Chapter 129
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Lesson 26. Push Away When Close - 4
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Dokgo Yeon had tamed the stone mountain... no, the tower-named [Living Mount].
It wasn't something she'd intended.
She had successfully recalled the memories of that living mountain—the time when it had been thoroughly defeated by a being infinitely weaker than itself—and restored its benevolent ego. In gratitude, it had sworn loyalty to her of its own accord.
No one else had any idea what that meant, and even Ban Yu-won couldn't quite wrap his head around it.
"How on earth...?"
"Well, its size was so massive that I was agonizing over where to even strike it down when the tower's alert for an 'achievement' popped up. My level rose, and this mountain started following me."
Achievement.
So that's it—get an achievement, and you can tame a mountain.
The group could only nod in unison with equally dumbfounded expressions.
It hit them anew: Dokgo Yeon was a monster on a whole different level from the rest of them.
If it had been Ban Yu-won, he wouldn't have even thought to kill the mountain first—he'd have planted dynamite inside it and blown it up.
"So... what are we gonna do with this thing?"
"Does it have a shrink function or something?"
"Ban, it's a mountain, not a dragon. It can't polymorph into a humanoid form."
"It was a stationary stone mountain that suddenly came alive and started moving—why couldn't it polymorph?"
It couldn't.
But abandoning it here felt like such a waste... Ban Yu-won craned his neck back more than ninety degrees just to glimpse the top of the colossal stone mountain, his face twisted in dilemma.
Mass times acceleration equals force.
If this mountain simply toppled forward, it could flatten anyone who wasn't a monster like Dokgo Yeon. Leaving behind a mass weapon that obeyed their will and could move on its own? That was too regrettable.
"Oh, wait—there was a line in one of the books I found in the library."
At that moment, Light—who was more versed in the tower's trivia than anyone there—clapped his hands.
"It said that when you complete quests in the tower, you can create monsters friendly to you. Later, there's a rare chance those monsters might appear in other rooms and help you out."
"When did you look into that?"
"I wanted to know more about the people inside the tower... the NPCs. So while the library still had effects from charms that boost studying, I went and skimmed some related books."
He'd mercilessly kill them if they turned hostile, but Light's attitude toward the tower's NPCs was deadly serious!
Ban Yu-won nodded in full understanding.
"Rooms we've cleared in the past affect rooms that appear in the future... We expected that much, but friendly monsters too?"
"Hmm. So we shouldn't kill it and just leave it be?"
Dokgo Yeon glanced at the stone mountain with a hint of reluctance.
Ban Yu-won spoke up.
"No, we should take it with us."
Dokgo Yeon turned to him with a puzzled look.
"Ban Yu-won? You're not thinking of stuffing it into your Inventory, are you?"
"No, even Inventory isn't that omnipotent."
His retainers could squeeze in somehow, but this Living Mount wasn't one of them—and above all, its sheer size!
So...
"Here, take this. It's not Teacher's Day, but it's a gift."
Ban Yu-won handed Dokgo Yeon the bracelet with a subspace that the Constellation Unwavering Manipulator had personally said could hold "even that mountain."
At first, it had been covered in a lump of gaudy jewels that made it look honestly unattractive, but after being refined by the constellation's power, it had been compressed into a slimmer, prettier form—now perfectly sized for a woman's wrist.
"Eek?!"
"Ah, aaa...?"
"Ban, you."
But upon seeing it, Dokgo Yeon looked flustered as if she'd misunderstood something, Lucelle gaped in shock, and Light trembled all over.
How could they react so predictably? Ban Yu-won said in exasperation,
"Just check the info, Dokgo Yeon."
"...Ahem. I'll gladly accept it, then."
Sensing there was more to it from Ban Yu-won, Dokgo Yeon took the bracelet without protest and examined it.
Then she tilted her head at him, her meaning clear.
"It's not dangerous right now. We'll have Yumina the professor check the subspace once we're out."
"In that case... Understood. Not sure if it'll work, but let's try."
Dokgo Yeon didn't split the pair between her hands; instead, she stacked both on her left arm.
She extended her bracelet-clad hand toward the Living Mount... and astonishingly, the mountain vanished entirely!
"Ho."
"It actually worked."
Ban Yu-won—the one who'd handed over the bracelet—muttered in surprise.
Lucelle and Light were even more stunned, naturally. Dokgo Yeon experimentally reached toward Light, then solemnly nodded and withdrew her hand.
"If I don't own it, it won't enter the subspace. I was hoping it could block ranged attacks coming at you from afar like it does for you, Ban Yu-won... but that's probably too much to ask."
"Dokgo Yeon, you were about to shove me into subspace without a word just now?!"
"Exactly. Just a light joke."
"You...!"
Light fumed while Dokgo Yeon toyed with him.
Lucelle stared enviously at Dokgo Yeon, grunting jealously, but soon calmed herself with deep breaths while stroking her own hand.
Ban Yu-won had a rough idea of her thoughts, so he left her be.
"Great Archmage!"
"The mercenaries who repelled the monster wave are over there!"
"Great Archmage! Great Archmage!"
Only now, with even the living mountain gone, did they feel certain the monster wave was truly over. Soldiers from the walls rushed over en masse, calling out to Ban Yu-won's group.
Of course, the cries of "Great Archmage" overwhelmingly dominated.
Ban Yu-won gave them a wry smile and a wave, which only amplified the cheers.
And with that, a notification he'd missed last time appeared before his eyes.
The Archmage's achievement has been reflected. Honor depth has reached 200. Soul depth has reached 800.
"... "
He could accept Honor jumping by 50 in one go.
But Soul surging by 30 at the same time? That was staggeringly impressive.
Concept depths grow slower the higher they climb.
So 150 Honor to 200 wasn't the same as 770 Soul to 800 at all.
It meant the achievement he'd just earned was that monumental.
And not only that... Not sure if it's from the Soul growth or the Honor, but.
Vaguely, he felt like his magic power had grown stronger than before.
Ban Yu-won tested it by conjuring a light orb in his palm.
The time from visualization to creation, and the mana and mental energy consumed— all noticeably reduced compared to before.
"Cellon, did you know?"
―Achievements are like that. Think famous families are strong just because of bloodlines built over generations? It's all the power accumulated from their ancestors' achievements.
"You're teaching me quick."
Ban Yu-won truly felt the importance of Honor now.
This elevated the value of the Rebellion channel, which boosted his Honor bit by bit every day!
Wait—then what achievement had massively boosted his Honor last time?
Since getting Archmage strengthened his magic, the previous one must have boosted something else.
―Something giant-related? That bracelet explosion to take down the monster felt suspiciously smooth too.
"Maybe. We'll see."
Ban Yu-won let out a quiet sigh.
He'd only used magic here because it seemed more useful, and he'd accidentally notched this achievement.
Should he force sword solutions from now on? Or switch his major to magic entirely?
"Great Archmage!"
As Ban Yu-won agonized over career paths he'd thought settled, a middle-aged soldier ran up.
Now that he looked, it was the very soldier who'd greeted them upon first entering room 39.
His face beamed with utter ecstasy at the inconceivable victory—after they'd braced for defense. He looked ready to drop to his knees before Ban Yu-won any second as he spoke.
"We've prepared your payment! We're planning a festival to celebrate the victory, so please join us...!"
"Ah! ...You're leaving right away again, Ban?"
"No way."
Ban Yu-won shook his head at Light's question.
Last time, guilt had made him bolt even if the king himself appeared. This time was different.
"We're due for a break anyway. Better to party here overnight than sleep in room 40's Eden."
"Ban...!"
Light's eyes sparkled with感動.
Ban Yu-won smiled back, then looked up at Tike, still filming the ground.
Footage of the post-wave festival in the city...
This'll sell!
After a festival that burned through the entire night, the Rebellion party followed the captain of the guard to the lord's manor.
The lord himself was nowhere to be found, however. The captain checked repeatedly for onlookers before leading them to a hidden secret room inside.
"No way..."
"Whoa..."
Mountains of gold piled high.
"Our city's gold was a secret. Truth is, the lord embezzled it from the mines amid our border dispute with the neighboring city..."
"And yet he had the gall to ask them for support."
They could guess how room 35 onward had unfolded.
A mystery novel chasing the missing gold, probably.
But since Rebellion boldly skipped to room 39 bare-handed, the gold stayed hidden, and the neighbor crumbled as a bonus.
"So what happened to the lord who skimmed it?"
"He's passed away. Even if the gold stayed in our territory, it'd only spark more disputes. Please, mercenaries—take it all."
"Hey, thanks."
The captain had likely decided solo to hand it over.
Politely skipping questions on the lord's "passing," Ban Yu-won quietly collected the gold.
A whopping 200 kilograms.
Seven times the gold he'd used to turn the copper box golden— an insane fortune!
"I get why people obsess over Babel Tower. These riches just pop out casually..."
"I'll consolidate the gold for now. Tell me if you need any later."
"Ah, mine all goes to Yu-won anyway."
"I'll take it home on break. This much could help our king... family, right?"
Ban Yu-won decided to ignore Lucelle and Light's comments for now.
Even Dokgo Yeon looked flustered at the gold shoved in her face.
"This is awkward. I expected tower rewards tied to direct growth for skipping five rooms— not hard currency."
Dokgo Yeon was baffled, but Ban Yu-won found it reasonable enough.
"We got plenty of EXP and achievements from clearing the room, so isn't this balanced?"
"Pure hindsight. ...At least we leveled up."
"Me too!"
"Me too... Ah, Ban."
"Don't give me that 'What if you didn't level up?' look, Light. I got way stronger."
For reference, the concepts Tike had vacuumed up were too impure for Ban Yu-won, who'd absorbed massive depths from the constellation.
So he neatly set his Life to 650 and Vitality to 400, distributed the rest to his retainers, and stored extras like Life, Magical Power, and Carapace in the core.
"Dokgo Yeon, check it out. Every raindrop from Stormblade now holds Life 200 and Demon Sword 200 concepts. Cool, right?"
"No idea how impressive that is."
The Ban Yu-won who'd entered the Academy with just a Ghost Tool 5 Dokkaebi Club would've fainted.
Lamenting he had nowhere to brag about his retainers' growth, Ban Yu-won left the city with the group.
He'd half-worried and hoped the citizens might cling, but they were all passed-out drunk, letting them slip away quietly.
"Ah— look at that, Ban!"
Room 40's Eden had everything from room 30's—and then some.
What Ban Yu-won's group encountered was a reality they desperately wanted to deny.
Light cried out in anguish.
"The copper box's frame is silver!"
"No, Light. This isn't just silver..."
Dokgo Yeon calmly inspected the box and declared,
"It's platinum."
Platinum.
By modern Earth standards, platinum was cheaper than gold, but Ban Yu-won was more used to game hierarchies like bronze-silver-gold-platinum as strength tiers.
"A precious metal. More importantly, it's a concept absent from the tower rewards we've studied."
Ban Yu-won nodded at Dokgo Yeon's meaningful glance.
Copper body, platinum frame—this treasure box outranked room 30's!
"Tike, get good shots? Nice. This'll stir up another storm."
"Ban, can I open it? It's my turn this time, right?"
Ban Yu-won could've sworn he saw a tail wagging from the non-beastkin Light's butt.
He'd considered Chain Changer, but lacked confidence breaching tower security this time, so he readily let Light open it.
"Ah... oh."
But Light, buzzing with excitement, deflated visibly at the contents.
"Why?"
"It's armor. Full plate armor, too."
Ban Yu-won couldn't fathom why armor would disappoint.
Especially since Light was the only Rebellion member who equipped armor every tower dive.
Metal armor protecting vital areas, even if not full plate.
To Ban Yu-won's head-tilt, Light explained his current armor's origin.
"It's our king... family's heirloom."
Everyone knows, so just say kingdom.
"So I won't wear anything else. The box armor... Ban, you should take it."
"Huh?"
"I've been worried about you three forever. You all just wear uniforms into the tower! Dokgo Yeon never gets hurt anyway, Lucelle bulks up in fights so armor's pointless, but you, Ban? This looks top-quality—perfect for you."
"Light..."
Ban Yu-won had been inwardly tempted by "armor," so he felt grateful toward Light's generous offer.
He glanced at the others to check if it was okay—and Lucelle lightly sparked to remind him she'd claimed room 30's reward, while Dokgo Yeon impatiently flicked her left hand.
Showing off her Unwavering bracelet.
How cute.
"Thanks, Light. Next reward's all yours."
"Hurry and try it on."
"Nah."
Ban Yu-won shook his head firmly.
Light tilted his head, confused.
Ban Yu-won checked the gifted armor's status with a grin.
"No one's wearing this."
Perfect timing, too—he'd wanted to craft something now that he had the Evil concept.