Chapter 2. The Tower - Tutorial
“The ability's name is Multidimensional Avatar, huh.”
I focused on my ability.
Then, a translucent window, much like a status window, appeared.
[Multidimensional Avatar]
[Avatar Points: 10]
[Avatar Slot 1]
It was a simple ability window, just like a status window.
Yet, strangely, I could vaguely sense how to use this ability in my mind.
When I tapped the Avatar Slot, another translucent window popped up.
[Searching for dimensions….]
[Search complete]
[Dimensions available for Avatar creation: 1. Earth / 2. Tower 2nd Floor]
Once the search finished, it showed me the dimensions where I could create an avatar.
There were only two, but I could grasp the general idea.
“Dimensions, huh… If I choose Earth, does that mean a clone of me appears in Korea?”
If my intuition was correct, this was an ability that allowed my consciousness, or soul, to enter a clone and act as if it were my own body.
But it would appear in Korea, right?
It would be a disaster if my clone randomly popped up in a foreign country or the middle of the open ocean.
“And to think the 2nd floor of the Tower is a selectable dimension. Was the talk about each floor having a different flow of time and world actually true?”
Tower returnees testified that even though they had spent years in the Tower, only a few days or, at most, a few months had passed back home.
Many of the stories told by returnees were considered unreliable or hard to believe, and it was common knowledge that the Galaxy International Federation had been censoring information about the Tower ever since the establishment of the World Protection Treaty Organization.
Because of that, the only information available to the public was what had been released ten years ago when returnees first appeared, or the information up to the 10th floor that the government had disclosed for the safety of its citizens.
Since I hadn't really had any desire to enter the Tower, I only possessed the most basic information.
“What are Avatar Points?”
It didn't seem to cost points to create an avatar, but I couldn't figure out what they were for right now.
I didn't have any points anyway, so there was no need to worry about it yet.
“It’s a shame it’s not an intuitive and powerful superpower, but it’s decent for a stability-oriented approach.”
Even if the clone dies, I don’t die.
Furthermore, I can keep creating them even if they are destroyed.
This was a massive advantage.
If I, the main body, stay safely on the 1st floor, it’s practically the same as having an immortality ability within the Tower, isn't it?
I opened the Tower shop and used my points to buy a one-handed sword and a shield.
The sword had a blade about 80 centimeters long, a 20-centimeter hilt, and the blade width looked to be about 5 centimeters. The shield was a circular wooden piece about 3 centimeters thick and 60 centimeters in diameter, with its edges reinforced with iron.
“The shield is heavy.”
It didn't seem like I could throw it around like a superhuman in a movie.
Still, a shield is supposed to be heavy to provide a sense of stability.
My 10 points had become 8, but that wasn't a problem.
As far as I knew, you received shop points for hunting monsters.
I’d heard that anything below the 10th floor was at a tutorial level, and that even an ordinary person could pass it without much difficulty if they were armed and had mastered their superpower on the 1st floor.
I set down the bag I’d bought at the military supply store when I was a private and tied my combat boot laces tightly.
Since I’d already brought home my spare combat uniform when I was on my final leave, the bag was mostly empty, but that only made it feel more cumbersome.
“Avatar creation, Tower 2nd floor.”
As the first slot filled with the Tower 2nd floor, my vision shifted.
* * *
In the pure white space where there had been nothing, a room made of bricks that looked like ruins appeared, along with the crystal I had seen on the 1st floor.
Two options appeared from the crystal.
[Will you proceed to the 3rd floor of the Tower? - Condition not met. Hunt 1 Horned Rabbit.]
[Will you leave the Tower? You will never be able to enter the Tower again, and your public abilities will be revoked.]
I brushed past the text on the crystal and checked my body.
“Is this the clone?”
It was my own body, with no sense of incongruity whatsoever.
It didn't feel like a clone at all.
“Wait, where are my sword and shield?”
Because I was momentarily flustered, my reaction to the white ball of fur lunging at me was delayed.
If I had at least swung my fist, it wouldn't have been a problem, but caught off guard, I couldn't even manage that and was rammed head-on.
“Ugh!”
As something sharp and pointed pierced my chest, I couldn't breathe.
The white ball of fur struggled, kicked my stomach, and pulled out the long horn attached to its forehead.
The horned rabbit, covered in my blood, looked down at me and sneered.
“Squeak.”
You dog-like rabbit bastard…!
With that final thought, I returned to my original body.
* * *
Back in the pure white space where there was nothing but me and the crystal, I clutched my chest in pain and gasped for air.
“Haa! Haa!”
It doesn't hurt.
But it does hurt.
The sensation was so vivid that I couldn't believe it was just a clone, and I trembled at the phantom pain of my heart being pierced.
My main body was holding the shield and sword I had purchased.
“Damn it, you implement my clothes, but you don't implement the sword and shield?!”
I gritted my teeth.
Along with the relief that I hadn't died, the dull phantom pain, and the anger and humiliation toward the horned rabbit that had sneered at me, dominated my mind.
To die to a mere Horned Rabbit!
I, Cheon Ji-woo, have never been the type to take things lying down since I was young.
I don't know about anything else, but I am definitely going to kill that rabbit bastard before I leave the Tower.
Let’s stay calm.
The bald man’s heart is burning.
No, let’s act with a cold head and a hot heart.
I analyzed the current situation.
“What is the criteria for creating a clone? Why weren't the weapon and shield implemented?”
I hadn't noticed because I was in such a rush, but the clone had been wearing the bag I had set on the floor.
That meant the clone was created based on my state when I first acquired the ability.
When I acquired the ability, the public abilities were clearly displayed first, followed by my personal ability.
Does that mean the clone might also have the Tower’s public abilities?
I don't know. I had to check with the clone.
When I pulled up the ability window, I could see a change in the slot.
[Multidimensional Avatar]
[Avatar Points: 10]
[Avatar Slot 1: Tower 2nd Floor / Time 00:00:08 - Status: Deceased]
[Points required for Avatar regeneration: 1]
So that’s what the Avatar Points were for—resurrection.
An invisible timer was displayed next to it.
And that time wasn't moving.
“Don't tell me time stops in other dimensions?”
I had to verify that, too.
I created a clone on the 2nd floor of the Tower again.
* * *
My body was lying down.
Judging by the lukewarm, sticky smell of blood I felt behind my back, it seemed the clone had been recreated exactly where I had died.
The hole in my chest was gone, too.
The horned rabbit, unaware that I had come back to life, was triumphantly wiping my blood off its face with its adorable front paws.
Without moving, I immediately checked if the shop window would open.
Then, I bought a one-handed sword from the shop, and as soon as I pushed myself up, I swung it with all my might at the horned rabbit.
“Squeak!”
The damn horned rabbit sensed me suddenly rising and tried to dodge, but perhaps because its vision was blurred by my blood, it failed to avoid it and was cut down by the sword.
“That’s revenge for my Clone No. 1. You damn Bugs Bunny!”
Yeah! I won!
I held my sword high and struck a victory pose.
After winning, the blood all over my back felt gross.
“…I can’t wash up, can I?”
There was no blood on my pants, but my top and bag were covered in it.
The wound Clone No. 1 had suffered wasn't large, but the bleeding had been heavy because my heart was pierced.
I wanted to wash up and change immediately, but I couldn't do that until the 10th floor.
I knew that once you reached the 10th floor, a village would appear in what was called a public area.
They said you couldn't go back to floors you had already cleared, but you could return to the public residential tiers.
The text on the crystal had changed as well.
[Will you proceed to the 3rd floor of the Tower? - You will never be able to return to the 2nd floor of the Tower.]
Before heading to the 3rd floor, I took a small magic stone, the size of a pinky nail, from the horned rabbit’s corpse.
Magic stones were a new material that had been attracting attention as a new energy source since the appearance of the Tower and the Gates.
As I picked up the magic stone, I saw another green one next to the blue one.
“Were there two magic stones?”
I felt something from the green magic stone.
“Ah, don't tell me this is that ability stone?”
Unlike natural ability awakeners, Tower returnees possess more than one ability.
There is the ability you gain upon entering the Tower, and the ability you gain from these ability stones.
I’d heard that ability stones were extremely rare, so to think I’d get one like this.
The problem was that you couldn't know what the ability was until you learned it.
They said you could obtain an ‘Appraisal Scroll’ that identifies unknown items while climbing the Tower.
But for now, I didn't see an Appraisal Scroll in the Tower shop.
“Hmm. I guess I’ll just have to learn it.”
Ability stones were items called the lottery along with high-grade recovery potions, but ability is better than money!
But how do I absorb it? Do I have to eat it?
As I was pondering that, the ability stone disappeared as if sublimating from a solid to a gas, responding to my will.
And a swordsmanship I had never seen before was engraved in my mind.
When I checked the status window, an ability called [Azure Wood Sword Lv1] was written next to Multidimensional Avatar.
I tried swinging the sword just as it was engraved in my mind.
It felt like my body couldn't quite keep up with the swordsmanship in my head, but it was a distinctly different feeling from when I had swung the sword at the horned rabbit just a moment ago.
It was a fascinating and strange experience, especially since I had never learned swordsmanship in my life.
“Azure Wood Sword doesn't show an ability window like Multidimensional Avatar. Is it special because it’s an ability gained in the Tower? Or is it different for each ability?”
Even Tower returnees didn't explain their abilities, which were like their livelihood, in detail, so I couldn't tell if my ability was special or not.
I opened my inventory to put the blood-stained magic stone inside.
Inside the inventory was the military cap I had put in with my main body.
“Wait! Don't tell me the public abilities are linked between the clone and the main body?”
Then, the main body wouldn't need to spend precious Shop Points on food.
I was about to put the magic stone into my inventory, but remembering the time difference between dimensions, I lightly tossed it into the air and shifted my consciousness back to my main body.
I counted a generous twenty seconds in the main body before returning to the Avatar, and I saw the magic stone I had tossed falling through the air.
"As expected, time stops when you're in a different dimension."
I picked up the magic stone, tucked it into my inventory, and pulled up the ability window in my Avatar's body.
[Multidimensional Avatar]
[Absorption]
[Main Body: Tower 1st Floor / Time 00:02:48]
The Avatar window displayed the location and time of the main body, not the Avatar itself.
And where it used to say "Avatar Points," there was now a section labeled "Absorption."
I tapped on Absorption, and a description popped up.
[You can absorb the Avatar's abilities into the main body.]
There wasn't a detailed explanation, but I could roughly grasp what kind of ability it was.
It was an ability to send the skills and stat growth gained by the Avatar to the main body.
The Avatar that sent its abilities to the main body would disappear, but since I could create Avatars as much as I wanted, "disappear" wasn't quite the right word.
"I see. So this is the structure for growing myself."
I pressed Absorption. Immediately, my consciousness shifted from the Avatar back to my main body.
* * *
[Name: Han Ji-woo / Age: 21]
[Strength: 8 / Agility: 11 / Stamina: 9 / Intelligence: 15 / Mana: 1]
[Status: Normal, Hungry]
[Abilities: Multidimensional Avatar Lv 1, Azure Wood Sword Lv 1]
Returning to my main body and checking the status window, I saw that one more ability, "Azure Wood Sword," which had only been on the Avatar, had appeared.
Then, a notification popped up on the ability window.
[Acquired 10 Avatar Points through Avatar Absorption.]
[Multidimensional Avatar level has increased. You have reached Lv 2.]
[Acquired 100 Avatar Points for leveling up Multidimensional Avatar.]
"So, do you get Avatar Points through absorption or leveling up?"
It seemed the ability's level and points were determined by how much I had grown the Avatar.
Fortunately, it didn't look like Avatar Points were consumed just by absorbing and regenerating an Avatar.
After all, if that were the case, the absorption itself would be quite limited.
I shifted my consciousness back to the Avatar, placed my hand on the 2nd-floor crystal, and headed toward the 3rd floor of the Tower.
Surely my sword won't disappear again, right?
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