Chapter 3
After completing a brief identity check at the entrance, I enter the Tower through the 3-meter-high arched gate.
Countless people crowd the first floor.
In the vast, pure-white space stretching upward beyond sight, people hurry about.
Someone urgently recruiting party members.
Someone talking to someone in midair.
Someone selling goods from a stall.
Injured people are hurriedly carried out while emergency responders rush around with their arms full of potions.
‘The scenery here is still the same.’
They say five years have passed, but not much has changed.
Even the large platform in the center is exactly as I remember it. On the round platform, unidentified letters and symbols are arranged along the circumference of a pentagram-shaped magic circle.
This was a place I used to visit practically every day.
'I've finally returned to the Tower.'
From now on, I would be starting over.
Not as Lee Do-hyeon, the world's strongest man, but as Lee Do-hee, a woman.
Without hesitation, I stride confidently to the center of the Tower's plaza and step onto the platform.
As I walk toward the center, I can feel everyone's attention fixing intensely on me.
“Hey, miss… Are you really going in?”
“Shouldn't someone stop her?”
"You're not even from an academy, are you?"
"A female newbie....?"
Ignoring the noisy murmuring, I step onto the platform and onto the magic circle. As soon as I stand there, everyone looks at me as though I've stepped onto a stage.
'It was like this before too....'
Of course, back then it was more like, 'Is that crazy bastard going there again?' But now it's more like, 'Is that crazy bitch going there?'
『Will you climb the Tower』
As I step on the magic circle, a neutral, emotionless voice sounds inside my head.
It finally feels real. I've really come back....
"Yeah, send me to Floor 1."
『Confirmed』
-Whoosh!
In an instant, Lee Do-hee vanishes from the spot without leaving so much as a speck of dust behind.
“She really went in…”
“Hey, did you see that woman's figure?”
“Wow… What a shame…”
***
『Welcome to the Tower』
The white space known as the waiting room. It's nothing special, just a private room resembling the inside of the Tower, only smaller.
I can decorate it later, but naturally, my room is still completely bare.
Seeing it again after so long brings back memories.
『The Tower's trials…』
“That's enough. Turn on streaming mode. Awaiting Trait unlock.”
『……Confirmed』
Over the past month, while building a body I could more or less use, I thought through various things.
How should I take my revenge?
The combat-built body I had in the past was gone, and I had become a frail woman's body. And, naturally, it's not easy for a latecomer to catch up with someone who got a head start.
There was a full fifteen-year gap between me and them.
But at least there was a way to narrow that gap.
What if I gathered every elixir and piece of highly efficient gear that I had either not known about or couldn't afford in the past?
Assuming we grew at the same rate, I could become stronger than my former self.
But simply getting stronger wouldn't solve all my problems.
If I took revenge by crushing all seven of Korea's major guilds—or rather, the six that remain now—what would people think of me? I'd be branded a criminal, showered with every curse in the book, and forced to live my whole life on the run.
To deal with the major guilds, I needed a justification, as well as people I could tell that justification to who would take my side.
'Yeah.... I acted too much on my own in my previous life.'
Maybe that was also why I had been betrayed.
While the other Awakeners from my previous life built guilds with corporate backing and entered the TV, MuTube, and live-streaming markets to win popularity with the public, I didn't.
I thought it was pointless and devoted myself solely to training.
So they could stab me in the back without worrying about cleaning up afterward, and I was probably unjustly erased from the records.
‘This time, I'll earn money and gain popularity.’
What's more, there wasn't a single woman in Korea currently streaming while climbing the Tower. Of course, there were female Awakeners who streamed, but they had given up on climbing the Tower and were living quiet lives.
So wasn't this a perfect blue ocean?
Becoming this soft, squishy woman was an enormous penalty, but to move forward, I had to make the most of even that.
Of course, there were other methods, such as becoming a celebrity or only doing MuTube, but I was certain this was the fastest way for me to grow while working alone.
‘I watched a little internet streaming while doing my research, so I should be able to manage somehow…?’
Actually, I might be a little scared because I had no plan for this side of things.
'I guess I'll start out as a small-time streamer?'
And so, Lee Do-hee's first stream began.
*
[Newbie Lee Do-hee. Climbing from Floor 1 of the Tower]
The stream begins.
For reference, every live-streaming platform on Earth had been merged into PantheonTV, operated by the Tower's constellations. Aside from MuTube Live, you can consider the others nonexistent.
At first, there was backlash over the question of why a constellation would interfere in business between companies, but once people saw that live streaming inside the Tower was possible with perfect real-time communication and without a camera, all the other platforms that had lost their competitive edge were effectively forced to merge.
Anyway, that isn't what's important right now....
Ten seconds after starting the stream.
A message appears in the holographic chat window slightly to the right of straight ahead.
- Wow, fuck, those titsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
“Eh? Wha... wh-what?"
My first chat message was that kind of garbage, and my mind went blank because I didn't know how to respond.
Should I get angry?
How do I ban him?
Or should I take it in stride?
Is this what internet-streaming culture is like these days....?
And while I'm flustered, a flood of drive-by viewers pours in all at once.
100 people… 200 people… 300 people… More and more people gather.
"No, why are so many people rushing in? What?"
I had clearly planned to start small and grow into a successful streamer....
- Wow, she's fucking beautiful.
- Finally, we don't have to look at dickheads anymore
- Wakyapya, bbaang~~!
- Damn, she's hugeㅋㅋ
- Uryat uryat uryat uryat!!!
- Eheheh...
- Bbaaaaaaaaaang
- Come here!! Bring those tits over here!
“No, wh-what is this? Why are so many of you here?"
And what on earth were those strange sounds, like wakyapya and bbang, supposed to mean?
When I watched female-cam streamers and male Tower-climbing streamers for research, there hadn't been a single chat message like this.
- You've made it onto the main pageㅋㅋㅋ
The main page?
It was something the platform normally did to nurture promising new Awakened streamers, but wasn't it something you had to apply for? I had no idea what was going on.
I hadn't even been able to adjust the settings yet, and the chat scrolling up like mad was making my head spin.
'Why is this so chaotic....'
On top of being a new streamer, I had never seen the holographic UI that appeared through PantheonTV integration, so I had no idea what anything was.
I didn't even know how to close the window floating in midair, and I had no idea what I was supposed to adjust in the system.
- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- Look how flustered she isㅋㅋㅋㅋ So cute
- Eheheh....
- Wow, fuck, I can't hold back anymore....
“S-so, um, this is the camera, right?"
I speak while looking at the black, donut-shaped object the size of a bottle cap floating in midair.
“E-everyone? Could you calm down a little...?"
- You're the one making us angry
- Aaaah, I can't take it
- Take responsibility, take responsibility, take responsibility
- Wow.... This angle is downright violent.
- Hnnng.... I'm angwy...
- Ugh.... I can't take it!!!
- How can you expect us to calm down after showing us this....
- Grab it right away, pull it out, and go wild...
- Ooh yeah ooh yeah
- Seriously, that's fucking hot
- You dress like that and expect us to behave?
'I'm the problem? This outfit?'
This was unfair.
When I had done my research, every female streamer who made a lot of money and had a large audience dressed like this. It was practically an unspoken rule.
Naturally, wasn't copying what successful people did just 'common sense'?
Of course, what Lee Do-hee had overlooked was that those female-cam streams had regular viewers who watched them every day, which kept the chat under control.
Besides, the same outfit could look wholesome or extremely provocative depending on who wore it.
But it was already too late to complain about how unfair it was. Perhaps because I had been featured on the main page, nearly a thousand viewers had already gathered and were sending messages in the chat.
There were occasional messages that crossed the line, but most of them seemed to be exercising at least some restraint, perhaps because they were excited to see a female streamer climb the Tower.
Of course, even so, no one answered what I was asking. They were all too busy expressing their own desires.
"Ugh.... I'll set things up first, then chat with you."
I left the utterly unmanageable chat alone and slowly tried to organize things once more.
Luckily, when I pressed the gear icon floating above the chat window, the settings window appeared immediately.
'Why didn't I see this earlier....'
Anyway, I enabled slow mode and submitted guidelines for managing the chat to the moderator who had been automatically assigned.
'Ban severe sexual harassment and profanity. Let's start with just that.'
“All right, quiet down, everyone! Why is this happening on the first day...."
- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- Yes, sis
- Cute
- Just went and jerked one outㅇㅇ
- Heeung…
- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- Yep
- Everyone, shh! The lady is speaking
- Yes
Once the moderator started enforcing the rules and slow mode kicked in, the viewers finally started listening.
So now, in earnest......
“Uh, I definitely thought of a lot to say..... But I've forgotten it all.”
- Is this a dumb-girl persona?
- It's okay, I'll take you in and support you
- Girls with big breasts are dumbㅇㅇ
- Can she still bail? Looks like she'll die on Floor 1 right away
I hadn't expected so many people to suddenly rush in, so I was still a little dazed. First, I decided to look at the slightly slower chat and answer some questions.
"Do you all perhaps think I'm going to die?"
- Honestly....
- Info) The average Korean woman makes it to Floor 1.4.
- At that rate, everyone just dies on Floor 1ㅋㅋㅋ
- Tower<<< the GOAT of gender equality
- Please....
- ㅔ
- Yep
- ㅔ
- Can't you really bail?
- Yes (seriously)
"Bailing..... is already too late, right...?"
- Please don't go
- Can't you just stay here?
- Don't go
- It's already too late.... Once you've come up here, you have to set out within the time limit
- Let's unlock the Trait first
- Oh right, the Trait!!
- If she gets a good Trait, anything could happen
“Oh, okay. Let's check the Trait first.”
Trait activation.
This was a ritual that absolutely had to be performed before climbing Floor 1, and it was because of this ritual that the term 'Awakened' came into being.
Whether you performed it or not didn't make an enormous difference to your baseline abilities, but it was extremely important for determining your direction in the Tower and surviving the early stages.
"I'll unlock my Trait."
『Trait unlock confirmed. Please place your hand on the platform in front of you』
Along with the neutral voice, a pedestal bearing a flat, rectangular plate just large enough for a palm rose from below in front of me.
- Let us see it too!
- Host, either quit and die, or share your status window
- Wanna see it together?
- Share it pls
"What, you guys can see my status window too?"
When watching other streamers, I was sure this feature hadn't been available. Apparently, most of them had kept it private.
- Yep
- Settings>Sharing Features>Status Window, show all pls
- Even if you're going to leave....
- You can't leave!!
- Please let it be a good one....
'Hmm.....'
I still hadn't unlocked my Trait, so I had no idea what would appear.
Sharing my Trait was no different from sharing my weakness. So I was still a little uneasy about it....
- Let's just see the Traits being unlocked. Streamers all hide them eventually anywayㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- For real, it's fine to show the initial Trait
'Right, if I'm going to stream, I should do it properly.'
The more information a streamer shared with their viewers, the more likely those viewers were to become invested.
'Money and popularity.'
Since I had a goal, I had to do this properly.
'The initial Trait won't matter much later anyway.'
"I'll share it."
- Kyaa
- This is it
- Good good
- Hype hype hype hype
- Hype hype hype
- Let's see
- Please let it be a good one.....
- I'm fucking excited
I changed the stream settings to share my status window, then placed my palm on the white platform.
『Unlocking Traits』
Blue and pink light intertwined and briefly wrapped around my body. I felt slightly buoyant as the lights mingled and entered my body.
'Ooh....'
I could faintly feel my body changing, and a status window appeared in front of me.
[Ding~]
'What will it be?'
<Trait>
[S-Rank Onahole Body]
Strength +10%
Agility -50%
Defense +100%
Mana +100%
[A-Rank Mana Pool]
Mana +100%
[???] : Unlock Progress 14%
[???] : Locked
[Final Stats]
Strength : 5.5
Agility : 3.5
Defense : 12
Mana : 0
"Huh?"
I hadn't expected it to be exactly the same as in my previous life, but I had certainly expected it to be reasonably good.
But what on earth was that bizarre Trait?
"Oh.... ye-eah?"
- How can a person's Trait be an onaholeㅋㅋ
- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- Ahㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- It suits youㅋㅋ
- Is the onahole thing for real?
- How can a person...ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
"Ah..."
An onahole.....
Why did a Trait like that appear for me...??