THUD.
A hefty stack of documents landed on the clean desk beside my monitor.
The employee in charge said something, but I was too busy with the work in front of me to spare the time to answer.
I already knew what to do, so I waved him away.
Things got even busier after lunch.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Even as the documents kept piling up, my eyes remained fixed on the monitor.
Perhaps everyone was concentrating, because the only sound echoing through the office was the clatter of keyboards.
Once I'd finished my work, I reached for the pile of documents.
But instead of the glossy feel of paper, my fingers met something smooth and cold, and my concentration abruptly broke.
There was nothing on the desk where the documents should have been.
All the strength drained out of me.
I slumped back in my chair and let it support my weight.
“...It's finally over.”
The monitor was the only source of light in the office.
Only when I looked around did I realize everyone else had gone home.
I turned on my phone.
It was 10:30 p.m.
“I thought I wouldn't have to work overtime today.”
I tried counting how many times I'd worked overtime.
There was no need to think very hard.
I'd been doing it steadily ever since I joined the company. Exactly three years. Converted into days, that was 1,095 days.
Reality hit me hard.
“Is this really how I'm supposed to live?”
Getting out of the job-hunting grind and finally earning money had been nice.
I'd even felt a certain pride in being able to live independently without asking my parents for money.
It was like I'd finally become a real adult.
But that was all in the past now.
My life was an endless cycle of home, work, home, and the future looked pitch-black.
Work-life balance? As far as I was concerned, the words didn't exist.
At this rate, I'd die before I ever managed to get married.
I could actually feel my health deteriorating.
Back when I was looking for a job, I'd had energy to spare. Three years later, chronic fatigue had become one of my passive skills.
Migraines struck every night, and my stomach burned after every meal.
“I want to quit.”
I wasn't asking for much.
Trips abroad, omakase meals. I didn't need any of that.
I just wanted time I could spend entirely on myself.
Time to stare into space or waste as extravagantly as I pleased.
Without a single thought about work.
DING.
DING.
DING.
<10.13> (Jinyong Small Guild Co., Ltd. + 1,978,534)
<10.13> (Korea Credit Card Co., Ltd. – 578,534)
<10.13> (Monthly Rent - 500,000)
<10.13> (Maintenance Fee - 70,000)
…….
…….
I shut off my phone.
“I must've lost my mind for a second. Quit? What do I mean, quit? Am I trying to starve to death?”
Wasn't this the life of every salaried worker?
Surely my day would come eventually.
It couldn't stay dark forever.
“Well, the work's done, so let's get going. I should sleep at home.”
If I delayed even a little longer, I'd miss the last bus.
With the late-night surcharge, a taxi was more than my pitiful salary could comfortably afford.
I shut down my computer, grabbed my things, and hurried out of the guild.
WHOOOSH.
“Brrr. It's starting to get cold.”
Even though I'd dressed warmly, the cold wind slipped through my clothes.
Outside, it had grown so dark that only a handful of shops still cast any light.
At first, the eerie atmosphere had made me dread leaving work, but after doing this every day for three years, I'd gotten used to it.
The cold was another matter.
“I'd better bring something extra to throw on tomorrow.”
I dashed toward the bus stop.
As luck would have it, the bus that took me home was just arriving.
“Made it!”
BEEP.
Perhaps it was my reward for working overtime, but the seats were almost entirely empty.
I settled into my usual seat. The doors closed, and the bus set off for the next stop.
Leaning back, I gazed out the window.
The scenery sped past.
Dark, then bright, then dark again, before becoming a continuous stretch of light.
Most of the illuminated places were restaurants.
I'd always marveled at the fact that they were already open when I went to work, yet here they were, still wide open late at night.
They said the world outside your company was hell.
Earning someone else's money was never easy.
But something was different tonight.
The restaurants that usually had plenty of empty seats were packed so tightly that there wasn't even room to stand.
Crowds of people were waiting outside too, making it difficult to see what was going on around them.
From the few times I'd eaten there during company dinners, I remembered it as an ordinary place with decent enough food.
Even if the food had suddenly become incredible, word couldn't have spread fast enough to turn it into a famous restaurant overnight.
SCREECH.
Just then, we stopped at a red light, giving me a chance to look more closely.
One person stood out among the crowd.
A high, straight nose, a small face, perfect proportions. Above all, she was so stunningly beautiful that she seemed to have been drawn in an entirely different art style from everyone around her.
I immediately understood why so many people had gathered.
There wasn't a person in South Korea who wouldn't recognize her.
“Jin Si-yeon, the Normal-difficulty climber?”
Thirty years ago, millions of people around the world had vanished all at once.
Countless agencies had spent years investigating, yet not a single trace of the missing people could be found.
Just as the case seemed destined to remain an unsolved mystery, someone returned from Very Easy difficulty and explained what had happened: the missing people had Awakened and been summoned to the 'Tower.'
That finally brought the mystery to a close.
Inside the Tower, people could gain immense power and treasures depending on the difficulty and floor they reached.
But the rewards came with a price.
One wrong move could turn the Tower into your grave, and its appearance had thrown the world into chaos.
Gates and monsters had appeared, putting humanity in danger. Only thanks to those who had gained power was mankind barely managing to survive.
Such people were called Hunters. Those who primarily climbed the Tower were called Climbers.
As protectors of humanity and world peace, they received treatment fit for nobility, complete with wealth, power, and prestige.
“Jin Si-yeon is unbelievable. I heard her photos were retouched, but isn't it the other way around? She looks way better in person! What's she doing here? I thought she was climbing Normal difficulty.”
The Tower had six difficulty levels in total.
Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard, and Extreme.
Jin Si-yeon had reached Floor 34 of the third difficulty, Normal.
She ranked tenth among Climbers worldwide and first in South Korea.
Considering that you had to climb all one hundred floors of Very Easy before advancing to the next difficulty, it was no wonder everyone in the country knew her.
After all, more than seventy percent of Climbers worldwide hadn't even completed Very Easy difficulty.
The probability of dying rose exponentially by the time you reached Floor 50 of Very Easy.
As I continued admiring her, I spotted a banner hanging from the restaurant's sign.
‖Congratulations to Climber Jin Seo-yeon on clearing Normal Floor 34!‖
“So she succeeded. Man, I wish I could Awaken too.”
Not everyone could become Awakened.
Only a tiny fraction of people ever did. And even if I became one, I'd be summoned straight into the Tower, which would be dangerous.
'I don't want much. I'll just clear a reasonable number of floors, come back out, and safely clear Gates.'
The bus began moving again.
I shook off the thought.
Awakening was nothing more than a pipe dream.
As I watched her recede into the distance, a wonderful idea occurred to me.
“Tonight, it's chicken and beer.”
When I reached my destination, I stopped by a fried chicken shop near my apartment.
I ordered half plain fried chicken and half sweet-and-spicy chicken.
Before heading home, I bought some beer at a convenience store too.
I had a feeling late-night meals were partly to blame for my failing health, but what could I do?
This was my only happiness after working overtime.
Without even this, what would be the point of living?
With my hands full and a spring in my step, I was just about to enter my home when—
[Awakening successful!]
[Entering the Tower.]
“Huh? What the...?”
There was no mistaking it.
The System messages that were supposed to appear when someone Awakened!
You really did see all kinds of things if you lived long enough.
To think I'd actually Awakened.
But I didn't have time to think much more about it.
“Hey, wait! Awakening is great and all, but you can't take anything with you when you enter! My chicken! Just let me have that! No! At least one bite of a drumstick!”
A portal appeared and swallowed only me.
In the dark alley, the chicken and beer sat abandoned and alone.
A room measuring roughly seven pyeong.
No matter how many times I looked around, the view remained the same.
Except for the old wooden door in front of me, everything was made of pure white marble.
There wasn't a single piece of furniture, much less a speck of dust.
At first, the unfamiliar surroundings had frightened me, but the longer I looked, the more accustomed I became.
People really were creatures of adaptation.
The fact that I'd seen this place countless times before also helped.
This was the Tower's Waiting Room, the place I'd heard so much about.
“...Chicken and beer belong together. It's probably all cold by now.”
Even though I'd entered the Tower, something I'd wished for my entire life, all I could picture was my chicken and beer.
I'd eaten very little for breakfast and lunch and skipped dinner altogether, so my stomach had been growling furiously.
I'd wanted to end the day with a combination of salty, grease-glazed chicken and fizzy beer rich with the nutty flavor of barley!
“Aaaargh! Well, what can I do? I'll eat when I get out. For now, I need to focus on the Tower. I can't just waste this opportunity, can I?”
Deaths weren't uncommon even on the lower floors.
I'd somehow managed to Awaken and enter the Tower. I couldn't let that happen to me.
I had absolutely no intention of pushing my luck.
But I couldn't spend the rest of my life in the Waiting Room either.
Simply staying in the Waiting Room healed every wound and status ailment.
As long as you stayed alive, you could recover, but hunger and aging were exceptions.
Five floors. Let's just make it to Floor 5.
There was no need to clear the entire Tower in one go.
You could return to reality every five floors.
It was also possible to buy a Return Ticket and leave, but that wasn't an option at the moment.
The Coin Shop didn't unlock until Floor 10.
For now, I'd aim to reach Floor 5 safely.
“I guess working at a guild was lucky in its own way. At least I know all the basics about the Tower. I should check what ability I've Awakened, so... Status Window?”
[10,000 Coins granted for your first entry into the Tower.]
<Yun Jeong-hyeon>
Trait: Subspace Shelter
›Stamina: 5
›Strength: 5
›Agility: 5
›Senses: 5
›Mana: 0
Coins: 10,000
Stat Coins: 0
Current Difficulty: Extreme (1F)
The Status Window filled my vision, and excitement stirred inside me.
It felt like undeniable proof that I'd truly become Awakened.
I took a deep breath and calmed myself down.
“The most important thing when you Awaken is your Trait, right? If it's good, you can challenge higher difficulties and floors. Hmm... Subspace Shelter?”
It was an unusual combination of words, one I rarely heard.
Traits were usually named so that anyone could understand them.
If someone was called the Blood-Red Swordsman, they used blood to attack with a sword.
If they were called the Thunder Boxer, they used thunder to attack with their fists.
There was no reason to overthink it.
'I'll find out when I open it.'
I tapped my Trait to bring up the detailed information.
<Subspace Shelter>
Description: A self-sufficient Subspace Shelter capable of providing everything you need. You may enter and exit at any time, and no being can enter without the owner's permission.
Durability: 500
You may use the exclusive Subspace Shelter Shop.
-> Floors Currently Owned: 1st Floor (10 pyeong)
+ 1 pyeong: 10,000 Coins
+ 2nd Floor: 100,000,000 Coins
I understood it quickly.
“So there's a shelter in a subspace. And that's my ability.”
I'd never seen a Trait like this before.
I'd seen Traits that could be applied to items, but to think I owned an entire building—a shelter.
I decided to examine it step by step.
But as I continued looking through the Status Window, my eyes froze on the final line, and my thoughts stopped with them.
“What the hell is this?”
At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.
Maybe all the overtime and my sudden Awakening had messed with my head.
But rubbing my eyes and shaking my head changed nothing.
Current Difficulty: Extreme (1F)
It was the last of the six difficulty levels.
Not a single Climber in the world had cleared even Hard difficulty.
Most Hunters were still struggling with Easy.
The normal progression was to clear Very Easy first before moving to higher difficulties.
It wasn't something you could choose just because you wanted to.
“This makes no sense. When you Awaken and enter the Tower, you're supposed to start on Very Easy, no exceptions. But Extreme? No one's even seen Hard, and I'm on Extreme?”
SMACK.
My cheek burned as though it had been scorched by fire.
Which meant this wasn't a dream.
I opened the room's only door.
[The trial of Extreme (1F) begins.]
[Defeat three Steroid Muscle Turtles (Lv. 146).]
[Steroid Muscle Turtle (Lv. 146): 0/3]
In a lush, densely overgrown forest stood a turtle that looked completely out of place.
The bastard, which should have been walking on all fours, stood bolt upright, showing off muscles so enormous they looked grotesque.
From my experience observing all kinds of monsters, I immediately sensed that something was seriously wrong.
I shut the door before our eyes could meet.
[The trial of Extreme (1F) ends.]
The System message drove home just how real my situation was.
To sum it all up in one sentence:
“I'm fucked.”
But there was something else I knew.
I wasn't necessarily going to die.
DING!
[You can use Coins to strengthen your Subspace Shelter's security!]
I couldn't just stand there in a daze.
I had to do everything I could.
“Subspace Shelter. You're my only hope.”