Alex’s vision returned to him in an instant, and he found himself back at the entrance of the Shadow Tower. His heart pounded in his chest as he pivoted his head in desperate search of any Hellhounds. But there weren’t any, only Dea stood beside him.

“What’s wrong?” She said, her voice strangely calm.

Alex looked down at his body. To his surprise he was still in one piece, his had body seemingly recovered from the mangled mess it had become from the Hellhound attack. I’m still alive? But how?

Dea tugged at his shirt as if to bring him back to his senses. “What happened in there? What did you see?”

With his heartbeat slowly returning back to normal, Alex took a deep breath and explained what happened.

“Hmmm. I see.” Dea said. A contemplative look appeared on her face. It was the first time Alex had seen anything other than a blank expression from her.

“Why was it so different in there?” Alex said. “The monsters didn’t have any HP, but I did. That’s the opposite of the Dominion Tower. Not to mention that you tend to stay dead once you die.”

“I’m not sure.” Dea said. “But we should leave this place for now.”

Alex agreed and the two of them stepped back into the wall from which they came and returned back to the first haven.

“It appears that you need to get stronger to get through the Shadow Tower.” Dea said, as she started walking towards the exit of the apartment complex. “You must be better prepared the next time you enter.”

Alex followed closely behind her. She’s right. I wasn’t even strong enough to get past the guard dogs. That pisses me off…

The more he thought about it, the more it bothered him. He didn’t have much of an interest in clearing the Shadow Tower earlier, but now it was personal. I’m gonna kill those damn mutts.

Dea stopped when she reached the alleyway that connected to the apartment complex. “Normally, I would not do this, but these are exceptional circumstances.” She activated her inventory ring and took out a few items. “I want you to have these. They shall help you to become stronger.”

Alex analyzed the items.

Challenger's Ring Effect: Increase the spawn rate of nearby monsters Rarity: Rare Quality: High Elitist's Ring Effect: Increase likelihood that Elite rank monsters will spawn Rarity: Very Rare Quality: High Nature's Parchment

Effect: ? Rarity: ? Quality: ?

He immediately recognized the Challenger’s Ring. They were incredibly valuable for farming monsters, and he, along with most of the high level climbers, had had one in their possession in the previous timeline. He also recognized the Elitist’s Ring, though he’d never owned one personally. The final item left him confused; it was just a thick piece of tanned paper, and the item screen didn’t reveal any information.

He showed the item to Dea. “What’s this Nature’s Parchment item?”

“It is a gift from Raphelia. She can use it to contact you discreetly. Please do not lose it, it is crucial to our mission.”

“I see. Well, thank you, Dea.” He wanted to ask her why there was a need for discreet communication but decided against it. He’d already bombarded her with so many questions that he began to feel sorry for her.

“You are welcome.” Dea said, as she bowed before him. “Now, I must get going. Raphelia will contact you at an appropriate time. Please make sure to respond immediately.”

Alex bowed back and the two of them went on their separate ways.

A sense of relief built up inside him. He was afraid that he’d have to spend months or even years in the Shadow Tower, but his foray inside ended up being less than five minutes. With that out of the way, he could finally return to the real world and resume his mission. He placed the items in his inventory ring and set out for the exit.

***

The blazing Los Angeles sun shone brightly on Alex’s skin when he finally exited the tower. He took in a deep breath of gratitude as he soaked it in. It had felt like forever since he last felt real sunlight on his skin. A part of him wanted to enjoy the day, but he was utterly exhausted. He barely had enough energy to get home before his fatigue got to him, and crashed in his bed to take a much-needed rest.

He awoke the next day feeling freshly energized. The all-important mission he’d been assigned filled him with a sort of vigor he wasn’t used to having. More often than not, he was the type to drag his feet and go with the flow, but seeing the real world once again had reminded him of what was on the line. That sparked him to get to work quickly.

He scavenged through his messy apartment and barely managed to find a calendar and a pen that hadn’t run out of ink. He sprawled them over his kitchen table and wrote Major Events at the top of the calendar. Then he wrote every key moment he could remember from the previous timeline.

The revelation of the existence of the Shadow Tower changed a lot. His original plan had been so simple; build a strong team and use them to address the key events that would happened. But now, he had to work around a new, unknown threat.

The existence of the Shadow Tower didn’t change everything, however. Sure, a new tower gave him a lot more to think about, but the core idea of his original plan was still solid. There were major events, both good and bad, that were bound to occur. It was his job to make sure they played out to humanity’s favor.

He checked the day’s date on his phone. He’d made it back just in time. The first major event would occur tomorrow, and in the long run, this event would likely be the most important one.

Gotta wait one more day. Alex thought impatiently. For now, I’ll secure another important piece.

He picked up his phone and called one of the only number’s he’d ever bothered to remember.

The phone rang a few times before a young man picked up and answered. “Best Pizza L.A., home of the best pizza in L.A. How can I help ya?”

“Hello.” Alex said. “I’d like to speak to Buddy, please.”

There young man paused before continuing. “Who’s talking?”

“An old friend.”

“Sorry, old friend. But Buddy has a lot of old friends. You’re gonna have to be more specific than that.”

Of course that wouldn’t be enough. Alex thought. I guess I’ll get straight to the point. “Tell him I know about the Diamond Reports.”

Silence filled the line.

“Don’t worry.” Alex said. “I won’t tell anyone. I have info on the farming method of a rare item, and copy of said item as proof. I’m looking for a buyer, and I thought he’d be interested.”

“Alright.” The young man said. “Buddy’s busy right know but since you know about the Diamond Reports you must be legit. When can you come in?”

“I can be there in twenty minutes.”

“He should be done by then. Swing by and ask for the midnight special at the desk. I’ll hook you up.” The young man hung up.

That was surprisingly easy, Alex thought with a smile on his face. That bastard really passed his greed on to his people. He got dressed and headed out the door.

If there was one thing Alex didn’t miss about the real world, it was the traffic, and the noise it brought with it. Unfortunately for him, there was no way to avoid any of that on the busy Los Angeles streets.

As he made his way to Buddy’s pizza shop, he stared at the Dominion Tower which stood dominantly in the skyline. He still vividly remembered the day the tower rose up from the ground, bringing a great calamity with it. In that instance, the calamity was an extreme heat the likes of which the world had never seen before. Countless people died and the nearby vegetation hadn’t recovered for another two years. Even more importantly to Alex, he lost the two most important people in his life on that day.

The tower didn’t stand alone, however. A giant, red dragon orbited around it at all times. This was the Ruby dragon; the one that apparently attacked the city when they’d entered the final floor. It had shocked Alex when he’d heard news of the attack. The Ruby Dragon rose from the ground alongside the tower three years earlier, and since then, all it did was glide around the tower a couple hundred feet in the air. Not once did it stop to eat or drink or anything else. It just circled.

The same thing had happened with the central and eastern towers. They arose with their own dragons and brought their own calamities. The central tower rose in a small village in Switzerland with the blue Sapphire Dragon. With them they brought a great flood that decimated the village and the nearby countryside. Entire ecosystems were wiped out in an instant.

In Russia, the eastern tower rose with a green dragon called the Emerald Dragon. Their great calamity was an earthquake that did more physical damage than the other two combined.

These dragons were dubbed the Crystal Dragons. Countless theories circulated about the dragons and the towers, but ultimately, no one knew what they were or where they came from.

The military had tried stepping in immediately but they proved completely ineffective, their weapons disintegrating upon contact when they touched the tower or the dragon. They quickly scaled up their assault but nothing worked. Eventually the government started considering using a nuclear weapon to level the whole city, but they quickly changed their minds when they saw people come out the tower with power and riches.

Now, people had come to accept the existence of the towers as a fact of life. For some, it was a new frontier; a giant pillar of opportunity. For others, it was a divine punishment sent from above. Some believed it was a test, claiming that the yearly calamities that the towers brought would stop once we started heeding some kind of warning.

For Alex, none of that mattered. This tower had appeared out of nowhere, and it killed the only family he had. He would slay the tower, and his only hope of accomplishing that was getting to the top.

Something has to be up there.

A lovely chime rang through the pizza shop when Alex opened the door. The young man at the counter greeted him. “Hey, what can I get ya?”

“I’ll have the midnight special.” He couldn’t help but giggle a little inside when he said that. It was mid afternoon.

The young mans face turned cold. He nudged his head toward the back and Alex stepped around the counter to follow him through the kitchen and into a backroom. An old friend sat behind a big mahogany desk, cigar hanging out the side of his mouth. He looked exactly as Alex had remembered him, barely aging in the seven year gap that Alex skipped. Then again, Alex never really learned Buddy’s age, but he had to be around his mid thirties.

Buddy slicked his wavy, black hair back as he reclined on his chair. “You the guy with the rare item?”

“That’s right.” Alex stepped forward and withdrew the golden egg from his inventory ring to display it on Buddy’s desk.

“Golden Spiderwing Egg, huh? That has a street value of $150,000.”

Alex nodded. The man knew his stuff.

“How much you want for it?”

Alex sat on the chair opposite of Buddy. “Nothing. It’s all yours.”

Buddy took the cigar out of his mouth and raised his eyebrows. “Really? May I ask who you represent?”

“I represent myself. I’m here to open a business relationship.”

Buddy let out a chuckle. “If you don’t want money for it, what do you want? Dirt on someone? An escort to the second haven?”

“Like I said, I don’t want anything for it. Consider it a gift.”

“I’m not one to accept gifts so easily. No free lunch and all that.”

Alex leaned in. “I have something even more valuable than that egg.”

“Go on.” Buddy took drag of his cigar.

“I can show you how to farm them inside the tower.”

Buddy let out a cloud of smoke and smothered the cigar against the ashtray.

“But I want something in return for this information.” Alex said. “Well, two things. I want a free no-limit subscription to your Diamond Reports.”

Buddy shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Look. I know you keep a intelligence network in all three towers. You sell your findings online as reports. There’s three tiers, with higher tiers holding more valuable information in exchange for a higher price. But I know there’s also a Diamond tier that you don’t advertise; its reserved for exclusive customers. Put me on that list.”

“I see you did your homework. Fine, what else?”

“I want you to open an investigation into a certain group in the western tower.”

“Let me guess.” Buddy said. “One of the top guilds?”

Alex shook his head. “No. The Mafia.”

Buddy closed his eyes in an exaggerated blink, as if he didn’t believe what he just heard.

“Do that for me, and I’ll tell you how to farm the spiderwing egg. You can keep this one here free of charge.”

Buddy stared up at the ceiling as he contemplated the deal. After a minute or so, he finally spoke. “Okay. But I’ll need to confirm that the farming info is legit. Once I do, I’ll add you to my diamond subscription and open an investigation into the mafia. But I’ll tell you right now, I’m not risking my men for you. I don’t know who you are, but you gotta be messed in the head to go up against them.”

Alex cracked a smile. Same old Buddy. Puts on a tough guy act but he cares a lot about his people. “We have deal.” He stood up, shook Buddy’s hand, then gave him his contact information before leaving the shop.

Less than three minutes after leaving, he got an alert on his phone: $150,000 has been deposited into your account.

Alex chuckled as he put the phone back in his pocket.

Classic Buddy. At least I can finally afford some decent gear.