“What is it?”
At Sang-hyeok’s question, Yoon Chae-rin first looked around.
Researchers and reporters who had finished the verification were still scattered throughout the testing site.
“Let’s move somewhere else for a moment.”
The two stepped into the corridor beside the verification hall.
When the door closed, the reporters’ voices and the sounds of equipment being cleared away grew distant.
Yoon Chae-rin spoke first.
“Mr. Sang-hyeok, you were in Ilseong’s technical area today.”
“Yeah.”
“As far as I know, only people involved in the Association verification are allowed there.”
Sang-hyeok looked at Yoon Chae-rin.
“What are you trying to say?”
“Were you involved in repairing the equipment?”
Yoon Chae-rin glanced back at the closed verification-hall door.
“After the verification ended, Chief Kim Seo-yoon and the researchers looked at you first.”
“So you thought I was involved in the repairs?”
“A problem they couldn’t solve until yesterday disappeared today.”
“Noona and the research team found it overnight.”
“In a single night? A problem that only appeared when monster mana touched the equipment?”
Sang-hyeok narrowed his eyes.
“You know quite a lot about the exact conditions under which the equipment failed, Ms. Chae-rin.”
Yoon Chae-rin paused for a moment, then answered calmly.
“Taeseong also has a stake in this evaluation. I only confirmed the rumors circulating through the industry.”
“Fine. I’ll leave it at that for now.”
Sang-hyeok did not ask anything more.
Yoon Chae-rin studied his expression and softened her voice.
“Then let’s stop talking about work.”
She lightly brushed a finger over her engagement ring.
“Why don’t we talk about us instead?”
“Us?”
“We haven’t really talked properly since we became engaged. We don’t even know how the other has been living.”
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
“Before our families start talking about marriage again, I think it would be good for the two of us to spend some time together first.”
“Time?”
“Let’s have a meal together sometime this week. I’m curious about what happened today, and I’d like to hear how you’ve been doing.”
Before his regression, even when Sang-hyeok asked to meet first, Yoon Chae-rin rarely made time for him.
Now she was using their engagement to create a private meeting herself.
It was unlikely that she had suddenly developed feelings for him.
‘She’s curious about the change she saw at Ilseong today. She wants to use her position as my fiancée to probe me from closer than anyone else can.’
Her calculation was obvious, but Sang-hyeok had no reason to refuse.
He also needed a place to end this engagement.
“Fine. Pick the place and date and send them to me.”
Yoon Chae-rin’s smile deepened slightly.
“I’ll contact you within the week.”
“Good.”
Sang-hyeok added,
“As it happens, I wanted to talk about our engagement too.”
“What about it?”
“We’ll talk that day.”
Yoon Chae-rin’s finger stopped on the ring.
Just as she was about to speak again, the verification-hall door opened behind them and Kim Sang-jun stepped into the corridor.
“Sang-hyeok. Father is looking for you.”
“Got it.”
Sang-hyeok gave Yoon Chae-rin a light nod.
“Contact me when you’ve set the date.”
In the past, merely hearing that she wanted to meet would have made him happily confirm the schedule several times.
But the Sang-hyeok of now did not look back even once.
His changed attitude and the sight of him standing among Ilseong’s research staff kept bothering her.
Yoon Chae-rin decided to find out exactly how deeply he had been involved in what happened today.
A short while later, after returning to Taeseong’s waiting area, Yoon Chae-rin opened her tablet.
[Report on Ilseong Group First Field Suitability Verification Result]
The cursor blinked on the empty report.
Remembering the conversation in the corridor, Yoon Chae-rin began typing.
[Sabotage of Ilseong prototype failed.]
[Method used to neutralize sabotage unknown.]
[Kim Sang-hyeok was present in Ilseong’s technical area on the day of verification.]
[Confirmed contact with Chief Kim Seo-yoon and the research staff.]
Yoon Chae-rin added one final line.
[Need to confirm whether he was involved in the equipment modification process.]
She selected the report’s recipient.
[Recipient: Strategic Planning Office Director Kang Tae-oh]
Click.
[Report sent.]
Yoon Chae-rin looked at Kim Sang-hyeok’s name, which remained as a separate investigation target, then closed the tablet and glanced down at the engagement ring on her finger.
To her, the coming meal was no longer a formal meeting for the sake of their families.
It was a chance to use her position as his fiancée to personally investigate Sang-hyeok’s changes and his role inside Ilseong.
***
Sang-hyeok left the verification site with Kim Sang-jun and boarded the private Ilseong vehicle where Kim Do-hyun was waiting.
As the vehicle departed, the partition between the front and rear seats slowly rose.
Vrrrr.
The outside noise was cut off, but Kim Do-hyun did not immediately speak.
The verification result issued by the Association moments ago was displayed on his tablet.
[First Field Suitability Verification: Passed]
[Qualification for second comparative performance evaluation maintained]
Kim Do-hyun looked at the two lines for a moment, then set the tablet down.
“Yesterday, two World Achievement announcements came out of Korea.”
Sang-hyeok did not answer.
“Both achievements came from the tutorial.”
The destruction of the Adamantine Scarecrow.
The defeat of the Unbreakable Guardian.
The achiever’s name had not been revealed, but the affiliated nation had been listed as the Republic of Korea.
“Your Trait opened that very same day.”
Kim Do-hyun looked at Sang-hyeok.
“And today, you appeared in the research wing carrying a Hero Grade Record Stone you said you obtained from the Tower.”
Kim Do-hyun had personally seen Sang-hyeok’s eyes change in the conference room the previous day.
He had also watched the hidden component appear on the Record Stone.
The timing of everything was far too exact to dismiss as coincidence.
“The private player who defeated the Unbreakable Guardian.”
Kim Do-hyun asked a short question.
“Was it you?”
Sang-hyeok met his father’s eyes.
He had no intention of telling anyone about the regression or the true nature of <Heart of the Apocalyptic Demon Dragon>.
But there was no need to hide from his father that he was the private player.
Kim Do-hyun was not a man who would use a secret involving his son’s life as a bargaining chip.
Until Sang-hyeok became strong enough to protect himself, his father could hide him behind Ilseong’s name and security network.
He also possessed the authority to connect the records Sang-hyeok brought from the Tower with Kim Seo-yoon and the researchers and turn them into real results.
“Yes.”
Sang-hyeok answered.
“It was me.”
Kim Do-hyun’s fingers stopped over the tablet.
The passing lights outside the window swept over his face, but his expression did not change.
Even so, the silence before he spoke again lasted longer than usual.
“Now that I think about it, you named Taeseong before you even examined the prototype. Did you learn that through your Trait as well?”
Sang-hyeok answered without avoiding his father’s gaze.
“I didn’t learn that through my Trait.”
“Then you obtained separate information.”
“That’s right.”
“The source?”
He could not say it came from memories of before his regression.
That was one thing he had no intention of telling anyone.
“I can’t tell you.”
Kim Do-hyun’s eyes narrowed.
“Not even me?”
“No, sir.”
The car fell silent, but Sang-hyeok neither made excuses nor added anything.
Revealing that he was the private player and revealing the regression were entirely different matters.
After a moment, Kim Do-hyun nodded.
“Understood.”
His father did not pry further and changed the subject.
“Who knows that you are the private player?”
“Only you, Father.”
“Sang-jun and Seo-yoon?”
“They know only that I awakened and that I have the Record Stone. They don’t know I’m the private player.”
“The researchers?”
“They probably don’t know either. I didn’t give them any clue that would connect me to the private player.”
Kim Do-hyun thought for a moment, then asked again.
“Still, Sang-jun and Seo-yoon know when you awakened. The researchers saw your ability directly. Couldn’t someone else make the same connection I did?”
“What they saw was me using my eyes to find an abnormality in equipment and showing it through the Record Stone. I never showed them any combat ability.”
“So they’ll assume you awakened into a research- or analysis-oriented type.”
“Yes. It would be difficult to think a newly awakened research-type player and the player who defeated the Unbreakable Guardian were the same person. They’ll probably treat the matching dates as coincidence.”
After hearing that, Kim Do-hyun took out his phone.
“Even so, we should erase as many clues leading to your identity as possible. Publicly, we will say Seo-yoon and the research team found and repaired the defect.”
His fingers moved quickly over the screen.
“I will personally control all internal material related to your ability and the Record Stone. We will also obtain separate confidentiality agreements from the researchers who participated in the repairs yesterday.”
“What about Sang-jun hyung?”
“I’ll have Sang-jun focus only on finding the internal collaborator. There is no need to tell him that you are the private player.”
Kim Do-hyun finished sending several instructions and put his phone down.
“The fewer people who know a secret like this, the better.”
Sang-hyeok nodded.
Kim Do-hyun immediately asked another question.
“Can someone else take that Record Stone and use it?”
“No. It is Bound to me.”
“What about transferring the records inside it separately?”
“That is impossible too. But I can allow other people to view the records I approve.”
“And you decide who can see which record?”
“Yes.”
Kim Do-hyun thought briefly, then continued.
“Can you keep recording things you encounter in the Tower from now on?”
“As long as I personally see the target, yes.”
“Monsters too?”
“Not only monsters. Equipment, magic circles, and barriers as well.”
“Then you can continue bringing back research material Seo-yoon and the research team can use.”
“Noona and the researchers should be able to find ways to apply it.”
The Record Stone had already been used to save Ilseong’s prototype.
The more Sang-hyeok climbed the Tower and encountered new monsters and devices, the more research material Ilseong would accumulate.
“Keep the Record Stone with you.”
“I planned to.”
“Show even Seo-yoon only the records she needs.”
“Yes.”
“You go into the Tower and find new power and technology worth recording.”
When Sang-hyeok looked at him, Kim Do-hyun continued.
“Ilseong will take responsibility for turning those things into something usable in reality.”
That was the answer Sang-hyeok had wanted.
He would find clues to power and technology in the Tower.
Kim Seo-yoon and the research team would turn them into equipment players could actually use.
The technology and equipment that accumulated that way would strengthen Ilseong and become the power that protected his family.
But Kim Do-hyun’s expression remained serious.
“If your identity becomes known, where will move first?”
“China and Russia, most likely.”
“They won’t target only you.”
“They’ll pressure my family first.”
“So you understand.”
“That’s why I need Ilseong.”
Sang-hyeok continued.
“Until I become strong enough to face them alone.”
“How long do you think that will take?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Sang-hyeok chose his words for a moment, then added,
“But I’ll climb as fast as I can.”
Kim Do-hyun tapped his knee once with a finger.
“If you need something, tell me immediately.”
“How much can I ask for?”
“Equipment, people, locations, funds.”
Kim Do-hyun added without hesitation,
“Whatever Ilseong can provide, it will provide.”
“Understood.”
Kim Do-hyun picked up the tablet showing the Association verification result again.
[First Field Suitability Verification: Passed]
After staring at the passing result for a while, he spoke in a low voice.
“Well done.”
Sang-hyeok could not answer immediately.
He had never heard those words before his regression either.
Then again, Kim Do-hyun had never been a man who easily praised his children.
Instead of saying they had done well, he quietly made sure they had what they needed.
Instead of saying he was worried, he silently supported them from behind.
For the first time, that father had openly acknowledged what Sang-hyeok had accomplished.
After a brief silence, Kim Do-hyun continued.
“Until you become strong enough that no one can touch you carelessly, I’ll watch your back.”
Before his regression, his father had struggled alone to hold up a collapsing Ilseong, while Sang-hyeok had been unable to contribute anything at his side.
This time, both of them had something they could do.
If Sang-hyeok brought power and technology back from the Tower, his father would use them to rebuild Ilseong.
“Thank you.”
Kim Do-hyun gave a short nod.
The Ilseong mark at the top of headquarters passed beyond the car window.
Before his regression, that light had eventually gone out amid the flames.
This time, Sang-hyeok had no intention of allowing it to go dark.
***
That evening.
After returning to his room, Sang-hyeok checked his phone first.
[Ilseong Group passes First Field Suitability Verification for Standard Mana Defense Equipment]
[Qualification for second comparative performance evaluation maintained]
Related articles were appearing rapidly.
Before his regression, the exact opposite headlines had filled the screen on this same day.
[Official defect confirmed in Ilseong Group mana defense equipment]
[Qualification for second comparative performance evaluation lost]
Starting with those articles, the follow-up supply negotiations had passed to Taeseong.
Research personnel left, investment dried up, and Ilseong began to be pushed out of the player-equipment market.
This time was different.
They had saved the prototype and preserved their qualification for the next evaluation.
Sang-hyeok closed the article.
What he had stopped today was only the first failure that would have struck Ilseong.
Before his regression, Taeseong had continued stealing Ilseong’s technology and personnel.
After Korea collapsed, they had even sold player-equipment technology, Tower resources, and national secrets to China and Japan.
This time, Sang-hyeok intended to return Ilseong to the center of the player industry and bring down Taeseong, which stood in the way.
To do that, he needed power above all else.
Sang-hyeok opened his status window.
[Name] Kim Sang-hyeok
[Level] 1
[Trait Name] <Heart of the Apocalyptic Demon Dragon>
[Unlocked Authorities] <Extinction Devouring>, <Demon Dragon’s Eye>
Only Lv.1.
Taeseong was connected not only to major domestic guilds and high-level players, but also to foreign powers.
If Sang-hyeok confronted them head-on now, he would fail to damage Taeseong and only bring harsher pressure down on Ilseong’s equipment business.
And Taeseong was not the only reason he needed to grow stronger quickly.
About one year remained until Korea collapsed.
Four years remained until humanity lost in the Dimension League.
If he climbed the Tower at the same pace as everyone else, he would be too late.
‘One floor a day.’
That was the goal Sang-hyeok had set for himself.
Most players would consider that pace reckless.
But Sang-hyeok had already accomplished two things in the tutorial that were believed to be impossible.
He had destroyed the supposedly indestructible Adamantine Scarecrow.
He had even defeated the Unbreakable Guardian, which was not meant to be a target for defeat at all.
There was no reason to decide this goal was impossible before even trying it.
Every day, he would enter the Tower and clear one floor with the highest evaluation he could achieve.
Along the way, he would use the power, materials, and records he obtained to grow both himself and Ilseong.
He would find out how far he could go by doing it himself.
Sang-hyeok moved his will.
‘Infinite Tower.’
A notification appeared before his eyes.
「Enter the Infinite Tower?」
Sang-hyeok did not hesitate.
‘Enter.’
FLASH!
White light surged from beneath his feet and swallowed Sang-hyeok and the room.
At that moment.
Thump!
Sang-hyeok’s heart beat hard.
One beat later, a far heavier pulse overlapped it from deep within his body.
THUD!
The room and the white light both vanished from his sight.
Before him stretched a black land without even stars or a moon.
At the end of the horizon, something enormous lay prone and breathed.
At first, he thought it was a mountain range.
But the black surface stretching like ridgelines slowly swelled and sank, and each breath it released pushed dust across the land in every direction.
A dragon.
A black dragon so enormous that its head alone could cover a mountain.
When Sang-hyeok’s gaze reached its face, its closed eyelid slowly moved.
Sssrk.
A red eye appeared in the darkness.
The enormous eye stared directly at Sang-hyeok.
THUD──!
The second pulse shook the black land.
At the same instant, the exact same pulse burst from deep inside Sang-hyeok’s chest.
The moment he reflexively placed a hand over his chest, the scene before him cut off.
「Entering the 1st Floor of the Infinite Tower.」
When the white light faded, Sang-hyeok stood in the middle of a pure white space.
Beneath the palm pressed to his chest, his heart was beating at its usual rhythm.
Thump.
Thump.
The heavy echo that had shaken the depths of his body moments ago was already gone.
‘What I just saw was……’
Just as Sang-hyeok was about to open his status window, a new notification appeared first.
[1st Floor Trial: Battlefield of Choice]
[Measuring player’s combat aptitude.]
VMMMM.
Three empty panels appeared before him.
On a normal 1st Floor, three battlefields suited to the player’s aptitude would soon be displayed.
But before their names appeared, another notification interrupted.
「Checking player combat records.」
Letters rose rapidly.
「Impossible Achievement holder confirmed.」
「Adding special choice according to Impossible Achievement.」
VMMMM!
A dark-red panel appeared beneath the three empty panels.
A strange battlefield name slowly emerged over it.
「Hidden Battlefield <Battlefield of Collapse> opens.」