If the words don't add up, so sorry, but you know, I don't exactly like following the rules either! ;)

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"Wow..." I looked around myself in amazement. "So many people..." 

I had spent the majority of my life in the seemingly endless labyrinth that held Enne captive, so this many people was both overwhelming and eye-opening. 

"I agree," Bam added, and I strongly suspected that the look on his face resembled what mine looked like right now. 

"Humph! Turtles!" Rak grumbled. Khun had strategically sat on top of the gator, who was lying on the floor. 

"Looks like all these people passed," Khun said, looking around. 

"When will I be able to fight white and black turtle?!" Rak demanded, getting to his feet and consequently knocking Khun off his back. 

"Hopefully never," I muttered under my breath. 

"Fight me!!" 

"No," Bam and I said at the exact same time. 

Khun fished out... what was that? It was small and rectangular-shaped... from his briefcase. He tossed it to Rak. "Here, if you take this will you shut up?" 

Rak took it. "What is this?" He took off the cover to reveal a similarily shaped brown bar inside. He tossed it inside his mouth and after a few minutes chewing demanded, "Give me more." 

I watched in amazement as Khun literally produced a mountain of the same bars out of his bag, then as Rak sat down and started devouring them en masse. 

Suddenly two Regulars started fighting. "Look what you did to my arm!" a brown-haired Regular growled, picking a green-haired Regular by his collar. His right arm was a stump and wrapped in bandages. "How are you gonna fix this, huh?" 

Green-hair replied coolly, "Make me." 

Oooo, burn!

"What was that?!" Brown-hair demanded, looking even angrier. 

"Fighting is prohibited during breaks," an unknown voice interrupted. 

The two fighting Regulars looked up. "Huh? Who are you?" 

Good question, I thought to myself as quite possibly the most ridiculous man I've ever seen appeared. He was wearing a black-and-white outfit that also included puffed pants and sleeves, and had two black spots under his eyes. 

He smiled. "I'm your Test Administrator. My name is Lero Ro."

Green-hair's eyes widened. "Test Administrator? Then you're a Ranker." 

Huh? A Ranker? 

"That's right," Lero Ro responded. Brown-Hair let go of Green-Hair. I really do need to stop referring to people by their hair color... 

"That's amazing," Bam said. "He stopped the fight immediately." 

"You don't know about Rankers?" Khun asked. 

"No," he said. 

"I don't either," I admitted. 

Rak, still devouring those odd brown bars at a steady pace, paid us no attention.

Bam, bless his soul, was the one who asked, "What's a Ranker?" 

"A Ranker is someone who's climbed to the top of the tower," Khun explained. 

"The top?" 

"Where King Zahard is," Khun said. "Only a handful of Regulars are insane monsters like them." 

Insane monsters? King Zahard? Come to think of it, wasn't Enne's last name 'Zahard'? Does that mean she's his daughter? Or a princess of some sort? Ugh, so confusing! 

But still... "That's amazing," I said. 

"They must've been incredible," Bam said, looking just a tad bit dejected. 

"More of you passed then expected," Lero Ro mused. "We'll have to do some culling." 

"Culling?" A boy in a purple-and-orange tracksuit exclaimed. 

Without answering Lero Ro simply smiled and held out a hand. As I watched in amazement, blue light gathered and formed into... water?... in his hand, growing steadily brighter and bigger. 

Beside us, Khun gasped. 

From that light, a giant wave of water crashed down on us, pushing the Regulars back. I struggled against its force. What is this? It's more solid than water but acts like it! 

"Shinsu?" 

Shinsu? 

"That's right," Lero Ro said, increasing the water flow. I couldn't hold on any longer and got swept back, uttering a few curses as I did. The... Shinsu... flowed up, crashing into the ceiling, and then froze, becoming a giant solid watery wall between us and Lero Ro. 

"Shinsu is the source of the tower's power," Lero Ro said. "We're able to breathe thanks to this water. Everyone within the tower uses this water to fight. Any team that passes through this wall without succumbing to Shinsu's strength passes. Everyone else fails." 

"Team? What if one of us can't get through?" Another Regular burst out. 

"You fail." 

"That's messed up!" They all said. 

Lero Ro smiled knowingly, touching his forehead. "What you need most to climb this tower is luck." His eyes narrowed. "The luck to be born with exceptional brains or brawns. The luck to be born with wealth or good friends. You made it this far because of your luck." 

My brain was busy turning. Luck? I certainly had absolutely none of it. I had been kicked out of whatever family I was born into when I was just a baby. I had been on my own since Day One. If anybody had luck, it certainly wasn't me. 

Though maybe I did have some, if not a lot. It was lucky that I met Enne. It was lucky that I was allowed to borrow her weapon. It was lucky that I met these people and became a team with them. 

"Excuse me!" All heads turned towards the voice. Bam! 

And there he was, standing completely unharmed with a hand slightly up. "It didn't push me back." He smiled nervously. 

WHAAAAAAT?! 

Lero Ro looked surprised. 

"I-I'm sorry, I'll go back..." 

Lero Ro coughed. "No, you pass." 

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the rest in 'Differences'...

-a.a.c