Open for Business
On the morning of Tricia’s third day since being transported to Earth.
Tower Coins can be acquired based on the achievements accomplished by climbers entering the tower.
Tower Coins: 397
⚠️ Once 3 days have passed, the Tower Collapse Countdown may resume. Please be careful!
"...Huh?"
Tricia’s eyes trembled as she stared at the remaining coin balance.
"I am so incredibly screwed...!"
Tricia instinctively realized it. Things were, quite literally, completely and utterly screwed!
At first, she had thought:
'I'll get back whatever I invest anyway!'
Operating under that blind faith, she had boldly poured her Tower Coins into upgrades.
She had installed warp gates on every single floor, terraformed the environments of certain zones, and completely unlocked free travel to the floors containing various luxury amenities!
The result?
The place had been transformed so thoroughly that it definitely gave off the impression of: 'Whoa, this tower is built different.'
It was a literal paradise! A tower that just generously showered everyone with gifts!
She had assumed that if she set it up like this, climbers would swarm in by the busload, and Tower Coins would rain down in proportion!
...Or at least, that was how it was supposed to go.
In reality, only six climbers had entered.
The initial five, and then Crow, who had arrived the following day.
Since then... not a single soul had shown up...!
"I'm ruined...!"
Tricia collapsed onto the floor, clutching her head.
To be fair, it wasn't as if she hadn't anticipated this disaster at all.
That was why she had subtly asked Crow to do some promotion as insurance... but the effectiveness of that was still a giant question mark.
She should have just loaded a truck full of the Holy Water of the Archangel piled up in her warehouse and handed it out to promote the place!
...The problem was, that holy water was a bit... awkward.
Because, in truth, it was actually just refined 'bathwater' from Tricia's own baths...
Of course, Tricia was a transcendent, special being... Just by dipping her body in it, the water naturally transformed into holy water.
Since it felt like a waste to just throw it away, she had kept saving it, which was why it was piled high in the warehouse.
For the record, the Tears of the Archangel, made from Tricia's tears, possessed the absurd effect of multiplying the drinker's stats anywhere from five to hundreds of times over upon consumption!
Tricia's feathers, the Feathers of the Archangel, granted ridiculous passive effects just by being held—such as mental stabilization, misfortune avoidance, and minor causality manipulation!
She had even put these up for sale in the market on the 12th floor to earn some Tower Coins!
And yet, nobody was coming!
It was time to seriously come up with a plan... Tricia immediately called an emergency meeting in the 99th-floor Meeting Room.
She avoided summoning everyone.
If she called everyone, it would just turn into an absolute circus anyway!
This time, only those who could actually be of help gathered.
"And for those reasons, to prevent our house from collapsing—we will now begin a discussion on how we can attract more climbers."
First, Zergos stood up.
"It appears we instilled an excessive amount of terror during our initial response. Even in our world, adapting to the sensation of resurrecting from death is highly difficult; to the people of this world, it may have caused immense psychological trauma."
Second, Lilisith grumbled.
"In the first place, we aren't doing any advertising out there. For any shop, the storefront sign is crucial, but in this state, it's hard to get any influx of climbers."
Third, Lukki hit the nail on the head.
"You said you left the advertising to that Crow guy, right? But what exactly made you trust him?"
Lukki's direct hit left Tricia temporarily speechless.
Soon, she placed a hand over her heart and spoke solemnly.
"I... trust my choices. Because I believed in and trusted you all, you believed in me too."
"...I feel this way every time, but your heart is honestly too soft for your own good."
"Well, isn't that why I'm a pure and kind angel?"
"The moment you say that about yourself, you've already disqualified yourself from being pure..."
As Lukki grumbled and sneered, Tricia laughed it off.
But in that instant, her demeanor shifted.
Her eyes darkened, and her voice grew calm.
"Don't worry. If worst comes to worst... I have other methods."
One of her eyes glowed crimson, and the surrounding air grew heavy with crushing pressure.
Everyone present recalled 'that incident.'
The catastrophe that had occurred while facing their final enemy in Eriel.
The terror branded onto their very souls resurfaced.
The boundary between life and death collapsing, the concepts of reality and imagination twisting—
"Hey! Absolutely not! That's way too dangerous!"
Lukki protested, trembling violently.
"It's fine. I don't plan on bringing it out just yet," Tricia said nonchalantly.
As Tricia spoke so casually, this time even Zergos and Lilisith stepped in to dissuade her.
"I... cannot recommend that course of action either. If something goes wrong, Lady Tricia, you might—"
"She's right. You must never do something like that again."
Tricia blinked, looking dumbfounded.
"Alright, alright, I won't. It's strictly a last resort."
Tricia's reassurance finally calmed the atmosphere, and the meeting resumed.
"More importantly... there's something I'm curious about."
Tricia tilted her head and asked.
"Our house suddenly turned into a tower... so how are you all adapting to this so naturally?"
"But of course. You chose this place, which possessed the potential to become a tower, as your home, Lady Tricia. Is that not why it has now manifested as a Tower?"
"...?"
"Wait... did you perhaps not know?"
A brief silence ensued.
Tricia merely stared at Zergos with a completely blank expression.
Zergos stroked his chin for a moment before speaking.
"Lady Tricia, the house we reside in... this place was originally the ruins of a tower that appeared in Eriel in the distant past. Furthermore, ancient history records that the origin of all living beings in Eriel began from this very tower."
"This is the first time I'm hearing of this...?"
"...To think you truly did not know. It is my oversight."
Deciding this wouldn't do, Zergos immediately brought over a blackboard.
"Very well. I shall briefly explain the history of the tower of Eriel."
He began to conduct a history lesson on the tower as passed down in Eriel.
The summary of his explanation was as follows.
In short, it is a dimensional backup device.
When a world faces destruction, God compresses that world's 'information' into a tower and transmits it to another dimension.
The tower then opens in that new dimension, allowing the lifeforms within to begin a new life.
However, that is not all.
God also activates a tower when 'the population of living beings increases excessively, causing the dimension to reach a saturation point.'
An migration that serves as both a cleanup and a purification.
In other words, selection and relocation.
"According to the records, our ancestors' dimension was destroyed, after which they began a new life in Eriel. In other words, we are descendants born from the tower."
"...Then setting aside myself as the tower's administrator, why can't you guys go outside?"
At Tricia's question, Zergos fell silent for a moment before replying.
"That... I do not know. History does not reveal everything."
He cleared his throat lightly and continued.
"What you must focus on here, Lady Tricia, is the concept of 'saturation.' Recently, Eriel regained peace, leading to an exponential population boom. Consequently, it likely reached a state of saturation, prompting God to weed us out and send us to another dimension."
"And our house became the variable in that process?"
"Precisely. God activated the tower once more, but because you had already housed numerous lifeforms within the 'ruins of the tower,' the entire house was recognized as a new Tower and transported to Earth."
"I see... Still, that doesn't explain this bizarre structure where we need climbers just to maintain the tower."
"Indeed. That part remains a mystery to me as well... I have recently begun re-examining the records regarding the tower."
In other words, while Tricia's companions knew this place would eventually become a tower, they hadn't anticipated being bound to the tower in this exact manner.
"...Wait, so you guys knew all that and still decided to live with me?"
"Yes. You are the one who saved us, Lady Tricia. Thus, wherever the path led, we resolved to accompany you... though..."
"...I never imagined the person in question would be completely oblivious to it."
Zergos sighed, while Lilisith looked at Tricia with an 'I knew it' expression.
"Hey, why was I the only one kept in the dark?!"
Tricia felt deeply aggrieved by the situation.
Just then, Lukki approached with a smirk.
"Well, it's your fault for slacking off on your Eriel history lessons in the first place, isn't it?"
"......"
"Noob~♥"
Lukki snickered, mocking her.
That single word sounded exceptionally irritating today.
Tricia hung her head.
That afternoon.
After the meeting, Tricia returned to her room on the 100th floor. Lying on her bed, she stared blankly at the ceiling.
'Sigh... I wish I could ask on the internet... Wait, if I had internet access in the first place, I would've just used it to advertise, wouldn't I?'
As Tricia rolled around, hugging a fluffy pillow stuffed with her own feathers, a notification popped up—
Climbers are attempting to enter My House Tower.
Expected number of entering climbers: 5...
10...
17...
[Updating...]
28...
31...
Final number of entrants: 37
"...Huh?"
Wait, how many?
Tricia bolted upright.
The number displayed on the screen was unmistakably—37.
"They're coming... They're coming!! Climbers are finally coming!!"
Tricia let out a cheer and dashed out of her room.
Spotting Lukki slacking off in the hallway, she scooped him up in her arms and sprinted off!
"I knew I could count on you, Crow!!! Goddamn, I believed in you!!!"
"Why are you carrying me!!! Put me down!!!"
Tricia took a warp point to the 37th floor's Carbonated Water Hot Springs and chucked Lukki straight into the water!
"Today, we're having rabbit soup!!!!!"
Splash!
"Aaargh!!!"
Tricia got her petty revenge on Lukki for calling her a noob! Meanwhile, Lukki soaked in the hot spring with a deeply betrayed expression.
Lilisith, who happened to be bathing in the hot spring, offered some advice to the ecstatic Tricia.
"Rabbit soup is nice, but how about rabbit stew?"
"That sounds great too!"
"I am not food, you psychos!!"
Lukki, looking like a thoroughly drenched rabbit, shrieked from the water.
Of course, this was just their usual WWE-style play-fighting, so it was perfectly fine!
And then—
The entrance to My House Tower is opening.
37 new climbers are currently entering.
[1st Floor — Lobby]
"Is this the tower with the holy water?!"
"Behold, my grand entrance."
"Wow, this place is incredibly clean."
A diverse crowd of unique climbers began pouring in...!