The Tower's Last Chronicle

The world was silent.

Not the silence of an empty place.

Not the silence after destruction.

This silence was older.

Deeper.

Like the universe itself was holding its breath.

Lee Seo Jun stood in the endless darkness.

There was no ground beneath his feet.

No sky above him.

Only countless fragments of light floating in the void.

Each fragment contained something.

A scene.

A memory.

A moment lost to time.

A record.

Seo Jun narrowed his eyes.

He had expected something.

A trial.

An enemy.

A battle.

But this...

This was different.

The Tower had not brought him somewhere.

It had shown him something.

A single fragment of light slowly moved toward him.

The moment it reached him....

The darkness changed.

A voice echoed.

Not from a direction.

Not from a person.

But from everywhere.

[Recording Initiated.]

[Accessing preserved history.]

[Warning.]

[The following information has been sealed since the foundation of the Tower.]

[Only qualified candidates may observe.]

The words appeared in golden letters.

Seo Jun's expression became serious.

A record.

Not a message.

Not a notification.

A record from the past.

The light expanded.

The darkness disappeared.

And Seo Jun saw...

A world.

No.

Not a world.

Something much larger.

A place beyond anything he had imagined.

A vast structure floating between countless dimensions.

A tower.

Not the Tower he knew.

Not the place humans climbed.

This was the original.

The first form.

Before trials.

Before monsters.

Before corruption.

The Tower stood silently in the emptiness between worlds.

A guardian.

A fortress.

A weapon.

Then words appeared.

[The Tower was created by ■■■.]

Seo Jun froze.

His eyes narrowed.

The name.

He had seen it.

Yet he could not read it.

The symbol was not hidden.

It was there.

But his mind refused to understand.

As if the meaning itself was being rejected.

"..."

Seo Jun stared at the symbol.

Strange.

Very strange.

It wasn't like a normal restriction.

He had encountered sealed information before.

Hidden skills.

Restricted records.

Unknown authorities.

But this was different.

It was not that the information was unavailable.

It was that his mind could not reach it.

Two possibilities appeared.

Either the name itself was something beyond his current understanding.

Or...

He was still not qualified enough to know.

Seo Jun remained silent.

Then continued watching.

The record resumed.

[■■■ created the Tower for a single purpose.]

[To oppose the Outer Gods and ■■■.]

The scenery changed.

Countless dimensions appeared.

Worlds floating in an endless ocean of space.

Beautiful worlds.

Peaceful worlds.

Worlds filled with life.

Then....

Darkness arrived.

Something descended.

Something impossible.

The image distorted.

The shape could not be properly observed.

Only a feeling remained.

Ancient.

Hungry.

Endless.

[Outer Gods.]

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

[Tainters.]

[Devourers.]

[Names differ between civilizations.]

[Their nature remains the same.]

The worlds trembled.

Seo Jun watched silently.

The beings from beyond the dimensions did not conquer.

They did not rule.

They did not build.

They consumed.

A world would be discovered.

A civilization would rise.

Life would flourish.

And then...

The Outer Gods would arrive.

They would corrupt.

Destroy.

Devour.

Then move toward the next world.

The cycle repeated.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Like an endless law of nature.

Seo Jun's expression darkened.

So that was what they were.

Not an army.

Not a single enemy.

A disaster.

A phenomenon.

A hunger that crossed dimensions.

The record continued.

[The Tower was created as a shield.]

[While the Outer Gods searched for new worlds...]

[The Tower would provide time.]

[Time for civilizations to grow.]

[Time for warriors to awaken.]

[Time for hope to appear.]

The scene changed again.

The Tower opened its doors.

People from countless worlds entered.

Different races.

Different civilizations.

Different beings.

All seeking power.

All seeking survival.

A single thought connected them.

Live.

Survive.

Protect.

Seo Jun watched quietly.

Then another notification appeared.

[The Tower required candidates to oppose Outer Gods.]

[Not the strongest.]

[Not the most talented.]

[Those who could carry hope.]

The Tutorial appeared.

Seo Jun's eyes narrowed.

The Tutorial.

The place where everything began.

The place he had fought through.

The place that had nearly killed countless future soldiers.

The record showed the original purpose.

[The Tutorial was designed as a preparation ground.]

[Candidates would face extreme circumstances.]

[They would experience fear.]

[They would experience despair.]

[They would be forced to evolve.]

But then...

A new line appeared.

[Death inside the Tutorial is not the final death.]

Seo Jun nodded.

The scene changed.

A person fell during a trial.

A monster pierced their body.

Their life disappeared.

But then...

Light surrounded them.

They returned.

Alive.

Back in their original world.

[The purpose of the Tutorial was not elimination.]

[It was preparation.]

[The mind must experience pressure before facing true despair.]

[The heart must understand fear before standing against impossible enemies.]

[The candidates must become ready.]

Seo Jun remained silent.

So that was the truth.

The Tutorial...

It was never meant to be a slaughterhouse.

It was never meant to break people.

It was meant to forge them.

A painful training ground.

A place where people could fail.

So they could rise stronger.

Then why?

Why had everything become different?

The answer came before he asked.

The record darkened.

The golden letters flickered.

[However...]

[The Tower's war continued.]

[Dimensions fell.]

[Worlds disappeared.]

[The Outer Gods adapted.]

The image changed.

Dark corruption spread through the Tower.

Slowly.

Quietly.

Like poison entering a body.

[The enemy could not destroy the Tower from outside.]

[Therefore...]

[They entered from within.]

The darkness spread.

Through the foundations.

Through the systems.

Through the very structure of the Tower.

Seo Jun's eyes became cold.

They had invaded the Tower.

Not physically.

Something worse.

They corrupted its foundation.

The record continued.

[The purpose of the Tower began to change.]

[Protection became selection.]

[Selection became elimination.]

[Preparation became survival.]

The Tutorial changed.

The trials became harsher.

The rules became distorted.

The system fought back.

But it was losing.

Slowly.

Piece by piece.

The record showed countless alterations.

Hidden trials.

Changed rules.

New restrictions.

Then...

A single line appeared.

[Stage 5 was modified.]

Seo Jun's expression hardened.

Stage 5.

The stage he remembered.

The stage where everything changed.

The stage where death became real.

The record continued.

The world around Seo Jun froze.

The endless stream of records continued to flow before his eyes.

[Original Stage 5: Final Trial.]

[Modified Stage 5: Permanent Elimination.]

Seo Jun's fists slowly clenched.

"...So that's the truth."

His voice barely escaped his lips.

Everything...

The endless deaths.

The despair.

The fear that consumed every challenger.

None of it belonged to the Tower.

It had never been part of its design.

Someone...

Had twisted it.

Someone had rewritten the Fifth Stage itself.

His expression darkened.

"So the Tower wasn't always like this..."

The records shifted again.

Another memory surfaced.

A lone figure stood at the end of the stage.

Silent.

Motionless.

Like an executioner waiting for prisoners to arrive.

The Executor.

Seo Jun narrowed his eyes.

The system revealed another record.

[Original Final Guardian Created.]

[Purpose:]

[Test those who reached the end.

Measure their strength.

Judge their resolve.

Decide whether they possessed the qualifications to move forward.]

"...A guardian."

Seo Jun whispered.

"It was supposed to be a trial."

Not an enemy.

Not a butcher.

Just the final examiner of Stage Five.

But then...

The records suddenly distorted.

Black cracks spread across every line.

New words forcefully replaced the old ones.

[Warning.]

[Original Final Guardian Replaced.]

[Current Entity Installed: Executor.]

[New Purpose:]

[Eliminate all qualified candidates before they can mature.

Prevent exceptional individuals from advancing.

Erase unstable variables.]

Silence.

Seo Jun's pupils trembled.

"...Variables?"

The answer came almost immediately.

More records unfolded.

The Fifth Stage was unlike every other floor.

Whenever an individual with extraordinary talent reached even its hidden trial...

That person gained the potential to become something far greater than ordinary challengers.

Not immediately.

But eventually.

Such individuals possessed the highest chance of resisting the influence of the Outers, at least for a while.

They were seeds.

Future pillars.

People capable of standing against corruption itself.

And that...

Was exactly why they had to die.

Seo Jun's breathing became heavier.

"...So that's why..."

The Outers hadn't chosen the Fifth Stage randomly.

They had deliberately seized control of it.

Because this was where the Tower identified its greatest talents.

If every promising seed died here...

Then the future would never produce anyone capable of fighting back.

The corruption didn't need to destroy humanity.

It only needed to erase its strongest hope.

Seo Jun slowly lowered his head.

"...How disgusting."

The records continued.

[Status Report.]

[Other Hidden Guardians: Corrupted.]

[Corruption Progress: Incomplete.]

[Control over corresponding stages: Partial.]

Seo Jun frowned.

"They failed..."

The Outers had already infected the hidden guardians of the other stages.

But unlike Stage Five...

They had failed to seize complete authority.

Those guardians still retained fragments of their original purpose.

Only the Fifth Stage had completely fallen.

Its guardian...

Had been erased entirely.

Replaced by the Executor.

The most important checkpoint inside the Tutorial had become a slaughterhouse.

No wonder history had changed.

No wonder no true genius ever reached the later floors.

Every one of them...

Had been executed before they could bloom.

Then another notification appeared.

[System Resistance Detected.]

[Emergency Restrictions Activated.]

The Tower...

Had fought back.

Even after losing control of the Fifth Stage.

It had refused to surrender completely.

The records continued.

[Original Executor Authority:]

Basic Strength: Above 300

Basic Agility: Above 300

Basic Vitality: Above 300

Basic Mana: Above 300

Seo Jun's eyes widened.

"...Above three hundred?"

That wasn't a monster meant for beginners.

That was a creature capable of slaughtering armies.

If such a being had appeared inside the Tutorial...

Not a single challenger would have survived.

The next record appeared.

[Emergency Restrictions Successful.]

[Current Executor Parameters:]

Basic Strength: 35

Basic Agility: 35

Basic Vitality: 35

Basic Mana: 35

Seo Jun remained silent.

The system had done everything it could.

Unable to remove the Executor...

It had at least sealed away the majority of its power.

Even then...

The Executor remained the greatest nightmare of the Basic Tutorial.

Not because it was unbeatable.

But because it was never meant to exist in the first place.

It wasn't the Tower's guardian.

It was the blade of the Outers.

A weapon created for one purpose.

To erase every future capable of opposing them.

Even after being weakened...

The Executor was still terrifying.

Seo Jun finally understood.

The enemy had not just changed the Tower.

They had been slowly poisoning the future.

Destroying the very process meant to create humanity's protectors.

The corruption existed at the beginning.

At the Tutorial.

Where every future hero was supposed to be born.

And it was eating them before they could grow.

The record faded.

However, it seemed the Outers had never discovered the existence of the Hidden Stage... most likely because, across countless worlds, no challenger had ever met the conditions to reach it.

Then a final scene appeared.

A small figure.

A goblin.

Standing alone in an empty space.

Seo Jun's eyes widened slightly.

"Krix..."

The Tutorial Guide.

The cheerful goblin who welcomed candidates.

The one who guided them.

The record showed him.

But not as he was now.

Before.

When his eyes still carried warmth.

When his role was different.

[Guide Unit.]

[Purpose:]

[Assist candidates.]

[Provide guidance.]

[Protect the growth of qualified individuals.]

Then the darkness appeared.

The corruption reached him.

The words changed.

[Current function:]

[Evaluation.]

[Elimination.]

Seo Jun stared.

The corruption had reached even him.

The one who was supposed to guide people.

The one who was supposed to help them survive.

Had been turned into something else.

The record became darker.

A new message appeared.

✦ ✦ ✦

[1st Tower Quest]

[Purify the corrupted Tutorial Guide.]

[Target: Krix]

✦ ✦ ✦

Seo Jun remained silent.

The darkness around him felt heavier.

Then he lowered his gaze.

A quiet thought crossed his mind.

Corruption.

A word used to describe something that had fallen from its original state.

But was corruption truly evil?

Or was it something more tragic?

Something that once had a purpose.

Something that once wanted to protect.

But after endless suffering...

After countless wounds...

Slowly became something different.

A blade could become a weapon.

A shield could become a prison.

A protector could become a destroyer.

Not because its original purpose was wrong.

But because something had twisted it.

Seo Jun closed his eyes.

The Tower.

Krix.

The Tutorial.

Everything was connected.

And perhaps the greatest tragedy was not that something became corrupted.

It was that no one noticed until it was too late.

He opened his eyes.

The quest window remained.

✦ ✦ ✦

[1st Tower Quest]

[Purify the corrupted Tutorial Guide Krix]

[Accept?]

[YES]

[NO]

✦ ✦ ✦

Seo Jun looked at the message.

Then slowly raised his hand.

"..."

There was no hesitation.

Because he already knew.

He had spent his previous life destroying enemies.

This time...

He would save what could still be saved.

His finger moved.

[YES]

The moment he selected it...

The darkness trembled.

A distant presence awakened.

Something that had been waiting for a long time.

A voice echoed.

Soft.

Ancient.

Familiar.

"You came..."

A pause.

Then...

"I was waiting."