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Once night had settled, John crept out of his house with loyal Jack by his side. His backpack was over his shoulders. His long-awaited journey and quest had finally started.

Upon reaching the road that led to the entrance, he found his suspicions, and the TV report, to be accurate. There were too many people milling around, despite the late hour. So thick was the density of people that the entrance was nowhere visible.

"Oh, no, Jack! Our turn won't come for weeks this way."

However, Jack was too busy chasing a cat to be worried about anything. John had a tough time making him stop.

People had set up camps in the area, waiting for their turn. Many children were running around, playing catch while their mothers kept screaming for them to come back. Deeply disappointed, John decided to camp in the woods nearby to get up early the next morning and try again. However, a part of him knew perfectly well that it would be a long time before his turn to enter The Tower would come. But John was patient, perseverant, and determined to wait for as long as he had to. There was no turning back at this point.

"If there were only a way to find an entrance that only we can see and know of!" John said to Jack, caught in the spirit of wishful thinking.

"Woof-woof," he said while scratching his neck with his paws.

Choosing a quiet and lovely spot by a lake, they set up camp and collected sticks to light a fire. Once lit, John put the portable grill over it to cook Jack's favorite canned meal. For himself, John dined on apples. As so often before, John found himself conversing with Jack, who simply wagged his tail, woof-woofed, and panted in reply.

After dinner, he cleared everything up, got into his tent, and took out a flashlight to peruse his notebooks. A wave of excitement washed through him. The things that excited him most included the Gacha game and the chances of meeting the rare administrators, especially those with colored masks (which were extremely rare to find). He dreamed of the various magical and non-magical abilities he would gain by completing missions received from Gacha games! But John wanted the flight and stealth abilities the most. Drowned in these fantasies, he started to get drowsy. But just before he was about to fall asleep, something unexpected happened outside of his tent.

A high-pitched howl rent the air asunder; it made the hair on John's neck prickle. Goose Pimples run up and down his body. Alarmed, he quickly came out of his tent to check on Jack, who was also alerted by the howl. Then, in the distance, they saw a terrifying sight. A shaggy dog, wild and untamed, with razor-sharp fangs, emerged from the woods. He was the size of a ferocious bear. The moonlight revealed his growling and foaming mouth. Paralyzed, John was rooted on the spot, his mind numb and rendered incapable of thought. Seeing the unfriendly intruder, Jack leaped into action to protect his friend and master. The two dogs engaged in a fierce battle, with both receiving lethal scratches on their furred bodies. Scared, the tramp dog retreated, limping and whimpering away as he headed into the thicket of woods. Brave Jack had fought off an enemy twice his size.

But it came at a cost. Bleeding profusely, Jack stumbled onto the ground, his body struggling to breathe.

Devastated and grief-stricken, John rushed over and took an injured Jack into his arms. He was clearly breathing his last breaths. Hot tears began to trickle down John's cheeks. With one final yelp, poor Jack grew limp in his arms, thus departing from the world after saving John's life. The pain was too much; a flood of memories instantly battered his mind. Jack had been no more than a pup when John's parents had gifted him the loyal pet. He had been a staunch companion through and through. As a socially awkward person and an introvert, John always had trouble getting along with boys of his age, whom he found as loud, insensitive, rowdy, and outright rude. But none of that ever mattered because Jack was always there to keep him company. John had never felt lonely or isolated because his best friend was still by his side. He was in deep mourning, but something happened that took John's thoughts away from his enormous grief.

An arched door, rising from a circular platform, appeared in the middle of the clearing. The space enclosed by the marble entrance was like a silk sheet, fluttering, and undulating. It seemed like the space-time in the woods was torn and peeled to reveal another place. John knew enough to understand what the space on the other side was. Gathering his thoughts, he knew he was facing a huge dilemma.

On the one hand, his significant loss rendered him incapable of moving on with his journey. What was the point of starting a new life without his best friend? At that moment, he only wanted to spend more time with Jack. Even more, he never wanted to leave his dead friend. But then he realized that if Jack were still alive, he would have wanted John to move on. He would have wanted John to remember him in his heart and cherish all the lovely memories, rather than fixating on anguished thoughts.

As dawn broke, John paid his last respects to Jack and then headed towards the circular platform. He knew that the invisible entrance had materialized because of Jack's tragic demise. And sure enough, on the arched doorway, written in ornate letters, were the following words:

"Payment of life required for Entrance."

"What more do you want?" Screamed John at the gate.

But then, something extraordinary happened. The still form of Jack began to quiver and vibrate. The fur on his entire body trembled, and finally, it turned into dust and ashes; a thick cloud of smoke engulfed the area where Jack's body disappeared. Then out leaped the spirit of Jack! He was transparent and green. Like his form was made of light. Woofing endearingly at John, he tottered forward, leaving a streak of light in his wake. Skipping around John, the ghostly dog jumped towards the gate. His spirit was absorbed by the ornate archway, which also acquired a greenish glow. Suddenly, the words scribbled across the arch changed as well. They now read:

"Welcome to The Tower of Mastery!"

Taking a deep breath, John wiped his streaming eyes with a handkerchief. He then stepped onto the circular platform and jumped across the archway. He felt that his entire body was being ripped and compressed. It was the most unpleasant sensation ever.