[User: ManiacKiller (Hard)]
[Post: At the end of the 4th Floor, I was given the power to ask any questions to the viewers, and they would give a truthful answer. I asked them about the purpose of the Tower, and they said...]
I hadn’t seen anything like that in the past, where we would obtain answers about the Tower. He must have made a bet against a certain being, who had to be quite powerful.
Without wasting another moment, I clicked on the end of the message as it revealed more information.
[Post: At the end of the 4th Floor, I was given the power to ask any questions to the viewers, and they would give a truthful answer. I asked them about the purpose of the Tower, and the being who replied to me said that it was to prepare our planet for a future evolution.
I tried asking for more information. However, I was only allowed a single question, so none of them replied again. I will try to ask more questions as I continue to climb by completing challenges and more.
For those who also want to know what this place is, please ask similar questions. If we all help each other, we will figure it out.]
I nodded.
That guy was certainly right. If everyone helped each other, it would make things a lot easier.
But it was easier said than done.
I had a strong feeling that he had obtained a very good reward. After all, I couldn’t quite remember being given a deal like this in the past.
Nevertheless, the end of his message really stuck out to me.
The one about a future evolution.
Maybe the being had been talking about the monster waves and the global evolution of humans. But I had a strong feeling that wasn’t actually the case. Maybe there was something more to it, something that even after twenty years in the past, we hadn’t discovered because we were far too lacking.
I summoned Emma beside me.
"Emma, do you know anything about the purpose of the Tower?" I suddenly asked.
I knew her memory was suppressed, and I’d have to try to find a way to fix it. But it was better than nothing.
As soon as I asked her a question about the Tower, she clenched both sides of her head in slight pain.
"The purpose of the Tower?" She shook her head. "I-I don’t know."
"Try to think as hard as you can. Maybe something related to a different world... I’m not sure myself."
She closed her eyes for a split second but continued to shake her head.
"Ah, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it."
I had obtained a favor from the Elf Queen, and I hadn’t been sure how to use it just yet. However, obtaining information about the Tower might be a good idea.
In the past, I had been solely focused on becoming the strongest, so focused that I had ignored most of the politics surrounding me. I was never looking at the forum. I just wanted to be the strongest there was, and I didn’t need to know about useless things.
At least, that was what the old me thought.
However, now that I was looking at it, I should have probably paid attention to it. I might have been able to have answers to those questions already.
I continued to glance through the forums. Many of the posts were useless. They were just theories about the Tower and that kind of thing.
However, there was another one that called out to me.
It was one where they were talking about me.
[User: SweetPuppy (Easy)]
[Post: Would it be possible to meet with the Hell Difficulty Survivor? I’m wondering just how hard your journey was, and I’d like to share it with others.]
I didn’t reply, but I could see multiple people mentioning me one way or another.
As I was about to close the forums, I checked the number of players again and wasn’t exactly surprised. In the span of a few minutes, the total number of registered players had quadrupled for all categories except the Hell Difficulty, where it had decreased.
Many had already died.
[Easy: 84,372/2,120,111]
[Hard: 7,918/31,520]
[Hell: 1/99]
I didn’t send another message to Leia, but I could see that her status was online, which meant that she hadn’t died. She was still alive and was probably progressing smoothly.
At least, that was what I hoped.
’Time to begin the 3rd Floor,’ I thought to myself.
A small portal appeared before me. I stepped through it and found myself inside the 3rd Floor.
However, this time, the task wasn’t as straightforward as before. More importantly, there was now the addition of the leaderboard, which mixed all difficulties.
It showed all challengers and their strength compared to others.
It was just an estimate from the System, but it was largely accepted as the reference when it came to knowing the strongest challengers across all difficulties.
[Do you wish to register onto the Global Challenger Leaderboard?]
I immediately selected [Yes].
[Please choose a nickname.]
"Reaper."
It was cheesy, but I didn’t really have an idea. So, I just went with it. After all, ManiacKiller was probably worse than mine.
[Global Challenger Leaderboard Unlocked.]
[Rankings are calculated using Floor Progress, Difficulty Modifier, Clear Evaluation, Combat Performance, and System Achievements.]
[1. ManiacKiller]
Difficulty: [Hard]
Current Floor: 5
Level: 31
Ranking Score: 31,840
[2. Reaper]
Difficulty: [Hell]
Current Floor: 3
Level: 24
Ranking Score: 29,615
[3. Queen]
Difficulty: [Easy]
Current Floor: 3
Level: 18
Ranking Score: 16,902
[4. SilentFang]
Difficulty: [Hard]
Current Floor: 4
Level: 25
Ranking Score: 15,784
[5. Ironwall]
Difficulty: [Hard]
Current Floor: 4
Level: 23
Ranking Score: 14,992
[6. Crimson Lotus]
Difficulty: [Easy]
Current Floor: 3
Level: 20
Ranking Score: 12,481
[7. Beast King]
Difficulty: [Hard]
Current Floor: 3
Level: 22
Ranking Score: 11,908
[8. Frostfire]
Difficulty: [Easy]
Current Floor: 3
Level: 19
Ranking Score: 10,447
[9. Black Arrow]
Difficulty: [Hard]
Current Floor: 3
Level: 21
Ranking Score: 9,831
[10. Stonebreaker]
Difficulty: [Easy]
Current Floor: 3
Level: 18
Ranking Score: 8,960
Even with everything I had done on Floor 0, even with an Arcane weapon, Bloodlust, and knowledge from twenty years in the future...
Someone was still ahead of me.
’Just who the hell is he?’