Chapter 25: The Tower’s Burden

The moment I opened my eyes, my heart raced as if it were about to burst.

I gasped for air, and a tremor spread through my entire body.

My muscles, which had been stiff and rigid, suddenly twisted in shock, and cold sweat soaked my forehead and back.

All my senses had become hypersensitive.

In the midst of these sensations, I felt as though I were a misalignment, my very existence at odds with everything else.

It felt as though every part of me was strangely out of place, as if my body had been torn apart.

Warm air brushed against my skin, and with it, a heavy magical force wrapped itself around my entire body.

That magic began to reshape me, and under its guidance, I slowly began to regain the sense of my own body.

“Ugh…”

I grabbed my head and tried to rise.

‘Where am I?’

My head throbbed with intense pain.

I was sure I had left the 6th floor and was heading to the 7th.

Yes, I clearly remembered everything up to the 6th floor.

I went to the 7th, and then…

The more I tried to recall, the more my head screamed with pain.

I shouldn’t think about it.

I’ll bury everything deep in my memory.

I decided to leave it there and took a deep breath to steady myself.

I scanned my body for a moment.

There was still a slight awkwardness, as if something was off.

It felt like my body wasn’t truly mine.

Perhaps that’s why the magic wasn’t flowing properly.

The sapling, too, was shriveled and hidden deep within my chest.

‘Why was it so frightened?’

It was certainly connected to the forgotten memories.

I struggled to lift my trembling eyelids.

‘Where am I now?’

This place was unfamiliar.

It was a massive room.

The first thing that caught my eye was a large window that revealed the outside scenery.

Through the window, clouds and mountains stretched far and wide.

In front of the window stood a large desk.

I could hear rustling sounds as if someone was sitting there.

However, the desk was covered in a mountain of papers, making it hard to see who was there.

I cautiously approached the desk.

I heard grumbling.

“Why the hell do they expect me to handle this? This hasn’t happened in the last thousand years. Can’t they leave me alone for once? I’m seriously going to deal with those old men…”

It was Professor Irien’s voice.

I carefully passed through the pile of papers.

She sat there, looking worn out, idly scribbling over documents with a magical pen.

Around her, all sorts of objects were scattered.

While casually glancing over them, something caught my eye.

It was an eyeball, about the size of my fist.

It was staring right at me.

As our gazes met, the pain in my head returned, sharper than before.

The sapling in my chest, too, trembled and emitted magic.

‘Eyes, what was with the eyes?’

The eyes were staring at me.

The eyes were watching me, and I was melting under their gaze.

“Here we go again.”

A strong shock hit my head.

The familiar pain cut through my thoughts, snapping me out of it.

I grabbed my head and collapsed to the floor.

Eyes.

I remembered.

I had seen the eyes on the 7th floor.

Through my trembling hands, I could see Professor Irien, and the eye was still there, staring at me.

The sensation in my brain grew more intense, and I quickly closed my eyes.

It seemed better for my mental health to not see anything at all.

“Don’t try to remember too much. I didn’t expect it to still be roaming around here,” she said.

“I sealed your memory roughly and reassembled your soul, but for the next week, you’ll probably feel unstable. You did a good job cleaning up to the 5th floor. I made a mistake too, so the cleaning ends here.”

With her words, the magic that had been binding my sapling returned to my wrist.

It had only been cleaning, but I had already gone through all this.

‘Did she plan to make me do more of this kind of thing?’

The sensation of my body breaking apart resurfaced in my mind, making me shudder.

Once my head settled, I slowly opened my eyes.

The eye was still watching me.

I turned my gaze to the ceiling and slowly stood up.

The piercing stare continued.

I pointed towards it with my hand.

“Is that, is that the eye I saw?”

“Oh, I hadn’t realized I still had this out. No wonder you’re having another episode,” she said.

Professor Irien split the space and threw the eye inside.

I felt the gaze that had been fixed on me vanish.

Sighing in relief, I bowed to her.

“Sorry. I lost my composure.”

“Hmm? It’s fine. This was my mistake. I didn’t expect anyone to escape from the treasure vault after just a hundred years. I obtained this rare treasure about four hundred years ago. If you had any magic left, you would’ve melted right there.”

“That… is a treasure?”

I casually took issue with Professor Irien’s words.

Quickly shutting my mouth, I looked at her, gauging her reaction.

She didn’t seem to mind, continuing to scribble over the papers.

“At that time, I was a bit bored, so I went deep into the ocean. I killed the creature living there and made that eye by combining its parts. If you show it to someone with magic… they end up like you.”

She glanced at me and clicked her tongue.

“You became like this because you were too weak. You were infected by the laws contained in its gaze. You’ll need to fortify your mental barriers from now on.”

I nodded absentmindedly.

‘The ocean, monsters, laws… it all felt like a distant dream.’

“I didn’t fully understand what she meant, but one thing was clear: I had encountered something beyond my ability to handle.”

“Anyway, forget about it. I’ve sealed it again so it won’t unravel.”

“Yes.”

She didn’t speak further and continued scribbling over the mountain of papers, erasing them with her chaotic magic.

I stood beside her, quietly calming myself.

‘Could this be a blessing in disguise?’

Maybe seeing that eye helped, as the sapling seemed to have grown a little stronger.

If it grows a few more times, it might be ready for the next stage.

Of course, if I had to go through something like that again, I wouldn’t hesitate to run away.

***

After she cleared the papers, all the signed documents disappeared into the space she had created.

With the desk now clean, Professor Irien collapsed on it.

Following my usual habit, I took out a doll.

The butler emerged from the spatial pocket and approached her.

He served her tea and gently covered her with a light blanket.

She took the tea and smiled.

“Now, all the urgent matters are done. I saw that you cleaned up to the 5th floor, so the tasks I gave you are over.”

“Professor, I have something to say.”

She looked at me with a curious expression.

I stiffened a bit and continued.

“There are a few rooms on the 2nd and 5th floors where the space has been torn. I can’t handle them with my abilities…”

“I’ve already fixed those. There was something that escaped the warehouse on the 6th floor, but I caught it again.”

“I’m sorry. I should have handled it.”

I bowed my head.

She chuckled and shook her head.

“I didn’t expect much from the 6th floor anyway. That’s my treasure vault. If you meddle there with your current abilities, you’ll end up like earlier, surrounded by things that could drive you insane.”

She laughed as she continued.

“Still, what you saw was the mild version. If you had met something from the 8th or 9th floors, your soul would’ve melted away.”

I shuddered.

I could feel the seriousness in her words.

‘Was there something even stronger than that eye?’

Suddenly, I remembered the nickname the others had for Professor Irien in the slums.

They called her the Explorer.

Before our contract, she used to boast about the treasures she had brought back.

If she had spent countless years searching for treasures, it was no surprise she had amassed an enormous collection.

And it seemed all those treasures were gathered here in this tower.

“Anyway, that’s enough of this talk. It’s time to fulfill our contract.”

She looked at her wrist.

On it was a contract similar to mine.

I glanced at my own wrist.

‘With Irien’s help, if I pass the university entrance exam, I will serve her until graduation.’

I felt the effect clearly as I sat here, feeling it in my bones.

This thick contract was binding my sapling.

And every time hesitation crept in, it pressured me to fulfill the contract.

It was under the weight of that threat that I finally met those eyes.

My body trembled.

Even though I had tried to stabilize my mind and control my mana, the aftermath of those eyes still lingered.

As the professor had said, I felt the need for a week of rest.

I straightened my posture.

A year ago, the professor had presented me with the contract.

She would help me enter university, and after admission, I was to serve her.

That contract had become this document, now imprinted on my wrist.

But I still didn’t fully understand why she was teaching me.

‘This transcendental mage, why would she invest a year in someone like me, a mere wanderer?’

Up until now, I had only had vague speculations.

But those were nothing more than my own imaginings; I didn’t dare ask her for a reason.

And now, with my acceptance into the university, the conditions were met.

I had become someone who must obey whatever she said.

Nervously, I waited for her next words.

She took a sip of her tea and spoke.

“When we made the contract, I didn’t expect much from you. I thought you’d never even get into university. I assumed you’d be dead within two hundred years, and I planned to use you as my servant during that time.”

That part was something I had to admit.

Before meeting her, I had been rejected by universities for ten years.

My growth had stagnated, and my mind had only become more impatient.

‘Even if I had gotten into university, would I have graduated?’ No, I thought to myself.

I simply nodded in agreement.

“But while teaching you, my thoughts have changed a bit.”

She clapped her hands and smiled brightly.

‘Why had her thoughts changed?’ Had I been more talented than I thought? A bit of expectation rose, but it quickly faded.

I knew myself too well.

That wasn’t the case.

“You have more talent for serving than I expected.”

Of course. Sensing my disappointment, she furrowed her brow slightly.

I could feel her mana fluctuating around her.

I quickly smiled, trying to hide my thoughts.

“It’s a bit of a flaw that you sometimes have unexpected thoughts, but you always try to finish the tasks I give you. Your servant mentality is very clear, and it’s quite pleasant to see. Because of that, you’ve grown more than I expected.”

Professor Irien said leisurely, sipping her tea.

“So, I’m going to give you the tower.”

For a moment, I was stunned.

‘Had I still been affected by those eyes earlier? Was I hearing this wrong? Or was she joking?’ Her words were so unbelievable that my mouth fell open.

“What?”

I blurted out in surprise.

She waved her teacup around in frustration.

“It’s annoying. I’m busy collecting treasures, so why should I be stuck here teaching others?”

Her face showed clear annoyance, and her words were filled with irritation.

Her discomfort made the mana around her fluctuate.

She glanced at me.

For a moment, she seemed lost in thought.

Then she pulled out a scroll from a gap in space and threw it to me.

I caught it respectfully.

“You should read this. It’s something you need to know now.”

I carefully unfurled the scroll.

The first word I saw was “Warning.” Beneath it was a densely packed text.

As I read further, I began to understand her situation.

‘No, should I say I understood?’ I was shocked.

I hadn’t realized that being a university professor could offer such freedom.

I summarized the scroll quickly.

In short, it said, “I haven’t taught for a thousand years, but I will continue teaching for another hundred.”

Reading this, I realized why she had brought me to university.

Just as the warning stated, she needed a servant to handle the bothersome tasks during this period.

But suddenly, ‘she was giving me the tower?’ I looked at her, filled with questions.

Noticing my gaze, her face, which had been full of irritation, softened into a smile.

“I’ve found a servant for the period mentioned in the scroll, and you’re more capable than I thought?”

She pointed at me with a finger, and her smile grew wider.

It was full of amusement and playfulness.

I trembled in unease.

“So I changed my mind. Oh, do I really need to step in?”

She stood up and walked toward me, tapping my shoulder as she laughed.

“You’ll handle everything.”

I couldn’t speak.

I couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

‘The whole idea of being a servant?’ I could understand that.

I had suspected it from the beginning.

I had been taking care of her, understanding her character, and thinking it might be a way to alleviate her burdens.

But everything that came after was completely unexpected.

“You’ll plan the lessons, give the exams, and assign the grades. You’ll manage the tower. I’ll just relax here. It was my idea, and it’s brilliant.”

Hearing this, I almost lost my mind.

Honestly, I would rather face those eyes again than hear what she was saying.

I couldn’t grasp the reality of her words.

‘What was she even saying?’ I looked at her with a face full of resentment.

But she just grinned, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

“So, you mean… you want me to conduct the lectures instead of you?”

I asked cautiously.

She nodded firmly, full of confidence.

“Yes.”

“And I’ll grade the papers too?”

I asked again.

She answered decisively.

I clutched my head.

The mind and body I had barely managed to stabilize began to unravel, and pain started to surge.

‘What was going on?’ The situation was heading in a direction I never imagined.

Professor laughed loudly at my bewildered expression.

“Alright, then. Let’s set up the lectures. I told you to submit the syllabus by this week!”

She beamed as she said it.

I could only hold my head in my hands, helplessly staring at her.

“I don’t know anything about this. About the university, I mean.”

I answered weakly, drained of all energy.

She sparkled with excitement.

“It’s fine. I don’t know anything either! I’ve been a professor, and I’ve done nothing!”

When I heard that, my mind completely shut down.

‘Is this really okay?’ My mind, which had been analyzing the situation, started slipping into a state of despair.

After all, I had no choice but to accept this.

‘I had to accept it and just enjoy it, right?’ I had been granted so many unpayable favors by the professor when I entered university.

This was just the process of repaying them.

The harder and more difficult the path, the more it would prove my loyalty to her.

Yes, this was the same.

As I rationalized everything, her eyes began narrowing.

At the same time, her mana surged strongly, pressing down on me.

I forced a smile and quickly nodded.

“I’ll do my best!”

I shouted with my shoulders squared, though inside, I was crying blood.

From the moment the contract was made, I knew I had only one option ahead of me.

‘What would happen next?’ I couldn’t even dare to imagine.