<We thought about it and have brought a new proposal, Geon-joo! (º □ º l|l)>
Upon returning to the tower through the portal, the system presented a new proposal, as if cheering him on for deciding to conquer the tower again. Geon-joo, who had grown rather distrustful of the system, looked at the blue window in front of him with a suspicious expression.
What strange thing have you brought as a so-called proposal this time?
While thinking this, the system displayed a new window to persuade Geon-joo.
<We won’t ask you to conquer all floors. If you just conquer in units of 5 floors, we can grant you a temporary Tower Conqueror title. Then you’ll be able to exit the gate! However, since it’s only a temporary title, to fully enjoy its effects, you’ll eventually need to return to the tower and conquer the floors you haven’t cleared. (º □ º l|l)>
Though the emoticon showed a flustered image, the text on the blue window seemed strangely excited. It read as if it were elated to have finally found a solution, making Geon-joo snicker with an expression that said “you’ve got to be kidding me.” The system seemed ridiculous for presenting this as something to be proud of.
If such a solution existed, they should have offered it earlier. Or when he was first trapped in this gate.
Disliking how they acted as if they had put in effort and were doing him a favor after trapping him in a quagmire, he frowned, and as if reading his mind, the system became angry.
<This is a special privilege we barely managed to create! It’s an exception that took a lot of our effort! (º □ º l|l)>
Geon-joo made no response to the system that was shouting as if wronged. The system, as if it had gotten sulky, also stopped speaking to him. The standoff continued for a long time. One day, two days, three days. The first to waver in this prolonged confrontation was the system.
That was only natural. It wasn’t Geon-joo who had much to worry about or who was in a hurry, but them.
<Alright. We’re sorry we couldn’t find a solution sooner. We’ll try to help more actively, so tell us what you want. (º □ º l|l)>
It was a declaration of surrender, barely obtained.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Geon-joo asked the system for time adjustment. He asked if one day in the tower could be measured as six hours in reality. It was a request made because the discrepancy between time in reality and in the tower was too great, causing confusion and loss of motivation.
The system thought for a moment and then displayed a notification saying it agreed. Soon, the orange tower-exclusive system window appeared, notifying him that the time calculation ratio had changed.
Now four months in the tower equals one month in reality. It was a reasonable ratio that created a sense of urgency to conquer quickly since the time difference wasn’t that significant, and as Geon-joo was satisfied, the system urged him to accept the quest.
<Please accept the proposal! (º □ º l|l)>
+++
[Quest – Subsidiary Quest for the First Step for ‘—‘]
- ‘Conquer the Predestined Tower in units of 5 floors to obtain the Temporary Tower Conqueror title!’
- Note: To enjoy the title’s effects, you must attempt proper tower conquest in the future.
- Reward: Ability to exit the ‘Predestined Tower’ gate
+++
The quest window flickered as if urging him to quickly press accept. It seemed that accepting this was necessary for the 5-floor unit conquest the system had mentioned.
He had been stubborn enough, and he had denied reality enough. Feeling that the system had shown maximum consideration through the 5-floor unit conquest proposal and the time ratio change, Geon-joo accepted the quest. He spent about a month focusing on recovering his body and regaining his lost combat sense before attempting to conquer the Predestined Tower.
Since the monsters from the 10th to the 30th floor weren’t that strong, he was able to conquer them in two months. Thanks to his previous conquest experience, he could reduce the clearing time, leaving plenty of room for positive thinking. It took five months to clear from the 30th to the 60th floor, and a year to clear from the 60th to the 90th floor. Considering that it took about 8 years to clear the 90th floor last time (rounding up), it was quite a fast pace, but the problem was after the 90th floor.
The 95th and 100th floors.
He could escape this insufferable Predestined Tower if he conquered just these two floors, but the monsters appearing on these floors were extraordinary. He had anticipated it wouldn’t be easy since a dragon appeared in the early 90th floor, but on the 95th and 100th floors, there were beings beyond monsters.
They were too similar to humans to be called monsters, possessed self-awareness, and were highly intelligent. It felt like facing not monsters, but something superior to humans.
Because of this, Geon-joo had to invest a whole year to conquer just two floors. The system told him that was fast considering his previous conquest, but Geon-joo couldn’t be fully satisfied. It was too long a time considering he had received maximum support from the system, applied as many nerfs as possible, and used every available shortcut.
His pride was hurt, but it didn’t lead to despair.
‘…Is it over?’
Because he had cleared the 100th floor.
‘…It’s really over.’
Since he had met the conditions to leave the tower, how he had conquered it no longer mattered.
As soon as the hellish 100th floor conquest ended, he was automatically returned to the 0th floor, and fireworks exploded above his head.
[Congratulations! You have successfully temporarily conquered the ‘Predestined Tower’! As a clearing reward, you are granted the ‘Temporary Tower Conqueror’ title.]
[The ‘God of Restraint who pursues the beauty of slowness’ bestows a blessing according to the temporary clearing reward. 3 stat points are granted.]
[The ‘God of Wisdom who loves eternal karma’ bestows a blessing according to the temporary clearing reward. The special privilege ‘For Fate (Temporary)’ is granted.]
[The ‘God of Courage who sings of challenge and hope’ bestows a blessing according to the temporary clearing reward. ‘Revival (Temporary)’ is granted.]
[All clearing rewards will change to complete rewards upon official clearance, not temporary. The Predestined Tower remembers ‘Han Geon-joo,’ the first tower conqueror of Planet 9180 ‘Earth.’]
[Now, return to the predestined fate.]
The orange notification windows appeared one after another without pause, and then a light so bright it could be called sacred enveloped Geon-joo, as if a god were truly blessing him. When he opened his eyes after the intense light that wrapped around his entire body and blocked his vision disappeared, he saw a dark sky.
Not a white ceiling, but a black sky with stars.
‘…Ah.’
A choked voice escaped his lips.
He heard the sound of cool water, the sound of insects crying, and the hot summer wind sticking to his skin.
Was it always this peaceful?
It was a world he had lived in for over 20 years, yet it suddenly felt unfamiliar. His black eyes, tired from wandering through battlefields for a long time, held a dreamy quality as they gazed at the dark sky.
Though temporary, the Predestined Tower conquest was over. Including the time that had been reset, he had conquered over 110 floors.
It’s an unbelievable reality.
As he just blinked blankly, unable to feel any sense of reality, a blue quest completion window occupied his vision, as if telling him to snap out of it.
<‘First Step for the Activation of ‘—” Quest completed! As a reward, the special gate ‘The True Evil of Humanity?’ for activation is being created.>
[Special Gate for Activation – The True Evil of Humanity?]
- Creation progress: 30%
- -The progress increases as you proceed with the activation quest. When 100% is achieved, the creation of ‘The True Evil of Humanity?’ gate will be completed.
‘What?’
Somehow, the given reward was strange.
The gate wasn’t being created right away?
Geon-joo, who had believed without a doubt that the gate would be completed as soon as the quest was finished, frowned and reread the quest window’s text to see if he had read it correctly. Even after rereading, the content remained unchanged. As he stood dazed with the back of his head tingling, the tactless system window flickered.
<Congratulations! You have completed the first activation quest. Please proceed with the next quest.>
+++
[Quest – Second Step for the Activation of ‘—‘]
- ‘Create a guild and obtain Noah’s member position from the Association.’
- Reward: Creation progress 20%, Distribution of the third step quest for activation.
+++
‘……’
After clearing the gate with such effort, now they want him to create a guild. Confused and unable to understand the system’s purpose, Geon-joo immediately tried to find Sa-yoon. However, the system stopped him and urged him to proceed with the quest. Geon-joo, who tried to move and ignore it, had to follow the system’s quest with a frown when the system said he wouldn’t be able to learn about Sa-yoon if he didn’t proceed with the quest.
Really, a system excellent at handling people…
Tap, tap.
Suddenly, the sound of finger snapping was heard. As his consciousness was forcibly pulled up from the depths, Geon-joo, who opened his eyes properly, blinked his eyelids. His black pupils regained focus. With Sa-yoon’s face right in front of him, Geon-joo looked at him, startled. Sa-yoon tilted his head with a frown.
“What were you thinking so deeply about that you didn’t answer when I called?”
“Ah…”
Only then did Geon-joo realize that he had been talking about what he had experienced and then got deeply immersed in reminiscing about the past, and he let out a quiet sigh.
“Where did I leave off?”
“You said you were trapped in the gate for a year.”
“Ah.”
So that’s all I had talked about.
With so much that had happened afterward, Geon-joo was contemplating how to summarize it all when he briefly met Sa-yoon’s eyes and then changed his mind.
Let’s not tell everything.
It might be burdensome for him.
And these things should be saved for later, to use when seeking credit or acknowledgment.