When you conquer a Tower, you get coins.
People expected that the rewards they got after working hard to defeat bosses could be used to buy something truly amazing.
However, the only things you could buy with Tower Coins were purely cosmetic items.
—Would your stats go up if you bought cosmetics in something like X-Guys or AmongO*s?
Hunters buying new skins inside the Tower?
Sure, it could happen. While fighting a boss, your clothes might get completely melted off by an acid attack, leaving you practically naked. But if you had bought a skin, at least your appearance inside the Tower would remain fully clothed.
So people often dressed themselves like medieval fantasy knights or in near-future sci-fi battle suits while in the Tower.
There just wasn’t much else to spend Tower Coins on.
Still, maybe because people believed that Tower Coins would skyrocket in value someday, they were being traded like actual currency—even though you couldn’t really use them for any transactions outside the Tower.
But what would happen if people on the surface found out that Tower Coins could actually be used in Babel, this endgame content area?
And what if the items you could buy in Babel weren’t just cosmetic—but things that could actually raise a Hunter’s specs?
“Tell me the three most popular items sold in the Coin Shop.”
“〈Elixir〉, 〈Mana Herb〉, and 〈Awakening Drug〉.”
“Explain in detail.”
[Master! Master!!]
Alice was calling out to me enthusiastically, but unfortunately, it didn’t seem like her turn was coming anytime soon.
[The Elixir is literally an elixir! A perfect healing potion! It’s a panacea that works not just for Hunters, but even for people who haven’t awakened!]
“Uh, I don’t know how to phrase this exactly, but… your support fairy is kind of…”
[Kind of what?!] “In professional terms… maybe just a little lacking in clarity?”
[Eeeeeek!!]
Alice let out a screech, but I firmly shook my head at what Yui Otohara had said.
“My girl is not lacking in clarity.”
[Master…!]
“She just has more restrictions when it comes to explanations than others. I usually skip tutorials and find things out faster myself anyway, and a lot of the explanations feel optional. She’s not that helpful when you try to bend the rules or find loopholes—but when it comes to core information, she’s spot-on. Calling her ‘lacking’ is harsh.”
“Oh, I see.”
[Ugh… it’s like I was comforted and insulted at the same time…!]
Though Alice was sulking a bit, unfortunately for her, the woman in front of us wasn’t just some NPC reading a shop description aloud.
“The Elixir is a miraculous potion that restores the body to its most ideal state. Someone with a severed arm will have it regenerate. Someone in a vegetative state will regain consciousness. Even a person with stage-four cancer will immediately return to their healthiest condition upon drinking it.”
“Oh…”
“Put simply, it fully heals you and removes all debuffs.”
“Got it.”
A true healing item.
A miracle potion that restores your HP to full and removes any abnormal status effects—just like in games.
“And it costs 100,000 Tower Coins?”
“Yes! If you buy it in Babel, you can bring it down to the surface and use it like pulling it out of a subspace pouch. But it only works if you give the whole dose to one person. If you split it, the effect disappears.”
“Hearing that kind of tip from someone who’s actually used it is helpful.”
[Grrrrgh…!!]
Seriously, it didn’t seem like Alice was getting a turn today.
[M-Mana Herb increases the user’s mana!]
“Mana Herb increases your max mana. It actually expands your mana pool, so Hunters who’ve climbed up to Babel often take it to boost their specs.”
“Confirmed.”
A miraculous healing potion.
A herb that definitively increases an Awakened person’s mana.
Even just those would make Tower Coins incredibly valuable—but there’s one item that takes the surprise to another level.
“You’re telling me that buying something called an 〈Awakening Drug〉 can let a normal person awaken as a Hunter?”
“Yes.”
“…”
[Th-The Awakening Drug has different grades based on price! You can instantly awaken up to B-rank, and that costs… 20 billion Tower Coins!]
“This is insane.”
The Awakening Drug.
A miraculous item that can literally awaken someone into a Hunter.
Just imagining how powerful the authority of someone in Babel would be—someone who could use such an item on the people of Earth—was mind-boggling.
“How many people on Earth desperately wish to become Hunters—and you’re saying a single pill could make it happen?”
“Th-That’s why it’s such a popular item. Babel is a place that prefers having more high-quality Hunters. Even the fairies of Babel want the bosses there defeated so the threats to the world can be eliminated.”
[A-Ah…! She’s saying things outside her authority…!]
Alice was flustered—but what could you do?
Even if it’s a secret you learn as you progress through the main story, if you’re online like I am now, getting spoiled on the main story is just part of the deal.
“This might be a bit of a sensitive topic… Is it okay if I talk about it? It’s about my Earth.”
“It’s not our Earth, so it’s fine. I’m personally curious. Specifically, how did Japan come to dominate East Asia?”
“It wasn’t me—it was another Hunter. This older guy spent all his Tower Coins on 〈Awakening Drugs〉, fed them to all his followers, then formed an organization called the Neo-Iga Ninja Clan, and used that to take over Japan.”
“…”
That was one of those stories that just made you say, What the hell—?
“So you’re saying ninjas took over Japan?”
“Yes. Japan ended up with 20,000 ninjas, and using that power, they began conquering Towers all around the world. Ah, and just in case you were going to ask, ‘Wasn’t there someone in Korea to stop them?’—please don’t. Have you heard of Taeguk Warrior?”
“Never heard the name.”
“He was our strongest S-rank Hunter. The last bastion of Korea. But… well, he took his own life.”
“He wasn’t assassinated by the ninjas?”
“…The story’s going to sound really messed up, just warning you.”
“Tell me. I’ll decide for myself.”
“His wife divorced him. He was raising a child alone… and then found out the kid wasn’t even his.”
Ah.
“Ahem. Got it. Well, if Korea collapsed, then I guess there was a reason for it. I mean, if a country suddenly gains 20,000 Hunters, of course the balance of power shifts.”
Twenty thousand Hunters.
If one person used all his Tower Coins to awaken that many F-rank Hunters, and even just a thousand of them grew strong enough to become A-rank by conquering Towers over time, that would still be a massive net gain.
“So what’s the ninja boss doing now?”
“He’s not coming up to Babel. He’s busy acting like a warlord on Earth. I… just got sick of it, so I started living in Babel instead.”
“Wait. You live in Babel?”
“Yeah. Every time I go back down, people try to make me use my Coins to buy Awakening Drugs. If you’re Japanese, they keep pressuring you to awaken more citizens and work for the good of Japan…” ”
…You’ve been through a lot.”
Honestly, there’s no way to verify the truth of what she’s saying.
For all I know, Yui Otohara—the 〈Red Witch〉—could be the actual leader of the Neo-Iga Ninja Clan, and after using her Tower Coins to create 20,000 Hunters and conquer the continent, she might just be playing the victim after a quick visit to Babel.
‘All I need is the intel.’
Whether it’s true or not, information is what I need.
I’m a newbie.
What I need is a seasoned veteran to give me the crash course on how to survive in Babel.
[Master! I can explain things better!]
- Trust the tutorial guide fairy.
“This is about all I can tell you… Do you have anything else you’re curious about?”
- Trust the Babel veteran.
Even if this feels like one of those ads you see on U-Tube, nine times out of ten, you’d still pick the veteran.
Even if that veteran turns out to be an S-rank Hunter from a Japan that rebuilt the Empire of the 21st Century.
‘At least she’s not from a unified North-controlled Korea.’
I needed to keep my mindset straight.
This is Babel, after all. There could be people here from worlds where the Neo-Nazis won, or maybe even a KKK composed entirely of S-rank Hunters roaming around.
Even among Hunters from other worlds, there might be some who won’t let you join a raid unless you’re white. If you’re Black, they might tell you to go conquer African Babel or something.
“Hmph.”
Even just thinking globally like this, I needed to approach East Asia’s Babel with caution.
All the people here might be strong, sure—but they’re not the front-liners of Babel. They’re from the lower levels—the beginner zones.
“Yui Otohara. What happens if someone finally clears Babel?”
“Uh… no one really knows. Babel’s never been conquered before.”
“Really…?”
“But maybe we’ll meet again in one of the other Babels. Even if East Asia’s Babel disappears, there are still six others left.”
“True. But you’ve made this place your home. If it disappears, wouldn’t that be a problem?”
“…Even if it’s uncomfortable, I’ll just have to go back to Tokyo. Even if I cut ties with everyone else, at least there won’t be any Towers or Babels in the sky above Tokyo.”
Yui Otohara gave a self-deprecating smile—and I immediately pulled out my smartphone.
“Alright. Lead the way.”
“Lead? Where to…?”
“Babel’s front line. The raid party.”
Might as well take a look for myself.
“I want to see what kind of enemies were so tough that, even after all this time, no one has cleared the endgame content—not even after I showed up.”
