As usual, I spent a normal day.

[9:21]
“I set my alarm. Why is it off?”

I woke up early to rush to class.

[11:03]
“…I’m hungry.”

After finishing a class, I finally got a meal.

[15:22]
“I should at least do a little studying before heading out…”

I stopped by the library to do a bit of studying for finals.

[17:42]
“I really was diligent. If I had done this in high school, I might have gotten into Seoul National University?”

I thought I had a productive day as I packed my bag.

“Today is Friday, you know?”

Suddenly, I heard the devil's whisper.

“No way. I have to study for the weekend exam…”
“Actually, it’s great. Just drink a bit, have a good night’s sleep, and wake up tomorrow in full condition to study.”
“……”
“What’s the point of studying at a jijob university anyway?”
“Busan National University isn’t a jijob university. It’s a designated national university.”
“Ah, I don’t know. Let’s just go drink.”

It seemed the devil was intent on tempting me, spitting out words like a machine gun.

“They say you can catch up on studying after coming back from the army. Freshmen are supposed to have fun.”
“……”
“When the kids start seriously preparing for finals, they won’t even be able to drink later. So, it’s better to get it done today.”
“Is that so?”

Rationalizing that there was no choice.

“Cheers!”

I wrapped up my day by attending the drinking party.

That said, I didn’t drink too much.
Just enough to feel good.
I only gave my liver enough work to get pleasantly tipsy.

“…This isn’t enough.”

I grinned at the reflection of myself in the bathroom mirror.
The voice said that if I wanted to take him down, I should prepare a crate of soju.

“Yeah, that’s it.”

I washed my hands, shook off the water, and left the bathroom.

“Ryu In-ah.”

Blocking my path wasn’t a crate of soju but a third-year female senior.
It was Kim Ji-hye.

“You seem pretty drunk.”
“…I’m not drunk.”
“Come on. That’s a lie.”

I know.
Most of the people who say they’re not drunk are already inebriated.

But I really wasn’t drunk.

“Hey, guys. Want some ice cream?”
“Yeah!”
“Ryu In-ah. The kids want ice cream. Let’s go buy some.”
“……”
“Getting some fresh air will shake off the alcohol.”

I was dragged along to the convenience store by Kim Ji-hye.

“You don’t seem to be able to hold your liquor. You look like a guy, but why is your liver so weak?”

Kim Ji-hye’s chatter felt distant.

[You have been invited to the Tower of Struggle.]
[Would you like to enter?]
[Y/N]

My attention was fixed on the message shimmering in front of my eyes.

‘…Am I drunk?’

How much did I even drink?

I picked out some ice cream.
I tried to choose a mix, but Kim Ji-hye blocked me.
She decided to unify the flavors completely.

“Card. Here.”
“Please insert it there.”

Kim Ji-hye made the payment.
Since she was the one who insisted on buying the ice cream, it made sense.

“I’ll carry it.”

But I was the one holding the bag.
I had the mindset that this was enough to do.

“Wait a minute.”

Kim Ji-hye put her hand into the bag.
She pulled out two ice creams and handed one to me.
Melona.

“Here.”
“Thank you.”

The moment I reached out to take it—

[Y (Select)/N]

My hand inadvertently touched the YES option.

[You have entered the Tower of Struggle.]
[Welcome.]

I was definitely holding a bag full of Melona.

But in the blink of an eye, it vanished.
Both Kim Ji-hye and the Melona were gone.

‘Where am I?’

I found myself in a college town.
A bustling street filled with drunken college students.

But then it changed.
To a blindingly white room that felt like it could drive one mad.

The ceiling, the walls, and the floor were so white that it was hard to find a spot that wasn’t white.
My existence standing there felt out of place.

[You have entered the Tower of Struggle.]
[Welcome.]
“…The Tower of Struggle.”

What the hell is that?

The sudden situation made my head throb.
The message dangling before my eyes also tired my vision.

“Hah.”

Taking a deep breath, I started assessing the situation step by step.
They say that if you keep your wits about you even when thrown into a tiger’s den, you’ll survive.
I had to keep my head clear to survive here.

Fortunately, there was nothing to worry about.

‘The drunkenness is completely gone.’

It felt like I had turned back time to before drinking.
I felt light as if I had woken up after a long, deep sleep.

‘Awakening effect?’

Was my brain stimulated by the extreme stress situation, leading my body to its optimal state?

‘That can’t be.’

I carefully moved and looked around.

“…There’s a button?”

I thought all sides were walls, but one side wasn’t a wall; it was a door.

Woong—.

When I pressed the button, the door opened.
There was not much difference between inside and outside the door.

“Oh!”
“There’s someone there.”

Instead, there were people.
All four seemed to be in the same predicament as me.

When I looked at them with a wary gaze, a middle-aged man gestured for me not to do that.

“I understand being scared after being summoned out of nowhere. But there’s no need for that. We’re in the same situation as you.”
“In the same situation?”

A young woman nodded and chimed in.

“You haven’t seen the message saying you were invited to the Tower of Struggle?”
“…Yes.”

No way.

“That’s right. We all fell here the moment we accepted that invitation message. In the blink of an eye, we were in a completely white room just like yours.”
“Ah….”

A sigh escaped me.
I could already see what kind of conversation we would have afterward.
Yet, I had to ask.

“…Is there a way back?”
“I don’t know.”

The middle-aged man replied bluntly, as if asking why I would even ask that.

“We’re in the same predicament as you. We’ve just been summoned and know nothing.”
“Is that so?”
“The only thing we know is that we have to wait for that door to open.”

The middle-aged man pointed at the front door.
At the tip of his finger was a gray door that didn’t fit in with the white room.
It was a stone gate.

“…It’s engraved with 0 floor.”
“Well, since it’s called the Tower of Struggle, it must be divided into floors.”

The middle-aged man’s tone wasn’t very pleasant.

While I was contemplating what to point out, the door opened.
Someone else jumped out from the room I had been in.

“Isn’t it fascinating?”

A young woman approached and whispered.

“You seem really surprised.”
“…It is surprising. There was no one here just now, and suddenly there are people…”
“I felt the same way. I had just come out of the room, and then you appeared. Thinking back, I’ve experienced something more miraculous.”

The messages floating in my view, the abduction that ignored the laws of physics…

I was already standing at the center of this strange phenomenon.
If I was shocked by each little thing, my heart wouldn’t survive.

“Indeed.”
“I’m Minji. Lee Minji.”
“…I’m Ryu In.”
“Your last name is Ryu? Ryu family?”

I shook my head.

“Just call me Ryu In.”
“Why?”
“I was planning to change my name. I even applied for it…”

Though we were in the same situation, we weren’t close enough to share personal matters.

“Ah, I see.”

It seemed Lee Minji picked up on my discomfort and didn’t ask further.

“So, the name you applied to change to is Ryu In?”
“No.”
“Your original name is Ryu In…?”

Lee Minji tilted her head.

“Ryu In. It’s a pretty name, isn’t it?”

She looked at me as if questioning why I wanted to change a pretty name.
I awkwardly smiled and looked away.

“Why are you guys the only ones introducing yourselves?”

Before I knew it, the middle-aged man approached.
Behind him was the man who had jumped out of the room earlier.

“I don’t like repeating the same thing, so I was waiting until everyone was summoned.”

The middle-aged man glanced at me and Lee Minji.

“This is why young people can’t be trusted. They keep trying to stand out on their own.”
“What did you say?”

Lee Minji seemed upset by his look and raised her voice at him.
The middle-aged man didn’t back down either.

“Why are you glaring at me when I’m talking to you? Can’t you lower your gaze?”
“An adult should act like an adult if they want to be treated as one! You’ve been acting like an old man since earlier, just scanning everyone up and down!”
“What? An old man? Did this brat just call me an old man?!”

It was an atmosphere that wouldn’t be surprising if a brawl broke out immediately.

[Welcome, players.]

What halted the increasingly heated situation was a newly appearing message.

[I will be your assistant to help with the tutorial.]
Swiik, swiik-.

I wondered if everyone was reading the message.
The noise of the argument quieted down, and silence fell.

[The Tower of Struggle is a space where you can prove your worth. Those who prove themselves will ascend the tower, while those who cannot will be eliminated here.]
“…Eliminated?”
[Elimination means death.]

In response to someone’s question, the message answered.
This meant real-time communication was possible.

“Why did you bring us here?!”
“Send us back!”

People screamed angrily.
But there was no way that unknown entity would listen.

[Do you mean you will not ascend the Tower of Struggle?]

The tone of the message turned ominous.
Everyone sensed something strange, but it was already too late.
The situation had unfolded.

[Then—.]

With that message, one person vanished.
It was the man who had shouted the loudest for us to be sent back.

[If you say you will not ascend the Tower of Struggle, I have no way to help you. I can only send you back outside, as you wish.]
“Outside?”
[I will send you back to the dimensional realm where you originally lived.]

In an instant, a television appeared in the white room.
The television was continuously replaying the same footage.

─ Aaaaah!
“Ugh.”

It was the video of the man who had vanished earlier dying.

“Don’t tell me.”

A foreboding hypothesis crossed my mind.