[Reward assessment complete.]
[Loot obtained on this floor will be stored automatically.]
[Crafting Materials]
-Giant Sawtooth Fang (2)
- Giant Swamp-Soaked Hide (1)
- Green Hide Fragment (4)
- Bloodsucking Leech Fang (7)
- Small Bottle of Sticky Sap (2)
[Equipment]
- Old, Corroded Longsword (Low Grade)
‘Automatic storage? That's convenient. But is this all?’
For all the fuss about readjusting the rewards or whatever, this felt a little underwhelming… Just as that thought crossed my mind, the messages continued.
[Special Mission completion reward granted.]
- Reward: D-Grade Shadow Imprint Slot
- Only Skills of D Grade or lower can be imprinted in this slot.
[Excellent performance recorded. A top-performance reward has been granted.]
- Additional Reward: Endless Hunger
[You have conquered an ‘Unknown Floor.’]
[Base stats increased.]
[You have overcome a hidden trial.]
[Base stats increased further.]
I kept accepting whatever it continued to give me, but I couldn't quite gauge the value of what I'd received.
To be honest, I wasn't all that interested either.
‘Well, I survived somehow. That's enough.’
Just as I waved my hand through the air to dismiss the tiresome message windows—
“Mr. Si-hyeon! Mr. Jin-cheol! Have you both finished checking your rewards?!”
Park Jin-seong, who had been sprawled on the ground until moments ago after his legs gave out, approached with a grin stretching from ear to ear.
I didn't know what he'd received, but it seemed the rewards hadn't disappointed him.
“Ah, yes. For now. But you look pleased?”
“Ha ha, of course! How could I not be? This is the first time I've received rewards like these since I Awakened. I hit the jackpot thanks to you two!”
He wasn't normally a stiff person, but he had never seemed this radiant either. The rewards must have been truly generous.
“Good grief, look at me. This isn't what I meant to say.”
After excitedly rattling on, Park Jin-seong came to his senses and returned to his usual self.
He bowed deeply, then offered his sincere thanks.
“Thank you so much. If it hadn't been for you two, I really… would've died in the Tower without even leaving a body behind. Thanks to you, I'm going back alive and in one piece. I can't possibly express how grateful I am.”
“There's no need. We all went through hell together, after all. What matters is that everyone survived safely.”
As I answered, Kim hyung chimed in from beside me.
“What did I even do? Si-hyeon, this punk, did everything by himself. In any case, you worked hard too, Mr. Jin-seong.”
“Oh, not at all. I can't tell you how reassuring it was to have you there, Mr. Jin-cheol.”
Then Park Jin-seong grinned and added, ‘Of course, it goes without saying that Mr. Si-hyeon's performance was incredible.’
“Then, if you two don't mind, since meeting like this must be fate, perhaps we could at least exchange contact information….”
We were comrades who had crossed the line between life and death together.
I understood how he felt perfectly well, but his timing was poor.
“Before that, look at your legs.”
“…My legs? You mean my legs?”
Park Jin-seong naturally lowered his gaze to his lower body.
Both his legs were dissolving into faint motes of light and scattering away.
It was the Tower's unmistakable order to leave now that our business was done.
A rueful smile spread across his face.
“Oh… I was a little too late.”
I smiled at Park Jin-seong.
“We'll meet again. Someday, if fate brings us together.”
Park Jin-seong faded away like smoke.
Kim Min-ju, who had been quietly waiting beside him for her turn, apparently wanting to offer her thanks separately, hurriedly spoke before time ran out.
“Thank you. Truly.”
With an awkward smile, she waved a hand that had already half vanished.
“I'll be going!”
I waved back.
“Take care.”
Kim hyung, who was still there, flashed me a grin.
“Pork belly and soju once we're out?”
“Ah, of course. We have to keep our promise.”
“Heh heh, great. There's a place nearby that's an incredible bargain, and the food's also….”
Kim hyung vanished before he could finish.
I was the only one left.
“Then I guess it's about time for me too.”
Something felt strange as soon as I said it.
Both my feet were still planted firmly in the swamp.
Everyone else had disappeared from the bottom up like cotton candy melting in water, the only difference being how quickly it happened. But I showed no sign of doing the same.
‘Is there something else…?’
Perhaps the Tower still had something to say to me.
Or perhaps it wanted to have a quiet conversation with me alone.
The messages that appeared next answered my question.
[Tower-Wide Announcement: Tower of the Republic of Korea]
[The first EX-Grade clear record for an ‘Unknown Floor’ has been confirmed within the Tower of the Republic of Korea.]
[Through the contribution of the Awakened who accomplished this Feat, a blessing descends upon the entire Tower of the Republic of Korea.]
‘Ah, I get it.’
The contents of the message—especially the two letters ‘EX’—caught my eye, and a faint chuckle escaped my lips.
I'd wondered why I alone hadn't been sent out, but the Tower hadn't kept me behind for nothing.
[As a reward for accomplishing this Feat, you are granted the right to select a blessing. Choose one of the options below to apply it to your entire affiliated Tower.]
“Wow… This was a bigger event than I thought.”
***
The underground situation room of the Tower Disaster Control Headquarters, an agency under the Tower Special Management Administration.
Large and small screens covering the entire front wall cast light in every color, ceaselessly displaying information on the climbing progress within the Tower of the Republic of Korea.
Every last piece of it was a state secret.
Yet even with such precious information before them, everyone present stared at a single spot as if by prior agreement.
[Until Tower Collapse | D ― 25 | 14 : 12 : 51]
At the end of their gazes was nothing more than a digital clock.
The problem was the words affixed before it.
‘Until Tower Collapse.’ Unable to tear his eyes away from the clock because of those words, Jeong Jin-hyeok, Director of the Tower Disaster Control Headquarters, anxiously tapped the table.
“…Still nothing?”
“No, Director. The clear attempt is still underway inside the Tower… Ah! The call came in just as I said that. It's from Awakened Shin Yu-seong.”
Everyone in the Tower Disaster Control Headquarters groaned.
“Ah….”
Shin Yu-seong had returned from the Tower, but the Tower had issued no announcement.
That could only mean the clear attempt had failed.
“Damn it…!”
He had believed they would succeed this time, only for it to end in failure yet again.
Jeong Jin-hyeok squeezed his eyes shut.
“Ha….”
“Director…?”
“Yes. Put him through.”
The connection was soon established, and the face of a handsome young man appeared on the main monitor.
“You worked hard, Mr. Shin Yu-seong.”
He was Shin Yu-seong, the strongest Awakened in the country and the Climber who had reached the highest floor in Korea.
The face beyond the screen was haggard with exhaustion.
― I'm back. As for the result… as you all probably know already, we failed. I'm sorry. I wasn't capable enough.
“You needn't say that. This simply wasn't the time. Don't we still have a little over a month left?”
Jeong Jin-hyeok did his best to console Shin Yu-seong.
But even Jeong Jin-hyeok couldn't stop his mouth from going dry.
They had played their strongest card and still failed.
No, they had played their strongest card several times and still failed.
Now they truly had no cards left in their hand.
“We'll review the footage of the attempt once we've received it… But let me ask you this first. In the end… is it impossible without ‘that’?”
Shin Yu-seong reluctantly nodded on the other side of the screen.
― Yes. Without the Frost Giant's Heart… I don't see a way.
Shin Yu-seong's gaze then dropped to his waist, and the same thought crossed both men's minds.
‘Who would've thought making the sword would prove to be the wrong move….’
A renowned sword forged by Korea's greatest Artisan from the melted Frost Giant's Heart.
‘Forge a weapon with the boss's elemental weakness and give it to Shin Yu-seong.’ Both Shin Yu-seong and the authorities had once believed that was the best choice.
It was a solution that had worked until now.
But this time, it wasn't enough.
At his core, Shin Yu-seong was a swordsman.
He was fundamentally different from the American water-attribute Awakened who could create a waterfall where there was no water, or the Chinese ice-attribute Awakened who called himself the legitimate successor of the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
‘Instead of making it last permanently, we should've detonated its power all at once. Like Japan.’
Just like the Korean Peninsula, the strongest Awakened in the Japanese archipelago was also a swordsman.
On top of that, Japan was following Korea's Tower-climbing progress one month behind.
An Awakened of the same attribute on the same floor?
Whether Korea liked it or not, the country had become Japan's Tower-climbing textbook, and Japan had used it as an answer key all this time.
But this time, Japan had found a different way forward.
Somehow, they had learned that Korea was struggling.
‘We did all the work only for Japan to reap the rewards. Who would've imagined making a potion from an item as valuable as the Frost Giant's Heart…?’
They had thought it was madness, but it had been the answer.
A few days ago, Japan's strongest Awakened had drunk that potion and cut down the Incarnation of Hellfire, proving it.
After going in circles, Korea found itself needing another Frost Giant's Heart.
The problem was that even though they could kill a Frost Giant, there wasn't one to kill.
It took time for a Frost Spirit to grow into a complete giant after passing through the golem stage.
Quite a lot of time, at that.
Even Shin Yu-seong couldn't hasten the growth and development of a life-form dictated by the Tower.
It would take another twenty-nine days to reach that point.
Since they would need one more day to use their once-daily entry opportunity, obtain the necessary item, and defeat the Incarnation of Hellfire, the entire process would take exactly thirty days.
In other words, they were exactly five days short.
Five days. A mere five days—not even a week.
But the wall those five days represented was far too high.
Faced with the bleak situation, Jeong Jin-hyeok asked cautiously,
“…If we could somehow obtain the heart in time, what percentage would you put our chance of success at?”
― If that were possible… ninety-nine percent. No, one hundred percent. I'll do it. I stake everything I have on it.
“Ah….”
It was practically a guarantee.
‘If Mr. Shin is willing to go that far… then having the heart would virtually guarantee a successful clear….’
It was a cruel twist of fate.
The man who would attempt the clear was brimming with confidence, yet heaven refused to grant them the time.
As a headache surged over him, Jeong Jin-hyeok pressed hard against his temple and sighed.
‘All because of five measly days….’
Because they lacked those five days, the entire Seoul Capital Area—home to twenty-five million people—was in danger of disappearing. Just as Moscow once had.
The mysterious powers of the Awakened manifested only inside the Tower.
Miracles such as cutting through iron with a sword or spewing fire from one's hands vanished like a mirage the instant they left the Tower, leaving the Awakened no different from ordinary people.
Russia had tried to defy that law.
It had sought to turn the Awakened into ‘weapons’ in the real world and make them the property of the state.
The inhumane training, experimentation, and oppression carried out under state direction had crushed Russia's budding Awakened.
To escape it, Russian Awakened defected abroad en masse. Having lost countless Awakened, including its most vital talent, Russia faced the catastrophe of a Tower Collapse.
‘The whole world watched closely when the first collapse since the Towers appeared on Earth occurred.’
The Tower hadn't collapsed with a thunderous roar.
Quite the opposite. It had quietly vanished.
All it left behind was a vast darkness that swallowed everything within a radius of dozens of kilometers.
‘Like a black hole.’
And so Moscow, a metropolis of ten million people, was erased without a trace.
Along with the three million people who had ignored the evacuation order and stayed behind, thinking, ‘What could possibly happen?’
And now Seoul was poised to follow.
‘Is there any way to buy more time…?’
Jeong Jin-hyeok knew better than anyone that such a thing was impossible.
The Tower had never shown them such an exception before.
Yet he was desperate enough to wish for it anyway.
‘Time… If only we'd had a little more time…!’
Jeong Jin-hyeok's face twisted with crushing helplessness.
Shin Yu-seong gave him a bitter smile from across the connection.
― Director. We must announce the failed clear attempt and evacuate the residents of the Seoul Capital Area. Even if we can't prevent the Tower's collapse, shouldn't we at least prevent the loss of life?
“Yes… We should.”
― We can continue the clear attempt afterward. Don't we still have twenty-five days? It may be impossible to obtain the Frost Giant's Heart in that time… but I'll do whatever I can over the next twenty-five days. I'll make sure we prevent the collapse, at least.
Even while discussing the evacuation of the residents, Shin Yu-seong refused to abandon the clear attempt until the very end.
His unwavering resolve steeled Jeong Jin-hyeok's determination as well.
“Yes. Leave everything that follows to me. I'll make every possible preparation to evacuate every last citizen.”
The Republic of Korea was just about to make the decision to abandon the Seoul Capital Area, home to twenty-five million of its citizens… when it happened.
[Tower-Wide Announcement: Tower of the Republic of Korea]
[The first EX-Grade clear record for an ‘Unknown Floor’ has been confirmed within the Tower of the Republic of Korea.]
[Through the contribution of the Awakened who accomplished this Feat, a blessing descends upon the Tower of the Republic of Korea.]
[Bounty of the Swamp]
[All rewards in the Tower become more abundant.]
- For 72 hours, the loot acquisition rate increases to 1.5 times the normal rate.
- For 72 hours, the appearance rate of the lowest-grade loot decreases, and the chance of obtaining higher-grade loot increases by the same amount.
- The clear time limit for the highest unexplored floor is extended by 7 days.
‘…What!?’
The Tower-wide announcement messages streamed before Jeong Jin-hyeok's eyes, for before he was the Director of the Tower Disaster Control Headquarters, he was an Awakened.
Startled, he shot to his feet.
CRASH—!
“…!”
He wasn't the only one shocked.
Shin Yu-seong's eyes had also gone wide.
“D-Did you see that?”
― Yes, I saw it.
At that moment, someone at one side of the situation room shouted in wild excitement.
“S-Seven days! It's been extended by seven days! Director! It's true! I've checked, and the clear deadline has definitely increased to thirty-two days!”
The clear deadline had been extended.
It was an unprecedented event, and even those who had seen the message themselves couldn't bring themselves to speak.
That one person's shout became the spark that sent the situation room into an uproar.
“We did it! This means the clear attempt can…!”
Someone leaped to their feet and cheered. Someone else embraced a colleague and danced with joy, shouting nothing but “We did it!” over and over.
Amid them, Jeong Jin-hyeok sank back into the chair he'd just sprung from and let out a long sigh of relief.
‘A miracle… It's a miracle.’
It was a miracle in the truest sense.
They had been forced to abandon the Seoul Capital Area because they were just five days short, only for the deadline to extend as if by magic.
And by just a little more than they needed.
The people who were likely going about their peaceful daily lives, vaguely trusting that someone would prevent the Tower's collapse this time, as someone always had before.
Could they even begin to imagine it?
That only moments ago, the Republic of Korea had been on the verge of abandoning Seoul.
‘They can't. No, they mustn't. That's why we exist.’
But Jeong Jin-hyeok knew.
He knew that the Republic of Korea had just been saved by someone whose name and face he didn't even know.
‘This isn't the time. No, actually, it is… but I can't let myself join in.’
His surge of emotion lasted only a moment before Jeong Jin-hyeok quietly raised one hand.
“May I have your attention.”
At his low voice, neither loud nor soft, the noise stopped as if it had been cut off.
The celebration ended there.
With everyone's eyes on him, Jeong Jin-hyeok silently swept his cold gaze across the room from behind his rimless glasses.
“That's enough. Let's all get back to work.”
Relief had never been theirs to enjoy.
Their job was to bring relief to everyone else.
“Find this person. Effective today, this is our highest priority until I announce otherwise.”
And so it began again.
The war no one knew about—and that they hoped no one ever would.