Thus, the World Ushers in the Great Tower-Climbing Era!

"Hah, hah... Ugh!"

The ground boiled from the aftermath of repeated blasts of holy flames. Park Seong-yoon, transformed as Divine Blaze, was battered and bruised as she hurled herself aside to dodge the charging bear that had broken through her barrage of flames.

Kaboom!

A red bear several times larger than a polar bear pulverized the earth where she'd just been standing.

"Explode, Divine Circle!"

"Grroooaaarrr!"

Rumble rumble!

Seong-yoon seized the beast's brief opening as it roared in frustration at missing its target, unleashing her final strike. It was a chance she'd barely earned after nearly getting hit multiple times. The magic she unleashed was a wheel of rotating holy flame explosions—a finishing move she'd only recently perfected. It struck perfectly in that exquisite gap, shattering the head caught in the ring.

"Ugh... Hoo... Hah!"

"Good job, mung."

"What the hell was that thing?! Seriously! It was insanely tough!"

The opponent she'd clashed with right up to the end was nightmarish in every way. It had a holy aura and fur like a fortress that resisted even the fiercest flames without a scorch mark. Seong-yoon, who'd struggled desperately against an enemy that was the epitome of a bad matchup—practically a natural predator—plopped down panting.

"Ugh... So this is the reward, huh."

A message floated before the girl's eyes. The place she was in now was the tower that had appeared in Seoul. Thanks to the 40-hour grace period in all dungeons, the response team with empty hands had been deployed to investigate the tower.

"Whoa! Myeongmyeong! It's gold!"

"Gold's the first thing you notice, mung?"

"But 1kg of gold is worth a ton..."

Seong-yoon, tempted by the pure gold on the list, deflated at Myeongmyeong's scolding.

"Don't even think about it. Pick from 2, 3, or 5, mung."

"Yeees."

Seong-yoon pouted her lips at Myeongmyeong's curt command and pondered.

"But Myeongmyeong, gold aside, why exclude option 1?"

"Magical girls don't rely on tools much, mung."

Once transformed, they came fully equipped with costumes and wands, after all. Even those with just costumes fought bare-handed by conjuring magic—they didn't seek separate gear. This was proven by Earth's current strongest magical girl.

"Aha."

"But... now that I think about it, it might be worth testing, mung."

"Huh? Suddenly?"

"Call it an experiment, mung. The description's broad enough. We need to check if 'equipment' means something tailored to the user or just random, mung."

"Got it. Perfectly understood."

With a face showing zero understanding, Seong-yoon selected her reward.

The moment she reflexively snatched the sticker that popped out of thin air, her vision flipped.

* * *

"You damn moron!"

"Eek! Ow! Stop! I said I messed up!"

"You went blind picking that?!"

...The first thing that entered Seong-yoon's eyes as she opened them was a group beating. Her response team colleagues were enthusiastically pummeling one of their own while cursing him out.

"What happened?"

"You're out. That idiot picked gold and caused a fuss."

"Eh?!"

Seong-yoon broke into a cold sweat watching Lee Woo-jin click his tongue, as if he'd expected someone to be dumb enough to actually pick it.

"I-Is that such a weird choice?"

"Not that you wouldn't understand, but... it's still stupid. You can't buy awakener enhancements with money anyway."

The response team wasn't exactly short on cash to begin with. Compared to the risks they took, the pay was modest but still substantial. But money had an easy, tangible value for modern people. Over the past two months, with trade wrecked and hoarding favoring goods over cash, the trend had shifted a bit. Prices were skyrocketing, but the economy was holding (domestically, of course). So it was tempting enough for most to consider at least once.

In that sense, Seong-yoon was lucky. She had Myeongmyeong, an advisor indifferent to material worth. He wouldn't have let a kid pick it either, but she'd avoided the embarrassment.

"Phew."

"...? Looks like you had a tough fight. Need a break?"

"Oh, right. You all got out quick. Uncle aside, how'd the others clear so fast?"

Seong-yoon suddenly noticed something off and asked. She was one of the strongest on the team. Even with a bad matchup, others clearing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her nemesis faster was unlikely.

"Nah. This tower adjusts monsters to the entrant's level. It's tuned to be a true 'trial.'"

Of course, there was an upper limit—Woo-jin had dispatched his easily and could've gone higher while waiting for the others.

"Whoa. So how far did you go, Uncle?"

"Up to floor 5 first. They got stronger per floor, so I stopped to gather info."

As Seong-yoon nodded in admiration, her phone buzzed on vibrate.

"Hm? Oh, it's from senpai."

It was exactly the moment Ha Seol-hee called.

* * *

"So it really is a trial, huh?"

I mulled over the info from Seong-yoon. It was intriguing in many ways. Structured purely for awakeners to grow. Intuitive and easy to adapt to. Plus, her reward was something close to 'magical girl specialized' gear. Considering the other response team's info, skills followed a similar pattern.

In other words, the tower gave personalized rewards, not random ones.

"Looks like Su-yeon's hunch was spot on?"

If Su-yeon climbed, her rewards would likely promote egg hatching. Or potential boosts? Either way, her growth started with getting a mascot.

"Hawaaah... But it's fighting..."

Su-yeon, however, was fretting over something else entirely. She'd been anxious about combat before. She'd psyched herself up for the egg, but it was scary.

"No need to push yourself."

"Mm... No. I have to, I have to!"

Clutching her egg tightly, Su-yeon's eyes sparkled. Back when my mascot was an egg, I'd resented it more than cherished it. Even after hatching, we fought a lot. I never looked at it with such loving eyes.

"I'm going, sawayo!"

Maybe as a TS beauty, there's a gap compared to a real girl. I watched Su-yeon march off bravely, then subtly attached an ice crystal. Just in case.

"What about you, unni?"

"Me? Better to hold back."

From what Woo-jin uncle said, the tower had rankings and first-achievement rewards. Rankings weren't one-and-done; achieving them let you pick ranker rewards, but they weren't permanent. The message warned that if a higher ranker picked the same or you lost rank, you'd reselect or lose it.

I hadn't planned to climb anyway. But now, to not steal chances from other awakeners, I really needed to step back.

"Hawaa... Can't even use it for stream content."

"Smart kids like you notice everything."

I didn't mind. But seriously, how'd she know?

"It's obvious, sawayo?"

"..."

Was my thinking that simple? Dodging Su-yeon's eyes that screamed 'yes,' we arrived at the tower.

"You burned a skill for 100g of gold?!"

"Aigoo, you punk."

"But the gear seems pretty good."

"Nothing beats my own stats!"

...What? Why the chaos here?

I blanked out at the sight of dozens of awakeners gathered in front of the tower, making a racket.

"Looks like an online game town square, sawayo?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"O-Oh... N-No, it's Calamity!"

"C-Calamity! Rein these guys in!"

The noisy crowd noticed us from Su-yeon's mutter. They were, predictably, association members—no, they'd quit. Anyway, the awakeners who'd become friendly neighborhood guardians.

"What's all this?"

"We were climbing the tower too."

Jo Cheol-min from the branch answered my question.

"This thing's a real monster. Never felt growth since awakening, but now it's like a game character leveling up like crazy."

"Whoa."

Apparently, they'd kept messing with the tower after I left. Charging ahead without scouting—should I be surprised the civilians outpaced the government?

"What about you guys?"

"He picked gold and made us look like idiots, Boss!"

"..."

Don't call me Boss. The complainer flinched at my glare. He'd said it right earlier, though. And another gold-picker here?

"Ahem. Calamity, even so, isn't that harsh? The moment I saw it, I thought of my wife sighing about prices."

"Eh, well. If I picked, it'd be gold too."

Stats or skills would be pointless for me. Gear... dubious too. Even ignoring magical girl traits, at high levels, weak gear was useless. I remembered the warrior scrambling for new shields every time his shattered—pathetic. Mid-tier, he'd vaporize them just posing, needing national treasures each time.

Would the tower be different? Magical girl gear sounded fun, but matching my specs? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Eh.

"See?! Told ya!"

"Calamity's just too strong, that's all."

"You're the weak one..."

The awakeners caught my omission and resumed beating. But weren't you guys non-combatants? Why obsess over strength?

"It's instinct."

"Fair."

Hard to argue. As we bantered, Su-yeon, fiddling solo with the tower, jumped up cheering.

"Unni! Unni!"

"What? Something up?"

"There are non-combat options too, sawayo!"

"What."

"Huh?"

At Su-yeon's shout, me and the awakeners swarmed over.

"How'd no one know?"

"We're all combat types."

"Non-combat awakeners are super rare."

High or low performance, most were combat-oriented. The environment forced combat thinking from the start. Someone might've awakened non-combat but never checked their status amid constant fights.

"Mm. So Su-yeon's production-type?"

"Maybe neutral, sawayo?"

Her ability was the magical girl contract, right? That could be neutral. But then Seong-yoon went combat naturally? Hmm. Didn't check her ability. Or if summoning the egg was her power, maybe it was closer to creation.

"O~hohohoho! That simplifies things!"

Forget the worries—priority now. Su-yeon's energy soared. She'd been deflated despite resolving to fight monsters. Now she flashed a victory lady's smile.

"Everyone! Pray for Yoo Su-yeon's triumph here! Su-yeon, ikimasu~"

Before we could respond, she vanished into the tower with fanfare.

"...Fun girl, huh."

"She's a good kid."

And the embarrassment was mine. I texted Seong-yoon about non-combat options, struggling to stay composed.

It was winter.