Tutorial

A tower rising high.

Kim Haemi blankly looked up at the tower.

The fog was so thick that she couldn’t even gauge how high it reached.

When facing something gigantic and magnificent, people naturally feel intimidated.

Especially if they’ve been suddenly transferred to a strange space.

There appeared to be about 100 people who seemed to have been abducted to this place.

Everyone seemed confused.

All wore the same clothes.

White t-shirts and white shorts. It felt like the default equipment when first creating a character in a game.

Was she still dreaming? Well, she did stay up late playing games yesterday.

She pinched her cheek with her hand, but it only hurt.

“This isn’t… a dream?”

At the murmured words, the feeling of sleep completely vanished.

Everything was too vivid to be a dream.

It felt different from dreams that feel hazy, like being underwater.

As if to confirm it was reality, all senses were sharply clear.

Her body trembled in the slightly chilly air, and the faint winter scent contained within evoked an inexplicable nostalgia.

Although this was clearly her first time here, it implanted a sense of déjà vu, as if she’d seen it somewhere before.

Feeling this sense of familiarity, she looked around.

Lilies of the valley filled the surroundings.

The silver bell-shaped flowers swayed left and right as the wind blew.

The subtle fragrance that wafted out felt quite beautiful.

Above the ground tinted silver, a night sky mixed with purple and navy blue was visible.

The moon hanging over the tower. Stars emitting various lights, using the moon as their illumination.

Silver fragments flowing down from the moon cascaded down the tower.

Particles as small as sand grains in an hourglass flowed along the outer edge of the tower.

The streaks of light created by these small particles looked like a stream flowing down.

It was dreamlike. Enough to make one want to fall into fantasy and have a sweet dream.

It was such an unrealistic space, but strangely, everyone here was beginning to realize that this place was reality.

As everyone gradually realized it was real, various reactions emerged.

People panicking due to the sudden situation, people pouring out anger while pointing at the tower, and people sitting quietly.

Among them, I was the one sitting quietly, ruminating on despair.

Frustration was a familiar emotion to me.

I couldn’t move forward, nor could I step back.

I disliked change to a new environment. Rather than feeling excited, I was afraid.

For me, the hamster wheel life of repeating the same existence was more cozy than the life outside the window, where I didn’t know what would happen.

In the midst of this, there was an odd person who looked around in wonder and interest.

Looking at that person, I thought:

Yes, if this world were a novel, such a person would be the protagonist.

Not me, who is ordinary, no, below ordinary.

A tower newly rising in a destroyed world.

Just hearing this, a web novel title already pops into my head.

“Welcome to the Towerrr!”

Someone walks out from the top of the tower.

A small silhouette calmly walking out after tearing through space.

The expression “tearing through space” fit literally.

Like torn paper, marks of tears could be seen here and there in space.

What emerged was a child with a small build.

A child with an androgynous appearance, making it hard to tell if they were male or female.

Dressed like a fairy, they wore a bright smile.

Their red cheeks made them look quite excited.

Despite their innocent appearance, a dangerous atmosphere could be felt.

Though they didn’t seem to speak loudly, their words were heard clearly as if spoken right next to us.

Everyone became quiet. The space that had been noisy until just a moment ago was instantly enveloped in silence.

A song flowed from a pure, untainted voice.

“A place where hope and despair overflow.”

Like performing in a musical, they sang while walking on air.

It also felt like a parade in an amusement park.

They danced, moving their short arms here and there. They danced while juggling balls that appeared from nowhere.

The balls rising in circles looked like a Ferris wheel.

As the balls rose and fell, the lilies of the valley repeatedly raised their heads and lowered them again.

Bell sounds rang out in time with the song.

Strange. Despite being in a situation that should make one vigilant and eerie, tension naturally dissipated.

It gave me goosebumps.

The discrepancy was incomprehensible, making it feel even more frightening.

The feeling that my body wasn’t my own, the discomfort of being beyond my control.

But as time passed, I became intoxicated by the beauty. The thought that it didn’t matter what happened began to form.

“A place where imagination becomes reality.”

Fireworks shoot up behind the tower.

Bang bang. Like flowers blooming, fireworks bloom in the void.

They emit light so brilliant and strong that the stars in the night sky become mere supporting actors, only to wither and disappear too quickly.

Looking at the remnants of falling fireworks, I felt pity.

“Like moths chasing fire, like Icarus flying toward the sun, let’s fly toward our dreams.”

Chilling lyrics.

Because their ultimate fate was to fall.

But on the other hand, it also seemed romantic.

It was as if I was enchanted by something.

“Are you the clown? Are we the clowns? A space of illusion where everyone preys on each other.”

The stars filling the surroundings felt like dozens, hundreds of eyes watching us.

Those gazes naturally made me feel intimidated.

It felt like being a monkey in a zoo.

“Welcome to the Tower. Welcome to the Tower full of romance. Even though romance might devour you.”

* * *

“Even though romance might devour you.”

“What? You’re doing better than I thought. Are you a professional?”

“I guess it’s in my nature.”

Sleet was doing quite well, except for stammering once at the beginning.

His face turned red as if embarrassed about stammering, but it seemed no one even noticed it.

It was small, but since he had rank, it would have been difficult for ordinary people to endure.

I could see about 100 people looking up at the sky.

They were the personnel selected as beta testers.

About the top 100 in rankings.

For now, the current Tower doesn’t have much. Only 10 floors and a tutorial space have been prepared.

Beyond that hasn’t been implemented yet.

There aren’t many Constellations either.

It’s literally an incomplete beta service.

It wasn’t that there were no resources.

Time made a deal with destruction, and as a result, many resources were obtained.

“So how was the Tower operated initially?”

“Ah, you don’t know much about the Tower’s situation back then.”

“That’s right. It was hard enough just to survive.”

“Due to lack of resources, various spaces were patched together like rags. Both time and resources were in short supply.”

“I see.”

It was an issue hard to simply criticize.

The previous Tower was the result of its own struggle.

Anyway, it’s in the past. Let’s just focus on the current situation.

Despite the Tower’s abundant resources, the reason for calling them under the pretext of beta testers was simple.

We needed personnel to help with adaptation for those entering first.

Players with the same sense of identity would be more comfortable than unfamiliar NPCs.

In return, we planned to give them definite benefits.

We planned to grant the trait of “Pioneers” until the end of the beta test.

The effect of the Pioneer trait is that they won’t die in the tutorial section during the beta period.

Of course, it wasn’t that they simply wouldn’t die. We planned to give them chances by erasing their memories and resurrecting them.

It’s a way to give players a period of adaptation.

I see a woman blankly looking up at the sky.

A girl with emotions like frustration reflected in her eyes.

A familiar face.

“It’s been a while.”

It really had been a long time.

Although her impression was different from when I first saw her, I could recognize her.

When I first met her, she was cornered to the point of giving up on life and looked haggard.

Her cheeks were sunken as if she hadn’t eaten for days, and her skin was pale. The dark circles on her pale skin made the girl look even more pained.

Even now, she didn’t look healthy, but she seemed better than back then.

She was my first disciple and my most painful finger.

I was inexperienced since it was my first time being a master. Instead of guiding her forward, I became her burden.

I shot sharp words without teaching anything properly.

I was an endlessly wicked master to her.

I was curious why she viewed me favorably despite all this.

Even after reading her skill book, I couldn’t understand it at all.

The only books in the used bookstore that I couldn’t understand were my disciples’ books.

I quietly took out my phone and connected to the girl’s perspective.

Constellations could watch videos of each player through their personal phones.

Although it was in the same form as a phone, the only function available was to observe players.

It was simply a broadcast viewing device. The familiar design was a phone, so that’s what we decided on.

Constellations could watch players’ broadcasts, make donations, or send chats.

Although it was called chat, it wasn’t that free.

It was more like expressing emotions rather than conveying words.

Think of it as similar to emoticons but in a more liberal atmosphere.

Even that had the restriction that high-ranking information couldn’t be conveyed.

“Then let’s start the tutorial. I hope to see you again next time.”

Sleet, who had briefly explained the Tower’s system, moved them to the tutorial space.