Why Did I Have to Enroll

In the ancient kingdom, within the palace of Sanctum, Ban Yu-won sat with his companions in a room guided by a knight, drinking tea. There was no poison in it. If a cultist had infiltrated the palace and they had to repeat the farce from Room 24, it would have meant war with the tower, not just the cultists. He would have ridden Lilith to the top of the tower, occupied it, and staged a sit-in.

“I was worried we might have to go all the way to Room 30, but thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“If you hadn’t stepped forward, we might have ended up in Room 30.”

Naturally, the structure of the rooms that appeared in sequence was heavily influenced by the activities in the previous rooms. The fact that the atmosphere among people was subdued in Room 24, due to the rumor of two constellations materializing in Room 23, was a clear example.

Ban Yu-won had caused a stir in every room he was allowed, and the scale of events expanded with each transition. If he hadn’t done so, he might still have been playing a game of wits with cultists hiding their identities in the big city.

“Don’t lie, Ban. Nearly 60% of the guys you took down weren’t even cultists.”

“Light, look into my eyes.”

“Ah, ugh?”

Ban Yu-won’s endlessly serious eyes met Light’s.

“Uh, uh… cultists, right?”

“You finally get it!”

“Having this conversation all the way to Room 27, you guys are something.”

At that moment, the door opened, and a middle-aged man in a formal uniform entered. Considering the era background of this room was not quite medieval, it was a rather sophisticated uniform. He glanced around the group and fixed his gaze on Ban Yu-won, whose clothes were particularly flamboyant. To emphasize that he was the contractor of the Constellation of Light around Room 25, he wore the most splendid white clothes he had, which worked wonders.

“Nice to meet you, Contractor of Light. I am Count Durk, the chamberlain of His Majesty the Great King.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“No need to bow. Listening to the fame of you all, which is renowned throughout the country, makes us feel humble.”

Count Durk spoke in an emotional voice, but Ban Yu-won’s party recalled the atrocities Ban Yu-won had committed in the previous room, causing their eyes to twitch. The most memorable event in Room 25 was creating a hallucination with Eve, making the contractor of the Wings of Justice mistake Ban Yu-won for the contractor of the Claws of the Dark Forest and attack him. No, wasn’t the madman of the Wings of Justice ignoring the role he was supposed to perform in the original room (finding and eliminating the contractor of the Claws of the Dark Forest) and instead trying to beat Ban Yu-won?

So Ban Yu-won kindly guided them. So they could perform their original purpose! As a result, not only did he annihilate the contractor groups of [Wings] and [Claws], but he also succeeded in spreading their notoriety throughout the kingdom, resulting in a very significant gain.

‘The fact that a new rule was created prohibiting the use of hallucinations was a painful miscalculation…’

―You’re too vicious, you bad guy.

Having learned photon magic, he could now handle electromagnetic waves, including visible light, albeit clumsily, and combining it with Eve’s hallucination ability, he could create illusions that anyone would be fooled by. Ban Yu-won admitted that he had been too excited. Fortunately, Count Durk, who couldn’t read his thoughts, continued in a voice as moved as a fan meeting a rock star he had admired for 30 years.

“The pillar of light in the small city of Duola, the eradication of the cultist group active in the metropolis of Melinton, the resolution of the epidemic in the port city, and… the elimination of pirates that appeared on the route to the capital just before being summoned to the palace. These pirates were also cultists, weren’t they?”

“Exactly.”

―They were precisely the contractors of the Wings of Justice.

In Room 26, the original scenario might have been that the contractors of [Wings] would pursue the contractors of [Claws] heading to the capital by ship, and in the process, engage in a cooperative naval battle with the climbers. Given the rule in Room 26 that ‘falling into the water results in retirement,’ a fierce battle was expected, but…

Ban Yu-won manipulated the currents with Elemental Magic to cause the two groups to collide, ultimately sinking them as pirates, thus clearing Room 26. During this, Dokgo Yeon impressively demonstrated her ability to run on water, saying it was fine as long as she didn’t fall in. Light had a hard time being stopped from jumping into the water, claiming he could do the same.

“Amazing, truly remarkable achievements! I can’t believe all this was accomplished in just a month.”

In reality, it had only been two days.

“In this current situation, where plagues are rampant in various places and cultist groups are running amok, harming innocent people every night, having a powerful contractor of a constellation like you appear is incredibly reassuring.”

“The ones to be wary of are not just them, Your Excellency.”

Ban Yu-won warned him with a grave expression.

“You must be cautious of those who impersonate their roles. They call themselves contractors of the ‘Wings’ and wield false powers of light. I almost got fooled when I first met them.”

“Huh.”

“They claim their mission is to find and eliminate cultists, but in reality, they are cultists of the same root. They pretend to track cultists but actually cover for them, allowing them to run rampant.”

When Ban Yu-won exaggerated his experience in Room 24, Count Durk clenched his fists in anger.

“Such… such outrageous people!”

“In fact, they don’t reveal their existence openly and are active in secret throughout the kingdom. When their tails are stepped on, they reveal their true colors… and they wield truly evil powers of the constellation.”

It was true that the contractors of the Wings didn’t openly reveal their existence. Come to think of it, in Room 23, the contractor of the Wings didn’t reveal his identity at first and was moving in secret. Presumably, that was their restriction. Just as the contractors of the Claws could only reveal their powers at night, the contractors of the Wings were bound by the restriction of not being able to reveal their identity to the public!

‘That’s why they keep getting beaten by me.’

If they had quietly stayed hidden, nothing would have happened, but the constellation, unable to endure being ignored, acted out, worsening the relationship. Meanwhile, Ban Yu-won, through his exploits in Room 24, had acquired the grand title of the Contractor of Light. Watching the value of that name grow as he passed through Rooms 25 and 26 was quite entertaining. When brute force couldn’t be used openly, the one with the loudest voice wins. And the louder the name, the louder the voice!

Currently, Ban Yu-won’s voice was louder than all the contractors of the two constellations combined.

“We are thinking of organizing an army.”

Count Durk got to the point.

“His Majesty is determined to wipe out all the cultists, and it’s all because capable individuals like you have promised cooperation.”

“I am honored to be of help. In the name of the constellation I serve, I will surely lead this holy war to victory.”

Ban Yu-won, now quite accustomed to Light Enchantment (imbuing objects with light magic power, making them appear very strong and righteous, though the effect wasn’t particularly significant), cast it over the entire room, creating a sacred atmosphere. Tears welled up in Count Durk’s eyes, as if he had received a divine revelation.

“Very reassuring. If we succeed in eradicating the cultists, His Majesty will personally commend you.”

“I’m just glad to be trusted and relied upon as a humble traveler.”

“Yes, I look forward to it, Brigade Commander!”

“Yes! …Brigade Commander?”

*

Even though they could organize an army, the unique rules of the Trick Room still posed problems. Among them, the most problematic was the rule added in Room 24.

―You cannot attack first unless attacked.

The other rules weren’t as significant in comparison. This rule, which had persistently clung to them from Room 25 through 26, applied only to the Rebellion members, i.e., the climbers. The problem was that both groups, the contractors of Claws and Wings, were aware of this rule. Even the knight in Room 24 didn’t dare attack directly for fear of retaliation, opting instead to weaken him with poison before attacking. From Room 25, their actions became blatantly obvious, trying not to attack them directly.

That’s why Ban Yu-won resorted to creating illusions or manipulating currents.

“If I order the army to attack and kill them, that would count as a first attack, right?”

“Probably.”

While the national atmosphere of rejecting the contractors of the constellations was beneficial, it was crucial to finish perfectly to achieve a beautiful ending. Expanding the climbers’ position, which was originally meant to assist the contractors of the Wings in hunting the contractors of the Claws, to this extent was purely Ban Yu-won’s achievement. Therefore, he needed to think carefully about how to utilize the army he could now command.

‘Army, how do I use the army? Is this a failure? Wouldn’t it be better if I dealt with the contractors before the army was organized… wait. Organization, organization…?’

At that moment, a thought flashed through his mind. It was an absurd idea, but if it were possible, it could end this room in an instant. In fact, he had cleared Rooms 24, 25, and 26 in a similar manner. Ban Yu-won chuckled and stood up.

“I need to meet the chamberlain again.”

“Tell us what you’re planning before you go.”

“I want to ask if I can directly intervene in organizing the army. Specifically, conscription.”

“…Wait a minute.”

Dokgo Yeon’s face froze.

“You’re not, right? You’re not thinking what I’m thinking, right?”

“I’ve always thought we have great chemistry, don’t you think?”

“Ugh…?! Are you crazy?”

“What is it? Hey, what is it!”

Light, who didn’t understand the conversation at all, tilted his head and interjected, but Dokgo Yeon just held her forehead and shook her head.

“After this Trick Room section, there won’t be many things like this. So calm down, Dokgo Yeon.”

“Okay, okay, just finish it quickly…”

“Seriously, what is it?!”

Ban Yu-won went to the chamberlain and made a proposal, which the chamberlain readily accepted. And the next day, in the tower’s time, a national soldier selection audition was held. An audition to organize a corps with the Contractor of Light to exterminate the rat-like cultists hiding in the country! …Of course, non-participation was considered treason.