Chapter 55
ㄴ Seol Harin : How about we start speaking casually? ㅎㅎ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : Um…
It felt like things were starting to go slightly off track.
‘This could become even more troublesome…’
ㄴ Seol Harin : You speak casually to everyone else, so why are you using polite speech with me?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(379F) : That’s because…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : Newbie is super respectful to anyone who teaches them stuff ㅇㅇ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(234F) : Selective manners ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
There was nothing I could do but play along for now.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(100F)(OP) : Okay, got it. I’ll speak casually from now on.
ㄴ Seol Harin : …Then we’re friends, right?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(100F)(OP) : Yeah.
ㄴ Seol Harin : Yay! I haven’t had a proper friend since coming to the Tower, so it’s really nice to have one again!
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(100F)(OP) : Yeah, me too ㅎㅎ…
ㄴ Seol Harin : Actually, it took a lot of courage for me to open my heart first… Thank you for accepting me…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : Newbie’s inner thoughts: What am I supposed to do with this…
ㄴ Seol Harin : No, that’s not true! They said they were happy to see me too!
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(566F) : Yeah, exactly.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(649F) : At this point, wasn’t she friendless even in her past life?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(324F) : Seriously, suddenly confessing your true feelings is fucking overwhelming lol
Seol Harin continued speaking as though she didn’t care about the teasing remarks.
ㄴ Seol Harin : Let’s share the clothes sold at the Golden Carriage PX every month and have fun dressing up ㅎㅎ
“This isn’t easy…”
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : Newbie’s thoughts right now: This isn’t easy…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(435F) : The live commentary is killing me ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(248F) : I was only going to skip the lecture, but this is probably going to be a real pain in the ass ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(466F) : But Newbie’s a girl too, so maybe she likes dressing up.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(349F) : Do they?
The gallery users poked fun at me while snickering, but I gritted my teeth and typed.
It was best to accept quickly and move on to the main point.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(100F)(OP) : Yeah, okay…!
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : Translation: Yeah, okay..! Now shut up and teach me magic.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(324F) : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(247F) : No, seriously, it’s vacation time, so they need to start hardcore training, and wasting time like this is insane.
Only then did Seol Harin seem to realize the situation I was in, and she hurriedly apologized.
ㄴ Seol Harin : Oh, right! You had vacation time! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you waste time…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(279F) : Newbie needs to get stronger before the next intruder comes…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(723F) : Newbie’s probably suffering inside because of the intruders, even if they pretend to be fine. They would’ve been in danger this time too if Treasure Keeper hadn’t been there.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(543F) : If it were me, I’d have already had a mental breakdown ㅋㅋ
People continued voicing various worries about the intruders.
It was true that I shouldn’t waste my vacation time.
But unlike what the gallery users thought, I wasn’t all that afraid of dying during my vacation.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(100F)(OP) : It’s okay. Intruders aren’t that scary to me anymore.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(564F) : ?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(312F) : What are you talking about? You almost died ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(249F) : You’ve become fucking detached.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : I guess experiencing it twice made them stop being afraid ㄷㄷ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : This reminds me of how you rushed up from the first floor because you were scared ㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(100F)(OP) : I decided to think of it that way because worrying only hurts me. It would just lower my learning efficiency.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(312F) : Look at that mental strength ;;
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(464F) : They’re not wrong.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(100F)(OP) : If weak ones come, I can kill them. If an intruder I can’t deal with comes, then it’s just unfortunate, I guess…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(461F) : Death < It would still be unfortunate, yeah ㅇㅇ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(710F) : Sounds like they’d welcome weak intruders ㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(351F) : No, don’t they just think of intruders as experience-point lunchboxes now?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(543F) : Experience-point lunchboxes ㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(732F) : At least they aren’t being complacent.
A weighty question was tossed out amid the joking reactions.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(348F) : But don’t you feel guilty? You said you used to be human.
“……”
Because of everything that had happened on the 100th floor, I had settled on a certain course of action.
For the first time, I wrote that thought in the gallery.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(100F)(OP) : If I hesitate because I feel guilty and end up getting killed, there will ultimately be even more victims, won’t there?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(435F) : What are you talking about?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(543F) : I think they mean that rather than being killed by monsters on the upper floors, it’s better to be killed by someone who can stand against the Demon King and become experience points ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(100F)(OP) : I’m trying to kill the Demon King and destroy the Demon Tower, so doing my best to kill intruders might ultimately be the way to save more lives.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(246F) : That mindset is fucking legendary ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(639F) : Utilitarianism ㄷㄷㄷ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(543F) : I mean, anyone who entered the Tower was going to die anyway ㅇㅇ
Treasure Keeper had shown me kindness right up until the moment it realized I had deceived it.
The moment that thing was killed by the pitch-black hand, I had to kill the Demon King.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(324F) : That’s pretty extreme, but good luck for now.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(248F) : Damn, what ambition ㄷㄷ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : That mindset is seriously insane.
ㄴ Seol Harin : Seoyoon really does want to kill the Demon King…
As the various reactions poured in, I muttered inwardly.
‘The policy of maximizing efficiency remains the same.’
I simply wasn’t going to let the intruders drive me into a panic.
What I needed to start right away was clear.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(100F)(OP) : Harin, you said earlier that I’m short on circles. If I increase my circle count, I can learn a skill that lets me equip two artifacts, right?
ㄴ Seol Harin : Yeah, that’s right. Mental Fork is a third-circle spell.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(100F)(OP) : Got it. I’ll go get another circle and come back.
ㄴ Seol Harin : Good luck!
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : I wonder how many hours it’ll take this time.
I closed the gallery.
Third circle.
It had taken one hour to obtain the first circle and two hours for the second.
Then what about the third circle?
I could choose one as soon as I entered and finish quickly, but I wanted to take my time.
When I got the second circle, I had compromised on my choice because I was pressed for time.
I decided not to do that anymore.
I turned toward the Blood Knight, who had been waiting behind me.
I opened my inventory and laid out the items.
“Blood Knight, this is similar to last time, but this time it’ll take a while. Every time you make one lap around the cavern, move these items to the opposite side one at a time, and wake me when you’ve moved them all.”
<…Acknowledged…!>
After setting up that 24-hour safety measure, I sat cross-legged on the floor and closed my eyes.
“Phew…”
I took a deep breath and focused my consciousness on my dantian.
*
*
*
Sinking.
My consciousness sank into the darkness.
Up to this point, it had gone very quickly. It seemed to be because my Intelligence stat had increased.
After that, just like last time, a barren land unfolded before me.
The scenery was familiar now.
“Let’s see…”
But there was one difference from last time.
The black rings were scattered quite sparsely this time.
I assumed it was because this was the third circle.
“…Shall I begin?”
I kicked off the ground and leaped.
Fwoooosh-!
At the same time, the edges of my vision warped.
“…!”
It was incredibly fast. I was startled by my own speed.
Each time I planted a foot, the ground caved in, and the recoil sent my body springing violently forward.
“It feels like I’m going over 200 kilometers per hour…”
I was really feeling the increase in my Agility stat.
“Black Shift.”
I didn’t forget to use teleportation whenever Ribbon’s cooldown came back around.
At the same time, I focused my magic on my eyes.
I could survey a radius of nearly one kilometer around me all at once.
It was an exploration efficiency that couldn’t even be compared to when I had the second circle.
“Oh…!”
Before long, a fairly enormous circle came into view.
I approached quickly and estimated its size.
“…Hmm, no. This is about the same as the second circle.”
It was a decent size, but it didn’t satisfy me.
Besides, I hadn’t been searching for very long yet.
“I’ll find one distinctly larger than the first circle no matter what”
After deciding that, I continued straight in one direction.
How much time had passed?
I began to suspect something.
“They’ve thinned out…”
It felt like the number of scattered circles had decreased.
The farther I went, the more that hypothesis was confirmed.
The circles grew completely sparse.
There was no doubt the number had dropped drastically from where I started.
I ran another dozen or so kilometers.
And eventually.
I reached a place where not a single circle was scattered at all.
“So there is a range…!”
The moment I realized that, I couldn’t help but think of searching this entire space.
“Let’s draw a map in my head.”
After making that decision.
I finished calculating how long it would take to search this entire space.
“…I can do it.”
*
A considerable amount of time passed.
It felt like at least three full days had gone by.
It was pure drudgery.
The only fortunate thing was that I didn’t feel thirsty or hungry,
and there was a clearly defined endpoint, so it wasn’t mentally difficult.
Since the largest one would be the sole candidate, it wasn’t a difficult task either.
Everything proceeded according to plan, and the search went smoothly.
*
After what felt like about a week had passed.
I succeeded in finding the largest circle in the entire space.
It would have been impossible without the Evil Eye.
“The one 19 KM from here… was the largest?”
I headed toward the place where that circle was.
*
I checked the actual object again.
“…It looks about 50% larger than the first circle.”
It was truly a record-breaking giant.
To be honest, the moment I saw this circle, I had a feeling there wouldn’t be anything larger than it.
But it hadn’t been a waste of time.
I had gained certainty that this was the largest one.
“Phew… finally.”
I approached the circle and grabbed the ring with both hands.
I lifted it.
Once again, without fail, the ground stretched like cheese,
Zzzzzzt-!
Aaaaaaagh-!!!!!!
and someone’s scream rang out.
“Sorry.”
After apologizing, I pulled out the ring and pushed it into my dantian.
Vrrrrrr-!
Then I returned to reality and opened my eyes.
*
*
*
I checked the hologram clock.
“Eleven hours…”
About half my vacation time had disappeared, but inside it had felt like a week, so I could think of it as not having taken very long.
I now held three circles in my dantian.
But.
“Ugh…!”
A wave of nausea suddenly surged up.
The inside of my dantian was a complete mess.
The newly arrived third circle couldn’t mesh with the existing first and second circles at all, and it was rampaging wildly outside its proper orbit.
The disturbance had even twisted the axes of the first and second circles, which had been rotating stably.
My stomach churned, and my head felt like it was splitting apart.
“Hngh…!”
But I had already learned the trick when settling the second circle last time.
I immediately adjusted my cross-legged posture and closed both eyes.
I summoned my magic and forcibly pressed down on the three rings.
Woooong—! Woooong—!
I used the smallest second circle as the center and made the first circle rotate along its outer orbit.
Then I precariously fitted the largest and most uncontrollable third circle into the intersection of the two rings and let my magic flow like lubricant.
Krrrriiiik—!
Sssssss—
The three rings made grinding sounds, then began rotating at regular intervals.
“Phew…”
Stabilization successful.
The nausea subsided, and a clear energy coursed through my entire body.
I immediately opened the gallery.
“Huh…”
As soon as I opened the gallery, I realized that chaos had broken out.
[Title: When is Newbie coming? When is Newbie coming? Newbie wh…]
[Title: This separation anxiety is driving me crazy.]
[Title: No, isn’t this normally how it works ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Title: Where did the person who said they’d hold their breath until Newbie came go?]
[Title: Under-five-hour bettors in shambles ㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅ]
It seemed to be because I had taken much longer than last time.
Apparently, people had even started betting on how long it would take me to obtain the third circle.
I began typing.
______
[Title: Got the third circle and finished stabilizing it.
Author: ㅇㅇ(100F)
Why are you all making such a fuss? You said normally taking less than a day was impossible;;
But this time, I almost finished in ten minutes.
The reason it took 11 hours was….
…
…
_____
I included an explanation that I had searched every circle placed in that space.
I hit refresh.
As always, the bait was taken, and the floodgates opened.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : ?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(276F) : ????
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(287F) : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(756F) : No, is that even possible? You compared every single circle?