Let Me Introduce My Friends (Lots of Images)
[My House Tower] 99th Floor Meeting Room.
In this place, which had been classified as a tower by the system, Tricia called a meeting of the floor managers to decide on their future course of action.
"Alright, we will now begin the meeting. There is no agenda."
"???"
"Wait, why is there no agenda?"
"I don't know either, so just make one up as you go."
For the record, Tricia was in an extremely foul mood because her plans to happily visit an internet cafe had been thwarted by a lack of authorization.
She was in such a bad mood that the heart pattern on her outfit looked as if it had split right down the middle. (?)
Still, she couldn't just abandon the tower's management, so Tricia quickly pushed the meeting forward.
"So, any questions?"
First, Asahina Yurining, the manager of floors 41 to 50, shouted energetically.
"Lady Tricia! My assigned area has gotten way too big, and I don't think I can manage it all!"
"There are about 1,500 [Angel Guardians] left on the 80th floor, so everyone can take as many as they need to help manage their floors. Next question?"
Second, Flora Fireseed, the manager of floors 21 to 30, stood up and spoke.
"The stairs and elevators have disappeared, so we have to use the [Teleportation] skill or [Teleportation Stones], which is incredibly inconvenient..."
"Really? Hmm... Ah, there we go. I just bought 100 warp points for 5 Tower Coins each and generated them on every floor, so install them wherever you find convenient. Next question?"
"I feel like 500 Tower Coins just evaporated in the blink of an eye."
"Uh-uh. It didn't evaporate; it was a reasonable expense. Next question."
Third, Ju Ji-ye (True name: [Sun Stone] Juwa Jiwe), the manager of floors 51 to 60, cried out with a deeply troubled expression.
"Aaargh!!! I just remembered something super, super urgent!!!"
"What is it?"
"What should we have for dinner tonight???"
"Starve. Next."
"Hmph."
Next, Rudiel Shephid, the manager of floors 71 to 80, stood up from her seat, approached Tricia, and...
"Hug me!"
Squeeze—
"Hug delivered. Next."
Amidst the suddenly heartwarming atmosphere, Zergos, the manager of floors 61 to 70, spoke up.
"Lady Tricia, since our sanctuary was classified as a tower, it appears that the managers have been granted partial authority to use the system. Could you perhaps inform us of the extent of the system permissions we are allowed to access?"
"Oh, you guys can use it too?"
"...?"
"No, seriously, I had no idea. Let me check right now."
Tricia fiddled with the system interface here and there before finding the "Share Tower Administrator Authority" option.
"Ah, right now you only have permission to view system alerts and the tower's status. But I can additionally delegate the authority to set trials and rewards for your respective floors, as well as floor editing permissions. I'll transfer them over right now."
Tricia naturally dumped all the work of setting up the trials and rewards for each floor onto her companions!
At this, Azmo Lilysis, the manager of floors 31 to 40, asked with a surprised look.
"Eh? So from now on, we have to design and manage all the trials for our own floors ourselves?"
"I'll provide a guideline for the setup. As for management, just do your best, and report to me if any issues pop up."
Saying so, Tricia configured additional rules under the "Floor Trial Settings" and registered them in the system.
[Recommended Rules have been generated for the trial settings configurable by each floor manager.]
1. Never use the tower's residents or companions as expendable resources for trials. If absolutely necessary, it is only permitted with mutual consent. This does not apply to livestock already used as resources, mindless golems and undead, or criminals stripped of human rights.
2. Set trials that can be resolved without fighting the [Climbers] as much as possible, or include peaceful clearing routes even if combat is involved.
3. Distribute rewards other than Tower Coins. Awarding resources or items generated on each floor, teaching skills, or granting buff effects is permitted.
She hated the idea of climbers barging into her house as they pleased, but if no climbers entered, the tower would collapse, and their sanctuary would vanish.
Therefore, to ensure a steady stream of climbers in the future, Tricia designed the system to require non-lethal trials while offering resources harvested from the tower as rewards.
In exchange, she structured it to hoard as many Tower Coins as possible without spending them.
Of course, she planned to adjust things immediately if any issues or areas of improvement arose later.
"Alright, please set up the trials and rewards for your respective floors with this general vibe. Now, does anyone else have a question?"
At that, Inabakh Levitein Lekki, the manager of floors 1 to 10, raised her hand and asked.
"It's such a pain. Why don't we just release the [Flying Giant Centipede Rabbit] on the 2nd floor and kill all the climbers? They revive anyway!"
"If we do that, they'll all get terrified and run away, and no one will ever enter! Denied!"
"Eeeh, but it's such a waste to keep such a useful monster sealed away and not use it!"
"Please, just keep it sealed... If you absolutely must use it, use it as the 10th-floor boss."
"Should I?"
"...You're not actually going to use it, right?"
Lekki shrugged at Tricia's question, wearing a cheeky expression.
For context, the [Flying Giant Centipede Rabbit] was a monstrosity that combined a rabbit and a centipede. It was over a hundred meters long, possessed dozens of pairs of dragonfly wings, and had a rabbit's face on a centipede's body...
Further detailed explanation is omitted.
"Now, does anyone else have any questions?"
Tricia directed her question to King Steamed Bun and Sian Nightmare, who hadn't spoken yet. King Steamed Bun, the manager of floors 11 to 20, replied.
"Can I cook food for the climbers?"
"Sure. You can give it to them for free... or even sell it to them for Tower Coins."
Perhaps because she loved eating and cooking so much, she seemed eager to feed her dishes to the climbers as well.
Finally, Sian Nightmare, the manager of floors 81 to 90...
"Zzz... snore..."
...was fast asleep.
"Wake up already. We are in the middle of an important meeting."
"Ugh... just five more hours..."
"If you don't wake up in five seconds, I'm throwing you into the 38th-floor ice bath."
"Ah, anything but that, please!"
Hearing the words "ice bath," Sian Nightmare snapped her eyes open and bolted upright.
She let out a yawn, rubbed her eyes, and said:
"Can I go back to sleep now?"
"Do you think you can?"
"Tsk, worth a shot..."
Sian Nightmare recalled what she had "heard" while sleeping to grasp the meeting's contents, then asked:
"Well... the expanded area is actually better for me, so I don't mind. I just need to set the trials and rewards for my floors, right? I can handle that much."
"Yeah. Since your floors are 81 and above, you can take your time setting them up."
With the meeting more or less wrapped up...
"Ah, what should I do for the 3rd-floor trial?"
"You raise Minotaurs there, right? Why not just make the climbers milk a female Minotaur?"
"If the climbers of Earth are fearless unlike the humans of our world, that might work, but I highly doubt that's the case..."
"Is that so? What else is on the 3rd floor besides Minotaurs?"
"Well, we also raise [Bomb Rabbits] in a separate zone to feed the Minotaurs."
"Oh right, now that I think about it, those Minotaurs are carnivores, aren't they?"
"But butchering [Bomb Rabbits] is more tedious than you'd think... Ah! Why don't we just teach the climbers how to do it and make them do the work?"
"That sounds like a great idea. We can teach them the steps required to butcher a [Bomb Rabbit] and make that the trial!"
"...Then what happens if a climber makes a mistake?"
"They go boom and die, obviously!"
"That's way too dangerous! Let's give them choices for the trial. Make one option that, and the other option milking a Minotaur."
"Oh, that's actually a pretty decent idea."
Since they were already gathered, they actively shared their opinions, designing the trials and rewards for each floor.
The floor managers here were all connections Tricia had made in the other world.
They were "friends" she trusted implicitly, and "companions" she could rely on to have her back at any moment.
Come to think of it, I used to wish I could take these guys to Earth for a vacation someday.
Memories from long ago surfaced in Tricia's mind.
Surprisingly, with the exception of Tricia, all the friends gathered here were natives of the other world.
A few of them wore outfits that looked completely out of place for an otherworlder, but that was simply the result of Tricia's secret personal tastes.
Even though I somehow ended up back on Earth, the fact that we can't leave...
She stared up at the empty ceiling.
Even at this moment, as her friends laughed and chatted while designing trials and rewards, the reality that none of them could leave the tower weighed heavily on Tricia.
Tricia clenched her fists.
At this rate, she could no longer call this place her "house."
She didn't even think of it as a "tower."
This was a "prison."
A horrific prison that locked her inside and forced her to slave away managing the tower like a puppet.
For what purpose did the system appoint her as the Tower Administrator and send her back to Earth?
Why on earth?
No matter how much she pondered, no answer came.
But there was one thing that remained absolutely clear.
If anything dares to threaten my friends... even if it's a god, I will stand in their way.
The manager of floors 91 to 100, Eriel Tricia.
She loved her friends dearly.
That was why, if only for the sake of the friends who trusted and lived alongside her here...
Tricia had absolutely no intention of giving up on managing the tower.
Thus, as the meeting dragged on, the night deepened.
And so, the first day of [My House Tower] since its transportation to Earth passed without further incident.