"Regular number 43!"

There was no response.

"Regular number 43 for blood extraction!"

A middle-aged woman in a dark green dress looked down at the slip of paper in her hand and realized she was being called. "Oh... That’s me."

Straightening herself, she pushed herself up and headed towards the staff in red scrubs. "I’m 43."

The young woman in red scrubs smiled politely. "Good morning, ma’am. Please follow me to the collection area."

The woman nodded and followed as Misha led her to one of the extraction chair before gesturing toward it. "Please have a seat."

The patient lowered herself into the chair but looked visibly uneasy.

Misha had seen that expression countless times since some people feared needles. She was probably one of them.

The woman fidgeted with her hands. "I’m supposed to have my blood extracted at exactly 8." Her voice carried obvious concern. "One hour have already passed, am I already overfast?"

Misha offered her usual patient smile. Whether it was actually reassuring or simply part of her work persona, she couldn’t say anymore. It seemed to work every time anyway.

She tucked a few stray strands of her ebony hair behind her ear, then she pulled on a pair of gloves while she constantly reassure her. "Of course not, ma’am. The fasting hours have an allowance in time and 1 hour is not a big deal."

"Oh thank goodness..." The woman visibly relaxed as Misha kept on her professional smile.

Inside her head, however, Misha could already hear her coworkers complaining.

One hour over? Yeah, right. There was no way she could tell the patient had already overfasted for 1 hour. If management suddenly decided to become strict about fasting hours, half the waiting area would probably have to go home. The clinic was far more concerned about accommodating patients than turning them away. Or more accurately... increasing sales.

This has already been a daily routine for Misha who was working as a Medical Laboratory Scientist in Country P.

Back when she first started working, she still believed the management would listen. But after enough meetings, enough ignored suggestions, she learned to save her energy. Some battles only left people exhausted. And besides, she already had enough things demanding her energy.

After collecting samples from the fasting patients during the morning peak, she carried a tray of samples into the laboratory.

The familiar sight greeted her immediately. Machines hummed and printers ocassionaly spat out results. The staff moved from station to station, and the laboratory never truly felt quiet.

She handed over the samples to the pre-analytical section. Sometimes, if staff in the laboratory were lacking, Misha had to prepare the samples herself.

Being understaffed was a common setting inside clinical laboratories in the country. Its healthcare system was undervalued by the government, and some, if not most, people in it find no hope in the future of the government.

"When will they increase our salary?" Misha sighed heavily while staring blankly at the samples being fed into the machine.

Across the room, Edrin sat in front of a microscope. "Hah!" The woman didn’t even look up. "We can’t expect anything from our company or the government."

The side of her lips curled up into a mischievous smile. "Shall we resign then?"

Edrin snorted at the remark. "Sure." Her dark eyes kept still at the binoculars, reading the sample under the lens. "Let’s see how this place runs without us!"

The image immediately formed in Misha’s head. Management running around in panic and the laboratory collapsing into chaos. It sounded surprisingly satisfying.

Rowena, the blondie standing by the door, shook her head in amusement. "A mass resignation will surely make them think twice." She commented before she went out of the laboratory.

"They won’t even hire more staff! I had enough of ghost staffs!" Edrin continued to complain.

"Those ghosts will be offended again if they hear you badmouthing them." Misha chuckled.

"Hmp! Like I care!" Edrin adjusted the microscope.

Ding!

「 You are invited to climb the Tower. 」

"... Huh?"

Misha blinked a few times in disbelief upon seeing a blue screen appear before her. For a second, she thought she was hallucinating.

"AHHH!"

Unlike her, Edrin was startled to the point of screaming when she pulled away from the microscope and saw the screen.

"W-what is this?" Edrin pointed frantically. "Do you see this too?"

"Y-yeah... what in the world is this?"

The words on the blue screen weren’t new for Misha. It only took a matter of seconds before she managed to calm down. This was something common in the comics she loved reading during her breaks just to pass time. So why was something like this appearing in front of her?

"Tower?"

Jumping out of the chair, Misha hurriedly went to the large glass window that overviewed the parking lot outside just to see if there was a nearby tower. Her warm brown eyes scanned the area but there was none in sight. There was no suspicious giant structures piercing the sky except for the usual traffic outside.

Edrin cautiously reached toward the floating screen. She tried to touch it, but her hand went through it. The words on the blue screen changed.

「 Accept | Decline 」

"Misha..." Edrin’s voice sounded strained. "A-are you seeing this?"

"Yeah..." She trailed off.

Weird... why weren’t there any tower in sight if there was such an invitation?

If she accepted it, would she teleport to another dimension?

This was something common from the comics she loved reading.

"What should we do?" Edrin asked, her brows furrowed together.

"Just decline it."

Edrin blinked a few times and was rather reluctant."Really?"

"Yeah. We should just decline it." Misha folded her arms.

As much as she loved reading comics with such genre, it was too risky in real life. The thoughts of having special abilities were tempting, but she knew well that it came with a price.

If things were going to happen according to the plot of the comics she read, people who remained outside would be safer since those who accept the invitations would be chosen to climb the tower to save the world. Whatever’s inside the tower would never come out as long as there were those who climb it.

But what if no one successfully reached the top?

The thought of it lingered inside her like a claw mauling her brain.

"Are you sure?"

Edrin’s hesitant voice snapped her out from her thoughts. Unlike her, she wasn’t an avid comic reader so she was clueless and yet, somewhat cautious on what to do.

Misha could only purse her lips at the moment while staring at the blue window.

No, she was not a main character material. How could she climb the tower? Even if she was going to gain abilities, she was not as smart as her favorite characters. She wasn’t some kind of genius protagonist.

The protagonists in these kinds of stories always suffered. And statistically speaking, she definitely was a side character, a very disposable side character.

If she transmigrated into a comic she knew, that would be more advantageous for her especially when she knew the plot, but this? Entering the tower blindly? She was not brave enough to do it. What if she ended up getting killed on the first floor?

"Yeah. If we decline it, it will be safer for us."

Entering a tower could cost them their lives. It was safer being outside. She knew herself well. She easily screams when watching a horror movie. She hated jump scare the most so if a monster lunged at her out of nowhere, she would only scream her lungs out then die.

「 You are invited to climb the Tower.

Accept | Decline 」

"My hand is just passing through it." Edrin groaned as she tried to touch the ’decline’ a couple of times. "Ugh, it’s not working!"

"Then just say it." Misha stared at the blue window one last time before she opened her mouth once again. "I decline."

Just when she thought the screen would disappear, another one appeared.

『 Are you sure?

Yes | No 』

She scoffed at it. She wasn’t going to change her mind so easily since she valued her life too much.

"It’s quite tempting but yes, I am sure. I decline your invitation."