"Class Dismissed."
Reaching down the left side of his desk Aaron picked up his bag and stood up, throwing it on his back at the same time. He walked to the door and exited into the hallway were a flood of students were walking towards the exit after a long day of school.
While walking all Aaron could think about was going home and reading the final chapter of his favorite web novel, "Tower Ascending in a Fantasy World". After 3 years of constant chapters it was finally ending.
When he zoned back in he found himself already at the doors of the school, the parking lot was right out front and his car was a little to the left. His legs rotated at a speed that would almost be considered running, but he still had one foot on the ground at all times.
Aaron pulled out of the spot and checked around to make sure there were no pedestrians and exited the school grounds and started his 10 minute drive home.
Once he got home he entered his house and went through his backpack on the table before heading up his stairs he entered his room at the end of hallway.
Entering he looked around at his small room. His floor covered in a clump in a dirty clothes and his desk cluttered with random items. Turning around he fell backwards onto his bed and took his phone out of his pocket before clicking on the final chapter of "Tower Ascending in a Fantasy World".
The final chapter had the main character fighting the final villain and ultimately losing. Aaron felt angry that the ending was not a final victory for the character that he had grown attached to after 3000 chapters, but he felt that the writing made it a fair finale.
What confused Aaron was the final lines.
'Would you take his shoes?'
'Would you save the world doomed to end?'
These two questions caused all the hairs on his body to stick up even though there was no explicit meaning to them he felt a sense of uneasiness attached. He closed the tab to the final chapter feeling like a part of his life disappeared with it. For 4 years he read the web novel everyday and now it feel like there is an emptiness.
Before he turned his phone of he got and email notification, checking it he found that the sender was the author of "Tower Ascending in a Fantasy World". He clicked the email and read its attachments.
"Dear Dedicated Reader,
With the ending of my novel I have decided to release a game version in beta as a special thanks to the readers that have read since day one. I hope that you can find some satisfaction in the game
I wish you luck in saving the world
Sincerely,
Author of TAFW"
Clicking on the download link he found an app installed on his home screen called "Tower". The picture on the app was similar to the art that the author used as a visualization for the tower.
Clicking on it he waited
And waited
And waited
After five minutes he figured that the app was just broken and turned his phone off and threw on his bed before closing his eyes for a short nap.
***
Waking up he looked out his front facing window and saw that the sun had already set leaving him in darkness. He turned on his light and stretched after standing.
Ping!
He heard a noise in his room that sounded like a notification but his phone was on 'do not disturb'. When looking at his phone he saw a notification from the tower app.
'Tower has been initialized'
When he opened his phone he found that he app disappeared and he set his phone back down on the bed and went to open the door to get some food, but when he did he was met with a giant blue portal in his door way.
"Holy shit!"
He stumbled backwards barely avoiding falling in.
"Isn't this the start of TAFW?"
Aaron felt like he recognized this scenario.
The start of TAFW has the main character click on a mysterious app before falling asleep and when he wakes up he finds a portal to the tower in his doorway.
"I must still be dreaming."
He pinched himself but nothing happened. Slapping himself in the face didn't change anything. When he punched the wall he found that the pain was very real and he didn't wake up.
"This is isn't a dream."
Remembering back to the start of the novel he thought about the system panel that should pop up and give him the breakdown of his situation and sure enough it did.
Ping!
[Welcome to the Tower, a place where anything is possible as long as you are strong enough.]
"I really am in the world of TAFW."
Aaron didn't know whether to be happy because he was in the world of his favorite novel that he spent all his teen years reading or be scared because the world of TAFW is filled with death and hardship.
Luckily he knew about strategies that he could use to get strong without dying.
Ping!
[Please enter the portal to start your journey.]
Looking at the portal he swallowed his saliva. In the novel once the MC returns from his first tower visit. Earth starts to get invaded by monsters from the tower and many cities collapse being over run by monsters, but Aaron can't stop thinking about the power that comes with exploring the dungeon.
Sitting on his bed he contemplated if the risks were worth it but ultimately the temptation was to great and he decided to enter.
Changing his clothes, he put on a pair of sweatpants and a zip up hoodie since he didn't know what the conditions would be like.
Phew!
Letting out a deep breath he stared at the portal before taking a step forward and entering.