Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Tower of Wisdom (1)
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Pfft.
'Cheeky Manager.'
I smirked, mimicking her tone, then slipped my phone into my pocket.
Next time, maybe I should send soy sauce instead of cola.
'Hang on... now that I think about it...'
There was no need to use Star Bang's gifting function like an actual gift.
If Star Bang really had every item in the world, surely it stocked stuff so shocking you'd gasp just looking at it.
Edible bugs, gay pinup books, stinky tofu, and so on...
'Not planning to pay ten times customs fees just to send them, but...'
The fact that I could abuse the gifting feature made my lips curl up on their own.
There were still tons of them left with memos attached. I'd only cleared out half last time.
'Look forward to it.'
My grudges last a lifetime.
Thud-!
"Urgh..."
I pushed open the tower door and stretched my stiff, aching body.
I'd popped painkillers and muscle relaxants before coming in, even slathered on some pain-relief patches.
Since this place only required brainpower, it shouldn't strain my back too much.
Step.
'Without the wiki, the Tower of Wisdom would've been the toughest, huh.'
I pondered to myself as I headed toward the distant door.
The Tower of Fate was pure luck from the start, so out of the running. The Tower of Mind, as the wiki described, ultimately hinged on mental fortitude.
The Tower of Trials? Honestly, wiki or no wiki, it made little difference.
Even with a guide, a busted body meant death. No guide? If you had the skills to smash through, you'd survive.
'They called it the most honest tower.'
And this Tower of Wisdom demanded everything from simple reasoning to intricate judgment.
I recalled the wiki's description as I reached the door.
"Hmm."
Nothing written on it. Beyond the door, everything was swallowed in darkness.
Swipe.
'...Or not?'
Like someone hit with PTSD, I glanced up at the ceiling.
Last week, exactly on the 11th floor, I'd dealt with the same thing. No way it'd pull the same boring trick twice... but my dry mouth tightened anyway as I licked my lips.
'No wiki reaction either.'
Staying alert, I cautiously gripped the door handle and pulled. It was locked tight, not budging an inch.
Wondering what the hell, I glanced around briefly.
'...What the hell is this?'
I blinked dumbly at the message floating before my eyes.
Doors? Just the exit in front of me and the entrance I'd come through.
Difference? They looked identical no matter how I squinted. Then a timer appeared: [10:00].
'Round trip to the opposite door takes about a minute.'
How was I supposed to reveal the difference?
Give me a proper explanation at least—this felt way too unhelpful, like even this was testing wisdom.
'Guess I should head back...?'
As the timer ticked and I turned dumbly—
Ding-!
The wiki sent supplemental info and the solution.
'Five differences... spot the difference, got it.'
The doors were bigger than expected, and the round trip wasn't short.
The patterns on the exit looked intricate and ornate—finding them would be tough, but...
Squeeze.
Like the temporary map on the 10th floor, tapping [Entrance Door] filled the screen with the pattern-covered door.
No need to trek back and forth or memorize each detail.
"Nice."
I zoomed in on the perfectly aligned [Entrance Door] and started hunting for differences with the exit in front of me.
'Ten minutes is tight.'
Without the wiki, how many retries would this body have needed, shuttling back and forth?
Come to think of it, the 10th floor was a maze too.
Couldn't assume the Tower of Wisdom let you just stand and think.
'Found one.'
Less than a minute in, I spotted the first difference.
An unidentifiable creature...? Its shape was slightly off.
Tap-
'Okay.'
Touching the exit door lightly, a confirmation appeared below the timer.
With the wiki, nothing was hard.
Found the second difference, then the third.
'What if I just mash randomly?'
The thought hit me right after spotting the fourth.
If no wiki, did I really have to shuttle back and forth? What happened if I picked wrong?
'...Can't resist.'
Even I wondered why I was leaving the last one. I felt like a total idiot.
'Alright, curiosity heaven, let's go.'
But I couldn't hold back the urge.
Smack-!
Thinking worst case I die, I slapped next to the last correct one.
"Ah."
My body had somehow returned to the entrance.
Sighing softly at the timer basically saying don't mess around, start over.
'So failure meant infinite loops of this too?'
Memorizing dozens or hundreds of patterns on two doors, a minute round trip each.
...Without the wiki, I'd have been screwed.
Ding-!
"Oh, my wiki...!!"
I dropped to my knees and bowed deeply to it amid the supernatural sight before me.
Tower of Wisdom, 15th floor.
Blasted through 11th to 14th without a single fail, then headed straight up without rest.
The 15th was dead simple.
If you put your mind to it, you could clear in under 30 seconds. Super easy.
Of course, it could also end you in 10.
'Can't even imagine without the wiki.'
Unlike other floors, the 15th was divided into zones.
Path from entrance to center, central rest area, path from rest area to exit.
The entrance path had square plates in four colors.
Super suspicious setup. Counted 15x15, total 225 plates.
Different counts per color, so I memorized the numbers crossing carefully, convinced something was up.
The moment I reached the rest area, the plates behind vanished without a trace.
Remembered red had the fewest, roughly where I started, but no confidence to the end.
Anyone could see stepping wrong meant plummeting—I'd been shaking...
The wiki handed me a cheat key beyond mere strategy.
Just follow the highlighted path—like my devotion to the wiki, staring at the bright red plates, I clasped my hands in prayer.
'Seriously, wiki, you're the best...'
I'll kiss you every day when I get back.
Rumble...!!
'Laughable how easy it is. Total freebie.'
Cleared up to 19th without a single snag—like child's play.
Honestly, couldn't even say I cleared it. Wiki did all the work.
Step.
Not certain yet, but at this point, I got the tower's structure... no, the wiki's efficiency.
Unless it's a boss floor every 10 levels, the wiki was near omnipotent.
Could climb blindfolded picking my nose with its flawless guides.
'As long as it's not me screwing around like on Tower of Trials 15th.'
Didn't mean boss strategies sucked, though.
Base difficulty ramped up, but core solutions were there.
My pathetic stats were the issue—it was definitely helping.
Hell, I respected anyone climbing without it.
'How the hell do they do it?'
Surviving centuries or millennia here.
Without a wiki, even.
Swipe.
'About 40 minutes passed.'
Checked the timer in the dark passage.
Manager's ban on me still hadn't lifted.
Felt less like tower climbing, more like a park stroll.
'No reason to rest, can't check the gallery.'
Goal was 20th, so straight to Tower of Wisdom without pause.
Thud!
Entered the 20th floor again.
Whoooosh-!!
The door shut, and everything turned blinding white.
"Ugh...!"
Eyes closed, light seeped through eyelids.
Covered face with arms—light invaded from everywhere.
'What the...'
Seconds later, eyes open: nothing visible.
Entire tower pure white.
Where walls ended, ceiling began—no clue.
White so intense, couldn't distinguish anything.
'This what padded cells in asylums feel like?'
Just like the mental hospital images from childhood.
Entrance gone, exit vanished.
Size? Slightly bigger room... maybe.
All white distorted distance. Where wall met floor, ceiling? Boundaries blurred.
'...Now I get why locking someone in an all-white room drives them mad.'
Swipe.
Couldn't tell the layout. Despite brightness, no shadow.
Hand up, jumped in place—no change. Just white void.
"Aaaah!!"
Screamed full force—sound swallowed.
Like underwater, or vacuum. Muffled.
"Hoo..."
Vision and hearing so alien, stomach churned.
Facing scrunched, waiting for tower's command—
Creak... creeeak...
"..."
Sinister sound right above my head.
Swallowed, looked up—dazzling ceiling. Face twisted—
"?"
Directly above: X-shaped black void in blinding white.
More like twisted, grotesque between the X lines.
Rumble...!!
Familiar ominous roar echoed beyond—
"This is insane...!!"
From the X gap, something white poured down like mad.
Splat-!!
Whirled and stepped—tripped.
Couldn't tell floor from wall—fell.
Whoooosh!
Tried pushing up—above faster. Ceiling poured huge white things waterfall-style, my size.
'Ah...'
Squeeze.
"...I'm fine."
Too fine to believe.
'Dream? Dead?'
No. Slight pressure on body said otherwise.
White space now blocked by these, darkening view.
Ding-!
'Definitely not dead.'
Chuckled dryly at wiki's wake-up alert.
Squinted, swam through, shoved oppressors aside.
Each human torso-sized, but pushed easily.
Darkness cleared—blinding white room filled vision again.
'Puzzle... pieces...?'
Escaped mound, checked identity.
Pure white jigsaw chunks... seemed so.
Torso-sized, palm-thick.
Each had protruding bits and indents.
Swipe.
Surprisingly light.
Styrofoam? No, surface harder. Feather-light though.
What situation is this? Blinked—
Rumble...!!
"Not again?"
Looked up at roar—text appeared.
'Fill the space...?'
Vaguely familiar instruction. Dumbly scanned around.
"..."
White walls, ceiling, floor tiled white.
No patterns, colors, images—just insane piles of white puzzle pieces.
And—
Rumble...!!
"This is pure madness?"
Chortled dryly at the faintly descending ceiling.