Melancholic Dreamtower

“You're the new hero.” Ichiya Shinozaki awakens in a strange darkness to a stranger's voice. “There's a princess trapped in the highest room of this tower. I need you to get her out of here.” It feels like the premise of some RPG. Ichiya is full of questions, but the stranger's way seems the only way. If he wants to escape, he must save the princess. Ichiya's upward journey is not alone. On the first floor, a man rendered deaf and mute. On the second floor, a blinded man. On the third floor, a man who covets color. On the fourth floor, a young girl terrified of men. He undertakes his so-called quest. For the princess, for himself, defying fate, steeped in the interests of five cohabitants. 5 potential suicides. 5 candidates for death. In the overwhelming gloom of a dark pagoda.