Elias rose from the floor, his legs trembling. The adrenaline from earlier hadn't faded. If anything it clung tighter now, like wet cloth around his spine. His mouth was dry. And his heart? It was still pounding from the things he'd done.
But he had no time to regret. No time to feel.
The floor had vanished beneath him.
He screamed as he fell.
The void welcomed him once more, a whole of nothing. Then. The screen appeared before him as he was falling mid-air.
---
Tutorial - Hell Mode
Objective: Escape the labyrinth within one hour. Failure to comply will result in death.
---
"You've got to be kidding me," Elias croaked, still falling. "Let me rest, you sick bastards."
But the Tower was merciless.
Through the vertigo, he glimpsed the vast design of the labyrinth sprawled beneath him. It wasn't a maze. It was a breathing city of stone, pulsating and alive. The walls weren't stationary, they shifted, twisting like gears in some colossal beast. Passageways opened and sealed within seconds.
And then, he hit the ground.
He slammed into the cold floor. Pain exploded in his shoulder. Gasping, he rolled over and cursed the Tower. Again.
The walls around him moved like waves in a storm. A grotesque marching of stone.
The timer appeared before him.
[58:20]
"I need to move. And fast."
But where? How? He stared at the ever-shifting paths. His feet felt glued to the floor. His thoughts scattered like dust.
"Actually, what am I supposed to do in here? What even is this place?!"
He knew the answer.
It was Hell.
Elias closed his eyes, drawing on the only tool he had.
"Cosplay: Jack the Ripper."
---
Skill on Cooldown.
---
"Right..." His voice broke. "I... Forgot about that."
The reminder ticked down like a funeral bell in his chest.
[56:39]
He couldn't wait any longer. So he ran.
Within seconds, a wall almost crushed him. He dodged right only to find himself circling back to where he started.
[52:11]
Then again. And again.
[47:08]
Each wrong turn chipped away at his sanity.
[45:23]
"Fuck! What kind of tutorial is this?! This isn't a test, it's a death sentence!"
Panic flowed at his throat. The walls were playing with him, like a rat in a cage. His body ran on fumes. His brain felt troubled.
"Damn it! Cosplay: Jack the Ripper!"
This time, it worked.
The transformation wasn't gentle.
A biting chill swept through him, spreading through his veins. His coat darkened and lengthened, the air felt heavier. And in his hands were 2 surgical blades, sharp and slick.
And then came the voice. Smooth. Velvet and Inhuman.
"Ah... how exquisite."
"A maze of madness. A stage for butchery."
He grinned... a thin, sharp grin that didn't belong to Elias.
"Tell me, Tower... am I the hunter here... Or the prey?"
Jack moved.
He flowed like smoke, weaving between walls that clashed together with the sound of collapsing buildings. His blades slashed as he spun, directing enemies that didn't exist.
But every path led back to the beginning.
Always.
"Hmph... Is that all?"
"A game. A riddle without an answer. How delightfully banal."
The smile faded. He skidded to a stop. The blades vanished. His coat began to shrink.
The skull's duration had expired.
Elias stumbled forward, collapsing to his knees.
"Shit… Shit."
[30:17]
His breaths were shallow. Each second became heavier than the last.
The walls still moved.
No pattern. No pause. Just endless rearrangement. A living labyrinth designed to break the mind. An impossible puzzle.
That's when it struck him.
An impossible puzzle.
His thoughts jumped. Sherlock Holmes. The greatest detective of fiction. He'd portrayed him twice, years ago, back before the Tower, before all of this. For the role, he'd watched hundreds of hours of murder documentaries, read classic mysteries novels, studied behavioral analysis and deductive logic until he dreamed of it.
It was method acting. Obsessive and maybe even delusional.
But now?
It might be his salvation.
"Cosplay: Sherlock Holmes!"
---
Skill still in Cooldown.
---
He slammed his fist against the ground.
"OH COME ON!"
[24:54]
The walls mocked him with their movements. Every second lost was another nail in his coffin.
Then...
"Cosplay: Sherlock Holmes!"
It activated.
The shift was very... Elegant. His back straightened. A heavy coat draped over his frame, fitted and clean. A monocle slid into place over his right eye, and a magnifying glass manifested in his gloved hand. His breathing slowed. Calmness washed over him entirely.
His voice changed too. It was no longer Elias speaking.
"Ah. At last. A puzzle worthy of my time."
Sherlock adjusted his monocle and surveyed the labyrinth with hawk-like precision.
"A living structure. Non-Euclidean... almost mischievously primitive."
"But every chaos has pattern, no matter how well disguised."
He didn't rush. He watched the walls and path changed.
His eyes flicked to the corners of the moving stone, noting intervals, shifts, and misalignments. He moved only when necessary, stepping into motion with calculated steps.
Each step was a counter-move in a grand mental chessboard.
"Fascinating," he murmured.
"Observe, each wall rotates at intervals of 4.7 seconds. Some deceive, some double back."
"Ah. There. A rhythm."
Sherlock began weaving through the maze, not by speed, but by deduction. He predicted the turns before they came. He knew where to stand and when to wait.
The labyrinth became quiet around him.
And in his mind, it was already solved.
[19:33]
Time was running out.
And so was the skill duration.
Each second passed with a weight he ignored. His expression remained passive, mind racing behind his calm eyes.
Then.
He saw it.
The exit. Hidden behind a folding corridor that would open every thirty seconds.
Sherlock waited. Three. Two. One.
He stepped through.
[16:29]
---
Tutorial Complete.
Reward:
1 Stat Points30 Tower Credits
Leveled up!
You are now Level 7
---
At the exit, Sherlock turned to face the maze one last time.
"How… incredible... disappointingly simple."
"In the end it was just challenge for children."
Then the transformation collapsed.
Elias staggered, hands on his knees, lungs heaving, but something had changed.
The sharp clarity hadn't left him. The aftertaste of intellect still lingered in his bones. It felt... really incredible.
"Not bad," he whispered to himself. "I'm getting good at this."
But that thought, that tiny, cocky spark, was far too bright.
Because the Tower was always listening.
And it never liked arrogance.
He took a deep breath, wiped the sweat from his brow, and then said it.
"Status."
A soft ding echoed.
Then a screen appeared before him.
---
[Status Screen]
Name: Elias Cross
Class: Performer
Level: 7
HP: 240/240 | MP: 40
StatPoints:
Strength: 15 | Agility: 18 | Intelligence: 22 |
Charisma: 45 | Endurance: 14 | Luck: 23 |
Unassignedpoints: 1
---
Skills:
Cosplay -Transform into a character you've portrayed. Gain their abilities and experience.
Duration: 15 minutes.
Cooldown: 5 minutes.
---
PassiveSkills:
ActingMastery – Enhances emotional control and mental adaptability.
Fanfare – The greater the audience reaction, the stronger the performance.
---
Elias stared at the screen, his lips twitching into something between a smirk and disbelief.
"Level seven already, huh?" he muttered.
Then his eyes drifted to the stat changes. His Charisma had jumped the most.
"…Of course. This shitty Tower really wants a show."
Then the screen disappeared .
And the silence after felt heavier than before.