The impersonal voice of the Tower snapped me abruptly from my contemplative state.
I summoned my status with a thought, urgently needing to understand the transformations that had taken place within me.
[Name: Arceus.]
[Existence Level: 1 (F)]
[Sex/Age: Male/10]
[Height/Weight: 152.3 cm/44.9 kg.]
[Alignment: Lawful/Chaos]
[Class: None]
[Alias: Masochist.]
[1. Statistics]
[Strength: F (6)] [Endurance: F (7)]
[Agility: F (5)] [Intelligence: F (6)]
[Perception: F (8)] [Vitality: F (5)]
[Stellar Energy: F (12)] [Luck: C (41)]
[Soul Fragments: 0/100]
[2. Talent: None]
[3. Public Attribute: Below Average]
[Effect: The user possesses no particular talent or quality. You will suffer for your lack of talent. There's no point in trying. No matter how hard you strive, you'll hardly rise above being a Ranker. The user's future is deeply concerning.]
[Private Attribute: The Man Who Overcame Adversity (S)]
[Effect: When you can no longer fight, all statistic levels and skill classes increase by one degree. Additionally, there's a small healing effect, and you won't feel pain until the effect's duration ends.]
[4. Innate Abilities: None]
…
The stellar core I discovered within me was a fascinating anomaly, an enigma that defied all understanding. At its heart emerged a cloud of stardust, a nascent veil trembling in the void, suspended in a fragile dance. Though it physically resided within my body, its presence felt like a whisper from another dimension, a space alien to flesh and blood. It was a living paradox: infinitely vast like a miniature cosmos, yet infinitely small, barely a breath, a speck of mist lost in an ocean of silence, more delicate than dew sliding off a leaf at dawn.
Its particles, tinged with a dark blue bordering on black, intertwined in a chaotic waltz, like moths caught in an invisible wind, lacking defined form, a mere murmur of latent potential. Alone in its insignificance, the cloud distilled a profound melancholy, a silent longing akin to a stream dreaming of the sea without knowing how to reach it. And yet, in that fragility pulsed a subtle impulse, a contained promise. Around it rose a wide ring, a concentric layer enveloping it like a protective mantle, through which small currents of energy flowed in a delicate dance. Within this luminescent orbit danced the tiny nebula, a weightlessness of pure gas, untouched by metals, formed solely by cosmic molecules. This fine, radiant orbit maintained the cloud's stability, containing its essence and preventing it from collapsing into a sigh of chaos.
I opened my eyes and rose with a fluid movement that evidenced my newfound strength. That place still inspired no confidence in me. After surviving thanks to tenacity bordering on the miraculous, the last thing I wanted was to fall victim to an ambush due to overconfidence.
As I searched for my makeshift spear with my gaze, I reflected on the nature of the attributes granted to me.
It was evident that there was an inversely proportional correlation between public and private attributes: the more unfavorable the characteristic visible to others, the more powerful the hidden trait, and vice versa. A kind of compensation, a balance the Tower imposed on its inhabitants.
As a newly awakened Ascendant, I had received some basic information, though not all I would need to survive. The data visible to others included essential elements: my name, class (or lack thereof), public attribute, and existence level.
The status window was a fundamental tool in the Paradise Tower, universally used for its immense practical value. It displayed absolutely everything, from personal information to abilities and the user's mental state.
However, this window was strictly personal; no other being could access it, and even if such a possibility existed, everyone would prefer to keep this information hermetically sealed. Revealing these details would be tantamount to handing a lethal weapon to potential adversaries, allowing them to precisely identify strengths and weaknesses to neutralize any Ascendant.
To contextualize the magnitude of the change I had undergone, the statistics of an average adult male would barely reach 1 point in most aspects. In contrast, five points in each statistic were required to be considered an Enlightened. The difference, far from insignificant, marked the chasm between prey and predator.
As I cautiously advanced toward the end of the corridor, firmly gripping my bone spear, I raised a silent prayer, repeating it like a mantra: let me find only one monster in the next room. Just one!
Despite the new strength coursing through my veins, I was absolutely certain that arrogance would be my downfall.
However, fortune turned its back on me once more. At that precise moment, I recalled with painful clarity why one should never enter the Tower alone. When the door opened with an ominous creak, my heart seemed to stop for a second that stretched into eternity.
I saw them immediately. At least five of those creatures filled my field of vision.
I understood that closing the door silently would be a futile exercise. Their visual acuity far surpassed mine; their eyes glowed in the dimness like burning coals, detecting any movement with predatory precision.
My presence elicited no surprise in them; these beasts were unfamiliar with the concept of fear. They only understood the primitive language of blood and fury, and they had been patiently waiting for some fool to provide them with entertainment.
The first to notice me lunged at me with astonishing speed, and the others quickly followed suit.
Six, seven, eight, nine… and the number kept rising before my eyes like a macabre counter.