The Sword Tomb, Veridia.

In the depths of the sealed cavern, there was no light, no sound, and no air currents. There was only the cold aura of a single man and his blade.

Anaske, the previous king of the Cosmic Empire and Demigod of the Sword, sat cross-legged in the center of the cave.

His breathing was so shallow it was imperceptible. He was trying to sever his connection to the world, to become one with the concept of "cutting."

But his trance didn't last for long, as his eyelids fluttered open. For a split second, the sharpness of his aura faltered.

"Umm..." Anaske whispered, his voice raspy after being silent for a long time. "Did I make a mistake?"

He looked at the notification floating in his vision. Even though he had muted all chats, blocked all calls, and set his status to 'Perpetual Seclusion,' the Emperor's decrees were absolute. They overrode everything.

"A Tower..." he mused.

He could feel the excitement vibrating through the System Chats, as thousands of his friends messaged him about it.

He could sense the roar of billions of warriors rushing toward a new battlefield.

The promise of fighting unknown monsters, of testing one's limits against the cosmos... it called to the warrior in his blood.

He looked at the black sword resting on his knees.

"If I go," Anaske reasoned, "I will grow strong through combat."

"But if I stay..." He gripped the hilt. "I will grow strong through understanding."

He closed his eyes again, forcing the notification away.

"I made a pact," Anaske reminded himself. "Vel is risking his soul in the Spirit Realm. I cannot be seduced by a mere tower."

The darkness of the Sword Tomb swallowed him once more, but the seed of curiosity remained, a dangerous itch in the back of his mind.

The City of Gods: The Spirit Gate.

While Anaske fought his internal battle, his rival was fighting a battle of curiosity.

Vel, the Elven Archmage, stood in a building of the northern District. The air around him was buzzing with spirit energy.

"The Tower of Eternity..." Vel whispered, looking up at the sky.

He couldn't see it. The Tower was located in the Subspace Universe, the hidden dimension where the subordinate worlds resided. Veridia and the City of Gods existed in the Real Space.

To bridge the gap, Vel opened his System Panel.

"Show me," he commanded.

A video feed materialized. It was a recording broadcast by a Dragonborn living on a subordinate planet.

The image was breathtaking.

In the center of the cosmos, where there should have been nothing, stood a pillar of blinding white light. It was so massive that it dwarfed the surrounding Solar systems.

It pierced the fabric of reality, stretching up into infinity.

Another feed showed the entrance on a different world, a massive, swirling vortex of blue energy that promised adventure, wealth, and power.

"It's magical..." Vel breathed, his eyes widening. "How can someone create such a beautiful thing in a few seconds?"

He watched as thousands of Gods and Demigods in the plaza rushed here and there also surprised by this sudden announcement. They were laughing, shouting, and gearing up for the joy of their lifeforms growing stronger.

Vel took a step toward them. The urge to join the rush was intoxicating.

But he stopped.

"No," Vel said, shaking his head. "That is not my path. My path is the spirit."

He turned his back on these Gods and demigods and walked toward a different structure standing alone in a quiet corner of the plaza.

The Spirit Gate.

It was an archway made of bone-white stone, inscribed with runes that hurt the eyes to look at.

Inside the arch, there was no swirling portal, only a gray, misty mirror that reflected nothing.

This was an artifact recovered from the deepest ruins of the Realm of Advancement. It was a forbidden door.

It worked in a very simple manner. The user's biological body will be frozen and stored within the gate.

The user's consciousness will be stripped naked and projected into the Spirit Realm, a dimension of pure energy beings.

The gate weaves a temporary Spirit Shell around the user's consciousness, allowing them to blend in. This shell works as a fake spirit body, which can be controlled by the user.

Vel knew the risks. A clone of the Emperor had briefed him personally.

"If you die there," the Clone had said, "your soul shatters. Nine Lives might bring you back, but you will lose a piece of yourself every time."

"Let's go," Vel whispered.

He stepped into the gray mist.

He felt cold. It was the cold of absence. His body went rigid, locked in time. His vision went white, then gray. He felt a tearing sensation, as if he were being peeled like a fruit.

And then, he was gone.

While Vel entered the realm of spirits, Lux, a Demigod from Asura's World, was entering the Tower of Eternity.

"Finally," Lux grinned, cracking his knuckles. "After becoming a Demigod, life was getting too soft. Thank the Emperor for this playground."

He stood on his home world and stepped through the glowing Phantom Gate.

ZAP.

The world spun. Gravity shifted. The smell of his home world was replaced by the scent of pine and roasted meat.

Lux opened his eyes. He expected a dungeon. He expected a battlefield.

Instead, he was standing in a bustling, sunlit plaza paved with cobblestones.

"What?"

He looked around. It was a medieval town, massive in scale. The buildings were made of polished stone, reaching high into a blue sky. But what shocked him wasn't the architecture.

It was the crowd.

"Move it!" an Orc shouted, pushing past him.

"Wow! What a beautiful Town" a Human mage screamed.

There were thousands... no, millions of people here.

[Welcome to the Tower of Eternity, Demigod Lux.]

[Location: Floor 1 - The Endless Forest.]

[Zone: Safe Town #53.]

Lux blinked. "Town 53?"

He quickly checked the map interface.

[Town Capacity: 1,000,000 (Full)]

"Fifty-two towns filled up before I even got here?" Lux groaned, slapping his forehead. "I'm the 53rd millionth person? And here I thought I was the first!"

His pride took a hit. He wanted to be the Vanguard. He wanted to be the first. But he didn't have time to sulk.

The atmosphere in the town was unbalanced. It was like a festival mixed with a military mobilization.

NPCs (manifested by Thea) were running shops, selling basic potions and maps.

"Whatever," Lux muttered, adjusting his gauntlets. "It doesn't matter when you start. It matters when you finish."

He was about to walk toward the town exit to start hunting when the sky itself turned gold.

[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT]

The voice boomed from the heavens, stopping every conversation in every town on the First Floor.

[CONGRATULATIONS TO DEMIGOD THALORAX (DRAGONBORN).]

[FIRST PERSON TO CLEAR FLOOR 1.]

[REWARD: S-GRADE ARTIFACT + 100,000 MERITS.]

Silence descended on Town #53.

Then, chaos.

"Thalorax?!"

"He cleared it already? It hasn't even been ten minutes!"

"He's the Dragonborn King! Of course he's fast!"

The system chat exploded. Thalorax's name began to trend instantly. Old clips of him dominating the God Tournament resurfaced. The hero worship was instantaneous.

Lux froze. His jaw tightened. The competitive fire ignited in his chest, burning hotter than magma.

"Wait... there are announcements for clearing levels?" Lux whispered, a savage grin spreading across his face.

"I missed the First Clear... but there are 99 more floors."

"I will become the second person to finish Level 1. And I will be the first to finish Level 2."

He opened his interface. "Thea! How do I clear the level? Where is the boss?"

[Instruction: Find it yourself.]

The reply was plain and tired. Thea was currently handling queries from billions of confused mortals; and thus she decided to be fair with everyone.

"Hah! Fair enough!" Lux laughed. "A true warrior needs no guide!"

He launched himself into the air, flying over the heads of the stunned crowd.

He shot toward the massive city gates.

As he crossed the barrier of the Safe Zone, the world opened up.

It was magnificent.

An ocean of green stretched out to the horizon. Trees as tall as skyscrapers. Mountains floating in the distance. Roars of beasts that shook the ground.

"Now..." Lux hovered, scanning the endless forest with his divine senses. "Where is the way up?"

In a different town, far away from Lux, a much stranger pair had just arrived.

"See?" a girl's voice chirped happily. "I told you! If we entered while hugging, the System would treat us as a single unit! I never lie!"

Laira stood in the middle of the crowded plaza. She was beaming.

Locked in her arms, looking thoroughly embarrassed, was a small, doll-like creature made of polished wood and vines.

It was Veylara, the World Tree.

Or rather, it was a specialized avatar she had grown just for this occasion.

She looked like a Dryad, small, green-skinned, with leaves for hair and eyes that held the depth of a forest.

"Yeah, you are a genius, Laira," Veylara whispered, her voice like rustling leaves. "But can you let me go now? Everyone is looking. It is undignified for a World Tree to be carried like a teddy bear."

"Hah~" Laira chuckled, squeezing tighter. "You look like a wooden doll! No one suspects a thing. Besides, if I let you go, you might root yourself in the cobblestones."

Laira finally set her down. Veylara shook her leafy hair and took a deep breath.

Unlike the other lifeforms who relied on eyes and their sense, Veylara sensed the life of the tower.

"Hmm..." Veylara closed her eyes, extending her roots invisibly into the ground. "I can feel the forest outside. It is... Infinite. There are beasts and monsters too."

"I sense the Boss," Veylara pointed a wooden finger toward the north-east. "It is just a D-Grade wolf Monster. I also sense treasures... many treasures buried beneath the roots."

Laira's eyes sparkled. "Ohh! Isn't it great? This is basically cheating! With you as my radar, we can speedrun this!"

"Come on, Vey!" Laira grabbed Veylara's hand and dragged her toward the gate. "Let's go, show Thalorax what real speed looks like!"

The Tower of Eternity was open. The race had begun. And the Gods watched from their abodes, smiling as their children ran headfirst into the competition.

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