Chapter 11
‘Tower No-777?’
Even though it’s a maze map where only flying races can get SSS+, I broke through the walls and got a special reward.
But the reward is just… tickets to enter another tower?
Kanghan felt a bit disappointed, but then remembered something from the livestream chat.
‘Didn’t someone say the Iron Towers only go up to No.99?’
If the Iron-tier towers are numbered up to 99, and strategies are already known for most of them…
Then what is No.777?
‘I’ll need to ask the chieftain or someone about this.’
With that thought, Kanghan claimed his special reward.
A new message popped up right after.
[Claiming clear rewards…]
[Level increased by 3.]
[TP +20,000]
These were the standard clear rewards for fully completing a tower.
Most players had to go through easier towers to finish them, and the clear reward rate was only around 20%.
But Kanghan had now received it two times in a row.
‘Making money is too easy.’
He already got back half the TP he invested into the goblins.
Just as he was smiling—
[All rewards have been received.]
[Logging out from Iron Tower No.31…]
With that, his body was enveloped in light—
Swoosh!
And returned home.
In the living room, Kim Jooyoung looked at him in shock, chicken still in hand.
“I’m back. The chicken’s still warm, right?”
“…Did you punch through walls just to eat chicken?”
“I hate finding paths, you know that.”
“You’re crazy. Just eat. It’s still hot.”
As Kanghan sat down and took a bite of chicken—
[Your livestream video has been saved in the ‘Streaming’ folder.]
A new message appeared in front of him.
“Oh, it auto-saves the livestream?”
“Got a message?”
“Yeah. Guess this is one of Infinite Tower’s tech perks.”
“Well, you did pay 50,000 TP just to open the channel. This much is expected.”
Jooyoung then explained how to edit and upload the video.
“Here, look. Go into the TowerTube settings, extract the clip, send it to your editor, and they’ll handle the upload.”
“You know a lot.”
“I work as a TowerTube editor on the side.”
“Really? Since when?”
“About 6 months now. After my dad lost everything in that Gangnam apartment deal…”
Jooyoung’s dad had poured everything into a Gangnam apartment, but when a Tower—specifically the Tower of Light—appeared there, the property’s value tanked.
Unable to recover, his dad’s mental state collapsed, so Jooyoung had to pick up extra work.
“You want to edit mine too, then?”
“Yours?”
“Yeah. I’ll pay the standard rate.”
“Big guilds usually have their own editing teams…”
“I can’t join a guild, remember?”
“Oh, right. Fine. I’ll give it a try. If you don’t like it, just fire me.”
Kanghan extracted the video and sent it to Jooyoung on the spot.
“I’ll edit it when I get home tomorrow.”
“Cool. Take your time.”
After wrapping up the TowerTube stuff, Kanghan suddenly remembered the entry tickets he’d received.
Tower No-777 tickets.
“Tower No-777? I thought Iron Towers only went up to 99.”
“Yeah, same here.”
“But I think I saw a No-777 once in the Gold tier. That one was a treasure room.”
Jooyoung searched “Tower No-777” on TowerTube.
Soon, videos popped up from people who had entered No-777 towers.
“Guys! It’s 777! I got 777!”
“I was broke after wasting all my TP, but now… jackpot!”
“Look! I just opened a treasure chest and got 10,000 TP instantly!”
All the players looked overjoyed.
The 777 Tower background was golden, and dozens of massive treasure chests were scattered everywhere.
Every time they opened a chest, they earned 10,000 TP.
“Only 5 minutes to loot? That’s not enough time!”
“These chests are heavy! Takes time to open!”
“Still made 200,000 TP today. Don’t need your donations, folks!”
“And there’s even a clear reward? Insane.”
Basically, the 777 Tower was like a bonus stage.
Guaranteed profit, plus guaranteed clear.
“Looks like people earn around 200,000 TP on average… and I’ve got 3 of those tickets. Jackpot!”
“But that’s Gold tier. Won’t Iron No-777 be worse?”
“True. If Iron gave that much, everyone would be playing this game.”
Even if the rewards were smaller in Iron tier, just having a guaranteed clear reward was good enough.
‘I should try it tomorrow.’
As Kanghan thought that—
Yawn…
Sleepiness hit him like a truck.
* * *
[Shocking News About the Heavenly Demon]
[A New Strategy for Maze Maps?]
[Can You Really Break Walls? A Gold-tier Player Tests It]
└ “Fake video again?”
└ “Go check the full stream, it’s real.”
└ “LOL those walls broke way too easily.”
└ “Gold-tier players are trying it too. Doesn’t work for them.”
“Whoa, your wall-breaking clip is already going viral.”
Jooyoung was watching the Infinite Tower community explode.
“What time is it now?”
“8:45.”
“Suddenly getting super sleepy… guess this is it for me.”
Kanghan was already nodding off, eyes half-open.
“You didn’t sleep much last night.”
“Maybe it’s because I only spent one hour in the tower. Can’t fight it.”
“Guess time spent in the tower delays your sleep.”
Jooyoung told him to go sleep.
“I’m crashing on the couch. You go to your room.”
“Hey, if you’re staying, can you record me sleeping?”
“…You want me to film you screaming in your sleep?”
“I found injuries on me last time. Wanna see if it happens again.”
“You really need a better phone. Your storage sucks.”
Despite grumbling, Jooyoung set up the camera in Kanghan’s room.
“If you break the phone, you owe me a new one.”
“Deal.”
“Hehe, break it then.”
Kanghan smiled and laid down on his bed.
Sleep hit him hard.
As he checked the clock one last time:
‘Just past 9…’
He had only spent 1 hour in the Tower today, so his sleep time was only delayed by an hour.
What’s the link between the Tower and this weird sleep?
With that question lingering, Kanghan fell asleep.
Meanwhile—
“Wait… what am I gonna do without my phone?”
Jooyoung went to look for the remote.
He figured it was in Kanghan’s room and quietly opened the door—
“Huh…?”
Floating above the sleeping Kanghan…
Was a blood-red portal.
‘Why is there a portal here…?’
He’d seen Kanghan flail and scream in his sleep many times.
But this was the first time a portal appeared.
Suddenly—
Whoosh.
Kanghan’s body floated and got sucked into the portal.
Then it vanished.
“What the hell…?”
Did I drink too much?
Jooyoung ran to wash his face and checked Kanghan’s bed again.
Still gone.
“What is happening…”
Stunned, Jooyoung rubbed his head—
Fwoosh!
The portal reopened, and Kanghan’s body dropped back onto the bed.
But now he was covered in wounds.
‘He said he got injured while sleeping… this is why?’
His clothes were intact.
But his face, arms, legs—covered in scars.
Though the wounds had stopped bleeding, they looked deep. Like the marks of a warrior returning from battle.
‘This is serious…’
It looked like he had been tortured for hours.
But then—
Ssshh…
All the scars on Kanghan’s body started vanishing.
As if nothing had happened.
‘Am I dreaming?’
Jooyoung recorded everything on his phone.
Even he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
That’s how strange this all was.
Then suddenly—
“Ugh… aaaargh…!!”
Kanghan screamed in his sleep.
Jooyoung actually felt relieved.
‘There’s the usual Kanghan.’
His screams were painful enough to get noise complaints, but they were normal now.
Better than watching him vanish into a red portal, that’s for sure.
‘I better sleep too.’
He placed the phone back on the table and lay down on the couch.
Though he was still a bit drunk, the weirdness had sobered him up.
The Next Morning
‘No wounds today.’
Kanghan woke up refreshed.
No injuries. Perfect condition.
‘Guess yesterday was just a fluke.’
At least, that’s what he thought…
“Yo, you’re up early. Bro, yesterday was insane.”
Jooyoung, looking exhausted, showed him the recorded video.
Kanghan’s face immediately stiffened.
“…What is this? Why’s there a portal?”
“You think I know?”
“This isn’t some AI deepfake, right?”
“You think I’ve got time to fake videos while drunk?”
It was too real to be fake.
Kanghan replayed the part where he got sucked in and returned.
The time between entering and leaving?
Exactly 1 hour.
‘Same as the time I spent in the tower… and the sleep delay.’
And yesterday—
His [Heavenly Demon Physique] rank had increased, right?
From FSSS to ESSS.
But today, it was still E~SSS.
Seems it doesn’t level up every night.
‘Still, this has to be connected to the Heavenly Demon skills…’
That blood-red portal.
It looked exactly like the one that summoned the goblin chieftain from the Demon Army.
No way that’s just coincidence.
‘Should I reread the skill descriptions?’
But just as Kanghan opened his skill menu—
[You have obtained the skill: “Heavenly Demon’s Reign.”]
A new skill appeared.
He definitely didn’t have it yesterday.
It had just… appeared overnight.
