“Can I fix the frame’s core circuit?”
[Analyzing….]
[Based on currently held resources.]
[Partial restoration of core circuit possible when using Mana Crystal Stone powder and Mana Stones.]
[Warning.]
[Mana runaway possibility upon incomplete operation: 12%.]
[If structural stabilization fails, collapse accelerates.]
The corners of Jin-woo’s mouth rose very faintly.
“Then that’s enough.”
Jin-woo immediately turned around.
“Location.”
[Mine central load point confirmed.]
The place where he stopped.
Beneath the collapsed support structure, part of a metal frame was exposed.
“…This is it.”
The surface was torn, and more than half the circuit had been severed.
Jin-woo picked up the Magic Engraver.
“It’s completely dead.”
《You have used Magic Engineering.》
《Tool Sense assists you.》
Jin-woo did not hesitate.
“I’ll bring back only the core.”
He poured in Mana Stone powder.
He rubbed it forcefully into the severed circuit.
ZZZT—
His fingertips jolted slightly.
‘The flow is rough.’
This was only to make it hold.
[Warning. Incomplete operation increases possibility of structural stabilization failure.]
“I know.”
Answering briefly, he pushed in the final connection.
A moment later—
Ding!
《Magic Tower Stability decline rate slowed.》
“…It’s holding.”
Jin-woo removed his hand.
It was not complete.
Still, it held.
《Magic Tower Stability: 31%》
《Magic Tower Stability rising.》
Only after checking the figure did Jin-woo finally set down the Magic Engraver.
A little.
‘I’m tired.’
***
Every time he climbed a floor, the Tower forced a new set of the world’s rules on him.
If the second floor had been bitter cold, the third floor was scorching heat.
If a blizzard had raged on the fourth floor, rain poured without pause on the fifth.
The floors were not connected.
Cross sections of different dimensions were stacked vertically.
Predictions were wrong, and preparation was always late.
And—
The seventh floor.
“Huff… huff….”
Ragged breathing filled the passage.
The Hunters had to stop every few steps.
“Damn it… why’s it so humid here….”
The air on the seventh floor literally pressed down on their breathing.
It was neither hot nor cold.
But the sticky humidity and murky heat clung to them and seeped deep into their lungs.
Humidity, 80%.
When they breathed in, it soaked them. When they breathed out, it clung.
The distinction between sweat and moisture had already disappeared.
Their clothes stuck to their skin, and the flesh beneath was on the verge of becoming raw.
“So humid…!”
Someone shouted as if screaming.
“Ah… I can’t go any farther….”
“Me too… rest… just a little rest….”
The Hunters sank to the floor as if collapsing.
Some leaned against the wall and gasped for breath, while others lay face down without moving at all.
It had been twenty-one days since they entered the Tower.
Exactly 21 days.
In all that time, there had not been a single day when they had washed properly.
They did not even have enough water to drink.
Even wetting their throats was a luxury, and a shower was nothing more than a word that existed in imagination.
“Now… there aren’t many people left either….”
Someone muttered weakly.
“Thirty people… exactly thirty….”
When they first gathered, there had been fifty.
While climbing to the seventh floor, twenty had died.
One Hunter struck the floor with his fist.
His left eye was already gone.
Only a black, dried wound mark remained.
“Damn it… why am I here….”
His voice was closer to emptiness than anger.
“If I’d just finished my graduation project… I would’ve graduated too….”
“…I passed my interview. All I had to do was report to work….”
A short silence passed.
As if breaking that silence, one Hunter gave a faint laugh.
“Heh. Well, that much is still mild.”
“Pardon?”
He raised his head and looked at the other man.
“Then when did you come to the Tower?”
“Me?”
The Hunter looked up at the sky for a moment.
Then, staring into the air, he said calmly.
“The day I was discharged.”
“……?”
“The moment I left the front gate of the military base after getting discharged.”
After catching his breath for a moment, he added, “When I opened my eyes, I was here.”
In that instant, the air around them froze.
“That’s awful….”
Someone muttered softly.
“To end up in this Tower as soon as you took off your uniform….”
“Wow… seriously… isn’t that too much….”
The Hunter shrugged.
“Tell me about it. I thought they’d at least let me breathe outside air for a day or so.”
A self-mocking laugh.
But there was an emptiness in it that could not be hidden.
The more the words continued, the heavier the air became.
Each of their lives had stopped here.
Parents. Lovers. Friends.
And futures that had not even begun yet.
All of it was trapped inside this Tower.
“Do you think… there’s a way out of this Tower…?”
A cautious question slipped out.
No one could answer immediately.
Because everyone knew what that question meant.
I want to go home.
Those words were not hope, but despair.
The moment they said them aloud, they would surely be unable to endure the emotions that came crashing down.
“…We probably have no choice but to climb.”
A short answer.
Despair makes humans sink to the ground, but to endure that despair, humans deceive themselves.
“There are items, too….”
“And special skills… There has to be something like an exit….”
If they did not speak of hope, they could not endure.
In order to live.
In order to survive.
“By the way….”
One Hunter raised his arm and smelled it.
Then he grimaced.
The smell of rotten sweat.
An unpleasant stench mixed with metal, blood, and damp cloth.
“Haa… seriously… I just want one shower….”
“Wake up. We don’t even have enough drinking water.”
“I’m hungry… I want… a warm meal….”
What they wanted was simple.
Water.
Water they could wash with.
***
“Ah….”
Jin-woo sank into the bathtub.
And with that one short sigh, the tension that had built up over twenty-one days loosened all at once.
The warmth began at the tips of his toes as they first entered the water.
In that instant, his stiffened nerves relaxed, and it felt as if his entire body was melting.
Starting from his feet, passing through his calves and knees, then up to his thighs.
The slowly rising water loosened each tightly knotted muscle one by one.
It was as if long-settled fatigue floated up onto the water and vanished like steam.
“Whew….”
A deep breath escaped before he knew it.
The weight on his shoulders slowly peeled away.
Each time he breathed in, the tightness pressing down on his chest seemed to wash away in the warmth.
Twenty-one days.
In all that time, there had not been a single day when he had washed properly.
Humidity and dust, the smell of sweat and blood, all mixed together and clung to his body, refusing to fall away.
His skin had always been sticky, and his joints had been stiff.
But now—
the warm water was quietly pushing all those memories away.
“This is nice.”
Jin-woo slowly leaned his head back.
On the ceiling above, mana circuits glowed faintly.
Their soft radiance wrapped around the bathtub, as if creating a small Rest Space.
[Body temperature stabilization confirmed.]
[Muscle tension reduced.]
Lumina’s mechanical voice rang quietly.
“Just by the numbers, the effect is pretty good, right?”
[Human body Recovery Efficiency increased by 47% compared to previous state.]
[Rest environment optimization level above standard.]
“As expected.”
The corners of Jin-woo’s mouth rose slightly.
‘Luck was on my side, and the timing was good.’
The damaged blueprint he had salvaged from the Records Room.
His memories from before the Regression.
And the materials in his hands right now.
He only had to connect them.
All the necessary conditions had already been met.
“…This works.”
Jin-woo recalled the magic circuit he had temporarily created.
Its efficiency was low, but there was no problem maintaining hot water.
[Circuit stability below standard.]
[Additional reinforcement recommended for long-term operation.]
“I know. It’s temporary.”
Jin-woo answered as if it were nothing serious.
And the bathtub.
One old bathtub, worn and cracked here and there.
He had found it with difficulty, abandoned in a corner of the Tower and covered in dust.
It seemed someone had intended to stay here for a long time.
Jin-woo inherited that plan.
‘There were a few broken parts, though.’
Repairing that much was only a warm-up for Jin-woo.
A few hammer strikes.
Adding reinforcement plates.
Mana bonding.
It was over quickly.
“It’s only one bathtub, but.”
Jin-woo looked around the wide space where the bathtub had been placed.
One bathtub in the middle of a spacious area.
Honestly, it was empty.
But—
‘That’s fine.’
This was only the beginning.
“I’ll fill it in one piece at a time.”
Jin-woo reclined a little farther inside the bathtub.
The warm water rose to his shoulders and wrapped around his entire body.
“Wow….”
A short exclamation slipped out.
It was hard to tell how long it had been since he had rested like this.
As the fatigue eased, he instead felt his guard loosening.
The tension he had not been able to put down for even a single moment since entering the Tower.
Even that, for this moment at least, felt as if he could forget it for a while.
“Refreshing….”
[No body temperature decrease detected.]
[Definition of “refreshing” is unclear.]
[Current values are closer to “comfortable.”]
Lumina responded immediately.
Jin-woo laughed softly.
“That’s the human standard. Remember it.”
[…Recording deferred.]
When he slowly moved his fingers in the water, ripples spread outward.
The warmth flowing over his skin lingered longer than he expected.
Only after entering this Tower did he finally realize just how luxurious this peace was.
Then—
《Living facility operation records accumulate.》
《Survival EXP accumulates.》
A message window quietly appeared.
《Magic Tower Stability: 33%》
After the stabilization frame was installed, Stability was gradually recovering.
Jin-woo closed his eyes for a moment.
‘Right….’
Surviving did not mean only fighting.
Resting, recovering, and making it possible to move again.
All those processes were survival.
***
“Ah, that was nice.”
Jin-woo came out of the bathroom, dried himself, and put on his clothes.
He had worn the clothes for a long time, but they were still intact for now.
‘Is it because I enhanced them? They’re still usable….’
Even so, he could not keep wearing clothes like this forever.
Clothes soaked with sweat and humidity, dust and the smell of blood.
No matter how much he washed them, in the Tower’s air, they quickly became damp again.
If possible, he had to obtain proper clothes.
‘I’ll have to add this to the list too.’
Living facilities.
Drinking water.
Heating.
Hot water.
And clothing.
[Remaining Energy: 46%.]
[Water and energy consumption increased due to hot water use.]
[Long-term operation expected to lower energy management efficiency.]
“Hey now, don’t call it waste. This isn’t a luxury. It’s an investment.”
Jin-woo brushed it off as if it were nothing.
[At present, priority by survival efficiency standard is securing drinking water -> energy storage -> defensive facility construction.]
“I know. I know that too.”
Jin-woo leaned against the bathtub and looked up at the ceiling.
“Efficiency is ultimately based on human standards. If the person collapses, formulas have no meaning.”
[…Meaning unclear.]
“Think about continuing to endure in this state. Humidity, cold, fatigue, insomnia. With this, mental strength gives out before physical strength.”
[Mental stress accumulation value already exceeds standard warning threshold by 62%.]
“See?”
Jin-woo laughed softly.
“Mana Stones can be mined again. You can’t replace your body.”
[At present, no treatment facility exists.]
“Exactly.”
Placing his hand on the water, he spoke slowly.
“Resting is survival too. No— you have to rest for there to be a next.”
Lumina did not respond immediately.
As if the number of items she had to calculate had increased.
[…Analysis updated.]