He sat behind the counter of the small restaurant. He wore a simple gray uniform. On his face was a fake smile that was only just good enough to trick the customers.

  He spent every moment doing his best to keep working after all, even a moment of ‘slacking’ got him well at by his boss.

  After work, he only had one hobby, and his job was barely paying him what he needed to make it through the day-to-day life. The little he had left over was spent on a cheap computer that he used mostly to read web novels.

  He had no friends, no real family, no dreams left. He is no one. But he was fine with that.

  Ah, what am I doing here? He thought as he stood at the counter. What was I doing?

  He felt a hand on his shoulder, “Max, you ok?” his coworker asked.

  “Ah ya I’m fine,” Max said, turning back to face the man. Ah, what was I thinking about?

  Max got to work bagging the food and blocking out the sound of the customers that never seemed to understand that you don’t need to scream every word you speak. Time felt as if every second was forever, and that this endless work would never pass. With every tick of the clock, it felt as if a bit of my soul was dying.

  “Max, go take your break.” Max’s boss said as she stepped through the back door to the counter and bagging area to take Max’s place for the short half-hour break.

  Max moved quickly, heading to the break room in the back. He sat down on the chair that felt cheaper than school chairs. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, then went to read the latest novel he had gotten into.

  Why do I feel so off today? He thought, leaning back in the chair.

  Was there something I needed to do? I locked the front door, and the oven was off. Max reached up and scratched the top of his head.

  “Did I really give up my body to someone this slow!?”

  Max came crashing to the ground as the chair fell back. “Who the-” Max looked up at the girl with long black hair, her green eye looked down at him. Half of her face was missing. From where it should be, strange blue words floated away like a gas, lowly lifting into the air before dissolving into the surrounding air.

  “Come on, you should have been able to see through this place, I mean, the customers don’t even have proper faces!” The girl said in an annoyed tone as she spoke.

  Max felt compelled to listen to the girl and, for a moment, thought back to the customers. No, that can’t be true? But even though Max felt that the girl was right, the more he tried to recall what anyone looked like, the less he could.

  Now that I think about it. My coworkers looked wrong, but how? Max thought back then he realized it, with every look their faces changed as if he was “I’m Dreaming?” Skye asked as it began to come back to him.

  “I had taken the Inscription potion then.” Max forced himself to stand, steadying his hand on the table.

  “This must be a part of the absorption process?” Max thought out loud.

  “Geez, that took you so long,” Zoe said.

  Max looked up at Zoe’s face. After looking over it a moment, he looked away and back. Her face is the same.

  “You're done trying to decide if I’m real or not? Good because I am.” Zoe said with a slight smile. “But man, your life really sucked!” Zoe had a smile on her face as she sat on a nearby table. “No wonder you seemed so ok with ending up in my body!”

  “Wait, you're the real Zoe?!” Max said, stepping back from the shock.

  “I just said that, man, you're slow, more than normal. Maybe cus your still only half awake?” Zoe asked with a shrug before pointing at Max, “Anyways to answer your questions, One yes, I have still been in this here the whole time, Secant nope I have no clue how I became a vampire nor why you are in my body.”

  Max rubbed the back of his head, “I had not even asked anything yet…”

  “But you were going to, I'm sure,” Zoe smiled and leaned back, “Anything else?”

  “Well, are you not mad about me taking over your body?”

  “Why would I? To you, my life may seem nice, but for me? It’s been hell, honestly I only kept living for my dad.” Zoe was smiling, yet Max could feel a strange sadness in his own chest.

  “Anyway, even if I did, it would not matter,” Zoe reached up to the word smoke that was coming from the missing half of her face. “My soul does not have long left, really I think I’m only a small part of the original Zoe. Most of me was already gone by the time your soul took over.”

  If most of her was gone, then does that mean the damage I see is only from around a week? Max thought. “But you still have at least a few months, right?

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Maybe,” Zoe said as she slid off the table and back onto the floor. “Anyway, you want to get out of here, right?”

  “Ah, I guess I should do that.” Max rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you know the way?”

  “Nope, but you should after all, now that you're not half asleep, you should be able to see the cracks as I do.” Zoe smiled as she stepped out of the door from the break room.

  “H-Hay wait,” Max said, falling behind.

  As soon as he stepped out of the room, he came to a dead stop. It was wrong, covered in cracks from which the same word gas spilled out. “What the hell?” he muttered under his breath.

  Max walked along, Zoe falling behind him. The halls that he once seemed to know like the back of his hand were now long and winding pathways that seemed to make no sense, paths that should clearly meet never did, and sometimes he found himself back at the start.

  “Why the hell is this place so fucking confusing!” Max said, scratching the back of his head.

  “I don’t know, maybe because you're confusing,” Zoe said with a smile as she looked at Max.

  “You know I don’t know what I expected you to be like, but it was not this,” Max said, letting out a sigh as he walked along the path.

  “Oh, I do have a question I forgot until now, were you influencing me or something?” Max asked, hearing his footsteps echo in the strange space.

  “In what way?”

  “I mean like, were you why I was so early able to get used to being a girl?” Really, that must be it, right? Max thought.

  “Yep, you have three brain cells,” Zoe said with a hand wave.

  “What does that mean!?”

  “Oh, looks like we are almost out of time,” Zoe said with a smile that did not reach her eyes as she pointed at a large door.

  Max could feel it behind that door was the exit, “Don’t worry, I’m sure you will see me again.” Zoe said with a smile as she pushed Max forward.

  “Wait, you did not answer my question!” Max yelled.

  “Come on, don’t be so stubborn. I’m sure you can tell this place is falling apart. If you don’t leave, it will be all over for both of us ok?” Zoe put on that smile.

  “Fine, but you'd better still be around so I can see you again!” Max turned and opened the door, stepping through.

  The door disappeared behind him as he began to look around. “Now, where am I?” Max thought out loud as he did so.

  The room was circular with a dome-shaped roof, the blue words from before covering and moving along it in a spiral pattern. The soft glow of the writing was the only light that filled the room, casting the whole room in a dim blue tint.

  In the center of the room was a massive blank tablet that appeared to be made of marble or some other whitish stone.

  [Conditions for inscribing meet] A voice called out.

  Max spun around, seeing a small blue orb floating behind him.

  [The paths that stand before you are Devourer, Berserker, Hunter, and Reader]

  [Please select a path.]

  The voice was strange and cold, like a robot. The system? Max thought.

  [Correct, I’m System self unit ZR-09982.]

  “You can read my thoughts?”

  [Yes.]

  “Why, how are you here?”

  [I became apart from you when you cleared the 1st floor of the tower.]

  “Ok, how are you talking? You could not do that before!”

  [During the process of inscription, I’m granted more power for the procedure.]

  Max smile, well this is nice I can get some answers to some questions.

  “What is at the top of the tower?” Max asked.

  The orb blacked, changing to yellow then white, and back for a moment. Is it thinking? Then it changed to a deep red.

  [Your clearance is too low to access that information.]

  “Ah, that’s ok, I kind of saw that coming,” Max said. “Let's just rapid-fire a few questions. Why did the dungeons appear? What is the tower's goal, and why was my tenth trial so hard?”

  The orb began to change colors from yellow to white for a bit before landing on red, then doing it again, landing on red once more. But on the last try it landed on red only for it to change to green a moment later.

  [Can not accuse that information for questions one and two, but the tower approved an answer to the last question, ‘balance’ was its only answer.]

  “Balance?” Max repeated thinking, was I too strong? No way, I mean, I barely managed to clear it. Maybe too many people had managed to clear it this time?

  “Ah, how can I raise my clearance?” Max asked,

  The orb did not even change colors this time. [Climb the tower.]

  “Ok, guess it’s time to pick my inscription, well, berserker and hunter are out. No way I want to go mad whenever I want to use my power well more than I already do, and hunter sounds way too boring.” Max tapped his foot.

  “So I guess that leaves Devourer or Reader.” Max tapped his foot, “Well, Devourer sounds like it would be related to my vampire side, while Reader would be due to me being a transmigrator? Ah, System, can you tell me more about these options?”

  [Sure, Zoe, Devourer’s requirements eat another living being while still alive, Trial difficulty seven out of ten.]

  [Reader, requirements step outside of fate, Trial difficulty Max]

  “What?” Max froze in place, “I guess I was right, but that is like no info, can you give me any more about them?”

  The orb flashed and seemed to ask the main system once more. [No more information can be given.]

  Max let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. “Well, ok I guess I should take,” Max wanted to say Devourer’s but stopped, I mean is it less of a risk? If I’m going to live my whole life in this world, then should I take Reader? I mean, the difference from a seven to ten is not that much?

  Max stood there for a what felt like forever just thinking. I should not take risks if I don’t have to, but why do I feel that the reader is the right one? I mean, I am a reader, so I guess.

  “Who am I kidding? From the moment I froze up, I had made my decision, even if it is a risk, I feel I have to take it in this case.”

  Max took a deep breath and closed his eyes, steadying his heartbeat, “I will take the path of a reader.” Max said, holding out his hand.

  [Understood beginning inscription, Good luck.]

  The world began to shift, spinning in words until everything around him had changed. He was no longer in the spherical, roofed room. In his old bedroom, before him sat a book.

  Max looked around. He was sitting at his desk, but his computer was missing along with the little other furniture he had. Guess I’m meant to read it? Makes sense, I guess.

  The cover of the book was black with no words to be found. Flipping it over was the same. Max opened the book to the first page only.

  All things come to ash, but from ash hope may yet rise.

  Max reread the line again. Something about it made his heart begin to race. But he flipped to the next page.

  Beyond our world, there exist many others, from ones that are so different you can not imagine them to even those that connect to the tower just like our own.

  The words began to change, shifting into symbols and numbers that made no sense. It was as if something was trying to stop him from reading, but the book kept drawing him in deeper and deeper, and his head began to pound. Then a migraine set in, yet he did not stop.

  I need to stop. But even as the word crossed his mind, he knew he could not stop. It felt like reading the best story he had ever read, but even better than that.

  Then, snapping him out of the book, he felt a hand on the back of his shoulder.

  Max flung himself around, looking at the person who had placed a hand on his neck, Zoe, the real Zoe.

  “Still not thinking of yourself as the real one yet? Guess that makes sense…” Zoe had a strange smile that made her look older than her words, “Your soul looks like shit, I mean, you're covered in cracks.”

  Max looked down, and he could see them running up and down his body, small bits of him flaking off. “Looks like you're going to get the body back anyway,” Max said, rubbing the back of his neck, and I’m going to day after only a few days in this new world, really should not have tested it.

  “I need you to promise me something,” Zoe got inches away from Max’s face, “Stop taking risks if you don’t have backup plans, Yes I know it will be hard yes, I’m sure you will have to break this promise, but only do so when not acting would risk losing more than acting, ok?”

  “Why are you saying this as if this is your end?” Max asked, his hands shaking.

  “Also, take care of my old man, he is a bit overbearing sometimes, but he is a good father. Oh, one more thing, Ivan definitely likes you.” With the last bit of teasing, Zoe shattered, and the blue words began to flow into the cracks all over Max’s body.

  Every part of him felt like it was on fire, it was as if he was being cooked alive. What the hell is happening! He screamed as he felt the cracks healing over and rapidly changing, then after what felt like forever. The pain stopped, and Max passed out.

  [Inscription complete]

  [User Zoe Rose's soul is in a state of weakness force returning.]

  That was the last sound Zoe heard before she opened her eyes. Am I back in the training room? She thought as she looked around at the white walls and saw Ivan sitting at the other end, wide-eyed.