Finn nodded, sitting up straighter. “Alright. First… is all that Yukha said true?”

  “More or less,” Halgon replied casually.

  “So, you really were listening to our versation?” Finn pressed.

  “Of course. Any versation that happens ihreshold, I hear it,” Halgon said. “It’s like the wind whispers it to me. Processing all that information at once is easy too—one of the perks of being a demigod.”

  Finn frowned slightly but pressed on. “Yukha mentiohe invitation and the system. Was all of that true? And if it was, then why haven’t I received them? The other didates got theirs ten years ago—shouldn’t I have gotten mioo? Did I somehow miss it?”

  “Slow down, Finn,” Halgon said, raising a hand to calm him. “I’ll answer everything—oep at a time.”

  “Right. Sorry,” Finn said, leaning bad taking a deep breath.

  “About the invitation and the system,” Halgon began. “You didn’t miss anything ten years ago. You being summoned here… it wasn’t p all. It was a sudden decision. Remember the fire? You were about to die, and someone heard your prayers. That’s why you’re here now, instead of burning to death.”

  Finn’s eyes widened. “The Fire God?” he asked quickly.

  “Yes,” Halgon said with a nod. “I’m surprised you figured that out so quickly.”

  “I kind of had a feeling,” Finn admitted.

  “She’s known about you for a long time,” Halgon tinued. “In fact, she wao give you the invitation and the system ten years ago, like the others. But as Yukha mentioned earlier, we ’t interfere with Earth. Even if we gave them to you, you wouldn’t have been able to receive them. That much is clear, given how clueless you are right now.”

  Finn frowned. “What’s wrong with Earth?”

  Halgon’s expression turned grim. “Unfortunately, we know very little about your world. What we do know is that some kind of barrier surrounds it. A powerful force has dominion over Earth—something a. Perhaps… even older and strohan the Freat Gods.”

  Finn caught the hesitation in his voice. “So if you ’t interfere with Earth,” he asked, “how was I summoned here? And how could I evehe fire element back there?”

  Halgon sighed. “That, I don’t fully know,” he admitted. “But it’s not unheard of. Even though we ’t interfere with Earth, we observe it. In the past, there were humans like you—ones who could use elemental powers lio the Fods. But as they aged, their pradually faded until they could no longer use them at all."

  “As for how you were summoned here… my theory is that the being guardih allowed it. Maybe it also heard your prayer and wanted you to live. But that’s just my guess—I have no way to firm it.”

  Finn’s mind swirled with questions. “So I’m an outlier,” he said slowly. “Has anything like this ever happened before?”

  Halgon paused, his gaze distant, before finally responding.

  “Yes,” he said. “This isn’t the first time. It happened once before—one hundred years ago, during the st Assion Ceremony.”

  "You mean someone from Earth had climbed the tower before?" Finn asked.

  "Yes. And he brought a huge ge to the Assion Ceremony. For the good too," Halgon replied.

  "ged it? How?" Finn asked.

  "Stats, skills, affinities, leveling up. Doesn't those words sound familiar to you?" Halgon asked.

  "Yes, they sound like they got ripped off straight from an RPG," Finn said, raising an eyebrow.

  "That’s because they were," Halgon replied with a grin.

  “What do you mean?” Finn asked, intrigued.

  “In the Assion Ceremonies of the past, things were a lot more… chaotic,” Halgon began. “There was no structure, no guidance. didates were thrown into their trials with little uanding of what was expected of them. That all ged st millennium, when that challenger from Earth arrived. He not only succeeded in quering the tower, but he also proposed something revolutionary.”

  Finn leaned forward, curious.

  “He suggested turning the Assion Ceremony into something more structured,” Halgon tinued. “He introduced us to cepts like stats, skills, leveling up, and the system. Like an RPG game as you said. His knowledge of these ideas was so extehat we deyed his ruling on a p just so he could help us develop it. For ten years, he worked with us to struct what you now know as the Assion System. Thankfully, we pleted it well before we sent out the first invitations for this millennium’s ceremony, which gave us time to test and refi. It worked better than we expected—it brought order to the chaos. Everything ran smoothly once we impleme.”

  Finn’s jaw dropped. “You mean someone from Earth actually made it to the top? Did he have the same circumstances as me?”

  If someone like him had mao quer the tower, maybe I had a ce too.

  “Not quite,” Halgon replied. “You see, when we sent him the invitation, he wasn’t oh. He was an astronaut, and that time he was away, floating outside Earth’s barrier. Because of that, we were able to ie him into another p, where he trained and prepared for ten years before entering the tower.”

  Finn couldn’t believe it. If the creature guardih really owerful as Halgon described, he wouldn't have allowed that to happen even when one of his subjects was away from Earth.

  “An astronaut getting ied into another p? His story sounds like something out of an isekai novel. And he didn’t even need ving? You didn't kidnap him did you?”

  “Not at all,” Halgon said, chug. “He was enthusiastic, almost unnervingly so. He had n attats to Earth and was eager for the challenge.”

  Finn smirked. That guy’s the protagonist of a light novel, for sure.

  “And where is he now?” Finn asked, genuinely ied ironaut’s fate.

  “He’s ruling his ow,” Halgon said. “He’s been its leader ever since we fihe Assion System.”

  “I see.” Fihe information sink in before asking the question burning in his mind. “So what about me? Will I still get the system?”

  “Of course,” Halgon said with a smile. “In fact, do you want to receive it now?”

  “Yes!” Finn said, jumping to his feet.

  Halgon ughed heartily. “Are humans always this eager, or are you two just the exceptions?”

  Finn grinned. “So, how do I get it?”

  Before Halgon could respond, a transparent s materialized in front of Finn:

  ACCEPT INVITATION TO TOWER OF ASSION?

  “Do I just say yes?” Finn asked, gng at Halgon.

  “You say it out loud or just think it,” Halgon replied.

  Without hesitation, Fially said, Yes.

  Another s immediately repced the first:

  ACCEPT THE ASSION SYSTEM?

  Again, Finn responded with a silent, Yes.

  This time, a familiar-looking loading s appeared:

  LOADING . . .

  It even had the cssic dotted animation, though Finn couldn’t help but think it needed a tip at the bottom to feel like a prame. His heart raced as the anticipation built.

  Finally, the s shifted:

  IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSFUL.

  Fi a surge of excitement as his status s appeared:

  Name: Finn Hayes

  Health: 50/50

  Mana: 45/50

  Age: 21

  Level: 1

  Race: Human

  P: Earth

  Css: None

  Elemental Affinities:

  Stone: 5

  Water: 5

  Fire: 15

  Wind: 5

  Free Points: 0

  Specialty:

  Fire

  Attributes:

  stitution: 5

  Strength: 5

  Perception: 5

  Wisdom: 5

  Free Points: 10

  Skills:

  None

  Blessings:

  [Universal Language]

  Vows:

  []

  Valor Points: 100

  The first thing Finn noticed was his level: 1.

  So, I’m really starting at level 1, huh

  “Well?” Halgon asked, watg Finn’s expression.

  “It’s… surreal,” Finn said.

  He gnced upward, notig the health and mana dispyed promily at the top of the s. o the numbers were colored bars—red for health and blue for mana.

  It really is just like a game interface, Finn thought, his brow furrowing slightly. But something bothered him. Why isn’t my mana full? I haven’t even done anythi.

  Before he could dig deeper into that mystery, something else caught his attention.

  Css: None

  He tilted his head. So I o choose a css for myself, he assumed, feeling a mix of curiosity and apprehension.

  “How do I y css? Am I allowed to?” Finn asked.

  “Yes,” Halgon replied. “Just mentally cli it, and the options will appear.”

  Finn did as instructed. A list of csses appeared before him, filled with familiar names like Warrior, Knight, Archer, Mage, and Cleric, along with many others.

  He immediately dismissed the melee csses. He had no training in hand-to-hand bat, and physical fitness wasly his strong suit. Sure, melee csses might offer buffs to increase his proficy, but he didn’t feel fident that even that could make up for his ck of experience.

  Archers, and anything in the ranged on category, didn’t appeal to him either. He’d ouched a bow and arrow in his life. Even in FPS games, his accuracy was ughable. The thought of relying on preade him ge. Those were off the table as well.

  That left magic. He figured Mage would probably suit him best, but before deg, he went through the other csses just to be thh.

  After what felt like ay of readihy descriptions and growing increasingly disied, Finn gave up and turo Halgon for advice.

  “So, I’m not really profit in melee bat ed bat, to be ho,” Finn admitted.

  “I don’t think I’m suited to fighting in general. So, I’m thinking of just pig the css I’d enjoy the most instead. Which css would be best if I wao focus on trolling and amplifying the fire element? Burning stuff up is probably what I’d be best at, and holy, it’s what I’d enjoy the most. Plus, I’d like to learn fire-based skills too.”

  “In that case, Mage would be the most suitable for you,” Halgon replied.

  “The Mage css gives bonus stat points in Wisdom every time you level up. Wisdom increases your mana, which is essential for trolling the elements. The more mana you have, the better you’ll be at handling fire.”

  Finn had already suspected as much, but a small part of him had hoped there might be some kind of hidden fire-specific css that would give him a unique edge.

  Guess I’ll have to settle fe

  He mentally selected the Mage css, and its description appeared:

  Mage: A css focused on honing one’s mastery over the elements. Mages rely oal magic during bat, prioritizing it over physical strength or onry.

  Css Bonus: +2 Wisdom per level

  CHOOSE THIS CLASS?

  After a few moments of hesitation, Finn thought, Yes.

  CLASS SUCCESSFULLY CHOSEN.

  With that, his status s updated. His ow read Fire Mage instead of None.

  “Why does it say Fire Mage instead of just Mage?” Finn asked.

  “That happens automatically,” Halgon expined.

  “Your specialty—the element with the highest affinity in your status—is added to your ame. For example, Water Warrior, Wind Archer, or Fire Mage, as in your case.”

  “Is there any be to that?” Finn asked.

  “Yes,” Halgon replied. “If you maintain your ame—Fire Mage, in your case—beyond level 25, you’ll start earning additional boo your specialty. Each time you level up after 25, you’ll gain ara +2 to your Fire affinity. But that’s only if you tinue iing your points into Fire ahe Fire Mage designation.”

  Finn he system seemed to ence specialization, and fire was definitely where he excelled.

  “Got it,” Finn said. He couldn’t help but feel a spark of excitement. “Fire Mage, huh? I like how that sounds.”