The Tower of the Jutak
“Aaaah… ah… aah…!!”
“……”
So, how was I supposed to get out of this one?
I’d struck gold, sure, but that was a separate issue. I couldn’t just breeze past this insane situation like it was nothing.
...There are three things I can do.
First, compliment her.
Offer a heartfelt—no, chestwarming—tribute to the Jutak’s figure, complete with an objective evaluation of her breasts.
Move the Jutak to tears, help her forget all about the embarrassment she was feeling right now.
Okay, rejected.
Obviously the sort of thing only some lunatic would do, so that was out.
“W-Wiki… nim? Why? Wh-why…??”
“……”
Second, pretend I’d lost my memory, or that I couldn’t see and therefore hadn’t seen anything.
Who am I? Why am I here? Who are you?
Sure, I’d be treated like a crazy bastard, but maybe I could smooth things over somehow.
Or I could pretend I was blind.
If I hadn’t seen anything, then there was no problem at all.
This one’s rejected too.
That was the kind of idea an idiot would come up with. We’d met face-to-face in the Lounge, and we’d been messaging for weeks now—there was no way that would work.
“A-at least cover it…!!”
“……”
Third, apologize the proper way.
Honestly, if anyone was to blame here, no one really was—but apologizing was probably the right move.
I even wanted to thank her, but I wasn’t so stupid that I couldn’t think things through.
“...Sorry, Jutak. I should’ve waited a little longer.”
“Ah….”
“You weren’t replying, and fifteen minutes had already passed, so I came over. I honestly thought you’d opened the door because you’d given permission.”
I kept my head bowed and apologized plainly.
Judging by how flustered she’d been, it probably wasn’t the Jutak who’d authorized the gate opening.
Unlike Star Voice or the Lounge, this was probably something one side could open at will.
I didn’t know the rules or the reason, but either way, from her perspective, it had to feel terribly unfair.
“P-please look up, Wiki nim….”
“If I look up now, I’ll see everything—”
“I-I covered it…!”
“……”
At the Jutak’s flustered voice, I slowly raised my head.
She’d covered herself with a towel, but… yeah. Still devastating.
“I-I’m fine, so could you step outside for a moment…?”
“...Outside where?”
“O-out of the hideout… Please wait by the timer for a little while….”
“Got it….”
“I-I’ll get ready quickly….”
The Jutak—her face bright red, still pointedly avoiding my gaze—spoke with obvious effort.
I couldn’t bring myself to answer further, so I quietly slipped out of the hideout.
I didn’t even need to look around to know where the exit was or which door led back to the Lobby.
After all, it was laid out exactly like the room I’d been using.
Tap.
Thud—!
“...Mm.”
The moment I stepped out, the door slammed shut behind me, and I let out a crooked laugh.
First meeting, and it was already this kind of mess. I couldn’t tell if I was lucky or unlucky.
At least she hadn’t reacted with disgust or anger, so maybe I should count that as a win.
Then I guess I’m lucky.
Thinking pointless thoughts, I slowly looked around.
Same here, same there. Everything was the same.
I’d wondered if things might look a little different once you hit around the fifteen-hundredth regression, but not even a little had changed.
Swish.
-1535-
[Doom 316:13:18:34]
[Segment 0:13:18:34]
[ 64 / 49 ]
“...Damn, Jutak. That’s crazy.”
I gave a hollow laugh as I stared at the Jutak’s Doom Timer floating in the Lobby.
It really was the fifteen-hundredth regression.
That meant she’d lived here for 1,535 years.
Though in reality it might be shorter than that….
Of course, if you cleared Floor 400, you could move straight on to the next regression, or you could wait until the timer ran out.
Most people probably used up the timer, but… from everything the Jutak had said so far, I figured she probably did the same.
“...Would that make the Jutak a grandma?”
The sudden thought made me frown.
Was that even the right word? Older? Yeah, in terms of raw time lived, she was overwhelmingly older than me.
Of course, in a place where bodies didn’t age at all, age might not mean much—but still….
“...Tch.”
Probably better not to bring up age at all.
And if I thought about those miraculous two mounds I’d just seen, age really did seem like a nonissue.
Let’s just say she was an elf or something.
What did it matter if she looked like a silver-haired, busty beauty?
It’s not like the Jutak’s behavior or way of speaking was weird either.
Swish—
-1-
[Doom 262:22:53:42]
[Segment 3:22:53:42]
[ 280 / 98 ]
I opened my photo album and checked the timer I’d taken before opening the gate.
The Jutak’s timer in the air was still ticking along just fine.
I couldn’t tell how my own timer was moving right now, but in theory I could stay here for about 180 days without issue.
Not that I intended to stay that long.
If the timer stays the same when I go back, then I could really just live somewhere else forever.
I didn’t know whether my presence would affect the timer of the place I traveled to, but if I could use that somehow, I might be able to pull off something enormous.
So long as I could gather enough TP, to be blunt, I could call everyone into my own tower and climb alone, and no one would have to die.
I could climb easily with Wiki’s strategy, so if I could just use their life strings together with mine, anything might be possible.
On the other hand, if time was still flowing here too, that would be inconvenient in all sorts of ways.
I’ll have to check that later and talk it over with the Sage’s Stone.
There was more I needed to check here than just that—things like….
Creak….
“W-Wiki nim….”
“Ah.”
“Y-you can come in….”
“...Got it.”
At the barely audible voice, I swallowed.
Seeing only her face peeking out from the doorway, I somehow got a flash of the scene from earlier overlaying in my head.
“Excuse me.”
“Y-yes…!”
“……”
“……”
Gulp.
Back in the Jutak’s hideout, I opened my mouth again.
Maybe because of what had just happened, the atmosphere was awkward. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say.
My eyes—my gaze—kept drifting toward the T-shirt that looked painfully tight on the Jutak.
“P-please don’t stare at me like that… It’s embarrassing….”
“Ah… sorry.”
“Uuuu….”
There wasn’t anywhere to sit, so we’d ended up on the blanket, sitting stiffly side by side.
Come to think of it, this was the first time I’d ever talked to a woman alone like this.
Back in Star Lounge, the situation itself had been so bizarre that I’d just naturally soothed her when her emotions spiked. But when it came to moments like this, I honestly didn’t know what I was supposed to say.
Yu Hye-in didn’t even qualify as human, so she wasn’t really a woman either.
If I told the Jutak what that woman had said to me, would she despise me?
“As expected, you look most beautiful when you’re wearing nothing at all.”
Yeah, just thinking about it already made it a hard no.
“...There’s quite a lot in my hideout that isn’t in yours, isn’t there?”
“Ah… yes…! Th-that’s one of the hideout rewards when you regress…!”
At my offhand question, the Jutak answered in a voice that almost sounded happy.
Her gaze, which had been lowered a little, lifted to meet mine, and I gave a small smile.
“It’s not really anything amazing, just stuff that might help a little… but I think you’ll get these kinds of things too, Wiki nim…!”
“I can get pretty much whatever I need already.”
“Ah…! I-is that so? Of course, right?”
It really wasn’t much of anything.
So much so that I was thinking, This is the hideout reward?
A one-person round table, a wooden chair without even a backrest.
A bread knife that made me wonder whether it could actually cut bread, a cup that looked like it could draw water from a basket.
That was about the level of the tools and furniture scattered around the place.
“How do you… get things like this? The cola you sent me before was through that ability too, right…?”
“Hmm… it’s a long story.”
“No matter how long it is, I don’t mind…!”
“……”
I blinked at the Jutak’s oddly sparkling eyes.
She was smiling. It wasn’t like I’d done anything that impressive, and yet she looked so happy, so pleased, that her expression was practically glowing.
“I’m not climbing the tower today, and I’m not checking the gallery either. I’ve got plenty of time, Wiki nim!”
“...Heh. Really? Then can I monopolize some of your time, Jutak?”
“Monopolize…. Y-yes… of course….”
She brought both hands together and half-hid her face, and I snorted a laugh.
She was cute. Every little movement made her feel like a small animal.
Oh.
Though looking at the way her chest got scandalously emphasized because she’d clasped her hands like that, maybe “small animal” wasn’t the right comparison.
“Also, calling you Wiki nim all the time feels awkward, so if you can, I’d like it if you just used my name.”
“Y-your name?!”
“Yeah. If it’s uncomfortable, Wiki is fine too, but honestly it’s not even that meaningful of a nickname.”
“Th-th….”
I’d just casually grabbed the name Wiki because I was borrowing from Wiki on a whim, that was all.
Besides, now that we were face-to-face, calling me by a nickname forever would feel awkward too.
“We’re going to keep seeing each other, so wouldn’t it be easier to get closer faster if you used my name?”
“Y-yes…! I understand…. I’ll call you by your name….”
She shut her eyes tight and nodded.
Her cheeks flushed red again, just like they had when I first came into the hideout, and I couldn’t help smiling.
“My name’s Han Seol. Hmm… call me whatever you want. My family name’s Han, and my given name is Seol.”
“H-H-Han Seol nim….”
I looked at the Jutak—at Blanche, I reminded myself—as she stumbled over the name again and again, and tilted my head in confusion.
Was my name that strange to her? Maybe it was because she was a foreigner.
“...Somehow, adding nim to it feels awkward. Maybe it’ll change once we get closer?”
“W-well…. Hehe….”
It was the kind of title I’d only heard a couple of times in hospitals or clinics.
Then again, if you just tack nim onto a nickname, it doesn’t feel nearly as awkward. Maybe this would change too, eventually.
“Will you tell me your name too, Jutak?”
“M-my, my name…?!”
“Yeah. I want to get closer.”
“Cl-closer….”
Gulp….
The Jutak swallowed loudly enough that I could hear it clearly.
She was wriggling and twisting herself up, her hands and feet fidgeting nonstop, and I found myself thinking, every time the fact that she’d lived for fifteen hundred years came to mind, Well, that makes sense.
“Bl-Blanche….”
“Blblanche.”
“It’s Blanche…!”
“Heh, it suits you. It’s a pretty name too.”
“E-even the name too…?”
“Yeah, you’re pretty, aren’t you, Jutak?”
“……”
Blanche… hearing it like that, she was definitely a foreigner.
Then again, there was a pretty good chance she wasn’t even a person from Earth in the first place.
“Han Seol nim is… handsome too….”
“……”
I blinked at Blanche’s words, her head bowed low.
Handsome. Nobody had ever said that to me in my entire life.
Well, that woman Yu Hye-in had said it a few times. I didn’t really remember.
Maybe because saying something like that felt awkward to her, but her ears were red all the way to the tips, and for some reason that made my own face warm too.
I hadn’t meant it like that, and now I felt like I’d turned into some smooth-talking flirt.
“Um… Han Seol nim…?”
“...Yeah?”
“I, I have something I’m curious about… could you answer this first…?”
“Yeah, ask anything. I’ll answer it all.”
Swish—
“A-anything… I, um… I mean, um… could it be that….”
Still staring at the floor, Blanche spoke as I nodded along.
She’d been sitting quite comfortably a moment ago, but now she hugged her knees and fidgeted with her fingertips as she continued slowly.
“How long are you planning to stay here…? I can’t see a timer like last time….”
“...Ah, right. I should’ve told you in advance.”
I answered, dazedly watching the two gigantic slimes on my knees squish and sag under their own weight.
There was no time limit. If Blanche said it was okay, there was a lot I wanted to try while staying here.
Setting aside experiments about the tower itself, I also just wanted to spend more time with Blanche.
This thing cost 50,000 TP. I need to get my money’s worth.
I wanted to stay long enough to endure it properly, then go back.
“The Star Gate doesn’t have a separate time limit. If you’re okay with it, I’d like to stay a while longer.”
“A-a while longer?! H-how long….”
“Hmm… about a year?”
“W-what?!”
“Heh, I’m kidding.”
“Ah….”
Blanche, who’d been staring only at the floor until then, quickly turned to meet my eyes.
At my laugh, she let out a tiny gasp, then immediately ruined her expression.
She puffed out her cheeks a little and looked mildly sulky, and for some reason I got the impression she knew exactly how pretty she was when she did that.
Whoosh!
But as soon as she realized she’d made eye contact with me while I was smiling, she turned away again.
“That’s fine… a year….”
...How starved for human contact had she been?
That quiet answer left me feeling a little bitter.
Would I have been like this if I’d met someone after fifteen hundred years too?
Though I was such a shut-in that I probably wouldn’t have felt much either way.
It wasn’t even a meaningful comparison, since Blanche hadn’t lived my life.
“If possible, I’d like to stay one or two weeks. Is that okay? If it’s uncomfortable, I can always go back today or tomorrow.”
“Y-yes…! That’s great…!!”
“Really?”
“It’s really great, Han Seol nim!”
“……”
This one… was a little dangerous.
The title sounded like it had an object attached to it, and that made my face heat up for no reason.
Maybe it was because she’d overcome some trauma, or maybe she was just naturally innocent, but I could feel my favorability toward her shooting up like crazy.
...This might be dangerous.
“Hehe…. So you can stay a long time….”
Blanche probably hadn’t meant anything by it, but I was suddenly worried she might end up falling for me after spending a few weeks together.
“...Blanche.”
“...!!! Y-yes?!”
“Could I continue what I was saying earlier?”
“Y-yes-hes!”
……Her expression was a little strange, but explaining my abilities came first.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“...Blanche.”
“...!!! Y-yes?!”
At Han Seol nim’s—no, Han Seol nim’s call, I snapped my eyes wide open and cried out.
He, he just used my name… my name…!!
What do I do?
What am I supposed to do?
My heart was hammering like it might burst. I was sweating cold all over my hands, and my mouth had gone dry.
“Could I continue what I was saying earlier?”
“Y-yes-hes!”
Was Han Seol nim thinking the same thing?
M-maybe he felt the same way I did… no, wait, what kind of strange thoughts am I even having…!
But still… my name…. Saying my name…!!
Other than my family, this was the first time anyone had ever called me by my name—or said my name at all.
Even that wasn’t saying much, since my parents had died young and my younger sibling only ever called me sister.
“Hey,” “you,” “girl,” “hey there,” and so on.
That was the norm in my old world.
Even if you got close to someone, you only ever called each other by nicknames or titles meant to hide your identities.
Scavengers didn’t exchange names and casually grow close like that.
You never knew when you might die, so there was no real benefit to knowing someone’s name.
Most people were only in each other’s lives for a day or two. It wasn’t a life that ever stayed in one place.
Remembering names never really led to anything good.
Being called by your name meant something special. It was something precious, something you only revealed when a bond went beyond a fleeting relationship and you had resolved to show the other person everything you were, to walk through life with them forever.
You only spoke each other’s names and whispered them by the ear when you were promising eternity.
Of course, of course I knew Wiki nim wasn’t someone from the world I’d lived in.
As he’d just said, he probably only brought it up because he wanted to get closer—but─
“Blanche?”
“!!!!!”
Every time my name was called, I couldn’t help but feel as if he were whispering love to me.
It felt like he was making a false promise, one that said he’d vow eternity to me.
“Are you okay?”
It’s too much… my heart, my heart feels like it’s going to burst…!!!
The face looking at me with concern as it whispered my name by my ear was stirring emotions I had never felt in my entire life.
So much that I couldn’t possibly hold them back—and, in fact, didn’t even want to.
“Jutak, if you’re hurting somewhere, then—”
Gulp.
“H-Han Seol nim….”
“Hm?”
“P-please call me by my name…….”
Hearing myself called the Jutak again, I clenched both fists and blurted it out.
I’d ended up saying it before I even realized it, because I wanted so badly to be called by my name.
What if he finds out why I’m acting like this?
What if he knows what it means to call someone by their name?
...No, that’s fine.
If he knew, then it was Han Seol nim’s fault for asking my name and starting to call me by it in the first place.
So, so….
“Ah… um….”
“Hurry…!”
At the somehow flustered voice, I whipped my head around to look at him.
With his face looking flustered too, blinking in confusion, I swallowed lightly and looked up at him with desperate eyes.
“...Blanche?”
“Hhng…!!”
“……”
Thump!
No, this was really dangerous.
At this rate, I felt like I might faint. Maybe my heart really would burst and kill me.
“Blanche, are you okay?”
“P-please… stop… please stop….”
“No, what are you talking about all of a sudden, Blanche?”
“Uuuuuaaaah….”
I’m going to die.
I was absolutely going to die like this.
Maybe he already knew everything and was just teasing me?
“J-just a moment, Blanche…!!”
I think I’d be okay with dying….
I never thought the reward for enduring fifteen hundred years would hit me all at once like this.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇