Chapter 121: Proof of Qualification (4)

[1. All Climbers Immune to the Tower’s Curse]

[2. All Climbers Above Floor 2 Gain 2 Levels]

Two options had been laid before me.

I checked the first reward and couldn’t help but stare in astonishment.

[1. All Climbers Immune to the Tower’s Curse]

All Climbers permanently gain immunity to death caused by the Tower’s Curse.

‘All Climbers...?’

Back when I cleared the final Subtower.

Even then, something called a Curse Immunity Pass had appeared among the special reward options.

But that had been an item for a single person, usable on only one individual...

This time, it was actually every single Climber?

In other words, even if the Tower’s Time Limit expired, every last Climber would be able to escape death.

That is, if I chose this.

...Were they serious?

They were actually offering a reward like this?

Of course, if all of humanity except the Climbers died and became Fallen, the world would turn into hell regardless.

Looking at it that way, maybe the reward didn’t mean all that much...

No, wait. Climbers could still enter the Tower, couldn’t they?

Even if the outside world descended into chaos, Climbers who had reached Floor 5 or higher could conceivably continue living inside Floor 5.

Even if the world eventually fell to ruin, at least the Climbers would survive.

That was the kind of reward this was.

And Climbers were strong. They could continue growing stronger, too.

If the surviving Climbers gradually whittled away at the Fallen, then perhaps one day they could even restore the world to normal...

I let my imagination run for a while before turning my attention to the second option.

[2. All Climbers Above Floor 2 Gain 2 Levels]

The level of every Climber above Floor 2, across all difficulties, increases by 2.

The second reward.

Every Climber above Floor 2 would gain 2 levels.

It meant strengthening the overall combat power of Climbers as a whole.

Two levels were nothing to scoff at. The difference they made was considerable.

On Easy difficulty, it was essentially the equivalent of receiving two floors’ worth of level-up rewards for free.

Still, that first option—immunity to the Tower’s Curse for every Climber...

“...Hmm.”

I stared hard at the two choices, then crossed my arms.

I stopped time and thought.

That was when the Demon King spoke.

– Choose the second one.

‘...Why?’

– Because the first is nothing more than a worthless temptation.

I knew that too.

What the Demon King meant was simple: under no circumstances should I ever trust the Tower.

Even if the Climbers became immune to the Tower’s Curse... once the Time Limit ran out and the Curse descended.

Would the Tower’s system really continue operating as it did now?

What if Climbers could no longer enter the Tower at all?

And even if they could, living on Floor 5 would mean living inside the Tower itself.

It would be no different from making your home inside a tiger’s jaws.

Above all...

I was thinking about insurance in case I failed again.

A reward meant to prepare for the destruction of the world, or a reward that would help, even if only slightly, with conquering the Tower from here on out.

Which should I choose?

‘...’

Then another thought occurred to me.

If I chose the first reward and the Climbers were freed from the Tower’s Curse...

...would Climbers from the other difficulties still fight their way up the Tower with the same desperation?

For now, only Nightmare difficulty posed an immediate problem.

But if I continued succeeding in my conquest, sooner or later the other difficulties would become a problem too.

The other difficulties could also find themselves pursued by a Time Limit in the not-too-distant future, starting with Hard.

Even now, not a single one of the current Top-Floor Climbers had selected even one Isolation Zone.

If a path to survival opened up, expecting Climbers to continue risking their lives to ascend the Tower merely to extend the Time Limit...

That was difficult to count on.

Of course, there would still be plenty of Climbers willing to do so. I was speaking purely in relative terms.

On top of that, the balance between ordinary people and Climbers would collapse completely.

Climbers would gain far too much power over everyone else.

After all, Climbers would have at least some form of insurance even if the world fell apart, while ordinary people would have none.

And there was no guarantee that some Climbers wouldn’t exploit that difference in status for malicious purposes.

I wasn’t on the Climbers’ side, nor was I on the side of ordinary people.

But if I absolutely had to choose, then I would choose the latter, who vastly outnumbered the former.

Making the choice that benefited the greatest number of people was only natural.

By comparison, the second option...

It was straightforward.

The overall combat strength of every Climber would increase. Nothing more, nothing less.

If I chose the second reward, it would help every Climber in their future conquest of the Tower.

And, of course, it would help me a little as well.

...Even so, the first option was tempting.

Maybe it was because I didn’t have much time left to live, but I kept catching myself thinking about what would happen after the end.

– Don’t waste your thoughts on what comes after failure. No matter what preparations you make, once you’ve failed, it’s already over.

The Demon King said.

After a long, agonizing struggle...

I made my decision.

[You have selected ‘All Climbers Above Floor 2 Gain 2 Levels’ as your reward.]

I couldn’t be sure I had made the right choice.

But I no longer had the luxury of regretting every decision and looking back on every little thing.

[The level of every Climber above Floor 2 increases by 2.]

[Difficulty: Nightmare]

[Floor: 9]

[Level: 107]

[Willpower: 6,270/6,270]

[Skills: Destruction Ray (Epic+), Hellfire Eruption (Epic) (+1), Subspace (Epic), Air Walk (Epic)...]

[Do you wish to exit the Tower?]

I exited immediately.

I was back in my living room.

– ...we’re receiving reports that every Isolation Zone, including those throughout South Korea, has disappeared! A true miracle has occurred! Person123 single-handedly selected all nine Isolation Zones and successfully defeated the boss...!

The moment I returned, the excited voice of a news anchor poured from the television.

My family stared at me, their faces so shocked they looked ready to faint.

“Seo-hyeon, you... you...”

Father couldn’t even get the words out.

I scratched the back of my head, gave a small smile, and said,

“Took him down without a problem. It was nothing, really.”

I felt a little bad for startling them.

But I had killed the boss instantly the moment I entered, so they probably hadn’t even had enough time to properly panic, had they?

Either way, I had made it home safely.

***

Shin Su-jin and Kang Ju-hyeok of the Tower Climbing Special Agency stood at the boundary of the Isolation Zone.

The entire city of Seoul had been swallowed by the Isolation Zone’s range.

In front of the barrier, crowds of citizens stood packed together, trembling with fear and unease.

“It’s cruel. Truly cruel...”

Staring at the translucent blue barrier, Kang Ju-hyeok muttered grimly.

Shin Su-jin looked composed on the outside, but inwardly she was struggling against despair and helplessness.

Not even on Hard difficulty had a single person selected an Isolation Zone.

[The current Top-Floor Climber of the Nightmare difficulty, ‘Person123’, is selecting Isolation Zones.]

[Time remaining for selection: 59 seconds]

All that remained was Nightmare difficulty.

Person123’s choice.

In the end, once again, the entire burden had fallen onto his shoulders.

But this time, even he could do nothing.

The penalties attached to selecting even a handful of Isolation Zones were absurd.

Even Person123 had physical limits.

Shin Su-jin looked around at the despairing people and bit down hard on her lip.

‘Korea...’

Surely he would choose Korea, at least.

Even now, a selfish corner of her heart desperately clung to that hope.

As long as she was human, she couldn’t help putting her own country first.

But if Person123 accepted the penalties and ended up dying...

Her heart was in turmoil over what she should even wish for him to choose.

Was he agonizing over the decision right now too?

Just as he had accepted the penalty back on Floor 4, he had always made the choice that saved everyone.

But this time, no matter how she looked at it, saving everyone was impossible.

Shin Su-jin could hardly imagine how agonizing that decision must be.

All she could do was pray that he wouldn’t make a reckless choice.

If even a 30% reduction in physical ability and Willpower was a penalty Person123 couldn’t withstand, then South Korea would have to be abandoned as well. That would only be the right—

[The Top-Floor Climber of the Nightmare difficulty, ‘Person123’, has selected Isolation Zones 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.]

“...?!”

The message appeared before her eyes.

Shin Su-jin froze.

Then all the color drained from her face.

“N-no...!”

Why would he make a choice like that...?!

[The Top-Floor Climber of the Nightmare difficulty, ‘Person123’, has slain the boss monster.]

[Isolation Zones 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 have been deactivated.]

“...Huh?”

A dazed sound escaped Shin Su-jin’s lips.

“Uh... what? What?”

Beside her, Kang Ju-hyeok blinked just as blankly, as though he couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing.

The Communication Channel reacted the same way.

Person123 had selected every Isolation Zone, from one through nine.

Then, almost immediately afterward, the boss-defeat message appeared, leaving them no time even to panic.

[Banta: ???]

[Steak Seasoning: ?????]

[Petty Citizen: Huh?]

Perhaps five full seconds passed.

For those few seconds, no one could quite process what had just happened.

Even the Communication Channel fell completely silent.

Then it exploded.

[Coconut: WHOAAAAAAAAasdlkjaslkdjalskdjalksdjalksd]

[Loki: Insane. Is this for real?]

[Da Vinci: The Isolation Zones are disappearing!]

[Justice: Whoa...]

[Asteroid Collision: Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god!]

Across the entire world, the Isolation Zones vanished all at once.

– The Isolation Zones have disappeared! Person123! A hero of humanity has...!

The citizens who had been trembling in despair and resignation erupted into cheers as though they had just witnessed a miracle.

Whooaaaaaaaaa-!

“Hng... we’re alive! We’re alive!”

“Did Person123 choose our Isolation Zone?!”

“Look at the news! They’re saying Person123 chose all nine zones!”

Person123 had selected every Isolation Zone and deactivated them all.

But how on earth had he done it?

[Armor: ...He took on nine penalties and killed the boss? With his level reduced by 90%, skills banned, and items banned?]

[Cyclops: And it didn’t even take a few seconds. What the hell just happened?]

[Phoenix: how the fuck did he do it lmaooooo it makes no sense lmaooooooo]

[Celly: Is he even human? How is this possible?]

[Theseus: He’s not human, he’s a god!]

[Tubatu: no but seriously... this is basically a god for real...]

There was no way anyone could understand it.

The Top-Floor Climbers of the other difficulties hadn’t been able to handle even a single penalty.

Person123, on the other hand, had effectively defeated a boss equal to his own level while stripped of nearly all his power.

And he had done it in a matter of seconds.

All of humanity trembled in disbelief and erupted into frenzy.

Beijing, China.

Ye Tianwei, who had been staring at the message, let out a low gasp of awe.

“Aah...”

Person123’s power was absolute.

That was something Ye Tianwei believed more fervently than anyone.

But even he had never dared imagine something like this.

Not merely selecting several Isolation Zones, but choosing all nine and then defeating the boss...

Ye Tianwei didn’t bother dwelling on how such a feat could possibly have been accomplished.

Soon, he rose from his chair and dropped to his knees.

Clutching a Person123 Church rosary in his hands, he bowed his head in reverence.

It was an act of worship directed toward humanity’s god, a being who might now truly have transcended the limits of mankind.

Meanwhile, at one of the branches of the Person123 Church.

“...He has now transcended even the laws of the Tower itself.”

Before the kneeling believers praying in worship, a man who resembled a pastor continued speaking in a trembling voice.

“Even after being stripped of nearly all His power, He thwarted the wicked Tower’s scheme. Once again, He saved every last one of us, without abandoning a single soul.”

“Aah...!”

“This is proof that He no longer even requires the Climber’s power bestowed upon Him by the Tower. He is shedding His mortal form, and at last He walks the path toward true godhood!”

The believers wept, overwhelmed with emotion.

After the conquest of Floor 8, the Tower’s vicious malice had once again been thwarted.

The believers could only worship their god with even greater devotion.

[A special reward is granted to the Top-Floor Climber who deactivated the most Isolation Zones.]

[‘Person123’ is granted a special reward.]

[‘Person123’ is currently selecting a reward.]

[The level of every Climber above Floor 2 increases by 2.]

Then another message appeared.

Every Climber above Floor 2 had gained 2 levels.

[Shark: whoa what? my level went up!]

[Stairway to Heaven: Did Person123 choose this as his reward?]

[Azure Dragon: Don’t tell me he gave up a reward that would benefit himself and chose one for everyone instead?]

[Geppetto: The great Person123... just how endlessly selfless can one man be?!]

[Random Number: This man is humanity’s god. I’m not kidding, I genuinely believe he’s a real god now]

And so, even the rule of Floor 8, which had seemed so utterly hopeless, was brought to an end in a single stroke by Person123 alone.

Once again, all of humanity praised him without end.