Chapter 32

If people inside the Tower were really just data fragments, then could I theoretically go into someone else’s Tower and infinitely replicate the characters within?

I didn’t think so. The Tower wasn’t that simple.

“You can tell just from the mythic items.”

Even with mythic items—or rather, even with Replicas—there had never been a single duplicate. Only the original mythic items could exist.

So what if someone brought a person out of the Tower?
Could that person exist more than once?

That question was already being answered by the system window:

[Error: Individual ‘Chris Brown’ from the 71st floor now exists outside the Tower.]
[Error: Connection with ‘Chris’ and the Tower has been severed. Tower information error.]
[Reporting error…]

Bringing someone out of the Tower was fundamentally against system rules. So, of course, it triggered an error.

I had just exposed a blind spot in the system with my ability.

What would happen now?

Would they send Chris back into the Tower?
Or would they accept what I had done?

I was betting on the latter.

After all, I hadn’t seen any error messages when I entered Lee Woojae’s Tower—despite that technically being impossible.

That told me the Tower essentially permitted my ability, regardless of common restrictions.

“Though this is definitely on another level.”

Entering someone else’s Tower and bringing someone out of the Tower were vastly different things.

Copying worlds endlessly for each new person was one thing, but dragging someone out meant they became a completely different being—no longer subject to the Tower.

Which raised the risk of duplication—like hacking a game to infinitely clone rare items.

Then, a new message popped up:

[Error report sent to the Tower Lords.]
[The Tower Lords are now in discussion.]

…Tower Lords?

That was the first I’d ever heard of such a thing.

Were there actual owners of these Towers?

It had been 30 years since Towers and Gates first appeared, and not once had anyone mentioned Tower Lords.

The underground key, this, and now the system errors—maybe everything I’d learned so far was just the tip of the iceberg.

And that wasn’t the only new information.

[Tower Lord of the 11th floor questions fairness among Awakened.]
[Tower Lord of the 32nd floor argues that Awakened were always unequal.]
[11th says this is excessive.]
[70th-floor Lords agree—they say their rights are being stolen.]
[20th-floor Lord defends me, saying I’m a revolutionary who could change the system.]
[70th-floor Lords argue the Tower’s balance is at risk.]
[20th Lord: “His power is granted by the System—it’s his right. We cannot interfere.”]
[The Tower Lords nod in agreement.]
[85th-floor Lord says that if I can freely remove people from the Tower, the world won’t survive it.]
[90th suggests a vote.]

…What the hell?

These “Tower Lords” I’d never even heard of were suddenly having a heated debate—about me.

And if I ended up on the wrong side of that vote?

Thankfully, the 20th-floor Lord had argued they couldn’t restrict me, and the others seemed to agree.

[Tower Lords agree to decide by vote.]
[If the majority supports Kim Namjoong, nothing happens.]
[If the majority opposes him, Tower Lords can lodge a protest with the system.]
[The system will then evaluate and, if necessary, apply a restriction.]
[Vote in progress. Please wait.]

A restriction, huh.

I’d kind of expected something like that.
After all, if I could just bring in bosses or powerful characters from the Tower at will, it’d break everything.

But what surprised me more was realizing the System and the Tower were separate.

I had assumed the system was the Tower’s administrator. But it seemed they were two distinct entities—Tower Lords managing the Tower, and the system operating independently.

And “evaluate autonomously”? Did that mean the system had its own will?

Definitely something to talk to Woojae about later.

[Vote complete. Result: 55% opposed Kim Namjoong.]
[System evaluating ability.]

[Trait: Tower Outsider (塔外者) is a System-granted ability. You may enter and exit any Tower without restriction. This trait remains unchanged.]
[However, bringing characters out of the Tower causes imbalance. Restrictions will now apply.]

[Bringing a Tower character outside now has a 30-day cooldown.]
[You may bring out up to 5 characters. This cap can increase by fulfilling specific conditions. Characters must consent to be brought out.]
[Once removed, a character is deleted from all Tower data and retroactively becomes a unique existence—unable to appear in other versions of the same Tower.]

In short: cooldown of 30 days, up to five people max.

Not a bad restriction, honestly.

If anything, not having restrictions would’ve been more alarming.

But wait—what did they mean by “a unique existence in the original Tower only”?

The system answered before I could even ask:

[‘Unique existence’ means the character will only be remembered in the Tower they originated from. In all other instances, they will have never existed. They now have independent awareness of the Tower and exist outside its control.]

[However, because they were brought out by Kim Namjoong’s trait, they will feel unconditional gratitude and loyalty. Should Kim Namjoong die, they will return to the Tower.]

So basically—they were no longer data, but actual people now.

Philosophically, that raised all kinds of questions. But I chose to keep it simple:

They now uniquely existed in this universe.

Of course, they weren’t completely free.

But neither was Woojae, right?

After all, powerful Tower characters could be dangerous—this restriction made sense.

Then another thought occurred to me.

I’d never tried asking the system directly before, but maybe now I could:

“Can I use my ability to bring Chris back into the Tower?”

According to Woojae, I could with my inventory. But I’d never tried doing it directly with my ability.

Might be risky.

And if Chris wasn’t being treated as data, it might not even work.

But again, the system responded:

[Chris can be returned to the Tower. Similarly, others may be brought in as well. Your ability allows unrestricted passage through dimensional pressure. However, they cannot gain experience within the Tower.]

So even without inventory, I could travel with people like Kim Yooyeon.

Phew. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

I felt like I was living through the biggest adventure of my life lately.

Playing a hidden Hunter, acting as a public savior—and now even Tower Lords were voting about me.

“This kind of life really doesn’t suit a cautious guy like me…”

I looked over at Chris with a much lighter heart.

For a moment, I wondered if I should’ve brought the dwarf instead.
But this had been the right choice.

Since awakening, I realized I was more emotional than I’d thought.

I always acted aloof, but that was just the exhaustion talking. I wasn’t as cold as I pretended.

Chris, meanwhile, had his face glued to the penthouse window, wide-eyed like he was watching his first movie.

Realizing I was done, he turned to me, voice trembling with excitement.

“W-where are we?”

“This is Earth. Where the Mayor and I originally lived.”

“It feels… like I’m in a future world.”

“Well, in a way, it is.”

“Wow…”

There weren’t other races here, but Earth had already entered the magi-tech era—magic stones and circuits were common.

Sure, the 70th floors had better tech, but Earth had better rights and social systems.

Chris murmured in awe:

“There’s so much tech I’ve never seen in Crank Nova. These circuits are fascinating. They’re more efficient than anything I’ve seen… well, except what I made.”

“Wait, how can you tell? You’ve never seen these before.”

“I can see the flow of mana.”

…

Come again?

As I blinked at him in disbelief, Chris gave a sheepish smile and added,

“Yeah… I can actually see mana. I used to copy circuits I saw, but then I realized there were too many inefficiencies, so I started drawing my own.”

“You can SEE it?”

“Yup. I can even see how mana flows through your friend.”

…

So he could see mana, understand internal flows, optimize circuitry… and do it at ten years old?

A total genius.

If he learned magic, he’d become an archmage. If he learned engineering, he’d win multiple Nobel Prizes.

“I was dumb to even consider bringing the dwarf.”

This kid was the jackpot.

The dwarf could always help Woojae inside his Tower.
But Chris? He could only be saved now.

And even if he couldn’t grow stronger by climbing the Tower—so what?

He had Woojae, the world’s strongest teacher, beside him.

He’d master magic, integrate it into tech, and leapfrog humanity’s technological future.

Honestly, maybe my trait wasn’t Tower Outsider—it was divine luck.

I smiled and asked Chris,

“Hey, what was that thing you said earlier?”

“Which part? About how Earth’s circuits are more efficient? Oh, but Crank Nova is way better in magic circuitry.”

“No, the part where you said your stuff was better.”

Chris scratched his head.

“Ah… sorry! I didn’t mean Earth tech was bad. It’s just that in magic circuitry, I think I’m better. And with a bit more study, I could improve in engineering too! The lightning stuff was really cool.”

If Chris had grown up not as a factory laborer but as a machine designer for the enemy?

No doubt the 70th-floor Tower would’ve been twice as hard.

I shuddered.

But now he was on my side.

Modern electrical engineering, magi-tech, and machinery—combined with Chris’s genius—would birth a monster.

And I couldn’t help but scream with joy inside.