Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 386: Eighty-Seventh Floor, Mystical Beast Treatment (6)

Chapter 386: Eighty-Seventh Floor, Mystical Beast Treatment (6)

[Heal the mystical beast under the alchemist’s protection. Time remaining: 96 hours 21 minutes.]

When I opened the door, I spotted Cho-Yeon preparing some food in front of the cabin. Actually, calling it food felt like a bit of a stretch. Feed seemed to be a more accurate description.

The skinned carcass of some unknown animal lay atop a wooden table. With a faint grimace and half-closed eyes, Cho-Yeon sliced through the raw flesh. Judging by the round pills arranged in a bowl beside her, she intended to mix in some kind of medication.

As I approached, I made sure to make audible footsteps, and she turned her head.

Still appearing half-asleep, she let out a wide yawn, “Yaaawn... Good morning.”

“Good morning. Is that feed for the mystical beast?”

“Yes.”

“And those herbs?”

“Oh, they’re the ones you brought yesterday. I tried combining the medicinal compounds extracted from the creature’s blood with them. It seems to have had some minor effect.”

“Really?” I asked, my voice lifting from interest.

She quickly added more context, “It’s not anything important. It helps stabilize it a little, possibly boosting its immune response. I mixed in a sedative as well.”

That made sense. It would be unreasonable to expect dramatic results from random herbs picked off the forest floor.

My attention shifted to the raw meat in front of her. “You didn’t go out and hunt that yourself, did you?”

“Not exactly. I requested it from the tower. Hunting it down myself would be too difficult, so I made a supply request. As long as it’s within reason, they’ll provide just about anything. It gets delivered directly to the mission site, so it’s convenient too.”

“I see.”

Looking at it raised another question in my mind. It wasn’t anything important, just something I hadn’t thought of until now.

How exactly is she feeding the mystical beast?

She had mentioned that, once awake, it would begin to seize. Additionally, giving it the first sedative had been difficult. I couldn’t help but wonder how she had managed to do that.

I had a few methods in mind, but I was curious about her solution.

“How do you usually feed it?”

“I push the feed in with mana while it’s sleeping. On the first day, it started seizing and opened its mouth, so I just kind of shoved it in then. It wasn’t easy, though. I told you how hard this was to manage on my own, didn’t I?”

She still sounded exasperated by the memory.

Force-feeding it was aligned with what I had imagined. Even if it was an imoogi, it resembled a serpent. Once food entered its stomach, it would likely digest it without issue.

Come to think of it, I realized I hadn’t seen it awaken even once since arriving here. I had simply accepted her claim about seizures without question.

What if that assumption is the trap embedded in this floor?

The life essence flowing through this land stemmed from my own divinity. If I came face-to-face with the creature, something could occur.

Gosh. Why am I only realizing this now?

Although Cho-Yeon was undoubtedly a skilled alchemist, I had to remember that I was ultimately responsible for healing the creature. Even if nothing had happened during my initial tests, it could be different if it were conscious.

For all I knew, there could be some form of resonance between me, a challenger, and the mystical beast. Even if it led nowhere, there was nothing to lose.

If my idea turned out fruitless and it lashed out, I could simply sedate it again.

“One moment.”

I stopped Cho-Yeon just as she was about to place a pill into the feed. She turned her head, eyes still on me.

“Can you leave out the sedative this time?”

“Huh? Why?”

“I want to see what it’s like when it’s awake.”

“What? Why?” she asked again, her wide eyes revealing just how startled she was.

She looked genuinely baffled, so I calmly explained, “I want to observe it while it’s conscious. There’s a chance we may form some kind of connection.”

“That’s never happened before.”

“But it may with me.”

“I mean, that’s true. I don’t really mind, but... what if it starts thrashing again? It could injure itself even more.”

She looked worried, and from the way she kept bringing it up, it had to have been a difficult experience the first time.

Her earlier surprise likely stemmed from that memory, and it seemed to have been traumatizing. After all, she had restrained that enormous thing alone.

“You don’t need to worry. I can manage it.”

“If you say so.” She nodded cautiously. “I can always make more feed, but it’ll take some time before it wakes up.”

“Is that so?”

She nodded again. “I’ve been adjusting its meals so it sleeps a little over a day at a time. Since I fed it earlier this morning, it should wake up sometime in the afternoon.”

In the afternoon, huh?

I planned to be deep in the forest at that time.

“You don’t know exactly when it will wake, do you?”

“No, not precisely.”

That was fine. Even so, there was no need for me to stay here. I had a solution.

I pulled out a signal device from Mung-chi and handed it to her.

“What’s this?”

“A beacon. If you press it, I’ll get a signal. When the creature wakes up, just hit the button. I’ll come right back.”

“What are you, exactly? You’re strong, you know healing spells, and you can even teleport, too.”

“I’m just... pretty ordinary, really.”

She narrowed her eyes, clearly not buying it. “Oh, please. That kind of modesty should be illegal. Honestly, I don’t think you’re even capable of failing this mission.”

“That came out of nowhere.”

“Just a hunch. I’ve felt that way since the beginning, to be honest. But when you didn’t come back last night, I thought maybe I’d misjudged you.”

I smiled as I responded, “I’m glad to hear I didn’t disappoint.”

She let out a soft laugh. It didn’t strike me as an empty compliment. After facing trial after trial and encountering all kinds of people, it made sense that she would develop a sense for that sort of thing.

There wasn’t much else to say.

“Well then, I’ll leave you to it.”

“Alright.”

I turned toward my portable tent. It was time for a meal before heading back into the forest.

That was when I remembered that Cho-Yeon had mentioned only bringing survival rations.

I paused mid-step. “Have you had breakfast?”

“No, not yet. I was planning to eat after finishing this.”

“You said you only brought emergency rations, right?”

“Yeah. They’ll provide me meals if I ask, but honestly, cooking and cleaning while out here is a hassle.”

“So they just give you raw ingredients?”

She nodded. “I mean, working out in the wilderness is tiring enough. Cooking and washing dishes on top of that is just too much. I usually just wait until I’m back and treat myself to something good.”

That was entirely understandable.

If I didn’t have Mung-chi, I would probably do the same. Most other climbers were no different. They would get through the trial on whatever they could manage, then eat properly in the waiting room afterward.

Hardly anyone traveled the way I did, enjoying good meals in the middle of a trial.

Cho-Yeon looked at me, a bit puzzled, as if trying to figure out why I had brought it up.

I grinned at her. “Want to have breakfast together?”

“Sorry?”

I gave the mimic strapped at my waist a light tap. “I brought plenty of good food with me.”

***

[Heal the mystical beast under the alchemist’s protection. Time remaining: 96 hours 2 minutes.]

I chose spicy pork stir-fry and pork cutlet, while Cho-Yeon, who appeared more Western despite her name, decided on steak and pasta.

In the end, though, we ended up swapping plates at her urging. I didn’t mind as I wasn’t the type to be picky about food.

Leaning back in her chair, Cho-Yeon gave her stomach a satisfied pat. “Wow, that was incredible. Thank you so much.”

Seeing how much she had enjoyed it brought on a small sense of pride.

With a touch of lingering regret, she went on, “But seriously, this was amazing. I’m usually not a fan of food from other worlds, but this? This was exactly my kind of flavor.”

Instead of explaining the magic of MSG, I simply smiled. “Should I leave some with you before I head out?”

“Really? That’d be amazing. Thank you.”

“It’s no trouble. I always carry more than enough.” I pulled out a few dishes from the mimic and set them on the desk.

Cho-Yeon received them with a reverent look on her face. “Thank you... You have my overwhelming thanks...”

“Pardon?”

“Oh, no. I mean— thank you. I’ll eat well.”

“There’s plenty more, so let me know if you ever need anything.”

The food wasn’t expensive to begin with, so I didn’t feel any loss. I carried enough to last at least a couple of months. Honestly, I just had a big appetite, so if I rationed it, the supplies could even stretch to four months.

I rose to my feet. “Well then, I’m heading into the forest.”

“Already? You could rest a bit before going. It’s still early.”

Now that she had eaten, her demeanor had softened slightly. I almost laughed.

“I don’t have much time.”

“Then I’ll come with you. I need to feed the mystical beast anyway.”

“I thought you said you’d do that in the morning?”

“I did, but an hour or two won’t matter. I’m not feeding it a sedative this time anyway.” As she stood, Cho-Yeon continued, “The reason I feed it in the morning is so I won’t get interrupted once I start working. I hate interruptions. I just happened to wake up earlier than usual today.”

She definitely seemed like someone who preferred to complete unpleasant tasks first.

“Want some help?”

“It’s fine. It’s easy when it’s asleep. I just infuse the feed with mana and push it in. You can go ahead without me.”

I stepped outside with Cho-Yeon, and in that very moment, something felt off.

Coming to a halt, I turned toward the mystical beast. Lying on the ground, it was already awake, and its eyes met mine.

Cho-Yeon stopped as well.

Following my gaze, she turned to look at the creature and froze. “What the—? Why is it already awake? Did it develop a resistance or something?”

The creature stirred, shifting its massive body. Unlike what she had said, it didn’t display any signs of a seizure or violent reaction. Its head rose stiffly, and it turned toward me. The gesture seemed to beckon me closer.

Without thinking, I stepped forward.

The distance between us shrank to three meters. I stopped there and met its gaze. A pair of deep iridescent blue eyes, reptilian in nature, stared directly at me.

Then, I felt the creature’s presence, and its energy flowed into me.

It wasn’t giving me power. Rather, it felt as if it were scanning and observing me, like I was under evaluation.

A moment later, a faint connection began to form between my divinity and the creature’s energy. It wasn’t mutual. The exchange was entirely one-sided.

There had definitely been contact, though—I had been right to wait for it to awaken.

I still didn’t fully understand what had just occurred, but we had definitely resonated.

The creature soon lowered its head and closed its eyes once more. Its torso expanded and contracted with every breath. It looked like it was trying to endure the pain.

I sensed movement behind me. Cho-Yeon had stepped closer at some point with her voice trembling slightly as she spoke.

“Wh-what just happened? It looked like you two were connecting.”

“I’m not sure either. It felt like the creature did something to me.”

“Then, does that mean you’ll be able to find what you were looking for?”

“Maybe.”

Though I had responded vaguely, deep down, I was fairly certain. We had made contact. That meant a path would soon become clear.

Cho-Yeon exhaled in disbelief and frustration. “This is ridiculous. You’re all calm, cool, and collected, and you somehow made some sort of mystical connection or whatever. But back when I was feeding it, it just thrashed around like crazy.”

I didn’t respond aloud, but I had a guess. My divinity that had seeped into the ground had likely played a role.

There had been a change in the terrain. With my divinity now present, perhaps the creature was finally at peace.

I couldn’t say for sure.

“Still, don’t go tormenting it just because I’m not around.”

“Of course not!” Cho-Yeon raised her voice in protest, then looked at me cautiously. “What about the sedative? I mean, it’s still in pain, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be better to let it rest?”

I looked over at the beast. “I think it’s regained some clarity. It looks like it’s still struggling, but it can probably decide for itself now. If we leave the dose nearby, it’ll take it if it needs it.”

Cho-Yeon gave a quiet nod.

***

[Heal the mystical beast under the alchemist’s protection. Time remaining: 95 hours 53 minutes.]

Since then, the creature hadn’t moved much. I had tried speaking to it, but it hadn’t offered up any further clues.

That earlier moment of resonance had likely been the extent of what was possible.

Still, I figured it would be useful in some way.

There wasn’t anything else to be gained here, so I turned toward the shadowed forest. Not five minutes into the walk, I encountered the mysterious presence that had escaped me the last time.