Chapter 145
[Congratulations on clearing Floor 46 on EXTREME difficulty.]
The system message was followed by three skill books.
Gold, gold, and platinum.
But I had no intention of choosing a skill book.
Soon after, a familiar additional message popped up.
[First clear bonus applied!]
[Platinum → Rainbow enhancement]
[Rank 1 bonus applied!]
[1 Skill Book Enhancement Ticket awarded!]
[Would you like to enhance it? (There is a chance it will be destroyed if it fails)]
[If it fails, a 'Tower's Secret Gacha' ticket will be awarded.]
Since it started from platinum this time, I only had one enhancement ticket.
It was already the third time I’d faced this gambling system.
“Of course I should enhance it.”
If it even gives me a reward when I fail, why wouldn’t I enhance it?
Life is all about aiming for the highest point.
If it succeeds, great. If it fails, great too.
[Attempting enhancement.]
[……]
[Enhancement failed!]
[The reward is destroyed.]
[Received 1 'Tower's Secret Gacha' ticket.]
“It’s fine. It’s a gain. A gain.”
I closed my eyes and put myself into a trance.
[Mileage: 4/10]
I was already steadily building up mileage anyway.
It was probably a system that guaranteed an enhancement once I reached 10 points.
For now, I should just keep spinning the wheel.
I looked at the roulette in front of me.
“Looks like the list changed a bit?”
The familiar [Tower Re-Climb Ticket].
The [Papyrus Set] that first appeared last time.
But most of the other junk rewards, the ones that were basically duds, had disappeared.
Instead, new entries had appeared.
[Infinite Warehouse]
[Interdimensional Communicator]
[New Universe Residence Permit]
[Multidimensional Navigation Ship]
[Gate Generator]
“Just from the names, they look way better than last time.”
Could it be that even the roulette keeps getting upgraded?
The scale had suddenly gotten so huge I couldn’t even get a sense of the rewards.
The tower was at the point where I was starting to fear just how far it could go.
Without hesitation, I spun the roulette.
Even the duds were gone.
Whatever came out of those, I’d be able to brag about it for a whole year.
Clack, clack-clack.
The wheel gradually slowed.
I watched the needle with sweaty palms.
“Past the gate generator.... Yeah, I don’t need something like that.”
An item that was obviously meant for terrorism.
I didn’t need something like that.
“Infinite warehouse too.... That’s fine, I already have a sandworm.”
Though there is the downside that if it eats something too big, it can wreck a battle.
Still, it’s at least possible.
“Universe residence permit.... I don’t even know what that is. Multidimensional navigation ship? I can just use the ghost ship.”
One by one, the new rewards passed by.
A creeping sense of foreboding.
No way? Not again?
Clack!
The needle stopped.
[Tower Re-Climb Ticket]
“What, this again?!”
Last time too, and the time before that, it was this ticket.
At this point, isn’t this probability manipulation?
Wanna taste a fine from the Fair Trade Commission?
“Tower, hurry up and disclose the probability table for every item...!”
But I didn’t have any major complaints.
I was planning to visit the dwarves someday anyway.
It was annoying, but that was all.
Once again, a pure white light wrapped around me and flung me outside the tower.
***
After sending the First Vessel home, I headed straight to the warehouse.
I was planning to use the re-entry ticket right away.
In the warehouse, there weren’t only whale bones and hides, but also gifts for the dwarves.
Apparently, taking all of this at once was impossible.
So for now, I picked out just a few as samples.
Naturally, I couldn’t carry them in a bag.
“Sandworm, open wide. Say ah~.”
[The sandworm strongly recommends preparing a proper means of transportation.]
“Sorry, I can’t help it since I didn’t pull one from the gacha.”
If I had an inventory or subspace pouch, this would be really convenient.
Can’t a skill like that come up somewhere?
No choice. If it isn’t there, I’ll live without it.
After enlarging the sandworm, I neatly stacked the cargo inside its mouth.
“Good, let’s set off right away.”
I tore the Re-Climb Ticket.
I traveled alone without the sandworm, the last remaining flag in my hand.
***
[Entering Floor 30 of the Tower.]
The first change I felt after entering was the heat.
The sounds of a furnace’s heat and hammering metal rang out from all around.
“Wow....”
The next change was the light.
There was no trace anywhere of the dark, damp underground cave I’d last seen.
Bright lights illuminated the path from the ceiling, and complex machines moved about the streets.
A city of light, straight out of steampunk.
It felt as if an industrial revolution had happened while I was away.
“Well, they did already have plenty of technology.”
I recalled the machines I’d encountered while climbing through the 20s.
Though I’d been able to take them down easily because Weathering was a cheat skill with perfect synergy....
The technology contained in those machines was no ordinary thing.
They were machines that were still operating perfectly even after the dwarves had gone extinct.
Just as I was marveling at that technological prowess,
“Hm? Over there....”
“No way?”
A passing dwarf spotted me and shouted.
Attention focused on me in an instant.
Dwarves suddenly sprang out from all the alleys.
Before I knew it, I was surrounded by dwarves only as tall as my chest, unable to move.
“Steeljaw has come back to find us!”
“The one who eats the hardest bread!”
“The tallest dwarf!”
“Hold on, Steeljaw is an honorary dwarf only. We need to make that clear.”
“The shortest honorary dwarf, Steeljaw!”
“......”
The dwarves looked ready to give me a celebratory toss.
An overwhelmingly hot welcome.
I awkwardly smiled and greeted them.
Then, parting the crowd, a familiar face appeared.
The Dwarf King, with golden armor and a platinum-colored beard.
“Long time no see, Steeljaw. Thank you for visiting again.”
“The city has changed quite a bit.”
“It’s all thanks to you. Our heart, the Eternal Furnace, has started blazing again.”
The king smiled, stroking his beard over and over.
I got straight to the point.
“Actually, I came today because I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor.... Of course I’m prepared to hear it. We are a race that never forgets to repay either grudges or kindness.”
At the king’s words, the dwarves around us each crossed their arms and nodded in agreement.
Probably because they were all macho types, the atmosphere heated up quickly.
“Then could you guide me to an open area first? I’ve got quite a bit of cargo.”
“Cargo? Understood. The central plaza should do.”
“W-well, the cargo is kind of a lot. The city might get wrecked.... I think it should be on the outskirts.”
“No need. We can just fix it. In fact, I want to show you how our city has been rebuilt.”
“Um.... You can’t get mad if it collapses, okay?”
“Haha, just what kind of cargo are you bringing? Don’t worry. Our construction technology is the best in the world.”
Well, if he says so.
I definitely warned them.
As we headed to the plaza with guidance, I could see why the king had been so confident.
A plaza with a high ceiling, not one suited to a small dwarf.
The plaza was so spacious it looked like it could hold more than 100,000 dwarves.
At this size, a catastrophic ceiling collapse didn’t seem likely.
I planted the last remaining flag in the center of the plaza.
“Please wait a moment. Clear everyone else out of the vicinity.”
“Haha! Just how big a thing are you planning to take out? Understood. I’ll follow your lead.”
“I’ll be right back!”
“Huh? Where are you going....”
While the king was flustered, I used the flag to teleport home.
***
“Ah, right, the house and the warehouse are quite far apart....”
The place where I’d planted the teleport flag was our house’s basement.
It was a considerable distance from the warehouse Broker Ajusshi had prepared.
I hurried to the warehouse, pushing the earth aside with magic.
When I arrived at the warehouse, the sandworm was still waiting for me.
“Let’s go right away.”
I opened the sandworm’s mouth and climbed inside.
Teleporting between flags only works for me alone, but the sandworm and First Vessel are special cases, so they can come with me.
Probably because they’re a summoned beast and my clone.
Pop!
I could feel a substantial amount of divine power being drained away.
The bigger the body, the more draining it seemed to be.
My vision went white.
***
Thud!
The moment the transfer ended, a shock hit me.
“Huh!”
“Everyone on alert!”
The dwarves’ shouts came from outside.
I hurriedly got out of the sandworm’s mouth.
“It’s me! Me!”
“Huh? Steeljaw?”
“What the....”
I gave an awkward smile and scratched the back of my head.
Luckily, from the looks of it, no dwarves had been crushed to death.
“W-well, I also do some civil work, you know? If there’s any damage, I’ll help fix it...”
“Master of the earth...!”
“Huh?”
The Dwarf King stared at the sandworm with shocked eyes.
He looked almost ready to kneel, so I hurriedly grabbed him and stopped him.
“Why are you doing that?”
“T-that.... What is that?”
“It’s my summoned beast.”
“That’s a summoned beast? Goodness...”
The Dwarf King took deep breaths for quite a while.
After finally calming himself, the king said,
“My apologies. I made a scene. Your summoned beast is just too similar to the legendary divine beast from the old tales.”
“Legend? Divine beast?”
“Lord of the earth, insect of calamity.... It has many names. That divine beast is said to gnaw at the roots of the World Tree and create and destroy mountains every time it moves.”
“Uh....”
I sent a telepathic message to the sandworm in my mind.
‘Is it true? Is that really you?’
[The sandworm feels very burdened.]
[The sandworm says it’s ashamed to be treated like this when it hasn’t even recovered its strength yet.]
‘Amazing...’
Only then did I remember that it had seemed reluctant to show itself in front of the dwarves.
Even though it had once mentioned that it had commanded a retinue similar to the dwarves in the past.
Was it because, in its current fallen state, it couldn’t show its dignity?
But even in its current form, it still seemed shocking to the dwarves.
“Of course, that probably isn’t the legendary divine beast. It’s much smaller.”
“Hmm....”
“Still, if it’s that similar, perhaps it’s the offspring of that divine beast?”
“T-that could be.”
“In any case, you’re incredible. Taming the offspring of a divine beast...”
I didn’t bother correcting them.
If I said that divine beast was in a fallen state, they’d all probably faint.
It was about time to get down to business.
I opened the sandworm’s mouth and took out the cargo from inside.
Before getting to work, you have to oil the machine. First, I took out the gifts.
“For now, please accept the gifts.”
“That smell is... liquor?”
As expected of a dwarf, he could smell it perfectly even before unwrapping it.
“Yes, it’s liquor from my homeland.”
The first things I took out were Korea’s special deadly brews: soju, beer, and makgeolli.