The first thing I considered was how to clear everything alone.
‘There are rare cases that require a minimum number of people, but I can fill those slots with fragments. The real problem is that I will have to handle tanking, damage, and support all by myself.’
It was a plan that an ordinary Player with a limited number of skills could never even dream of attempting.
An all-rounder playstyle.
Even I, who could possess an unlimited number of skills, had abandoned the idea after trying it only a few times.
‘Acquiring skills requires capital, after all.’
Ironically, there was no society more capitalist than the tower.
Everything in this place required the currency known as Points.
“What do you mean a bedroom costs 10 Points?!”
“Kimchi stew costs 5 Points?”
“What can we use here without paying?”
The group of more than fifty people complained in bewilderment.
Every attempt to purchase or use something demanded Points, leaving them reluctant to do anything.
They had encountered an unfamiliar currency in an unfamiliar place.
And no one had yet determined its true value.
“Maybe these 100 Points are worth less than we think. They are the reward for clearing a stage, right? There must be more stages after this, so this is probably the smallest reward.”
“That is true. A bowl of kimchi stew is only 5 Points. Maybe one Point is worth around a thousand won?”
Amusingly enough, modern people always measured the cost of living by comparing prices to food.
“Ah, I do not care anymore. Forget Awakening and Points. I need to rest first.”
As a result, everyone began spending their 100 Points freely without understanding their value.
Some people even paid 10 Points for a room because they wanted a safe place where they could be alone.
One person tried to lie on a bed without paying any Points.
THUD.
“Ow, my back!”
The bed vanished beneath him like an illusion.
It was as though every object here were a hologram.
The objects in this place could only be used after they were purchased.
I did not understand the principle behind it, but even when only one room was visible, multiple people could apparently rest within their own separate spaces.
Those seemingly insignificant objects made the confused crowd realize once again that this was not an ordinary place.
At the very least, everyone now understood that they were inside a realm beyond human comprehension.
Some people pinched themselves or slapped their own cheeks, but they all reached the same conclusion.
“···This is not a dream. Could this really be the afterlife?”
Their reckless spending gradually began to slow.
Several people approached and tried to speak with me. However, the flies buzzing around me were becoming too irritating for me to continue ignoring them.
Before long, several quick-witted people began following my example and sat against the corridor wall without spending any Points.
“Mister, do you really not know what this place is?”
The short-haired woman was among them.
She was perceptive.
When she saw my expression gradually darkening, she sent the others away, claiming that she would learn what she could, and approached me alone.
Unlike before, she now spoke politely and behaved with calculated friendliness.
“Mister, those people are never going to leave until you tell them something. You seem to know what is happening. Help us survive together.”
She probably had no idea what a luxury the notion of surviving together was in this place.
I silently studied the short-haired woman, who had discarded her earlier cold demeanor and was now imitating an ordinary young woman.
“I will answer exactly three questions. If you continue bothering me after that, I will not tolerate it.”
“You finally decided to talk! All right, then··· What exactly is this place?”
“I do not know what this place truly is either. From now on, everyone here will have to risk their lives to complete missions.”
“Missions? Who are you? How did you learn that?”
“A human named Lee Hojun. I cannot answer the next question. Ask something else.”
Realizing that she had wasted one of her questions, the short-haired woman frowned and muttered under her breath.
“Tch. Then how can we survive and return home?”
She had cleverly hidden two questions inside one sentence.
“···Do you even remember the home you want to return to?”
“Ah.”
It was meaningless.
None of us could remember what the homes we wished to return to even looked like.
The short-haired woman was no exception.
She wanted to go home, but she could not recall a single memory of that home.
“I will tell you how to survive. Do not be afraid to spend your Points. They will be useless if you die during the next stage. Purchase a skill, a weapon, and survival equipment, in that order. Whenever possible, choose items that complement your Active Skill. You cannot starve to death or die from illness here in the Break Room, so do not waste your Points on unnecessary things.”
I could have merely told her not to hoard her Points, but I showed her some goodwill and explained the essentials.
That should raise their chances of survival, even if only slightly.
As long as they did not turn their blades on me, I could coexist with them to that extent.
The short-haired woman continued trying to draw more information out of me by casually starting conversations, but I reminded her of our agreement and shook my head.
“Tch. Fine. I will not bother you anymore. And··· I will repay this debt someday. Ah, my name is Kang Sujeong.”
She meant a debt of gratitude, not a promise of retaliation.
It had been a long time since anyone had shown me goodwill.
My final life before the reboot had lasted more than twenty years.
It was also the longest I had ever survived in any cycle.
That meant it had been more than twenty years since I had last heard such a human sentiment.
It felt strangely nostalgic.
‘At this point, people still possess something resembling humanity.’
The higher one climbed through the towers, the more such warm words and actions vanished.
People relentlessly coveted what belonged to others and constantly searched for opportunities to betray them.
Only those willing to do anything for survival remained.
Kindhearted people brimming with humanity never survived longer than a year.
They all died.
“What did he say?”
“Did you learn anything?”
The questions came from the perceptive people who had begun subtly following the short-haired woman from about ten meters away.
They instinctively knew whose side they should take and exactly how far they could cross the line.
“He said not to be afraid to spend our Points.”
Several people groaned at Kang Sujeong’s answer.
They were the ones who had purchased food.
“He said that we cannot become ill or starve to death here. Still, buying food was not necessarily a bad choice. We need to obtain skills, weapons, and survival equipment. Everyone should check their Active Skill. It should contain a clue about what you need.”
As she spoke, Kang Sujeong checked her own Skill Window.
‘My Fixed Skill is Control. My Active Skill is Fireball. My Passive Skill is Mana’s Blessing.’
After inspecting her skills, Kang Sujeong immediately realized what role she was supposed to fulfill.
‘A Mage. Can something like this truly be possible?’
It was difficult to deny when some people had already openly demonstrated their abilities.
Some used telekinesis like psychics, while others created spikes of ice in midair.
One person boasted about his incredible strength by displaying inhuman physical power.
Everyone appeared to have forgotten their circumstances as they became enthralled by their mysterious new powers.
Meanwhile, some people complained that they had not received an Active Skill.
Others lamented the low ranks of their skills, while a few proudly announced that they had purchased new ones.
‘Yes. I should be able to use mine just like them.’
But that was not particularly important.
What frightened her was the knowledge that a situation requiring such mysterious powers was approaching.
Nevertheless, Kang Sujeong kept herself composed.
She hid her emotions and made every effort to face reality.
‘A 30 percent increase in control. A skill that allows me to control anything.’
It was difficult to understand precisely what it did from a single-line description, but having Control as her Fixed Skill helped her manage her mental state.
It appeared to affect anything that required control.
“For now··· I should make my purchases as well.”
Kang Sujeong briefly glanced at Lee Hojun, the man who had shown the others a measure of goodwill, before approaching the chatterbox in the center.
The Guide did not know very much, yet it never stopped talking.
Whenever anyone asked an important question, it invariably responded, ‘That information cannot be disclosed at this time.’
Still, the conversation had not been entirely fruitless.
It explained what kind of place the Break Room was and what functions were available there.
It also displayed the remaining time before the next mission.
[Tower of Beginnings]
-STAGE. 002
Time until opening: 01:10:03
The hologram displayed the remaining time until Stage 2 opened, counting down by the second.
Everyone rested while occasionally glancing at the remaining time.
There was an unspoken agreement not to discuss the next stage.
Several people had raised the subject earlier, but everyone fell silent when the conversation produced nothing but grim possibilities.
Perhaps monsters would appear.
Perhaps they would be forced to kill one another in a Battle Royale.
Perhaps they would have to survive for days while trapped in a space where they could not move.
The longer they talked, the clearer it became that there was no limit to the horrors the human imagination could devise.
The hologram contained various functions.
However, most of them could not be used because the necessary conditions had not been fulfilled.
Online Shop, Online Community, Offline Support.
Of those, the Online Shop was the only function Kang Sujeong could currently use.
‘The skills are all too expensive. The only things I can afford are Passive Skills whose functions I barely understand. Even those cost at least 100 Points.’
She examined the available equipment next.
There was a wide selection of weapons and armor.
Using the filter function, Kang Sujeong displayed only the items she could currently afford.
‘A Reinforced Tunic for 50 Points. A Ceramic Dagger for 40 Points. A Wooden Shield for 10 Points.’
Kang Sujeong did not play many games, but she was not entirely unfamiliar with them.
She understood that armor was more important than a weapon when survival was the priority, and she chose the best combination available within her budget.
With her life at stake, she spent a long time carefully comparing every option before making her purchase.
The equipment materialized in midair and fell the moment she pressed the purchase button.
Kang Sujeong equipped everything over her jumpsuit.
Surprisingly, the jumpsuit was extremely comfortable.
‘I do not like that I could not obtain any proper survival supplies, but purchasing equipment for my immediate survival was the correct decision.’
The Shop sold the robes and staffs commonly associated with Mages, but they were little better than rags, and no effects were listed for them.
Instead, she purchased armor and a shield for survival, along with a dagger as a precaution.
Before long, only five minutes remained.
STEP. STEP.
When the man who had been sitting motionlessly with his eyes closed in a corner of the corridor began walking, everyone fell silent.
He leisurely stopped in front of the hologram, looked over Kang Sujeong’s equipment, and casually remarked.
“If I were you, I would have charged Points for the information. Still, your choice of equipment was not bad.”
Kang Sujeong stared blankly at Lee Hojun.
‘Points··· can be traded?’
She had understood that they were a form of currency, but because they had no visible physical form, the idea of exchanging them had never occurred to her.
Leaving the dumbfounded short-haired woman behind, I examined the Shop’s inventory.
Telling her about trading had been a minor whim.
I had no intention whatsoever of accepting her as a companion, but there was no harm in giving away information that had already served its purpose.
I had a reason for not explaining Point transactions from the beginning.
It was unlikely, but if they conspired to pool their Points into a single person, that person might pose a threat to me during the next stage.
‘I do not know what mission will appear, but there is no guarantee that the Tower of Beginnings will not produce a Battle Royale.’
They needed equipment and abilities strong enough to be useful, yet still remain at a level I could defeat.
However, they could not be too weak either.
The next mission might require cooperation.
No matter how much combat experience I possessed, I was still weak at the moment, without even a single Active Skill.
“As expected.”
Beginner’s Luck was once again available for purchase in the Online Shop for 100 Points.
In other words, I could exploit the same mechanic I had used earlier all over again.