Rest is Crucial
The Malang Malang Restaurant on the 11th floor of My House Tower!
"Hellooo~"
The owner of this restaurant appeared with a warm, cozy greeting! His name was none other than Wang Jjinpang!
As the manager of Floors 11 to 20, he welcomed Seo Ryuin with a soft, gentle voice.
Seeing his squishy appearance, Seo Ryuin's heart skipped a beat, and she tried to greet him calmly in her mind.
Yes, nice to meet you~
But the words that actually slipped out of her mouth were entirely different.
"You're so cute...! Wait, what?!"
Her spoken words and her inner thoughts had completely flipped!
"Thank you~!"
But Wang Jjinpang didn't seem to mind at all, offering a bright, innocent smile.
It was truly fascinating that a slime could make such a warm, cozy expression.
"Now, please have a seat over here~!"
"Ah, yes!"
Seo Ryuin sat down and opened the menu.
On the menu, the highly recommended "Today's Special"—which changed daily—stood out, alongside simple side dishes and desserts.
"Ooh... What is today's special, by any chance?"
"Today... it's the Squishy Transparent Soup!"
"...?"
How could a soup be squishy...?
Though a strange doubt crept in, she figured this wasn't an everyday opportunity and ordered the "Squishy Transparent Soup."
A moment later...
"Here is your food~!"
Placed before her was an empty bowl.
"...Huh? Isn't this an empty bowl..."
At that exact moment, an ecstatic aroma struck her nose and filled the air.
It was a mesmerizing scent of soup, unlike anything she had ever experienced before.
Though nothing was visible to the naked eye, there was definitely something in that bowl.
Seo Ryuin swallowed hard and picked up her spoon.
As she dipped the spoon into the bowl, she felt a heavy sensation, and something transparent filled the spoon.
The moment she carefully scooped it up and put it in her mouth—a grand harmony unfolded on her tongue.
"—It's delicious!!!"
It was a deep flavor that defied description.
A fantasy soup where the rich flavors of countless ingredients were condensed and perfectly blended.
And... she could feel a squishy yet substantial texture.
A fascinating texture somewhere between a thick soup and a soft jelly.
Marveling at the harmony of the mysterious texture and flavor, she slowly savored the soup.
The moment she fully appreciated the taste and swallowed it down.
Tears of deep emotion began to stream from Seo Ryuin's eyes.
"Sob... *hic*... It's too delicious...!"
"Oh dear, please don't cry~"
Seeing this, Wang Jjinpang carefully wiped away her tears with his squishy body.
"Ehehe... so squishy..."
Seo Ryuin smiled, deeply moved once again by the squishy texture.
Squishy food and squishy service.
The Malang Malang Restaurant, combining these two elements in perfect harmony, was always a popular spot frequented by many climbers!
But today... there was no one there except Seo Ryuin and Wang Jjinpang.
The reason was quite obvious.
The government had temporarily restricted climbers' access for today's summit.
And Kim Hacheong, ever the capable man, reported this fact to the tower's maid just in case. Upon receiving the report, Tricia spoke into her crystal ball.
"Even better. I was planning on offering the resting floors for free only to the delegation today anyway."
This statement was passed back to Kim Hacheong through the maid, and he immediately went outside the tower to request that the government block climbers' entry to My House Tower until tomorrow morning.
After returning to My House Tower, Kim Hacheong asked the tower's maid about the exact start time of the summit, the location where it would be held, and if there were any additional precautions to keep in mind. Only then could he let out a sigh of relief.
Then, he pulled out his portable notebook and carefully began to jot down notes.
"Phew... The summit starts at 6 PM, location is the Floor 99 Meeting Room, and... 'Do not be surprised, no matter what you see'..."
At that moment, his hand, which had been writing diligently, froze.
Do not be surprised... no matter what he saw?
The roar of the "monster" he had seen through the video feed a week ago flashed through his mind.
As the terror deeply engraved in his mind resurfaced, Kim Hacheong's pupils shook as if experiencing an earthquake.
"No, there's no way...! Surely a monster like that wouldn't just pop up in a diplomatic summit...? That's definitely not happening...!"
Kim Hacheong muttered to himself as he finished writing his notes.
...And Tricia, who was eavesdropping on this entire conversation through her crystal ball, spoke to Lekki.
"Lekki."
"Yeah, what?"
"I think we should put the Flying Giant Centipede Rabbit back."
"What? You said we needed something scary!"
"I told you that was way too much!"
Ultimately, the Flying Giant Centipede Rabbit was quarantined back on Floor 10, and Lekki grumbled as she brought out a Tiger Rabbit instead.
"This much is fine, right?"
"Yeah, that's a solid, safe choice!"
For the record, Lekki was not wearing her bunny girl outfit today.
Dressed in a seductive red gown while stroking the Tiger Rabbit, she looked far more elegant and atmospheric than usual.
"Anyway, all ten floor managers are attending the summit today, right?"
"That's right. But they can't just go normally. They need to attend looking a bit more terrifying and majestic."
Tricia's plan was as follows.
Every floor manager would attend the meeting, but they would do so in appearances that could instill a moderate amount of fear.
The goal was to leave an impression on the delegation: We are not to be trifled with.
Tricia herself planned to appear in her usual form, but with nine terrifying entities flanking her, even the government delegation wouldn't dare act rashly.
"By the way, that guy Crow is also in the delegation. What are you going to do about him?"
"I'm planning to contact him separately later! I can trust Crow. People as loyal and kind as him are extremely rare."
Tricia recalled Crow, who possessed a spotlessly pure and clean soul, the likes of which she had rarely seen even in Eriel.
"Well, if you say he's trustworthy, I won't argue..."
"Shall we take a look at what they're up to now?"
With that, Tricia immediately manipulated the crystal ball to search for Crow.
The crystal ball's display flickered rapidly before settling on Floor 49, the Fighting Colosseum.
"...Huh?"
Something was off.
Floor 49... was a space she hadn't even opened yet?
So she checked the details.
"Wahahaha! You're super good at fighting! Give me all you've got!"
"Not a bad skill level. Then, can you block this as well?"
"Boom! Crash! Kaboom!!!"
Yurining and Crow were engaged in a fierce battle.
"???"
Utterly bewildered, Tricia immediately pulled up the recorded footage to see what on earth had happened.
The full story of the incident was as follows.
With Geomheokbeom, Yoon Seojin, and Lim Heonbeop moving together, Crow had been left alone in the lobby.
"A resting facility..."
Crow had no particular interest in resting facilities.
So he went to a maid and asked a question.
"By any chance, is there a floor in this tower where one can spar against a strong opponent?"
"A spar... Ah! As it happens, Lady Yurining is currently training on Floor 49. If you'd like, shall I send you there?"
"Yes, please."
Thus, the maid contacted Yurining, and the moment Yurining gave the green light, Floor 49 was temporarily opened.
Crow then used the warp point to travel to Floor 49.
You have entered Floor 49 - Fighting Colosseum.
Floor 49 was a place where a massive colosseum stood.
At its center, a girl in a Japanese school uniform was waiting, and she began to introduce herself in a bright, cheerful voice.
"Hiya! My name is Asahina Yurining! Just an ordinary, beautiful science-track high school girl aiming to become the strongest on Earth!"
"...A high school girl?"
"Yep! What does 'high school girl' mean, you ask? A high school girl is a warrior who saves the world! At the same time, she's like a fairy-tale hero who protects people's dreams! And 'science-track' means she's super-duper smart!"
"I believe that differs from the definition I am familiar with."
"Is it used differently in your world? How fascinating! At least in Eriel, where I used to live, that's exactly what it meant!"
"Is that so? Here, it refers to a female student around eighteen years of age."
"Ah, I see! Well, since I'm a high school girl too, I can just say I'm eighteen! By the way, what's with that mask?"
Yurining, a girl with an energetic appearance and a bright, cheerful voice, stared at Crow's mask with a curious expression.
"This mask... I obtained it while climbing the tower. I cannot share the details, as they are a secret."
"Mhm! Got it! In that case—"
Yurining pulled a bamboo kendo stick out of thin air, pointed it at Crow, and spoke.
"—shall we get this spar started?"
At her words, Crow let out a dry chuckle.
"I am sorry, but against a fragile woman, I—"
Bam!
"Ugh?!"
As a sudden impact struck his abdomen, a startled Crow stumbled back slightly.
Yurining, who had been right in front of him a split second ago, had vanished from his sight.
"The strongest high school girl isn't fragile, you know?"
"...!"
A voice echoed from behind Crow.
Yurining had swung her bamboo stick at an invisible speed, striking Crow's stomach, and had already repositioned herself behind him!
"You're not gonna run away after getting hit just once, right?"
"Hardly."
Deciding that she was indeed a worthy opponent, Crow immediately activated his skill.
Gravity Distortion
At that exact moment—
The gravity around Crow began to completely warp, invert, expand, and contract.
One's sense of direction was scrambled, making it impossible to distinguish heaven from earth.
An ordinary person wouldn't even be able to stand upright in such a space.
However—
Yurining stood there perfectly fine, as if nothing had happened!
"You made a space with distorted gravity? This is so fun!"
Inside the warped gravity, Yurining slowly walked toward Crow.
Watching her approach, Crow smiled beneath his mask.
"Show me what you've got."
"With pleasure!"
And just like that, an unexpected battle broke out on Floor 49.
...And Tricia, watching all of this through her crystal ball, muttered with a dumbfounded face.
"Hey, the summit is literally about to start, you idiots..."
The diplomatic summit was scheduled for this very evening... and they were starting a duel in the arena...?
Lekki, standing beside her, also shook her head in disbelief.
"More importantly, shouldn't we stop them...?"
"Well, Crow wanted it in the first place... and Yurining knows how to hold back, so she'll be fine..."
In fact, Yurining was sparring with a non-lethal bamboo stick enchanted with a spell that made it impossible to kill the opponent.
So, at the very least, Crow wouldn't end up dying and having to resurrect.
Deciding to monitor the situation for now, Tricia left that crystal ball as it was and pulled out another one to search for the other members.
Before long, she spotted three people drinking coffee at a café on Floor 33, the Garden Drawn on Sketchbook.
Geomheokbeom, Guild Master of the Black Sword Guild; Yoon Seojin, Vice Guild Master of the Glory Guild; and Lim Heonbeop, a climber from the Ministry of Justice.
They were quietly sipping their coffee and conversing.
"I heard you can get counseling from succubi on Floor 39. But I don't think we should just go there blindly. A place run by succubi... doesn't it sound incredibly suspicious?"
"It is certainly suspicious. And as a married man... I cannot visit such a place."
"I agree. There is no guarantee that they only offer counseling. It is best to avoid places that might corrupt public morals."
After each of them spoke their piece.
"......"
"......"
"......"
A long silence ensued.
Geomheokbeom cleared his throat lightly before speaking again.
"...Still, just in case, shouldn't we verify what kind of place it is?"
"...Indeed, it would be proper for us to investigate and judge for ourselves."
"...An on-site investigation is crucial. We must verify it immediately."
And silence fell once more.
"...Shall we head over and check it out?"
"Yes, purely for 'reconnaissance' purposes, of course."
"Exactly. And since we are inside the tower, there won't be any legal issues either."
The three men stood up in unison.
—And quietly made their way toward the Succubus Garden on Floor 39.
...Tricia, who had watched all of this unfold through her crystal ball, summoned Lilysis.
"Lilysis, those three who just entered Floor 39."
"Yeah? Should I squeeze out everything they know?"
"Exactly!"
"Great, leave it to me~♡"
One of the former Seven Demon Kings, and the wielder of the authority of "Lust."
Azmo Lilysis headed toward Floor 39 with a seductive smile.