James woke up before his alarm went off and heard nothing but silence in the flat. He walked into the kitchen and found it empty with no smell of coffee or breakfast. His mother had already left for her morning shift. He filled the kettle with tap water and made instant coffee, then grabbed a piece of bread from the counter and brought both back to his room.
His desk sat under the cracked window where morning light came through in broken angles. James pulled out the chair and sat down, then opened his laptop. The screen lit up with the crack running through the bottom corner like a lightning bolt. He'd dropped it two years ago and never had the money to replace it. He typed "Floor 1 Tower survivor guide" into the search bar and hit enter.
Hundreds of results came up. Forum posts, video guides, survival blogs, and official TRB safety bulletins all mixed together. James clicked on the first result—a forum called Tower Tactics. The top pinned post was titled "Floor 1 - What They Won't Tell You But I Can." Posted by user ClearingSurvivor_2127.
James read:
"Floor 1 mortality rate: 15-20%. Lower than Tutorial but still deadly. System blocks me from describing specific enemies or exact floor layout (mental fog kicks in when I try). But here's what I CAN share:
Mission type is always SUBJUGATION (kill all hostiles)
Teams of 5 randomly formed globally - you could get paired with someone from Japan, Nigeria, Brazil, anywhere. No language barriers though, System translates automatically.
Average clear time: 30-45 minutes if your team is competent
Enemies are Level 2-4 (higher than Tutorial goblins)
BRING BACKUP WEAPON - gear breaks, especially F-rank trash
Don't trust random teammates immediately - saw someone get killed for their loot by their own team
Healers are rare - if you get one, protect them
NO SAFE ZONES - you clear the floor or you die trying
Loot drops are random - got an E-rank dagger, teammate got nothing"
James scrolled down to the comments section. Another user named TankMain_IE had replied:
"Floor 1 tip - positioning matters. Ranged DPS stay back. Tanks front. If you're a mage and you pull aggro, you're dead. Learned that the hard way (survived but teammate didn't)."
A reply underneath from user VoidWalker_CN:
"The global pairing is no joke. My Floor 1 team was me (Chinese), one guy from Germany, two Americans, and one girl from India. Communication was fine because of System translation, but our tactics didn't sync up at all. Different training styles. Nearly got us killed."
Another comment further down:
"Also: the System doesn't care if your team wipes. No rescue. No second chances. Saw a team hesitate at mission start and they all died in the first five minutes."
James kept scrolling. Someone had posted Floor 1 survival statistics in a formatted table:
"Of 100 Challengers entering Floor 1 for first time:
15-20 die
80-85 clear it or die trying"
Another forum post titled "Why Floor 1 is harder than Tutorial" caught his attention:
"Tutorial gives you weapons and armor automatically. Floor 1 expects you to BUY your own gear with Tower Credits. I went in with just my Tutorial sword - it broke halfway through the mission. Don't be like me. Spend the money on decent equipment or you'll regret it."
James opened a second tab and searched "Floor 1 team composition." The results showed that the ideal team was one Tank, one Healer, two DPS, and one Support. But the System formed teams randomly without checking class balance, so most people got whatever the System decided to throw together. Most teams ended up being four or five DPS with no healer or tank, and those teams had a thirty percent mortality rate instead of fifteen.
James clicked back to the Tower Tactics forum and found another thread titled "Floor 1 international teams - share your experience." The first post was from user EmeraldSpear_IE:
"Got paired with four people I'd never met. One guy from Australia (Summoner), one girl from USA (Assassin), one guy from South Korea (Mage), and me (Tank from Ireland). The System's translation worked perfectly so we could understand each other, but our combat styles were completely different. The Australian guy kept trying to coordinate like we were all in voice chat together, the American girl kept going off alone, and the Korean guy didn't talk at all. We cleared it but barely."
A reply underneath:
"Same experience here. My team was from five different countries. The culture clash was real. Some people wanted to strategize, others just charged in. We lost one person because nobody agreed on tactics fast enough."
James checked the time on his laptop. Two hours had passed. His coffee sat cold and untouched on the desk. He closed all the tabs and shut the laptop.
The information was clear enough. Floor 1 was more dangerous than the Tutorial. Teams were formed randomly from people all over the world. Gear durability mattered. One in five people didn't come back. And if you got a bad team with no coordination, your chances of dying went up significantly.
James opened his System interface and navigated to the SHOP tab. A menu appeared in his vision with categories listed vertically: WEAPONS, ARMOR, ACCESSORIES, CONSUMABLES, MISC. Items displayed in grids with images, names, ranks, and prices in Tower Credits. His balance showed 200 TC in the top corner.
He clicked on WEAPONS first.
The menu expanded to show subcategories: swords, axes, spears, bows, daggers, staves, and more options that scrolled past the edge of his vision. James filtered by "sword" and "shield." The prices ranged from 15 TC at the bottom to 500 TC at the top.
He scrolled down to the F-rank section and selected an iron sword. The item description appeared.
[IRON SWORD (F-RANK)]
[+5 PHYSICAL DAMAGE]
[DURABILITY: 100/100]
[BASIC WEAPON - NO SPECIAL EFFECTS]
[COST: 20 TC]
James confirmed the purchase and moved to shields. He selected a wooden shield.
[WOODEN SHIELD (F-RANK)]
[+5 DEFENSE]
[DURABILITY: 80/80]
[BASIC SHIELD - NO SPECIAL EFFECTS]
[COST: 15 TC]
He confirmed that purchase and his balance updated.
[35 TC DEDUCTED. REMAINING BALANCE: 165 TC]
The items appeared in his System inventory without materializing yet.
James navigated to ARMOR. The menu showed heavy armor, medium armor, light armor, cloth armor, and leather armor. He filtered by "light armor" and "cloth." Prices ranged from 20 TC to 800 TC.
He scrolled until he found D-rank reinforced cloth armor for 50 TC.
[REINFORCED CLOTH ARMOR (D-RANK)]
[+20 DEFENSE]
[+10 MAX HP]
[DURABILITY: 150/150]
[LIGHTWEIGHT - NO AGILITY PENALTY]
[COST: 50 TC]
James confirmed the purchase.
[50 TC DEDUCTED. REMAINING BALANCE: 115 TC]
James navigated to ACCESSORIES and scrolled through the options. Dimensional Storage Rings sat near the top. The prices ranged from 100 TC for Basic with twenty slots to 5,000 TC for Advanced with two hundred slots.
His remaining balance was 115 TC. The Basic ring cost 100 TC.
[DIMENSIONAL STORAGE RING (BASIC)]
[20 ITEM SLOTS]
[STORES NON-LIVING MATTER ONLY]
[BOUND TO USER - CANNOT BE STOLEN OR TRADED]
[COST: 100 TC]
James stared at the price. One hundred TC would leave him with fifteen. But without the ring he couldn't store corpses and couldn't carry loot back.
He confirmed the purchase.
[100 TC DEDUCTED. REMAINING BALANCE: 15 TC]
James navigated to his INVENTORY tab. All his purchased items sat in slots waiting to be equipped. He mentally selected "Equip" for each item.
The reinforced cloth armor appeared on his body as dark grey fabric covering his torso and arms. The iron sword appeared in a leather sheath at his hip. The wooden shield strapped to his back. The dimensional storage ring appeared on his right index finger as a plain silver band.
James looked down at himself. Dark grey armor, sword at hip, shield on back. He stood up and the armor moved with him without restricting his movement.
The System window updated.
[EQUIPPED: IRON SWORD (F)]
[+5 PHYSICAL DAMAGE]
[EQUIPPED: WOODEN SHIELD (F)]
[+5 DEFENSE]
[EQUIPPED: REINFORCED CLOTH ARMOR (D)]
[+20 DEFENSE, +10 HP]
[EQUIPPED: DIMENSIONAL STORAGE RING (BASIC)]
[20 SLOTS AVAILABLE]
James opened his full status window.
[NAME: JAMES GANNER]
[CLASS: NECROMANCER (LEGENDARY)]
[LEVEL: 3]
[HP: 242/242]
[MANA: 280/280]
[STRENGTH: 10]
[AGILITY: 16]
[INTELLIGENCE: 23]
[ENDURANCE: 14]
[LUCK: 9]
[PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 10 + 5 (WEAPON) = 15]
[DEFENSE: 0 + 5 (SHIELD) + 20 (ARMOR) = 25]
[TOWER CREDITS: 15 TC]
Fifteen Tower Credits left. Almost nothing. But his HP was higher now and his defense was better than the Tutorial.
James closed the System interface and drew the sword from its sheath. The weight felt balanced in his hand. He swung it once through the air and the blade cut smoothly. He sheathed it again and sat down on his bed.
Evening came. James sat at the kitchen table wearing the armor. The door opened and his mother walked in carrying two bags of groceries. She stopped when she saw him.
"What's that?"
"Armor. For tomorrow."
She set the bags down on the counter and walked over. Her hand reached out and touched the cloth on his shoulder. "This is what you're wearing into the Tower?"
"Yeah."
Her hand stayed on his shoulder for a moment. Then she pulled him into a hug and held him tight. "Come back."
"I will."
She let go and went to put the groceries away. They made dinner together without talking much. The TV played news in the background while they ate. She didn't ask about Floor 1 and he didn't bring it up.
After dinner his mother went to bed early. James stayed in his room and checked his gear again. The sword drew smoothly. The shield strapped to his arm properly. The armor didn't restrict his movement.
James lay down on his bed fully dressed and stared at the ceiling.
James woke up before dawn. The sky outside was still dark. His mother had already left for her shift and the flat was empty and cold. He walked through the kitchen but didn't eat anything because his stomach felt tight.
He went back to his room and opened his System interface. He navigated to the TOWER ACCESS menu.
[FLOOR 1 - UNLOCKED]
[ENTER FLOOR 1? Y/N]
James thought YES.
[CONFIRM FLOOR 1 CHALLENGE?]
[WARNING: DEATH IS PERMANENT]
[TEAMS WILL BE FORMED AUTOMATICALLY]
[Y/N]
James thought YES.
[CONFIRMED. PLEASE WAIT WHILE SYSTEM FORMS TEAM...]
A countdown appeared.
[TEAM FORMATION: 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...]
The countdown reached zero.
[TEAM FORMED. TRANSPORT INITIATING]
White light filled James's vision and his body dissolved. That wrong feeling of being taken apart and put back together somewhere else. The light faded.
James appeared in a grey void. The Waiting Room. Four other people stood nearby, all around his age and all wearing low-rank gear. Nobody talked. They looked at each other briefly then looked away.
The System chimed.
[WELCOME TO FLOOR 1]
[MISSION TYPE: SUBJUGATION]
[OBJECTIVE: ELIMINATE ALL HOSTILE ENTITIES]
[PREPARE FOR TRANSPORT]
James counted the others. A girl with short black hair wearing leather armor and carrying two daggers. A guy with a buzz cut wearing heavy plate armor and holding a large sword. Another girl with long brown hair in a ponytail wearing cloth robes and holding a wooden staff. A thin guy with glasses wearing light armor and carrying a bow.
None of them looked confident.
The System chimed again.
[TRANSPORT INITIATING IN 30 SECONDS]
James touched the sword at his hip to make sure it was still there. The countdown began.