I probably cut an interesting sight as I appeared in the middle of the Tower’s massive lobby.


    In addition to ten F-rank Interdimensional Pouches attached to my belt, I had a large, tarp-like bag full of armor, weapons, and accessories.


    As I approached the store, the old man’s hologram appeared behind the counter. He simply raised an eyebrow at my assortment of loot, making me wonder if he had seen worse.


    <Of course he has,> Samantha said.  <This is likely one of the oldest spirits in the Schema.  This is nothing. Just a slight amusement for him, nothing more.>


    “Congratulations, young challenger,” the old man said, in a warm tone. “I see you brought quite the spoils. Place your hand on the stone, and you will see your total accumulated points.”


    I put every point of mana into Luck, and then I touched the same Information Crystal that I had used last time.


    The first thing I did was sell the massive amounts of weapons and equipment that I had collected, including the majority of the mana beads and F-rank Mana Potions as well.


    “Congratulations, challenger,” the man on the opposite side of the counter said. “You have two achievements. First, you have defeated a hidden boss on the first level, a rare feat indeed.   Second, you have entered the top 1% of all challengers for total points gained for the F-rank floors.  Would you like to convert your achievements to points?”


    <Don’t do it,> Samantha said, immediately. <Achievements should be used to purchase missions.  It’s like using wealth to make more money, instead of just converting wealth to points.>


    I passed on the hologram’s offer, and I glanced at my updated number of points.  I had 710 points total.


    How do the points work?


    <For every floor that you clear, you will get 100 points, so that comes to 500 points.  Rather than convert the total value of the loot you sell to the store directly into points, the store instead ranks the total wealth that you have collected, and then rewards you based off of that.  By selling so much loot back to the store you placed in the top 1% of sales, which was sufficient to earn you another 500 points. So you currently have 710 points total, after paying back the loan you took out for Tino’s Sword.>


    Shouldn’t I get extra points for killing the Evolved Spider?


    <You would, if you chose to convert your Achievement into points,> Samantha said, adopting her patronizing voice again.  <Which you aren’t going to do.>


    With 710 points, I took a look at what the store had to offer.


    After fighting F-rank creatures, I now had the option to buy E-rank weapons. Once again, despite my greatly increased Luck, there was nothing D-rank or higher for sale.


    Each E-rank item cost around 500 points.


    Should I buy a pouch? I asked Samantha, glancing back at the makeshift tarp that I had painstakingly created and added on to during floors 1-5.  The old man had refused to purchase the tarp I had made, and I couldn’t blame him for it.


    <No. You will have the chance to collect pouches when you kill creatures on each floor. Now that you have two achievements, you can afford to purchase missions.>


    It was obvious that to Samantha, the missions were the key part of the Tower.  I clicked on the “missions” tab on my Information Crystal’s interface.  I could have sworn that tab wasn’t there the first time I opened the Information Crystal.


    As Samantha had hinted, each mission cost Achievements.


    There were two missions available. The cheapest mission cost one Achievement, and the more expensive one cost two.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Samantha said.


    What is a mission? And why would it cost achievements?


    <You may have noticed that F-rank opponents were a piece of cake.  You could do the same thing against E-rank opponents, but really, it’s a waste of your skills. So the missions are an additional chance to stand out.  Each mission will give you the opportunity to gain even more Achievements, which are far more important than points.  You should definitely pick the mission that costs two achievements.>


    Something about the way Samantha said it reminded me of how she had urged me to travel through the Hell Mode Tutorial.


    But the Infinite Tower wasn’t real, anyway. So, there wasn’t really anything I needed to be afraid of…


    I glanced at the mission that Samantha suggested:


    Rise of the Human Empire:  The war between humanity and the Metan Empire is coming to a head.  The Metan Empire has been researching a bioweapon that is capable of forcibly converting humans into Metans.  You have been transported into the Metan Empire’s research facility as a test subject.


    Your mission:  Obtain any information crystals with information about the Metan Empire’s bioweapon, transport it across enemy lines, and deliver it to the general in command of the human forces.


    <This is a huge honor,> Samantha said, in my head.  <The Atropos Schema is capable of recording key moments in history, and by picking this mission, you will be playing the role of one of the Human Empire’s greatest historical figures in the pivotal point of the war that led to the Human Empire’s ascendance and the fall of the Metan Empire.  This will be an incredibly accurate simulation, too, so it will give you a chance to see what battles look like in the Acclimated Worlds of the Atropos Schema.>


    <Most importantly, because this is going to be highly authentic, your opponents won’t be limited in their level or their rank.  This also means the opportunity to collect loot will be much greater.  There will probably be B and maybe even A-rank weapons and equipment in this battle field—it is a shame that whatever we claim can’t be used in the real world.>


    Why are they fighting?


    <Everyone is always fighting,> Samantha said, dismissively. <There hasn’t been a single decade in the Schema’ history where one faction hasn’t been at war with another faction.  Now, that we’ve picked our mission, let’s go.  Remember, time passes normally while you are in this lobby part of the tower.>


    Do you really need to emphasize the time every time you’re trying to rush a decision? What aren’t you telling me?


    <Well, obviously this will be a really challenging mission,> Samantha said. <It’s possible we will die during the mission and be kicked out of the tower.  But it’s too much to pass up.  This is how we could get an A-rank weapon.>


    I didn’t know you liked to gamble, I said. Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised.  You did want me to challenge Hell Mode.


    <Stop underestimating yourself,> Samantha said. <And stop underestimating me.  We got this.>


    I sighed. On your head be it.


    I purchased the mission, “Rise of the Human Empire.”


    The old man raised his eyebrows.  “Good luck.”


    I said goodbye to the man at the counter, and then walked through the black wall ahead of me.


    <hr>


    For a moment, I thought the teleportation magic had gone wrong. A second after walking through the black wall, I still couldn’t see anything.  I felt weightless, suspended in darkness.


    Mana Sensing showed me that I was inside what seemed like a liquid-filled human-sized capsule.  The capsule was glowing with runes.  My F-rank Personal Mana Shield was glowing, keeping the liquid from touching me.


    <Don’t move,> Samantha said. <I’m going to show you how to breach the capsule without setting off an alarm.>


    I sent mana outside my body, and started forming the runes that Samantha demanded, sending them to seemingly random locations of my capsule.


    I had no idea what I was doing, but I trusted Samantha’s knowledge of Rune Patterns.


    <I hope you appreciate how difficult this is,> Samantha said, after we had worked for five minutes. <This is a closed-off Rune Pattern, and I’m only able to work with the runes that you have already learned.  But their mistake was to leave room for the manufacturer to upgrade the coffin.  So, all we need to do is fill in the upgradeable space with the right runes that will subvert the alarm function, and…>


    I heard a light click, that sounded somewhat distant.


    <Good to go,> Samantha said, proudly.


    I pushed against the lid of the capsule gently, and it opened easily.  I rose, out of the capsule, an oil-like liquid dripping to the ground lightly as I slightly splashed it over the edge of the coffin.


    I had been placed inside the capsule with all of my equipment. I had a full set of F-rank equipment, from Magician’s robes, an F-rank Personal Mana Shield,  F-rank Interdimensional Pouch, my spider’s leg, a belt of throwing knives strapped over my robe, boots, a helmet, and an F-rank cloak that supposedly would let me cling to the shadows.


    It seemed I was in a storage room.  There were two other black coffin-like capsules, identical to mine, inside the room.


    The storage room looked like a fortress.  The walls were made up of E-rank Terrin Bricks, fastened together with mortar and with runes. Just the abundant use of E-rank material to build this building showed me the importance of my location.


    Using Mana Sensing, I could tell that I was in the basement of a very large facility.


    There were no people around, and it didn’t seem that I had set off any alarms.


    There was only one exit from this room, and I could tell that it wasn’t going to open easily.