Something amazing yet bizarre was happening. A cube the size of a handball with four white feathered wings and one big eye was throwing a tantrum. Its one eye was bloodshot, and its tiny wings were flapping erratically as he hurled insults at the very confused, yet intrigued guy standing in front of it.
“YOU LITTLE SHIT, YOU DIDN’T THINK TO TELL ME YOU WERE [PAWN IV] BEFORE WE MADE THE CONTRACT? BY THE HEAVENS I WILL BE KILLED BY…” The cube’s voice echoed strongly through the surrounding forest, only to dissipate into the endless expanse of branches and leaves, leaving no trace of its existence behind.
The cube wouldn’t stop pestering the guy, it even flapped its adorably small wings at his face while spouting obscenities, but he was too taken aback to truly hear what the strange object had to say; however, he was curious enough to try and gently poke the cube’s eye, an act the cube did not like.
After throwing another tantrum about personal space, the cube finally calmed down and took a deep breath into its nonexistent lungs. “alright, whatever, I still need to do my job so let's start, first things first, do you know where you are? The trip to Tartarus can be disorienting.”
“Tartarus?” The guy stroked his chin for a few seconds before his eyes opened wide and he almost jumped in place. “y-you’re the one who saved me? So it was real, this is Tartarus.”
The cube’s, surprisingly expressive, eye took on an angry expression. “I WOULDN’T HAVE DONE IT IF I KNEW YOU WERE SO WEAK YOU ASS.” After flapping its wings angrily for a second, it calmed itself and continued “look, the Tartarus contest is an extremely dangerous one, all the other participants are very powerful mortals, using your own ranking system, the weakest ones would be at [KING] rank at least. To be honest with you, you don’t stand a chance.”
Even though it was extremely irritated just a few seconds ago, the cube’s voice held a hint of sympathy within it, which made it clear that it did not enjoy saying what it had to say.
“I’m in hot water right now for having brought a weakling to Tartarus, but that is my mistake, not yours. So... just run into the first participant you see and die, you don’t stand a chance and some of the god’s personal picks here are sick bastards, a quick death is probably the best outcome you can hope for.” The cube’s tone was as serious as it could be, but weirdly, its harsh words did not shake the man’s heart one bit.
“so, a quick death is my best option huh?” the cube nodded silently in response, waiting for a mental breakdown or a punch to the eye, but the words that followed were more shocking than any hit could. “I refuse, [KING] rank or not, I will win this contest and fix everything. So, are you willing to help me or what?”
The cube sighed, wringing out the last drop of air from its nonexistent lungs. “you really are a fool…but helping you is my job I suppose. My name is Gomu, humble servant of the gods and your assistant for this Tartarus contest. We probably won’t be acquainted for long, but you might as well know the name of your savior.”
“I’m Maxwell, leader of the White Moon Party and the fool who is going to win this competition.” Before Gomu could mock Maxwell for his overconfidence, the sound of an impossibly loud siren filled the air.
“that’s the first call, our time is limited so listen carefully.” Gomu started his long-winded explanation as the siren’s shriek came to a stop. “we are currently on the 10th floor of Tartarus, there are 9 others that—”
“whoa whoa whoa, hold your horses. Floor? What are you talking about? I can see the sun in the open sky.” Maxwell confusedly asked.
“DON’T INTERRUPT ME, YOU IDIOT.” Gomu assaulted Maxwell’s face with his tiny wings in anger until his bloodlust was satisfied before resuming. “stop thinking of Tartarus as a place and start thinking of it as a cluster of different small worlds, squeezed into the shape of a tower, each one connected to the others by a number of gates. There are hundreds of thousands of ‘floors’ on Tartarus but luckily for you the contest only takes place in ten.”
Maxwell looked around, his eyes opened wide in shock. It was hard for him to believe that this whole world he was seeing, everything from the clear blue sky to the ants crawling under his feet, was nothing but one of the thousands of worlds serving to entertain the gods, but he quickly remembered his debt to his friends and focused on Gomu’s words again.
“did you hear me? There are five main rules to the contest, these ones are true for all floors, but there will be other, unique rules for each floor. The main rules are simple so listen close.” Maxwell’s expression became just a little stiffer as he prepared to take in the crucial information. “First, all floors have one to three gates that lead to the next one, but the number of contestants that can pass through each one is limited.”
Maxwell tried to make up plans based on the first rule, but he couldn’t see any benefits in it for him. He was well aware of his weakness, and if he wanted to have the slightest chance of victory, he’d need to squeeze all the advantages from the rules as he could, and so far, it was not going well for him.
“while there is no time limit, a horrible beast will be released on the floor if the contestants take too long to move on to the next one or bore the gods by not engaging in combat. That is the second rule”
Maxwell frowned, it was another bad rule for him, it just put a time limit on his already desperate situation.
“the third rule is simple, eliminating contestants can only be done by killing them, a heavily injured or cripple contestant will still be considered part of the game.”
“damn it” Maxwell muttered to himself. It was another disadvantageous rule for him, there was no world where he could actually beat a [KING] ranked adventurer in battle and he was well aware of it, and the way things are set up, all contestants will be fighting furiously to pass through the gates.
“the gods are allowed to declare one contestant as their champion, giving them boons and equipment if they so please. That is the fourth rule.”
Maxwell’s stiff expression finally lightened upon learning of the fourth rule, it was a really good one for him. If he was to somehow catch the eye of a god, he might actually have a fighting chance against the much higher-ranking adventurers.
“the last rule is also quite simple, floor-specific rules take priority over the five base ones, so even the basic systems of the contest can change depending on the floor if the gods will it.”
This rule confused Maxwell, for he didn’t know how to feel about it. On one hand, the floor-specific rules could be a lifeline for him, especially if they limit the use of force, but on the other hand, it would be disastrous if it went the other way around.
Before he could think about it further, the ear-piercing sound of another siren filled the air, heralding the nearing of the start of the game. A screen appeared out of thin air right in front of Maxwell, carrying within it the rules that would determine whether or not he would survive this floor.
He began reading the rules out loud, his lips slowly trembling as the words left his mouth. “10th-floor rule number one: a small number of [LEGENDARY] weapons, armor, and other artifacts are hidden throughout the floor, they will be bound to those who find them and thus will be usable for the rest of the contest.”
The two exchanged a hopeful but surprised look, as neither of them could believe their luck. The first rule was already a game maker as it had nothing but benefits for Maxwell. If he finds a [LEGENDARY] weapon or artifact it could perhaps give him a fighting chance, but since the other competitors already far outclass him, it wouldn’t change anything if they would get their hands on them first, thus making it nothing but upsides, but unfortunately for him, the next rule would not be as reassuring.
“10th-floor rule number two: the gates will not open until at least 20 contestants have been eliminated.” Sweat ran down Maxwell’s brow because he knew exactly why was this rule implemented, the first stage was shaping up to be the one where those who wouldn’t be very entertaining to watch get culled, and he unfortunately fell into that category.
“doesn’t matter anyway, you need to focus on finding one of those hidden weapons.” Seeing his nervous demeanor, Gomu tried to offer some words of encouragement the best way he knew how. “just focus on that and let the others fight, the floors are massive, and even the gates will be hard to locate, so you’ll have plenty of wiggle room.”
“yeah… anyway, let’s just move on. 10th-floor rule number three: aside from the beasts native to the floor, a small number of foreign monsters have been added, please be wary as they are relentless and extremely difficult to slay. Damn it, another bad one.” It was indeed a horrible rule for Maxwell, having to compete with monsters so dangerous that [KING] ranked adventurers needed to be warned of was not encouraging, but he wasn’t about to get enough time to dwell on it.
“BY THE GODS, READ THE FINAL RULE MAXWELL.” Gomu’s excited flapping was enough to steer Maxwell away from the spiral of anxiety forming in his stomach and back to the floating screen
“this is… 10th-floor rule number four: in addition to the 3 gates, there is also a secret doorway hidden away on the floor, however only one contestant can pass through it, and only after fulfilling the necessary requirement.” It was vague, unreliable, and only offered one chance, but Maxwell couldn’t help but smile as sweat poured down his face, for as undependable and risky as it was, this rule offered him the best chance at winning. It was undoubtedly his ticket out of the tenth floor.
The third and final siren sounded, ending their celebration early and causing Maxwell’s body to tremble and fade in and out of exitance to his panic.
“don’t worry, we are just being teleported to a random spot on the floor, the game is about to start you better be ready, because from now on, you can’t afford to make any mistakes, although that might be a bit difficult for you.” Gomu said mockingly, his mocking tone not matching the seriousness in his eye.
“yeah, you’re right. I’ll probably make a lot of mistakes, but you better believe that I’ll be getting out of this floor alive.” With that final war cry, the two disappeared in a flash of white light, soon to reappear on the battlefield of the strongest.
