I got to inspect around, as the tower didn't consider that you'd entered until you took a step. It gave the people a false sense of safety. You couldn't actually turn around even if you wanted to. Nothing would attack you until that first step. A cityscape crawled outward from me. Large buildings overgrown with plants. Some parts look decrepit and broken. Large vines between the buildings at one point or another. I took a step forward when a pop-up showed itself.
"Welcome to the Tower of Trials
You have entered the 'Nature's Revenge' trial:
survive for the next 168 hours.
Completion: rewarded skill and up to 654,000 coins Failure: Death
Good Luck"
654,000 coins were the equivalent of 840,000,000 USD. I will admit that I'm terrified after reading this. Run through the tower door didn't let me think about it until now. People die in here and that it is extremely likely to die as well. It felt real now that I'm standing here. I gasped, having forgotten to breathe for a moment. The air is frosty and bites at my lungs. The pressure of the world around me is unlike anything I have ever felt. "It's okay. I know what to do. I trained for this. Let's walk carefully to find a food source first. Once it gets dark, I'll break into a building and hide for as long as I can. I have emergency rations, so I'll be fine for a while," I muttered, looking around at everything. My head swiveled from side to side. I'm trying to convince myself that everything is going to be okay. I took my knife out of its sheath and held it. My left hand held the back of the blade near the hilt. I walked near the buildings so that I could quickly hide if something came my way. I could hear screams and scuffles every few minutes. Most of which were too far to do anything or I couldn't figure out the direction they came from. I knew people were fighting something, as I could hear the gunshots and screaming every once in a while. I had yet to see what was attacking us. My heart pounded in my chest, getting louder the longer I went without meeting an enemy. I wanted to tell myself that maybe this level is easier than we were told. Maybe my group is stronger than others, but I knew that line of thinking would make me cocky and get me killed. The survival rate is so low that I knew I didn't really have a chance, but I didn't want to die. Fear of the towers and what the trials have done to the other groups.
"Screech" I heard from the left. I'm halfway down the road when I heard that sound. A girl getting attacked by one of the plant monsters. Her team ran away without her. I could hear her screaming for them to come back, that she didn't want to die. My legs wobbled looking at the monster rip, and claw at the girl struggling. The monster is the size of a light pole but as fat as a car. I knew they were big, but it's different seeing it in person. I took a few steps back, wanting to run and hide somewhere they wouldn't find me.
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE! PLEASE!" The girl screamed, fighting back with all her might. It looked like maybe adrenaline kicked in as she fought back more fiercely than before, even by a small bit.
Her yell gave me a little strength in my legs. I'm weak, but so is she. Together, maybe we don't have to be alone. I turned and ran towards her. I'm gonna help. Calling upon the plants to help me. I felt them react in the back of my head, excitedly thinking I'm actually gonna help. When I felt something grab my waist. Looking down at it to see a vine that pulled me up and away from the monster. When I let out a yelp, the girl turned to look at me, which gave the monster its opening. Her eyes met mine as the monster sliced through her abdomen. I saw her gasp for breath and the pain flashed through her eyes before they tugged me too far to see anything more. The monster killed the girl and pulled me away somewhere.
The vines flung me into the air before being grabbed by another vine. I couldn't get my bearing on where I'm going. When It all stopped and I'm thrown against the final vine that caught me. I gripped my sides as they stung from the violent flight. The vine dumped out onto a concrete slab. It took a moment to get my stomach to stop turning. That and to gasp air after having it ripped from me several times while being thrown and caught. Looking around, I saw that I'm on the balcony of an apartment that was at least six stories high. I turned and saw that plants were moving toward me. There were three flowers on the balcony; they were different colors: blue, yellow, and red. The color stood out for a moment as I moved to figure out my next move. I briefly wondered if the person who lived here liked to grow things, too.
I looked at the glass door. There is only one way to go. Pulling on the door, I'm surprised to find it's not locked. I entered the apartment. I needed to find a way out of here. When I found the inside stairs, it covered them in pods that contained monsters. The monster would pop out and kill whatever was around it. On the bright side, the pods were not smart creatures, as they would even attack the other plants. There isn't enough room to move down the stairs without at least touching them. That plan is out the window the moment I saw the pods. The next and only option is the fire exit. It took looking through the other apartments on the floor before I found it. There were plants that were growing toward the sixth floor and met me on the fire escape. They grew, taking over as much of the latter stairs down as they could. I tried to hurry down them so that I could escape when I'm once again grabbed by a vine and deposited onto the balcony that I arrived on. I tried again only to be placed on the balcony again with the vine poking my chest, then pointing at the apartment. The movement shocked me into sitting there for a moment. The vine moved, and I saw the sun setting just over the banister. It would be dangerous for me to escape now. Even if I escaped, the animal monsters would start hunting soon.
The animal monsters are the worst part of this trial. It morphed them into giant versions of themselves with the desire to kill and maim anyone they come across. They were strong and, unlike the plant monsters that had to stop when the sun went down, the animals didn't have a restriction. The plants would shake and reached out for the person they were attacking before stopping all movement all together. The animals kept killing until they were satisfied or exhausted. Thankfully, they still needed sleep, so if you could hide long enough, you could escape them.
I had all night to watch the world around me. I didn't dare move around while sitting on the floor on the other side of the glass. Unlike during the day, it was eerie quiet during the night. I strained to listen to the world. I don't know why the plants wanted me to stay here. The last few hours told me they would keep me here. It would be hard to escape from the apartment. With the plants all watching me. Even if I got away from the apartment, they would probably just drag me back. I'm safe from things for now. It would be easier for me to stay here until I no longer could. I felt like I'm cheating on the trial. Wondering how long I'm going to be kept here. I couldn't be too angry about it. The view from the apartment is beautiful. Without all the lights, I could see the stars that covered the sky. They were everywhere, shining and twinkling. My eyes started hurting from watching the stars. I hardly blinked at the silly idea that the stars would suddenly disappear on me.
When the sun rose over the horizon, I smiled. It's time to look around the apartment. It is a graciously large two-bedroom apartment. Looking in the pantry, there is a lot of stored food. The fridge had a similar food situation. I wondered if there were more apartments like this. If they all had food or if it was only a few of them. I had to search for them while looking for an exit, but I didn't take the time to actually look for anything but a door a window out of this place.
I quickly got into the next apartment to look around there. It didn't have any food, but it had a lot of fabric and sewing things in one room. Shrugged, not knowing what to do with them. Before repeating the process with the next two apartments, finding nothing in those. The last one I had little hope of finding anything around. While searching the main bedroom, I opened the closet and found what looked like a gun safe. "I wonder if that means we're in the USA?" I said, trying the handle. It's locked.
"If this was a game, the code would be somewhere nearby," I muttered, looking at the room again. I found nothing in this apartment. The emptiness of the apartment gave a weird vibe. It's not like the other apartments, as they had a project or hobby that the owner had. There's no sign of any sort of thing in this one.
I searched for the other apartments. "There's more to this," I whispered, entering the first apartment. The apartment with the seamstress living there had to have something of value. The apartment is a chaotic mess, like someone left while in the middle of a project. Too large of a mess, I felt overwhelmed while looking at it and not knowing where to start. I picked up a blue fabric only to put it down again to pick up another fabric.
"I can't focus like this," I muttered before deciding to clean it up a bit. I wouldn't be able to find anything standing here and looking at the mess is making it feel like an impossible mission. So I picked up that blue fabric again and folded it before putting it down and moving to the next. I spent the next two hours folding fabric before I made it to the sewing table. They also covered it in many things. There were needles, pins, clothespins, and bits of plastic with thread on them. I looked at it, finding the organizers for the thread. I began putting them away, not caring if they were in order. Truthfully, I'm just ignoring the nagging voice at the back of my head, that it would look better if I color-coded them. After putting away the threads, I looked around at all the hard work I had done. It felt gratifying that I cleaned up so much. I'm making some actual progress when I saw a drawing of what the owner was making. It looked like a costume for a Comic Con or something. In the drawing's corner had '7' in red. As the only bit of color on the paper, it stood out. Figuring that this is one number to the code, I tried the other rooms for hints.
They filled the second apartment with model figures. There were two bookshelves that had six shelves, with a bunch of figures on either side of the TV. I assume they played a lot of DND or something. It's cleaner than the last apartment, but I am still lost in what to look for. I searched the apartment for more something to stand out but I couldn't find anything. Just more DND items, but nothing stood out as abnormal. Walking back into the living room, I looked at the shelves with the figures on them. I didn't want to have to search for them, as I knew it would take a long time. After a moment, I gave up and went looking for a paper to write on. I found it in a desk drawer. I walked back to the living room, lifting each model to see if there's a clue on the back of one of them. Though I am careful not to move them from their spot. I got to the second shelf after searching for more or less a hundred figures. My eyes were getting heavy and my brain came up with unknown places to escape to. Sighing, I took a few steps back and tripped on the coffee table. Once I had my balance back, I sat down and looked again, trying to find anything, a pattern or something that stood out. While looking at the two bookshelves, I noticed there were fewer of blue figures on the right shelf. I got up and inspected them. At the bottom of them, there is a line. They figured had a magnet in them that made them click into certain positions. I took them down and rearranged them to get the number '4' on the bottom.
"Red seven, blue four, what's the last one?" I said, walking back to the safe. There isn't a color code on the safe. I had already searched the apartment with a fine-tooth comb earlier to find the code. Racking my brain for a place where I saw color. I ruled out the sewing apartment and the figurine apartment as in games if there were a lot of rooms, there will only be one clue per room. When I returned to the hall, I remembered something in the apartment I had arrived in. Walking back to the balcony, I saw those three flowers again. I smiled, turned back, and walked back to the safe. Holding back from running to the safe.
"47…" I muttered, turning the numbers in the code until the latch gave. I opened the safe to see several weapons. There were three handguns, a sniper, a spear, ammo for the guns, and a couple of attachments. "Jackpot," I said, grabbing them different weapons to inspect them.
After a while, I got tired and my eyes grew heavy. I went back to the original apartment to eat some food. When looking around the apartment, I found granola bars, so I opted to eat them instead of wasting my food reserves. I sat on the balcony to eat, looking out over the cityscape. Sunset in the Tower differs from the real world. Colors paint the horizon start with golden rays that bleed into a hot pink, which later fade into a deep purple. The clouds I could see bathed in the light. The hot pink of the sky turned into a peach pink on the clouds. I saw that some of the glass that still clung to the building caused them to shine back. The building, covered in glittering colors, made the scene one I would always remember.
An idea caused me to throw myself into a sitting. 'That would be dangerous… but if it worked' My mind argued. Wondered if I had a death wish. 'I could change this trial into my own. I can help them,' that voice whispered in my left ear. Looking out to the world down below. To change the battlefield without having to leave the apartment. Either way, it's too late to do anything tonight, as I am too exhausted from the day's troubles. Tomorrow I had a plan to help those that entered with me. If I went through with the thought at all. 'Who am I kidding? I'll do it,' I thought before my eyes closed for the night.
I grew bold at a new theory I have. That if nature is keeping me safe, would the animals even be able to hurt me? At worst, I knew how to get out of here. I could save someone or buy them time to get away. So I got to work during the day finding all the electronics in the six apartments. When the sun I set about flipping on all the lights and electronics to make noise. When I peek out over the edge of the balcony, I see that a couple of animal monsters have shown up at the bottom of the building. The plan's working the way I had wanted it, too. All that's left is to stay vigilant. I hoped that with the spores on the stairs, the animals wouldn't rush up them. I waited with bated breath for the monsters to appear from nowhere. When the sun peeked over the horizon. I felt awestruck that nothing found a way to me. I thought I would fight for my life all night. Instead, I fought off the boredom. I laughed, turning off the electronics and passing out soon after that. Before passing out, I made it to the back bedroom and locked the door to make sure that nothing could get in without me noticing.
I heard breaking glass the second night of my plan. The sound came from beneath me. I only heard it because I had the balcony door open to listen. The angle from the balcony wouldn't let me see what broke in, or where the break-in came from. I made my way carefully to the stairs to peek over, looking for any movement. With a gun in hand, I waited, listening. Nothing moved the whole night, and without a way down, he had to let it go. But keep an ear out for any unnatural sounds. The sun came up and not even the spores made a move. I thinking that it broke those spores after they didn't react to me making so much noise. So I stopped paying much attention to them.
When the sun set on the fifth day and nothing had changed during the day. I peeked further over the edge of the stairwell. Waiting for anything to happen, but nothing did. "Fuck it," I muttered, starting my usual plan. I probably am saving someone's life by doing this. I couldn't just let them fend for themselves while I have it easy. "It's just two more nights. I can fight off whatever it is for a night or two," I attempted to convince myself. While moving around the apartment, I saw that more plants grew onto the balcony. To where you couldn't see the concrete of the balcony anymore. The plants had overgrown the windows as well, I observed while moving around the apartment.. Light would have a harder time escaping. I opened the windows that I could hoping I could still help those that have been relying on me.
Waiting by the door with a clear view of the stairs. I had heard nothing. Something is telling me that there is something wrong here. I felt it chewing at me. Whispering "hide, fight… don't die" as time passed. I grabbed my gun and moved back to the stairs. Taking every step with a precision. Making as little noise as I could. I got to the front door, lifted the gun to aim, and took a step out into the hall. Darkness other than the soft glow to the exit sign. Nothing.
Gasping, I sat up. I couldn't remember falling asleep at all. Looking around, I noticed something had moved me. My eyes burned, like I used a lot of power before sleeping. I am in the bedroom, the one that I had used before. I didn't have a weapon in me or my bag. Touched my neck and then flinched. Neck hurt like thousands of ants had bitten me while I slept. My heart pounding, I stood up. My legs shook with my weight. Hugging the wall walked I moved to the door.
My skill usually told me when I was in danger, but maybe this is all a ruse to force me to let my guard down. I flung open the door to the living room, ready to charge for anything that moved. My jaw dropped. An animal monster was lying in the overgrown living room of the apartment. The monster looked like it was fast asleep and the plants looked like its nest. It looked innocent until you looked a little closer. The animal monster lay dead in the nest. There were vines that were wrapped around its neck and legs. The vines had pinned and strangled it to death. The monster that we were most warned about. A poisonous chameleon. It would sneak into hiding places and knock out its victims before using them as bait to lure in other victims.
I smiled while thinking about everything that my skill has done over the last few days. It saved me countless times. My brain must be pretty special to take such effort in keeping me safe. I never realized how much my brain did.
The sun's up and after looking around to see that the spores on the stairs even popped, but I was alive made me laugh. I'm too tired from apparently using my skill while poisoned last night. I'm not sure why I don't remember the fight. Maybe after being poisoned, it made the whole thing like a fever dream. Thanking the plants, and walked back to the bedroom. I used too much of my skill last night, meaning I didn't have the energy to move any plants or even have them grow. I'm a sitting duck, unless I got the rest I needed. Plus, if I didn't rest, the next trial going to kill me. I needed to recuperate before time's up.
I didn't bother looking at the clock. Planning to continue with the noise and mayhem during the last few hours. Though now that I'm poisoned, I didn't trust my reactions to speed just yet. The chameleon's poison often gave nerve damage. I'm not sure why I didn't show any issues yet. I felt guilty about leaving everyone alone until the moment I fell asleep. Which only took me about a minute to fall asleep. I didn't wake up again for the night. I wouldn't have been able to help even if I wanted to. Hoping they could forgive me, even if I wouldn't be able to. That night I left people to their own devices as time's almost up. They just had to survive one night.
Once I woke up, I decided that today would be a great day for a feast. I looked at the food in the apartment before throwing it together. I made a cheesy Tortellini Italian style. Which meant that it had marinara sauce. I ate and found my bag and the weapons. I also went and took any of the weapons that I could store away in my bag for the next trail. It's a good thing that the tower let you move from level to level with the items you gained. As long as you are holding it, it goes with you. The weapons I brought were good, but the best weapons were the ones from the tower. I had little time left before the end of the trial.
"Congratulations!!! There's only 1 hour until trial one is over" the loud high pitched binging voice declared. The words changed to a countdown timer.
I walked over to the fire escape and climbed up to the roof. I had my food in a bag hanging off my arm. The bag is a supermarket reusable one that is actually kinda cute. It had a frog on it holding a heart with the words 'I Croke you', which I'm not above admitting made me laugh.
On the roof, I watched the horizon eating good food. I saw how beautiful it was all with the green surrounding the original buildings. It looked like out of a fantasy novel with elves. Like maybe if we worked together with the planet it would look the beautiful. There would be less destruction in the buildings, but they would look amazing. As I finished my meal, the timer had five minutes left. Checking to make sure everything I had packed and was ready for the trial's end. I debated on the supermarket bag for a moment before folding it and solving it into my bag. I waited, massaging my hands. When the timer hit ten seconds, I heard it. People were counting down, screaming while leaving their hiding places. I smiled at the sound before joining in.
"5
4
3
2
1"
"Congratulations on making it to the end of trial one!!!! You did a good job!
Here are your rewards, pick a wonderful skill!!" The ping from the coins going into my status screen lets me know they transferred.
Levitation
Description: The ability to undergo bodily uplift or fly by mystical means.
Superhuman longevity
Description: Ability to live longer than a normal human.
Poison Resistance's
Description: Ability to nullify any poisons
"Okay, I choose…" I said hoping that saying that would help me make a choice.