Chapter 27: Before the 3rd Floor (1)

Some time passed after the Seo Dong-woo incident.

According to the news, Seo Dong-woo had ultimately been shot and killed by an agent from the Tower Monitoring Division of the Tower Climbing Special Agency.

Nothing unusual happened as the days went by, so fortunately, it seemed my existence had gone unnoticed.

[Lotus: Thank you.]

An unexpected thank-you arrived through the Communication Channel as a Whisper.

It was from Section Chief Shin Su-jin.

We exchanged a few words, asking after each other’s health, and that was the end of it. There was no further contact.

It wasn’t as though I were a criminal, but something about dealing with an official from the Tower Climbing Special Agency made me uneasy.

...Well, perhaps I wasn’t entirely innocent.

Failing to register as a Climber and falsely reporting one’s difficulty tier were technically illegal.

Still, I wasn’t a criminal.

Let’s call me a lawbreaker instead.

In any case, she seemed willing to keep my secret, so there was probably nothing to worry about.

“Wouldn’t it be better to stay in the hospital a little longer, Dad?”

“Oh, enough already. They said all the bones have healed, so what’s the point? I’m going stir-crazy lying around in there.”

Thankfully, Dad recovered without any major complications and was discharged from the hospital.

The more I thought about it, the more fortunate we had been.

That psychopath had nearly taken my father away from me for good.

– Doesn’t the Seo Dong-woo incident tell us something? Climbers are dangerous! They’re nothing less than walking weapons!

– We need to refrain from making such sweeping generalizations. Seo Dong-woo was a vicious murderer imprisoned for massacring his entire family. At its core, this incident was the result of an already deeply disturbed individual obtaining extraordinary power. It is neither fair nor reasonable to vilify the overwhelming majority of law-abiding Climbers because of him.

– But you can’t deny that Climbers are dangerous, can you? A single person’s rampage threw the entire country into chaos. They’re no different from ticking time bombs that could explode at any—

– Wasn’t it the government’s inadequate preparation and response that allowed this disaster to happen? We need stricter controls on Climbers!

– In particular, we need effective countermeasures against high-level Climbers. Within only a few years, the average Climber’s Level will rise dramatically. If a second Seo Dong-woo appears, that person will be far more powerful than—

– And how exactly do you propose implementing those countermeasures? Don’t just make empty claims. Give us a concrete plan.

– Who will climb the Tower if not Climbers? There is a fundamental misunderstanding here. Climbers are the future of this world! We should be developing more cooperative policies that prevent crime rather than antagonizing them. If the government takes a heavy-handed approach and Climbers begin leaving for other countries, then what? Realistically speaking—

Whenever I turned on one of those televised debates, that was all anyone seemed to discuss for a while.

I wasn’t particularly interested, but the treatment of Climbers had always been a controversial subject.

The public’s anxiety was perfectly understandable.

As for the claim that Climbers were walking weapons...

The wording was harsh, but it wasn’t entirely wrong.

Had I not been a Climber myself, and had my father suffered something like this, I probably would have developed a fair amount of resentment toward Climbers as well.

Still, lunatics like Seo Dong-woo were ultimately a minority.

Now that I was a Climber, however, it stung a little to see public opinion turn so hostile.

Then again, perhaps I wouldn’t have minded so much if I were actually enjoying any of the benefits.

I wished I could simply coast through life by repeatedly clearing the 1st floor.

[Flyboy: Korean Joker dead?]

[GoldSilver: Dead. Heard some agent from the Korean Climbing Bureau fought him one-on-one and took him out]

[1rururu1: That guy monopolizing the Communication Channel and spouting nonsense was pretty entertaining, though]

[Horororo: But he really was insane. Didn’t he break out after mowing down a bunch of armed guards?]

[LastLeaf: I heard he was over Level 20? High-level Climbers are seriously no joke]

In any case, the Seo Dong-woo incident had caused a stir not only in Korea but throughout the world.

As time passed, however, public interest gradually faded.

With the clock counting down toward humanity’s destruction, everyone’s concerns inevitably returned to a single question.

Would the world survive another year?

I was curious too.

Would I be able to clear the 3rd floor?

[Nightmare]

Personnel: 258,326

Time Limit: 185 days, 1 hour, 34 minutes, 59 seconds

Reached Floor: 3

Roughly half a year had passed since I cleared the 2nd floor.

My daily life had not changed much during that time, aside from leaving college.

Technically, I had filed for a leave of absence, [N O V E L I G H T] but since it couldn’t be extended indefinitely, I had effectively dropped out.

“Wow, even Seo-hyeon ended up becoming a Climber? That’s crazy.”

“Is there something about our school that attracts them?”

“Come hang out sometime. And buy us a meal when you do.”

I had told my friends that I had become an Easy-tier Climber and would be leaving school.

They were all good people, so it was a shame I wouldn’t be seeing them as often anymore.

Oh, and my younger sister had graduated from high school and started college as well.

She claimed she had bombed the CSAT, but she still managed to get into a fairly decent university.

I bought her a laptop as a graduation gift.

“Let’s go, Diul.”

By then, I had my parents’ full support for my activities as a Climber.

With nothing but time on my hands, I entered the Tower whenever the opportunity arose.

Part of the reason was to keep my body sharp, but my main objective was naturally to deepen my bond with Diul.

Even so, I had yet to unlock any new abilities.

The connection between us certainly felt clearer than before, but...

I had absolutely no idea when the little guy planned to reveal another ability.

“Diul, haven’t we gotten much closer by now? I’m starting to feel a little hurt.”

No matter how much I tried speaking to him, all I received in response was the same haughty, dismissive sensation, almost like a contemptuous snort.

I wasn’t asking for much.

I only hoped something—anything—would change before I challenged the 3rd floor.

[Nightmare (8)]

The number of Nightmare Climbers had changed as well.

It had increased from five to eight, with three new additions.

In addition to the United States, China, Russia, and India, Australia had apparently produced one too.

Whether any of them had successfully cleared the 2nd floor, however, was impossible to know.

A global announcement appeared whenever someone established a new highest-floor record, but nothing was announced for ordinary clears.

[Person123: Has anyone successfully cleared the 2nd floor?]

Curious, I had asked Rhino about it once.

[Rhino: I’m embarrassed to say that none of us have.]

That was the answer I received, but...

It seemed they were still preparing rather than having already attempted it and died.

Still, no matter how I thought about it, the 2nd floor should have been easier than the 1st, provided they possessed the necessary information...

Or perhaps not.

I honestly couldn’t be certain.

Thanks to the hidden reward, I had challenged it at Level 15, whereas everyone else would be entering at Level 10.

At Level 10, the Minotaur might have been an overwhelmingly difficult boss.

By this point, I had honestly stopped expecting much from the other Nightmare Climbers.

I had already decided that I would take the vanguard position myself.

Should someone catch up and manage to clear a new floor before I did, then good for them.

It would be nice if it happened, but I wouldn’t lose anything if it didn’t.

That was about the extent of my feelings on the matter.

[Chicken Sandwich: Mr. Kim, I would like to deliver several Skill Stones to you.]

After a long period of silence, Bilon contacted me to say that he had prepared more Skill Stones.

Apparently, he had been collecting them so he could deliver several at once.

This time, there were three.

[Chicken Sandwich: ...A Rare-grade Magic Type skill called ‘Blade Storm,’ a Normal+ grade Magic Type skill called ‘Fairy Light Bullet,’ and one Normal+ grade Skill Enhancement Stone.]

Two Skill Stones and one Skill Enhancement Stone.

Most importantly, both Skill Stones contained Magic Type skills.

One of them was even Rare-grade.

They couldn’t have been easy to acquire, but as usual, Bilon gave no indication of the effort involved and merely provided me with their descriptions.

[Chicken Sandwich: From now on, I intend to have the Skill Stones delivered through the Magic Stone Courier as well. I would very much like to meet you in person, Mr. Kim, but I believe it would be best for us to avoid direct contact whenever possible.]

According to Bilon, he had attempted to obtain the Skill Stones discreetly, but had been unable to escape the Climbing Bureau’s attention completely.

There was a possibility that they were under surveillance.

Therefore, from now on, the Magic Stone Courier would handle the delivery of Skill Stones as well.

I told him I understood.

The man was busy enough already.

There had never been any real need for Bilon to make the deliveries personally in the first place.

[Person123: Then I’ll send the Supreme Magic Stones through him as well. That works, right?]

On the appointed day, I received the Skill Stones along with the usual collection of Magic Stones.

In return, I handed the courier a hefty bundle of Supreme Magic Stones.

As always, the foreign man bowed without a word and departed without any unnecessary fuss.

I had heard in passing from Bilon that he was using the Magic Stones to conduct various research projects...

Well, whatever he was using them for, I hoped they would prove useful.

I returned home and cracked open the Skill Stones.

[Skill: Blade Storm (Rare)]

Creates a razor-sharp gale within a 3-meter radius, damaging and knocking back all targets within range. Requires 50 seconds of Mental Concentration to cast.

Classification: Magic Type

Willpower Cost: 150

Cooldown: 1 minute

[Skill: Fairy Light Bullet (Normal+)]

Fires small projectiles imbued with the power of light. Up to three projectiles may be created, with the Willpower cost increasing by 5 for each additional projectile. Requires 10 seconds of Mental Concentration to cast.

Classification: Magic Type

Willpower Cost: 20, 45, 75

Cooldown: 5 seconds

Blade Storm.

There was no question that it was an area-of-effect skill.

As for Fairy Light Bullet...

Its description was somewhat unusual, but its cooldown was incredibly short.

I absorbed all of the Skill Stones.

[Would you like to enter Nightmare difficulty, Floor 2?]

I immediately entered the Tower to test the skills for myself.

If the Goblin Knight had served as my test dummy on the 1st floor, then the Minotaur filled that role on the 2nd.

I crossed the stepping stones over the lava, climbed the tower, and continued all the way to where the Minotaur waited.

MOOOOOO-!

“Yeah, good to see you too.”

The Minotaur appeared equally delighted to see me and charged at full speed.

I stopped time.

First, I tested Fairy Light Bullet.

Vwiiing—

The moment I activated the skill, tiny lights resembling fireflies rose into the air around me.

I launched all three at the Minotaur.

The lights struck one after another and burst on impact.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Hmm.

So this was the level of power I was working with.

Visually, the explosions weren’t particularly impressive.

If Flame Strike was comparable to an artillery shell, then this was closer to a rifle bullet.

The Minotaur flinched momentarily, blood spilling from its wounds, before charging at me again.

I dodged easily and fired Fairy Light Bullet once more.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Its power didn’t come close to Flame Strike.

After using it, however, I noticed one clear difference between the two skills.

Once fired, Flame Strike could travel only in a straight line.

Fairy Light Bullet, on the other hand, allowed me to control the projectiles’ trajectories to a certain degree.

If I wanted, I could send them curving through the air or even have them travel in a zigzag pattern.

“Not bad at all.”

A mere five-second cooldown.

Up to three projectiles, each of which could be guided with relative freedom.

Above all else, that absurdly short cooldown was what appealed to me most.

The Willpower cost increased with each additional projectile, but...

Since casting time and Willpower consumption meant nothing to me, that was hardly worth considering.

GRAAAAGH-!

And to be fair, Fairy Light Bullet only seemed weak when compared to Flame Strike.

Its actual destructive power was by no means low.

After taking several hits from the light projectiles, the Minotaur was already bleeding heavily.

Enraged, it bellowed and charged once more.

Now for the main course.

I waited until the Minotaur had drawn close, then stopped time.

After completing Mental Concentration, I cast Blade Storm.

KABOOOOM!

A deafening roar erupted as a violent whirlwind tore through the space around me.

Caught within the blast radius, the charging Minotaur was hurled away as though fired from a catapult.

“Oh.”

It had been knocked back that violently even in the middle of a full-speed charge?

I walked over to the fallen Minotaur.

The skill’s destructive power was considerable as well.

That single Blade Storm had shredded the Minotaur’s entire body, reducing it to a mangled heap of flesh.

The accumulated damage from Fairy Light Bullet had probably contributed, but the Minotaur was already dead.

An area-of-effect skill that struck everything within a three-meter radius.

A one-minute cooldown, coupled with that degree of destructive power.

Three meters was not an especially generous range.

Even so, the fact that it struck every enemy in a complete 360-degree radius around me was a clear and valuable advantage.

I grinned.

“Thanks, Bilon.”

Considering the theme of the 3rd floor, it seemed I had acquired some exceptionally useful skills.