Why Did I Have to Enroll - Chapter 6

Lesson 2. This Is Your Roommate - 2

"Yu-won, I don't know why you're being so bothersome, but you know Dad's a busy person, right? I've got a business trip coming up soon... Ouch!"

"Oh, you fool. Today's the day of Yu-won's college announcement. You can't even make time for dinner on a day like this?"

As soon as they sat at the table, the mother smacked the father's back as he was trying to set a serious tone.

Meanwhile, the grandfather seated at the head of the table...

"The Tower of Babel? You're talking about the Tower of Babel, aren't you?"

He was spouting nonsense.

The father and mother were carrying on their usual banter while occasionally glancing at the grandfather, their expressions seeming to ask who on earth had dragged this old man out here.

"Alright, now that we're all here, speak up."

Ban Yu-mi sat with a calm expression, her wooden sword within reach.

She looked ready to immediately pick up the sword and strike Ban Yu-won's head if the meeting agenda turned out to be trivial.

"Then I'll get straight to the point."

As Ban Yu-won placed a snack bag on the table, Ban Yu-mi's expression turned cold.

She was clearly thinking, 'Don't tell me this bastard called a family meeting to report something so insignificant?'

"Everyone, look closely."

"At the snack bag?"

"Isn't this about the Tower of Babel?"

[Absorbing the linguistic concept of 'Envelope' from the empty snack bag.]

[Absorbing 0.1 of Envelope. As this is not a concept humans can possess, it is recommended to separate it or bestow it upon another object.]

As Ban Yu-won absorbed the concept, the snack bag instantly withered, eventually turning to powder and scattering with a soft 'poof'.

Seeing this, the father jumped up in shock and shouted.

"You're scattering powder everywhere!"

"Honey, you sit down. Yu-won, what was that just now? Can you use it on other trash too?"

"The ability to turn trash into dust...!"

"!!"

Everyone seemed to be amazed in their own way... but somehow, the direction of their surprise felt a bit different from what Ban Yu-won had expected.

He narrowed his eyes and said,

"Don't you all have any other reactions? Like, where on earth did you get such an ability?"

The family's responses were quite a spectacle.

"Well, it's surprising, but not as much as when you spoke ten languages at age three..."

"Yu-won, can you get rid of Styrofoam too?"

"So what was that uniform you were wearing earlier?"

"The Tower of Babel!!!"

Amidst the family members each saying their piece, suddenly the grandfather raised his voice and shouted,

"You've found the Tower of Babel, Won-ah!"

"Huh?"

"Father, what are you talking about?"

"Grandpa, let's get you to bed soon."

How on earth could turning a snack bag into dust lead to mentioning the Tower of Babel?

The other family members thought the grandfather's dementia was acting up again and tried to escort him to his room, but...

"No, wait everyone. As expected, Grandpa knows."

The fact that this was actually correct was truly ironic.

"I found the Tower of Babel. But there are strange monsters occupying the tower, Grandpa."

"What an outrageous thing!"

Grandfather burst out angrily.

Was it just his imagination, or did the grandfather's small and shabby-looking frame seem to be growing larger?

No, anger and passion were inflating his withered body like a bellows.

"So we need to reclaim it. Support me."

"Support you? Of course! If our Won-ah is going to fulfill our family's long-cherished wish, how could this old man just stand by!"

The grandfather, who had now fully regained his senses, suddenly stood up and asked the father with gleaming eyes,

"My son, where did you put my mobile phone?"

"What? Father, you have so many mobile phones... Ah, you mean that old-fashioned phone? That one's stored safely in the warehouse."

"Come. I need to use that."

"Father? Oof, you're still as strong as ever!"

The grandfather dragged the father out of the room.

The mother and sister could only watch their retreating figures with astonished expressions.

And for good reason - it had been years since Grandfather Ban Ji-won had shown such a lucid appearance.

"Oh my, Father really does love the Tower of Babel that much to get so excited... So, what's really going on, Yu-won?"

The mother asked. Ban Yu-won answered honestly.

"I told you, I found the Tower of Babel."

"Are you going to be like this too? I don't know why you're deceiving your grandfather, but..."

"I said I found it."

Ban Yu-won insisted strongly as he opened his inventory.

The goblin club, which had fully recovered its energy after resting inside for several hours, immediately sprang out, spun around in the air a few times, and then went behind the mother's back to gently pat her shoulder.

"Eek!"

"Just believe me. So Mom, I'm sorry, but I can't go to college."

"Are you lying because you didn't get in?"

"No, that's not it, Mom. I definitely saw this kid get accepted to S University."

Ban Yu-mi said calmly, then turned to Ban Yu-won with a serious look in her eyes and asked,

"Can't you take me to the Tower of Babel too? It sounds fucking awesome."

"You're not ready. No, don't clench your fist. I'm serious, so give it up."

"Damn it..."

"I'll explain everything, so sit down and listen calmly."

And so, Ban Yu-won explained the events that had happened to him today.

The mother was horrified to hear that her son had been in mortal danger without her knowledge, while Ban Yu-mi's eyes sparkled upon learning about the existence of monsters and mana.

And when he got to the part about the Tower of Babel being called the dungeon of all dungeons...

"No way!"

The mother screamed.

"How can I send you to such a dangerous place!"

"I'm going, Mom. It's where I can best use my talents."

"This is different from before! Didn't you say you wanted to live comfortably and become a diplomat?"

"Ah, that's because even if I became an archaeologist or linguist here, the results would be obvious. But it's different there. Our building is there, I'm telling you!"

"Oh my, I should have known from the time this kid used to follow his grandfather around when he was little!"

As the mother pounded her chest in frustration at her son who wouldn't listen, Ban Yu-mi asked,

"Can I handle this magic thing too?"

"What? That's impossible... Wait a minute."

What was it that had allowed Ban Yu-won himself to handle magic?

Surely, the moment he accepted the external magic, it had stimulated the dormant magic within him and awakened it.

And if that was the case, then Ban Yu-mi could very well have the potential too.

"Sis, give me your hand."

"Oh my, how embarrassing."

"Stop messing around."

Grumbling, his sister extended her hand, and Ban Yu-won took 0.05 of the 16.25 magic power that had perfectly settled in his body and bestowed it upon her.

After all, he could bestow it freely even without ownership.

The moment 0.05 of magic power flowed through his hand into her, Ban Yu-mi flinched.

"What, what is this?"

"Magic power. Did you feel it?"

"This, wait a moment...!"

Hastily shaking off Ban Yu-won's hand and retreating, Ban Yu-mi sat down in a formal posture on the floor and concentrated.

In martial arts novels, they usually sit cross-legged at times like this, but perhaps because she had been practicing kendo since childhood, her posture looked quite convincing.

However, unlike Ban Yu-won who had realized his magic power immediately after absorbing it, she had to sit like that for quite a long time. It was unclear whether this was because she had only absorbed 0.05, unlike Ban Yu-won, or if her talent was relatively inferior.

As Ban Yu-won was wondering if he should give her a bit more magic power because it was taking too long, a brilliant red light suddenly emanated from Ban Yu-mi's body.

"I did it! This is it, right?"

"Oh, it worked."

In an instant, her presence swelled.

Perhaps because she was originally a strong person, once she awakened her magic power, the change was dramatic.

Her strength increased, her stamina improved, and her overall aura was transformed.

However, their mother, seeing her daughter suddenly trying to do a handstand with one finger to test her strength, put her hand to her forehead and lamented.

"Oh dear, even our daughter has gone strange."

"Mom, I'll give you magic power too. If you realize it, your body will become healthier and it's good."

"I'm fine. I don't want it."

"It doesn't even hurt."

"I said I don't want it!"

Seeing her daughter emitting a red light from her body, the mother seemed to have developed a strange fear and flatly refused the magic power.

Meanwhile, Ban Yu-mi, who had properly realized her magic power, was eager to go out and run wild right away, so she grabbed Ban Yu-won.

"Ban Yu-won, let's spar!"

"I've never even learned kendo."

"Don't lie, you bastard. Your posture looked good. I'll teach you properly, so hurry up and come with me. Come on, hurry!"

"Wait a minute, before that, our grandpa..."

"Won-ah."

As he was resisting Ban Yu-mi who was trying to drag him out recklessly, his father and grandfather had returned to the living room.

"I told them to come by noon tomorrow. I'll bring most of the things."

"Who did you tell to come?"

"Who else but the banker?"

Banker. Bank clerk.

Ban Yu-won vaguely remembered hearing that his family had an account in a Swiss bank.

When he looked at his father, his father nodded, still with a dazed expression.

"So you really had an account in one of those private banks that only appear in movies. And you never told your son all this time..."

"You don't have the talent! The account was always meant to be passed down to Won-ah!"

"Ah, Dad. And Grandpa too."

Ban Yu-won bestowed 0.1 magic power each to his father and grandfather.

Even if not right now, if they could awaken their magic power someday, it would be beneficial for their health.

Especially if it could slow down his grandfather's dementia even a little, he thought it would be good.

'Now my magic power is a clean 16.'

Since it was an investment in his family, this much wasn't too regrettable.

Anyway, to other academy students, it would probably just be a margin of error.

He wanted to bestow some on his mother too, but seeing how adamantly she refused, he couldn't force it on her.

"Can you feel the energy that's entered your body? From now on, that..."

"It's good for your body, so concentrate and try to feel it well. Now that we're done talking, let's go out!"

"Wait, I need to explain about the academy to Grandpa..."

"Mom can explain it!"

Ban Yu-won was dragged out by Ban Yu-mi and had to forcibly become her sparring partner.

If there was a positive realization from this, it was that short-term sparring with a skilled person helped develop various concepts he possessed.

Especially the growth in swordsmanship was shockingly fast, achieving an increase from 3 to 5.6 through just a few hours of sparring.

"What's with you? Why are you getting stronger so quickly!"

"Ah, this is what they call 'talent'."

"I really want to kill you."

Although Ban Yu-mi had realized her magic power and become stronger, the same was true for Ban Yu-won, and he had more magic power.

Above all, the concept of life that Ban Yu-won possessed, in other words, his level, was higher than hers.

The skills she had honed throughout her life had allowed her to maintain an upper hand, but Ban Yu-won was catching up to even that in a short time!

'Hmm, I don't think this can be explained simply as talent?'

Meanwhile, Ban Yu-won, who was growing in real-time while sparring with Ban Yu-mi, also questioned his own growth rate.

Then he suddenly realized something, which was his unique concepts of All-Reading Eyes, All-Hearing Ears, and All-Speaking Lips.

This doesn't seem to be an ability that applies only to language.

'Why is my swordsmanship developing so quickly now? It's because I'm watching my sister's movements, interpreting them, and applying them to myself. It's not just about reading language, is it?'

Ban Yu-mi, who had never been surpassed by her younger brother in any field involving physical skills throughout her life, was so frustrated that she held onto him all night long, refusing to let go.

Thanks to that, Ban Yu-won, who ended up staying up all night wielding a sword, grew his swordsmanship to 7.2, and was able to develop other bodily concepts bit by bit as well.

However, due to excessive strain, he fell asleep in the morning and only woke up around noon.

"You're awake."

"Oh, Grandpa. ...Are you okay?"

Ban Yu-won wore a slightly worried expression at the sight of Grandfather Ban Ji-won, who seemed to have been waiting just for him to wake up.

But he nodded strongly as if to dispel his grandson's worries.

"How could I lose my mind at a time like this? Don't worry, I have no intention of doing anything foolish until our Won-ah is fully prepared. More importantly, take a look at this."

Following his grandfather's finger, he turned his head and was surprised to see bars of pure gold stacked neatly.

It looked to be about a hundred kilograms.

"What, hey, this..."

"I withdrew some gold from the account. Gold is accepted anywhere in the world, so take it with you."

"What are you going to do if you give all of this to me!"

"Boy, don't worry, there's still plenty left. Don't underestimate the wealth our ancestors have accumulated. Ahem, but the real thing is this."

Ban Yu-won's eyes, barely torn away from the dazzling gold bars, fell upon a large trunk placed in the corner of the room.

Although it looked like an ordinary trunk on the outside, it strangely caught his eye and wouldn't let go.

Ban Yu-won realized that it was because of the magic power he felt from inside it.

Magic power! Wasn't there supposed to be no magic power on Earth?

"This, this..."

As Ban Yu-won got up and opened the trunk, he saw that it was filled with all sorts of artifacts.

He knew well that his ancestors had been traveling around the world until now.

Even Grandfather Ban Ji-won, as a diplomat, had traveled all over the world and brought back souvenirs from time to time, he remembered.

But what was contained in this trunk was not just trivial souvenirs, but real relics, each clearly containing history and tradition.

Precious objects that had even sprouted magic power they shouldn't originally possess in the process.

Dare I say, these were treasures incomparable to the gold bars.

"Grandpa, how did you..."

"These are traces of our ancestors who tried to find the Tower of Babel in any way possible. Now they're all yours, Won-ah. Will these be of help?"

Ban Yu-won picked up one of them, a slingshot that looked extremely old.

It was made from a sturdy branch carved down, with strange characters written on its surface, and used what seemed to be some unknown animal's tendon instead of a rubber band. Although it was too decayed and brittle to actually use, the wildness felt from within it was truly breathtaking.

[Do you want to absorb Magic Gun 5, Shooting 17, Hunting 21, and Fierce Beast 8 from the slingshot that pierces lion's eyes?]

"...Yes."

Ban Yu-won, admiring the true artifacts still remaining on the Earth that had lost its mystery, nodded absent-mindedly.

"This will be incredibly helpful."