I never particularly liked the rain.

While I don’t detest it outright, if asked whether I prefer it over sunny weather, I’d shake my head.

Even on days when my mood isn’t the best, seeing the gloomy sky and drizzling rain outside only serves to bring my spirits down further.

Still, I do agree that there’s a certain charm to it.

There were times I’d sit on the balcony chair, hugging a pillow, and gaze blankly at the rain-laden clouds.

The sentiment I felt now was quite different from those moments.

I couldn’t see—only the sound of the rain filled my ears.

Moreover, with my sense of hearing at a level far beyond the usual, my appreciation for it had changed in several ways.

Back then, I would immerse myself in the scenery alone; now, I wasn’t by myself.

“Ahrin, have you seen that movie? What was it called… something about a Frozen Empire?”

“Yes, I watched it as a child, but I’m glad the records survived—it was incredibly fun.”

“Oh… A movie from over 200 years ago. It’s like an ancient artifact. Now that I think about it, Ahrin, you do have a fondness for old things. Like that strange candy.”

Elia’s… not making fun of my tastes, is she?

Their conversation, strong enough to cut through the sound of rain, reverberated nearby.

Resting against the opposite wall, Baek Ahrin chatted with Elia, who sat next to me.

Baek Ahrin had appeared amidst the rain with a bizarre joke about not wanting to build a snowman.

When I showed signs of readiness for an altercation, she was startled and raised her hands high to show she had no intention of attacking.

After some back and forth, we ended up huddled together inside the cave—that’s the current situation.

The space was already tight, and with us packed in, the sounds bounced around the interior of the cave.

“Elia, did you see it too? There was quite a commotion out there.”

“I saw from a distance. It seemed so fierce that I discreetly made my escape.”

“It was chaos out there. It’s calmed down a bit now because of the weather, but it was an utter mess before.”

Baek Ahrin shook her head, lamenting. She had been caught up in the action before coming here.

It seemed there had been a free-for-all involving nearly a hundred cadets.

It was the second night of the ascent, and such a brawl was to be expected. If you think about it, my being chased was essentially a rumble.

‘……’

Baek Ahrin and Elia were exchanging words in a remarkably relaxed atmosphere.

Neither had difficult personalities, and thanks to their sociability, they had naturally become friends in a short time.

After thinking for a while, I tapped Elia to catch her attention, timing it right as their conversation paused.

Elia looked over.

I conveyed my question to Elia through sign language.

“Hong Yeon-hwa is probably causing a ruckus right now. The whole brawl earlier started because of her.”

“?”

The answer came back. Of course, I had asked the question intending to get an answer.

I turned my head. The response hadn’t come from Elia but from Baek Ahrin.

I had meant to ask Baek Ahrin through Elia, as I couldn’t speak…

“Did you know I’m learning sign language as part of my  education? It’s easy to pick up thanks to The Tower of Harmony’s translation.”

Baek Ahrin chuckled as she spoke.

The heiress of the Changhae clan. Naturally, she would have received proper  education, including sign language.

…Would Hong Yeon-hwa have learned it too? I should ask later.

Regardless, I asked another question in sign language, based on the answer I’d just received.

Why was Hong Yeon-hwa going berserk?

It wasn’t strange for her aggressive nature to cause a fuss, but it was curious that it involved a hundred cadets.

Baek Ahrin answered nonchalantly.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I happened to be with her, and when I mentioned that Lee Hayul was being chased by many cadets, she flipped out and charged in, you know?”

“?”

I hadn’t expected such an answer. Even Elia seemed puzzled.

“By that time, Hayul would have already been hiding in the cave, right?”

“Yes. When we saw a gathering of cadets, I mentioned it might be Hayul’s situation, and that’s when Yeon-hwa bolted.”

Without listening to the end of the explanation. Baek Ahrin shook her head as if to say how ridiculous the situation was.

So essentially, Hong Yeon-hwa had been baited by Baek Ahrin’s bluff and ended up causing a stir?

“Cough cough. Let’s overlook such trivial matters. There’s something more important to discuss.”

Seeing my incredulous expression, Baek Ahrin coughed and shifted the topic.

“How about we team up to take down a boss? With the three of us, the points that drop will be incredibly sweet.”

Baek Ahrin ended her proposal and awaited a response. Elia’s gaze turned towards me. Perhaps she was curious about my answer.

‘Hmm…’

A team proposal. Nothing special about it. Once outside, there are many cadets forming teams.

While sharing points among the group reduces individual gains, it allows for safer and more efficient point collection, so it’s not a total loss.

‘But why?’

However, why would Baek Ahrin need to form a team? With me and Elia?

“There is a reason. We were informed at the initial briefing that the boss ranks at tier 5. Tier 5 is a bit too challenging for me to tackle alone.”

Baek Ahrin expressed concern, waving her hand dismissively.

“A tier 5 is not someone’s pet dog. If we were further along, maybe, but right now tackling it alone could lead to disqualification. So I’m proposing we form a safe team with people we get along with.”

Her point was valid.

Even in the original story, handling a tier 5 at this point was a daunting task.

I turned to Elia, pondering for a moment.

‘What do you think, Elia?’

She smiled and responded to my sign language.

“I think it’s a good idea. Fighting alongside Ahrin could only be beneficial, right?”

She was right.

Baek Ahrin was the top cadet of the 122nd generation. While her combat abilities may not surpass Hong Yeon-hwa’s, her overall skills are ranked higher.

Her versatility, meriting the nickname “Jack-of-all-trades,” is a force to be reckoned with, especially in the company of allies.

It was not only a welcome proposal but one that I would greet warmly.

I lowered my head for a moment, feeling the mana. My mana, clearly superior in purity compared to the surroundings, Elia’s warm sunshine-like mana, and Baek Ahrin’s clean yet chilly mana.

As my mana affinity grew, I could feel mana more delicately. Thus, Baek Ahrin’s chilliness struck me more vividly.

That was one reason I felt averse to this offer.

But it wasn’t the only reason.

The aversion was because the proposer was Baek Ahrin. I felt averse to her.

Why? Because of knowledge from a mere game in the original work.

Baek Ahrin had done nothing to me, yet here I was, feeling averse.

What a foolish thought. I had resolved not to judge people based on knowledge from a mere game.

And now, I was feeling aversion towards someone because of that game knowledge.

I hadn’t experienced it firsthand. I didn’t know this person well.

‘……’

I could feel Baek Ahrin’s peculiar gaze on me.

– Nod

After a moment of hesitation, I nodded.

.

.

.

The third day of the ascent.

Thanks to the mayhem of the first two days, the number of cadets had dwindled significantly.

Those remaining will likely focus on hunting bosses, and a quiet atmosphere of cooperation might follow.

Of course, care must be taken, as a sudden betrayal could occur at any moment.

Faint birdsong and the babbling of a brook reached my ears. It seemed morning had dawned.

I cautiously propped up my upper body. Sleeping in the cramped cave was not as uncomfortable as I had anticipated.

Although lacking items like sleeping bags, a comfortable bed was made by leveling the ground with magic and replacing the sleeping bag with large leaves.

“Scamper, scamper…”

Emerging awkwardly from the cave, I touched the leafy ground underfoot and heard a peculiar sound.

The originator was Baek Ahrin. She stretched her arms upward, loosening her stiff body. Her broad chest swelled as she took in the fresh air.

The moan, refreshing even to hear, was far from Baek Ahrin’s usual soft demeanor.

I turned away with a strange expression.

I then pondered the boss we would soon be tracking. I had already received details about the boss during the ascent briefing.

“A tier 5 parasitic moth. An alpha specimen, at that.”

Tier 5. In the original story, even a minor attack from a grown player character could disintegrate these mobs, but reality painted a different picture.

If a tier 5 monster were to be released uncontained in the middle of a city nowadays, it could easily sweep away hundreds of people.

And this one was marked as an alpha.

An alpha specimen indicates an individual particularly dangerous even within its tier.

There are many reasons for this. The specimen could be a mutant, far stronger than its standard kin, or empowered by a dungeon’s favor, and so on.

Now, I had to track down this monstrosity, a tier 5 alpha specimen that had emerged somewhere within this Tower of Growth.

In reality, I would have fled immediately, but within the Tower’s confines, the danger was nonexistent. It was a good opportunity to gain some experience.

Having finished stretching, Baek Ahrin clapped her hands.

“Let’s get started!”

Our temporary party leader was Baek Ahrin. Her strength and experience made her the obvious choice.

Baek Ahrin led the way, with Elia in the middle—her combat prowess ranked the lowest among us.

I took on the role of rearguard. I had already informed them of the regrettable state of my detection ability.

We hadn’t been searching for long—perhaps only about fifteen minutes.

“…Wow.”

Baek Ahrin, leading the way, let out an exclamation. Elia followed suit, her expression a mix of surprise and alarm.

Though I couldn’t see the spectacle before us, I sensed it through other means.

The wind blowing in was hot. Every hint of mana in the vicinity was thoroughly consumed by the fire, and patches of flames still flickered around us.

I pressed my foot carefully against the ground. The heat penetrated through my shoe’s sole.

Crunch. The ground sank in. Scraping around with my foot, I found charred vegetation crumbling away.

It was clear—at least this section of the forest was utterly decimated.

‘Just how wildly did they rampage?’

Baek Ahrin muttered with a grim expression.

“They really tore it up, didn’t they…”

Clear traces of Gop-hwa’s havoc.

My right hand twitched. I absentmindedly checked the arm cover wrapped around it.

“If Yeon-hwa tries to kill me over the lie, you’ll have to protect me, right, Hayul?”

‘Me?’

“Hong Yeon-hwa can’t stand up to you.”

When I showed confusion, she replied as if it were the most obvious thing.

Is that how Hong Yeon-hwa sees me?

…Come to think of it, that might be the case.

We passed through the forest, torched by Hong Yeon-hwa.

Baek Ahrin skillfully led the party, and I pushed forward, detecting the surroundings as best as I could with my amplified senses and mana affinity.

We even collected some points by hunting minor monsters.

There were breaks, and we foraged for edible fruits and other sustenance.

After several hours, fortune favored us—we found the boss in this vast Tower.

– Screeeeeech!

– Crack-crack-boom!

“Ah, damn it! That freaking thing.”

And there was Hong Yeon-hwa, engrossed in her own battle with the boss.