'This has to be a dream.' I thought to myself in an attempt to delude myself. My long years of playing games told me not to panic, but knowing one thing and doing it are two different things entirely.
The reality was clear as day to me.
This was not a dream.
"Shit. Shit!" I cursed irately as the heavy rain pelted me relentlessly. I instantly sought to seek shelter, but I could barely walk properly.
I could tell that my limbs were much longer than before, and my original line of sight was now higher than usual. My skin felt sensitive in a way that wasn't natural, and this was coupled with my sense of balance that was totally off.
Nonetheless, I couldn't let that cloud my judgment at the moment.
If what happened was not a dream, and I really just transmigrated into this game, then now was not the time to dilly dally.
"Welcome, Challengers… to the Tower of Babel!" The omniscient voice sounded again, unimpeded by the sound of the heavy downpour.
I nearly fell to the ground solely from the pressure imbued in the voice. My ears were ringing loudly, my heart beating ridiculously fast, and my already precarious balance got even worse, so much that I nearly face planted myself on the muddy soil.
'Shit!' I cursed again angrily as I made my way blindly through the forest, trying my best to ignore the heavy downpour as well get rid of the pressure I was feeling.
As someone who had played Tower of Babel, I instantly knew who the omniscient voice belonged to, as there was only one group of people who could oppress players uncontested on every floor.
The Administrators!
There was definitely an administrator on this floor, and nothing good came from knowing that. The information associated with their presence instantly flashed through my head, and my heart started beating erratically.
I needed to get out of here.
I needed to reach the Sanctuary.
The Tower of Babel had a different approach to climbing the tower than other tower games, and I knew this because as a top gamer, I had played a lot of tower climbing games.
Usually, challengers or players would assemble at a safe point or starting point and be guided by the administrators or guardians, but it wasn't the same for this damned game.
Tower of Babel was a brutal game that followed only one ironclad rule.
Survival of the fittest.
There was no other way to describe the Tower of Babel. From the minute you loaded up the game screen, you were already in a battle for survival; and now, that very worst scene has become my new reality.
"If I remember correctly, there should be a safe area west. Let's head there quickly. As long as I can get to the safe area, I can awaken my system!" I arrived at a quick conclusion.
I was about to make a move when a thunderbolt suddenly went off in my head.
Pain like no other suddenly assaulted my head, and I instantly fell to the ground in agony. It was a very excruciating pain, and no words I could muster could accurately describe what I was feeling.
It was like my brain was being split into two, and a sea of information were being forced into my brain.
Vague images of a majestic manor, like the one in fantasy worlds, on fire appeared in my brain. Several knights slaughtered a lot of warriors in black armors, and fire and chaos spread everywhere.
It was maddening, and a pain and anger I didn't even know I could feel overwhelmed me. A blinding rage and a ravenous thirst for revenge assaulted my mind, alongside the pain.
I didn't know how long the pain went on for, but after a while, the pain finally subsided.
The minute the pain completely subsided, I was in utter shock at the flood of information I had at my disposal. A lot of things that I didn't know about fully came together, and it was as though I had synchronized properly with my body.
I now knew what the name of—no, my new body was.
"Zenon Castellan."
He was from a once high noble house that was now destroyed, and he was the only remnant of the high noble clan from a distant empire.
"How cliché." I frowned at the new information I learned.
It was a very good thing for me because the minute I knew what to do next, everything became clear cut and straightforward to me. I instantly became hyper focused, and the mindset that made me Zero, one of the top rankers on earth, was activated quickly.
*
Losing had always left a bitter taste in my mouth.
I had an obsession with winning, and due to that singular obsession with winning, I made sure hone my skills beyond anyone else. Although I'd been a bum in recent times, my boundless experience were still very much a part of me.
"Although this body seems extremely out of place, I have no choice than to make do with it." I deliberated.
"Combat is inevitable, so I need to get used to my new body as soon as possible." I uttered as I stretched my joints and body to the extreme.
I also needed a weapon. There was no time to dilly-dally. I had a lot of unanswered questions, but these questions would never be answered if I wasn't alive to find the answers.
I didn't have to search for long before I found a weapon. It was a hunting knife that was chipped in many places. It was quite bloody, but I couldn't bring myself to care about the details now.
I was just about to leave when I suddenly heard footsteps. My senses bristled, and I immediately became on guard. This was an unforgiving world, so I had to be very careful to keep my life.
It was raining heavily, so the sounds of the footsteps were muffled. I couldn't glean any useful information from the footsteps, so I didn't want to take the risk. I quickly hid behind a ginormous tree that was at a reasonable safe distance, and barely seconds later, a figure suddenly burst into the view.
My vision's ability was heavily impaired due to the heavy downpour, but I could still make out the figure.
It was a man who was already halfway in the grave.
I initially thought he was just drenched from the rain, but when I took a closer look, I immediately knew that was not the case.
Then the metallic scent hit me.
Blood.
There was a lot of blood dripping from his body, and even with the heavy downpour, the blood still kept pouring. His clothes were torn to shreds, barely hanging onto his body, and every step he took looked like his last.
"…shouldn't have… hah… shouldn't have come…"
His voice was hoarse, the words jumbled together, and I could barely make them out over the rain.
A chill instantly crept up spine, and I couldn't help but feel suffocated.
The man stumbled again, nearly collapsing, before catching himself against a tree. His fingers dragged along the bark, leaving behind a faint smear of red.
"HAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHA! AHHHH!" He laughed crazily. It was a dry, hollow laugh.
"…all for what…?" he muttered deliriously, his head lolling slightly as he looked up at the sky, letting the rain pour directly into his face. "A wish…? Heh… damn joke…"
My grip tightened against the rough bark I was hiding behind, and my heart beat wildly in my chest.
This was very real.
It was not the game I was playing, and I wasn't seated behind my gaming PC right now.
This was not some scripted event that I could skip without second thoughts.
This was real, and that could be me at any point.
A heavy fog settled over my heart as I came to such a conclusion.
I clicked my tongue softly, trying to mask the unease that was creeping in with irritation.
Tch.
If he stayed there without any intervention, he'd definitely die. I know it was naïve, but I wasn't so cold-hearted as to see someone dying in front of me and still ignore it. I was seated behind my gaming PC a day ago after all.
I wanted to help him.
I looked around carefully. Besides, he had no weapon on him, and with his current state, I doubted he was of any threat to me.
He was just a dying man.
"Fuck." I muttered under my breath, shifting my weight slightly. For a brief moment, I seriously considered stepping out and helping him. I could even get information that I might not be aware of. After all, he's a challenger like me.
My foot had moved when I instantly felt a sudden shift in the air. It was so subtle that if I hadn't already been on edge, I would have missed it entirely.
The rain distorted…
No.
Something cut through it!
Fast!
It was too fast!
My eyes widened in fear. The man wasn't even able to react when a shadow dropped from above. There was a wet, sickening sound, and my knees turned to mush.
—CRUNCH.
My body froze, and for a split second, I didn't understand what I was seeing. However, the very next second, the image settled.
The man's body was still standing, but he had no head anymore.
He was headless.
Something frighteningly large had latched onto it mid-descent, its jaws snapping shut with terrifying precision. The force alone had nearly lifted the corpse off its feet before it slumped limply to the ground.
Blood sprayed into the rain, mixing instantly with the mud.
It was a brutal and gory scene that I wasn't used to, and I couldn't breathe.
The winged creature landed a short distance away, its talons digging deep into the soaked earth as it steadied itself. A low, guttural sound escaped its throat.
Its wings were massive and partially spread, and its feathers were slick and dark from the rain. Its body was lean but powerful, obvious that it was built for speed, and for killing.
Its beak—no, it couldn't be called. It is something sharper and jagged, and it was buried where the man's head used to be.
My fingers dug into the bark behind me, my entire body locked in place as I watched.
I knew that creature from the game!
It was a Demon Falcon!
Don't move.
Don't breathe.
Don't—
The creature suddenly stopped chewing and swallowed with a sickening sound, then very slowly, it lifted its head.
Rain slid down its form, dripping from the sharp edges of its face. For a moment, it didn't move, and then its head turned directly toward me.
My breath caught in my throat, and I nearly fell to my feet.
A low screech tore through the forest, and it was sharp enough to pierce through the sound of the heavy downpour itself.
My blood ran cold, and all the information I knew about the Demon Falcon in game appeared in my head.
At this point, I knew that there was no point staying behind this tree anymore. After all, it had found me.