Why Did I Have to Enroll

Why did Ban Yu-won leave the treasure chest untouched? It was due to a rather peculiar thought—he was pondering whether he could change the color of the chest.

During the previous exploration in Room 10, he had obtained a treasure chest (it was a wooden one with gold trim), but before he could examine the concept of the treasure chest, it had opened on its own, leaving him with no chance to experiment.

The chest was designed to open the moment it was touched by human hands. There was only one chance.

“Can I open it this time?”

“Sorry, there’s something I want to try.”

“Oh…”

Light, who had been staring at the chest with sparkling eyes, stepped back, looking deflated.

Ignoring Light, Ban Yu-won pulled out something unexpected.

“Here we go.”

It was a large amount of gold.

Dozens of pure gold bars, each worth 7.53 million Ronica!

“Where did you get all that gold?!”

“My grandpa gave it to me when I came to school.”

“Again with the grandpa stories…!”

Whenever Ban Yu-won talked about his grandfather, he wore a particularly innocent smile, which sparked a futile sense of competition in Luciel.

However, Dokgo Yeon seemed to nod in understanding.

“As expected. I suspected you weren’t from an ordinary family, but to carry around a large amount of state-certified gold bars…”

“Wait, are you royalty, Ban?”

“Now that you mention it…!”

Light, excited by Dokgo Yeon’s words, rushed forward, while Luciel belatedly clapped and agreed with her.

Recalling that he had mentioned his life on Earth a few times, Ban Yu-won was baffled by their exaggerated reactions.

“You guys never listen to me… I told you, I’m just an ordinary person.”

“No ordinary person carries that much gold around, no matter the dimension.”

Ban Yu-won quickly conceded.

He had taken out the gold to experiment with the treasure chest, but it seemed his party members were more curious about him than the gold.

Having heard a bit about Luciel and Light’s family circumstances, Ban Yu-won decided to briefly explain his family background, leaving out any mention of the Tower of Babel.

“A long time ago, my family was in a position of power, or so my grandpa told me. Even before I awakened to magic here, I had special abilities, and many of my ancestors did too, which is how we accumulated wealth over generations.”

“To be selected for the special admission of Union Academy from a dimension without magic, I didn’t think you were just a simple anomaly…”

“The descendant of a forgotten royal family…”

Light muttered with a strange grin, causing Ban Yu-won to tilt his head in confusion.

“Light, why do you keep trying to make me royalty?”

“Oh? Well, that’s… um…”

Light visibly flustered at the question, which he had asked without much thought.

Surely he wasn’t thinking, ‘I’m royalty, so my friends must be royalty too,’ right?

“Anyway! What are you planning to do with that gold and the treasure chest? Offer it as a tribute?”

Sweating profusely, Light blatantly changed the subject, and Ban Yu-won decided to play along.

“It’s said that the treasure chests appearing in the Tower come in four patterns: wood, bronze, silver, and gold. So I thought, what if I could change the material of the chest with my ability? Wouldn’t the contents change too?”

“That’s a ridiculous idea.”

Dokgo Yeon replied, incredulous.

“The contents are probably determined when the chest appears. Even if you could change the material of the chest, I doubt the contents would change.”

“Well, it’s a good opportunity to test my powers… and there’s nothing to lose, right?”

“You’re losing gold…”

Light exclaimed in shock, but Ban Yu-won, who had been waiting for that comment, replied with a triumphant smile.

“Do you know how much our channel earned this month?”

“How much?”

“60 million Ronica.”

“…?”

“?!”

1 Ronica was equivalent to 100 Korean Won. So 60 million Ronica was 6 billion Won.

And this was the revenue for a period that hadn’t even lasted a full month. As more videos were uploaded, the revenue would only increase.

“How…?”

“Well, the subscription fees and donations from channel members are significant, but it’s mostly from advertising revenue.”

Discussing the revenue structure of Unitube was too complicated for the trio who didn’t even know what the internet was, but Ban Yu-won could convince them of the influence and profits of a channel watched by millions of beings from higher dimensions.

Of course, they had somewhat anticipated it, but the actual amount was hard to grasp.

The channel’s revenue was split, with half going to Ban Yu-won and the other half divided among the three of them—still an enormous amount.

“Yu-won’s share is 30 million, and my share is 10 million… combined, that’s 40 million.”

“Why are you combining them, Luciel?”

“With such amazing abilities, you could easily handle a ‘pack’ of over ten…”

“Luciel?!”

Luciel was overwhelmed.

Ban Yu-won had known that Luciel reacted honestly to money discussions. It wasn’t that she was obsessed with money; rather, she viewed Ban Yu-won’s ability to earn money very positively.

…Though she interpreted it in a rather simplistic way.

“Dokgo Yeon, can you calm Luciel down while I work?”

“Alright. …If the revenue is that high, using a few gold bars to test your abilities doesn’t seem too bad.”

“Yeah… hopefully, it ends with just a few. I’ll give it a try.”

Again, the price of a 1-kilogram gold bar was 7.53 million Ronica after various fees and taxes in the Union.

Four gold bars equaled Ban Yu-won’s monthly earnings from the Rebellion channel.

Of course, this was because gold held an abnormally high value in the Union…

‘But I can’t resist my curiosity.’

Ban Yu-won steeled himself and reached out.

Celon, who was in his inventory, naturally appeared in his hand.

―What are you planning to do? I just want to rest after that.

“It’s not going to be as flashy as before.”

Ban Yu-won took deep breaths, checking the process.

First, he would manifest the concept of ‘Stop’ with language magic to prevent the treasure chest from opening when touched.

He was confident it would stop the chest’s movement, but the duration wouldn’t be long.

So he had to finish the task before the duration ended.

‘Analyze the structure of the treasure chest and swap the copper and gold in an instant. Simple.’

With the power of the abilities he had seen, experienced, and performed so far, it was undoubtedly possible.

All that was left was to execute it.

He drew the concept of ‘Stop’ in the air with his staff and floated Celon into the air.

Celon would condense the staff’s energy and activate his language magic.

―I’ve never seen anyone try to mess with the Tower’s rewards. How did you know the contents weren’t fixed?

There were several points he wanted to question.

For one, Celon wasn’t even alive, so how did it know about the Tower’s rewards?

―Because I’m a great mage.

‘Ah, right… I just guessed. The chest is designed to open the moment it’s touched, right? I wondered if there was a need for that, and thought maybe the contents aren’t fixed until the chest opens.’

It would be a lie to say he didn’t reference the famous Schrödinger’s thought experiment.

The chest being tightly closed might be to maintain its independence and variability.

The idea that it only exists when observed seemed fitting for the chest’s contents.

―This world is truly fascinating… Have you just been honing your thinking skills because there’s no fighting? Anyway, ready?

‘Okay, I’m ready.’

Ban Yu-won reached out with one hand to the pile of gold, ready to extract the concept at any moment.

The concept of gold was embedded in each 1-kilogram gold bar without any discount.

Ban Yu-won swallowed hard and placed his other hand on the treasure chest.

“Now!”

―Stop!

He placed it.

The chest didn’t open immediately!

But at the same time, he felt it struggling madly to open, and he had to shout at Celon to pour magic power into it.

‘Analyze, analyze… got it!’

Treasure Chest 200 [Bronze Box Gold Trim 100, Seal 100, Stop 42]

Ban Yu-won quickly understood and absorbed the concepts that made up the treasure chest.

A total depth of 200.

The bronze box, the gold trim, and the concept of sealing that prevented the chest from opening.

These were the concepts that made up the treasure chest, but now, the temporarily granted ‘Stop’ was blocking the chest’s movement.

[Stop 40]

[Stop 39]

The backlash was so intense that even at this moment, the concept of ‘Stop’ was rapidly dissipating.

There’s no time to waste! Ban Yu-won quickly separated the concept of copper from the bronze box gold trim.

[Stop 37]

[Stop 36]

[Copper 30]

‘30! This should do it!’

He extracted 30 worth of gold from three gold bars.

Fortunately, gold, unlike concepts like Body or Soul, didn’t dilute when overlapped, so the depth remained 30 even when combined from three gold bars.

He inserted it into the place where copper was!

[Stop 34]

[Stop 33]

‘If only I had Changeling, this would be easy!’

But the swapping process itself went surprisingly smoothly.

Copper was a core concept of the box, and if he didn’t fill the gap with something else, the box would collapse, so it gladly accepted the gold concept he inserted.

The problem was with the result of that synthesis.

Treasure Chest 200 [Gold Box Gold Trim 80, Seal 100, Stop 31]

Treasure Chest 200 [Gold Box Gold Trim 80, Seal 100, Stop 30]

‘What’s this, it’s not even 100… and the box didn’t turn gold.’

Ban Yu-won realized he had made a mistake.

Perhaps the bronze box gold trim and gold box gold trim were fundamentally different ‘parts’ that made up the concept.

Trying to forcibly change it had reduced the depth of the concept.

And since this treasure chest needed a depth of 200 to be complete, with the gold box gold trim and seal combined at 180, it couldn’t be opened.

[Stop 27]

[Stop 26]

If the duration of ‘Stop’ runs out? The chest might collapse.

So how to solve it? There’s only one way.

Quantity.

‘Yes, the direction was right. I was just too naive.’

He had set out to create the highest-grade reward obtainable in Eden, yet he thought he could manage with just three gold bars? He had been too complacent.

Ban Yu-won steeled himself and began extracting the concept from the pile of gold bars, injecting it into the chest.

Treasure Chest 200 [Gold Box Gold Trim 82, Seal 100, Stop 23]

Treasure Chest 200 [Gold Box Gold Trim 84, Seal 100, Stop 22]

Before the concept of ‘Stop’ completely disappears, he must somehow match the concept of the gold box gold trim to 100!

He could see the pile of gold bars rapidly dwindling, and he could hear Luciel and Light screaming, but he ignored it all!

He had considered this possibility from the start, which is why he had taken out such a mountain of gold bars!

Treasure Chest 200 [Gold Box Gold Trim 91, Seal 100, Stop 13]

Treasure Chest 200 [Gold Box Gold Trim 92, Seal 100, Stop 12]

‘I knew this would happen!’

Gold was a concept where depth and mass matched, but the gold box gold trim wasn’t!

When it absorbed the same amount of gold earlier, the depth increased by 2, but now it was increasing by 1!

At this rate, the concept would be incomplete before ‘Stop’ wears off.

Ban Yu-won desperately signaled Celon to strengthen the language magic and transferred the depth of gold as quickly as possible!

[Stop 7]

[Stop 6]

[Stop 5]

Just a little faster.

Faster!

[Stop 4]

[Stop 3]

‘Done!’

Treasure Chest 200 [Gold Box Gold Trim 100, Seal 100, Stop 1]

The moment the depth matched 100, the treasure chest transformed into a gleaming gold material as if it had always been that way.

The grace period before disappearance was only 1.

Watching movies, he realized there was a reason why they always stopped the countdown at 1 second before the explosion.

Those guys probably started thinking, ‘Oh, there’s plenty of time,’ and leisurely slacked off, but when the countdown began, they got anxious and finished the job at superhuman speed.

―It’s really a gold chest…

“Whew.”

“Ah, ah…”

“The gold…”

While Ban Yu-won understood the movie protagonists’ feelings, Light and Luciel sighed.

Half of the gold bar pile had disappeared.

“There were originally 53, and 29 have vanished.”

“Luciel, you have good eyes.”

“Since each is worth 7.53 million Ronica, that’s 21,837,000 Ronica…”

“Our Luciel, you’re good at math too.”

“Leave the accounting to me! …Ah, that’s not the point!”

It seemed like an absurd amount of wealth had been squandered, but Ban Yu-won had no regrets.

After all, he had created a gold chest.

Although the depth of the treasure chest might be far lower than the gold chests that appeared in Eden, a gold chest was still a gold chest.

“It’s opening.”

“A gold chest!”

Despite crying over the lost gold, Light and Luciel excitedly rushed forward as the chest opened.

Inside were transparent gloves and boots.

Honestly, just by appearance, it seemed like Ban Yu-won had tampered with the treasure chest, turning the reward into trash.

“…?”

“Oh wow, this is… unidentified!”

Of course.

Ban Yu-won chuckled and reached for the gloves.

At that moment, the gloves sparked and rejected him.

“Uh…”

“Wow, Ban got rejected?”

“Ban Yu-won?”

“…How dare these gloves.”

Seeing Luciel’s fierce expression as she extended her claws, Ban Yu-won hurriedly stopped her.

“Don’t be mad at them, Luciel. They’re yours.”

“What?”

Luciel blinked in confusion at the unexpected words.

But Ban Yu-won was sure.

Even for a brief moment, he had glimpsed the concept of ‘Wildness’ in the gloves.

“Besides that, I also saw Growth, Assimilation, and Thunder Beast… If I’m right, this is a growth-type artifact.”

“A growth-type artifact…”

“An ancient artifact!”

Not that he knew if such artifacts existed in ancient times or not.

However, the idea that one could enhance an artifact’s performance by directly granting the concept of growth, without bestowing Life, was quite intriguing.

“This… for me?”

“There’s no one else. Dokgo Yeon, you’re okay with it, right?”

“I don’t rely on foreign objects. If it’s for a beast, I’m happy to yield.”

“Me too… since Ban was rejected, it wouldn’t be any different for me. I’ll yield.”

“Then… I’ll…”

With everyone’s agreement, Luciel cautiously reached for the gloves.

The gloves did not reject her touch.

On the contrary, it seemed to display some information only visible to her, as Luciel nodded repeatedly in amazement.

Without hesitation, she donned the gloves on both hands, removed her shoes and socks, and put on the boots.

In the next moment, they melted and were absorbed into her hands and feet.

“Luciel?!”

“It’s okay, Light. This is how it’s supposed to be. More importantly, Yu-won, it’s amazing. Originally, it had lost all potential and remained as claws for both hands, but thanks to you, it gained new growth potential.”

“I’m glad it was successful.”

In fact, Ban Yu-won had somewhat expected it.

Growth and Assimilation, despite appearing simple, were surprisingly hard to find anywhere.

While it was easy to temporarily create them with language magic, finding a permanently settled concept in an object was challenging. It was precisely that type of concept.

Moreover, the final concept, Thunder Beast, was a new species Ban Yu-won couldn’t comprehend.

In other words, those transparent gloves and boots were a set from the start, a living weapon that assimilated with the user and grew… a beast of lightning.

‘I was always worried about Luciel fighting barehanded, but the Tower gave me exactly what I wanted.’

Of course, Luciel’s species naturally fought using their claws, but seeing her hands and feet often injured was concerning.

With this excellent artifact, that worry was now alleviated.

“By the way, if the result is this good for 29 gold bars… it might be worth trying again if we get another treasure chest.”

“Ah, another video we can never upload to the channel…”

It was then.

A message from the Tower appeared before Ban Yu-won’s eyes.

―Illegal access to the Tower detected. As a reward for breaking through the Tower’s security, no punishment will be imposed. Future security for the Tower’s reward system will be strengthened.

“Oh wow.”

‘It’s like saying, “You found a loophole in the Tower, so I’ll commend you, but it won’t be easy to do it again.”’

The message seemed to reveal the Tower’s personality, making Ban Yu-won laugh.

‘Alright, next time I’ll really have to learn Changeling from Mira.’

And he began to burn with a sense of challenge.

There was no mistaking their resemblance.