Chapter 182: Tutorial Tower (Eternal Model Box)

Instant Dungeon, Eternal Model Box. True to its infamy as a ‘trick dungeon’, the very first message which appeared as soon as they entered the dungeon was: [There is no mission in this dungeon.]

Normally, the moment you enter the dungeon, you need to complete a mission in order to get out. But when the mission didn't exist, it meant that you wouldn’t be able to get out.

Malea surrendered her back against the gray wall behind her and plopped down to the cold floor beneath. She was able to escape from the Wings of Heaven Guild somehow, but she ended up in this place. Trick dungeons couldn’t be completed. It would only end when they died by starving to death or got eaten by monsters.

But this dungeon was different. It was a place that was similar to a prison of ‘eternity'. Dying in any way in this place was impossible, so what should she do?

Malea hugged her knees and curled further. The moment the adrenaline from earlier receded, she became completely powerless.

“Malea.”

"Huh? Sorry. This happened because of me.”

Malea felt guilty towards Aracelli. If she hadn't moved with her, maybe she could have been more active in the Tutorial Tower. Although her power was severely limited, her magic that she occasionally showed was powerful enough to be coveted by many prestigious guilds in the tower and she could use it as some kind of special moves while safely climbing the tower with a reliable party.

In other words, there was no reason for her to be locked up in a place like this for eternity if it wasn’t for her decision.

‘…’

As Malea plunged deeper into despair, Aracelli only silently stared at her. Being trapped in this dungeon called the Eternal Model Box was definitely a disastrous thing. But it was only so if she had been an ordinary ‘challenger' who wouldn’t have a way to leave this place.

But Aracelli wasn't worried at all.

“Malea. Can you see that over there?”

"Huh?"

Malea raised her head and looked towards the place Aracelli pointed her finger at. There, she could see an arrow. It wasn’t a perfect arrow; it was crooked in many ways as if it had been drawn carelessly. But, as there was only one path in front of them, it wasn’t hard to infer what the arrow meant.

Someone was sending a signal for them to go that way.

Malea quickly approached the arrow and scanned it.

‘It is very recent!'

So far, every trace she’d found had been written for at least 4-6 months. However, the arrow before her was created recently. She deduced that it was probably drawn today itself.

Malea quickly ran towards the direction the arrow was pointing at. Dozens of arrows were drawn on the cramped hallway, and they were all pointed in only one direction.

And at the end of the path, she could see a man sitting down.

“…”

But he wasn't just sitting there. He was leaning back on his portable chair and reading a newspaper with his sunglasses on. On the table next to him was a red juice with a refreshing lemon attached to the straw, while above him, a giant parasol was providing him with some shade.

“Excuse me?"

Malea slowly opened her mouth as she looked at the unfitting atmosphere around the man.

Then, the man looked at Malea.

“…”

“…”

He stared at her for a moment or two before slowly lowering his sunglasses to his nose. His eyes were pure white. A pair of cold white eyes which creates a magnificent contrast with his black hair.

Malea stared blankly into his eyes, and suddenly, someone came to mind.

‘He was wearing unusual equipment. It seems like those equipment were [Otherworld Items] which couldn't be obtained from the Tutorial Tower. White armor, black hair and white eyes….'

It was the rumour that spread throughout the entire tower about the appearances of a celebrity known all over the tower. In a short period of time—only a little over half a year since his appearance—many people had seen the person named ‘Yoo Seodam', and countless eyewitnesses said the same thing about his appearance.

Malea admired the top ranker named Yoo Seodam who broke through the 60th floor alone. It was to the point she remembered his description better than anyone else. After all, she had been imagining about him.

What kind of person was he, the person who climbed the tower alone?

How can that be possible?

[He was sitting inside the Eternal Model Box and was waiting for me. The very first word he said after seeing me was ‘It’s been a while.’]

"It’s been a while."

[But, because I didn’t know him, I just replied with, ‘Nice to meet you.’]

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Yoo Seodam.”

[When he heard it, he somehow had a very sad expression on his face.]

However, soon after, Yoo Seodam smiled and got up from his seat. As he gestured, to her surprise, the large parasol, table, and other furniture around him were sucked into somewhere.

Could it be that it was ‘subspace’ which could only be used by those who had reached the pinnacle of magical engineering? Malea wasn’t sure.

Yoo Seodam approached Malea and said in a relaxed voice.

“It’s nice to be reunited like this.”

‘Is it really a reunion? But I met him for the first time right now…’ Malea thought so and was convinced that the man in front of her knew her. However, she didn’t know him. 

‘Did we meet someday in the future? If so, what kind of relationship did I have with this man?’

However, amidst all the rampaging thoughts, Malea was certain about one thing. Yoo Seodam—a top ranker on the 60th floor—was the same person who had helped her until now.

The fact that the person whom she admired had been watching and helping her all this time, somehow filled her heart with happiness. Malea bit her lips tightly and stared at the ground beneath her.

What should she say here…

“Well, you are younger than the last time I saw you. You are definitely a young blood right now. When I was as young as you, I was also able to chew some stones. By the way, would you like some raspberry juice?”

“Ah, thank you for the offer, but I don’t like fresh things.”

"Ah, is that so? What a waste. How about you, Aracelli?”

“Please give me, I want to drink!”

“I’ll get you a new one.”

“No, just give me the one you drank, Professor!”

“Oh, you know what? I grew the raspberries in this juice myself. Ugh, there’s really nothing to do on the 57th floor. When people talk about rankers there, don't they always say, ‘The rankers on the 57th floor are fighting in a hellish battlefield'? That was all nonsense. Farming was the main mission there. The current challenger on the 57th floor is probably digging potatoes right now. But since the potatoes there are organic, the taste is amazing, so when you eat gamjatang…”

“Wow, really?”

"…Ah, yes, that…"

…but this man… His image was very different from what Malea imagined.

She had thought that he would be cold, calculative and scary. He would certainly explain everything with his actions alone. And instead of arguing over and over, he would rob his enemy’s will with just one swing.

“But you know what? The reason why gamjatang is gamjatang is not because it contains potatoes…”

“Huh, I don’t know about that!”

“…”

But, the person in front of her was totally different.

Malea fell into a trance-like state as the image of her ideal Yoo Seodam and the Yoo Seodam in front of her overlapped. And slowly, both the images merged and her imagination was completely shattered into pieces.

* * *

“The way to leave this place is simple.” Yoo Seodam said seriously. 

It was then Malea became aware that even though Yoo Seodam was joking a moment ago, he did not lose sight of the seriousness of the situation. It seems that his joke earlier was his attempt to release the tension in her body, and to smother the gloomy atmosphere.

"…Actually, I wanted to try ‘Oh no! I got caught' kind of action here."

“You’re going to get into trouble, Professor!”

“…”

Was she wrong? Did he actually enjoy spewing nonsense everywhere he went? Malea had a moment of confusion in her head, but she painstakingly pushed it down as she thought about his positive image.

“Malea, I don’t know if you know about it, but Aracelli and I are from another dimension.”

"Yes? I also come from another dimension.”

"I don't mean it like that. Most of the challengers in this tower, including you, were dragged by this tower, correct?”

"Yes…"

“However, it’s not the case for us. We opened the door of this tower and entered by our own will.”

"What? Is that possible?” Malea's eyes widened as she looked at Aracelli and then at Yoo Seodam. She couldn't believe it. In the first place, was it really possible to enter this tower with one's own will? Even though the word ‘tower' was used to call this place, in fact, this place was a ‘complex manifold dimension' with no doors or windows. There was no way that a ‘door’ could exist, so how could they do it…

“…”

However, seeing the bizarre things both of them had done so far, Malea couldn't help but believe it. One was a wizard who could easily crush a level 4 challenger even with level 0 equipment, and the other was a great challenger who reached the 60th floor in just half a year.

“And Aracelli’s specialty is ‘dimensional science’. Do you, by any chance, know about it? It's a required course at the magic school these days. They give four grades.”

"Uh, I don’t know?"

"Professor, there is no dimensional science curriculum yet in Malea's dimension.”

“Oh, is that so? I didn't actually study back then…"

“I thought so.”

“…”

Malea sighed. It's exhausting to follow these people's conversations. Wasn't spatial study dead in the first place because it was just a nonsensical science? However, from what they said, it seems like there’s a world with a higher level of subject called ‘dimensional science'? She could not believe it.

“Anyway, I can easily run through any dimensions, so opening the door to this world couldn’t even be considered as a task for me.”

"Okay…. However, is that a sufficient reason to explain why you are hugging Aracelli now?” Malea said as she gave him a bothered expression.

As soon as Aracelli met Yoo Seodam, they hugged each other deeply. At first, Malea thought it was just some kind of reunion hug, but after 10 minutes, an hour, and three hours had passed, it was very awkward to see them like that as a third party.

“I am recharging Aracelli’s magic with mine. After she gets her fill, we can get out of here.”

Saying that, Yoo Seodam suddenly exclaimed as if he just remembered something.

“Up until now, the ‘Wings of Heaven Guild’ must have been tormenting you, right?”

"Yes… Did you also know about them?”

“I know everything.”

Yoo Seodam said in a low voice. Malea shook her head. Now it feels like she knows how to treat this man properly.

“From now on, I will climb the tower with you. Do you know ‘bus'? A high-level challenger helps a lower level challenger, that thing.”

"Yes, I’m aware of it. But don't the administrators hate this kind of thing? You may not be able to receive protection if you do so.” 

“You don’t need that protection of theirs. You're better off without it.”

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Anyway, from now on, I'll be with you, so you don't have to worry about those Wings of Heaven Guild. Well, I won’t be able to help you on some floors, but don’t worry, you will be able to solve it easily."

Malea nodded her head, her heart fluttered at his words. From now on, her real journey would begin. And as long as the Wings of Heaven Guild did not interfere, there would only be one hurdle for her to climb the tower, that would be the challenges.

“And when we arrive on the 56th floor, I will have a nice talk with the guild leader of the Wings of Heaven.”

"Yes? Wait! Isn't that a bit too dangerous?"

"Why? They have tormented you so much. When I read Aracelli’s letter, their guild leader could be considered as already dead.”

“No, it’s not like that…”

Is this man serious?

Malea looked into his eyes with that thought in mind. Although Yoo Seodam was someone who liked to joke around, his eyes were currently telling her that he was dead serious about it. In the end, Malea had no choice but to shut her lips tightly.

“From now on, I will bring you to the top. A higher place than that Wigen. To do that, you must get rid of the Wings of Heaven Guild that is getting in your way, okay? You are a talented woman who will rise to the top before anyone else. There is no reason for you to be tied down just because of those people.”

“…”

At his sincere words, Malea nodded her head with a firm expression. Then, Yoo Seodam patted her on the shoulder with a relaxed smile on his face.

Moments later, Aracelli separated herself from him and walked towards the wall. She closed her eyes and then chanted a spell. To Malea’s surprise, a golden, magnificent, round passage was created on the wall in front of her, showing them the scenery of the outside world.

“Then, shall we go?”

As Yoo Seodam and Aracelli took the lead in confident strides, Malea followed behind them with a smirk blooming on her face.

Somehow, if it was with them, she felt that climbing to the top was really possible.