‘So a ranker’s still a ranker, huh?’
SHWOOOOOK—!
A blade of wind flew toward my neck.
My long-honed combat instincts reacted first. I couldn’t see it, but I could read and feel its flow.
Before the sharp current could graze my skin, I ducked my head and lowered my body.
WHIP—
The blade grazed past over my head. Immediately after came two bullets of wind.
I reflexively threw my body to the right.
CRASH—! CRASH—!
The wall behind me burst apart, scattering concrete like shrapnel.
The office, no, the interrogation room was already half-destroyed.
“That settles it.”
“Settles what?”
“Playing dumb? A guy who just finished the tutorial dodges my attack twice? You think that makes any sense?”
He spoke calmly, but his eyes were bloodshot, and his ragged breathing shook the air.
“Your attacks are too slow. I could dodge them with my eyes closed.”
Flinch—
In that instant, the flow of the air changed.
Faint, but there was a pressure creeping up through the floor.
The tips of my toes noticed it first.
‘Pulling out your ultimate move right away, are you?’
The corners of Kim Woo-yeol’s mouth rose ever so slightly.
An expression as if he meant to make a fool of me.
Ordinary players wouldn’t even have noticed the change in the flow.
‘If I leave this alone, the whole building’s going to be blown away.’
Stomp—
I spread my legs wide and drew in a deep breath.
[F-rank Skill Mana activates.]
I sent mana flowing forcefully into my right arm.
Right before it gathered in my hand, I compressed it inside my forearm.
“Tear apart—”
The floor twitched.
The air condensed and began to twist.
This was no ordinary wind. It was Kim Woo-yeol’s signature skill.
「Tempest」
WHOOOOOSH—
Right before his mana exploded, I drove the mana surging up from my heart into my right hand.
Like a drainage channel bursting open, I slammed it down toward the floor with all my strength.
KABOOOOOM——!!!
The pressure burst in an instant.
My mana forcibly pushed away the core of the storm.
“What—!?”
KABOOOOOOOOM———!!!!
The storm, which should have torn upward, lost its trajectory and burst out to both sides.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!!
The whirlwind spread like a wall, turning everything above, below, left, and right upside down.
The walls of Basement Level 3 were blown away.
WEEEEEEEE—!!!
An emergency alarm blared.
The deafening roar of rebar tearing and pipes bursting followed.
CRASH——!!!
All the air was sucked in, then burst out as if exploding.
Dust, chunks of concrete, shattered fluorescent lights, and drone debris floated in the air.
RUMBLE—!!!
The building shook violently.
Right before the floor of Basement Level 2 collapsed, Kim Woo-yeol concentrated his mana.
“Kheugh!!”
As he stretched both hands toward the ceiling, space warped and a whirlwind shot upward.
Suppressing the rampaging currents, he forcibly propped up the collapsing Level 2 with a pillar of wind.
THUD—!!
A precarious balance, momentarily frozen in place as weight and gravity collided.
“Seo! Kang!! Yul——!!!”
His howl spread like a tremor.
Only now had Kim Woo-yeol realized it.
That I had provoked him.
The moment he released his mana, even briefly, the ceiling of Basement Level 3 would collapse, and Basement Level 1 would be crushed right after it.
‘Kim Woo-yeol at this point is still emotional. Anyway, it’s about time for them to show up….’
The entire building was at risk of sinking.
The fact that no one had come by now meant someone had already taken control of the personnel.
‘You can’t just keep watching, can you? At this rate, your precious Team Leader Kim Woo-yeol is going to die of mana depletion.’
Clack— Clack—
The sound of hard dress shoes.
“That is enough, both of you.”
A voice as still as silence rang out.
Even amid the ear-piercing alarm, that voice was clear.
Swish—
I turned around to see who it was.
One man. One woman.
The woman was kneeling on the floor with her hands pressed against it.
And something was rising from her fingertips.
‘Laid-back as ever, I see.’
The floor split, and enormous roots shot up.
Tree trunks wrapped around the walls, grew along the rebar, and propped up the ceiling.
The collapsing Level 2 structure, was lifted fully back into place thanks to those trees.
WHIP—
A middle-aged man with a cigarette in his mouth appeared before my eyes.
“Association Inspection Unit. Director Lee Hoon-pyo.”
A massive body.
A black shirt that looked as though it were about to rip because of that body.
His already fierce-looking face was further accentuated by the scar over his right eye.
Chk— Chk—
He flicked on his lighter, took a drag, and continued.
“As of this moment, I am taking command here. Anyone who disobeys orders will be punished immediately.”
I concentrated mana into my index finger and thumb.
Then raised my hand just like that.
Tsss—
I pinched out his cigarette.
“This is a non-smoking building, Director Lee Hoon-pyo.”
***
Kim Woo-yeol had become excessively agitated.
Because of that, he couldn’t make sound judgments.
And as a result, he had recklessly spammed his skill.
The damage was enough to sweep through all of Basement Level 3.
“Still, isn’t it fortunate? What if I hadn’t redirected its trajectory?”
“The damage would have gone beyond Basement Level 3 and reached Level 2, Level 1, and even the lobby.”
“But that’s not certain, is it?!”
As if reacting to my eloquence, Kim Woo-yeol defended himself.
However, all of this had been intended from the very start.
I was certain.
That defense would do nothing to persuade Director Lee Hoon-pyo.
“Team Leader Kim Woo-yeol, do you truly mean what you just said?”
Director Lee Hoon-pyo spoke quietly.
His voice was calm, but the air in the room changed.
The weight of those words, cast over Kim Woo-yeol’s back.
Was not a simple reprimand.
It was a warning, and a sentence.
“Considering the power of your skill, it is a sufficiently credible claim. Civilians could even have been harmed.”
Civilians could have been harmed.
At that single sentence, Kim Woo-yeol hung his head low.
“Team Leader Kim Woo-yeol.”
Tak—
Lee Hoon-pyo tapped the table once with his fingertip.
“You conducted the interrogation based on personal feelings, and as a result, the Association suffered great losses. Any objections?”
“None.”
A short, stiff answer.
Kim Woo-yeol’s voice no longer blew about like the wind.
It was like a river that had quietly settled.
“Very well.”
Lee Hoon-pyo slowly rose from his seat.
His voice, as always, was dry.
“Team Leader Kim Woo-yeol is hereby suspended from his post. The period is one year. During that time, in addition to a pay cut, his access to the Tower will be restricted.”
“……Understood.”
Kim Woo-yeol raised no objection.
Without a word, he bowed his head once more and walked toward the door, and.
CLACK—
He shut the door behind him and left.
‘Well, this should be enough for now, right?’
Kim Woo-yeol was a man with a lot of pride.
His signature technique had been shattered by a novice player who had only just finished the 1st-floor tutorial.
He probably had a lot on his mind now.
“Whew—, allow me to begin by thanking you. Had it not been for you, there would have been a great loss of life.”
Director Lee Hoon-pyo was, quite literally, composed.
Even his words of gratitude came out as clean-cut as a figure on a ledger.
“I merely did what I had to do.”
I answered briefly.
Even so, he looked at my face for a long time.
Less like an interrogation and more like an evaluation.
“I see. A player who has only just finished the tutorial, no less….”
A subtle lingering note could be felt in those words.
It was neither sarcasm nor surprise.
Rather, it was the tone of a man who had just finished some calculation.
“We will no longer question you about your illegal climb.”
“Thank you.”
“In exchange, your Association registration will be processed right here, right now. No objections, I trust?”
“None.”
I nodded.
The moment he said that, the situation became clear.
He would cover up my crime in order to hide Kim Woo-yeol’s blunder.
Lee Hoon-pyo had chosen practicality.
Kim Woo-yeol was too valuable a talent to lose like this, after all.
“But… you intend to end it with just that?”
Tak—
A single finger on the desk stopped.
“Just that, is it.”
He said it as though repeating it back.
And at that moment, the air grew heavy.
RUMBLE—
As if cold air were seeping in beneath the nape of my neck, as if someone were pressing down on me from above.
Mana enveloped me, heavy and thick.
Pressure born of might that only the strong could produce.
‘Director Lee Hoon-pyo. A first-generation figure who founded the Association together with Nam Tae-san. And….’
One of the people harboring dissatisfaction with the current state of the Association.
Shaaa—
I slowly spread mana through my body.
From my heart to my fingertips, as if flowing along my blood vessels.
Without even taking a deep breath.
I accepted that weight just as it was.
“Honestly, climbing the Tower illegally was indeed my crime, but compared to Team Leader Kim Woo-yeol’s crime, isn’t it embarrassing to even call it a crime?”
He narrowed his brows slightly.
His mana continued to pour down on me, but his gaze gradually became tinged with a curious interest.
‘Same personality as ever.’
Lee Hoon-pyo liked people who were confident.
To be precise, people who had the right to be confident.
He liked people with ability and conviction, not mere bravado.
“I stopped Team Leader Kim Woo-yeol’s blunder. If I hadn’t stopped it, it wouldn’t have ended with a suspension, would it?”
“Indeed. He would likely have served at least ten years behind bars. Very well. Is there anything else you want?”
The corners of his mouth rose slightly.
Only now had the real negotiating table been laid out.
What I wanted was just one thing.
“Please exempt me from all of the Association’s training programs. And grant me rental privileges for the Association’s armory.”
“….”
RUMBLE!
The weight of the air increased once more.
A heavy force swept along the nape of my neck and down my spine.
‘I can’t let it show that this is hard on me.’
Without moving my eyes, looking straight at him, I very slowly raised a smile.
“Do you realize how absurd the reward you want is?”
“Well? You asked whether there was anything I wanted, so I simply told you what I want.”
“Hmm….”
Honestly, I didn’t need rental privileges for the armory.
It would be nice to have, but it wouldn’t be a problem without it either.
‘But the training’s a no-go. Sitting through classes on things I already know is bad enough, but above all, it’s way too much wasted time.’
The Association’s player training program lasted three years.
An exam was held once a year, and the top student was allowed to graduate early.
But for me now, even that one year was nothing but a waste of time.
“Exemption from training is impossible. That is beyond my authority.”
No way.
Director Lee Hoon-pyo was a ranker on a level similar to Association President Nam Tae-san.
He held the title of Director, but in practice, he stood far above that.
“Of course, it is not as though there is no way.”
Grin—
As the corners of Lee Hoon-pyo’s mouth rose, the force pressing down on my body lifted.
“Would you care to make a wager with me?”
“A wager? What kind?”
“I will be frank. I would like you to become a player affiliated with the Association.”
I knew it.
Kim Woo-yeol, who had been a major asset, had given up on living as a player and was doing nothing but interrogations in the Inspection Unit.
There was no telling when he would return.
They would need to replenish their fighting strength.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t wish to belong to any organization.”
“That is precisely why I am proposing a wager. With each of us staking what we want.”
“By a wager, what kind of—”
“Spar with me, and if you win, I will grant your request, even if I have to threaten Nam Tae-san to do it.”
“Pardon?”
Outwardly, I pretended to be flustered.
Now, I was almost there.
“How could I possibly beat you, Director Lee Hoon-pyo?”
“Naturally, I will give you a handicap. I will not use any skills. If I do use a skill, I will count it as your victory.”
Here, I swallowed dryly once, for good measure.
GULP—
“I’ll do it.”
Perfect acting.
For a moment, I nearly let a laugh slip out.
‘Got him!’