In the First Floor’s Hall of Records, a crowd had gathered. It wasn’t every day that a new world got absorbed by the Tower. In fact, it hadn’t happened in nearly a thousand years. Given that, it might have actually been strange that only a few hundred of the Floor’s millions of residents were in the Record Hall, if not for the fact that there wasn’t much to see.
The Record Hall was very important to the Floor, but its value to Climbers was limited. Really, the only useful feature was its real time updating of ranks for all Batches, but even then, anyone who had enough time to watch those should have been trying to improve their own rank, not watching others’.
Still, it was somewhat of a spectacle to watch new Batches appear by the dozen. The Tower planned to grab one million new people every three months for a hundred years. Of course, less than half would actually become Climbers, and perhaps a quarter would even reach the Second Floor—such is life in the Tower—but the thought of new blood entering had the entire population of the Tower on the edge of its collective seat.
“Their ranks are all so low,” commented one watcher.
“Well what did you expect?” replied another. “Their world doesn’t even have Oum.”
“I think some of their rankings are actually quite impressive, given that fact.”
Nearly everyone in the room turned to look at the speaker. None of the rankings they’d seen were what they would consider “impressive”, but none dared openly oppose that statement. After all, the one who spoke was Auriel Hatep, the Floor’s current rank 9, her cultivation already approaching middle 2 star. She was a celestial, with skin as white as marble, large feathered wings, and four golden eyes.
“Look, that one is in the top 500,000,” she said, pointing at a newly-added name. “How many of you could reach that without Oum? Especially as a human.”
“I could,” said one. “And I can name at least a dozen others off the top of my head.”
The room’s attention was drawn to this new speaker, and there was a collective gasp as they realized who it was. It was the current rank 6, the human Jin Hayou. His short stature and ordinary clothing allowed him to go unnoticed until he spoke.
“And are those dozen all from the Jin family as well?” asked Auriel sweetly, crossing her arms.
“Not all of them,” replied Jin. “But rank 500,000 without Oum just means they know how to fight a bit and maybe have a bit of talent with Oum. There are millions like them. They might make it to the 10th Floor, or maybe even the 15th if they’re lucky, but that’s it. Then again, I can see how the Hatep family might find that impressive.”
Auriel’s face maintained a calm smile, but a slight twitch in her wings belied her annoyance.
“The 10th floor is nothing to scoff at,” she said. “A Climber who reaches the 10th Floor can support his family for 10 generations. And that wasn’t even the best of them. Look, that one is nearly at 300,000.”
“20th floor, maybe,” says Jin.
“Enough wealth to start a dynasty,” counters Auriel.
“A small dynasty on a weak Floor where they will never exert more than a local influence. With that mindset, it’s no wonder the Hateps haven’t had an Ascendant in 10,000 years.”
Everyone in the room gasps.
“And perhaps your dismissal of such mindsets is why the Jins rarely live past 50,” replies Auriel.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
There is another gasp, but Jin Hayou merely shrugs.
“Tell me, Hatep,” he says. “Would you rather die trying to reach the top of the Tower, or live a long life of mediocrity and disappointment?”
“Calling the 10th Floor mediocre and disappointing is-” starts Auriel
“That wasn’t a general question,” interrupts Jin. “I asked whether you would rather die trying to reach the top, or live a life of mediocrity and disappointment. I know my answer. My goal is to reach the top. Anything short of that, whether it be the 10th Floor, 20th Floor, 100th floor, or even the 127th Floor, is a disappointment and a failure.”
“Not everyone has such lofty ambitions.”
“Then why are they here? Why would they choose to climb the Tower if not to reach the top?”
“As I said, reaching even the 10th Floor can produce generational wealth-”
“Weak,” interrupts Jin. “And you still haven’t answered my question, Hatep. Would you be satisfied with the 10th Floor? That ‘generational wealth’ you speak of probably isn’t even worth as much as one of the dresses in your closet. What about the 20th Floor? You could decide the destruction of any of those ‘dynasties’ with a single word to your father.
“You can keep posturing for the weaklings and enjoying your sycophants all you like, but we both know it’s an act, and an act that will ruin you if you don’t drop it. What’s the point of getting the approval of such people? They will only cling to you and drag you down. You’ve been an excellent rival thus far, and I’d hate to see you fail so foolishly.
“So tell me, Hatep, would you rather die trying to reach the top of the Tower, or live a long life of mediocrity and disappointment?”
“I see no reason to entertain this conversation any longer,” says Auriel haughtily. “Not when you’re so callously insulting my friends.”
“Friends?” asks Jin, raising an eyebrow. “Right. Well, if you’re set on this path, then so be it. I suppose I’ll just have to find a new rival. Perhaps there will be someone actually worth paying attention to from the new world.”
Auriel huffs and turns away from Jin and back to the rankings. The room is silent for a few seconds, but slowly, the chatter returns. With every new batch that arrives, there are another few people ranking within the top 500,000. Despite Jin Hayou’s dismissal, after Auriel’s words, many of the people there still find this somewhat impressive. Anyone who can reach even the tenth floor is a one in a million talent.
As time goes on, and more and more Batches appear though, they start to become bored. Each Batch has a couple impressive people, some ranking nearly in the top 200,000, but after the 20th time, even those become less interesting. There is growing concern about the average talent level of the new world, but the individual occurrences are less noticeable. However, that boredom is almost immediately wiped away when the early batches start their trials.
The rankings start to shift dramatically, some of the top rankers of the new arrivals falling into mediocrity, while others rise. One particular name gets pointed out by an onlooker as it shoots straight up to around 150,000. Then another in a different Batch does the same, then another. As it happens more, it loses its novelty. Some of those who spike up fall back down shortly after, or even disappear entirely, indicating that they have died, but there are a few who manage to hold their positions.
“Holy shit!” shouts someone, drawing the room’s attention to a batch listed on the far side of the room.
“Top 100,000?!” exclaims someone else.
“That’s higher than me!” says a third person.
The name holds its position for a full minute as the chatter in the room reaches new heights. It starts falling after that, but doesn’t go far, settling around 110,000 and staying there.
“Still not impressed?” asks Auriel.
“One good one doesn’t make the rest any more impressive,” says Hayou. “But this one is probably worth watching. This… Yuri Filippov person. I will need to meet them.”
Another exclamation at the other side of the room causes more heads to turn as one name in a new batch shoots all the way to 80,000. It was one that had just jumped to the top 200,000, so there were already a few people keeping an eye on it, and when it jumped, they noticed immediately. Like with Yuri Filippov, they slowly drift down after a short while, settling just outside the top 100,000 and staying there.
“Bella Tompkins,” says Jin Hayou thoughtfully. “Another person I will have to meet.”
“You’ll be gone before they’re eligible to compete with you,” says Auriel. “What’s the point?”
“Not necessarily,” he replies. “Those from the newly integrated worlds are getting special resources. They might be ready in time for the Tournament.”