Chunk.
Was that what the sound of a spotlight turning on was supposed to sound like? I mean, surely the developers actually used the actual sound, right? But then again, this was Everybody’s Tower. Anything was possible.
Chink? Was ‘chink’ the sound spotlights made? No, it couldn’t have been. It seemed especially racist, which was, of course, eliminated in all forms in the glorious year 2030. (It’s 2030, right?)
The curtains unveiled the leader of the ARK, and the guild master of ARK 0, Kiritsumasaki. It seemed that he took some inspiration from a certain anime protagonist judging from his avatar. For some reason, he was a leader instead of a lone wolf. Perhaps he would get in character someday.
Behind him stood the leaders of ARK 1 to ARK 9. While Dantes recognized Crownslayer, everyone else was a total stranger. However, Dantes could already tell that many had unique personalities, or no personality, which made them unique in the sea of a colourful cast. Such was such. Much as much. Dutch was Dutch. Yadda yadda.
You know, the yellow one, the red one, the green one… Did Kiri-whatever design these? With their distinct colour schemes — or indistinct, which made them distinct in the distincting casting — they almost resembled the Strength Officers, a popular Japanese TV show involving a group of either five or seven (or six?) heroes in pride clothing fighting giant kaiju. Of course, this group involved two black officers, instead of one. Very inclusive clothing-wise — they were all fair-skinned.
So 10 leaders in total, with each around 250 members excluding ARK 9 with around 100 members… This meant around 2350 people joined the guilds, though Dantes was skeptical that more than half of them were active. Not as in dead, but as in lazying around contributing nothing.
Ugh… Numbers… This was getting boring as FUCK. Let’s just skip forward to the important bits…
Blah, blah, blah, “Our first raid will be on the 14th day which is”, blah, blah, blah, “and the minimum required level to enter is Lvl 70”.
Nice. Since he was Lvl 54, there were only… 16 more levels to go. He would be able to reach it in a few days of hard work.
It was strange… how he could put in so much effort in worthless junk like video games and manga, but he never showed the same passion in to work in real life. In fact, wasn’t his current situation identical to physical and menial labour in reality? Perhaps if there were ‘Level up!’ messages petting him on the back in real life, he would’ve been so much more successful. Dat dopamine… you love to see and hear it.
“Damn… looks like I’ll have to grind,” said Svirit.
Next to him was the ARK 8 crew, consisting of Svirit and the Japanglish man. There were more to the side, but their faces seemed to be obscured by the shadows of their bangs, and their attire resembled generic clothing for NPCs. Dantes swore that he once saw two identical people walking in the streets of the background once — though he could not tell it to anyone.
“...What level are you, Svirit?” asked Dantes.
“Um… Lvl 24…”
24… Well, at least life down here wasn’t so bad — who knew what the second floor entailed? This train of thought led Dantes once more into a familiar dark corner — why not just stay here? Why bother continuing? Grinding?
However, the doubts soon ceased as he looked up to see Crownslayer on the stage. She did not come here for nothing. His sister entered hell just for a chance to save him — at the risk of her own life. It would be unacceptable for him to not return the same fervour — he would not allow it.
The meeting ended about an hour in due to a kitchen fire, allegedly caused by two cooks who wanted to see if blue flames existed in this game at high enough temperatures — which they did. The technologies in this world seemed especially archaic, reflecting the conditions of medieval life on which Sol-Aegis was based. How did they achieve the blue colour anyway?
Dantes’s eyes winced at the sight of sunlight after so long in the dark. He was familiar with this sensation as he had especially sensitive eyes, probably due to long durations of artificial light exposure and staying in the dark too long. The VR technologies were extremely advanced to the point where it almost felt like information was directly plugged to his brain. At that point, why not just remove the headset entirely? Why not just plug a computer into his hat or something? Too many questions, too little time.
Dantes noticed Crownslayer walking up to him. It must’ve been difficult to be on the stage for someone like her, though for some reason, she seemed much more confident in the game than in person.
“...You did pretty good up there, Crownslayer.”
“Y-you too…”
“...I wasn’t even on the stage…”
“...Hey, do you want to grind together?”
“Sure, why not?” answered Dantes, then he turned to Svirit, “Hey, do you want to join us too? We’ll teach you some tips and tricks.”
“Well… I’m not sure if I want to join the raid…”
Dantes was a bit surprised by the answer coming from her. Wasn’t she the one who recruited Dantes for his potential capabilities on the field? But then again, different people specialized in different fields, and while he was destined for the poppy fields, Svirit may want to avoid the field of reeds.
“...Even if you don’t join the raid, levelling up will still be useful, you know?” said Dantes, “Why do you think I was grinding in the first place.”
Svirit looked up to him — or looked down at him — with a worried expression. It must’ve been difficult for her, but it had been difficult for everyone else as well. This was the second crossroad for all players — to proceed or to stay. Even now, a part of Dantes wished to stay, but he had his sister to persuade him. Who did Svirit have?
“...Okay.”
Dantes began to walk to the market when he was stopped by Crownslayer grabbing his collar.
“We’ll be grinding the real way now,” said Crownslayer, “I heard that the market exploit was pathed anyways.”
“...I’m surprised this game gets updated at all…”
And so, the trio began to head toward the forest of Avangarden, Cadra’s backyard.
“Ore wa coming too!”
“Ah, sorry. I wasn’t asking you.”
“...”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
----------------------------------------
“...Well, that’s the last of them,” said Crownslayer while wiping the sweat off of her brows.
Both Dantes and Svirit spread across the soft grass, exhausted by the entire ordeal. For some reason, healing repeatedly seemed to not only sap his mana but drain his stamina as well.
Dantes put his arm over his eyes, protecting them from the blinding sun.
What had changed?
He joined ARK 8 to run from the monotone, crushing life, but he had returned to it once more.
“...Come on, let’s move to the next zone.”
“J-just five… five more minutes.”
As expected, Crownslayer was much more athletic than he was. In real life, she continued her art of kendo where Dantes gave up. His sister was much more active, though equally inactive in social life.
Dantes began to subconsciously compare himself to his sister but immediately stopped himself. As a sibling, he was used to this sensation of inferiority and superiority. He had learned a long time ago that those things did not matter — what mattered was that they were siblings, and they would be there for each other when needed. Both, both were good.
“...I quit.”
“...Svirit?”
“I’m done with this… I mean, aren’t we working so hard — just so we can die at the raid?”
She was obviously frustrated by her low level and therefore low status. Svirit had been kicked out as a leader due to her weakness, and now, she was treated as more of a liability in these hunts. Dantes mainly focused on her as she was the weakest while Crownslayer grinded the beasts into a pulp. They would’ve been better off without her — she thought.
“Svirit—”
“You know this too, don’t you Dantes?” said Svirit, “You said that you grinded to survive, not to battle… If we really wanted to live, doesn’t it make more sense to wait for other people to clear the boss, and climb then?”
“...You’re right Svirit,” said Crownslayer, “but you’re missing a key detail.
“...What?”
“Well, I suppose there are three details,” said Crownslayer, “Dantes, do you think you can think of one? A reason why we — we specifically must battle in the raid?”
Dantes pondered for a moment. The true reason for challenging the heaven wasn’t simply because he was bored, and not because he was good at grinding either. There was something else…
“...Because if no one participates — or if too little participates — we’re all good as dead.”
“...That’s one,” said Crownslayer, “Let’s say out of the 2400 or so members, only ten percent participate — that’s 240. If that’s not enough, that’s a loss of 240 lives. However, if 480 participates, only 100 will die and we will progress without needless sacrifice.”
“...Even so, you can’t ask me to join the raid to be a sacrificial sheep — what about the others who will stay here, safe in Cadra?”
“That is where the second point comes in,” said Crownslayer, “We must be the masters of our own fate — that is the best we can do.”
“...”
“It is not the responsibility of others to save you — it is your responsibility to save yourself. I suppose this is more of a moral conundrum, but would you rather let another person decide if you die or not, or will you mould destiny into the future you desire? This is why we grind. This is why we work.”
“...And what’s the third point?”
“The third point is… Well…” said Crownslayer, while looking at Dantes for help.
She must’ve come up with only one point — then asked Dantes for another. Classic. Dantes supposed that three points indeed sounded much better than just one, and to Crownslayer’s relief, Dantes already had one in mind.
“...The third point is that we’re not only saving ourselves, but people important to us.” said Dantes, “Of course, first and foremost, I’m doing this for myself, but in this world, there are people who I want to save — people important to me. Maybe you haven’t found that specific person yourself, but trust me when I say that every one of the people on this server has their own lives and worries.
I’m not grinding to have a chance at death. I’m grinding to have a chance at life. I might want to cower and live on the first floor, but I absolutely cannot let my sister rot in this world.”
After looking at both Crownslayer and Dantes, Svirit looked down onto the grass. Someone special… She had someone like that. And so, to her surprise, tears began to fall from her eyes.
“...U-uh, sorry,” said Svirit as she wiped away at her eyes to no avail.
“...No, I’m sorry,” said Crownslayer, “...Who were they?”
“...He was someone I knew in real life… Reijin — or I guess he was Renegade in this world.”
Renegade…?
…
“I never had the chance to talk to him here… And when I learned of what happened…”
Renegade.
He
,,,
Well, Dantes knew. He knew since long ago. He just did not expect to be reminded to soon.
“...I knew him too — Renegade. Not for long but… I met him.” said Dantes.
He stood up from the grass.
“Svirit. Don’t feel pressured to join the raid — it’s your choice. I have no right to tell you what’s right or wrong, but please, don’t die.” said Dantes, “I’ll send a friend invite so you guys can DM me when you want to grind together. For today, I… I think I’ll work alone.”
“...I’ll come to find you tomorrow, Dantes,” said Crownslayer, “and you too, Svirit. I’ll stay here as long as you need me.”
Dantes’s knees felt weak as he walked away. It seemed that resting on the grass did not help him at all.
People were too fragile, and so was he.
----------------------------------------
On the day of the raid, Dantes did not see Svirit anywhere. He somehow felt glad that he did not see her. She was barely Lvl 70, but it seems that she changed her mind at the last moment.
Around him were a few other familiar faces. Crownslayer, Kiritsu-something-but-from-now-on-just-Kiritsu, the Strength Officers, and… the Japanglish man.
“...And now, I’d like to bring forward the main characters of today’s raid — selected solely based on level.”
Main characters? What was he talking about?
“The highest level… is, of course, me, at Lvl 130!”
A first silence, then awkward claps began to ring out from the crowd in front of the massive iron gate. There must’ve been around 200 people for this raid, which did not seem ideal. But then again, he had no sense of crowds as he had never been near a real one since 2026.
“The second highest level… is Crownslayer, at Lvl 122!”
As expected, she deserved the spot as one of the hardest-working members of ARK. Out of all the leaders, she must’ve been there the shortest, but Crownslayer was simply someone like that. Someone who could achieve with her mind in focus, though she usually did not have her mind in focus.
Dantes expected another ARK leader to take the third place, not far from 122, but…
“The third highest level… is Dantes, at Lvl 120!”
The crowd turned left and right to find him, and once one of them located him, all eyes began to lock on him. To most, he was either someone they heard about weeks ago for his exploit, a newbie of ARK 8, or someone who they just met for the first time. It was an awkward moment to be sure, but Dantes simply stayed put, making sure to avoid any unnecessary contact.
He was soon called up to the front, where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the other leaders. Thankfully, Crownslayer moved out of her way to stand next to her brother, supporting his legitimacy. Of course, his level was proof enough, but for many of the users, he was just another stranger.
Now he finally felt the weight of the door in front of him — the colossal iron door, ready to flatten him at any moment. This was not like the door of ARK 8, which judged his evil, but a door to hell, a one-way ticket. The chance to turn back was long gone, and a small part of him felt regret for not joining Svirit. However, another part of him could not contain its excitement and thrill. This was going to be war, and the only choices were either glory or death.
The raid had been in progress ever since the game began and now was only the finale. This would be the event to shape the destiny of Everybody’s Tower, and the lives of everyone who survived.
“And now… let the show begin!”