It started on a normal Monday.
The afternoon passed the same way it always did for Rain. He lay on his bed inside his apartment, staring at the ceiling. Even though it was only two in the afternoon, sleep tugged at him anyway.
As Rain lifted his blanket and tucked himself in, the power suddenly shut off.
"The hell?" he muttered.
The air conditioner died. So did the fan. The room instantly grew stuffy, summer heat pressing in from all sides. Even if he wanted to ignore it, he would probably overheat if he stayed like this. With a tired sigh, he pushed himself off the bed.
Using his phone's flashlight, he walked through the apartment until he found the breaker. He flipped the switch off, then back on.
Nothing.
Frowning, Rain returned to his bedroom and pulled open the blinds.
"Wha… what the hell?" he whispered, unease creeping into his voice.
Outside, people ran in frantic directions. Some screamed. Others jumped into their cars and sped away in panic.
"What's… happening?"
Rain glanced at the neighboring apartments. Normally, lights would still be on at this hour. He assumed the entire complex had lost power.
But that didn't explain the screaming.
He closed the blinds again. Unlike most people, curiosity didn't grip him. Instead, he returned to his bed, trying to fall asleep through whatever was going on.
"W–wait."
His heart began to race.
Something about what he had seen felt wrong.
Rain shot up and rushed back to the window, yanking the blinds open once more.
"No… no way."
Outside, it was dark.
Not night, but something close to it. Earlier, he hadn't noticed, distracted by the chaos below, but now it was impossible to ignore. At two in the afternoon, the city should have been bathed in sunlight.
Instead, it was as if the sun itself had been blocked. Like the entire city had been swallowed by shade.
Rain bolted out of his apartment.
He took the stairs two at a time, his heartbeat pounding louder with every step. When he emerged from the building, he saw dozens of others standing frozen, their faces pale and tense.
Then he saw it.
His stomach twisted.
A massive tower hovered above the city, stretching impossibly high and wide, as if reality itself had bent to allow it to exist. It pierced through the clouds and continued far beyond them.
The tower was so wide it covered Rain's entire city—and more.
It floated just above the tallest buildings, unmoving. Stationary. As if anchored to the sky itself.
"How… what is that?" Rain whispered. "How is this possible?"
Every belief he had about physics shattered in an instant.
The tower wasn't human in design. Its surface was pitch black, darker than anything Rain had ever seen. Light seemed to bend away from it, swallowed whole. That alone explained why the city had been cast into darkness.
Despite the distance and height, Rain could still make out details. Thin strips of gold ran vertically along the tower's surface, faintly gleaming. There were no windows. No signs of life.
If humans tried to build something like this, it would take thousands of years.
No—Rain wasn't even sure it was possible at all.
The harder he tried to understand it, the worse he felt. His breathing grew uneven, his heartbeat hammering violently against his chest.
After a few seconds, Rain tore his gaze away. The longer he stared, the more his skin prickled, as if something unseen were watching him back.
On the road, chaos reigned. Cars sped past in every direction. Some people screamed. Others stood motionless, eyes glazed, trapped in a trance.
Only a few, like Rain, stood frozen in place.
Then—
A translucent blue screen suddenly appeared in front of him.
It was so abrupt that Rain stumbled backward and fell to the ground. But the screen didn't disappear. It stayed firmly within his vision.
Welcome, Rain Luther, to the Tower of Thyriss.
"H–huh?" he breathed.
The screen resembled something straight out of a game, eerily similar to the RPGs he used to play back in middle school.
Sweat dripped down his face as more text appeared.
Do you wish to become a candidate for the Tower of Thyriss?
Yes / No
If you choose no, immediate death will occur.
"Is… is this a joke?" Rain muttered.
There was no way. No way something like this could be real.
But when he looked around, he noticed something horrifying. People weren't staring at the tower anymore.
They were staring at nothing.
At their own screens.
Though Rain couldn't see theirs—and they couldn't see his—he knew. Deep in his chest, he understood they were seeing the same thing.
Immediate death?
So it gave him a choice… but punished him for choosing wrong?
What kind of choice was that?
Suddenly, numbers appeared on the screen.
A countdown.
30.
29.
28.
"What the hell…?"
27.
26.
"No… no way. This can't be real…"
25.
BAM. BAM.
Rain flinched violently.
Across the street, two elderly neighbors—people he had lived beside for years—collapsed as their heads exploded without warning.
"What… what the fuck?" Rain gasped.
His breathing spiraled out of control as his mind began to fracture.
"They were… they were good people…" he whispered.
Tears welled in his eyes.
10.
9.
"I don't…"
8.
"I don't want to die like that…"
7.
6.
"I want to live."
Rain screamed, "YES!"
Again, louder, desperate.
"YES! I WILL ENTER THE TOWER OF THYRISS!"
As soon as he said yes, the wind around him began to stir.
At first it was subtle, barely noticeable, but within seconds it quickened, swirling unnaturally around his body. Rain looked around. Others nearby had clearly accepted the invitation as well. Their expressions mirrored his own—fear, confusion, disbelief—raw emotions written plainly across their faces.
The countdown accelerated.
3.
2.
1.
"What is… what the hell is happening?" Rain whispered.
His body began to disappear.
It started at his toes. Then his feet. His legs faded next, dissolving into nothing—yet somehow, he remained standing. As if the ground itself no longer mattered. As if gravity had forgotten him.
The situation was horrifying. Unnatural. Deeply unsettling.
And yet… Rain wasn't afraid.
The sensation of his body leaving him wasn't painful. There was no burning, no tearing. Just a strange emptiness, like he was being gently pulled away from reality itself.
He glanced around and saw the same thing happening all across the city. People fading away mid-scream. Mid-step. Mid-breath.
Then his vision began to dim.
The world blurred. Sounds stretched and distorted, fading into silence.
Rain lost consciousness.
—
The feeling of light was… pleasant. Almost beautiful.
Maybe even therapeutic.
The wind brushed past Rain's ear, sending a shiver down his body. He lifted his arm instinctively, reaching for the blanket. Pulling it over his head… nothing happened.
"Huh… what?"
He tried again, tugging the blanket over his face and body. Still nothing.
Suddenly, Rain jolted awake. The sunlight tore through his vision, blinding him. He raised his right arm to shield his eyes.
"Where are we?" a voice called from beside him, laced with concern.
Rain turned. A young man, no older than twenty, stood nearby, his face twisted in confusion.
"My head… hurts," groaned another voice. This time, a girl, clutching her arms over her head as if to hold herself together.
As Rain scanned his surroundings, more people appeared—confused, frightened. Within moments, the group had grown to at least fifty, clustered together, their expressions mirroring his own: bewilderment, fear, disbelief.
It must not have been a dream, Rain realized.
He stood, following the others' movements. Everyone's unease was palpable. Some tried to appear calm. Rain wanted to, too—but deep down, he had never felt such fear, such disorientation in his life.
He took a slow breath, surveying his surroundings. The group stood in the middle of a forest. Towering trees stretched toward the sky, blocking patches of sunlight, while smaller ones allowed thin shafts of light to pierce the canopy.
The ground was muddy, damp beneath his feet. Everything looked like Earth, yet somehow… off. Something about it felt wrong. Deep in his chest, Rain knew this was not his world.
Others murmured the same realization.
"Are we… inside the tower?" a young girl whispered, her voice trembling.
Some scoffed nervously. Others shook their heads, denying it. A few broke down entirely, tears streaking their faces.
Rain felt the same knot of fear and awe tightening inside his chest. Before he could dwell on it, he felt something else.
A sensation.
Sudden. Dangerous.
Rain didn't know what it was, only that every instinct in his body screamed at him to run.
Looking around, he realized the others felt it too. Faces tightened. Breathing hitched. It was like a presence had entered the space—one so overwhelming that the air itself seemed to recoil from it.
Then Rain saw it.
Everyone did.
"Wha… what is that?" someone blurted out.
A figure was floating in the sky.
Slowly, deliberately, it descended, drifting closer to the ground with unnatural grace. At first, it looked like nothing more than a shadow—pitch black and shapeless. But as it lowered, details began to form.