Hey, everyone. I'm sure you guys probably noticed with the increasingly missed deadlines, but my motivation for this story is kinda gone. I've been considering dropping the story since all the way back around chapter 45 or so, but kept pressing forward instead, hoping it would get better. I've h...
2025-09-06 19:21:19 +0000 UTC View PostAfter successfully setting Rebirth, I lay down and sleep for quite a while. I’m not sure how long it is, but I wake up feeling more refreshed than I have in a while. Hanna is waiting for me with platters of steaming food in front of her, as if she knew exactly when I was going to wake up. Well,...
2025-09-04 02:56:44 +0000 UTC View PostI am currently at Dragon Con and I have drastically overestimated how much free time and energy I would have here. Chaps will resume on Wednesday.
2025-08-30 02:46:55 +0000 UTC View Post“Rebirth?” I ask.
“Yeah. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. What is the technique?”
“Well, it’s a pretty simple Life technique. It makes use of a minor self-imposed restriction, but it’s nothing permanent and overly restrictive. Just painful.”
“Painful.”
...
2025-08-27 08:25:00 +0000 UTC View PostOver the next few days, I really push the limits of that statement, but she doesn’t mind at all. In fact, she’s more than happy to satisfy my curiosity, letting me follow tangents upon tangents. Specific information on the Tower is limited, even for her, so many of her stories end up unfortun...
2025-08-24 07:57:48 +0000 UTC View Post<AUTHOR'S NOTE>
Sorry again for disappearing like that. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!
<END AUTHOR'S NOTE>
I don’t know how to respond to that. Whatever words I had in mind before die on my tongue. This is exactly what I...
2025-08-22 07:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostI'm alive. I'm fine. I just needed a short mental break. The Phoenix will be back as scheduled on Friday.
2025-08-20 08:14:32 +0000 UTC View PostI freeze just inside the door, unsure what to do. I was not at all expecting this, nor was I prepared for it. I was ready for a strange test involving Sam and another construct. Maybe some intense training. Painful combat again. Weird psychological tests. Not this.
Isn’t she supposed to b...
2025-08-15 07:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post<AUTHOR'S NOTE>
Sorry for the extreme lateness. The air conditioning broke in my house, and dealing with that completely threw off my routine. Hope you enjoy!
<END AUTHOR'S NOTE>
When I wake up, I scarf down a quick breakfast of the ...
2025-08-14 08:58:58 +0000 UTC View PostThe queen fire ant was not sapient, but she was not a purely instinctual beast anymore either. She was on the cusp of reaching 3 star, at which point true intelligence would become a possibility, and she was beginning to show signs. It made sense, as there wasn’t much else to do in her chambers...
2025-08-10 07:32:33 +0000 UTC View Post“Yo, Ness! You there?”
Vanessa blinked and looked up at Kat after missing her mouth with her fork for the fifth time that meal. She had been half in a daze ever since her conversation with Bella. She had imagined many possibilities, but hearing the truth directly from Bella herself was ...
2025-08-08 07:27:53 +0000 UTC View Post“What do you mean you lied?” I ask.
“I knew exactly what happened. After our very first meeting, I instructed one of my subordinates to try to recruit you. I emphasized the importance of recruiting you and doing so before anyone else could, and that was his brilliant plan. I did n...
2025-08-06 07:46:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe second I knock on Vanessa’s door, it opens. She beckons me inside and closes the door behind, then begins to speak, but I cut her off.
“Not yet,” I say. “Grab my hand.”
She does so hesitantly, and with a thought, I bring both of us into Trinity’s voidspace. It’s pitc...
2025-08-03 07:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to do one of these new world introductions, but I have to say that you all made it very interesting this year,” says Sam. “Quite a few of you were very… industrious. Very creative. It was rather fun to watch.
“Now, technically,...
2025-08-01 07:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostI hate ants. I didn’t mind them before, but I hate them now. They smell awful when they die, and even worse when they burn, and the all fucking burn.
The weak little ones we saw on the surface were babies who couldn’t use oum yet. Not only can the ones down here use it, they l...
2025-07-30 22:53:25 +0000 UTC View PostWith all the Climbers from the new world out on the Starter Quest, the Administrators in charge of them had a lot of free time. Most of them had a class or two that they taught in the afternoons, but aside from that, they had no responsibilities. Most of the Administrators used this time to culti...
2025-07-27 07:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“I thought you gave up,” says the Phoenix construct.
“Nope,” I say. “Just needed to work a few things out.”
“Does that mean you’re ready?”
“Yes.”
Without hesitation, she punches, sending a beam of fire at me. This time, rather than dodging, I catch it...
2025-07-25 07:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostOnce Sam leaves again, I turn on the air filtration and set the bed on fire. As promised, the air filtration is indeed “the best” and I hardly notice the smoke. I do notice the heat, but it doesn’t really bother me, so I sit down beside the burning bed and begin to meditate. Rather than dra...
2025-07-23 07:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post<AUTHOR'S NOTE>
I will be asleep by the time this chapter goes live. I sure hope there are no egregious typos.
<END AUTHOR'S NOTE>
“The main goal is compatibility, of course,” says Sam. “Regardless of any other factors, if you ...
2025-07-20 07:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post<AUTHOR'S NOTE>
Sorry for the delay, and thanks for the concern. I am healthy, I was just basically nocturnal and wanted to fix that. It's better now, I think, but I did end up taking a nap earlier, so I might have messed it up again. Oh well.
I hope you enjoy!...
2025-07-19 04:23:13 +0000 UTC View PostMy sleep schedule is FUBAR right now, so I'm doing an all-nighter to fix it. I had already planned to do this, and had it all planned so I could get the chapter done in time, but then my dog ended up waking me up 3 hours before my alarm yesterday, so I'm now at 26 hours awake on <5 hours of sl...
2025-07-17 22:20:16 +0000 UTC View Post<AUTHOR'S NOTE>
Sorry about the late chapter. I spent way too long agonizing about the timeline and order of events. I might reorder some of these sections whenever I do serious edits for Amazon to make it flow a bit better. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
<...
2025-07-16 08:24:24 +0000 UTC View Post<AUTHOR'S NOTE>
Sorry for the late chapter. I'm not even gonna make excuses, I was just playing Umamusume all day. Sorry!
<END AUTHOR'S NOTE>
As the rest of the group fought off an enormous tarantula, Yuri found himself lost in thoug...
2025-07-13 10:05:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Back so soon?” asks the Phoenix construct.
“Yes,” I reply.
“Then let’s-”
“Wait!” I say, halting her mid-wind-up.
“What is it?”
“What exactly is this first challenge?” I ask.
“Are you stupid?”
I blink, a bit taken aback.
<... 2025-07-11 07:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostI regain my balance just as the construct fires another gust of oum at me with another punch. She’s still smiling, and clearly toying with me. With this much oum, she could have gone for a more deadly strike, but decided to do something gentle instead.
I brace myself against the sec...
2025-07-09 07:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post“What’s wrong?” asks Timmy, looking back at me.
“I-” I start.
I don’t know. Well, I think I do know. I just don’t want to think about it, and until now, I haven’t been forced to.
I am not ignorant to the oddities surrounding me and my existence in this Tower. I a...
2025-07-06 07:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostOf all the complications I was expecting to arise during this Starter Quest, dynamite was not one of them. To be fair, I also didn’t expect to end up a mile underground where dynamite would actually be a viable tactic, but here I am. I also don’t know if it was actually dynamite, or just some...
2025-07-04 07:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post<AUTHOR'S NOTE>
Minor note: I changed the title of chapter 59, but nothing else. I forgot that I wanted to start naming all the chapter titles after songs, and I had a good one for 59 that I should have used.
<END AUTHOR'S NOTE>
Whe...
2025-07-02 07:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post<AUTHOR'S NOTE>
It's been a little more than 12 hours, but here's the chapter! Thanks for reading!
<END AUTHOR'S NOTE>
With Bella gone, the mood in the rest of the group was odd. Vanessa wasn’t sure on the first day, but as the hou...
2025-06-29 07:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostI procrastinated a bit on writing this chapter and forgot that my brother was coming to town tonight, so I'm hanging out with him, and don't have time to get the chapter out. I'll post it in the morning when I wake up. Sorry about the delay!
2025-06-29 05:46:08 +0000 UTC View Post