I was staring blankly into space.
Because it felt utterly unreal.
After zoning out like that for a long while, I realized I had overlooked something important.
I had gone to the Tower because I needed money, but I had only gained a skill and hadn’t obtained any mana stones.
“…What now?”
I sighed and thought it over. But no matter how much I thought, there was only one answer.
Nothing I could do. I’d have to wait until midnight.
Thinking that, I took a seat on a nearby bench and opened the gallery in midair.
In the gallery, the heroines from the first run were still chattering about me.
The Archmage was still teasing me for being an idiot who didn’t even understand the efficiency of basic magic, while the Heavenly Demon kept giving unsolicited advice about the path of martial arts and whatnot.
I spent a long while snickering as I watched the gallery, and before I knew it, darkness had fallen.
I lowered my gaze and looked at my smartphone.
The clock at the top read 11:59 p.m.
00:00.
Humming to myself, I headed for the entrance of the Tower.
This was the first time the Tower’s rule of allowing entry only once per day had felt this agonizingly slow.
It had always been despair. It had always been fear.
But now, it was nothing more than a farming spot.
Standing at the entrance, I looked at the message that appeared before my eyes.
[Would you like to enter the Tower?]
[ YES / NO ]
I lightly selected YES, and the space changed in an instant.
I saw forest terrain. Then another message appeared.
[You have entered the 6th floor of the Tower.]
[Remaining challenge attempts: 5 / 5]
[Time limit: 00 hours 30 minutes 00 seconds]
[Would you like to begin?]
[ YES / NO ]
The monster that would appear on the 6th floor was already decided anyway.
I pressed the YES button with an easy heart, and in the middle of the forest terrain, a single kobold appeared with an unpleasant cry.
Just as the creature noticed me and was about to bare its teeth—
I chanted the spell as lightly as breathing.
“Lightning Bolt.”
And lightning shot out.
The bolt of electricity stretched in a straight line and blew apart the kobold’s head.
It couldn’t even leave behind a death cry.
[You have successfully cleared the 6th floor!]
[Clear time: 00 hours 00 minutes 02 seconds]
[An incredible feat! You have renewed the world’s shortest clear record for this floor!]
[As a reward for setting a new record, all stats permanently increase by +1.]
“…Fucking easy.”
I lightly shook off the residual current lingering at my fingertips and looked at the kobold’s corpse.
[The 6th floor clear reward will be distributed.]
[Obtained 10g of mana stones.]
At the same time as the notification, a mana stone was placed in my hand.
I shoved it into my pocket and left the stage without any lingering attachment.
Then I headed straight for the Association.
Arriving at the Hunter Association’s purchasing office, I handed the mana stone to the appraiser.
The employee examined the mana stone with an indifferent expression, then told me the purchase price.
One million won for 10g of mana stones.
I nodded, pretending to be calm.
A moment later, I looked at the amount displayed on my smartphone. Exactly one million won.
I couldn’t stop a deep smile from spreading across my face.
One million won with a single click.
From that day on, my daily life revolved around the Tower.
While eating, before going to sleep, before washing up, I looked at the Tower through the window.
Because I wanted to go there faster, even one more day sooner.
The next day, as soon as midnight arrived, I headed to the Tower.
[You have successfully cleared the 7th floor!]
[Clear time: 00 hours 00 minutes 04 seconds]
[An incredible feat! You have renewed the world’s shortest clear record for this floor!]
[As a reward for setting a new record, all stats permanently increase by +1.]
[The 7th floor clear reward will be distributed.]
[Obtained 10g of mana stones.]
And the day after that as well.
[You have successfully cleared the 8th floor!]
[Clear time: 00 hours 00 minutes 06 seconds]
[An incredible feat! You have renewed the world’s shortest clear record for this floor!]
[As a reward for setting a new record, all stats permanently increase by +1.]
[The 8th floor clear reward will be distributed.]
[Obtained 10g of mana stones.]
“…Uhat!”
One million won a day. Just as I was about to welcome that joy and collect the mana stone—
Ding—
A notification sounded, and a system message appeared with a cheerful chime.
[You have surpassed the experience limit!]
[Your level has increased! (Lv.1 -> Lv.2)]
[Congratulations on achieving your first level-up. A skill card will be distributed as an achievement reward!]
“Level-up?”
Ah, right. There were levels.
Back when I was F-rank, I’d hit a wall and couldn’t progress any farther, so I had completely forgotten.
As I thought that, a golden card slowly appeared in midair.
The skill obtained as a level-up reward was also random.
This time too, a gold card. The moment I thought that—
The card began to rotate, turning black.
“…No way.”
At last, a black card revealed itself.
I swallowed dryly and carefully selected the card.
[Memorize]
“…Memorize?”
I tilted my head slightly and read the detailed description of the skill.
And after reading it all, all I could do was suck in a hollow breath.
Standing frozen on the spot.
[Skill Description: You can store a specific magic spell or skill in an independent space within your mana core. Stored magic can be manifested instantly at any location within the user’s range of perception, anytime and anywhere, without casting or activation motions.]
[Maximum storage count: 2 times (2 stacks)]
[Penalty: Each stack has a cooldown of 5 hours.]
“A fucking broken skill.”
My heart pounded like mad. Truly, literally like mad.
All I had was Lightning Bolt.
Which meant the only thing I could store for now was Lightning Bolt.
But as I cleared the Tower, my skills would increase, and as I grew stronger, the ways I could use it would become endless.
On top of that, a five-hour cooldown per stack meant that in a day, two stacks would be fully restored anyway.
Since the Tower could only be entered once per day, that wasn’t much of a penalty at all.
In other words, for a mage, this skill was no different from a cheat code.
I cackled like a madman.
Even after leaving the stage, even while exiting the Tower, I kept snickering with uncontrollable exhilaration.
That was when I returned to the motel.
As soon as I opened the door, the scent of perfume tickled my nose in the musty hallway.
And I saw a woman dressed neatly in a suit.
“Mr. Baek Ubin.”
It was none other than Lee Chaeyeon.
We moved to a quiet café nearby.
As soon as she sat down, she drained a glass of cold water in one go, then spoke in a low voice.
“Mr. Baek Ubin. I’ll get straight to the point. I want to firmly recommend you to Aegis.”
Resting my chin at an angle on my hand, I stared at her with a lukewarm expression.
Why was that? I felt something off in her words and attitude.
“You look like there’s a ‘but’ coming after that.”
Lee Chaeyeon smiled bitterly and nodded.
“Yes, that’s right. The higher-ups of the Association and the committee are still demanding definite verification regarding you, Mr. Baek Ubin. Officially, your rank is still F. So… even knowing it’s unreasonable, they attached one condition.”
“What is it?”
“The committee’s decision is that if you clear the Tower, you will immediately be officially registered as Aegis without any further procedures.”
After hearing her words, I stared blankly at her face for a moment, thinking I had misunderstood Korean.
Clear? Clear the Tower?
A helpless, incredulous laugh escaped me.
“Are you joking?”
Without bothering to hide my disbelief, I glared at Lee Chaeyeon.
If I cleared the Tower, they’d register me as Aegis?
“Listen, Ms. Lee Chaeyeon. If I cleared the Tower all the way to the end in the first place, the Association would be the one begging me to become Aegis. Even if I didn’t become something like Aegis, people all over the world would be asking me to come to them.”
“…”
“Why would I go out of my way to clear the Tower and then act desperate to become Aegis?”
“T-that is…”
Lee Chaeyeon’s eyes trembled violently.
“It’s meant as a symbolic gesture that the committee will promise full physical and financial support…”
“Stop barking that bullshit.”
“…”
“I don’t know just how stupid you thought I was, or how much you were looking down on me… but let’s make this perfectly clear. F-rank? I can just get remeasured whenever I want. You’re giving me a mission to clear the Tower without offering any real benefits, and if I actually pull it off, you’re trying to prevent me from going to another guild in advance. Isn’t that it?”
Lee Chaeyeon only moved her lips like a mute who had eaten honey.
Of course. She wouldn’t have anything to say.
“I’ll just neatly give up on registering with Aegis.”
Saying that, I stood up without any lingering hesitation.
In truth, there really wasn’t much merit to it. What kind of joke was this?
I was walking toward the café exit when—
“W-wait! Mr. Baek Ubin!”
A flustered Lee Chaeyeon sprang up from her seat and hurriedly grabbed my sleeve.
Her face had gone pale.
“Then… the 50th floor! If you clear even the 50th floor, I’ll persuade the committee so that you can be registered as Aegis immediately!”
Only then did I stop walking.
The 50th floor. It was impossible right now, but if I invested around forty days, it was a floor I could reach easily enough.
A far more realistic compromise.
I removed Lee Chaeyeon’s hand from my sleeve and slowly turned my head, looking down into her eyes.
Then, after pausing for a moment, I opened my mouth.
“Persuade them first, then talk.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m telling you not to change your words again. Go persuade them and come back. Bring a contract. I’ll check it with my own eyes and decide.”
Lee Chaeyeon stood there for a moment with a dazed expression, then bent her waist ninety degrees in a bow.
“Understood…! I’ll prepare it as quickly as possible.”
Watching Lee Chaeyeon’s back as she fled the café as if being chased, I nodded once and headed back to the motel.
And to relieve my gloomy mood, I posted a humblebrag about Memorize in the Heroine Gallery and went to sleep.