Chapter 61

Chapter 11: The Tower (3)

‘One month.’

Yeonwoo took a slight glance at the pocket watch he pulled out from his coat.

The watch, which was covered with his younger brother’s fingerprints.

The hour hand was still fixed at the ‘XII’ mark, as if it had never spun so fiercely during the tutorial.

The only difference was that, unlike when it first came into Yeonwoo’s hands and didn’t move at all, it was now trembling slightly, though very faintly.

It meant that the mainspring was being wound, little by little.

‘That’s enough.’

Yeonwoo put the pocket watch back into his coat and fastened the greatsword to his waist.

‘Still.’

Yeonwoo’s eyes narrowed.

His sharpened senses quickly scanned the surroundings.

‘They’re following me in quite a number.’

Ever since he left the forge, some groups had been trailing him.

‘Fifteen? No, seventeen.’

Yeonwoo expanded his cognitive field to the maximum and accurately determined the positions of the followers.

‘Are they after the reward artifact? Or are they trying to investigate me?’

It seemed to be both.

Judging by their movements, they weren’t from the same group. They moved in pairs of five or six.

But in the end, they were just small fries.

Even if they attacked in a group, he wasn’t really afraid.

‘Still, it’s annoying to keep getting entangled.’

Yeonwoo pretended not to notice and turned a corner. As he quickened his pace, the followers moved more urgently.

A dark place where light hardly reached.

“Hey, where did that guy go?”

“Damn! I said we can’t lose him!”

But Yeonwoo was nowhere to be found.

The trackers, who had only taken a few steps in vain, had to scratch their temples in frustration.

* * *

After shaking off the trackers, Yeonwoo booked a room at a shabby inn nearby.

He then wrapped himself in a robe he had obtained by giving a tip to the innkeeper and went out again.

He had enough money.

The massive amount of merit points he had accumulated during the tutorial could be used like regular currency in the Tower, making things quite convenient.

He didn’t have to worry about drawing attention, as there were many people dressed similarly.

The place Yeonwoo arrived at was a café that boasted the highest floor in the vicinity.

“Is there a specific place you’re looking for?”

“The top floor. I’d like to use the terrace.”

Yeonwoo paid a considerable amount of merit points to the waiter and was guided to the 5th floor terrace.

The space was wide open, offering a clear view of the area outside the Tower.

The night view was sparkling beautifully, perhaps because it was already evening.

“You’re very lucky, sir. As you can see, this place is very popular due to its great view. It just so happens that a regular customer, who usually frequents this place, has started another floor challenge, so the seat is now available...”

“Hazelnut, no syrup, and I’d prefer non-artificial beans.”

Yeonwoo cut off the waiter’s long speech, sat down, and gazed at the night view.

The waiter quietly retreated without showing any displeasure.

“...”

Yeonwoo didn’t move from his seat until his ordered coffee arrived.

The coffee was quite delicious.

It was said that coffee from Earth was quite popular in the Tower, and some farms were cultivating it.

It was different from what he had drunk on Earth, but the aroma was good.

Yeonwoo liked this kind of coffee.

Before entering battle, a brief tea time could cool his head, which had been heated by adrenaline.

The same was true now.

The slight excitement that had risen a moment ago seemed to be settling down.

The cool night breeze.

The wide-open night view.

The warm coffee.

Everything was perfect.

‘The places you recommended were always good.’

This was a regular café that his younger brother often visited.

A place he frequented when he was actively forming Artia and challenging the floors.

A place filled with memories of laughing, chatting, and enjoying with his comrades...

So, based on the memories left in the diary, Yeonwoo sat quietly in the café and watched the night view.

Imagining what his brother might have thought while sitting here. Imagining how he might have smiled.

The area outside the Tower didn’t give much excitement to regular players.

But for his brother, it was a place filled with many memories.

Yeonwoo planned to trace the places his brother had visited for a while.

During the month it would take to complete the Eye of Gies.

He brought the coffee cup to his lips again.

The hazelnut was a bit bitter, perhaps because no syrup was added.

* * *

Morning came.

Yeonwoo, wearing a mask and robe as he had when he went to the café, went out and found a restaurant.

The restaurant was bustling with people looking for breakfast.

“Is there a seat available?”

“You’ll have to share a table. Is that okay?”

Yeonwoo was guided to a large table in the center, to which he replied that any seat would do.

The people already seated there were eating on their own, just like him.

Yeonwoo chose from the many menus, which were hard to read, the one his brother had recommended as delicious.

A dish similar to the kebabs he had eaten in Turkey.

The taste was...

‘Come to think of it, your taste was terrible. I forgot.’

It was terrible.

* * *

After finishing his meal, Yeonwoo strolled along a forest path on the outskirts.

A place with a refreshing breeze.

A quiet place where few people walked.

If there were people with enough leisure to come to such a place, they were probably players trying to challenge the floors, who rarely visited.

He thought he had found a good spot.

The annoyance from the bad food had completely disappeared.

* * *

“Choose, choose! Pick anything!”

“This one, I think...!”

Unlike the quiet forest path, the street was filled with street vendors.

It was bustling with people.

Yeonwoo walked along the street for a while.

* * *

In the southwest of the area outside the Tower, there was a place similar to an aquarium, where marine creatures from various worlds were gathered.

But the real reason Yeonwoo came here was...

“...”

To watch women.

There were quite a few pretty women.

‘You were a guy, too.’

He chuckled.

* * *

As with any place.

The food sold by street vendors was sweet and delicious.

* * *

“This is the customer who came yesterday.”

“Is that seat from yesterday available?”

“At this time, there are usually few people, so it’s always available. But the view during the day has a different charm from the night view.”

Yeonwoo sat on the terrace as he had the night before and enjoyed a tea time.

It felt as if all the chaos he had experienced until yesterday was a lie.

Everything was peaceful.

* * *

About five days after entering the area outside the Tower.

Yeonwoo returned to Heno’s forge.

Clang, clang, clang—

“What? Why are you here again?”

Heno, who was in the middle of tempering, put down the red-hot metal and frowned.

Perhaps because he had been hammering hard for a while, his muscles were bulging, unlike an old man.

During the past five days, Yeonwoo had been constantly coming and going from the forge, as if it were his own home.

“I just dropped by on my way. I’m also a bit bored, and I wanted to check if the order is progressing well. It seems that all the necessary materials were supplied yesterday. Is that correct?”

A shameless and bold answer.

Naturally, Heno’s face twisted.

“What the hell?”

Of course, Yeonwoo was calm.

“Fortunately, it seems you’ve started the work. Still, just in case, I’ll keep an eye on you.”

“What the hell kind of kid are you...!”

Yeonwoo ignored whatever Heno said and sat in an empty spot, staring at him.

Heno huffed, as if he couldn’t pray properly, but Yeonwoo’s face remained shameless.

In the end, Heno realized that Yeonwoo wouldn’t listen to anything he said and shook his head.

He had felt this way for the past few days, but this kid really didn’t understand words.

He came and went as he pleased.

No matter how much he shouted or scolded, Yeonwoo only nodded calmly.

It was a waste of energy to vent his anger.

So, Heno decided to treat Yeonwoo as if he didn’t exist and returned to his tempering.

Naturally, the force he put into the hammer was much stronger than before.

Clang! Clang!

Clang—

Yeonwoo, who didn’t seem to get bored, observed Heno’s actions for a long time.

A new eye, resembling a snake, opened along his eyelids.

The Dragon Eye pursued every action Heno performed and the meaning and purpose behind them.

Despite his rough and wild appearance, Heno carefully examined and hammered the metal.

Extraction. Slowly melting the metal.

Casting. Pouring it into a mold shaped like a greatsword.

Forging. Hammering the metal that had taken shape.

And the final refinement to complete the greatsword, Heno’s work was incredibly meticulous.

Just watching made him feel as if his eyes were becoming clearer.

Craftsman.

That was the first word that came to mind.

He boasted of being one of the five great dwarven masters, and he had the qualifications to back it up.

‘This is how it was made. Everything you used.’

Jeongwoo was once famous under the nickname ‘Heavenwing.’

All the artifacts that gave him that nickname were created by Heno.

Naturally, his skills were extraordinary.

Even Yeonwoo, who knew nothing about metallurgy, felt his fingertips tingle.

Each stroke was full of power, and the meaning of a master, which ordinary people couldn’t reach, was embedded in it.

Yeonwoo wanted to see this firsthand.

The food his brother ate. The paths he walked. The places he stayed. The house he slept in. The places he chatted with friends.

Every trace his hands had touched.

“...”

Yeonwoo closed his eyes and compared the places he had seen in the diary with the places he had seen with his own eyes.

Many things were similar, and many things were different.

After deep thought.

When he opened his eyes again.

“Are you sleeping, you brat?”

Heno’s large head, with deep wrinkles, was right in front of his eyes.

His eyes were filled with anger.

“While I’m hammering away, the kid who said he’d come to supervise is sleeping. What are you doing here?”

“I said I came because I was bored.”

A nonchalant answer.

Snap.

Yeonwoo could see the veins on Heno’s wrinkled forehead bulging.

“If you’re going to keep nagging and bothering me, go sit over there and start hammering! Damn brat!”

In the end, Heno, unable to bear it any longer, pointed to a corner and started ranting.

His short legs jumping up and down were a bit amusing.

“I will.”

Yeonwoo walked to the spot Heno pointed to and sat down in a matter-of-fact tone.

He picked up a hammer and looked at Heno again.

“By the way, how do you light the forge? You need to teach me that to start hammering.”

“A, a, a, damn, eat, really...!”

Heno, unable to speak properly, stammered and finally grabbed his neck.

“Ugh. That damn brat.”

“Do you have high blood pressure? Should I get you some medicine?”

“Just shut up, that’s the best way to lower my blood pressure!”

“Alright. But really, how do you light the forge?”

“Aaaah!”

Heno, realizing that he couldn’t deal with this kid verbally, screamed at the top of his lungs.

Despite his tone, which seemed to have no emotional fluctuations, a few words were enough to make someone’s blood boil.

Heno, realizing that getting angry would only harm himself, took a deep breath and sat down.

“Ugh. Why am I dealing with such a brat.”

He looked as if he had aged several years in that short time.

‘I understand why Jeongwoo followed me from the beginning.’

Under the mask, Yeonwoo smiled.