FMSD CH 36

Chapter 36

My heart sank at Onak’s answer.

“Babel Tower?”

“How did you… No, well, of course you’d know. You’re human.”

Had I momentarily forgotten that I was human? Onak nodded, answering while tilting his head.

I already knew from Alessandro, the sole survivor of the Falcon Kingdom, that if we didn’t conquer Babel Tower, the dimension would collapse.

But on the 49th floor, I hadn’t seen a tower.

Neither the Black Mage faction nor the Kingdom faction seemed to know anything about it. At least, that had been the case up to the 49th floor.

So I had tentatively concluded that the scenario was being generated without the Babel Tower portion.

But if Onak on the 51st floor knew about the tower…

The hunters climbing the tower will find out soon enough too.

Even in the world we were observing as a scenario, the tower existed.

And it wouldn’t be a coincidence. Everyone would have reason to suspect something significant.

“Are you okay, sister?”

I suddenly looked up.

Echo, who had gone to the street stall, was holding three skewers of something grilled.

The skewers, still wafting smoke, looked deliciously cooked.

Echo stared at me with eyes full of kindness.

“Eat this, sister.”

He handed me a skewer, mumbling as he did.

The aroma of charcoal hit my nose as I took it.

That’s when it truly hit me where I was.

Thinking about it, this is actually a terrifying situation.

A chill ran down my neck.

On the 49th floor, I had acted as the “wandering merchant of Falcon,” keeping my distance, so nothing felt too real.

Perhaps I had been lost in imagining myself as the savior of the Moon Patch.

But neither the innocent Echo, acting so friendly, nor that rabbit warrior Onak, nor the countless beastmen fighting for survival…

None of them exist in this world.

The realization that they were merely remnants of a vanished dimension brought a strange sense of nausea.

That was why being a complete bystander had been so appealing.

Yet here I stood, facing those who were still alive and breathing.

“Are you alright?”

Onak asked, his concern evident.

“I’m fine.”

I nodded calmly, forcing myself to remain composed.

I was a little shocked, but I couldn’t afford to freeze here.

Instead, I decided to maintain my composure by casually asking a question.

“Can you tell me more about that tower?”

Even if all I had was goods to sell, as a merchant it would be wise to gather as much information as possible.

Onak scratched his beard and sighed.

“Honestly, I don’t know much. I heard it’s been around for about ten years, but apparently, as soon as it appeared, black mist started spreading.”

“Is the tower nearby?”

“No, it’s far from here. It’s said to have appeared at the edge of Ganasia, in human territory, so we never went there. Rumor has it that humans enter, but few come out.”

“Do you know how far they’ve climbed?”

“I think… up to the 35th or 36th floor, maybe,” Onak muttered.

Only the 36th floor? They barely made it that far.

Even getting to that point must have taken an enormous amount of time.

And the rumor about humans rarely returning was probably true.

It seemed the combat ability of this continent, Ganasia, was far lower than I had assumed.

Turns out it was the Babel Kingdom of Korea.

“I’ve also heard that some humans started researching the tower out of curiosity. After they couldn’t climb it, they studied it even more. They were probably human mages.”

“They researched the tower? Then there must be records, right? Where are those mages?”

Even in our world, humans had researched the tower, but strict security meant verifying the truth was impossible.

If research records existed here…

They would help me trace my brother’s steps.

More importantly, they could greatly help prevent the collapse of the dimension.

“Well, those mages don’t exist in this world.”

“Why not?”

“Because we killed them all.”

Onak nodded, pride evident in his voice.

I was too stunned to respond.

That’s supposed to be a point of pride?

I wasn’t sure when ethnic extermination became considered normal. I thought maybe I could feel some empathy, but instead, it only pushed me further away.

Unaware of my thoughts, Onak continued.

“After that, humans stopped coming, and the tower was abandoned, as far as I know.”

He didn’t seem to remember exactly when.

If it had been a long time since anyone climbed it, and all researchers had died, then this dimension’s destruction was already inevitable.

That was probably why the scenario had taken shape like this.

“Actually, the black mist is a more urgent problem than the tower. We don’t know why the tower appeared, but the black mist consumes us every day.”

That’s… because of the tower, sir.

I couldn’t say it outright, so I just swallowed a sigh.

Could I visit the tower myself?

Since I was using the merchant mark, maybe the black mist wouldn’t affect me.

Human territory should be accessible, so the risk to me would be minimal.

At that moment, what had started as a short errand was turning into a journey.

“Onak! Onak!”

Someone shouted urgently from a distance.

A long-eared beastman from the central region ran, dripping sweat.

“Another attack from humans! The western defense line has been breached!”

“Damn, again?”

Onak’s face twisted instantly.

“We need to go immediately! Echo, you return home! Sorry about you too, merchant. This is urgent, so we’ll see each other later.”

Onak ruffled Echo’s head and ran toward the talking beastman.

Not just Onak, but all the beastmen cleaning their weapons hurriedly moved as well.

The atmosphere was heavy with war, leaving no time to ask questions.

There’s so much I want to ask.

I, stranded like a lone duck in a flock, just watched blankly.

“Where are you going now, sister? If nothing urgent, how about my house?”

Echo, standing quietly nearby, asked cautiously.

Of course, with my mind in chaos, a marketplace was no place to think. I needed somewhere quiet to process everything.

I also had to understand what would happen if our dimension failed to clear the 51st floor.

How did I end up with such an important mission? I still don’t understand.

Combining my weak body with an EX-class title really is painful.

“Alright, sure…”

I almost answered casually but stopped when I saw Echo’s worried eyes.

Why are his eyes so bright?

I hadn’t noticed earlier, but now, the cat beastman’s eyes were wide and shiny.

This dimension was already gone.

Onak, Echo, and the other beastmen had already died.

Yet they still believed they were alive, fighting without losing hope.

Can I really just dismiss this as a scenario?

Even if they were just scenario characters, their suffering felt real.

And it probably was real.

Echo’s concern for me was real too.

“Let’s go, sister. This way.”

Echo grabbed my sleeve and started walking slowly.

He was clearly inviting me to his house, yet the surrounding situation was chaotic.

Onak and the talking beastman had long since disappeared, and all the beastmen cleaning weapons wore the same tense expression as Onak.

The black mist, the tower, and the war…

And me, not knowing what to do.

There was only one answer.

I need to understand the scenario.

The tower clearly exists, so the scenario of this dimension might be connected to it.

But I couldn’t check the scenario while using the merchant mark.

I also couldn’t remove the merchant mark now, as I would risk being attacked by countless beastmen as a normal awakened human.

I had grown bolder, but my body was still fragile.

Or… should I just go to the tower?

Being in human territory wouldn’t make it too difficult.

I’m a merchant in a human body, after all.

“Echo, is human territory far from here?”

“I don’t really know… Oh, Rahan oppa said it took about a week on foot!”

“Who’s Rahan?”

“He’s a talking beastman. The one you saw earlier.”

Ah, the central-region long-eared beastman.

A week on foot would be about the same even on a mount.

Could I start from there instead?

I’m a top-tier merchant; maybe I could start from human territory, like starting in Kona.

[⁕ When activating the merchant mark and entering the tower, you start in a random zone with performers 🙂 You may respawn there or return here on reentry.]

I hate random gacha, and now it’s random here.

But 50-50 odds are manageable.

Probability is generous, but…

I sighed.

I didn’t want to leave it to luck, but there was no other choice.

I’ll just check by going in and out myself.

I stopped walking.

I wanted to gather as much information as possible before the assault team entered the 51st floor.

Echo gently tugged at my sleeve.

“Sister, what’s wrong?”

“Echo, I don’t think I can go to your house. Something urgent came up…”

Then…