Chapter 2: Boom!!!

A massive tower suddenly appeared in the center of the continent.

As if it had always been there.

On the very first day of this anomaly, Johanna received a revelation from the goddess.

If the top floor of the tower was not reached within 400 days, the world would perish.

And that the person destined to reach the top would appear 40 days later.

I was also blessed.

The power to heal wounds.

And the power to make others stronger.

At first, I wondered why such powers were necessary.

But with the tower’s appearance, monsters began to overrun the world.

And Johanna wasn’t the only one who received a blessing.

Borrowing the strength of the Sweety Order, Johanna sent out letters calling the blessed people to gather.

These blessed individuals, called “heroes,” began assembling in the city of Elysium at the base of the tower.

40 days later.

While fighting hard alongside other heroes to defeat the monsters summoned from the tower,

Johanna finally met the foretold figure.

“At last, we meet, Revelator!”

“……”

He was more taciturn than I expected.

But his power was real.

When the “Tablet of Purification” he carried began to glow, the core of Zone 1 on the first floor of the tower, where monsters endlessly poured forth, had its gate’s fracture completely sealed.

“Revelator, you’re incredible…!”

Seeing him so easily solve a problem they had struggled with for a month, Johanna was moved.

This person was chosen by the goddess.

With him, they would surely reach the top of the tower.

That’s what I thought.

“Wow, Revelator, congratulations! With that golden light, you’ve got a 4-star hero contract!”

“Ugh, another reset failed miserably.”

“What was that? Revelator?”

The revelator disappeared before her eyes.

The voice she heard for the first time after meeting him was filled with deep disappointment, anger, and regret.

Thud.

Something suddenly hit Johanna’s foot.

I bent down to pick it up.

It was the object the revelator had been fiddling with all along.

The Tablet of Purification.

I mimicked the Revelator, touching the tablet here and there with my fingers, but the sacred, radiant light that had flickered in his hands did not appear.

It was just a plain black stone slab.

“No way, it can’t be. Haha…”

As Johanna stood there in a daze, a familiar voice reached her ears.

When I looked up, I saw a figure in a robe.

The only shopkeeper in Elysium, Ark.

Had he seen it too?

The moment the revelator disappeared.

Because of his hood, she couldn’t read his expression, but his voice sounded quite flustered.

Ark soon turned and left the sanctuary.

Even after that, Johanna stood there absentmindedly for a long time.

I waited, hoping the revelator might return.

But he didn’t come back.

I had witnessed the protagonist disappear in front of my eyes.

On the way back, he pinched my cheeks again.

* * *

I was still in the world of Last Felix.

Lifting my head, I took in the world I had only ever glimpsed through the small screens of smartphones or app players.

A place where people lived.

A place where peace still lingered.

…At least, for now.

The Game Setting of Last Felix

I don’t remember exactly, but based on the tutorial:

If you don’t conquer the tower, the world will be destroyed.

It was a cliché story.

…If only it weren’t my story.

For someone like me, who strives for a long and quiet life, a time-limited existence was too cruel.

I was discharged from the military just two months ago!

I still have a library full of games I bought but haven’t even played yet!

“Calm down. Let’s think this through.”

Returning to the shop, I opened a chest and muttered to myself as I stared at the pile of gold coins.

Indeed, it was gold.

It had an excellent healing effect.

The first thing to figure out:

My exact situation.

I pulled out the smartphone I had checked earlier but put aside halfway through and examined the strange application again.

LF probably stands for Last Felix.

I had already reviewed the shop overview and quests, so next would be shop research.

[Shop Research]

[Universal Shop LV.1 (Max LV.10)]

[A magical shop where various items are stocked daily, weekly, or monthly. Prophets can purchase diverse growth materials.]

[Level-Up Conditions: Clear the 5th floor of the tower / 100 points]

[Unlock Perk: The shop owner can purchase all items for free.]

[Additional Features: Forge LV.0 (Max LV.10)]

[Not constructed.]

[Construction Conditions: Clear the 3rd floor of the tower / 300 points]

[Additional Features: Alchemy Workshop LV.0 (Max LV.10)]

[Not constructed.]

[Construction Conditions: Clear the 8th floor of the tower / 500 points]

[Additional Features: ???]

[Not unlocked.]

[Unlock Conditions: Clear the 10th floor of the tower / ??? points]

It was reminiscent of a research tree in a simulation game or a skill tree in an RPG, with multiple explanations lined up.

In the original game, new features gradually unlocked as you reached specific floors of the tower.

You could say this was a more intuitive representation of that—except for the point investment part.

By completing the quests I saw earlier, I could earn points, which could then be used to upgrade or build new structures.

“…”

“Hmm…”

It used to be free.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit bitter about it.

And next:

[Revelator Shop]

[Items Available for Purchase]

Lowest-Grade Elixir of Growth (Daily: 10 / Weekly: 100)

Lowest-Grade Fire Token (Daily: 3 / Weekly: 10)

Daily Divine Stone Pouch (Daily: 1)

Weekly Divine Stone Pouch (Weekly: 1)

Monthly Divine Stone Package (Monthly: 1)

A familiar screen.

It looked exactly like the in-game shop.

From the items on sale to the purchase limits.

The only difference was:

There were no prices listed.

In the original game, the daily shop’s items were useful for growth, but the gold cost was always too high to buy everything.

That had been a frequent regret.

“Well, no way…”

I tapped on the section displaying the “Daily Divine Stone Pouch.”

At that moment:

Clink.

A pouch suddenly fell out of nowhere into the air.

When I opened it, ten small, radiant gems sparkled inside.

“Wow, I feel like pulling gacha.”

It was new currency.

Just double the amount, and I’d have enough for a single pull.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Clink, thud, clatter. 

Roll, roll.

The moment I pressed, items appeared out of nowhere and dropped to the ground.

Experience potions, breakthrough materials, and all kinds of miscellaneous loot.

It felt like using a cheat code, so I tapped away excitedly.

Creak.

The door opened.

“Huh…?”

And then came a familiar voice.

It was Johanna, the saintess I met earlier at the Sanctuary of Revelation.

Her gaze fell on the items scattered across the floor, then lingered on my exposed face after I removed my hood. 

Finally, it shifted to the smartphone in my hand.

“Th-that… the Tablet of Purification?! Why does Ark have it?”

Hurriedly, Johanna rummaged through the side of her saintess robe and pulled out something identical to my smartphone.

…Must’ve been what the protagonist dropped when they disappeared earlier.

“Gasp.”

Suddenly, Johanna stormed toward me with terrifying intensity.

“Ark, what do you know? How do you have the Tablet of Purification? Are you connected to the Revelator? Why did they disappear? Do you know where they went?!”

She grabbed my collar and began shaking me violently.

More precisely, 

She grabbed my collar and started dangling from it.

Saintess… so weak…

Anyway, my name’s Ark, huh?

Sorry, Mom. I’ve forgotten my own name.

“Hold on, calm down—”

“Calm down?! Ark, you know how long I’ve been waiting for the Revelator!”

I don’t, actually.

The more violently she shook me, the harder it became to avoid noticing certain… movements. 

I averted my gaze out of necessity.

Whoosh!

While I was off guard, Johanna let go of my collar and snatched the smartphone from my hand.

She examined it closely.

“It’s true. No doubt about it. This is the Revelator’s Tablet of Purification…”

Well, it would be. 

Same manufacturer, after all.

“You were just looking at this tablet, weren’t you? Why can’t I see anything on it? Look, Ark. You saw it earlier, didn’t you? It’s the Tablet of Purification the Revelator dropped!”

With that, she confiscated my smartphone and handed me the one supposedly used by the Revelator.

I accepted it without thinking and glanced at the screen.

[ERROR: Unauthorized access. (Reason: Account deleted)]

[SYSTEM: Analyzing user…]

[SYSTEM: Existing permissions detected. Re-registration is not possible. Permission code: NPC_0043_ARK]

[DEBUG: Activating debug mode. Scanning nearby devices…]

[DEBUG: Nearby devices detected. Proceeding with pairing.]

“What the heck is this?”

Strange messages flooded the screen, like a blue screen of death.

And then,

Boom!!!

The smartphone I was holding turned into light and exploded.

“Whoa!”

“Ahhh!”

Both Johanna and I screamed simultaneously.