Tower of Power
Ivan Kal
Morgan, an ordinary college student and online guild leader, dies in a car crash and is offered a second chance by a god-not-god calling himself the Great Lord: life in a new world governed by game-like rules, with great rewards and power if he completes the Tower of Power. Dropped in with no idea how things work, Morgan levels, founds a guild with elven twins, an orc, and a Roman-descended warrior, becomes a ruler of towns and villages, and joins expeditions to climb the Tower — the deadliest place in the world, whose upper floors no one has ever returned from. Across six volumes Morgan and his raid group push past the third floor, face the Great Lord’s enemy Oxylus, and bring tower-earned power back to a changing outside world. (Compiled from verified Goodreads volume descriptions.)
Progression: Explicit game-like advancement is the backbone: newcomers must level and grow strong to survive monsters; the powered are called ascended and organize into ranked guilds including Great Guilds; the Tower of Power is a floor-gated climb (no one who ventured beyond the third floor had ever returned) with raid groups, expeditions, tournaments granting climbing rights, and the Great Lord’s experiments selecting for ever-greater power. Every volume marks the next rung — guild founding, tournament qualification, the Great Raid’s climb beyond floor three, and tower-secret ascension.
Goodreads
