One More Game
p>Tetris.
p>In the past, this game had enthralled countless gamers.
p>In my previous life, illegal copies flooded the market, sparking endless copyright battles among companies.
p>True, the earliest computer games were tennis titles and shooting simulations, but I deliberately chose Tetris.
p>Why? Because this world still lacked computers. No matter how much I wanted to spread them, giving them away for free would only make them vanish into obscurity.
p>At best, only those who hated calculations would buy them.
p>Even then, the computers were far too complex at first glance. Ordinary people would need an easy entry point.
p>That entry point was Tetris.
p>“...It’s fun.”
p>Rose stared at the blocks falling and vanishing, murmuring to herself.
p>Tttiriririr!
p>Clearing four lines at once with a straight block sent a thrill that no words could describe.
p>“Ah... it’s over. Ha, just one more game...”
p>I had been awake for two full days. Two days of skipping sleep entirely, lost in Tetris.
p>The addictive power that once made Tetris legendary was even stronger among these medieval people.
p>I snatched the keyboard from my sister.
p>“Ah...!”
p>“It’s over. To distribute computers, we need a bit more refinement.”
p>Even in my sleep, my face had been hollow from two straight nights of playing. Yet my eyes kept drifting back to the keyboard I’d taken.
p>“This... this is Lord Reven’s power...”
p>I should mention it was two-player mode. Iria, the Magic Tower Master sitting beside me, played too.
p>“You’re confiscating mine.”
p>“Hehe...”
p>The moment I took it, she collapsed onto the floor like her strings had been cut and fell asleep.
p>Unlike me, who had properly rested, she had barely slept for a week—only four hours at most. It made perfect sense.
p>“S-sister... what exactly did you make?”
p>“I told you. A game.”
p>Rules. Objectives. Choices. Outcomes. Feedback. Rewards. Failure risk.
p>The emotional core of all of them.
p>Achievement.
p>Something that should take months or years in the real world, achieved in a single day. Or even minutes.
p>“T-this... is a game...?”
p>Rose froze with the hand that had been reaching for the keyboard, unable to speak for a long while.
p>It wasn’t just fun.
p>She was a noble—daughter of the Dicles Marquis who bowed to the king but never bent her spine.
p>From childhood she had seen countless toys, luxuries, and moving mechanical dolls. Expensive jewelry, exquisite marionettes, magic-powered playthings.
p>But every one of them vanished the moment she tired of them. Just objects.
p>Games.
p>No stories. No glowing pictures. No noble dignity, knightly romance, or mage mystery.
p>Just blocks falling, stacking, and disappearing.
p>Yet she couldn’t let go.
p>Just a little more.
p>I can do better this time.
p>If I hadn’t made that mistake just now...
p>Next game, I’ll clear four lines for sure.
p>That thought refused to leave her mind.
p>“Ha... so that’s what you wanted.”
p>With those words, my sister fell asleep like a puppet. I placed pillows at the heads of both girls and tucked the blanket around them.
p>“Sleep well.”
p>Their faces looked exactly like my past self.
p>
p>
p>Magic Tower Conference Room.
p>A gathering of twelve Magic Tower Masters, each representing their tower.
p>This was where the kingdom’s magic policy was decided, where permission for forbidden research was granted, and where the rise and fall of entire cities could be settled in a single meeting.
p>They sat around the round table.
p>Someone tapped fingers impatiently. Another dozed with half-closed eyes, never even reading the documents.
p>Some shot each other hostile glances. Others simply sipped tea as if nothing mattered.
p>That was how Magic Tower conferences usually went. Gathering the world’s greatest minds and still finding it painfully boring.
p>But today one person stood out clearly.
p>“Lily, you look in a good mood lately.”
p>Lily. The Red Tower Master’s private nickname for Iria.
p>“You seem prettier than before.”
p>She wasn’t just prettier. The Red Tower Master’s other colleagues who had never once glanced at Iria were now stealing looks at her.
p>“Any good news?”
p>“The Blue Tower finally paid off its debt? I saw it recently—it really looks better.”
p>“Unlikely. The Blue Tower’s debt is already close to disaster. After paying interest with subsidies, there was almost nothing left.”
p>“New invention, maybe? That always brightens Iria’s face.”
p>Iria cradled her teacup with both hands and smiled brightly.
p>“Hehe, there’s a new investor lately.”
p>“Investor? Really? For the Blue Tower?”
p>“Fascinating. Isn’t that just patronage?”
p>The atmosphere in the room shifted subtly.
p>Give money and the tower disappears. What remains is nothing but apologies from the Master.
p>Among investors, the Blue Tower was already famous—more than famous, it had a tail.
p>“How much did he give?”
p>No matter how much, it was still the Blue Tower.
p>“Two platinum coins. Then eight more later. He even said to call him if I needed more.”
p>“W-what...!?”
p>The room fell into stunned silence. The dozing man snapped awake. The tapping fingers stopped.
p>“Cough...!”
p>A single cough from the Silver Tower Master settled everyone.
p>Two platinum coins were understandable.
p>But ten? And a promise of ongoing trust and investment?
p>That wasn’t something one ordinary investor could do.
p>“Who on earth could...?”
p>“Who is he?”
p>“Which merchant house?”
p>“Probably the royal family. Even most barons couldn’t afford that easily.”
p>“No... it’s one person.”
p>‘One person? Really one person? Does that even make sense?’
p>Everyone was thinking the same thing.
p>Iria seemed to sense the shift. She clasped her hands and added,
p>“He’s smarter than me.”
p>“...”
p>The entire room froze.
p>The elderly Yellow Tower Master asked in a low voice,
p>“Iria, is that true?”
p>“Y-yes... is there a problem?”
p>Problem? This was far beyond a problem.
p>“T-that... he doesn’t have mental magic on him, right?”
p>“Of course not.”
p>“What about you, Black Tower Master?”
p>The Black Tower Master kept his eyes closed and looked at Iria. He slowly shook his head.
p>“I sense no mental interference.”
p>“Unlikely. What about curses, illusions, brainwashing, fanaticism, memory manipulation?”
p>“...”
p>“None.”
p>The Magic Tower Masters murmured in shock.
p>“Truly...?”
p>“The one who surpasses even Iria...?”
p>They had no choice but to be astonished.
p>If anyone in the tower world came closest to being wise, it was Iria.
p>Even if she never created something money-making, even if she repeated countless failures.
p>No, precisely because she had failed so many times, they all acknowledged her knowledge.
p>Failure wasn’t something anyone could do.
p>Ordinary people couldn’t even try.
p>Those a little better gave up after one or two tries.
p>Even geniuses turned away when they hit their limits.
p>But Iria was different.
p>She failed. Over and over.
p>She broke and was laughed at, yet she kept trying and failing.
p>The knowledge she accumulated through that process was revered by every Magic Tower Master.
p>All of them stood at the peak of their respective fields. Iria stood one step beyond.
p>The fact that one person possessed astronomical wealth itself was mind-boggling.
p>But possessing knowledge that surpassed Iria?
p>That would be a talent any Magic Tower Master would chase with blazing eyes. In fact, they would have been perfect candidates for the next Master.
p>‘This... we have no choice but to try.’
p>They all exchanged cautious glances.
p>Even if the person hated Iria, if they could bring him in...
p>“What’s his name?”
p>“Reven. Reven Graham.”
p>The Masters were even more stunned by Iria’s calm answer.
p>‘Reven? A lord? Only royalty were called “Lord” in a tower world like this.’
p>It was strange. No, shockingly strange.
p>Only the emotionally perceptive Red Tower Master noticed the shift.
p>“H-huh...?”
p>She suddenly sucked in a breath.
p>‘What... what is this...!?’
p>The moment she used Heart-Reading Magic and looked at Iria, she couldn’t even breathe properly.
p>They didn’t know.
p>What Iria carried was ■■.
p>She had read countless people’s fates and felt their emotions, but this was the first time she had sensed something like this.
p>“T-that Reven... was the chess world champion in the past, wasn’t he?”
p>“Indeed. So that’s what it means to have money.”
p>The Masters nodded in agreement.
p>“I remember. That monstrous reading ability— even I felt a chill.”
p>“Past? No, not past. Thanks to Lord Andric retiring, the current champion is still him. Of course, the Chess Federation only temporarily placed him there, so next year the title will be decided again...”
p>“Iria, could we possibly meet with—”
p>CRACK.
p>The teacup shattered in Iria’s hands.
p>Fragments cut into her palm. Warm tea mixed with her red blood dripped onto the conference documents.
p>“Hehe... hehehe...”
p>The familiar unpleasant laugh had twisted into something else.
p>“...If I casually touch it, I’ll kill you?”
p>“Eh...?”
p>The Green Tower Master let out a stunned sound.
p>Iria had always been gentle and defeated, never protesting when research funds were cut. She had bowed her head even when others mocked the Blue Tower.
p>This was the first time sharp words had left her lips.
p>Blue light swirled around Iria.
p>It looked calm, like a still lake. But beneath the surface lurked something endless and terrifying.
p>The sight filled them with indescribable fear.
p>“Ha... haha...”
p>Touch that and you die. Every Magic Tower Master present instinctively understood.
p>“T-then shall we move to the next topic?”
p>“Cough! I agree.”
p>“The meeting should continue. Hehe...”
p>Iria was laughing. Lightly. Happily.