Should I leave?
Is there even another door, or is this a visitor in this tower like me?
How did she…he…it(?) get in here?
How fast can I run away, and how fast can it move?
As the flying fairy waved at him, Adrian decided to at least be polite and wave back.
"Hello."
"Hehe, are you talking to me, cutie?" the green fairy replied in a high-pitched voice while laughing.
…cutie?
Let's just pretend I didn't hear that.
"Can I help you? Do you need help opening the door?"
"Wow. Aren't you quite the polite one, cutie." The fairy insisted, its smile forcing its mouth open even wider until it filled the majority of its face.
Scary.
Let's not antagonize this…thing.
"…thank you?"
Adrian smiled as politely as it could.
Faster than he could blink, the fairy zipped through the air before pausing in front of Adrian.
Its wings let off bright green sparkling dust, and Adrian instinctively took several steps back.
The law of nature was that brightly colored things tend to be poisonous or toxic, so it's better to avoid them altogether.
After all, he was a weak human with a measly Health of 4.
Whatever that meant.
As if sensing his thoughts, the fairy laughed wildly before waving its hand, causing the dust to disappear.
"Hello, cutie. You may call me Tia. I'm the administrator of the tower."
Tower administrator?
Good thing he didn't try to use any abilities on her.
Smiling even more brightly, Adrian held out his hand and boldly lied.
"Nice to meet you, Tia."
"Nice to meet you, tee hee." The fairy gave him a knowing look before continuing, "I was curious to see which contestant had the guts to choose multiple choices, so I came to peek. I didn't realize it was a cutie like you. Such pretty eyes. Like the purest mana crystals."
Rather than respond, Adrian just smiled politely while thinking, 'get to the point or get out of my way.'
Still smiling widely at him, Tia continued flying around him while talking.
"You've arrived at floor 0, which is the entrance to the area of the first trial of the tower? Can you guess what the trial is?"
Adrian thought for a brief moment before replying, "Combat?"
After all, before he got the changed words in that white space, the first thing he had been asked to do was to choose a weapon.
More than likely, whoever or whatever owned the tower wanted them to fight each other.
"Hehe, Good guess! But wrong! The first trial is a treasure hunt! Doesn't that sound exciting?"
…not really?
Why would I want to participate in a treasure hunt? I want to leave!
Completely ignoring his expression, the fairy kept speaking while flying around excitedly.
"Since this is a treasure hunt, naturally, you have to find treasure, right? So the goal of the trial is simple: find enough treasures, and you can immediately pass to the next trial. If you find more treasures, you can receive even better items and skills that will help you in future trials. And of course, everything you find belongs to you, so it's in your best interest to work hard. Understand?"
"I do. But what do you mean by enough treasures? Is there a minimum or maximum requirement? What kind of treasures are there? What kind of treasures are there?"
"That's for you to figure out on your own." Somehow, Tia's smile got even wider, taking up all the space on its head.
"Oh. I see."
He didn't.
But… do I really have to participate in this?
Can't I just leave?
"Then, how do I get out of here? The tower, I mean."
Adrian really wanted nothing to do with a place where a group of kidnapped people could be brought without being found, including a member of the baron's family, where mages could blast a person to bits with no repercussions, and some mysterious tower categorized his body's attributes into strange numbers or gave him strange abilities that modified his body.
His 6th sense, which had kept him away from trouble throughout his life, was telling him that there was nothing good to be found here and that he should leave without accepting anything else.
If he could get out, he would immediately leave for another city to avoid any repercussions and his kidnappers.
After all, if they could capture him once, they could do it again.
As if reading his thoughts, the green fairy met his eyes as it flew up to hover in front of his face.
"You're a contestant and a guest, not a prisoner. If you participate in the tower, naturally, you'll get stronger. Both physically, magically, monetarily, and more. You'll gain abilities and items beyond your wildest dreams. You saw your status, and you've received skills, right? That's high-tech magic that doesn't even exist in the magic towers, and you can learn to do that and more. Don't you want to gain money? Power? Prestige? If you participate, you can gain all that and more in the tower."
I can also gain death.
Adrian didn't say that part aloud; he just stared at it with dead fish eyes.
"I see. So how do I leave? Where is the exit?"
Seeing that he wasn't interested, Tia smiled brightly even as the atmosphere around them became chilly.
"As I said,…if you want to leave, I certainly won't stop you. You're not a prisoner."
As the fairy waved its hand, a purple star-tipped wand appeared in its hand, and Tia pointed it to Adrian's right, causing a doorway to open in the craggy wall.
The air wavered like it did when it was unbearably hot, and suddenly Adrian could see the Miyche city center with the fountain bubbling happily and different stalls with vendors selling their wares.
People walked by like usual, and it looked like any other day.
"This is where you're from, correct? Before and after each trial, you can leave the tower and return to your life; however, as the administrator, I must inform you that by entering the tower, making a choice, and accepting the tower's gift, a binding curse has been placed on your soul."
.....a what now?
As Adrian frowned, the fairy laughed as if it found it cute. "Teehee, a curse, it sounds a bit dramatic, but it's not that bad! Just think of it as a binding agreement. From now on, you must bring twice as many people into the tower each week. Next week requires 2 new people. The week after that requires 4. Then 8, 16, 32, and so on. If you fail to do so, your soul will be devoured by the tower."
You put a what inside of me?
Are you fucking crazy?
"...I beg your pardon?"
Adrian asked incredulously.
He wanted to believe that his ears were just hearing things.
"Ah, another unbeliever. Hmmmm...." the fairy tapped the wand to its chin before perking up, "Aha! I can just show you if you don't believe me. Here's a sneak peek."
Tia turned to point the wand at him, and when it did, Adrian felt his chest throb painfully, as if something was simultaneously winding around it, squeezing and then stabbing it.