Welcome to Floor -5
The more time passes, the closer the ground gets to me. At the speed I’m falling, I’d say that in about a minute, I’ll be hitting the ground, turned into a puddle.
“It’s a shame, I just barely spoke to Rin. I would have liked to kiss her before dying like this, or at least say goodbye, but apparently, I won’t get that chance.
I won’t even be able to say goodbye to my parents. They’ll probably never know I’m no longer on Earth. And worst of all, I’ll never have my first time. Apparently, you’re not a man until you’ve done it. So I’ll stay a kid all my life. Poor me.
I’m starting to see a white light, the light at the end of the tunnel. Getting bigger and bigger. Just a few meters before the big splash. If I’m going to die squashed, I might as well make a good impression for the grand finale. A dive isn’t so bad; that way, my feet can finally touch my head.”
'Boing'
“Oh, paradise is so soft, and so fluffy. I was expecting something less weird.”
“Young man? Are you alive?”
“Are you God? I can’t see anything, where are you?”
“I’m not God, but if you took your head off this giant pillow, maybe you’d see something.”
“Oh, yes, you’re right. Are we in heaven?”
“Heaven? What are you talking about? Heaven, God? What’s that?”
“Well, I just died, didn’t I? No?”
“No, you just crashed into my garden with that huge wool cushion. And by the way, there was this letter on top of it. Is it yours?”
“Oh, so I’m alive. That’s a relief. Yes, the letter must be for me.”
I don’t know if it’s from Rin, but if it is, I hope she told me everything I didn’t understand earlier.
'Good luck, Sora.
Rin'
“Of course. Good luck, that’s all I needed to know. Thanks, Rin, because of you, I’m going far.” thought Sora, cursing Rin with all his being.
“Excuse me, young man, is something wrong?”
“Sorry, what?”
“I was asking because your gaze has been empty since you looked at that letter. Did something happen?”
“No, nothing serious, don’t worry. Let’s just say that someone I care about just kidnapped me, abandoned me right after, and to apologize, she sent me a letter wishing me good luck.”
“She kidnapped you and abandoned you? That’s horrible!”
“Exactly, it’s unacceptable. We need to call the police as soon as possible.”
“The police? What are you talking about?”
“Authorities.”
“Ahah, you’re funny, young man. Everyone knows there are no authorities on Floor -5.”
“Floor -5?”
“Yes, we’re on Floor -5. But how is it that you don’t know that?”
“Uh, excuse me, but how many floors are there in the Tower?”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m asking how many floors are there in the Tower.”
“You’re joking, right? Is this a prank?”
“I’m very serious, ma’am.”
“Well, there are 100 floors and 5 negative floors. Everyone knows that, even kids.”
“Well, I guess some people didn’t know that.”
“Excuse me, young man, where are you from? And what are you doing on this floor?”
“I don’t know, but I’m planning to find out.”
“What? What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing important, don’t worry. I just want to ask you two or three questions, please.”
“Uh, yes, go ahead.”
“I’d like to know if you know Rin ASHIBA?”
“No, sorry, that name doesn’t ring a bell.”
“Okay, no problem. Then, I’d like to know where I can get information about the Tower in general.”
“Maybe in one of the big cities on this floor, or by going up to the higher floors if you manage to. But if you want, I can explain what I know, though it won’t help you much since I’ve never left this floor.”
“No, don’t worry, I won’t bother you any longer. I just have one last question, how does one get to the higher floors?”
“To do that, you need to complete several challenges or something like that, but since I’ve never tried, I can’t tell you more. Sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry, you’ve been more than helpful. And I apologize for landing in your yard without permission.”
“Considering what happened to you, it’s not a big deal.”
“Thanks again for everything, and take care.”
“Thank you, young man, take care as well.”
“Okay, I’m alive. Even though she really messed with me with her letter, I’m still glad to have seen her. I would have preferred it to be under a different context. Because inviting me for a meeting only to send me to another planet, where I have no knowledge of the place, is still very strange. Thanks to the lady, I did learn a few things, like the number of floors I didn’t understand when Rin told me about them. Also, I have a general idea of how to climb them, with challenges. By the way, now that I think about it, she mentioned that everyone was born with something. I probably should’ve asked the lady about that, she could’ve probably answered me. And by the way, how did this huge cushion end up on the ground?
Powers, maybe that’s it, the ability they’re all born with, and since I wasn’t born here, I don’t have one. But of course, that’s logical. And that’s why they… No, I don’t know. I remember their speeches, but I can’t make up what they were going to say. I’m sure they gave me a power, like fire... No, nothing, maybe water... Still nothing, maybe time... Oh, I got it... Ah no, the leaves are still moving. I know, to find out if I have a power, I need to fight someone stronger than me, and then be in mortal danger, and suddenly a super power-up will come and save me from this fierce enemy. But I can’t fight a human. I know, I’ll have to find an animal. Something fierce. Like a boar or a wolf.”
...
“What’s that thing? A giant slug? Or a slimy horse? Well, never mind, it’ll do. Go on, big creature, attack me. Use your power on me.”
...
“Are you sure you don’t want to? It’s a gift I’ll only give you once.”
...
“I’ll give you three more seconds before I attack you first.”
...
“Stop running when I talk to you! Stupid slug-horse. It’s a feint, you plan to attack me when my back is turned, right? Well, honor’s mine. JUSTICE PUNCH.”
'Pluff'
“Oh, it’s all soft. Oh, this is weird, I’m dizzy. Wow, the ride is amazing. Even my legs are all...”
'Paf'
“Hey, the ground’s quite nice. I almost feel like burying myself on you. Well, good night little shoe.”
'Ting'
/ ! \ WARNING / ! \
[ The Climber Is In Critical Condition: Poison ]
[ System0 Wants To Heal You: Accept / Reject ]
[ What Do You Choose? ]