Chapter 266
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 266
Chapter Title: Lesson 52. The Back Side of the Tower - 2
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"It's been a really long wait."
―You brought some of it on yourself, though.
"I'd rather you didn't point that out."
The morning lecture, sandwiched between Aire and Yumina with death-defying resolve, somehow wrapped up peacefully for the first time in ages.
After lunch, Ban Yu-won even finished his now-routine spar with Dokgo Yeon quickly. Refreshed in body and mind, he stood before the tower.
That's right.
What he was about to do now was a solo exploration.
He'd definitely planned to dive in right as the second semester started, but he couldn't quite figure out how it had dragged on this long.
―You were busy dating, that's why. Dating.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm the world's biggest playboy. Let's just head in."
―Oh... right, shameless suits you. Honestly, as long as you take good care of that girl, I don't care if you date ten or a hundred women.
"Dating a hundred? We'd run out of day just exchanging hellos."
Ban Yu-won bantered with Cellon to shake off the tension.
Recalling his last solo run, steeling himself to face even an ancestor popping out, he stepped into the tower.
The shift was instantaneous.
Everything around him melted away in a flash, depositing him in a dim room.
No exit door, no vast space for combat.
He could handle a monster or two, but a group? He'd be hard-pressed to maneuver.
"What the hell is this?"
Cellon, shifting to human form the moment they entered, frowned and muttered.
"First the creation myth, then the Babel Tower construction site, and now suddenly just a plain room?"
"It's not been plain since that point."
Cellon nodded at Ban Yu-won's retort—fair enough—and spread one hand, conjuring a magic circle.
It expanded in a blink, blanketing the room. He barely caught the 'scan' concept amid it.
"No living things moving at all? What is this? I thought I'd finally be useful."
"Please keep that commendable attitude forever."
"Hmph, I'm just repaying a favor."
Not textbook polite, but exemplary enough to use as a model.
Anyway, Cellon's scan gave a clue.
'She couldn't detect life forms with her power.'
"Which means..."
From the moment his eyes opened here, Ban Yu-won had seen concepts overflowing everywhere: demons, traces of fairies, body, life, soul. He narrowed his eyes.
"This isn't a combat stage."
"For real...? Aren't grotesque monsters supposed to burst out, snarling, right when you're about to uncover the tower's secrets—ones never seen before?"
"You keeping up with Earth content lately?"
"Yeah, with Lilith and Eve."
These two were sneakily pushing sacrifices.
Ban Yu-won sighed, spotting an antique sofa nearby and sinking into it.
The vibe oddly mimicked the rest areas popping up every ten floors, but with a strangely dynamic feel.
Maybe because the concepts drifting in the room had a flow.
Ban Yu-won half-lidded his eyes, tracking it, then glanced up at the ceiling and chuckled softly.
Cellon, missing the laugh, tilted her head.
"Why sit? Shouldn't we look for an exit?"
"Nah, no need to move from here. No fighting either."
"Oh? Alrighty."
No need for combat meant she could drop the human form, but she plopped beside him casually.
Catching his gaze, she shrugged.
"What? I wanna hang in my human days look sometimes."
"If you say so."
She often did this when he trained alone or when Asha took Aire out, leaving the dorm empty. But was that enough?
This exploration veered far from expectations, but if Cellon could rest, it wasn't bad.
"Weird."
"What is?"
Cellon, eyeing the room, spoke up. Ban Yu-won reflexively scanned too.
The room wasn't big or small. First thing catching the eye: the sole light source.
Firewood crackled in the wall hearth, slow flames and pops soothing the mood.
The sofa faced away from it. And that was it.
"If the tower made this room, it should have purpose. But nothing shows. It's empty."
"At least there's a sofa."
"And earlier... weird. Not on scan, but I feel a presence. Spill if you noticed something."
"Up."
"Scan showed nothing odd..."
Cellon finally looked up, words dying, silence falling.
Like black sponge. Circular holes pocked the ceiling—creepy enough—but they pulsed, sucking in, exhaling something.
"GyaAAAAAH――."
No time for a full scream; a groan-screech as she lunged into Ban Yu-won's arms.
Her once-staff body felt vividly real—surreal—and her post-unsealing chill turning to panic made him feel like a kid pranking successfully, oddly proud.
"What, what is this?! Scan missed it!"
"Too reliant on magic, huh? A closer look without it would've spotted it."
"Nothing escapes my scan――oh, right, this is the tower. Forgot for a sec..."
Deflated, she sighed and peeled away.
"You'll handle it anyway?"
"Told you, no combat. Wait a bit."
"?"
Leaving puzzled Cellon, Ban Yu-won leisurely brewed black tea.
Cellon stared at his nape, squinting like reading his mind.
He sensed it without looking, chuckling as he explained.
"Talked with Aire once. My solo runs differ from others'. She called it the tower's back side."
"Hmm."
"Past two had fights, but not the point, right?"
"Both way tougher than team runs."
"But fights weren't the goal."
First run: world created. Second: tower built.
Past solos showed and taught myth-era fragments his ancestor lived.
Curated ones Ban Yu-won needed or wanted shown, etched in the tower.
So third?
"...This the early tower interior?"
"Maybe, or the current one's core. Key's not 'when' but what I learn here."
Pouring tea, he handed her a cup.
Rebellion members loved hot chocolate, but Yumina leaned booze or tea—Cellon too.
Even questioning tea now, she took it, aroma winning.
"Learn...? Ah?!"
Cellon yelped.
A goblin popped in the empty room center.
Tiny compared to tower norms.
One, ten, hundred.
Thousands, tens of thousands swarmed like ants—nauseating.
"Wait, did we shrink?!"
"They're small. They'll resize on deployment. I can shrink goblin-tier easy."
"Then... my god, this is the monster nursery."
Ban Yu-won nodded at Cellon's bullseye.
Yes.
This space birthed Babel Tower's endless monsters.
The concept flows he'd seen: ingredients for goblins, low-tier beasts.
Formed into goblins here, then――.
"Sucked in..."
All absorbed into ceiling holes.
Vanished goblins respawned low floors.
Slain remnants reabsorbed, recycled into new ones.
'Even if slayer gets some life as EXP, most concepts vanish unless fully reclaimed like me. Wondered where they went—mystery solved.'
Ban Yu-won eyed the nursery... circulation chamber, eyes gleaming, as it reclaimed, birthed, redeployed endlessly.
Yearly freshmen, climbers resetting via losses—this likely the tower's busiest cycle spot.
"Tower's busiest...? Ah, not just one nursery."
"Right. Can't say every monster type, but tiered by level, components. Goblin concepts simple, basic. Easiest difficulty."
"Difficulty? ...Ah."
Cellon's instincts sharp.
From his 'no combat'—she'd pondered 'then what?' Now, seeing the process and his 'learn,' it clicked.
"You... said form-shaping's not your forte."
"Yep. Intensive tutoring here."
Pouring his cup, he slumped gloomily on the sofa.
At his sulk, Cellon hesitated, then scooted closer—like watching Yumina. He chuckled.
"Still lost to me... but you see how these spawn."
With All-Reading Eyes seeing flows coalesce into monsters, he'd fail as owner otherwise.
The form education he'd craved...
But watching start-to-finish, not simple.
He sighed naturally.
"This'll take a while too."
"Break before semester ends? I'll cheer."
"No work? Infuse talismans with magic whenever full. Using lots lately."
"Knew you'd ask."
Thus, another task piled on his packed schedule.
Luckily, not just tower's back for 'creation' practice...