I Became a Ranker Before Rankers

Have I Woken Up?

When I finally woke up, I was back in that white room, yet this time it was for Floor 15. The previous moments before I fainted had all been a blur, but the notifications that popped up in front of me were still clear in my mind. It had turned out that that small little boy was actually the demon, shockingly. I looked around the room to find the mysterious man, but he was no where to be seen. I remembered my sudden flash of boldness when I kissed him. I quickly turned away with shamefulness, and my face became flushed. 

I began to scroll through the Waiting Room's store to get my mind off the situation at hand. I ended up buying a few skills along with some soap, but they all were very menial things as the system did not end up giving me any Leava even as I completed the floor. I was puzzled as to why, but I didn't think much of it as I was in no urgent need for money.

I stayed only briefly inside the room to heal my injured lip and begin to get all my mana back, but it only raised to 1000 MP which was significantly less than before. 

Finally, I left the room and began to start my climb through the tower. I continued to plow through many different floors, embanking large amounts of Leava and gaining plenty of experience. Whenever I played, I did not feel lonely. It was something that took my mind off the complete emptiness that was inside my dream, occasionally I would try and summon that demon who was my companion, but it was no use. A notification would continuously remind me that my level was not high enough to summon him, or I did not have enough mana. 

I endured many trials over the entire period until I reached floor 50. My hands were now covered with scratches, my hair had become knotted greatly, and my face was deformed. My current image was not even slightly resemblant of the girl from the novel, nor was it from who I was in real life. Still, I paid little attention and continued to climb as if it was all fine. 

Well, it was all fine until the day I reached floor 99. 

Initially, I felt ecstatic to finally defeat the levels the lead to the holy land that the characters had mentioned, but it did not last long. While I was waiting for my body to heal in the room before level 99, all of a sudden the world started to rumble, like a large earthquake. It seemed like 100 or more red screens began to flash in front of my face, all with the same sign, "WARNING." Then the room seemed to tear apart with images flying around the room. The spinning lights made me dizzy and I fell to the ground, blacking out. Is it time for me to return to the real world? 

In all that black, I could see a large blue hole begin to open up. I could feel my self lose control of my body as I walked closer to entity. I could not see anything on the other side, but still I felt a strange connection to what was outside. 

I stuck my hands in first and I could feel a light breeze touch them, then I stuck my feet out, and finally my head. 

As I peeled my eyes open, the scenery seemed vaguely familiar. It was night, but there were large lamps that kept the ground lit. I noticed a familiar sidewalk full of stains and blackened gum outlining the dark asphalt street. I was now standing in the crosswalk that connected the sidewalks between my old apartment complex and the convenience store. Only now, this scenery was not exactly the same, only reminiscent, as I could see that the stores around me had changed ownership and my old apartment complex seemed a large amount greater and more modern than I had remembered. 

It was not the same, but I knew it was earth, I knew I was back, but why was I still in the main characters body?