The Sealed Tower of Earth (4)
500 years ago, humanity undoubtedly faced a tremendous crisis. The four founders and the heroes hunted down as many named monsters as possible for the sake of their descendants. Thoroughly. They exterminated them so completely that not a single offspring survived, ensuring the monsters' genes couldn't carry on anywhere. If a species dies out and all records vanish, people might not even know such creatures existed back then.
In that sense, the Seven Star Towers are a living, breathing historical site for historians—a dream come true. Imagine giving modern archaeologists a button that lets them travel back to Joseon 500 years ago. Even knowing two-thirds of them might die there—either getting hauled off to the magistrate for a paddling as suspicious characters or dragged away by the scruff by a massive yellow-furred, black-striped kitty—they'd still dive right in. They might even get thrilled and excited witnessing history firsthand.
But unfortunately, the Wind Magic Tower is about to make that impossible.
"Phew. All done."
I'd cleverly altered the illusion magic to completely rewrite the presence of the tribes waiting at the base of the cliff.
"How's it look, Kim Penril?"
"The special class kids would be pretty bummed if they saw this."
Kim Penril tilted her head, scanning the beastkin who'd received the 'normalization patch.' "Wouldn't the eagle-headed giants have been better, nyang? This just looks like a flock of harpies."
Kim Penril pointed at the female specimens with mint-green hair and eyes. Originally, when I first arrived—and in the game—they were classified as vicious A-rank monsters, [Rekon-Kista]. But now, they'd become something straight out of Greek mythology.
Harpies. Wings from the elbows down, human bodies completely exposed without a stitch of clothing. A primitive form that felt like the harpies from 500 years ago, distinct from the ones in the Breadcademy worldview.
"If this gets out, won't it distort history, nyang? Modern harpies are just people with wings on their backs, right, nyang?"
"True enough."
I channeled wind mana toward the illusory harpies.
Smoothly, their wings vanished, replaced by arms as sturdy as steel. New bird wings sprouted from their backs, and their hair flowed back dramatically as the wings unfurled—transforming them into the harpies from Esdinas of the Soaring Heavens.
"Now people might speculate that for 500 years, harpies existed in two forms: ones with wings on their arms and ones with human-like arms. And only the ones who could use their arms freely survived."
In a game, I wouldn't have bothered this much. But after saving this world from the heavens, I couldn't let historians—already reeling from the truth about heaven—get fed false knowledge from the Wind Magic Tower.
Picture this: After I topple heaven, shatter the seals on the demon realm, and strip angels of their power in the middle realm.
-What? The demons of the demon realm were actually native gods chased out of the middle realm?
-What? Angels were actually TS yuri boob fetishists?!
Faith in the goddess would crumble, and all the common knowledge humanity had held for tens of thousands of years would shatter. Once the shock wore off, humanity would reevaluate their entire history, naturally delving into the past. That's when the Seven Star Towers would serve as prime material for glimpsing what history really looked like 500 years ago. Beyond heaven and demon realm conflicts, just the geography, monsters, and lifestyles alone would hold immense historical value.
I couldn't tamper with that recklessly—but
"We can't say the beastkin ancestors were chicken-headed 500 years ago, right?"
"Yeah, that's true, nyang."
Some truths are just inconvenient.
"If beastkin were like this, what about catkin, dogkin? Pigkin or wolfkin?"
If musclebound, furry brutes still existed today, it might be different, but the Breadcademy devs weren't desperate enough to scrape cash from them. Thanks to the devs' peculiar "humanitarianism," I now had to prevent a gestalt collapse for this world's beastkin.
Earth's humans know their ancestors were monkeys, but if that was just 500 years ago? Massive shock.
Anyway. The patch was complete.
"Penril, the mandrakes?"
"Tweaked 'em so a sharp mint scent bursts out when you pull their heads, nyang."
"Good. Can't have eardrums bursting. And while we're at it, let's carve some stairs."
"Stairs too?"
"At minimum, instead of real cliff-climbing, we need a sloped path with switchbacks."
"Got it, nyang. I'll adjust it quick, nyang."
Kim Penril flew into the air and swung her sword aura at the cliff. Slice, slice. Chunks sheared off cleanly. Normally, massive rockfalls would trigger earthquakes, but her cut stones dissolved into mana dust like deleted objects.
This is normalization. Appearance patch. Difficulty tweak. Convenience upgrade. All thanks to the grace of the new Blue Flame—
"...Ahem."
Anyway. At least the Wind Magic Tower would be a bit kinder to this world's modern folk 500 years from now.
"Oh, right."
Kim Penril, midway through carving the path, approached.
"The fire magic tower—we just leaving it as is, nyang?"
"My tower?"
"Yeah."
"No need."
Not because I'd died there like crazy or anything.
"Even without remodeling like this, anyone entering the fire magic tower will figure it out right away."
"?"
"You'll see when you go in. Wanna check it out together?"
"Hmm..."
Kim Penril sheathed her sword, pondering.
"What if I go in and it gets dangerous, nyang?"
"No way. A trial dangerous enough for the Wind Witch?"
"Your tone's giving off that vibe."
"........."
"Hey."
"It won't be that dangerous."
Probably.
"The fire-related trials the four founders left in the Seven Star Towers? Just three."
In-game, water-party players cheered entering the Seven Star Towers, seeing the Flame Magic Tower was only three floors.
"Heh. So we just clear those first, nyang?"
"Nope." And then they realize.
"All the other towers match in scale and height. Doesn't three floors alone seem off?"
After conquering the tough first and second floors and seeing 'Final Floor' on the third.
"It means those three floors pack the difficulty of five floors from the other towers."
Players face the toughest monster in the Seven Star Towers. The one the four founders say, 'Conquer this, and we'll count the Flame Magic Tower cleared.' At minimum, beat a five-floor-scale fire monster to stand before us.
"Let's save that joy for later and head back."
Time to go.
"Looks like they want to talk directly over there, so time to wake from the dream."
I spread my wings, ascended into the sky, and headed for the Wind Magic Tower entrance.
"Fnyang. Call me if you need me later, nyang."
"Yeah, yeah."
Kim Penril returned to my core, I folded my wings, swept my mana to shake off the lingering illusion, and approached the entrance.
"Earth Magic Tower, Strategy—"
"We forfeit."
"......?"
After resealing the fairy tale book to the Seven Star Towers and exiting the High Library, I heard some unexpected words.
"Forfeit?"
"Exactly. We're abandoning this run."
"...For real?"
"Dead serious."
Unia nodded in agreement. Apparently, even Evangeline, Rydmila, and Instructor Cardisha had all agreed.
"Mind if I ask why? Doesn't sound like a simple reason."
"First: We're still too lacking to clear it without your help, Phoenix."
I won't deny it. Without me, they'd barely scrape by—ending up half-dead.
"Second: If we're doing it, we want to go all the way to the top, not quit after one floor. Opportunities aren't that limited."
"Got it."
Did they think we'd fold at just the first floor? If so, regrouping from scratch isn't a bad idea.
"And third: Is there... a beach there?"
"Uh... probably?"
The Earth Magic Tower's first floor borders the sea. Perfect for swimsuits after clearing 400 monsters and the boss.
"Phoenix."
"Yeah."
"While you were researching in the library, a very important issue came up."
"...What issue?"
No way—something huge happened outside while I was normalizing the Wind Magic Tower?
"Senior Yurha Silverstar invited us to the 5-star resort she built in the south of Ludbekia Marquisate."
"........."
"It has a beach and a pool."
"Everyone?"
Clap.
"Right. It's vacation—undergrads should enjoy it."
And so, the Earth Magic Tower was provisionally sealed.