Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 381: Eighty-Seventh Floor, Mystical Beast Treatment (1)

Chapter 381: Eighty-Seventh Floor, Mystical Beast Treatment (1)

[Welcome to the eighty-seventh floor of the Tower of Ordeal: Mystical Beast Treatment.]

[Heal the mystical beast under the alchemist’s protection. Time remaining: 119 hours 59 minutes.]

Once again, feeling the familiar floating sensation, the tower’s message updated in the darkness. The world I would be teleported to hadn’t appeared yet, but I preferred it that way.

Without delay, I scanned the message. The trial was straightforward, almost strikingly so.

Heal the mystical beast that the alchemist is protecting.

Of course, there had to be a reason why such a seemingly simple trial appeared on the eighty-seventh floor. It certainly wouldn’t be easy. Perhaps it wouldn’t be as brutal as confronting Endless Furnace, but it wouldn’t be effortless either.

As the darkness lifted and my surroundings became clearer, I instinctively surveyed the area. I stood partway up a mountain, surrounded by a dense forest. Despite the canopy of trees, the area felt bright, vibrant, and overflowing with life, like standing at the foot of a World Tree.

However, the vitality seemed confined to this one area. It was as if the entirety of the forest’s vitality had been gathered here. Beyond an invisible boundary, the land was cloaked in fog and shadow.

Feels like the seventh floor’s forest that had the weretigers.

Amidst the heavy atmosphere and unseen threats, I could sense a savage presence embedded deep within the woods. My instincts told me the mystical beast would be found beyond that shadowed threshold.

At the heart of the lush zone stood a small cabin. Just before it, a mystical beast lay inside a cage that looked more like a prison.

What should I call it?

It resembled a dragon, but not a Western one—more like the serpentine Eastern kind. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Still, something about it was odd. It reminded me of a snake just as much as a dragon, and it straddled the line between the two.

Then, a memory surfaced. An old tale from Earth about imoogis, serpentine creatures said to ascend into dragons after a thousand years.

Yes, an imoogi. That is it.

The creature looked exactly like one. Not quite a dragon, not merely a snake. It was fairly massive and several meters long. I had seen dragons in comics before, but this was my first time encountering an imoogi, so it hadn’t come to mind right away.

Since it is only halfway transformed, shall I call it a dragoogi?

The thought made me chuckle. I quickly cleared my throat and erased the grin from my face.

I hadn’t thought like this before. Spending so much time alone, with Seo Ho-Su being the only one I could joke around with, had clearly dulled my sense of humor.

Still, I steadied my expression. This wasn’t the time to laugh.

The creature imprisoned in the cage—the dragoogi, or rather, the mystical beast—was in dreadful condition.

Did someone abuse it?

It was shackled in heavy, rusted chains and covered in wounds. This looked less like protection and more like imprisonment.

Naturally, a hint of suspicion took root in my mind. The tower had deceived me too many times to ignore the possibility.

Is the alchemist the real enemy here?

It was within the realm of possibility, but to be frank, the odds didn’t seem particularly high.

This wasn’t the seventeenth floor, but the eighty-seventh. At this level, it felt far too simplistic to assume the tower would resort to such an obvious deception. Perhaps I was thinking naively to even consider it.

Then again, perhaps that was precisely what the tower wanted me to think.

If someone were inclined to scrutinize the wording, they could find something worth noting. The message stated, “Heal the mystical beast under the alchemist’s protection,” not, “Assist the alchemist in healing it.”

I kept the possibility in mind. If I spoke with the alchemist, I would hopefully be able to discern the truth. With that in mind, I made my way toward the cabin.

Though I made no effort to hide my approach, the mystical beast didn’t stir. It lay motionless, eyes shut, as if unconscious. Its breathing was ragged and deep, which was a clear sign of pain.

Hmm.

I picked up on the alchemist’s movements inside the cabin, the soft rustling noises hinting at how preoccupied she was. From the sound of it, she hadn’t realized I was there yet.

After a moment, the footsteps shifted toward the door. Any closer and the door would hit me as it opened. I waited calmly just outside.

Creak.

The cabin door swung open.

A young woman burst through, only to stumble back in surprise when she spotted me. “Oh!”

She just managed to keep herself from falling, then stammered out a greeting, “O-oh! You’re finally here!”

I was surprised too.

The alchemist was a young woman, probably in her early thirties. I had expected an elderly man, based on the old-fashioned image of alchemists burned into my mind.

Apparently, I should get rid of my stereotype.

Still, the notion that she could be some hidden villain grew even less convincing.

Her wide eyes flickered with genuine surprise. She truly hadn’t expected me.

Though she possessed a faint magical presence, it didn’t even measure up to half of Ha Hee-Jeong’s. Her aura wasn’t particularly powerful either.

She probably didn’t have much combat experience and specialized purely in alchemy. I would need to ask how she ended up in this dangerous forest all alone.

“Hello.”

Her earlier comment suggested that she had been expecting me. The tower occasionally assigned roles or backstories to trials, so I was curious to see which case this one fell under.

“You’re from the tower, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yes.”

Once again, I found myself caught off guard. She knew about the tower—which was a first—and no ordinary person had ever shown that kind of awareness before.

Knots tied in my stomach, and my thoughts accelerated. There was a chance that she wasn’t referencing the Tower of Ordeal.

The alchemist looked ready to continue chatting and added, “Nice to—”

Before the conversation could slip out of my control, however, I cut in, “Hold on. To be honest, I have no idea what’s going on. Could you explain the situation?”

“What do you mean?” She looked genuinely puzzled.

“Who are you? How did you end up summoning me?”

“Aren’t you from the tower?”

“Well, yes.”

“Then I didn’t summon you. The tower did. Didn’t it tell you anything?”

“Ah. I was told to heal the mystical beast.”

“Then you are from the tower. You are a newbie, right? It’s always like this.”

Still, I wasn’t certain if we were even talking about the same tower.

She continued, “I’m Cho-Yeon. Just like you, I was hired by the tower as an alchemist. There are all kinds of alchemists, but I specialize in medicinal concoctions. Some people call me an apothecary.”

Each world had its own terminology.

It didn’t matter whether she was called an alchemist or an apothecary. What mattered was that she claimed to be employed by the tower.

It likely was the Tower of Ordeal, but I couldn’t be sure. This was completely new territory for me.

Does the tower really possess its own will, contrary to what I know? Is it acting independently?

“I came to this world because the tower instructed me to heal the mystical beast. It also said it would send someone to assist me soon.”

With that, it became unmistakably clear that she had indeed been referring to the Tower of Ordeal. After all, she made it obvious that she wasn’t from this world.

“Soon? Then you haven’t been here long?”

“No, just three days. Look around. Can you imagine how scared I was? What kind of employer drops someone off in a place like this?” Cho-Yeon gestured skyward, her tone a blend of frustration and disbelief. “You’ll understand soon enough. That tower... it never explains anything.

It just dumps tasks on you out of nowhere. Same deal this time. Heal a mystical beast in some unfamiliar world, when it could probably do it itself. Sure, the pay’s great, but still...” Her complaints continued for a while longer, echoing sentiments I had heard many times before.

She reminded me of seniors in college, the ones who liked to offer unsolicited advice to newcomers. She clearly viewed me as a junior in this line of work.

With a faint, sheepish smile, I nodded and recalled similar moments from my past. “Yeah, something like that. I haven’t had much experience yet, but that’s how it’s been so far.”

Cho-Yeon nodded vigorously as if we had formed some unspoken camaraderie. I saw no reason to argue.

As we talked, several of my confusions untangled, and I started to understand the circumstances behind her situation. If the tower had dispatched her, everything added up.

So the tower set up this scenario.

That likely meant I wouldn’t encounter any gods or challengers here. A trial designed wholly by the tower, but that only deepened one question—why?

Why place a trial about healing a mystical beast this high up? Is the healing process unusually difficult? Or is there something unique about the creature itself?

I couldn’t say.

Setting those thoughts aside, I decided that there should still be more to uncover through conversation. Sorting out the details could wait until after I finished talking with her.

“So what exactly is needed to heal the mystical beast?”

“I don’t know.”

“Sorry, what?”

I stared at her, caught off guard.

However, Cho-Yeon looked completely at ease as she confidently shrugged. “You’re looking at this all wrong. I am new here, too. I only saw that mystical beast for the first time three days ago.”

“I see.”

“And I haven’t dared to venture beyond this area. I don’t even know what kind of herbs grow around here.”

“Understood.” She definitely hadn’t responded the way I had expected.

The tower had given me nearly five days to complete this trial, but I hadn’t anticipated starting with so little direction. I had assumed she would at least tell me what kind of herb to find.

I turned my gaze toward the cage. “And the mystical beast is like that—?”

“Oh, I did that.”

“You did? It looks terrible.”

Did she lash out at the beast out of sheer frustration after being stranded here?

Perhaps reading my expression, Cho-Yeon hurriedly defended herself, “Hey! Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not that. I don’t abuse animals—or mystical beasts—for that matter.”

She seemed anxious, but her words didn’t strike me as dishonest. If anything, she looked genuinely wronged.

“So it was like this when you arrived?”

“The cage was already here, but unfortunately, the mystical beast has violent fits. Also, the tower made the cage, so it can’t be broken, and that just makes things worse. The more it struggles to escape, the more it hurts itself.”

She pointed toward the cabin. “At least I had the sense to bring everything I could possibly need for treatment. Mixing sedatives and painkillers into its meals and getting it restrained took over a day. If you’d arrived just a little sooner...”

“Aaah.”

That explained the creature’s condition, checking off another one of my questions, but not my last. “Can’t we just use the herbs you brought?”

“The tower said I had to use what’s available here. I even tested the stuff I brought, just in case. Didn’t work.”

“I see.”

Framed as a trial, it wasn’t all that strange. It also didn’t seem like she was lying.

Still, it wasn’t something I could dismiss entirely.

“Ahem. So then—”

Just as I was shifting to my next question, she cut me off, “You believe I didn’t hurt the beast, right? I’m seriously not that kind of person.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good. Suspicions cleared!” With a bright grin, Cho-Yeon bumped her shoulder lightly against mine.

Her ability to socialize was remarkable, as if there were no barriers at all between people.

Then again, I had encountered a few people like her during my climb up the tower, so I wasn’t entirely taken aback.

I nodded and circled back to the main subject, “So as of now, there’s no known way to heal the mystical beast?”

“There wasn’t until you arrived.” She raised her index finger triumphantly. “Now that you’re here— wait, I can’t just keep calling you ‘you.’ What’s your name?”

“I’m Kwon Su-Hyeok.”

“What a cool name. Anyway, now that Su-Hyeok is here, we’ve got a way forward.”

“What do I need to do?”

Cho-Yeon pointed toward the forest behind her. “You need to gather medicinal herbs from that forest.”

“Sorry, me?”

“Yes.”

It wasn’t that herb gathering was out of line for me, but something about the way she phrased it caught me off guard.

“By myself?”

“Yes.” Cho-Yeon nodded without hesitation.

“Hmm...” I trailed off, prompting her to raise an eyebrow as if questioning my hesitation.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“I have no idea what the herbs we need even look like.”