1.
Time flew by.
Since the natural course of things was to let my overworked body rest again.
If anything had changed as time passed...
‘There was still room for her to get even better...?’
It was that Dolores’s beauty seemed to blossom more with every passing day.
Her skin glowed white and became even firmer.
Her figure was the same way.
One day, she called me into the dressing room, then did a graceful little turn while wearing nothing but underwear...
That mommy turn. I genuinely felt my intelligence dripping away.
‘Can you tell it’s improved?’
Yes, very much so.
Anyway, as time went on, her looks kept getting more and more stunning.
But time passing was one thing...
Clatter, clatter.
“...Why aren’t any of you going home?”
It was a cozy Saturday morning breakfast with Ruby, Dolores, and me.
Yet somehow, Camilla, Isabella, and Yeomhwa were joining us too.
Fine, Yeomhwa was recuperating.
Honestly, I’d heard she was practically done recuperating too, but why were Isabella and Camilla here?
In the end, none of them answered, so I just ate some more.
“...Ahem.”
But Ruby had been acting a little strange since earlier.
Even while munching on bread, she kept glancing around.
Her lips kept moving like she had something to say, but she wouldn’t bring it up.
“...Um.”
Oh.
Ruby had finally worked up the courage.
“The midterm results came out...”
“!”
Dolores opened her eyes slightly and looked at Ruby.
“I... came in first.”
“Ooooh!”
I immediately reacted from beside her and clapped.
“Really!?”
“That’s our Ruby.”
“Well done. What a smart girl.”
The red-, blonde-, and blue-haired aunties each responded with delight in turn.
“You worked hard, Ruby. I’m so proud of you.”
Dolores rose from her seat and hugged Ruby as well.
“Mmm...”
Ruby’s face turned red in an instant as she curled up, the corners of her mouth twitching as though she was quite pleased.
I placed a hand on Ruby’s head.
“Nice.”
Ruby cautiously lifted her head.
For a moment, I thought I was about to pay the price for touching the head of an adolescent girl.
“Hehe...”
But Ruby smiled happily.
We finished our meal in that warm atmosphere, then each held a teacup and enjoyed a leisurely moment together.
At least, until Camilla returned after briefly leaving her seat.
Creak.
“Sebas just gave these to me.”
She scattered several thick newspapers across the table.
“...Read them.”
There were multiple copies, so I cautiously picked one up too.
Hmm... I felt like I’d seen the logo emblazoned on the front before.
I’d even snuck a look at it in Dolores’s office.
I opened the front page...
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【Company Announces Cordelia Rosenfeld’s Official Attempt at the 200th Floor’s Great Trial】
The Company has declared that its sponsored climber, Cordelia Rosenfeld, will attempt the 200th Floor’s Great Trial.
The challenger is currently on the 199th Floor, preparing for the conquest.
The Company stated that it would spare no support necessary for the conquest, activating a dedicated support system including equipment and medical care.
Meanwhile, new equipment belonging to several individuals who made names for themselves as high rankers in the past has recently become a topic of discussion, drawing interest to the competition at the forefront as well.
However, some say it remains to be seen whether the high appraisal of that equipment will actually lead to changes in climbing records.
When asked about the race for the lead, a Company representative responded as follows.
“The emergence of excellent equipment is welcome, but in the end, it comes down to floor count.”
The specific conquest schedule will soon...
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Hmm.
She must be the person Dolores had kept mentioning.
Still, one thing rubbed me the wrong way. The emergence of excellent equipment here...
They were probably referring to the equipment I’d made, right?
“...Are they taking a shot at us?”
Yeomhwa looked extremely displeased.
[This article feels gross, doesn’t it?]
What are you talking about?
[It says they were people who made names for themselves as high rankers in the past, right? That means Dolores isn’t a high ranker now~.]
...These bastards?
Yuna’s interpretation clearly contained plenty of Yuna’s own bias, but...
[“Go ahead and brag about your equipment. We’ll be climbing higher.” That’s how I see it!]
We were in a mutually gaslighting relationship, so Yuna’s opinion was my opinion.
Now I felt shitty too.
“...Still, if they put out an article...”
Yeomhwa scratched her head...
“She must be almost there...”
Isabella added quietly.
‘Huh?’
When I tilted my head, Dolores explained in a gentle voice.
“The Company does not declare attempts that will fail. If they have announced an official attempt like this, it means they are confident she can clear it.”
Ah, so they’d already calculated the odds.
Tch.
That was a little disappointing. I’d hoped one of Dolores, Yeomhwa, or Isabella would be the first to clear the 200th Floor.
“At least it seems she won’t die.”
Camilla added as she folded the newspaper.
Yeomhwa and Isabella nodded.
“...That’s a relief.”
Dolores was the same.
I could tell at once.
There was a strong sense of relief in them.
I’d been uncertain before, but now I thought I knew for sure.
The aunties and Mommy...
They didn’t hate this Cordelia person.
2.
Declaring the 200th Floor attempt was one thing, and time continued to fly by afterward.
Yeomhwa was finally told by Camilla that she could resume climbing.
Isabella also headed for the Tower with her newly acquired equipment.
Dolores did the same.
Then, about a month later...
This post appeared on the My Tower community.
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[A Summary of the Dawn Apostles’ Recent Climbing Records]
[Author: Gibo Ham]
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It seemed to be a post with brief comments on the changes in each mommy’s floor count...
The author appeared to be a fairly well-known community user.
─────────────────
[Duke Dolores: Floor 142 → Floor 149]
[She came back carrying two pieces of absolutely ridiculous equipment and has been soaring upward ever since.]
[The 150th Floor’s Great Trial is right around the corner, but judging by how she’s doing now, she’ll probably clear it without trouble?]
[Yeomhwa: Floor 177 → Floor 182]
[There was some talk that she was climbing on the back of the Ether Circle, but I didn’t expect her to bring something even crazier. She suddenly fired nearly a hundred bullets, then finished them off with petals that popped out of nowhere;]
[People had always said her style was rather straightforward, but with that insane equipment that makes up for her combat style, won’t even the road to Floor 200 be... easy?]
[Isabella: Floor 169 → Floor 172]
[What is this now?]
[She was famous for liking opening magic, so I thought she’d made some powerful opening spell....]
[But seeing her instantly spear Alpert in a PvP trial, it looks like a counterattack;]
─────────────────
Reading it, it was ultimately all praise for the equipment.
Not bad, I suppose.
Apparently, Alpert was a famous opening-strike mage.
─────────────────
[Mina]: I feel like I’m going to die happy these days. I love the Dawn Apostles so much.
[Anonymous]: At this point, don’t they have a blacksmith only they know about? It’s not just one person—they keep taking turns bringing new equipment.
ㄴ[Anonymous1]: I’d hide them too.
[Anonymous3]: Maybe they unofficially cleared a dungeon and divided the loot among themselves?
ㄴ[Anonymous4]: That actually sounds pretty plausible.
[Anonymous4]: I wish people would stop posting about these guys. Will those washed-up mutts finally quiet down once they clear Floor 200?
ㄴ[Mina]: It says so in the title. You could simply not click on it.
ㄴ[Anonymous4]: Your mom.
ㄴ[Gibo Ham]: Company worm noted.
[Anonymous7]: What about Camilla? Why is she always left out?
ㄴ[Mina]: Camilla has stopped climbing for a while now.
ㄴ[Anonymous7]: Why did she stop?
ㄴ[Mina]: I don’t know either...
ㄴ[Anonymous7]: You don’t know anything.
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For reference, “Company worms” seemed to be the name for Company fans who blindly defended the Company.
I’d been a little nervous lately too.
Dolores would soon attempt the 150th Floor’s Great Trial... She would do well, right?
Of course I thought she would, but I couldn’t help being nervous.
I was going to make her a little more equipment, but she said she already had enough.
So I changed direction a little.
I had started checking the community more often these days...
The reason was that I was thinking of making a piece of equipment soon.
So I looked into which kind of equipment climbers needed the most.
First, I checked which class had the largest population.
[Class Distribution]
[Warriors: 15.189%]
Warriors. As expected, warriors were the most numerous.
I had originally planned to make equipment for Ruby.
Something like slim-fit armor that would cling closely to her body, so she wouldn’t get hurt.
“...Ha ha.”
...But Ruby’s growth rate lately was a little...
Upward, sideways, front and back...?
Anyway, if I made it now, it honestly wouldn’t have been strange for it to be too tight by the next morning.
It seemed I should hold off on making equipment Ruby would wear until she stopped growing.
And since I was making different equipment anyway...
“Let’s try selling it.”
I was planning to sell it too.
The problem was, in order to explain that, there was something I needed to confess first.
“Dolores, actually, ever since I received that invitation ticket and visited the Tower... I can see the Tower’s system.”
“...Is that really true?”
I said things like message boards and chats had become available after I’d received the Tower invitation.
It was a reasonably plausible excuse I’d come up with.
The information gap had gradually narrowed, and pretending I didn’t know things was becoming too difficult.
There had even been several times when I needed to explain where I’d heard something, and I usually sold Yeomhwa out.
So... I figured it was better to just confess outright.
We were in a relationship of mutual confirmed trust, after all.
Maybe because I had done too many unexpected things, Dolores accepted it surprisingly easily.
“...I see.”
She took it far more easily than I’d expected.
So what was I going to do now?
Not just browse the community and jerk off to the reactions.
What I was going to do was create a personal page.
A place where I could post my equipment and sell it directly... A shop? A commission desk?
The Tower had a free-market system where even individuals could open businesses.
“So I’m going to take on a commission too. Of course, anonymously.”
I told Mommy that as well.
“...”
She thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Yes, there should be no problem at all if it’s anonymous. Lionel should do what he wants.”
“Yes!”
“But, Lionel.”
“Yes?”
“...Could you give me your contact information?”
“Oh.”
And so...
[Mommy]: Lionel, what are you doing?
[Mommy]: I’m in the shopping district on the 149th Floor right now.
[Mommy]: Is there anything you want to eat?
I began exchanging real-time messages with Dolores.
I simply replied that there wasn’t anything I wanted...
“...Let’s open it.”
Then I looked through the free market.
First, the business names.
[Truth-Seeking Office]
[Diana’s Material Commission Agency]
[Mayner’s Alchemy Workshop]
There really were a lot of them.
Then I needed to come up with a name too, right?
I was going to operate entirely remotely, and my identity couldn’t be exposed...
[Cristiano Equipment Workshop]
Yeah, this was perfect.
That way, no one would suspect it belonged to Lionel Yujin.
[...Are you serious, brother?]
“Of course I am.”
If someone found me through this, then they must have been reincarnated into this world just like me...
...Actually, I wasn’t serious. It was only a temporary name.
I wasn’t planning to take many commissions, just one or so.
The whole purpose of taking commissions was to broaden my horizons, because I’d only been making things for people close to me, and that meant all my equipment lines seemed limited to mages.
I needed to hammer out some warrior equipment too.
...And besides, this was a trial run.
“...I’m feeling generous.”
The client would provide all materials required for the crafting.
But the commission fee would be...
[1 kg of special mineral]
Let’s try that much.
I didn’t think anyone would entrust ten kilograms to a nameless craftsman right off the bat.
I mean, you wouldn’t order a 200,000-won omakase meal from a delivery place with no reviews.
[Your free-market business has been registered!]
─────────────────
[Cristiano Equipment Workshop]
─────────────────
[Crafting equipment. Warrior equipment only, come on in.]
[No mages.]
─────────────────
[Commission Fee] [1 kg of special mineral]
─────────────────
“Come on.”
Who would be the lucky client to receive my equipment?
I figured someone would contact me quickly.
I had searched the entire free market inside out, but there weren’t any businesses that took equipment commissions and crafted them.
So I waited, thinking it wouldn’t take long...
A week passed.
─────────────────
[I Think I Found a Business That Hates Mages]
[Author: Anonymous]
─────────────────
(Image)
They’re discriminating against mages only.
─────────────────
Ah, fuck.
For reference, the image was a screenshot of my business description.
The comment reaction was:
─────────────────
[Mina]: Barbaric warriors. You shouldn’t associate with them at all.
─────────────────
Without my knowledge, Cristiano Workshop had been branded as mage-haters.
“No, Mina...”
That isn’t your image...
If I hated mages, then what had I been making this whole time?
“Ugh.”
Just as I was wondering whether I needed to reroll the business name...
Ding!
[A commission has arrived.]
“Oh, finally.”
The commission I’d been waiting for had arrived.
And it was...
[Anonymous]: [How long would a full plate armor take?]
[Anonymous]: [It’s a very urgent matter. Very urgent.]
Full plate armor.
“I landed a proper one.”
The ultimate warrior equipment was full plate armor, after all.
Its efficiency was a little lacking, sure.
But it had romance, didn’t it?
You, who commissioned precisely the equipment I wanted to make most.
You are a lucky person...
[Anonymous]: [Could it be done within six months?]
[Anonymous]: [Ah, ten months.]
Six months? Ten months?
[Cristiano]: One month.
One month, you bastard. One month.
I’d finish it for you in no time.
I accepted the new commission.
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