Chapter 111: Coup (4)

The grand conference hall of the Chosen People’s Party Central Committee headquarters in North Korea.

The Party’s committee members, military generals, and every other key figure in the regime had gathered there.

All of them sat in silence, their expressions uniformly tense.

Amid that silence, the man seated at the head of the table, who had been idly tapping his fingers against its surface, finally spoke.

“Lighten up, all of you. What’s got you so scared?”

Ri Gang-ho.

Park Gwang-jin’s closest aide and the de facto number two in the current regime.

At his words, the tense crowd managed a few awkward smiles.

Ever since Ri Hyeok-cheol’s Great Revolution, North Korea’s power structure had become entirely different from what it had been before the Tower appeared.

In practice, Climbers controlled everything.

Ranks and titles were little more than formalities.

Ri Hyeok-cheol had launched an extensive propaganda campaign proclaiming Climbers to be the chosen ones, and in truth, they were practically monsters. Once they reached a certain level, even bullets could no longer harm them.

Why else would the Party itself have been renamed the Chosen People’s Party?

The absolute ruling class of present-day North Korea—the nation’s true elite—were the Climbers.

Ri Gang-ho swept his gaze across the room before continuing.

“Our great Supreme Leader, Park Gwang-jin, will soon execute the traitor and return...”

Everyone gathered here already knew.

Park Gwang-jin had no intention of honoring the agreement with South Joseon.

He intended to kill Kang Tae-seong.

What worried them was the fact that Person123 himself had intervened in the matter.

Breaking the agreement would, for all intents and purposes, amount to openly spitting in the face of the Savior of Humanity.

No one could predict what consequences that might bring.

“You people worry too much. This is our inauguration. A declaration to the world that the new Park Gwang-jin Chosen People’s Party answers to no one. Isn’t that right?”

“Absolutely right, sir!”

Ri Gang-ho chuckled and clicked his tongue.

“Person123 or whatever he calls himself, who gives a damn? A South Joseon citizen meddling in the internal affairs of the Republic is nonsense to begin with. Get hailed as some savior, and suddenly you forget your place...”

Meanwhile, one man remained silent, struggling with the turmoil inside him.

‘...Forgive me, Comrade Tae-seong.’

Among the Climbers who had led the revolution, many had genuinely believed in the cause, just as Kang Tae-seong had.

But those who had refused to bend were already dead.

Others, left with no choice, had simply allowed themselves to be swept along by the tide.

Kim Baek-pyeong belonged to the latter group.

The moment he realized the balance of power had shifted, he had bowed completely to Park Gwang-jin.

He had chosen to survive, no matter how filthy it made him feel.

Because as long as he remained alive, another chance might come someday.

But Kang Tae-seong would die today.

No matter how powerful a Climber he was, there would be no second miracle.

‘...Even in death, I won’t have the right to face him.’

All Kim Baek-pyeong could do was make himself a promise.

He would conceal a blade deep within his heart, and someday, no matter how long it took, he would fulfill the dream Kang Tae-seong had left unfinished—

Hm?

At that moment, every Climber in the room snapped their gaze toward the entrance.

A faint commotion was drifting in from outside.

“...What is that noise?”

Ri Gang-ho frowned.

Before long, the noise grew loud enough for even ordinary ears to hear.

Sensing that something was wrong, the Climbers began rising from their seats one by one.

Then—

Bang!

The doors to the conference hall exploded inward in a shower of splinters.

Eyes widened in shock.

Because standing there...

Was Kang Tae-seong.

They were so stunned by his appearance that no one even spared a glance at the masked figure standing behind him.

In Kang Tae-seong’s blood-soaked hand was something else.

Park Gwang-jin’s severed head.

Silence swallowed the conference hall.

No one could speak.

“H... how...”

Ri Gang-ho had gone deathly pale, unable to force the words from his mouth.

To him, Kang Tae-seong looked like a vengeful ghost that had crawled back from hell.

Kang Tae-seong moved.

In an instant, Ri Gang-ho’s body slammed into the wall of the conference hall.

“Gurk...!”

As the man flailed helplessly, Kang Tae-seong simply grabbed his neck and twisted.

Ri Gang-ho, only level 28, died on the spot without managing any meaningful resistance.

“...”

Kang Tae-seong took the seat at the head of the table.

He slowly surveyed the stunned faces around him.

Then he spoke.

“Park Gwang-jin is dead.”

...A fact no one in the room could possibly have failed to notice.

After all, Park Gwang-jin’s severed head was sitting on the table in front of them.

The only question was how Kang Tae-seong had returned alive while Park Gwang-jin, who had gone out surrounded by his elite forces, had come back as nothing more than a head.

“The traitors who abandoned our cause.”

Kang Tae-seong’s gaze swept across the room.

“I see there are still two of you left here.”

His eyes settled on two men.

Kim Cheol-yong and Ri Gyeong-tae.

The two men shuddered.

Then they bolted toward the entrance.

One of them had his head crushed by Kang Tae-seong before he made it more than a few steps.

Crunch!

The one who stopped the other was Kim Baek-pyeong.

“Guh...”

Using his Aura Blade skill, Kim Baek-pyeong drove his hand straight through Ri Gyeong-tae’s torso.

Then he tore it free.

He turned his head and met Kang Tae-seong’s eyes.

Then he stepped forward and dropped to his knees.

“Kill me, Comrade Tae-seong.”

He had no idea what had happened.

But...

Kang Tae-seong had returned alive.

That alone was enough.

He could gladly die by his hand.

Because he was a traitor who had failed to resist Park Gwang-jin.

Kang Tae-seong looked down at him for a moment.

Then he placed a hand on Kim Baek-pyeong’s shoulder.

“Baek-pyeong.”

“...”

“You’ve endured enough. I know what was in your heart.”

Kim Baek-pyeong’s eyes reddened.

“...Too many comrades died for nothing. All because of that son of a bitch Park Gwang-jin.”

Kang Tae-seong patted him on the shoulder, then looked toward the other Climbers.

By now, he had already killed most of those who had followed Park Gwang-jin from the very beginning.

“Myeong-ho, Ju-gil, Seong-mi, Cheol... the same goes for all of you.”

“...”

“I know none of you had a choice.”

His gaze moved slowly from one face to another.

“Thank you for staying alive.”

Some averted their eyes.

Others lowered their heads, too ashamed to meet his gaze.

Then Kang Tae-seong spoke like a man making a proclamation.

“There are no more obstacles.”

A brief silence.

“Now, let us begin again.”

His eyes hardened.

“Our cause.”

***

We arrived at the headquarters building.

Kang Tae-seong took control of the room almost instantly and, just as confidently as he had claimed he could, rallied the remaining Climbers around him.

There really wasn’t anything for me to do.

I just stood there and watched.

Things seemed more or less settled now, so I figured it was time for me to head home.

“Thank you.”

Kang Tae-seong offered me his final thanks.

“If it weren’t for you, I would have died today, and my homeland would have fallen back into a long darkness. I will consider what happened today the one miracle granted to me in this lifetime.”

I nodded.

“I trust you’ll keep your promise.”

“Of course.”

His expression hardened with determination.

“I intend to tear this country out by the roots and rebuild it from the ground up.”

I could feel the sincerity and resolve in his expression.

Well.

He would probably be fine on his own.

But then, completely out of nowhere, the Demon King decided to spoil the mood.

– Nine out of ten humans who seize power are destined to rot.

‘...Things were ending on a nice note. Why do you have to be so spiteful all of a sudden?’

Kang Tae-seong didn’t seem like that kind of man to me.

– Nothing brands itself into a man as deeply as fear.

‘What are you even talking about?’

– I’m saying you’ve always been too damn soft. Hand over the body for a moment.

‘Ugh. Not this again.’

He seemed to have something in mind, so I handed control over for the time being.

Once the Demon King took over my body, he fixed his gaze on Kang Tae-seong.

Had Kang Tae-seong sensed the change in the atmosphere?

His expression slowly stiffened.

Then, little by little, something beyond mere tension began to spread across his face.

Terror.

“Ugh...”

Kang Tae-seong trembled as though he had suddenly been plunged into freezing water.

“I will always be watching.”

Kang Tae-seong barely managed to nod.

The Demon King returned control of my body.

The moment the pressure vanished, Kang Tae-seong gasped for breath.

It seemed the Demon King had done something similar to what he’d done to Park Gwang-jin...

I wasn’t convinced any of this had really been necessary, but...

Well.

Fair enough.

No matter how strong Kang Tae-seong’s convictions were right now, the Demon King did have a point.

No one knew what the future might bring.

With a warning like that carved into him, I supposed there was practically no chance he would ever stray from his path.

Not even one in ten thousand.

Kang Tae-seong looked at me, thoroughly cowed.

Feeling a little guilty, I said,

“I’ll be rooting for you, Mr. Kang. I’ll be on my way, then.”

I took out the Warp Device I had activated in advance.

It was time to head back south.

***

Kang Tae-seong stared at the spot where Person123 had disappeared.

He had pulled what appeared to be an item out of thin air.

Then, just as suddenly as he had appeared...

He vanished.

‘...What in the world.’

The Tower’s appearance had overturned humanity’s common sense long ago.

But even by the standards of that overturned world, Person123 was an enigma.

The top Climber of Nightmare.

The Savior of Humanity.

A man who wielded abilities ordinary Climbers could not even begin to imagine—and used them as though they were nothing.

Kang Tae-seong himself had now been saved by that man.

Why had Person123 gone so far to help him?

If he had simply seen someone in trouble and decided to help...

If that was truly all there was to it...

Then Person123 was undoubtedly a great man.

A man whose motives could never be measured by the standards of ordinary people.

And at the same time—

A terrifying man.

As Kang Tae-seong recalled what had happened moments earlier, goosebumps rose across his skin once more.

Person123 had warned him.

But for that single moment, it had felt as though he had become an entirely different being.

Kang Tae-seong had never once felt true fear.

Not even during the countless moments of life and death he had faced while climbing the Tower.

But just now...

He had experienced something primal.

The terror of a frog staring into the eyes of a snake.

Of course, warning or no warning, Kang Tae-seong intended to give everything he had.

The wish he had carried for so long—to change this rotten country—could finally become reality.

“Please, watch me.”

Person123 had said he would always be watching.

Then Kang Tae-seong would prove himself worthy of that attention.

Without fail.

***

The South Korean government, which had been preparing to receive Kang Tae-seong at the Joint Security Area, was thrown into an uproar.

South Korea’s intelligence agencies had also been monitoring the situation in the North through satellite surveillance.

They confirmed the appearance of a figure believed to be Person123.

And the deaths of Park Gwang-jin and the other North Korean Climbers.

“...Maintain absolute silence on this matter.”

The government decided to bury everything under the highest level of classification.

The United States, China, Russia, and several other countries did the same.

They simply watched developments in North Korea with extreme caution.

As expected, North Korea soon announced that its leadership had changed once again.

Kang Tae-seong, who was supposed to have been handed over to South Korea, had suddenly seized power in the North.

The public was stunned by a turn of events that seemed to have come completely out of nowhere.

[Performer: Wait, what. Kang Tae-seong just took over North Korea??]

[Patatutu: How the hell did he even pull that off lmaooooo]

[Airplane: What revolution number are we on now? Not a single quiet day over there]

With media coverage heavily restricted, only a small handful of people knew the truth.

***

Bilon contacted me.

He asked whether it was true that I’d been involved in the Kang Tae-seong incident, so I told him what had happened.

North Korea had broken its promise and tried to kill Kang Tae-seong.

One thing led to another...

And, well.

Things ended up like this.

According to Bilon, the United States had also been watching through satellites, so they already knew I had intervened.

My own country, China, Russia, and probably several others knew too.

Hm...

Figured as much.

I’d warped in and out, so it wasn’t as though anyone could trace the route I’d taken.

I didn’t think it would cause any serious problems.

– ...North Korea’s Chosen People’s Party has officially renamed itself the People’s Peace Party, strongly affirming that improving the stability of its people’s livelihoods and strengthening cooperation with the international community will be its highest priorities...

Time passed.

News about North Korea continued to come in.

It seemed Kang Tae-seong had successfully consolidated his power without running into much trouble.

He even contacted me from time to time through Whispers on the Communication Channel...

As for me, I stopped paying attention to politics and returned to my usual life.

The United States and China came to me for advice on clearing Floor 7.

Their position was that, regardless of whether they ultimately decided to attempt it, they wanted to have a strategy prepared in advance.

I went back and forth to Floor 7 to help them.

I hunted in Zone 5.

I kept doing what needed to be done, just as I always had.

And time continued to pass steadily...

[Nightmare]

Personnel: 477,635

Time Limit: 94 days 8 hours 2 minutes 1 second

Reached Floor: Floor 8

Little by little, the moment of the next challenge was drawing closer.