Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 27

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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 27. The Tower – Slime Summoner (4)

Lee Su-young’s combat style was straightforward.
Whenever she spotted a goblin, she would hide herself in the brush and send her slime—capable of firing water projectiles called aqua bullets—in the opposite direction alone.
Once the slime fired an aqua bullet to eliminate one goblin, she would follow up with an arrow to dispatch another.
If a third goblin remained, she’d either fire another arrow or buy time with her shield while the slime launched another aqua bullet to finish it off.
A textbook ranged damage dealer.
According to her, the cooldown for aqua bullets at her current level was roughly one minute when firing a single projectile, and about three minutes when firing two in succession.
“Where’s your shield?”
“Well, it was too heavy when the goblins were chasing me, so I abandoned it. I’m planning to buy another one once we reach the Climbers’ Association.”
The shield was indeed quite hefty.
Over a kilogram, it wouldn’t even fit in the inventory.
Before meeting me, Lee Su-young had already hunted about three groups of goblins and collected ten ears and magic stones.
I had personally disposed of eighteen of the twenty goblins that had been chasing Lee Su-young and stuffed them in my bag, and I’d dealt with additional goblins on the way to the City.
We decided to split the loot fifty-fifty for now.
“By the way, do you like the Military? Your bag looks like the kind soldiers use.”
“No, I was dragged to The Tower on my discharge day. Yesterday was my discharge date.”
At my response, Lee Su-young looked at me with sympathetic eyes.
But contrary to that gaze, I remained unmoved.
Subjectively, my discharge day felt like three or four years ago.
Well, I hadn’t experienced freedom as a university student, but I had enjoyed being cared for by Siu from beginning to end.
This shouldn’t be the case, but it’s really convenient when someone takes care of you.
Goo goo, I’m baby Ji-woo. Someone please take care of me.
I don’t want to grow older, and I definitely don’t want to become a working adult.
“Don’t look at it that way. If anything, now is when my body is healthiest in my entire life, so it’s fortunate I came now. You should see what it would’ve been like if I’d come later as an out-of-shape office worker.”
Lee Su-young agreed with my point.
“Hahaha! That’s true. And I can always leave The Tower whenever I want.”
She probably thought it was more wasteful because once you leave, you can never return.
Actually, even if I were in worse physical condition than now, would there be much difference considering the capabilities of a multi-dimensional avatar?
I pondered this for a moment before asking Lee Su-young a question.
“By the way, that slime of yours—can’t it fire multiple smaller aqua bullets instead?”
Its accuracy was flawless, and even with slightly reduced power, hitting vital points like the eyes, solar plexus, or groin would surely deal sufficient damage.
“Ah… I’ve tried a few times, but it seems impossible at the moment. Though I think it’ll work once I level up! At level one, the slime could only fire one aqua bullet at a time!”
I couldn’t say for certain without knowing the growth mechanics of summoning-type abilities, but judging by Lee Su-young’s mana absorption rate, she seemed capable of leveling up quickly.
Lee Su-young introduced her slimes.
“This blue slime is ‘Water Balloon’, and the yellow slime is ‘Light Balloon’. I call them Water Balloon and Light Balloon.”
She named the slime Water Balloon because it looked like a water balloon?
Remarkably straightforward naming sense.
“I summoned the Water Slime on the 1st Floor, and the Light Slime on the 10th Floor. Those are all the abilities you’ve seen.”
The blue slime was one that used water orbs, and the yellow slime was one that emitted light.
Just as I had obtained ‘Rebirth’ and ‘3D Avatar’ when I reached level 10 in addition to my 2-Slot Avatar, Lee Su-young must have received other auxiliary abilities, but she didn’t bother mentioning them.
Besides, since we hadn’t formally formed a party, if she revealed all her cards, I would be disappointed and she would have lectured me about trusting people too easily.
You should only reveal your trump cards after building a certain level of trust.
No matter how talented someone is, I wouldn’t want to party with them if they have a loose tongue.
How would I know if someone with a loose tongue might carelessly leak my information wherever they go?
In that regard, her decision not to reveal important information and only share what was necessary actually deserved credit.
“What are your abilities, oppa?”
“Me? My abilities are martial arts. Swordsmanship on the 1st Floor, and inner energy cultivation and footwork techniques on the 10th Floor.”
Of course, I had no intention of revealing my trump cards either.
Honestly, even if I revealed them, it would only show that I couldn’t use any special superpowers.
While others breathe flames and summon monsters, all I have in The Tower is the ability to come back to life after a cooldown period, even if I die.
Of course, that’s a rather broken ability in its own way, but since my body is essentially an ordinary person caught among superhumans, it’s a bit awkward to mention.
“Wow! So that’s why you handled the sword so well! With inner energy cultivation, you can really use inner power like in martial arts novels, right? Can you use things like Ethereal Steps or Water-Walking?”
This girl knew martial arts novels.
Ah, these days there were works that mixed a touch of martial arts into female-oriented romance.
“Originally, in martial arts novels, techniques like Ethereal Steps and Water-Walking require a high level of mastery to use.”
As we chatted about this and that, we arrived at the City before I knew it.
Once Lee Su-young returned to the City, she immediately guided me to the Climbers’ Association.
The Association building looked like a tavern with a spacious hall, and it seemed they actually sold alcohol and food as well.
Lee Su-young went toward where a young man was seated in the center.
I asked Lee Su-young.
“Is this person also one of those Tower’s Messengers or something?”
“Huh? No, from what I heard, he’s just a native resident. They call him a full-time staff member. He got married last year and had a baby two months ago.”
Ah, so unlike the Librarian Elder and the Old Witch Woman who expanded my inventory, he was just a regular employee.
But how does she know all that?
Lee Su-young chatted with the Guild Staff Member as if they were old acquaintances, smiling warmly.
With this level of friendliness, wasn’t she basically a human quokka?
As Lee Su-young chatted, she touched a crystal placed on the reception desk and pulled out a pouch containing goblin ears.
“Here you go.”
“Yes, I’ve received the goblin ears. Seventeen pieces, that’s a total of 1,700 Credits and 17 Merit Points.”
The Guild Staff Member handed her a recognition token about the size of two finger joints marked with 1,700 Credits and 10 points, and another token about the size of one finger joint marked with 1 point.
“Oppa, these are Merit Points. You can get discounts at the Association with these.”
“Ah, are you a new climber? Would you like me to explain?”
The staff member kindly explained about the Association.
The Climbers’ Association was an auxiliary organization operated by The Tower, a place that arranged native residents or commissions from The Tower for climbers.
In simple terms, it was best to think of it as a mercenary dispatch agency.
Upon completing a commission, climbers could receive compensation and Merit Points through the Association, and as Lee Su-young said, Merit Points could be used to receive discounts at the Association or affiliated shops.
The maximum discount varied by shop, but you could receive a discount of approximately 1% per Merit Point or about 10 Credits.
The goblin ear collection was both a welfare benefit for climbers who had just ascended to the 10th Floor and part of a hunting encouragement policy—a way to inform them that the Climbers’ Association would purchase useful byproducts from hunted monsters.
However, they didn’t accept byproducts from every monster.
A thick book introducing monster ecology and which parts the association would purchase cost 1000 credits.
There was no need to buy the book; it was available at the Library, and if you brought an entire corpse, the Climbers’ Association would handle the dissection and purchase after deducting their fee.
I decided to buy it after a quick glance.
It’s fascinating, really. I enjoy this sort of thing.
The book was popular because its contents primarily covered monsters that appeared on the 10th Floor and above.
“How do I register?”
“Ah, anyone who is a climber can register. Simply place your hand on this crystal orb.”
When I placed my hand on the crystal orb, it glowed faintly, and the registration was complete.
What kind of mechanism is this?
“Registration complete. Shall I introduce you to some commissions?”
“No, thank you. I’ll exchange goblin ears instead.”
I went to retrieve the goblins I had hunted before meeting Lee Su-young, and placed a bag containing 28 ears on the reception desk.
The Guild Staff Member who emptied the ears gave me the bag back along with 2800 credits and 28 merit points.
“But the native residents can’t use this system, can they?”
I tapped the crystal orb, and the Guild Staff Member nodded.
“That’s correct. Unfortunately, native residents can only accept commissions; they cannot register. I consider that fortunate, personally. If hot-blooded young children venture recklessly outside the City and suffer serious injuries or death, it would be tragic, wouldn’t it?”
“That’s true enough.”
Then Lee Su-young spoke.
“You can register a party through the Climbers’ Association too. Once registered, you won’t scatter when climbing The Tower—you’ll ascend together.”
From what I’d seen in the Community, different climbers experienced different versions of the 10th Floor, suggesting that even on the same 11th Floor, people fell to different locations or different worlds.
But it seemed that a registered party wouldn’t just hunt together in name—they could actually ascend The Tower together.
The Guild Staff Member added to Lee Su-young’s explanation.
“Precisely. And when a party hunts together, I’ve heard that Shop Points are distributed equally among all members.”
Certainly, when I killed goblins, mana was absorbed equally, but Shop Points went only to whoever dealt the killing blow.
My kill rate was slightly higher because Lee Su-young’s slime had a fairly long attack cooldown.
“What if we hunt separately?”
“As far as I understand, only those who participate in the hunt receive Shop Points. Since I’m not a climber myself, I’m not entirely certain.”
Since we’d already decided to form a party, I decided we should seal the party bond.
The Guild Staff Member said the party bond was formed simply by both of us placing our hands on the crystal orb.
“Dissolving a party bond is troublesome—you must come to the Climbers’ Association. If someone is added to the party, all members must come, but if someone leaves, only that person needs to come. Be warned that it’s impossible for an individual to expel someone or disband the party on their own.”
A party dissolves when all members withdraw from it.
“Is there a party size limit?”
“In the lower floors, I believe the maximum is six members. Beyond the middle floors, I’m not certain.”
I nodded in understanding and checked my watch. It was already past noon.
“It’s lunchtime now. After we eat, what would you like to do? Hunt more outside the City? Handle some business in the City? Or should we attempt the 11th Floor?”
If I were alone, I probably would have challenged the 11th Floor, but since we’d formed a party, I should hear Lee Su-young’s opinion too.
Either choice was fine with me.
If we hunted, I wouldn’t grow much since I lacked talent, but Lee Su-young would develop her abilities.
Since I had formed a party, my party members’ growth was beneficial to me as well.
I earned Shop Points and money in the process.
If I had business to attend to in the City, I planned to visit the Magic Tower Branch that the Librarian Elder had mentioned.
If I told them the Librarian Elder had recommended me, I might be able to learn some decent magic there.
Even if not, I was interested in magic regardless.
Challenging the 11th Floor wasn’t a bad idea either.
I wasn’t sure what would appear on the 11th Floor, but based on what I’d experienced outside the City, it was definitely worth attempting.
“I….”
Lee Su-young made her decision after much deliberation.

(To be continued in the next chapter)

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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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