Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 197

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 197. The Tower – Treasure Island (2)

We made a circuit around the island to check whether there were any monsters or dangerous wild animals.
We didn’t explore every corner of the island, but after wandering for about an hour, it seemed there were no monsters or dangerous creatures to speak of.
All we saw in the forest were migratory birds that landed on the island briefly, chickens that had gone feral, and small animals like rats and lizards.
“These island chickens don’t have blade claws on their feet—just ordinary birds.”
In Floor 10 City and even outside Floor 20 City, chickens with blade-like talons on their legs roamed about, but the chickens in this world seemed perfectly ordinary.
Those birds probably escaped from provisions that pirates or sailors had brought with them when they briefly docked on the island and went feral.
If food ever ran short, we could always catch those chickens for a meal.
Though the food supplies I’m carrying are more than enough.
“Since there doesn’t seem to be any serious danger on this island, let’s split up and search.”
Diana responded to my words.
“What about the map?”
“Oh, just a moment.”
I retrieved a map from Tower Floor 1 through my Inventory and brought copies back to the 33rd Floor.
Tower Floor 1, where my main body is, had become my enormous warehouse and residence, a space outfitted with every convenience.
Though the internet wasn’t connected, I’d furnished it with computers, printers, copiers, and various other devices.
Once I distributed the copied maps to the three of them, Rachel took her copy and asked.
“You copied this map using Magic?”
“Well, yes.”
Copy Magic did exist. I just hadn’t learned it yet.
I overlaid the map with the mini-map and marked the dark areas with a marker.
“This is where the Crystal is, so let’s meet back here. Since we can communicate in real-time through Community Messages, we don’t need to set a specific meeting time, but we can’t know what dangers might emerge once night falls—so if sunset seems to be coming, return to this spot immediately.”
Just because there was no danger now didn’t mean danger wouldn’t appear after dark.
Everyone took their maps, divided the areas to explore, and scattered.
I kept the chat window open so we could contact each other anytime.
Judging by the scale on the detailed map, the island was roughly twenty kilometers across and fifteen kilometers deep.
That made it about three times the size of Ulleungdo.
When viewed from high above with the Mage’s Eye I’d launched into the sky, the island matched the map almost perfectly.
As the saying goes, mountains and rivers transform in ten years—the differences from the map were probably just changes in the forest’s shape over time.
At the island’s center stood a low mountain peak, and around it a forest had formed.
“Hmm. The base camp should probably be near the Crystal, don’t you think?”
I decided to find a suitable location for a base camp first, rather than search for treasure right away.
There was no time limit on finding the treasure anyway.

* * *

The sun set more slowly than I expected, and even as evening came, the air remained thick and humid.
This world was probably in the middle of summer, or perhaps in a region near the equator.
Given the broad, long leaves growing naturally on the island, it seemed to be a tropical region.
While exploring the island, I considered collecting fruit but decided against it.
I couldn’t be sure which berries were poisonous and which weren’t.
As the sun was nearly gone, my scattered companions returned to the meeting place.
“Ugh~! This island is so hot and humid! Isn’t this worse than a Korean summer?”
Lee Su-young hung a frozen water bottle from her head and complained wearily.
Had she shot Ice Bullets into that water bottle, or what?
Though Lee Su-young couldn’t use Magic, she had the Ice Bullet Magic Tool she’d obtained on Floor 16.
“It really is incredibly hot.”
Diana seemed bothered by the heat too—she’d changed out of her Gung-gi leather clothes into a lighter fabric outfit.
The only ones unaffected were Rachel and me, who knew how to use Magic.
“I’ve set up a base camp, so let’s head there.”
I led my companions toward the coastal cliff near the Crystal.
Three sides were cliffs, so I only needed to fortify one side, which made defense advantageous, and since there was a Crystal a short distance below if we jumped from the cliff, escape would be easy too.
Rachel was amazed when she saw the base camp I’d prepared.
The women’s tent was large enough to sleep five people comfortably, and I’d made a smaller tent for myself right beside it.
Behind the tents, I’d set up separate bathroom and shower tents.
“You built all this by yourself?”
“Using Telekinesis Magic, something like this takes less than ten minutes.”
Telekinesis Magic was a reference magic, so Rachel nodded, confirming she’d learned it as well.
Lee Su-young, who entered the tent first, let out an excited gasp.
“Wow! Diana! Come inside and see! It’s so cool in here because of the magic my brother cast!”
At Su-young’s excitement, Diana also cheered as she stepped in, offering me her thanks.
“Truly, I can’t tell you how grateful I am to be in a Party with you.”
“Thank you, brother!”
Watching the two of them, Rachel felt a faint sense of unease and glanced at me.
I could roughly guess what she was thinking. A Swordmaster, a Summoner, and a Holy Knight—she’d joined this confident Party composition as a mage, and she was wondering if her position as one was becoming precarious.
I casually tossed some water-soaked firewood into the center of the Base Camp and lit it, creating a small campfire as I spoke.
“Everyone has different things they can do. There’s no need to lose confidence.”
At my words, Rachel looked embarrassed at being read and cleared her throat.
“Ahem! I’m not losing confidence.”
Her bashfulness was rather endearing.
“Just think about Floor 29. Without Rachel’s Sun Magic, Diana, and Mano’s Holy Power, could we have dealt with that research facility monster so easily?”
At my question, Rachel thought for a moment, then shook her head.
“I can use magic too, of course. But my magic and Rachel’s magic operate on different principles. Rachel’s magic is versatile and requires minimal preparation time to activate.”
If I’d felt it necessary, I could have spent time learning Sun Magic at Tower Floor 1.
But the way I use magic and the way Rachel uses magic are completely different.
My magical preparation can be disrupted if my concentration wavers or if I’m physically blocked from casting, but Rachel only needs to breathe a small amount of Magical Power into a card, so activation is rarely prevented.
“Even when using the same power called magic, strengths and weaknesses diverge. My advantages can supplement Rachel’s disadvantages, and Rachel’s advantages can supplement mine. When I slash at enemies in front, Diana can protect me from enemies behind. When enemies are at a distance my reach can’t touch, Su-young can attack them. That’s what comrades are. People who supplement each other and fill in what the other lacks.”
At my explanation, Rachel seemed lost in thought.
Without speaking, I added more firewood to the campfire and placed a Camping Tripod over it.
Then I prepared a broth dish with vegetables and meat chopped into chunks, made rice cooked in a pot, and prepared several stir-fried dishes.
“Brother! Can we eat this?!”
Su-young spotted the Fruit Preserve I’d placed on top of a Freezing Magic Circle and shook it.
“Wait a little longer—the rice will be ready soon. Eat it after dinner.”
“Ugh, I want to eat it now.”
“Put it down.”
The night on the nameless island grew deep.

* * *

In the depths of night, Rachel gazed up at the starlit sky.
Since there was no particular danger requiring constant vigilance on the island, there was no need to stay awake—Rachel’s Alert Magic and Su-young’s slime served as Watch Duty instead.
Rachel hadn’t come out for air because she was keeping watch over her surroundings, but rather because she’d woken briefly from the uncomfortable bedding and sought some breeze.
She bore no resentment toward the tent Han Ji-woo had set up.
Rather, she was marveling at how he’d created such a perfect Base Camp with limited resources on an island with virtually nothing.
The ground was perfectly level without a single pebble, and the tent’s interior maintained pleasant humidity and temperature.
It was simply that Rachel, accustomed to a soft Mattress Bed, wasn’t used to bare ground with only a thin blanket laid down.
From the somewhat talkative Su-young, she’d heard that Han Ji-woo had been a soldier who’d discharged from the Military just days ago, and she thought that indeed, in an environment like this, there was no one more dependable than someone with a military background.
The night was one where stars seemed to pour down from the sky—a pristine ocean island without a trace of pollution.
“Comrades are those who supplement each other’s shortcomings and fill in what the other lacks.”
The word “comrade” felt unfamiliar to Rachel.
Though she was the one who’d first said she wanted to join this Party, she didn’t trust people.
If there were people she trusted and could rely on, aside from her incompetent father, it was only her family—and especially her eldest brother, who’d taken on the role of breadwinner in her father’s stead.
Everyone else was, at best, a business contact, and at worst, merely someone to be used.
If she used others, then others would use her in turn.
If she needed others, then she had to make others need her.
That was what relationships were, in her view.
So when Rachel saw Han Ji-woo skillfully wielding magic and filling the role that was supposed to be her domain, she felt something beyond mere caution—she felt fear.
This Party had a solid vanguard to compensate for her weakness as a mage, and it could solve the disadvantage of high Credit consumption from her abilities.
Even though they were already an official Party, the thought that her position might disappear from a team she desperately needed and might never be able to find again was unavoidable.
‘My place disappearing.’
It was something she could simply dismiss as a fleeting connection, but Rachel found herself laughing bitterly at the anxiety she’d unknowingly felt.
“Has it still taken root in my subconscious?”
It was merely a childhood nightmare.
Yet inexplicably, the trauma from her incompetent father’s bankruptcy and the complete loss of everything she had—even now, after her eldest brother had painstakingly restored it all—still crept up on her unbidden.
She’d competed fiercely with her quick wit and outstanding abilities, but never having been left helpless anywhere or having her position threatened before, she was only now realizing that this fear still lingered within her.
So when Han Ji-woo positively regarded her becoming a Party member, she felt relieved.
No, it wasn’t simply relief at him thinking positively of her.
‘A true partner is someone who fills in each other’s gaps and makes each other whole.’
It was something her older brother had said to her often, like nagging—he was the only spiritual anchor Rachel could truly trust, even as she remained cynical and wary of others.
She’d never expected to hear those words from anyone else, but hearing them now, strangely, brought her a sense of peace.
Rachel molded Magical Power at her fingertips, formed a Magic Gate, and conjured the Mage’s Eye.
The Magic—capable of sharing her field of vision or projecting images as if onto a monitor—was not, as Han Ji-woo had said, a difficult spell to master.
Yet its utility far exceeded the mere difficulty of casting it.
It was useful enough to render most ordinary abilities obsolete, and she couldn’t help but smile at that.
“I never thought you’d actually teach me. I hope we can keep the Party going all the way through.”
The night sky poured down in a cascade of stars—breathtaking, beautiful—yet despite the midnight hour, the heat was stifling.
Rachel stepped into the coolness of the tent.
She thought she might ask to learn this Temperature Control Magic as well.

(To be continued in the next episode)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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