Chapter 130: Nightmare, 10th Floor (3)

What the hell is the me of this world even doing?

He hadn’t merely driven people out beyond the Ark.

The fact that the Climbers were inflicting this kind of cruelty on ordinary people...

Whether he had ordered it directly or simply allowed it to happen, in the end, it was no different from carrying out the will of Person123, the man sitting at the very top.

He’s basically ruling like an outright king, isn’t he?

The thought that another version of me was doing something like this left me dumbfounded.

“Are all the Climbers like that? Isn’t there even one who helps people?”

The girl cut in with a question.

“Well... there used to be Climbers like that.”

“Used to be?”

“They’re all dead now. Ever since Person123 threatened to kill any Climber who protected ordinary people...”

...Unbelievable.

“M-mister. Couldn’t we come with you?”

That was when the boy, who had been watching my expression, spoke up.

“We’ll do whatever you tell us. We-we won’t eat much of your food, either.”

Apparently deciding that I was at least not a bad person, he was asking me to take them under my protection.

I shook my head.

“Sorry. There’s something I have to do.”

I felt sorry for them, but I couldn’t.

I needed to Clear this place and get out as quickly as possible. I was in no position to look after two children.

Disappointment flickered across both their faces.

I took more food and water from my Subspace and handed it to them.

In the end, none of this would matter, but leaving them like this still didn’t sit right with me.

As the children accepted the food, their faces brightening slightly, I asked,

“Does Person123 ever leave the Ark himself?”

“Huh? I-I’m not really sure...”

“I see. Then the farm you two ran away from—can you tell me which direction it is?”

“O-over there.”

The boy pointed in one direction.

I escorted the two of them as far as the building where they said they lived.

Then I cut straight through the sky toward the place they had indicated.

It was in the direction of Gangseo District.

[Kill ‘me’.]

How could I draw Person123 out of the Ark?

For now, my thinking went like this.

According to what I had just heard, the Climbers outside the Ark were treating ordinary people like slaves.

And the Climbers inside the Ark were essentially their superiors.

So if enough trouble broke out outside, wouldn’t they eventually come crawling out?

And if I dealt with every one of them who showed up, sooner or later, Person123 himself would have no choice but to appear.

Another option was to force one of the Climbers to deliver a message directly to Person123.

Of course, if possible, I would have preferred to approach this quietly without causing a scene...

But I couldn’t think of a better way.

Or should I simply wait until Person123 left the Ark on his own?

There didn’t seem to be any particular time limit on the Clear.

But if I just sat around waiting, there was no telling how long the Clear might drag on.

As I flew through the air, scanning the ground below...

‘...Is that it?’

A broad stretch of open land in the middle of the city immediately caught my eye.

Crops were growing across it.

I surveyed the area, then turned my attention toward the surrounding buildings.

I could hear voices.

“I’m sorry! Please, spare me...!”

A man was being dragged along by the hair, his head clutched in a Climber’s hand.

“So why’d you run in the first place? You should’ve just made sure you didn’t get caught.”

The Climber clicked his tongue.

“More than that, I seriously don’t get it. Where did you think you were going to go? How were you planning to survive out there? Who do you think is protecting you people from the Fallen?”

The Climber glanced back at the despairing man and sneered.

“Well, whatever. Your timing was shit too, man. You know those two siblings ran off not long ago and pissed the boss off, right?”

“P-please...”

“You want me to spare you? Sure, I’d love to. But I doubt the boss will. You’ll probably be publicly executed as an example to the others.”

I looked down at the Climber, who was saying such horrific things as casually as if he were discussing the weather.

Then I descended and landed directly in their path.

Seeing me drop from the sky, the Climber jolted to a halt.

“Wh-what the hell?”

I said,

“Take me to your boss.”

The Climber glanced up at the sky, then looked back at me with a tense expression.

“...And where might you be from? You’re trespassing on our territory.”

“Let that man go.”

Perhaps realizing that I was stronger than him, the Climber didn’t immediately attack.

He simply stared at me, face stiff with caution.

I closed the distance between us in a single step.

Startled, the Climber threw a punch.

I caught his fist and squeezed lightly.

“Aaargh...!”

He screamed in pain and dropped to his knees.

I jerked my chin toward the captive.

Now free, the man stood frozen for a moment, staring blankly, before scrambling away.

“Let’s go. Take me to your boss.”

“Ugh... uugh... Understood...”

With his hand broken, the Climber offered no further resistance and led the way.

As we passed through a back alley,

I noticed something strange.

“...?”

Monster corpses.

They were monsters from Floor 5’s Zone 1.

Their bodies had been piled high along one side of the street.

“Hey.”

“...Yes?”

“What’s that? Those are Zone 1 monster corpses, aren’t they?”

“Yes. We-we butchered them and threw away what was left.”

...Wait.

Come to think of it, could the Climbers in this world still enter the Tower?

If they could, then they could hunt monsters on Floor 5 and obtain as much food as they wanted.

Plenty of Floor 5’s monsters were perfectly edible.

And no matter how many they killed, the monsters would simply respawn.

So they weren’t even suffering from a food shortage.

And yet, instead of helping ordinary people, they were doing this kind of shit...

‘This is seriously pissing me off.’

If this Parallel World had truly existed,

then the Person123 who lived here was a version of myself I could never accept.

Forget the Clear for a moment.

I suddenly wanted nothing more than to ask him what the hell had been going through his head when he allowed the world to end up like this.

We approached a high-rise building.

Unlike the surrounding buildings, this one still had a few lights burning inside.

The two Climbers guarding the entrance looked startled when they saw us.

“...What the hell, Lee Su-chan? Who’s this guy?”

“G-get word to the boss. Tell him we have a guest.”

They seemed to have grasped the situation from Lee Su-chan’s condition, because neither of them tried to attack me.

One of them hurried inside.

A moment later, I sensed several people rushing toward us, and a group of Climbers emerged from the building.

“What the hell is all this racket in the middle of the night?”

The strongest man among them glared at me.

“Where’d you crawl out from, punk? Do you have any idea whose territory this is—”

“You the boss?”

“That’s right, you son of a bitch. I’m Kang Cheol-jin, one of the Five Powers of Gangseo District.”

Five Powers of Gangseo District, my ass.

Thwack-thwack-thwack!

In an instant, I took down every Climber there except Kang Cheol-jin.

“...!”

Kang Cheol-jin activated Skin Hardening and lunged at me in desperation.

I grabbed him by the forehead and slammed him into the ground.

“Guh!”

The floor cracked beneath him, and Kang Cheol-jin writhed in pain.

He stared up at me with terrified eyes and barely managed to speak.

“Krgh... Wh-who the hell are you...?”

“Go get your boss.”

I looked down at him.

“Bring out the Climbers from inside the Ark. You people take orders from them, don’t you?”

Kang Cheol-jin stared blankly at me before answering,

“Um... I don’t actually take orders from those people.”

“You wanna die?”

“I-it’s the truth! I’m not the top boss! There’s someone above me! He should have connections with the people inside the Ark...!”

“Is that so?”

I grabbed Kang Cheol-jin by the scruff of his neck and hauled him upright.

Boom!

With Kang Cheol-jin dangling from one hand, I shot straight into the sky.

“Uwaaaaagh...!”

“Then let’s go see your boss. Tell me where he is.”

I repeatedly slapped the ashen-faced Kang Cheol-jin across the cheek.

Barely clinging to consciousness, he pointed in one direction.

“O-over thereeeee...!”

I raced through the air, kicking off one Air Walk foothold after another.

Guided by Kang Cheol-jin, I eventually arrived at a building that looked like a nightclub.

‘What is this?’

Faint music drifted from inside.

I descended.

A single Climber stood guard at the entrance.

Dragging the half-conscious Kang Cheol-jin behind me, I approached.

“What the hell? You...”

I tossed aside the Climber blocking my path.

I entered the building and headed down into the basement.

The space below was filled with flashing lights.

Gaudy colors strobed in every direction while deafening music thundered through the room.

Two people were fighting on a stage.

What the hell is going on here?

“That’s it! That’s the one! Kill him!”

“I’ve got ten packs of cigarettes riding on you! If you lose, I’ll fucking kill you myself!”

Climbers sat in a ring around the stage, shouting at the top of their lungs.

The two men fighting were both ordinary people.

They were locked in what could only be called a death match, blood streaming from their bodies.

As though the entire point of the fight was for one of them to kill the other.

Don’t tell me...

They’re dragging ordinary people in here and making them fight for entertainment?

Like fighting dogs?

“These people are absolute fucking garbage.”

I threw Kang Cheol-jin, still dangling from my grip, onto the stage.

The two men fighting there flinched and immediately stopped.

The cheering died away.

Every Climber in the room turned toward me at once.

I looked toward the strongest Climber among them.

He sat in the highest seat in the room, and one glance was enough to tell me he was the boss.

Though despite all the posturing, he was only around Level 30.

The man, who had been putting on an impressive show of authority until now, calmly set down the drink in his hand.

“Who are you?”

I stamped my foot.

In the next instant, I was standing directly in front of him.

The woman beside him, apparently acting as his bodyguard, immediately drew her sword and swung.

The blade was wrapped in Aura Blade.

Clang!

I caught the sword in my bare hand and snapped it.

The woman froze in shock.

I grabbed her by the wrist and casually flung her aside, as though sweeping something out of my way.

The man remained seated.

He made no attempt to attack.

Instead, he glanced around the room and said,

“Nobody move.”

The other Climbers, who had begun inching toward me, stopped dead at his command.

The man turned back to me.

This time, his tone was noticeably more courteous.

“Who are you?”

He seemed quick enough when it came to reading the situation.

I gave him only what he needed to know.

“Is your superior a Climber inside the Ark?”

“That is correct.”

“Can you call him here right now or not?”

The man said nothing.

“If you can’t, you die right now.”

“...If you wish to meet my superior, I can relay a message.”

“Then relay it. Tell him to crawl out here before I kill every last one of his underlings.”

Beating this man down probably wouldn’t be enough to make Person123 appear personally.

But once I took down a few Climbers who came out of the Ark...

Person123 would surely show himself eventually.

“May I ask why you’re doing this?”

“There’s no particular reason.”

“...”

“But you don’t need a reason to beat down things that are barely human, do you?”

The man’s expression hardened.

He ordered one of the nearby underlings to deliver my message.

The once-deafening club fell completely silent.

After a moment, the man asked,

“Might you be someone from outside Seoul?”

“None of your business.”

“I understand that your Level is far beyond anything I could hope to challenge, but I believe you’re making a serious mistake.”

“What mistake?”

“The Climbers of the Ark are incomparably stronger than people like me.”

A faint sneer crept onto the man’s face.

“And even if you’re stronger than they are, once you lay a hand on them, Person123 himself will intervene. Do you truly believe you can handle him?”

That’s exactly why I’m doing this.

I sat down beside the man.

“I’m a little curious about that myself.”

Just how strong was the version of me who existed in this Parallel World?

There was only one way to find out.

I’d see for myself.