The Tower of Jutak (4)
“This is ridiculous.”
“Han Seol-nim?”
Nothing showed up in the Wiki’s strategy guide, but I didn’t really care. In the Tower of Destiny, blank strategies like this turned up all the time.
So it really works.
What surprised me was just the fact that I could use strategies from someone else’s tower at all.
“Jutak.”
“Y-yes….”
“You see that?”
“……The door?”
The problem was classic.
Ten doors, arranged in a circle around us.
I didn’t know whether I was supposed to choose the one hidden among them, or whether there was another puzzle waiting beyond the door itself.
Didn’t know, but….
[Selection Count: 7,864] [Selection Count: 6,985] [Selection Count: 7,430] [Selection Count: 8,012]
.
.
.
[Selection Count: 16,864]
At the very least, it was obvious which one was the answer right now.
The number of attempts has dropped a lot, though.
I couldn’t remember it perfectly, but I had a vague memory of seeing a number close to a million on the first floor.
By around the 1,500th regression, it would be something like this, I guessed.
The fact that it was fewer tries than I’d expected bothered me more than it should have.
It’ll keep going down.
By the time we got to around the 3,000th regression, maybe the number would be in the hundreds.
And I also found myself wondering whether, in the place where that 6,300th-regression whale lived at the front line, strategies didn’t work at all.
Of course, this isn’t the only kind of big-data strategy out there….
But this was the easiest kind to exploit, so it naturally gnawed at me.
The moment I realized I could use the Irregular’s abilities in someone else’s tower, that whale had been the first thing that came to mind.
Someday, I’ll definitely end up in the same place as that whale.
Even if it wasn’t that whale, I had a feeling I’d eventually head toward wherever the gallery’s highest-regression user was.
And maybe, when that day came—
“Han Seol-nim…? You asked what I could see…?”
“……Never mind.”
I found myself thinking that I might not be going there alone.
I didn’t know how Starlink was structured, but the restriction was that if one side moved twice, it was destroyed.
If we could open multiple gates at once, then in theory a whole group could move together.
Rustle.
“H-Han Seol-nim?!”
“Heh. Come on.”
With a light grip on Jutak’s wrist, I walked toward the door with the highest number of selections.
If we chose the wrong door, we’d have to start over.
Which meant the door with the highest count was the right one.
[Selection Count: 16,864]
By the time it had reached this point, maybe there had been… around seven or eight thousand people here?
I had no idea how long this tower had been running, or how many people were still alive now.
“A-at least let me prepare myself…!!”
“You’ll be fine.”
“Ugh…!”
Smiling at Jutak squirming behind me, I opened the door without hesitation.
Beyond it lay another fifteen doors.
[Selection Count: 14,485]
And the selection count had gone down a little, while the number of doors had increased.
……Maybe fewer people have made it this far than I thought.
I didn’t know how many more correct answers I’d need to find, but it wasn’t really a problem for me.
“If you don’t keep track, you could get lost, Han Seol-nim…!”
“Get lost?”
“You have to keep searching until the right answer shows up…. There’s no mark saying you were wrong, so if you’re not careful, you can end up completely lost…!”
“……Experience talking?”
“Yes…. I was trapped for about two days….”
I swallowed at the bitter smile Jutak gave me, avoiding my gaze.
Honestly, I’d charged in here trusting the Wiki, and my choice wasn’t even wrong… but this was the Tower of Destiny, and it didn’t seem wise to let my guard down.
“It’s fine. I told you to trust me, didn’t I? At least it’s fine here.”
“It’s fine here…?”
“I’ll explain later. Let’s go.”
“A-ah…. Y-your hand…!!”
When I eventually reached the front lines, I’d need to start recording everything properly.
For now, though, as long as I could cheese things with the Wiki’s ability, there wasn’t a problem.
“There. Done.”
“H-how in the world did you…?!”
“What do you think? Do I look a little more like a different person now?”
“Yes…!!”
“……”
I hadn’t expected her to agree so readily.
Places built out of multiple doors appeared a total of three times.
It was said that this was all there was because we were still in the lower floors, but when I thought about the final space having thirty doors, I couldn’t even guess what the upper floors were like.
[Tower of Destiny]
30th Floor
“Is that the thing you mentioned earlier…?”
“The Wiki’s power.”
“Wow….”
Seeing the sparkle in Jutak’s eyes, my shoulders somehow lifted a little.
It wasn’t really my ability, but the way she looked at me like I was incredible made me weirdly happy.
“So you really were KingGodWiki…!”
“……It sounds kind of weird when you say it out loud, but yeah.”
Without the Wiki, would I even have climbed a tenth of the tower I’d reached so far?
Really, no matter how many times I thought about it, long live the Wiki.
“Then you’re going to keep going?”
“I should. You only get TP if you clear it in ten-floor chunks.”
“Is it really okay to be this comfortable with it? Is it really fine for me to just rely on Wiki-nim??”
I snorted at the way she looked up at me like a little animal.
She was small. Standing beside her like this, that fact felt even more obvious.
She made it this far in a body that small, with such a timid, fragile heart.
Of course she probably had the corresponding abilities to match, but for some reason, Jutak looked admirable.
Maybe because she was so short.
She kind of felt like a little sister, or like the kids I used to see at the orphanage.
“Yeah. Lean on me as much as you want.”
“Hii…. Then, um, would it be okay if I relied on you just a little? And if you want to rest, you can stop anytime, really…!”
“It’s fine. Think of it as getting paid back for everything you’ve suffered until now. You’ve had it rough.”
“Ah….”
With a bitter smile, I placed a hand on Jutak’s head.
I gave her a few light pats and looked down at her like I was watching a child.
“……Ah, sorry. I did that without thinking.”
“N-no…. It’s okay….”
My hand had moved on its own.
Even if she was this small, she was still an adult, and she had lived far longer than I had. Maybe the problem was how long she’d spent in the Tower of Trials.
“……”
“……”
“W-well, let’s keep going.”
I turned slowly away, feeling the atmosphere get awkward for no reason.
At the very least, I needed to reach the 20th floor.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I could do with 2,000 TP, but the amount gained per floor might be different here.
No, to be honest, I was counting on that.
Clack.
“H-hey…!”
I looked back at the voice.
Jutak had stopped where she was, fidgeting in place. I stared at her in confusion for a moment.
Rustle.
“Y-you’re not going to lead me this time…?”
“……”
Jutak’s face turned bright red as she avoided my eyes and held out her right arm to me.
Like she wanted me to take her hand. Like she wanted me to lead her the way I had before.
“U-um….”
What was I supposed to say to that?
Now that she’d actually asked, it was kind of hard to ignore.
“Why…?”
“Eek….”
Without meaning to, I asked her back.
Would hearing the reason even change anything?
It wouldn’t, but for some reason I still asked.
“I just… wanted you to hold my hand….”
“……”
I blinked blankly at the words, which shrank smaller and smaller until they were almost inaudible at the end.
Honestly, I’d grabbed her without thinking.
I’d pulled her along to urge her on, to show her the result instead of explaining it.
……Does she like me?
This busty beauty? Me?
How long had we even known each other? And honestly, what exactly was so impressive about me?
Still… I was someone who had never dated, never even talked alone with a woman before.
Fidget.
“Is that not okay…?”
Oh, shit.
I wasn’t such a hopeless virgin that I’d miss a signal this obvious.
Everything I’d seen in countless harem novels, every romance-comedy anime, was hammering the answer into my brain at full volume.
I still didn’t know why. I still didn’t know what point had made her flutter like this—but—
Rustle.
“Let’s go, Blanche.”
“Y-yes, heh….”
At any rate, it didn’t feel bad.
If Jutak had stripped my clothes off and started drooling while muttering that I was beautiful, it probably would’ve broken the mood a little.
Maybe it was because the only real comparison I had was that woman, but Jutak’s innocent-looking reaction didn’t make me uncomfortable at all.
I wasn’t sure whether I felt anything for her as a woman.
Honestly, romance and love both carried more resistance than anything else for me, but….
If it’s Jutak…
I found myself thinking that maybe, if I stayed by her side, I could become normal too.
“Ah, th-that thing I just said, that wasn’t—! I didn’t mean anything weird by it…!!”
“……”
“I-I just like the warmth of another person…!! N-not that I’d like just anyone or anything, though…!”
“Heh… heh-heh. Oh, really?”
“…………”
She was seriously cute.
“Y-you’re amazing……. It really feels like I’m seeing a miracle with my own eyes….”
[Tower of Destiny]
30th Floor
Before I knew it, I’d bulldozed my way all the way to the 30th floor.
With a gorgeous girl beside me, eyes glittering as she looked up at me like that, my body just kept moving before I could even think about it.
She kept calling me amazing, saying I was the best, praising me over and over from the side—how was I supposed to tell her it was time to stop and rest?
“I told you a dozen times already, this isn’t my power.”
“It still is! In the end, only Han Seol-nim can do it, and it’s a power made by the Irregular you obtained!”
“……”
No, I mean, this—
I wasn’t even thinking much about it, and yet she was hyping me up like crazy from the side.
I can’t bring myself to hate Jutak.
I was even starting to think I’d like to just push her all the way to the hundredth floor while she was asleep.
“……”
“??”
And the more I felt that all of it was a hundred percent genuine, the more so.
[Tower of Destiny 30th Floor Cleared - TP +3,000]
I looked bitterly at the notification that appeared on the way back to the Lobby.
The 20th-floor clear reward had been 2,000.
The 30th floor was 3,000. The 40th, 50th, and anything beyond that would probably come in exactly the same way as my own tower.
So do I seriously have to save up for decades or centuries to survive?
Starting with items that cost millions of TP, all the way up to the Irregular.
Of course, when you considered their value, it wasn’t exactly strange. But compared to how broken all those abilities were, something about it felt lacking.
They’re absurdly broken, sure… but it’d be even weirder if TP alone wasn’t stingy.
Was it only if I did something inside my own tower, not someone else’s, that I could earn more TP?
“What are you going to do now, Han Seol-nim?”
“Hmm…. I don’t mind going higher, but….”
“??”
It was our first day meeting face-to-face, so staying in the tower the whole time felt a little much.
I wasn’t thinking of doing anything grand or dramatic, but….
“Want to take a break for a bit?”
“Yes, I’d like that.”
At her immediate nod, I let out a dry laugh.
She really does say yes to everything.
It wasn’t true for anything related to the gallery, but just watching her was strangely cleansing in its own way—so pure it was almost refreshing.
Clack.
On the way back to the hideout through the dark passage and across the Lobby, I looked at Jutak walking diligently beside me and a question began to stir in my head.
“……Jutak.”
“Yes?”
“How tall are you?”
“……”
I hadn’t meant to ask it so bluntly, but every time we stood side by side, it kept nagging at me.
She was too small. Way too small.
She was basically the ideal size for a head-first crash—no, if I said it like that, that sounded wrong.
She barely reached my chest. I was starting to wonder if all the nutrients needed for growth had been routed entirely somewhere else.
“I don’t know inches as a unit… but even I’m not really sure how tall I am.”
“Hold on, I’ll summon a ruler.”
“Don’t do that…!!”
“What a shame.”
It didn’t seem like 150 centimeters….
I really couldn’t tell. She was just absurdly tiny.
“Hmph.”
“Heh-heh….”
I smiled at Jutak’s retreating back as she clicked her tongue and walked ahead.
If someone added a sound effect like thump-thump, thump-thump, it would fit her perfectly.
“Blanche.”
“Eek…!”
This is way too effective.
I wasn’t sure why she reacted so strongly just to hearing her name, but the effect was good, so I didn’t worry about it.
“W-why are you calling me…? Han Seol-nim….”
She froze in place, flinched, then slowly turned around to speak.
“I’ve got one more thing I’m curious about.”
“……You’re going to ask something weird again, aren’t you?”
“Heh-heh, no. When have I ever asked anything weird?”
“……”
Her blushing face cooled in an instant.
She narrowed her eyes and glared at me, so I shrugged and continued.
“You know—”
“Yes?”
Aside from her past, most of the things I’d wanted to know had been settled, but there was still one thing I hadn’t asked.
“So what kind of ability do you have, Jutak?”
I’d shown her everything about my own abilities. I’d told her everything.
I hadn’t seen a single weapon in the hideout.
She didn’t even have the kind of body you’d expect from someone with muscle. And yet she was someone who had climbed all the way to the 1,535th regression.
I had no idea about the Tower of the Great or the Tower of Spirits, but in the Tower of Trials, she was probably at a level I couldn’t even begin to rival.
As for a mage… she wears a terminal around like that, though.
A mage in an SF-era world?
It wasn’t impossible, but… I honestly had no idea.
“Ah, that is—”
Whooshhhhh—!!!
“What the hell, what the hell, this is insane….”
On the 30th floor of the Tower of Trials in the 1,535th regression.
The huge Cerberus that had just devoured dozens of NPCs was reduced to dust and vanished with a few flicks of Jutak’s hand.
And then that same hand—
Rustle.
“Did you see it clearly?”
“……”
—was being held out to me.
Jutak, her whole body stained red, smiling as she stretched out her hand toward me.
She was trying to pull me up from where I’d crouched down, hidden in the grass.
If that had been paint, would she have looked bright and cheerful exactly as she was?
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, no….”
I swallowed silently, staring at how she seemed to feel nothing at all even after getting soaked in dark red blood.
Instead, she tilted her head and asked why I was acting like that, and for some reason the first thought that came to me was that I should smile.
“Ah! I got dirty, didn’t I? Sorry.”
She was treating the dark red blood covering her body like it was just some dirt. Like she was used to it.
Grip!
“No! Not dirty at all, Blanche…!”
“Huh? Ah, ugh… yes… heh….”
Only after checking her own condition did Jutak pull her hand back, and I hurriedly grabbed it and stood up.
Right now, I felt like I absolutely couldn’t afford to offend Jutak.
The Cerberus that had been barking thunderously in front of me just moments ago was nothing compared to Jutak, who was smiling brightly. She was easily dozens of times scarier.
“Y-you were the best, Blanche. You were insanely cool.”
“Heh…. Yes, I worked hard…!”
……I really need to be careful.
I never would’ve guessed that Jutak was the kind of person who could literally turn someone into pulp with a flick of her hand.
Damn it. So she was the strongest both in the gallery and in real life too, huh, Jutak….