Chapter 33

“The boss is definitely a genius.”

Lee Woo-jae mumbled to himself.

Chris and I had just returned to the Tower, and Lee Woo-jae said this after hearing the whole story.

I felt a bit sheepish and scratched the back of my head.

“Sorry for bringing him out without asking you first.”

“It’s fine. I never imagined this method.”

“Right. Thanks to that, I learned more about hidden points in my ability. It worked out well for us.”

“That surprised even me. The fact that you can take someone out of the Tower even without an inventory… I guess I bought that for no reason.”

“Well, it’s still Myang-Myang’s house. And dimensional pressure can be a real issue, too.”

In the end, the inventory I bought at the auction felt like a slight waste, but it didn’t matter. At the time, I had no guarantee that my ability could bypass those restrictions for others.
Plus, 30 billion won was no longer a huge sum for me anymore.

Ever since the S-rank Gate appeared, the whole world had been reaching out to me. Even if I tried to spend money extravagantly every day for the rest of my life, I wouldn’t run out.
If I started a company with this money, it might surpass the market capitalization of some global enterprises.

I was in the position of having too much luck, too many opportunities.

I had gone from a part-timer at a convenience store to a wealthy figure soon after awakening. Life was truly unpredictable.

“More than that, things have been feeling really strange lately. Inside and outside the Tower.”

“That’s true. The underground key for the Tower, the fact that Tower Lords exist… And then outside, Gate Breaks, S-rank Gates popping up suddenly.”

“We’re both at the 90th floor and had never heard of this stuff before. It feels like someone is manipulating things artificially.”

“Are you saying someone can manipulate the Tower or the Gates? Is that even possible?”

“I don’t know. But if Tower Lords exist, why wouldn’t someone be able to manipulate the Gates too?”

“Makes sense.”

“Still, there’s no point in making guesses like this. All we can do is be as prepared as possible.”

“That’s right.”

The atmosphere had been strange recently, both inside and outside the Tower — so strange that one could suspect someone was engineering these changes intentionally.
Otherwise, how could a flood of abnormal gates and Gate Breaks, including an S-rank Gate, occur across the world simultaneously?

Is this the System’s will?
I hoped the System would respond, but it remained silent.
I should have asked earlier when I had the chance.
But it was too late for that now. All I could do was focus on the present.

I turned to Chris.

“Wow. It’s hard to believe this is a part of the world called the Tower. Do you think this was created with magic engineering?”

Chris was still staring in wonder, a mix of curiosity and fear on his face.

Lee Woo-jae replied to him.

“No one knows. It just appeared one day. No one knows if it was created intentionally or came about naturally.”

“Even you don’t know, Mayor?”

“I’m only human, too. But…”

“Yes?”

“…I’m sorry I didn’t save you back then.”

Chris’s eyes widened in shock. Even I was surprised — Lee Woo-jae, apologizing to someone from the Tower?
Chris waved both hands, flustered.

“No, no! Why are you apologizing to me? You’re the one who saved Crank Nova.”

“But you must realize, I didn’t save it for your sake. It was for clearing the Tower.”

“I understand, but if it weren’t for you, we’d have been wiped out regardless.”

“You weren’t even born then.”

“Even so… my parents wouldn’t have had the chance to give birth to me if it weren’t for you.”

He was such a good kid. I patted Chris’s head, and he gave a shy smile.

“And thanks to the boss, my view of the Tower has changed too.”

“Changed how?”

“I used to think everyone here was just data, meaningless… But now I wonder if that’s true.”

“Wow. You’re saying this right in front of Chris?”

“Ugh. I forgot. Sorry.”

“Haha, it’s okay. Even I would’ve thought the same.”

Chris knew he came from the 71st floor of the Tower and that every new person entering would experience the same version of Crank Nova. Yet he didn’t seem too hung up on questions about his own existence. Perhaps it was because he was still young—or just optimistic.

Anyway, now that he was out of the Tower, he was one of a kind, regardless of what happened inside.

“Chris, are you sure you’re okay being out here with me? Wouldn’t you rather be with your parents?”

Chris furrowed his brows, deep in thought. Even if he liked the idea of joining me, a parent’s presence was vital for a kid.

If he chose to stay inside the Tower, I’d respect that decision. He could learn modern engineering and magic circuitry from afar, and I could call on him when needed.
If he had working-class parents, I could help liberate them too.

But the answer he gave surprised me.

“It’s a bit awkward to say this, but… my parents died. They froze to death one winter when we had no home.”

“…….”

I was at a loss for words. Even in a city that combined magic and technology, someone had died from cold and poverty?
Lee Woo-jae gave a grim look as well.

“Ah, don’t look at me like that! Even if you hadn’t saved Crank Nova, the world was doomed anyway.”

“……Still, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be! If you had intervened, sure, maybe you could’ve saved a lot of people. But you’d have had to live there for ten years, tearing down the old order piece by piece. So many people would have died during that process too. You wouldn’t have been able to focus on clearing the Tower.”

Chris was right.
That was why I had no room to condemn Lee Woo-jae.
Each floor of the Tower was an entire world.
Reforming it required tremendous time and effort, and when every new person entering the Tower generated a new version of that world, it was an endeavor no one would sacrifice themselves for.
Even if the floor weren’t duplicated, every climber’s priority was escaping the Tower. Even for me, every new floor felt like an elaborate, realistic game.

But hearing those words from Chris felt bitter somehow.

“Anyway, long story short, I want to stay with you, boss, and the mayor… Outside the Tower.”

Chris smiled as he said it.
There wasn’t an ounce of resentment toward Lee Woo-jae.
What a ridiculously kind kid.

I nodded.

“Alright. Let’s make this official. Introductions first.”

“Yes!”

“I’m Kim Namjoong. This is Lee Woo-jae, or the Mayor as you call him.”

“So I call you Namjoong and Woojae?”

“Yep. Woojae, alright for you?”

“That’s fine.”

Lee Woo-jae nodded too, brushing aside the guilt. After all, there was no point in apologizing endlessly when the person didn’t want it.

I smiled and opened my inventory to show Myang-Myang.

“Whoa!”

“And this is Myang-Myang, a hatchling dragon. Myang-Myang, say hi to your new family.”

“Myang!”

“Wow… A dragon! Amazing.”

“Honestly, it’s amazing for me too.”

“Myang!”

“Myang-Myang says hi to me! That’s incredible!”

“Alright, alright. We can chat later. Let’s focus on the task at hand first.”

“Yes, alright, Namjoong!”

With that, I had gained an unexpected talent while going to refine ore.
But work was still work. We had six months — a short or long time, depending on how you looked at it — and we had to be prepared for whatever came next.

With that, we headed to the workshop of the mad genius blacksmith dwarf.

Meanwhile, in a pitch-dark cave…

[I’m ashamed.]
[I-I’m so sorry!]

Two black-robed figures bowed down deep within the darkness.
One was an old man with skin and bones, and the other was an ordinary-looking woman.
They were Willer and Lucy, the masterminds behind the Gate incidents.

A massive wave of magical pressure bore down upon them like a hydraulic press.

[Utterly useless. You had one job in East Asia. Couldn’t even take down tiny Korea?]

[……I have no excuses.]

Willer responded desperately under the pressure.

[Hmph. All talk, no results.]
[…….]
[Even Gate Breaks didn’t yield results, the goods at the Korean auction were snatched away, and you paid twice the price for the Soul Elixir. All that can be overlooked, because you’re incompetent.]

Variables kept popping up. New people emerged like mushrooms after the rain — what were they supposed to do? Willer and Lucy wanted to scream this, but kept quiet. An excuse would cost their lives.

They bowed their heads even lower.

[But this? Do you have any idea how many souls we lost in Korea?]

[B-but it wasn’t like this a week ago! They weren’t this strong!]

Lucy, unable to bear the terror anymore, screamed out.

[Kyaaaaaah!]

A translucent soul emerged from Lucy’s priestly robe and was torn apart like paper. Willer pressed his forehead to the ground, shaking violently. To flinch was death. Stay still. Stay silent.

[Shut up.]
[I-I’m sorry, s-spare me, p-please…]
[I said, shut up.]
[Ugghhhh!]

The torn soul was pulled back together and returned to Lucy’s robe.

[Huff… Huff… Huff…]

[I don’t need excuses. What I need is results.]

[I’ll stake my life on this!] Willer hastily replied.

[How?]

[We’ll capture the one called ‘V’, the biggest threat to our plans, and offer his soul to you!]

[And how, pray tell?]

The old man felt like his heart was going to explode. V’s identity was still hidden. But somehow he had to make it happen. Willer forced himself to reply:

[V will certainly enter an S-rank Gate. We can set a trap he can’t escape from.]

[And if he doesn’t?]

[Then… then we manipulate others. China, Japan, any other nation. Push them towards the S-rank Gate, make sure they have no choice!]

[Hmm. So you’ll force someone else into an S-rank Gate, and use that to kill V?]

[Yes! Even V can’t survive being swarmed by multiple S-rank Awakened.]

[Finally, you’re starting to sound like a human being.]

Willer clenched his fists inside his sleeves.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of this before. The problem was always that those in the field had to adapt to ever-changing circumstances.

The voice from the throne spoke:

[Six months until the S-rank Gate appears. You have four months. Fail, and you die.]

[We will succeed.]
[We won’t fail.]

[Hmph. In the old days, useless disciples like you would’ve been killed outright. You’re only alive now because we lack the manpower.]

Willer and Lucy shook in terror, barely holding themselves together. Even in this weakened state, the being’s pressure was suffocating. What would it be like when it fully regained its strength? Willer didn’t want to imagine it.

With their heads still bowed, stealing only a glance at the bony toes resting upon the throne, they spoke:

[It’s an honor, great one.]

The foot upon the throne was a pale, bony skeleton.