Chapter 14
‘What an interesting guy.’
The man called the Rogue Priest by climbers and a lone wolf among fellow priests—Icha—looked at the climber who dared to challenge him to Jatu.
The man wearing a strange mask acted cold and indifferent on the outside, but in truth he was quite soft-hearted.
He seemed to think he was hiding that fact well with his acting. Ordinary climbers might be fooled—but not Icha.
‘He seems skilled.’
He realized it the moment the climber suddenly asked him for a combat trial while he was lazily resting on a tree.
Just recognizing Icha’s ability—despite him pretending to be a carefree loafer—proved this climber was different from the rest.
And during their first fight, Icha had already felt it.
‘He’s not weak in specs, but his fighting style is unusual.’
Icha didn’t know if guns were normally used like that, but this climber fought with thorough calculation.
There might be climbers with better raw specs—but in terms of fighting well, this man was the best Icha had ever seen.
‘If I were at his level, I might have lost.’
For Icha—acknowledged as the strongest in pure combat within the temple—to admit that meant the man before him was truly formidable.
‘But why challenge me in Jatu?’
With that level of skill, he could have fought Sawol, the temple’s prized talent, and had a good match. Climbers said her difficulty was S-rank, so the reward would have been excellent.
Yet he chose to face Icha in Jatu instead.
‘This isn’t about intelligence. It’s about familiarity.’
Jatu was not an easy game.
A 200 by 200 board—over 40,000 squares. Hundreds of pieces. Complex resource-related special rules.
It looked like a game, but it was essentially a battlefield.
It took a full day just to learn all the rules. It took over a week before someone could even play it properly.
‘It would be more realistic to beat me in combat.’
Icha was good at Jatu.
If his opponent made even a small mistake in the early game, he could punish it immediately.
For a newcomer who had been on the 6th Floor less than a week to compete evenly with him—that was absurd.
It should have been.
“I’ll invest one resource into the siege tower. I’ll harvest from the wheat field I planted and end my turn.”
‘Why is he good?’
Something that defied Icha’s common sense was happening.
The climber in front of him was playing unbelievably well—for someone who supposedly just learned the game.
He made none of the common beginner mistakes in the early phase. He didn’t overextend, but he also didn’t recklessly all-in.
‘This makes no sense.’
No matter how smart someone was, becoming this good at Jatu in three days was impossible.
‘Did he find a teacher and only learn the opening?’
There were countless possible moves in the opening, but efficient ones were somewhat fixed.
If a priest familiar with Icha taught him counters to his usual opening, a clever person could memorize and apply them.
‘But that won’t work in the midgame.’
The midgame of Jatu was unimaginably complex.
A small mistake could instantly create a tactical disaster. A tiny advantage could snowball out of control.
Even if someone was smart enough to calculate everything, Jatu had time limits like chess.
‘No matter how smart he is, he can’t be faster than me, who has internalized the game.’
Icha never imagined that his opponent wasn’t human—but an AI.
‘This game is insanely complicated.’
I had played a little chess on Earth, but Jatu was on a completely different level.
I managed somehow in the early phase. But once the midgame began and various pieces started shaking the battlefield, I couldn’t keep up.
—Harvest resources from the wheat field. Immediately assign them to the cavalry. Move forward ten squares.
Following Lucy’s instructions and moving the pieces accordingly, the game was already nearing its end.
“…What exactly are you?”
The tide of battle had already turned.
Almost every region was controlled by my pieces. There was no sign of a comeback.
“…I lost. I don’t see any way to win.”
“Good game.”
I offered my hand first. He grabbed it and shook it lightly.
“But seriously, what are you? No matter how I think about it, this makes no sense. Does your world have Jatu too?”
“Let’s just say it’s the power of my trait.”
“…And stop that awkward informal speech. I can see it’s just an act.”
I thought I had fully immersed myself in the Black Reaper persona, but apparently he could see through me.
“You may not be fooled, but others still need to be.”
“…Anyway, congratulations on clearing the trial. You’re the first—and the last—person to defeat me in Jatu.”
[You have overcome the trial.]
‘Good work, Lucy.’
—My head felt like it was going to split open.
Even for Lucy, who was becoming smarter every day, Jatu was a difficult game.
She had used a considerable amount of mana just to learn it.
[Trial reward granted.]
[ Icha has taken interest in you.]
[Until the 10th Floor, Icha will join you as a helper.]
[He may provide direct or indirect assistance.]
‘Huh?’
“You seem pretty interesting. Want to climb together with me? I’m more useful than I look.”
Since a notification window appeared, it didn’t seem like I had the option to refuse.
‘Is climbing with one person really worthy of an EX-level reward?’
But the Tower never betrays a climber who completes a legitimate challenge.
I cleared an EX-level trial, and the priest who gave the trial took personal interest in me.
Would the Tower give a weaker reward than usual?
Absolutely not.
—Since it’s not an ordinary reward, we’ll need to use it well.
“Fine. Follow me.”
[You have entered the 7th Floor.]
[The theme of the 7th Floor is Cultivation.]
[Complete three cultivation challenges to advance to the 8th Floor.]
Cultivation.
Even the theme sounded intense.
Looking around, the buildings were tall and similar in style to the 6th Floor.
“Wow, it’s been a long time since I came here.”
“You’ve been here before?”
“Yeah. When I was training hard, my master threw me in here.”
During the time between the 6th and 7th Floors, I had briefly introduced myself to Mr. Icha.
‘How can someone’s name be Icha?’
And since he had completely seen through my true personality, I decided not to keep acting when we were alone.
“Could you explain what kind of place this is?”
“Of course. That’s why I came with you. See those tall buildings?”
“Yes.”
“You can only enter each building once. If you meet the conditions required on each floor inside, you move up. When you feel like you can’t endure it anymore—or can’t get out—you leave. But you can only enter a maximum of three buildings. So you’d better squeeze everything you can out of them.”
The 6th and 7th Floors felt very different from the previous ones.
It didn’t feel like a place where you had to accomplish something specific to advance.
It felt like a place that simply offered opportunities for growth.
‘So it’s not just about whether you have the power to climb—but how much you can take from it.’
“For reference, I stayed here about 230 years. You’re a climber, so you won’t have that kind of time—but endure with the mindset of squeezing everything out of it. Time to focus purely on cultivation without worrying about anything else doesn’t come easily. And climbers even get extra rewards per floor, right?”
“Thank you for the explanation.”
“No need to thank me. That’s all the advice I can give. You have to choose which cultivation to challenge.”
“Can’t you at least tell me what each one involves?”
“Nope. Just looking at the building names should give you a good idea.”
I began walking around.
Each tall building had a large signboard—Combat, Discipline, Endurance, and other obvious names.
‘The reward probably depends on which cultivation I choose.’
The most important thing on the 7th Floor wasn’t whether I could clear it.
It was whether I could identify what I truly needed—and extract it to the fullest.
—Would you like my recommended list based on the building names, architecture, and current situation?
‘Please.’
…
Lucy’s recommended list included ten options.
—Which one would you like to enter?
‘Let’s go with Cultivation of Harmony.’
—There’s a high chance you won’t learn much.
‘That’s true for you, not for me.’
Lucy was the one skilled at handling mana—not me.
Each time I used Synchronization, I internalized some experience, but I still knew nothing about mana itself.
Even if I didn’t gain new knowledge, becoming more familiar with mana would help me follow Lucy’s thoughts better.
‘And there might be new information even you don’t know. You said you need more data.’
—Understood. Then we’ll start with Cultivation of Harmony.
“Looks like you’ve decided?”
“How did you know?”
“I can tell by your eyes. Cultivation is done alone, so I can’t go inside with you. Stay in there as long as possible.”
“Just in case—does that building have an end?”
Icha stared at me blankly, then burst into laughter.
“10th floor. That’s the end. Only about ten people have ever reached it. Even for priests, reaching the 5th floor is impressive. For climbers, even the 3rd floor is amazing.”
“That gives me a benchmark. Thank you.”
After receiving Icha’s farewell, I stepped into the Cultivation of Harmony.
