Chapter 217
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 217
Chapter Title: Lesson 43. Too Much Popularity - 2
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Every Friday morning, the entire student body gathering in front of the Tower had long since become a kind of event.
The clear hierarchy between teams was revealed by the order in which they entered the Tower.
Some showed off, while others looked on enviously.
Perhaps the Academy deliberately emphasized rankings.
Jealousy at the right time was the perfect stimulant to ignite the students' competitive spirit and accelerate their growth.
The glory of the first exploration and entry of the second semester's first delve naturally went to Rebellion.
"Seems like there are more people than last semester."
"The upperclassmen must be waiting without entering the Tower first."
At the center of the group of four stood Ban Yu-won, as always, with his uniform jacket flung open.
Lucelle, dressed in her uniform just like him, was stuck to his side and walking with him, exactly as she had in the first semester.
But the other two were different from usual.
Normally, As Light would cling to Ban Yu-won in competition with Lucelle, while Dokgo Yeon trailed behind, looking at them pitifully.
"Ban Yu-won, are you really okay with this? You haven't synced up with that pest once since school started."
Right now, unusually, Dokgo Yeon was walking right beside Ban Yu-won, matching his pace.
Of course, her outfit was the same black martial arts uniform from the first semester—one that had no magical enchantments applied, unlike the student uniforms enhanced with various enchantments and special materials to boast artifact-level defense.
Yet throughout the first semester's battles, it never showed signs of wear or tearing, so it must be a heirloom from her homeland.
Perhaps it even held some unique concept unknown to Ban Yu-won...
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"...Nothing. And don't worry about As Light. He promised to climb the Tower as a team member following my orders until we settle things in the special match. Right, As Light?"
Ban Yu-won turned and said to him.
As for As Light, who had originally taken Dokgo Yeon's spot...
"Hmph. I have no desire to play along with this pointless nonsense, but a contract is a contract."
He was walking as far from the group as possible, spouting lines straight out of a late-stage chuunibyou patient's playbook.
He was wearing the same thick plate armor reserved for royalty as in the first semester, but the difference was that his face, now bare without the helmet, had become strikingly masculine.
With his hair cropped short and his blue eyes gleaming sharply, As Light looked every bit the blond prince straight out of a fairy tale.
"That's As Light, right? He's completely different from last semester."
"You didn't know? Well, he hasn't been in Rebellion videos lately, so that makes sense."
"I don't know what happened over break, but... he looks cool."
The onlookers, oblivious to how frustrating this was for As Light, casually praised his newfound manliness.
Hearing the murmurs around them made Ban Yu-won and the others feel like their stomachs were turning inside out.
This guy becoming more manly is the problem! He's not even a guy!
"Hmph."
As Light puffed out his chest as if receiving everyone's attention was only natural, while the rest of the group pointedly ignored him in perfect unison.
After what felt like semi-torture, the group finally reached the front of Babel Tower.
The Tower itself was unchanged, but the Rebellion members were completely different from when they had first entered it in the first semester...
"Ready?"
Yumina greeted them in front of the Tower with her usual warm smile of encouragement.
As Light awkwardly averted his gaze from her and turned his head.
"Hurry up and go in."
"Yeah, let's go."
They exchanged a quick nod with Yumina and took a step into the Tower.
Lucelle, hanging on his arm, and Dokgo Yeon, walking beside him, moved at almost the exact same timing.
Finally, As Light—who was dawdling like he wanted nothing more than to separate from them—was shoved forward by Yumina and took his step.
The world melted away, depositing them into Room 130.
"This place..."
As Light, who had been openly showing his displeasure right up until they entered, was now looking around Room 130—Eden—with keen interest.
Even though he was the one who had personally cleared up to Room 130 with them before break, acting like this was his first time in Eden.
Ban Yu-won ignored him and headed to the fountain in the center of the room.
What overflowed from it wasn't clear water, but a fragrant liquor that stirred the heart for some reason.
It was Blood Wine, the universal recovery potion obtainable only in Eden.
"The depth of this Blood Wine is no joke. We can replenish everything we used over break."
"......"
As Ban Yu-won extracted the entire concept of Blood Wine from the fountain and stored it away, As Light wore an indescribable expression.
Dokgo Yeon shot him a sharp glance before turning back to Ban Yu-won.
"If you're done, let's get moving. I want to reach Room 150 by the end of the weekend."
"Okay."
"As Light, if you drag us down, I really won't forgive you."
"Drag you down? Ha."
Was this guy studying snorting patterns or something?
As Light perfectly parried Dokgo Yeon's provocation with a snort that reeked of artisanal pride, then drew his holy sword without hesitation and declared,
"You should worry about not getting in my way."
Babel Tower Room 131 was a desert.
There were about ten scorching suns blazing in the sky, and the heated sands ignited in response with every step.
Just from the ten suns, it was clear this wasn't a naturally formed environment.
A hellish heat that even a trained superhuman's body couldn't withstand.
Ban Yu-won confirmed it when the heat-resistance barrier he'd created with language magic shattered.
This wasn't mere heat.
From here on, the environment itself was an enemy targeting them outright.
"We cleared from Room 100 to 130 so easily that I forgot the Tower throws these bullshit environments at you."
"M-Master, help..."
As expected of a beast, Lucelle—who hated the heat—was panting with her tongue lolling out and leaning on him, even with the barrier he'd cast.
She was awfully cute, but sticking together in this situation would only make them hotter.
"Beast, circulate your internal energy! I didn't teach you martial arts so you could swap it for candy!"
Meanwhile, Dokgo Yeon had refused Ban Yu-won's offer of a barrier yet maintained a calm expression, thanks to the internal energy fiercely rotating in her body to regulate her temperature and block the heat's intrusion.
Ban Yu-won remained unfazed even after his barrier broke for the same reason—he was circulating his internal energy.
The energy of the Yu-won Art was an all-transforming qi that could become anything, and mixing in the right chill made it better than any air conditioner.
"I am, but... my energy..."
On the other hand, as a fox spirit, Lucelle wielded innate fire power along with her newly awakened lightning.
Her internal energy was naturally based on those affinities, so in this heat-filled environment, it might strengthen—but it clearly couldn't protect her from the heat itself.
Like how a venomous cobra wielding deadly poison would still die if bitten by another cobra...
"Can't be helped."
Ban Yu-won slipped the sealing ring off his finger and onto hers.
"Use it to seal the heat. You can release the sealed heat later when you're handling flames."
The Sealing Ring was one of the top artifacts Ban Yu-won had acquired from the Tower.
Thanks to diligently adding Sealing concepts every time he collected them, its depth had reached 600, allowing it to block heat intrusion with minimal magic power.
"Master...!"
Lucelle quickly switched it from his index finger to her ring finger, her eyes sparkling as she clung to him again.
Well, she was going to cling either way.
Dokgo Yeon clicked her tongue.
"Beast, do you have a disease where you die if you don't cling to him every time something happens? I'm getting hot just watching."
"Hmph, making a fuss over this much."
As Light's patterns had increased by one.
Whether thanks to his holy sword or not, he wasn't sweating a drop, just like Dokgo Yeon.
Such an As Light glanced at Lucelle and the ring on her finger.
"Can't even handle this heat and has to rely on an item."
"You're saying that while holding a holy sword?!"
Whoever was possessing As Light's body right now, their judgment was even worse than his.
At least As Light knew what was controlling him!
"Ha, the holy sword is one with me. No need to distinguish between us."
As Light's patterns increased by another.
Ban Yu-won gave up on needling him further and decided to scout the room.
Deserts like this usually had giant scorpions bursting from the seemingly empty sands, but he also anticipated the reverse—enemies from the sky.
"Nothing yet."
During break, Ban Yu-won had mastered the Origin Sword and evolved to the Yu-won Art, allowing him to read and react to all concepts around him in real time—but if the Tower changed faster than that, he was helpless.
"Not a trick room, but..."
"Chain room is possible. Excellent."
A room larger than any they'd faced before, testing the limits of body and mind with its environment.
Under these conditions, it ending as a single room would be unbelievable.
Most first-years hadn't even seen a trick room, let alone a chain, but Rebellion had outgrown first-year standards long ago.
Realizing their situation wasn't easy tensed up the whole team, including Lucelle who had been fawning over the ring.
Whether they'd trained over break or not, the Tower wouldn't care—it would test them as it pleased.
"It's coming from below!"
Sensing a massive concept surging from the ground, Ban Yu-won activated Leap and Flight concepts, jumping up as he shouted.
Lucelle and Dokgo Yeon followed suit, as if waiting for his word.
Then the desert collapsed.
"What...?"
Dokgo Yeon let out an indescribable sound.
All she saw below was a pitch-black hole.
Ban Yu-won realized what it was a beat later and yelled again.
"It's a whale!"
"So that's... a whale's throat...?"
Dokgo Yeon was dumbfounded by the hundred-meter-wide black maw.
For a split second, she thought about shoving a mountain giant down it, but thankfully kept it to herself.
Lucelle, now floating effortlessly with all nine tails out and spinning like propellers, narrowed her eyes at the whale emerging over the desert.
"Maybe the Tower thought tossing out a giant monster would make us suffer?"
"Stop comparing Babel Tower to a third-rate game developer."
"...Where's As Light?"
At Dokgo Yeon's words, Lucelle went "Eh?" and looked around—but of course, he was gone.
"This pest causes trouble the moment we speak!"
"No, wait."
As Dokgo Yeon glared and dove toward the whale, Ban Yu-won grabbed her.
While scanning with his Origin Sword after her words, he'd detected an ominous flow of concepts.
"Let go, Ban Yu-won. Even if he's disgusting, if that pest retires, we're stuck too... Hm?"
Dokgo Yeon felt it too and looked down, falling silent.
The whale, which had leaped with its massive jaws wide to swallow them whole, failed and dove back into the sand.
More precisely, it lost balance just before, tumbling across the sand with thunderous roars and quakes.
"No way?"
She cautiously chanted a spell, and in the next moment...
The whale's body exploded, blue light surging forth!
Acquired Sand Whale 50. A superior organism concept that humans cannot possess.
A sand whale, literally.
Superior organism, my ass.
Ban Yu-won reflexively reached out to collect the concept as the monster died, spotting As Light emerging pristine from between the vanishing corpse.
Impossible to believe he'd gone into the whale's belly and come out unscathed.
"...Heh."
As Light looked up at the floating group, smirking crookedly and adding yet another pattern.
Beside the desperately restraining Ban Yu-won as furious Dokgo Yeon tried to activate her martial arts, Lucelle quietly spoke.
"...What if the current As Light is actually better than the original?"
She voiced what everyone had thought but no one had dared say!
Ban Yu-won shuddered but couldn't deny it.
At the same time, it meant As Light was far more 'consumed' by the holy sword than at the start of the first semester...
That day, the group successfully broke through to Room 140 in a single day.