[ TWATF ]

Chapter 17: Silver Bind (1)

[What do you know about the <Great Lands> when you didn't even go into <Chaos>?
...huh? Me? I've never been there either.]

- Gainach, Lord of Sloth.

Episode 3.
Silver Bind (1)

The next morning, Mino was dumbfounded when she heard from Jaehwan on their way to the nearest fortress.

"...What did you want me to talk about?"

"About you."

"What about me?"

"I want to know what was it like when you cleared the Tower of Nightmares."

It was a boring trip, so chatting between them was natural. Mino would have considered it as such, but the problem was the topic.

"Don't you think it's a bit rude to ask that all of a sudden?"

Asking what happened in the tower was a taboo between Adapters. That's why people did not even mention it by the name 'Tower of Nightmares,' and instead called it 'Roots'.

Nobody wanted to remember the time of when they were a [Product].

It had been eight years since Mino cleared the tower, but she still had nightmares from when she managed to survive through the Roots.

"I want to listen to your story in return for saving your life."

Mino bit on her lip and spoke.

"...Okay."

She thought about it for a second and began her story.

"My homeworld was called 'Arkal'."

10 years ago, a Tower of Nightmares appeared in Mino's World 7651. She did not remember how it looked now, but what she remembered was that just like how her world was nothing special, so was the tower. It was one of the mass-produced towers created to [Cultivate]. But the people's lives and deaths that happened within the tower weren't mass-produced.

After beating the tutorial and the real game, she reached the 100th floor. There, she, along with her friends, met the Demon, or [Cultivator]. She still could not forget what the demon said after looking at them disinterestedly.

-Bah, this is a failure. You're all Non-Adapters.

The forest was still dense. Jaehwan pushed on, "What happened next?"

Mino seemed reluctant to continue.

"It's a common story of a girl getting out of the Roots and surviving through the Great Lands."

"Care to go into details?"

Mino let out a deep sigh.

"...If you insist."

She still remembered her excitement when she set foot upon the <Great Lands>. Demons spoke to her.

-No money, or education matters within the <Great Lands>. The only thing valuable thing was the numbers.

It was the promised land after a long nightmare. Mino thought everything would turn out great. She thought with her items and skills, she would enjoy life on the <Great Lands>.

But she was mistaken.

The <Great Lands> was not the utopia that the Demons spoke of. Mino had to gather skills instead of money and increased Spirit Power instead of education.

More, better, and higher.

And Mino was a Non-Adapter, not to be associated with such words. She was at the far bottom of the food chain. So there was only one thing she could do. She always had to run, run, and run.