"These dreams you have... What happens in them?"

"... I... I feel myself floating. In a completely white space."

"Anything else?"

"When I... When I try to move, a shadow... No, a building towers over me. It takes away the white from everything."

"Hm... Does this... Building seem familiar to you?"

"... It's the Tower."

"The one that appeared?"

"Yeah..."

"And when you try to move, does your body respond?"

"No... Not often."

"I see... Well, Itsuki, I'm afraid that's all the time we have today. We'll meet again same time next week. Before then, if you can, see if you can stop yourself from floating in these dreams. Try to... Plant yourself somewhere."

"Yes... Doctor."

"Then, I shall see you next week. Oh, and make sure to see if you can do something that takes your mind off recent events. Try moving your body."

Doctor Liften stands up from his chair and leaves the small room that I've been staying in for the last few weeks.

Time seemed to pass like a blur since I woke up in the hospital. I could barely seem to focus until about a week after I had woken up.

The doctors claimed it was shock and said that only time would fix it. Doctor Liften was also assigned as a therapist for me, an attempt to see if talking would speed up the process.

I can't say for sure if it's working. I don't feel any different now than I did when I first woke up. I just feel... Empty.

'We are hearing more information about these supposed disappearances as the weeks pass by. Authorities and specialists seem to be convinced that it has something to do with the structure that has aptly been named the "Tower".'

From the corner of the room, a small TV starts playing.

That's all the news has been recently. After it suddenly appeared around the world, each one let out a sudden shockwave around where it was, devastating the areas around it and killing hundreds if not thousands. That's what killed my family too.

And then, not long after the shockwaves, people began disappearing. At first, they were passed off as missing due to the shockwaves, but as the numbers began to rise even after the damage had been cleared, it was obvious that something was going on.

'Oh? I'm getting more information that one of the missing persons had left a note? It apparently says that they hear a calling to them, from a portal? This is... Odd news, but we can't rule anything out after what happened not too long ago. As always, we will try to keep you up to date as soon as possible. We will see you--'

A portal? A calling?

Hm... I wonder if... Those hyms I heard was the calling that they seem to have heard.

... Nah, if it was, then surely one of those portals would have appeared while I was in the car.

Anyway... Moving my body, huh?

Back at home, I used to swing a wooden sword around, since I was hoping to join the kendo team at school but with my arm like this... I don't think I'm going to be able to swing it.

... Well, there's no harm in trying.

Standing up from my bed, I walk towards my door and open it, trying to call a nurse or doctor to ask them.

When I do, I attempt to hide my broken arm as best as I can, and it seemed to work, as they told me they'd get me one as soon as possible.

I thanked them and closed the door, before sitting back down on my bed.

It took what seemed to be around 40 minutes or so before I heard a knock on the door from the same nurse, carrying a familiar object.

I thanked her again and closed the door, holding the sword in my right hand and feeling the familiar grip.

It seemed to calm me quickly, and I felt my breath become soother than it had been before.

Taking a moment to simply just hold it, I move to the center of my room and extend the sword to my side to see if I could swing freely.

Thankfully, it had roughly a metre of spare room, so I put myself into a stance.

It felt odd, considering I'd usually have to hold the sword with both hands, but still doable.

I take a deep breath... In... And out, before starting to swing the sword.

As I slowly began to get into a rhythm, I felt my heart pound faster and I felt light, as if the swinging had freed me from something holding me down.

Only a few minutes of swinging had passed before I was out of breath, but it was the most fun I'd had in weeks.

And as I was sitting on the bed, panting, I heard a strange noise in front of me.

Ding!

The almost surreal noise caused me to look up, and when I did, I saw a strange panel in front of my eyes.

The Tower invites you to its domain.
Do you accept?

[Yes] [No]

I stare at it for a few moments before rubbing my eyes to see if I'm hallucinating, but when I pull my hands away, it's still there.

The Tower invites you to its domain... Wait, is this the calling that the news was on about? Does that mean that...

Hesitantly, I place my finger over [Yes] and push forwards. In an instant, the panel disappears and a strange hum appears to my right.

As I look towards the hum, I see a blue swirl taking up a portion of the wall. It seemed to spin into itself and the blue turned into darkness at the center.

I look at it for a few moments, sizing it up, before placing my hand into it. As soon as I do, I feel a huge force pushing me... No, pulling me into the portal and I get engulfed by it.

It felt as if I walked through a thin veil of hot water, but without the water. I passed through a wall of momentary heat, before an unnaturally even temperature hit me.

What I saw when I passed through the portal was an entirely white space, save for a few tables and, what looked to be, a few tens of thousands of chairs.

Most of these chairs were taken with people sat on them, and they were either making small talk between themselves or sat alone.

A few of them looked up to me as I started walking, but none of them came to greet me, so I quickly got over to a free chair and sat down, waiting for something.

I'm not entirely sure how long it took, since my sense of time seemed to be skewed in the endless blankness, but quite a few more people came out of portals and sat down, much like I did.

Once it seemed like most of the seats were filled, a voice spoke to us from the void.

"Welcome. You have all been chosen as the Tower has seen the depths of your potential."

The voice spoke in an eerie monotone voice, as if it wasn't entirely a human, sending slight shivers down my spine.

"The moment you stepped through that portal, you rescinded yourself to the whims of the Tower. From this moment forth, your fate shall be bound to the Tower. If you do not wish for this, go through the portal again, the Tower will not miss you."

As this voice speaks, another portal appears in the center of us all, much larger than the one I entered through. Several times larger in fact. If the portal I went through was the average human, this would be like five of them stacked on top of each other.

It took a few moments, but soon, people began to rise from their chairs and walk through the portal, their destinations unknown to us.

Only a hundred or so seemed to leave, and when the last person passed through the portal, the voice spoke up again.

"That was your only chance to keep control of your fate. All 99828 of you have left control of your fate to the Tower. From now on, you are bound to the Tower, no matter what any entity may say to you."

Although spoken in a consistent tone, I felt like I could hear a strange emphasis on 'entity', and it seemed others could too as someone spoke up quickly.

"W-what do you mean by 'entity'?"

A small, blonde girl stood up from her chair with her hand up. From where I was, I couldn't see all too well, but I felt like I could see a slight shaking of her hand.

"... That is an answer that I am not required to answer. You will find all of the answers to your questions within the Tower."

"Are you one of these 'entities'?"

This time, a large, muscular man spoke up, his gaze placing itself all across, what would be, the roof of the area we were in.

"... I am indeed an entity. However, I am not one of the entities in which you will meet within the Tower."

"Then, what are you?"

His tone seemed very combative towards the voice, but it responded much like how it had every other time; absolute monotony.

"... I am, what you could call, an Administrator. While the Tower facilitates other worlds, I am separate from them. I transcend the Tower itself."

"Didya make this Tower then?"

Once again, another person spoke up, this time an average looking guy, with slick back blonde hair and piercings all across his ears.

"... That is an answer that I am not required to answer. You will find all of the answers to your questions within the Tower."

Oho, I see.

So, any answer that we can find in the Tower is an answer that this 'Administrator' is not required to answer, but if we need an answer that isn't in the Tower, it can and likely will.

Then,
"Are you the only Administrator?"

Much like the other three, I stand up from my chair and speak loud towards this corporeal voice.

"... There are many of us Administrators, though you will likely never meet us."

"Then, is there an 'entity' above you?"

"... I am not permitted to answer that. You will find the answer to your question if your authority is raised."

Not permitted? That's a different answer... Does that mean there is another being with a higher status?

"What is authority?"

"... That is an answer that I am not required to answer. You will find all of the answers to your questions within the Tower."

Damn, if I'll find out what authority is in the Tower, and I need to raise it, then...
"How do I raise my authority?"

"... You must commit acts that gain the attention of entities within the Tower. They will grant you authority."

So the entities within the Tower can grant authority, that means they have some power within the Tower. Should I assume these entities are Gods then?

"If you have no more questions, then we shall conti--"

"Wait! I, uhh, I have a question!"

Deathly silence was followed by her interruptance of the voice.

"Can we... Die in the Tower?"

"... If your fate is to die within the Tower, then that is how the Tower has defined your fate."

As the voice answers the question, I hear quite a few gasps resound from the people that were here.

"Now then... We shall continue on with the introduction to the Tower."

When the voice finishes speaking, a sudden wind rushes past us, and behind us suddenly appear several racks of weapons that ranged from typical swords and spears to whips, fails and chakrams, although there were clearly not enough for us all.

"For the first part of the introduction, please choose a weapon."

A few seconds passed before people began to rise out of their chairs, with me being one of the first to.

When I do, I start heading towards the swords, walking fast enough so that I was the first to reach them.

As I lifted the sword, I felt the difference between a real, bladed steel sword and the wooden one I used for kendo practice, but it felt natural and comfortable in my hand.

I did notice though, that as soon as I pulled the sword off the rack, another appeared in its place, materializing with a similar color to the portal.

As for the others, there was a considerable amount of people gathered around the traditional weapons, but a few equipped themselves with the others. I only saw one person grab the whip though.

When it seemed like everyone had chosen a weapon, Administator spoke up again.

"Now that you have all chosen a weapon, you must show the Tower your potential through the use of your it."

Quite a few people seemed to be surprised by this, but no one spoke up.

"Shortly, a portal will appear in front of you. While inside, you will undergo a test for the Tower to see how deep your potential goes. Good luck."

The moment it offers the words of encouragement, the hum from the portal takes over the silence of wherever we were.

I stand in front of it and watch others take deep breaths and walk through, before doing the same.