The Tower was not a simple dungeon that you only had to climb.
Every so often, it spewed out inexplicable disasters.
Tower Break.
That was the name humanity had given it.
The conditions still hadn’t been clearly revealed.
Some said it happened when a specific floor’s boss was left alone for too long,
while others said it occurred when the number of challengers decreased.
One thing was certain.
If players didn’t climb, it would inevitably erupt.
And once it happened, the damage was horrific.
When monsters from around the 30th floor poured out, a city was wiped off the map,
and when the 60th floor or higher opened, entire nations vanished.
Most of the nations that had disappeared throughout history had collapsed because of Tower Breaks.
The problem was that no one could completely prevent this phenomenon.
The Association and the governments of each country periodically pushed challengers into the Tower.
Whether people wanted to or not, if they didn’t climb, the nation itself would be finished.
“The last Tower Break was three years ago, wasn’t it?”
London, three years ago.
The United Kingdom attempted to conquer the 48th floor for the first time in the world, and the result was a miserable failure.
As the number of players climbing the Tower dwindled, a Tower Break eventually occurred, and London only barely managed to stop it by requesting aid from the World Awakener Association.
“And Korea’s will open soon too.”
One year from now.
A Tower Break would occur in the heart of Seoul.
There had been at least 30,000 casualties.
That was when I hadn’t gotten involved.
‘For now, I’ll just do my best.’
The way to reduce the damage was simple.
I had to get stronger.
Overwhelmingly.
“Anyway, I never expected to get the Black Moon Engraving like this.”
[Black Moon Engraving]
-Grade: Rankless (Growth: Common)
-A mark is engraved on the back of the hand.
-Consumes mana to form a desired weapon. Forming a weapon consumes 1 slot. The weapon’s appearance is fixed upon its first formation.
“I’ve gotten my hands on an absurd weapon.”
CRACK!
When I crushed the black gem, a black mark was engraved on the back of my hand.
If I infused it with mana and imagined the form of the weapon I wanted, the mark would create a weapon accordingly.
‘The Black Moon Engraving is a growth-type weapon. As I get stronger, the weapon’s durability and the number of weapon slots it can store also increase.’
If it ranked up to the highest grade, it could create a total of six weapons.
“What would be good for the first weapon? If possible, I’d like to go with one of the three I used most….”
Of course, I didn’t need to decide right now.
The lower floors could be cleared well enough even with the deactivated Eclipse anyway.
“First, what I need right now is levels. Straight on to conquering the 2nd floor—”
The moment I kicked back the chair and stood up.
Spin—
The world tilted.
My head spun for a moment, and the strength drained from my legs.
A feeling of fatigue rushing in all at once from every corner of my body.
Only then did I realize.
That what had held me up until now had been nothing but willpower.
FLOP—
I slumped back down into the chair.
My breathing quickened, and my fingertips trembled slightly.
As if a bowstring drawn for too long had snapped, my body let go of its tension.
‘I just finished a mere tutorial, and I’m feeling fatigue?’
Outside the window, a red sunset was slowly tinting the city.
Car horns, motorcycle engines, and the intermittent sounds of a market from far away.
“Haa—, I’ve gotten pretty slack.”
A short breath slipped out.
I decided to put off conquering the 2nd floor for a while.
Today was the time to hold on to this brief peace.
***
I had a dream.
A dream in which my past selves passed by one after another.
There was a time I had climbed the Tower together with people to end this fucking regression.
‘No…, I’m not the hero you think I am….’
There was a time I had become a Red Player to escape this hell.
‘I’m sorry…, I’m so sorry….’
For the sake of eternal rest.
There was also a time I had run without rest until I died of overwork.
To people, I had been a hero, a villain, and a monster.
…….
“What a filthy morning.”
My body moved normally, but my mind was soaked in fatigue.
‘Resting just one day isn’t going to relieve the fatigue of 999 runs.’
Zzzing—
At that moment, my phone vibrated.
It was the convenience store boss.
-Why aren’t you coming to work? It’s been two days.
I stared at the screen of the phone lying next to my bed for a long while, then smiled bitterly.
‘Come to think of it, I forgot to tell him.’
Before I Awakened, I was an orphan.
To earn living expenses, I had worked part-time at a convenience store under Boss Lee.
‘Come to think of it, I should’ve told him right after regressing, but I forgot because of the tutorial. I’ll tell him I’m quitting today.’
I washed up and threw on some clothes.
Today would be my last day at work.
A ten-minute walk.
The morning air brushed against my skin, and strangely, my steps felt light.
Jingle— Jingle—
When I opened the convenience store door, the boss’s voice flew at me from behind the counter.
“Hey! Why didn’t you come in for two days?”
His voice was full of anger, but I knew the heart that lay beneath it.
He was the man who had taken pity on me, an orphan with only a middle school education, and given me a job.
Thanks to him, I had been able to endure a hard past.
“Hurry up, change into your uniform and get to work.”
I took a breath for a moment and raised my head.
“…Boss. I will be quitting as of today.”
In that instant, the boss’s face stiffened.
Then he looked at my face for a moment and let out a sigh.
“How can you tell me that on the day of? There’s nobody else to work, so work through today.”
“Yes, sir.”
I nodded.
I put on the convenience store uniform and stepped behind the counter.
Beep—
I scanned the items and stated the price.
“That will be 2,300 won.”
I took the card, inserted it into the terminal, and when the payment chime sounded, handed over the receipt.
The ordinary daily life I was experiencing for the first time in a long while.
Customers coming in, ringing them up, organizing the merchandise; a thoroughly ordinary life.
With no room for my mind to get complicated, time passed surprisingly quickly.
When I looked at the clock, it was already 7 p.m.
Jingle—
The convenience store door opened, and the boss came in.
Holding a plastic bag, he cast a quick glance behind the counter, then casually flicked off the sign light switch.
“Come on out, let’s eat.”
“We’re open until 10. Is it all right to close this early?”
“It’s fine, so just come out! You brat. I’m the boss, so I’m closing it, simple as that.”
It sounded like a flimsy excuse, but I didn’t press him.
We moved to a barbecue restaurant in the alley next to the convenience store.
As soon as we sat down, I picked up the tongs, but.
“Forget it. I don’t eat anything I didn’t grill myself.”
The boss snatched the tongs and briskly started laying the meat on the grill.
Grease spattered over the charcoal, and a savory smell spread through the air.
Soon, a bottle of soju was placed on the table.
The boss poured for me, and I filled his glass in turn.
Clink—
Our glasses clinked, and the alcohol slid down my throat.
“Kyaa~”
Bitter.
Since becoming a player, ordinary soju couldn’t get me drunk, so it just felt like drinking bitter water.
“Heh heh, well? Bitter?”
“It’s really bitter. I don’t know why grown-ups drink this stuff.”
“Booze is meant to be bitter.”
“Isn’t there usually something else people say at times like this? Like, life is more bitter, so booze tastes sweet. Something like that?”
GULP—
“Kyaa—, that’s all bullshit. People say stuff like that to sound deep. Life is bitter, my ass. I know your whole situation, so what’s the point of saying something like that?”
When I was five, my father disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a single letter.
From elementary school on, I was branded an orphan, and teasing was a daily occurrence.
In middle school, I even hit a teacher in the teachers’ office.
Expulsion.
No other school would take me.
After that, my mother Awakened.
She climbed the Tower, promising me a better life, and not long after, she went missing.
“I wondered what a young kid had been through to be standing out in the rain on the street.”
“If I hadn’t met you back then, Boss, I probably would have—”
BANG!
Boss Lee slammed his glass down hard on the table and raised his voice.
“Don’t say such damn unlucky things. That’s not something you say carelessly.”
Death.
If I hadn’t met Boss Lee, I probably would have died right there on the spot.
‘Even if I hadn’t, I would’ve ended up taking my own life anyway.’
Clack—
Setting his glass down, the boss spoke up.
“There are plenty of people in the world with harder stories than yours. But just because there are a lot of people like that doesn’t make the story you carry any lighter.”
Telling me to work only through today, and having a meal like this afterward.
I had already gone through this dozens of times.
Even so, I couldn’t help but come to see him.
Because to me, who had nothing, he was my only family.
“So… have you found something else to do?”
“Yes. I’m going to become a player.”
“So you’ve Awakened.”
Swish—
The boss looked at me for a moment, then nodded.
Then he picked up a piece of meat and put it on my plate.
“You’ll do well at whatever you do.”
A smile spread across my face at those words.
“Yes, sir.”
I answered briefly, and as I chewed the meat, I repeated it to myself.
Yes, I’ll pull off anything.
After we wrapped up the drinks and came out into the alley, Boss Lee pressed a black envelope into my hand.
“This is….”
It was heavy.
I could feel something angular inside the envelope.
It was about the same amount as the money I had earned working here.
“What’s this money for?”
“Severance pay.”
Leaving only those words, he gently placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Take care of yourself, and don’t go sticking your neck out and getting yourself killed. You never know what might happen in the Tower.”
Having finished speaking, the boss turned and headed back toward the convenience store.
I gripped the envelope tightly and bowed at the waist.
“Thank you for everything.”
When I raised my head, the boss, his back to me, was raising one hand and waving it.
That gesture lingered in my eyes for a strangely long time.
***
As soon as I got home, I sat down on the floor.
Crossing my legs, I steadied my breathing.
What I was about to do would greatly affect the future as well.
‘My head feels a lot lighter. Now I should get ready to go back to where I belong.’
I placed both hands on my knees and kept my breathing steady.
Focus was essential to handling the Black Moon Engraving.
The moment my mind wavered, the weapon would crumble like a sandcastle.
-The weapon’s appearance is fixed upon its first formation.
‘For the conquests ahead, two conditions have to be met.’
First, a weapon that would let me take on many enemies alone.
Second, enough penetrating power to pierce monsters with strong defenses in a single blow.
“Whew—”
I pictured a single form in my mind.
A long, straight shaft, and a spearhead that grew sharper as it narrowed toward the tip.
Fine edges set along the sides of the blade, allowing it to slash when swung.
‘A staff is a weapon that can handle both offense and defense, depending on the user. To make up for its lacking attack power.’
A spear.
A weapon with the reach of a staff, the sharpness of a sword, and even defense, depending on proficiency.
Shaaa—
I poured mana into the mark.
My fingertips turned piercingly cold, then soon grew hot.
[Using the Rare Grade Skeleton Giant’s Mana Stone to form the Black Moon Engraving’s shape.]
[The Rankless Black Moon Engraving absorbs the Mana Stone and grows.]
I could feel the Mana Stone in my hand turning to powder and scattering.
Zzziiing—
A black radiance that seeped in even with my eyes closed.
Black light bloomed from the back of my hand, drawing a form in the air.
‘If I lose focus, it’s over.’
The shaft took shape gradually, as if being carved, and the spearhead devoured the darkness of the room, creating an even deeper jet-black.
And.
DING—
“Haa—”
When I opened my eyes, a heavy weight traveled from my palm up into my arm.
The light flashing from the tip of the spearhead grazed my eyes.
“Perfect.”
[Please set the weapon’s Command Word.]
A Command Word was both the weapon’s name and the word used to summon it.
I tilted the spearhead slightly and looked over its smooth curve and sharp tip.
“…Transix.”
[The Command Word has been set to ‘Transix’.]
[Consuming a slot of the Rankless Weapon Black Moon Engraving to register a new form.]
The spearhead vibrated in a low hum.
Transix.
Its total length was slightly longer than my height.
A shaft the color of black iron.
Fine grooves were engraved into it so that it fit snugly in the hand.
Grip—
“It’s made just right.”
The blade held a darkness even deeper than the shaft’s.
A sharpness that looked like it could pierce any armor with a single thrust.
WHOOSH—
When I swung it lightly, the sharp sound of the air being cut brushed past my ears.
‘All preparations are complete.’
It had been only three days since the start of my 1000th run.
In that short time, I had achieved absurd growth.
‘Even compared to the previous run, I can say for certain that I’m much stronger now.’
If I kept growing like this, I would become stronger than ever before.
This time, for sure.
I would get rid of the curse of regression and erase the Tower from this world.