Adapting First
It's already been a week since I returned to Earth.
I haven't stepped outside my house even once, but I've been living quite a healthy life.
I actually showered!
I realized for the first time in a long while that my head doesn't itch when I wash it with shampoo.
The other world I was in was a medieval fantasy, so the concept of hygiene was not just nonexistent, it was in the negatives.
A place where you're lucky if you don't die just from drinking water.
After finishing my shower, I dried my hair with a towel, shak-shak-shak.
The next thing to do.
"Ugh, I'm still not used to this..."
I brushed my still-damp, shampoo-scented twin tails with a comb, shak-shak.
Who would have thought the comb I got for free from a second-hand trade would be used like this.
These twin tails, they absolutely cannot be left alone, so I have to manage them carefully.
If I don't, they'll get tangled and knotted, and I'll end up looking like a mess.
How do I know?
"I didn't want to know either..."
Anyway, thanks to experiencing it once, I was able to realize the danger early on.
Thanks to that, I developed a habit of brushing my hair as soon as I wake up every morning.
And.
I came out of the bathroom, shook my hair out, tal-tal-tal, and shifted my gaze out the window.
"I'm not used to that either."
The giant tower that is ruining my beautiful Han River view... well, not that it's a Han River view, but an apartment view.
Even the entire outer wall is painted black, so it's not even aesthetically pleasing.
Still, since I've been seeing it every morning for a week, maybe I've developed some internal intimacy with it...?
"...Nope, didn't happen."
Never mind then.
Wiiiing, I dried my hair with a hairdryer and sat down in front of the computer.
My feet don't touch the floor when I sit in the gaming chair.
It's going to take a while to get used to this, too.
I wiggled my toes, kkomji-rak-kkomji-rak, and turned on the computer.
While it was booting up, I unwrapped a candy I bought on sale a few days ago and popped it into my mouth.
The sweet strawberry scent spread throughout my mouth.
I used to hate sweets. To the point of almost detesting them.
But maybe it's because of this body, but it feels strangely delicious.
The strawberry one is especially tasty. Om-nyom-nom.
Anyway.
Once it turned on, the electronic calendar and clock caught my eye first.
[2:17 PM, 2026-07-07]
"Three years, huh..."
The number of years I spent in the other world was a whopping 20 years.
But only 3 years have passed here.
'Still, come to think of it, is it actually a relief?'
If I had returned to the future 20 years later instead of 3 years later...
I imagined myself with this body, using the speech patterns of a middle-aged guy.
"...3 years is the best."
Anyway.
For the past week, I've been searching for various information on this computer.
Fortunately, it wasn't much different from my time.
There are forums, too.
If you ask me what the first piece of information I looked for was.
"Obviously, it would be the Tower."
That giant tower that is ruining my view.
Actually, I didn't search for that first on purpose.
It's just that when I went to the forum, the most common posts were about that tower.
There's even a forum named after it.
[Tower Minor Gallery]
A.k.a. Tap-ma-gal.
What I've been doing for the past week was looking for information on that Tap-ma-gal.
[Nng-goh-ok!? That long and thick tower......]
There were quite a few shitposts in the top posts, but there were still more useful ones.
For example, information posts written by the moderator themselves.
[Must Read | Tower Information Collection]
Welcome, newbie.
I don't know what kind of heart you came here with, whether you came here with the desire to become a Hunter or not, but let me give you one piece of advice.
Absolutely do not become a Hunter.
Just don't do it if you're told not to. There's a reason for everything when people tell you not to do something.
You know what the Tower is, right?
I'm talking about that thing that appeared all over the world 3 years ago.
You also know that the job of climbing that Tower, catching monsters, and extracting Magic Stones is called a Hunter, right?
(A picture of extracting a Magic Stone from inside a monster's stomach, it's a bit gross.)
Roughly like this.
But this is damn hard.
I'll explain why it's hard from now on, so remember it properly.
It's a post that unfolds roughly like this, but it has a ton of useful content.
There's too much to tell you all at once, so I'll just pull it out and read it whenever I need to.
Anyway, the information I got from there is mainly three things.
"The Tower can be climbed, and you can earn money by climbing it."
The act of climbing itself doesn't make money, but you can farm things that are worth money inside and bring them out.
Typically, Magic Stones.
When you kill a monster, a Magic Stone comes out, and it's written that it's used for various useful things.
In other words, it's easy to think of Magic Stone = Cash.
And the second thing.
"If no one climbs to a new floor for a certain period, that area becomes polluted."
A typical example is a city in Africa.
Since it's a developing country, they didn't pay much attention to the Tower, so the Tower got sulky.
It started to slowly pollute from around the Tower, and soon it became a place where if a person touches it, they crumble away.
In other words, it means you shouldn't climb the Tower solely for the purpose of money, but you have to climb it to survive.
And the last third thing.
"There are no Wizards on Earth."
This wasn't written in the information post, but it's a fact I learned while digging through various top posts for a week.
Many people leave reviews after returning from the Tower, and every single one of them was carrying weapons like swords, spears, or bows.
Magic, or Mana, or Wizards.
I haven't seen a single keyword like that for the past week.
"No, but isn't that strange?"
I couldn't believe it at first either, but surprisingly, it was true.
There's a Tower, there are Hunters, and there are monsters.
But no Wizards?
'This is completely out of genre grammar, out!'
Usually, when you say Tower, shouldn't there be various positions like Swordsman, Archer, Wizard, Healer?
But here, there are Swordsmen and Archers, but no Wizards or Healers.
Even if I search news, not forums, or watch YouTube.
There were only YouTubers who got caught faking with CG, and no one who actually used magic.
No, and in the first place, it seemed like no one even knew 'that' existed.
-Ta-dak-ta-dak.
I moved my short fingers diligently and wrote a post.
[But can you really not see Mana?]
Does no one see this rainbow-colored Mana floating in the air?
Why? How come? For real?
ㄴ Another troll is here, block him.
ㄴ It's been ages since the Mana conspiracy theory disappeared, why are you bringing it up now?
ㄴ Don't feed the troll.
ㄴ (Disbelief sticker)
"No, is it really only visible to me?"
Of course, it's not visible to me when I'm not focusing, but I can see it even if I focus just a little bit.
The colorful Mana floating in the air as if swimming in the sea.
At first, I wondered if I had confused it with dust.
"There's no way I would confuse Mana with dust."
I had rolled around so much in the other world to become a Wizard!
There's no way I would confuse the Mana I've seen until I was sick of it.
If so, that means that is real Mana.
"No one knows how to use magic......."
There is Mana, but no magic.
Could it be that Earth is a world where the use of magic is forbidden by some divine being?
"...There's a better way than thinking."
I moved the table to the corner with both hands.
I pulled the curtains shut so that no light would come in.
It's the optimal environment for Wizards, most of whom are gloomy shut-ins.
Same for me.
"Whether magic exists or not, I can just try using it myself, right?"
Without turning on the living room lights, I crouched in front of the sofa.
Although warm sunlight was cutting long across the floor through the gap in the curtains, it's nice to have that much light to look cool.
Anyway.
"...Just a little bit."
Just a tiny bit, I'll try using it as weakly as I can.
If I burn down the whole house, I'm going to end up homeless from that day on.
Sob sob, please give me a hundred won.
I raised my right index finger.
Even though I became this body, the magic circuits remained.
I took a light breath.
I don't even need to chant a spell for this level of magic.
It's just a matter of gathering the Mana around me at the tip of my finger.
'Let's do it!'
I focused my senses on my fingertips and pulled up the Mana.
Some of the Mana that was swimming in the air began to gather at my fingertip.
Soon, it began to take the form of a sphere.
The magic I'm about to use is a very simple basic magic.
It's the attribute magic I used for the first time the moment I was introduced to magic.
"Rise up."
-Hwa-reu-reuk.
A flame rose above my fingertip.
A flame the size of my thumb began to illuminate the room brightly.
"...I succeeded."
In the 21st century, I succeeded in lighting a fire with magic without a lighter or matches!
In other words, those round lights floating around me are indeed Mana.
And I can use magic.
I blew out the flame and turned on my phone.
Since I've become this body, facial recognition doesn't work, but I know the password.
I turned on the banking app.
[Remaining balance: 8,314 won]
"I'm running out of money, too......."
I need money to eat, sleep, and pay taxes.
But with this body, I don't think they'd even hire me for a part-time job at the convenience store in front of my house, let alone a company.
...Magic Stone.
"They said Magic Stones make a lot of money."
I pulled the curtains open, chwa-ak.
The black tower visible outside the window.
"Tower, and magic."
And what I did endlessly in this world, beating up monsters.
Then my task is clear.
"It's time to go back to my main job."
I'll get Magic Stones somehow, and then I'll make money!
...But wait a minute.
To go to the Tower, I have to go outside.
Then....
"Do I have to go out looking like this...?"
Kyaaaaaa!!