Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 64

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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 64. The Tower – Defense (5)

I was flustered by Lee Su-young’s words and spoke up.
“Not helpful? I was just barely managing to protect myself. How much did long-range attacks help in the previous floors? And on Floor 16—if it weren’t for you, how would I have dealt with those bats so swiftly?”
Honestly, having Lee Su-young around gave me peace of mind. She had perfect accuracy, sharp combat instincts, and a no-nonsense personality. Moreover, her talent within The Tower surpassed that of other climbers.
At my words, Lee Su-young still looked dejected.
“Once we reach the 20th Floor, I’ll find a way to protect myself first. I’ve earned plenty of points today, so I can purchase materials from the Tower Shop and commission crafting. That way, I can create something far superior to a simple protective barrier.”
The Tower Shop was valuable precisely because while it didn’t sell finished products, it sold crucial materials for crafting magical artifacts.
Of course, the actual creation still required payment, finding an artisan, or doing it yourself.
“So once we reach the 20th Floor, please teach me martial arts first.”
At Lee Su-young’s words, Diana raised her hand slightly and spoke.
“Ah, me too. Could I also learn martial arts by forgoing my share of future ability stones? I’m going to be a party member too, after all.”
“A party member?”
At Diana’s words, Lee Su-young looked startled and glanced between Diana and me.
“Ah, I should have told you first since you’re my party member….”
“Wow! Sister Diana is climbing The Tower with us now?! I’m all for it! Honestly, I was a bit anxious with just Ji-woo oppa!”
I appreciated her enthusiasm, but what did she mean she was anxious with just me? What kind of thing was that to say?
“I should have asked for your consent first, Su-young. I was hasty.”
“Consent? An ability user like you would be welcomed by anyone! Now that we’re party members, drop the formalities and speak comfortably! Not with that distant tone like ‘Su-young’!”
“Lee Su-young…?”
“Drop the family name too! Just call me that, sister!”
Truly, she was like a human quokka, a human capybara—her sociability was remarkable.
Diana, however, seemed burdened by Lee Su-young’s friendliness.
“Calm down. Diana is uncomfortable with this. Use whatever honorifics feel natural to you.”
“Oh, no. Since we’ll be in the same party, it’s better to be comfortable with titles. Ji-woo, please call me without honorifics too.”
It seemed Diana herself felt awkward dropping the formalities.
“Well then, should I call you noona? You are older, right?”
At my playful question, Diana looked flustered.
“No, noona? How old are you exactly?”
“I’m twenty-two. Well, twenty-one in Korean age. How old are you, Diana?”
“…I’m twenty-four. But I’d rather not be called noona—I feel it makes me look older.”
I wasn’t sure how the translation conveyed the word, but it seemed to have come across somewhat negatively.
Translation wasn’t a cure-all, after all.
“If you’re twenty-one, you’d be in your final year of university now, or is it your third year?”
“Korea has mandatory military service, so I went and came back. I’m in my second year now.”
The three of us—myself, Lee Su-young, and Diana—naturally began sharing stories about how we’d lived outside The Tower.
“Wow, I’m the only one with the shortest educational background. You two both went to prestigious universities.”
“You haven’t even graduated high school yet. You’re far from being able to talk about educational background.”
“I’m not particularly good at studying. I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to get into university.”
At Lee Su-young’s self-deprecating remark, Diana shrugged her shoulders.
“You don’t necessarily have to graduate from university…ah.”
Diana trailed off slightly, seeming uncomfortable with the informal speech.
“If it feels that awkward, just speak formally with me.”
At my words, Diana brightened and reverted to formal speech. “Should I do that?”
“Personally, I wanted to become a clergyman and attend a theological seminary, but my parents opposed it.”
The Church of England allows women to become deacons, but that’s as far as it goes.
Religion fundamentally prevented women from rising to higher positions.
Diana, who had been brilliant since childhood, lived in a quiet rural village before her parents encouraged her to study biological sciences at O University, from which she graduated. Now she was pursuing studies at the same university’s medical graduate school.
She also expressed her future aspiration to join an NGO once she obtained her medical license.
Now I understood why she had observed the ecology of the mole monsters so carefully on Floor 16—she was a biosciences major.
As we exchanged various conversations, I noticed military flags fluttering in the distance.
“Reinforcements! The reinforcements have arrived!”
“We’re saved!”
The climbers, who could flee at any moment, reacted lukewarmly, but the city’s citizens embraced each other in joy.
For them, these had been hours where lives hung in the balance.
Bogard Dellington, who had climbed up the City Wall, clutched magic stones from the Goblins greedily in both hands.
How had he managed to climb the City Wall while holding magic stones like that?
“Ah, I’m exhausted! Collecting magic stones is harder than slaughtering Goblins! You all should gather magic stones too. It’s wasteful to leave them scattered like that.”
Looking more carefully, I saw that other climbers were also extracting magic stones using their respective abilities.
“I’ve earned enough points already, so it’s fine.”
The Goblin that had turned red gave many points, but the Goblins I had hunted while roaming outside the City Wall had given even more points.
I had also killed many with arrows from atop the City Wall.
At my response, Bogard Dellington nodded while stuffing the magic stones into his pocket.
“Is that so? Then let’s meet again if we get the chance. I think we’ll probably end up in the same city if we make it to Floor 20!”
Bogard Dellington laughed heartily and walked toward the Safe Zone, the magic stones clinking together in his pocket.
With the reinforcements arrived, the Quest was already considered complete.
“Both of you head back to Floor 10 first. You’re exhausted today.”
According to the Community, even if you form a party, there are certain floors in The Tower that require individual challenges, and Floor 19 was one of them.
“You’re right. I haven’t rested since entering The Tower today, so I’m feeling mentally a bit fatigued.”
Ah, Diana had said she entered The Tower today.
And Floor 19 was her first floor.
“What are you going to do here, oppa?”
“I’m curious about why the monster wave occurred.”
I planned to ask about it once the reinforcement command arrived.
I climbed The Tower largely to satisfy this kind of curiosity.
Though mentally somewhat fatigued, I preferred a clean aftertaste.
“Well, then I’ll stay too. We’re in the same party, aren’t we?”
“Ah, I was curious about it too.”
Unlike Lee Su-young, Diana’s eyes sparkled with genuine curiosity.
I’d thought the same thing back on Floor 16—Diana was in the same year as me.
Though unlike me, she didn’t seem like the type to stake her life on satisfying curiosity.
The moment the reinforcements arrived, the Goblin army was swept away.
What made the Goblin army terrifying was their overwhelming numbers; when matched against equal forces, Goblins were no match for humans.
The climbers departed one by one, as if their business here was finished.
After watching the reinforcements swiftly eliminate the Goblin army and enter the city, I found the Bearded Guard who had been pleading with the climbers and explaining the situation, asking him to investigate why this had happened.
Fortunately, the guard seemed well aware that he owed his life to the climbers, boasting confidently that he’d handle it and heading toward the temporary military camp set up inside the city for the reinforcements.
After waiting about ten minutes, that guard suddenly appeared with an armored knight at the place where we stood.
“Are you the climbers sent by The Tower?”
At the question from the middle-aged knight, I nodded.
“Yes, we are.”
“If you don’t mind, could you follow me for a moment? There’s someone who wishes to see you.”
At those words, I glanced at Diana and Lee Su-young.
If this turned out to be troublesome, it would be better to just run.
My life was more important than satisfying curiosity.
“I mean no harm. While commoners might not know, even nobles are aware that the legend of Tower’s Messengers appearing to punish those who harm climbers is far from mere legend.”
Ah, so Tower’s Messengers were also a legend? I hadn’t known since people on Floor 10 spoke of them as if it were obvious.
Come to think of it, climbers themselves seemed to be treated as legends, so Tower’s Messengers couldn’t possibly be anything but.
I’d never actually seen Tower’s Messengers myself.
“I simply have some things I’d like to hear about. I’d also like to commend your service in protecting this city and offer compensation. You might even get answers to what you were curious about.”
At the mention of compensation, Lee Su-young’s eyes sparkled and she jabbed my ribs.
This was her way of saying we should go.
“From what I hear, all the other climbers have left. Please.”
The knight looked at us earnestly, and I had no choice but to nod.
“Very well.”
With my consent, the knight led us to the largest tent in the center of the temporary military camp.
Inside the tent sat a middle-aged man in ornate armor—unmistakably a General.
“So you are the climbers.”
I answered on behalf of the group.
“Yes, we are.”
“First, allow me to express my gratitude for protecting this city. You’ve been an enormous help. While it’s embarrassing to call this a reward, my soldiers are currently collecting Crystals, so after a short wait, you’ll receive ten percent of what we’ve collected. I’d like to give you half if I could, but Crystals are among our most vital resources, so I hope you understand.”
At the General’s words, Lee Su-young clenched her fist silently.
The climbers who left earlier had hastily collected Crystals, worried the reinforcements might be troublesome, and now it looked like we, who stayed to satisfy our curiosity, would end up getting all of them.
“Beyond that, I’ll offer additional compensation at my discretion.”
“What is it that you ask of us?”
His excessive kindness actually frightened me.
“My soldiers told me that a ‘black-haired man with a sword’ and a ‘beautiful woman with dark skin’ rushed beyond the City Wall and returned. Could that be you? They said there were many with similar appearances. If not, I’d like to hear about those who ventured beyond the wall and came back.”
“…That would be me.”
At my answer, the General’s eyes gleamed.
“May I ask what you encountered outside the City?”
“We faced a Goblin with two horn-like protrusions on its head. Its skin turned a vivid crimson when it attacked.”
“That’s the one!”
At the General’s gesture, soldiers brought the corpse of the red Goblin I had slain from outside the tent.
“This is indeed the creature, sir.”
“Did you happen to find anything in its chest?”
“Ah… yes, we did.”
I retrieved a small orb and a metal fragment from my inventory.
Strange symbols were etched faintly across the metal piece.
“Could you hand those over to me?”
“What is this?”
“I don’t know.”
At my questioning look—why hand over something unknown?—the General sighed and continued.
“I’m uncertain of the specifics, but the Royal Mages claim it’s something used by the dark sorcerers of old. As for the current situation, it remains mere speculation, but…”
In ages past, an evil dark sorcerer and his followers had plunged the continent into chaos. A coalition of kingdoms united their forces, defeated the followers, and succeeded in sealing away the dark sorcerer.
Yet recently, those who revere the evil dark sorcerer have begun causing trouble again, and we suspect they may have orchestrated this monster wave as well.
For now, we need research materials and evidence of dark sorcerer activity, which is why I’m asking for this metal fragment.
“And the orb?”
“I’ve never heard of anything like it. Still, to be thorough, I’d appreciate it if you’d hand over both. Of course, this won’t be without compensation. I’ll provide additional rewards.”
Having heard the situation, I was satisfied.
However, surrendering an orb whose nature I didn’t understand felt hesitant.
After brief deliberation, I purchased an “Appraisal Scroll (F)” from the Tower Shop.
“If we don’t know what it is, we should appraise it immediately.”
I activated the appraisal scroll on the orb.

(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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