‘Where do they find so many people to gather?’
I have been trying to figure that out.
The newcomers didn’t seem particularly unusual.
In fact, they recorded higher mental scores than before.
It was as if their spirits had been elevated after realizing something new.
The students weren’t fools either.
Seeing others continue to join, they each devised their own countermeasures.
Some directly attacked the Heaven’s Ring Sect, while others used magic to shield their minds.
But in the end, even they joined the group.
I was certain they had remained on guard, so I couldn’t understand why this kept happening.
I pondered over it repeatedly.
The first clue came when their numbers reached seventeen.
I looked at the massive blackboard before me.
It displayed the behavioral trajectories of the twenty members.
The one who joined today had only been traveling between the tower and their residence up until now.
But today, they had suddenly fallen into the sect.
There was no major point of contact between the Heaven’s Ring Sect and its victims.
Not in the tower, nor outside.
The students avoided them, and after their recruitment efforts were blocked, the sect no longer pursued the students.
‘Something was happening beyond my awareness, outside my understanding.’
That thought led me to investigate them thoroughly.
In the end, I discovered their method.
***
At that moment, the Mirror Bug chirped.
It flew up and projected a screen.
The treasure board had appeared again—another post requesting monsters.
Even as I investigated this case, life in the tower flowed as usual.
For now, I needed to head to the monster zone and capture a few more creatures.
The treasures had praised the sect’s monsters as being particularly delicious.
It was remarkably convenient to acquire monsters so easily.
Whatever the Heaven’s Ring’s true intentions were, their power was undeniably useful.
Yes, their power.
That was the problem.
Their movements never overlapped.
‘But what about the monsters they controlled?’
On the blackboard, I traced the movements of the monsters I had tracked over the past two days.
They always flowed toward one place—the monster zone.
They tamed monsters, then tamed even more.
As those numbers grew, they needed an efficient way to store them.
That was how the monster zone was created.
The ones primarily managing it were none other than the Heaven’s Ring Sect.
The answer had to be there.
For days, I focused entirely on that place.
Gradually, the vague connections began to form a clear picture.
All of the victims had been raising a large number of monsters.
Their creatures would always return to the monster zone after hunting.
It was inevitable.
The tower and their residences didn’t have enough space for keeping monsters.
Hao had created that zone for a reason.
Hao was targeting those monsters.
He visited the monster zone several times a day.
At night, all of the sect members gathered there to pray to the Heaven’s Ring.
When I first saw that, I assumed their prayers were directed at themselves—to strengthen their faith and resolve.
But that wasn’t it.
Hao was after the monsters filling the zone.
The creatures rested comfortably in the happiness their masters had provided.
Hao sorted through them, drawing the victims’ monsters to his side.
That was exactly what had happened today.
The monsters of today’s victim had listened to Hao’s words, and in the end, their master joined the sect.
That’s it.
They gathered the students’ monsters and instilled faith in them—faith in the Heaven’s Ring.
It was a transmission of belief, flowing from the bottom up.
Hao said that if they made the monsters happier, then the monsters would, in turn, bring happiness to them.
Following that logic, he made the students’ monsters as happy as possible.
Through Hao’s words about the Heaven’s Ring, the monsters found joy.
That belief, carried through their happiness, connected back to their masters.
This wasn’t a conventional method. It wasn’t even magic.
This transmission of faith was purely the result of Hao’s power—the intoxicating, mesmerizing aura he exuded.
The monsters were entranced by it.
They accepted his words completely, treating them as happiness.
And within that double layer of joy, their masters’ minds naturally changed.
Their owners, too, came to trust in the existence of the Heaven’s Ring.
That trust soon turned into faith.
There was no magical interference, no coercion.
There was no corruption.
Under the common value of ‘happiness,’ they actually experienced significant mental growth.
I had underestimated Hao’s power.
I never imagined he could reverse even the will of monsters.
But the results proved it.
The wave of belief, starting from the very bottom, had surged all the way to the top, with Hao at the center.
Now that I understood both the cause and the outcome, the process became painfully clear.
I could even see why they insisted on spreading their faith.
They wanted to solidify the beliefs of the new recruits.
That also meant I could infer their objective—though it was still uncertain.
If this was something they could accomplish alone, they wouldn’t need to gather more people.
So that meant they required a large number of individuals.
Not just anyone, but only those who possessed the power of the Heaven’s Ring.
I had to stop thinking from my own perspective.
I needed to view this from Hao’s point of view.
Hao spread belief to monsters, which then transmitted happiness to the students.
Already, twenty people had succumbed to it.
‘What would happen if all forty were drawn in?’
Each of them possessed a fragment of the Heaven’s Ring.
But alone, those fragments were nothing more than lumps of power.
They couldn’t do anything on their own.
And once that power was bestowed upon an individual, its nature changed.
Every mage had their own distinct characteristics, making it impossible to manipulate the power directly.
‘But what if they all gathered within the walls of the Heaven’s Ring Sect—sharing the same will, the same thoughts, and the same unified belief in happiness?’
I imagined the scene.
‘If they tried to manifest their faith through magic, those fragments would merge into a single form—’
The treasure they longed for.
The form of the Heaven’s Ring.
It wouldn’t be the Heaven’s Ring itself.
Just a vessel.
But that would be enough for the Heaven’s Ring to descend.
I was certain.
That was the sect’s goal.
But something didn’t sit right.
Unlike other treasures, the Heaven’s Ring didn’t seem eager to leave.
On the contrary, it actively avoided doing so.
It managed treasures from the storage and gradually grew stronger within that space.
That storage was essentially its breeding ground.
There was no reason for it to abandon it by taking form in a vessel.
And their execution of this plan felt sloppy.
‘If I were the Heaven’s Ring, I wouldn’t be so blatant.’
I would have been more secretive, more meticulous.
They had five years, after all.
I stopped my train of thought and shook my head.
Some details still didn’t add up.
But I had uncovered both their methods and their purpose.
Now, it was time to stop them.
That was my role in this board game.
I had built this tower with my own hands.
I wouldn’t allow it to be ruined.
Just like the Heaven’s Ring—
This tower was my breeding ground.
“Hmm, then should we just block off the entire monster zone? Make it so those kids can’t move anymore?”
Mira smiled as she spoke.
It was an excellent idea.
I nodded silently.
I had already started to covet that monster zone.
There was no reason to waste such a good opportunity.
***
By the time afternoon arrived, we had completely sealed off the monster zone.
Mira’s mist engulfed the area.
“From now on, I will be the one controlling this zone,” I said to Hao.
He looked like he was about to say something, his face full of agitation, but I shook my head and spoke first.
“This is a serious issue. Using the students’ monsters to forcibly convert them into your religion? As someone who manages the tower, I cannot allow such a thing. This concerns their fundamental rights.”
Hao hesitated at that.
He glanced at us nervously before stammering out a response.
“W-what are you talking about?”
I took out the Mirror Bug and held it out to him.
Inside was everything I had uncovered so far—how the Heaven’s Ring Sect lured in victims, how the monster zone was structured, and more.
As he looked at the evidence, his expression faltered.
I offered him a gentle smile.
“I considered informing others about this, but I decided to stop here for now. After all, aren’t you all students just like us? Just leave the monster zone to us. And stop your recruitment efforts as well.”
Hao opened his mouth, but no words came out.
The evidence was too clear for him to deny.
After glaring at the Mirror Bug with a hardened expression, he let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes.
Then, silently nodding, he turned and walked away, looking utterly defeated.
“Oh my, he’s not even putting up a fight. I was hoping for at least a little excitement.”
Mira sighed in disappointment beside me.
I glanced at her.
She was watching Hao’s retreating figure while licking her lips, her body radiating magic.
That was precisely why Hao had backed down so easily.
It was also the reason I had brought her with me.
And so, with little resistance, the monster zone fell into our hands.
I filled the area with shadow puppets, and they skillfully took over the management of the monsters.
In exchange for overseeing the zone, I received some monsters and points.
The students, in turn, benefited from easier monster management.
What a perfectly beneficial arrangement.
I almost regretted not thinking of this sooner.
But now that it was in my hands, I could manage it flawlessly under my control.
And as a bonus, I had completely halted the Heaven’s Ring Sect’s recruitment efforts.
With their method entirely within my grasp, I narrowed my eyes and watched Hao’s distant figure.
‘What would they do next?’
I calmly analyzed the possible actions the Heaven’s Ring might take.
They would surely attempt another approach.
Perhaps something I hadn’t predicted.
I needed to be even more prepared.
And I was right.
***
The following evening, the Heaven’s Ring took action.
They contacted me directly.
I stared at the Mirror Bug, feeling a slight tension.
The screen flickered, and words began to appear.
The Heaven’s Ring was writing on the other side.
[-I’m reaching out because I need help.]
“What kind of help?” I asked, tilting my head.
‘Were they proposing some kind of compromise?’
‘Perhaps they wanted to offer me something in exchange for allowing them to create a vessel for their fragment?’
But I had no reason to accept.
‘If I got caught doing something like that, how would I explain it to the professor?’
A minor benefit wasn’t worth risking my trust with the professor.
So, no matter what the Heaven’s Ring said, I was going to refuse.
I steeled my resolve and calmly waited for their next message.
After a brief hesitation, the Heaven’s Ring continued writing.
As I read, I couldn’t help but blink in surprise.
Mira, standing beside me, reacted the same way.
[-That boy, Hao, was it? I need you to stop him.]
“…Are you talking about Hao?”
[-Yes. He’s trying to force me to descend. Ah, he won’t listen to me anymore! He’s calling me a demon sent by the Storage Keeper! How could he say such a thing? I only wanted to bring happiness…]
I frowned at the bizarre claim and sent a thought to the Mirror Bug.
The screen flickered, then displayed a live feed.
The first floor—inside the Heaven’s Ring Sect’s ritual chamber.
It had tracked Hao’s location.
He stood at the front, with his followers gathered behind him, yelling at his own Mirror Bug.
His face was flushed red with passion.
“You dare to obstruct our mission, steal our sanctuary, and now you even stand in the way of our communication with the Heaven’s Ring?!”
[-But I am the real Heaven’s Ring…]
“You think I’d fall for such lies, you wicked demon?!” Hao’s voice thundered.
“Heaven’s Ring, please wait! I will rescue you, I swear it!”
His eyes sparkled with unwavering conviction.
His followers shared the same expression.
As I stared at the strange sight, I blinked slowly.
“Pfft.”
A quiet snort escaped beside me.
I turned to see Mira stomping her feet, barely holding back laughter.
I pressed my fingers against my temple as a headache began to form.
I hadn’t accounted for this turn of events.