Chapter 69
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Lesson 15. Weren't You Taught to Be Careful with Contracts? - 3
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“Let's climb the tower together.”
Friday morning, during breakfast.
Aire approached the spot where the Rebellion members were gathered, eating their meal (today's menu was a fusion-style pasta reminiscent of Western cuisine: noodles stir-fried with ham and topped with cheese, paired with a pickled dish similar to kimchi).
Ban Yu-won glanced at the students around them who had overheard and were looking shocked, let out a sigh, and replied.
“Telling us won't make any difference.”
“You're short on mages. With me added, you'd have the perfect lineup.”
“Ban is an excellent mage.”
Light, who could never be too nice to Aire, seemed to be regarding her with slight wariness for some reason.
Or maybe it was his own way of trying to help her detach emotionally from him? As Ban Yu-won twirled noodles around his chopsticks, the thought suddenly crossed his mind.
“But he's not a major in magical engineering. Using him solely as a mage would be inefficient.”
“You talk like you know Ban pretty well.”
“I've watched all of Rebellion's videos. Subscribed, too.”
So she was a customer of ours.
Ban Yu-won's favorability toward her ticked up by 1.
“With me, it'd be perfect. Just nod, and I can convince Professor Yumina.”
That was certainly true.
She wasn't asking to transfer to Class 11; she just wanted to team up with them for the tower. Yumina had no real grounds to refuse.
In fact, upperclassmen from second year and above—who had repeatedly nearly died in the tower and truly understood the value of teamwork—often teamed up with students from other classes.
Light seemed to know this too, as he fell silent and turned to Ban Yu-won.
“Ban, what I mean is...”
“Ban Yu-won, I'll follow your decision.”
“Me too.”
Before Light could finish, Dokgo Yeon and Lucelle suddenly deferred the choice to Ban Yu-won.
With things like this, Light's opinion wouldn't sway the decision at all!
“Aren't you guys sucking up to Ban a bit too much?”
“We just trust him.”
“Me too.”
“—No, still not happening.”
Not sure if it was in response to their faith, but Ban Yu-won made a firm call.
Aire looked somehow like she'd half-expected it, but still asked anyway.
“Why?”
“Climbing with you wouldn't help us grow. You're too strong.”
“But you're plenty strong yourselves...”
“Hold on.”
Ban Yu-won dipped his hand into a cup of water, shook it off, and drew two characters on the table.
Block the room with sound-suppression magic: sound barrier.
As he infused the completed word with mana, a soundproof barrier formed around the table, ensuring their conversation wouldn't leak out.
It was a spell he'd wanted to try for a while.
“We're about to discuss something sensitive.”
He gave his startled companions a wry smile and continued.
“Our current members... well, excluding Dokgo Yeon, we're all in a transitional phase.”
“Transitional phase.”
“Yeah. Everyone has their reasons, but simply put, we're in the process of finding our paths forward.”
Ban Yu-won was still a total newbie who'd only recently awakened to his abilities.
Sure, in less than a month, he'd amassed power surpassing most first-years, but his control over that vast strength was far from refined—no way around it.
Lucelle was a girl who'd come to serve a boy she'd known for under a month as her master without hesitation, pushed to the brink mentally.
She'd barely escaped the curse of the Heart Road that had bound her for so long and was gradually learning to wield it.
And just recently, she'd resumed accumulating her long-suppressed feral instincts.
The epitome of instability.
Light? No need to even mention him.
This guy would be dead weight against anyone.
“Hey!”
Ban Yu-won shoved the shouting Light aside and pressed on.
“For us right now, climbing the tower isn't just about conquering it—it's also about finding the path that best suits each of us. Dokgo Yeon has been kindly helping us with that.”
“Then let me help you too.”
“Sorry. One teacher is enough.”
Ban Yu-won rejected her curtly but definitively.
Aire realized her own words rang hollow, her expression stiffening slightly.
Then, in a deflated voice, she asked,
“Friends... at least?”
“Of course. Keep guesting on our videos. Professor Yumina will love it.”
“...Yeah.”
She nodded faintly, as if that settled it, and walked away.
Ban Yu-won sighed, erased the characters from the table, and dismantled the barrier.
Dokgo Yeon spoke up, eyes sparkling.
“Impressive as always, Ban Yu-won.”
“Cut the bullshit. The answer was obvious from the start. How could we take her on right now?”
It'd turn into Aire's one-woman show—or a two-woman show with Dokgo Yeon added.
And Aire surely knew that.
She must have been so convinced of Rebellion's potential that she got impatient.
Plus one more thing, if Ban Yu-won had to speculate...
Maybe she wanted to ask to be friends from the beginning?
But since that felt awkward, she circled around with talk of joining Class 11 or climbing together?
Starting as friends—a major strategy. Though with who she is, it'll probably crash and burn...
Ban Yu-won sneaked a glance at Light, who was fuming, convinced he'd been verbally abused, keeping his thoughts internal.
Light caught the meaningful look and said, eyes trembling,
“W-what? Ban, why do you keep giving me those weird looks lately? D-don't tell me you like guys...”
“That's definitely not it, so relax. Or maybe you can't.”
“What?!”
Light yelped in horror.
Teasing him like this was still the most fun.
Ban Yu-won ignored Lucelle and Dokgo Yeon's dumbfounded stares and stood up.
“Alright, time to go. Tower awaits.”
* * *
Since all four had cleanly wiped out on the previous climb, this challenge started back at Room 1.
For some reason, everyone looked to Ban Yu-won, and he didn't disappoint, stepping forward.
“No fights until Room 5 or 6, probably.”
“Ban Yu-won, you could handle up to Room 15 solo.”
“Not me—the kids.”
“Shh.”
Eve unfurled from Ban Yu-won's arm and took to the air.
Not just that—he pulled Release from his inventory too. Lucelle was the first to tilt her head.
“Yu-won, the bike... got bigger?”
“Just a little. It's alive now, after all.”
A bike made of metal chunks being alive wasn't all that shocking anymore.
After all, hadn't Ban Yu-won turned a plain stick into a divine beast?
As the group watched Release intently, it honked shyly—Paang!—and took off ahead.
“Room 1, I guess.”
“Shall we follow at a leisurely pace?”
When Ban Yu-won had first entered the tower, where had he hit his limit?
Room 4? Something like that.
But limits didn't apply to the ones in front of him.
“How many hours has it been?”
“About three.”
“And this is... Room 9.”
“Insanely fast.”
Even with records resetting on every wipe, students kept challenging the tower because its ever-shifting interior couldn't erase the tower's inherent traits. Repeat climbers learned them and tackled it more efficiently.
Like a roguelike game: the more you play, the more the overall structure clicks, and you speed up.
Of course, Eve and Release's pace was fast even accounting for all that.
“They don't have stamina limits. They suck up mana to recover as they use it, so it never runs out.”
“Which means you could do the same, mana-wise.”
“That's why I never complain about lacking mana.”
And...
Ban Yu-won smirked as he watched Eve and Release face the Room 9 monster: the Trap Reaper, a beast in a straw hat with hook claws on both hands.
It scattered invisible traps everywhere, detonating them on the spot to halt foes before shredding them with claws—a nasty one. But against Ban Yu-won, who could read and absorb trap concepts outright, it was the perfect matchup.
Of course, his familiars—who wielded his powers fully via Resonance—had the same advantage.
—Kieeeh!
—Bwoooong!
“Shiiik, shishishit!”
No matter how many Trap Reapers swarmed at once, they were no match for Eve and Release.
Above all, these two had swept every monster from Room 1 to 8, absorbing hefty concept loads and boosting their power immensely.
“Eve might hit Life 250 by this weekend if things go well.”
Release around 220, conservatively.
Irecto—a Special Class member when they started—had been at 250 Life. No need to belabor how ridiculous that was.
—Kik!
—Kiiee?
The Trap Reapers, souls stripped bare by Eve and Release—who code-converted every trap instantly and synced attacks like mind readers—turned tail for easier prey.
And unfortunately, they zeroed in on none other than Ban Yu-won.
“...I still look like the weakest, huh.”
“You kinda do.”
“I-I'll protect you.”
“No, it'll just make me feel pathetic.”
Ban Yu-won pouted and stepped forward, even deliberately exposing himself to draw their slashes.
But the instant a Trap Reaper lunged and slashed, his form turned translucent and distorted into afterimages in midair!
“What are you aiming at? That's just my afterimage.”
—Khit?!
“And so is this.”
—Bwoooong!
—Kiiiiiee!
The Trap Reapers flailed at empty afterimages, panicking without hitting the real body—until Release zipped up from behind and impaled one through the front fender, killing it.
“Satisfied, Ban Yu-won?”
“Yeah.”
“Why is this guy such a child sometimes?”
Dokgo Yeon sighed, but Ban Yu-won couldn't suppress his immense satisfaction.
Not just because he'd landed a line from his “Top 20 Must-Say Finishing Moves” list.
What he'd just used was Shadow Step, plus an illusion creating temporary clones to fool enemy senses.
He'd always had Shadow Step, but the illusion was Eve's ability.
Which made sense.
The “Resonance” concept granted to Eve let her share Ban Yu-won's powers—and allowed him to wield hers!
“What were you trying to show off?”
“Exactly: the stronger my artifact... no, familiar with Resonance gets, the stronger I get too.”
“Mutual benefit.”
And that wasn't all.
More Resonance familiars meant more diverse abilities, flexibility in any situation.
The near-telepathic teamwork from Resonance was an indescribable boon.
“Shishishit!”
—Pang!
Eve and Release returned to Ban Yu-won's side, having wiped out the Trap Reapers.
Between them, they'd harvested over 150 depth in traps.
Dumping it all to craft a proper persistent trap sounded fun.
“Alright, on to Room 10.”
“This is embarrassingly easy. If nothing's there, straight to 11. Time for us to move too.”
“Ban, aren't all the monsters cleared? Is there a maze or something hidden here too?”
It felt too straightforward for Room 9, apparently. But their party's exploration was hellish compared to normal students!
Not some easy clear where you just kill mobs and leave.
“The entire Room 9 is one big trap. If we hadn't taken out the Trap Reapers in time, it'd have triggered and wiped us.”
“...Most parties would've ended right here.”
“Without you, Ban Yu-won...”
“We might've wandered clueless after clearing the mobs, hit the trap, and died. You could've smashed it with brute force, Dokgo Yeon, but...”
With the trap being a combo of ground erosion and lava bursts, at least one would've wiped.
Ban Yu-won reached out, touched a wall spot, and a thin golden thread emerged, tangling around his finger.
Gently pulling it out revealed a 50-depth trap.
Combined with the Reapers' haul: a clean 200 depth.
He'd remember this place as a treasure trove.
—Hey, stop walking and wait a moment.
—Can you hear my voice? I have something crucial to discuss with you, the genius creator.
...No, a trap to the end, huh?