Indeed—
The sight before him was overwhelming.
BOOOOOOM—!!
The entire cavern shook.
Every torch went out simultaneously as explosive flames surged outward in all directions from the altar.
The bedrock fractured, and the cavern walls melted.
The Devouring Ghoul couldn’t even scream.
When the flames subsided, the only thing remaining was the timer floating in the air.
9:59.
Only one second had passed between the beginning and end of the battle.
DING—!
-New User ‘Kim Do-hyeon’ has cleared the Tutorial.
-Converting combat method and survival time into Points. Beginning reward calculation.
-……
-……
‘Does it normally take this long?’
‘It’s taking a while.’
The reward-calculation message remained frozen for quite some time.
According to Kim Do-hyeon’s research, the results should have appeared immediately after the Tutorial ended.
Just as he began furrowing his brow—
DING—!
-New fastest-clear record achieved!
-Base rewards increased tenfold.
-You have acquired 10 ‘F-Grade Monster Cores.’
-Highest-Point clear achieved! All stats have increased by 0.2 as a bonus reward!
-You have achieved 1st place in the Tutorial Rankings!
-This is an extraordinary achievement!
-Special reward ‘Token of Conquest’ granted for completing the achievement.
The results exceeded his expectations.
The instant the reward messages appeared, changes occurred within his body.
His mana increased.
An increase of 0.2 couldn’t be called particularly large, but he could clearly feel that the mana flowing along his orbit had become denser.
The same was true of his body.
His previous physical abilities had been approximately twice those of an ordinary person.
Now, strength twice as great as before had permeated every muscle in his body.
“This is good.”
He had achieved this growth in an extraordinarily short time.
It felt even more remarkable because he knew all too well how difficult it had been to increase his strength through training on the Rodinia Continent.
The results were astonishing.
Kim Do-hyeon had known that Babel granted power, but this surpassed his expectations.
‘Now I understand why the Awakened are obsessed with clearing Babel.’
Anyone would become intoxicated by growth achieved in this manner.
Moreover, Babel operated according to the principle of high risk and high reward.
The higher an Awakened climbed, the more difficult and dangerous the challenges became—but the rewards also grew correspondingly greater.
That was precisely why he needed to remain cautious.
‘I must not allow the pursuit to consume me.’
If he became obsessed solely with gaining power, he would lose sight of his original purpose.
He needed to remain centered.
Kim Do-hyeon calmly emptied his mind and was about to look elsewhere when—
-Please select whether to register your identity in the rankings.
-1. Public Registration.
-2. Anonymous Registration.
-Anonymous Registration may be changed to Public Registration at a later date.
There was nothing to consider.
‘The first option would be insane.’
Public registration wasn’t entirely without advantages.
In fact, those advantages were undeniable.
Fame. Treatment as a hero. Offers of citizenship from countries around the world.
Even his family’s urgent financial problems would be solved immediately.
But it wouldn’t bring only benefits.
‘It would also bring danger.’
Perhaps he was being overly cautious.
But the possibility couldn’t be dismissed.
Moreover, he was no longer alone.
‘My family.’
They were precious people he needed to protect.
He could probably guarantee his own safety.
However, with his current power, he couldn’t guarantee the safety of his family.
The Awakened Association would likely offer protection, but he couldn’t trust them completely.
‘I need to move as safely and cautiously as possible.’
Even during the wars on the Rodinia Continent, there had been people who betrayed the heroes out of jealousy or personal greed.
Those bastards had been the most troublesome of all.
Kim Do-hyeon knew better than anyone that an enemy who stabbed him in the back was more dangerous than one standing before him.
‘I’ll reach the summit eventually.’
Money. Honor. All of it would naturally follow.
It wouldn’t be too late to reveal himself to the world after completing his preparations.
Kim Do-hyeon immediately selected Anonymous Registration.
-Anonymous Registration complete.
-Rankings for cleared floors may be viewed through the Babel System at any time.
-Rankings updated.
[Tutorial Rankings]
1st. Anonymous.
2nd. Ryan Cuffer.
3rd. Anonymous.
4th. Zhang Hao.
5th. Takeda Yuki.
Immediately after he checked the rankings, another holographic window appeared in the air.
-Ending the Tutorial.
-Returning to Earth.
***
HUMMMM—
Brilliant white light filled his vision before fading away.
When Kim Do-hyeon opened his eyes, his feet no longer rested upon cold, solid bedrock but upon worn linoleum flooring.
He was home.
Just as when he had entered Babel, his surroundings had changed instantaneously.
“……I’m still not used to this.”
Kim Do-hyeon muttered as he surveyed the cramped room.
A thirty-three-square-meter apartment.
The environment was completely different from the home where his family had once lived.
It left a bitter taste in his mouth, but there was no reason to feel dejected.
After entering Babel and experiencing it for himself, he could say one thing with certainty.
He could change this situation quickly.
‘Claim Rewards.’
When he silently recited the command he had researched beforehand, a translucent window resembling a game interface appeared before him.
It was one of the convenience functions granted to the Awakened.
Clear rewards were automatically stored within it.
Simply put, it was a one-way storage space: items could be withdrawn, but nothing could be placed inside.
That was somewhat disappointing, but it was merely a convenience function, so he had no complaints.
The function itself wasn’t what mattered right now.
Kim Do-hyeon’s eyes gleamed as he examined the stored items.
-Token of Conquest ×1.
-F-Grade Monster Core ×10.
His gaze first settled upon the Token of Conquest.
The moment he focused upon it, an information window appeared.
[Token of Conquest]
Grade: Special
A token of Babel granted to one who has overwhelmed all opposition.
The description alone didn’t reveal its precise purpose.
However, considering the nature of the Tower, it was unlikely to be something worthless.
‘I’m certain it’ll be useful.’
His intuition as an Archmage told him so.
That intuition had helped him in matters both great and small throughout fifty years of warfare, so he had no reason to doubt it.
That was especially true now that his intuition had transcended the limits of an ordinary Archmage.
‘And I received ten Monster Cores.’
The market price of a single F-Grade Monster Core was approximately three hundred thousand won.
Ten of them were worth three million won.
After the ten-percent tax was deducted, his actual earnings would fall to 2.7 million won.
‘But I only spent around ten minutes inside the Tower.’
Moreover, he had spent most of those ten minutes constructing the magic circles.
The actual clear had taken only one second.
In a single second, he had earned an amount of money that many people would struggle to make after working for an entire month.
Kim Ha-eun’s worn skate bag suddenly came to mind.
Its faded shoulder strap. Its frayed zipper. The worries she had never voiced aloud.
‘……With this much income.’
A smile spread across Kim Do-hyeon’s lips when he realized he could resolve their most urgent problems.
“I can’t believe one of these is worth three hundred thousand won.”
Through his online research, he had learned that Monster Cores possessed an extraordinary variety of uses.
They were used not only for national defense but also as materials for Awakened equipment and in the medical and energy industries.
There was practically no field in which they weren’t used.
Even so, three hundred thousand won for a single F-Grade Monster Core seemed expensive.
Naturally, his curiosity stirred.
Kim Do-hyeon withdrew one of the dark-red crystals from the storage space and held it in his hand.
At that moment—
He understood immediately.
“This is……?”
Kim Do-hyeon raised the Monster Core with astonishment in his eyes.
His suspicion became certainty.
‘It’s mana.’
The crystal was only the size of his thumb, but the density of the mana compressed within it was quite high.
It would be difficult to use in its current state. However, the situation would change entirely if he could unravel its crystalline structure.
He could use his orbit’s attraction to draw out and absorb the mana compressed within the Monster Core.
If Enchantment was the technique of ‘putting’ magical power into a target, this was its opposite—the process of ‘extracting’ magical power from one.
His ability to manipulate mana was more than sufficient.
“This changes everything.”
He had originally intended to sell all ten and use the money for living expenses.
But if he could absorb their mana, he needed to reconsider.
‘There’s no reason to sell all of them.’
Honestly, he wanted to absorb all ten.
However, he also needed to consider his practical circumstances.
Babel imposed a Cooldown before reentry.
It lasted exactly three days and reset at six in the morning.
Since he had entered today, he wouldn’t be able to enter again until after six in the morning on August 7, three days from now.
Three days.
It could be considered either short or long.
But he needed to remember the three years his family had endured.
‘Quickly, but precisely.’
The restriction prevented him from acquiring an unlimited number of Monster Cores.
However—
That was precisely why he needed to invest most of them in himself.
He had received ten because the base reward had been multiplied for achieving the fastest clear.
That meant he could obtain the same multiplier on the 1st Floor if he achieved the fastest clear there as well.
Naturally, that depended upon whether he could achieve another fastest clear.
‘It’s entirely possible.’
Babel didn’t force people to enter without warning.
He could enter whenever he desired.
That meant he could prepare for every eventuality.
‘Never fight a mage who has completed his preparations.’
It was an old saying passed down through generations on the Rodinia Continent.
That was how formidable a fully prepared mage could be.
There was no possibility of failure.
‘Nine to one. I’ll keep only enough for our immediate living expenses and absorb the rest.’
Having completed his calculations, Kim Do-hyeon sat down on the floor with the Monster Core in his hand and began preparing to process it.
***
While Kim Do-hyeon examined his rewards—
BabelNet, a massive online community used by the Awakened, had erupted into chaos.
─Did you guys see the Tutorial Rankings?
└Why would I look at that?
└Isn’t Ryan in first place anyway?
└First place just changed.
└Stop lying.
└It’s true. Check it yourself.
└Fuck, it’s actually real??
└What is this?
└Isn’t this the first change in ten years??
└It’s been a while since we saw an Anonymous entry.
└Who the hell is it?
The Tutorial Rankings had changed for the first time in ten years.
It was an issue capable of shaking the entire world.
Naturally, the online community erupted. However, because the new record holder had registered anonymously, no concrete information was available.
Still, they weren’t completely without clues.
“The Devouring Ghoul was killed……?”
Han Seung-jae, President of the Korean Awakened Association, wore a grave expression.
He wasn’t the only one.
Every senior official within the Association had been placed on high alert.
“Yes. We received a report from an Awakened who just completed the Tutorial. The Devouring Ghoul had disappeared and been replaced by a new monster.”
A peculiar light entered Han Seung-jae’s eyes at Choi Do-young’s report.
After all—
The rankings had been updated, and the Devouring Ghoul had been defeated.
Both events had occurred on the same day.
Taken individually, the events could perhaps have been dismissed as a coincidence.
But that wasn’t all.
“China, the United States, India, and numerous other countries have begun intelligence operations to uncover the identity of the new 1st-place Ranker.”
That meant the newly Awakened individual hadn’t emerged from any of the countries that had previously maintained the highest positions.
Which meant—
“I cannot say with absolute certainty.”
Choi Do-young set down the documents and continued decisively.
“However, there is an extremely high probability that the new 1st-place Ranker is Korean.”
Han Seung-jae felt something ignite within his chest.
‘First place!’
Moreover, this person had achieved first place in the Tutorial.
Because of the Tutorial’s restrictions, participants couldn’t receive meaningful outside support. Their results were determined entirely by their personal abilities and talent.
Indeed, the previous top Tutorial Rankers—Ryan Cuffer, Zhang Hao, and Takeda Yuki—were all currently among the highest-ranked Awakened in the world.
The new Ranker’s potential for growth was virtually limitless.
“……Can we find them?”
Choi Do-young furrowed his brow before answering Han Seung-jae’s question.
“To be honest, it won’t be easy. The fact that they selected Anonymous Registration suggests they’re extremely cautious. They will probably conceal their identity as thoroughly as possible until they choose to reveal it themselves.”
It was a reasonable conclusion.
But they couldn’t give up.
“Since they completed the Tutorial today, examine those who recently registered as Awakened. Monitor future registrants as well and identify anyone who stands out.”
“Understood. I’ll begin by reviewing the list of recent registrants and instruct the registration offices to remain vigilant.”
Han Seung-jae rose from his seat and surveyed the senior officials.
“I’m sure all of you understand.”
His voice lowered.
“This may be our final opportunity.”
Korea lacked powerful Awakened.
The reason was clear.
The political establishment had been reluctant to provide the Awakened with funding and benefits. Even the concessions the Association had struggled to obtain were gradually devoured by politicians seeking to line their own pockets.
As a result, talented Awakened had repeatedly left the country in search of better treatment abroad.
“We cannot allow foreign countries to take any more of our talent.”
Fire burned in Han Seung-jae’s eyes.
“I will personally settle matters with the political establishment. The rest of you will focus solely on finding the new 1st-place Ranker.”
“Yes, sir! Understood!”
Their thunderous response echoed throughout the main conference room.
Han Seung-jae nodded and left first.
The remaining officials were beginning to rise and leave when—
“Hey, Director of Operations Support.”
Choi Do-young stopped Lee Jae-yoon.
“Why? What is it?”
“You need to keep your promise.”
The corners of Choi Do-young’s lips rose.
His gaze slowly shifted toward the scenery of Yeouido beyond the window.
“Just in case, I already prepared the full-body tights you’ll be wearing.”
“……Couldn’t you let me off just this once?”
“Absolutely not.”
Lee Jae-yoon’s face turned bright red at Choi Do-young’s firm answer.