Chapter 33

The tutorial was a space designed to help adaptation to the Tower.

It was largely composed of three parts.

The first and second sections were to explain the usage of basic elements.

The first tutorial, which Kim Haemi just passed, was to test and make players realize skill usage and magic adaptation.

The second tutorial, which will proceed next, is about traits and stats.

Finally, the last one will test the player’s mentality by breaking down psychological barriers.

The last tutorial’s difficulty was such that it would be strange not to pass it, so it seemed things would be mostly wrapped up after passing the next tutorial. However, it was also expected to be the stage with the most aftereffects.

Destruction accepted the kind of guidelines we presented better than expected.

Even the difficulty levels were well-matched without problems so far.

It felt like destruction was confined within the framework we presented because it was overwhelmed by Time’s rank.

Though both had similar ranks, destruction was consuming a lot of magic power as it just began to take form.

In a situation busy solidifying its own foundation, it couldn’t turn its eyes outward.

Time’s continuous interference with destruction’s growth using her elasticity would be one of those influences.

“Still, I didn’t expect so many to fail at stage 1.”

“It’s always like that at the beginning. These are the trial and errors that all the Towers I’ve seen have gone through. They only start to stabilize around the middle stage.”

“It’s regrettable, but it’s difficult to lower the difficulty any further.”

Since the current difficulty was balanced as much as possible, it was hard to break it carelessly.

What we could adjust were only basic parts like weapon distribution.

It seemed the Sun and the new recruits were satisfied with the Constellation system.

Though called new recruits, they were individuals we had encountered in the previous iteration. They wouldn’t remember, though.

Would this be called second-hand recruits?

Except for the Sun, they had ambiguous ranks, so they couldn’t regress together.

The Moon is now working to maintain the overall stabilization of the Tower.

Being busy, proper communication wasn’t possible.

Well, having to handle alone what was previously done with the Sun, it’s understandable.

The Abyss, perhaps sulking, wasn’t easy to contact.

Although she says she’s not sulking but just feeling disappointed, it looked like sulking to anyone who saw.

Perhaps the sense of loss from the disappearance of her job was significant.

To be honest, I felt sorry. In some ways, it could even lead to a decline in rank.

Instead, while properly establishing the concept of death within the Tower, I gave her a role related to it.

The Tower in the previous iteration didn’t properly establish the concept of death.

It was closer to the concept of annihilation rather than death.

Those who crumble without leaving anything behind.

They disappear without leaving any belongings, any words, or even their own bodies.

All that remains are formless memories. And skill books containing only partial records.

Because it was a cursed space where even mourning wasn’t possible, even the concept of death couldn’t be formed.

That’s the same for the current Tower, but I wanted to make at least minimal mourning possible.

It might be a simple ritual and an action without any substance, but I wanted to do at least that much.

As Time always says, there isn’t a special meaning embedded in every action. In most cases, meaning follows after actions are taken.

Even if it’s a simple ritual, wouldn’t meaning reside in it if repeated?

The act of mourning is, in fact, more for the living than for the dead.

Because the dead can no longer hear or see.

It’s an act for those who remember and reminisce about that person, to share sorrow and receive comfort for pain.

It was a preparation process for those who hadn’t properly said goodbye to those who departed suddenly, to accept the farewell.

In a way, couldn’t that also be called a tutorial?

Because it’s an adaptation period to accept farewell.

I suddenly laughed at my own way of thinking.

“Haha.”

I was dumbfounded. It seems my way of thinking has been completely colored by staying in the Tower for too long.

Shaking my head, I tried hard to erase that thought.

Just then, with a tinkling sound, someone entered the used bookstore.

Raising my head to look at the door, I saw a person with a familiar silhouette.

“Wow, it’s strange with no people on the streets. Awkward.”

Berg is seen lifting the brim of his hat and smiling.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“It has.”

Though I was glad, I deliberately tried not to show it and spoke as grumpily as possible.

There was no particular reason.

Just because I was embarrassed.

“Hmm.”

Berg looked at me with an unpleasant smile.

“W-what?”

He grabbed both my cheeks and stretched them while speaking.

“Didn’t you miss me? It feels like I haven’t seen you in so long.”

“W-well?”

In a teasing tone, he keeps trying to make eye contact.

Contrary to that, I rolled my eyes in all directions, trying to avoid eye contact by any means.

“It’s all written on your face anyway. You seem unable to hide your expressions.”

“What are you saying?”

It had been quite a while since Berg returned to the Tower, but we hadn’t encountered each other much during that time.

It was inevitable as we were both busy with work.

Thinking about that time, I could only laugh from the absurdity.

After the Tower stabilized to some extent, we decided to call those who agreed to regress together.

I was finally able to open the pouch that Time had handed to me.

I thought I would go crazy from curiosity about what was in the pouch.

Knowing I shouldn’t open it made me even more curious.

After all, when told not to do something, one usually wants to do it more.

When I opened the pouch, what came out were just objects symbolizing them.

They looked like wooden carvings.

The Moon and the Sun were, literally, a moon-shaped carving and a sun-shaped carving.

There was a strange hidden function where the two could be combined to form the Tower.

The Abyss was a carving of dozens or hundreds of birdcages hanging in a dark background.

Berg was a carving in the shape of a coin used in the Tower.

There was also a carving symbolizing me. It was a maze made of intertwined books. The overall shape was similar to a cube.

It actually works, so I’m playing with it now like solving a puzzle.

If these carvings represented those who traveled back in time, why wasn’t Time included?

I had such a question, but I didn’t think too deeply about it.

Anyway, after burying these carvings in the ground as if planting seeds, not long after, they became people.

Rather than being mysterious, it was fascinating, and rather than beautiful and fantastic, it was bizarre.

The sight of people growing from the ground.

“By the way, why is that person here?”

I stopped reminiscing at Berg’s whispered question.

“Who?”

“That person over there.”

What Berg pointed to was Time, who was carving something in the corner.

“Ah, she said she was bored.”

“Bored? Who is that person?”

“Ah, you don’t know. You know that person with the vicious personality I told you about.”

Time said while diligently carving wood.

“I can hear you.”

“I meant for you to hear.”

Berg still had an expression that said he didn’t know who it was.

“Time.”

At those words, he nodded and then was shocked.

“What?”

I understand his shock.

The concept of time is a high-ranking concept no matter who hears it.

In reality, she’s a malicious person who enjoys teasing others.

“She said she wants to enjoy the freedom she recently gained.”

“Freedom?”

“There’s such a thing. She put down a lot.”

Though I’m worried she might have put down her sanity as well.

“Can I go closer and take a look?”

His eyes are sparkling. Just like a fan looking at an idol.

If someone wants to express admiration, I’d want to tell them to reference this appearance.

It feels awkward when Berg, who doesn’t express emotions well, acts like this.

“Go ahead.”

“You should come with me. How can I go alone?”

“What’s the big deal about just going over to look?”

Berg pulled my arm, so I had no choice but to approach Time.

“What are you making?”

“A music box.”

They were carvings I had seen a lot.

Dwarves and amusement park equipment.

“This…”

“Yes, things that were originally in my space.”

They were things from the space given to Time in the basement of the used bookstore.

The basement wasn’t included in the range of the used bookstore.

Strictly speaking, that space was no longer my space, so.

“It’s done.”

The sorrowful sound of a music box echoes through the used bookstore.

Dwarves walk along a predetermined path, and accordingly, amusement rides like Ferris wheels and carousels also start moving slowly.

A streetlamp with arms and legs plays the violin.

“Time flows differently for each person. Slowly for a child, quickly for an elderly person.”

Time said while touching the music box she made.

“The flow of time is like a song created by the interlocking of each person’s time. That’s how I see it.”

She lifts the music box with an awkward smile.

Hugging the music box to her chest, Time said:

“So this is something that symbolizes me, you could say.”

I took in the sight of Time like that.

If there were ordinariness and extraordinariness, Time was always a person who leaned more toward the extraordinary.

But lately, the ordinary appearances of Time that I keep seeing keep coming to mind.

For some reason, these ordinary appearances—smiling ordinarily, acting ordinarily—stuck in my mind more than her other extraordinary appearances.

[Abnormal access to the Tower’s system has been detected.]

I came to my senses again at the sudden message.

There was only one person who would make such an attempt.

For now, the space accessed was not the tutorial space.

It was the waiting room where those who passed the tutorial were resting.

It was approaching about 2 or 3 people and engaging in conversation.

I sent the spatial coordinates to Time and the Moon.

Originally, this was something the Moon, as the administrator of the Tower, should handle, but because the opponent’s rank was so high, we had no choice but to seek Time’s help.

Fortunately, not long after, we were able to completely block destruction’s access.

Destruction suffered a considerable backlash due to attempting forced access, but in terms of profit and loss, it was a disadvantageous situation for us.

Time said while touching the music box she had carved.

“Now it’s no longer a game.”

Her voice was closer to anticipation than regret.

The tutorial was a space designed to help adaptation to the Tower.

It was largely composed of three parts.

The first and second sections were to explain the usage of basic elements.

The first tutorial, which Kim Haemi just passed, was to test and make players realize skill usage and magic adaptation.

The second tutorial, which will proceed next, is about traits and stats.

Finally, the last one will test the player’s mentality by breaking down psychological barriers.

The last tutorial’s difficulty was such that it would be strange not to pass it, so it seemed things would be mostly wrapped up after passing the next tutorial. However, it was also expected to be the stage with the most aftereffects.

Destruction accepted the kind of guidelines we presented better than expected.

Even the difficulty levels were well-matched without problems so far.

It felt like destruction was confined within the framework we presented because it was overwhelmed by Time’s rank.

Though both had similar ranks, destruction was consuming a lot of magic power as it just began to take form.

In a situation busy solidifying its own foundation, it couldn’t turn its eyes outward.

Time’s continuous interference with destruction’s growth using her elasticity would be one of those influences.

“Still, I didn’t expect so many to fail at stage 1.”

“It’s always like that at the beginning. These are the trial and errors that all the Towers I’ve seen have gone through. They only start to stabilize around the middle stage.”

“It’s regrettable, but it’s difficult to lower the difficulty any further.”

Since the current difficulty was balanced as much as possible, it was hard to break it carelessly.

What we could adjust were only basic parts like weapon distribution.

It seemed the Sun and the new recruits were satisfied with the Constellation system.

Though called new recruits, they were individuals we had encountered in the previous iteration. They wouldn’t remember, though.

Would this be called second-hand recruits?

Except for the Sun, they had ambiguous ranks, so they couldn’t regress together.

The Moon is now working to maintain the overall stabilization of the Tower.

Being busy, proper communication wasn’t possible.

Well, having to handle alone what was previously done with the Sun, it’s understandable.

The Abyss, perhaps sulking, wasn’t easy to contact.

Although she says she’s not sulking but just feeling disappointed, it looked like sulking to anyone who saw.

Perhaps the sense of loss from the disappearance of her job was significant.

To be honest, I felt sorry. In some ways, it could even lead to a decline in rank.

Instead, while properly establishing the concept of death within the Tower, I gave her a role related to it.

The Tower in the previous iteration didn’t properly establish the concept of death.

It was closer to the concept of annihilation rather than death.

Those who crumble without leaving anything behind.

They disappear without leaving any belongings, any words, or even their own bodies.

All that remains are formless memories. And skill books containing only partial records.

Because it was a cursed space where even mourning wasn’t possible, even the concept of death couldn’t be formed.

That’s the same for the current Tower, but I wanted to make at least minimal mourning possible.

It might be a simple ritual and an action without any substance, but I wanted to do at least that much.

As Time always says, there isn’t a special meaning embedded in every action. In most cases, meaning follows after actions are taken.

Even if it’s a simple ritual, wouldn’t meaning reside in it if repeated?

The act of mourning is, in fact, more for the living than for the dead.

Because the dead can no longer hear or see.

It’s an act for those who remember and reminisce about that person, to share sorrow and receive comfort for pain.

It was a preparation process for those who hadn’t properly said goodbye to those who departed suddenly, to accept the farewell.

In a way, couldn’t that also be called a tutorial?

Because it’s an adaptation period to accept farewell.

I suddenly laughed at my own way of thinking.

“Haha.”

I was dumbfounded. It seems my way of thinking has been completely colored by staying in the Tower for too long.

Shaking my head, I tried hard to erase that thought.

Just then, with a tinkling sound, someone entered the used bookstore.

Raising my head to look at the door, I saw a person with a familiar silhouette.

“Wow, it’s strange with no people on the streets. Awkward.”

Berg is seen lifting the brim of his hat and smiling.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“It has.”

Though I was glad, I deliberately tried not to show it and spoke as grumpily as possible.

There was no particular reason.

Just because I was embarrassed.

“Hmm.”

Berg looked at me with an unpleasant smile.

“W-what?”

He grabbed both my cheeks and stretched them while speaking.

“Didn’t you miss me? It feels like I haven’t seen you in so long.”

“W-well?”

In a teasing tone, he keeps trying to make eye contact.

Contrary to that, I rolled my eyes in all directions, trying to avoid eye contact by any means.

“It’s all written on your face anyway. You seem unable to hide your expressions.”

“What are you saying?”

It had been quite a while since Berg returned to the Tower, but we hadn’t encountered each other much during that time.

It was inevitable as we were both busy with work.

Thinking about that time, I could only laugh from the absurdity.

After the Tower stabilized to some extent, we decided to call those who agreed to regress together.

I was finally able to open the pouch that Time had handed to me.

I thought I would go crazy from curiosity about what was in the pouch.

Knowing I shouldn’t open it made me even more curious.

After all, when told not to do something, one usually wants to do it more.

When I opened the pouch, what came out were just objects symbolizing them.

They looked like wooden carvings.

The Moon and the Sun were, literally, a moon-shaped carving and a sun-shaped carving.

There was a strange hidden function where the two could be combined to form the Tower.

The Abyss was a carving of dozens or hundreds of birdcages hanging in a dark background.

Berg was a carving in the shape of a coin used in the Tower.

There was also a carving symbolizing me. It was a maze made of intertwined books. The overall shape was similar to a cube.

It actually works, so I’m playing with it now like solving a puzzle.

If these carvings represented those who traveled back in time, why wasn’t Time included?

I had such a question, but I didn’t think too deeply about it.

Anyway, after burying these carvings in the ground as if planting seeds, not long after, they became people.

Rather than being mysterious, it was fascinating, and rather than beautiful and fantastic, it was bizarre.

The sight of people growing from the ground.

“By the way, why is that person here?”

I stopped reminiscing at Berg’s whispered question.

“Who?”

“That person over there.”

What Berg pointed to was Time, who was carving something in the corner.

“Ah, she said she was bored.”

“Bored? Who is that person?”

“Ah, you don’t know. You know that person with the vicious personality I told you about.”

Time said while diligently carving wood.

“I can hear you.”

“I meant for you to hear.”

Berg still had an expression that said he didn’t know who it was.

“Time.”

At those words, he nodded and then was shocked.

“What?”

I understand his shock.

The concept of time is a high-ranking concept no matter who hears it.

In reality, she’s a malicious person who enjoys teasing others.

“She said she wants to enjoy the freedom she recently gained.”

“Freedom?”

“There’s such a thing. She put down a lot.”

Though I’m worried she might have put down her sanity as well.

“Can I go closer and take a look?”

His eyes are sparkling. Just like a fan looking at an idol.

If someone wants to express admiration, I’d want to tell them to reference this appearance.

It feels awkward when Berg, who doesn’t express emotions well, acts like this.

“Go ahead.”

“You should come with me. How can I go alone?”

“What’s the big deal about just going over to look?”

Berg pulled my arm, so I had no choice but to approach Time.

“What are you making?”

“A music box.”

They were carvings I had seen a lot.

Dwarves and amusement park equipment.

“This…”

“Yes, things that were originally in my space.”

They were things from the space given to Time in the basement of the used bookstore.

The basement wasn’t included in the range of the used bookstore.

Strictly speaking, that space was no longer my space, so.

“It’s done.”

The sorrowful sound of a music box echoes through the used bookstore.

Dwarves walk along a predetermined path, and accordingly, amusement rides like Ferris wheels and carousels also start moving slowly.

A streetlamp with arms and legs plays the violin.

“Time flows differently for each person. Slowly for a child, quickly for an elderly person.”

Time said while touching the music box she made.

“The flow of time is like a song created by the interlocking of each person’s time. That’s how I see it.”

She lifts the music box with an awkward smile.

Hugging the music box to her chest, Time said:

“So this is something that symbolizes me, you could say.”

I took in the sight of Time like that.

If there were ordinariness and extraordinariness, Time was always a person who leaned more toward the extraordinary.

But lately, the ordinary appearances of Time that I keep seeing keep coming to mind.

For some reason, these ordinary appearances—smiling ordinarily, acting ordinarily—stuck in my mind more than her other extraordinary appearances.

[Abnormal access to the Tower’s system has been detected.]

I came to my senses again at the sudden message.

There was only one person who would make such an attempt.

For now, the space accessed was not the tutorial space.

It was the waiting room where those who passed the tutorial were resting.

It was approaching about 2 or 3 people and engaging in conversation.

I sent the spatial coordinates to Time and the Moon.

Originally, this was something the Moon, as the administrator of the Tower, should handle, but because the opponent’s rank was so high, we had no choice but to seek Time’s help.

Fortunately, not long after, we were able to completely block destruction’s access.

Destruction suffered a considerable backlash due to attempting forced access, but in terms of profit and loss, it was a disadvantageous situation for us.

Time said while touching the music box she had carved.

“Now it’s no longer a game.”

Her voice was closer to anticipation than regret.