100th Floor
The world sure had gotten good.
[You too can be a D-grade Hunter!]
[Ascension Tower Tier 1 Difficulty Ultra-Fast Clear Academy! A number-one star instructor from the Tier 3 Tower's 100th Floor is standing by!]
Does this even make sense? An instructor who came out of some 'lowly' Tier 3 difficulty becoming a star instructor on Earth?
Back in my day, there was nothing like this when you climbed the Tower.
You just had to crash into things yourself and actually put your life on the line to get any information.
Young folks these days live in a really~ easy era. Not that it matters to me anymore how the newbies climb the Tower. If fewer people die, good is good.
[Tier 4 Difficulty, 100th Floor]
[Clear Complete]
Now then, I had cleared the highest floor of the highest difficulty. First, in front of the boss's corpse, I wiped away the wounds and dust, fixed my hair, touched up my skin and filter, then picked up my smartphone for a selfie.
[UHS_0217]: Ascension Tower, done.
#Tier4Tower #100thFloor #Graduation
I uploaded the post to social media. The point was to act like it wasn't all that hard, even though it had actually been damn hard to take down.
Watching the likes pile up in real time, I took a beer out of my Inventory and flicked my thumb, PING!, popping the cap off.
The beer was damn cold.
[Korea's first SSS-Rank Awakener finally born?]
[Welcoming SSS-Rank Awakener Yu Hyun-sung, the President of Korea personally.......]
“Oh, the President's making the trip personally to see me?”
I had been lurking in the community all day.
How was I supposed to hold back when it was all full of news about me?
Even if you only graduated from the 100th floor of a measly Tier 1 difficulty, you could go back to Earth and live grandly as a so-called 'Awakener.'
That must be why Awakener hopefuls flocked to Daechi-dong in Gangnam, Seoul, with their Ascension Tower academies and whatnot.
And what about me, then?
I was on the verge of graduating from the 100th floor of the Tier 4 Tower, known as the highest difficulty.
Designated Grade: SSS Rank.
The world's strongest Hunters, of whom fewer than 100 had ever graduated. That was precisely, my future after returning to Earth.
What did it look like outside right now?
Back when towers sprouted up on Earth, Gates burst, and monsters appeared and all that, the place had been full of doomsayers prattling that the end of the world was coming, but now, more than 10 years later, it had been nothing more than a trivial happening.
[Tier 4 99] Ahn Ho-young: Hyung-nim. Are you graduating from the Tower now?
I was catching up on news from Earth through the community I'd left floating semi-transparently in the air when a message came.
It was a little bro I was close with, who had been challenging the same difficulty as me, or, to be precise, who had been parked here grinding skill proficiency.
I had sure known this punk for a long time.
[Tier 4 100] Yu Hyun-sung: I should go. There's nothing more for me to do now, right? I've come to the highest floor of the highest difficulty and hit max level, so what more would I do?
[Tier 4 99] Ahn Ho-young: Is there not one more option available to you?
An option, huh.
There was one, sure.
Every challenger, upon entering the Ascension Tower, was placed on [Tier 1 Difficulty, 1st Floor] and had to challenge their way up to the [100th Floor].
And after finishing the 100th-floor challenge, they were given two options.
[Return to Earth?]
'Return to Earth as you are, carrying the abilities, skills, and items you possess.'
Or.......
[Challenge the next difficulty?]
'Reset all abilities and challenge the next difficulty to obtain greater power and more precious equipment.'
Most chose to return.
Because even though every clear method had been laid out in detail and uploaded as videos, even now, if 100 people entered the Tier 1 Tower, 70 of them never made it home.
Some of the survivors of Tier 1 challenged Tier 2, some of those challenged Tier 3, and finally they reached Tier 4, but.......
The graduation rate of Tier 4 difficulty was extremely slim.
Geniuses among geniuses.
The most tenacious of the tenacious.
Even with the craziest of crazy bastards gathered there, the survival rate was a mere 0.2%.......
That was exactly why there were only 100 graduates of Tier 4's 100th floor in the entire world.
So graduates of the Tier 4 Tower were treated like tremendous nobility in the outside world, or so I'd heard.
I had deliberately stayed parked until I hit level 300, which could be called the max level of the Tier 4 Tower.
Because once you declared graduation from the Tower, you could never raise your level again, and big restrictions were placed on learning skills.
Of course, even if I graduated from Tier 4's 100th floor at max level, it didn't mean I could go out and strut around as the strongest.
For a max-leveler, I was ordinary.
All thanks to the senior bastards who had called dibs on the broken-as-hell classes, broken-as-hell traits, and broken-as-hell skills and swept them all up.
And me, in the middle of all that?
My class was a plain Swordsman.
I didn't even have a single S-grade skill.
All I had was barely one lonely A-grade skill, and I hadn't received a single 'First Clear Bonus.'
Well, still, when you really break it down, that means there are only about 100 people on Earth above my head, right?
Not a bad life.
[Tier 4 100] Yu Hyun-sung: Thanks for all the hard work. See you later. And you, man, don't go dying stupidly on the 100th floor.
Now that I'd said it, it was a pointless worry. I had cleared the 100th floor through hell, but Ho-young was different.
That guy probably wouldn't die even if he just lay still in the 100th-floor boss room.
Because unlike me, he was a munchkin born with all kinds of Celestial blessings and cheat skills.
[A choice is given to you, who have conquered the 100th Floor of Tier 4 Difficulty.]
It was time to decide.
Whether to go home, or.
To head for the worst tower no one in humanity had ever conquered...... the 'Apocalypse Tower.'
But would I have to be crazy to go to the Apocalypse Tower? So far, the 'First Vanguard Ten' had gone in, and all ten of them failed to clear even the 1st floor and ended up on display in biographies.
If the world's strongest rankers all died on the 1st floor, that said it all.
So, my choice was.
“I'm going home.”
I could loaf around just by going back to Earth like this, so why the hell would I challenge the next difficulty?
[......]
But what was with this silence?
“Why's it so quiet?”
System messages didn't normally buffer this long.
[......A minority of Celestials encourage you to challenge the 'Apocalypse Tower.']
What? Unbelievable. This was the first time anything like this had ever happened, and I was fuming.
“Eat shit, you sons of bitches. You think I'm crazy enough to go? Just send me home.”
Just by returning to Earth like this, I could live as the world's top SSS-Rank Awakener. I had spent more than half a year on max-level grinding for that alone.
And now, letting all that grinding go to waste, they wanted me to reset my level and put my life on the line challenging the Tower all over again?
[A minority of Celestials use an 'Authority' that can be used only once to convene a Council of the Tower.]
“What the.......”
Convene a council? That was another first.
[A total of 129 Celestials have come to you and are silently gazing at you.]
[Some Celestials wish for 'Player Yu Hyun-sung' to challenge the Apocalypse Tower.]
[A minority of Celestials claim that 'Player Yu Hyun-sung's' challenge of the Apocalypse Tower is the only hope.]
Normally, there weren't nearly this many Celestials watching me. No, if anything, apart from 'just one,' there were none.
Considering that top rankers went around with dozens of Celestials dangling off them, it was pitiful beyond words.
Yet a whopping 129 of the things had come?
It seemed this was all to encourage me to challenge the Apocalypse Tower, but.......
Too bad for them.
I had no intention of going to the Apocalypse Tower.
[The Celestials' debate begins.]
[The Girl Riding the Crescent Moon Swing shouts that forcing the challenge is not right.]
[The Sacred Serpent claims that if it is not Yu Hyun-sung, no one in humanity can climb the Apocalypse-level Tower.]
[The Sword of the Storm frets that there is no time.]
Watching the messages pour down, I couldn't help but be flustered.
A Celestial debate? It was my first time seeing something like this. Probably a first for humanity, too?
[The Celestials' debate has ended.]
[A majority of Celestials arrange a meeting between Player Yu Hyun-sung and the 'Tower Master.']
“What the...... Tower Master?”
Tower Master. Could that mean the being that created this Ascension Tower? Had any player ever come face-to-face with such a being until now?
Other people might consider it an honor or see it as a fateful opportunity, but I thought differently.
What kind of crap were they trying to pull this time?
“Hey, I object! I said I object!”
[Your opinion has also been counted as one precious vote.]
[As a result of the vote, a private audience with the Master of the Ascension Tower has been arranged by majority rule.]
The atmosphere changed abruptly.
The alien 100th-floor space, which had been entirely covered in red air, began to be enveloped in a blue and brilliant halo of light in an instant.
“......!”
Now's the time to use that!
I hurriedly opened my Inventory.
[You have equipped Looks-Designer-From-Afar (Street Market) Sunglasses.]
-......Wearing something like that cannot hide a Celestial's divinity, Player Yu Hyun-sung.
A human silhouette appeared. A woman, or a man? I couldn't tell. Wasn't it only proper to show your face at least at a time like this?
“Disrespectful bastards, every last one of them.”
-In truth, as for the reason I have come to you.......
“Skip it. Just the main point.”
-If you do not climb the Apocalypse Tower, Earth will be destroyed.
“Excuse me?”
A truly out-of-nowhere-as-hell declaration of Earth's destruction.
-Yu Hyun-sung. As you also know, if the Tower is not climbed, the world and monsters inside the Tower synchronize with Earth.
Of course I knew.
There had always been a grace period for clearing the Ascension Tower.
If the Tower went uncleared for a certain period, the beings inside would burst out onto Earth just as they were, and this was called the 'Tower Break' phenomenon.
Over those 10 years, Tower clears had already blown past the grace period several times, and because of that, Earth now had monsters from even the Tier 4 Tower appearing.
Still, it wasn't at a level that threatened Earth's survival.
Not yet...... that is.
When the time came, the beings of the 'Apocalypse Tower' would burst out onto Earth someday too.
-......The moment the Apocalypse Tower leaks out, Earth will immediately turn into hell.
That was probably.
The truth all of humanity had tacitly denied until now.
The truth was, everyone had been vaguely aware of it.
'If even the beasts of the Tier 4 Tower have started popping out onto Earth.......'
'Won't the unknown beings that exist in the Apocalypse Tower come out someday too?'
But humanity chose complacency. They believed that if all the Awakeners joined forces to stop it, things would work out somehow. And in fact, until now, they had protected Earth well 'somehow.'
And so Earth was peaceful, and prosperous as well, thanks to the remnants of the Gates.
With science and technology advancing at an unprecedented rate thanks to mana stones, and with the superpowered among them, Earth acted as if it would be safe forever.
What if that weren't the case?
What if Earth wasn't safe at all?
But, the truth was.
“I know?”
I knew too.
-......Pardon?
The end of Earth was a done deal anyway.
Of course, it was just my personal opinion. Even now, the outside world was drawing up countermeasures against the destruction, believing the Awakeners would save the world.
Well, who knows. I just had a feeling Earth was going to go under soon.
Whether that would take 10 years or 20, I didn't know.
If even the Tier 4 Tower had a 'Tower Break,' where would be next?
In fact, part of the reason I had suffered so hard to raise my level was to survive even a little longer when an 'Apocalypse Tower Break' happened.
Earth was going to be destroyed anyway, but that didn't mean there was any reason to go to the Apocalypse Tower and risk my precious life.
Like the 100 esteemed senior sons of bitches who had graduated ahead of me, I'd go back to Earth and enjoy the rest of my life before I went.
I could enjoy a comfortable life for a few more years, but if I entered the Apocalypse Tower, I could die in a single day.
Rather than take that kind of gamble, wouldn't it be better to just go back to Earth?
It wasn't like I was some hero with noble aspirations.
“I said I know. Send me home.”
-......
The Tower Master fell silent. It seemed even that so-called Tower Master had no 'coercive power.'
If I lay down flat on the floor and refused, saying I didn't want to, there was nothing even the Tower Master could do.
-......Let me tell you one truth.
“Not curious. Not listening.”
-There are only two days left until the end of Earth.
“What the fuck?”
That woke me right up.
Hadn't the Tier 4 Tower Break happened only recently? What happened to the expert opinions that it would easily hold for another 10 to 20 years?
“Wait, what about my comfortable retirement? My backlog of PlayStation & Steam games?”
I had already set up a gaming room in my villa in Korea, damn it.
-Is that really the issue right now.......
What was that crazy Tower Master saying?
That was the most important thing to me.
I was so serious about games that back in school, when we had to write down a great figure we respected, I proudly turned in pro gamer Faker.
I pressed my palm to my face.
A sense of crisis? None of that crap.
Just irritation shooting up.
-So.......
“Wait.”
Tsss- I lit a cigarette.
The Tower Master spoke in a flustered voice.
-Please wait, every second counts. If it is not you.......
“What. Want me to sprawl out here like the character and refuse? Just go home?”
-Please, go ahead and smoke.
The Tower Master politely pressed both hands together.
“Haah.......”
How bleak. Even if I went back to Earth like this, all I could do was watch a world that was going to ruin.
My plan to spend a comfortable retirement playing games was already ruined from the start.
'If the alternative is living in a dying world, I guess there's no choice.......'
I took a deep drag on the cigarette, let out a long stream of smoke, and stomped on the butt.
“Go on, spit out the rest.”
The Tower Master hurriedly continued.
-If Earth is destroyed, the Celestials will be in danger as well. That is why the Celestials took the unusual step of convening a 'Council' and summoning me.
Why?
I didn't get it.
Right behind me, 'Ahn Ho-young' was about to graduate.
A genius among geniuses. Wouldn't it be way better to ask that guy, who had received dozens of all kinds of blessings?
“Why me?”
-......The Divine Sword of Heavenly Righteousness, Ahn Ho-young. He is certainly a remarkable figure. In terms of talent on Earth, he could safely be considered the very best, and even if the scope is widened to 'all dimensions,' talent of his caliber is rare to find.
Whoa, he's that good?
Ho-young, you go be number one.
-However, geniuses like Player Ahn Ho-young, who has risen to the very top ranks of the world, were actually extremely numerous across all dimensions, the entire universe.
Those born with the martial, those born with letters, those who possessed both.
Or those who wielded mana and magic and wielded superpowers from the very moment they were born and drew breath.
-Countless, as many as the stars in the sky.
However.
-The place where even such ones all fail and despair is the 'Apocalypse Tower.' But you are different. Yu Hyun-sung. You are the first player who, possessing the worst talent, has gone beyond the 100th floor of the Tier 4 Tower and reached the threshold of the Apocalypse Tower on the strength of the highest understanding of the Tower.
It sort of sounded like a compliment.......
Was that a good thing? It felt weird, though?
A sphere of light rose into the air.
-If you challenge the Apocalypse Tower, I will grant you a first-ever bonus that has never been given to anyone.
“A bonus?”
-Namely, 'Miracles.'
“......!”
Divine Powers were known as techniques far superior to Celestial blessings.
And surpassing even those, 'Miracles,' said to be comparable to the power of a god, had existed only by word of mouth.
But since a mere human body couldn't withstand the power of a god, the established theory was that acquiring one was practically impossible.
-If a majority of Earth's Celestials agree and gather their 'divine force,' it is possible to bestow Miracles upon you, a single person.
The Tower Master spread out a hand.
-Five in total. I will grant you one Miracle each time you reach another 20 floors.
So I'd be able to obtain a 'Miracle' each time I reached the 20th, 40th, 60th, 80th, and 100th floors?
Just reaching the 20th floor would give me a special ability unimaginable for a human, and if I reached the 100th floor.......
Maybe 'my little dream,' which I had long wished for, might become possible.
My own little wish, which I'd had to give up because there was simply no way.
-Also, to help you with your first Apocalypse Tower challenge, I will immediately create one B-Rank skill for you.
“Nothing A-Rank or higher?”
-No...... that goes against the 'Rules.'
Hm. A bit of a shame, but as far as I knew, there had never been a case of starting from the 1st floor with a B-Rank skill.
However.
“Forget the skill. Create a 'stat' for me.”
-A stat...... you say?
“Yeah. That's plenty.”
The Tower Master wore an understanding expression, but apparently the Celestials didn't.
[Many Celestials cautiously express the opinion that a single stat slot is less helpful than a skill for now.]
They had a point. Even if I got a slot, the initial stat would be generated at '1,' so it wouldn't be much help right away.
A B-Rank skill would definitely be more helpful for clearing the 1st floor.
-If that is your choice.......
Good, this wasn't bad.
“What the hell, I'll go. I'll take the challenge.”
If Earth was going to end anyway, there was no reason to go back.
Yeah, let's go.
Hummmmm......!!
The halo of light faded. Through a gap in it, I thought I saw some woman's face, but it vanished quickly, as if it had been an illusion.
[Challenging the Apocalypse-level difficulty!]
[Level and skills will be reset.]
And so, I became the sole challenger of the Apocalypse-level Tower.
......No.
To be more precise, it'd be better to call me the sole survivor.