"Welcome!!!"
I started to scream. Flailing my arms around in a panic and flinging tears from my face, my body tightens to suppress the overwhelming pain I felt. But then it slowly dawned on me, I didn't feel pain. I also… wasn't screaming.
Cracking my eyes open slowly, I immediately realized my ability to see through my right eye. Staring down at my body, I touch my ribs, finding them not broken. I touch my face, finding it not debased.
Hearing something behind, I go to point my dagger at it, only to find I don't have a dagger.
So, now, I gazed with wide, horrified eyes at… people.
Tilting my head and feeling an intense wave of déjà vu, I quickly grip my head in my hands. I wanted to ask what was going on, but the same thing that had silenced my scream silenced everything else as well.
"Well, now that you…"
Tuning out the words, I sat there with my mouth agape, staring once more at the lanky, fashionable giant called Death.
'This must be some sort of cruel joke.' I swivel my head from side to side, my mouth still open.
I then returned to examining my body, silently laughing at the fortune that befell me. I no longer had to deal with those pesky wounds. Nodding to myself furiously, I came to the realization.
'People who die climbing the tower must return back here (injury free) and try again.'
It's a bit weird that Death would conduct this speech again, but I'm not one to question its mannerisms.
Surveying my surroundings, my eyes lock on the area where the entrance was meant to be.
Just then, a screen appears in front of my face, reading "Eternal Life".
Quickly swiping it away, I once again stared at where the opening should be.
"What happened to the opening?" I surprised myself with my voice only to realize that everyone else's voice was coming out too.
Struck with another sense of déjà vu after listening to the crowd, I feel someone tap my shoulder.
That tap felt like lightning as it felt like I was about to be stabbed. Scurrying away, I slam my back into the stony wall of this starting area, vigorously breathing in and out. Staring at the one who tapped my shoulder with incredible unease, the man with a scraggly beard, who looked to be in his twenties, wearing a simple grey shirt and shorts, look at me confused.
"You alri-" He wasn't even allowed to finish his question as Death start to talk again.
And even when the man turned back to listen to Death, my eyes remain locked on him, wondering what he was going to do. Death apparently finished with his speech as the man look back at me, his eyes still showing pure confusion.
"You all right man?"
Even though hundreds of voices had talked at the same as him, his words still rang through my ears.
"Where… where am I?"
"Well," The man scratches his head, "I'm honestly just as lost as you are. That thing said this is the… preparation floor?... so, I guess that's where we are."
"But… but…" I point over at the solid stone wall, "What happened to the opening?"
"What opening?" The man began to worry about me, "There's never been an opening there."
Just as he says that though, the ground began to shake violently, and I watch closely as the stony wall slide upwards to reveal the stairway I knew was there.
"You some sort of fortune teller buddy?" The man stares at me amazed.
"N-no… that stairway was there before." The neon lights directing us came down.
The man shrugs, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I just woke up in this place just a few moments ago. So, I'm not sure of a… before."
Gripping my head in agony, I fail to understand it even slightly. Stopping myself from asking any further useless questions, I turn back to the man. Staring back at me with a hint of worry, he decides to break the awkward ice that formed between us.
Sticking his hand out (which caused me to flinch), the man introduces himself, "I'm Marvin."
"Edwin." I take his hand carefully, giving him a 'dead fish' handshake.
There was a moment of silence once again, but Marvin broke that one too.
"So… wanna tell me about this… before."
And like the floodgates had been open, I described to him the absolute torture I'd been through and why I was here now.
"So, Edwin, you're telling me that if I die down there…" Marvin pointed over at the stairway, "I'll just show up back here."
"I think so…" I uncertainly touch my fingers together.
"Well then, what do you say that the two of us team up and go down to challenge this tower together?"
"Di-didn't you listen to a single word I said?!" I stare at him in disbelief, "There are MONSTERS down there… it's safer to stay here!"
"Mabey…" Marvin shrugs again, "But, what's the point of staying cooped up here with who knows how many other people? We could be down there challenging this… tower… and getting stronger. I think the fact that we won't die means we HAVE to go down."
"But the pain… the blood… all of it felt real… it WAS real."
"How about this then." Marvin stands up, "I'll go down, get as far as I can, and then come back here when I die. Or you can come with me, and we don't die, and we clear this tower, and Get Back Home."
"What about the giant monster?"
"The one on floor ten?" I nod, "Eh, we'll deal with it when we get there. Now… come on! Let's go clear this tower!"
Rising from my spot and heaving a sigh, I regrettably follow Marvin to the stairway.
"Oh god dam*!" Marvin's eyes pop out of his head, "It really is a stairway. I thought you were making sh*t up. Well, all right then."
Starting down the stairs, Marvin turns back to see me stuck at the top.
"Something wrong?"
Troubled by the phantoms that appeared from the stone walls to haunt me, I bit my bottom lip hard enough for it to bleed and proceed down.
Reaching the door, I see the bland, monotonous brown color of the door change slightly to a royal red color. Huffing and puffing at the sight of the door, Marvin ignores my emotional breakdown and pulls the door wide open.
"Now, how do we go through together?" Marvin asks himself.
Turning between me and the door, he eventually pulls me towards him, hooks his arm around me, and then drags me through the opening.
Feeling a wave of nausea, I managed to quell my vomit this time, but Marvin wasn't as fortunate. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he sees me.
"Oh hey, it worked." He rubs his nose smugly.
"I wasn't ready." I glare.
"So what? It's not like this floor's gonna be a problem." Marvin excitedly looks around.
"And why not?"
"Well, it's only one monster, right? It won't be hard."
"We're going to be killing something though!"
"…It's not human though…" Marvin turns toward me, wondering why I was throwing such a hissy fit, "So, what's the problem?"
I was going to argue with Marvin, but upon looking into his eyes and seeing that he had no doubt that what he said was the correct way to go about things, I silenced myself.
"About those weapons?" As he asks that, the screen appears. "Oooooh."
Looking over the screen, I wonder if I should pick dagger again. Sure, I had gotten used to it, but was that close of combat really the way to go? Touching my right eye, I decided to choose a sword. I wasn't in the mood to suffer the same injuries as last time. Staring up, I watch as a sheathed sword and spear fall.
Landing in front of the two of us, Marvin comments, "So, you chose a sword…"
"And you chose a spear."
"Yeah!" Marvin smiles happily, "My talent is advanced spearmanship after all, so it'd be a waste if I didn't use a spear… What's your talent?"
"Eternal Life…" I sigh, "Not sure what it means though. It didn't stop me from dying after all."
Shrugging his shoulders, Marvin looks around, "Now… where's that monster?"
As he asks that, the monsters appear from the tree line.
"Hey, Edwin…" Marvin points at the monsters while looking back at me, "Wasn't there supposed to be only ONE!"
Just as taken aback as he is, I stutter, "Th-there is… I-I-I don't know why there are two… I…"
Starting to hyperventilate, Marvin concludes, "Mabey it's based on the number of people who enter each floor. So, for this first floor, it is one per person. All right then."
Whipping his spear out in front, an aura of calm befalls Marvin. The monsters, as if sensing the serosity of Marvin target the person in the party that was having a panic attack – me.
Dashing towards me, I try to tear my sword from its sheath. But, just like the dagger, it wouldn't come off. Starting to cry in frustration, I look between my sword and the ever-closer monsters.
Deciding to give up on removing the sheath and using the sword like a blunt weapon, I close my eyes and swing it out in front of me. I felt my sheathed blade connect with one of the monsters flinging it violently off to the side.
Snapping my eyes open to check where the other one was, I found it perched on the end of Marvin's spear. Flinging the monster off to the side, the monster sprayed out a fountain of blood, its color eerily like that of humans.
Swiveling my head over to the monster that I hit, I see it convulsing, its bony hands digging at the ground until its fingers turned bloody. Letting out screeches and cries to signify the amount of pain it was, I stood there, not knowing what I should do.
As if having enough of it, Marvin chucks his spear at the monster, piercing it straight through the head.
"Oh hey, it worked!" Marvin seemed proud of his accomplishment, "These things are easy."
Marvin then seemed to give me a look that said, 'You got injured due to THESE things?'
Gritting my teeth to prevent myself from screaming at him in anger, I kneeled next to the monsters.
Trying to first give apologies to the one I unintentionally tortured, Marvin ruins it by unceremoniously pulling his spear from its head, pulling brain matter with the spear. No longer able to resist the urge, I vomit on the ground. And to make matters worse, Marvin, who was apparently upset with the blood on his spear, cleaned it using his shirt.
"How are you okay with this?!" I can't hold back any longer.
But rather than getting the response I was hoping for, Marvin simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Oh hey," Marvin looks up, "The stairs really did appear."
Calmly starting up the stairs, I stare at the climbing Marvin, my feeling complicated. Sure, he cleared the first floor with ease, which I'm grateful for, but was taking a life that easily without remorse admirable? Unfortunately, I had no way to answer that question.
Running my hand through my hair, I release a deep sigh before following Marvin. Reaching the top, I find an energetic Marvin waiting for me.
"So, you say that in the next area, there's water, right?"
Nodding my head slowly, I remind him, "There are also monsters lying in wake behind us."
"Yeah, but I'm feeling parched, so I'd like a bit of that water." Marvin pulls on the door handles, "Now, come along Edwin, we have the rest of the tower ahead of us."
Letting out another sigh, I let Marvin hook his arm around my head and drag me through the door.