Episode 92. Tower of Trials (3)
There is a joke that says that if money can’t buy happiness, check to see if you’re short on money.
Now is the age of capitalism.
Can money really buy you happiness?
At the time of survival training, Jun Mori told D.O.
“If you have money, there will be fewer things to be unhappy about. That doesn’t mean you can’t buy happiness. 」
“You unlucky bastard. Have you ever lived without money? 」
The common people do not know the life of the rich.
It was for this reason that he did not reveal his deep feelings to friends like Dante and Dio.
A few days ago, Jun’s father left Sky Island.
They said they would go through divorce proceedings soon.
The proportion of single-parent families is much higher than average. There were more than twice as many troubled families with problems such as mental illness, alcoholism, and violence.
‘My father was patient enough.’
Jun’s father was a commoner, and his mother, Erisa Mori, was a superhuman.
Erisa Mori returned to the Mage Tower immediately after giving birth to Jun. Due to the nature of the field work, there was a lot of work to empty the house.
Around 3 years passed like that. Erisa Mori’s paranoia began.
“I know you have a girl. Are you trying to break me? betrayer! 」
Paranoia intensified day by day and led to violence. Jun’s father endured for 15 years with love, but suffered from a nervous breakdown.
Mother is paranoid.
My father has a nervous breakdown.
My son has tuberculosis.
Nevertheless, people evaluated the Mori family as a perfect family. The Mori family’s mask play was a success.
Now, the end was right in front of me.
‘I am… … I am… … What should I do?’
There were two options.
Do you stay on the sky island with your mother or go down with your father?
For happiness, you must follow your father, and for your future, you must follow your mother.
‘If you follow your father… … Will my mother stay still?’
People who don’t know the circumstances say, ‘No way. But as a mother, will you interfere with your child’s future?’
But the Erisa Mori that Jun knew was truly a woman without blood or tears. Possibility of interfering with Jun’s entrance to the Mage Tower? Suffice.
‘Until I secure my place, it will be safe to be by my mother’s side.’
In fact, Jun was relieved to hear that the Mayer siblings had become independent. It means that even the Mayer family, which was thought to be perfect, had problems between parents and children.
Otherwise, there was no reason for the children to become independent as soon as they became adults.
Children raised in ordinary families become independent when they reach adulthood. However, the situation is different for the families living in Sky Island. It was beneficial to tie at least two generations, including parents and children, as members of point acquisition.
‘If only I had property, I would have been independent.’
Young Mayer gifted tens of billions of won to his siblings early on.
On the other hand, Junmori had no cards in his hand.
” mother. Can I give you a little cash too? I want to study investing. 」
” why. Do you want to go out on your own as soon as you become an adult? What is investing study? With all your skills, where’s the time to focus on something else? Practice magic bullet properly. Don’t be fooled. 」
Thanks to that, there was no money in Junmori’s account. He used a card linked to his mother’s account, and his mother checked the usage history one by one.
‘I will never be like my mother. I will go up to a much higher place than my mother.’
Junmori hid himself in the bushes with a pistol and a greatsword in his hand.
‘I must survive to the end.’
The Tower of Trials was a scenario developed by Jun Mori’s maternal uncle’s company. The Mage Tower outsourced and signed a confidentiality agreement, but there is no such thing as a perfect secret in the world.
The ‘Nex-On company’ owned by her maternal uncle was originally founded with Erisa Mori’s funds.
‘This assignment must be related to the Mage Tower.’
When Dante asked what the exam assignment was, Jun roughly evaded that he didn’t know.
Actually, I expected a little bit.
Before coming to school, Erisa Mori called Jun.
「I heard that the finals of the 1st and 2nd year of the 5 prestigious academies were all replaced by MR. Besides, the test dates are all the same. What does this mean? 」
” hmm… … . 」
“I think it is the Tower of Trials. There might have been instructions from the Mage Tower, so I had to get a good score. 」
“Yes, mother. 」
Jun was in a situation where he was perfectly familiar with the ten scenarios of the Tower of Trials.
The scenario accessed now was the most difficult scenario among beginners.
Bassrock.
Then there was movement in the bushes on the other side.
Jun pointed the gun and focused.
‘monster? Or a person?’
The opponent sticks out his head and quickly scans the front, then hides again.
‘Are you Dante? Shall we try to team up together? … .’
If you miss the opportunity now, you never know when you will meet again. The higher you go, the wider the map becomes.
Jun deliberately moved his body.
Dante’s gun was pointed in the direction of June.
Jun held out his left palm and stood up slowly. The second floor is not damaged by bullets or attack capsules fired by the player. I didn’t have to bother myself.
Dante looked at June and beckoned him to come there.
Jun moved quickly and leaned down next to Dante and sat down.
Jun asked first.
“How do you meet everyone here? Are you still alone?”
“uh. You just started. I can’t hear any gunshots, and everyone seems to be getting ready.”
“Then do you want to team up with us?”
“hmm… … I was just going to do the lower floors by myself.”
Dante was bad at lying, and Junmori was quick-witted.
“Are you going to wait for the club with Claudio?”
After the survival training, the three of them often went together. Except for Jun Mori.
Jun knew that the three of them were originally close. Because there was also the Disney Park incident. Still, to be honest, I was a little disappointed.
I thought we became quite close during survival practice… … .
Jun tried to hide his regret as he spoke.
“You can’t team up with D.O. and Danji.”
“Eh?”
“They both died on the first floor. It looked like he was killed by a grenade.”
“grenade?”
thought Dante.
‘Certainly the grenade was not the one I threw… … .’
If so, there is nothing you can do about it.
There are two years left until graduation. In the future, things to bump into were often going to work. I couldn’t look at you as friendly at that time.
Junmori pondered and asked again.
“Are you not going to team up with me?”
When I practiced at home, solo play was limited to the 7th floor. The 8th and 10th floor monster areas were difficult to clear by Jun alone.
Mana use is allowed from the 6th floor. Even though Dante was weak in close combat, he was one of the best magic bullets among first-year students.
And I was sure.
‘If it were Dante, he wouldn’t be beaten by his teammates.’
If Dante agreed, he was thinking of giving him a seat as the party leader.
If it’s the other guys, well.
Either the skill is not good or the skill is good but it is weak. Either one.
In that case, the party leader must be Jun himself. However, it was questionable whether the talented and arrogant guys from prestigious families would readily give up their seats at the party.
Dante asked.
“But isn’t the risk too great to form a party now? If the wavelength (party leader) dies, the item disappears.”
“That risk is only for the party members to lose.”
“Are you asking me to wave?”
“If you want.”
if so what
Dante had no reason to refuse.
“Okay, Cole.”
“… … Could it be that you hesitated because you feared that I would break down and die early?”
“huh.”
“… … .”
Isn’t that obvious?
Even if it was inevitable that I would die, I would be very annoyed if the wavelength died and took damage.
“Then I make a team. Create a party.”
A pop-up window appeared in front of me.
[ Create a party. ]
[Party Leader: Dante Prime, Party Members: None]
[ Grab the right hand of the opponent you want to recruit. ]
The two held out their right hands and embraced them.
Different pop-up windows came to mind.
[ Invite Jun Mori to join the party. (Accept / Reject) ]
[ Party leader Dante Prime invites you to the party. (Accept / Reject) ]
“”consent.””
It was then.
Mana was detected in the surroundings.
it’s a monster
‘It’s fortunate, but I still can’t detect mana… … f*ck. How many are these?’
Dante had a gun and a greatsword in his hand.
“They’re on the second floor, so they’re probably not that tough. Let’s fight each other.”
“huh.”
There is only one type of monster that will appear on the second floor.
The bloody rabbit that I learned all the time during the first grade class. It would have been easy to deal with if they were attached one-on-one, but the number of objects is large.
About fifteen or so.
Dante fired the live ammunition first.
bang!
The first shot pierced the guy’s skull.
Ki Yoo-wook! Queek!
Aggro dragged on, and dozens of 1-meter-tall muscle rabbits rushed at terrifying speed.
Dante and June put their backs to each other and fired their pistols.
bang! bang! bang!
They jumped up and down, baring their sharp teeth. Should I say more like a kangaroo than a rabbit?
Dante put down his pistol and fixed the greatsword in his right hand. I don’t know how many floors the ban on using mana will last. On the lower floors, it seemed like it would be a good idea to save ammo for now.
Cold sweat flowed down my face as I saw them rushing at me with sticky saliva dripping down my cheeks.
puck! Sasak.
I pushed one with my feet and at the same time thrust my greatsword into the neck of the other.
‘eww… … .’
The feeling of the tip of the knife touching the neck bone is clear.
Goosebumps rose up all over his body.
When it comes to VR games, all you have to do is fire bullets at the opponent’s character.
The latest MR equipment is on a different level.
Each and every sense has been embodied in detail to the point of passing by.
As he drew the greatsword, lukewarm blood spurted down Dante’s face.
“Oh sh*t… … .”
While he hesitated for a moment, he bit his left forearm. It hurt so much that I couldn’t even scream. It closed its mouth tightly and in an instant tore off the flesh and swallowed it.
In the end, I swung my remaining hand and killed all the remaining monsters.
Junmori grabbed Dante’s arm and pulled him.
“Let’s go to a safe place for now.”
The two crouched down in front of a large rock.
Dante immediately used the healing capsule.
“But how many people did you kill on the first floor? Do you have quite a few items?”
As soon as the party was formed, they appeared, so I couldn’t check the items.
From noble mtl dot com
Nineteen capsules were newly added as shared items. Because it was three items per person… … That meant killing at least seven.
Twenty-four people were eliminated in the first round, half of whom died at the hands of Dante and June.
At this point, shouldn’t we be given the title of ‘Slayer on the 1st floor of the Tower of Trials’? It would be nice if you gave me a buff while giving me a title.
“As soon as we started, we fired two grenades.”
“what. Didn’t Dio and just you kill them?”
“Maybe.”
“and… … How do you kill a teammate who survived together?”
“Why are you calling me me? It could be you.”
“It’s a joke, man.”
Jun said while checking the item window.
“If there is danger in the future, consume the defense capsule first. There are only three healing capsules left.”
“Okay, sorry. It’s the first time I’ve been stabbed with a knife. I’ve lost my mind a bit.”
“Get your mind right, team leader!”
“I get it.”
The items given as a party formation bonus were two party defense capsules and two wide-area petrification magic capsules.
After thinking for a moment, Dante opened his mouth.
“But if you end the party after using the bonus item and rejoin… … .”
“If the party is disbanded, the item will be destroyed.”
“I remembered that while I was talking. But if you get one more party member, will you give one more?”
“I guess so. You and me. Since there are two of them, maybe he gave them two? Let’s save the bonus items until we go to the higher floors.”
“Is that right?”
“And don’t lose your mind. On the second floor, we need to minimize the consumption of capsules.”
“I got it!”
Dante’s self-esteem, which had already been scratched, was shattered by Jun’s last words.
“If I had known it would be like this, I would have done it.”
“… … .”