Pandemonium’s 30th ranked organization, Hounds of the Demon Realm. Its executive, Kim Goohwan, walked in stifling nervousness. He didn’t know where he was and only focused on following the puppet.

After about 30 minutes… Clunk. The puppet stopped and pointed into a desolate alleyway. Kim Goohawn nodded and took a deep breath. He entered the alleyway after the puppet disappeared and found a portal.

“Gulp.”

They waited for him beyond this portal. The ones who shook Pandemonium. His stomach churned and he began to regret coming forward. However, Kim Goohwan clenched his fists and courageously stepped into the portal.

He could feel himself traveling through space.

Chwaaa… Was it the sound of leaves rustling? Or was it the sound of waves crashing? He opened his eyes in an unknown place.

“You’re here?”

In a completely dark space, an excited voice rang out from a dilapidated staircase. Kim Goohwan looked up and saw an Eastern woman with white hair. The mysterious woman greeted him.

“Hi.”

“Y-Yes, it’s an honor to meet you. My name is Kim Goohwan.”

He tried to maintain his composure. However, he sweated profusely and his breathing became rough.

“Where’s the item?”

“H-Here.”

He felt dizzy as though he would faint at any moment. Thankfully, he practiced what to say and do over a hundred times. Kim Goohwan reached into his pocket and took out a ticket. He maintained respect without showing any weakness or submissiveness.

“No.”

“Pardon?”

However, the woman didn’t take the ticket.

“I won’t be taking it. Someone else wants it.”

Kim Goohwan didn’t expect this situation, but quickly adapted.

“Yes, understood.” He backed off and waited.

“Oh, there he is.”

Tap, tap. Footsteps echoed as Kim Goohwan turned. At first, he thought a shadow was walking towards him, but soon realized it was a man dressed entirely in black. Kim Goohwan calmly stared at him. Unlike the woman, he didn’t give off any imposing aura or pressure. However…

“I heard you guys call him Lotus.”

The woman’s next sentence caused him to freeze. Kim Goohwan stared at the man and couldn’t breathe as if he was being choked. A ghastly aura seemed to emanate from the man. Of course, Kim Goohwan had only imagined it.

Black Lotus. The man who destroyed several towers and hideouts with a single attack. He even assassinated an executive of Blood Poison, Pandemonium’s rank 10 organization.

This man currently stood only a foot away. Kim Goohwan felt a chill throughout his body. He wanted to introduce himself, but his mouth refused to move. The man wore a black mask and hood, but his eyes seemed to pierce through everything.

“What’s wrong? He’s waiting.”

“Ah, y-yes, here. Here you go.”

Kim Goohwan snapped out of his daze and presented the item. The man stared at the ticket before taking it. Kim Goohwan gulped and waited to see what would happen next. Suddenly, the man raised his hand.

Was he unhappy about something? Kim Goohwan couldn’t bring himself to close his eyes. He simply stood in terror, waiting for the man to behead him… Tak. However, the man simply placed his hand on Kim Goohwan’s shoulder. Tak, tak. And lightly hit him a couple of times as though to compliment him. Kim Goohwan briefly forgot who he was, where he was, and what he was doing. After barely holding onto his consciousness for a long time… Thud. Kim Goohwan fainted and fell to the ground.

“What, what happened?”

The person most confused by this was the man who praised Kim Goohwan, Kim Hajin.

***

After the exchange, I returned to the Chameleon Troupe’s hideout.

“Is that what you wanted?” Jain canceled her disguise and asked.

“Yes, but…”

I thought about the man who fainted from a single praise. Jain seemed to understand and playfully smiled.

“You can add that to your resume.”

“…”

Honestly, my notoriety in Pandemonium felt too extreme. People began to fear me after I killed Blood Poison’s executive, but that djinn wasn’t physically strong at all. He seemed decent with magic, but only became an executive because of his craftiness.

“Oh, by the way, can I enter the tower if I have a ticket too?” Jain sounded interested.

“Yep. You can use the orange ticket.”

It didn’t hurt to have extra tickets since they could be used in several ways. The most obvious was to sell them. You could also give them to someone who would become an ally inside the tower. The scarce amount of tickets made them quite valuable.

Only 200 whites, 1000 greens, 800 yellows, 500 oranges, 300 reds, and 5 blacks existed. The total number who could enter was at most 3105 people every 2 months (each red ticket counted as 2 people). Considering the size of the tower, 3105 felt quite small.

“Will we see each other once we’re inside?”

“Probably. I don’t know for sure.”

“This sounds fun.”

Jain seemed interested in going. I took off my hood and placed the black ticket in my pocket.

“Then I’m leaving.”

“You’re going home?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, I’ll take a nap then.”

Jain returned to her room as I went back to Seoul through Khalifa’s portal. However, I didn’t go home right away. Instead, I headed to an underground facility located in the Seocho District. I had created this huge, 650 square meter space with high rank mana density as a training room for Evandel. It was originally an underground bunker that I had purchased from some rich guy.

“Let’s see… ah, there she is.”

Evandel looked so small in the huge space.

“Hiyaap, hiyaap!”

She wore a magician’s hat and held a wand while performing a rhythmical dance routine. A small army of ghosts followed her. A horse, a tiger, a crocodile… wait, is that a unicorn? And that’s… a velociraptor!

“Yep, that’s talent alright.”

I planned on bringing her home, but she made a new friend every time I visited. Perhaps this was why children should be exposed to movies and fairytales.

“Wave of Honor!”

Evandel worked hard in her own right. She had added names to her moves ever since she started watching PreCure.

“Spinning Swirl!”

“…”

“Shoooot—!”

I wanted to ask exactly what she watched.

“Evandel?”

I called her as I approached. She stopped training and turned towards me. Then she smiled and hopped over.

“Hajin!”

“Did you have fun?”

“Un!”

“Then you must be tired.”

“I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“Un!”

Evandel smiled brightly and nodded. She liked training more than I expected, but I didn’t have too much time. Then I recalled the wolf sleeping in my chest.

“You can play with Fenrir for 10 more minutes. We’ll leave afterwards.”

I summoned Fenrir.

“Grrrr—"

Fenrir ran out excitedly and licked Evandel.

“My wolf!”

As expected of Evandel’s first servant, Fenrir grew a lot over the past 3 years.

[Ghost Wolf] [Servant] [High-intermediate rank] — The first servant created by Evandel the witch.

▷Basic Stats [Strength 9.950] [Bite 10.850] [Stamina 6.535] [Speed 11.550] [Perception 11.605] [Vitality 6.750] [Magic power 7.850]

His incredible stats didn’t lose to most low-intermediate and intermediate rank heroes.

“Ebebebe, ebebebe.”

“Krrrr, rrrrr.”

Fenrir acted like a gentle puppy in front of Evandel. I bitterly laughed while watching them play. I wouldn’t be able to see Evandel for at least a month and a half once I entered the Tower of Wish. However, I should be able to come back for 2-3 days after the tutorial.

“Evandel.”

I called her in a slightly more serious tone.

“Hnn?”

“I need to tell you something.”

I already asked Haeyeon’s parents if they could take care of her for 1-2 months and they happily agreed.

“I’m going to be away for a month starting in July.”

“…”

Evandel froze.

“It’s nothing dangerous and I’ll be back soon.”

“…”

She remained quiet. I worried if she would cry for the first time in 4 years. After a long period of silence, Evandel asked instead of crying.

“A month? 30 days?”

“Yeah.”

“I can’t go?”

I shook my head.

“…”

Evandel bit her lips. Her eyes watered and her lips trembled, but she still didn’t cry.

“I’ll come back soon. You can think of it as a month-long vacation and play with Hayang and Haeyeon or sleep in and watch TV late at night.”

I consoled her and even picked her up to give her a peck on the cheek. Or at least I tried.

“No beard!”

“…”

Evandel rejected me and turned away with a pout. She refused to look at me.

“I’ll shave tomorrow, no, today.”

“…”

Evandel looked back with watery eyes. I could only smile.

***

2029, middle of May.

The biggest tower in history became known as the Tower of Wish and information about entrance tickets quickly spread. Many ordinary people commented online that they had picked up a ticket.

The association wanted to establish a system to control the tickets ordinary people found, but it was too late. Everyone soon found out about the tickets’ values and began to sell them online.

“Hmm.”

Yoo Yeonha stared at a computer monitor inside Essence of the Strait’s team leader office. Entrance ticket. She wasn’t sure how it worked, but she knew she had to obtain as many as possible.

“Why do something so risky?”

She muttered in frustration. Many people who posted online about tickets had gone missing. Most likely, djinns had attacked them.

“Having 13 might be enough…”

She had already purchased 13 entrance tickets thanks to the Falling Blossom guild. Now she wanted information about the tower to avoid losing any precious guild members in an unknown tower.

—Tok, tok.

Someone knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

— Team Leader Yoo Yeonha, a package arrived.

“Come in.”

A guild employee entered with a mysterious piece of furniture.

“What’s this?”

“Um, a chair.”

Indeed, it looked like a chair with a strange futuristic design. First, it had two legs instead of four and the back looked like a tidal wave.

“Who sent this?”

“It’s from uh… Kim Hajin.”

“Kim Hajin? Oh right, it’s my birthday present.”

“Ah, yes. That’s what it says here.”

A week ago, Yoo Yeonha received a text from Kim Hajin that he would send her a birthday present.

“He sent a chair as a birthday present?”

A bit weird, not that I have any problems with it.

“Thank you. You can go back.”

“Yes.”

Yoo Yeonha tried sitting in it.

“It’s not like I’m lacking chairs in my…”

She paused in the middle of talking. No, she couldn’t speak. She felt a strange sensation and leaned against the chair. An indescribable comfort wrapped around her as if the chair hugged her.

Kwang, Kwang!

“Hey!”

Someone suddenly kicked open the door.

“Hey, Yoo Yeonha!”

Chae Nayun startled her and she shot up.

“A-Ah, geez. I’m a team leader, you know!” Yoo Yeonha shouted at Chae Nayun who didn’t give her any face as a team leader.

“Oh, sorry. I was just in a hurry.” Chae Nayun smiled and scratched her head.

“Geez… huu. So, what’s up?”

“Send me there!”

“Where?”

“The tower! The Tower of Wish. I heard you have tickets. The guild can keep whatever I bring back, so just let me go.”

“Oh, it’s about that.” Yoo Yeonha knew she would want to go.

“Let’s talk about it.”

“Oh, what’s up with this chair? It looks weird.”

Chae Nayun sat on the chair Yoo Yeonha just received as a birthday present. Yoo Yeonha could only blink a few times and stare at her.

“It looks… weird… but, wow… this feels… amazing…”

She felt an unknown sense of anxiety watching Chae Nayun feel comfortable and happy.

“Hey, get up. That’s mine.”

“Eh? It’s not for guests?”

“N-No. It’s a super precious chair I got for my birthday.”

“Oh.”

“Can’t you tell just by looking at it? Now, get up.”

“Alright, alright.”

As soon as Chae Nayun stood up, Yoo Yeonha exchanged the chair she had been using for the one Kim Hajin made. She didn’t want to put it off since Chae Nayun might ask for it.

***

2029, early June. Guilds like Essence of the Strait, Desolate Moon, Frost Sanctuary, and Creator’s Sacred Grace managed to obtain entrance tickets and met for discussions. Meanwhile, the English Royal Court guild also held its own meeting to discuss the newly discovered tower.

“We have a total of 7 tickets.”

The English Royal Court guild had luckily obtained 10 tickets: 8 greens, 1 orange, and 1 red. However, they sold their only orange and red along with 1 green to Jeronimo Mercenary, leaving them with only 7 green tickets left.

They met today to decide who would use the entrance tickets.

No one actively came forward since everyone secretly feared what might be inside such a giant tower. The entrance ticket stated, Participants may freely exit after the tutorial, but no one knew anything about this tutorial.

“I’ll go.”

Someone volunteered and everyone in the room immediately stood up.

“N-No!”

“If something happens to vice leader…”

“The guild master won’t agree.”

However, Rachel had made her decision as the vice leader.

“No, I’m going. And you don’t need to worry…”

She slightly hesitated before continuing, “Um, Jeronimo’s Fenrir will be entering as well.”

“Ah.”

“In that case, I’m sure it’s fine.”

The atmosphere instantly changed since everyone loved Fenrir in England. No one knew, but Cheok Jungyeong’s achievements had all been credited to Fenrir.

“Ah, could it be? Did Fenrir say he would protect you!?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m curious too. Did he say he’d protect you?”

The meeting suddenly transformed into a press conference.

“I can see that you’re flustered.”

“F-Flustered? N-No! Everyone be quiet!”

“Now you’re angry.”

“No, I’m not! We need to proceed with the meeting…”

The young, 21 year old vice leader served as an easy target for the more experienced members in the room. Many of them knew Rachel since she was young and the English Royal Court guild felt like a family.

***

July 1, 2029. The scheduled date finally arrived. Currently, I waited for the portal to open in the Chameleon Troupe hideout.

“Yaawn, I’m so bored. Newbie, when is the portal opening?” Cheok Jungyeong asked.

“Just wait a bit.”

Other than me, Jain, Cheok Jungyeong, and Boss also had tickets. Other members showed interest, but were either too busy or didn’t mind waiting for the second round.

“Ah, I’m itching with excitement. Jain, you’re following as my companion, right?”

“… You’re my companion, idiot.”

Jain glared at Cheok Jungyeong uncomfortably. She had obtained a red ticket, but Cheok Jungyeong kept annoying her until she agreed to let him follow her.

“Everyone be quiet and wait.” Boss spoke. At that moment…

Ssssss—

Our entrance tickets glowed and we threw them on the ground. Immediately, the tickets sucked in the nearby magic power and formed 3 pillars of light. They all had different colors: orange, red, and black.

“So we just walk in?” Cheok Jungyeong asked as he smacked his lips.

“Yes.”

“Alright, I’ll see you inside, newbie.”

“Ah, before you go, you should choose the lowest difficulty for the tutorial. We want to meet up as soon as possible.”

“I don’t mind, but I doubt this idiot will do that.”

Jain smiled wryly while Cheok Jungyeong agreed.

“Obviously, I’m going for the highest difficulty.”

“Then Boss, at least you should—” I turned to Boss.

“Hm?”

Recently, Boss’ trust in me had greatly increased.

“Oh, o-okay, then I will go with the, um, lowest difficulty.”

By the looks of it, she planned on doing whatever she wanted.

“Alright, I’m going in.” Without hesitation, I walked into the black portal. Immediately…

“Uwoah!”

The world flipped upside down and I landed on my back.

“Uuu… what the heck.”

The cold ground, a chilly wind, an unusual sensation. Even my voice sounded like static from a broken television. I had described it the same way in my novel, but it still felt strange experiencing it firsthand. I quickly got up and looked around. It seemed to be pitch black.

“I wonder when it’s going to start.”

Blue words popped up in front of me after about 5 minutes.

[Welcome to the tower.]

The 3D text looked more realistic than in VR games.

[Please choose a nickname before you start.]

The tower seemed to have the same setting as the one I created.

“Nickname, huh…”

I already knew the nicknames of everyone. Kim Suho would be MasterHolysword, Shin Jonghak would be YoungFly, Jin Sahyuk would be StrongestWill, and Chae Nayun would be ImGosu. After thinking for a moment…

“I guess I’ll go with this.”

[Extra7]

I decided on my nickname.

[Welcome Extra7.] [Your nickname will serve as your ID in the tower community.]