The Dreamer's POV

[Time Left: 30 Days, 23 Hours]

<Current Number of Participants: 258>

"Where am I? What is this place?" I asked myself as I took in the expanse that spread itself before me.

It was instinctive, almost natural, as I carefully looked at, and felt, the immediate surroundings.

A forest enveloped me with its verdant embrace, and a peculiar sensation crept up my spine.

It was as if the entire woodland was alive, every rustling leaf and swaying branch watching my every move.

The trees stood tall, their trunks gnarled and ancient, forming a protective circle around me in the clearing where I stood.

'A forest, huh? So this is the first floor...' My thoughts trailed as I looked above me.

Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy above, casting mottled shadows on the damp forest floor.

The atmosphere was heavy with the earthy scent of moss and fallen leaves, and a dampness clung to the air, as if the very essence of life thrived within this mystical realm. Read latest stories on empire

I couldn't shake the feeling that although it was bright now, the encroaching shadows hinted at an impending darkness.

'This is a forest, after all. It should considerably cold and dark in the night.'

I didn't see any particular source of light, but I guessed it was our there somewhere.

'The fact that I can still see the timer in the corner of my vision proves that.'

As I stood there, my senses heightened, I caught soft whispers on the breeze.

It was as if the trees themselves were communicating in hushed tones, and the longer I stayed in that single position, the louder the whispers seemed to become.

'Ah... don't tell me...' Goosebumps prickled my skin, and my heart quickened its pace.

'Is this a haunted forest?'

The prospect of that made my heart nearly skip a beat.

Yet, despite the eerie ambiance, a strange sort of calm began to settle over me.

I guess <Visionary> did its job well.

~DING!~

A sudden ping echoed in my ears, and I recognized it instantly.

It was from the System.

[SYSTEM NOTICE]

<Welcome To The First Floor Of The Tower Of Trials!>

{Congratulations on making it this far. Before you proceed, there are basic things you should know...}

'Ah, so a briefing. I was expecting one, so it makes sense...'

It would be completely unreasonable if the System just dumped me here without any explanation and hoped I passed the Floor.

'Well, it's not like the people behind this are known for their reasonability to begin with.'

When I thought of it, they practically thrust me and everyone else into this entire situation.

It was increasingly upsetting the more I thought of it, so I decided to take my mind off it and focus on the contents of the System Information.

<Information 1>

{Time within most of the Floors in the Tower of Trials flow the same way as in the Ground Floor. As a result, every second spent on a Floor is the same as a second spent on the Ground Floor, and vice versa.}

'I see...' I thought while reading the contents of the Tower's rules.

'But, since they said most of them are this way, it follows that there are exceptions. I wonder what those ones will be like.'

In any case, since all of this was just as I predicted, time was of the essence.

I had to begin and finish this mission as soon as possible.

<Information 2>

{You may choose to abandon the Floor at any point. Doing that will return you to the Ground Floor. However, upon your return to this Floor, you will need to restart the entire thing from scratch. Plus, none of the time you spent here will be restored.}

This was a relief to hear. I could quit the Floor at any time I wanted.

'If it gets too dangerous, I can always pull out. But... is it really as simple as that?'

There was a reason one month was allocated for clearing this Floor.

I still had a majority of my time left, but what if I had progressed so far into the Floor, and then encountered a major threat?

The temptation to escape would be ever-present, but doing so would throw all my earlier hard work done the drain.

'And I may not have enough time to complete the mission if I have to start over.'

I had to operate with the assumption that it would take me exactly one month to clear a floor.

And that meant no slacking off or retreating!

'If we fail to pass within one month, we die. Even if I can't die, and I'll return to the past, if I end up being stuck in an inescapable loop where I keep dying because the time is never enough, that would be bad.'

Not even <Dream> would be enough in this situation.

<Information 3>

{For the First Floor, each participant is divided into their specific zones, as this is first of all a solo mission. You can always check the number of players challenging the Floor on the panel displayed at the corner of your vision.}

'Yeah, I noticed that too...'

It seemed quite a few were already on the First Floor, but compared to how many we were in total, it wasn't a large number.

'They should increase exponentially very soon.'

Well, it wasn't any of my business. After all, this was a solo exercise.

<Information 4>

{Death in this Floor is the same as death on the Ground Floor.}

<Information 5>

{You may not equip any Item unrecognized by the System in this Floor. Only effects recognized by the System are permitted in this Floor.}

'Hmm... so the equipment of the Natives, and also stuff like their Martial Arts and Magic won't work, huh?'

Lucy was correct, in the end. When it came to the System, the Currency I had racked up was useless.

I also didn't learn any Martial Arts or Magic of this world because I thought it would be a waste of time for me.

Not only because they seemed weaker than the Skills I currently had, but also that they required actual training and a lot of time devoted to learning in order to master them.

Compared to Skills, which could just be obtained very easily by defeating an opponent, or buying them from the <Shop>, the Martial Arts and Magic of this world were too inefficient.

'It's a relief I didn't bother. Imagine dedicating so much time and attention for that, only for it not to apply in the Floors.'

Fortunately, I had a considerable amount of Stats and Skills to back me up—way more than the average person.

'I think I should be fine.'

And then, there was the final information that made me leak out a small smile.

<Information 6>

{Based on your performance in the Floor, Rewards will be dispensed when the Floor is cleared. The sooner you clear the Floor, and the bigger your achievements, the more abundant your Reward will be.}

"Of course this is going to be how it is..."

I didn't plan on losing out on this.

'Let's see how far I can go!'

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[A/N]

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers!