A Past Unwritten [2]

"I thought it would work, but this is still a bit surreal."

The fact that he was alive and well without a single scar on his body was hard to imagine when he was feeling himself being turned into a human blob popsicle only moments prior. 

The Tower of Babel was known to be an especially mysterious entity. Back then, seven Towers appeared in front of humanity. They were just a single part of the great changes that started to occur with the appearance of the Gehenna Tree. 

However, even among them, the Tower of Babel was different.

"It has been challenged five times in total. The first two tries were made by large teams, but they found that this tower could only be climbed alone. After that, the next three were Starlights. Three of the strongest members of humanity came to this place to see what made it magical, and not a single one came back."

That was the extent of what was known about the Tower. As not a single expedition ended successfully, the interior of this place was a complete mystery.

"Until today, that is."

[Welcome to the Tower of Babel. Atop this sacred structure stands a Wish that even Divinities desire. Climb with all your might, and perhaps you may claim it.]

A message welcomed him into the Tower.

'I heard that some Towers have entire systems governing them, but it seems this one is simpler.'

[It has been detected that you possess an [Original Gene] that is unsuitable for climbing. If you can clear the First Floor, you will be awarded a [Gene Sequence] proportionate to your contributions.]

Looking at the message, he smiled wryly.

Right. Let alone a Gene Sequence, he didn't even have a Bloodline Sequence. He had the body of someone who had never been interested in battle or combat. 

For a second, he even wondered why he was doing something like this. The environment around him was nothing short of demonic. Everything, from the skies to the soil, was crimson like blood. It was hot and humid, making it difficult to even stand without getting exhausted. 

He wondered why he didn't just quit. 

"Humanity is gone."

Everything was gone, so what was the point?

"No."

In the end, humanity knew nothing about what struck them. He, as its last survivor, was a Memory Book of the events that led to the species' destruction. If they as a race wanted to think of survival or revenge ever again, he had to live.

"With the power of a 'Wish' that even 'Divinities' desire…"

With that kind of power, he could do it. He could change everything.

If there was even a chance in this hell that he could change the fate of humanity, he had to take it. 

"It's not for myself."

He didn't think anything special of himself. He was always a background character. He always had the opportunity to change this, but he was content with his circumstances.

The stability and peace of a life in the background was what he desired all this time.

But, the people around him…

His aunts and uncles who sacrificed their lives for him, his friends and allies from his days working at the NEXUS…

"Father…"

All of these people had fallen in battle against the Calamities.

He did not enter the Tower of Babel for himself, but for them.

They did not deserve to die such pitiful deaths. 

That was a fact he would always remember. 

"Huu…"

He stood against the crimson backdrop. After the first few messages, there was only one that hovered in the air in front of him.

[Kill all living beings on this floor.]

[Current Total: 0 / 10,753]

On the first floor of a tower that had a seemingly infinite number of floors, he was tasked with killing ten thousand living beings.

He was tasked with killing ten thousand living beings before he was even granted power. 

That was the start of his journey. It was a journey that would last for a hundred more years.

The Tower of Babel was a very simple tower. It didn't have any complicated tasks or trials. It only asked its climbers to kill living beings.

On the first floor it was 10,753. The first ten years were spent on this. Without power, he could only find other ways to survive.

The first floor was meant to acclimate the climber to the Tower, so it was not meant to be unclearable. Most of the living entities were bugs and ordinary animals.

However, he still had to fight against mutated beasts and monsters. He had to see them up close and he had to stab a makeshift spear into their skulls to kill them. 

In ten years, he almost died over a thousand times. Still, almost mindlessly, he continued to fight. After ten years, he stopped thinking about why he was fighting. He just fought because he knew he had to get to the top of the tower.

After ten years, he acquired his first Gene Sequence. It gave him power to fight against the 15,554 entities on the second floor. There were no longer ordinary entities. Every living being on the floor was out for his blood.

When he killed all of those beasts after five years, he gained a Bloodline Sequence. Now, he could properly grow. 

Five years passed. Ten years passed. As time continued to pass and progress continued to be made, his growth sped up exponentially. 

By the tenth floor, he'd killed 542,164 entities. 

By the twentieth floor, he'd killed 1,578,437 entities.

By the thirtieth floor, he was stronger than any being he had ever met in his life before the tower.

By the fortieth floor, his life before the tower was nothing more than a distant dream.

A hundred years after he first entered the Tower, he reached the fifty-fifth floor.

He reached the "End."

There were no beasts on this floor. This was a sacred place, so unlike the rest of the tower, this place had blue skies. 

Those were the first blue skies he'd seen in decades, but he didn't react to them at all. 

The man who stood there was not the same man who once entered the tower. His body was covered in scars and he was missing one eye. He had long hair that had not been cut in a very long time, and he wore a battle armor that seemed to be made with the hides of mutated beasts. 

Not to mention, the aura around him was so powerful that it made the air shake. If he was allowed to return to the outside world in his current state, the Calamities that plagued humanity would be nothing.

But what did it matter if humanity didn't exist?

That man had reached an unbelievable peak, but his eyes were hollow. He could not remember anything before the mindless killing. The number of entities that had fallen to his blade…

At this point, it was no longer worth anything to count.

He did not remember the feelings and relationships that brought him to this point, but he remembered his end goal well.

Knowing that there was nothing left for him in the Tower of Babel, he approached the grand altar in front of him.

Here, it stood. 

The "Wish" that even "Divinities" desired.