2035.

Seattle, US.

Evergarden High School.

"Is it possible there are other dimensions that we don't know about?" asked Niam Walker, a black-haired student with glasses, his pupils a navy blue, staring at his classmate.

Aiden Hart, a white-haired man with brown pupils, sat before Niam. Both of them were in the school cafeteria at noon, enjoying their lunch provided by the school.

"Why do you ask that?" Aiden asked.

"Lately, many people have mentioned that they are from the future. They tell us about events in the future that the rest of us don't know about," Niam explained.

The young man before Niam sighed, picked up the glass of water, and sipped it slowly. Aiden had to admit that there were indeed many incidents in which people called themselves time travelers. But none of them could answer when they were challenged to prove it.

"They're just braggarts; don't ever listen to them, or you'll become one of them." Aiden moved his spoon forward, pointing at Niam, who was obsessed with it for some reason. In reality, Aiden still had to remind Niam that they lived in the reality world, not hallucinations or mere imagination.

"I-I'm not going to be like them. I'm just curious why people say that," Niam replied.

"We never know what really happens in this world, do we?" asked Aiden. Again, Niam nodded in agreement to Aiden's question.

Three boys came to the table with their trays as the two students enjoyed their lunch. Niam turned to the side, seeing the face of the most feared student in the class.

"Hey, loser. Can you get out of the way?" insulted Jack Reynolds, a blond-haired student who excelled at sports, especially basketball.

"W-We got this table first," said Niam. Aiden was ignorant and preferred to finish his lunch quickly.

Niam and Aiden were nobody in the class. Their scores on every exam were average, and they were not very good at sports. However, Niam knew what Aiden was like. Niam suspected that Aiden seemed to be hiding his true potential from people.

Jack placed his lunch tray on the table roughly, startling Niam and making Aiden stopped eating for a moment. Jack's hand stretched forward, gripping Niam's collar firmly.

"Do you have the guts to fight me?" Jack asked, annoyed.

Niam stuttered, trying to break his grip from Jack. Both Niam's eyes were occasionally directed forward, looking at Aiden, who was paying attention to them.

Jack realized Aiden was looking at him. He released his grip on Niam and turned to the side, scolding Aiden.

"What are you looking at?!" asked Jack, still annoyed.

"Nothing." Aiden picked up his tray from the dining table and quickly rose from his seat, indicating that he was done with his lunch. Niam, even though her lunch wasn't finished yet, chose to follow Aiden.

"Two suckers always stick together like a fluffy ball!" insulted Jack, followed by the laughter of the other students who heard this.

Niam clenched his fists and was furious when he realized Jack had insulted them. Niam turned around, stepped closer to Jack, who was eating, and immediately punched Jack in the face to make the blond man fall helpless.

"Damn you, Niam!" yelled Jack, realizing his cheek was bruised.

A fight was inevitable; Jack and his two friends got up from their seats and stepped closer to Niam. Just as Jack was about to punch Niam back in the face, Aiden walked over and held back Jack's fist with Aiden's right hand.

"You?! Get the fuck out of the way, or you'll meet the same fate as him!" Jack snapped.

"Niam is stupid; his emotions are unstable. So, don't beat him up just because of your anger," Aiden explained.

Aiden's eyes stared intimidatingly straight ahead at Jack and his two friends, "If not, then I'll stand up to protect my friend!"

"I'm not afraid of cowards like you!" shouted Jack.

Light shone brightly on Aiden's body, making people panic and fear. However, not long after, the other students' bodies glowed like Aiden's. Niam was the same; his body glowed, which suddenly scared him.

"What did you do?" asked Niam, asking Aiden.

"I'm not doing anything," Aiden replied, confused as his body continued to glow.

In the blink of an eye and a flash of bright light, dozens of students whose bodies were glowing brightly disappeared from the school and were sent to a place of white light, whiter than a cup of milk and quieter than a cemetery.

Aiden's eyes, which had been closed, began to open slowly, and he found that he and tens of other students were in a vast white dimension with watery soil like a flood, ankle-deep.

"W-Where are we?"

"Were we kidnapped?"

"My phone isn't working!"

"We're all dead!"

A commotion ensued, with many students expressing their concern over the situation. Aiden stood alone, trying to cast his eyes around to see where Niam was, as his body was also glowing.

"It turns out you're also caught up in this situation, Aiden," spoke Lydia Armstrong, the prettiest student in school with hair a mix of blonde and dark brown; she also held the status of student council president at Evergarden High School.

"Lydia?" greeted Aiden, stepping closer to Lydia.

"Did you know about all this?" asked Aiden, curious.

Lydia shook her head, knowing absolutely nothing about this case. However, she could only hope that someone could explain everything.

"Welcome!" greeted someone, her voice echoing through the place, startling Aiden and Lydia.

From the front, a portal was created in this place and revealed the form of a woman in a long dress quite revealing, with four wings faintly visible behind her back, hair color white with a flower crown attached.

The woman's eyes were bright gold in color, the fragrance of her body wafting through the place, even to the farthest reaches. When her lithe feet touched the dimensional floor, the scene instantly changed to a vast green land with shady trees in another part.

'This is real grass,' Aiden said, feeling the watery floor become soft grass.

"I apologize for calling you here. However, Eldoria needs your skills," replied the woman, the students thinking of her as a goddess because of her appearance.

"Eldoria? Where is it? Can you return us to Earth?" asked one of the students, curious.

"Too bad it can't. That's why I apologize to you," replied the goddess, still standing tall in a graceful pose, both hands clasped before her stomach.

Lydia felt responsible for everything that happened this time. She hurried to the front through the crowd of agitated students to speak directly to the goddess.

In another place, a male student also walked forward; he was the captain of the football club and the most popular male student in Evergarden.

"We will only accept your apology if we can find out the exact reason why Eldoria needs us," Lydia replied.

The goddess turned her head to the side, looking at Lydia with a smile. The goddess began nodding her head and flicking her fingers, transforming the scene in that dimension into a medieval city.

"Before I explain everything, allow me to introduce myself," the woman replied, "My name is Lauriel. I am the guardian goddess of Eldoria."

"Is she really a goddess?"

"Are you a fool? Only someone like her could do something like this with the snap of a finger."

"I want to be her husband."

Aiden did not make a sound but instead focused on staring at the tower that rose so high and spacious. He had never seen such black towers, not even in the fictional world.

"The two towers you see are Zion Pillars. They have 100 floors and their own environment," Lauriel replied.

"So, what was your reason for showing us those pillars?" asked Luke Kennedy, the most popular boy in Evergarden.

"Simple. You have a glorious task to conquer 100 floors and save the world from destruction," said Lauriel.

"Conquer? What exactly is on those 100 floors?" asked Lydia, growing curious.

Lauriel smiled, snapped her fingers again, and showed footage of adventurers being killed on the tower's first floor. The students became tense and frightened; there was a bull monster that destroyed the adventurers easily.

"Each floor has its own boss. The higher the floor you take, the—"

"The bosses we'll fight are getting stronger," Lydia interrupted; Lauriel smiled in agreement.

"But we don't have any powers; we're not even good at swinging swords or archery," Luke pointed out.

"Don't worry. I will bestow talents upon you in exchange for you being called." Lauriel snapped her fingers again and stopped the video footage of the slain adventurers, changing to the tranquil setting of a vast plain.

"Talent?" asked Lydia.

"If we've made it to 100 floors and killed the boss there, what will we get?" asked Luke.

"I will come to grant all your wishes," Lauriel replied.

Luke nodded, turned his head to the side, and looked at Lydia attentively. Lydia nodded, both thinking of returning home after completing 100 floors on Zion Pillar.

Lauriel watched Lydia and Luke, thinking of the two as the leaders of the 30 students Lauriel had summoned. Lydia and Luke nodded, agreeing that they would strive to conquer the 100 floors of Zion Pillar.

"That's good. Now I will give you my talents and your placement," Lauriel replied, no one arguing with her.

Lydia was the first to receive a gift from Lauriel, followed by Luke, and continued to the other students with the talents they had received. All talents received are in the S rank, especially for some people, who will get an SS rank according to their luck.

After receiving their talents, the students will get their own deployment place, either the Valoria Kingdom or the Aether Empire. Of the 29 students who had already received their talents, 20 were in the Valoria Kingdom, the rest in the Aether Empire.

Now, it was Aiden's turn to come after Lauriel called out to him. Aiden looked to his right and left; Niam was in the group of people assigned to Valoria, along with Lydia and Luke, including Jack.

'This isn't fair; what exactly is wrong with the Aether Empire?' Aiden asked himself.

Lauriel smiled. She was mesmerized by Aiden's gray-white hair, which was similar to hers. "Nice hair color."

"You too, Lady Lauriel," said Aiden.

Lauriel's hands stretched forward, beginning to display a white circle with ancient script Aiden didn't understand, spinning clockwise.

DING!

[Host has been detected]

[Initiates body synchronization with talent]

[Synchronization complete]

[Initiates talent selection]

The screen of the holographic panel before Aiden kept changing randomly without stopping. Aiden's eyes focused forward to see what talent he would have.

[Talent selection completed]

[Congratulations!]

[You obtain the talent Enhanced Vision Ability]

[Ability Rank: A]

"Vision enhancement?" asked Aiden, squinting.

That day, Aiden's eye changed from brown pupils to gold like Lauriel's. Lauriel smiled; there was a purpose to Aiden gaining that ability, and only Lauriel knew the reason.

"You will be placed in the Aether Empire," Lauriel explained.

Lydia gasped, continuing to stare anxiously at Aiden. That was because the two of them were in different places of assignment.

Another reason was that Aiden and Lydia were childhood friends. Their homes were close to each other, so Lydia knew very well how Aiden behaved.

"Is something bothering you, Lydia?" asked Luke, trying to act like a gentleman beside Lydia.

Lydia shook her head, though the look on her face was one of anxiety.

"Is my talent good?" Aiden asked Lauriel, curious.

"It's good if you can use it well. You'll find out later."