Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: COL Mania and Tower Expansion
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After the Arcane War finals came to an end.
The heat from the final match spread straight out into the world. Championship of Legends began drawing massive attention.
"If Championship of Legends gets an official release, how about hosting a tournament like Arcane War here in the Empire, Galliard? It'd be a real blast if nations and factions from all over threw down."
"I was thinking the same thing, Your Majesty. If it happens, count me in."
The emperor, deeply impressed by Championship of Legends, struck up that conversation with Galliard.
The other nobles were all of the same mind.
The Illusion Tower was flooded with inquiries about the official release date.
Arcane War viewings had been limited to a select few invitees.
Nobles who didn't score invites roamed from party to party, hungry for Championship of Legends gossip.
Those who'd seen Arcane War turned into instant celebrities at every gathering.
"Did you hear? Even the Second Princess is showing interest in Championship of Legends now."
"That good? The Second Princess who wouldn't touch Maple Leaf Tale... If she's hooked, it must be insanely fun!"
Interest ran high in the imperial palace too.
The royals chatted about it now and then.
"Rikal. How do I get my hands on Championship of Legends?"
"Why ask me? It ain't out yet."
"You think I don't know you haunt the Illusion Tower every chance you get? Hey, mind if I tag along next time?"
"The Illusion Tower? For real, buzz off."
"Why, you...!"
Rikal and Second Princess Eliya had never gotten along.
Lately, though, she'd been grilling him nonstop about the Illusion Tower.
"Will you give Championship of Legends a try when it drops, big brother? You seemed pretty into Arcane War."
"If I've got time. Truth is... I promised Jebit I'd play together."
"Jebit? When did you... Wait, back then?"
"Yeah. On the first day of Arcane War, Sir Riot helped me exchange a quick greeting."
Eliya and Leo wrapped up their chat.
Rikal's face twisted into a scowl as he overheard.
'When the hell did I promise that? Damn...'
He'd never agreed to team up.
What kind of delusion turned nothing into a promise?
Rikal ached to deck his brother's jaw over the stupid fantasy. But he couldn't.
"Jebit wants to game with you, big brother?"
"Yep. She even recommended it to me."
"Ugh, for real... Don't. Just skip it and handle work. Politics are a mess—games now?!"
"How dare you lecture me, Rikal! If your screw-ups halved, my workload would drop big time!"
"No, screw that. I won't screw up anymore, so don't play! Just don't—I hate it!"
"The nerve... What's your problem?! You grind Maple Leaf Tale every day!"
"That's... Ugh, forget it! I just hate it! Jebit hates you! Don't play! Arrrgh—!"
"You little...!"
With their fights ramping up lately, only Rikal knew why.
Anyway, Championship of Legends had the world hooked.
But not all the attention was the fun kind.
"Humans... up to something intriguing."
A pale-skinned nobleman flitted through high-society events, collecting intel on illusion games.
He steered clear of Trinity to avoid blowing his cover.
Even so, info on Championship of Legends and Maple Leaf Tale was everywhere.
Proof they sat at the heart of human buzz.
"Gotta report this to the Demon King."
The man's true face: demon Malphas.
Tasked with spying on the human realm in disguise.
He slipped back to the demon world, armed with details on the Illusion Tower's hottest artifact.
"Th-th-this... If this works... m-my dr-dream... H-huuu... H-huff..."
Then there was a man obsessed with the Illusion Tower's games for wildly different reasons.
Count Popos, a mid-tier imperial noble.
Born ugly with a gut that preceded him.
Over thirty and he'd never married—hell, never even held a woman's hand.
Weak-willed too, with a stutter to boot.
"Heh-heh-hee-hee-hih..."
He scrawled a lengthy letter to the Illusion Tower, grinning like a total creep.
Post-Arcane War, mass production kicked off and Championship of Legends loomed.
More drama piled up at the Illusion Tower's door.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "31 in favor, 0 against. Motion passes."
Maple Leaf Tale and Championship of Legends finally greenlit for mass production.
No more months of all-nighters scrambling for stock.
They could even roll out those delayed updates.
The tower crew erupted in cheers.
Newbies especially thrilled—no more overnight grinds.
"Two weeks tops for official launch. We'll hit production targets. Maple Leaf Tale users will surge too."
Championship of Legends drop: two weeks out.
Server lockdown in the meantime.
Time to patch systems and finish missing features.
Mages flooded them with complaints over the two-week blackout.
Tower folks nagged daily: "When's it back up?!"
Hina hounded hardest. All that gaming had cranked her aggression.
"H-hurry... o-open it...!"
Pomf-pomf-pomf—
Hina's cotton-candy punches rained on his back.
He ignored her and pressed on.
"The council's coming soon for the expansion. Stay off the top floor that day."
"Whoa! Our tower's finally growing?"
"At last... It's overwhelming, Tower Master...!"
"U-uh-huh...!"
The tower folk were over the moon.
Tower expansions? Total first for them.
Word was, the council wielded an ancient artifact: Babel Tower Builder.
It tallied the tower's merits via some mystery method.
Then boosted height accordingly.
No clue on the formula, but every Tower Master signed off on it.
"What's the merit formula, Tower Master?"
"S-set by the previous master... I don't really know..."
Hina drew a blank on details.
What a useless Tower Master.
"Anyway, it's happening. Time to shape up the interior like a proper tower. Next two weeks: deep clean, rearrange layouts."
They'd banked decent coin.
High time they looked the part.
He'd wrap Championship of Legends solo; others handled the rest.
Growth spurt for the Illusion Tower at last.
"Uh, Rye? Another letter like this. What now?"
"...Toss it."
Tower prestige up, so new fans too.
Exhibit A: that daily letter.
Politely declined at first. Still came every day.
"What's the deal? Count Popos? Nonstop."
"...Begs for an illusion world full of cute girls to flirt with. Conquest sim, basically."
"Eww, total perv. Bet Count Popos looks creepy as hell. Bleh..."
"Don't judge a book by its cover, Medea."
Medea shuddered hard.
Prejudice aside, the letter's specifics were gross.
Girl looks... settings... Ultimate dating sim pitch.
Never figured someone would dream that up solo.
Then again, past life birthed the genre somehow.
No bandwidth now. Count Popos's letters hit the trash.
"Alright, let's get to it."
"Yessir~!"
The Illusion Tower finally started shaping up proper.
Shabby robes swapped for fresh ones.
Interiors decked with artifacts galore.
Bigger space meant more room to decorate.
Props? All illusion magic—jaw-dropping vast realms.
Safe illusions only, no injury risks.
Overnight, it screamed "real tower."
"Never seen merits rack up this fast. First expansion might skew it, though."
They expanded pretty damn high.
Still dwarfed by rivals.
Grins all around anyway.
"Our tower... this tall..."
"Illusion magic still scored merits."
"Means we shook the world hard, right?"
Expansion done.
They hauled the massive Maple Leaf Tale and Championship of Legends server artifacts to the roof.
Like other towers' attribute mana stones gleaming atop.
Theirs lit up Trinity's streets.
Two weeks blurred by.
Championship of Legends launched—and detonated across the world.