I got into school for nothing - Chapter 287
*****************************************************
****************************************************
I got into school for nothing (287)
Lesson 55. The Heart of the Tower - 7
Every Sunday afternoon, when Tower explorations took place, the Union would grow excited over Rebellion's new exploration records. By now, it was a familiar sight.
But this time, it had gone too far.
“Last... last exploration, how many rooms did they clear?”
“200 rooms.”
“No, that makes no sense! They didn't explore for an entire vacation period. It was only a two-night, three-day expedition, yet they cleared 50 rooms? How is that even possible!”
Wherever two or more people gathered, everyone was discussing Rebellion's latest expedition, frothing at the mouth.
A team composed solely of talented individuals? Fine.
Having authorities beneficial for climbing the Tower, which grants them faster exploration speeds than others? Also fine.
However, to clear 50 rooms—not from the 1st to 50th, but within the regions beyond the 200th room, which usually only sophomores or higher can safely explore—in just three days was a physically incomprehensible speed.
Clearing a room requires a minimum set of conditions to be met.
Monster subjugation, the discovery of hidden structures or target locations, and occasionally, the completion of special quests like rescuing NPCs.
The higher the room, the more complex the conditions for completion become, and in fact, beyond the 200th room, there was a chance of not even clearing one room in a single day.
Given this situation, with Rebellion achieving such an absurd feat, what kind of reaction could one expect?
It was, without a doubt, an unprecedented event since Union Academy first opened its doors.
“A video will surely be uploaded.”
“It's a fabrication. This time, it's undeniable. I've always wondered why only Ban Yuwon could film inside the Tower! If the Chancellor is secretly supporting that guy, and manipulating the Tower's contents, then it all makes sense!”
“Stop spouting nonsense, do you think the Chancellor's position is so easily gained?”
And all this commotion centered on the video uploaded to the Rebellion channel.
While no one truly believed Rebellion had ascended the Tower so quickly purely by skill, that didn't mean everyone suspected them of cheating.
The Tower, which had stood silently for thousands of years, accepting countless challenges, and the Chancellor of Union Academy, who managed it.
These represented a certain authority.
A firm belief that the Tower of Babel would not grant special favors to any particular individual for any reason lay at the foundation of their psychology.
...Of course, if they were to learn of the secrets Ban Yuwon harbored and what truly transpired during his solo explorations, such beliefs would vanish in an instant.
In any case, for these reasons, Ban Yuwon had been summoned to the Chancellor's office.
The other members, due to the unprecedentedly grueling exploration... even Dokgo Yeon, who never uttered a word of complaint unless sweets were placed before her, had quietly returned to her dormitory room to rest. And in her stead, or rather, not really in her stead, his supervising professor, Yumina, was with him in the Chancellor's office.
‘A three-way meeting like this is a first, isn't it?’
Ban Yuwon sat beside Yumina on a sofa, whose appearance he couldn't recall, and let out a soft sigh as he thought.
Of course, the Chancellor, as always, was seated opposite them in the form of a small doll.
Perhaps because Yumina was present today, it was a middle-aged gentleman doll dressed in a suit, seemingly paying considerable attention to its appearance.
‘Cellon, do you have anything you want to say?’
He wondered if Cellon might feel stimulated with both the Chancellor and Yumina present, so he tried talking to him, but the fellow remained silent, giving no reply.
Perhaps he thought that if he spoke aloud in this space, the Chancellor would hear him?
Even now, after growing immensely—enough to be called a sea change compared to the beginning of the semester—seeing the Chancellor, whose true identity remained unclear, made Ban Yuwon somewhat uneasy.
Even though he had concluded long ago that it couldn't be, he couldn't shake the thought that the Chancellor might be reading his mind.
“Master, why did you summon us?”
“Master...?”
Five minutes had passed since the three had sat side by side.
Frustrated by the silence, Ban Yuwon finally spoke first, but it was Yumina, seated next to him, who reacted strangely, not the Chancellor.
“Chancellor, did you perhaps tell Yuwon to address you that way...?”
—You know better than anyone why you were summoned here today.
Ah, he just blatantly changed the subject.
The gentleman doll, whose expression should have been unreadable, now seemed to be feeling a little embarrassed.
—The clearing of 50 rooms in three days, especially if it is revealed that all of them were accomplished in super-large rooms, where ten rooms had merged into one due to a multi-shift.
“So you knew.”
Just as I thought, this bastard was inspecting the Tower!
Indeed.
Over the past two nights and three days, Ban Yuwon and his party had cleared five rooms where ten rooms had unified into one due to a multi-shift.
Although each one seemed like a different world, the theme of all the rooms was the same, and Ban Yuwon even suspected them of being some kind of Chain Room.
And if that were truly the case, this phenomenon would likely not end here....
—I must concede. Your unique talent and connection. The time has come when it is difficult to conceal it, even with edited videos.
“Uhm... well, yes.”
Hearing the word ‘connection,’ he let out a wry chuckle.
He had long known that the Chancellor was aware of his secret, but ‘connection’?
Was that a roundabout way of saying ‘bloodline’?
“Connection...? Chancellor, what are you talking about? Our Yuwon is from Earth, a dimension that was closed off until the special admissions selection this time.”
—You, too, must know of that dimension's uniqueness. Earth was once connected to the Union, and that connection has continued to this day, blossoming within Ban Yuwon.
“...”
Yumina fell silent.
As the person closest to Ban Yuwon in the academy, besides the Rebellion members, she had heard, directly or indirectly through him, that he was someone connected to the Tower.
The reason she hadn't explicitly mentioned that fact until now was because she knew it was a sensitive topic for both speaker and listener.
Therefore, she had quietly kept her silence, and instead of her status as an academy professor, she had supported him through her own skills, connections, and even through Level Force, Rebellion's fan club.
‘And the reason I didn't say it aloud was partly because I strongly hoped the Chancellor wouldn't notice.’
She knew it couldn't be hidden forever.
After all, Ban Yuwon had drawn the Chancellor's attention from the very beginning of his admission.
But hearing the Chancellor's remarks, which seemed to reveal an understanding of Ban Yuwon even better than Yumina, or perhaps even Ban Yuwon himself, her energy suddenly drained away.
“Why are you telling us this now? And dragging me into it too?”
So it was no wonder she complained, not as an academy professor trusted by the Chancellor, but with the tone of someone grumbling to an uncle who had sponsored and raised her since childhood in place of her parents.
—Because confrontations with the factions targeting the Tower have surged to the surface, becoming too difficult to suppress any longer. Exodus is the prime example, but the Ten Great Families are also beginning to bare their fangs, one by one.
“Ten Great Families, you say... are you referring to the Prominence family?”
—You know it's not just them. Among them, the True Dragons are especially dangerous.
At those words, Ban Yuwon recalled the Melodia Family Head and unconsciously nodded.
However, that person felt like an ally to Ban Yuwon, if anything... Was the Chancellor considering him an enemy?
To confirm this discrepancy, he absolutely needed to visit Melodia at least once.
—And all of this has effectively begun because of you, Ban Yuwon.
“Huh, me?”
—Yes.
The gentleman tapped the table with an umbrella, whose origin was unknown.
Then a hologram appeared above the table, and a video began to play. It was the first part of the latest exploration video, just finished editing by Tikke and uploaded to the Rebellion channel.
‘He's a subscriber to the Rebellion channel after all,’ he thought, confirming it, and at the same time, he carefully memorized the flow of mana the Chancellor had just generated.
He knew that the Union Net, and by extension UniTube, were the Chancellor's creations, but to think he could connect without a device, and so simply at that.
Though it seemed like nothing special, that might be the core secret of the Union Net, which connects various dimensions.
—Look, the upload time was one minute ago...
Why did it feel so strange and amusing to hear the Chancellor utter the word ‘upload’?
No, now was the time to focus on his words.
There had to be a special reason why he had gathered not only Ban Yuwon but Yumina as well, to have this conversation!
—The views have already exceeded 500 million. If I refresh, 1.2 billion. 1.4 billion...
“Huhu, the channel has grown again in the meantime. It's all thanks to Yuwon's amazing abilities.”
Yumina, doting as ever, seemed to have forgotten the serious situation and was clapping her hands, delighted by the channel's growth.
The gentleman doll continued, its voice sounding slightly bewildered by her reaction.
—A few days ago, a Rebellion video was uploaded as well, but the view count didn't increase at this rapid pace then. Do you know what this means?
What is this even about?
Me, my supervising professor, and the Chancellor all gathered in one place, to discuss the growth direction and future goals of the Rebellion channel?
Ban Yuwon, desperately trying to keep his mind from drifting off to Andromeda, gave a calm answer.
“It means that our team's absurd exploration achievements this week were already known across many dimensions even before the video was uploaded, right?”
—Precisely. This goes beyond mere attention; it means many are wary of you and suspect you.
“Suspicion? Our Yuwon hasn't done anything suspicious! He's simply been too excellent in his explorations so far, which is why the Tower chose a slightly more aggressive and efficient testing method!”
Yumina argued back, her tone like an older sister who was also a student council president, defending her younger sibling suspected of cheating on an exam.
However, at Yumina's pathetic display, still failing to grasp the situation, the Chancellor tapped the table a couple more times with the umbrella he was holding.
Yumina's surging momentum was forcibly suppressed, and she, who had risen, slumped back onto the table.
—Yumina, suspicion isn't of that kind.
He didn't know how many times it had happened since he came here today—but Ban Yuwon now truly suspected there was something wrong with his ears.
Did the Chancellor just call Yumina by her given name?
Yumina's retort to that was a masterpiece in itself.
“But, Sir—!”
—Everyone who first ascends the Tower deludes themselves. They imagine they will become the Tower Lord, wielding all the authorities hidden within the Tower. Becoming the one true God, abolishing the messy boundaries between dimensions, and becoming the master of a unified world.
No—I don't think many people actually think that.
Ban Yuwon, having read the inherent desires in the Chancellor's brief words, felt goosebumps erupt all over his body.
Should I, perhaps, run away from here right now?
But as if reading his inner thoughts, the Chancellor's umbrella pointed directly at Ban Yuwon.
—But as they ascend the Tower, everyone eventually realizes. They have no connection to the position of Tower Lord. That the Tower isn't testing climbers, but merely treating them as samples.
“Samples...! Sir, Yuwon will never be sacrificed! I will protect him!”
The word ‘samples’ seemed to have agitated Yumina.
Finally, overcoming the pressure of the Chancellor's aura, she sprang to her feet and stepped forward as if to shield Ban Yuwon—Immediately after, the table they had been sitting at vanished, and a colossal eyeball emerged from the floor instead.
The ceiling was the same.
Eyeballs also appeared on all four walls.
—But soon, everyone will realize that there was indeed an exception among them.
And the next moment, all of it vanished, and the room returned to its original appearance.
The Chancellor continued calmly.
—Yumina, you were placed in that position from the very beginning to protect him. Your resolve is not mistaken, so act as you intend.
“Ah, ah... just now... Sir...?”
Yumina's complexion turned pale.
As she swayed and threatened to collapse, her legs trembling, this time Ban Yuwon steadied her.
The Chancellor, as if he hadn't intended to threaten them at all, calmly spoke.
—Successor. Enemies are everywhere. Outside the Tower, and of course, inside the Tower. Reflect once more on ‘who’ targeted you in this last exploration. And prepare.
When he firmly tapped the table again with his umbrella, the two were expelled from the Chancellor's room and found themselves standing in the hallway.
—The war has already begun.
Though still trembling, Ban Yuwon hugged Yumina back, who was tightly embracing him as if to protect him, and thought.
That bastard, always putting on such a show. Over something I already knew.
Comments