Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 88

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

Chapter 88. Public Dungeon Battle (3)

Beyond the city walls stretched an endless grassland.
The open expanse seemed to extend at least three or four kilometers in every direction.
When I had been in the 10th Floor District, I was surrounded by forests in a basin-like terrain, but seeing this grassland made it viscerally clear that I had ascended to the 20th Floor.
Of course, the Floor 20 District City was several times larger than the 10th Floor District City, but being inside the city made it difficult to truly grasp its scale.
The architectural style was identical, so during my mere four days in the 10th Floor District, I hadn’t noticed much difference.
Diana, on the other hand, had climbed continuously upon arriving at The Tower and had barely spent a day in the 10th Floor District, so stepping outside the city for the first time seemed entirely novel to her.
“It truly is a world unto itself.”
Diana apparently hadn’t felt a sense of reality about The Tower until now.
It made sense—today marked only my third day since arriving at The Tower.
“It appears they rent horses over there as well.”
Lee Su-young pointed toward the massive stable beside the city gate.
The lower floors were worlds in themselves.
By world maps, their size rivaled entire continents.
To travel through the lower-floor worlds, a mount like a horse was practically essential.
Of course, we weren’t venturing that far, and we’d be climbing a mountain, so horses weren’t necessary. Besides….
“Do you know how to ride a horse?”
“Uh… no.”
Lee Su-young had never ridden a horse before.
My hometown was Jeju, so I’d experienced horseback riding a few times as a child, but it was merely a few laps around the riding arena with a handler controlling the reins, so I felt embarrassed claiming I could actually ride.
If a riding experience counted as horseback riding, then riding a carousel at an amusement park would qualify as equestrian skill.
“I do. Our family runs a farm, so we raised horses. Though my Father’s hobby kept the operation relatively small.”
Diana had grown up around various animals from an early age.
Her choice to major in life sciences was partly because her parents opposed theology, but that influence was significant.
Diana applied to both veterinary school and life sciences simultaneously, failed veterinary school, and enrolled in life sciences instead, she said with a smile.
“I’ll teach you how to ride horses if the opportunity comes up.”
I had a feeling that opportunity would inevitably arise as we climbed The Tower.
As we ascended higher, the worlds we needed to traverse expanded, and if we weren’t going to run on foot across such vast distances, mounts would become essential.
“Our first waypoint is here—Behir Lake.”
The lake contained special magical properties, and collecting its water was the first commission.
One might wonder why collecting water from a lake warranted a commission, but monsters periodically crawled up from the lake.
Because of the monsters, it was difficult to construct water-collection facilities, and even when built, they were easily destroyed by them.
A city wall had been constructed to contain the monsters that emerged from the lake, preventing them from escaping, but since the lake teemed with monsters, collecting water required combat strength.
And eliminating and disposing of the swarming monsters—like culling a fish farm—was the second commission.
Both were standing commissions, though the latter required obtaining a hunting confirmation certificate from the wall’s administrator.
After leaving the city and traveling roughly three kilometers northwest, the city wall came into view in the distance.
Since the wall existed to contain what was inside, it had no gate, but stairs leading up the outer wall had been constructed.
As I approached the City Wall, a manager emerged from a small guardhouse installed right beside the stairs.
“Are you here to climb? Is your purpose hunting? Or water collection?”
“Both.”
At my answer, the manager asked me to fill out an entry log.
“Hunting isn’t particularly dangerous, but collecting water is quite risky. Please be careful.”
Hunting could be done simply by shooting arrows from atop the City Wall, but collecting water required entering directly inside the wall without special abilities, making it fairly dangerous.
The more water I collected, the more merit points I’d earn, so I planned to gather as much as possible.
I possessed a broken item called ‘Tower Floor 1’.
That is, if Tower Floor 1 could even be called an item.
We climbed up onto the City Wall.
The City Wall was thick enough that its top width reached at least five meters, and it grew even thicker toward the base.
Naturally, the inner side was nearly vertical, while the outer side sloped downward.
Since the City Wall encircled the entire lake, it was incredibly long, and as befitted a popular hunting ground, dozens of climbers had already claimed their positions, shooting arrows or hunting monsters with their own abilities.
This was a famous spot for merit point farming.
“You can descend using the rope ladder when you leave, but we’ll retrieve it immediately. I’ll give you this signal flare—if you want to come back up, fire it into the sky, and we’ll lower the rope ladder again.”
Atop the City Wall stood a pulley system resembling a ship’s anchor-raising mechanism, with a rope ladder coiled around it.
“Understood.”
I took the signal flare and discussed with Lee Su-young and Diana how we should proceed.
Inside the City Wall were bipedal frogs and fish wielding primitive weapons.
Unlike Goblins, the lake monsters hadn’t advanced beyond stone tool technology.
However, the request notes warned that they spew high-pressure water projectiles, so caution was necessary.
“Su-young, wouldn’t it be better if you provided cover from atop the City Wall?”
Lee Su-young countered my suggestion.
“Wouldn’t it be better if I came down with you and handled monsters approaching from the lake at range? The firing range from the City Wall seems insufficient.”
“Still, if you go down, monster swarms will converge on us, and you lack sufficient defensive means.”
At my words, Lee Su-young laughed. “Hehehehe!” Then she summoned a new slime.
“Tada! A new slime I can summon after reaching the 20th Floor! It’s a defensive balloon! Balloon Wind! Defensive barrier!”
The gray slime enveloped Lee Su-young, who held it, in a soap bubble-like protective barrier.
I gently tapped the barrier with a chestnut strike infused with inner strength.
“Oh! This should easily block stone axes and spears like those?”
Of course, if they swarmed and struck from all directions, it would eventually break.
“Plus, I have defensive magic tools here, so it’s even safer.”
She’d mentioned planning to secure defensive means upon reaching the 20th Floor, and I’d assumed she’d acquire them herself, but it turned out the Tower’s granted abilities solved the problem.
“Then let’s try going down together. If it seems wrong, we can just come back up immediately.”
At Diana’s words, I nodded.
“Then let’s descend.”
As we lowered the rope ladder and descended below the City Wall, several frogs that spotted us unleashed water cannons.
“Whoa! This isn’t just water projectiles!”
The monsters emerging from the 20th Floor District were predominantly 20th Floor tier.
10th Floor tier monsters weren’t absent, but they only appeared very close to the city or in massive groups.
According to the Community, Goblin groups on the 10th Floor District numbered at most around twenty, but on the 20th Floor District they formed groups of at least one hundred or more.
I lightened my body with the lightness technique, then bounded off the City Wall, hurling my hand axe to dispatch the frogs.
“Wow, you can even climb walls? You’re like a total ninja!”
“Call me a martial artist instead of a ninja, would you?”
Once the ground drew close enough, I leaped down lightly.
I retrieved my hand axe, drew my sword, and methodically dealt with the monsters streaming toward us.
Thanks to the climbers processing monsters from atop the City Wall, the density wasn’t overwhelming.
Monster corpses were piled in various places, but I avoided going near them—no need to invite accusations of stealing magic stones.
Once the two of them descended, Diana leading the way, we approached the lake while hunting monsters.
Upon reaching the lake, I pulled out the thin leather water containers I’d rented from the Hunter Association before leaving the City—two-liter capacity each—and began filling them with lake water.
At ten credits per container, I boldly rented a thousand of them and stacked them on Tower Floor 1.
Since they refund the rental fee if you return them without delay, I borrowed without hesitation.
I wanted to borrow more, but the Association had exhausted their supply.
I even received what amounted to a threat—not quite a threat—that if I didn’t return them, they’d deduct contribution points.
Lake water prices fluctuated based on available quantity, and currently stood at two contribution points and twenty-five credits per hundred milliliters, so water wasn’t particularly popular.
Inventory capacity was limited, descending below the City Wall was dangerous, and hunting from atop the wall paid one contribution point and one hundred credits per monster—so naturally everyone gravitated toward hunting.
Even if I filled my entire five-kilogram inventory capacity, it would only net one hundred contribution points and twelve hundred fifty credits.
Once I’d filled a two-liter container, I immediately pulled out a new one, filled it, and repeated the process of transferring them to Tower Floor 1.
Two liters per container, a thousand containers prepared—two thousand liters total.
Forty thousand contribution points and five hundred thousand credits—roughly fifty million won.
While I ceaselessly repeated the cycle of filling containers, Diana and Lee Su-young diligently slaughtered the monsters streaming toward us.
Being so close to the lake, they concentrated their assault, turning it into a veritable massacre.
“Count the ones you kill carefully. Each one is a contribution point.”
“We know!”
“We’re collecting the magic stones too!”
As we conducted our slaughter, I noticed two or three administrators gathering to count the monsters we killed.
Well, how would they know if we were falsifying our reports?
“Brother! Stop slacking and fill the water faster!”
“Right.”
No rest for the wicked.
After relentlessly filling, loading, and transferring, I’d managed to fill all two thousand containers.
“This is endless. What kind of item is this anyway?”
“It’s a secret.”
Are we done now?”
“Not yet. While we’re here, we should collect the monster byproducts too.”
I drew my dagger and extracted magic stones, frog hearts, and fish bladders.
The less damage, the higher the price, but the Association weighed even damaged goods equally for contribution points.
After collecting a reasonable amount of hearts and bladders, I stood up.
That completed four commissions: extermination, lake water, frog hearts, and fish bladders.
“Let’s go now.”
Lee Su-young drained a mana recovery potion and nodded.
I rushed to the City Wall and fired a signal flare, whereupon a rope ladder descended from above.
I provided cover while Lee Su-young and Diana climbed up, then followed them onto the rope ladder.
Above, Lee Su-young and Diana turned the pulley with the administrators, hauling the rope ladder up.
Once I reached the top of the City Wall, I rubbed my arms.
“Ugh, my arms are completely sore. Let’s head to the next location right away.”
We received a subjugation confirmation certificate from the administrators and headed north again.
After traveling about three kilometers north from the lake, I spotted a house built atop a tall tower-like structure.
Beyond the tower lay a forest where monsters frequently appeared, and this was a Surveillance Tower built to monitor whether that forest showed any signs of disturbance.
“Dietrich! Are you there!”
At my shout, a Guard Captain with a thick, unkempt beard emerged from the outpost.
“I’m Dietrich! What brings you here!”
“Delivery! A letter and gifts from your heavily pregnant wife!”
At my words, the unshaven man’s face lit up and he hurried down from the tower.
I retrieved the delivery items from my inventory.
It was a lunch box still warm to the touch and a box containing personal items.
“Thank you so much!”
I pulled out additional boxes.
“And these are supplies the City government is sending to the Surveillance Tower. Just sign these two request forms here.”
As supply boxes continued to emerge from my inventory, the Guard Captain’s eyes widened in surprise.
That completed two delivery requests.
Simple errands don’t pay well, but I accepted these since the routes overlapped.
Still, the supply deliveries were substantial enough to earn decent contribution points.
Though the monetary reward was minimal.
“I’ll also be entering that forest on a Hunter Association request. Here’s the permit.”
Behir Mountain was a mountain located within Behir Forest.
“Ah! You’re climbers then. Just fill out this register please.”
“Thank you for your help.”
After completing the register, we entered the forest.

(To be continued in the next chapter)

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