After I pressed [Yes], the world suddenly regained its color.
What had happened? What was this Tower that I was invited to? Is coming back from death even possible?
The world was still slowly regaining color. Regaining the ability to see, tinges of green and brown appeared here and there. The sky had now become bright blue like in the morning. I could now feel a soft breeze pressing on my body, hear the wind whistle and people murmuring.
Trying my best to move my body led to no results.
At last! After what seemed like an eternity of paralysis, I regained control over my own body.
I was still wearing my tracksuit; it still had holes from the knife slashes. Wait! Knife slashes? Quickly examining my body, I found that no wounds could be found. Even my legs and left arm were fully healed. Just what had happened!?
I looked around at my surroundings. Where!? Where was I ?!? How did I get here?!
Surrounded by trees, bushes, and grass, some people were lying on the ground while some were talking amongst themselves. There were at least a hundred people here combined.
Trying to make sense of my situation, I reached no rational conclusion. Just what had happened? Is this all related to the blue screen that appeared before me? What was that voice which asked if I wanted to live? Just what was going on!?
After beating my head for some time, I still couldn't understand what had happened. It was no use thinking about things I had no idea about; I could only see and examine what was in front of me.
I started examining the crowd. Men and women of all ages, young, old, and adolescents, covered the empty field surrounded by what looked like a forest.
I tried to get closer to some of the people in order to listen in on their conversations.
"What happened! I was walking down the alleyway towards my home when I suddenly lost consciousness. When I woke up, I found myself here!" said a man who looked like he was in his middle thirties.
"Exactly! I was comfortably watching TV in my house when I suddenly lost consciousness and woke up here." Said another voice that belonged to a woman who appeared to be in her late twenties.
I eavesdropped on some more conversations; it was all the same. All the people were confused and afraid. Nobody seemed to know just what had taken place. But all of them had another thing in common, they were all suddenly transported here. They were busy living their daily lives when they suddenly fell unconscious and woke up here.
But then, what about me? Why did I receive a 'request' to enter the Tower?
It was when I was lost in thought that I suddenly heard a sound right behind my ear "Fancy seeing you here."
A woman? Wait!! I had heard this voice before!! That Night! On the docks! It is the same person who attacked me! I quickly swung my leg backward, performing a roundabout kick.
My leg met with the face of a woman. It seemed like she didn't expect me to attack her out of the blue. But before that, what was she even doing here!?
Her face met the ground. Soon, after regaining herself, she spitted out some blood and said, "That was fair. After all, I did knock you out on the docks. But you are the only person I am somewhat aware of among these people. It's best if we work together, at least till we understand what is happening."
Elizabeth! That's right, her name was Elizabeth. Even though what she said was valid and logical, just what made her think that I would team up with her!?
"There are plenty of other people here! Go team up with any of them! Even If I do team up with you what guarantee do I have that you won't attack my back again." I asked.
"That day, I didn't know who you were! I saw a person stalking my brother and his girlfriend, so I knocked you out. But I know what you did! You put John Vladson behind bars and even saved Marie from herself. I am truly sorry for what I did back then," Said Elizabeth as she bowed.
It looked like she was telling the truth. Although I still could not bring myself to fully trust her, it was logical to team up with someone who I knew somewhat, even though our last meeting wasn't ideal.
"Fine! But, we will only be together until we figure out what the hell is going on!" I said, trying to sound threatening.
Elizabeth let out a slight laugh and replied affirmatively.
Even though I didn't trust her, being with someone was better than being alone in an unknown place.
All of the unconscious people had now woken up and added to the confusion.
Looking around, I realized I now had time to examine Elizabeth.
She looked the same age as me and had a modest height of around 5'9 foot. She had fair skin with dark black hair. Eyes that were neither too wide nor too narrow and a sleek nose. She wore a dark black T-shirt along with dark black jeans. In the eyes of an average person, she might have looked gorgeous, but for me, she was just an entity I needed to be wary of.
Suddenly, thunder started crackling, and a figure emerged from the thick forest that surrounded us. The figure appeared to be a man who was in his early 20s. He wore a black shirt with jeans and a white overcoat hanging loosely on him. He had brown skin and black hair.
"Hello, participants!!" Said the mysterious figure. His voice somehow boomed throughout the forest and pierced everybody's ears.
I covered my ears with my hands as I crouched to the ground, controlling my urge to scream. His voice was too sharp and painful!
"Ahem, ahem," coughed the figure and continued in a voice that was audible to everybody but did not sting the ears, "My name is Haldon! I am the person who has been assigned to administrate the tutorial in which all of you will be participating."
Haldon waited for some time, maybe because he expected the crowd to go into cheers as soon as they heard his name.
"Oh sorry! I completely forgot! You guys do not know anything about the Tower, do you?" asked Haldon.
After examining the expressions on everybody's faces, he continued, "It's my fault; I should have explained from the very start. The Tower is a place where if one reaches its top, one can become a god and acquire or do whatever they wish! Every year, participants from all the planets are given the opportunity to climb the Tower. The participants are selected completely at random and summoned to the Tower!!" Said Haldon. He expected the crowd to be ecstatic, but the group behaved in the opposite manner.
"What nonsense is this! I never signed up to enter the Tower! Let me go back! I have a family waiting for me!" said someone from the crowd.
"Yes! Let us go back! I don't care about this nonsense about becoming a god!" said another voice.
Many voices from the crowd suddenly started screaming in unison, "Let us go back! Let us go back!"
Deciding that it would be best not to say anything until I had obtained more information, I kept my mouth shut. Elizabeth decided to do the same.
Haldon suddenly took to the air. He was flying!? How was it even possible!
"It seems like you do not understand the situation you are in! Once you are summoned by the Tower, you have no other choice but to climb it, and the only way you can go back home is if you climb to the top of the Tower!" Haldon said, sounding a little irritated.
"How is that fair! We want to go back!" Shouted some people from amongst the crowd.
Haldon snapped his fingers, and a big bolt of lightning struck right in front of the crowd of people. The ground, which was covered in bright green leaves, burnt in an instant. I was taken aback; how is this possible? Magic?
"SEE! This is the power, I, a ranker, one of the strongest in the tower command! I can easily kill all of you lowlifes with a single snap of my fingers, but, as the Tower gave me the responsibility to conduct the tutorial, that is what I am going to do!" Haldon screamed, sounding irritated and furious by the perversive behavior of the crowd.
The crowd had stopped protesting due to fear and listened attentively to Haldon.
After regaining his composure, Haldon coughed before speaking again, "As I was saying, many fortunate individuals are given the opportunity to climb the Tower. But before you are permitted to enter the Tower, you must first prove yourselves! That is what this tutorial is for!"
"Also as you may have already noticed, you were transported here only with your clothes intact, all your other belongings, injuries and diseases have already been removed. As such, the Tower will provide you with basic weapons for the tutorial." Said Haldon as he snapped his fingers.
A screen appeared in front of me.
[Please choose your weapon of choice]
Along with this message, a list of a few weapons was also shown. This list included a sword, a wooden staff, a dagger, a bow, a spear, a shield, and a giant hammer.
"So, what are you going to choose?" Asked Elizabeth.
"Although I would like to take the non-lethal route by choosing the staff, I do not know what challenges await me. As such I will choose the sword, it will provide me with the most mobility while also being lethal. What have you decided on choosing?" I asked.
"The spear for now. Although I am most skilled in narcotics and poison, I like taking care of my opponent from a distance unless I have a poisoned dagger or injection," Replied Elizabeth.
"An injection containing poison? Is that what you attacked me with on the docks?"
"Eh? Ahhh….. I didn't inject you with anything super harmful, just a little thing to help you sleep. I already asked forgiveness for it though." Said Elizabeth, her face turning red with shame.
As soon as I selected the sword option, a sword magically appeared in my hands. It was a passable sword with a sharp edge and firm grip.
"Now, allow me to tell you, your test for the tutorial." Haldon said as his lips curved upwards, revealing a grin that looked borderline evil, "You will have to survive in the dark forest that surrounds you for an entire week!"