For the second time. Callan woke up with his full body intact. His legs were there, his left hand was there. He had no injury. The only thing he lost was his shirt and his pants. He was… well, naked.
Callan felt the cold tiles. The sharp edges of the cracks on the floor. His hands stayed still. And so did his entire body. The only thing that moved were his tears.
Mirai was sad. Even if she was able to save the life of Callan, that was all it could do. It couldn't even help to talk to the person, relieve them of their tears, and comfort them. What was the point of saving a person when you watch them suffer more afterward?
Callan was paralyzed. The shock he had received had made his entire body go numb. His mind can just be considered dead. But his eyes… they teared of life.
I… I don’t… Callan had gone through a lot. From willingly letting go of his hand. To have his lower half ripped off from his body. Even now he doesn’t feel his legs despite it being there.
He knows it’s there, but he just couldn’t move it. No matter what he can’t fucking move it! “Fuck!”
That was his first word coming back. And it might just be the last.
[47:57:36]
The time for the next deadline had increased to 2 days. Following the obvious pattern, every floor may either add 24 hours per floor or it doubles. Doubling was of course a better option, as the entire 48 hours might just be spent on Callan’s mental recovery.
3 minutes had passed since Callan appeared, healed, and then woke up. His tears all fell to the ground making a small pond.
Or well, the pond might be a scary word for Callan now. Once again, I will repeat it once more, Callan was just a normal guy. Experiencing your entire lower half to be ripped off your body was a pain no normal human could handle. Of course, Callan wasn’t that traumatized. Actually, he could talk properly.
“Mirai… how… can I…” But there was something he couldn’t do. It was moving his legs. Taken from the damage from the piranha, Callan lost the ability to move his legs. It is a type of paralysis that is caused by the mind and not even your nerves.
But his case wasn’t really that serious. Mirai’s ability to heal was far more potent than the two can imagine. Callan was just acting like a baby. Like a pathetic kid who can’t even handle dying. I’m just joking, give him some slack, everyone would be traumatized if it happened to them too.
“Mirai… why am I here…” for the meantime. All Callan could do was talk to Mirai. “Look at me. I can’t move my legs. At the same time, I’m naked. I’m worse than a homeless man.” Callan said.
[No]
“Are your words limited? If so, can you say all the words you can?” Callan may have a paralyzed lower half. But he wasn’t really traumatized. Or maybe subconsciously he is. Whatever type of medical problem was going on with him, he didn’t pay mind to it anymore. To him, he just wanted someone to talk to. And it’s just disappointing all he could talk to was an orb who couldn’t even speak fluently.
I know it sounds harsh… forgive Callan.
[Yes]
“Then do it.“ Callan said. Mirai then started to say all the words it could.
[Yes]
[No]
[Bye]
[Welcome]
[Start The Floor]
[Climb The Tower]
“That’s all? Wow… that’s kind of sad. I’m sorry for that…” Callan felt the immense depression that comes from being mute. Well, Mirai wasn’t mute, but it might as well be.
“Well ummm… I can’t think of anything anymore… I just… sorry.” Callan turned quiet. He didn’t feel like talking. Neither did Mirai.
The area was filled with absolute silence. Mirai had experienced many awkward situations. And after being with 100 thousand people, you might think someone will just turn into a master socializer. But in reality, there was no way Mirai could even be like that.
It literally has 6 words it could say. Mirai couldn’t even separate those words and make other words. There was absolutely nothing. Mirai could understand every person's problems though. Mirai had a problem too, that it had nothing it could do to help anyone's problem.
Even if it could now emphasize emotions and tone. A yes and no, is worse than just being silent. And so it turned so quiet, Callan’s ears felt like it was being stabbed by the air.
Maybe because of what he had gone through. Just a slight pain, doesn’t even feel like anything anymore. Callan endured. Despite everything that has happened to him, it was weird that silence was the lasting pain.
Callan got to thinking. He practically has no legs. His life was at the very bottom it could ever be. Hah… do I even try to move my legs… or I just… Callan looked to Mirai. Callan could feel emotions even from inanimate objects. The longer he looked at Mirai, there was this sense of loneliness it always felt. Yeah… I have to… even… No! I have to!
Callan forced his legs to stand up. He couldn’t feel his lower half even though he could see it. His mind has totally removed the idea of a lower half to his senses.
Callan couldn’t think of any plan other than one simple thing. He had to move his legs so his mind would realize. It might sound stupid and too simplistic. But he had no choice. It was either paralyzed forever or looking stupid.
Actually, it was dying or looking stupid. Shit! Was there even a need for comparison, a choice, only one was a logical answer.
Callan raised his upper body with his hands. Oh… I could move my left hand, but… Callan moved his left hand but it was kind of tight. Like it was locked or something. But he could move it. It was hard, it may be slow, but he could move it.
Stop getting distracted. Callan shook his head. He changed his attention to his legs. He stared at it and then started to wiggle it. As he touched his legs, it was like a thousand volts of electricity ran through his entire body.
The pain made his entire body jump in the air. He could feel his legs but it was painful. “Agghhhh!!” What was it? What was the feeling? It was more painful than being bitten.
His entire leg felt like it was being twisted, but as he looked at it, it was ok, he could see it. It felt like it was covered in something uncomfortable and that his entire body felt like it was giving birth through both his legs.
Shit! Is that it!? It was an extreme version of numbness. It was like his entire body realized that a limb existed that it never realized.
It wasn’t something that could be harmful. But it was definitely painful. His entire legs were being filled and fed blood and oxygen.
After the painful process, the pain was hindering his breathing and soon his mouth was filled with foam and he had fainted from the pain. His eyes were open but it was all just white.
[37:46:12]
Multiple hours had passed already till Callan once again woke up. And due to everything that had happened. His body felt one more pain. And it came from his stomach. His entire stomach felt like a hole was formed in it. Callan could just die from the pain in his stomach.
“What the fuck!!!” He was absolutely hungry. It was hunger he had never felt before. Even if he only hadn’t eaten for not even a day. The nutrition it took to realize his legs again took way too much unnecessary energy.
“Mirai! Open the floor to floor-” Callan threw up the only food in his body. His body was scared. It was scared of the second floor. It seemed like what Callan had thought of was right.
His body was subconsciously scared and traumatized. But that shouldn’t stop him. So what if his body was rejecting it, his body should realize he needed food more than just being traumatized.
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Whatever the reason for his subconscious being traumatized yet his consciousness wasn’t affected at all. That didn’t even cross his mind. He was in a situation where his stomach was in so much pain while he was naked. Anything was really possible. There was no point trying to butt into things that weren't going to help him.
“Mirai! Can you send me to the second floor on your own!” Callan yelled to Mirai.
[Yes]
And so, his mind went black. He went from lying down on hard concrete, hurting his privates to laying on soothing grass that started to make his body itch in only a few seconds.
“Oh fuck!” It made him jump and stand up. This caused him to stare at the pond in front of him. His mind started to turn hazy. His body was shaking. Is this seriously happening!? Callan… fainted.
***
Callan woke up. His eyes were blurry and it didn’t wanna open. He raised his hands and forced himself to stand up. He opened his eyes and his heart sank.
“For fuck sake!” Callan struggled. He gritted his teeth. First clenched. Eye squinting. “It’s… Just! A…! Fucking…! Pond!!!!!!”
Callan forced his way through his fear. He walked straight to the water thinking it would solve the problem. And somehow, it did make it better. Well better for the worse.
He fainted and fell into the water. He soon woke up almost instantly. As his nose filled with water, he couldn’t even breathe. “Fuck!” His body unconsciously left the water on its own. “Fine, I'll just turn around!” His eyes wandered and it saw something he wasn’t expecting.
On the other side of the pond were clothes and the broken spear he had. Well of course there was also something weird in front of him. “A white door? Is this how I get out?” it was a single glowing rectangular shape, perfectly matching his size.
“Well this is interesting… why is it so thick though?” The feeling of his body got better as he turned his eyes away from the pond. He ignored the door for further inspection. He heads down to the other side of the pond by slowly moving to the edge of the pond.
But there were some hiccups, here and there… “Water!” Just a single step into the water makes him dizzy and multiple sensations of fainting. Though he is lucky that the pain in his stomach is lighter than before. But that doesn’t mean he could just play stupidly.
While he was walking around the pond, he then saw the boar he was eating before. “Oh shit! I’m saved.” The boar, the same fireplace. All of it was still lit. And so was the stick above the campfire. “Ok! I need to eat!”
Callan munched on his food before continuing. He tried his best to not look behind him. Even though he really wanted to get over the weird trauma, his body just wouldn’t allow it.
And the pain in his head when he sees the pond is also bad. Just thinking about it gives him a headache. But, Callan was used to headaches, that was just a normal occasion to him before. He would not even sleep for a couple of days, which may have caused a constant headache for a week. But, he was just an addict. He had the ability any author dreamed of, it was just unfortunate that he sucked.
“Ok, time to go again.” Callan stood up and left everything on the ground. Mind you, Callan never heard the announcement that he had gained an inventory. He was unconscious when that happened. As annoying as it feels to know he isn’t using one of, if not, the most useful mechanics in the entire world. There really isn’t any way for him to learn it, unless he thinks about it.
“Man if only I had an inventory, I could just bring all those stuff…” As he was scooching over, a hollow space appeared in front of him. “Wait, do I actually have an inventory now?!”. Callan yelled in confusion.
Okay, I can hear complaints, but who wouldn’t think of an inventory as they look at a boar with enough meat to last him for three more days?
Callan reached his hands out and went inside the hollow space. It was fully white but at the same time, just looking at it made his eyes hurt. It felt dizzy like there was some sort of hallucination magic set in the inventory. “Ok, I just won’t look at it, my headache is getting worse.” Callan ran back to his boar and carried it to the inventory. “Wait, it doesn’t even fit… can I make this bigger…?” The space had the shape of a square. The width of the square was just as big as his hands stacked together.
Callan raised his hands and closed his eyes. He touched the edges of his inventory and forcefully stretched it out. “AHHHH!!!” Callan yelled. However, it was unnecessary as making the square bigger was a much easier task than Callan even thought.
When his arms reached as far as they could, Callan opened his eyes and found the inventory wide open. His face filled with embarrassment and his eyes blinded by the light. "Ahhhh!" Callan shrugged the embarrassment off and carried the boar to his inventory. He also took the 2 sticks that were placed at the sides of the campfire. Along with the wooden bow that made the fire and also the long stick that he used to skewer the meat. There was also some wood of course.
After putting everything inside, Callan left the inventory floating beside him. It was still glowing and the items he put inside could be seen. But it was still hazy. It was like looking at a moving see-through slime.
Callan walked slowly to his clothes. After arriving, the only thing that was there was his upper clothing. “Well, that just… I’m still naked!” Callan picked up his shirt and wore it. In front of the clothes were the tree barks he made, or more like collected. “You know I don’t need a shirt… I’ll just…” Callan ripped his shirt to the side, making a longer cloth in the process. He then tied his own ripped-up shirt under his body and tied it around his waist; making a DIY mawashi.
He walked towards the forest and sat on the ground. “Ok, I have to make another spear.” Callan couldn’t go to the pond because of his “trauma”. Because of this, he couldn’t make a stone spear as he had no stone to begin with. “Well… I mean… I can just make a wooden spear…” But, he wouldn't continue as his eyes began to wander.
Callan looked at the tree barks and the ground. He was thinking about the pond as much as he could. He was imagining the flow of the water. The drops of rain. Even the piranhas that killed him. “Just why am I still alive…?” Callan thought it through. He was definitely dead there. But his body was still intact.
It was the work of Mirai, but how? That was the question that lingered in Callan’s head. If Mirai had healed him, there was another question that lingers. It was farfetched, but it was a question that just made sense. “Then how am I the 100 thousandth person, if Mirai could just heal everyone that dies?” Callan kept thinking. It kept going further and further from common sense. “Does that mean I am special?”
“No, it meant me being the 100 thousandth person special.”
“Or, the number 100 thousandth was the thing special?”
“Mirai wouldn’t be sad.”
“Wait, no, it was anger.”
“There was a sense of anger.”
Callan kept on immersing himself in Mirai. His blood was starting to boil and tears were starting to fall from his eyes. Callan was special. He was an ordinary man, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t change. He was now dead, which meant,
everything did change.
“Mirai… can heal me because of a system she was given. If I die, Mirai will die. I am the last hope, I can’t die.” Callan said as he stared intently at the sky with eyes opened wide.
“Ehh… stupid thinking. How could the tower have a system of its own.” Callan stood up and stared at the tree barks once more. “Wait, did I just say she? Well… I mean… Mirai does sound like a woman's name. But for some reason, “Mister Orb” was the first thing I could think of what to call him. Huh… do orbs even have a gender? Nah! “She” it is.”
Callan collected all the tree barks not even leaving a single one down. After finishing, he closed his eyes and thought of closing the inventory. “I hope it’s this easy.” When he opened his eyes, the square was gone. He then stood straight. Fixed his back. Aligned his feet. Arms on his side. He inhaled deeply… and exhaled slowly…
“This trauma is ending here now.” Callan decided that he wasn’t going to make a wooden spear. He was going to make that stone spear whatever it took. So what if he faints on even the sight of water? Or the touch of water? Fuck his trauma, it's his body, he is scared of what he wants to be scared by. “Some water bullshit!”
Callan turned around and directed his eyes to the pond as soon as he could. His body started to shake once more. His heart was palpitating, and his legs and arms just couldn't stop moving. His mind started to ache more with his eyes were turning blurry.
But Callan pushed through. He already had a plan to defeat such stupid trauma. They say, face your trauma. “Well be damned, I’ll even drown myself if I have to!” Well, that wouldn’t really help, but we love his enthusiasm.
Callan started walking towards the pond. As he reached the first line of water, he stepped in and his body felt like it was electrocuted. “Shit…” He fainted, but it was all part of the plan.
Callan fell to the ground face shoving deep into the water unconscious. But as the water has no air, Callan, just like in the first instance, couldn’t breathe. His body had no choice but to wake up and run away from the water as soon as possible.
“You ain’t leaving!” Callan still kept pushing and pushing. His body was no longer fainting from the touch of the water. Maybe because it already learned that it would die if it couldn’t breathe. Whatever it was Callan just had to embrace the water. Embrace it till you love it.
Callan went deeper into the pond till he had no choice but to float using his feet. But as his body was shaking from fear, floating was kind of becoming a struggle. “It! WAS! Just! Like the first time!” As he yelled every word he could. Callan kept being submerged in the water.
Callan closed his eyes and he started to dream… water was nothing to be scared of, actually… it was the moment you met her…
“Shit! Am I good?” As his mind wandered around in his memories, suddenly when he opened his eyes… his mouth was smiling and his body shook no more. “I did it! FUCK YOU!” Though he doesn’t remember what happened when he closed his eyes.
Callan went out of the pond and ran towards the portal; happy and jumping. Callan just went through his stupidest fight yet… and… he won.