Kael pushed open the worn wooden door, which creaked as if resisting the effort. The smell of mold and something sour filled his nostrils, making him wrinkle his nose. The room was tiny, barely lit by a single window covered in grime that almost completely blocked the sunlight. The stone walls were stained, with visible cracks where moisture seemed to have settled for years.
The bed in the corner was little more than a rusted iron frame with a mattress so thin you could feel the wooden slats underneath. Next to it, a crooked table with only three functional legs was propped up by an improvised block of stone. A single wooden chest completed the furnishings, its lid slightly ajar as if someone had tried to force it open at some point.
Kael let out a heavy sigh.
"Welcome to your castle, king of failures," he muttered to himself, letting his backpack slide off his shoulders and drop to the floor with a dull thud.
He walked over to the bed and flopped onto it. The frame groaned dangerously but didn't collapse. He stared at the wooden ceiling, where cobwebs and dark stains formed chaotic patterns. For a moment, Kael remained still, listening to the uncomfortable silence around him.
And then he said aloud, as if needing to hear his own voice to believe it:
"How did I end up reincarnating into a magical world out of nowhere?" He let out a bitter laugh, running a hand over his face. The question hung in the air, as though the room itself was waiting for an answer he knew wouldn't come.
"I wasn't even anyone special. Just an ordinary guy... too ordinary."
Kael closed his eyes, letting memories of his past life flood his mind.
"My name wasn't even Kael back then. I was… what was it again? Doesn't matter anymore. A nobody. I'd wake up early every day, take two buses to get to a job I hated, deal with a boss who treated me like trash, and then go back home to that tiny apartment with walls that were way too thin. I couldn't even watch TV without hearing the couple upstairs arguing."
He chuckled, a dry, humorless sound.
"I lived off instant food. Noodles, soup, whatever. Bills were always overdue. My phone screen was cracked because I couldn't afford a new one. And of course, zero real friends. Not a soul to listen to my complaints or laugh with me. Not that I had much to say."
He turned his head, staring at the damp wall beside the bed.
"And then, one day, it just ended. A car, rain... lights out. And when I woke up…" He spread his arms wide, as if presenting the miserable room around him. "Here I am. Kael Redgrave. A nobody in another world. A failure in another language."
Kael took a deep breath, feeling the weight in his chest tighten.
"But this world… This world is different. There's no nine-to-five grind or cramped apartments. Here, it's all about power. Magic. Strength. And me? I'm the only idiot who has none of it."
He sat up on the bed, his eyes falling on the small, empty chest in the corner of the room.
"I knew I was screwed from the moment I saw the Celestial Tower. It dominates the horizon, like the whole world is just an extension of it. A thousand floors, they say. No one's ever reached the top. The Tower is like a god in this world, spitting out portals they call dungeons. These portals appear out of nowhere, scattered everywhere like open wounds in reality. And inside them? Monsters. Treasures. Death."
Kael rubbed his face with his hands, the weight of reality pressing down on him.
"That damn Tower controls everything. It decides who has worth and who doesn't. The strong climb the Tower, clear dungeons, and become heroes. And the weak?" He glanced around the room again, his tired eyes scanning the miserable space. "The weak end up here. Or dead."
He fell back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.
"There's no escaping it. The Tower is like a magnet, pulling everyone toward it. Everyone wants to know what's at the top. It's like the whole world is obsessed. Even I, deep down, want to know... But how?"
Kael closed his eyes, his thoughts dragging like shadows through his mind.
"I'm nothing. My magical core is destroyed. I have no mana, no strength. Not even my so-called 'modern knowledge' from my past life is useful here. I'm just... Kael. A nobody who used to be another nobody."
The room stayed silent for a while. Only the sound of wind blowing through the cracks in the window filled the space.
"But..." He opened his eyes, something shining in them—a small flicker of determination.
"I'm still alive. And if this magical world is a second chance, maybe... just maybe... I can turn this around."
Kael stared at the ceiling again, letting the words escape like a promise.
"If no one has ever reached the top of the Tower... maybe it's because it's been waiting for me." He said it and then let out a loud laugh.
"HAHAHA! What a joke!" He laughed as he looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know who this kid was, but his life is just as crappy as mine. Maybe it was luck that I got reincarnated, but I'm not afraid of death. If I have to live as a screwed-up loser again, I'd rather just die outright."
Kael kept laughing, his voice echoing through the empty, miserable room. The laughter had something bitter in it, almost as if he was mocking fate. He covered his eyes with one hand, trying to stifle the sound that seemed to grow louder.
"That's it, isn't it?" he whispered, still staring at the ceiling. "Some kind of cosmic joke. I wasn't anything back there, and now I'm even less here. Whoever decided to bring me to this world must be having a good laugh."
He suddenly sat up on the bed, the mattress creaking under his weight. His eyes swept across the room once more, as if trying to convince himself it was all real.
"I don't know who this Kael guy was before I took his place. But he wasn't any better off than I was, that's for sure." He pointed at the ceiling as if accusing someone invisible. "And now I have to live with the mess he left behind? What kind of reincarnation is this? Wasn't I supposed to be a hero? A magical prodigy? Something worthwhile?"
Kael shook his head, laughing again, but this time more subdued.
"You know what? None of that matters." He clenched his fists, the smile on his face slowly fading. "If I'm going to be treated like trash, so be it. I already know what it's like to live that way. I've done it before. I'm not afraid of misery. I'm not afraid of failure."
He took a deep breath, his eyes burning with a mix of anger and resolve.
"But I'm also not afraid of death." He spoke louder, as if challenging the world itself. "If I have to live without magic, without a future, without respect... then throw me into the worst dungeon there is. Let the worst monster come. Let me die quickly. But I'll die trying. Trying to do something different this time."
Kael stood up, pacing around the small, gloomy room. His footsteps echoed on the stone floor, and he stopped in front of the dirty window. With one finger, he wiped a small circle on the glass to look outside. The horizon was distant, but far away, he could see the Celestial Tower, its imposing silhouette dominating the sky.
"This thing..." he muttered through clenched teeth. "This Tower... controls everything. Controls everyone. The dungeons, the magic, the portals, the damn hierarchy of this world... And me? I'm just another pawn on this giant chessboard."
He turned his head, staring at his reflection in the dirty glass.
"But maybe... just maybe... I can be the pawn that flips the board."
Kael gave a bitter smile, pressing his forehead against the cold glass.
"I have nothing to lose, do I? Just a miserable life I've already lived once. And you know what? Maybe that's for the best. Because now... I'm not afraid to try."
He stepped away from the window, walking back to the bed and throwing himself onto it again. For a moment, he lay in silence, staring at the ceiling, his thoughts swirling in his mind like a storm.
"If no one has ever reached the top of the Tower..." he murmured again, closing his eyes. "Maybe it's because no one has been brave enough to lose everything along the way."