Chapter 28

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 28

Chapter Title: Tower of Struggle 5th Floor

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After finishing a lavish meal that had cost hundreds of millions...

We decided, as usual, to climb the tower to work off our full bellies.

[Did you just say you're going for a stroll in the tower right now...?]

[Jobbie. Sit down here for a moment.]

[Someone who calls himself the father of two kids can't possibly be unaware of how dangerous the tower is.]

There was a minor clash of opinions with the PhD during this process.

But before his full-blown nagging could start, I showed him Lulu and Arin's status windows, and we managed to gloss over it somehow.

"PhD, calm down for a sec and take a look at this. ...Lulu? Arin?"

"Meow-status!"

"Status window!"

[...Alright. I'll admit it. With this, the lower floors of the tower really do feel like a stroll.]

"Right? So, this matter is..."

[But that's that, and this is this.]

"...Huh?"

[Jobbie. You're the dad of two kids, aren't you? You always need to stay vigilant.]

[So, sit down.]

"Ah."

...I thought I'd gotten past it smoothly, but apparently not.

So, I had no choice but to make a decisive move.

I needed to show the PhD just how amazing I was.

Just what kind of skills I possessed.

"Ahh~ I wasn't planning to show this here, but..."

[?]

"Watch closely! And don't tell anyone!"

[???]

"Status window!!!"

The PhD's reaction to my status window, which I dramatically and proudly displayed...

[Synthesis (S), Emerald Cauldron (S), Pure Flame (S)?]

[Having three S-grade skills, each one incredibly rare on its own, is pretty surprising.]

[And those traits, Handsome (A) and Marrow Cleansing (S)... they're just absurd.]

[An alchemist with skills like these can even create S-grade traits?]

[Your alchemy skills really must be something else, Jobbie.]

[Yeah, with your current setup, it's no wonder you think the tower's no big deal.]

...It's not quite the reaction I was expecting.

It feels like he's looking at something different from what I'm seeing.

Finally, unable to hold back, I asked him directly.

And soon, through his response, I understood the situation.

"Um... PhD? My Synthesis is EX-grade?"

[Huh? What are you talking about, Jobbie?]

"Exactly what I said. Synthesis is EX-grade, Emerald Cauldron is SS+-grade, Pure Flame is S+-grade."

[Jobbie... There is no EX-grade...]

[No grade higher than S has ever been discovered...]

"No, PhD! It's real! I'm telling you, it's EX-grade!!! "

[Poor Jobbie... Even with Marrow Cleansing (S), it doesn't help with mental issues, huh...?]

[I'll look for some magic that benefits the mind, so just wait a bit.]

"Huh...? This is driving me crazy...?"

Am I the weird one? Am I the crazy one?!

Clearly, it shows as EX-grade to my eyes, but to the PhD, it's S-grade.

At this rate, I had no way to prove to him that I was a genius alchemist worthy of challenging even the gods.

[Sure, sure. You're right about everything, Jobbie.]

[So, I'll go find some mind-benefiting magic. You head to the tower first.]

[Named monsters stronger than regular ones appear every 5 floors, so be careful.]

"...Yes."

In the end, the PhD treated me like a pitiful Jobbie with mental problems right up to the finish.

To ensure I never forgot this humiliation today, I jotted it down in my mental revenge notebook and entered the tower.

'Repay favors twofold... revenge a thousandfold...'

Someday, when the time for proper education comes...

I'll definitely pay him back for this.

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With vengeance sworn...

The 5th floor of the tower that Lulu, Arin, and I entered...

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"No spawn monster?"

It felt significantly different from previous floors right from the start.

'What is this? A bug?'

Come to think of it, since the tower was made by someone, it wasn't entirely impossible.

Nothing in the world is perfect; there are always big and small flaws.

But the problem was that this bug had to happen to me.

I was panicking, wondering if me and my daughters would be trapped here forever because of it, when...

"Goblin... Colosseum...?"

Another weird thing popped up.

From what I could tell, if the hidden clear condition on previous floors was catching hidden monsters...

This floor seemed like a hidden route that opens only after meeting prior conditions.

Accept it, and we'd participate in the Colosseum battles.

Reject it, and we'd fight the named monster scheduled to appear.

Hmm... This required some thought.

Since the ones actually fighting while climbing the tower were my cute and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠powerful little darlings, not me.

"Little darlings! Time for strategy meeting!"

"Meow?"

"Yes?"

After a boring, pedantic explanation about hidden routes and Colosseums...

"Lulu naturally wants to join! It's a chance to prove Lulu's strength, meow!"

"Me too! I want to test out that skill I couldn't use properly last time!"

Both daughters leaned toward participating in the Colosseum.

At that moment, I had a fleeting worry: 'Isn't it a bit dangerous?'

I even thought about skipping it.

But recalling how my daughters had performed so far...

'...Yeah. They won't lose for sure.'

My daughters had never fought with full seriousness even once up to now.

I remembered that we weren't using the tower as a casual stroll for nothing.

"Shall we go then?"

"Sounds good, meow!"

"This time, I'll show the true power of my skills!"

With unanimous agreement, we chose to challenge the Colosseum.

As soon as I selected [YES], we were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠teleported to a new location, just like when entering the tower.

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The scenery around us changed in an instant with the notification window.

It was no longer the forest we'd seen while climbing the tower so far.

The weed-covered dirt ground had turned into hard stone sprinkled with sand.

Around us stood massive walls arranged in a circle, boasting enormous size.

My daughters and I were standing alone in the center of this gigantic circular arena.

In the distance, something green slowly approached upon spotting us.

"This opponent is human...? Human meat is quite the delicacy. I'll kill you quick and eat it fresh."

This was the moment we first encountered a talking monster.

The moment we faced a named monster with a name.

"A goblin... talking...?"

"You humans always react the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠same. Is there some reason goblins can't talk?"

"A goblin... talking back...?"

"...You're annoyingly irritating in a subtle way. Fine. I'll fillet and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eat you alive...!!!"

"What're they saying, meow?"

"No idea. But it's annoying how they're being rude to Dad. Can I do it, big sis Lulu?"

"Hmm meow... Okay meow! But next one's Lulu's meow!"

"Heehee, thanks, sis!"

"...? What are those brats blabbering about...?"

-Zap!

"Guk?! Gek?! Euk!? Oek?!"

"Dad, it's over. What should we do with this?"

"Hmm... It's a named one, so it should be good for materials. Can you process it with minimal damage?"

"Got it!"

"Arin meow. What're you gonna do meow?"

"Like in the shark family story: water knows the answer. So if we put it in water, it should work itself out, right?"

"Arin meow, are you a genius meow?! Let's try it now meow!"

"Yup!"

Pogrrrrrr!!!

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[59 minutes 59 seconds until tower exit]