CTWMA 06

Chapter: 06

Tower Residential Floors: 10th Floor (1)

When I reached the 10th floor, I blinked at the notification that appeared before I even checked my surroundings.

2 slots?!

Could I conquer the tower with two avatars?!

Surprised, I opened the ability window and pressed the newly created 2nd slot.

[Searching dimensions…]

[Search complete]

[Dimensions where avatar creation is possible: 1. Earth / 2. #33669 / 3. #759990 / 4…]

The number of dimensions where I could create avatars had increased, but they were only unknown numbers, and the tower had disappeared.

So a two-track strategy was impossible after all.

Well, even if I created another avatar, I had no idea how I would control that avatar.

Still, I couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

I had hoped that I had finally gotten an overpowered ability.

The scenery of the 10th floor I had just arrived at had an atmosphere somewhat like a cathedral.

There was no immediate threat, so I checked the new notifications.

[The function of the common ability ‘Tower Shop’ has been unlocked. The items in the ‘Tower Shop’ have been updated.]

[You have acquired the common abilities ‘Mini Map’, ‘Tower Community’, and ‘Translation’.]

New items and common abilities had been added.

When I checked the shop window, the number of products had increased dramatically, and the prices had also gone up significantly.

There were many more types of one-handed swords and shields, with a wider range of prices.

The price of the one-handed sword I had bought had jumped to 10 points.

If a one-handed sword cost this much, wouldn’t a high-grade recovery potion have increased fifty times too?

Thinking that, I checked the potions, but I couldn’t close my mouth at the prices.

“What the hell?! What is this?!”

[Low-grade Recovery Potion: 10 points]

[Mid-grade Recovery Potion: 100 points]

[High-grade Recovery Potion: 1,000 points]

[Highest-grade Recovery Potion: 10,000 points]

The price had jumped not ten times or fifty times, but a thousand times.

Are they crazy?!

“It wasn’t cheap at all!”

If I had known this would happen, I would have spent all my points and bought potions!

When I shouted, a middle-aged man dressed like a priest entered from outside.

“Oh, are you a new climber?”

Because of his sudden appearance, I looked at him cautiously. The priest smiled kindly and spoke.

“If you are thinking about attacking me, please stop. According to the laws of the tower, on the ‘Common Floors,’ climbers cannot harm us natives, and natives cannot harm climbers or commit illegal acts.”

“…Is that so?”

I wasn’t planning on attacking him.

I was just going to run away if he attacked me.

But were the tower’s laws and illegal acts different things?

“Yes. If you commit an illegal act, the terrifying messengers of the tower will capture you and give you a very frightening punishment.”

At the priest’s words, I felt something strange.

“If climbers cannot harm natives and natives cannot harm climbers, does that mean the opposite is possible?”

At my question, he laughed warmly.

“Usually, people ask whether the restrictions only apply to the tower’s messengers or only on the Common Floors, but your question is unusual. That is correct. Climbers must be wary of other climbers, and natives must be wary of other natives.”

“I see. When you say ‘on the Common Floors,’ does that mean conflicts with natives are allowed on other floors?”

“That seems to be the case. Though I have never even left this city, let alone the Common Floors.”

I nodded at the priest’s words and asked.

“Then what are the tower’s messengers?”

“They are those who enforce the laws. They are apparently a special unit made up of at least mid-floor level experts. I have lived a good life, so I have never met them, but… the tower is like a single nation. In the climbers’ world, there are guards, or in your terms, a profession called police officers, right? You can think of the tower’s messengers as the strongest members of that profession.”

I was surprised by his answer.

“You know about police officers?”

At my question, the priest nodded.

“Of course. It has already been about 25 years since the tower connected with your world. During that time, there have been various exchanges, both openly and secretly.”

25 years? Not 10 years?

The priest continued as if he had read my thoughts.

“Ah, from your world’s perspective, wasn’t it 10 years? The lower the tower is, the slower time flows, and the higher you climb, the faster it flows. I was born here and have never left, so I have never personally experienced it.”

The priest pointed at the booklets placed beside the entrance where he stood.

“This is from your world… what was the name again? World Protection Organization?”

“Do you mean the World Protection Treaty Organization?”

“Ah! Yes, that was the name. Anyway, this is an information booklet distributed there for new climbers like you. Take one and read it.”

After saying that, the priest greeted me without even introducing himself and tried to leave.

“W-Wait! Do you know where I can sell metal materials?”

“If it is metal, a blacksmith or weapon shop should buy it. The location is written clearly in this booklet. Even the people of this city often look at it and use it, so it should be helpful. If you have nowhere to sleep tonight, come back here. Isn’t it the duty of a religious person to care for a lost lamb?”

The priest smiled and left. I took one of the information booklets, put it into my inventory, and moved my consciousness back to my main body.

The 10th floor seemed to be a safe zone for now, but just in case, I checked the additional abilities from my main body.

[Dimensions where avatar creation is possible: 1. Earth / 2. #33669 / 3. #759990 / 4…]

Unlike before, the second slot now had more dimensions that could be selected.

However, unlike Earth or the tower, they were only written as unknown numbers.

Perhaps Earth and the tower were concepts clearly recognized by me, but the other dimensions were not, so their names had not been determined.

“If they are only numbers, how am I supposed to know what dimension it is?”

I glared at the ability window.

Then, a strange image related to the numbered dimension appeared in my mind.

At the same time, I realized that the newly added dimension was one that had formed a connection of cause and effect with me because of the new ability I had learned, ‘Blue Wood Sword.’

“So I can only create avatars in dimensions that have some kind of connection, like abilities or items.”

Then, were they dimensions related to sword techniques, like those martial arts novels?

The thought I had while using the Blue Wood Sword was that it looked like a sword technique from a martial arts novel.

When I looked at the Blue Wood Sword and Multi-Dimensional Avatar ability at the same time, I could feel which dimension was most closely related to the Blue Wood Sword I had learned.

#33669 Dimension.

So that’s how it was. The order of the dimensions where avatars could be created was based on how deeply connected they were to me.

After thinking for a while, I placed my hand on Earth.

Still, I had been dragged into the tower without even having time to say anything, so I couldn’t tell my parents.

Because time flowed differently, even if I spent a long time in the tower, only a few days would pass on Earth. But if I disappeared without a word for several days on the day I was discharged from the military, it could become a problem.

Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if someone reported me missing?

When I touched Earth, a warning message appeared.

[Warning!]

[This dimension is connected to the first slot through space-time. If you spend time in this dimension, the first slot’s avatar will also experience the passage of time. Would you like to create an avatar in this dimension?]

I hesitated for a moment at the warning.

The first avatar was safe, but it was still standing at the cathedral entrance.

If I was going to do it anyway, it would be better to do it at somewhere like an inn.

I closed the ability window and decided to check the other common abilities.

When I activated Mini Map, only my location, shown as a blue dot, appeared inside a small pure white circle.

A crystal shape was drawn next to the blue dot.

Did it show a radius of about 5 meters?

“It really feels like a game.”

Would other people also appear on it?

I would have to check that on the 10th floor.

Whether it was simply a replacement for a map or included a detection ability would change how I used it.

Next was Tower Community.

When I opened the community window, it somehow felt like looking at a PC communication-era community that I had only seen in pictures.

A simple structure made entirely of text, without banners, profiles, or images, was intuitive and easy to understand because there were explanations.

There were categories such as Search, Chat Messages, Public Community, Lower Floor Community, Middle Floor Community, and Upper Floor Community.

Chats were divided into personal chats and group chats, and the community function allowed people to be invited into chat rooms, making it similar to common messenger apps.

The public community could be used regardless of which floor you were on, but access to the middle and upper floor communities was blocked.

The lower, middle, and upper floor classifications were as follows: below 39 floors were lower floors, below 69 floors were middle floors, and 70 floors or higher were upper floors.

As you climbed higher, you could only view the lower floor community and could not write posts.

If you wanted to communicate with lower-floor climbers, you had to invite them through personal chat or use the public community.

Entering each community revealed different topic categories, and inside those categories, I could see posts written by climbers.

Since the tower’s invitation targeted the entire world, various foreign languages were everywhere, but thanks to the new common ability ‘Translation,’ I could read even unfamiliar foreign languages as if they were my native language.

“It’s all useless posts and garbage posts.”

People posting weird things without caring about nationality were everywhere.

I was glad there was no image upload function.

If image uploads had been possible, the community would have been nothing less than a world of monsters.

Anyway, finding useful information here was like searching for a needle in a sandbox.

So that’s why there was a search function.

After roughly checking it, I looked at the information booklet.

The first page of the booklet contained instructions on how to use the community.

“Due to insufficient space in the booklet, detailed guidance will be provided through community posts.”

After that, it was less an explanation about the tower and more a guidebook for the city I had arrived in.

The city’s map marked major shops, inns, libraries, and other places, while also listing what each shop mainly sold and their general prices.

The update date was June 1st of the previous month, and it seemed that an agent from WPTO stationed in the city updated it every six months.

I understood what the priest I had just met meant when he said that city residents also looked at it sometimes.

The city was described in much more detail than I expected.

“Credits can be purchased at the very bottom of the Tower Shop. Refer to this when you urgently need them.”

When I checked, the very bottom showed that 1 point could buy 1,000 credits.

“1 credit is about 100 won in Korean currency… so does that mean 1 point is 100,000 won?”

One horned rabbit for 100,000 won?

Does the economy actually work like that?

Wouldn’t inflation happen?

However, the booklet said that the cost of a meal was around 50 to 100 credits, and inns ranged from 300 credits per night at cheap places to about 1,000 credits at expensive ones.

If climbers could earn money this easily, wouldn’t people normally overcharge them?

Seeing that rich areas had especially expensive prices, it seemed like simple economic logic.

“Ah, the priest said the tower’s messengers capture people who commit illegal acts. Would overcharging count as fraud?”

I couldn’t know the details. Since I was curious, maybe I should find out later.

“Because security within the city is good, there is no need to insist on expensive accommodations, but keep in mind that expensive lodging facilities have better environments.”

After finishing the booklet, I first followed its instructions and searched the community.

[WPTO Agent K]

When I searched, posts by Agent K appeared in the public community and the lower, middle, and upper floor communities.

I clicked the first post titled .

[The fundamental rule of using the community. Do not trust the information on the community.]

[Do not trust me, the person writing this post, either. Remember that this place is full of scammers. Rather than trusting community information, trust a political YouTuber. Political YouTubers deceive you and try to get your donations, but community information deceives you and leads you to your death.]

[Remember this. Do not trust community information. Doubt it, and doubt again.]

[This post was written with support from WPTO. A trustworthy friend, WPTO, is with you.]

(To be continued)