Chapter 1: Falling into the tower

Prologue

“No! Do-yoon… please. Why?! Why did you take that for me?! No, it’s my fault… it’s all my fault… please don’t die…”

A desperate sob echoed in my ears.

The warm hand covering mine was shaking badly.

Hot drops fell onto the back of my hand.

The main character has to live.

Still… seeing Wi Hajoon cry for me like this.

Unlike the real him, the Wi Hajoon in this world was too soft, too gentle.

That’s why leaving him behind hurt.

But if it meant he could live, then it was worth it.

The cold Wi Hajoon from the original story.

The Wi Hajoon I once thought was just a pitiful, pushover protagonist.

All of them had somehow become closer to me than anyone else.

And now, he was grieving for me.

That alone stirred something strangely fresh inside my chest.

Every breath leaked out as if my lungs had holes in them.

The pain felt like lightning tearing through my body.

And yet, I laughed.

With my blurred vision, I looked at the hologram floating in the air.

[Remaining duration of trait: 00 Days 00 Hours 01 Minute]

I won’t die.

I’ll just return to my original world.

When I turned my head, I saw him through my fading sight—

crying dewdrop-like tears because of me.

I forced my stiff face to move and gently lifted the corner of my lips.

I barely managed to move my mouth, letting out a thin, broken sound.

It was meant to be my last goodbye to him in this world.

“……”

Still… survive.

No matter what, survive and go back to your role.

My voice vanished into the air.

Wi Hajoon’s eyes widened as he tried to read my lips, his own trembling.

That blurred image of him—eyes wide, tears falling like morning dew—

was the last thing I saw before the trait endeended.

When I woke up back in reality, I bit my lip, my chest feeling strangely heavy.

Now, neither the real him nor the him I met through the trait was by my side anymore.

Just like that, Wi Hajoon—the protagonist of

[SSS-Rank Player Climbs the Tower]—disappeared from my life.

“…Is it really over?”

I covered my eyes with my hand and stayed still for a long while, sorting out my feelings.

Only after several minutes did I manage to push him out of my mind.

[Trait: Dimensional Pocket Watch {Deactivated}]

The trait in the status window was now completely gray.

It felt like a silent notice saying I could never go back.

[You have 10 Mission Points (MP) remaining. Would you like to use them?]

“Ah… Mission Points…”

I just wanted to get rid of everything.

Without any expectation, I pressed “Buy Information.”

[Spending 10 Mission Points (MP) to purchase information on

[SSS-Rank Player Climbs the Tower].]

With a familiar tune, a roulette wheel appeared before my eyes.

The wheel spun fast, then slowly began to lose speed.

As it neared the gray zone labeled “Trash Info,” it almost seemed to stop.

The arrow hovered dangerously between that gray area

and a platinum-colored zone that screamed “Top-Tier” at a glance.

[Congratulations! You have won Top-Tier Information.Would you like to check it?]

[Accept / Decline]

What? Top-tier?

As if possessed, I pressed Accept.

A platinum-glowing hologram unfolded before me.

[Top-Tier Information]

Inside Wi Hajoon resides the soul of Cheon Yuhwa,

who possessed [SSS-Rank Player Climbs the Tower].

It was a short sentence.

But its meaning was anything but small.

“What… Cheon Yuhwa?”

The moment I saw that name, my heart dropped.

My first love—the one who helped me survive my most miserable days.

Why was he here?

He was supposed to have died in a traffic accident seven years before I ever came to this world.

Wait. Died in a traffic accident? A strange discomfort crept in. And then, a ridiculous thought formed in my head.

The moment I applied that thought to reality, it felt like scattered puzzle pieces clicked together. Wi Hajoon’s different personality.

The true nature of that mysterious trait. And Cheon Yuhwa’s accident seven years ago.

The newly formed picture told me the truth.

Seven years ago, Cheon Yuhwa died in a traffic accident and possessed the novel [SSS-Rank Player Climbs the Tower].

Time passed.

For some reason, the world was reset. With Cheon Yuhwa’s memories still intact. And in this second run of the world,

I was the one who got into an accident and possessed it.

The trait I never fully understood—

“Dimensional Pocket Watch”—

was the power to interfere with the first run

where Cheon Yuhwa lived as Wi Hajoon.

“…Damn it. What kind of messed-up plot is this?”

I grabbed my throbbing head and let out a sigh.

“—Huh?!”

A hand suddenly grabbed my arm.

Startled, I spun around.

Who came in here?

I told them not to let anyone in while the trait was active.

Already overwhelmed, I was about to snap in irritation—  but froze when I saw who it was.

“Didn’t I say not to come in—”

A familiar face filled my vision.

Blue eyes, like the sea reflecting sunlight, met mine.

The moment I saw them, my heart began to race out of habit.

“Wi Hajoon…”

“Do-yoon…”

Those blue eyes, overflowing with obsession, locked onto me.

His hands gripped my shoulders tightly,  as if he would never let me go again.

My heart pounded.

“I… I’m sorry, Do-yoon…”

The way he looked at me—so desperate— overlapped with Cheon Yuhwa’s once-clear eyes.

“Please… don’t leave me.”

Tears like summer rain slipped down his cheeks.

Clutching my hand like it was his lifeline,

he cried as if he truly could never let me go again.

Looking into his tear-stained blue eyes,

I realized—I would never be able to escape him.

Chapter 1

On the most blessed day of the year—my birthday—I got hit by a truck that came charging through a green light while I was running back to get the cake I’d left at the bus stop.

Lying on the cold asphalt, feeling my body grow colder, I knew I was dying.

The thought that my life—so full of regrets—was ending this easily made me furious. So furious that anger surged up from my slowly freezing heart.

I had just barely broken the chains that held my life back.

I was finally about to move forward toward something new. Toward happiness.

And then this bullshit happened.

If God really existed, I honestly wanted to flip him off with all my heart.

There was no life-flashing-before-my-eyes moment.

Just pain.

Even holding onto my fading consciousness on the cold asphalt reached its limit.

And right when everything was about to go dark—A notification sound rang in my ears.

[Welcome to the Tower of Trials, Floor 1.]

‘A notification…? That makes no sense.’

The pain was gone, but I clearly remembered the accident.

Did I survive?

Maybe I got lucky and was rushed to the hospital in time.

Maybe some fickle god took pity on my “bright future” and spared me.

Yeah, right.

I don’t believe in God. And even if he existed, he wouldn’t feel sorry for me.

With a bitter smile, I opened my eyes.

“…Where am I?”

What I saw first were towering trees—huge, ancient giants packed tightly together.

It felt like some primeval forest from a prehistoric age.

Between them, a lizard with dragonfly-like wings flicked its tongue and hunted a red-shelled bug.

“A… winged lizard?”

Forget a hospital—this place had no trace of modern civilization.

And that creature didn’t exist in reality.

“Is this a dream?”

But it felt strange to call it one.

My five senses were too clear.

The fresh forest air filling my lungs.

The solid feel of my shoes on the ground.

The fluttering sound of the lizard’s wings as it fled after noticing me.

It was way too real to be a dream.

“Ow!”

I pinched my cheek just in case.

Sharp pain shot through me.

“If this isn’t a dream… then it’s real. But how…?Calm down. Start from the beginning.

Cooling my overheated mind, I organized the facts.

First: I got into a traffic accident, but instead of waking up in a hospital, I woke up in an unreal place.

Second: If the accident really happened, even if I woke up in a forest, I should be in pain. But I felt nothing. I could move freely. My body felt perfectly normal.

Third: In a place that clearly lacks civilization, I heard a notification. Was it from my phone? No—my phone broke when I got hit. So where did that sound come from?

No matter how rationally I thought about it, something beyond my experience had happened.

“…Unless something supernatural is going on.”

It matched all those fantasy novels I’d read to death.

The classic story where the protagonist escapes a suffocating reality and enters a fantasy world.

The kind where you can predict the ending from the prologue.

This situation fit that pattern way too well.

“Or… this is just my dying hallucination.”

Ding!

That familiar sound rang again.

A red hologram popped up in front of me.

[Congratulations on becoming a Challenger!]

“Yeah. That hologram. Even squinting, you can tell—it’s straight out of a fantasy novel.”

All that overthinking suddenly felt pointless.

A dry laugh escaped me, but a strange excitement stirred inside.

If this really is a fantasy world…

Does that mean I can live like the protagonist in those novels?

Is this the moment where the dreams I buried deep inside finally come true?

[The Tower of Trials consists of 49 floors. All challengers must reach the final stage and obtain inform—%$#@… ERROR…]

“What? What’s wrong with it?”

The text was garbled near the end, impossible to read.

A vague sense of unease crept up my spine.

[ERROR!]

[ERROR!]

[An unknown force is attacking the system.]

[Rebooting…]

“…Wow.”

The red hologram flickered and vanished.

I was reminded of my unlucky past.

“So even after barely escaping death and reaching another world, I’m still not allowed an easy life?”

Damn my rotten luck.

[System rebooting… 85%]

[System rebooting… 93%]

[System rebooting… 99%]

The number froze at 99%.

[System damaged. Further operation impossible.

For security, this user’s system will be incinerated.]

The hologram began to distort.

“Don’t go!”

I didn’t even know exactly what the system did.

But as a hardcore web-novel reader, I knew how important it was.

Stats. Skills. Inventory. Quests.

It’s basically the protagonist’s lifeline.

And now it was glitching on its own and going, “Bye, I’m dead.”

I wanted to do a somersault with my toes or something—anything—to stop it.

But all I could do was stare helplessly at the shrinking hologram.

[ERROR! Unknown force is seizing control of the system.]

After spitting warnings for a while, the hologram flickered.

“It’s completely broken…”

Just as despair hit me—

A familiar sound rang out.

This time, a blue hologram appeared.

[Welcome, Cha Sihan.

Congratulations on entering [SSS-Rank Player Climbs the Tower].]

“SSS-Rank Player… entered?”

What did that even mean?

The sentence was short, but it threw me into chaos.

Still, I had a guess.

It even kindly told me the title. If I didn’t get it now, I’d be an idiot.

“So… I’m inside a novel? And that novel is SSS-Rank Player Climbs the Tower?”

Did that bus turn out to be the legendary reincarnation bus… no, a possession bus?

[Yes. You have entered the world of

[SSS-Rank Player Climbs the Tower],

published on August 15, 2016, by author Fate.]

It even gave me the publication date.

I remembered that novel.

A legendary hit that exploded in popularity—even among people who didn’t read web novels.

Back then, I was going through a rough time, and that story gave me comfort.

“But… the author’s pen name wasn’t Fate, was it? Wasn’t it three characters?”

It was famous enough that the author’s name vaguely came to mind.

[Apologies. That was an error.

[SSS-Rank Player Climbs the Tower] was published on August 15, 2016

by author Woon Samyeong.]

“So you gave me wrong info earlier? Isn’t this whole thing kind of sloppy?”

[Due to a hacking attempt, data integrity has been compromised.

Answer accuracy has decreased.

Would you like to block inaccurate information?]

Hacking attempt?

It sounded strange.

Was this thing trying to hack the system?

Or did someone else hack it and damage it?

“Yeah. Block it.”

[Request accepted. Inaccurate information will be blocked.]

But why does it keep calling me Cha Sihan?

Even after blocking wrong info, it still messed up my name.

What if… because of that “hacking attempt,” it’s turned into a buggy tin can?

“Wait. You even got my name wrong. My name is Cha Sihan. Why do you call me Do-yoon? Is this a bug?”

[This is not a bug.

I am ‘Eve,’ created to help you bring down the Tower.

You have possessed <Shin Do-yoon>.

Accordingly, I address you by that name.

Would you like to change it?]

“What? I’m Shin Do-yoon? That Shin Do-yoon?

The cockroach Shin Do-yoon?

That petty, pathetic guy who sticks to the protagonist and dies?

That small-time villain?”

[Yes. Your current body is <Shin Do-yoon>.]

“…Ha. Hahaha. I’m screwed.”

Of all people, Shin Do-yoon.

Even among villains, he was infamous for being frustrating.

A cockroach with absurdly long survival, always blocking readers from getting catharsis.

I still remembered the scene where he fell off a cliff, survived, and came back to poison the protagonist.

My blood pressure spiked that day.

“That’s when everyone started calling him Shin-Roach…”

Shin-roach.

Well… maybe possessing him isn’t the worst.

At least he’s hard to kill.

Let’s think positive…

Still, I couldn’t help sighing.

“Seriously. Even if I had to be a villain, why not someone with talent or a good background?

Shin Do-yoon is just a nobody who keeps buzzing around the protagonist.”

[You appear to have organized your thoughts.

I will now inform you of your mission.]

[Ding!]

[ERROR1. Eliminate the Imperial Army]

In <Parea Forest>, known as the “Demon Forest” and listed among the Seven Forbidden Zones,

cooperate with the monsters who guard this land and repel the invading Imperial Army.

…That’s strange.

I remembered the novel pretty well.

And this wasn’t in the early part.

“Wasn’t it the opposite?

I’m pretty sure the first floor mission was to kill monsters.”

Even the title was weird.

Not “Mission.”

“Error.”

Then I remembered.

At the start, the system malfunctioned and almost got erased.

After that, a message about an unknown force taking over appeared.

“Eve… what are you?”

Something felt off.

In the novel, no character should be aware of the story.

There’s no way something inside the story could know about the outside world—or about me.

[I am Eve, created to help you bring down the Tower.]

“Bring down the Tower? That makes no sense…”

The Tower is the core of this world.

To destroy it is basically to destroy this world.

[Warning. Due to system hacking, significant data and functions were lost.

Unable to retrieve answer for: ‘How to bring down the Tower.’]

It searched on its own and still failed.

I laughed dryly.

“This is a total mess. Then what are you, really?

If not that, at least tell me your purpose.”

[Unable to retrieve answers for:

‘Eve’s identity,’ ‘Eve’s purpose.’]

Is it really just bugged?

What can it even do?

In the end, I couldn’t learn anything about this mysterious Eve.

Is it hiding things on purpose?

Or is the data really gone?

I didn’t like either option, but the second was better.

Better incompetent than malicious.

“Useless tin can.”

With only vague memories of the original story, surviving in this world will be hard.

For now, the only option is to follow the words of this unknown, broken system.