Chapter 74: Episode 74

Several days passed. The potion-making golem, the core of our mass-production system, was finally complete—an upgraded version, now capable of handling unexpected variables. With a single command, the golem would light the cauldron, process the ingredients, stir the mixture, and even handle the final packaging. Once it was done, Ea would levitate the finished potions to the first-floor warehouse. Early each morning, Bora would visit our “dummy factory” on the research foundation’s grounds, retrieve the potions through her subspace, and replace them with newly delivered ingredients. A transport company would then pick up the finished product and deliver it to our store on Hunter Street.

The process was flawless. After a few test runs, we finally opened Alchemia Store No. 1. For now, we were selling only one item: the Low-Grade Red Elixir. It was the weakest of the elixirs, but it was more than enough for provisional players or those with lower stamina.

The market’s reaction was explosive. Bora sent me a video call from the store, showing a line that stretched down the block, all players waiting to buy our potions. With limited stock, we had to restrict sales to five bottles per person.

“Hng! Yusin! Are we going to be rich now?!” Bora cried, overcome with emotion.

The ability to heal injuries instantly on-site was a game-changer, and the potions sold like hotcakes. The certification mark from the Association’s research foundation guaranteed their credibility. Add to that our stable income from the Paju hunting grounds, and the Magic Tower had finally entered a phase of perfect stability.

With that thought, I flopped onto the desk in the Great Library on the second floor. Books were piled around me like towers, all of them records of the disasters of Erendel.

’Ugh, I’m so tired.’

I rubbed my eyes and flipped through a book. The third Labyrinth Dungeon had been a wake-up call. My country had come dangerously close to collapsing. I couldn’t just stand by anymore. I had to investigate the Disasters to come thoroughly.

So, while Bora and Eunsol focused on potions, Ea, Seojin, and I had been spending most of our time on the second floor, gathering information for the next Trial.

’I’m so sleepy.’

Just as I let out a massive yawn, a bright cluster of light gathered in the air, and Ea appeared.

“Tower Master. I have brought you something to drink.”

As expected from the greatest AI secretary in history, she had instantly picked up on my fatigue and appeared with a drink on a tray. There was just one small problem. She couldn’t cook.

“I don’t want any more perilla leaf soup!”

“Correction,” Ea said, her expression dead serious. “It is not perilla leaf soup, but a Perilla Leaf Mojito. I request an immediate retraction of your statement.”

“It’s the same thing!”

“I have heard that husbands who are picky eaters are grounds for divorce.”

“How is that the same thing?! Are you actually trying to poison me?”

Ea smiled gently. “Poison you? Don’t be absurd. Administrator Jeong drank it just fine.”

…That’s just the power of love. That damn Seojin keeps telling her it’s delicious, so she never stops making it.

“If you don’t mind, I shall drink that poisoned cup.”

Speak of the devil. Seojin appeared out of nowhere, took the glass from Ea’s hand, and declared, “If it is a sweet poison such as this, I would have no regrets even if I were to die after drinking it.”

After uttering a line so cheesy it made my skin crawl, he downed the drink in one go. Ugh. Just seeing him chug it made my stomach churn.

“Administrator Jeong,” Ea asked, “how was the taste of this drink?”

Seojin adjusted his glasses. “It tasted like love.”

I wish someone would shut him up.

“By the way, Miss. Ea. Did you see Chanmyeon’s Instagram post from today? He was incredibly handsome and adorable in this one, too.”

“Affirmative. I believe Leader Chanmyeon Kim’s deep dimples are a key stan-worthy trait.”

“He shot a sunscreen ad with Jinwoo and the others. The urge to buy it was insane.”

“I wanted it as well, although a homunculus has no need for sunscreen.”

…I couldn’t tell if this was the Magic Tower or a high school fan club.

“Seojin,” I said.

“Yes.”

“You’re interested in EXIO too?”

He pushed up his glasses. “EXIO is basic cultural literacy.”

This guy had finally lost his mind.

“Haa, whatever. What about the disaster records?”

“The general information is almost complete. However…”

“However?”

“There is something I must report. Hmm, it would be faster to show you directly.”

We followed him up the stairs of the Great Library. The higher we went, the more ancient the books appeared. While I was distracted by them, Seojin stopped ahead. “Here we are.”

Small rooms were arranged at regular intervals, their doors firmly shut, each marked with a magic circle.

“Ah, this is what you mentioned before…”

“That is correct. The Sealed Archives, where the most secret books of the Great Library are stored. I wanted to show you this while you were here.”

There were five such locked rooms in the library, each sealed by a cryptographic puzzle. It was a sanctuary that not even the homunculus, the floor administrator, or the Tower Master could touch. The tower’s unique alloy made breaking down the doors impossible; the puzzle was the only way in. A chair and scattered piles of books nearby showed that Seojin had already made several attempts.

“Just as you challenge the Trial of the next floor, Tower Master, I consider this my own ’Trial’ as the second-floor administrator. In fact, my stats have increased quite a bit from working on it.”

I tilted my head. “Your stats increase too? Like when you hunt monsters?”

“Of course, Tower Master,” Ea answered for him. “All administrators grow by performing their duties. It is the same principle by which your stats increase when you research magic on the ninth floor, or when the Potion Brewing administrator brews potions.”

No wonder Bora’s magic power had been climbing so quickly lately.

“To continue,” Seojin said, “the puzzle was designed to be solvable only after reading all the books in a specific field, as if testing the administrator’s knowledge.”

“That’s a problem. It would take ages to read every book in one field…”

“I have already read almost all the required books.”

I stared at him as if I were seeing a ghost. “You’re handling all the outside work, too. When did you find the time to read…?”

“My Information Processing trait allows me to speed-read. I read in my spare time after work.”

You’re probably the only person in the world who uses the Iron Man ability to avoid sleeping. “And you still couldn’t solve it?”

“Correct. I believed I had read enough, but there was a part I just couldn’t figure out.”

“Let me take a look.” I couldn’t give up, not when the key to this world’s secrets might be inside. I bent down to examine the puzzle. It involved arranging six characters according to a hidden rule. “You’ve made quite a bit of progress, though.”

“I have found some of the answers through sentence arrangement.” He opened his notebook to show me his work. “This is the first answer I derived. Phonetically, it’s ’Exigonahata.’ I have no idea what it means…”

My eyes widened. “White Night.”

“Pardon?”

“It means ’White Night.’ The phenomenon where the sun doesn’t set.”

“How did you know that…?”

“I saw this in the Labyrinth Dungeon. This is the language of the monsters that made up the dungeon.”

Seojin shot to his feet. “Then please look at this book as well!”

We began to solve the clues one by one. Seojin would identify a key point, Ea would retrieve the corresponding book, and I would interpret it. Thrilled by the unexpected breakthrough, Seojin took out a pen and notebook and began writing like a madman.

After some time, he looked up. “I’ve solved it. Taking the first letter of each sentence gives us six characters. If I convert this to the Erendel language…”

He typed ’The Secret Beyond the Door’ in the ancient tongue.

’Kukung!’

The door actually opened. We cheered and high-fived.

“After you,” Seojin said.

“Alright.”

I never would have thought the dungeon’s language would be the key. Gripped by a strange tension, I stepped into the room. It certainly felt like a place where dangerous books were kept. Instead of shelves, the books rested on magic circle platforms that crackled with energy. I walked toward the most dangerous-looking book in the center.

“This won’t send a current through me if I touch it, will it?”

“It is fine, Tower Master,” Ea assured me.

Emboldened, I reached for the book. It seemed I had the authority, as my hand passed through the energy field without issue. I pulled out the book and read the title.

’The Record of Ruin.’

“Ooooh…”

A big one right from the start. The books in here were clearly on another level. I quickly flipped through the pages.

“Huh…?”

This book was the record of a single disaster. Seojin hurried to my side and read aloud the part where I had stopped.

“An estimated rank-11 irregular boss monster, ’Nemesis’.”

“…Rank-11? I’ve never even heard of that.”

Monsters were ranked 1 through 9 based on their magic power. Ranks 1 to 4 were manageable for provisional players. From rank 5, the class of monsters changed drastically, requiring certified hunters of a corresponding rank. Rank 6 for rank 4 hunters, rank 7 for rank 3, rank 8 for rank 2, and rank 9 for rank 1. But rank 11? Who in the world was supposed to fight that?

Seojin ran a hand over his forehead. “If something like this descends on Earth, it won’t end with just a few continents sinking.”

This disaster was a true apocalypse. A rank-11 irregular, Nemesis, and something called the ’Tower of Annihilation’ that spawned monsters would continuously rain down on the world. It seemed this was what destroyed Erendel.

The exact timing wasn’t specified, but according to the law of the Overlay, Erendel’s disasters were replicated on Earth. It was highly likely this would happen here, too. Could we—could humanity—even stop it?

“How much time do we have until Nemesis?” I asked.

“I was about to start investigating that, but it will likely happen within ten years.”

We had discovered a colossal secret. I handed the book to Seojin, then turned to Ea. “We need to change our policy.”

“Please speak, Tower Master.”

“Move up the schedule for revealing the Magic Tower to the public. And we will share information about future Disasters with every country.”

If things continued as they were, the Earth would be destroyed within a decade. To survive, we had to change that fate. With knowledge comes responsibility. Someone had to do it.

’Yes, someone.’

My right eye throbbed. I pressed my palm against the Sage’s Eye.

“But, Tower Master,” Seojin said.

“…What is it?”

“How do you plan to share the information about the Disasters with each country?”

I thought for a moment, then grinned. “I’ll just create another character.”

“Pardon?”

“Like the potion user. This time… how about a prophet?”

Seojin and Ea exchanged puzzled glances.

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