Tenno didn't understand the words displayed on the status panel. Retainers? Skills? System? Those words were foreign to him, but he didn't have time to process everything. After he was welcomed into the Tower, he was sucked out of the void and into a blinding light.

As the light dissipated, he stared at an elegant glass chandelier lit with glowing orbs of light. Under the two mezzanines, ceiling lights illuminated the potted plants between rows of cushioned chairs. The chilly air reeked a faint scent of something burnt and rotten, as everyone in the room also came from Floor 1. Artistic paintings and potted plants also decorated the spacious room, allowing for a greater sense of movement and for Tenno to distance himself from people.

There was something odd about the room, however. There were no doors, windows, or indication of anyone who looked important enough to be someone officiating the test.

The people inside the room with Tenno were wandering around just as curious and confused as he was, their outfits ragged and dirty. From the other side of the room, they avoided walking near the bald, burly man who was punching the wall without fail. Each of his punches was felt by those near him, generating enough force to create a deep and echoing thud. His fists were lightly wounded from punching the wall, yet the wall itself was not damaged in any way. To add, the uninviting expression of the man made it so that no other person would walk near him.

What everyone had in common was the silver bracelet with a small rectangular screen strapped on their right wrist. Tenno had one too--but the hollow-circled bracelet Kiara gave him as a keepsake was now gone. He touched the silver bracelet where he used to wear her keepsake, vaguely remembering the words on the system panel.

"I never knew that bracelet was part of Yggdrasil." He mumbled in response to the words inscribed in the panel. "I wouldn't have wanted to lose it, though."

"Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it now," Tenno sighed in acceptance. Just then, an orange-haired girl approached him with a proposition.

"Hiya, blue hair! Wanna team up during the test?" The girl boisterously smiled.

The orange-haired girl wore a black crop top and an open, dirty military jacket extending past her hips. Her tall mud-stained boots and black wristguards made Tenno wonder where she found clothing that seemed more fitting for an Entry Test taker, contrasting with Tenno's ragged shirt and pants. Coupled with the wild energy she gave off at first glance, she seemed like a reliable partner who could be reasonable to team up with. Tenno had doubts, however, as he came from an untrusting hell known as Floor 1.

"No," Tenno rejected her offer. "I prefer going alone."

"Are you sure?" The girl pointed her thumb behind, showing him everyone had already grouped up for the test. Everyone spoke to each other in pairs or groups walked together, and lone people were even invited to join them. "If you can handle fighting groups of people, go for it. I won't bother you."

"Why not join the group with the most people if you want a team?" Tenno argued.

"And risk getting backstabbed by them? Do those people look trustworthy to you?" The girl countered. "Besides, you look like the most capable person in the room."

"So what if I look capable? What if I was the one to betray you?" Tenno threatened, shooting her a blank, murderous look to show that he was serious about this possibility.

The girl boisterously laughed at his threat, "Ahahahaha! I wouldn't worry about something like that! Because if you do..." She shot him a soulless expression and a psychotic smirk that resembled Tenno's empty gaze. "I'll make sure you'll regret that decision~"

That confirms the girl was not just all talk. Coming from Tenno, he knew that empty gaze all too well. He didn't think of her as harmful or dangerous because she threatened him, but she did so as a necessity for survival. A concept that Tenno also knew too well. "So she's almost the same as me," He thought.

Thinking it wouldn't hurt to have a companion in the Tower, he sighed, "My name is Tenno."

The girl's smile returned as she realized Tenno seemed set on accepting her as his partner. She introduced herself, "I'm Marika! You can call me Mari. Does that mean we're partners now?"

"Nope. This guy..." A silver-haired man appeared out of the blue and put his arm over Tenno's shoulder. "...is my partner."

"Wha--?!" Like Tenno, Mari was just as dumbfounded as he was. She complained, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Koiya. Tenno here is already my partner." Koiya inched himself closer to Tenno. While he didn't mind, he hoped that he could knock some sense of personal space out of him.

Koiya's silver hair glinted at the light of the chandelier, wearing a dark green sweater over a white shirt, khaki pants, and brown leather shoes. His outfit looked odd, especially his hair--Tenno thought he seemed too clean for someone coming from Floor 1. Tenno assumed he must have had a lot of gold coins saved when he was still living there.

Tenno removed the arm around his shoulder before saying, "You don't get to make decisions for me."

With a sly smile, Koiya replied, "I do now. You can't reject it even if you want to. I'm also stronger than her, so if I were you--"

"Urgh shut up! Who do you think you are, some kind of proud prince of shit?" Mari's annoyed face already showed Tenno that she disliked the attitude of the new person. On the other hand, trying to change Koiya's decision and convincing him otherwise would likely end up in vain.

Mari continued in an annoyed tone, "Fine. You can join us. I was the one who asked Tenno first anyway."

"Nope. It has to be Tenno only," Koiya poked Tenno's head. Then again, he didn't seem to mind, but Tenno really wanted to stop his annoying nagging.

"Wha--?! Tenno, tell him off!" Mari howled, to which Tenno only shrugged.

"I'd rather be alone so I don't care who teams up with me..."

"Ugh, fine!" The baffled Mari looked at Koiya and spread her arms in insult, "Do I look like a weakling to you? "

But Koiya shook his head, "No, I just don't like women," he said, followed by another remark, "If you're even a woman, of course. Your buff arms don't--"

"You wanna die? I'll kill you before this test starts," Mari showed the silver-haired guy an incredibly indignant smile as she approached him.

Koiya's determined smirk changed his nonchalant attitude to one whose eyes were filled with excitement and thrill. He stretched his fingers, which caused his knuckles to crack, before he accepted her challenge, "'Whoever doesn't die gets to team up with Tenno' is what you wanted, right? This test is starting to get exciting~!"

Just as Tenno was about to move out of the way, a woman's voice echoed throughout the room. The noisy ambiance dimmed to silence as it spoke:

"The first test is about to begin. Please settle down. The Test Supervisor will begin explaining the rules of the Entry Test shortly."

Please settle down, said the voice that resounded in everyone's ears, but Koiya and Mari were already exchanging punches with each other. Did they deliberately choose to ignore the test to settle their competition? Tenno couldn't care any less about who goes where with him, though, as long as he succeeds in the Entry Test.

Suddenly, a soft plasmic substance that appeared out of thin air enveloped the fighting two, and they froze in place.

"These newbie children, I swear! Always the most troubling bunch each day," A voice spoke aloud from above. The hovering purple-suited man had his palm held towards Koiya and Mari. He pointed his finger upwards, releasing them from their frozen state, but Mari was also lifted into the air with him.

"Breaching the rules imposed by the System is usually an automatic failure, but since I'm in a good and forgiving mood today, I'm willing to let the both of you go, you two brats!" He shouted at both Koiya and Mari.

"Hey--why did I get lifted up here and not that kid?!" Mari complained as she stopped moving, know2ing full well she might fall if she struggled.

"Kid..." The annoyed Koiya mumbled at her comment.

"You were the one who attacked first, Ms. Marika. I suggest you quiet down before I change my mind on my decision," The Test Supervisor set Mari down on the other side of the room, away from Koiya and Tenno.

"Ahem, I apologize for the delay, my dear testers," With his palm on his chest, he bowed in sincere apology while still hovering above everyone. His voice didn't seem loud, nor did it echo, but it felt like his voice was being projected between his ears.

"To introduce myself, I am the Floor 1 Test Supervisor, Minyu! Let me congratulate you on your courage to prove further that you are worthy of climbing the Tower," Minyu's playful and loud persona wasn't too inviting for Tenno.

However, he treated his outfit as a short yet entertaining spectacle. He wore a white theatrical mask on the left half of his face and a blue-ribboned purple tophat, with an elegant dark purple suit and pants that had only heard from fantastical and imaginative stories.

He continued speaking, "Testers! You will participate in a series of three tests, each with increasing difficulty. I will foresee and enforce the rules of each test, and breaking these rules will result in instant disqualification or death. I hope it's the latter because getting disqualified means you are a piece of shit that's been rejected by Yggdrasil. The worst humiliation, you'll be wishing you were dead!"

"To those who haven't realized it now, you can take the Entry Test in groups. As long as you tap your Status Bands with each of your desired groupmates, you will be teleported to the first test along with the group," Minyu added.

"If you pass all three of these tests, you will become Seekers. You will be given the power to climb the Tower and make your greatest desires come true. Whatever you seek--money, fame, or even infinite power, Yggdrasil will grant it to you if you prove yourself worthy of such blessing!"

"Keep dreaming, my dear Testers, and may your desire run wild with your greatest ambitions!" The Test Supervisor tipped his tophat in farewell, revealing his neat pink hair. He threw the tophat into the air, and his whole body compressed to a single point inside the hat. It landed on the ceramic floor like he had never been there.

"Hmm," Tenno said in awe. "Do you think we'll be able to hover in the air and become invisible after we pass the test?"

"Of course it's possible," Koiya chuckled sarcastically. "The Tower promises to make our grandest desires come true, and you're more curious about that?"

"I'm not really--" Before Tenno finished his sentence, the silver bracelet vibrated on their wrists, prompting them to turn their attention to it. The blank bluish-screen now displayed:

The very moment the timer appeared, Mari bloomed with white light, and she disappeared consequently, just like how the coins disappeared from the pouch earlier.

"Seems like Mari is the first to go. I wonder what the first test is like," Tenno thought to himself.

"As long as we pass the tests, I don't care what this Tower brings us," Koiya responded. He held his wrist towards Tenno before continuing, "Let's go, Tenno." With a determined expression on his face, Tenno nodded, "I'm ready."

They tapped the screens of their bracelets together, and a panel emerged as they did so.

As the timer counted down to 0, Koiya and Tenno were enveloped in multiple intricate bars of white light, filling their vision. Their bodies turned into light as well, as they disappeared from the floor onto the first test.

---

Rows of giant screens and small monitors displayed different footage from the Entry Tests, but most of the places on the monitors were empty and devoid of any people. In the middle of the screen is a small panel displaying the status of each Tester.

A short, petite girl rested herself on the backrest of her seat. She exhaled a big sigh of relief, "Ahhh, finally! I can rest until those Testers finish the first test..." Then, a small object caught her eye in one of the Waiting Rooms. A small, purple tophat that has not moved from its position, even if all the other Testers were already teleported and admitted into the first test, "...if that crappy supervisor isn't lounging around!"

Annoyed, the girl walked to the door at the back of the room. With a single wave of her hand, her casual pajama outfit changed to a tight-fitted blue-white dress, oversized loose sleeves, and two blue locks at the back of her dress extending past her knees. A blue raven hairpin adorned her silver hair tied to a ponytail, over a small fancy hat.

Once she opened the door, she arrived at the waiting room where Tenno and the others previously waited. The door behind her simmered transparent until there was nothing but a wall from where she had exited.

"So," The girl crossed her arms, "How long are you going to stay inside your hat like a lunatic?"

"Ah, I forgot about that," Minyu's head popped out of the hat. "I lost track of time. Hello, my cute apprentice~"

Minyu jumped out of the hat. His clothes were unkempt. His unbuttoned purple suit began to reveal his white undershirt, but he kept his hair neat before wearing his tophat.

"You're gross as always," The girl shot Minyu a disgusted look. "Why did you not fail those two Testers from before?"

"Ms. Marika and Mr. Koiya? Like I said, I was in a good mood. Kicking them out of the Tower for such a light reason seemed so wrong."

"But you are never in a good mood."

"Exactly! Didn't you see today's lineup of Testers?" Minyu gleefully asked his apprentice. "There are some gifted individuals in Batch 1, including Marika and Koiya themselves. If only you had seen the other individuals from the other seven batches... Oh Valgala, do you not see what I'm seeing?!" Minyu was about to hold Valgala's shoulders in his curious excitement, but she held his face away before he did so.

"This is divine providence! It's the God of Balance working to fulfill our goals!"

"You sound like one of those cult members. Did killing them make you believe in their shitty god?"

Minyu's excitement faded, replaced with a calm expression, "How can you explain one of their desires?"

His question caught Valgala's full attention. In a serious tone, she asked, "What desire?"

Minyu grinned in excitement. Valgala's urgent expression urged him to speak, yet he contemplatingly turned his back to the silver-haired girl. She pressed her question, "Master, what will their desire bring to this Tower?"

After a small pause, the half-masked supervisor turned to his apprentice as he spoke, "Valgala, when you think of the word destruction, what comes to your mind?"

"!!!" Valgala's alarmed reaction already gave Minyu the answer to his question. She answered, "We would have to kill them as per the Seeker Association's contract."

"What would those old geezers do if we broke their contract? Put us in a cage and beg them for release? Wait for them to break their backs and die?"

"As your apprentice, I cannot allow a potentially dangerous individual to grow and cultivate within the Tower. Please reconsider your decision, Master," Valgala's formal tone meant that she recognized what such an individual could cause if they let them be. As for Minyu, however...

"I appreciate your suggestion, but it is only their desire I am referring to. You think destruction will bring about the end of the Tower and all life. You are correct."

"Then...!"

"But it can also mean rebirth. A desire for absolute destruction--to begin an era of change? Or to bring chaos and the end? What do you think this individual, through their destruction, will bring to the Tower, Valgala? What are their intentions?"

In the end, even if Valgala also submits to the Seeker Association, Minyu's orders succeed the Association's contract. "I understand, Master."

His unkempt clothing fixed itself over time, and after fastening his tie, he gave his apprentice a smile, "Excellent. You are dismissed in the meantime. Return to Floor 2 before the start of the second test."

"Overtime work..." Valgala gloomed.

"I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss the other tests for these gifted individuals. We are bound to see some interesting results~ In the meantime, I'll have to do an errand. I'll be back by the final test," Minyu said, walking away from his apprentice.

"Where are you going, Master?"

"Floor 84. I'm fetching myself."

"What...?" Valgala's surprise fainted with acceptance. Even if she had only been Minyu's apprentice recently, she never expected him to be so spontaneous. Along with the more controversial actions of the Association over the past few months, she finally realized that it wasn't just her gut feeling... Something was truly wrong.

"You heard what I said. The Seeker Association has asked me to apprehend a certain individual that cannot be done with this body. In the meantime, keep a close eye on the Testers."