Gathering Points [1]

"You want us to try our hands and enter the forest?"

"Yes."

"But why?"

A conversation was currently ongoing between me and Lionel.

I could feel my eyebrows wanting to twitch.

I was getting irritated.

After gathering my thoughts, I started to realise just how wrong my thought process was initially.

While I had plans to climb the tower, I didn't have any to do so with Lionel after the tutorial Floor.

Based on some future events, if nothing happened, we'd group up, but I had no plans to make that the status quo.

The reason I even teamed up with him was to add an extra layer of protection.

It wasn't a hard pill to swallow since I knew my capabilities, but if Lionel wasn't with me during our encounters with the goblins, even if I survived, it would cost something.

Of course, I could also team up with other people, but that wasn't going to work in my favour.

Compared to Lionel, whose character I had a grasp of and could influence to do certain things, most of the other people that came with us were of a similar age. Some were even older.

If I joined a group filled with these people, it would be hard for me to take control.

Among the other main characters, aside from one crazy person who should be even more powerful than Lionel now by a fair bit, Lionel was the most reliable to me.

His combat prowess and naivety made him my first choice of helper.

However, if I was to continue like this up the tower where I had to explain all my moves or think of how to make them convincing before doing it, I'd die of frustration.

Aside from this, I also can't follow Lionel all over the tower as there are things he had to do himself and things I had to do myself.

'I just have to endure.'

I tried to encourage myself.

By all means, I like Lionel, but the one in front of me was just as human as I was.

It was inevitable for him to have more character than the Lionel in the original narrative.

"Have you ever wondered what that pillar of light is?"

Lionel immediately became more puzzled at my sudden inquiry.

He turned to look at the bright pillar of light far away from us, still visible, before turning to glance back at me.

"Do you know what it is?"

He asked back.

"No."

I could see confusion making its way to Lionel's expression. However, I continued with my query.

"Do you still remember the tower challenge that appeared to us after that 'demon' left?"

Lionel nodded, confusion still etched on his face.

I also remembered the challenge given to us.

[Tutorial Floor Challenge]

Reach the next floor in three days.

Reward: Low grade Stats Boost Potion.

Failure: Death.

Floor master remark: Do your best to survive!

We had to reach the next floor in three days.

That was the challenge.

Failure meant we'd die.

With how dangerous the Forest had already proven to be, I'm sure anyone that was still alive among the people I awoke with did not think it was a joke.

For obvious reasons, I didn't think so as well.

The serious expression that was making its way to Lionel's face now seconds after hearing my query showed he thought like me as well.

In an unfamiliar place, if I was just as 'unaware' as the people I had awoken with, my first thought would be that the bright pillar of light far away from us had something to do with the 'next floor', the challenge that dictated if we lived or not talked about.

'Outsiders are really pitiful though.'

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but wonder if the tower itself had something against us.

It was a silly thought though but when one remembered the fact that we were brought here against our own free will with not even a noteworthy advantage, it wasn't fair.

Let's not even talk about encountering the participants from the tower, most of us were doomed from the Start.

It was no wonder why most times, most outsiders that could make waves in the tower didn't pass three people in their set.

We were basically thrown into a world we knew nothing about and had to survive from the start.

It was why when most participants from the tower knew that there were several levels in the tutorial Floor, we outsiders didn't.

Putting myself in others shoes, the most logical plan would be to carefully use the three days to reach the pillar of light which was likely the 'next floor' when in actuality it was the entrance to the next level.

The tutorial Floor was a race of time.

Just this seemingly logical move already killed most of us.