The first floor of the Tower of Trial had opened—and humanity was bleeding.
Newsfeeds no longer covered celebrity gossip or stock fluctuations. They displayed death counts, awakening footage, partner pairings, and desperate survival guides shared across every device. Governments scrambled to adapt, forming global alliances overnight. The United Nations dissolved and reformed under a new banner: The Vanguard Union.
Within just two days, millions had entered the Tower.
Thousands had not returned.
---
Sector 3 – Northern Japan Region
Inside the steel ruins of a collapsed city swallowed by the Tower, two figures huddled inside a broken convenience store. The flickering light above them buzzed like a dying insect.
"Stop shaking. You're drawing them closer."
Sana Fujiwara tightened her grip on the iron pipe in her hands. Tall, lean, dressed in what used to be a private school uniform, she barely looked the part of a fighter. But her golden irises, glowing faintly, told another story.
Her partner, a chubby boy named Kengo Arata, was hyperventilating beside her, clutching a book bag stuffed with protein bars and duct tape.
"Th-They're out there… I heard them… Those things... the crawling ones…"
Sana peeked out the window, her brows twitching. "Crimson Crawlers. First wave of floor monsters. Half-human, half-spider freaks."
Kengo whimpered. "What kind of nightmare am I in?! I was just a library assistant!"
"You're an Awakened now."
He stared at her. "I still can't do anything. I awakened… and I got 'Memory Indexing' as a skill. What does that even mean?"
Sana closed her eyes. "It means your brain remembers everything it sees. Useful for navigation, maybe decoding system messages. Maybe we just haven't figured it out yet."
"And you?"
"…Shockwave Palm. Rank C."
"Oh."
Silence.
Another screech echoed down the street. Kengo almost dropped the protein bar he was nervously nibbling on.
Sana glanced at her System screen again. The Partner Conditions glared back at her in bright red:
[PARTNER LINK: ACTIVE] [DISTANCE BETWEEN PARTNERS EXCEEDS LIMIT. WARNING ISSUED.] [EMOTIONAL BOND: WEAK. SYNERGY EFFECTS UNAVAILABLE.]
She didn't even know what half of it meant. But she understood one thing.
They were failing.
---
Elsewhere – The London Trial Zone
A man in a pristine suit stood calmly on the battlefield, slicking back his platinum hair with bloodstained gloves. Behind him, a tornado of flame incinerated a swarm of trial beasts with surgical precision.
"Are we done yet?" he asked, pulling out a gold pocket watch.
"No," a voice growled beside him. "Three more to go."
His partner stepped into view—a tall woman clad in full knight armor, etched with crimson sigils. Her helmet cracked open to reveal a scarred face and cold blue eyes.
Leon Albrecht, SSS-rank, raised an eyebrow. "You're no fun, Ingrid."
Ingrid of the Red Shield, also SSS-rank, pointed her greatsword toward the fog beyond. "Fun isn't in the contract. Survive. Advance. Clear the floor."
Leon chuckled. "See, this is why I miss the old world. Cocktails. Ballrooms. Now I get partnered with a war machine."
Their screens flashed.
[FLOOR 1 OBJECTIVE: REMAINING MONSTERS – 3] [TIME LIMIT: 4 HOURS REMAINING]
Leon sighed dramatically. "Well, let's finish our dance."
Ingrid rolled her eyes. "Just don't die, prince."
---
Meanwhile – The United States West Trial Field
A massive crater lay smoking in the desert as two teens sat, panting, at the edge of the carnage.
"Did I… Did I just vaporize that thing?" said one of them, a girl with freckles and short, curly hair. Her name was Zoey Thompson—Rank A, awakened with 'Light Burst.'
"Y-Yeah," said the boy beside her. He wore glasses cracked in the middle. "You did. You… kind of exploded. In a good way."
His name was Milo Garcia. Rank E. Ability: "Analyze".
Not much help in a fight. But he remembered to shield Zoey from the second crawler. His back was bruised, and he was pretty sure two ribs were cracked. But he was alive.
Barely.
"You okay?" she asked, eyes wide.
"Totally fine. Just questioning reality," Milo said, grinning through bloodied lips.
They both laughed—then winced in pain.
"Still think we'll survive this?"
Zoey stared at the tower in the distance. "I don't know. But I know we have to try."
She reached out and gripped his hand.
Their screens glowed softly.
[EMOTIONAL BOND: STRENGTHENED] [SYNERGY SKILL UNLOCKED: LIGHT ANALYSIS]
Milo blinked.
"…Huh?"
---
System Observation Chamber – Location: Unknown
A chamber filled with floating screens, each displaying scenes of battle, survival, betrayal, and connection. Mysterious figures observed from behind fogged glass.
"This generation is adapting faster than anticipated," said one voice.
Another replied, "Pairings are stabilizing. Some are beginning to unlock synergy traits. The emotional metric is working."
A third voice hummed in concern. "But there are anomalies. One especially."
The screen shifted.
A masked figure stood in a dim apartment, casually sipping juice from a can, while a godlike woman glared at him from the couch, visibly annoyed.
The first voice read aloud:
[PARTNER: UR Rank – Status: CONFUSED, AGITATED] [MASKED PARTNER: ??? Rank – Status: UNREGISTERED ANOMALY]
The chamber fell silent.
"Monitor that one closely," the third voice said.
---
Sector 3 – Back to Sana and Kengo
Night had fallen. The Crawlers were gone—for now.
Kengo had stopped shaking. Sana sat beside him, exhausted.
He finally broke the silence. "Do you think we'll make it?"
Sana didn't answer at first.
Then she whispered, "We have to. Because if one partner dies…"
Kengo nodded. "The other dies too."
He took out the last protein bar. Broke it in half. Offered it to her.
"Truce?"
She hesitated. Then accepted.
Their screens flickered.
[EMOTIONAL BOND: INITIATED] [LINK STRENGTH: MINOR]
For the first time, the warning message turned yellow instead of red.
And somewhere deep in the Tower's code, a tiny variable shifted.
The world was changing.
---