Ch.92Scent of Homeland…? (2)

“Whaaa?! Are you okay, unni?!”

“…I’m fine…”

Actually, I’m not fine at all…

I let out a deep sigh.

In the end, I didn’t even get to properly use the Transcendent Forum.

Of course, I didn’t want to leave without responding when they welcomed me, so I just posted a quick greeting before taking off.

You know that common saying, right?

“Shut up and lurk first” – meaning you should keep quiet, observe through lurking to understand what kind of place you’ve entered before participating.

Even I thought that was the right approach, so I just posted a greeting and haven’t been active at all.

After spending all night examining what kind of forum the Transcendent Forum is…

“It’s just a garbage forum full of useless posts?”

Typically, forums are centered around specific topics for posting.

However, places called “garbage forums” are overrun by malicious trolls posting off-topic content, preventing the forum from functioning properly.

While urgent normalization is needed, without someone to restore order, such forums inevitably get completely consumed.

The Transcendent Forum was exactly in that state.

‘Of course, the forum itself doesn’t have a specific topic to begin with…

But it’s literally called the “Transcendent Forum.”

I knew it wasn’t a forum for posting about a specific topic, but the content of the posts exceeded my imagination.

It’s like walking through a minefield.

It was nothing but a cesspool filled with content I’d rather not see, which made me newly appreciate Eterna who created TowerInside.

Of course, having seen far worse things, I wasn’t mentally affected by something as trivial as the Transcendent Forum.

I suppose it’s fortunate that it wasn’t completely boring.

Considering how quickly time passed while browsing, that is.

Hmm…

I think I understand now.

Why Transcendents have become like this.

It seems this Transcendent Forum is the only place where Transcendents can relieve stress, so people become twisted when they come here.

No one knows who posts what, and the users are interdimensional beings who rarely meet in reality.

Well, thinking about it that way, I can understand why people post garbage.

I can understand, but…

“Unni!”

“Ah, look at me spacing out… I’m sorry.”

“Huh? No, no! I was worried I might be disturbing you.”

“Hmm? Not at all. I’m actually grateful you helped pull me out of those distracting thoughts.”

“R-really? Hehehe…”

She’s cute.

After seeing all those awful things, facing Irina’s smile feels like all the negativity is being washed away.

Chuckling, I patted Irina’s head and checked the time before getting up.

“I should get going now.”

“Where are you going?”

“Iron Tower.”

“Iron Tower?”

“Yes. I have something to collect.”

I thought they would send it separately later, but they must be quite busy since the money hasn’t come in even though the Greatest Magic Tower Tournament is over.

‘It’s getting dangerous if it doesn’t come in soon.’

I was planning to use this money to renovate the Blood Tower extensively.

Previously, I only provided free meals, but unfortunately, the Blood Tower lags behind other magic towers in many other aspects.

One of those aspects is the overall facilities.

It’s true that I earned an enormous amount from the bets placed directly on me, but compared to other wealthy magic towers, it’s not actually that much.

It’s not enough to renovate the Blood Tower, so I need to collect money separately…

That’s where the Iron Tower comes in.

‘If they made money off my image, they should pay up accordingly…’

Just like the money-obsessed people they are…

This won’t do.

“Let’s go to the Iron Tower.”

I need to meet their boss.

“I want to come too!”

“But you’ll just end up playing by yourself again.”

“I still want to come!”

“Fine, whatever.”

If that’s what she wants.

* * *

“So that’s why you came…?”

“That’s right.”

The woman at the counter pushed up her slipping glasses with an astonished expression as she asked.

I answered while quickly scanning my surroundings.

Other magic towers at least gave off the feeling of being magic towers, but this place was called the Iron Tower yet was essentially no different from the companies I knew.

No lie, it was like a company with attached dormitories inside a magic tower.

I’d heard that mages are efficiency-seekers, and Iron Tower mages in particular are essentially engineers who pursue efficiency to the extreme.

But I never expected it to be this extreme.

‘How do they live in such a suffocating place…’

Iron Tower… more like an iron-barred prison…

I don’t think I could live in a place like this…

Hmm…

“Is there somewhere for the child to play?”

“Ah, y-yes, there is.”

“Take this child there.”

“Unni, you’re leaving me behind again!”

“Go play. I’ll be back soon. Why did you come along when you knew this would happen?”

Considering what I’m about to see, it would be better if she hadn’t come.

“Just you wait, unniiii~!”

“Sure.”

Leaving behind Irina who was making threats, I asked:

“So? Where is the Iron Tower Master?”

“Ah, that… so you really did come to see that person…”

“Yes.”

What other reason would I have to visit the Iron Tower?

If we consider what would constitute a reason to visit the Iron Tower, we should examine the most significant factors.

One of the things the Iron Tower values most…

Money… that is.

“It’s urgent.”

“Yes, yes… please wait a moment…!”

The woman was startled by my urgent tone and quickly hurried away.

Shortly after, she returned and gestured for me to follow a small mechanical device that was making “beep-beep” sounds while calling for me.

“A cube?”

It really looks like a cube.

“Cute, isn’t it? It’s called Cubing.”

What kind of name is that?

Anyway, I followed the square-shaped mechanical device called Cubing and soon arrived at a teleportation device.

“… Don’t tell me this is…”

“Beep-boop- This is a floor-to-floor teleportation device.”

“Thanks for telling me…”

It’s not surprising, but seeing these things casually moving around made me realize how wealthy the Iron Tower truly is.

We’re still using old elevators that make us anxious they might fall at any moment, but they have floor-to-floor teleportation devices.

‘Yes… someday our Blood Tower too…’

I wasn’t planning to go this far, but seeing the Iron Tower makes me think the Blood Tower should be able to do at least this much.

The Blood Tower possesses the most excellent magic of any tower.

I mustn’t forget that fact.

As the Blood Tower Master, I should maintain that mindset rather than feeling inferior from the start.

I sighed deeply and was about to step into the device when…

‘How do I enter this thing?’

There doesn’t seem to be a specific entrance.

At first, I thought I needed to enter through that crack, but thinking about it, if that were the case, there wouldn’t be floor number buttons on the side.

It didn’t take long to figure it out.

If there’s a crack and buttons, I should press a button first to open a crack leading to that location, then enter through it.

“Beep-boop- Press the desired floor and step into the crack. Beep-bloop-blop. You don’t even know this? Recording… Blood Tower Master, poor. Beep-bloop-blop…”

The problem was that before I could act on my conclusion, that damn cube spoke first, apparently thinking I was confused.

“This little…”

No, I should stay calm.

Nothing is more foolish than getting angry at artificial intelligence.

I’m not poor… though compared to other tower masters, I’m still relatively poor.

But is that really artificial intelligence?

It can’t be controlled by a person, right…?

I kept giving Cubing suspicious glances, but it seemed completely oblivious to my stares and continued to mock me as incompetent.

Should I just smash this thing?

But then I’d probably have to pay for it.

…

I’ll just endure it.

“By the way, for the top floor, press 100 at the very top. Beep-beep-“

“I know, tin can.”

It’s not even wordplay – of course the top floor would be at the very top.

When I firmly pressed 100, the spatial crack quickly transformed into a crack leading to the top floor.

‘The technology is insane…’

As soon as I stepped inside, I arrived at the top floor, the Iron Tower Master’s office.

“Ah~ Coming so suddenly is troublesome, Midir.”

“Erika.”

The pink-haired girl greeted me with a chuckle.

Was she drawing something just now?

I’m pretty sure I saw a quick Alt+Tab, but she was acting completely nonchalant.

“Hmm.”

I made a contemplative expression for a moment before launching my blood.

“Eek?!”

After quickly restraining Erika’s body, I approached her.

“W-wait a minute… we’ve only met twice, right? And using magic between tower masters like this… is practically a declaration of war…”

“Let’s see what you were drawing.”

I operated the pad.

And seeing the lewd drawing of myself, I frowned.

“Having fun?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Haah…”

This kid.

She seems to have gotten carried away because of what I allowed before.

No wonder there were so many of my nudes being posted everywhere, damn it.