1 Prison

"The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he's in prison."

A tall young man echoed those words in a shrill voice. The young man had a pale face and was equipped with ragged clothes as he continued to mutter to himself while lying on the grass with a book in his hand — The book resembled a decaying stone tablet rather than an actual book.

His filthy display made him the subject of the occasional judgemental glares of the passersby. Next to the young man was a large cup of coffee. It was an unusually large cup as if it had been custom-made. Instead of drinking the coffee, the man would occasionally stir it while smiling to himself.

It was a type of coffee that a beggar like him normally couldn't afford. Yet, here he was, with the cup of coffee cradled in his hands. Yoru decided to spoil himself on this particular day.

Despite his getup, the man was quite handsome. He stared at the sunset with a mystified look and serene eyes.

After all, today was the day his miserable life was coming to an end.

"Stop staring at me like that."

Yoru bitterly muttered to himself under his breath. Instead of his appearance, the passersby were more intrigued by the book clasped in his hands. It was a book they had never seen, belonging to an author with a rather unique name.

Yoru gently lifted the luxurious cup of coffee and whirled it around a little. Then, with his heart filled with anticipation, he brought the cup closer to his mouth... and took a sip.

He instantly regretted it.

"Ew! So bitter...!"

A few glances fell on him after his embarrassing display and yoru returned to his comfort zone. He held the coffee cup upside down and dumped the remaining coffee on the grass.

"Hurray for environmental pollution..."

He felt a bit embarrassed doing this and picked up his book to go sit on a nearby bench. The rich people running past the park gave him demeaning looks. They were all endowed with expensive suits and shining jewelry. On the other hand, Yoru was wearing ragged clothes and with an appearance that seemed to imply he hadn't taken a bath in a few days, which might have been true.

"What a waste of my remaining money. I should've bought expensive meat with it instead of bitter water."

Yoru angrily cursed a little then went back to read his book. His expression remained as dead as ever no matter how much he read the book. After a while had passed, he checked the time on his watch — The only piece of luxury he had in his possession, given to him by his drunkard mother.

"It's already time?"

He closed the book, threw the empty coffee cup he still had into the trash bin, and made his way to the fancy establishment right next to the park.

'Administration Office'

The glowy neon sign on the building read. Despite the fancy sign, the building was quite rundown, as if it had been neglected for the past 50 or so years.

With slight nervousness, Yoru opened the administration office's door and inside there was a tired-looking receptionist who was too busy scrolling through his phone to give Yoru the time of his day.

"Uh, hello?"

The grumpy receptionist gave him a quick glance and frowned.

"What is it, boy? Are you lost?"

Instead of answering, Yoru's eyes darted around the spacious reception as he examined every detail with the utmost curiosity. The unkept firearms lying around highlighted the carelessness of the receptionist and the terribly hidden turrets made him wonder whether they were even necessary or not. On top of all this, the mean and scruffy receptionist didn't make the reception seem any better, he looked like someone who hated his job.

"Hey! Are you deaf?"

"Uh, no."

Yoru stared at the irritated receptionist with a confused look and lightly scratched the back of his head.

"As per the orders of the Baron of the high castle, I am here to surrender myself as a victim of the Brand."

The receptionist looked at Yoru with distraught eyes and his expression shifted from annoyed to scared.

"Kid, this isn't a joke, right?"

"No."

"When exactly did you get the branding?"

"A month ago, maybe?"

"Shit."

Hurriedly, the receptionist pressed a button from under the reception and a stairway appeared in front of Yoru.

"Whoa, cool."

"Now isn't the time to be amazed."

The receptionist took out a walky-talky and nervously shouted.

"Attention all units! Emergency at the Metropolitan Seaside office! I repeat Emergency at the Seaside office!"

***

The Tower of Apocalypse's approximate date of appearance dates back 20,000 years. It was a hellish tower that threw mankind into turmoil in ancient times before humanity gathered the courage to climb the tower. Only those chosen by the tower 'The Branded' could ascend it, and of those, only a few have ever completed the climb.

It isn't known when or how the 'Brand' appeared in the world. All that is known is that it is a mark of fate and death. Over the last century, the appearances of the Branded had become more and more frequent, and soon climbing the Tower of Apocalypse had become a normalized profession.

Of course, simply being marked as a branded wasn't enough. There was a Rite of Passage associated with the brand, which was dubbed 'The Ordeal'. Only the branded who passed the ordeal were eligible to climb the tower.

But, all of this didn't matter to Yoru. For him, the brand was the same as en execution, and he had braced himself for this day.

For an average person, being marked as a branded was more of an opportunity than a risk. In school, students were made to learn martial arts and survival skills. Information about the conquered floors was taught in school to prepare the students on the off-chance they were marked with the brand. The children of wealthy families were even more fortunate. They hired private tutors who had climbed a fair share of floors of the tower. They were taught all sorts of secrets of the tower and given exclusive information that wasn't available to the public.

Those who descended from the 20 Ascended clans even had access to powerful spells, weapons, and awakened scrolls that they could take with them on their first visit to the Abyss.

The most fortunate were those not chosen by the Tower. They never had to climb their whole lives and simply stayed on the ground floor. This was the main reason the ground floor was more advanced than any other floor in the tower. With sky-high skyscrapers and otherworldly technology. The ground level was basically like heaven.

Then, there were the undesirables. People who weren't chosen by the Tower or weren't allowed to be on the ground floor. People who came from outside the tower forced their way in. Not much was known about them.

But, all of this didn't matter to Yoru. He was a child born in darkness and raised there. He hadn't experienced a single day worth smiling for. To him, the Brand seemed like salvation. The salvation that would take him from this world into eternal slumber. Or so, he hoped.

If he was lucky enough, he would become a climber and maybe experience joy for the first time. But, to him, that seemed like an illusion.

***

A few minutes later, Yoru was guided down the stairway by the receptionist. There, he saw a spacious white room. He had trouble keeping his eyes open due to the brightness of the place.

"So bright."

"Isn't it? We need the branded to stay awake until we get the equipment ready."

Yoru finally understood what the receptionist was implying.

After a while, a group of tower patrolmen waltzed through the stairs and forcibly grabbed Yoru. He didn't mind it that much and complied with the patrolmen. They laid him down on what seemed to be a hospital bed and fastened him with belts and a few chains.

After they were done, rather than a hospital bed the bed resembled a torture machine instead.

A couple of men emerged from the darkness and approached Yoru. One of the men was a short frail old man with a stern look in his eyes and a few scars on his face. The gleam in his eyes made it seem as if he had seen his fair share of misfortune. The other man however was a tall and sharp bespectacled young man wearing a nice black suit. He seemed quite young for his job.

"So, you're the new branded?"

"It seems like it."

The spectacled man stood behind and did some calculations on the tablet in his hands while the old man engaged in a conversation with Yoru.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Yoru."

The man had a troubled and grim expression on his face after hearing Yoru's answer.

"What a terrible foreshadowing."

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, right, you wouldn't know. The ordeal has a lot of connection with the name of the branded."

Instead of being surprised or filled with horror, Yoru simply stared at the old man. To him, it didn't matter whether he died now or in some ordeal. Rather, he'd be happy to.

"Is that so?"

"Do you want me to contact anyone? Your family?"

"Don't do it. They're not here, anyways."

The old man's expression became grim and he tried to change the flow of the conversation.

"Alright Yoru, how much time do you have?"

Yoru tried to focus on the old man's words with his flickering eyelids.

"Uh, not a lot."

"I see. Then, we don't have the time for the whole process. I'll only go over the important details."

Yoru couldn't quite seem to understand what the old man was trying to say. But, he simply nodded his head in affirmation.

"Yoru, how much do you know about The Ordeal?"

"As much as everyone does, I suppose?"

"That's not the answer I was looking for. Don't listen to the garbage you hear on TV and the propaganda. How much do you actually know?"

"Isn't it simple? You're thrown into a scenario, fight some bad guys and get a cool power then climb the tower?"

"Well, that's how it usually goes."

"It's simple then, right?"

The old man shook his head.

"Alright listen. Once you fall unconscious, you will wake up in The Ordeal. The Ordeal is a trial created by the Tower to test your abilities to see if you're worthy of the climb."

It was becoming hard for Yoru to follow the conversation now.

"Yes, I understand."

"Generally, the Ordeals are rather straightforward and don't take much time to complete. The tower gives you a trial, not a death penalty. It should be within the range of your... abilities. When you wake up, examine your surroundings, the people beside you, and maybe sometimes the monsters. Use whatever weapons you have at your disposal, to kill the monsters and sometimes the humans."

"Why should I kill the humans? They're living beings."

"Kid, they're illusions."

"How do you know that? I mean, no one knows the true essence of the ordeal, right?"

"Just trust me. You'll be doing yourself a favor."

"Oh..."

"Now, do you understand the basics?"

Yoru could feel his consciousness flicker away as it became increasingly more difficult for him to keep his eyes open.

The old man's words started to become inaudible to Yoru and he remembered the last task he had forgotten to do.

'I forgot to clear up the lie...'

"Hey! Hey! Shit, he's falling unconscious."

"Kid, if you can hear me, remember this—!"

"Do not trust anyone."

Yoru fell into a deep slumber.