“At certain areas around this town, gaps in the fabric of reality have opened up, which can provide easier entry into other dimensions. If you’re looking for animals to test your ability on, that’d be your best bet,”

That’s what he said, but even though there’s apparently a gap in this area, I can’t find anything.

Stanley was in the middle of a forest, towering trees abound. As he was walking a wall appeared in front of him, which he proceeded to walk his face straight into.

“Ouch!”

It was a pillar of grey stone, made up of many blocks stacked on top of each other. Stepping back to observe it, he noticed that there were many other pillars that seemed to mark the outline of a square. Between the pillars was a flat stone floor, of a similar material to the pillars. Sitting in the middle of the floor was a brown guinea pig, which was observing him. Upon realising that he’d just ran into a wall, the animal decided he wasn’t worth its time, and turned its attention elsewhere.

The pillars held up an intricate combination of variously sized blocks that stretched into the clouds. Parts of the structure intertwined like a double helix, while at other areas it formed a cylindrical shape. It transitioned into a square shape again before fading into the distant sky.

Well this definitely wasn’t here before.

He tried to enter between the pillars, but was stopped by an unseen barrier that lightly pushed him back. It increased in strength the more he tried to go through it.

Seems to be what I’ve been looking for. But wow, not what I was expecting.

He navigated his way along the perimeter of the square of pillars, but was unable to find a way inside.

Would it have killed the designer of this place to add some more variety in colour? Stone is nice and all, but this a bit much. It all looks the same.

The grey material felt cold and smooth to the touch. Too smooth, as if it was without texture.

Half an hour of attempting to find a way in later, Stanley was beginning to get worn out.

This is ridiculous. Is this animal even going to be all that helpful? It’s tiny.

The guinea pig was continuing to ignore his antics outside the square. He tried throwing a stick inside, but it was pushed away by the force field before it could go very far. His frustration increasing, he ran straight into the invisible field. This time it pushed him back even more aggressively, actually throwing him backwards a few metres. He was unable to keep his balance and fell down onto the bed of leaves that littered the forest floor. Stanley glared towards the field while suppressing a scowl.

Stupid barrier.

Collapsing from his sitting position, he lay down amongst the leaves, moving any sticks that were pricking him.

Surprisingly comfortable.

The sun was still high in the sky, its light filtering through the forest canopy. Golden flowers were in bloom from a nearby silky oak tree. A few white butterflies flew past his vision, landing on a nearby shrub.

Was I really just getting upset by an inanimate object?

Thinking about his reaction brought about a small smile. But he was still having trouble dissipating his accumulated frustration. Stanley closed his eyes, listening to the sound of rustling leaves. When he finally opened them again, the sun was no longer directly overhead.

Don’t think I’ve ever actually slept on the ground like this. Nice that the ants seem to have left me alone.

The square was right where he’d left it, still surrounded by pillars of grey stone.

One more time.

He walked between the pillars, expecting to be repelled. No such thing happened. Looking around, he had made it right up to the guinea pig.

“Yes!” he exclaimed.

In response to his outburst, the guinea pig moved a few metres further away from him.

“Hi little guy, how are you today?” he started, trying to make conversation with the straight haired animal. Upon receiving a blank stare, he decided to give up.

Now what?

The ground began shaking, a pillar emerging from the ground next to him. A screen was embedded within it, with written instructions.

‘To free this creature, you must prove a certain level of competence in manoeuvrability, protection and making split second decisions. Further requirements will be unlocked as you progress. He has been imprisoned here because he was deemed completely useless to the Administration Office. No returns are permitted,’

Well. That’s certainly something.

Finishing reading the screen, Stanley glanced at the guinea pig, which started flickering, as if a glitch in the matrix. It disappeared completely a moment later.

Okay then…

No sooner had the animal disappeared when another shape began flickering in its place. It was a man with grey hair.

“Ryuji! Where are you!?” the old man exclaimed once he’d stopped flickering. He glanced at Stanley briefly, before looking every which way around the stone square.

“Hi, you okay?” Stanley asked.

“Have you seen him? Ryuji. Have you seen my Ryuji?” he asked frantically, finally facing Stanley.

“No. What’s he look like?”

“He’s a small brown guinea pig, the most handsome one in the world,”

“Oh. Yeah I think I saw him then. He disappeared right before you arrived,” Stanley answered, proud that he was taking random people appearing in front of him so calmly.

“No! Ryuji! Ah! Why are they so cruel? I only lost one bet, and now they’ve taken him away from me,” he said in growing frustration, before suddenly turning to face the perimeter of the square. A red sphere appeared in his right hand. He then gave it a long baseball style windup and threw it towards the nearby forest. It impacted one of the stone pillars, causing it to shatter into large chunks. The sphere itself slowly dissipated during the aftermath.

The old man seemed to deflate after this, collapsing onto a chair that appeared before he hit the ground. His eyes were closed, brows furrowed in thought.

Stanley considered talking to him, but thought better of it. As he stood there beginning to feel like he really shouldn’t be there anymore, the grey haired man rose from the chair.

“You!” the man said, suddenly pointing at Stanley. “What’s your name?”

“Stanley,”

“Stanley,” the man repeated the name, as if considering the significance of it. “Yes. You’ll do nicely,” he said simply, punching his left fist energetically at the air, before using the same hand to grab something unseen.

“Excuse me?”

“Challenge Tower! Administrator four is on site, requesting all associated privileges!”

“Request granted,” came a relaxed male voice from multiple directions.

“Stanley!” the man said, now giving Stanley his full attention. “Will you climb to the top of the one hundred and fifty seventh hardest Challenge tower in all existence, and retrieve my pet guinea pig, Ryuji, for me?”

He stood very still, staring at the older man, unsure what to make of him. “Can I say no?”

In response, the eccentric man began laughing uncontrollably before finally replying. “Yeah. Sure you can. But I’d really appreciate the help. And besides, it’s not like these towers are without other rewards, you’d hardly be losing out by helping me,” he rationalised before stopping.

“Wait, you’re here to take a Challenge aren’t you?” he asked, suddenly worried.

“Not really no. I just heard that there were animals here,” Stanley answered.

“You heard that there were animals. Here,” he said, getting visibly more irritated as he realised what he was being told. “Number eight. He’s probably messing with me again,” the man mumbled to himself in contemplation. “Okay. Here’s what’s going to happen,” he started before stopping himself again. “Actually, first I’ll introduce myself. My name is Mr. Takahashi and I’m the fourth administrator of the Challenge Tower system,” he said, watching Stanley for any reaction.

Upon realising he was supposed to respond to this, he asked “So you run this place?”

Disappointed at the complete lack of recognition that he was being confronted with, Takahashi responded. “Yes. I do. This tower and many like it. Now, in case you don’t know, this is a pretty lucrative position, and if you help me out, I’ll-“ he stopped, considering his next words. “I’ll owe you a favour. Which is something that is, Very,” he emphasised the word. “Very hard to come by. So, will you please help me?”

Stanley was tempted to say no, but suddenly started to recall the last time he was asked something similar not too long ago by a certain blonde interdimensional traveller.

Don’t want anyone to get nuked, better at least hear him out.

“I need to hear more about what this task will entail before I decide anything,”

“Good. Very good. Grab a seat,” Takahashi said, a chair and table promptly appearing across from him.