Twenty years had passed since the jet-black towers appeared. Smooth cylindrical structures with pitch-black exteriors, their height and scale dwarfed even the tallest skyscrapers. These were truly colossal edifices.
Each country had between one and three towers. South Korea had one, located on a hill in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province.
When the towers first appeared out of nowhere overnight, armies mobilized, scientists flocked, and the media swarmed to investigate their nature. But no one could approach them. Though visible, they were physically inaccessible. It seemed as if they refused human entry. The same was true from the air.
What on earth were these things? Why had they appeared?
No one knew until the Players emerged.
What they discovered was this: The towers were meant to be climbed.
By whom?
The Players, of course.
Those who had gained the qualification to enter the towers.
The estimated number of Players was 0.01% to 0.02% of the total population. That meant between 700,000 and 1.5 million out of the global population of 7 billion. In South Korea, between 5,000 and 10,000 out of 50 million people.
Only Players could ignore the constraints of space and time, entering and exiting the towers at will, whenever and wherever they pleased. What happened when they entered the tower? They completed missions given on each floor. Tower climbing was like a game. Inside the towers, Players used powerful abilities and skills to overcome challenging missions as they ascended.
Players were fundamentally independent. Parties or cooperative climbs were impossible. It was simply not allowed. Even if two Players were on the same floor doing the same mission, their experiences diverged. They never encountered each other inside the tower. Alone, without anyone’s help. A single Player could determine the fate of a nation.
Successful missions resulted in rewards in the real world. The magic stones they brought back became indispensable resources for modern industry. Rewards increased as they climbed higher. But no one knew how many floors the towers had.
The country that had climbed the highest was the United States, reaching the 66th floor in both of its two towers. Korea’s climbing speed was also quite impressive. They had reached the 65th floor. Just one floor behind the US.
So why climb at all? Was there a need to keep going up? It wasn’t just for the rewards. If unconquered upper floors weren’t climbed, the tower would collapse. The time limit was about six months. Within that time, a Player had to climb to an unconquered upper floor.
What if the higher floors weren’t renewed?
[Notice: △△ country’s Black Tower climbing is stagnating.]
[Notice: Tower collapse countdown has been initiated.]
[Notice: Countdown will stop if an unconquered upper floor is successfully climbed.]
Eventually,
[Notice: △△ country’s Black Tower is collapsing.]
The collapse of a tower was an enormous catastrophe. It wasn’t just the tower that fell. The entire city where the tower stood would be split apart, magma would erupt, massive sinkholes would form, and an entire city would vanish.
India experienced this three years ago. India had three towers: New Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai. When the Mumbai Black Tower’s climb stalled at the 43rd floor, disaster struck after about 180 days. Over ten million people died, and Mumbai became a lost city.
But it didn’t end with one tower’s disappearance. A new tower rose in Chennai, India. So India still had three Black Towers. Collapse, then regeneration.
Thus, tower climbing became an issue that national governments directly addressed. Countries created and managed ‘Elite Tower Climbing Teams.’ There wasn’t much a nation could do regarding tower climbing, but they could provide items that could be taken into the tower, care for the Players’ mental health, or gather and share strategy information.
After all, only Players could enter the towers. Outside the towers, they were ordinary people, so they needed protection. Players also had a time limit for conquering. If they didn’t enter the tower for more than three months, their qualification was revoked. So nations were desperate to secure and manage talented Players.
Bong Juhyeok returned home after finishing his part-time job at the meat restaurant. He had already informed them he’d take tomorrow off. He had called the convenience store owner too.
Let’s enter the tower, he thought. Just a taste test. If it was too spicy, he could spit it out. If he did nothing for three months, it would all pass like nothing happened.
[General Skills]: Tower Entry (1 per day) / Tower-exclusive Inventory
Since he had made up his mind, he might as well do it now. He had researched what the first floor was like. The mission was monster subjugation. They had quite high defense but almost no attack power, he had heard. Just beat them up and it’s over. They were tough and hard to kill, but…
“Well then…”
Wait!
A thought suddenly occurred to him. Should he summon the deranged assassin John Kozak? Was there a better option? Summoning someone else with a sounder mind than John Kozak. Who knows? He might even get a Legend Special Super Rare grade.
Alright. He’d try it and then think it over. One more random summon.
But,
[Random summon is not available.]
[Random summon cooldown: 28 days 11 hours 08 minutes 37 seconds remaining.]
…There’s a cooldown?
Presumably about a month. John Kozak’s designated summon was 3 hours. It made sense. If there was no cooldown and it didn’t cost anything, you could keep summoning until you got a good grade.
He might as well summon Kozak. SR, Super Rare was an excellent grade, wasn’t it? Kozak wouldn’t know he had tried to summon someone else, right? He hoped not.
So then…
“John Kozak, designated summon!”
Whoosh! Poof!
Once again, a message appeared asking for a satisfaction rating.
[Before designated summoning, please leave a satisfaction rating for John Kozak.]
Feeling sorry, he gave a perfect 5 stars.
[John Kozak has been summoned by designation.]
“Summoner Bong, thank you for the 5 stars. At your service! Awaiting your orders.”
Ah! How could someone be so eager to please?
“I’ve decided. Let’s enter the tower.”
“Ohoho! Already? How brave of you. …Ah, no, I take that back. You mustn’t be brave.”
“Don’t worry. I’m just planning to get a taste and then back out.”
“As expected, you’re wise. Once inside the tower, don’t lift a finger. I’ll drive safely and comfortably.”
John Kozak fawned, rubbing his palms together. Juhyeok nodded, satisfied. Kozak didn’t know, did he? That Juhyeok had tried to summon someone else just moments ago. It would be awkward if he knew.
“Shall we go? Oh! We can enter together from here, right?”
“Of course, we go together. I am your tool and hunting dog. Hehe.”
Is that so? Well then,
Tower entry.
Current time: 11 PM. The entry cooldown was on a daily basis. Meaning if he entered now, he could enter again at midnight, just an hour later. But was there any need to be that diligent?
[Do you want to enter the Korean Black Tower?]
[Currently available floor: 1st floor]
Naturally, “To the first floor.”
Poof!
From Juhyeok’s studio apartment, he and John Kozak vanished simultaneously.
+++
[Entering the 1st floor of the Korean Black Tower.]
Finally, entry. System messages popped up in succession.
[Physical abilities have been enhanced to match your level.]
[Characteristic and combat skills are now available.]
Automatic physical enhancement… He did feel slightly stronger, albeit minutely. Just at level 1, though.
“I shall move forward. Please follow me.”
The entrance was a safe zone. They needed to go further in to receive the mission. Then the mission would appear and the conquest would begin.
Ding!
[1st Floor Mission: Defeat 5 Tough-Skinned Fatty Maggots.]
[Time Limit: Within 2 hours.]
[Completion Condition: Tough-Skinned Fatty Maggots 0/5]
[Failure Condition: Death or mission abandonment]
The mission was simple monster subjugation. But to Juhyeok, it was anything but simple.
Haah, His worries were mountainous.
Defeat maggots?
A barren landscape without a single blade of grass. Maggots crawling here and there. Each the size of a house dog. He couldn’t even tell which end was the front. No limbs, no eyes, nose, or mouth. So they must have no means of attack.
Instead, They have tough skin, they say. Meaning they’d be hard to kill. That was indeed the case. From other Players’ experiences, it took about 30 minutes to kill just one. Some Players even failed the mission by dawdling. Well, failing didn’t mean death, at least.
The first floor was a place to test one’s skills. Those Tough-Skinned Fatty Maggots crawling around were like training dummies. Will Mr. Kozak handle this well?
Generally, Players with summoning characteristics shared their level with their summons. If Juhyeok was level 1, John Kozak should be level 1 too. But since it was displayed as a grade instead of a level, it might be different.
“You know the 1st floor mission, right?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Then let’s go.”
“At your command! I shall obey.”
Swoosh!
Kozak vanished on the spot.
“Huh?”
Where did he go? In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of a maggot.
“Blade Explosion[1].”
He threw a red-hot dagger.
Swish! Thud! Bang!
The Tough-Skinned Fatty Maggot exploded.
“…Wow.”
That easily? One down.
“I’ll finish this quickly.”
The skill John Kozak used. When it stabbed into the maggot’s body, it exploded instantly.
Swish! Thud! Bang! Swish! Thud! Bang! Swish! Thud! Bang…
Two, three, four… and finally, the fifth.
[Tough-Skinned Fatty Maggots defeated 5/5]
[You have succeeded in the 1st floor mission.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Reward: 100g of magic stone]
Followed by,
[Notice: You have achieved S++ grade in conquering the 1st floor of the Black Tower (Korea).]
[S++ conquest reward: You are awarded a Platinum Badge.]
…Well, this is, A piece of cake. He’s definitely not level 1. And S++ conquest grade. There are grades for conquests?
That must be good. Though he didn’t know what it meant, it was undoubtedly impressive. That’s why there were two rewards. Usually, you only get magic stones.
A Platinum Badge… What was it used for? It seemed to be given for achieving S++ conquest grade.
[You can now challenge the 2nd floor.]
[Exiting the Korean Black Tower.]
Swoosh!
The environment changed in an instant. It was Juhyeok’s studio apartment.
Home, huh. They had already completed the mission and returned?
How much time has passed? They entered at 11 PM. But now it was 11:03 PM. Only 3 minutes had passed. Reading the messages on the 1st floor took about 1 minute. Moving to the mission area took about 1 minute. The actual time spent defeating the maggots was… 1 minute, no, probably less than 1 minute.
“Well done. Hehe,” John Kozak smiled brightly.
“I didn’t do anything, just stood there,” Juhyeok said, bewildered.
“That’s exactly what you should have done.”
“…”
Was this a dream? Swish! Thud! Bang! And then, Swoosh! And then, they were back.
It’s really easy, isn’t it?
The status window showed [Level]: 2LV
He had heard that others would be exhausted from frantically beating maggots by the time they finished.
Let’s check if the rewards came in.
Tower-exclusive Inventory. It worked outside too. However, only rewards received in the tower could be put in or taken out, other items couldn’t enter.
…It’s there. 100g of magic stone. And the Platinum Badge too. It was a real, physical badge.
Am I supposed to wear this on my chest? How embarrassing.
He took out the magic stone. A shimmering stone fragment about the size of a fingernail. The current market price for 100g was about 50,000 won. The price of magic stones had been falling day by day. Initially, they were quite expensive. That is, when humanity first got their hands on magic stones. Now they were much more common.
The first person to conquer must have made a fortune. He had heard that there was a first conquest system for each tower. Players who first completed each floor’s mission received 10 times, sometimes up to 50 times the reward. And rewards weren’t just magic stones. Completing missions above the 30th floor yielded a string of extraordinary items.
Still, I earned 50,000 won. And that in just 3 minutes.
Grinning broadly, he saw Kozak’s face shining beside him.
“Should we get some late-night snacks? What do you like?”
“I’ll eat anything.”
“How about pigs’ feet?”
“…S-spicy pigs’ feet?”
“No, garlic pigs’ feet.”
“Garlic is… s-spicy too,”
He really can’t handle spicy food.
“Then I’ll order regular front leg.”
“Hehehe, I’ll eat well. Thank you for your kindness.”
Kindness over pigs’ feet?
“By the way, Mr. Kozak.”
“Yes!”
“Is that your natural way of speaking?”
“Which part do you mean?”
“No, it’s just that you keep shortening your words at the end.”
“W-well, I spent a long time with my previous summoner…”
Ah. Is this like picking up an ex-boyfriend’s habits? In this case, it would be the ex-summoner’s influence.
“If it bothers you, I’ll change it.”
“No, the more I hear it, the funnier it gets. Hahaha!”
“Hehehe!”
Anyway, he had gained confidence. It’s doable. Not dangerous at all. It was just the 1st floor, but still.