Two days after the black bean noodle incident.
The government was running in all directions, trying to somehow arrange a meeting with the Tower.
Endless discussions continued about who would go to the Tower and negotiate directly with the Administrator, with each department conducting thorough reviews to send their best personnel.
Meanwhile, the situation for Climbers had changed significantly.
"Personal Holy Water" exclusively for Climbers began to be sold at the My Home Tower managed by Tricia.
Now Climbers could freely use Holy Water for themselves or their families, and thanks to the terms of use, they were no longer obligated to sell it to the government.
Since reselling or foreign export was magically blocked, the government's management burden was greatly reduced.
However... there are always those who ignore warnings no matter where they are.
A Climber who disregarded the precautions listed "Personal Holy Water" on Oi Market, and immediately had a Brand etched onto his neck.
And from that moment... numerous misfortunes began to occur in succession.
His phone suddenly exploded,
His computer sparked before the internal fan flew out and slightly cut his neck,
While looking for a towel to stop the bleeding, he accidentally stepped on a thermos that had fallen to the floor and tripped,
As he fell, he tried to grab something and unfortunately caught the knife holder,
And all the knives inside fell precisely toward his torso.
Though he narrowly avoided vital spots and didn't die, he was in a truly miserable state—alive but barely.
Gathering his wits in terrible pain, he had no choice but to drink the Holy Water himself.
The Divine Punishment then judged that he had used the Holy Water for its proper purpose, and the Brand on his neck instantly disappeared.
The Climber who experienced this incident immediately posted about it online.
A post titled [Almost Died Trying to Make Money from Holy Water... (True Story)] was quickly pinned as an announcement.
It was turned into videos by numerous Neotubers, and various media outlets began reporting on it.
Meanwhile, the movements of the Blood Demon Guild were also concerning.
Their contact with the government had increased dramatically, and news spread that Crow, who had recently risen in the Climber rankings, had returned to the country.
The domestic situation was flowing more urgently and rapidly than ever before.
And...
The beginning and center of all these incidents.
What exactly was Tricia doing now?
---
My Home Tower, 99th Floor Conference Room.
「Tutorial Quest (2)」
「[Climbers] Total 100+ entered: Completed」
「30+ [Climbers] cleared 5th floor trials: Completed」
「2,000 Tower Coins awarded to Administrator as tutorial completion reward!」
「Additionally, Tower Administrator authority level has increased!」
"I did it!!!"
Tricia raised both arms high, shedding tears of joy!
After all the long humiliation and oppression she had endured...
She had finally escaped from the swamp of the dreaded tutorial!
"This is really the end now, right?! Huh?"
「The third tutorial will now begin! The quests below—」
"Hey!!!!!!!!"
Tricia let out a roar(?) of anger!
But the System showed no reaction and displayed the next quest.
「Tutorial Quest (3)」
「Change floor structure at least once: Completed」
「Set at least one Tower-wide rule: Completed」
「Create monster or object with Tower Coins at least once: Completed」
「Create assistant NPC at least once: Incomplete」
「Reward: 30,000 Tower Coins + Additional Tower Administrator authority level increase」
"...Huh? It's almost all done already?"
Tricia muttered as she examined each quest item.
"I changed the floor structure and set rules early on, and for creating monsters or objects... I spent Tower Coins repairing the 99th floor last time, so is that counted as object creation?"
Most of the quests had been completed without her realizing it.
But one final item remained:
「Create assistant NPC at least once: Incomplete」
"Oh right, that existed..."
Tricia opened the Tower Administrator menu that she hadn't checked in a while.
「Tower Administrator Menu」
▶ Tower Structure Settings
▶ Trial and Reward Settings
▶ Tower-wide Rule Settings
▶ Monster/Object Creation
▶ Assistant NPC Creation ← (New)
"Oh, this unlocked when my authority level increased? But what's an NPC?"
「An Assistant NPC is a personality entity that can perform various roles within the Tower.」
"Hmm... so it's just like an NPC in a game. Well, let's make one!"
Without any hesitation, Tricia pressed the [Create Assistant NPC] button.
A new window appeared before her eyes.
「Beginning Assistant NPC creation.」
「Please set the basic appearance.」
▶ Humanoid
▶ Magical Beast
▶ Amorphous
▶ Object
"Hmm... humanoid?"
「Please set the secondary appearance.」
▶ Human
▶ Elf
▶ Dwarf
▶ Beastkin
▶ Demon Race
▶ Celestial Race
▶ Insectoid
:
"Why are there so many options..."
Since completing the tutorial was her priority, Tricia quickly skipped through to the tenth appearance setting, created a suitable pretty maid character, and pressed the [Complete] button.
She set the newly created maid NPC aside and focused back on the System window.
「Tutorial Quest (3)」
「Change floor structure at least once: Completed」
「Set at least one Tower-wide rule: Completed」
「Create monster or object with Tower Coins at least once: Completed」
「Create assistant NPC at least once: Completed」
「30,000 Tower Coins awarded to Administrator as tutorial completion reward!」
「Additionally, Tower Administrator authority level has further increased!」
「Authority level changed from [Novice Administrator] to [D-Grade Administrator]!」
"...There won't be a fourth tutorial, right?"
Tricia prayed there wouldn't be a fourth tutorial after easily completing the third one.
「Congratulations! You have completed all tutorials!」
"Hooray!!!"
To her great joy, the tutorial was finally over!
The end of the tutorial meant she could now exercise power as a true Tower Administrator...!
Now it was time to ask what she had wanted to ask since she first arrived here!
"...Can I leave the Tower now?"
「Notice: Insufficient authority.」
"You XXX-!!!!!!!!"
The furious Tricia delivered a deadly karate chop to the conference room's round table, cleanly splitting it in half!
"Why!!! Can't I leave-!!!!!!"
「You can leave when your authority level is higher.」
"You won't tell me how to raise it anyway!"
「You can increase your authority level by paying Tower Coins.」
"...Huh?"
Surprisingly, the System kindly explained how to increase her authority level this time.
However, the amount of Tower Coins required was not kind at all.
「Cost required for Administrator level increase: 3,000,000 Tower Coins」
"Wait, three million...?"
With trembling hands, Tricia checked her Tower Coin balance.
「Tower Coins held: 679,451」
"......"
It was far from enough.
Of course, her coin income was steadily increasing thanks to the newly renovated Holy Water sales for Climbers, various item sales, and the growing number of trial participants, but...
"No, three million just to go up one level is too much!!!"
That requirement was definitely an unreasonable amount.
Of course, with My Home Tower's Tower Coin income, she could gather enough in about a month, and if she later traded Holy Water in bulk with the government, she could acquire an enormous amount of Tower Coins, but...
Tricia wondered if there was any reason to raise her authority level at such cost.
"...Anyway, what benefits do I get from the next level?"
「If you upgrade from [D-Grade Administrator], you will become a [C-Grade Administrator].」
「As a C-Grade Administrator, you will receive the following benefits:」
- Expanded Tower information access due to authority level increase
- 70% reduction in Tower Coins required for Tower maintenance
- 15% reduction in Tower Coins required for Tower structure changes and monster/object creation
- 5% increase in Tower Coin revenue
- Various custom options unlocked
"...Is that all?"
It was less substantial than expected.
Really, it was full of functions that were completely useless to Tricia.
The 70% reduction in Tower maintenance costs wasn't bad in the long term, but considering the initial cost of 3 million... it didn't seem particularly worthwhile.
Tricia sighed deeply and hung her head.
Her expression was filled with deep disappointment.
"Sigh... if I could at least use electronic devices..."
「Notice: Using the [Electronic Device Unlock] feature in the [C-Grade Administrator] custom options will enable the use of electronic devices within the Tower.」
"?"
Excuse me?
What did you say?
「Notice: Additionally, [Internet Connection] will be possible.」
"???"
That evening.
A new advertisement was displayed in the 1st floor lobby where Climbers gathered:
『We invite you to the newly established《Tower Coin Casino》on the 91st floor-!!!』
The 91st floor managed directly by Tricia was a place of dreamlike beauty with a crystal castle shining under a lavender night sky!
And there... the《Tower Coin Casino》full of dreams and hope(?) had newly appeared!