Why Did I Have to Enroll

The shocking truth that his first artifact from the tower turned out to be a sealed constellation had, surprisingly, no immediate significance.

"So do you know specifically which constellation sealed you?"

―No... I only vaguely remember their face.

The constellations that Ban Yu-won had just confirmed in the sanctuary were all in the form of orbs of light.

Which meant remembering their face was completely pointless.

"Do you know how to regain your power?"

―I think the soul's bindings might gradually loosen as I continue using Mysterious Qi.

But even that wouldn't dramatically change Celon's situation right away.

"You said you don't remember who your contractor was either."

―I'll be able to find them once the soul's bindings are loosened! Of course... that's only if they're still alive.

Given that even the name Celon wasn't real, there was nothing more he could do for her.

All they could do was slowly investigate while climbing the tower.

The only gain was learning a little bit about her identity.

'No, come to think of it, there was another gain.'

Ban Yu-won muttered to himself while examining his staff that had transformed once again.

It had grown slightly longer, and black text strings had been engraved wrapping around its entire body like vines, adding a powerful concept.

[Celon's Tears: Soul 400, Mysterious Qi 300, Curse 100]

The concept of curse, born from her intense anger upon specifically recognizing those who sealed her, was created by understanding the concept of the seal they had used on her and partially accepting it as her own power.

―It's a completely different power from magic. Since I interpreted another constellation's power and made it my own through my authority. Do you despise that? If so, you don't have to use this staff anymore.

"No, this is awesome."

The power of the curse would apply to and transform all magic cast using the staff, simultaneously strengthening it.

Why would Ban Yu-won, who had already accepted a constellation's power himself, reject it because it was a curse? He only saw it as beneficial since it made his magic stronger.

"Let's summarize this simply. I don't particularly like constellations, and neither do you since you were betrayed by them. This means our goals might align going forward... what do you think, Celon?"

―I agree. I'll cooperate with you more actively from now on. I can teach you everything I know about magic. In return, when you find my contractor... if they're alive, I'd like you to help them. Please.

"If they're alive. I'll give back as much as I receive from you."

―Yes. ...It's a fair deal.

With this, the relationship between Ban Yu-won and Celon grew closer.

Partly because Celon's attitude had become clearer after finding her sense of purpose.

But also because Ban Yu-won had opened his heart to Celon, if only a little.

'I thought all constellations just tried to use their contractors.'

The way Celon talked about her contractor, whose face she couldn't even remember, was like a parent worrying about a child left by the riverside.

Seeing how she prioritized worrying about her contractor's safety even before her desire for revenge against the constellations, the possibility of her attitude being an act converged to zero.

'All the ones who tried to get close to me were bastards, but... maybe among them.'

As Yumina had once told him, the thought that there might really be good ones among the constellations like her.

Crossed his mind, just a little bit.

*

Just as Ban Yu-won had secretly hoped, from Room 21 onwards, the size of the rooms expanded significantly once again. While it was quite different from what they had learned in lectures, none of the Rebellion members cared about such minor discrepancies anymore. The problem was that due to the vast size of the rooms, it took considerable time to clear each room regardless of the party members' combat abilities - the fact that this was true even with Ban Yu-won using his All-Seeing Eyes to find the fastest route was truly chilling.

"Light, if you get lost, I'll seriously kill you."

"Why does everyone keep singling me out! I hate you all!"

While Room 21 was an enormous cave, Room 22 was a forest withered and twisted by winter. The tower's structure had transformed into a forest! But when they broke through Room 22 and reached Room 23, they were shocked to find a small town connected to the forest. At this point, everyone realized something.

"Could this be..."

"It's a connection."

At Dokgo Yeon's words, tension finally spread among the group. They had experienced a connection between Rooms 15 and 16 during their previous exploration. Combined with a trick room, it had been such a shocking difficulty that even Dokgo Yeon nearly got lost - which was why no one could take the current situation lightly.

"It must be connected from Room 22?"

"But think about it. The condition for clearing Room 21 was defeating the elite monster and finding the exit from the cave. If Room 22's environment represents the forest outside the cave..."

"It could be a double connection."

Ban Yu-won nodded automatically. Well, of course - this is what makes it worthy of being called a tower.

"It's getting dark, let's try entering the city first. ...I'd prefer if monsters showed up instead."

But even as Ban Yu-won said this, he had already half given up. Why was experience from various external dimensions necessary for conquering the tower? Because he could roughly guess the answer.

"T-travelers? Don't come in! Don't cause any more chaos in our city!"

"Disappear, monsters! The city's in ruins because of you all!"

"What are those... Are they human?"

Light muttered in shock as they faced the beings who looked entirely human, standing on the city walls armed with crude weapons aimed at them. Dokgo Yeon sighed and responded.

"Whether they're human or not, at least we can be sure they're not monsters."

"True."

Ban Yu-won also nodded with a bitter smile, similar to her expression. At this moment, echoing in their minds was the tower's voice, familiar from two weeks ago.

―You must not attack the innocent.

"Looking at how they're protected by this damned rule..."

Room 23 was a small world governed by beings of unknown identity and the rules (tricks) that protected them. Not only was it a connection spanning two rooms, but it was also a trick room. This room wouldn't be easy to clear, that much was certain.

―Hm? But you, with this. Since you can distinguish between good and evil...

'Let's wait and see.'

When Celon recognized the room's rules and tilted her head while speaking to Ban Yu-won, he decided not to jump to conclusions. By now, everyone's attention had turned to Ban Yu-won. Suddenly aware of his position as the group's representative, he cleared his throat and stepped forward.

Thwack! An arrow landed at his feet.

"Don't come any closer!"

"Please calm down. If something's happening inside the city, we could help..."

Thud, thud! Several more arrows flew in.

They clearly had no intention of even talking.

'No matter what incident occurred in the city, there's no reason to suspect us who just arrived, but it seems they lack even basic rationality.'

While Ban Yu-won was confident that once he could engage in conversation, his natural linguistic abilities would either convince them or make them explode in frustration, there was nothing he could do if they wouldn't even let him speak.

"Sss-sss..."

Eve's tongue flickered and her eyes glowed, apparently angered by the city's humans threatening her master, but since even a mystical beast couldn't ignore the trick room's rules, he needed to stop her from doing anything unnecessary.

"What should we do, Ban?"

"Yeah, it seems we definitely need to enter the city to proceed?"

After contemplating briefly, Ban Yu-won looked around at his companions, thought about something, and then nodded.

"Let's retreat for now. We need to set up camp."

"Ugh, and I was happy thinking we could rest in actual buildings."

"Can't be helped. Let's go."

The group retreated back to the entrance of Room 22, to the forest, avoiding the eyes of the human-like beings watching them from atop the city walls. Due to the considerable size of Rooms 21 and 22, it was already evening, and Room 23 seemed to be affected by the outside world as well, with the sky growing dark.

Ban Yu-won took out a tent from his inventory and set it up, then arranged nearby branches, stones, and snowballs to create two words: Protection (保護) and Warning (警戒). When he thrust his staff into the center with a thud, Ban Yu-won and Celon's Mysterious Qi merged and was absorbed into the two words, creating an invisible barrier circling the tent as he had imagined. Additionally, an alarm would sound if anyone tried to approach the group secretly.

"It's just like a formation."

"As long as this isn't disturbed, we'll be fine. Let's eat."

Ban Yu-won heated up a pot of meat stew from his inventory and shared bread he'd bought plenty of from the bakery, replenishing everyone's energy.

"Without Ban's inventory, this would have been really tough..."

"Other students seem to each carry a large backpack for camping."

"That kind of thing has its own romance, I suppose."

But romance doesn't feed you. Convenience was best.

Whether because she felt uncomfortable relying solely on Ban Yu-won's inventory, or simply because the stew he'd bought from the restaurant wasn't tasty, Luciel made a rather serious proposal to him.

"I'll prepare breakfast tomorrow, Yu-won."

"Thanks, but I'd prefer if we could get into that city..."

"Speaking of the city..."

Dokgo Yeon, who hadn't forgotten to stay alert even while eating, frowned as she chewed on bread soaked in stew broth and muttered.

"It's strange that no monsters have appeared at all."

"Now that you mention it."

In Room 21, they had to exhaust themselves dealing with wolf-like armored beasts that kept appearing in the forest, but now, despite the environment being nearly identical, there wasn't even a hint of monster presence, which felt unsettling.

"Maybe those things on the city wall were the monsters?"

"If we charge in without being sure, we might end up like the previous exploration."

"Why are you looking at me?!"

"You're being oversensitive, Light."

After the meal, Light volunteered to do the dishes, perhaps feeling guilty though no one had said anything. Leaving the cleanup to him, Ban Yu-won called Dokgo Yeon aside.

"What is it? The beast will be jealous."

"Dokgo Yeon, those humans earlier... they didn't seem that strong, did they?"

Dokgo Yeon, who had been making a blank expression and cracking poor jokes, immediately turned serious at Ban Yu-won's humorless words.

"That's why I didn't attack them right away. If they're hiding their abilities, the difficulty would be absurd."

"What if you and I infiltrate?"

"Maybe me, but you?"

The moment Ban Yu-won spoke those words, Dokgo Yeon looked him up and down and snorted, making him feel incredibly insulted.

"If you're talking about that half-baked stealth technique, it won't work. Even though you've improved quite a bit over the past few days..."

"That's not all I have."

"Hmm?"

Over the past few days, Dokgo Yeon had helped Ban Yu-won practice his Shadow Step, which had deepened to almost double at level 38. But there was something Ban Yu-won hadn't shown Dokgo Yeon - the martial arts concept of Assassination at level 65, which he had obtained along with the Shadow Step concept from the shadow ferret.

'I was planning to show it after mastering Shadow Step a bit more.'

That had been the wrong decision. Wasn't his Shadow Step enhanced by the shadow ferret's concept? Then naturally, it would be more powerful to use it together with the assassination concept obtained from the same creatures!

"Be careful."

"What a funny thing to say, warning me while charging straight at..."

As Dokgo Yeon was smirking and speaking in response to Ban Yu-won's warning...

She couldn't help but be startled when she saw him vanish without a trace.

'He completely masked his presence. But... even his internal energy? How? Is he trying to deceive me?'

The next moment, she detected a blade coming at her neck from an angle and quickly extended her hand.

Her fingers caught the longsword Ban Yu-won had thrust at her.

The dumbfounded expression on Ban Yu-won's face was an added bonus.

"I can't believe you blocked it like that. I didn't think catching a blade with your fingers was actually possible in real life..."

"But it's remarkable progress. For a moment, I completely lost track of your presence... How did you do it?"

Ban Yu-won went on to explain the concept he had obtained from the shadow ferret.

He first acquired Shadow Step from an intruder who had contracted with a constellation.

The concept, which hadn't meant much at first, became complete thanks to the shadow ferret's unique shadow concept, and he realized it needed to be used together with assassination techniques to be perfect.

"Hmm. Hmmm. Hmmmm..."

Ban Yu-won had only wanted to ask if this meant they could do stealth operations together, but somehow Dokgo Yeon's contemplation dragged on.

She could just say no if it wasn't possible, so what was she hesitating about?

Just as Ban Yu-won was about to urge her to respond, Dokgo Yeon hesitantly opened her mouth.

"Martial arts..."

"What?"

Ban Yu-won blinked in response.

Dokgo Yeon squeezed her eyes shut and blurted out:

"Let me teach you martial arts!"

"...Again?"

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