The Altar and the Hidden Route
The unidentified structure that Aisha was staring at. Far in the distance, in the direction the goblins had come from, stood a bizarre altar made of wood and stone. No one knew its true purpose yet. Right after choosing a weapon, if you went straight to check the altar, you could see goblins being summoned from it. That was why people assumed it was some kind of goblin-creating device, but its exact function had never been confirmed.
After clearing the floor, you could linger for a short while, but the system didn’t give you enough time to properly study the altar. Besides, on the Tutorial Floor—floors one through ten of the Tower—you couldn’t take anything outside except the rewards the system provided.
Of course, the countless curious people who had entered the Tower had tried everything. They destroyed the altar, moved it, blew it up until not even dust remained, dug deep into the ground beneath it, placed the corpses of dead goblins on top of it, or even cut their own arms to drip blood onto it. Despite all those varied attempts, the altar remained completely unresponsive.
At this point, the prevailing theory was that its only function was to summon goblins at the start of the trial.
“Sure, let’s go together.”
Aisha and I walked toward the distant altar. As we went, I kept glancing at the notification window still floating in the corner of my vision.
S-Rank achieved. Global announcement will be sent.
Please enter a name.
[_____]
The blank name field could accept any name I wanted—like a nickname. As long as it wasn’t already taken, of course. I could use my real name, a pseudonym, someone else’s name, a nickname, or even profanity. In fact, one of the Tower’s S-Rank clear records had once caused chaos when an Interpol red notice criminal’s name was registered, sparking debates over whether it was real.
Names made only of numbers or special characters were allowed too. There had even been someone who registered a completely blank name. And that person had been Korean. Right after the Tower opened, he cleared the first floor faster than anyone else, then bragged online that he’d snagged a rare nickname.
After thinking it over for a long time, I finally made my decision just as we neared the altar.
I’ll stay anonymous for now.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want my name next to the one-second clear record—the world’s fastest time. I wanted to show it off proudly. But right now, that felt too dangerous. Awakened who could shoot fire from their hands, bend rebar, or move at speeds too fast to track were everywhere. And I still lacked the ability to protect myself.
Although my second awakening had granted me the skill Incarnation Summon, it came with a fatal flaw. The thirty-day cooldown and five-minute duration were brutally inefficient. Since I had just used it to summon Aisha and clear the first floor, I would have to wait a full thirty days before I could summon another incarnation. Even then, they could only fight for five minutes.
After the Awakened appeared, most of them cleared the Tower, blocked gates, and became Hunters who hunted monsters. Just clearing the Tower and killing monsters let them sell Mana Stones for huge sums of money. Blocking gates and saving people brought praise from the public and rewards from the government.
Most were satisfied with lives of wealth and fame.
Most.
Many people disliked risking their lives or getting hurt, or found their awakened skills too weak, so they returned to ordinary lives. Others used their new powers to become awakened criminals—commonly called villains. These types usually committed crimes or acts of terror with their skills. They also frequently attacked and killed famous Hunters just to show off their strength.
Given that my own abilities were practically nonexistent, I had to hide my identity until I grew stronger.
Since I had chosen to remain anonymous, I pondered what name to register. Using any of my usual nicknames could let people trace my identity, so those were out. The first thing that came to mind after that was my constellation’s name.
Seeker of Supreme Knowledge.
But using it exactly like that felt a bit much. After a moment’s thought, I decided to register simply as “Seeker.”
While I had been deep in thought, Aisha—who had been carefully examining the goblin altar—began to tremble.
“This… this is…!”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
“To think a relic from the Great Emperor’s era still remained! I never imagined I would witness it with my own two eyes!”
“Huh?”
Paying no attention to my reaction, she muttered as if in a trance.
“A relic from over several hundred years ago, from the early days of the demonic invasion, preserved in such perfect condition! What an incredible archaeological discovery! O Constellation, is this space one that you created?”
Come to think of it, she probably didn’t know about the Tower. That made sense. The Tower only appeared in worlds where constellations had the leisure to help other dimensions. Her world had no Tower.
I naturally avoided answering and asked her a question instead.
“You said you’ve never seen it before, yet you know so much about it?”
“I could only study the records that remained. Judging by the ancient script carved here, it is undoubtedly a relic from that period.”
Ancient script? To my eyes it just looked like cracks in the stone.
I didn’t want to admit I knew nothing, so I tested her with a leading question.
“Excellent. As expected of my first incarnation.”
“Ufu, ufufufu!”
“Then, why don’t you analyze this relic for me?”
“Is this a test? My, my… While I, Aisha, would never disappoint you with something so trivial, Constellation.”
With a confident expression, she began to speak. According to her, this altar was a demonic summoning altar used by dark sorcerers during the great demonic invasion that occurred in her world several hundred years ago. In particular, the one before us was a goblin-summoning altar. Based on its size and arrangement, it could summon up to four goblins at once.
“Four?”
I was sure I had only killed three earlier…
“As you can see, one has yet to be summoned. According to the inscription… a Goblin Warrior has not yet appeared.”
“A Goblin Warrior, huh… Aisha, your invention should be able to handle it easily, right?”
“What a needless question, hahaha!”
I clapped slowly.
“Good. Both your invention and your knowledge exceed my expectations. In that case, could you activate the altar and summon the last one?”
“Of course! I recently read a paper that contained information related to this exact relic!”
She fiddled with the altar, and soon the characters I had thought were gold began emitting a blue light.
We both stepped back. A moment later, a massive goblin far larger than an adult man appeared in the center of the altar.
“Aisha, this time I’d like to try using it myself.”
“The Constellation wishes to use my invention! W-what an honor!”
Whoosh—Boom!
The moment the Goblin Warrior appeared, half of its upper body was blown away.
Thud!
The remaining half of the Goblin Warrior collapsed pathetically to the ground.
1st Floor Hidden Route Cleared
📍 Clear rewards are being recalculated.
📍 First clearer of the hidden route — the 1st floor hidden route will now be permanently closed.
📍 Global announcement will be sent due to hidden route clear.
While I was frantically reading the notifications floating before my eyes, someone suddenly grabbed me from behind.
A soft sensation pressed against my back. I froze on the spot.
“Aisha…? What are you—”
“How was it, Constellation? Did I pass the test?”
Too flustered to think, I nodded blankly.
“Hehe, of course the result was obvious. Though I must admit I was nervous myself, I’m relieved to have passed.”
“What are you even—”
“Then there’s no reason to hesitate any longer, is there? Come now, please take off your clothes! By the way, this is my first time, so I would appreciate it if you were gentle.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about…”
“Hehe, are you feeling shy? I have heard what the constellations who descend to the temple do with their incarnations.”
I was horrified. Just what the hell were the constellations in her world doing?!
“Among all the men in my world, not a single one was worthy of a genius like me. So when you appeared, Constellation, you cannot imagine how happy I was.”
I felt a slight sense of unease at her words. Come to think of it, why had she sought me out in the first place?
But dealing with the current situation took priority over resolving that discomfort. Aisha, still hugging me tightly from behind, began squeezing my body even harder.
“Besides, I never imagined my Constellation would be this handsome.”
I could feel her body trembling slightly as she spoke.
“Now, let us begin! If my genius intellect were to combine with your genes, Constellation, the result would have to be a eugenically perfect child!”