Chance Sometimes Exists (2)

Ping-!

“……”

Back in the Lobby, I stared at the Starpang notification that had just popped up.

I’d felt it when I cleared the 60th floor of the Tower of Destiny, but after pushing all the way to the 70th today, one thing had become clear.

...Has Wiki gotten better?

Even though these were boss rooms on ten-floor intervals, the strategy had been excellent. Of course, there were floors where strategy didn’t matter all that much, like in the Tower of Trials or the Tower of Mind, but...

The Tower of Destiny has basically become free EXP.

It still dragged things out with its usual “Analyzing....” nonsense, but the quality of the strategies had clearly changed.

If I had to pick a turning point, it was probably after clearing the 50th floor.

I still wasn’t sure whether it was the effect of that anomaly I’d seen then, or whether Wiki had simply become more familiar with the tower.

The Tower of Wisdom has gotten easier too.

Unless I had to endure it myself or use my own body, Wiki was helping me almost perfectly now.

That didn’t mean I could clear things just by breathing, of course, but it felt like starting off with hints that other people would only have pieced together after dying a few times.

TP in hand: 44,105

Just clearing the 70th floor of the Tower of Trials will get me everything I need.

I was one step away from unlocking Star Gate.

Or ten steps, technically, but whatever.

Swish—

-1-

[Doom Timer 263:07:31:50]

[Interval 4:07:31:50]

[ 270 / 98 ]

Three weeks had passed since Star Gate had been unlocked.

During that time, I’d been climbing the towers hard.

I didn’t push ten floors a day like I had today, every single day, but it was still absurdly fast.

Unless it was the Tower of Destiny, things were starting to take time now.

I was gradually getting used to spending a day or two inside the tower.

Come to think of it...

Somewhere along the way, I’d passed the hundred-day mark.

One hundred days since I arrived at this place without a name.

Compared to the beginning, everything had changed more than I could honestly call normal.

My body, my abilities, my state of mind—everything.

If you include the time that’s actually passed inside the tower... maybe around five months?

To be honest, it felt like I’d spent years here.

That was only natural, considering how much had happened.

I’d probably done more in these past few months than I had in the years after I was discharged.

Swish.

“……”

Looking back now, maybe it hadn’t been so bad.

I’d become strong enough to carry and swing a heavy sword like this, and I could even use something vaguely like magic.

I’d let go of regrets that had lingered for years, and I’d parted ways with the trauma that had been eating at me for far too long.

Of course, living in this meaningless place, surviving with death hanging over my head, wasn’t good—but...

Maybe running away wasn’t the right choice after all.

It might have been an overblown judgment, but honestly, my life felt more satisfying now.

What if Irregular shows up again?

That was a real problem.

It seemed like it would pop up again the moment I hit Round 2, so maybe I’d have to hand it to someone else.

Heh.

“Ugh, I should go wash up and rest....”

I’d climbed the tower two days in a row now, yesterday and today, so I was starting to think about all kinds of useless things.

It wasn’t like it would show up that easily anyway.

Swish.

I was still exchanging a message or two every day with the Jutak.

At first it had just been greetings like “good night” and “good morning,” but gradually we’d started sharing little bits of everyday life too—things that happened in the tower, posts from the gallery, all sorts of trivial stuff.

At some point the subject of friends came up, and since it felt awkward to bring up Do-jun, I said I had an internet friend instead.

It was half a joke, really...

...They’re so pure I don’t even know what to say.

I hadn’t expected an answer saying that they were happy because they had no friends.

Now I felt bad, like I’d brought up something pointless...

After replying to the message that had arrived while I was climbing the tower, I left the chatroom with the Jutak.

[Starlink]

[Wiki]

[Friend has internet friends.]

“……”

And then there was the other chatroom sitting there, waiting.

As if under a spell, I touched the conversation thread where I’d once exchanged messages with Sage’s Stone.

One sentence from the message Sage’s Stone had sent still filled my head.

It had been quite a while since that message arrived.

After we’d talked about Star Gate, he’d replied in less than half a day, so it was probably fair to say he answered as soon as he saw it.

After that, we’d gone back and forth a few times in long messages, discussing everything.

What else could it be if not coincidence?

If this wasn’t coincidence, then what reason was there for it to have been manipulated?

What if the people who ended up entering this tower hadn’t come in “by chance” at all?

What if they’d been selected through some process and captured? Or what if it wasn’t all the gallery users, but only me?

Of course, it was only a question of possibility, so there was no need to worry too much. Not yet.

Still, in a tower where even after thousands of years no one knew the purpose behind its existence, my instinct was that there had to be something about me—something that could shake the very foundation of this place.

“Haah.”

I let out a long sigh as I looked at Sage’s Stone’s messages.

Talking with the Jutak made me laugh on its own, but this side of things only made me sigh for a dozen different reasons.

If Sage’s Stone was right, and I really was some chosen, special figure, then what would change?

Nothing. All I could still do was climb the tower.

Sure, I was gaining one special ability after another.

Maybe Star Gate’s functions would end up shaking the tower’s foundations. Maybe I’d get even crazier powers in the future.

But what kept nagging at me was a small... fundamental question.

Why?

Why me, of all people?

Why was I the one chosen?

An uneducated orphan with no parents, a bottom-of-the-barrel life spent on the fringes, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠serving others since I was young.

I had no talents to speak of, and the only thing I knew how to do was sit in my room, scratch myself, and play games like some shut-in rice addict.

Even in the gallery, there were plenty of people far more capable than me.

Sage’s Stone alone was so much smarter than I was it wasn’t even a comparison. Sure, he had his moments of becoming a bit unhinged... but that was probably just from being locked up for so long.

Anyway, no matter how many times I checked Sage’s Stone’s messages in a day, the same question kept swelling inside me.

Why did they choose me?

Honestly, I didn’t think I was ordinary now.

I’d clearly become something different from everyone else, and I wasn’t stupid enough to deny that.

But if this power had been given to someone else, the odds were high that they would have achieved even better results.

It might not have been something ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I got by luck, or by chance.

Maybe that applied to everyone who had ever gotten Irregular and escaped the tower too.

Sage’s Stone’s messages kept circling around in my head.

I couldn’t tell whether it was coincidence or fate.

I didn’t know who had built this place, or for what purpose, and even after experiencing the anomaly several times, I still couldn’t understand it.

Come to think of it, the anomaly hasn’t appeared again either.

I’d run into it in force on the 50th floor, but during the climb from then to the 70th floor, except for the Tower of Wisdom, I hadn’t encountered it once.

If only I could know something, anything, it would have made things a little easier.

What exactly was Irregular, anyway?

Was it really that star that granted wishes?

A forbidden topic in the tower, in the gallery...

The story Sage’s Stone had told me—the one that shouldn’t be brought up in the gallery.

A story about a truth no one could answer and no one truly knew.

Could it really be that using Irregular meant escaping this tower?

Rather than friends?

“……”

Heh.

Even Sage’s Stone, who was smart but sometimes stupid, and the Jutak, who had somehow managed to preserve their innocence through fifteen hundred years...

They were probably living because they clung to hope deep down inside.

My existence might become everyone’s hope—or their despair.

Swish.

[This is a product you cannot currently purchase.]

— Insufficient number of regressions.

I searched for Irregular again for the first time in a while.

And, naturally, it was exactly the same as it had been three months ago.

Irregular was clearly something I could gift too.

If my number of regressions increased and I gathered TP in massive amounts, I’d probably be able to help someone escape too.

Whether they could really return to the original world was another matter entirely.

Ping-!

[Author: KingGodWiki]

I’m going to push all the way to the 70th floor in one go.

Time to keep my no-death record alive today too, yeah.

“Ha.”

I gave a dry laugh as I looked over the comments on the post I’d thrown up without much thought.

Even without me, they were laughing and chatting away among themselves.

Talking about things that never would have come up without me.

“……”

I was absolutely not some great person.

I knew that better than anyone. I’d always thought of myself as the very bottom of the bottom, and other people probably thought the same.

An orphan with no family, a rice-addicted shut-in, an arsonist, a murderer, a victim of child abuse, a sexual... victim.

It was one hell of a life, with several titles that would be dizzying on their own.

And yet, maybe things were a little different here.

No one here knew my past, and here, everyone acknowledged me as I was.

Not as an illusion of internet space I’d forced into existence, not just for my face or body.

There were people who were naturally moved by me as a person, laughing and enjoying themselves because of me.

Of course, it’s all thanks to Irregular’s powers...

But even so, wasn’t that my ability now? My power?

Whether getting Irregular, or entering this tower, had been chance or a manufactured fate didn’t matter.

What mattered was that this moment was fun. That was enough.

One meal I delivered could make someone happy. One tower-clear post I uploaded could make someone laugh.

If my existence could become someone’s hope, then that was enough.

I didn’t know when I’d learn the truth of this tower, or what kind of incredible being had locked us here, but—

Since I’ve already been given what’s basically a second life, and a damn awesome power too...

Wasn’t the classic thing for a protagonist with a slightly filthy, pitiable past to awaken and start helping others?

Well, I probably couldn’t become one of those flashy, perfect protagonists from games or novels...

[Post written]

But if I could live like myself, somehow, then that would make me the protagonist.

Ping-!

Ping-ping-ping-ping-ping—

Heh.

“Kukukuku...”

They really did treat the protagonist like trash.

Still, maybe this was enough.

There wasn’t any law saying only great people could be protagonists.

“Haaah—.”

I let out a deep sigh as I looked over the comments.

No one believes me.

Fair enough. If it had been me, I wouldn’t have believed it either.

But ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I had to try, somehow.

“Ggh...”

I stretched my body out, then stopped by the Hideout to grab my gear.

Steel sword, mana stones, armor.

I’d wasted a few hours in the Tower of Destiny today, but now I felt like climbing higher right away.

Wouldn’t it be lame to lie down and rest right after making a protagonist declaration?

Since I’d gotten such free progress in the Tower of Destiny, I should move a little harder today.

TP in hand: 43,505

Going hard today and meeting the Jutak tomorrow didn’t sound bad.

I’d tell them my plan—well, “plan” was a bit grandiose, but I’d at least talk about what I was thinking.

I should share some of the things I’d only told Sage’s Stone so far, and talk through the information I had about my abilities.

“Hoo.”

[Tower of Trials]

I stepped through the dark corridor and stood at the tower’s entrance, taking a deep breath.

Just do what I’d always done. It wasn’t that hard.

I’d gotten embarrassingly used to it after a hundred days.

Rumble—!!

Clack.

“Khaaaah—!!”

“I guess I’d better try hard to survive this time.”