I climbed the tower.

I had thought I could find the answer as to why they had put us in such despair upon reaching the 100th floor.

I hadn’t stopped to rest nor taken my eyes off the end goal. I hadn’t had the chance to relax even for a second. I had to keep climbing, as I was the only hope for mankind. That was how I became the first man to reach the 100th floor.

[You’ve finally made it here.]

"What do I have to do now?" I asked.

[ You do not have to do anything, except take our baptism.]

"Get baptized? What difference does it make whether I get baptized?" I asked.

[You will get our recognition and we will make you an apostle.]

I clenched my teeth and stared at the gods. Even though I had reached the 100th floor, I could not see their physical form. All I saw were some blurred shapes and felt some form of energy.

"Did you call me into this tower just to be your minion!?" I cried out in pain and despair.

As I climbed the tower, I lost friends, colleagues, and even my family. I was too naive to think that I could leave the tower if I climbed to the 100th floor. I climbed the tower thinking that I would be able to save people once I got to the top.

[Don't call it a minion, man. Whoever can climb up to the 100th floor deserves the recognition of the gods. Those who reach the 100th floor are entitled to join us. 

[They are big fish in a small pond. They will get out of this small tower and look after the world.]

"...Does that mean I cannot go back to Earth?" I asked.

[That's right.]

I couldn’t help but fall into despair at God’s firm tone. I was finally able to rise to the position of a great wizard after climbing to the 100th floor through constant training filled with sweat and tears. I did not come all the way up here just to be their minion.

"If that's the case, then I will kill you and leave the tower," I declared, shaping my magic into a shiny wand.

[What a stupid decision.]

There was a series of immensely powerful clashes, and the force was enough to easily engulf the entire world. The aftermath of the battle was disastrous, turning the surroundings into a huge catastrophe.

Kul-luk!

The wand that used to emit brilliant light was now broken, and the enchanted robe was torn into many pieces. My body began to disintegrate. I felt the blood coming up in my throat and was about to vomit it out.

[I'll forgive this rudeness if you change your mind now.]

Those words made me grind my teeth in anger. The gods seemed regretful after having witnessed my power.

I could faintly make out their silhouettes as I looked up in pain. Their figures resembled those I had seen when I first encountered them, but they appeared less threatening as their presence faded. 

‘You are not different from humans after all.’

We had overestimated the gods. There was a possibility for humans to defeat them if they went through sufficient training. If only I had had a little more time…If only I had known a little more about these powers, I could have done something about it.

[Still so foolish. This is why human beings are imperfect.]

I did not even bother to answer. Everything was over.

[Do you think this is the end? I will make you pay for going against the gods. Live the rest of your life in despair and realize how simple-minded you are.]

The unknown powers started to bind me. My presence was fading out like I was being swept away by a huge torrent.

[Be suppressed by humans forever, live feeling helpless without remembering anything. Get tortured to death mercilessly by your old colleagues, friends, and family, forever.]

With that, my existence as Lee Shin disappeared.

***

In the waiting area on the first floor, there was a vast land, high mountains, some rocky terrain on the opposite side, and a blue sea in the far distance. Other than the landscape, nothing else could be seen in the area.

"Hello! I'm Toeing, the manager of this place!" Toeing greeted in a cheerful voice, his cute bunny ears fluttering as the challengers entered the waiting area.

"Will you be challenging the first floor?" Toeing asked.

Two challengers were summoned into the cave on the first floor.

"Is this the first floor?" asked a challenger.

The cave entrance was considerably large. Behind them seemed to be a steep cliff, and in front of them what appeared to be a passageway leading into the darkness.

Kaaaaak-

The shrill sound of a bird caused the two challengers to move closer to the cliff.

"Eek! What's that?" one challenger asked in a terrified voice.

Taking a closer peek at the cliff, it was a high steep face of rock with a long drop down. There was a huge bird made of ice flying around the cliff. The appearance of the bird was enough to give the two challengers goosebumps. The flying bird emitted what appeared to be cold breath.

The two challengers scrambled into the cave, trying not to be noticed by it.

"Man, I think the cold breath of this bird would be enough to kill us both. Let's get inside quick!" the challenger shouted in an urgent tone.

"Y—yeah, we’d better," replied the other challenger.

Ordinary monsters on the first floor were not that difficult to deal with. The low-class Skeleton, Dwarf Goblins, and Gutter Rats could be easily defeated even with just a simple sword in hand.

"Is this where the boss is?" the challenger asked.

"I'm still a little nervous, even though we just started and we’re facing the first-floor boss," replied the other challenger.

"What do you mean? We already know that this is a weak one. Let's just go in already," the challenger said confidently. 

The two opened the door forcibly as they stood before the door of the boss' room.

Then they heard a choppy voice say, "Who... are... you...?"

"Who... am I...?" He seemed like he was having a hard time keeping a clear mind.

"I am... God..." The crazy man was calling himself a God.

The boss on the first floor was a necromancer who had been weakened by a curse. Living in the polar regions, he studied to solve his curse but ended up failing. Because of the frequent failures, his mind was divided.

The research materials and reagents that he had used were scattered all over the place. The challengers could not recognize the writing, nor were they interested in taking a closer look.

"Is he even a god? He's just a crazy guy," said the challenger.

"Let's kill him and move on," replied the other challenger.

"Yeah, we should do that," said the challenger.

The necromancer scanned the two challengers with an annoyed look as they talked. The challengers flinched when they noticed his gaze.

[Dark Arrow]

A magical dark purple arrow appeared in the air and was aimed at the challengers. It would hurt quite a bit if one was hit, but it was relatively easy to dodge the slow arrow.

"Die!" the challengers cried out.

Killing a necromancer who could not even move and could only use magic was a piece of cake. Besides, the only spell he could use was the Dark Arrow.

The necromancer fell with a gasp.

The challengers frowned as they watched the necromancer cough up blood, as the necromancer’s reaction made them feel as if they had killed a real human being.

"I feel nasty," one challenger said as he stared at the necromancer.

"It's all fake, so don't bother," said the other challenger.

Just like that, the boss on the first floor, the deranged necromancer, was dead.

"Welcome, challengers! I'm Toeing!" Toeing said in a cheerful voice.

Toeing welcomed new challengers heading to the first floor.

"Is this the room of the first floor boss?" the new challengers asked. They had reached the first-floor boss's room.

"Who... are... you...?" the first-floor boss asked in a choppy voice.

"Who do you think we are? We're challengers!" the challengers replied in a determined voice.

"Who am—gasp!" The necromancer on the first floor died that way again.

"Welcome! I'm Toe—" said Toeing, but he got interrupted in the middle of the sentence.

"Who... are... y—" The necromancer, once again, failed to finish his question.

"You don't need to know!" said the challengers.

"Gasp!" The necromancer died without even being able to say his lines.

"Welcome—" said Toeing, but he got interrupted once again.

“Who—” The necromancer tried to speak. "Gasp!" 

However, he died again.

"Gasp!" Before he even realized it, he was killed.

"Ga-" And again, before he could even scream.

"..." And again, without being able to say a word.

He was killed again and again. He kept dying.