I Became a 6★ Gacha Character

Chapter 8: Beginner's First Steps 3

I left the guild with Han Se-ah, ignoring the strange screech coming from behind us.

Our destination was not the tower at the center of the city, but various essential places for adventurers.

"First, let me show you some important places to know within the city."

"What places are they?"

"Skilled blacksmiths, beginner-friendly inns, delightful pubs, and temples."

An adventurer must know about the Adventurer's Guild and the Magic Tower branches.

Since many shops prey on newcomers, it's important to introduce Han Se-ah to reliable places.

Blacksmiths might overcharge or sell subpar weapons, cheap inns could have poor security, and pubs might serve terrible food.

Han Se-ah, as a player, might be immune to these issues due to item appraisal and an inventory system, but as her senior adventurer, I must guide her.

"This is a pub... Can we recruit party members here later?"

"."

"There's no need to worry about getting lost. Roland is showing me around and it's all marked on the map. And if you found a 6-star NPC, you'd bring them along too.

If we party together and I manage to impress him, he might gift me a full set of fancy equipment, right? Materialistic? Hey, don't you know how important early equipment is in an RPG? Are you caliing me fake?"

I almost reacted to Han Se-ah's words, but I quickly stopped myself.

As we walked around, she openly talked to her viewers, as if there was a filter for words meant for me and for them.

Eventually, we arrived at the entrance to the tower at the city's center.

"Anyway! We've reached the entrance, so I'll focus on the game now."

The tower soared high into the sky, piercing the clouds.

It was much taller than the surrounding 3-4 story buildings.

This view of the tower against the blue sky was once the game's loading screen, which forced me to accept that this world was based on the game.

"Wow, it's so high!"

Han Se-ah was just as amazed, gazing up at the sky with her mouth wide open.

Her camera drone adjusted its angle as her head tilted back.

The tower's grandeur captivated even the viewers.

Wearing leather armor and holding a slender staff, Han Se-ah stood in front of the towering structure that seemed to touch the clouds.

She remained still for a few minutes, taking in the awe-inspiring scene.

The sky-scraping tower against the clear sky was indeed a sight to behold, but the adventurers coming and going at the entrance provided an equally fantastical scene.

Clad in steel helmets and booming with each step, groups of warriors gathered.

Arrogant-looking mages in shiny robes strolled by, while weary adventurers in worn, dirty armor staggered out of the tower.

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Raei Translations

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Han Se-ah, lost in admiration, suddenly flinched and jumped in surprise.

"Ah! I'm sorry. It's just so amazing."

"Don't worry, everyone who sees this tower for the first time is like that. I also stared at it for a while before going in during my rookie adventurer days."

"If you play the voice dono like that one more time, I'll block everything, so be careful, okay?"

Han Se-ah, who had jumped in surprise, slightly bowed her head as if apologizing and muttered with her gaze cast downward.

She must have been quite startled or maybe embarrassed by her reaction.

After threatening her viewers with something strange, she raised her head again, looking not at the towering structure wrapped in clouds but at the adventurers bustling at the entrance.

"Is there no particular screening process?"

"Not really. Actually, even non-adventurers can enter the tower."

"Really?"

"Yes. The Adventurer's Guild isn't kind enough to stop people from going in to die."

"...Huh?"

Han Se-ah was taken aback by my words.

As a gamer, she might think the tower isn't a big deal, but for the people living in this world from Han Se-ah's perspective, the tower is a terrifying space for NPCs.

Even the lower floors, where beginner adventurers roam, are proof of that.

There are wild animals and monsters outside the tower, but ordinary farmers hardly see them.

Beasts are chased away or hunted by village hunters, and monsters are dealt with by soldiers and adventurers dispatched from the city.

If they're really unlucky, entire villages may be wiped out by wandering monsters, but that mostly happens to remote settlements far from the protection of cities.

For ordinary farmers living near cities, the most dangerous creatures they've ever seen are starving wild dogs or old, sick goblins accidentally let loose by adventurers.

Those can be dealt with by the village elders wielding clubs.

But what about inside the tower?

"Monsters appear inside the tower, and when they die, their bodies disappear, turning into magic stones. It's a completely different system from the monsters that appear outside. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Um... are the monsters inside the tower stronger?"

"No, they're not stronger. They're just... more numerous."

The problem is that monsters spawn randomly inside the tower.

We've cleared out monsters and moved forward, but then monsters appear again from behind, causing a commotion that attracts even more monsters that weren't there before.

And the path back is blocked by newly spawned monsters

That's why, no matter how low the floor, adventurers form parties to enter the tower.

If they're really unlucky, they can be surrounded on their way in and then again on their way out, or they may think they've escaped only to have a monster suddenly appear in front of them.

"There are guys who confidently enter after defeating one or two goblins outside with a club. Most of them are just bragging about their strength in the village. They feel great after killing a wandering goblin on the first floor and holding a magic stone in their hand. But if they venture deeper into the tower unexpected problems arise."

"What kind of problems?"

"There are special safe zones within the tower. In all other areas, you never know when a monster will appear. You may sit down to rest and a goblin pops out of a bush, or you could be fighting and suddenly get attacked from behind by a monster that just appeared."

In game terms, one could call it a random encounter.

When entering, there were only a few monsters at most, making it easy to get in.

However, this cursed tower could spawn an unreasonable number of monsters on our way out.

I had struggled so much with this before getting used to it.

Monsters would appear when trying to rest, when trying to sleep, when preparing a meal, and when attempting to return if you weren't a skilled adventurer, there was no way to handle their sudden appearances.

"Of course, there are ways for adventurers to prevent this, but if a non-adventurer enters recklessly, they'd either be surrounded without even realizing it or slowly die as their stamina is drained."

"Wow... The tower is more dangerous than I thought, huh?"

"That's why adventurers risk their lives. Although it doesn't happen on the lower floors."

I smirked and started walking towards the tower, with Han Se-ah quickly following me.

Perhaps she thought my words were just a joke from a senior adventurer to instill caution in a junior.

She cleared her throat and spoke up.

"Well, the first floor should be fine, right?"

"It's fine for adventurers. If some foolish people enter without the help of the Adventurer's Guild, they could even die on the first floor."

"Oh, why is that? It seems like it would be fine if they didn't get greedy."

I didn't answer her question and quickened my pace.

Although I had been laying low for a while, my fame hadn't faded, so people started staring.

With my blonde hair and statue-like appearance standing out among the ordinary faces, it was no wonder their gazes were drawn to me.

Moreover, following me was a beautiful woman whose ample figure couldn't be hidden even by leather armor.

Naturally, the men's eyes were not only focused on her but also filled with envy.

Our destination was the massive arch-shaped entrance carved into the tower's outer wall.

It was so large that it looked more like a tunnel entrance than a door.

I stepped into the dark space, and Han Se-ah hurriedly followed with light footsteps.

"Let's go together!"

As the shadows enveloped us, the scenery changed in the blink of an eye.

"Why suddenly... Huh?!"

"Because this is the first floor of the tower."

A vast plain stretched out before us, so wide that it seemed endless.

It was an expansive field where even encountering other adventurers was difficult.

***

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