Tower's Richest Player: My Coins Won't Stop Increasing-Chapter 38: In the center

While he did not want to show her this hidden piece initially, the condition to obtain her skill was not simple.

They were currently at the far outskirts of the 1st floor. Had they been anywhere near the center, he would not have resorted to this, however, the girl was lucky to have been around a [Transition area].

There were very few of these places throughout the first floor. Coming across one was not a game of knowledge and strategy.

Not even someone like him who knew about them well could not find them in this maze that easily. But thanks to her ability to see the unique nature of Mana and pure luck, she was able to come across this terminal where all Mana was scattered.

The reason she could not sense the creatures residing here was also because of the special nature of this place. But everything turned out to be for the best for him in the end.

"How did you do it?" She asked while passing through the gate that had appeared in the middle of the wall. She could not see beyond the gate right now. It was too bright.

"I know a few things, nothing much." KiRA passed through the gate first and, while reluctant, Chiika also passed through the gate.

One needed a very precise number of bodies, arranged in a certain order, sacrificed in a certain manner in order to trigger these special pathways.

Only the creators of the floor's maze as well as those who primarily resided on this floor were aware of these special situations.

And since there were nearly endless combinations, to know even a few of them was an impressive feat for a player.

"Wow..."

Even for KiRA, this was a big thing. He still found it nostalgic how these travelling pathways used to be his primary highways to all around the 1st floor.

"I didn't expect this." Still, as they knew, this was not the same tower that the players were aware of.

"This..."

While in the Tower of Beginning there was a beautiful flower garden in the center of the 1st floor, there was an endless barren land here in the Tower of Cessation.

There was no sign of life.

There was an open sky here, unlike the rest of the floor that had a clear high ceiling.

It seemed like they had travelled outside of the tower, in a place that had witnessed an apocalypse.

However, that was not the case.

"Can you see the Mana here?" He asked carefully while couching down and picking up a little soil with his gloved hands.

"There is none here... Mana, I mean." Chiika could not believe it since she could still faintly sense it. But it clearly wasn't visible to her.

The only thing she could see was a faint dark-red energy within the atmosphere. A sickening energy that she clearly didn't feel comfortable with.

"I see..."

He had prepared himself for a scene like this or something worse. In fact, he was uncertain whether the hidden piece of the other tower would work here as well.

But since it worked, KiRA now had a new theory about this tower and its connection with the Game that they had played.

'Perhaps the Tower of Cessation is a future version of the Tower of Beginning.'

After he cleared the Tower of Beginning, perhaps the tower did not get destroyed. Perhaps he never actually cleared the original tower and the game that they were playing was in fact a model based on the real thing.

He did not know what the truth was, but this new theory seemed to be pretty plausible to him at that moment.

'Perhaps if we meet them...'

He did not want to come to the central area anytime soon. If they went just a little ahead, they would reach the place where the Boss of the first floor resided.

He did not want to go there, and instead visited the people and the creator of the maze, at least the last of them who still lived within the walls of their predecessors.

"Haaa..." He sighed after looking around once again.

There used to be a beautiful flower field in this place. A place filled with flowers, herbs, a sunny sky where beautiful creatures lived.

Some players also called the center the Paradise of the 1st floor. However, there was only a barren land here now.

"You've never played the game, have you, Chiika?" KiRA had to ask that as he moved a little further ahead.

The gate that they had walked through had closed already. They would have to walk from here on out.

"No, Mister. I was never really interested in games." She followed closely behind him, afraid some creature would jump them out of the blue.

She could tell he was feeling emotional right now. Perhaps he had some kind of attachment to this place and seeing it in this state wasn't going well with him.

"I see... then you wouldn't know how pretty this place used to be." He smiled helplessly, shaking his head and walking forward towards an open area where the sole cottage of this paradise used to be.

"However dangerous this tower may have been, there were places on each floor that made each and every one of the dangers worth the lives that we were risking." He spoke with nostalgia in his eyes, his eyes reminiscing the past that was already gone.

"Many believed that the plants that grew here were magical, that they could use them to cure many illnesses. However, beyond a few flowers with Mana and a few herbs used for traditional medicines, there was no treasure in this paradise."

The players had tried to find something valuable in this place for a long time, but they were met with disappointment every single time.

"There used to be a cottage here, a house so pretty that anyone would want it. There used to be monthly Boss raids and whoever got the highest contribution in them, obtained the rights to the house for that period."

He had only obtained that chance when everyone else was already gone and he was exploring the lower floors once again.

He spent most of his time wandering through the floors of the tower instead of clearing them or fighting, or interacting with the Natives.

He loved exploration. It made him feel far more alive than he had ever been living in that small place of his.

"It used to be a pretty place." He reached the place where the boss of the floor used to spawn, however, even that cute teddy was nowhere to be seen here.

It was just an empty place. A barren empty place.

"But look at it now..." There was sadness in his eyes that she could not understand.

A kind of longing that, in fact, she was well familiar with.

[Ding!]

[You have fulfilled the conditions.]

[Ding!]

[You have obtained the Skill: Mana sensitivity.]

[Ding!]

[As a Causal reward you have obtained: Map of the 1st floor.]

He did not know why the conditions included bringing her to this place or why he was getting the map of this floor. But, he knew... if something was happening, it was surely going to result in something else.

However, as he had learned, predicting what all this would connect to will only waste his own time and energy.

"Would you like to join me for the time being, Chiika?" KiRA offered her something completely unnecessary.

"No, mister. I don't think I want to do that right now..." And the girl politely declined his offer while bowing to him.

"I must go back for now. There's somewhere I have to be." She informed him with a smile that was thanking him for showing her something so important.

"Can I go, please?" She requested him, knowing innately that there would be no resistance.

"Sure." And KiRA did not stop her or hold her back.

He already got what he needed and perhaps more. There was something else he needed to do now instead of babysitting this girl.

He just thought... it would be better to have some company.

"Haha. You're more humane than I thought, Mister." Shaking her head while chuckling, she looked at his back.

He... was strange. But there was something about him that made her feel connected to him.

"Will we meet again, mister? Can we please... meet again?" She did not want this meeting to be their last one.

The more she thought about it, the more she had this strange feeling that she would lose him forever if she went back now.

He was like a fleeting wind. A breeze that only graced you momentarily.

"Oh? Do you want to meet this demon-like merchant once again?" He asked with a smirk, not the evil one but a playful one.

"We can make it possible, sure."

Then, he looked at Unity and nodded slightly.

"Viv~."

Unity used her special skill, and a golden feather materialised before her.

"...?"

The golden feather cascaded down to her and fell on her arm.

-Oooooooong.

As soon as the feather touched her hand, it melted into golden blood and seeped inside her.

"Go. We will find you when the time comes." He turned away from her, and prepared to leave for real.

He was finally done with everything with that.

"Take care... mister." And she knew with this new feeling of connectedness, this would not be their last meeting.

"You too, future archmage." She did not hear those last few words of his. But KiRA had a good feeling about her.

She had potential.

If she works hard, she will do well even in this ruined world.

'Hopefully, she will do well.'

They parted ways on a good term even though their first meeting wasn't as simple or pretty.

He had gained the ability to see the different natures of Mana with this short meeting.

And now that he had this special ability, he needed to put it to good use.

"Let's go see if those old men are still alive, Uni."

"Viv~!"

They were a headache inducing geezers back then, so he wondered what they would be in this version of the tower.