Hearing David's voice again for the first time in six years, Daniel sank deeper into the well of sadness. He had hoped for years that he would hear or see his brother one more time in this life but after the first few years of neither hearing nor seeing David, Daniel gave up hope.
Without his older twin brother, David, out of their lives, Daniel made the decision to shower all the love he had left on their sick mother, who was her last living relative.
Even then, when the news of her son's death reached her, Mrs Ensoul couldn't bear the weight of such a grievous piece of information.
The news of her son's death triggered her emotions and the last thing she did was scream out loudly before suffering a stroke that has left her in a near-vegetative state.
To Daniel, he had lost everything.
His brother was dead.
His mother was in a state which to him was worse than death. He wasn't even sure anymore if she could register the sound of his voice whenever he went to see and converse with her.
Was it even a conversation? Practically, it was just Daniel doing the talking.
Daniel calmed himself and focused on David's final message which had linked with the golden ring in his finger.
"How are you, brother? And how is mother? Is she getting any better? Before saying anything, first, I would like to say that I'm sorry. I put you two through a lot, didn't I? I'm sorry I left without saying anything. Believe me, that was the best choice that I could come up with. Daniel, I know if I had told you the reason, you would discourage me and perhaps, take up the challenge yourself."
Daniel continued to gap at the holographic image of his brother who was talking. David had not changed one bit except for the few strands of beards on his face. He was still the same slim, tall young man that Daniel remembered him to be; a skinnier version of himself.
"I thought I'd achieve my plan within one year but unfortunately, time passed faster than I could imagine. I just wanted to cure our mother's illness, brother. I just wanted to give us a better life; a life of comfort. That was all I wanted. I was tired of the suffering that we grew up in. The same suffering had taken our father's life and already had its hands on our mother's. I didn't want to lose her too because I was afraid. I thought I could find the cure-all elixir, Heaven's Tear, within one year of my journey. Tsk, what a fool I was, Daniel. Your twin brother was indeed a fool."
'Heaven's Tear,' Daniel thought about what his brother had just mentioned to him. 'What's that? A cure-all elixir? Has David lost his mind? This sort of thing only exists in fiction. This is no world of Merlin or Harry Potter.'
Nonetheless, he continued to listen. Even though he knew David was usually invested in fantastical phenomena and would usually make up theories based on what he read in his comics or webtoons or manga, Daniel also knew that his twin brother didn't joke in such a manner.
Somewhere in his heart, he understood that if David says that there was a panacea somewhere, then something had, beyond every reasonable doubt, convinced him so.
'December 24, 2026, we had our 18th birthday. It was fun. Even though I looked stoic like I usually did and socially repulsive, I really had fun. I cherished the ring my brother had given me so much. However, at midnight of the same day, I received a message on my phone. Perhaps calling it a 'message' won't make it clear… at exactly midnight, I received an invitation message on my phone.
'An invitation to a place called Heaven's Tower.'
'Heaven's Tower?' Daniel thought. 'This is some sort of journal he left behind.'
Daniel was yet to grasp the entire thing going on but as long as it was David behind this recording, he was willing to listen to the end, just see where it was headed.
'Heaven's Tower was beautiful. I've read about obelisks and such magnificent towers and structures from works of fiction but hell, Heaven's Tower was a hundred times… no, a thousand times better. I never thought I'd see a dragon with my own two eyes. You might not believe me, brother but it is true. This was a land of giants, dwarves, beastmen, goblins, orcs, gods, demons etc. I couldn't believe my eyes at first. I thought it was not real. I thought that I was dreaming but I realised sooner than later that I wasn't.
'You might be wondering why I suddenly know so much about Heaven's Tower. Well, I accepted that invitation and that was how I found myself there. Heaven's Tower had promised me the two things I wanted most in my life: the cure-all elixir, Heaven's Tower and the power to change my life and our family. But it came with one condition… the condition that I reached the top of this majestic tower. The condition that I become the strongest player of Heaven's Tower. That I become the Ruler of the Tower. The King of all its Floors.
'...The God of Heaven's Tower.'
"The God of Heaven's Tower?" Daniel felt a sharp shiver right in his spine. The words 'God of Heaven's Tower' carried an unnatural weight that hit deep inside of Daniel. There were words of great magnitude and possibly deeper meaning than he knows right now.
Daniel had heard and seen bizarre things in his lifetime but this one was probably the strangest words to enter his ears. As shocking as it could get, he was hearing it in his brother's voice.
'How could I not accept, brother? Everytime I looked at mama. Every time I saw how we could barely afford to feed. I knew I had to do something. I was the eldest. I was the man of the house after our father's passing. As I thought about it, the more I clung to that invitation in my phone. The more I wanted to accept it.
'December 31, 2026. I accepted the invitation. At 12 a.m of New Year's day, I received directives in my head. While the world celebrated New Year, I was seeking out the park where the gates of the Zeroth Floor opened.
'January 1, 2027, I entered this unknown realm to begin my climb of the Heaven's Tower. It was amazing at first. I had Status Windows, Stats, Skills etc. It was just like a game in that aspect but it was still reality. Pain was real as it was back on Earth. So was sadness, joy, sorrows, happiness, hunger, sickness…
'...and death.'
At this point, Danny's interest was piqued. What David was saying in his final message, however bizarre it sounded, was gradually starting to make sense to him.