Chapter 184: Tutorial Tower (10th floor)

The day Wigen challenged the 74th floor, the contact between him and his supporter on the lower floor, Wings of Heaven Guild, had been cut off. The situation remained the same until now. 

With a cold expression, Wigen looked at the butterfly-shaped fairy flying in front of him.

"There’s no contact you say?"

-Yes~ We clearly conveyed the contents, but they didn't answer~?

"No way. Alfly, that guy, he will even kill his own mother if I tell him to."

-That's right~ But I don't think he's going to kill himself if you tell him to do so~?

“…” 

Wigen was aware of that. 

Alfly, the guild master of the Wings of Heaven Guild, was a man without any conscience. He was ready to sacrifice anything for his own benefit, but he valued his own life a lot.

In other words, it could be said that he would easily give up everything and run away if the situation boiled enough to the point where it could threaten his life.

‘…Or, did he get caught by that bastard, Yoo Seodam?’

Yoo Seodam was not as strong as him, but nevertheless, he was still strong. As a ranker in this tower, he could easily rule like a god in the lower floors. If he really caught Alfly and threatened him, it was quite natural for Alfly to cut off contact with Wigen in order to save his own life.

It’s really troublesome.

-Uh, what should we do?

The fairies on the Wigen line looked at Wigen and the butterfly fairy with worry. Even now, the managers must be watching over this place. They were sending messages such as ‘Why aren't you taking on the challenge?' every now and then.

However, without the help of the Wings of Heaven Guild, it was difficult to challenge the upper floors. In order to use the ‘cheat', it was necessary to procure materials from the lower floors.

But descending also wasn’t the option, it's too much of a waste if he did so. Once he descended, he would have to try again from the 70th floor. Rather, it would be better to just head to the 75th floor relying solely on the hints rather than the ‘cheats’ he received from the fairies.

-Personally, I think it's better to go down and check it out~?

“Nonsense. I don't want to lose everything over something like this.”

-Ha, but when attacking high floors, it can be quite difficult~?

The fairy's words were correct. Wigen might seem smart since he was able to see through the fairies’ weaknesses, and took advantage of their circumstances to obtain a ‘cheat’ through a contract, but this ability was not useful for climbing the tower.

The Tutorial Tower tests numerous human abilities such as creativity, agility, originality, understanding, calculation, as well as combat ability and analytical ability to improvise. But, for Wigen, who could only see the reality, and could not perceive this fantasy that was unfolding in front of him, this place was hell.  

For example, if someone was bleeding on the floor and a man was standing next to the body with a knife, ordinary people would make a deduction that ‘the man with the knife is the culprit!’.

And if they thought further, they would think, ‘I must run away from the man with the knife!’ or ‘I should report it to the police!’ 

But Wizen had no such ability at all. He did not have the ability to deduce. He could only analyze and process what was happening in the present moment, nothing beyond that.

In the same scenario above, all he could think would be: ‘The bleeding man was stabbed in certain areas. He is bleeding this much. He will die within this period of time’.

That’s why the fairies in the tutorial presented him with ‘cheat’. Their method didn't require any creativity or reasoning, only combat ability.

"No, it does not matter. Let’s keep going.”

Wigen refused the fairy's words and forced himself to move forward. It was an action based on the probability of the world who was not yet ready to play the scenario of [descending to the lower floor due to the sabotage of the villain], but for the fairy in the tutorial, this was akin to a death sentence.

-Ah, I see~ Then, let's try it right now…!

Wigen led his comrades back to the 75th floor to challenge it once again.

What will happen next, no one knows.

* * *

The Wings of Heaven Guild was an enormous guild that had built up considerable power within the tower. In terms of total number of members, it occupied the first place overwhelmingly. However, as the result of their loose recruitment, many of their members had some personality problems. Even the guild leader had considerable flaws, so it could easily be said that they were not a good guild.

The only reason why no one touched them even though they were rotten was because there were only two people in the whole tower who could suppress the Wings of Heaven Guild by force. And both of them did not even pay attention to the lower floors and only cared about climbing the tower. Thus, no one thought of rebelling against them since the Wings of the Heaven Guild were effectively ‘the ruling class’ for them. If they made a mistake, they might never be able to climb again.

The same held true for Vigilante, an organization which was in charge of security within this giant tower. The head of Vigilante, ‘Anta Airen’, was also a challenger on the 57th floor and could be said to be a top ranker, but unfortunately, she could not touch the Wings of Heaven Guild.

“So, aren’t you also under a lot of stress because of those guys?”

10th floor, Molendo city.

Yoo Seodam, who came to Vigilante's guild hideout, sat across their leader, Airen. It was natural to have the headquarter of Vigilante on the 10th floor as it had the largest number of residents across all floors in the tower. But ironically, the headquarters of the Wings of Heaven Guild was also located on the 10th floor, that’s why Vigilante couldn’t exert their full power. So it was natural in a way that Airen’s expression was always stiff.

"…Yes."

Airen politely replied to Yoo Seodam. If it was a month or two months ago, Airen wouldn’t do something like this, but as of now, Yoo Seodam, who was currently the top ranker on the tower, was a person who Airen had to be polite to. After all, she was clearly aware that the ‘laws’ they have could be overthrown by just one strong man.

"Hm."

Yoo Seodam was well aware of that [episode]. The story tells about the confrontation between Airen—the leader of the tower's security group—and the protagonist Wigen who caused so many disturbances. However, Airen was publicly defeated by Wigen, and even her guild members were thoroughly trampled by him, making it impossible for her to compete with him ever again.

In other words, the current status of Vigilante was significantly low. How can a vigilante, who wasn't even able to correct one person's action, be trusted to correct others?

“I’ll fix it.”

"Pardon?"

“I will solve your problem.”

Wigen's actions were particularly focused on ‘cider'. It was proven by the fact that he breaks countless rules, laws and gentleman agreement inside the tower and advances!

He knocked down all those who stood in his way, and his journey of growing stronger while ignoring the laws set by the manager along with the fairies were filled with cider. It was to the extent that even Yoo Seodam—who had often been exposed to genre literature through the recent trend research—considered his story as refreshing.  

Obviously, it was a natural cliché for the protagonist. He’s doing well on his own, but someone interrupts him by stating the law? He just needs to knock that person out right away and give him a line like ‘I am the law’ once, the recommendation and comments section of such a story would certainly be filled with people.

[E/N: comment on our chapters and recommend our novels thank you~]

“Uh, how will you solve it?”

“You know them, don’t you?” 

Yoo Seodam said so as he pointed towards the girls behind him.

When Airen followed his finger, the two girls who sat quietly behind him slowly lowered their hoods. A familiar face appeared from underneath the robe while smiling awkwardly.

“Ah, Aracelli and Malea….”

"That’s right. They are the culprits behind the recent fall of the Wings of Heaven Guild's image who have not been caught up till now.”

In other words, their existence was a sore spot for the Wings of Heaven Guild. Because they were the only ones who dared to fight against the Wings of Heaven Guild, who were untouchable until recently, and yet these culprits were still alive.

“Bring them into Vigilante.”

“… If I do that, the Wings of Heaven Guild will not leave us alone.”

“That’s precisely what you should be aiming for. Don’t you know how important image marketing is these days? If you add these two people to your guild and declare that you will fight against Wings of Heaven Guild, won't you be able to get the title of ‘Guardian of the Law' of the tower again?"

It was definitely an attractive offer. However, Airen thought, if Yoo Seodam could do that, why hasn’t he done that yet? Wouldn’t it be safer if he did it himself?

As Airen hesitated, Yoo Seodam took a deep breath.

It really couldn’t be helped. The woman in front of him—who was originally filled with confidence and moved with only one belief—must have lost her original spirit after being bullied by the protagonist.

Of course, because of it, there was no sweet potato development for the readers such as a villain who appears once again to seek revenge. It also could be said that the reason that her personality became like this was due to the ‘probability'.

However, Yoo Seodam could easily fix that part. After all, he had the ability to twist the force of probability.

“I trained the Wings of Heaven Guild's guild master a bit. While you're doing image marketing, he's not going to disturb you."

"…Is that so?"

"That’s right. So, even if I can't come downstairs after I go up to the 60th floor, they won’t be a problem for you even if they keep communicating with Wigen."

“Wi…Wigen……!”

Airen thought that it would be too dangerous for her and her guild if a level 7 ranker Wigen intervened.

"Don't worry, he'll die soon anyway. Understand? Keep doing what you're doing. You want to protect the Law of the Tutorial Tower, don’t you?”

"I understand.”

Truth to be told, Airen had no choice but to believe Yoo Seodam. Sooner or later, the Wings of Heaven Guild would certainly swallow the tower. In order for Vigilante to be able to stand against them, this ‘event’ was absolutely necessary.

“Then, I’ll excuse myself.”

After leaving Vigilante's hideout, Yoo Seodam stretched his body, while Malea look at him with anxious eyes.

“Is it okay for us to not stay here?”

"Well, it doesn’t matter. After all, the public already saw that we are here. It's enough for you guys to just take off your hoods and walk out from the Vigilante hideout.”

“But, why are you doing this?”

To Malea, Yoo Seodam was somehow strange. He acted as if, unlike others, climbing to the top of the tower was not his final goal. Moreover, even though Yoo Seodam was a ranker in the tower, he looked uninterested as he completed the challenges. Rather, he seemed to think of it as simply a game for relieving stress.

“It is difficult to explain why, but…….”

After thinking quietly, Yoo Seodam remembered the diary he received from the Future Malea. It was something that could never be shown to the current Malea. Though, the other version of it was currently being written every night.

What was the future Malea thinking while she gave the diary to him? If he himself ever met the person he had been waiting for so long, and that person doesn't remember anything about him… what would he think?

Even today, Yoo Seodam could still remember Malea’s end vividly. She passed away with a bitter but happy smile.

But, did she feel really satisfied with that level of happiness? He could’ve made her a little bit happier.

In the end, these were nothing but useless thoughts.

Yoo Seodam now had to admit that the countless relationships he formed while traveling through many worlds could not be easily cut off. Isn’t the case of Aracelli, who had been following him wherever he go the proof of that?

“I just want you to live happily forever.”

"Yes?"

When those words left Yoo Seodam’s mouth, Malea’s eyes bulged. Her expression also turned sour.

“You sound like an old man. Don't make the mood worsen all of a sudden. it’s creepy.”

“…”

Yoo Seodam let out a dry laugh as Malea crossed her arms and pretended to shiver. Certainly, she was very different from the future Malea. And Yoo Seodam thought he didn't need to explain what happens in the future. She looked so happy right now, as if she was enjoying every moment of her time with them, unlike ‘her’ in the future.

“Then let’s go back. To climb the tower again.”

After saying that, Yoo Seodam suddenly thought of Wigen, who must have been suffering right now.

All of his preparations were done.

Now, if he just waits, Wigen will come to die on his own.