The Story is Told to the Protagonist.

I feel the cold, damp stone floor against my cheek.

“Ugh….”

What’s this? Did I faint?

I tried to gather my senses and get up, but I staggered from the intense pain all over my body.

“Aagh!”

I hurriedly took out an emerald, gripped it, and healed my body.

[Activating skill ‘Tears of Gems.’]

‘What was that…?’

The pain makes my mind sharp.
I tried to recall what happened, but it only made my head more complicated.

‘I didn’t expect this to happen since it was a theoretical route not in the original work.’

The system message babbled something, but I don’t remember it all.
I was so flustered by the sudden pain, and there were too many messages.

However, it’s certain that the trait [Body that Defies Heaven] is the cause of the situation.

‘I understand that it changes my mana constitution to reverse circulation according to the setting, but… what does that have to do with this incident?’

I should have made the setting more properly.
It seems I’m just struggling with something weird I scribbled during class time as a setting daughter.*

I’ll have to take a closer look at [Body that Defies Heaven] when I have time later.

‘Did I eat the lotus properly?’

First, I opened the climber information window.

[Climber Information]
Name: Kang Noah
Affiliation: Planet Earth (Outside the Tower)

Abilities
Strength: 0th Realm · 1st Level
Stamina: 0th Realm · 1st Level
Agility: 0th Realm · 1st Level
Endurance: 0th Realm · 3rd Level (1▲)
Magic Power: 1st Realm · 3rd Level (12▲)

My eyes widened.

“Wow!”

That’s right! A two-digit increase!

My magic power ability has increased by 12, reaching 1st Realm ·3rd Level. Even though I’m still a 1st-floor climber, my magic power alone is at the level of the 13th floor.

Very few people have experienced a two-digit ability increase throughout the entire original work. Even Garam might not have had such an experience.

Of course, it’s possible because growth is easy and fast in the early stages. However, it’s still undoubtedly an incredible stroke of luck.

‘But was the gem lotus this effective?’

The effect is really insane.
I feel like I’m getting high on the ability score boost.

‘1st Realm ….’

Is there anyone on the 1st floor now who has an ability score corresponding to 1st Realm?

‘To think I have a higher ability score than even the protagonist….’

It’s only for the early stages. Garam, the greatest genius in the world, will soon surpass even this.

Of course, if you ask if I’m the strongest on this floor right now, the answer is absolutely not.

I still don’t know how to handle mana.
In fact, I can’t even utilize half of the value of this incredible ability score.

I closed my eyes and tried hard to feel inside my body.

‘I don’t feel anything.’

Earlier, I felt something moving inside.

Mana control is a difficult skill people realize only when they reach the 6th or 7th floor.

When that time comes, my enormous mana quantity will show its true value.

‘For now, just being able to use [Tears of Gems] without mana limit is already overpowered.’

The heal I use with emeralds is only half-baked. It can’t match the power of a real healer.

But even with real healing, how much could you use with the poor mana quantity of a 1st-floor climber? You could probably only use it a few times.

‘Compared to that, I can use it as much as I want as long as I have enough emeralds.’

Moreover, with the original 0th Realm ·1st Level magic power, it would have taken ages to realize mana.

How could you feel anything when there’s no mana in your body?

This mana quantity will be an essential clue for me to realize mana in the future.

‘What’s left is….’

I picked up the other lotus flower I had set aside.

There are two lotus flowers. However, when consumed as an elixir, only the first one is effective. It’s a limitation of the [Tears of Gems] skill.

‘Let’s put the remaining one away.’

Gem inventory.

As I muttered inwardly, the gem lotus on my palm disappeared. It entered the gem-only inventory, a skill function.

As long as it’s in there, the gem doesn’t spoil. It doesn’t discolor from reacting with air, nor does it lose its contained energy.

‘I should give this to Seol Ga-ram.’

Although she has immeasurable potential, in the early stages of growth, she’s just an ordinary high school girl.

With just this one, her growth speed would greatly accelerate.

‘I’ve achieved my first goal.’

With a sense of satisfaction, I got up and left the cave.

***

‘[Grasping]!’

I stretched out my arm with all my might and grabbed the last rock.

“Hup!”

I pulled my body up onto the cliff and dusted off my hands.

‘Phew… I wish my strength had increased too….’

Rock climbing wasn’t easy, but I was able to climb up somehow with the [Grasping] skill.

‘Come to think of it, I already have [Grasping].’

Skills are very rare. I already have two, but they shouldn’t have been obtained this easily originally.

The speed of skill creation is influenced by ‘talent’ and ‘karma.’

‘Karma’ refers to all actions that become the process. So, the more practice and higher the intensity, the higher the possibility of skill creation.

‘Since I have no talent, I was prepared to wait several months for [Grasping] to be created.’

Was the growth faster because it was actual combat with life at stake? There was a clear anomaly to think that way.

‘…[Rewriting Causality].’

I saw a message that [Rewriting Causality] was activated when [Grasping] was created.

‘What on earth is this?’

The word causality often appeared in the original work. However, its meaning was so comprehensive and abstract that it wasn’t clearly defined even in my head.

To put it differently, it was used to mean fate, cause and effect, law, and flow…

‘It erased the sage’s power, broke the System 0th Grade Authority, and now it creates skills?’

Deletion. Modification. Creation.

I can’t sense the timing of its activation.
Can I use it if I want to? Should I try?

‘Come out, skill [Keen Eye]!’

….

“Tsk.”

I don’t know.

Anyway, it’s fortunate. How many times has [Grasping] saved my life?

I organized my thoughts and moved on.

‘I need to find a team before going to the 2nd floor.’

I have the jade bead. I could go to the 2nd floor right away.

However, finding a team here in advance is much more advantageous for the 2nd-floor trial.

‘Even if it’s not necessarily the 2nd floor, moving as a team is basic in the tower.’
I walked endlessly through the forest, picking up emeralds and putting them in my inventory wherever I saw them.

When my legs started to ache, I found people.

‘Huh?’

However, it was different from the situation I expected.

“Sa, save me…!”

A blood-soaked man crawls through the grass towards me.

Surprisingly, he was a human with completely white skin. No, is he human? His features are blurry, which is strangely eerie.

And he had five or six arrows stuck in his body.

‘…Should I heal him and form a team?’

But with no weapons, he wasn’t very attractive as a team candidate.
He did look like he might have some special ability, though…

Or should I just take his jade bead and look for a more capable team member?

As I was pondering this while approaching the man, I felt a familiar chill in my thigh muscles.

“…!”

My body reacts first. By the time I thought, ‘What was that?’, I had already lowered my upper body.

Whoosh-!

An arrow passed where my head had been.

‘Huh? I dodged it?’

Even though I was momentarily surprised, I shouted with all my might.

“I’m a healer!”

I saw a silhouette in a particularly dark shade across from the white man where the arrow came from.

“A healer?”

A woman’s voice is faintly heard.

“Yes! And I’m looking for a team.”

“You move pretty well for a healer.”

This time it’s a man’s voice. A man and a woman. At least two in number.

I swallowed unnecessary replies, stayed quiet, and heard rustling sounds from the darkness. Are they exchanging hand signals within their team?

“If it’s true, then heal me.”

Rustle. A sturdy, bearded man emerged from the grass.

His arm is severely wounded. Blood has soaked through the bandage and is dripping onto the ground, flowing down his hand.

It’s still a dangerous situation where my safety isn’t guaranteed. I quickly rolled my eyes and thought.

‘Shield in one hand, sword in the other.’

Close combat type. Compared to him, I’m unarmed. If we fight, I definitely can’t win.

‘And….’

Behind the man, the front part of a crossbow is cleverly protruding from the darkness of the grass. It seems to be deliberately shown, probably to pressure me not to do anything rash.

‘Phew….’

Damn, now my right thigh tingles just at the sight of arrows.

The man approaches with suspicious eyes.

“Are you really a healer?”

“Stay there.”

“The cross-section is roughly torn, and it seems infected. We might have to amputate the arm….”

I summoned a small emerald and gripped it, hidden from their view.

[Activating skill ‘Tears of Gems.’]

Ching!

Green powder leaks from my hand and settles on the wound.

“Oh…!”

The man unwrapping the tightly wound bandage stopped and looked down at his arm.

As the light powder disappeared, he gripped his sword.

‘Shit…!’

Is it an attack? I flinched for a moment, but fortunately, the sword was used to cut the bandage.

Cutting the bandage with a sword that big, not even a dagger? How tough.

The bearded man’s face brightened.

“Uahahahak-!”

He rubbed the wound area with another cloth to wipe off the blood. Then he waved his arm towards the back, showing it off.

“Look at this! It’s completely perfect! We don’t have to amputate the arm!”

“… It’s true.”

A woman’s voice is heard from the grass, and only then does the owner of the crossbow reveal herself from the darkness.

But… an unexpected face appeared.

‘Huh?’

I rubbed my eyes and checked again, but no matter how I looked, it was exactly as I had described.

Ears larger than those of canine animals. A cold impression despite her bright pink fur with long eyelashes.

Thump, thump.

The woman who caught my attention walked silently towards the blood-soaked man.

The smooth, bare legs below her short pants caught my eye. More precisely, the tail. A pink fox tail wrapped twice around her thigh down to her knee.

‘The one Garam said was fluffy….’

According to Seol Ga-ram’s expression, it was a ‘fur-ful’ tail.

She steps on the man’s back and pulls out the arrows.

“Ah, aagh! No! Don’t pull them out! I’ll die from excessive bleeding!”

“Sorry. The arrows are expensive.”

“I, I’ll live! My friends can pay the price… Aagh!”

Despite the white man’s pleas, her hands showed no hesitation.

The black scarf covering her nose down to her lower jaw flutters. The scarf of the black leopard with a presence reduction effect.

‘It was made by her father, wasn’t it.’

It’s a scarf that even makes her voice soft due to the presence reduction effect.

In an instant, all the arrows were pulled out, and blood quickly pooled under the white man full of holes.

‘I could save him, but….’

I shouldn’t. Now, this team is mine, and if that guy gets up, he’ll be hostile to the team. I have to let him die.

Because I just decided to dedicate myself to this team.

“Nice to meet you.”

The cold-looking beastkin extended her hand to me. The owner of the crossbow was wary of me.

“Eindnyak. Call me whatever you like.”

Whatever I like? Alright. I’ve always wanted to call you this.

“Nice to meet you, Ein.”

Just like Seol Ga-ram and her companions did.

***

I exchanged brief introductions with Ein. I already know a lot about her anyway.

She is none other than a character who will become Seol Ga-ram’s teammate in the future.

But the man who received my healing was a face I’d never seen before.

“This is amazing, isn’t it!? To think we’d even have that rare healer join us!”

He laughs heartily, truly seeming satisfied.
His laughter is so hearty that the last sound becomes muffled due to lack of breath.

“Uahahahak-!”

His armament is a shield and a one-handed sword. He’s the team’s only vanguard.

“Healer, you said you have a jade bead, right? It’s dangerous here, so let’s share our introductions after we go up!”

“Sounds good.”

Just as we were about to finally escape this tedious 1st floor, another voice interrupted us.

“Wait! Don’t go! Information! I’ll give you information!”

The white man who was spilling blood grabbed us, or more precisely, me.

“You, if you’re a healer, you can heal me, right! I’ll give you information. Please save me!”

“Information?”

The bearded man seems interested and shows concern.

“Yeah! I’ll tell you some interesting news! It’s news from outside!”

“We’re still on the 1st floor, what outside news… We just entered.”

“Something really big happened in the short time since you entered! The whole universe is in chaos right now!”

The bearded man turned his back, losing interest.

Wait. But that guy, the way he’s talking is somehow…

“The Angel King is desperately searching for an Earthling!!”

My heart sank.

“Huh? King? What are you talking about?”

“Ea, Earthling! If you find an Earthling from this batch and bring them to the Angel King, you can receive an enormous reward! Literally enormous, I’m telling you!”

How on earth? There’s no way for a 1st-floor climber to know outside facts right now?

“Wasn’t the Angel King a historical figure? I heard rumors that he died.”

“That’s why he’s broken his long seclusion and come out! How serious must the matter be for him to move his heavy butt!”

Contrary to my state of mind, Ein and the bearded man started to show interest.
After all, a ‘huge’ reward given by a king would clearly be of unimaginable value from an ordinary person’s perspective.

“Tell us more specifically.”

“I don’t know! The synchronization isn’t complete yet!”

“Synchronization? What do you mean?”

Synchronization.
Now I understand. Who this guy is, and how he knows this information.

“I’m an Ash-White of the Ash-White Clan! We share thoughts with all Ash-Whites on the planet, but now we’re too far apart, so synchronization needs some time.”

The bearded man and Ein exclaimed in turn.

“Huh… The universe is truly vast.”

“Is such a thing possible?”

The Ash-White Clan is very tricky to deal with, and the entire race is villainous. They share everything – thoughts, ideas, emotions – and that head of theirs is villainous.

They introduce themselves as the Ash-White’ Clan’, often being underestimated as a minority ethnic group at the tribal level.

But in reality, it was basically a planet with a single consciousness, with a population far larger than Earth’s and all of them sharing thoughts.

These planetary-scale villains cause a big ripple throughout the tower in the later stages.

“How long do you need for more information?”

“Hmm… a, a week?”

Lie.
He’s probably intentionally overestimating. From what I know, 3 days would be enough.

The reverse synchronization is the same.

I’m starting to feel urgent.

‘I have to kill him before this guy’s information synchronizes to the outside.’

Because he saw my face. If the synchronization proceeds, the fact that I’m here will be known outside, and then it’s really over.

“Our race has already started searching for the Earthling as soon as we entered the tower. Look, it might not sink in, but this is really good information! We also receive the importance level of the information, and this is top-tier info. Right now, below the 0th Realm, below the 10th floor, only our race knows about this!”

But the bearded man tilted his sword with an indifferent face.

“And it will soon spread by guys like you.”

“Huh? Uh….”

“It’s less impressive than I thought.”

“But you said you’d save me!”

“I never said I’d save you. You just assumed that on your own.”

The bearded man said that and turned his back on the white man again.

‘Is it okay to leave him like this?’

What if he doesn’t die? What if he lives and my information synchronizes to the outside?

Should I suggest confirming the kill? But after staying silent and only now after hearing the information? Wouldn’t that seem unnatural?

My heart is pounding.
Calm down. First, I shouldn’t show any strange signs.

After listening to their conversation, I suppressed my impatience and calmly opened my mouth.

“…The Ash-White Clan is one collective. If our harming this guy synchronizes with other Ash-Whites, we could be officially pursued.”

All three of them showed surprised expressions at my words.

“What!?”

“Wh-what! No! It’s really not like that!”

Setting Daughter- A plot, character trait, story element, or worldbuilding that was thrown in hastily, typically to add a narrative device or flavor. This can lead to plot holes and inconsistencies down the line.