I threw the arrow in my hand forward. The crossbow that had shot at me was struck by the arrow and smashed to pieces.
“Ahahahaha.”
After leisurely clearing the first trap like that, I laughed solemnly.
But then.
Clack—
I heard the sound of some door opening,
“...What the hell!”
And the bridge I had been standing on until just now sank straight down.
End
Thud!
A rough impact rang out, and then my body hit the ground. But thanks to the ether that wrapped around my back in time, it did not hurt much.
I quickly got up and looked around.
A wide, empty space like a cave.
The only things here were pebbles rolling across the ground.
“...The Tower I know isn’t like this.”
In truth, there was only one Tower I had put effort into setting up.
The so-called Tower of Wish.
The greatest Tower in human history, on an entirely different level from any Tower that had existed until now, and a space that could be called another world.
Someday, I too would end up going there. No, I had to go.
But talk of the future could wait.
“How am I supposed to proceed from here?”
“Uwaaaah!”
Just as I was looking around.
Another scream rang out from above, and someone else fell beside me.
A familiar face and a familiar body.
It was Chae Nayun.
Was this a trick of coincidence, or had only stupid people fallen for the trap? Well, I was pretty stupid myself.
“Ah, shit...”
Chae Nayun, sprawled on the ground, was rubbing her back when she spotted me and opened her eyes wide.
“What the. Look who it is. Isn’t this Mr. Kim.”
But soon she narrowed her eyes into slits and started spouting some weird nonsense.
“...Did you hit your head?”
I said that and held out my hand. Chae Nayun seemed to hesitate for a moment, but soon took my hand and stood up.
After patting the dirt off her butt and back, Chae Nayun asked,
“Where is this?”
“How should I know? More importantly, how did you fall?”
“Just because. A crossbow bolt came flying at me, so I broke it, and then the floor just dropped out.”
A crossbow... Ah, right. Now that I thought about it, that crossbow had been white.
One of the three commandments.
[Cooperate with white.]
But how was I supposed to cooperate with a crossbow that had been fired with the intent to kill me?
“Wait a second.”
First, I opened my eyes wide and looked ahead. My thousand-li vision swiftly advanced forward.
Past the empty cave floor, perhaps about one kilometer away.
A group of dwarves entered my sight.
They were in front of a stone gate, pulling on a rope connected to it while going, heave-ho, heave-ho.
“I found the way. Follow me.”
I beckoned with my hand and walked forward. Chae Nayun looked at me with somewhat displeased eyes, then clicked her tongue and followed.
“Where are we going?”
“There are NPCs up ahead.”
“NPCs?”
NPCs of the Tower. People composed by the Tower’s magic power, who could only live within the Tower.
They were magical beings usually called “residents of the Tower.”
The world referred to them by borrowing a term from games—NPC.
“They even implemented NPCs?”
“There’s no reason they couldn’t.”
It was a bizarre world to begin with.
In any case, the two of us walked together. Our steps were almost at the level of running.
After walking for about five minutes, the dwarf NPCs slowly began to come into view with the naked eye as well.
“Wow. Your eyes really are fuck... really exceptional, huh?”
“...Why not just say ‘fucking’?”
Why was she acting so unlike Chae Nayun?
“Wh-What. I’m always like this, you know?”
Chae Nayun needlessly flipped her hair and avoided my gaze.
I examined the characteristics of the NPCs visible in the distance. However, they were all wearing green clothes, and none seemed to have any special features.
“Oh! Who’s that!”
When we walked a little farther, one of the NPCs discovered us, and the other dwarves all pointed at us in a rush.
“They must have come to help us!”
“Giants! Please open this door!”
The dwarves ran up to us and said.
“They want us to open it?”
“Hold on.”
One of the three commandments.
Trust must be heavy.
I did not know what it meant, but rash action was forbidden.
“...What are your names?”
“I am One!”
“I am Seven!”
“I am Twelve.”
“Then that’s enough.”
I counted the number of NPCs.
Seven in total.
But I was not certain whether I should trust them.
“Are all of you gathered here?”
“No! The rest of our brothers are elsewhere!”
“How many brothers are there?”
“One hundred!”
One hundred, white hundred.
It was too blatant, but that actually made it more trustworthy.
“Fine. We’ll help.”
I sent Chae Nayun a glance. You should be the one using strength.
Chae Nayun grabbed the rope hanging from the stone gate without complaint.
“So we just grab this and pull?”
“Yes! But it will be difficult alone!”
“That’s what they say.”
Left with no choice, I grabbed it too.
And then one, two, three.
When we pulled at the same time, the stone gate opened without much difficulty.
However, the problem was what was inside.
A giant mantis sprang out from within the stone gate. Judging by its entirely black body, it was a fairly high-grade insect-type monster.
It brandished its vicious forelegs and tried to pounce on us.
But before it could, Chae Nayun drew her sword.
A movement faster than light.
And a clean, flawless draw.
The magic power carried in her sword neatly cut off its shoulder.
Chae Nayun kicked the shrieking mantis in the abdomen, and swung a slash of magic power at the creature as it was flung far away.
Kugugugung—
A crescent-shaped wave of magic power tore through the ground as it rushed forward. The mantis was swept up in it and cleanly erased.
With her eyes closed, Chae Nayun sheathed her sword.
In the lingering wake of the sword strike, the wind sank low, and Chae Nayun’s bobbed hair swayed gently.
I blinked as I watched her back.
She’s gotten insanely strong.
“Thank you, thank you!”
The dwarf NPCs repeatedly bowed their waists and entered beyond the insect that had become dust.
We would probably have to go in there as well.
“...Let’s go.”
“Yeah. Mr. Kim, you lead the way.”
“...Hm.”
For now, we also moved into the stone gate.
However, the scenery outside the stone gate and the scenery within it were far too different.
A space full of grass and trees. I looked at the dwarves waddling along. At the end of the dwarves’ path, there was a village.
“Wow, what is this? Are Towers usually like this?”
“...A Tower is a sentient being. It can make its structure however it wants.”
The Tower in my setting was an existence with intelligence and thought processes surpassing those of humans. The problem was that the purpose of that intelligence lay not in its own survival, but elsewhere.
“For now, let’s follow those NPCs. It looks like there are cadets in the village too.”
“Sure, Mr. Kim.”
“...Sigh.”
We followed the NPCs and moved to the village.
The village we arrived at after about five minutes of walking had various facilities such as lodgings, restaurants, and weapon shops, and it was crowded with other cadets besides us.
“Oh. It’s Nayun!”
One of the cadets spotted Chae Nayun and shouted.
“Nayunaa~”
It was a familiar supporter ranked fairly high, Lee Jiyoon.
“Hey, Lee Jiyoon, what is this place? What do we have to do to go up?”
To Chae Nayun, who asked whatever she was curious about in a jumble, Lee Jiyoon pointed to a notice posted in front of the village hall.
“Take a look at this first.”
I read the words written on the notice.
Chae Nayun also stuck close beside my arm and looked at it.
[Stage—Village of Dwarves]
[The dwarves are suffering from external enemies and desire outside assistance.]
[If you wish to participate in battle, please press your fingerprint here.]
[Each time you repel enemies invading the Village of Dwarves, you may obtain 25 points.]
[You must obtain at least 100 points to proceed to the next stage.]
[Bonus points will be awarded according to contribution.]
Just as I finished reading, Lee Jiyoon said to us,
“You guys should hurry up and apply to participate too. If you don’t do this, you won’t get points.”
At those words, both of us pressed our fingerprints.
And right at that moment.
“Enemies—!”
A dwarf standing atop a watchtower shouted at the top of his lungs.
I glanced in the direction the dwarf was pointing.
At a rough estimate, there was a swarm of over three hundred goblins.
It was an elite formation, with close-combat warriors at the front, archers behind them, and shamans at the rear.
“Hey! Everyone, gather up!”
Chae Nayun, who had quickly adapted to the situation, shouted like a thunderbolt. Taken by surprise, all the cadets gathered around her. Counting them, there were twenty-seven in total. Seventeen warriors, eight supporters, and two shooters, including me.
However, Chae Nayun, who had been the one to call them together, only moved her lips and could not say anything.
I tapped her shoulder.
“We’ve gathered, Ms. Chae. What shall we do now?”
“That... Ah, shit. They’re just goblins anyway, so just fight.”
“...”
Silence settled for a moment.
“Then I’ll snipe the shamans over there first.”
“Huh? Uh. Do that.”
I looked around.
A shooter always wanted high ground. There was a watchtower, but I needed somewhere even higher. Fortunately, nearby there was a tall tree that seemed to rise a full forty meters into the air.
I ran toward it.
With acrobatic parkour, I climbed the tree and settled on a large branch.
Looking down at the goblin shamans at the front, I took out my cadet-use handgun.
“Recognition.”
The reinforcement result was forty percent. Not bad.
The destructive power of the cadet-use handgun could not compare to the Desert Eagle, but the opponent was still a goblin. On top of that, a shaman with low defense.
If I shot it between the brows, I should be able to kill it in one shot most of the time.
—Kierek! Eeeeeek!
One goblin raised the staff in its hand high.
That guy looked like the leader.
I fired immediately. The bullet flew in an extremely clean trajectory and pierced through its forehead. As soon as the leader goblin collapsed, I fired at the other shamans as well.
With each bullet of mine, the weak shamans dropped one by one,
And before long, the battlefield had no shamans left.
“Mr. Kim, nice! Guys, charge!”
With Chae Nayun’s words, the warrior cadets charged in without worry.
* * *
The easy battle ended, and the sun set with striking realism.
Right around the time I began to wonder whether this place was truly a mock Tower, Chae Nayun and I came to a nearby restaurant.
It was quite fascinating that there was even a restaurant.
“Hey, Ms. Chae. What did you come out to eat?”
“Fruit juice. But why do you keep calling me Ms. Chae? It’s kind of annoying.”
“You did it first.”
“You’re not allowed to.”
Since I had no idea what she meant, I lightly ignored it.
I turned my head to watch the sunset, then placed my gaze forward again.
I saw Chae Nayun’s profile as she admired the evening glow.
She was smiling broadly, as if the world was just that wonderful. Looking at that smile, one corner of my chest suddenly grew heavy and numb.
But I exhaled the stifling ache in my insides with a sigh, and needlessly called Chae Nayun’s name.
“Hey, Chae Nayun.”
Chae Nayun turned her head and looked at me.
“Hm? What is it, Mr. Kim?”
“...How is your brother doing?”
At that, Chae Nayun’s face momentarily became ambiguous.
“What. Why? After bringing him up like that before, are you worried now?”
“No. I’m just curious. Any cadet would be curious.”
“You liar. I heard you came to the hospital the fastest last time. Yeonha told me.”
“...”
I simply stared quietly at Chae Nayun.
If I were being honest... I wanted to ask.
If your brother were killed by someone, how would you feel?
But that was a question no human being should ever ask.
“Hey, Mr. Kim, but you know.”
When I only kept looking at her, Chae Nayun asked me first. She fidgeted her fingers while pretending not to care.
“That, the other day. Was it last week?”
With her gaze fixed downward, she continued haltingly.
“What were you doing with Rachel at night? What did you do?”
Was she sulking and calling me Mr. Kim over that? Well, Chae Nayun and Rachel did have quite a fierce rivalry.
I answered briefly.
“Training.”
“Ah... Why would you train that late at night?”
She grumbled and pouted her lips.
But more than such things, I was curious about Chae Jinyun’s condition.
And I was curious about the Boss’s decision.
Would the Boss really help me?
“...Right. And you. I heard you decided to go for a drive with Kim Suho.”
Chae Nayun seemed to have a lot she wanted to say.
“I like motorcycles more, though.”
“No, that’s······.”
“Let’s go on a trip? Together. I’ll pay for everything.”
“No.”
“Argh, why. Just tell me why you don’t have time, that’s all. I’ll match my entire schedule to yours.”
Watching her bang the table with her fists and whine like that, I simply laughed quietly.
* * *
Since the final exam began, day and night had probably swapped at least twice.
A day didn’t seem to be twenty-four hours long, but anyway, the first day was goblins.
The second day was trolls and yetis.
There had been three invasions at the dwarf village over two days.
We successfully blocked them all and earned 75 points. For reference, bonus points are reportedly settled only after blocking all four invasions.
“······Wow. Must be because it’s the last one, this is no joke.”
But today.
True to the last day, something like a mid-boss appeared.
“Uwaaaah! It’s a Black Ogre!”
The dwarf atop the watchtower screamed and fled.
Black Ogre.
At the appearance of that thing boasting a frame as massive as a mountain range, some cadets turned pale.
“······Is this for real?”
“A hidden camera prank?”
I observed the Black Ogre.
A Black Ogre is a monster that is at least mid-grade, 3rd rank. Its toughness can basically be considered on par with 1st rank.
Which meant it was the perfect opponent for a power test.
Indeed, having now accumulated three strokes of Stigma, I had become capable of launching an attack with considerable destructive force.
I tapped Chae Nayun’s shoulder as she looked up, her neck craned back.
“Hey, let’s go like usual. I’ll provide cover, so you guys take it down.”
“Huh? Hey, but no matter how you look at it, that thing with bullets······ What? A bow?”
Chae Nayun tilted her head upon seeing the bow in my hand.
I had obtained it at a weapon shop, just in case I might need it. The standard-issue cadet pistol was too limiting, after all. And I wanted to raise my rank a bit, too. At least into the top 100.
······And who knows? That ogre might be Myne’s doing.
“You’re going to use a mana arrow?”
“Yeah. I can’t use guns forever. I’m going first.”
“Hey, hey, hey. Wait!”
I made those excuses and climbed up the tree I often used(?).
Standing there, I looked down at the Black Ogre.
It definitely wasn’t fully grown.
I calmly glared at the creature and drew the empty bowstring. And in my mind, I visualized the image of a mana arrow nocked upon that string.
It must not be an ordinary arrow. The arrowhead should be a saw-blade shape capable of bearing a bit more destructive power, and overall it should resemble a javelin so that the power wouldn’t be concentrated in one spot. Even the arrow shaft had to be able to function as a weapon.
Goooooー
Drawing in the surrounding air, the mana of the Stigma converged upon the bowstring.
The mana flowing from the Stigma repeated condensation and compression, soon fully manifesting the form of an arrow.
An arrow about 85cm in length, perfectly matching my image.
The attribute contained in the Stigma was ‘Light (光)’.
Thanks to that, the arrow shone brilliantly.
However, I let out a faint sigh.
······I’d poured in nearly three strokes, yet this was all I got.
Well, that just meant its destructive power alone was incredible.
I pulled the bowstring hard with all my strength.
The light emanating from the arrow whirled like a vortex, and the white light was as blazing as it was brilliant.
A single short breath.
Then, I released the bowstring.
The arrow shot forth like a flash. Perhaps because it was such a conspicuous beam of light, even the ogre raised its hand to block it.
But the moment that arrow was stopped by its hand.
A silent explosion occurred.
Without flames or a thunderous roar, only blinding light flared up—an explosion of light that burned the Black Ogre’s hide.
—Gwoooooaar
One of the ogre’s arms burned white. A shriek filled with pain echoed out.
Though it had lost only one arm and nothing more, in its one-armed state, it wouldn’t be able to overcome the remaining warriors, especially Chae Nayun.