Chapter 565: Genesis, The First Floor Of The Tower Of Babylon

Chapter 565: Genesis, The First Floor Of The Tower Of Babylon

When the Tower of Babylon appeared in the world of Hestia, many people believed that it was a tower that had been built by Gods.

Back then, a declaration was heard by every living thing in the world, asking them to challenge the Tower and seek the riches that were hidden within.

This story happened a thousand years after the Dark Era of Humanity. Since then, millions of people have made a pilgrimage to the tower to seek fame and fortune. Many failed, and only a select few succeeded.

Each floor was supervised by a Guardian. Some called them Deities, some Administrators, and some simply called them Gods.

The people who had first cleared the floors made a contract with these Guardians, and became the rulers of the Domain. Naturally, they were also there to reinforce the rules that the Guardian had set, and allowed the others to challenge the tower. 

No ruling family, or faction, was allowed to prevent anyone from climbing the tower. If they were to do so, their qualifications would be stripped from them, and others would be allowed to take their place.

For thousands of years, the people that had ruled the different floors prospered. Their clans held power, similar to the Royal Family of the different Empires and Kingdoms in the Central Continent.

Perhaps, due to their unshakeable position, some of these ruling clans had developed a tendency to abuse their authority, and harassed the challengers of the tower. 

There were times when they even forced them to become their subordinates, with the promise of allowing them to climb the other floors with their backing.

William sat at a table and read all the information about the 49 Families that ruled the tower. He got the information from the Merchant’s Guild that was located in the City of Babylon. Although the price he paid was quite high, the information he gained from it was worth every gold coin.

Chiffon was eating an apple pie by his side, as she waited for William to finish what he was doing. Today was the day that they would start climbing the tower, and she was quite excited to embark on an adventure with William.

It was said that if you managed to climb up to the 100th Floor of Babylon, a wish of yours would be granted. William had no intention of doing that. He only wanted to clear the 51st Floor before returning to Aamon’s Temple to take on the second quest he prepared for him.

‘The 2nd, 9th Floor, 16th Floor, 23rd Floor, 37th, 41st, 45th, and 49th floors are the floors where player enslavement had been confirmed,’ William thought. ‘I better be alert when I am on those floors. It would be best if no unforeseen events happen.’

(A/N: The people who climb the towers are called challengers or players. They will be interchanged from time to time.)

After letting the System compile all the information that he had gathered, the two finally headed towards the first floor of the tower.

The first floor of the Tower was called Genesis.

Only those that were able to clear the Guardian’s test would be allowed to start climbing the tower. Those who failed would be banned from entering the tower for a year. 

According to the information, challengers were able to gain tokens whenever they cleared the tests of the Guardians. Depending on how well they performed, it was possible to earn many tokens, which they could exchange for items, weapons, artifacts, and other unique materials that were only available inside the Tower of Babylon.

William was quite interested in these items and wondered if they were better than the ones that were being sold in the God Shop.

No one owned the First Floor of the Tower, because this was the starting point of everyone. According to the information he received, the Guardian of the First Floor was a Goblin. 

In order for them to advance to the Second Floor, they must choose one of the four trials that would test their ability. As long as they passed one of these trials, they would be allowed to proceed to the next floor with ease.

“Welcome to Genesis,” a Hobgoblin greeted William, and Chiffon, as they entered the main entrance of the Tower. “My name is Dobbie, and I will be your guide on the first floor of the Tower.” 

“Hello, Dobbie,” William replied. “We would like to take the test of the tower.”

“Certainly, please, proceed this way,” Dobbie bowed as he made a gesture for William and Chiffon to follow him.

The First Floor of the Tower was quite crowded. Many rookies could be seen chatting with each other, as their Hobgoblin guides explained to them the rules of the tests.

William and Chiffon were wearing enchanted robes with a hood to prevent others from knowing their identity. These robes were also being sold in the City of Babylon, and its effects would only work inside the tower.

The Half-Elf didn’t want to attract trouble, so he decided to play it safe.

After walking for ten minutes, they arrived in front of a red door. Dobbie opened the door and made a gesture for the two to enter.

After entering the door, four more doors appeared in front of the two teenagers. William had already known what kind of tests the Floor of Genesis were giving. He even had a plan prepared. The only problem was whether his plan would work or not.

“There are four tests that you can choose from,” Dobbie said as he stood in front of William. 

“The First Door leads to the Trial of Blades.”

“The Second Door leads to the Trial of Senses.”

“The Third Door leads to the Trial of Fate.”

“The Fourth Door leads to the Trial of Dominion.”

Dobbie paused for a short while before bowing, “Please, choose the trial you wish to take.”

The guides of the tower weren’t allowed to divulge what lay behind the doors. However, the people who managed to pass these trials had already shared the information with everyone. 

This means that anyone who had made necessary preparations could clear these trials and gain the approval of the Guardian to proceed to the next stage. If they liked, they could even try to clear more than one trial to gain more tokens, so they could exchange for the things inside the tower sooner.

Among the four doors, three were commonly used by people. The Fourth Door was something that no one wanted to challenge because of its absurd difficulty. 

Each trial could be challenged by a team. The maximum number per team is eight people. The more people there were, the lesser the rewards. This made clearing the Genesis Floor easier. Even so, no one dared to challenge the Fourth Door after a survivor managed to escape using a forbidden technique.

The survivor shared his experience, and swore an oath to the Gods that everything he said was true. After getting confirmation from one of the Oracles in the Temple, affirming the survivor’s words, nobody chose to challenge the Fourth Door ever again.

“I choose the Fourth Door,” William said as he firmly held Chiffon’s hand. “This person will accompany me inside.”

The Hobgoblin smiled and nodded its head. “As you wish.”

With a wave of its hand, all the other doors disappeared except for the Fourth Door. 

“May the Guardian smile upon your choice,” the Hobgoblin bowed before opening the door. He had been guiding challengers for nearly ten years in the Tower of Babylon. 

The Hobgoblin knew that it would never see these two people again, because they were about to die a brutal death. Since that was the case, the least he could do was to be courteous and wish them luck for the choice they made. 

A powerful suction pulled William and Chiffon inside the door. The pink-haired girl subconsciously clung to her Big Brother’s arm as both of them entered a world of darkness.

————

“Hmm?” The Guardian of the First Floor opened its eyes because someone had chosen the Fourth Door of the trial on the floor that it administered. 

It had been over a hundred years since someone had chosen the Fourth Trial, and the Guardian wondered if some unlucky fool had been kicked in the head by a donkey to make such a suicidal choice.

“Well, I guess, it’s time for me to know what this idiot looks like.” The Guardian yawned before heading towards the trial grounds where the test was held. 

He wanted to see for himself the kind of face the challenger would have once he saw what lay beyond the door of Dominion.