The first pillar of the Tower is in charge of floors 1 through 10.
The massive cracks that looked like they could collapse at any moment were completely filled.
On top of that, the Rune Script was engraved just as it had originally been.
“Wuuung-“
The Rune Script engraved on the pillar began to glow.
Moreover, even the existing Rune Scripts emitted an even stronger light.
I wasn’t quite sure, but one thing was certain: the pillar had been fully restored.
And at that moment a message popped up in a format similar to the one I saw when I repaired the Statue’s weapon before.
[You have perfectly repaired a structure created by the gods.]
[You gain divine enlightenment.]
[All attributes increase by 10.]
[Proficiency in all Blacksmith profession skills you possess, such as Production, Repair, Enhancement, and Soul of the Blacksmith, has increased.]
[The stats/skills/learning ability of ‘Soul of the Blacksmith’ have increased.]
It was just a Repair to delay the collapse of the Tower.
I never imagined I’d gain such a benefit from that Repair.
“Amazing! Climber-niiiiiim!”
As soon as the repair was finished, Riohr ran over, jumping up and down.
He seemed truly delighted that the pillar had been fixed.
But the work wasn’t finished yet.
Earlier, Riohr had said there were several such cracks in the Tower.
“There’s more to fix, right?”
“Yes! The pillars around here aren’t in great shape either…”
At Riohr’s words, I looked around.
Ten pillars spreading out in a circle around the central pillar.
All those pillars were cracked, rusted, and one was even completely collapsed.
“Those are only ‘auxiliary’ pillars, so they’re less important than the main one.”
“Then?”
“Let’s move right to the next crack!”
Once again, we teleported.
This time, it was the third main pillar, responsible for floors 31 through 40.
The crack here was even worse than in the first pillar.
But having already repaired the first one, I felt much more confident.
[The repair of the third main pillar is complete.]
As I finished the repair skillfully—
[You have perfectly repaired a structure created by the gods.]
[You gain divine enlightenment.]
[All attributes increase by 10.]
[Proficiency in all Blacksmith profession skills you possess, such as Production, Repair, Enhancement, and Soul of the Blacksmith, has increased.]
[The stats/skills/learning ability of ‘Soul of the Blacksmith’ have increased.]
I received the same message once more.
At this point, each of these pillars seemed to offer an overall boost to my stats and skill proficiency as a reward.
“Let’s move right on to the next crack!”
We moved on to the next area.
Now, it was the fifth pillar, responsible for floors 51 through 60.
This was a floor I’d never set foot on before.
The moment I entered, I felt an even heavier atmosphere.
[Using Repair skill.]
I started the repair, now familiar with the process.
Swinging my hammer, I filled the cracks with debris and engraved Rune Script over them.
Had I filled about half the crack?
That’s when a problem arose.
“I’m out of debris…?”
“Huh? No way! I gathered up all the debris!”
Riohr had run out of the debris he’d gathered.
It couldn’t be helped.
Even as a skilled Blacksmith with the SSS-grade Ability: Hephaestus’s Descendant, I couldn’t achieve 100% efficiency when repairing equipment.
On top of that, since the structure was of such high level, the material loss was even greater.
Even if Riohr had swept up every fragment from the cracks, it would have been hard to recover all of it.
As a result—
We ran out of material before the crack was completely repaired.
“There’s no way to get more, is there?”
“No, there isn’t…”
“Hm…”
Without materials, I couldn’t repair it.
Just in case, I tried using some materials I had made myself.
First, regular Iron Ore.
I figured if I put in a lot, maybe something would work.
[Insufficient materials for Repair.]
Iron Ore was not nearly enough.
Next, I tried Rare Ore, which was graded as A-class.
Maybe if I used enough of this?
[Insufficient materials for Repair.]
No luck there, either.
Then, I brought out Adamantium and Rune Fragments.
If it was these, there was a good chance, wasn’t there?
Adamantium, the best of all ores, and while they weren’t Rune Ore, Rune Fragments had high affinity with Rune Script, so maybe they’d work.
Especially since I’d mined both from the Tower, I had plenty of them.
Steeling myself, I tried to use Adamantium and Rune Fragments as materials.
[Insufficient materials for Repair.]
As expected, it didn’t work.
As a last experiment, I wanted to try using SS-grade materials like Earth Crystal or Rune Ore, but I had used both to make a staff.
Just in case, I tried inserting the SS-grade root I’d just obtained, but the pillar was obviously made of ore—it couldn’t be repaired with wood.
Regrettably, it seemed I could only repair the Tower up to this point.
Riohr accepted this, letting out a disappointed sigh, “Ugh, I’m sorry…”
“It’s alright. Still, I fixed two and got half of another one done. Doesn’t that help at all?”
“I’ll check right away! Just a moment!”
Riohr tapped his finger in midair.
He seemed to be manipulating something with Manager authority.
His brow furrowed as he focused, then his expression brightened.
“The stability increased by a lot!”
“How much?”
“Around 5%?”
“…That’s all?”
“All? That’s amazing! The pillars were the biggest problem, but the whole Tower is so old and deteriorated that even if you fixed all the cracks, the stability wouldn’t exceed 50%.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Still, at this rate, there’s no immediate risk of the Tower collapsing!”
“Whew.”
Hearing there was no immediate danger of the Tower collapsing let me breathe a sigh of relief.
It was literally a moment to catch my breath.
“But it still won’t last long.”
“How long do you think it’ll hold?”
“At most, three months. That’s a very generous estimate. Realistically, probably about a month…”
“A month?”
That was much less time than I expected.
A month.
Could I climb the entire Tower in that time?
I’d just finished conquering the 45th floor.
No, to calculate that, first—
“By the way, how many floors does the Tower have?”
I needed to know the Tower’s height.
Thinking that the Manager, Riohr, would know, I asked.
Unfortunately, Riohr’s answer was much the same as what the Statues had told me.
“Well, due to restrictions, I can’t tell you how tall the Tower is…”
“Ah.”
Everyone affiliated with the Tower seemed to be under such ‘restrictions.’
“Then all I can do now is keep climbing, right?”
“Seems so… Yes. I’ll do everything I can to help! I’ll check with my Manager’s authority, and look for more debris, too! I’ll do my best to help you!”
“Okay.”
“Anyway, Climber-nim! I’ll work hard too, so please don’t give up! Promise me!”
Manager Riohr bowed at the waist in a deep bow.
Frankly, as the Manager of the Tower, he should be above a mere climber like me but looking at his attitude, it was as if he was treating me as the superior.
‘Come to think of it…’
Watching him, the two Statues came to mind.
Both had clung to me, begging me to conquer the Tower.
For those bound to the Tower, being shackled for an eternity—their wish was surely great beyond my comprehension.
Anyway, with that farewell—
“Swoosh—”
I was returned to the trial on the 45th floor, which I’d just cleared.
Thanks to the Tower repairs, I had avoided the worst-case scenario of an immediate collapse, but the Tower would still eventually manifest in reality.
Even though I’d repaired the main pillars in the lower floors, the Tower was still so old and rusted that it looked ready to fall apart at any moment.
So—
“I guess all I can do is keep climbing the Tower!”
My mission hadn’t changed.
***
The Tower conquest period stretched on.
No one knew when the Tower would appear in reality, or when it would collapse—so there was little time to spend in the real world.
As a result, more and more people came looking for Vulcanus.
Among them, the most desperate was, as always, Nam Bora.
With people everywhere asking her where Vulcanus was, it was no wonder she was exhausted.
Luckily, whenever I returned to my room to rest or stock up on supplies, I always responded to her messages.
– “Vulcanus-nim, could you at least make some Mass-production Items?”
– “Everyone in the country is begging, so the government keeps making requests to us as well.”
“Hmm, the Production Team doesn’t have any leeway right now. I don’t think it’ll be possible for a while.”
– “Could you at least tell me how long?”
– “If I could just let people know when…”
“I’m not sure. I understand your situation, Nam Bora, but I think there are things more urgent than making items right now.”
– “……….”
– “…It can’t be helped.”
“Actually, never mind. I’ll try to make a few Mass-production Items. Please review them and distribute them as best fits the situation, Nam Bora.”
– “Thank you! Vulcanus-nim!”
Though the Tower conquest kept me busy, whenever I found a spare moment, I had the Production Team work on Mass-production Items.
Unless it was a quasi-boss or boss-level trial, I could get by without the Production Team.
Thus, I continued to climb the Tower.
With each floor, my level rose, my assistants grew stronger, and every new material made the Combat Team even tougher.
But—
“It’s getting hard.”
Climbing the Tower was becoming more and more difficult.
Not only were the monsters tougher, but the fields had become so vast that even just traversing them added to the time needed for conquest.
It hadn’t been that long, but thinking of the cracked Tower made me feel even more pressed for time.
Still, no matter how impatient I got, there was nothing else I could do.
I continued climbing the Tower and producing items.
A monotonous routine.
Gradually, I got used to climbing the Tower and even found a bit of spare time to manage the Vulcanus Guild.
Maybe it was carelessness.
But no matter how exceptional a person is, no one can stay on high alert forever and I was never that great a person.
Up until recently, I’d just been a shut-in gamer, unemployed.
In fact, the very fact that I’d worked so hard and climbed the Tower this far made me feel proud of myself.
Time passed like that.
It was such a peaceful period that I almost believed peace would last forever.
Of course, such a time never lasts long.