[Congratulations, you have successfully defeated Vulteras, The Flame Monarch. You have cleared the 80th floor of Etna. As a reward, we shall grant you all one wish! Think carefully about what you really want, and an appropriate reward, matching your achievement and wish shall be granted.]

A low but firm voice resounded across the battlefield.

About thirty humans were scattered around the gigantic corpse of Vulteras, the Flame Monarch. They were all barely standing, covered with bruises and blood. Some even had critical injuries and lost their limbs.

A hundred people could enter the boss room to fight Vulteras at a time. Out of the hundred individuals, only thirty remained. Yet, despite the severe losses and their poor conditions, the thirty survivors were all ecstatic.

The reward for clearing the 80th floor was just too valuable. They could wish for anything; money, strength, reviving their fallen teammates. The list went on. As long as the wish was not excessive such as clearing the rest of the floors of Etna, the wish would be granted.

I stood among the thirty survivors, leaning against my sword embedded into the corpse of one of the minions of Vulteras. My hands were still shaking from the near-death experience. I was lucky to survive. It all happened so quickly and if it was not for the rapid intervention of Celine Marshall, the leader of this expedition, the whole team might have perished.

I felt relieved and at the same time, guilty. I felt like these people gave up their life for me and I did not deserve it.

‘I am just a bastard. I tried to run away but these people fought till the very end.’

“Alex. Have you already used your wish?” A beautiful woman walked up to me, swinging her spear. Her long jet-black hair danced around her slim silhouette. It was Celine Marshall, the current team leader. She was a very straightforward woman. She did not ask about my current situation or my injuries and asked about the wish directly.

“Not yet. But I am about to.” I answered, staring at Celine’s eyes. I have known her for a long time; I could guess what she was here for.

“Then…”

“No. The answer is no.” I cut her short and sighed. Similarly, Celine displayed a defeated expression.

“I asked the gods for the revival of all the members, but they said my achievements are only enough for five people.” Celine said, sitting on the ground next to me.

I nodded. “I expected something like that. But Celine, we already agreed before this battle. Regardless of the results of this battle, this is going to be my last expedition. I want to retire.”

“You have not changed your mind, even after witnessing the challenges we went through. More and more people want to quit but we only have twenty more floors to go and we will be free!” Celine replied with energy. She was trying to cheer me up and convince me.

“We already talked about this. I am not giving away my wish. You have so many teammates. You can ask them to use their wish. I am being selfish, but I truly believe that humanity has reached its limits.” I lowered my head with a guilty expression. “We have fought for eight years and look at how many humans are left… Less than fifty thousand. More than seven billion humans entered Etna… I am sorry but I want to grow old. I do not want to die on the battlefield. I want to return to the cities and live peacefully. I want to find love and maybe have a child there.”

I emptied my heart to Celine. I was exhausted by the constant battles and training for the sake of climbing Etna, the tower of hope.

Celine bit her lips in silence and avoided my gaze. We did not speak for a moment and simply enjoyed each other’s company. Around us, the humans were taking care of the post-battle procedures; healing the wounded, harvesting the corpses, and completing their wishes.

“I understand. I won’t ask you to stay with our team. You do not have the responsibility to bring humans to the end of the tower. It is a task I chose to take, and I cannot get you involved again.” She spoke with a trembling voice.

I felt strange. ‘Is she about to cry? No, that does not make sense. Celine is a strong independent woman who is known as the Thorny Rose. There is no way she is crying. She must just feel troubled because of our conversation. I must have reminded her of the oath she took on her comrades’ graves. I should not have brought up the topic.’

“Sorry. I wish you the best of luck, Celine. I will cheer for you from the back and if you ever feel tired or need a rest, you can come and visit me! I hope you conquer this tower and make your dream come true!” I lightly nudged her to encourage her.

“Yes. I hope so. No matter what, I shall do my best.” Celine kept her head low, staring at her knees. Her heart felt heavy all of a sudden.

“Then, I will be on my way.” I got up as I felt my chest tighten. Why was I suddenly feeling sad? I did not know the answer to that question, and I did not have time to ponder about it either. A voice spoke directly in my mind:

[Your wish has been heard. A Time Pearl will be awarded. The Time Pearl has been automatically activated.]

[The user will be transported back in time, eight years, two months, five days, and ten hours ago, at the time humans were first teleported to Etna.]

It was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.

“Alex…” Hearing my words, Celine hurriedly raised her head. She no longer cared about her teary eyes, but it was too late. The spot next to her was empty; there was no sign of the warrior she has been conversing with. When the realisation hit her, she could no longer suppress herself. She broke into tears. “Idiot… You could have asked me… Why look for someone in the cities…”

…

Above the corpse of Vulteras, invisible to the eyes of the humans, ten silhouettes were floating up in the sky. They observed the battle and now, were busy listening to the wishes of the survivors to give them suitable rewards.

[Arya! I hope you have a good explanation for this. You gave that human the Time Pearl!]

[The Time Pearl is precious. It is a unique item that can be given to a race only once. It is a unique reward that cannot be treated lightly. You know our goal in creating Etna is to build a brand-new world. We have been inviting races from the different worlds here, but we must make sure that they are unable to conquer the tower completely.]

[By giving away the Time Pearl to that human right now, I am eliminating a huge possible threat. You must have heard that human’s wish. He does not want to fight anymore and wants to rest. This kind of attitude is quite common nowadays, but these humans rarely come to the battlefield.]

[If I did not give away the Time Pearl right now, sooner or later, one of us will have to give it to the humans. Isn’t it better to give it to a mentally exhausted human who does not want to be involved in the conquest of the tower anymore? It removes a huge possible threat. Imagine if the female he was speaking to was given the Time pearl. She would go back in time and strengthen herself until she would be able to conquer the tower by herself. On the other hand, giving it to this human would have little repercussions on us.]

[I see! What a cunning move. You give away the truly valuable rewards for cheap to the quitters but give the average ones to those persevering in the conquest of the tower. You are right, we must not allow the humans to conquer the tower.]

[I hope you made the right choice, Arya. If that human still gets involved, he might ruin our plan completely.]

[Don’t worry. I spoke with his soul. Getting involved cannot be avoided. After all, even if he just stays at the city, he will have to face the beast tide of two years ago, the plague from four years ago, the civil war from six years ago, and all the smaller events in between. But aside from those, his soul showed no desire to return to the frontline.]

[I hope you are right. We should monitor the timeline carefully. Each time we had to give away a Time Pearl, these returnees did something big.]

…

Two months later, the human era of the tower of hope came to an end. The expedition team, led by Celine Marshall, was defeated on the 81st floor. Celine Marshall herself was critically injured and fell into a coma. The surviving humans officially gave up on the goal of conquering the tower.

The ten silhouettes were again present for the conquest of the floor. They witnessed the defeat of the expedition team.

[This era is finally coming to an end. Honestly, the humans were so disappointing.]

[Can we even call this the human era? They are already giving up. They did not even last for nine years. All the other races tried to conquer the tower for at least a few decades.]

[That’s because they can live longer than humans.]

[What about the human you gave the Time Pearl to? Are there any disturbances in the timeline?]

[I can see minor ripples at the start of the human era. There are a few inconsistencies during the major events but there is no change when it comes to the end. The humans were still defeated.]

[Excellent. You made the right choice when choosing that human.]

[With that, we have added another race to the tower of hope. Which world should we absorb next?]

[You want to absorb another one already? Isn’t it too soon?]

[We usually let a few decades pass before summoning another race. Are you sure the tower of hope will be able to sustain the burden of a new race so soon?]

[Mhmm, maybe you are right. We should wait a little bit.]

[Besides, we should give some time to the humans to reproduce.]