Became a stagnant person in a squalid prison cell

**Chapter 32**:

—

“Helios, when the trial ends, all those terrible injuries disappear like magic, right?”

Ever since reaching the 20th floor, Helios hadn’t done any trials with anyone except for Mint and Ged’s group.

In other words, he didn’t have time to get to know other people’s faces. He was too busy training.

“Anyone who dies in the tower comes back to life after the trial ends. Like some kind of miracle.”

“…”

“This starts happening from the 20th floor onward. You really didn’t know? They explain that on the 19th floor.”

But Helios never made it to the 19th floor. So no, he didn’t know.

Just as Ged finished speaking, Mint—who had been silently facing away from them, watching the tower and people—slowly turned around.

Wearing the face of “Garet,” Mint’s eyes were a dark green, like her name.

“I wondered when you’d figure it out. Looks like you finally did.”

“Why…?”

“You mean, why didn’t I tell you?”

“…”

“Only the 19th-floor guard is allowed to tell you that. I’m not qualified. Sorry, Prisoner Helios.”

That was a lie.

She had wanted him to figure out the most important secret **on his own**.

That’s how this prison worked.

The more you discovered things for yourself, the deeper they stayed in your heart.

Helios’s shaken face now would become even stronger over time.

A faint smile crept onto Mint’s face.

To her, this tower felt like an **endless hell**.

Criminals climbed the tower, dying, killing, and suffering.

But the moment a trial ended, everything reset. Then the cycle began again—death, killing, pain.

You couldn’t die forever. You also couldn’t refuse the trial.

Isn’t that the worst punishment for wicked sinners?

“All the evil people in the world gather here.”

Real criminals—unlike Helios or herself, who were falsely accused.

As the trial ended, the sky outside turned red with sunset.

In front of Helios, Mint’s brown hair looked like it was glowing in the fiery light.

Mint looked at him with a smile he had never seen before and whispered:

“To me, that tower seems like the most evil villain of all.”

**What do you think?**

—

The sunset quickly faded—like everything else at the edge of the world, where this prison sat.

Under a sky where the evening star appeared, Mint and Helios walked together in silence. Even at dinner time and during their post-meal training, they didn’t speak much.

Even when lights-out came and they lay down in bed, they didn’t really talk.

Mint didn’t care. All she thought about was:

*“What kind of training should we do tomorrow?”*

“If you sleep early, they say you grow taller.”

“…”

“You’re not sleeping?”

Mint yawned and rolled over to face Helios’s bed.

Helios hadn’t even changed or washed. He just sat there in the same clothes.

He didn’t look dazed, but he didn’t seem shocked either.

His expression looked calm and composed.

At least, that’s what Mint thought—since she wasn’t good at reading faces or emotions.

“You could’ve… given me a hint.”

Mint *had* given him lots of hints. Since the very first floor. All the way up.

She could’ve easily given him a hint about the tower where people come back to life.

“So asking why I didn’t give you a hint… doesn’t that sound kind of childish?”

Helios flinched.

Mint’s voice wasn’t cold, but it was completely flat—more so than usual.

“I never stopped you from talking to others.”

If he had just spoken to someone, or remembered a face from the same floor…

Then maybe he would’ve figured it out sooner, like he had today after talking with Ged.

“Surely you’re not expecting me to teach you social skills too, right? Little Helios?”

“…”

“Or are you just a moody teenager, Helios?”

Mint normally ignored all common sense, but in moments like this, she could be oddly sharp—like she already knew everything but pretended not to.

“…So.”

Helios didn’t even know what he was so upset about.

Maybe it was the way Mint looked at him—but didn’t *really* look at him.

Maybe it was the fact that *everyone else* knew about this tower’s secret, but *he* didn’t.

It made him feel like Mint and Ged’s group were sharing a secret behind his back.

Helios quickly rubbed his face.

*What’s the difference between me and a brat, really?*

He nervously bit his lip.

“Biting your lip will make it bleed\~.”

Mint’s relaxed voice echoed through their shared room.

Helios slowly looked up.

At night, the only light came from the lanterns the guards carried.

Even turning his head, he could only see a silhouette—but he *felt* Mint looking at him.

That meant he had to speak rationally and calmly.

Why did she help him? How long would she keep helping?

And how much more would she teach him?

“…Will you let me die now?”

But all that came out was a weak question. He hated himself for it.

He heard a small breath from across the room—almost like laughter.

*How can she laugh right now?*

Helios swallowed. He wanted to see her face.

“No. I don’t want you to die, Helios.”

“…”

“I don’t really want to see my first student die either.”

What kind of face was she making while saying something like that?

“First student…”

“Yeah. Don’t worry. You’ll probably be the first and last student I ever have.”

It was silly. That one light joke made Helios feel like he’d given away his entire world.

“A teacher is someone who has to take responsibility.”

“…”

“And you’re the only one I want to take responsibility for.”

Mint thought of the 25th floor.

Even people who never died before… faced death there.

It was crueler than it looked. Because not everyone who came to the tower was a killer.

The 25th floor made people who had never killed before experience their *first murder*.

And those who *had* killed before… remembered the thrill of it.

If the tower wanted to break people, this was the beginning.

Yes, the beginning of destruction.

Mint realized that as she climbed.

You couldn’t regain or rebuild what you lost on the lower floors.

“I want you to reach the top without dying even once.”

Mint had entered the tower way too young. Her mind was adult, but her body was still a child.

It had been impossible for her to survive without dying along the way.

“Do you know what’s at the top of the tower?”

Her voice sounded different tonight as it echoed through the room.

“…What’s there?”

Helios felt desperate. In this darkness, he wanted to see her face—just once. He didn’t even realize how badly.

“An escape.”

“…”

Mint lied sweetly, like a caring older sister.

“If you reach the top, you can get out. Don’t you want to leave this place? I hope you do.”

She whispered softly.

Because this place was a **mountain of hell**.

The male lead was supposed to escape. But maybe he wouldn’t.

Even if the story changed, maybe *he* could still find a way out.

He *was* the main character, blessed with luck in every world.

“Helios. What do you want most?”

Helios was frustrated. *Right now, I just want to see your face. What kind of expression do you have while saying all this?*

“…I want to survive.”

“Then escape. That’s what survival means. If you reach the top, you can escape.”

“…”

At that moment, Helios’s goal became clear.

No—it became something he **must** do.

“Yeah. I’ll reach the top of the tower, no matter what.”

A soft laugh floated across the room.

That was the day Helios found his true goal—and he gained a **special Kia (power).**

*What’s this…?*

He held his breath.

Because above his teacher’s bed, he saw the faint shape of a woman.

She was translucent—no color.

But she had long, flowing hair.

—