The Tower Remodeled
The Conquerors summoned to the Tower gathered in one place at some point, hurling protests toward the sky. But that uproar died down the moment the Tower began to change. They had to run for their lives as the structure transformed around them in a frenzy.
Boom!
Crash!
Boom!
[Whoa! What the hell?!]
[Everyone, get back!]
Suddenly, the floor heaved upward. Massive bricks materialized from thin air, forming boundaries and ceilings alike. They snapped into place like magnets drawn together—an awe-inspiring sight. No one who had climbed the Tower before had ever witnessed such a phenomenon.
The abrupt shift sent Conquerors screaming and scattering in every direction. In that fleeting moment, just over three thousand of them were herded into individual rooms under Yoo Ji-sung’s guidance. The whole process happened so fast that none of them could react.
Yoo Ji-sung ground his teeth as he executed every step.
“Those bastards. When they called me the administrator, they only gave me this much power?”
Rearranging the environment and placing monsters took time. But simply reshaping structures could be done in an instant. Even so, remodeling the Tower on this scale had been impossible for the old Yoo Ji-sung. Normally, he would have been gasping for breath, drained of mana and collapsed on the floor. Now, however, the efficiency was on an entirely different level.
‘Feels like I went from gardening with a shovel to operating heavy machinery. Guess the Tower really doesn’t give its master any inconvenience.’
Cursing Markrun under his breath, Yoo Ji-sung continued reshaping the first floor. With a single gesture, the entire suspended floor shifted dramatically. The basic framework remained, but countless walls and passages sprang into existence.
The trapped Conquerors screamed at the chaos outside. Their feelings meant nothing to him. Another flick of his wrist changed the view before his eyes.
Boom!
‘This is convenient!’
Yoo Ji-sung’s eyes sparkled like a child’s, as if he had become a god. The entire first floor seemed to writhe like a living creature obeying his will. Countless passages pulsed like roots, spreading and consuming the floor. They stretched toward the center, where the gate to the second floor stood.
Sweating profusely, he set traps, opened dead ends, and refined the labyrinth.
‘Arrows here, flames there.’
Traps that would rain arrows or erupt in flames if anyone made a wrong move were placed throughout. The first floor, normally considered a tutorial in any game, was transforming into something far more brutal under his touch. This was all part of the plan. The blueprint he had only imagined in his head was finally becoming reality after so long.
“Whew… I guess the first floor is done?”
The floor that had once required parties to clear had become a space that demanded individual skill. Traps were positioned so that any lapse in focus or distraction would mean instant death. Yet as long as their luck wasn’t catastrophically bad, surviving one or two hits was still possible.
“I always hated how it worked before. Since when do Conquerors only move in parties? If you can’t clear this much, you don’t deserve to climb the Tower. Fail here and you’ll just get slaughtered by Markrun anyway.”
Anyone who cleared the first floor would find a healing spring beside the gate. As long as they didn’t die inside, they could tackle the second floor in peak condition.
Before touching the second floor, Yoo Ji-sung snapped his fingers and took a short rest.
‘I’ve placed healing springs up to the ninth floor… I can move the ones that need relocating later. I have to open up to the third floor by tomorrow… How long will it take to finish the tenth? A week? At the very least, I need the third floor done by tomorrow.’
With efficiency far beyond what he once possessed, even the completion timeline he had once been confident about now felt uncertain. Still, considering the Conquerors’ condition, he needed to open the forest-covered third floor as soon as possible. Only there could they secure minimal food and water.
Yoo Ji-sung gathered his strength again and began reshaping the second floor. He wanted nothing more than to collapse and rest, but priorities came first. The Tower blueprint he had only dreamed of had to become reality. Until he finished remodeling up to the tenth floor, he couldn’t afford to rest while raising the Conquerors.
Even as he focused on the second floor, he continued planning what came next.
“Roa.”
You called, Master.
“Tomorrow at this time, gather the representatives of the other races. Use the accumulating mana for the Tower’s restoration and their protection.”
Understood.
Yoo Ji-sung remained absorbed in reshaping the second floor even as he received her reply.
A day passed.
Yoo Ji-sung watched the anxious Conquerors moving about and felt satisfied. He had poured every waking moment—including sleep—into opening the gates up to the third floor. His mind was foggy, but seeing them tackle the first floor brought a smile to his face.
Nearly all of them had cleared the original first floor. Now, with the changes, even veterans were struggling—except for those who had already reached higher floors.
“This is how it should be. Otherwise, what was the point of the remake?”
Yoo Ji-sung nodded as he surveyed the first floor. At that moment, holograms materialized around the round table where he sat. Elves, dwarves, gnomes, humans, and members of several other races appeared. Their appearances differed, but they all shared one thing: they glared at him as if they wanted him dead.
Everyone has gathered.
“Good work, Roa. And well done, all of you. Your expressions are quite the sight.”
Yoo Ji-sung smiled, feeling their stares. Collars marking their subjugation to the Tower encircled their necks. These were beings who had resisted Markrun, only to be captured and enslaved. Their bodies were bound, but their wills remained intact. Markrun had left their egos untouched for one reason alone: his own twisted amusement. Watching his former enemies suffer as his laborers was part of the entertainment.
‘Not that I have any right to say it, but they’re disgusting too.’
[Damn it… So even in this world, traitors appear.]
[It’s the same in every world… How unfortunate.]
[Keh! So this is the fate that awaits us too!]
[……]
They spat curses at him, their eyes dead. Yoo Ji-sung, who had been listening quietly with arms crossed, finally unfolded them.
“You’re all giving me quite the cold stares. Am I wrong? Whether you like it or not, I’m your master now.”
[We have no master! Damn human!]
Batun, the dwarf king, shouted at Yoo Ji-sung’s words. He slammed the table and rose to his feet, beard trembling with rage.
[Our only master is the World Tree. Not a traitor like you.]
Ashiris, the elf queen, stared at him with icy eyes.
[Keh-heh! Damn human! Even your face looks like trash! Keh-heh-heh!]
Trista, the gnome chieftain, burst into mocking laughter.
[You have no shame. A fellow human becoming Markrun’s dog. Have you no honor?]
Countel Kamid, the hero and paladin of the Pars continent, growled quietly. Despite the flood of mockery and contempt, Yoo Ji-sung merely smiled. He remembered how flustered he had been the first time he met them. Yet they had also been useful.
‘Thanks to them, I learned the history of the Tower being taken by the resistance. I picked that up while monitoring their work.’
He had gathered information through them and studied it thoroughly. That knowledge had allowed him to seize the Tower immediately after regressing.
‘I’m grateful, but they’re a bit noisy.’
“Everyone, shut up. Don’t even breathe until I give the order.”
[Kuhak!]
[Kuk!]
At his single command, every one of them clutched the collars around their necks. Their faces flushed as they choked, and only broken metallic sounds escaped their throats. Yoo Ji-sung watched with a smirk.
“Good. That’s more like it. We’re supposed to be on the same side now, fighting together. You should at least show me you’re listening. That way I can feel at ease, right?”
None of them could answer. They tried to resist, but the collars made it impossible. When Yoo Ji-sung snapped his fingers with intent, they began gasping for air again. Freed from the collars’ grip, they glared at him, utterly exhausted. He grinned at the sight.
“Well… jokes aside. You all hit the jackpot. Think of it as winning the lottery. I guarantee it—no resistance force in the entire universe is luckier than you.”
[What… did you just say?]
[Us……]
“I called you the resistance. Or should I say heroes? Unbreakable champions?”
[Stop mocking us, Markrun’s dog!]
“Mocking? I don’t feel that way at all. Calling you losers according to the manual would just be pitiful.”
Yoo Ji-sung spread his arms wide, smiling brightly. There was not a trace of falsehood in his words. Seeing his expression, the gathered representatives looked uncertain how to react. They were the defeated—resistance fighters who had struggled to reclaim lands trampled by Markrun. Even now, bound to the Tower and unable to resist, their spirits remained unbroken.
Something felt off. Sensing it, Batun cast a suspicious glance.
[Tower Administrator.]
“I should correct that. I’m not the Tower’s administrator.”
[What?]
“I’m the Tower’s master. I took it from that bastard Markrun and, together with our god, drove Markrun out for a time. Yesterday’s tremors were the result of the two gods clashing.”
His unbelievable claim caused a stir among them. Markrun was no fool. He would never have given the administrator’s seat to someone who might betray him. Seeing their disbelief, Yoo Ji-sung clicked his tongue.
“I suppose I need to show you proof. Roa.”
You called, Master.
“What am I to you?”
My one and only master.
“Markrun is my enemy. So who is your enemy?”
Markrun.
“Good.”
Yoo Ji-sung nodded repeatedly, clearly pleased. The representatives stared with mouths agape, unable to believe what they were seeing. As far as they knew, the Tower’s system—Roa—never lied. She had never recognized an administrator as her master, nor had she ever identified Markrun as an enemy. Seeing this, Yoo Ji-sung snapped his fingers once more.
At the same time, the collars around their necks fell away.
“This is my goodwill toward you. The Tower is mine now, and I intend to make Markrun pay. So stop calling me a traitor or Markrun’s dog. This is your only warning. Remember it.”
Even after his words, they remained dazed by their newfound freedom. Then Kyle, the warrior chief of the giant race who had stayed silent until now, opened his eyes.
[Have you freed all of our kin?]
“Unfortunately, no. I do intend to target Markrun, but I’m no saint. I can’t fully trust you yet. So I need at least a minimum safety measure, don’t I?”
[If we harbor other thoughts, you’ll use them as hostages?]
“Of course. You’re bound to the Tower and can revive like monsters even if you die. Killing you achieves nothing. Besides, if you endured Markrun’s torture, there’s no way I could break you with it. I could erase you completely, but that would be a loss for me. Releasing you is my way of asking you to believe me. So? Can you feel my sincerity?”
Yoo Ji-sung leaned forward from his chair, resting both arms on the table. Their conflicted gazes amused him.
“So. Are you ready to listen to me now? Let’s use this Tower together to make those bastards pay. Sound good?”
At his playful remark, they all fell silent. He was an unpredictable man. They couldn’t be certain his words were true. Yet one undeniable fact remained: the choking sensation around their necks had vanished. One by one, their eyes grew serious. And with that, Yoo Ji-sung’s smile deepened.