Tower of God belongs to SIU; original works can be read on Webtoon and other official release platforms!
[Prologue]
What do you desire?
Money and wealth?
Honor and pride?
Is it… authority, and power?
Revenge?
Or something that can transcend all of them?
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Whatever you desire—
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— 'is in here'.
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Tower of God
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'begins now'
? - The Cave
"You can't run from me."
"Oh yes, I can… and the fact that you aren't stopping me, convinces me that you won't chase me up the Tower."
"That poor logic of yours again. Why do you care… about going up the Tower, Rachel?" His soft voice echoed in the vast, nearly black, vicinity around them.
They had been through this countless times. He had already told her how he felt about being left behind.
They had talked about this, so many, many times.
She was still backing away from him as she unleashed a hollow laugh; it sounded as if something was slithering in her throat, an odd croak in her hoarse voice he began to notice in her recent company.
Eyes of dark sapphire blue—the kind of colour in which Rachel paid no haste to enviously coo over, often making him secretly embarrassed yet pleased—bore into eyes of gold, almost like the sun he sometimes saw as he laid on his back on the floor of the cave, eagerly watching as she climbed down and recounted her adventures from above.
"Why do you care about climbing up the Tower, Rachel." He reinforced the question, converting it into an emotionless statement as he let go of the memory of the old Rachel, his best friend, in his mind.
He was taller than her now. He could wrestle her, stop her, completely trap her within the means of the cave he was born in, and she would never be able to leave.
You can't run from me… he thought, as she straightened up, her blonde hair glistened with beads of sweat and her hands clutching the hems of the ribbon on her pink dress.
"Khun." She wasn't smiling. "You wouldn't understand. You're afraid of the light. You wouldn't have what it takes, to reach the outer world, at the top of the Tower."
She released a small smile, one that made her appear like a hypocritical mother, disgustingly impatient to desert her child.
"I'm going to see the sky, and the stars, in the real world. Besides, you stay here. You're comfortable living like this, aren't you? I taught you everything you need to know; I even gave you a name."
Her smile widened at his expressionless face, his eyes still searching her for a sign of restraint, perhaps of some newfound attribute of witticism.
But Rachel was not someone who would make such jokes.
Perhaps this was why he realised his mistake a second too late, as the words I'm sorry, Khun, goodbye left her lips. He wanted her to turn back and change her mind, let her tell him that maybe she didn't need the ridiculous stars and sky after all, that she was fine with just living together like this.
Because that was what he wanted—
And he found himself running after her, his hands outstretched, an emotion of fear actually streaming through him—Rachel, don't go—
"Rachel!" he gasped out, shocked at his own shout, as he heard her frantic strides ahead of him in the dark, clearly anxious to exit the cave uncaught.
"Don't tell me you're actually chasing me!" he heard her scream, sounding unlike the girl he knew, "I'm doing this for me! Don't follow me, Khun!"
The blonde ponytail was the brightest thing he saw as he sprinted faster, and with a vicious lunge, he seized her hair with such ferocity that she fell onto the ground, letting out a cry as he tumbled on top of her.
"Let me go, Khun!" she shouted, deafening his ears, and this time, there was desperation in her voice; there was none of the distant, slithering, cold tone from earlier.
"Don't go, Rachel! Stay with me! Who cares about the stupid stars?! Don't I matter more to you?" he pleaded, feeling his eyes well up. "I've always waited for you! Please, Rachel—"
His best friend raised an eyebrow, her eyes ignoring his tears. "You… never say please."
She smirked.
The space underneath her was glowing like a warm, golden ocean, eager to sink her below. It was so bright that it burned his senses.
The entrance to the Tower was open.
"Looks like I've been chosen to head up the Tower, Khun," she hissed into his ear, enjoying the look of extreme fear on his face as his breathing hitched—"have… fun, being trapped in here," she added as an afterthought, relishing the taste of triumph as she evaporated into nothingness, and he tumbled onto the cold, rocky ground, seeing nothing but darkness.
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"Rachel… I will never forgive you."