Admission is a Waste of Time – Full Story Summary

Most students worry about grades, majors, or whether their dream university will accept them. But for Ban Yoo-won, the question of higher education takes on an entirely different meaning—one that involves ancient legends, mystical powers, and the daunting challenge of climbing the Tower of Babel itself.

Yoo-won has never been an ordinary student. Since childhood, he possessed a remarkable gift: the ability to interpret unknown languages and absorb the very “concepts” of things he observed. Where others saw only symbols or shapes, Yoo-won could unravel meaning and make sense of even the most mysterious forms of communication. This unique talent made him stand out, though he never quite understood the true scale of his ability.

His grandfather often spoke of their family’s unusual heritage. According to the old man, their bloodline descended from the ancestor who once led people in building the Tower of Babel, a structure meant to unite humanity through shared language. That ancestor wielded the power to make anyone communicate, breaking the barriers that divided people. The family, his grandfather insisted, carried fragments of that power, and one day Yoo-won himself would be able to reclaim the Tower of Babel and restore it to its rightful owner—their bloodline.

Yoo-won always thought it was just a story, an exaggeration told by an old man clinging to myths. He focused instead on his own future, waiting anxiously for his university acceptance results, just like any other student. But destiny had other plans.

One day, without warning, Yoo-won was pulled from his normal life and transported into an academy in a dimension he had never seen before. It was not a place of ordinary classrooms or lecture halls. Instead, towering before him was the legendary Tower of Babel, the very structure he had heard about all his life. The story his grandfather told was no fairy tale—it was real, and now it stood before him, vast and imposing.

Faced with this reality, Yoo-won began to understand his purpose. The strange ability he had carried since birth, the old stories passed down in his family, and the sudden summons to this academy all tied together. For the first time, he felt the weight of his bloodline’s legacy pressing down on him. At the same time, another thought stirred inside him. The Tower of Babel was not only a relic of history but also a possession to be claimed. Yoo-won’s materialistic side wanted to own it, to reclaim the tower as his family’s rightful property, and perhaps to gain the unimaginable power hidden within it.

With this mix of personal ambition and the deeper goal of fulfilling his family’s dream, Yoo-won entered the academy that governed access to the Tower. His journey began not in lecture halls but on the dangerous floors of the tower itself. Each level of the Tower of Babel was filled with monsters, traps, and mysteries, each more dangerous than the last. Unlike a normal university, where tests involved essays and exams, this academy tested its students by throwing them into battles for survival.

Yoo-won’s unusual power became his greatest weapon. The ability to read and interpret unknown languages and absorb concepts allowed him to understand spells, decipher traps, and even turn the tower’s own mysteries into tools for survival. While others struggled blindly, Yoo-won learned and adapted quickly, gaining strength from his knowledge and insight.

But climbing the tower was not simply about survival. At its peak lay forces tied to the constellations and, beyond them, the power of the gods themselves. To reach that summit meant facing trials designed to break even the strongest contenders. Along the way, Yoo-won encountered allies who shared his struggle, rivals who sought to claim the tower for themselves, and enemies who stood ready to cut down anyone in their path. The academy was not just a place of learning—it was a battlefield where only the most determined and resourceful could survive.

What makes Admission is a Waste of Time unique is its balance of humor, ambition, and danger. Yoo-won begins his journey with a somewhat selfish desire to reclaim the tower as a kind of family inheritance. Yet as he climbs, his motives expand. He is driven not just by greed but also by the dream passed down through his family, the hope of uniting people through the lost power of the tower. This blend of personal ambition and noble responsibility makes his journey complex and engaging.

The battles within the tower are intense, filled with creative challenges that test more than brute strength. Strategy, intelligence, and the ability to understand and adapt are just as important as fighting skill. Yoo-won’s gift makes him an unconventional hero—one who wins not simply by overpowering his enemies, but by outthinking them.

At its heart, the manhwa is about self-discovery and ambition. Yoo-won starts as a skeptical student waiting for his college acceptance, only to be thrust into a situation where his choices carry the weight of history. His family’s past, his unique power, and his own desire to claim the tower all shape his growth as he climbs higher. The further he goes, the more he learns about himself, his bloodline, and the true nature of the Tower of Babel.

Admission is a Waste of Time delivers a fresh take on the academy-and-dungeon genre. It mixes the atmosphere of school life with the high-stakes battles of dungeon climbing, wrapped around the mystery of one of humanity’s oldest myths. For readers who enjoy stories of hidden powers, clever protagonists, and dangerous trials, this manhwa offers an exciting and unpredictable ride.

In the end, Ban Yoo-won is no ordinary student. He is the heir to a forgotten legacy, a climber of the legendary Tower of Babel, and a young man whose journey will decide whether his family’s dream is fulfilled—or whether he will be swallowed by the dangers that lie within.