Wrath of the Re-climber

Two weeks remained until the end of the tower's lifespan, and the sense of impending doom was palpable. The thousands of climbers felt the tremors increasing each day, signaling the tower's decline toward the abyss.

Katnese, who was walking alongside Alex, abruptly stopped. The group, consisting of twenty members, followed suit, wondering why they had to halt their advance. They had grown to become one of the strongest forces, led by Alex and supported by three captains: Katnese, Mitsuri, and Kraden.

"We can no longer move forward," Mitsuri said as he walked past Alex and Katnese to the edge of the floor, where a vast sea of black water stretched out beyond.

"I can't believe the water has reached this floor," Kraden complained, lifting his great axe.

"We need to go back and look for another way... huh!" Katnese paused, noticing something ahead of her; she wasn't the only one who had sensed it.

[All players are summoned to the great hall of the last floor.]

"Last floor?" Mitsuri questioned. As a gamer on Earth, he had realized that this tower did not have specific floor levels; the floors constantly shuffled, making it impossible to know which floor was considered the last.

"How are we supposed to know which floor is 'last'?" Kraden frowned, casting a glance at Katnese and waiting for her to speak.

Katnese was deep in thought about the situation. "From this announcement, I deduce that it's finally time to move. We have all been called to the main hall. The last floor should be visible from there," she explained.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, looking at her.

Katnese turned back to him. "What better place to see the floors than from the first floor? On the day we arrived, we could see the doors lined up. It's only after we crossed the first one that we lost track of where we were," she said.

Mitsuri nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she has a point." He folded his arms, the two katanas on his back emphasizing his strong presence. "Following her logic, we need to head back to the main hall and find the door closest to the last floor."

When everyone agreed to this plan, they got up from their positions and headed toward the hall.

Wing!

As the light from the rune circle subsided, they were astonished to see hundreds of people filling the hall.

"How are there this many people present?" Mitsuri questioned. Not only did he wonder, but the rest of the group was equally startled by the numbers. Alex frowned and muttered, "Too many," which did not escape Mitsuri's ears.

"Isn't this the hall?" Kraden looked around, he did not recognize any of the faces he saw, "which batch are these people from?" Taking a closer look, most of them seemed to be newbies, and others, veterans.

"They are still using the energy weapons given by the bracelet," Said Mitsuri; he gave them a pitying gaze as he fought monsters; he soon found out the limits of the energy bracelet.

Monsters, using energy as the main force, couldn't be harmed, or stronger monsters like the Dragonkin couldn't be scratched by these energy weapons, so they were quick to respond and immediately searched for weapons; some were lucky and found artifacts, people like his group.

"Yeah, if not for Mr. Alex, we wouldn't be carrying such weapons," Kraden smiled, touching his axe.

"Yeah, we are still grateful towards you, sir Alex, Said Katnese, slightly bowing to him in a sign of respect. Alex. lifted his hand, embarrassed.

"No, no, don't be; we need to help each other; the stronger we become, the faster we clear this tower and end this nightmare, especially since it enables more people to survive." Defended Alex, everybody felt touched by his words, including Katnese, she smiled and looked at the crowd as if searching for someone.

Mitsuri glanced at Alex for a moment, Wondering how he knew about that door. The information he carries is valuable; he is like a beta player... Is he a returnee or some kind of reincarnation? Does that mean he is like a hero coming to save humanity, and we were chosen to assist him in his quest?

All this thought ran through Mitsuri, but he had no time to think further as she appeared, the entity who brought this nightmare upon them.

"I am glad to see you all, healthy and barely alive, high, I," said the fairy Cadell, appearing to all after disappearing for a whole year.

"You will soon depart to your next realm, so get ready, prepare your languages, and throw away the useless weight behind," She said, her hands lifting up high like magic; a rainbow shot out from her position towards the sky and disappeared within the clouds.

"You all have to sail towards your next realm, be fast, as the road will only last right to the end of this year, which is in two weeks to come, so hurry!" Said Cadell.

Despite all her cheerful shouts and encouraging speech, nobody really smiled back at her. Instead, the glare was so intense that a normal human would have committed suicide; however, to Cadell, it was the most loving gaze he had ever had since birth and she was excited the more it grew sharper.

"Since I love you all, I'll help you build your ship," Cadell purred, her voice dripping with a twisted sweetness. With a snap of her tiny fingers, the tutorial system materialized before them, casting an eerie glow. "Ah, what a nostalgic sight," she mused, her eyes gleaming with a sinister delight. "It takes me back to our first time." Her expression flushed with a disturbing mix of excitement and malice, revealing the unsettling pleasure she derived from their reliance on her dark generosity.

"A ship... We need a ship to sail that thing?" Said a man, well-built with rough skin. He was among the many people who still used the energy weapons.

Cadell nodded cutely at him, and the man frowned; everybody confusingly looked at the list of things to acquire, accepting the fact that some of this stuff could be gotten pretty easily. However, the two last ones were crazy.

"Fuck! How are we supposed to get hold of these two?!" Shouted a man within the crowd, people started complaining.

Katnese frowned at the two names; they had been hunting for monsters until now and encountered numerous life-threatening ones; the first one was one of them, "the Fungal Drake," She said.

"That toxic one?" Stuttered Kraden, who once saw a whole cattle of them migrating to who knows where, "why would they need that?!" He asked.

The fairy appeared beside him, startling him; his body froze as the fairy spoke to all seated on his head.

"The Fungal Drake mushrooms would be used as a repellent against certain annoying pests... You can view them as flies, something like that" said the fairy, she followed up, "Additionally, I clearly stated optional, you are free to get it or not, but the last one is needed, if not, your ship wouldn't take off, and we aren't allowed to assist or use our powers in the lower realms but assist you to climb higher so we can to... Uups, my bad, I speak a lot." She placed her hand on her mouth and smirked; people shivered; they didn't know what she was going to say, but knew it wasn't something good.

"You better start moving; I am rooting for you all to finish on time." Those were her last words as she vanished; Heaven immediately sat on the ground, breathing heavily, "That monster, what was that?" He breathed out.

"Are you alright?" Katnese was worried; she came closer to inspect him; he shook his head, "I am, just that, I couldn't move," He said.

"She was small, how can you say that?" Asked Mitsuri; Kraden shook his head, "no, I literally could not move," He said, and the rest went quiet.

"Heh! What's that?!" Someone shouted, attracting everybody's attention; a giant clock showed up, the long hand ticking, representing time.

Everybody immediately dispersed in groups as they came, in search of the resources asked for.

"We better start moving," Said Alex; he turned and walked towards the door, closer to their group.

"Wait, sir Alex, we need to think of a pattern to efficiently collect the materials" Suggested Katnese.

"No need, I know where to get them," Alex stated cryptically, his back turned to the group. His words hung in the air, shrouded in mystery, leaving the others bewildered. Mitsuri couldn't help but smile, a thought crossing his mind: "He must be a reincarnated main character!" With that notion, he eagerly followed Alex, taking large strides to keep up. The rest exchanged uncertain glances, curiosity piqued by Alex's enigmatic demeanor, and eventually decided to trail behind, each step filled with suspicion and intrigue.

After helping Kraden up, she looked up at the eye in the sky wondering what he was doing...

...As the dark door withered, its black mass absorbed from within, an aura of death radiated outward, sending the monstrous birds fleeing in terror. Emerging from the shadows was a half-naked youth, his body marked by wounds and his right hand shrouded in darkness. His hair had grown wild, obscuring his face, yet there was an undeniable presence about him. It was three days until the year's end.

"I trust I'm not too late," Ethan declared, his voice resonating with quiet strength as he used the half-broken Halo blade to thoughtfully scratch his chin.