Arrival at Terra
Didascalia thought.
The new player named Seong Yujin was not normal.
It was true of how well he knew the Tower, and of how the Akasha System had blacked out key pieces of information about him.
But the strangest thing of all was the power he had shown.
That's impossible.
Not some goblin or gnoll littering the ground—Black Darkness.
A disaster-class boss monster that lived on the ninetieth floor!
Even if a player who had only just entered the Tower had soloed a goblin, people would have fallen over in shock. And this one had smashed Black Darkness's skull in.
With his bare hands, no less.
There was no way this was normal.
What kind of cheat did he use?
Didascalia opened Yujin's status window once more.
As expected.
Same as before.
All Didascalia could confirm were name, level, alignment, and equipped item.
Access to the information that actually mattered had been thoroughly sealed off by the Akasha System.
I don't understand.
He couldn't even get a handle on it.
The worlds the Tower had destroyed already numbered in the tens of thousands, and Didascalia had spent most of that time alongside the Akasha System.
But this was a first.
A player who possessed power like Yujin's—and incomprehensible behavior from the Akasha System itself.
If he could have, he would have wanted to confront the man face-to-face and demand answers.
But that was impossible.
The Akasha System was the Sky—आकाश—an existence that directly projected the will of a god.
A mere Tower administrator like himself was not in a position to harbor doubts about it.
He was nothing more than a worker faithfully carrying out the duties assigned to him within the vast cycle the Akasha System had designed.
Still, I can't just sit here and watch.
Even if he had to convene a Grand Council and discuss it with the other twelve administrators, he had to uncover the truth of this incident.
"If you've got time to stare, finish it already, you bastard. I'm busy."
At that moment, Yujin—whose eyes had met his—frowned and urged him on.
Grind—.
His teeth clenched of their own accord.
But right now, laying a hand on Yujin was impossible.
Both of the only two methods that could kill a player on the Tutorial Floor had already failed.
And he wasn't even confident he could win a fight.
All that was left for him to do was open the passage so the surviving players could move on to the 1st Floor.
"You somehow managed to find them all, Player Seong Yujin."
Without so much as a scratch, at that.
"Truly impressive."
When he spoke with equal parts suspicion and mockery, Yujin let out a sigh.
"Cut the crap and wrap it up. I've got zero interest in sitting around making pleasant conversation with you."
"…Is that so? Understood."
Didascalia glared at Yujin with eyes full of murderous intent and nodded.
With every treasure already claimed by the players, there was no longer any reason to maintain the Tutorial Floor.
『Propylaia[A]』
When he used one of the skills permitted only to administrators, a massive staircase connecting the Tower's floors materialized.
"If you ascend this way, you will arrive at the 1st Floor. The stairs are steep, so please move carefully."
Of course, despite his kindly explanation, not a single player moved.
Every one of them was watching Yujin—waiting on his lead.
Snorting at the sight, Yujin was the first to start climbing the stairs.
One step. Then another.
As carefully as if performing a sacred rite, Yujin headed upward.
Thudthudthudthudthud—!
Only when he had climbed about halfway without anything happening did those who had been watching finally move.
Didascalia quietly counted the number of players.
Dead: one. Injured: twelve. Survivors: ninety-nine.
To see a full ninety-nine players climbing the stairs toward the 1st Floor—even Didascalia, who had served as a Tower administrator for tens of thousands of years, was witnessing this for the first time.
Player Seong Yujin.
All of it had happened because of that one man.
An unprecedented situation.
Granted, the players here were only a tiny fraction of the total, but what Seong Yujin would bring about from this point forward was beyond imagination.
The instant Seong Yujin's figure vanished from sight, Didascalia raised a finger and tapped his ear. Tap, tap.
Then…
[Already finished, is it~?]
[Isn't that rather early?]
[Looks like this batch of players is subpar.]
[Kill them. Then just kill them all quickly.]
Multiple voices reached his ear—the voices of the twelve administrators other than Didascalia.
"Ah, can you hear me? This is Number 37, Didascalia."
[I can hear you~]
[Speak.]
[This world seems likely to end early, so I don't see why you needed to call me as well?]
[Are we killing? Should we kill?]
Some spoke. Some did not.
But it was clear that every one of them was listening to him.
"An irregular has appeared."
[…What's an irregular?]
[Could you give us the details?]
[Oh ho.]
[Let's kill the irregular.]
To their voices thick with questions, Didascalia reported everything he had seen and experienced regarding Seong Yujin.
The power and knowledge he possessed.
And even the Akasha System's information access restrictions.
There were far more than one or two strange points, so the administrators did not dare continue speaking lightly.
"Therefore, I have a proposal to put forward."
Taking a deep breath, Didascalia opened his mouth with a hardened expression.
"I wish to convene a Grand Council."
About two thousand, maybe?
Yujin thought about the number of steps he had climbed.
That seemed about right.
A number ordinary people could never climb easily—but not entirely impossible, either.
Only after ascending it could one reach the 1st Floor.
Whoooooosh—!
The moment he stepped on the last stair, the Tutorial Floor that had stretched out below vanished, and an entirely new world revealed itself.
"…It's been a long time."
The 1st Floor of the Tower of Light.
The place where the massive city known as Terra existed—and the hometown of all players.
Honestly, he couldn't say he'd missed it even as a joke, but it was true that he felt a certain welcome all the same.
After all, he'd come and gone from here the way other people grabbed a bowl of soup—for a full ten years.
A castle so tall it seemed to touch the heavens, and a massive wall whose diameter looked to be a full hundred kilometers.
Terra, built entirely of pure white stone, was majestic, beautiful, and even mysterious—as if it were a recreation of a medieval empire's capital from a fantasy.
"No one else is here yet."
That was only natural.
Only the Tutorial Floor where Yujin had been summoned had ended abnormally fast.
Elsewhere, people were probably still running from the summoned boss monsters.
Even the faster groups would only just be starting the treasure hunt.
So among the tens of thousands of players summoned to the Tower, he had reached the 1st Floor faster than anyone.
Grin—.
Yujin smiled.
Hadn't Didascalia clearly said so on the Tutorial Floor?
"The Akasha System likes achievements, after all."
First. Best. Strongest. Fastest. Impossible. And so on.
What that meant was simple.
◈ Attack power increases by a minuscule amount.
Well, this was the normal amount.
The rewards Yujin had obtained so far had been of far too high a caliber.
But originally, this was the appropriate level of reward.
He had only just set foot on the 1st Floor of a hundred-floor Tower, after all.
Considering the difficulty, even a skill of this level was something to be grateful for.
In his first run, he'd even seen guys climb all the way to the twentieth floor with nothing but Bash[E].
Though they'd unfortunately died to the twentieth-floor boss in the end.
"Anyway, it's useful for the early game. That's a fact."
Skills or traits—whatever their grade—were better than nothing.
Yujin expertly absorbed the skill and began walking.
His destination was, of course, the interior of Terra standing before him.
"There were a few things to grab in there too, right?"
Most of them weren't particularly impressive, but a few were things even Yujin absolutely had to obtain.
And there were plenty of items that would help the ones he planned to raise going forward.
Yujin hummed as he approached Terra.
Having spent far more time here than in some real-world cramped boarding room, this side actually felt far more familiar.
He set foot once more on a path he had traveled more times than he could count—for the first time all over again.
"Please halt. I will verify your identity."
As he approached the gate, someone blocked his way.
A resident.
Beings that players called NPCs.
They inhabited various parts of the Tower, sometimes offering help—and other times stabbing people in the back.
"Long time no see, Ennand."
Yujin raised a hand in greeting.
The NPC guard called Ennand's eyes went wide.
"Y-you know me?"
"Of course I do."
The years of casually running into him added up to about eight years and seven months.
And this guy was a very grateful friend who, once you got close, later handed over a pretty decent item.
Of course, right now he was only sending looks full of wariness, with no items in sight.
"Hurry up. Identity check. I want to get inside."
"…Please wait a moment."
Ennand looked flustered, but quickly composed himself and began verifying Yujin's identity.
The method was simple.
Checking the information recorded in the Akasha System.
Naturally, his information access authority was infinitely lower than the administrators', so there wasn't much he could see—but at least name, level, and title were checkable.
"Name: Seong Yujin. Level is… hup!"
Ennand's eyes bulged.
It was only natural.
A player who had only just finished the Tutorial Floor and entered the 1st Floor was already level 7.
It was probably a number he was seeing for the first time.
Players taking their first step onto the 1st Floor were mostly level 1, and only in extremely rare cases did someone reach level 2.
Yujin had been the same in his first run.
I was level 1.
Except for maybe three or four people like Zygot or the Sword Marquis, everyone would be the same.
But level 7!
Ennand rubbed his eyes vigorously, wondering if his eyes were wrong.
But nothing changed.
Still floating before his eyes—
—were the exact same characters.
"All checked? Then I'm going in."
Yujin clapped the shoulder of the dumbfounded Ennand and, without waiting for a reply, walked toward the gate.
The starting city of Terra.
A space that was despair to some, hatred to others, and hope to still others.
"I'm back."
Yujin's voice rode the wind and quietly resounded throughout Terra.