Chapter 118: Proof of Qualification (1)

I told my family the whole long story.

How I had become a Nightmare Climber, how I had climbed the Tower, everything I had done as Person123, and what I had thought and felt along the way...

In my own words, and in as much detail as I could, I told them everything they might want to know.

Including why my attempt at Floor 8 had taken so unusually long.

“...So that’s why it took me so long to reach the oasis. I was never really in any danger.”

My father, who had been listening quietly, nodded.

“I see. You really have been through a lot.”

It was a secret I had wanted so desperately to keep...

And now that I had finally told them everything, the feeling was strange.

My family’s reaction was, if anything, unexpected.

They were all much calmer than I had imagined they would be.

I looked around at them and continued.

“I have to keep climbing the Tower from now on.”

“...”

“I hope you can understand... that I don’t have a choice. There’s no one else who can do it but me.”

Either way, now that everything was out in the open, my family would have to watch me risk my life clearing Nightmare from here on out.

It was a cruel thing to put them through, and that was exactly why I had never wanted to tell them.

But there was no helping it anymore.

A brief silence followed.

“Yes. We know.”

My father was the first to speak.

“What kind of parent would stand in his own child’s way? Especially when that child is trying to save the world.”

“...”

“Seo-hyeon, don’t worry about us. Your dad is nothing but proud of you. So... go and do what you have to do.”

He said it so calmly.

Beside him, my mother nodded.

“I feel the same way. How could I not be proud of you? Your mom and dad are fine.”

But as I looked at the two of them, I soon understood.

There was no way they were really fine.

Maybe while I had been clearing Floor 8, the family had already talked things through among themselves and come to terms with it.

“...Thank you. For understanding.”

That was all I could manage to say.

My mother turned her head away for a moment and wiped at the corners of her eyes.

Trying to lighten the atmosphere, I spoke in a deliberately bright voice.

“Don’t worry too much. There was never really a point where my life was in serious danger while I was clearing the Floors. I mean it. Not since Floor 4.”

Thinking of the guide I had posted back on Floor 4, I added,

“And I know this sounds strange coming from me, but... I’m seriously strong. You know first-clear rewards are way better than ordinary rewards, right? Nightmare first-clear rewards even raise my Level, so I’m already over Level 100.

“I’ve got a whole pile of powerful skills and items too. This time, after clearing Floor 8, I even got a Legendary-grade skill. A grade that hasn’t appeared anywhere else in the world yet.”

“I-is that so?”

“Yeah. So you really don’t have to worry. I’m not just saying this to put your minds at ease. It’s true. Nightmare Difficulty is vicious, sure, but I’m on a completely different level from the other Climbers.”

I said it with a confident smile.

“And honestly... if it had really been unbearable, I would’ve given up a long time ago. You know what I’m like, right? I hate dangerous things. I’m doing this because it’s possible, and because I want to live too. If the world ends, I die along with everyone else.”

Mom and Dad nodded.

My mother rose from her seat.

“Aren’t you hungry? You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

With that, we ended the conversation and sat down to eat.

As though by some unspoken agreement, no one in my family brought up the Nightmare climb again.

We would have to talk about it more eventually, but for now, I could tell they were deliberately avoiding the subject so they wouldn’t make me uncomfortable.

“Whew...”

Back in my room, I threw myself onto the bed.

My heart felt heavy and unsettled.

Because I still hadn’t told them absolutely everything.

...I couldn’t tell my family about the problem with my lifespan.

Their hearts must already have been in pieces.

How could I possibly tell them, on top of all that, that I had become terminally ill, with less than a year left to live?

“That’s a problem.”

My family probably assumed that from now on, I would continue climbing the Tower once a year.

But the problem was, I could no longer afford to climb at such a leisurely pace.

Sure, I could use what had happened on Floor 8 as an excuse.

I could tell them that from now on, I needed to leave myself a generous margin before Nightmare’s Time Limit ran out...

But even taking that into account, my situation demanded that I climb much, much faster.

Because I only had around 300 days left.

Didn’t I need to attempt at least one Floor a week?

It would have been a little easier if I at least knew how many Floors the Tower had.

But I didn’t even know that.

The destination remained hazy, as though hidden behind a thick fog.

“Demon King, is there really no way to extend my lifespan again?”

I asked the Demon King.

The Demon King looked at me as if I had just said something utterly absurd, so I continued,

“No, I mean, if I keep climbing the Tower, there could be an item that extends lifespan, right? There’s already an item that shortens it.”

– How would I know?

“You said you climbed more than twenty Floors. You’ve never seen an item or skill like that?”

The Demon King answered in a mocking tone.

– If you were bold enough to burn away your lifespan like that, then keep moving forward with the same resolve. How do you expect to climb Nightmare while fretting over trivial matters like family and the like?

In other words, he didn’t know.

– If you intend to stand against the Tower, then you too must become a monster. You would do well to remember that.

“Hmm... Is that why you failed, Demon King? Because you weren’t enough of a monster?”

– Why, you little...

Standing against the Tower or whatever else—it was enough for me if the world stayed safe.

Well...

In the end, that probably amounted to the same thing.

There was no way to keep this world safe except by climbing the Tower all the way to the top.

No, even if I did reach the top, there was no guarantee the world would be safe afterward.

“Ugh.”

I groaned and pressed a hand to my forehead.

My lifespan. The climb. Three hundred days...

And whatever the hell this “Proof of Qualification” that was about to begin would turn out to be.

My thoughts were a mess, and I couldn’t calm myself down.

Click.

The door opened.

My sister poked her head inside.

“You asleep?”

“...No.”

I sat up.

She came in, closed the door behind her, then hesitated.

It looked like she had something she wanted to say.

“What is it?”

“...Nothing. Just...”

She sat down in the chair at my desk.

“Is there, you know... anything else you want to tell me?”

“...Like what?”

“I know what you’re like. There might be things you left out because you didn’t want Mom and Dad to worry.”

...What?

Since when had she become this perceptive?

Judging by her expression, though, it looked like she was mostly just taking a guess.

“If there is, tell me. It’s not like I worry about you as much as Mom and Dad do, so you can talk to me.”

I let out a small laugh.

“Says the girl who was bawling her eyes out earlier.”

“...When was I?”

“Nah. There’s nothing. What would I even have left to hide at this point?”

I found this little gesture of hers rather endearing.

She stared at me for a moment before nodding.

“Okay, then... but can I ask you one thing?”

“What?”

“I actually wondered before whether you might be Person123, you know? It made sense. Every time Nightmare got cleared, you were off traveling somewhere. And Person123 is Korean too.”

So she had suspected me after all.

“That’s why I tagged along when you went to sell those magic stones before. But you’re a Nightmare Climber, so where did you get lowest-grade and low-grade magic stones? Don’t those only drop on Easy Difficulty?”

It was a fair question.

“There’s a way around everything. I’ve got people helping me too.”

“...Really? I thought you were keeping your identity secret?”

“There are a few people I’ve revealed my identity to who help me out.”

“Who?”

“Bilon Must.”

There was no reason to hide that from her, so I told her outright.

Her face went blank with shock.

“Anyway, I’ve got some seriously impressive people backing me up. Between the Nightmare clear rewards and all the support I’m getting from them, I’m basically invincible. So there’s no point worrying about useless stuff. You can call me the one and only under heaven and earth, or something like that.”

“What are you even talking about...”

I waved her away.

“I’m tired, so go on. I want to rest.”

“T-tired? Okay.”

She got up from the chair.

A moment too late, I remembered something I could tease her about.

“Oh, right. And there was that thing from before.”

“Huh? What?”

“You had something you wanted to pass along to Person123 a while ago, didn’t you? I heard that one loud and—”

“Aaaah! I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you!”

She clapped both hands over her ears and bolted out of the room.

I laughed quietly and lay back down.

Right.

This was what I had to do.

No matter how overwhelming it seemed, I had to keep moving forward.

That was the only thing I could do.

[Will you enter Floor 5?]

Having gathered myself, I entered Floor 5 immediately.

There wasn’t a moment to waste.

I might as well get some hunting done before this Proof of Qualification began.

I could organize the Floor 8 guide afterward.

***

After Person123 miraculously cleared Floor 8, the entire world was swept up in a festive mood.

The deeper the despair had been, the greater the joy that followed.

A natural reaction.

“Come on, drink up! Drink up!”

At a certain bar in Seoul, a lively drinking party was in full swing.

“Person123 really is Person123. Since when does a god fail?”

“Right? A god, that’s what he is! A toast to our savior!”

Everyone drank and celebrated the fact that humanity had been granted another year of life.

“Hey, come to think of it... isn’t it almost time now? That Proof of Qualification thing?”

“But didn’t they say that one was aimed at the Top-Floor Climbers?”

It was the new rule that had appeared after Floor 8 was cleared.

Since it supposedly involved something being done to the Top-Floor Climbers, most people assumed nothing particularly serious would happen to the world at large.

And even if they worried about it, there was nothing they could do.

“If it’s the Top-Floor Climbers, then Person123 is included too, right?”

“Person123 will obviously pull it off! More importantly, shouldn’t we be worrying about the Climbers from the other Difficulties?”

“All right, all right. Just drink for now.”

And so time passed.

[Time remaining: 1 second]

One of the men who had been drinking happened to glance upward.

His eyes widened.

“...Hey.”

“Huh?”

“What’s that up there...? Am I drunk?”

The people around him began murmuring as well.

Something bluish was spreading across the sky, gradually blanketing it.

[‘Proof of Qualification’ has begun.]

[The Top-Floor Climbers of each Difficulty have been selected.]

[A total of nine ‘Isolation Zones,’ each with a 50-kilometer radius, have been established.]

[The Isolation Zones completely block all passage between inside and outside.]

South Korea, China, Russia, Canada, Türkiye, Brazil, Poland, Uzbekistan, Somalia.

Nine enormous, translucent, dome-shaped barriers appeared over the urban centers of those nine nations.

[The Top-Floor Climbers must move to the ‘Proof Room’ and do battle with a boss monster of their own level.]

[The order begins with the Top-Floor Climber of the Easy Difficulty.]

[Before moving to the Proof Room, the Top-Floor Climbers may select Isolation Zones.]

[A penalty is imposed in proportion to the number of Isolation Zones selected.]

[The penalties apply while inside the Proof Room.]

[The penalties are as follows.]

[If 0 zones selected]

– No penalty

[If 1 zone selected]

– Physical ability and Willpower reduced by 30%

[If 2 zones selected]

– Physical ability and Willpower reduced by 30%

– 3 random skills prohibited

[If 3 zones selected]

– Physical ability and Willpower reduced by 30%

– 3 random skills prohibited

– 3 random items prohibited

[If 4 zones selected]

– Physical ability and Willpower reduced by 60%

– 3 random skills prohibited

– 3 random items prohibited

[If 5 zones selected]

– Physical ability and Willpower reduced by 60%

– 6 random skills prohibited

– 3 random items prohibited

[If 6 zones selected]

– Physical ability and Willpower reduced by 60%

– 6 random skills prohibited

– 6 random items prohibited

[If 7 zones selected]

– Physical ability and Willpower reduced by 90%

– 6 random skills prohibited

– 6 random items prohibited

[If 8 zones selected]

– Physical ability and Willpower reduced by 90%

– All skills prohibited

– 6 random items prohibited

[If 9 zones selected]

– Physical ability and Willpower reduced by 90%

– All skills prohibited

– All items prohibited

[The Climber may not leave the Proof Room until the boss monster has been defeated.]

[Upon successfully defeating the boss monster, the selected Isolation Zones are deactivated, and the turn passes to the next in order.]

[Upon failure to defeat the boss monster, a new Top-Floor Climber for that Difficulty is selected, and the process repeats until success is achieved.]

[After all Difficulties’ battles have concluded, the Tower’s Curse descends upon the remaining Isolation Zones, and every human inside them dies.]

[The remaining Isolation Zones will persist forever.]

[Should all Isolation Zones be deactivated, a special reward will be granted.]

[May the Top-Floor Climbers of each Difficulty prove their qualification as humanity’s vanguard.]