"Ahhh—"
Cyan Nightmare was enjoying a peaceful afternoon, taking a spoonful of pudding.
It was an infinitely lovable scene that could make anyone watching smile and feel healed.
However, Tricia was glaring at the system window with a very peculiar expression.
"...Tutorial open."
「Tutorial Quest (2)」
「[Climber] Total 100+ entries: Achieved」
「30+ [Climbers] clear 5th floor trials: Insufficient (Currently 17)」
「Reward: 20,000 Tower Coins + Tower Administrator authority level increase」
「※ This window will automatically close in 30 seconds.」
"30 people... to clear the 5th floor...?"
Tricia clutched her head and groaned.
She searched through her memories.
The conversation she had with Crow flashed through her mind.
Hunting Tower, Dungeon Tower, Trial Tower... and various others came to mind.
Crow had definitely said something like this:
《-I don't know why, but other towers provide very easy trials from the 1st to 5th floors. Most towers on Earth follow this rule. Even Hunting Towers require some kind of trial or mission at least once when you go above the 5th floor.》
...?
"...Could this be the reason?!"
Tricia's eyes flew open!
She finally understood! The reason why other towers all provided easy trials up to the 5th floor!
It was because of this tutorial!
Other towers intentionally lowered the difficulty up to the 5th floor so that Climbers could easily achieve the tutorial clear conditions!!!
Meanwhile, Hunting Towers seemed to operate their tutorials differently due to their different structure, but that wasn't important right now!
"If I had known this earlier, I wouldn't have set up the trials like this!"
Tricia complained to the system, but the system felt somewhat wronged.
Because... from the system's perspective, it had displayed a large window saying 「Tutorial Start」 the moment Tricia transferred to Earth!
But Tricia woke up too late, and the tutorial window closed automatically.
As a result, Tricia didn't even know that a tutorial existed in this tower!
So the system rebutted.(?)
「Notice: System displayed tutorial, but user did not check within time limit.」
"Then you should have shown it again when I woke up!"
「Response: Administrator did not request tutorial again.」
"How could I request something I didn't know about! You chose me as the tower administrator! Properly hand over the position!"
That's right.
When you think about it, wasn't it the system that chose Tricia as the tower administrator and sent her to Earth?
Come to think of it, it seems like the system was the one who messed up first.
"This is my home in the first place! Not a tower!!!"
「Entity: 'Eriel Tricia' is [Tower Administrator].」
"Why am I the tower administrator!!!"
「Response unavailable: Insufficient authority.」
"Hey—!!!!!!!!"
Tricia was about to fire off "that long thing" again, but remembering the devastated interior from earlier, she forcibly restrained herself.
"This is the home I worked so hard to get..."
Though it was currently operating as a 'tower' due to the system's enforcement, this place was still Tricia's home.
Of course, since this home was extraordinarily spacious compared to normal homes, it had undergone major renovations to the point where it had its own production and consumption cycle operating within.
But that didn't mean a perfect circulation system had been formed.
Tricia's home had abundant production and supply, but severely lacked residents to consume it.
So during her time in Eriel, she maintained internal circulation by trading excess goods with outside nations to secure necessary resources.
It was a way of balancing supply and demand through external trade.
However, circumstances had changed.
With the entire house relocating to Earth, all those external trading partners had disappeared.
In this situation, the existence of 'Climbers' was, from Tricia's perspective, the perfect consumers for these excess goods.
But this created a new problem.
Currently, she was receiving Tower Coins from transactions with Climbers, but in the future, she might need to purchase supplies from Climbers to operate the tower.
While the current operation was sustainable by receiving Tower Coins and disposing of excess inventory(?), if demand for goods produced in [My Home Tower] surged and exceeded supply—serious problems would definitely arise.
Tricia, who had to solve all these problems, sighed.
"Hah... I want to quit being a tower administrator..."
「Do you wish to abandon your Tower Administrator position?」
「If you abandon the position, the system will take over Tower Administrator authority.」
"I don't really like that, but what if I reject that too?"
「Without an administrator, [Tower Collapse] will occur.」
"...What happens if the tower collapses?"
「Climbers will be transported outside, and everyone else will be caught in the [Tower Collapse]. (Survival rate: 0.14%)」
"......"
Tricia thought about those words.
What if she placed top-tier protection on everyone living here, entered Shephid's safe subspace, and then triggered a [Tower Collapse]?
With Tricia's transcendent power and her companions' help, it might be possible to protect everyone even if a [Tower Collapse] occurred.
But was there really a need to go outside the tower that badly?
This place was a home filled with precious memories of her and her friends.
Of course, if forced to choose between companions and home, she would choose her companions without hesitation, but...
For now, perhaps...
She might be able to keep both.
"...I'll continue being the administrator. I won't lose my home or my companions."
Tricia resolved once again to protect both her home and her precious companions.
At that moment, Cyan Nightmare put down her spoon and stood up.
"I finished the pudding. I'm going to bed now."
"Okay, dream of me."
"I hope you have good dreams later too, Lady Tricia."
After Cyan went to her room, a demon butler came and neatly cleared away the remaining dishes.
"...When will we all be able to go out together?"
Tricia's voice drifted through the empty conference room like a soliloquy.
At that moment, a brilliant thought flashed through her mind.
"Wait. I may not be able to go out right now, but... isn't it possible to 'import' Earth items into the tower?"
That's right. Even if tower residents couldn't go outside, Climbers could bring in external items!
Of course, according to Crow, electronic devices don't work properly inside towers, so there would be limitations on importable items.
But—if electronic devices don't work, doesn't that mean everything else does?
As that thought occurred to her, memories from the distant past unfolded like a panorama in Tricia's mind.
Refreshing cola!
Seasoned chicken! Bulgogi pizza!
Jajangmyeon! Sweet and sour pork! Pork soup!
...And the divine mint chocolate ice cream that divides opinions!(???)
Of course, she had already succeeded in recreating similar recipes for chicken and pizza during the Eriel era, but things like jajangmyeon, sweet and sour pork, and mint chocolate ice cream hadn't been properly recreated yet.
Partly because she didn't know the recipes, and partly because it was difficult to match the subtle balance of flavors.
But now?
The authentic! The original! Real Earth food!
At the prospect of enjoying food from the distant past again, Tricia's eyes lit up.
"...I should recruit a Climber soon to bring in some delivery food...!"
Having regained her energy, she passionately began organizing the list of foods coming to mind and planning a party with her precious friends featuring Earth food.
Just thinking about it made her mouth water.
Tricia could already see a perfectly set table of abundant delivery food before her eyes.
------
Meanwhile, at that same time.
Somewhere in Gyeongnam city, in a dark room with even the curtains closed.
Faded animation posters from long ago hung on the walls, and the floor had long been conquered by old books and device components.
Several smartphones with cracked screens dangled from power outlets, with circuit diagrams and numerical notes scribbled between them like doodles.
On the desk sat an old laptop making noisy fan sounds.
The young man sitting in front of it was typing on the keyboard with an expressionless face.
Disheveled hair mixed with purple and white, wrinkled shirt sleeves with faint stains.
Amidst this discordant harmony, he was quietly concentrating.
His name was Park Do-yoon.
His online community nickname—'Mental Victory Guy'.
He was just uploading a new post to an anonymous board.
[Author: Mental Victory Guy]
[Title: Brought effects of World Tree Essence]
Growth promotion effect / Adults grow slightly taller too
Virility enhancement / Excellent for postpartum recovery
Increased natural communion ability / Can talk with spirits
Originally, communicating with spirits was extremely difficult unless you were a [Spirit Mage] or [Druid],
But with this [World Tree Essence] becoming popular, we've entered an era where anyone can chat with spirits.
Just don't mistake spirits liking you.
If you don't know why, look in the mirror.
〈Post has been uploaded.〉
After uploading, Park Do-yoon slowly leaned back in his chair.
Soon after, notifications began appearing in a corner of the monitor.
-Wow this is insane lol
-I talked to a spirit after eating this but it ran away
-My height didn't increase wtf
Park Do-yoon read the comments one by one with a slight smile.
Analyzing reactions, reading trends, and understanding the flow of refined information was a kind of experiment for him.
He quickly scrolled through posts on other communities.
— Tips for milking Minotaurs
— Review of winter clothes made from Sheep Spider wool
— Went to 7th floor trial and got wrecked while collecting Cockatrice eggs
"...This new tower is really interesting, huh?"
The tower he was talking about—[My Home Tower].
A tower that does business with Climbers.
A tower with bizarre trials mixed in, yet offering ridiculously high rewards.
At first, he dismissed it as a ridiculous urban legend, but as verification videos and reviews kept coming in, his doubts grew.
Everyone was paying attention to this bizarre tower.
"The distance is a bit of a drawback though..."
He closed the community window and quietly stood up.
He went to the room with the closet and opened his equipment cabinet.
Bulletproof vest, magic robe, dimensional pocket, green goggles, high-grade mana potion, enhanced buff potion.
Plasma shoes, flying boots, curse shield, and even a steel staff with a strange structure.
Park Do-yoon put them on one by one in order.
The basement dweller appearance disappeared, and in its place stood an eccentric.
"Shall I go check it out myself?"
—Unique Class holder.
World Climber Ranking 35.
[Seeker] Park Do-yoon headed to Seoul to investigate the truth.
