Chapter 136: Joint Battle (2)

“Person123 has granted us another precious day, and once again dawn has broken. We welcome and bless all you faithful who have gathered here...”

The dawn service of the Person123 Church.

As always, Shin Su-jin finished her brief morning prayers and headed straight to work.

She had only joined the Person123 Church fairly recently.

Normally, she had little interest in things like religion.

She respected Person123 deeply, but the thought of worshipping him as a god had never once crossed her mind.

After all, he wasn’t a god. He was human. Someone she had met and spoken to in person more than once.

– Person123 has already transcended even the limits of the human body and is becoming an omnipotent existence, but that is not what truly matters. His benevolent and noble will, devoted entirely to humanity, his sacrifice and dedication without thought of reward... in those respects, he is no different from a god. It is only natural that we should be moved to tears and revere him. Do you still not understand?

The catalyst had been simple.

It was something a believer of the Person123 Church had said during a television broadcast Shin Su-jin happened to catch.

When stripped down to its essence, the argument was that whether Person123 was actually human or not was irrelevant. What made him a god was his heart—his absolute devotion to humanity.

I see...

The thought had struck her with surprising force, and not long afterward, Shin Su-jin joined the Person123 Church herself.

She did so casually, at that. There were plenty of people in the Person123 Church who had joined simply because they wanted to support and cheer him on.

Besides, she had begun to feel that her life—an endless cycle of work and home, duty and training—needed something else in it. Some kind of hobby.

And if she was going to have a hobby, it might as well be something she genuinely found interesting. Anything involving Person123 was, without question, among Shin Su-jin’s interests.

Of course, if her life were still as gray and lifeless as it had once been, she would never have had the luxury of thinking about hobbies at all.

But ever since Seo Dong-woo’s death, ever since the day Person123 had saved her, Shin Su-jin had finally regained her peace of mind.

If not for him, she would have spent the rest of her life wandering through hell.

Though Seo Dong-woo probably would have killed her long before that happened anyway.

In that sense, joining the Person123 Church had turned out to be a surprisingly good choice of hobby.

Praying didn’t actually help Person123 in any tangible way, of course.

Still, it gave her the feeling that she was doing something for him.

“...It’d be nice to see him again.”

Sitting at her desk in the office, Shin Su-jin murmured the words absentmindedly.

“Sorry? See who?”

Kang Ju-hyeok, who had just walked over carrying a cup of coffee, looked at her curiously.

Shin Su-jin snapped back to reality and cleared her throat.

Had she really said that out loud?

“It’s nothing.”

[Time Remaining: 56 minutes 17 seconds]

Nearly twenty-four hours had passed since the Nightmare 10th floor had been cleared.

The staff of the Tower Monitoring Division at the Tower Climbing Special Agency were currently waiting for the Joint Battle that was due to begin shortly.

One hundred climbers who had cleared the 10th floor—in other words, climbers who had reached the 11th floor or higher—would be selected.

Shin Su-jin, who had reached Normal floor 24, was among the possible candidates.

Kang Ju-hyeok groaned and leaned back against the wall.

“Let’s just hope nothing happens. Who knows what’ll go wrong this time...”

Judging by the name alone, Joint Battle sounded as though it might simply involve climbers gathering on the 5th floor to fight together.

But just as with the Isolation Zone incident not long ago, there had yet to be a single Tower rule that did not somehow place ordinary people’s lives at risk.

That was what made everyone so uneasy.

Person123 had apparently been concerned as well, enough to leave a warning post on the Communication Channel.

Shin Su-jin, too, could only hope that nothing serious would happen.

[Time Remaining: 1 second]

The moment the countdown reached zero, tension flashed across the faces of the Tower Monitoring Division staff.

Shin Su-jin’s vision changed.

“...!”

She quickly looked around, forcing herself to remain calm.

It was Zone 0 of the 5th floor.

She had been selected for the Joint Battle.

Around her stood a hundred climbers who had been dragged there just as suddenly as she had.

Almost instinctively, Shin Su-jin searched the crowd for Person123’s face.

He must not have been selected this time.

He was nowhere to be seen.

[The ‘Joint Battle’ has begun.]

[Defend the Nexus from the monsters that swarm in each round.]

A message appeared before her eyes.

The climbers’ gazes immediately converged on a single point.

A massive gemstone had suddenly materialized in the exact center of the Zone 0 portal.

It resembled the Nexus on the 6th floor.

[100,000,000/100,000,000]

Above the Nexus floated a number resembling an HP bar.

[The instant the Nexus’s HP reaches 0, the Joint Battle ends immediately.]

[For every point of the Nexus’s HP lost, one Non-Climber dies at random.]

[The dead Non-Climbers do not become the Fallen.]

Shin Su-jin’s eyes widened at the next message.

Uneasy murmurs swept through the climbers.

“People die for every single point of HP it loses?”

“Fucking hell, not this again...”

[There are up to 6 rounds.]

[Each round cleared raises the reward, and rewards are not awarded cumulatively.]

[The rewards are as follows.]

[Round 1 Clear Reward]

– Every participating climber receives one Normal+ grade Skill Stone

[Round 2 Clear Reward]

– Every participating climber receives one Rare grade Skill Stone

[Round 3 Clear Reward]

– Every participating climber receives one Rare grade Skill Stone and one Rare grade Skill Enhancement Stone

[Round 4 Clear Reward]

– Every participating climber receives one Rare+ grade Skill Stone and one Rare+ grade Skill Enhancement Stone

[Round 5 Clear Reward]

– Every participating climber gains 10 levels

[Round 6 Reward]

– All climbers gain immunity to the Tower’s Curse

The list of rewards continued scrolling upward, line after line.

The restless murmuring abruptly died away.

‘...This is...’

Even Shin Su-jin could not hide her shock.

Everyone reacted the same way after seeing the final reward for Round 6.

Immunity to the Tower’s Curse?

For every climber?

[You may leave the 5th floor while the Joint Battle is underway.]

[Once you leave, re-entry is impossible, and no reward is given.]

[Which round to attempt up to, the final round, is decided by majority vote.]

[Once the final round is chosen, it cannot be changed.]

[When the Nexus is destroyed and the Joint Battle ends, rewards up to the round cleared are awarded.]

[Please vote on the final round to attempt.]

[Round 1]

[Round 2]

[Round 3]

[Round 4]

[Round 5]

[Round 6]

[Time Remaining to Choose: 29 minutes 59 seconds]

Shin Su-jin let out a low groan as she stared at the choices.

Only one thought echoed through her mind.

‘A trap.’

It was exactly like the Masked Auction.

Once again, the Tower had taken ordinary people’s lives hostage and dangled rewards before the climbers that were almost impossible to refuse.

Then someone spoke.

“I’m Robert Müller, a Hard difficulty 16th floor climber from Germany. Why don’t we start by finding out the levels of everyone gathered here?”

Robert Müller.

Germany’s highest-floor Hard difficulty climber, and a celebrity known to virtually anyone familiar with the Tower.

At his suggestion, the climbers first sorted themselves into groups according to level.

Since only those who had cleared the 10th floor had been summoned, everyone present was at least level 10.

Nine were in their teens, twenty in their twenties, thirty-six in their thirties, seventeen in their forties, fifteen in their fifties, and three in their sixties.

Once everyone had been sorted, it became clear that their average level was fairly high.

Robert stepped forward like a natural representative and spoke again.

“I’m sure you’ve all seen the rewards. The Round 6 reward grants immunity to the Tower’s Curse to every climber.”

“...”

“That means that someday, when the Tower’s time limit expires and humanity perishes, climbers can be the exception. I think the choice we should make is obvious.”

Shin Su-jin immediately stepped forward and raised her voice.

“Round 6 is out of the question!”

Every eye turned toward her.

“Didn’t you see what it said? Someone dies every time the Nexus loses a single point of HP. Look at its HP. A hundred million. We can’t gamble with a hundred million lives when we don’t even know how difficult the later rounds will be. Absolutely not.”

Their objective was to defend the Nexus against waves of monsters.

It went without saying that each successive round would be more difficult than the last.

And they were supposed to attempt the entire thing with a hundred million human lives at stake?

It was absurd.

No one gathered here had the right to make that gamble.

Robert looked at Shin Su-jin and smiled.

“So you’re saying we should throw away a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? We’ve been given a chance to ensure that millions of people can survive even if the world itself perishes.”

“Have you forgotten Person123’s warning? Giving in to the Tower’s temptations never leads anywhere but ruin.”

“No. This is different. If Person123 were given an opportunity like this, I’m sure he would take it too.”

Shin Su-jin’s expression twisted.

As if he knew the first thing about him.

The claim was ridiculous.

“Person123 would never gamble with other people’s lives like this. He would choose Round 1.

“And the Tower wants humanity destroyed more than anything. If clearing all six rounds were really possible, do you honestly think it would offer us a reward like this? The Nexus would probably be destroyed before we ever reached the end, and a hundred million people would die for nothing.”

Another climber cut in.

“I’m with big sis.”

A woman stepped up beside Shin Su-jin and casually threw an arm around her shoulders.

“It’s obvious this Tower bastard is trying to scam us again. You’d have to be an idiot to fall for it. Am I wrong?”

It was Clara, another officer in the Security Corps.

Normally, the two of them were not particularly close.

Several other Security Corps members came forward and stood beside Shin Su-jin as well.

Not all of them, however.

Some remained where they were, glancing around uncertainly as though still weighing their options.

Robert surveyed the crowd.

“Think carefully, all of you. How long do you really think humanity can survive against the Tower? We don’t even know how many floors there are before we reach the top.”

His voice overflowed with confidence.

“We may never get an opportunity like this again. Let’s do it. We absolutely can. There are plenty of high-level climbers here, aren’t there? We choose Round 6, and we save every climber in existence!”

The atmosphere erupted.

Several climbers besides Robert stepped forward and began shouting.

“That’s right! Why are you already assuming we’ll fail? All we have to do is succeed!”

“We can do this!”

“Get a grip! A hundred million lives are on the line!”

“What are you going to do if your own family gets chosen?”

“Why don’t we compromise and only go as far as Round 3?!”

The arguments quickly devolved into shouting.

Watching the scene descend into chaos, Clara clicked her tongue.

“Look at these slimy bastards...”

Shin Su-jin understood exactly what she meant.

The mentality of those pushing for Round 6 was painfully obvious.

[You may leave the 5th floor while the Joint Battle is underway.]

[Once you leave, re-entry is impossible, and no reward ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) is given.]

They kept insisting that they would succeed no matter what.

But even if they failed, they themselves faced no real risk.

That was precisely why Person123 had gone so far as to warn everyone in advance...

And yet the absurdly tempting reward of immunity to the Tower’s Curse was more than enough to drive the climbers out of their minds, warning or no warning.

[Time Remaining to Choose: 1 second]

Shin Su-jin, too, shouted with everything she had, desperately trying to sway the crowd.

People were arguing.

Others remained silent, watching to see which side would win.

And amid the uproar, the final seconds slipped away.

Time ran out.

[Voting has ended.]

[Round 1: 46]

[Round 2: 1]

[Round 3: 2]

[Round 4: 0]

[Round 5: 0]

[Round 6: 51]

[The final round has been decided as Round 6.]

The moment she saw the result, Shin Su-jin clenched her teeth.

This really... can’t happen...

[Round 1 begins.]

There wasn’t even time to dwell on it.

Weapons appeared at random all around them—swords, spears, clubs, and more.

The climbers snatched them up with practiced ease and prepared for battle.

“It’s starting! The monsters are coming!”

Shin Su-jin grabbed a greatsword and took up her position.

Moments later, monsters burst from the forest of Zone 1.

They were not the usual monsters of Zone 1, of course.

These creatures were different, and looked considerably stronger.

A rhinoceros-like beast-type monster.

A creature whose entire body seemed to be made of wood.

A two-headed wolf...

Slaaash!

Robert moved first, cleaving one of the monsters cleanly in two.

The other high-level climbers followed immediately.

The monsters were slaughtered without mercy.

The sight sent the group’s morale soaring, and the battle began in earnest.

“Kill them all! Don’t let a single one get close!”

The monsters swarming in from every direction varied greatly in strength, ranging roughly from level 10 to level 30.

Against a force like this, however, they were still manageable.

There were simply too many high-level climbers present.

Shin Su-jin swung her greatsword, cutting the monsters down one after another.

She deliberately avoided using her skills, conserving her Willpower for the later rounds.

[Round 1 has ended.]

[Round 1 Result: 100,000,000/100,000,000]

[A total of 0 Non-Climbers die at random.]

[Round 2 will begin shortly.]

Barely five minutes had passed before Round 1 came to an end.

Since the monsters had been targeting the Nexus rather than the climbers themselves, there had been no deaths or even serious injuries.

The corpses littering the surrounding area disappeared.

The climbers cheered and took the opportunity to rest.

“What? That was nothing.”

“At this rate, we can easily make it to Round 6.”

Listening to the voices around her, Shin Su-jin’s expression hardened.

This was only Round 1.

She could not shake the ominous feeling in her chest.

***

While the Joint Battle was underway.

I could do nothing but wait, sick with worry.

There was no way to know what was happening on the 5th floor from the outside.

Then a message appeared.

[Round 1 Result: 100,000,000/100,000,000]

[A total of 0 Non-Climbers die at random.]

...What the hell is this?

A total of zero Non-Climber deaths?

So the Tower really was gambling with people’s lives again?

The Round 1 result seemed to mean that the climbers who had been dragged inside had managed to defend whatever they were supposed to protect.

“Ha...”

That damn Tower.

I swallowed my unease and could only pray that they would keep succeeding.

Several dozen minutes later, another message appeared.

[Round 2 Result: 99,999,891/100,000,000]

[A total of 109 Non-Climbers die at random.]

“...!”

The instant the message appeared before my eyes, I bolted out of my room and went to check on my family.

They were all watching the news.

All of them were safe.

“Seo-hyeon, what’s wrong?”

“...No, it’s nothing. I’ll tell you later.”

I stared at the message floating in the air once more.

‘Fuck...’

What the hell is going on?