
Kang Taehyuk and Seo Joonwoo then found themselves standing together.
Their wounds, equipment, abilities and items were all reset.
Everything was reset back to their level one selves, only their memories remained.
They exchanged a look of relief and smirked.
"Let's do this… from the beginning again."