Kaho took a deep breath, remembering everything Shin had told her. They didn’t have much time, and she had no idea what her system powers were. She might not even have any.

Still, she would do her best to survive. Her life had never been better than now, and she wouldn’t give up.

In a final check, she touched her hips; a gun was there, as expected. On the other side was a knife. On her back, she wore a backpack filled with the items Shin had insisted she carry.

None of them, however, would make her capable of fighting a high-level system user. All she could do was be smart.

"It’s time," she whispered, watching the clock strike twelve.

At that exact moment, Eva gently touched her shoulder, her presence warm and steady. "You can do it."

Those were the last words Kaho heard from her best friend. Everything turned white. Not just her vision, everything became a blank void.

Every sound vanished. The sensation of her body disappeared. Even her sense of time dissolved, as if she had been erased for a brief, endless instant.

Then... she was standing again.

Kaho blinked, her senses snapping back into place as if someone had flipped a switch. She found herself inside a completely white room, surrounded by twenty-five people.

Anxiety crept over her body. There was no one she knew; Shin and Eva had been sent to other rooms.

She hadn’t expected otherwise; the chances of them being together were absurdly low, but their absence still hit harder than she thought it would.

But there was no time for panic, as a translucent message appeared before her eyes:

[Welcome to the Tower]

Kaho was surprised to see a proper interface of her system, but the reason for that was that it wasn’t her system sending these messages, but the tower itself.

Right after, other notifications followed, flooding her mind with information. As she absorbed it, she felt a change.

Her irises glowed faintly, and her hair floated as energy coursed through her body. She felt light, her muscles burning with power. Everything was just as Shin had described.

Inside the Tower, system users were far stronger. Even without skills, their physical attributes surpassed normal human limits. Strength, speed, endurance, everything was enhanced.

But the increase depended on the level. For a Level 1 like Kaho, it barely mattered. She wouldn’t be able to compete in a direct fight.

The air in front of Kaho flickered, and more blue text materialized:

[System notification: Environment has been initialized. The first test has begun.]

[Notice: The user will be under continuous observation during the test.]

[25 Participants detected. The selection will conclude in 30 minutes. At least one participant will be eliminated.]

[Selection process will now begin.]

Kaho’s gaze shifted briefly around the room. The others were reading the notifications as well. Then, another message replaced the previous one:

[Phase 1 Initiated.]

[Objective: Establish social connections.]

[Instruction: Make friends; we want to know who you are.]

Kaho let out a sigh. The mission was exactly what Shin said it would be. Around her, many seemed surprised that they were being tested before even entering the Tower. Most of them still didn’t understand how horrible these tests could be.

[Rules have been defined:

1. Attacking other participants is prohibited.

2. Leaving the designated area is prohibited.

3. Annoying behavior is prohibited.]

Kaho exhaled slowly, her eyes lingering on the final rule. Shin had warned her about it. With a long breath, she calmed her heart and recalled his words.

"In the first phase, you should do nothing," he had told her. "They want to evaluate leadership and communication skills, but you’re terrible at those."

At the time, she thought she was doomed, but that wasn’t the case. If Shin was right, as long as no one broke the rules, only one person would be eliminated, the ’most annoying’ one, judged by an evaluator pretending to be a participant. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"So stay quiet, and you’ll be fine. It’s better to make no impression than a bad one. Besides, at least one idiot usually dies in the first few minutes by breaking the rules anyway."

Just as Kaho finished recalling his advice, a thin red line appeared on the floor, forming a square around the group.

The shy girl glanced beyond it. Outside her boundary, she could see other groups of twenty-five people, each confined within their own red-marked areas. She still didn’t see Eva or Shin. They were out there somewhere, but likely too far away to spot.

Then, exactly what Shin predicted happened.

Less than thirty seconds after the line appeared, a man stepped over it. There was no warning. His body froze mid-step. For a fraction of a second, nothing happened, and then... he exploded.

First, his arms burst apart. Flesh tore open in a violent spray, bone fragments ripping through skin as if detonated from within.

A second later, the rest of his body followed. His torso ruptured with a sickening, wet crack, scattering organs and blood across the white floor.

For a moment, no one moved. The reality of their risk had finally sunk in.

[Rule violation detected.]

[Participant eliminated.]

[Notice: From this point onward, all eliminations mean death.]

Kaho let out a breath of relief, then immediately covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes wide with surprise.

She couldn’t believe her own feelings. A man had just died brutally, and all she felt was relief because it meant she would be safe for this round.

Moments later, another scream echoed from outside her area. Kaho didn’t see it, but the cause was an attempted assault. Two men had argued, and one tried to punch the other. It was enough to count as aggression, and he was no longer alive.

Seeing this, everyone decided to sit still. There were still 29 minutes left, and no one wanted to risk moving. Just as Shin said, Kaho stood out by doing nothing. She was just like most of the others.

Of course, Eva would likely finish this test with flying colors, forging alliances with everyone in her room, except for perhaps the man who died trying to force himself on her. But Kaho didn’t have those skills.

Minutes passed slowly. Phones didn’t work here, so all Kaho could do was wait. Eventually, someone was courageous enough to approach the others.

A tall, confident woman with sharp features and an easy smile walked toward Kaho. Draped over her shoulders like a cape was a green, white, and red flag.

So she’s Italian... Kaho thought, finding the clothing choice a bit over the top.

"Ciao," the woman said warmly. "How are you feeling? Everything happened so fast, it must be rough..."

Kaho blinked, relieved to realize she understood everything the woman said. As expected, everyone who entered the Tower received the [World Language] skill. She had been worried her strange system might prevent her from getting it, but luckily, that wasn’t the case.

"Anyway, do you want candy?" the Italian woman offered. "It’s not poisoned or anything, I can eat one first to prove it. I just wanted to give people something to cheer them up!"

Kaho wasn’t the first person she had approached, so she already knew what people were worried about.

"Thank you," Kaho said, unable to refuse. She felt bad being the only one receiving something, so in exchange, she gave the woman a portion of the supplements she had brought.

The woman smiled wider. "We should be friends. It’s better not to be alone in a place like this."

Kaho hesitated for a fraction of a second, then gave a small nod. "Maybe..." she whispered shyly.

The Italian woman didn’t push further. Instead, she gave a light shrug and moved on, approaching others and striking up conversations just as easily.

Eventually, the white room dissolved. The world shifted, and Kaho found herself in a dark room with the same twenty-four survivors, surrounded by statues. The system explained their options: either speak with the statues to solve their mysteries or try to fight them.

Unfortunately, there were thousands of different enigmas in this phase, so Shin couldn’t give Kaho all the answers. However, she was smart enough to solve them on her own.

Some people were brave enough to fight the massive constructs, and most of them died. The Italian woman and five allies managed to kill the weakest statues and earn a reward.

As long as no one did something crazy, like attacking the Statue King and causing all the statues to go berserk, Kaho would be fine. Because she chose the path of dialogue, she wasn’t attacked, and she successfully concluded the challenge.

This time, she didn’t have to wait for the group. The test changed. Everyone was sent to a random point in the dark forest upon completing the second round. The forest was massive, making it impossible to find Shin or Eva.

The mission was simple: survive and find the exit. Kaho felt her body tremble; from here on out, she couldn’t avoid the fight any longer.