Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 33

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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 33. The Tower – Escort (2)

Lee Su-young and I collected the ears we’d need to exchange for magic stones on Floor 10.
Unlike Floor 10, none of these creatures carried hand axes—most wielded crude stone hatchets or wooden clubs instead.
Now that I thought about it, how had that Goblin on Floor 10 possessed a hand axe forged from iron?
Was there someone crafting axes and deliberately distributing them?
“Doesn’t it seem strange to you too?”
Wait—did Lee Su-young share the same suspicion as me?
“But oppa, how does all of this fit in your inventory?”
Ah, so that wasn’t it after all.
I shrugged at Lee Su-young’s question.
“Truth is, I have a special item that lets me do this. My inventory itself isn’t particularly spacious.”
If something from Floor 1 of The Tower could be classified as an item, then it counted as one.
“Oh~! Really?”
Since The Tower contained all manner of strange things, Lee Su-young seemed satisfied with the explanation.
After resting and waiting for the roach-repellent smoke screen to dissipate completely, I decided to check the Goblin Lair just in case.
Inside, I discovered an eerie altar made of bone and an elderly Goblin wielding a tattered staff that radiated magical power.
Too weak from age to escape, the old creature lay collapsed with foam flecking its lips.
“Did this creature use some kind of sorcery to multiply the Goblin numbers? Is this a Goblin shaman?”
The unpleasant magical aura it emanated suggested that a direct confrontation would have been quite grueling. Indeed, one must always use their wits.
“Should we destroy this altar too?”
“That would be wise.”
I killed the still-living elderly Goblin and carved open its heart to harvest the magic stone, revealing a murky green ability stone.
“…Are ability stones really this common?”
Something felt off. On the Community, I’d only seen posts questioning whether ability stones actually existed.
There were rare posts boasting about obtaining one, but without a photo upload function, their credibility was questionable.
“Another ability stone? Wow, oppa, you really do seem incredibly lucky. I’d never even seen one before meeting you.”
“Let’s investigate this later and divide the points then.”
“No, honestly, I feel awkward taking a share this time. The wolf pack, I did contribute somewhat, but you handled Floor 13 entirely. For relationships to last, it’s important to handle these things fairly.”
I had constructed the barricade and deployed the roach-repellent smoke screen, so her point was valid.
“Fine then, I’ll just keep this one.”
“Okay. But let’s split everything else evenly. Oh, and I don’t need that unpleasant-looking staff.”
Without either of us being greedy, the distribution finished quickly.
Though to be precise, since all the loot wouldn’t fit in my inventory, I’d need to store it on Floor 1 of The Tower and divide it properly once we returned to Floor 10.
With our exploration complete, we ascended directly to Floor 14.

* * *

When I ascended to Floor 14, there were two additional climbers besides us.

[Merchant, please hear Lorolren’s request.]

A Quest to advance to the next floor also materialized above the crystal.
The Western climber who appeared to be a man in his mid-thirties, whom we were seeing for the first time, and the Southeast Asian climber who appeared to be a woman in her early twenties exchanged glances with each other.
While we were bewildered at encountering people we’d never seen before, the merchant Lorolren brightened upon seeing us.
“Y-you’re really climbers?! We’re saved!”
At Lorolren’s words, the Western climber spoke.
“The Tower tells me to grant your request. What favor do you ask of us? I should mention—if it’s an unreasonable request, we’ll simply withdraw, so speak carefully.”
Though the words sounded like English, I understood them without difficulty thanks to the universal ability ‘Translation’.
The Western climber spoke with an accent that felt distinctly aristocratic—British in nature.
“Ah, I’m Lorolren, managing a modest trading company.”
After introducing himself, Lorolren cautiously presented his request.
He explained the situation at considerable length, but in summary, the mercenary band originally hired to provide escort had fallen ill with mass food poisoning, and he was asking us to safely transport him and his cargo wagon to the nearby city of York.
He needed to arrive in York by the latest by tomorrow, but the only passage to York was now blocked by a harpy swarm, making travel impossible.
The distance was merely eight hours, but if he didn’t arrive by tomorrow, he would face massive penalties and bankruptcy.
“If you would provide the escort, I will pay you the same fee I promised the mercenary band.”
“Ah, a fee. How much per person?”
“5,000 Credits per person.”
Well, I could pocket some extra income.
For an eight-hour journey, 5,000 Credits was quite lucrative.
At Lorolren’s words, the Southeast Asian female climber spoke.
“Six thousand.”
“Pardon?”
“Seven thousand, eight thousand, nine thousand, ten thousand, eleven thousand… 11,000 Credits per person.”
At the Southeast Asian climber’s words, Lorolren was taken aback.
But he flinched under the cold gaze of the female climber and nodded.
“Y-yes, 11,000! I’ll pay it!”
At those words, the Southeast Asian climber nodded and spoke.
“I’ll take this request.”
“I shall accept as well.”
When the Western climber agreed, Lee Su-young and I also consented.
“W-well then, I’ll prepare everything right away. Please wait here!”
As Lorolren hurried off somewhere, the climber who appeared to be Western spoke.
“According to the Community, climbers often join forces to complete Quests together—is this one of those instances?”
We hadn’t even introduced ourselves yet.
I nodded at his words and spoke.
“It appears so. I’m Han Ji-woo, from Korea. My ability is swordsmanship.”
At my words, both the Western and Southeast Asian climbers regarded me with surprised eyes.
“Your name and origin don’t matter much, but isn’t it dangerous to reveal your abilities so carelessly?”
I shook my head at the Westerner’s question.
“I haven’t revealed anything particularly significant—just calling swordsmanship an ability. There’s nothing you can do with that information anyway. If we’re going to complete a Quest together and fight side by side, you’ll naturally learn these details.”
The Southeast Asian nodded at my words.
“That’s true. We do need to know each other’s general abilities. I’m Retihoa, from Vietnam. My ability is necromancy—I can possess spirits into totems and have them fight for me. If I apply it creatively, I can read the trembling of spirits to discern truth from lies, just like I did with that merchant’s deception.”
The Vietnamese climber Retihoa pulled two small totems from her inventory and manipulated them.
The totems floated in the air, circling around Retihoa.
“Ah, so that merchant Lorolren was trying to cheat us on the price. Thanks to the lady, we can receive a fair amount.”
The Western climber bowed lightly in greeting and introduced himself.
“I’m from England, and my name is William Edvans. My ability is magical arrows.”
The English climber William conjured magical arrows in the air.
“I’ve also trained in fencing for close-quarters combat. Should I call it American gun-kata? Well, since it’s arrows instead of guns, maybe arrow-kata?”
William pulled a thin longsword from his inventory and fastened it at his waist.
After William, Lee Su-young introduced herself.
“I’m Lee Su-young, from Korea like Ji-woo, and we’re in a party together. My ability is summoning slimes. My slimes can use aqua bullets. I use a bow as a secondary weapon.”
Having grown stronger climbing up to Floor 14, Lee Su-young and her slime could now use aqua bullets with shorter cooldowns.
“A bow! Now that you mention it, Korea is famous for archery.”
When William showed interest, Lee Su-young smiled and answered.
“I learned archery when I was young too.”
The two sociable people conversed actively, while Retihoa and I simply listened quietly or nodded in response.
As the introductions ended, Lorolren arrived pulling a cargo cart.
Since two mules were pulling the cart, its speed wasn’t particularly fast.
“I’m here. Shall we depart right away?”
William spoke in response to Lorolren’s words.
“The road is quite long—wouldn’t it be better if the two ladies rode in the cart?”
“What? But….”
I cut off Lee Su-young’s words.
“You should ride. If we get tired walking, we can switch then.”
We had eight hours of walking ahead, so there was no need for everyone to suffer.
It would be ideal if everyone could ride in the cart, but since there was only the driver’s seat for people to sit, it was impossible for all four of us to ride together.
At my words, Lee Su-young nodded and climbed aboard, and Retihoa didn’t refuse either—she bowed slightly in courtesy and got on.
William seemed pleased that I had yielded my seat in the cart, patting my shoulder once and winking.
He seemed to think my words about switching later if we got tired were meant to ease his guilt.
No, I genuinely meant it—if I got tired, I’d ask them to switch so I could sit.
I’m the type who prefers the first watch if I have to stand guard, a man who truly believes in gender equality.
That’s who I am.
What does gender matter in The Tower?
If you can handle mana, you’re superhuman.

* * *

“Phew, it’s sweltering. This floor must be summer.”
William Edvans wiped his brow with a handkerchief.
Even Retihoa, who hailed from a hot country, was perspiring noticeably in this heat.
As we escorted the supply wagon and discussed the floors we’d traversed so far, William recounted how he’d subjugated a Goblin settlement of roughly thirty creatures living alongside the 11th Floor inhabitants, caught monstrous fish by angling on the 12th Floor, and faced about twenty bipedal hyena-like monsters called “Nol” on the 13th Floor.
Retihoa hadn’t elaborated much, but she seemed to have encountered roughly comparable difficulty.
What’s going on? Is our difficulty level abnormal?
No matter how I listened, the Quest difficulty Lee Su-young and I faced seemed far higher than theirs.
The wolf packs led by monster wolves, the eagle-sized flying bird swarms, the abnormally proliferated Goblin Lair—weren’t the numbers we encountered in a completely different league?
Lee Su-young seemed to share my thoughts, her gaze meeting mine.
Could it be that parties are assigned more difficult Quests? Or was it simply bad luck?
“I wonder what sort of enemies you two encountered… Oh, it seems enemies are approaching.”
William Edvans detected the approaching enemies, suggesting he possessed abilities beyond magical arrows.
At his words, I extended my senses and detected a group of what appeared to be Goblins cautiously approaching from a considerable distance away.
As I nodded, Lee Su-young summoned her Slime and descended from the supply wagon.
Once everyone prepared for battle, Retihoa also retrieved her totem and channeled a spirit into it.
William Edvans fired a magical arrow at a Goblin hiding in the brush, striking first, then drew his sword.
“Three over there, four over there.”
I pointed out the Goblins’ positions for Lee Su-young, who couldn’t spot them.
With their green skin, Goblins blended seamlessly into the vegetation.
I’d heard that green is a difficult color to produce naturally, yet I couldn’t fathom how their skin had become that shade.
Once Lee Su-young carefully examined the direction I’d indicated and spotted them, she utilized her Slime’s water current to launch an aqueous projectile.
“It appears Han Ji-woo also possesses detection abilities. Miss Retihoa, there are five Goblins over there.”
At William Edvans’ words, Retihoa hurled one of her totems forward.
Though the spirit was supposedly possessing the wooden totem, I wondered how it could fight—but the totem body-checked a Goblin and fell to the ground.
Then the Goblin convulsed unnaturally before suddenly smashing another Goblin’s head with a stone axe.
A chill ran down my spine.
I realized the totem was merely a vessel for transporting the spirit to the enemy.

(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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