Chapter 56: Sub-Tower (2)

The world shifted around me.

I glanced about.

An endless expanse of grassland stretched in every direction.

According to the GPS, I had arrived on the steppe east of Ulaanbaatar.

Ah...

I had missed my destination by more than I expected.

It looked like I would have to travel another hundred kilometers west before entering the Sub-Tower’s range.

I stopped time and recharged the Warp Device.

Then I warped again, this time toward Ulaanbaatar.

[Would you like to enter the second Sub-Tower?]

The message appeared the moment I crossed into the Sub-Tower’s range.

So I had finally made it.

Time to go.

“Enter.”

Without wasting another second, I stepped inside.

The scenery changed once more.

[You have entered the 1st Floor of the second Sub-Tower.]

Out of habit, I immediately stopped time and surveyed my surroundings.

I stood inside a fairly spacious chamber shrouded in dim light.

An assortment of weapons lay scattered across the floor before me—swords, spears, maces, and more.

And on the opposite side of the chamber stood...

A single goblin.

It carried a sword and shield.

‘...?’

That was all.

There was not another monster in sight.

‘Is it a trap?’

For the moment, I allowed time to resume.

Kieee!

The goblin spotted me and advanced with a grating shriek.

It had been a while since I had tackled anything resembling a 1st Floor.

How long had it been since I last saw an ordinary goblin?

But seriously...

Was this really all there was?

I could not afford to lower my guard, so I fired a single Light Bullet from a safe distance.

For all I knew, the goblin might explode on contact, like the self-destructing undead from the 3rd Floor.

Pwoom!

The Light Bullet streaked through the air, trailing radiance, and shattered the goblin’s head.

Its headless body collapsed to the floor.

I tilted my head.

[1st Floor cleared successfully.]

[Proceed to the 2nd Floor when ready.]

“...Hm.”

Had I been overthinking it?

Then again, I was not challenging Nightmare difficulty this time.

I understood that intellectually, yet years of habit kept making me second-guess everything.

Still, this was only the 1st Floor.

[Proceed to the 2nd Floor?]

The message appeared as soon as I decided to continue.

I advanced without hesitation.

The next floor looked identical to the first.

A broad, dimly lit chamber.

Weapons scattered across the floor.

The only difference was that the goblin had been replaced by another monster.

‘...An orc?’

I had never encountered one before, but it looked exactly like the orcs from fantasy stories.

Its skin was green like a goblin’s, but its body was considerably larger and more muscular. It stood roughly as tall as the knight goblins from the 1st Floor.

A mace rested in one hand.

Tssssh.

The orc snorted heavily through its nose and strode toward me.

I launched another Light Bullet.

Three bolts of light shot forward and burst the orc’s head with a sharp pop.

[2nd Floor cleared successfully.]

[Proceed to the 3rd Floor when ready.]

Mm...

I was beginning to understand how this worked.

I really had been overthinking it.

There were no elaborate mechanics.

No hidden traps.

All I had to do was defeat the enemy standing before me to clear each floor.

Naturally, the enemies would become stronger as I climbed, but for now...

“Easy.”

After spending so long clearing nothing but Nightmare difficulty, a straightforward climb like this felt strangely unfamiliar.

I proceeded directly to the 3rd Floor.

[You have entered the 3rd Floor.]

The enemy on the 3rd Floor was a lizardman.

A human-sized reptilian creature standing upright on two legs, with a spear clutched in its hands.

Pwooom!

I fired a Light Bullet and blew its head apart, just as I had done before.

Done.

[You have entered the 4th Floor.]

The enemy on the 4th Floor was a werewolf.

It was somewhat larger than the lizardman.

Grraaah!

The instant I entered, the werewolf lunged at me.

I drove my fist into its skull.

Its head exploded on impact.

Done.

[You have entered the 5th Floor.]

On the 5th Floor, I finally encountered a familiar monster.

A minotaur.

It had served as the boss of the 2nd Floor during our Nightmare run.

Mooooo!

With a deafening bellow, it charged straight at me.

I welcomed it with my fist.

Crash!

The minotaur’s head shattered into fragments, and its massive body flew backward before slamming into the wall.

‘If the 5th Floor has a minotaur...’

That would place the minotaur somewhere around level 20.

In that case, the final boss on the 10th Floor would probably be around level 40 or 50.

Running through the rough estimate in my head, I continued to the 6th Floor.

[You have entered the 6th Floor.]

The monster on the 6th Floor was...

What exactly was that?

A troll?

An ogre?

Either way, it had green skin and was far bulkier than either a goblin or an orc.

Grooo.

I opened with a Light Bullet.

The spell struck it directly in the head, bursting flesh and drawing a howl of pain from the creature.

Its head did not explode, however.

Instead, the wound began to bubble as the damaged flesh visibly regenerated.

Aha.

A troll, then.

Not an ogre.

I followed up with Flame Strike.

Boooom!

Five fireballs tore through the air and blasted the troll apart in a single volley.

Its body was reduced to unrecognizable ash, leaving nothing behind that could regenerate.

[You have entered the 7th Floor.]

The enemy on the 7th Floor was not a single monster.

Fwap-fwap-fwap-fwap-fwap!

Dozens—

No, hundreds of enormous bats came swooping toward me, their eyes glowing crimson.

Judging by their protruding fangs, they were probably vampire bats.

I deployed Scorching Zone.

Whoooosh!

The bats that entered the Scorching Zone burned like moths diving into a bonfire.

Hundreds of them were reduced to ash in an instant.

“Whoa.”

It was the first time I had truly experienced the overwhelming satisfaction of using Scorching Zone, and a small whistle of admiration escaped me.

Against enemies that relied on sheer numbers, there was no better skill.

[You have entered the 8th Floor.]

Next came the 8th Floor.

‘Hm?’

The environment had changed.

The chamber itself was the same, but it was now filled with water up to my chest.

The monster that appeared before me was...

A mermaid?

No.

More like a serpent.

Whatever it was, the grotesque creature had a humanlike face and the body of some twisted fish-serpent. It glided beneath the surface, parting the water as it moved.

Sssss.

Without warning, it thrust its head above the surface and opened its mouth toward me.

Light began gathering between its jaws.

It appeared to be charging some kind of attack, so I struck first.

Sorry to interrupt while it was preparing its technique, but my spells were instant-cast.

Boooom!

Flame Strike tore the human-faced serpent to pieces.

[You have entered the 9th Floor.]

Next was the 9th Floor.

Its layout differed slightly from the previous floors.

I stood in the center of the chamber while three figures in black robes surrounded me from three directions.

Each held what appeared to be a crystal orb.

‘Humans?’

Their skin was too pale, and their nails were unnaturally long, like those of witches.

Whether they were human or monsters did not matter.

They were enemies.

Whooosh.

The figures muttered something beneath their breath, and their crystal orbs began to glow.

It was an obvious sign of an impending attack.

Once again, I gave them no opportunity to act.

I cast Flame Strike.

I divided the five fireballs among the three figures—one, one, and three.

Boooom!

The figure struck by three fireballs was blown apart.

The other two, however, emerged completely unharmed.

Barriers had materialized around them.

‘They blocked it?’

I had no intention of allowing my enemies even a moment to retaliate.

The instant I saw my attack fail, I unleashed everything.

I fired Destruction Ray at one of them, instant-cast every remaining offensive spell at the other, and summoned Plli at the same time.

‘Tear it apart.’

The figure struck by Destruction Ray was annihilated instantly.

Cracks spread across the remaining figure’s barrier.

Plli charged forward and smashed through it with a deafening crash.

Then he sank his jaws into the figure and tore its body to pieces.

[9th Floor cleared successfully.]

Only the final floor remained.

The 10th Floor.

I restored my Willpower and waited for my skills to come off cooldown.

Then I entered the last floor.

[You have entered the 10th Floor.]

I studied the enemy standing before me.

It was roughly my size and clad from head to toe in pitch-black armor.

A Black Knight.

For a moment, I remembered the Black Knight from the hidden route on the 2nd Floor.

But this one was obviously nowhere near that level.

Sixth Sense told me as much.

It was not stronger than me.

Still, it was reasonably powerful.

I immediately cast Flame Strike.

Five fireballs streaked toward the Black Knight.

Boooom!

With startling agility, the Black Knight evaded every fireball and charged straight at me.

Plli intercepted it first, slamming his body into the charging knight and knocking it aside.

Khaaaooo!

I watched as the Black Knight and Plli faced each other.

It seemed roughly comparable to a Stage 5 Fallen.

Judging by the pressure it gave off, its level was probably somewhere in the mid-fifties.

The two exchanged blows on equal footing for several moments.

Then the Black Knight drove its sword into Plli’s neck.

That was when I intervened.

I struck the Black Knight with my fist, sending it hurtling through the air, then extended one hand toward its airborne body.

‘It’s over.’

A fully charged Destruction Ray struck the Black Knight head-on.

The knight vanished without leaving so much as a trace.

[10th Floor cleared successfully.]

The message appeared before me.

I let out a faint laugh, unable to hide my disappointment.

The boss of the 10th Floor had certainly been strong.

But if this was all a Sub-Tower amounted to, then it was far less threatening than I had imagined.

It was a simple, straightforward battle against an enemy.

No schemes.

No tricks.

No hidden mechanics.

Ah...

Why could every climb not be like this?

[The second Sub-Tower has been cleared to the final floor.]

[You have achieved the first clear of the second Sub-Tower.]

[You have acquired ownership of the second Sub-Tower.]

The messages continued appearing.

Ownership of the Tower?

What did that mean?

[Acquiring ownership of a Sub-Tower allows you to activate or deactivate that Sub-Tower’s Mana Vein.]

I tilted my head.

So the person who cleared the Sub-Tower could turn its Mana Vein on and off at will?

‘Forget this. I’d rather have a Skill Stone.’

So there really was a personal reward for achieving the first clear.

Not that it seemed particularly useful.

Still...

This was absurd.

It meant China had concealed even this information while attempting to extort still more from Mongolia.

The clearer effectively became the owner of the Mana Vein.

And even that had not been enough for them.

“Fine.”

You people can sit there and do nothing.

I will clear every other Sub-Tower myself.

***

“...That concludes the demands our government considers non-negotiable.”

As he listened to the interpreter, Mongolia’s Prime Minister Orgil could no longer keep his expression under control.

Throughout the interpreter’s statement, the Chinese ambassador idly examined his fingernails.

His manner suggested that this was not a negotiation at all, but merely a formal notice the Mongolian side was expected to hear and accept.

His arrogance was insufferable.

A Sub-Tower had appeared in the heart of Ulaanbaatar.

Resolving the crisis required China’s assistance.

There seemed to be no alternative.

And China had responded with demands so outrageous that they bordered on the absurd.

Equity stakes in several of Mongolia’s largest mines, including Tavan Tolgoi.

Guaranteed monopolies over extraction rights.

Control over infrastructure operations and priority access to exports.

A share of the Mana Vein after the Sub-Tower was cleared.

Even concessions regarding Inner Mongolia, one of the most sensitive and painful issues between the two nations.

And the list went on.

Under ordinary circumstances, none of these conditions would ever have reached the negotiating table.

Yet China was presenting every one of them with complete seriousness.

“It is time for you to make your decision, Prime Minister.”

“You cannot seriously expect us to accept demands this absurd.”

At the prime minister’s words, a faint sneer appeared at the corners of the Chinese ambassador’s mouth.

“I believe you will find that you have no choice.”

“...”

“Our Climber will be risking his life to clear the Sub-Tower, Your Excellency. And not merely any Climber, but the strongest in the world. I would ask that you properly consider the magnitude of the risk China is undertaking.”

The ambassador continued.

“Furthermore, once the Sub-Tower is cleared and the Mana Vein forms, Mongolia will reap enormous benefits. Rather than dismissing our terms as unreasonable, I suggest you calculate their true value more carefully.”

He leaned back with complete confidence.

“There is not much time remaining. Surely you do not intend to allow Ulaanbaatar to become a land of the dead?”

Mongolia was the desperate party.

Less than a week remained before the Sub-Tower’s time limit expired, and time was rapidly running out.

Any negotiation under such circumstances was bound to favor one side overwhelmingly.

If Mongolia continued refusing China’s demands and China genuinely withdrew, Ulaanbaatar would become a land of the dead.

That was no exaggeration.

No human would ever be able to set foot there again.

Every piece of infrastructure concentrated in the capital would be lost—servers, communications systems, energy networks, administrative institutions.

All of it would disappear.

Then there were the countless evacuees still trying to escape the capital.

Anyone who failed to leave the affected radius before the deadline would become Fallen.

After all, they would die from the Tower’s Curse.

The resulting blow would paralyze the entire nation.

At a minimum, Mongolia’s national development would be set back by a century.

China was facing considerable international criticism and outrage, but ultimately every other nation remained nothing more than a spectator.

Was anyone else offering to enter the Sub-Tower and resolve the crisis?

Orgil suppressed his anger and forced himself to evaluate the situation rationally.

That was what his office demanded of him.

“...Give me one more day. By then, I will have my deci—”

At that moment, the prime minister’s secretary burst through the meeting-room doors.

He hurried to Orgil’s side and whispered urgently into his ear.

“What in the...”

The Chinese ambassador frowned at the interruption.

As Orgil listened, his eyes widened.

“...Are you serious?!”

“Yes, sir. The message appeared just now.”

A moment later, an aide from the Chinese delegation rushed into the room and whispered something to the ambassador as well.

“What...?!”

The prime minister and the ambassador stared at each other in stunned silence.

The ambassador’s composure had vanished completely.

The dumbfounded expression on his face was so comical that Prime Minister Orgil could no longer restrain himself.

“Pfft...”

He slapped his knee.

“Bwahahaha!”

Orgil roared with laughter.

The ambassador could only stare back at him, his expression twisted as though he were rotting from within.