After leaving the floor of creation, William and Chiffon appeared in a pure white world. There was nothing to see in this world, only the color white.
William frowned. According to the information he had, the next floor was called the Floor of Waterfalls. It was a floor that had over a thousand waterfalls, and the test would be finding the right waterfall where a treasure was hidden.
However, the world they were in didn’t have anything. There was no sky, no scenery, nothing, but only pure white. It didn’t take long for him to realize that something was wrong. William pulled Chiffon close to him as he scanned his surroundings.
He didn’t want to get caught by unexpected surprises, especially surprises from the Guardians of the Tower of Babylon.
Chiffon clung to her Big Brother’s arms while scanning the surroundings. She distinctly felt that something was wrong, but she didn’t know what it was.
Two minutes passed in silence before the area above their heads opened up.
Just like a box that had been opened, they saw a blue sky. The sides of the pure white world also collapsed revealing beings that surrounded the two teenagers from every direction.
They came in all shapes and sizes, and some of them looked very alien.
As the two looked around, they recognized two familiar faces.
Xod looked at William as if the Half-Elf had owned him a million gold coins. Oogwei, on the other hand, had a smile on its face. It even waved at William and Chiffon, and the pink-haired girl waved back in return.
As if the last piece of the puzzle fell in place, William finally realized who these beings surrounding them were.
‘They are the Guardians of Babylon,’ William thought.
“Correct.”
A being who looked like a Jellyfish floated in front of William. Its head was purple in color, while its tentacles had the colors of the rainbow.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” the Jellyfish said in a calm and soothing voice. “My name is JellyBelle, and I am the Guardian of the 50th Floor of Babylon.”
William nodded his head in acknowledgement, “I am William and this girl beside me is Chiffon.”
“I know,” JellyBelle replied. “Oogwei had already told us a bit about both of you. Tell me, William, what is your reason for climbing this tower?”
The Guardians looked at William with a serious expression. What they were doing right now was against the rules of the Tower. However, after hearing Oogwei’s story, all of them convened and made a joint decision.
What is that joint decision?
It was to have a serious talk with William and find out his real reason for climbing the Tower. JellyBelle had the power to read the mind and heart of anyone. No one could beat it when it came to interrogations.
All it needed to do was use one of its rainbow-colored tentacles to pry the answer directly from William’s mind. However, since what they were doing now was illegal, it decided to take the pacifist approach and just settled for a dialogue.
This was the first time that all the Guardians below the 50th Floor had brought a player to their domain, and perhaps, there would be no precedence after.
“I came to the Tower with the intention to clear the 51st Floor,” William answered.
“And why do you want to clear it?” JellyBelle inquired. “You already know that none have been able to clear it for the past thousand years, and yet, you still want to clear it? Do you know how many have come to challenge that floor? These people are stronger than you.
“In our eyes, you are just an outstanding youth, but that’s it. Sure, you may be able to reach my Floor, but it is impossible for you to clear the 51st Floor.”
William smiled. He didn’t understand why the Guardian of the 50th Floor was telling him these things. In his perspective, the Guardians should remain neutral and not interfere with whatever the players wanted.
However, right now, they kidnapped him and Chiffon. What could this mean? It meant that things weren’t so simple. Although JellyBelle seemed to berate William, the tone it used didn’t have malice or any kind of hostility.
“It doesn’t matter whether I can clear the 51st Floor or not,” William stated. “The fact still remains that my purpose for coming here is to go to the Floor of the Devils and conquer it.”
“Just where is your confidence coming from? Are you thinking of using your million-strong goblin army to pave the floor for you?” JellyBelle asked in an amused tone.
Several of the Guardians also chuckled. Truthfully, they too, didn’t know what was on the 51st Floor.
The 1st Floor up to the 50th Floor were called the Challenger Floors.
The 51st up to the 100th Floor was called the Floors of the Elite.
The Guardians of the Challengers and the Guardians of the Floors of the Elite were separated into different planes.
None of them could interact with each other.
This was why the Guardians didn’t know what kind of Challenge was available on the 51st Floor, which had stopped humanity’s climb to the top of the Tower.
Truth be told, the Guardians wanted to know what was on the other side. That way, they would know the reason as to why no one had succeeded in the past. Right now, no one dared to climb up to the 51st Floor.
Most of them only wanted to reach the 50th Floor, and the Guardians had already given up on Humanity.
However, William came. If he was only someone that wanted to climb the tower then that was fine. But, he was climbing the tower with the intention of reaching the 51st Floor and clearing it.
To the Guardians this was good news because they could finally use William as their eye, to see what was on the other side of the veil, that even their authority failed to breach. Even so, they must first know if the Half-Elf was really serious in climbing the tower, or if he was just spouting nonsense to make himself look good in their eyes.
“I don’t know the reason why you brought me here, and I don’t really care,” William said as he held Chiffon’s hand firmly. “Just like everyone in the tower, I am climbing it for my own reasons. I humbly ask all of you to allow us to proceed to the next floor. People’s lives depended on my mission.”
JellyBelle floated near William and extended its tentacle towards his forehead.
“Don’t move,” JellyBelle ordered. “If you cooperate we will let you go unharmed, but if you resist, you will stay here in this place forever.”
Although the Guardian’s tone was still civil, the aura it radiated would not accept any opposition.
JellyBelle pressed the tip of its tentacle on William’s forehead. It didn’t care whether the Half-Elf wanted to cooperate or not.
The Guardian of the 50th Floor only wanted to know one thing. It wanted to know if William really had the ability to end the boredom that it felt for the past thousand years.
