Thankfully, the phone didn't have a lock, so Alex was able to easily open it.
Once opened, Alex's eyes were bombarded by notifications of the news with photos attached to them.
Attention all citizens! This is a level 4 quarantine order. Anyone who is seen on the streets won't be treated as a law-abiding citizen, so stay inside your homes for your own safety.
[A massive black tower has appeared in the heart of City 1; is this the beginning of the end?]
Attached to this article was a photo of a gigantic black tower intricately crafted with such extensive attention to details that it looked impossible for humans to ever recreate, which towered over everything and seemed to pierce the very heavens above.
[Is it finally time for humanity to pay for their sins?]
[Have humans finally managed to piss off Mother Earth enough to make her retaliate and eliminate us?]
[The black tower is currently surrounded by government vehicles and officers.]
[The tower appeared roughly 30 minutes ago, and all citizens are currently being arrested on site, with the officers letting no one get close to the tower.]
[According to our sources, the world leaders are in a very important meeting to discuss the next course of action.]
[Citizens are asked to remain quiet and safe inside their house without panicking, as it might aggregate the situation.]
There were a lot more articles and messages, but Alex didn't bother with them and closed his phone.
Alex couldn't believe his eyes at what he was seeing.
"Just what the fuck is going on?" he couldn't help but ask.
First it was him transmigrating, and now there was a massive tower in the middle of the city; it all looked straight out of a novel.
All of this was just too much for Alex's mind to process; too much was happening at once, and he needed some rest.
So he did the only thing he could think of doing and went to sleep.
Or at least he tried to, as he was forcefully woken up by a strange panel that appeared in front of him.
[Greetings, humans of Earth]
[Have you ever felt inadequate or thought that your life was too monotonous?]
[Had a loved one die or lost someone precious to you?]
[Were you afflicted by an incurable disease?]
[Grown tired of all the injustice in the world and wanted to change it?]
[Or had some other unachievable desire?]
[It doesn't matter because this is your chance to make all of your dreams come true.]
[And all you need to do is climb the tower of fantasia.]
[So do you accept?]
Yes‹—
No
It seems after everything he had gone through, Alex had finally lost his mind and gone insane.
He couldn't even believe what he was seeing.
Well, either he was dreaming or that aliens had finally found Earth, like in all those Sci-Fi's, and they were about to get colonised.
Alex was just too tired at this point and wanted to sleep, yet his hand moved towards the panel in front of him without any conscious thought.
He wasn't sure what it was, but something told him that if he hesitated today, he would regret it his whole life.
And before he even realised what he was doing, he had clicked the yes button.
~click~
After clicking it, the panel disappeared, and his vision started going dark. Before long, his body had disappeared from his room and even from Earth itself.
**
After an unknown amount of time had passed, Alex once again regained consciousness as he slowly opened his eyes.
He wasn't sure what was happening, so he muttered without expecting an answer.
"Where am I?" His voice was barely audible, and he didn't expect an answer to his question.
However, to his surprise, he finally had one of his questions answered.
"Greetings, Raze Fulbright, you're currently inside the tower of fantasia."
"The one place that holds the answers to all your questions and desires."
The voice that said this was deep and almost a bit forced, almost like those teenagers who lower their voice to sound 'sexy'.
But Alex didn't care about the pitch of the voice; he was more surprised that he was even being answered at all.
In fact, he was surprised enough that he almost fell on his butt, but he barely managed to compose himself and stop himself from being embarrassed.
Finally calming down, Alex looked around, and from what he could see, he seemed to be in some sort of white room.
With nothing or no one in it except for him and a cat.
That's right,a cat.
Standing in front was a cute black cat standing on two legs.
The cat was wearing a black wizard robe and had a comically large witch hat atop its tiny head.
And on its right eye was a strange-looking monocle.
The cat smiled upon finally being noticed as it introduced itself.
"Greetings I'm Mr. Nyan, and I'm the administrator of the tutorial."
As one might expect, Alex was weirded out to see a talking cat, especially one in such a strange outfit.
Also, while not that important, the deep voice of such a cute creature made for a funny combo, which almost made him laugh.
But as if instinctually, he knew that if he dared laugh at the creature in front of him, he wouldn't be walking away from this whole thing alive.
And besides, there was a more important concern on his mind.
"Just what is going on?"
"Shush"
Before he could complete his question, Mr. Nyan silenced him with a single word.
"Don't ask questions; all will be explained in due time, assuming you survive long enough, of course."
After saying this before Alex could react, Mr. Nyan moved towards him too fast for him to see, and before he knew it, the cat had its hand, or rather, its paw, on his chest right above where his heart was supposed to be.
"Wh-" Alex tried to move away or question the cat, but before he could, a strange energy flowed inside his body.
It felt like something ancient had awakened inside him.
Something that was dormant inside his body had now been awakened.
After a few seconds, Mr. Nyan moved away from him, as Alex asked.
"What have you done to me?" his voice contained a mixture of both confusion and anger.
"Don't worry, I have just awakened mana inside your body. You're going to need it if you want to survive the upcoming tutorial in a few minutes," Mr. Nyan explained.
Alex was stunned, unable to believe what he was hearing.
Mr. Nyan smiled seeing this, as if expecting this response, as he said.
"Try saying status."
His words finally snapped Alex back to reality as he realised what was going on.
"I'm sorry for zoning out; he apologised."
But he didn't wait for Mr. Nyan's response, as he instead decided to follow his suggestion and mutter.
"Status"