My body felt heavy. Breathing was difficult, as if my lungs had forgotten how to work.
My eyelids slowly fluttered open. Dim light filtered through the trees above, and unfamiliar faces surrounded me.
Pain throbbed in my head. The world was still blurry, but I could tell... this wasn't any place I knew. We were in the middle of a forest, and something massive loomed above us.
A giant black sphere.
Floating silently in the air, with no strings, no support. Just hovering. Watching.
The people around me were speaking all at once, panic rising in their voices. The noise clashed and overlapped, a rising tide of chaos.
"Where are we?!"
"Who are you people?!"
"What is that thing?!"
"Mamaaa!"
I forced myself to stay calm. This had to be a nightmare. There had to be some logical explanation behind all of this. I just needed to think...
Then, without warning, a wave of sound tore through the air subtle, but sharp enough to stab through the skull like a blade.
Screams erupted around me. People collapsed to the ground, clutching their heads, writhing in pain.
Except me.
And... one other person. A man stood across from me, shaking, grimacing, but still upright, still conscious.
"What's happening?" I whispered.
Why was I unaffected? Why was he?
The sound faded. The forest fell silent again — and somehow, the silence was worse.
That's when it appeared.
A floating screen. Hovering in front of me, following my gaze like a HUD in a game.
{Loading...}
{Analyzing Awakener information...}
[Status Window]
[Name: Oskar River]
[Level: 1]
[Class: (Unselected)]
Strength: D-
Agility: B
Endurance: C
Intelligence: B+
I swallowed. This... this was a system window, right? Just like in those games and novels I used to read.
But why did it say "Oskar River"?
"Hey, are you seeing this too?"
A guy tapped my shoulder. He pointed in front of him, eyes wide in disbelief. He was clearly seeing something similar.
"Yeah... but the name on mine isn't mine," I said slowly. "It says someone else's name. Oskar River."
He frowned.
"You sure? Mine shows my name."
I froze.
If everyone sees their own name... then why don't I?
Unless...
I really am Oskar River.
Before I could process it, the black sphere above us began to rumble. A voice, neither male nor female, echoed directly into our minds.
{Welcome, Awakeners.}
{You are among the rare humans selected to evolve beyond your limits.}
{This Tower exists to awaken your potential and prepare you to become Climbers.}
Climbers?
That word sounded... painfully familiar.
Where have I heard it before?
"HEY! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"
Someone shouted. A man in a luxurious coat stepped forward. He was tall, arrogant, drenched in designer brands from head to toe. His face twisted with fury.
"If this is some kind of prank, you picked the wrong person to mess with!"
{Your blood pressure is elevated. This is called 'anger' in your world, correct?}
"Yeah, I'm angry! My father's one of the top lawyers in the country! When he finds out about this, you're all screwed!"
{I see. So you refuse to become an Awakener?}
"Of course! I'm not playing your sick little game!"
{Rejection acknowledged.}
A thin beam of red light shot out from the black sphere and struck the man's forehead.
In the next instant, his head exploded.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
His body dropped to the ground, twitching, headless.
People screamed. Panic erupted again. They scrambled away from the corpse, stumbling over each other.
{We do not accept those who reject their Awakening. This is a once-in-a-billion chance. If there are further refusals, it is better for you to become dust in the universe.}
I didn't scream. I didn't run.
Because something else had taken over me, a realization far more terrifying than what just happened.
The Tower. The sphere. The Awakening. The term "Climber."
These weren't just concepts.
I'd seen all of this before.
This was the world of a novel.
Survive in Tower of Madness.
A dark, brutal story. A hopeless survival game filled with death, betrayal, and pain.
And now I was in it.
Wearing a body that wasn't mine. Without my glasses. Dressed in unfamiliar clothes.
I looked back at the status screen again.
[Oskar River]
"...I'm just nobody."