(Extra POV)

I woke up with a headache.

"Ah, f*ck, my head hurts. I shouldn't have drunk that much".

I reached out to hold my forehead, trying to ease the pain.

I slowly opened my eyes and carefully sat halfway up.

'Where is this?'.

This is not my school. And it definitely wasn't my house.

Instead, there was a huge grassy field, with people like me also waking up.

Is this a prank? Did my friends kidnap me somewhere?

Or was I too drunk and somehow got here?

I heard faint yelling, and I saw multiple people stand up looking just as confused as me.

I stood all the way up and stretched my body.

"I should probably quit drinking in the future".

Drinking in moderation was not a problem, but if I drink so much, I don't even know where I am. That's a huge problem.

I tried to recollect and think about what happened last night.

But as I was trying to remember, I could feel a stinging pain in my head.

The headache from drinking too much wasn't that terrible, as I was used to it.

But I had nothing to cure my hangover with.

"Where is hangover medicine when I need it".

Maybe some of these people have some medicine?

I scanned the field, and that's when I saw a normal-looking guy with a white shirt and black pants walking towards me.

He caught my attention because he gave off a strange aura that I really couldn't explain.

He walked past me and stood still, a little further away from me.

I lost interest and kept looking, trying to guess where I was.

"5"

"4"

That's when I heard someone count down, and I tried to look for the source.

"3"

It was the guy with the white and black pants, and he was looking off into the distance.

"2"

'Why is he counting down?'

Ripple!

An immense pressure appeared that forced me to look at the spot where the strange guy was also looking.

In that spot, a dark portal appeared, and out of it came a small creature with wings and sharp teeth.

'What the hell is happening?'

Is this a nightmare? Why can't I move? All kinds of thoughts appeared in my head.

"F*ck, I was 1 second off; that was the closest that I have ever been yet".

That's when I heard the strange guy speak. He was 1 second off?

How did he know that this would happen?

"Hello humans! You humans have been chosen to climb this wonderful tower, because of the evil deeds you humans have done. It is wonderful to me... for you it might not be as wonderful."

What was that creature saying?

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That's when I saw the strange guy appear in my peripheral vision, and he stopped right in front of me.

I locked eyes with him, and his eyes were not showing any hostility or malice.

But that just made me more scared. Is this my sleep paralysis demon?

"Don't worry, the angel will finish talking in a few seconds, and the force that is controlling you will also dissipate.".

He said that and walked out of my view.

How could he move under this force? I stared to panic, but I couldn't move at all.

"This is the 1st floor, and you can consider it a sort of tutorial. But before I go, here are some weapons, and the system will give a detailed explanation."

Clang!

I heard lots of metal noises hitting each other. It was like the source was right behind me.

"I think that was all... so good luck climbing this tower".

The angel left, and the force that was locking me in my place also disappeared at the same time.

I fell down on my knees, trying to calm down. But my heart was beating so fast.

"Is this really real life?" I said it with a trembling voice.

*****

(Kim Taeho POV)

Why do I need to know if I am stronger than the girl with the sports jacket?

Well, it's important to know how strong your comrades in battle will be.

If I were stronger, it would be better if I did most of the work. And she could fight while supporting me.

The opposite is also true; if she were stronger than me, I would have to do supporting work like distracting and getting the wolf's attention.

Because that would make it easier to kill the wolf. If she had a stronger attack, obviously it would be better for her to get a better angle.

So if I distancing and give the perfect opening to the girl with the sports jacket, we can probably inflict a huge injury on the wolf.

And therefore, knowing who was stronger was very beneficial to taking the wolf down.

I was just trying to make excuses. The reasons before really weren't my true intention.

My true intention was to know if I was finally stronger than her.

It wasn't because I was trying to make a plan or anything. It really didn't matter who had the supporting role.

It was impossible to get perfect teamwork just like that.

I just wanted to see my progress and how strong I have actually become. The girl with the sports jacket has always been an unclimbable mountain for me.

She has been stronger than me since I could remember, and it was finally time to challenge her.

I didn't want to fight her at level 1, as I already knew that I was stronger than her.

She did beat me up when I threatened her, but the difference wasn't that big back then.

The girl with the sports jacket that I wanted to challenge was someone that I remember deeply.

It was the second time we met, and it was when I was trying to explore the mountain.

It was night, and I remember her words. Even though I didn't show it, I felt it deep inside.

"You are too weak, you should fight in the forest."

I knew that I was weak, but she didn't have to say it. I know she was just trying to prevent me from getting into danger.

But there were better ways to say it. That girl has always been rude, and I still don't know why she says one thing but her expression shows another.

Maybe I am a little petty, but I don't care. I wanted to prove myself.

If she lost to me, who was supposedly weak, then what was she then?

Well, obviously, this version didn't call me weak, but if I still remember it, what is the difference?

She would have said it anyway if I were still weak.

With that in mind, I ran to the straw houses, where she would appear at night.

I could get out of the forest in 40 minutes now. Which was a huge difference from when I had to walk for almost 3 hours to get out.

I think I found the spot where she will eventually appear later tonight.

I remembered that she could fight four elite goblins at the same time.

That was less than me, who could fight dozens of elite goblins at the same time.

But that was in the middle of the first day. If I waited till night, she would have enough time to get even stronger because she would level up.

I was unsure if I was stronger than her if she leveled up. But only time could tell.

So I trained by swinging my sword as I waited for it to become night.

---

It finally became night, and I could see the full moon up in the sky.

"It should be any minute now".

That's when I saw a faint outline.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that".

I remember being afraid of what the faint outline could be. But in the end, it was just the girl with the sports jacket.

I approached the faint outline, just like last time. I was trying to recreate the moment.

The outline of the weapons could be clearly seen, indicating that we were narrowing the distance between us.

The aura that I felt the first time could not be felt at all now.

The feeling that she could kill me if she wanted to also disappeared.

But another feeling appeared instead. She was strong—way too strong.

How is the difference between us still this big?

We walked past each other, but she didn't stop me like last time.

Instead, she continued to walk forward.

I didn't want her to keep walking.

"Stop".

So I told her to stop.

She turned around and looked at me with an indifferent look.

"What is it?".

The same expressionless tone came again, which just made me annoyed.

I don't know why she was making me so annoyed.

She didn't do anything bad that should have made me annoyed.

But somehow I was getting irritated by her personality.

Why was she acting so arrogant? Is it because of her skill?

She didn't have to work hard at all; she just got that power out of nowhere.

Yet she is here, acting like she owns the place.

"Why?" I asked.

"..." She looked at me with a confused look.

"Why?" I raised my voice a little.

"..."

"Why weren't you there?"

"Why weren't you there? when people needed you?"

"Why weren't you there when you had the strength?"

"Why weren't you there?" I looked at the ground, remembering the day.

"..."

"Why weren't you there when the wolf came?"

A silence that lasted a few seconds before it got broken.

"Because of you. Multiple people died".

"Because of you. A little girl died".

"Because of you. A girl couldn't get reunited with her family".

"And most of all, because of you. I couldn't keep my promise".

Before I realized it, I had tears running down my face.