Five minutes have passed, and every country is in chaos. Some people say it's an alien threat, while others think the world is ending. News and social media are packed with wild reports. Nobody has any idea where the mysterious voice came from or what it wants.
Except for that rare 1%—the true anime and fantasy nerds—who crawled out from their dens, eyes shining with the madness of too many late-night marathons. With years of anime, novels, and comics pumped into their veins, they unleashed a flood of wild theories online, posting like obsessed scientists on the verge of a mad discovery.
Some of these fans started guessing that the whole situation felt like something from a Global Lords novel. But it was different, the voice didn't say it would be territories; instead, towers will be given out.
The people actually in the age range mentioned by the voice were panicking the most. Some had kids, others had parents, and everyone was terrified—if this was real, what the hell would happen to their families? Would they ever see them again, or is this some kind of nightmare?
One of those nerds, William, was now practically bouncing in his chair as he chatted with his friends. It felt like his wildest dream had come true. With his huge collection, he could have a PhD in fantasy lore.
Now he was eagerly explaining every bizarre detail to his clueless friends. Who hadn't spent half their lives obsessing over this stuff.
"So, let me get this straight. You're saying we get thrown into another world, given a place, some kind of army, and superpowers? We rule it like kings, build it up, and then monsters show up that can actually kill us? Is that right?" Dante asked, trying to make sense of it all.
"Dude, you make it sound so damn boring. But yeah, that's basically what I've read. Still, there's a twist—the voice mentioned Towers. From what I know, towers are these massive, vertical buildings, like the Khalifa, stacked with floors full of monsters. Each floor is basically a death trap for anyone trying to climb higher. So maybe we'll be building towers or something crazy shit like that here."
"Aaaaahhhhh...." Archie yelled, slamming his fist against the wall. "Fuck all this bullshit! Things were finally going great with my girlfriend. I even introduced her to my folks. Now we're getting dragged off to some other world where we could die? Hell no! Fuck, my parents are calling—I gotta go!"
"Okay, take care! See you in the next world!" William laughed, actually enjoying himself. Just a few minutes ago, only his life was fucked up, but now the whole damn world was screwed.
Dante hung up, too. His parents were blowing up his phone. Turns out, his mom was 45, so she would be joining him on this wild ride.
William, on the other hand, had no one to worry about. Grinning, he walked to his small fridge, grabbed a can of beer, and opened it. "Fifteen minutes since the announcement—any minute now, I'll be a king! AHAHAHA, this is so damn cooooooool...!"
He took a sip and raised his can in a toast. "Cheers to the new life! If any other lord gets in my way, I'll make them piss themselves. Hope I get some badass troops—Elementals for their magic, angels for their holy firepower, hell, even undead would be fine. At least they don't eat and work all day and night. Bring it on!"
After finishing his beer, William grabbed a stack of novels from his shelf and started flipping through them, as if he was preparing for some fantasy exam. About fifteen minutes passed before, out of nowhere, that classic blue, translucent system panel popped up right in front of his eyes, snapping him out of his reading.
[Greetings, Tower Lord. In 60 seconds, you will be transported to your personal tower within the Tower Expanse. Prepare yourselves.]
The countdown began on the system panel, and with each second, his heart beat faster. He smirked. "So, it's finally begun."
With a wild grin, he reached out and pushed his hand through the glowing panel. It turned pixelated where his fingers went through, then returned to normal. "One down from the fantasy bucket list," he chuckled, feeling a rush of excitement.
As the timer ticked down, the world grew quiet. Children held onto their parents, sobbing. Parents wept for their kids. Everything stopped, as if the world itself was holding its breath. No one had a clue what would happen after more than 40% of the population disappeared in a single minute.
But time keeps moving. When the counter hit zero, three bells rang out, heard by everyone just like the voice had been. It marked the start of the Trial of Towers. Suddenly, everyone aged 20 to 45 disappeared. No dramatic gates, no swirling portals—just gone.
In the God realm, two figures stood side by side. One was the god of transportation—Truck-kun himself. He was tasked with shuttling participants to the Tower Expanse. Next to him stood another being, holding a strange cube that changed into different instruments every second. Right now, it had turned into a set of ancient bells.
Truck-kun glanced over. "Why are you here?"
The other god rolled his eyes, his expression screaming, 'Are you stupid?' "I'm just doing my job," he replied flatly. After all, he was the God of Dramatic Effects.