Chapter 69 : Timeline Synchronization

“Huh.”

Ru, who had just awakened her abilities, looked equally surprised.

She hadn’t expected to awaken so suddenly.

[Ru] LV:1

Class: Moon Sorcerer

Skills: Moon Mark, Moon Wave, Eclipse

[Moon Mark] Leaves a Moon Mark on a non-awakened player. The Moon Mark can only be used once, and the marked non-awakened player awakens as a Sun Sorcerer. Moon Sorcerers and Sun Sorcerers can enter the Tower simultaneously but cannot climb individually.

[Moon Wave] Pulls or pushes everything around. The higher the level, the greater the total power that can be used.

[Eclipse] Allows free use of Moon Wave for a set time, increasing all ability stats by 200%. Afterwards, the user cannot perform any actions for 24 hours.

Ru’s awakened class was Moon Sorcerer.

It suited her well.

More than that, it was an unusual class no one had seen until now.

Moon Sorcerer.

Maybe because she was an Elf, all her skills were unique.

First of all, she couldn’t climb the Tower alone.

She had to leave a mark on someone and climb together.

This skill completely broke the Tower’s basic rule.

Climbing had to be done alone.

Of course, it wasn’t my place to say.

After all, I had already cleared 34 Floors by cheating with the Five Brothers.

Still, it was truly a unique skill.

“Good job.”

Silpia patted Ru’s back, who still looked uneasy.

Everyone’s curiosity peaked.

Among us, a player who had awakened abilities had finally appeared.

The question that followed was: to whom would Ru leave the Moon Mark?

Of course, everyone already guessed.

“Sun!”

Ru approached Sol with a bright expression.

Then.

[Moon Mark left on Sol.]

[Sol has awakened.]

Sol awakened her ability too.

Just like it was written in Ru’s skill window, as a Sun Sorcerer.

Her skills were similar.

No matter what, they had to be together.

Naturally, it wasn’t awkward.

They had always been together until now.

“I’m heading up.”

Ru and Sol tightly held hands.

Without a word, they nodded toward everyone.

Then shouted.

“Entering Tower Floor 1!”

The RuSol sisters disappeared with a blue glow.

With everyone’s cheers behind them, the Elves entered the Tower for the first time!

***

I stayed about an hour in the original dimension before returning to climb the Black Tower of Dimension 10,459 again.

So how did the RuSol sisters do?

Unfortunately, they didn’t receive the SSS rank.

No matter how good their abilities were, they had just awakened.

SSS rank was not something anyone could easily achieve.

Still, they seemed satisfied, so that was fortunate.

After exchanging greetings with everyone, they entered the Tower’s 2nd Floor.

The 2nd Floor wasn’t difficult at all.

If you just stayed still?

When you opened your eyes, it was already over.

While confirming their rewards, suddenly the system message blared loudly.

[Notice] Interference between different timelines detected.

[Notice] Synchronizing timelines.

[Notice] Time in Dimension 1592 and Dimension 10,459 will now flow simultaneously.

What on earth was this?

Time would now flow simultaneously?

Currently, the two dimensions differed by about 24 times.

One hour in the original dimension was a whole day here.

Thanks to that, there was even a plan to exploit rewards.

Climbing the Tower every hour.

In a few days, they would reach the highest floors unimaginable in the original dimension.

But the system stopped that.

Judging it was an abuse.

It had done the same before; the system sure liked balance.

Was it petty?

How great would it have been to just let it go.

Sadly, ticket farming was no longer possible.

Still, if you think of it as having two tickets per day, it wasn’t all that bad.

Privileges that took five days to receive now only took two or three.

Soon after, Seolhwa seemed to confirm the system message, her expression showing clear worry.

“W-Wait a moment.”

“I saw it too. Seems like the system itself glitched.”

“System glitch?”

Seolhwa looked surprised to hear that for the first time.

The system itself could glitch.

Even though she was ranked first in the world, this was news to her.

Then again, who until now could have broken the balance?

Even Seolhwa, ranked number one, might not have cleared the 50th floor if Woo Min hadn’t lost his arm.

If the system hadn’t glitched, things would have been more severe than now.

Just thinking about it sent chills down their spine.

“It happened again. The interference has been getting worse lately.”

“Y-Yes, I see.”

Seolhwa nodded softly.

Maybe she empathized with the system’s frustration.

Then she shook her head.

Who was she sympathizing with now?

“Anyway.”

A system glitch was something impossible to control.

Maybe later, but for now, they just had to endure it.

More importantly, there was something else to do now.

Silpia, who had been wearing a serious expression from before, seemed burdened.

It looked like Dimension 10,459 was weighing on her mind.

“Silpia, are you very worried?”

“Yes, ah… No.”

Silpia forced a smile, but how could she be fine?

Her homeland had been invaded by a Black Tower.

The Tower could be a source of opportunity, or it could be the cause of destruction.

Gate overloads or collapses could cause massive damage.

If she still had the ability to communicate with other worlds, she could be a great help, like when corrupted monsters attacked.

Still, ignoring the immature world in Dimension 1592 made her uneasy.

Then it happened.

What Silpia had feared finally occurred.

“A mysterious gate has appeared in the northern forest.”

With a sudden, urgent alarm, an Elf on guard dashed in.

She was panting roughly as she explained what she heard.

“The color is blue. No tremors or fractures occurred.”

It was a newly formed gate.

At least that was a relief.

They hurried together toward the gate’s location.

Of course, by the time they arrived, the situation had already ended.

Britael, the northern guardian, had defended the gate alone.

“Q-Queen.”

Britael, who was tending to light wounds, met Silpia’s eyes and suddenly sat up straight in shock.

There was a reason she was so surprised.

During the Abyss invasion incident, Britael had almost given up her life.

She and Silpia had made a promise that Britael would step down as guardian until fully healed.

But Britael was a born warrior.

Even if she died in battle, how could she lay down her spear?

This time was no different.

As soon as the gate appeared, she was the first to rush out.

A blue-level gate wasn’t a big threat for Britael alone, but she had broken her promise to Silpia.

She bowed her head deeply in apology.

“I’m sorry.”

Britael closed her eyes tightly.

Even for her, the Queen’s rebuke was terrifying.

But Silpia said nothing.

She silently treated Britael’s wounds.

“Y-You don’t have to worry here. Our guardians and Elf warriors are enough to defend.”

At that, Britael forced a smile and spoke.

She couldn’t help but notice the deep concern shining in Silpia’s eyes.

She had relinquished her Queen title for the sake of another world and moved to an unknown dimension.

How difficult that must have been.

Yet they couldn’t burden her with more worry.

Silpia also forced a smile.

Then patted Britael’s shoulder.

“Your body isn’t fully healed yet. I know you’re a strong warrior, but I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Silpia looked at me with a lonely expression.

“I’m sorry. I just need some time to think.”

Understandable.

How complicated her thoughts must be.

She couldn’t ignore the mission she had been entrusted with.

But leaving her homeland was uneasy.

What should she do?

Seeing Silpia struggle pained me.

Was there a good solution?

Then an idea flashed through my mind.

Why not make a gate alert system?

***

Gate Alert System.

Gate formations, accompanied by abnormal natural phenomena, were not hard to detect.

With artificial satellites and countless CCTV cameras everywhere, current technology could detect gates quickly.

At best in one minute, at worst within ten.

Therefore, the Guild contacts nearby players as soon as a gate appears.

They assess rank, size, and appearing monsters, then deploy personnel appropriately.

But Dimension 10,459 was different.

No advanced technology existed there.

They used a primitive method: confirming by sight and ringing bells.

With barely over a hundred personnel, it was impossible to guard such a vast area.

Of course, there was a solution.

Silpia borrowed the power of the dimension to act as a massive radar.

If anything happened in the forest, she would not miss it.

The entire forest was her eyes.

But she stood at a crossroads.

Neither choice was easy.

Yet, there was a great way to ease this worry.

Increase the patrol personnel.

There were only about a hundred Elves in total?

She knew.

That’s why she summoned others.

Tireless, endless labor.

Skeletons.

“Summon Skeletons.”

Currently, over 1,000 skeletons could be summoned.

Living CCTV that never ate, never slept.

After excluding a few farmer skeletons, the sight was somewhat strange.

Such grotesque skeletons in this sacred forest.

But what else could be done?

Ugly as they looked, their performance was undeniable.

“Wh-What is all this?”

Eillin, seeing this, asked with a confused expression.

Dead entities.

Yet no ominous feeling at all.

“They will take charge of this forest’s defense.”

500 skeletons on constant patrol.

500 more in three-minute standby, ready to be dispatched for gate defense.

Already, it felt reassuring.

Then.

Silpia, who had been worrying all night, came out to check the noisy outside.

Seeing this, she quietly sighed.

“It really is Woo Min.”

Who else could pull this off?

More than a thousand subordinates who absolutely obeyed his commands.

And.

The Moon Rock.

A huge being wrapped in a tattered cloak.

Not inferior even compared to the guardians.

“Silpia, are you okay?”

Suddenly, Silpia’s eyes reddened.

For him to care so much for her.

If not for all the eyes around, she might have broken down crying.

Suppressing her emotions, Silpia bowed deeply.

“This is a 24-hour full-operation alert system. The skeletons watch the entire forest, and when a gate appears, the three-minute standby team is deployed.”

With this, even a red-level gate could somehow be handled.

Skeleton Kings at S-rank ability level and hundreds of supporting skeletons.

Without advanced technology, you do what you can with your body.

In the end.

Boom.

“Thank you so much.”

Silpia hugged me.

I felt awkward.

I didn’t mean to move her this much.

Before I could figure out how to respond, the awkward ringing sound came again.

“Ding ding ding.”

“A yellow-glow gate has appeared!”

A yellow-glow gate had just appeared.

Shall we see how well our three-minute standby team handles it?