It was a day like any other, when the world suddenly changed. At the beginning, nothing foreshadowed the mysterious phenomenon that was about to strike. The earth shook several times, but at that moment no one realized what was happening. The earthquake was already a cataclysm itself and nobody guessed that it was only the prelude to something much worse: the arrival of the TOWER!

As he fell to the ground, unbalanced by the sudden movement of the ground, his first instinct was to catch his smartphone before it crashed: the poor device had suffered so many shocks that he wasn't sure it could absorb another one.

The phone was saved, but the rescuer's body suffered multiple scratches. With a grunt, he stood up and looked around at the surrounding landscape. There were cracks in the road and buildings, but the shock hadn't been powerful enough to cause more damage, at least not that he could see. Everywhere, panicked people were wondering what was happening or helping each other up.

Our character's first instinct was to use his device to search the internet for explanations. At first glance, this region of France was not normally subject to earthquakes. Perhaps it was an effect of global warming or galloping urbanization?

A curious reddish glow made him take his eyes off his smartphone. There, floating in the air, a mysterious colored circle undulated with a reddish glow.

The crowd, astonished, took multiple photos of the phenomenon and shared them on social networks. Some even tried to touch this thing with their bags or throw stones at it.

What could it be? A first alien contact? An experiment by the American government? A portal to another world? It sounded like some fictional stories, but also like others. Was it dangerous? Should the police be called? The army?

Intrigued like the others, although quite suspicious, our protagonist took a photo from a safe distance.

Then, suddenly, something popped out of the circle, confirming that it was some sort of portal to another world… or was it an advertisement for some new virtual reality technology?

A rather ugly centaur-like beast came out, looking around in panic. About twenty photos were immediately taken and posted while the other devices recorded the video, sometimes broadcasting it live.

The monster had a badly combed horse body and was dressed in a sort of leather harness from which multiple objects were suspended. Its upper front part was provided with a very hairy human torso and topped with an inhuman head with sharp teeth and large, pointed ears. The arms held a long metal spear partly covered with leather handles.

When the invader skewered the first spectator, he was the only one to scream while the others, stunned, still had trouble distinguishing reality from imagination and contented themselves with photographing the act. They probably hoped that this action would help them clarify their thoughts.

Other creatures, similar to the first, crossed and charged in turn. Panic finally took over the crowd, which dispersed, screaming and pushing each other. Several fell without getting up, trampled or skewered.

Doing a U-turn[1] as well, our “hero” ran with no other goal than to get away from the carnage. The monsters behind him let out terrifying war cries that seemed to be growing in number.

But as he turned the corner, he braked.

There, in the distance, another red portal was pouring out its share of horror, some sort of giant cyclops monstrous creatures that crushed entire packs of humans with their powerful masses. Smoke from fires and screams were rising from everywhere, suggesting that there were many other places where this cataclysm was repeating itself.

Two destinations naturally came to mind. First of all, his workplace. A sort of feeling of obligation was still pushing him in the direction he had been taking before. However, it was rather far away and he was pretty sure that today no one would reproach him for being late or even absent.

Then, he thought of his home. If it were the end of the world, he could look for a bag there a little bigger than the one he used for work and fill it with all sorts of things necessary for survival. Food, a Swiss army knife and… well, he couldn’t think of anything else for the moment but he would find something.

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He could also go to the police station in the hope of being protected there, but he no longer remembered where that might be.

The apartment, then.

He started running, trying to avoid both the monsters that swarmed the streets like merciless butchers, and the people who were also running in all directions.

There! After this intersection, he would find himself close to the entrance of the building…

… of course, it was blocked by a band of repulsive creatures busy pinning the janitor against the door.

The monsters, thin, long, lanky and a little taller than men, had greenish and pustular skin barely covered by vague loincloths and waved crude pitchforks.

Turning its gaze in his direction, one of these horrors saw him and emitted a sort of gurgling sound before rushing towards him. Without waiting for it, he turned back as quickly as possible.

Stopping near a gutter, he pulled on it with all his strength, trying to unseal it to make an improvised weapon. In vain. The filthy cry of his pursuer came closer and he abandoned his attempt to flee further.

A few cars were still rolling, crushing honest pedestrians and monsters indiscriminately in the cluttered space that the road had become. Most, however, were abandoned or already reduced to the state of wrecks. Noticing a bumper lying on the ground, our protagonist grabbed it and turned around, improvised weapon in hand, to see the monster about to reach him.

The beast raised its trident-like weapon with a cry of triumph, ready to deliver a mortal blow.

Striking blindly with all his strength, he tried to escape this sad fate. He had no illusions: his last hour had probably come, but he was still going to try to defend himself.

The bumper hit the monster with a spongy sound, but the sensation that reverberated through his arm was that of hitting a solid obstacle. The beast lifted off the ground and crashed further away, all four legs in the air.

Heart pounding, he rushed at the monster and hit it again and again, until it was nothing more than a filthy mass from which spurted a green liquid, probably blood.

Leaning on his weapon like a stick, he caught his breath, the adrenaline subsiding.

The thing was motionless, most likely dead. The scope of his action struck him then: he had just killed a creature, probably an intelligent one at that. Then, pragmatism returned: it was this filthy thing that had tried to kill him and if he had hesitated, it could have meant his downfall. Besides, if he let it live, who knew who it would kill?

His thoughts drifted back to the janitor of his building and the countless victims he had only seen out of the corner of his eye during his escape. It was certain: after such a massacre, it would be front page news.

By an idiotic reflex, he took out his smartphone to check. A quick search showed him a digital opinion divided between those who announced the end of the world and those who cried conspiracy or "fake news".

Atrocious gurgling pulled him from his reading and he put his cell phone in his pocket, letting out a curse: while he was stupidly standing in the middle of the road, the other monsters had just arrived within sight, pointing with their long, deformed fingers at the corpse of their companion. As far as one can said looking at their ravaged faces, they didn't look very happy...

The monsters divided into several groups advancing quickly, gradually cutting off his retreat. This time, he was dead: he would never be able to face such a number...

You have been selected as a candidate for the TOWER!

Do you agree to enter the TOWER?

Accept / Decline

He opened his eyes wide at the strange blue window that appeared before his eyes. It looked like a kind of hologram. In any case, it looked like something of computer origin.

Although he didn't understand what that meant, he had nothing left to lose and placed his finger on the "accept" icon. Because of his sudden movement, his entire hand crossed the image, but his choice seemed to be validated because this window was erased to reveal another one:

Please choose your difficulty level:

Easy

Normal

Hard

HELL

The monsters were getting closer and any second he would be dead. If this mysterious window could save him in some way, he had to make his choice quickly.

Choosing a high difficulty, he thought, would be a bit suicidal. On the other hand, the possibility of choosing something easy didn’t inspire confidence in him, as if it were some kinds of scam. So, he put his finger on “Normal”, then firmly gripped the handle of the piece of deformed bumper that served as his weapon, preparing himself to react quickly no matter what.

Abruptly, the city in chaos and the disgusting monsters that threw themselves at him disappeared. His head was spinning and he closed his eyes for a second before opening them again on a new scenery.

Welcome to the TOWER of TRIALS! To start the tutorial, press the button below.

START

[1] In French « Tournant bride », which can be translated by “Turning the horse”, sadly there isn’t a similar horse-expression in English, useful in this situation… At least to my knowledge…