Jin felt each of his senses gradually come back to life as the curtain of unconsciousness started to lift gently.

He blinked away a part of his dizziness and slowly realized he was not in the desert anymore, where he was trapped in a desperate struggle against hideous beasts.

Rather, he discovered himself in a dimly lit room that was slightly illuminated by the flashing of firelight.

Sitting up, he surveyed his surroundings as his surreal perceptions grew more distinct.

The area was simple but well-built, with shelves crammed with tradesman's tools like hammers, tongs, chisels, and files—all of which bore the marks of innumerable precisely completed jobs.

A concerto of smells, a combination of fire, sweat, and earth, also permeated the air, telling tales of labour and devotion.

“Just what happened after I used that skill…?”

Jin blinked away the traces of his sleep and attempted to remember how he got to this unfamiliar space.

However, his memory was deceiving him; it teased him with jumbled pictures that swirled just out of reach.

As Jin carefully stood up, he could feel the unique sensation of a hard, uneven floor beneath his feet.

His wounds appeared relaxed from the pulsing anguish they were experiencing. The sharp sting that had shot through his body with every breath was now replaced with a dull ache.

And just as Jin was contemplating more about this strange turn of events, he heard a creaking noise.

A signal of an arrival, the wooden door to the adjacent room strained against the passage of time. Intrigued, Jin turned his eyes toward the source of the noise.

And suddenly, a man whose presence projected a shadow across the room stepped near him. The man was tall and bearded, a blacksmith with a face worn rough probably from age and hardship.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

His hands, rugged from years of work, held a blazing iron rod as though it was a part of him.

"Morning', lad," the blacksmith's gravelly, deep voice boomed like faraway rumble. "Seems like ye've had a rough day , eh?"

Jin nodded, still at a loss for words to convey how confused he was. His thoughts twirled with waves of bewilderment and enchantment, weaving an ambiguous canvas.

"It seems like you're wondering where ye are," the blacksmith said, maintaining a steady gaze. "You are on the tower's first floor. This floor connects all the floors of the tower and extends far into the sky; thus, it contains secrets that only ye, the hunters, can discover."

The blacksmith's words, however, frustratingly vague, lingered thick in the air. Jin's heart quickened at the blacksmith's words, and his desire for knowledge intensified.

“I don’t know what you are talking about…who are you…how did I get here…?”

The blacksmith's brows furrowed, a mix of concern and curiosity etched across his face.

"You were on the 0th floor of the tower," the blacksmith said in a voice that carried the weight of experience. "The tutorial tower, to be exact. It's a location where new hunters with potential are given a chance to put their abilities to the test and to obtain items that can help them in climbing the tower"

Jin's eyes widened at the revelation of the blacksmith; the words resonated in his head; each click carrying a meaning he was still not yet able to process.

“The 0th floor?... Tutorial tower?”

With a mix of curiosity and caution, Jin pressed the blacksmith further. "It doesn’t explain how I got here?"

A knowing look crossed the blacksmith's weathered face as he laughed slowly, his eyes glinted with sagacious understanding.

"So, ye don't know anything"

The blacksmith stared at Jin with sharp eyes as he cleared his throat.

"Listen well, young one," he said "The Tower is not just some ordinary structure. It stretches beyond what eye can see; its countless floors pierce the heavens themselves. Every floor and every level presents a challenge that no mortal can match alone."

The blacksmith moved his hands along gracefully as he continued speaking "At the apex of this tower, a group of overseers known as the administrators reign supreme. They, along with their loyal lackeys, are tasked by the creators of the tower to uphold the delicate balance within the tower's confines by ensuring its inhabitants face the gauntlet of tests on each floor."

As Jin listened, his attention widened in awe and curiosity. The blacksmith's depiction of this mysterious tower captivated him.

The blacksmith, though, stopped for a moment, his eyes intently focused on the distance, as he was almost enthralled by his own narrative.

And with that, he moved as if there were no tomorrow, slipping into a new chapter of the towers complex story.

"And if we talk about the new hunters," he said, shifting in tone and seeming deeper and more eager. "These poor souls are summoned from foreign worlds and find themselves confined within the boundaries of the green zone." With a gesture, his hands delineated an imagined area, seemingly demarcating the boundaries that encircled this fascinating retreat.

"In this domain" he continued "The new hunters are safe from the towers influence and are diligently trained in the art of hunting low level goblins, honing their skills and acclimating to a world unfamiliar to them. Whispers of what lies beyond this zone fills the air, promises of grandeur and triumph becomes a common occurrence."

"After their arduous training," the blacksmith proceeded, his voice softening slightly with reverence. "Each hunter receives a notification announcing their next course. It states that they will be transferred to the tutorial floor, a challenge through which they must successfully pass to reach the tower's first floor—the starting point, a gateway to limitless possibilities."

Jin's mind was swirling with a sense mixed with exhilaration. The blacksmith's words had opened up a whole new world to him, one that he had never dreamed of before.

As the blacksmith finished speaking, Jin couldn't help but ask, “So clearing the tutorial floor teleported me to you... but I don’t understand why... Why is everything going different for me?”

The blacksmith's eyes softened as he gazed at Jin. "That is not for me to say," he answered. "The tower has its own peculiar way of doing things.

Perhaps ye were always meant to be here. Perhaps you are not someone new.”