Reminisce | Tower of God

Chapter 4

“Those of you who passed the test, make a line!” a woman with blonde hair and headphones instructed. A strange creature, or perhaps device, hovered by her head, dressed in the same stripes of yellow and black. “Oh, and let me introduce myself. Hi! I’m the test guide, Yellowy. And as for this next test, it’ll be conducted one team after another. So the first team may enter now. For the remaining teams, please wait and follow the guide robot’s instructions.”

Elyse watched as the team with the red-haired boy from earlier walked past the ribbon held up by the test guide’s robot and disappeared beyond the doors to wherever the next test would take place.

Besides her, she heard Khun sigh in annoyance. Her brother, on the other hand, was busy glancing around the room. She didn’t blame him. Neither of them had ever been in such a place before.

The blue haired boy hadn’t shared the sentiment. “What’s so interesting, Bam?”

Her brother’s response was less than confident. “It’s just … I’ve never been in such a bright place before.” And with his eyes trained upwards, toward the windows that made up the ceiling, he added, “That blue thing … is that what’s called the ‘sky’?”

“Yeah, why are you asking about obvious things? It’s like you've never seen the sky before.”

Elyse sighed at the irony of the statement. Though her brother wasn’t fazed by it at all, only beaming at the answer he’d received. “Oh! So it is the sky! I heard if you keep going up into the sky, you can get to the bright stars.”

“What?” Khun replied with a deadpan. “What are you talking about, Bam? Stars are just a legend. That blue sky is created by shinsu, and the bright thing at night is just a light ball. I heard there are stars in the outside world, but they don’t exist here. Now just focus on the test.”

Disheartened, her brother forced a sheepish laugh. “I’m sorry.”

Saddened at his disappointment, she reached out to pat him on the shoulder gently, having seen Rachel do the same thing several times before. Though her fingertips had only brushed his sleeve before a scream made her flinch and pull back her hand.

Her blue haired teammate had been the first to speak up. “What’s that sound?”

Elyse frowned, staring at the door the first team had passed through. “I think … it’s coming from in there.”

The test guide only smiled, ignoring the murmurs from the crowd of regulars. “Next team, please,” she said, gesturing toward the entrance to the next test area. 

Gulping, Elyse gripped onto the fabric of her skirt. Screams. More likely than not, they meant the people inside were dead, killed maybe. What kind of test would she have to face?

The thought kept her anxious as she waited for the teams that came before hers to take the test. Only three out of the ten that had gone through the doors hadn’t screamed. With only one group left before it was time for hers to go in, the realization of how low the pass rate really was made her tighten her grasp on the rather comforting blade in her hands. Though for some reason, she had a feeling her weapon wasn’t something she was going to need in order to face the next test. After all, other than the screams, there were no sounds, no indications that there was any sort of fight going on behind those doors.

“Hey pals, why the long faces,” an unfamiliar voice piped in, snapping her out of her thoughts. 

She glanced at the pink hand on her shoulder, then back at the balloon-looking man behind her. Though her stare was not nearly as harsh as Khun’s had been as he muttered, “Who are you? What do you want?”