The Tower of Trials
He checked the hologram that had popped up again.
A tower has opened in the Ciam Kingdom.
It didn't specify what kind of tower, but that was enough. Soon enough, a flood of information would start popping up on the homepage.
For now, he needed to let Sung Min-woo know—the guy who'd been rolling around in bed for the first time in ages.
Yerin was probably already aware, playing with the squirrels in the village.
Logout.
He climbed out of the capsule and called him.
(Huh? What's up? I told you I'm off today.)
"Yeah? You really taking the day off?"
(Yeah, I am.)
"Alright, then it'll just be us."
(No interest.)
"We're going to a tower?"
(Fine, tower or whatever, I don't care... Wait, what? Hold on, what'd you say?)
"Get some good rest."
(Hey, hey! Wait, wait!)
"What?"
(Tower? You said tower?)
"Yeah."
(Hold on, I'm logging in right now!)
The call ended abruptly.
Mu-hyuk smiled and lay back in the capsule, reconnecting to Illusion.
Just then, Yerin came running from afar.
"Oppa!"
"Yeah, you're here."
"Yep! You see the hologram?"
"Called Min-woo the second I did."
"Oh, really? Good call. So we're hitting the tower today?"
"What do you think?"
Yerin's face lit up with excitement.
"I wanna go, let's go, pleeease?"
Her cuteness drew a smile from him automatically.
"Alright, sure."
"Yesss!"
It had been a long grind with the guild wars, after all.
Right now, they all craved something fresh.
And with the tower content opening at just the right moment, how could they resist?
I want to go too.
Still, there were things that needed doing first.
"Let's knock out a few things."
"Huh?"
"Village building setups or whatever? Then we'll go."
"Okay! Got it!"
The inns and a few restaurants were about to finish soon.
That would likely bump the architecture level to 4.
Once that happened, he could plan the new buildings it unlocked—perfect timing to conquer the tower and return.
So they headed to the construction sites.
Upon arrival, it looked nearly done.
"Oppa, how much longer?"
"Dunno."
Mu-hyuk grabbed a nearby worker.
"Ah, Lord Village Chief. Won't take 20 minutes. Just finishing touches."
"Got it."
Yerin sighed in relief beside him.
Mu-hyuk was the impatient one.
20 minutes... 20 minutes...
Truth be told, even that felt too long right now.
Hurry it up a bit.
Then Sung Min-woo came sprinting from behind.
"Here?!"
"Yeah, you made it?"
"Wh-where's the tower? We going right now?"
"Nah."
"Whyyyyy!"
"Just waiting for these to finish."
"Ugh, when?"
"20 minutes."
"Then I gotta do a quick gear check."
"Gotta head to the Hemil Empire anyway."
"Oh, right? Ugh, then what do I do while waiting? Hate this kinda stuff."
"Just watch 'em finish."
"Ughhh...!"
But the wait wasn't as bad as expected.
Maybe 5 minutes?
Then the messages appeared.
The inn has been completed.
The restaurant has been completed.
The messages he'd been waiting for.
You can raise your architecture level.
Fame of 20,000 required; 10% of the amount will be consumed.
He raised the architecture level right away.
Architecture level has reached 4.
2,000 fame consumed.
Architecture Level: 4 (0%)
Inn, restaurant, general store, butcher shop, carpenter guild, blacksmith guild, weapon shop, armor shop, accessory shop, guild management office, warrior guild, archer guild, mage guild, temple, expansion construction.
Mu-hyuk's eyes gleamed as he eyed the new mage guild, temple, and expansion options, plotting out his builds.
Expand the inn, the restaurant too. Expansions on everything possible.
They'd be stuck in the tower for a while anyway—no telling how long.
Might as well max it out.
This too, that too.
His hands moved busily.
Inn expansion construction planned.
Restaurant expansion construction planned...
General store expansion construction...
Mage guild construction planned.
Temple construction planned.
Finally satisfied, he smiled.
"Lord Village Chief!"
Rakak appeared just then.
After a thorough chat with him, Mu-hyuk set off for the Ciam Kingdom with Sung Min-woo, Yerin, and Doran—where the tower had spawned.
Riding his warhorse, he scrolled through the Illusion homepage forums.
Info was just starting to trickle in, so he focused—until Sung Min-woo kept muttering beside him.
"Ugh, so boring. Nothing to do?"
"..."
"Bored outta my mind."
Mu-hyuk turned.
"What's so boring?"
"Nothing to do."
"Idiot. Check the homepage. All we know is it's a tower—no other info. Stuff's starting to leak now; might learn something."
"Oh, right!"
Mu-hyuk sighed and refocused on the boards.
Mu-hyuk's eyes sparkled.
Hot?
He clicked hurriedly.
Something was nagging at him, just out of reach.
Other posts were mostly about floor 1 being hot.
Then he spotted one mentioning the tower's name.
Mu-hyuk muttered inwardly.
Tower of Trials, Tower of Trials.
He repeated it several times.
Ah...!
Fuzzy, but definitely buried in old memories.
The high-difficulty tower he'd overlooked.
Why so fuzzy?
It hit him after pondering.
He'd barely seen broadcasts of it.
Once? Twice?
That was it on video.
Not because it was easy.
Even the streamers got pissed.
Viewers too.
Hot and pissed.
Cold and pissed.
Dizzy and pissed.
Humid and pissed.
The Tower of Trials was the pinnacle of aggravation.
Right, that was it.
Recalling what the tower was like brought the solutions flooding back.
"Sorry, folks. We'll arrive at the tower soon. If we reveal our strategy right away, clearing it could get tougher..."
After apologizing to the audience, he turned off Illusion TV.
Auction house open.
He searched for the needed items.
◈ Releases cold energy around you.
Instant buy: 1 silver.
200 fragments of cold energy, easily farmed in cold zones.
And 200 fragments of hot energy, the opposite property.
They'd just reached the Hemil Empire, so they split to gear up.
"Meet in 20 max, central fountain."
"Got it."
"See ya soon, oppa!"
"Yeah."
"My lord, I'll go with you."
After parting with Sung Min-woo and Yerin, he headed to the temple with Doran for 200 antidotes and 800 holy catalysts.
Then the general store for coagulants, and rented a room at the alchemist guild.
Into the huge cauldron: one cold energy fragment and catalyst.
An item was born swiftly.
◈ Enhanced cold energy release.
The basic fragments would probably suffice, but better safe with the enhanced versions—memory fuzzy meant overprepare.
Cold done.
200 made in a flash.
Now hot energy fragments and holy catalysts.
◈ Enhanced hot energy release.
200 more.
Then:
"Whew, done."
Items stowed, he left the alchemist guild.
Doran at the entrance bowed.
"All finished, my lord?"
"Yeah, let's go."
"Yes!"
They headed to the central fountain.
"Oppa! Here!"
"Why so late?"
"Sorry, had stuff to do. Let's go."
"Gotta hustle. See players heading out already? All rushing to Ciam Kingdom."
"All of them?"
"Yeah, rare content after forever."
Mu-hyuk nodded at Sung Min-woo's words and summoned his warhorse.
They mounted and sped off.
Using the warp gate to Ciam Kingdom, the four pushed through the crowds out the gates, picking up speed.
"Whoa, tons of people."
"Even sub-100 levels in droves, probably."
"Huh? Really?"
"Yeah, no info on recommended level."
"Ah, just trying their luck."
"Exactly."
How long on horseback?
Crowds thickened, speed dropping.
Mu-hyuk pointed ahead.
"There it is."
All eyes turned.
"Eh? What?"
"Oppa, that it?"
"Gotta be."
A three-story tower.
Lower than expected; a touch disappointing.
"Don't underestimate—could bite back."
"What?"
"Just a feeling."
Appearances deceived; difficulty was steep.
No room for complacency.
They entered sooner than thought.
The tower interior looked compact but was absurdly vast.
Random starts helped; they dropped in a quiet spot.
"Oho? Barely anyone."
"Oppa, let's go! Gotta get ahead before clears."
"Right."
Users increased after a short walk.
"Ah, crap. Plenty."
"Still way less than outside."
"Fair."
Chatting as they went, five minutes in.
Something stirred.
"My lord."
"Yeah?"
"Kinda hot? My imagination?"
"Dunno?"
Others looked unsure, save Mu-hyuk.
"Saw posts about heat, but not feeling it yet."
"Me neither."
Real heat or exertion?
Doubt cleared fast.
Heat ramped up unmistakably; complaints echoed nonstop.
"Damn, it is hot."
"Didn't expect this bad..."
"Getting worse?"
They all clocked it.
Not from moving.
The dungeon itself heating up.
"Oppa..."
"Hot, huh?"
"Yeah... brutally."
Mu-hyuk rummaged his inventory, pulling enhanced cold fragments, voice low.
"Quiet down, no freaking out."
"Huh? What?"
"Shh, reactions too."
They shut up.
"One each."
Eyes widened on contact.
"Oppa, super cool! What is this?"
"Had a few. Handy now."
"Whoa, game-changer?"
Mu-hyuk shushed.
"Quiet."
"Oh, gotcha."
"Better now?"
Vigorous nods.
Fragments countered encroaching heat with cool relief.
As others faltered, Mu-hyuk's group sped up.
Refreshing and pristine, they reached the hall.