Gate to Ascension

In Fangting City, if you stop a pedestrian on the street and ask, "What is the tallest building in Fangting City?", you will often get a fairly uniform answer:

--Green Tower.

Standing at a total height of 1005 meters and with as many as 197 floors, the Green Tower, the most famous tourist and commercial building in Fangting City, was built decades ago. At that time, the Green Tower was even hailed as the "tallest building in Eastern Hua Prefecture".

The original reasons for the project are now unknown. All that is known is that the Fangting City at the time used the slogan of "boosting tourism" and spent huge sums of money, even cooperating with the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau and utilizing a massive amount of Magic Side resources, to finally complete this engineering marvel.

Unfortunately, the building ultimately failed to change Fangting City's status as a remote border town. Rather, given Fangting City's inherently unfavorable geographical location, the Green Tower project ultimately became a self-indulgent endeavor within the city. At the time, it even received negative reviews, being described as "too tall to be meaningful."

It didn't attract many outside tourists; only local residents came out of curiosity. After a few years, as the novelty wore off for the locals, the Green Tower gradually became one of the common sights in Fangting City.

Decades later, the Green Tower continues to serve its purpose as a landmark building in Fangting City. The bottom ten floors are a commercial complex consisting of various shops, while the floors above that, up to the hundredth floor, are office areas mixed with a small amount of commercial space. As for the floors above the hundredth floor, they are entirely designed for sightseeing and tourism, catering to locals and tourists from all over the world.

At the very top of the Green Tower, there is a huge signal light that emits a pale green neon glow every night, making the green dot of light visible even from tens of kilometers away.

It's worth mentioning that the largest stadium in Fangting City is named "Green Tower" Stadium because it is located in the suburbs, where the Green Tower stands in stark contrast to the city. Whenever there is an important sporting event or a grand stage performance, the light from the top of the Green Tower shines directly above the stage. Sometimes, the color of the light from the top of the tower even changes to match the performance inside the stadium, which is a popular anecdote among the citizens.

Today, this Green Tower welcomed two rather special guests.

On the first floor of the Green Tower, there is a secluded elevator waiting hall located in the northern part of the tower. Its interior is quite luxurious, with sparkling crystals inlaid between the high ceilings, and water features and sculptures standing next to the exquisite walls. Sunlight streams into the room through the floor-to-ceiling windows with louvers, and golden spots of light flow gently on the marble floor.

However, the beautiful scenery did not seem to tempt the two guests to stop and admire it. They hurried past the statues, stepped over the dappled sunlight, and arrived at the deserted elevator door.

"Wow, that's amazing! Nobody stopped us on the way; we just swaggered in!"

Following closely behind Lin Yun, who was striding confidently, Wood Lily glanced around and exclaimed, "The decorations are so luxurious! It feels like I've become a rich person."

"If you want, every magical girl can be a wealthy person in the conventional sense."

Lin Yun pressed the button next to the elevator, her expression calm. "If you really want to become rich, no one can stop you."

"That's one way to put it, but I understand that I can't possibly exchange my own Echo for money."

Wood Lily stopped in front of a bonsai tree next to the elevator, fiddling with the green leaves. "As for asking the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau for money, or robbing others, that's even more impossible. Mu... Yuan Xiang- nee would beat me up if she knew."

"You've actually considered going out to rob someone?" Lin Yun raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

"Of course not... never?" Wood Lily turned her head somewhat blankly. "Probably not."

"... Never mind, it's not important."

Looking into the other person's clear yet slightly naive eyes, Lin Yun sighed inwardly, abandoning the idea of delving deeper into the matter, and subtly changed the subject. "Let's talk about that thing we discussed earlier. Are you sure you can believe the 'rumors' you mentioned?"

"Is that even a question?"

Upon hearing Lin Yun mention this, Wood Lily nodded vigorously. "This is a secret that everyone in our circle knows. The 'Gate to Ascension' definitely exists!"

"Oh." Lin Yun remained noncommittal upon hearing this. "Then let's assume that's the case."

"Don't take this lightly!"

Seeing that Lin Yun still looked uninterested, Wood Lily immediately said indignantly, "I've told you my biggest secret, so you'd better keep it a secret! You absolutely can't tell anyone else, okay?"

"I don't think everyone will unconditionally believe what you say is true..."

"I don't care, you're not allowed to tell anyone, okay?"

"Yes, yes, I definitely won't tell anyone."

While giving Wood Lily a perfunctory reply, Lin Yun turned his gaze to the elevator beside him. Watching the floor indicator light slowly turn to 1, he took a white card from his chest pocket and stuck it next to the elevator button. A short while later, accompanied by a "beep," the elevator doors slowly opened for the two of them.

This is the internal staff elevator of the Green Tower, and it's the only elevator in the entire Green Tower that goes directly to the top. Lin Yun obtained the pass in his hand under the guise of handling matters for the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, which led to the scene before us.

Next, the two set their sights on the very top floor of this landmark building in Fangting City.

As for why they came here, and why Lin Yun was the only one accompanying them, the reason naturally lies in the word Wood Lily just mentioned—

Gate to Ascension.

This is a long-standing rumor among magical girls, the exact time of which is also unverifiable. However, as far as Lin Yun knows, this rumor was already circulating among magical girls when he was still a student.

The rumor specifically states that there is a gate in this world called the "Gate to Ascension," and those who enter that gate and gain its approval can become "kings."

The entire rumor can be summed up in a single sentence. As for what exactly a "king" is, why one should become a "king," and whether this rumor is disrespectful to Her Majesty the Queen, those are not questions that an ordinary magical girl needs to ponder.

Without any beginning or end, vague and ambiguous, with no eyewitnesses, even calling this rumor boring would be too kind. So, although the existence of "the Gate to Ascension" has been circulating among magical girls for many years, no one has ever really taken it seriously.

Furthermore, with the changing of generations, and because the rumors were so boring, many people in the new generation have never even heard of the term "magical girl." Even Lin Yun herself had buried it somewhere in the back of her memory, and if Wood Lily hadn't brought it up, she probably would never have thought of it again.

That's why, when Wood Lily repeatedly emphasized in the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, "I can tell, but you must not tell any third party," and "I don't believe verbal guarantees, you have to write it down," she uttered this very word. Even though Lin Yun tried very hard to control his facial expression, he couldn't stop the look of suspicion from showing.

"You mean, this so-called 'Gate to Ascension' currently exists in Fangting City?"

Lin Yun reconstructed Wood Lily's fragmented expression, trying hard to understand her intention. He patiently jotted down two sentences in his notebook. "Who told you that?"

"Of course he's my friend," Wood Lily replied confidently.

"And who is your friend?"

"Other magical girls I met online, what's wrong?"

Why are you so sure what they're saying is true?

"Because my friend told me that her friend's friend's sister's father's colleague knew the great Fairy in the Garden..."

To be honest, if Wood Lily wasn't Margaret's teammate, but some random magical girl who came out of nowhere, Lin Yun probably would have already turned around and left, waiting for her teammates to come and get her.

According to Wood Lily herself, in the two months she had been in Fangting City, she had spent all her funds on this nonsensical, unverifiable rumor, conducting a thorough search, but to no avail. To make matters worse, her teammates suddenly decided to leave Fangting City yesterday, insisting on taking her with them. Therefore, she decided to take the plunge and go to the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau to look up relevant information.

Furthermore, because Wood Lily carried out this entire matter on her own, single-mindedly wanting to monopolize the "Gate to Ascension" and not wanting others to know the truth, she ultimately chose the worst possible decision. "To infiltrate the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau alone."

Then, she was caught red-handed by the Security Department of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau because she was caught on camera, and because she almost destroyed a lot of important data when she tried to escape using her Magic Armament, she was brought here.

The whole process was so frustrating that all you could do was sigh.

"So, why do you think that after all this rumor has been circulating for so long, no one else has been able to find your so-called 'Gate to Ascension' in Fangting City?" Lin Yun asked Wood Lily with a hint of helplessness.

"That's because I'm a magical girl, and I'm more powerful than ordinary Mage!" Wood Lily answered confidently.

As for whether she is truly more powerful than ordinary mages, considering that she was arrested by the Security Department of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, Lin Yun had to put a big question mark on this conclusion in his mind.

"What about your so-called 'friends'? Didn't you say they were magical girls too? Why don't they come looking for you themselves?" Lin Yun continued to press.

"You don't understand? Of course, it's because I was passing through Fangting City that they entrusted me with this important task." Wood Lily replied, twirling a strand of her hair with her fingers. "They even specially raised some funds for me."

"Give you funds? Oh, so you said you've used up all your funds? Where exactly did you spend them?" Lin Yun, holding a pen and paper, glanced up at her.

"Uncle, you're so annoying! You always have to ask girls all sorts of questions, especially personal ones. Do you actually have feelings for me?"

"What do you mean by '...'?"

Lin Yun almost laughed out of exasperation, "This is a routine investigation. I have a wife and children, and I have no interest in a little brat like you."

"Hmph? Then I'll take it that way."

Wood Lily, with an expression that said, "I see through the truth, but I won't say it," propped her cheek on her hand and said, "You asked about money? Of course, it's used to buy snacks and clothes. Where else could it be used?"

Lin Yun couldn't tell whether her mission was important or not, but she could definitely tell that her group of girlfriends had been wronged.

At the end of the questioning, out of respect for her courageous act of venturing into the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, Lin Yun decided to help her by checking the relevant records of "Gate to Ascension" in Fangting City.

Regardless of whether the rumors are true or false, or whether we can find any useful information, at least we can get a relatively definite answer so that little Wood Lily can go home with her teammates with peace of mind.

Lin Yun was initially pessimistic about whether this action would yield the desired results, because he did not believe that the information source mentioned by Wood Lily was credible at all, and was most likely just a bunch of children spreading rumors.

But the reality was far beyond his expectations.

Using his directorial authority, Lin Yun unlocked the entire database of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau and flipped through the documents backwards. When he reached several decades ago, he actually found some records that seemed plausible but were not.

The record originated from the archives of the [Fangting City Green Tower Observation Deck Project]. In these files, Lin Yun discovered that the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau undertook part of the construction work for this project, one of its main purposes seemingly being to search for the existence of "something." A significant portion of the documents pointed to connections with the Magic Kingdom, suggesting that the Kingdom itself had limited involvement in the Green Tower project and even left something on the top floor of the Green Tower.

As for that "certain thing," because the Kingdom was involved, the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau did not leave a very detailed description in the documents at the time, and even failed to leave its real name, only using a code name.

This appellation is called "door".

Thus, the two of them made the trip to the Green Tower.

This kind of thing wouldn't normally be something that Director Lin Yun would personally handle, but considering that Wood Lily is ultimately a magical girl from another city, Fangting City Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau doesn't have a liaison officer who can communicate with her normally, only he, as the director, has the temporary authority to contact magical girls, which is why it became a trip for him and Wood Lily as a couple.

Besides, the fact that this matter actually involved the Kingdom authorities at the time greatly interested Lin Yun, who felt it necessary to take a look himself.

Although it is a tourist attraction open to the public, the top floor of the Green Tower is not actually open to visitors. This is because the top floor houses many important facilities and the city's famous searchlights, so the staircase leading to the top floor is usually kept closed to the public. There is only one staff elevator in the entire Green Tower that leads to the top floor.

Of course, for Lin Yun, the director of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, this blockade was meaningless. With just a phone call, he arrived and someone handed him a pass to the Green Tower.

Then, the two of them stood in the elevator that led to the top floor.

"Ah!" In the silent elevator, Wood Lily suddenly let out a short exclamation.

Lin Yun looked in the direction of the sound and saw her covering her ears, leaning against the inner wall of the elevator, looking terrified.

"What's wrong?" he asked, reaching into his pocket for the Heart Gem, trying to sense if there were any unusual magical fluctuations around him.

"Ears... ears!"

However, Wood Lily pointed to her ear in a panic. "My ear exploded!"

"Ear?"

Lin Yun frowned, pondered for a moment, and then understood what the other person was talking about. She breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh, you mean this? It's air pressure. It's not that you're hearing things."

"Air pressure? But my ears hurt so much!"

Wood Lily covered her head. "Could it be that? Is the Gate to Ascension repelling my approach...?"

"Pinch your nose, close your mouth, and blow out."

Interrupting her, Lin Yun demonstrated by pinching her nose, tilting her head, and gesturing for Wood Lily to follow suit. "Like this, exhale slowly."

"Hmm? Hmm."

Wood Lily followed his example and did the same, keeping her mouth shut and remaining quiet for a long time before finally letting go of his hand.

"Wow, it really doesn't hurt anymore! You're amazing, uncle!"

"It's just a little bit of common sense. Even if I don't tell you, you'll learn it from somewhere else someday."

Lin Yun stared intently at the electronic screen above the button. "If we're talking about 'amazing' things, then the predecessors who summarized these methods were even more amazing."

"Really?" Wood Lily blinked, her outstretched hands clenching slightly beside her cheeks. "But the person who invented this method can't save me right now. For me, it's you, the uncle who just happened to help me, who's more amazing. You can be even more proud of yourself."

"Where did you learn this twisted logic?" Lin Yun looked away again, glancing at her with a hint of helplessness.

"This is my original work; plagiarism will be prosecuted." Wood Lily said smugly.

The elevator ascended to the top floor in this rather inexplicable atmosphere.

Lin Yun stepped out of the elevator and looked around. The elevator lobby was much smaller than the one on the first floor. Perhaps because it did not need to receive tourists, its interior decoration was much simpler compared to the grand and luxurious style of the first floor. He could even see mottled rust on the door frame leading to the rooftop, which meant that there had been no maintenance since the Green Tower was built decades ago.

Clutching the Heart Gem in her pocket, Lin Yun slowly stepped out of the elevator. The sun here seemed exceptionally glaring, and the wind exceptionally biting. Even at the top of the tower, a thousand meters high, the temperature was much lower than at ground level; even through a coat, she could feel the penetrating cold.

Wow, so beautiful!

Before he could even take in the surroundings, he heard Wood Lily exclaim in surprise. The girl had somehow managed to run to the edge of the rooftop, standing by the railing and gazing down. "You can see the whole city from here!"

Be careful.

After subconsciously giving her a hint, Lin Yun walked to her side, squinted, and looked down from the same angle, immediately feeling dizzy.

The entire Fangting City was now within his view. Because it was so high up, the buildings on the ground had become clusters of buildings, embedded among the narrow roads, like a chessboard. Continuing to look ahead, he could even see the City Barrier Network on the distant horizon, and even further away, a gray-yellow Wasteland.

It truly lives up to its name as an "observation tower".

He thought to himself, standing in the cold wind, quietly looking down at the city below. After a long while, he patted Wood Lily on the shoulder, turned around, and said, "Let's go when you've seen enough. We didn't come here just to see the scenery."

On the rooftop of the Green Tower, the searchlight that guides half the city stands behind the two of them on a steel support that is more than ten meters high.

Just now, Lin Yun sensed a fleeting fluctuation of magical power, and the source of the fluctuation seemed to be that searchlight.

He secretly used Spell Formula to search the entire rooftop of the Green Tower, finding that everything else was unremarkable except for the faint magical fluctuations on the searchlights.

Without a doubt, what the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau and the Kingdom left behind decades ago in their search for the "Door" is still there.

Stepping onto the slightly creaking steps, Lin Yun held onto the iron bar beside him and carefully climbed upwards using both hands and feet. Before long, he felt his steps become a little sluggish.

It's a barrier.

He was keenly aware of this.

This barrier doesn't seem to be designed to block others' paths, as the magic within it doesn't repel the outside and is quite gentle, seemingly just maintaining a certain magical balance.

Realizing that the answer might be right in front of him, Lin Yun quickened his pace, climbing up in two strides, and then following the magical fluctuations around the searchlight, he found what he had sensed earlier behind it.

--A slightly yellowed piece of white paper was pasted behind the searchlight. Black Fawo Runes were written on the four corners of the paper, and some other text was also printed on the surface of the paper.

Lin Yun recognized this type of white paper.

This is a product from the Kingdom called "Automatic Scribe." The product itself is just a blank sheet of paper, but according to the user's instructions, the Automatic Scribe can autonomously write the content the user wants on the paper.

This product is neither particularly rare nor expensive; its value is roughly equivalent to that of a Material Realm book. It is clearly not worthy of being considered a "treasure" in this treasure hunt.

Perhaps the only thing of value is what is recorded on this piece of paper.

Thinking of this, Lin Yun reached out and peeled off the white paper. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the densely packed text on it seemed to be some kind of record:

[In the year 1955 of the Queen's Calendar, 0 fluctuations, 0 oscillations, and 0 resonances were detected. The fluctuation frequency was...]

[In the year 1956 of the Queen's Calendar, 0 fluctuations, 0 oscillations, and 0 resonances were detected. The fluctuation frequency was...]

[In the year 1963 of the Queen's Calendar, 1 fluctuation was detected, 0 oscillations, and 1 resonance. The fluctuation frequency was...]

[In the year 1964 of the Queen's Calendar, 0 fluctuations, 0 oscillations, and 1 resonance were detected. The fluctuation frequency was...]

[In the year 1978 of the Queen's Calendar, 0 fluctuations, 1 oscillation, and 1 resonance were detected. The fluctuation frequency was...]

[In the year 1979 of the Queen's Calendar, 0 fluctuations, 0 oscillations, and 1 resonance were detected. The fluctuation frequency was...]

All the records above eventually came to a stop in "Queen's Calendar 1980".

According to the Kingdom calendar, Lin Yun is currently in the year 2000 of the Queen's Calendar. In other words, this Automatic Scribe lost its effectiveness 20 years ago.

As for what was recorded above, Lin Yun hadn't studied it, so he couldn't understand it, but he didn't care, because he knew that others could understand it.

After stepping off the scaffold, Lin Yun examined the white paper in his hand, turning it over and over. He confirmed that its material was nothing special, and it did not contain any other hidden content. Even the magic circuits in the paper had long since ceased to function. Without hesitation, he handed it to Wood Lily.

He had already written down what was recorded on the paper, but he didn't care much about the paper itself.

This behavior, however, made Wood Lily's eyes widen in surprise.

"What do you mean? You gave it to me?" she asked incredulously.

"Okay, here you go." Lin Yun waved the blank piece of paper. "I've checked, it's just an ordinary piece of paper, nothing dangerous. You can take it."

"No, it's not a problem with dangerous goods, is it?"

Wood Lily blankly took the Automatic Scribe from Lin Yun's hand. "This is a clue to Gate to Ascension, you know? It's very valuable!"

"I know, that's why I wrote down what was written there." Lin Yun nodded.

"And what about this piece of paper? Maybe it's some kind of treasure?"

Wood Lily also shook the paper in her hand. "What if there's a treasure map, a lost Spell Formula, or a personal granny inside..."

That's your problem.

Lin Yun remained noncommittal. "After all, you yourself said that this was your destined encounter."

"I did say that... no, that can't be right, can it? How do you know I said that, sir?"

Wood Lily was even more surprised. "I didn't tell you that?"

"Who knows? Maybe I just got it mixed up."

Lin Yun tightened her coat and walked towards the elevator not far away. "Let's go, it's too cold outside."

"No, no, no, you must have found out from somewhere! Uncle, you really have been secretly following me, haven't you?"

Wood Lily then realized what was happening, clutching the paper, and ran after Lin Yun: "It's not too late for you to confess now, it's okay. After all, it's normal for a cute girl like me to have some inappropriate thoughts."

"I've already told you, don't overthink it."

"But you're making it impossible for me to overthink! You're so good to me, don't you really want anything in return?"

"... I don't see anything I've done well for you, so stop being so self-satisfied."

Lin Yun sighed, "I'm from the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, and you're a magical girl. What I'm doing is simply my job."

"But I'm clearly not from Fangting City?"

"Whatever, it doesn't matter."

"The tsundere trait isn't cute on an older man, is it?" Wood Lily ran a few steps forward, bent down, and looked up to meet Lin Yun's gaze.

"Stop being so cheeky," Lin Yun clicked his tongue.

"So it seems my previous opinion was really wrong? Uncle, you're such a good person." Wood Lily straightened up again.

"I already told you, I was just passing by," Lin Yun sighed.

"Then, as an apology, let me treat you to lunch, sir!"

"You have money?"

"No."

"So how do you plan to invite them?"

"Come to our magical girl base! I'll have our captain cook for you."

"... Thank you so much."

"So? Are you coming or not?"

"I'm not going."

"How could this be... This is lunch made by a beautiful magical girl herself, and our captain is single, beautiful, and even a big star. You'll definitely like her, Uncle."

"Forget it, I still have work to do."

"I didn't know the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau was so busy."

"Yes, the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau is extremely busy."

So I have to go back alone?

"Let me take you; it's too cold to walk back."

"Oh! That's such a heartwarming comment! My affection for you has increased again, uncle! But I'm still a minor, so even with the increased affection, there are still some things I can't do."

"Oh."

"Uncle."

"Um?"

"Thank you. I'm sorry about what happened in Bai'an City before."

"Um."