Chapter 18- Bliss Or Nightmare (Part 2)

The atmosphere inside the shop grew a little tense for a few moments. There was no animosity or the such, but the words Nina said were definitely something very serious and Arthur took that as it is.

"Even to this very day, those towers are being entered by countless people every single day. Ambitious people who seek power. Many of them die and even more end up regretting doing that." Nina continued.

"Is it that bad?"

"Let me put it this way so you can understand how dangerous and unpredictable these towers are. Let's take the tower conquered by humans for example. Its name is the 'Tower Of Slumber' and when humans were able to pave their way into it to acquire the shard. Do you know how many survived and actually reached it?"

"Uh, I suppose they walked in with an army, so it should be at least a few thousand people, right?" Arthur asked.

Purely from that vision, Fremen gave him at the start, he assumed the scales of these battles were in the millions which was something even Earth couldn't pull off unless the war was on a worldwide scale. Yet, he had seen it with his own eyes, millions had fought on the same battlefield and perhaps even more across the entire Divine Realm.

'If the wars killed millions, then at least a few thousand remain who are perhaps the strongest of the human race, no?' He thought to himself.

However, what he heard next shattered all of that logical trail of thought he took.

"No, of all those armies… Only one human was able to reach it."

Arthur frowned visibly as he leaned forward. "One? One human? Just one?"

"Yes. Everyone else died." She replied. "The same could be said for the other three races and their towers. Whether it's a coincidence or not, only one individual of each race was able to enter that tower and acquire the shard. No matter how strong their armies are or how strong each individual is, in every instance, there is just one person who is allowed into the tower. Nobody knows why."

A cold sensation washed over Arthur's heart for a moment as he fell into deep thought. 'Now, this is completely unexpected. If there is only one person allowed in then does that mean the tower chooses who takes its shard?'

He couldn't tell for certain, but all indications led to that conclusion so far. Looking at Nina, she didn't seem to know the answer either so both of them were in the same situation more or less.

"These towers are extremely dangerous and while taking the shard did make them far easier to enter even for beginners, that doesn't mean the higher floors are something anyone can take on. In fact, in the history of the Tower Of Slumber, only 5 people were able to actually reach the top after the very first shard bearer was able to conquer it. That is five people across decades of time."

"..." The more Arthur listened, the more a picture was drawn on his head. 'So this is what the game is about huh? These towers must be the goal the developers set for the players.'

Slowly, the entire purpose of this game started unraveling for Arthur. It wasn't fully clear yet, but he was slowly understanding what the Divine Realm was offering them. If he was right, and in this case, there was a very high chance he was, then that meant that there was infinite power waiting for them.

'No, I think far beyond that. If one of these players actually conquers one of the remaining towers, then they're gonna acquire far more than just power.' He frowned.

It was hard to imagine what could happen or how things would turn out as he was certain people would realize this sooner or later. It wasn't hard to see the sheer scale of the conflict that could happen.

'The strongest players are going to take this very seriously and that will drag the weaker players too. Everyone will target these towers, just like how the people of the Divine Realm already did before. Haha, history repeats itself, doesn't it?'

"You Gifted people were put into the Divine Realm to shake the very foundation of it. It is said fate is wrapped around your very soul, twisting and turning with each action you do. The day you descended on the Realm is the day a massive change will happen and that day has finally come." Staring beyond Arthur's face, Nina spoke with a dreamy tone. Although her words sounded rather pessimistic, she didn't look like she felt worried or scared of the upcoming chaos.

If anything, Arthur could swear she looked like she was anticipating it with every fiber of her being. However, he decided not to mention it as it was none of his business.

"Ehem, in any case, I don't suggest you try and tackle one of these towers yet. At least not before you're strong enough and confident enough." She coughed with a smile.

"Where is the closest tower?" He asked.

"It's up north, leaving this region, you will travel a few weeks to the nearest city within the Last Empire's territory. There, you will find your means of transport that will take you to the capital where the tower is." She said. 

"The Last Empire, huh? That sounds poetic." Arthur muttered.

"It's the human's last standing nation and their strongest front by far. Poetic or not, it is indeed the Last Empire, because it is the only one left for humans. Other races aren't faring any better for the most part." She replied. "It seems when each party is trying to take down the other with underhanded methods, nobody really benefits from that."

"..." Arthur nodded his head. 'They're too busy trying to scheme against one another and forgot to try and solidify their foundation in the first place.'

"Sigh, ok, I will do this little request of yours for these two abilities." He said as he stood up and stretched his limbs. 

[Quest Detected!]

[Difficulty: E+

Objective: Acquire the eye of a young orc.

Reward: Two new abilities

Penalty: None.]

[Accept] [Refuse]

'Accept.' He thought to himself as he turned around and walked out of the shop. Looking up to the sky, the sun was still there, as shiny as ever. But, he knew that it was already far into the afternoon. It has been a few hours since he started playing and yet, it didn't feel like hours at all.

'I'm really having a lot of fun. So far, the world, the story, and the gameplay is something out of this world. I have never felt like this while playing a game before. No, this cannot even be called a game, it transcended that concept from the very beginning.'

This very world felt real and looked real. There was nothing about it that indicated it was a game except for the fact that it has a leveling system and that he can log out of it. Now, that world felt far closer to him now that he knew more about it. He was aware that he only scratched the surface lore-wise, but this surface was so interesting that he couldn't wait to unravel the secrets lying under it.

"I feel like I'm living the dream! Hahahaha!" Laughing to himself, Arthur started running with excitement, heading to the village exit again. However, as he was running, something weird happened that completely took him by surprise.

[GAME WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT.]

[TO EVERY PLAYER.]

[Please read carefully.]

Loud ringing sounds echoed in his head and all around. The boy's eyes widened as he stopped and looked at the notifications with a frown.

"Announcement? What is it?" 

Every single player around him also stopped moving as they looked at the announcement with deep curiosity. This was the very first announcement in the game and it certainly didn't feel like something unimportant. After all, this was a message from the developer, Divinity corp.

[It has been 4:00:01 since the official launch.]

[New feature unlocoked!]

[Gifted Ranking!]

"... Gifted ranking?" 

(A//N: Support the book! Mhm!)