Chapter: 3
It’s a fact of life that if you give, you must also receive, and in this world, if you gain something, you’re bound to lose something as well.
I still don’t know why the royal court gave us extra funding, but given the circumstances, I managed to receive the blessing of a ‘30 times grant’ thanks to my hard carrying.
But doesn’t it make sense that 95% of that should be returned to the one who earned it?
However, it seems the Purple Tower Master had some objections to the fair distribution of the funds.
“My, my tower…! The Purple Ma, Master Tower is MY tower!”
“But that’s the grant I earned.”
“Even so, that doesn’t mean you can just gobble it all up by yourself!”
“Even with that remaining 5%, it’s still 1.5 times more compared to last year.”
“More! It was! But!”
Like a child who received ten million won in New Year’s money, only to be left with five thousand won due to their parents’ merciless “When you grow up, you can pay it back” line, the Purple Tower Master flopped onto the floor and threw a tantrum.
“Ugh, my disciples… they don’t even need to reuse the magic stones they were awkwardly using… I was looking forward to using intermediate ones instead of the lowest grade…!”
As she infused her words with the emotional helplessness of a desperate breadwinner striving to feed her family, I could feel my trained conscience starting to crack a little. After all, the seniors who had moved into the Purple Tower before me all looked shabby.
On the day when other towers had gathered to scout me, followers trailed the tower masters of other spires. Everyone else wore stunning robes adorned with symbols representing their respective towers.
Yet behind the Purple Tower Master, there wasn’t a single assistant in sight. I thought it was because the Purple Tower wizards were all outsiders, but later I found out they simply didn’t come because they didn’t have uniforms.
So, the Purple Tower was so strapped for cash that they couldn’t even afford uniforms.
I even saw a senior licking the leftover bread crumbs off their plate to save on research funds.
Seeing a wizard—usually a high-income profession—living in such pathetic conditions was indeed a pitiable sight.
However, if I yield here… my research will be delayed.
A thrilling and ambitious project to implement virtual reality for TRPGs.
“I need to spawn a ridiculously OP dragon so that players can catch it in a stylish manner after some epic battles.”
The whispers from within me soaked into my heart gently.
Isn’t the pain and tears of the senior wizards an inevitable sacrifice?
Did she read the toxic heart that flickered in my eyes? The Purple Tower Master entered phase two of her tantrum.
She crawled closer on her knees, clinging to my pant leg and began whining.
“The grant is soooooo precious…!”
“Hmm.”
My heart started to waver.
Should I really just donate my research funds (temporary) to the tower like this?
At that moment, a bolt of inspiration flashed through my mind.
“The seniors need the grant, right?”
“…Huh?”
“So if all the seniors in the tower think, ‘We don’t need a grant,’ does that mean I won’t feel guilty about it?”
Would that even work?
The Purple Tower Master formed her lips as if to say that.
Wizards are obviously obsessed with their research funds. No matter how strapped the Purple Tower is, they are still in a position to be receiving grants from the royal court. So isn’t it strange that they’re reduced to licking their plates while having no uniforms, making them unable to engage in external activities?
They’re poor because they squander their money on uniforms and tasty treats while spending on research.
People who want to devote their lives to creating something have this tenacious side.
While not as good as me, their minds are worthy of respect. Generally, they wouldn’t want to give up on research funds. But I had a clever plan.
“Let’s try persuading the tower seniors. If that fails, I’ll neatly settle for just 50%.”
“Yay, yayyy…! I got 50%…!”
It seemed the Purple Tower Master didn’t even think I’d succeed in persuading them, shouting cheers prematurely. Perhaps feeling particularly good, soap bubble illusions floated up around her.
Staring at the risen soap bubbles, I imagined images of seniors saying things like, ‘What a crazy bastard, trying to steal my research funds!!’ or ‘I’ll confess if you don’t leave right now!’
Sometimes when she’s in a good mood, the tower master’s thoughts leak out like this.
If I suddenly blurted out, “My research is more important, so I’ll be taking 95% of the funds,” it was clear I’d wind up just like the visions I saw before.
However, the truth that a pretty person has higher persuasion has stood the test of time and space. Isn’t there even a saying that a handsome or beautiful smile can’t spit? So the answer is simple.
“I’ll use beauty to my advantage.”
“Huh?”
Clap, clap.
As my will surged, a Heart-chan appeared behind me in a bizarre pose.
Taking a strange pose when summoning a humanoid creature from behind is a convention shared among nerds.
Researchers locked away in their towers have a painfully obvious weakness. It’s none other than the beauty trick.
Compared to social butterflies out there making friends and building resistance to seduction, the self-cannery researchers have the resistance of a piece of paper…
At this moment, I was about to deploy my third revised version of Heart-chan, an NPC created with illusion magic that touched the hearts of many men across the continent.
The Purple Tower Master’s face turned beet red.
“Y-you mean to use illusion magic to disguise yourself and seduce the male seniors for the research funds…!!”
“Players and characters are separate, you know.”
“B-but half the tower is women! T-that won’t work…”
“If it was only Heart-chan, that might have been the case.”
If there are female characters, there have to be male characters. That’s just common sense.
While some weirdos open TRPGs with only female characters, ignoring all male characters, I pursue the harmony of Yin and Yang inherent to humanity. So of course I can’t avoid using male characters.
Snap.
A middle-aged butler with a monocle and slicked-back hair.
Snap.
A shota butler who appears pure on the outside but is a little devil on the inside.
Snap.
A slightly rebellious young butler with a mohawk who seems to grumble yet quietly takes care of things and does his job with sincerity.
Snap.
A suspicious squinty-eyed butler, his voice so sexy he makes you question his motives while delivering classic romantic dialogue.
“My lady, I have prepared coffee from the Northern Continent that suits the autumn weather.”
“Master, Master! Try my brew, not Joseph’s! The jasmine tea has steeped beautifully!”
“Hey, Master! You said last time it was too bitter… so this time I made it extra attentively.”
“Fufufu… Lady. This is a black tea infused with my love. Would you accept it?”
“Ughh…!!”
As the four butlers encircled the Purple Tower Master, forming a barrier of propositions, she trembled and curled up like a capybara caught in a trap.
Bowing her head to observe their expressions, her face was bright red from embarrassment, but the trembling corners of her mouth were sticking up. Looks like being embarrassed feels good after all!
It seems she had a character trait that fit well with the basic archetypes of the four butlers, ABCD.
“Is there anything uncomfortable? Please tell this Joseph.”
“Master, your face is bright red! You might have a fever; let me check…”
“Uh, about that, I’ve knitted a scarf since you caught a cold. I’ll give it to you, Master.”
“I’ve heard that colds are easily cured when you catch them from someone else. If it’s not rude, may I catch your cold in my mouth…?”
A clear look of ‘Ugh, no!’ crossed the tower master’s face, causing the last squinty butler to erase his statement immediately. Was there something off with a character that had such a buttery flavor? The other butlers seemed to have passed the check as their expressions brightened again.
After enduring ten minutes of merciless butler bombardment and senseless pampering, the Purple Tower Master was completely melted away.
“Demonstration complete.”
I felt a sense of confidence. While the Purple Tower Master might be particularly easy to conquer, considering that, I’d say I could sufficiently ‘persuade’ the seniors.
Snapping my fingers, Heart and the butler squad began marching in unison. They were determined to wring out the response, “I won’t covet the research funds.” from everyone in the tower.
“Ugh, no…!”
The mushy tower master squeezed out the last of her strength and reached out her hand.
She too seemed to sense it. If things continued like this, my NPC legion would conquer the tower.
But what could she possibly do with a melted expression and trembling legs?
The only thing the tower master could do was savor the moment of tower conquest like a happy little fawn. I pulled my hood over my head and comfortably sank back into the sofa.
It took just two days and two hours to conquer the tower.
===============================================================
Two years had passed since I began my research after swallowing the entire grant by myself.
Days filled with idyllic moments, cleverly navigating the evil plot of the Purple Tower Master to strip me of my grant with the help of illusion magic.
I hit a wall while trying to implement automatic NPC operation. To present a believable world, you need a minimum of ten NPCs. The more, the better.
That meant I couldn’t manually control things forever. The days I had spent manually operating the butler legion made that painfully clear. I felt like my head might explode.
They needed to move based on the personalities I set for them automatically, but I also needed to be able to hop in and take control in emergencies. So… I needed AI technology.
Could I implement that using only illusion magic? Should I look into collaborations with other schools?
Just as those deep thoughts began to weigh on me, the Purple Tower Master plopped down next to me.
In South Korea, there’s a chair so powerful it makes anyone sitting in it spill all their domestic troubles. Its unique, mysterious atmosphere loosens people’s hearts.
Yes, the atmosphere.
I could feel that sort of atmosphere now.
The Purple Tower Master fell silent for a moment before cautiously opening her mouth.
“…So, what kind of magic do you want to create?”
As someone who usually babbles, she unexpectedly asked a serious question, casting a deep vibe.
It was the kind of early morning sentiment that gets you to loosen your heart’s locks and reveal your true feelings.
I answered succinctly.
“The world.”
“Do you mean… this world we’re currently standing in is insufficient?”
“If I beat around the bush, you won’t understand.”
“What a… clever kid…”
The tower master seemed to hesitate for a bit but then appeared to resolve herself to throw a direct strike.
Determination flickered in her round eyes. Her resolve seemed solid enough not to break.
“Do you know that you’ve never even called my name once?”
“But you’re the Tower Master.”
“What about everyone else?”
“…None.”
I honestly didn’t even remember.
It was a kind of mental illness. I couldn’t hear the names of others.
It would seem I had heard them at some point only to have forgotten their names eventually.
I wondered if the reincarnation privilege had cursed me, so ever since I joined the tower, I had undergone various examinations. My body and soul were both fine, and there were no traces of any curse engraved. It was just a purely psychological issue.
I looked into the expression of the girl I could only remember as the ‘Purple Tower Master.’
That expression was one of sadness and worry.
“…Sometimes… very rarely, I don’t feel alive. It’s like my heart is wandering somewhere else.”
“… …”
The Tower Master was right.
It was an unwanted reincarnation. Or perhaps a flawed one.
I should’ve rather had no memories of my previous life. I remember too much. The air that can’t be called clear, the scent of pine from the mountain behind, my mother’s delicious doenjang jjigae, crispy fried flounder, and the kimchi made from torn radish greens.
The torn trash bags on the side of the school route, the streetlights that would take four flickers before finally lighting up during the night.
There’s even a photo of my ex-girlfriend still sitting in a corner of my phone gallery. The records of all the TRPGs I’ve been involved in so far.
Yes.
My soul was still rooted in 21st-century South Korea.
“If it’s a problem I can help with…”
“Shall I show you?”
“…Huh?”
“Would you like to see the world I came from?”
I blurted that out impulsively, and the Purple Tower Master nodded.
Thus began the first mastering session after my reincarnation.
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