The Day the Tower Opened

My name is Lee Dohyun. Until that day, I was just an ordinary university student with nothing special going on. That is, until I got completely wasted and awakened out of nowhere.

The day after I was discharged from the military, I met up with friends for two days straight, drinking and having a good time. That’s when mysterious black towers suddenly appeared all over the world, and a strange notification popped up like a hologram in front of a tiny handful of people. The messages varied from person to person, but they all shared one thing in common.

People were terrified of the unknown phenomenon, and governments around the world poured astronomical amounts of money and manpower into figuring out what the towers were. Even the black towers themselves had been proven impossible to enter. But alongside that fear, people were absolutely obsessed with Awakeners. A tiny number of chosen individuals who could shoot fire from their hands or fly through the sky. Society had already started ranking them, and high-rank Awakeners—especially the good-looking ones—were already being treated like celebrities even though the Tower hadn’t even opened yet.

And I was one of those Awakeners.

“Customer, could I see your ID please?”

“What? I’m an adult, okay?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t sell without ID.”

“Agh, fuck this. So annoying.”

“…”

A girl who clearly looked like a high schooler stormed out of the convenience store.

“Part-timer, give me a pack of cigarettes.”

“Which one…”

“The one I always buy, obviously!”

Who the hell are you? I finally found it and handed it over…

“Hey! The picture on this looks weird! No good, give me another one.”

After finally getting rid of that customer, the next ones to walk in were a familiar guy and girl.

“Oh, what? Lee Dohyun, you’ve been working part-time here?”

“Hello, sunbae…”

The guy had a mocking grin on his face, while the girl beside him quietly greeted me. Tall with a somewhat sly-looking face, he was my university classmate, Kim Jinho. The quiet girl standing next to him was Seol Yura, a junior from the same department.

“Kek, so you’re an Awakener or whatever, but you’re still stuck doing convenience store shifts?”

“Even so, he’s still an Awakener, right? That’s cool, sunbae.”

“Hey, not all Awakeners are the same. What’s the point if you can’t even use your skill? I bet the Management Bureau made some kind of mistake with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you.”

After laughing for a while, he kept needling me, asking if I was coming to today’s drinking party or not.

“Anyway, Yura and I are heading out now, so show up if you want. Whatever.”

Seol Yura, who had somehow been roped into going without her say, looked uncomfortable.

“Um, but Jinho sunbae, I’m actually really busy today…”

“Dude, I already told everyone you’re coming! Just have one round and leave.”

Kim Jinho said whatever he wanted and walked out. He was an Awakener too—unlike me, he could actually use his skill. It was just some ice ability that let him emit cold from his hands, but that alone had already made him a campus celebrity. Seol Yura bowed her head to me and followed after him.

After my shift ended, I went home.

“Sigh… fuck…”

I cursed and flopped onto my bed. When I focused for a moment, a blue window appeared in front of my eyes.

It wasn’t an A-rank skill, nor was it one of those S-rank skills that only a handful of people in the world supposedly possessed. No, it was an EX-rank skill. When I first saw it and realized no one else had ever received an EX-rank skill, I’d been over the moon. The problem was… this skill was far more useless than I could have ever imagined.

The timer at the bottom kept steadily counting down. The mysterious Tower was finally about to open, and things had been chaotic for weeks now. The internet communities were no different. While I was looking at my phone, a signal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠went off in my head. I manipulated the status window to bring up the screen.

Various pieces of information scrolled by, and then a screen appeared below with what looked like 4K video quality.

What I saw ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the screen was my incarnation, Violet. A woman with long violet-colored hair. Her face looked timid beneath her messy bangs that nearly covered her eyes. She wore dark, baggy clothes, yet her curvaceous figure was still obvious. She always had low self-esteem and was ashamed of her looks, and now I understood why. Apparently, in her world, the beauty standard was for women to be slim, delicate, and slender. I’d accepted that explanation at the time.

Anyway, the signal in my head just now meant my incarnation—Violet—was trying to communicate with me.

Sharing vision through an incarnation consumed mana. I quickly sent a message.

Ten credits vanished in an instant. I wished I could just use the mana that recovered over time to send messages, but apparently that only worked for this vague style of communication. If I wanted to send my exact words or voice, it would cost dozens of times more credits. Still, I couldn’t afford to be stingy. She was one of my three incarnations—now the only one left—and she was precious.

After receiving my message, she looked up at the sky. She didn’t need to, but it had become a habit of hers.

“Um, Constellation-nim… I… I have something… I need to tell you…”

She seemed even more hesitant than usual. Her words were more stuttered too. I waited patiently for her to continue.

“Well… actually, today another Constellation… made me an offer…”

My heart sank. This had already happened twice before.

“I’m really grateful to you, Constellation-nim… If it weren’t for you back then, I don’t know what would’ve happened… But…”

I started frantically typing a message.

“…The Constellation who contacted me today is the Serpent and Ruler of Darkness… and in exchange for the contract, he said he’d heal my younger sister… You know, Constellation-nim, without my sister I…”

At those words, my fingers froze mid-message. Her younger sister really was bedridden with an illness right now. And I had no way to cure her. I couldn’t directly intervene in that world in the first place. More importantly, even if I could heal her sister, there was no benefit in it for me.

I hesitated for a moment. What if I poured all my assets into supporting her with items or skills? It was possible to convert gold or silver into credits through the system and then grant skills or items as blessings. Of course, any skill that could cure her sister would be extremely expensive. It might not even exist.

Alternatively, I could fund Violet with my money, turn her into a famous powerhouse, and have her earn money herself. That way she could find a cure for her sister on her own. I had no idea how much it would cost, though.

Even so, she was my first incarnation. We’d been together for nearly two years now, and she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠practically saw me as family. On top of that, the Constellation who approached her—the Serpent something-or-other—had a terrible reputation.

Just as I made up my mind and was about to send a message—

“And… honestly, Constellation-nim, you have no money… you’re Lowest-rank… and I don’t think you’re very helpful…”

Never mind. Apparently thinking of me as family had been my own delusion.

“Besides, all your other incarnations already left… Staying here doesn’t seem to offer any dreams, hopes, or future… Honestly, I think you should be the one apologizing to me…”

My jaw dropped at her completely unexpected attitude. This wasn’t the Violet I knew at all—her demeanor had flipped in an instant.

While I stood there stunned—

The notification appeared right in front of me. When I looked at the screen, she had already formed a new contract. A name tag floated above her head.

The Serpent and Ruler of Darkness was a Mid-High rank Constellation. I was Lowest-rank.

While I stood there drained of energy, another blue window appeared before my eyes.

“This fucking bastard!”

I was furious. Just as I shot up from my seat, determined to get revenge on that Serpent Constellation somehow, I realized the notification wasn’t what I thought.

“Oh, right. Today was the day.”

With everything else that had happened, I’d completely forgotten about the Tower. Not that it mattered. My skill was EX-rank, sure, but it didn’t actually help me with anything.

“Sigh, this is so annoying…”

More notifications about the Tower kept popping up, but I couldn’t care less. I didn’t have any combat skills, so how was I supposed to go in without knowing what was inside?

Just as I flopped back onto the bed, annoyed all over again, another notification appeared.

“Huh…?”