Chapter 3: The lowest floor
For first timers, entering the Tower is very random. Mostly, they'd end up on the first floor of the Tower, Green Plains. There, a Quest will be given to them and they'll need to clear it to advance. Each floor is different, with unique Quests that have different purposes as one progresses.
However, something was different in store for one challenger in particular. Seichi Kurotachi, Class Chosen Undead, one that starts at the lowest possible floor.
[You have materialized in Floor -10, Lost Relic]
"..."
This window greets him as he opens his eyes. Then, after it disappeared, the surroundings were registered into the young boy's mind.
A junkyard, filled with mountains of broken trash that's been generated over untold years inside the Tower. Most of them were weapons, broken, nothing but pieces of what they once were.
[Booting up System functions]
[Recalibrating to User]
[Recalibration...…successful]
[Opening System Menu]
{System Menu is opened}
[Name: Seichi Kurotachi]
[Path: None]
[Class: Chosen Undead]
[Level: 1 | EXP: 0/10]
{Statistic}
Strength: 1
Dexterity: 1
Agility: 1
Vitality: 1
Magic: 1
Intelligence: 1
Faith: 1
{Skill}
[Path of Undeath — Lvl.1]
[Undead Perseverance — Lvl.1]
{Spell}
EMPTY
{Miracle}
EMPTY
{Title}
EMPTY
This lengthy window was shown to the boy shortly after his examination of the surroundings. He looks over the window with a frown, probably because he knows the number 1 being the lowest and it's spread throughout the entire window.
'Such low numbers…'
He sulks a bit, before he notices that he could expand the Skills he has.
{Path of Undeath}
[Level: 1]
[Skill Description: Once you die, you will have to face a challenge as punishment. You will return to life whether you fail or succeed in the challenge, but depending on the challenge, a reward can be given to you once you succeed]
{Undead Perseverance}
[Level: 1]
[Skill Description: Powered with your perseverance, different effects will trigger each time corresponding to what the user needs at the time]
For some reason, even without reading the Skill Description too deeply, the boy is able to understand what the Skills do to a certain extent.
He closes all windows for now and walks aimlessly somewhere. There's no direction, so he's just following somewhere he finds interesting.
'Mountains…'
He looks up the mountains of lost, worn relics of the past with eyes filled with childish curiosity. It was like he's in wonderland, his eyes sparkled with each mountain of someone's trash, and he decided to get a closer look at the base of one of the mountains.
'Pretty…'
Seichi has never owned anything valuable, not even any electronic devices. He'd always seen silverwares, shiny and 'pretty' to his eyes. Now, he grabs a piece of what once was a sword. It's triangle in shape, rough on the edges but too dull to effectively cut.
Looting through the mountain of abandoned junk, he found himself a hilt that still has a decently long 'sword' to it, even if it's broken. The problem, however, was that it's quite heavy for the skinny boy. His arms tremble slightly as he brings the sword up.
'...Too heavy, but good.'
He has a feeling he'll need it since, from what he heard from his classmates, the Tower is a hostile place where one can die very simply and easily.
'Let's go…'
He resumes his journey, going through mountains of relics not to find anything in particular. He was getting bored, until suddenly a window appeared before him.
[A low-rank Admin has noticed your presence]
[The low-rank Admin has noticed the lack of direction you're experiencing]
[An Emergency Quest will be given to resolve the issue]
{Ascend the Tower}
[Quest Difficulty: F]
[Quest Goal: Leave the Basement level of the Tower, direction will be given through a trail of golden light for the challenger]
[Quest Reward: 1 EXP]
A surprising sight, but one he understands the most. He's lost, shown through his aimless traveling. He knows that, so this was a good sign of relief for the boy.
[Do you accept the Emergency Quest?]
"Yes…"
A few seconds later, when the window disappeared a golden trail of light was made. He follows the guidance of the golden trail, believing that it'll lead him to his next step.
But, along the way, something felt off for the boy. He looks around, feeling an uneasiness in his chest as he surveys the surroundings.
"....Hrraaaakkkk."
Finally, to confirm his uneasiness, something made a rather dreary sound. Atop one of the mountains, an even skinnier figure was spotted. The boy noticed the figure, and it also noticed him in return. Suddenly, the figure jumps from atop the mountain of broken items and aims something in its hand at him.
'Dodge!'
His body suddenly made a move to get out of the way. So much so that he dropped his newly acquired weapon out of instinct.
"Hrraaaa…."
The object was a knife, and it's somewhat sharp as it was able to go through the dirt ground with ease. And the figure, a terrifying emaciated dark gray corpse. His hollow eyes go to look at the boy, and this sends shivers down Seichi's spine as they look at each other.
[Alert! A monster has appeared!]
[Your Level is too low, proceed with caution!]
Alert windows appear beside the boy's face, but he doesn't pay attention to them.
"Hurrrr…"
The corpse pulls the knife out of the ground and turns it towards the boy. Seichi's instinct kicks in, alerting him of imminent danger and pumps his skinny body full of adrenaline. This makes the boy try to run, getting up from the ground and turning the other way.
But, the corpse was smarter than it looks. Without hesitation, it stabs Seichi on the shoulder, driving the knife further down and captures him within its grasp.
[You've taken a dangerous amount of Damage!]
[Your Health is in critical condition!]
The moment the knife was inserted into his shoulder, Seichi felt faint already.
'No… no, I… I'm going to die again…!'
He struggled bitterly, only to be pushed down. The knife was roughly pulled out of his shoulder, carving a bigger wound downwards on his back. Flesh was torn revealing bones, and blood poured out profusely.
[Death is imminent]
He couldn't fight back, he didn't even do anything in retaliation.
'I'm… going to die.'
Realizing his death was once again around the corner, not so long after he'd just died, he suddenly became determined for some reason. He gritted his teeth, endured the constant wave of pain each movement creates, and pushes his will to live over the limit.
[Activating Undead Perseverance]
[Stats is being readjusted to the user's will to live]
A searing hot sensation burns his wound, making Seichi cry out in pain and agony as he pushes his legs to move. He was able to create a short distance between him and the creature, which stands still for some reason as he made his escape.
'No… turn, back!'
Turning back, he faces the creature with eyes filled with something different, something he didn't have before coming here.
'I'll… kill you!'
Acting all brave all of a sudden, the boy rushes at the corpse with slightly more speed than normal. He had an angry, almost demonic-looking expression as he prepared his fist to punch at the creature. But, such an attempt was too predictable.
"Hurrkk!"
With one swift step forward, the monster precisely slashed open the boy's throat. Blood spilled once again, but this time no will was conjured forth to heal his wound. He'd already strained himself with what he just did moments ago, so now he's all burnt out.
"Urgh… Arckk."
He spewed blood with every exhale. His eyes flicker in and out of consciousness.
"Hrrraaa…"
The last sound he heard was the monster's unnerving dreary voice.
[You have died]
And so, the boy's first life ended quite quickly.
[Activating Path of Undeath]
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone