Chapter 0: The Streamer.

Congratulations!

Tower Cleared!

The text was flashing on the screen in front of me, being broadcast to the fifty odd people watching me.

"Yes Chat, finally. It took a few months, but that is every character one hundred percent, and even challenge mode complete. I have fully completed ‘The Tower of Marketh’"

I pushed against my desk, making some room as my chair rolled back. Letting it recline slightly I look over at my other monitor to read chat.

Kalinare: “Nice job man.”
Windols: “That’s world first isn’t it?”
Koyoros: “Congrats, but don’t forget your studies.”
Marklied: “I could have done it in half the time if I tried.”

“I think it might actually be world first. Make sure you clip it and let people know about me.”
I spend the next few minutes joking around with my viewers before all the chat messages start to blur.
“Alright guys, it’s almost morning so I should be ending the stream now. Thank you all for watching, and I hope to see you next time. Goodnight.”

Not even bothering to close anything after hitting stop streaming, I just power off my computer. The only light in the room now comes from the lamp next to my bed.
A yawn escapes my mouth as I stand and slowly trudge towards my bed, the thought of changing clothes crosses my mind, but it doesn't get much further than that before I collapse on my blankets.

“What am I even doing anymore?” I’ve been asking myself this question daily for a while now, but I still don’t have an answer.
Oh well, maybe when I wake up everything will be better.

Closing my eyes and flicking off my lamp I’m not greeted by the usual darkness.
What? Did I leave a curtain open?
My eyes struggled to open again, forcing me to squint while looking for the source of this unwanted light.
The monitor that I swear I just turned off is the culprit, casting a bright glow throughout my entire room.
“Ugh.”
I groaned as I stood up and slowly made my way back to my computer, pushing my chair to the side.
Huh? I swear I turned it off, so even if it rebooted it should just be on my desktop. But, that’s not the case here. Instead of my desktop, I’m greeted by the main screen of The Tower of Marketh.
Maybe I didn’t turn it off properly. It’s possible, I am getting close to dangerous levels of sleep deprivation.

-Demon King’s challenge unlocked-
-Rewards available-

-One Slot open-

The pop-up appears before I can close the game, locking me out of pressing the exit button.
Demon King’s challenge? What the hell is that? I’ve already fully completed the game, one hundred percent, there should be nothing left.
But more importantly, what are these rewards?
I click on rewards and it drops down revealing one single reward.
“A wish from the goddess?” I end up saying it out loud, fully caught off guard.
What does that even mean?
I want to just ignore it, close everything and go to sleep. But, thinking about it, I’m probably one of the best players in the world. Whatever this Demon King’s challenge is, I should have a good shot at completing it.
Ah, screw it. After a few more moments of deliberation, I click accept.

-Registered. Thank you-

And just like that, my entire computer turns off.
I stared at the blank screen for a while longer. Maybe I just imagined all that, it’s possible, I am incredibly sleep deprived. Let’s just get back in bed, and when I wake up, everything will be normal and I can pass this off for a dream.
It hits me before I can even finish standing, the room starts spinning and an overwhelming wave of nausea rolls over me.
Bathroom. Just one step at a time. Deep breaths. One foot in front of the other.
While in my head it makes sense, my body refuses to cooperate.
Two steps is all I manage before I hit the floor. Whether from the impact or from whatever has come over me, slowly my vision goes dark and I lose consciousness.