I got into school for nothing - 282
I got into school for nothing (282)
Lesson 55. The Heart of the Tower - 2
After eliminating a flock of birds that felt as numerous as two or three regular rooms combined.
Even as she soared through the sky on her tail, Rucell calmly surveyed the ground below.
“It looks like the flock of cursed birds is driving this entire vast room towards destruction. I think there was a room like this before.”
“There aren’t that many factors that can lead a world to ruin, are there? War, plague, curses, or monster waves, something like that.”
Putting it like that, it actually sounds like quite a few.
Yet, in less than a year, Ban Yuwon had directly experienced most of those agents of destruction, whether inside the Tower or in other dimensions, hadn't he?
...No, thinking about it again, it felt like there were actually fewer 'normal' dimensions.
Tikke, whom he had sent out earlier, identified a densely populated area and sent a mental message to Ban Yuwon.
Naturally, Lilyth, who had also received the message, altered the fighter jet's trajectory and began a diagonal descent towards the ground.
“Follow me, let’s go down for now.”
“Yes!”
“Ugh, are we interacting with NPCs again? I wish we could just defeat monsters on our own and move on...”
Rucell obediently followed him down, but Asha, guessing his intentions, made a displeased expression.
That was probably because, unlike the other members of Rebellion, she tended to empathize deeply with the NPCs inside the Tower.
Ever since entering the Tower, and even when her body was possessed by an ancestral spirit, she had always treated NPCs like real people, trying to look after them.
However, now that she was gradually realizing that students climbing the Tower often led NPCs to death rather than salvation when they became involved with them, she actually wanted to avoid them.
“Oh?”
But her expression gradually changed as the ground drew nearer.
Ban Yuwon, who had shared Tikke's vision and confirmed the appearance of the people on the ground, immediately understood why.
“It’s the Savior!”
“The Savior has saved us again this time!”
Coincidentally, the NPCs who had survived until the very end in the previous Chain Room were staying here.
They were residents of a world where Constellations had erected a tower in imitation of the Tower of Babel.
As a result of the Tower directly punishing that world, the imitation tower collapsed, and even the Constellations could no longer interfere with the world. Consequently, all the remaining humans were doomed to face the impending destruction.
That was, however, merely something that had happened in the past in an external dimension outside the Tower. The NPCs left within the fragmented world isolated inside the Tower had managed to endure and survive the destruction reproduced in the environment of a Trick Room with the help of the Rebellion members.
‘After that, there were no more encounters, so I thought the Chain Room had simply ended.’
No, there probably wouldn’t be any more rooms related to that world, actually.
Ban Yuwon and his party had already experienced enough of the Tower’s lessons. More importantly, in this world, he could feel the trace of a Constellation from the flock of cursed birds he had encountered earlier.
This room was clearly set against the backdrop of a different world than the Chain Room they had experienced before.
“Good heavens, it truly is our Savior!”
“Oh, Savior! You have descended for us once again!”
However, those who were now spreading their arms, shedding tears of emotion, and welcoming the party descending from the sky were clearly the NPCs they had seen in the previous Trick Room, and they seemed to retain their memories.
If so... it meant that the Tower had rescued them alone from a room that had served its purpose and disappeared, moving them to a new stage, and furthermore, arranged for them to encounter the very climbers who had met them before: Rebellion.
Ban Yuwon instinctively felt that his long-held ‘NPC Recycling Theory’ had proven true.
This implied that how one treated the NPCs encountered during the Tower climb could influence subsequent climbs.
‘Of course, even if they knew this, most students wouldn't care.’
After all, an NPC is just an NPC; compared to students who are handpicked talents from across all dimensions, they are like humans compared to mayflies.
Whether a mayfly follows or opposes a human, what impact could it possibly have on that human?
It’s a mercy if they aren't simply swatted away for being annoying, buzzing around nearby.
Honestly, Ban Yuwon — he had only changed his approach to dealing with them because he thought it would grant a bonus to the settlements and rewards in Eden; he never thought they could significantly influence his party.
“You’re alive!”
But Asha, who deeply empathized with NPCs, was intensely overjoyed to see them, her memories of that time vivid even though she hadn't been in control.
Asha sped up, landed lightly on the ground, and approached them with a bright smile.
However, they, in turn, seemed unable to share her emotions, tilting their heads in confusion.
“Hmm—are you also one of the Savior’s companions?”
“Now that you mention it, I think there was someone with a similar aura.”
“What are you talking about? I saved your lives— Ah.”
Asha, realizing a little late what her current appearance was like, let out a groan.
It was natural they didn't recognize her, as back then, Asha had taken on the appearance closest to that of a man in her entire life.
Whereas now she had regained her true form—and though it was embarrassing to say it herself, wasn’t she now a beautiful maiden, like a flower!
“Ahem, well, it can’t be helped that you don’t recognize me. Even I didn’t know I would become this beautiful...”
“...”
“W-what, Rucell? Why are you looking at me with those eyes?”
“It’s nothing.”
Around that time, Ban Yuwon and Dokgo Yeon also exited the fighter jet and landed.
Those who had been bewildered by Asha’s approach brightened up again upon seeing Lilyth, who had transformed from a fighter jet into a small doll, land lightly on Ban Yuwon's shoulder.
It seemed Lilyth, who freely changed her form into various vehicles including tanks, had left a strong impression in their memories.
“It truly is the Savior!”
“Long time no see. But this isn’t the world you originally lived in, is it?”
“When we came to our senses, we were here! F-first, please move with us. This place is within the sphere of the 'Erosion' and is dangerous.”
Erosion. It probably refers to those things that harbored curses.
Having fought considerably in the sky, Ban Yuwon reflected on the concepts of 'Curse' and 'Fusion' deeply accumulated by the thousands in his Code Core, and moved along with his party, following them.
* * *
Crackling. Perhaps the sound of the candle burning seemed eerily ominous, as Asha shivered and clung to Ban Yuwon.
Rucell was already in that state long ago, while Dokgo Yeon stood a step away from them, wearing a disdainful expression.
The hideout where the NPCs were staying was narrow and dark, seemingly reflecting the dire circumstances of this world.
“So the curses swarming outside are the 'Erosion'?”
“From the moment we opened our eyes in this world, more than half of it was already eroded.”
“First, explain what this 'Erosion' is. It seems like a type of curse.”
“According to the natives of this world, it’s the result of a Constellation’s rampage.”
The NPCs who had brought them to the hideout hurriedly explained the situation of this world, as if being chased by someone.
In this world, there were two great nations that had ceaselessly clashed throughout history, and each of these two nations had a Constellation attached to them, sponsoring them.
At this point, Ban Yuwon already felt as if he had heard the entire story, but he decided to silently listen to the rest of it for now.
“The war escalated, and eventually, the two Constellations even descended.”
Constellations descended? Ban Yuwon’s ears perked up.
If traces of their descent remained in this world, wouldn’t Ban Yuwon be able to obtain a large quantity of rare and substantial concepts from the Constellations’ incarnated forms once again!
However, that was merely an event that occurred in the history of this dimension. Whether its traces would remain even within this world fragment, transported into the Tower, was uncertain, so he suppressed his expectations for now.
“Ultimately, the humans, having lost any way to stop the war with their own strength, sought external assistance.”
“From a higher-ranking dimension?”
“Exactly.”
Right, just as I thought.
These days, Ban Yuwon even suspected that most of the bad things happening in dimensions were due to the intervention of higher-ranking dimensions.
“We don’t know which dimension they sought help from. However, as a result, the Constellations who had protected the two nations retreated, and their abandoned incarnated forms ran wild, bringing disaster to this world. That is what they call 'Erosion'.”
“Seeking aid from a higher-ranking dimension resulted in the two Constellations retreating, and their incarnated forms rampaging...”
When Ban Yuwon, who wanted to ask how exactly they had rampaged, gave a subtle cue, one of them went outside, saying he would bring a survivor from this world.
Ban Yuwon sought the understanding of the remaining NPCs and then erected a barrier, isolating them from his party.
Then, he grinned and spoke.
“This might be a goldmine.”
“I had a feeling you’d say something like that.”
At his remark, which revealed a starkly different perspective on the Tower compared to regular Union Academy students, Dokgo Yeon let out a small smile.
“No, Yeon. Listen seriously. Ever since I first encountered that flock of cursed birds, I’ve been thinking: these guys here resemble the Chimera Ball we faced in space.”
Chimera Ball: monsters that appeared in abandoned dimensions.
They were creatures that absorbed and fused everything, ultimately leading to destruction. Given that the Chancellor called the abandoned dimensions 'tested dimensions,' they seemed to be connected to Union Academy or even the Tower of Babel.
This suggested that perhaps this place, too, was a 'tested dimension' before its complete decline.
“And the core concepts obtained from these Chimera Ball are 'Fusion' and 'Collapse.' You could say that Shati’s Authority was completed with these two concepts. In any case, it means they are substantial concepts.”
In a way, Chimera Ball are monsters one must risk their life to face. So, if he could obtain concepts inside the Tower that were otherwise only obtainable from them, wouldn't that be a considerable gain?
However, the creatures he saw earlier, perhaps incomplete or perhaps even superior to Chimera Ball, lacked the concept of 'Collapse'...
If he searched their base, including that, he would surely be able to figure out how experiments were conducted in this dimension.
“How ironic.”
Dokgo Yeon had a displeased expression.
“Why does the Tower always show us the destruction of worlds in this manner? Is it a warning? It’s quite unpleasant.”
“Heh heh, we don’t yet know how the Tower is connected to this dimension, do we?”
“Hmm, I wonder...”
Dokgo Yeon’s unknown hostility towards the Tower remained as strong as ever.
Of course, recalling that her dimension was isolated from others, and that the Demon King of Diabolo had acted as if he knew her dimension and its unique martial arts, one could vaguely guess the root of that hostility.
‘Something bad happened with other dimensions in the past. Something dirty enough that most higher-ranking dimensions would know about it, but are deliberately trying to keep quiet.’
Nevertheless, Dokgo Yeon’s ‘Murim’ had protected its dimension.
There was a good reason it was called an Ex-1 dimension, transcending the existing grading system.
If he were to go to Dokgo Yeon's dimension this vacation... would she explain the situation to him too?
“W-why are you looking at me like that?”
His gaze must have inadvertently fallen on her while he was thinking about Dokgo Yeon's dimension.
She needlessly blushed and stepped back a pace, then uttered words entirely unrelated to Ban Yuwon’s thoughts.
“Even if you look at me like that, I have no intention of clinging to you in a place like this. I’m different from those two beasts who get horny without regard for time or place.”
Asha, stung by the accusation, hurriedly let go of Ban Yuwon’s arm, stepped back, and made her excuses.
“H-horny?! That’s not it at all?!”
“Oh my, Dokgo Yeon. That remark just now, it sounds as if, given the proper time and place...”
Rucell, on the other hand, realized Dokgo Yeon's slip of the tongue and grinned—but unfortunately, before she could pull out her claws, the hideout's entrance burst open, revealing a complete stranger.
“S-save me—! The Erosion has finally reached even here—!”
And the next moment, he was buried by the black flock of birds that filled the sky and descended, disappearing from view.
Watching all the concepts that formed the NPC's body dissolve into curses and fuse with the black flock of birds, Ban Yuwon simultaneously recalled Hitchcock’s masterpiece films and a certain Japanese literature that dealt with the Holy Grail, but for now, he erected a barrier to block the wave of curses.
—We finally meet again, my darling child!
And feeling the aura of a Constellation whose voice he had heard several times before, and who might be connected to the 'experiment' that had befallen this dimension, he let out a low sigh.
Comments