1 Beginning

What if I were to tell you that your life is meaningless? Or that it no longer mattered what you choose? Whether it be whom you love or the career path you choose, in three short years the world is going to end.

Would you still follow the path you set for yourself? Or would you gain the skills necessary to survive? The obvious choice would be to gain as many survival skills as possible. That is, of course, the choice I made when I realized I had gone back in time to before the towers' appearance and chaos ensued around me. One moment I was staring into the face of a monster I had no way of defeating, next I was standing in line at my favorite coffee shop where I stopped on my way into work.

How much time has passed? What day was it? December 17, 2022. I found the date on the newspaper the person in front of me was reading. Three years. Life as I knew it was going to change in three years, now that I had returned to when I was still trying to do well at my banking job in the city. Had I died? It was the most likely explanation since a rank B monster had shown up in a Rank D dungeon and that was what spelled my ending.

I knew I was going to die even before I started the fight. There was nowhere to run or escape to. All I could do was resist until it was my time to go. If I was sent back in time, perhaps I had a hidden skill? Why would it send me so far back? It was with this burning desire to survive this time that I stepped out of line that day and headed back to the small apartment I had called home before the world changed. I would need to prepare for what was to come now that I had time to learn.

*********

Three years have passed. I quit my job and I used my savings to learn every skill I deemed necessary to survive the upcoming catastrophe. The city was going to be the scene of a massacre. In fact, one of the reasons I lived through that event was because I was on holiday to the hot springs. It was going to be ok this time. I was more prepared. When I awaken this time, I will have the skills to ease my ability to survive. The sky turned a dark purple and the air became heavy.

Loud rumbling noises came up from the Earth and in the distance I saw the first of the towers rise toward the sky. This would be the first wave. Soon portals with monsters pouring out from within would flood the world for a time. It was only with the help of the first Awakened that we were able to control the outbreaks. I walked to the building in the distance. I needed to enter and become Awakened before the outbreaks started popping up everywhere and the government shut down access to the buildings.

Each tower evaluated those who entered. You either came out Awakened or not at all. It was a choice everyone had to make. It was especially important in the early days, since the outbreaks threatened everyone who could not fight back. The large looming entrance looked threatening and I felt the familiar terrifying feeling I'd felt when I'd walked into a dungeon for the first time.

I gripped the sword in my hand even tighter. It was not made of the quality materials found in the dungeons, but for the beginner tower it would have to be enough. Fog swirled up from the ground and I felt a cold chill in the air.

"It seems this tower is a swamp dungeon." I said. This was not a good start. It was like the tower sensed my experience and was making it intentionally harder to receive the Awakened status.

"Go ahead! Nothing is going to stop me this time!" I shouted into the darkness around me.

The sudden sounds of splashing reached my ears as several, small, dark figures rushed at me. I already had experience with these creatures and was able to block their sudden attack with my sword. The screams of the vine-like creatures that were biting at the blade of my sword hurt my ears. I slammed the small bundles of vines into the ground as they continued to bite my sword. Squeals of pain caused my senses to dull for a second. Status effects? In a tutorial tower? I bit my lip to refocus on my enemies.

A second slam of my blade caused the vine creatures to disappear in a cloud of black smoke. My breathing became loud in my ears. I didn't remember my time in the tower all that well. I know at some point I passed out and woke up near the entrance. I was a part of an experiment run by the government to Awaken as many citizens as possible to quell the waves. I was expendable, thus I was sent into the tower.

Some say the towers judged you based on ability. However, no one really knows what the tower is thinking or even if it does, in fact, think. I was just an office worker before the monsters started appearing. I did not exercise. I had no survival skills to speak of.

My singular focus was earning enough money to buy a house before all of this started. My entire family had been killed in a car crash right after I graduated college. The funds my parents left me was not much, but it was enough for me to be able to settle into a house in a few years if I worked hard. Who would have thought that the bank I worked at would be destroyed a few years later and society itself would become so different?

People began to sort themselves into different ranks, based on how useful they were in the dungeons. If you didn't want to become an Awakened then you could expect to be treated like a second class citizen. The Guild is what organized the world on the outside after the outbreaks. So, naturally, the whole world became centered around The Guild. I just wanted to settle down and start a family. I am only twenty-eight! Wait, no I am twenty-four now.

My boots sunk into the wet ground as I ventured deeper into the swamp-like dungeon of this tower. The enemies had begun to grow in size the longer I spent here. Something was definitely different from the last time I was here. No two people had the same experience inside the training towers. It was a great topic of confusion to those who tried to make sense of this new world. An old buddy of mine had this theory that your first test as an Awakened came in the Awakening Towers.

His theory made a lot of sense. It felt like I was being carefully judged the further I traveled into the swamp. The enemies became stronger and stronger until I finally reached it. A small glowing arch came into view. This meant I had come to the end of the dungeon. My feet picked up their pace until I finally passed through the light. My body suddenly felt lighter as if I hadn't just spent the last few hours trudging through a swamp. The visible mud stains on my boots and legs were gone and I felt as if I had just taken a bath.

I looked around me and realized I had entered a bright room with white walls and floors. I don't remember there being such a room before. A screen showing words shone across the room.

[Congratulations! You are the first of many. Soon this world will be full of adventures and conquests! Hone your strengths and defend your weaknesses. Earth's progress to next stage: 80%]

The words disappeared as soon as I finished reading them as if it knew I had finished.

[Kai Richards, for achieving a perfect score and becoming the first Awakened on Earth we give you this special skill.]

The familiar sensation of gaining several skills filled my head. I knew I had become stronger and the initial skills of the Awakened filled my memory. This special skill the screen mentioned, what is it? The text disappeared once again and the screen opened up like a doorway. I frowned as I considered what kind of skill I could have received. There was no mention of this in the guide given by The Guild in my memories.

It must be a hidden skill then. Hidden skills could only be obtained by special means, often not showing themselves to their wielder until they were needed. I walked to the doorway and let out the air I had been holding inside me. The crisp air of the night reminded me that I was no longer in a dungeon and even with the light glow from the tower behind me I could see the stars high up in the sky. This time my life was going to be different. I refused to be some expendable experiment to the government. I could already tell I was stronger than before.

As I picked up the bag I had left a little ways away from the tower and headed back to the chaos of the city, I decided that I was going to live this time. Now that the towers were here, the real show would start in a week's time. Until then, I would strive to keep my new found strength a secret so it could go unnoticed by the government's watchful eyes. I refused to be anyone's puppet. Maybe, just maybe, I will be able to enjoy my life this time. Or, at the very least, not be so powerless.