1 The Ruined Tower?

__________________________

"The beauty of Light owes its existence to the Darkness"

___________________________

In an average urban house.

The afternoon Sun's rays soaked through the curtains, casting a somber light to a dim room, giving it a warm, somber feel. Some might call such a picturesque setting "peaceful", yet the truth happened to be the farthest thing from.

Blood smears stained the walls, broken dishes lay in disarray, and a half-eaten sandwich lay on the ground.

The furniture, either broken or tussled around, except for one wooden chair that was holding a teenage boy who was leaning back, staring at the ceiling with an absent look in his eyes.

The young man had pitch-black hair with white hair running down the middle. His eyes were a hazelnut color and had a glazed-over kind of feel to them. Blood was splashed across his white and grey shirt, in stark contrast to the shirt's original colors. His legs were kicked out in front of him, and his arms were laying against his sides, a bloodied knife held half-heartedly in his left hand as though he had forgotten he was even holding it.

In front of him, on the kitchen floor, lay a middle-aged man. He looked to be resting, as though he'd wake up at any moment… well if you discount the large gash that went from the ear, across the neck, back to his other ear and his wide-eyed stare, eyes bulging as if fixing to pop out of their sockets. Whether it was from utter disbelief or from remembering something from the paper, he was reading earlier that morning, he looked pretty shocked about his situation.

The young man, on the other hand, had tears dripping down from his face. But suddenly the quiet was shattered by a sudden noise coming from his throat. What was frightening was that it was laughter! He frantically laughed at nothing as he cried. Anyone watching would have had chills running down their spine.

After a moment to catch his breath, the young man sighed then mumbled while still occasionally chuckling as if to a joke only he knew, "Seems like the next few years are going to be spent in juvey, kekeke."

*****

It was a normal day like any other. The birds were singing, and the flowers were blooming. Nothing seemed particularly remarkable. The usually busy streets, the regular loud vehicles, the annoying noise of people moving all around, doing what needed to be done.

That was until a certain message greeted humanity.

<Y/N>

It was quite a bizarre message, and yet it caused everyone to start a panic. I mean who WOULDN'T be shaken if suddenly a blue panel appears before you and asks about some random "Ruined Tower" bullshit?

Of course, there were people like you and I (literally us, the lovers and degenerates of stories who favor fiction over reality and think they were born in the wrong world), anyway they accepted the invitation enthusiastically, hoping that their desires come true.

But not everyone was of the same mind. Most of humanity chose to play it safe and refused the invitation. That's when the unknown host showed its true colors.

<…>

<Foolish!>

<Y/N]

<CAUTION: The tower is NOT responsible for the deaths of anyone who has chosen not to accept the invitation>

Around the world, a single thought was shared, "F**k!".

It was threatening them now. It's like telling them, "You don't want to accept my invitation? No problem. Just don't blame me when you die. "

Of course, even then, most people didn't accept the offer. Skepticism runs deep in humanity. Seeing is believing and most people won't respond until it became reality. But even then, the majority of people just accepted it, going with the flow. The type to go bankrupt, turn to their friend and say, "It is, what it is," while going about their day.

Then came another message, as if to give the proof people needed.

<23:59:58>

That was when the chaos started.

***

The weather was damp, it seemed like the rain had just stopped. On the wet benches of the park sat a young man who seemed to be in his 20s. He sat there while staring straight ahead at something unseen.

Earlier, he was minding his own business, just walking through the park, and eventually took a seat at a park bench when, suddenly, a blue panel appeared in front of his face with an ominous message inscribed on it.

<Y/N>

He stared at the projection blankly before thinking, "Is someone playing tricks on me… Nah. I don't have anyone that close to me."

He tried to touch the projection, but his hand just phased through it. "So, it's like one of those novels I read in the past. Will it teleport me to this "Ruined Tower" if I accept?"

Afterward, he deliberated for a while and then made his decision.

"Well, I have neither a reason to stay nor do I have any particular attachment to this world so it would be good to have a fresh start in a new one. And hey, what's the worst that can happen? I die? I stopped caring about that particular fact a long time ago."

There was a hint of some self-derisive sarcasm in his tone with an arrogant smirk painted on his face.

He stopped debating and accepted the Tower's offer.

A large blue projection appeared in the sky.

<23:59:58>

<23:59:57>

"Well…I didn't teleport anywhere....", he looked around dumbly,

"It is what it is, time is of the essence now. I don't know what will happen tomorrow, so I better get prepared to the best of my ability."

He hurriedly ran out of the park and towards his house.

After five minutes he arrived, took a pen, and started to list all the things he would need. According to so many bullshit novels, the things he would need to have were some weapons, food, clothes, some medical emergency first aid, water, and other basic necessities. He even took his practicing bow and some arrows.

"This much should do it." He reasoned, "All I have to do now is wait…"

---POV, The World---

Humanity was not as easygoing as him when it came to the matter of magic Towers, instead the whole world fell into chaos. Various media outlets were showing the huge number on the sky in broadcasts, each debating each other with different interpretations of what the countdown could mean.

{Is this the end of humanity?}

{What's this "Tower" that the blue window mentioned?}

{Is this how the dinosaurs went extinct?}

{Various people are saying this is the work of aliens, we'll be back with this story at 11.}

{The President of the US says in a press conference "We are not so… uh… weak to be trifled by some… a… you know, the thing…yeah anyways if worse comes to worst we'll launch a nuke at it.]

{A shocking declaration by Hindus "It's the end of kali yuga, Lord Vishnu will be descending on earth as Kalki"}

{The president of Russia....}

{The Queen of England....}

The response to the incident was serious. Everyone realized that whatever was coming for them was not something they can deal with. Of course, some fools who thought of themselves as invincible or some random bullshit didn't believe the news or any of the warnings and stubbornly decided to remain ignorant of the situation.

Anyway, that day was probably the busiest day on earth as no one slept that day. Rather than to say no one wanted to sleep, it was more than they couldn't sleep as the time was nearing, and nerves were stretched thin.

It has been a day since the voice rang in the whole world, nothing was said or done by the unknown host in the dark.

Now only 1 minute remained till the timer reached zero and the world collectively held its breath as the numbers slowly counted down.

<00:00:59>

Some people fainted from either the anticipation or the panic of what was sure to be the indicator of a changing Era.

<00:00:30>

They were at their wit's end. A thin sheen of sweat coated their foreheads.

<00:00:03>

<00:00:02>

<00:00:01>

<00:00:00>

<Time's Up!>

---***---

Next chapter