3…2…1… Happy New Year!!!!

The date was January 1st, 2024, and the world found itself in a grip of tension unlike any typical New Year's celebration. 

Normally, the start of a new year was a time for joy, parties, and looking forward to the future. But this wasn't any normal year; it was a leap year, and in this world, that meant trouble. 

Leap years had come to be dreaded because they were the signal that it was time for the next big monster outbreak. 

The idea of a leap year as just an extra day in February had almost been forgotten. Now, most people didn't even call it a leap year and Riva seemed to be the only person who remembered the old meaning. 

To everyone else, a leap year was known as the 'Year of Death' or 'The Year of the Grim Reaper' because, throughout history, the scariest and most dangerous monster outbreaks from the Tower Of Ascension always happened during leap years. 

This pattern was something everyone knew and feared. It had been this way for as long as people could remember and ever since the first records of humans and monsters existed. 

The history of this parallel Earth differed greatly from the history of modern Earth as Riva remembered it, however, one day seemingly out of nowhere, the world around her, its history, the common vocabulary and many such things changed overnight with her being the only individual who still remembered the world order of the old. 

At first she questioned whether or not she had gone insane, whether she was hallucinating about the past that never was, or whether she had been transmigrated to another world? 

However, the answers to all those questions were unfortunately a resounding 'No'. 

She had been chosen by one of the most powerful gods of the tower of ascension, the great god 'Gemini' to be his champion and although she did not know why and she did not know how, there seemed to be a dormant voice inside of her that seemed to be counting down to 0. 

"Show system screen" Riva said as a blue countdown screen displayed itself before her. 

[ Time until the system successfully binds itself to the host 00y:23h:59m:56s ] 

The first time she got it, this notification was set for a 10 years long countdown, however, now the dashboard was down to a mere 23 hours 59 minutes, which meant that by this time tomorrow Riva would have successfully bound herself with the system. 

"One day left…" Riva said as she let out a deep sigh, before she closed down her system screen and opened her mobile screen instead.

"Hey, Gaia, please call Rocky" Riva instructed her mobile phone's A.I. as it recognised her voice and connected a call to her brother's mobile phone. 

*Brrrr* 

*Brrrr* 

The dialer tone rang for a few seconds, but nobody picked up as Riva could not help but feel worried about her brother. 

In this world, the most famous individuals who were respected world-wide were not the sportsmen or actors. 

In this world the people who went on to become politicians or policymakers were not rich merchants or social workers. 

In this world, every child's first dream was not to become an astronaut, it was instead to be chosen by the Tower Of Ascension, for everyone wanted to be a 'Climber'. 

A climber was a celebrity in this world, a first rate citizen while everyone else was second class. 

A climber was the title given to those who were chosen by the Tower Of Ascension as beings who were eligible to enter its grounds and challenge its various dungeons. 

While for women they were chosen between ages 16-20, for men the age bracket was 18-22. 

Till this day, nobody understood how the tower selected a climber, however, everyone wanted to be one as even the weakest climber usually went on to become an individual with unimaginable wealth, supreme strength and better health when compared to an average human. 

Unfortunately, only one in ten individuals were chosen to be a climber, meaning most kids who dreamed to become one never actually did. 

Rocky seemed to be obsessed with becoming one and since he was coming of age soon, his time to be chosen or not chosen as a climber was approaching. 

1st January 2024 was his Birthday and at around midday today Rocky was officially going to turn 18, which was a big deal for him since most climbers who were chosen by the tower were usually chosen the very first day they turned of age. 

Riva was also one such climber. 

Currently 20, she was labeled the 'Brightest prospect of GenZ' and had managed to raise herself up to the position of 'Core member' within the True Elites guild. 

She had unbelievable fame, unheard talent and millions of fans worldwide, however, for her none of that mattered, for it was vengeance on a certain someone that she seeked the most. 

*Brrr* 

*Brrr* 

 "Hello?" Rocky said from the other side of the phone as Riva immediately sighed in relief. 

"Hello-, Rocky, are you okay?" Riva asked as she bit her lower lip, knowing full well that her fame made her brother a target of unwanted attention.

"Yeah, I'm okay, what would happen to me?" Rocky answered back sounding annoyed as Riva could hear the news channels monitoring the tower outbreak playing on the TV in his background. 

"Why are you not home yet? You know that your curfew is at 12, don't you? Do you want me to ground you?" Riva said in an angry voice as in the absence of their dead parents it was her who had taken up the mantle of raising her orphaned little brother. 

"Jeez, chill out, you're 20-, it's new years, get a boyfriend and open a bottle of wine. Also, I have legally turned 18 today, so you are no longer my guardian. I will do whatever pleases me from this day forward" Rocky said in a condescending tone as he acted completely like the spoiled brat that he was. 

"Oh no, you're not talking back to me young man, I want you back within this house in 15 minutes or you shall have it! 

You understand Rocky?

H- 

How did you get in here? Who the hell are you?" Riva said over the phone as her voice turned from angry to nervous in an instant as Rocky who heard it all over the phone panicked as well. 

*Crash* 

The phone dropped from Riva's hand, hitting the ground below as Rocky heard her screaming and struggling in the background. 

" RIVA! SISTER, ARE YOU OKAY? HELLO? HELLO?" Rocky screamed over the phone as he dashed out of the friends house that he was currently at and ran barefoot towards his apartment. 

His heart rate shot through the roof as he panicked that something unfortunate might be happening to his sister. 

He was only a five minutes walk away from his house and since he was sprinting back, the time he would take to reach back was bound to be even lesser. 

However, right as he entered the vicinity of his home a loud explosion over the phone made him accidentally drop his mobile. 

*KABOOM* 

Rocky watched in horror as his apartment went up in flames, with glass shattering and fire enveloping everything within. 

"NOOOO-" Rocky shouted, as he feared for his sister's life.