Two days later, Sanjay woke up in his bed. Next to him was a girl quietly sleeping like a kitten under his arm. The girl was none other than Lisa, the beautiful maid. They had been "exercising" regularly over the past few days.
Sanjay rose from the bed without disturbing her. Today, he was preparing to march toward the imperial capital. The second prince had seized the throne of the kingdom and declared himself king. To achieve the highest rank, Sanjay needed to win the war and claim the crown within the next ten months.
The mission stated that he had to survive for at least one year or achieve a military accomplishment. A military accomplishment could be as minor as killing a single enemy soldier. Sanjay had already fulfilled this basic requirement, allowing him to exit the mission anytime. However, doing so would earn him a low rank at the end.
Conquering the kingdom, on the other hand, would grant him a much higher achievement rank. He could stay in this world as long as he wanted, improving his performance, but history showed that those who overstayed often met tragic ends. After one year, neighboring kingdoms would take advantage of the weakened kingdom and begin invading.
If a player didn't exit the tower world in time, they would lose access to safe zones and face overwhelming danger. On the second floor, a safe zone was defined as a location where the chance of being attacked was almost nonexistent, and the player wasn't in an active battle state. The criteria for a safe zone differed on each floor.
For example, Alisha had left the tower world the previous day. Despite being under house arrest, the tower deemed her situation as non-combative, allowing her to exit. Having already completed her mission, there was no reason for her to return.
Sanjay mounted his horse and ordered his army to march toward the capital. The city lay to the north, roughly five days away. However, the journey took seven days due to frequent resting and supply stops.
Finally, they arrived at the imperial capital. Sanjay dismounted his horse and gazed at the colossal city walls towering before him. Rows of archers lined the top of the walls, their arrows poised to strike. These walls were twice the size of those protecting the duke's province. Breaking through them would be an enormous challenge.
Sanjay knew he couldn't rely on the same tactics he had used to breach the duke's city walls. The defenders would have anticipated such methods and taken precautions.
The first prince's army was relatively small, consisting of two hundred thousand soldiers. In contrast, the imperial army boasted nearly one million troops. Yet, Sanjay had no intention of taking the city by brute force. Instead, he relied on soft-power warfare.
A few seconds later, the gates of the imperial city creaked open. Rows of imperial soldiers rode out on horseback. Observing their approach, the soldiers in the prince's army raised their guns, ready to fire.
Sanjay quickly signaled them to hold their fire. The imperial soldiers halted when they were about one hundred meters away. Dismounting their horses, they approached on foot.
"Welcome back, Your Majesty, the fourth prince," the imperial commander said with a bow.
Sanjay frowned. "Can you tell me what's going on?"
"Your Majesty, the imperial army will not participate in this civil war. The second prince is hiding inside the royal palace. We have never accepted him as our king. You are free to confront him there. However, we ask that you minimize civilian casualties. We have already evacuated all civilians within a one-kilometer radius of the royal palace," the commander explained.
Sanjay nodded in acknowledgment. After hearing this, he distributed thousands of leaflets recounting stories of the second prince's atrocities. The stories claimed that the second prince had molested women and blamed the fourth prince for his crimes, mistreated citizens, and committed numerous other heinous acts. While some of these stories were true, most were fabricated.
Sanjay suspected that the rumors had influenced the imperial commander's decision. Supporting someone like the second prince would tarnish the imperial army's reputation, especially when three other princes were still alive and eligible for the throne.
By deciding not to take sides in the civil war, the imperial army hoped to preserve its image and minimize civilian casualties.
Sanjay ordered his army to march toward the royal palace.
Inside the royal palace, the second prince sat on the throne with a cup of wine in one hand. A messenger came running to him.
"Majesty, the fourth prince has arrived with his army!"
The second prince stood up abruptly and hurled the cup at the messenger's face. Blood began trickling down as the man collapsed to the ground.
"How dare he! That puny little boy dares to attack my kingdom? Summon the commander of the imperial army at once!" the prince roared at his soldiers.
A senior officer rushed through the door, panic evident on his face. "Majesty! Majesty! Something terrible has happened!"
The second prince frowned at the officer. "What is it?"
"Majesty, the fourth prince's army is marching toward the palace," the officer said quickly, without waiting for questions.
"What? How is that possible? Did they breach the city walls so quickly? And what is the imperial army doing?" the prince demanded, bombarding the officer with questions.
"Majesty, the imperial army opened the city gates and declared that they would not participate in the war," the officer replied, lowering his head.
"What? How dare they!" The second prince slumped into the throne, his strength drained. Fear gripped him as he realized the depth of his predicament. He recalled the destruction of the duke's army of five hundred thousand soldiers. How could his two hundred thousand troops possibly withstand the onslaught of the fourth prince?
Seeing the prince sink into despair, the officer's expression turned grim. If he had known this would happen, he would have fled with his family long ago.
Sanjay and his army arrived at the grand imperial palace. Rows of soldiers were already waiting for them.
Without hesitation, Sanjay ordered his troops to fire. Thousands of bullets pierced through the soldiers' metal armor.
The defenders fell like leaves in the wind. Within minutes, Sanjay and his team stormed into the palace, shooting anyone holding a weapon. The imperial army had already evacuated all non-combat personnel, including maids and servants. Only the second prince's forces remained in the palace.
After a fierce battle, Sanjay broke through the final line of defense and entered the throne room. There, he saw the second prince sitting on the throne, mumbling incoherently as he touched the armrest. The prince's mind was clearly unhinged.
When the second prince saw Sanjay enter, he leapt to his feet, consumed by rage. Drawing his sword, he charged at Sanjay.
Without wasting time, Sanjay raised his gun and shot the prince in the head, ending his misery. He didn't have the patience to engage in a drawn-out conversation only to kill him in the end. It wasn't as if the prince was his real elder brother.
With the second prince dead, the battle was finally over. The first and third princes were the only remaining threats, but Sanjay was confident they would be dealt with soon.
The imperial army, recognizing Sanjay's authority, pledged allegiance to him. They supported his claim to the throne. Sanjay sent his forces to the homes of the nobles, disbanding their private armies. Those who supported him were allowed to live, but they were strictly forbidden from maintaining any military forces. This decision sent shockwaves through the nation.
After ascending to the throne, Sanjay implemented several radical reforms. He passed laws prohibiting nobles from keeping private armies and required them to share land with the laborers who worked the fields. While these changes sparked uprisings among the nobility, Sanjay's brutal efficiency crushed the resistance. Within two months, only a handful of nobles remained in the kingdom.
The common people rejoiced. They had endured years of suffering under the nobles' atrocities and were finally free.
Within six months, Sanjay had transformed the kingdom's structure entirely. The first and third princes were captured and executed.
During this time, Sanjay established schools and military academies across the kingdom, training young adults to operate firearms.
---
As time passed, one year had come and gone.
One morning, Sanjay lay in bed with Lisa.
"Majesty, please... slower... I'm exhausted," she pleaded. She was on all fours, bending forward while Sanjay was behind her. He showed no signs of stopping, even though it was already the tenth round.
Finally, Sanjay released himself, overflowing her insides. Lisa collapsed onto the bed, too drained to even stand.
Sanjay got out of bed. It was already morning. He had been 'exercising' all night.
After six months of bloodshed, Sanjay had reached level twenty. He distributed his points between strength and agility, raising both to thirteen. He had surpassed human limits and entered the realm of the superhuman.
He planned to leave the second floor today. While he had initially considered staying to conquer the neighboring kingdoms, he didn't want to take unnecessary risks. His survival was more important, and he was already assured of a good rank.
Before leaving, Sanjay ensured everything was in place. He had established official bodies that could function in his absence. The kingdom's constitution specified that if the king were missing, the military commander would assume leadership temporarily. Elections would then be held to choose a new leader. To keep the leader in check, a parliament and a supreme court had already been formed. It was a balanced structure, the best he could offer the people.
Sanjay wasn't sure if the world would continue to exist after he left or if it would vanish. But if these were real people, he had done his best to help them.
"System, can I take this outside the tower?" Sanjay asked, holding the pouch.
[
Affirmative.
Cost:
1. Level 5 Storage pouch: 1000 TP
2. Level 5 Refill potion: 1000TP
3. Level 3 Mana potion: 100TP
4. Level 3 Health potion:100TP
5. Level 5 Health potion: 1000TP
4. Level 5 Invisibility potion: 100TP
5. Level 5 Berserk potion: 100 TP
6. Level 5 Defensive item ( pendent ): 5000 TP
7. Level 10 Arcane bow: 100,000 TP
Available TP: 10,000
]
"What are these levels?" Sanjay mumbled, scanning the list.
It seemed the potions were categorized by levels, which explained their high cost. The potion he used earlier, capable of refilling mana, strength, and agility by fifty points, must have been a level five potion. He realized his mistake—he hadn't paid enough attention to this detail earlier. Back then, he'd immediately exited the Metazon interface after seeing the prices and had focused on checking items available for use outside the tower.
Now he understood. High-level items like these weren't produced outside the tower, or perhaps they were banned.
Yes, there was a ban. Sanjay recalled that level five and above items were prohibited from being brought outside the tower to maintain the balance between the security forces and players. Only specific institutions conducting business and security forces were authorized to use such items.
He glanced at the price of the bow again.
"What the hell? Why is this so expensive? Is it made of gold or something?"
But it was a level ten item, and the cost made sense. He didn't have enough TP to purchase it anyway.
Sanjay decided to focus on essentials. He made his list:
1. Space pouch: 1
2. Defensive item ( pendent ): 1
3. Refill potion : 3
4. Invisibility potion: 5
5. Berserk potion: 5
Total cost: 10,000 TP.
"This should do for now," he said, confirming his selection.
[Please note, you will receive the items upon exiting the mission.]
"Okay, sure. And one more thing—can you not announce my results outside?"
[Negative. If the results surpass the average, they will be announced. This is to motivate others to perform better.]
Sanjay clenched his fists, irritated. He felt like punching the system. "Motivate others? It's more like inviting them to cause trouble for me!"
He tried again, pleading this time. "Can't the announcement at least be delayed? It's a matter of my safety."
The system responded after a brief pause.
[Considering the current situation, the player is not powerful enough to protect themselves outside the tower. Announcement of results will be delayed by two days.]
At least the system wasn't entirely unreasonable.
"End mission," he said firmly.
The world around him began to dissolve. In a blink, he found himself outside the tower gate, where dozens of people were appearing and disappearing in quick succession.
Note: TP = Tower Points