The world was shaken by the sudden appearance of the World Tower. News outlets flooded the world with the impending horror that the world might face.
Kian was brought back to his senses a few minutes after the beam was lit up from inside of him. He looked around and realized that he was in a bed with his brother sitting beside him. He was staring blankly at the tower right outside of the window, eyes dark as his body radiated with the light from the beacon.
Kian also had the same light as Brent, except his was much more faint than the other one.
"This is a disaster," Brent sighed. "Just moments ago, the government called us out to come to them. We have 12 hours to prepare for the World Tower."
Kian gulped. "You mean they really want us to get inside that thing?"
"That or the world will go up in smokes," Brent chuckled. "I think we have no other choice but to follow. The World Tower will open in a week and we still have to train and prepare."
"The both of us were selected, huh?" Kian chuckled as he shook his head. "That was too random."
"From eight billion people, it has to be the two of us to be one of the eighty-eight," Brent snorted. "Fate is so fucked up."
The door swung open with a man entering the room. He wore a black suit with black sunglasses. His right hand was inside of his suit while the other one held the door for an older woman to get inside.
"Mother?" Brent jumped off the bed and walked over the woman. "What are you doing here? You should be back home."
"How can I calm down when my only son is going to an unknown war?" the woman sighed. She sat on the couch opposite of the bed and dramatically placed the back of her hand on her forehead. "This is horrible. I could faint."
"Madam Helen," Kian bowed his head and got off the bed too. "What can I do for you?"
Helen curled her left brow up and smirked. "Funny you think that you can do anything for me. You're a good-for-nothing boy who has nothing in this world. Now, what can you do for me?"
"Mother–"
"They are right. There's another one here," Helen held her hand out and narrowed her eyes. "Are you glowing too? Are you also a hero for the World Tower?"
Somehow, this excited Helen. She stood from the couch and walked towards Kian, smirking widely. "I know what you can do for me, boy."
Brent stepped in between them and shook his head. "No. I know what's you're going to do and it's not going to work."
"No," Brent said firmly. "Kian will not go to the World Tower."
Kian looked at Brent. "What? I should go. They will kill us all if I don't go."
"The eighty-eight heroes does not necessarily have to enter," Brent said. "It's in the rules. We don't even have to enter and just let them destroy us all."
"Either way, you don't have to go,". Brent said.
Helen shook her head and threw her hands away before exiting the room. The guards followed her and closed the door before they left.
Kian glared at Brent. "I will go."
"No," Brent said. "You will stay here and not go."
Kian scoffed. "Why? You always protect me. When we were young, you were always behind me. You're always trying to save me."
"You don't have the Soul!" Brent yelled. When he saw the confused look that Kian had, he grabbed the younger man's hand and dragged him out of the room. He took Kian to the rooftop where four helicopters surrounded the building.
There were people who carried notes and pens outside, a lof of them brought cameras that endlessly flashed. "What is going on?" Kian asked.
Brent pointed at the sky, right at the end of the beacon. Kian looked up and saw the faint light end half the length of Brent's beacon. The one Brent had bears a lion symbol, brightly glowing high above the sky.
"Screen On," Brent commanded. "Just earlier, we received instructions to access the system that we have to use in the World Tower. Command it just like how I did."
"System?" Kian narrowed his eyes, confused. He tried to follow what his brother told him, "Screen On?"
A blue holographic screen appeared in front of him. His eyes widened and his head slowly turned to look at his brother, Brent smirking. "We have the same reaction."
"What is this?" Kian asked. "What do I do with this?"
"I wish people's recording of the screen from the World Tower wasn't tampered so it would be easier to explain, but it's not," Brent sighed. "That screen that you have is called your Status. It shows the different stats of yourself which includes the summary of your skills."
Kian glanced at the holographic screen, studying its content.
< Hero: KIAN
Level: 0
Soul: Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer
Physical Damage: 50
Magic Damage: 50
Physical Defense: 25
Magic Defense: 25
Movement Speed: 20
Attack Speed: 20
Skills:
[Error]
Special Ability:
[Error] >
"Error?" Kian narrowed his eyes at the screen, wondering why it was displaying such. "How come my Skills and Special Ability shows error?"
Brent was frozen for a couple of seconds before he released a sigh. "I guess you should know something else while you are gone."
"Something else?" Kian gulped.
The older brother led the younger one outside of the room. They traveled to a hallway and to the stairs where they reached the rooftop.
Helicopter sounds!!
Kian ducked as several helicopters surrounded the building that they were on. Brent only laughed and pointed down below. When his brother looked, Kian could only gasp when he saw that the building was blocked by large railings, which stopped the reporters and journalists from entering.
"What is happening?" Kian asked, looking at his brother who had a smirk on his face.
"This is what it means to be one of the world's chance for survival," Brent said as he pointed at the sky. "Look at that."
Kian followed the older man's finger and found his eyes gazing on two different beams of light. One was bright and solid, but the other one was faint and transparent that it was barely visible.
Kian owned the faint beam.
On top of the beam, a few thousand meters from where they are, the beam from Brent had a symbol at the tip. It was a lion head symbol, showing the Soul that inhabit Brent's body.
But when Kian saw his, there was none. It confused him. He stared at his brother who had a concerned look. "What is this?"
"I have been asking the same question, Kian," Brent said. "I don't know why it's like this, but the rest of the Heroes have visible symbols, each with the one from the eighty-eight constellations, but yours is missing."
"Missing…" Kian trailed off. "What do you mean by missing?"
"Maybe this was the reason why you had an error on your Status screen," Brent said. "It's because you have no symbol on the beam. But then I don't really know. We don't know how to contact the owner of the World Tower or that man who talked to us. We can't answer why your beam looks like that."
Kian was filled with questions, but he figured out panicking wouldn't help him in this situation. He nodded and asked Brent what his Status screen shows.
When his brother told him about his stats, Kian understood that they have the same numbers. That must be the base stats of the Heroes that are sent to the World Tower.
"I have to go home," Kian suddenly said. "I have to tell my mother where I'm going."
"You don't have to."
Helen said behind them. When the brothers turned around, they saw Kian's mother standing beside Helen. "Brent brought them here. The media will soon know the family that owns the only beam that looks like that. Journalists and reporters will flood the hospital. Thank your boss."
Kian did not hesitate to bow in front of Brent. The latter growled at his mother, "I did what I have to do. He is my dad too."
"Kian," Helen said. "I want to offer you a deal."
This piqued Kian's interest. Helen has always been harsh on him even when he did nothing wrong to her. She hated Kian's father so much, but her anger was directed at him.
"Mother–"
"The government's support can only take your family so far, Kian," Helen said. "You work endlessly just to pay your father's hospital bills, but the government is not willing to pay that much. Especially when Brent is the one who pays for you. You have only been paying five percent of what you should be paying. The hospital reported the actual amount to the government and they said that they couldn't sustain such costly expenses."
"Brent?" Kian's eyes widened as he slowly turned to his brother. "You think I could not handle it?"
"One hundred thousand dollars a month," Helen said. "That's the bill for the hospital. Could you do it?"
"What are you saying, Helen?" Kian asked, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. "What are you suggesting?"
"Well since you and Brent will enter the World Tower, let me continue what Brent has been doing for you in exchange, you'll have to protect him inside no matter what," Helen offered. "If he dies inside that tower, you will pay. And if you die too, then your mother will pay for you. No matter what happens, my son has to stay safe. Even if you have to die for him, do it."