Chapter 41: Normalization (1)

“So Section Chief Shin doesn’t know what happened either. Is that what you’re saying?”

“That’s correct.”

The Director of the Tower Climbing Special Agency frowned as he listened to Shin Su-jin’s report after her return from recovery.

“But was it really a Stage 5 Fallen? Are you certain you didn’t misidentify it?”

“Now that I think about it, I suppose that is possible. The situation was extremely chaotic...”

“...Either way, there was another monster, and it vanished without a trace.”

The Seoul Arts Center Disaster.

It had been one of the largest incidents to strike the Republic of Korea since the emergence of the Fallen.

The investigation that followed had uncovered only the corpse of a single Stage 3 Fallen and an enormous hole torn through the theater ceiling.

When the Stage 3 Fallen began its rampage, it severed the theater’s fiber-optic backbone. As a result, no internal CCTV footage existed from the moment the audience began dying onward.

The only person capable of shedding any light on what had happened that day was Shin Su-jin, who had confronted the Fallen directly.

At the time, circumstances had forced her to report that she had seen a Stage 5 Fallen. Now, she had no choice but to evade questions about its disappearance by claiming she did not know what had happened.

The Fallen were an unprecedented catastrophe that had erupted without warning, so her inability to explain everything did not seem particularly suspicious.

Besides, the Tower Climbing Special Agency currently lacked the resources to devote itself to a deeper investigation.

“There’s a possibility the Fallen concealed itself somewhere nearby... I’ll instruct the police to expand their search of the surrounding area. Have you fully recovered, Section Chief Shin?”

“Yes. I’ll return to the field immediately.”

“Good. Keep up the hard work.”

As soon as she left the Director’s office, Shin Su-jin began preparing to deploy.

The subjugation of the Fallen was still underway.

***

After the dead Climbers transformed into the Fallen, a nationwide state of emergency was declared, and the military was mobilized in full force.

– The Fallen display varying degrees of aggression depending on the individual specimen, but it has been confirmed that they are fundamentally hostile toward humans.

– Their behavior also appears to differ from one specimen to another, with some exhibiting unusual patterns. However, every one of them has lost all human cognition and can no longer be considered human...

– The Fallen’s weak point has been identified as the head. Their inability to die unless the brain is destroyed resembles the undead found on the 3rd floor, and...

The Fallen were divided into Stages 1 through 5.

In accordance with the probabilities announced by the Tower, Stage 1 and Stage 2 specimens together accounted for an overwhelming ninety-nine percent of the total.

Across the country, hundreds of Stage 1 and Stage 2 Fallen were put down by the military or by Climbers.

They were vulnerable enough to be killed by soldiers armed with rifles, so their subjugation proceeded quickly.

From Stage 3 onward, however, firearms alone were no longer sufficient.

Stage 3 Fallen accounted for 0.9% of approximately forty thousand people, meaning there should have been around four hundred of them worldwide.

Excluding the one I had killed at the Seoul Arts Center, only two Stage 3 Fallen had appeared in Korea.

One emerged in Ulsan and another in Gyeongju. No further incidents had been reported after that.

Both had been eliminated by the Air Force.

All things considered, Korea had been relatively fortunate.

Not a single Stage 4 or Stage 5 Fallen had appeared in the country.

Except, of course, for the one I had killed myself.

In a way, it had even been fortunate that a Stage 3 and a Stage 5 Fallen had appeared at the Seoul Arts Center on the same day. I had happened to be nearby and had been able to deal with both of them at once.

Though considering how many people died, I wasn’t sure “fortunate” was the right word...

For a time, the entire world descended into chaos.

Every nation threw everything it had into dealing with the Fallen disaster, which had struck without warning and without giving anyone time to prepare.

According to the news, Stage 5 Fallen had also appeared in China and Canada.

Both countries had managed to eliminate them quickly.

In China, Wang Kai, the record holder for Hard difficulty, had defeated the creature with military support.

In Canada, it had been brought down through a joint military operation with the United States.

Even so, an enormous number of people died.

For a while, every news broadcast was the same.

Another Fallen had been subjugated.

This many more people had been killed.

Some country in Africa had fallen into complete collapse.

Nothing but disaster, day after day.

Korea brought the chaos under control relatively quickly, yet the total death toll still reached into the tens of thousands.

Eventually, the Fallen crisis more or less ran its course.

But once the situation began to settle, a new problem surfaced.

– Far stricter supervision and management of Non-climbing Climbers is necessary! We must never allow a tragedy like this to happen again...

The issue was how to deal with the Non-climbing Climbers who had remained on the 1st floor.

In the eyes of the public, they were now little more than ticking time bombs destined to become monsters within another year.

The Nightmare Climbers were an especially urgent concern.

With danger already at their feet, governments rushed to propose countermeasures.

Expanded compensation packages for Non-climbing Climbers.

More aggressive programs to support their ascent.

The legalization of euthanasia for Climbers who chose not to enter the Tower.

Proposals of that nature.

Whatever happened, those Climbers would now have to either enter the Tower before their Time Limit expired or die beforehand.

For such measures to work, no Climber could be allowed to conceal their identity.

Every last one of them would have to be officially registered with the state.

The same issue faced every other country.

Governments now had to become far more thorough, and both coercive and conciliatory measures aimed at Climbers were being discussed.

Naturally, conflict was unavoidable.

“What a mess.”

I muttered to myself while watching news footage of a protest taking place somewhere overseas.

If the Tower’s goal was to plunge the world into chaos by any means possible, then it was succeeding brilliantly.

***

In the aftermath of the Fallen crisis, every country found ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) itself burdened with one unavoidable task.

The complete and thorough identification of every Non-climbing Climber.

Until now, many countries had not required Climbers to register.

The United States, for example, did not even issue universal resident registration cards because of concerns over individual rights, and citizens were not legally required to possess photo identification.

Following the same logic, registration as a Climber had never been mandatory either.

There had been a brief period during the 1st floor, when the Day of Destruction was approaching, during which the United States had made registration compulsory.

However, after the Nightmare 1st floor was cleared, public backlash had quickly forced the government to reverse the policy.

Now, however, even countries like the United States had no choice but to act.

Otherwise, the catastrophe caused by rampaging Fallen would eventually repeat itself.

Of course, making registration mandatory would not stop anyone truly determined to remain hidden.

That was why practical measures, such as compensation programs, mattered more than coercion alone.

Even so, there was no reason for governments not to pass such laws.

They had always wanted to tighten the leashes around the necks of their Climbers.

The power of Climbers grew at a terrifying pace with each passing year, making them an enormous potential threat.

Now the governments had more than enough justification.

“We need to use this opportunity to put the Climbers in their place.”

“Agreed. If we let this chance pass, controlling them will only become more difficult.”

The first spark was lit in the United States.

The U.S. government intended to use the crisis as an opportunity to pass an entire package of legislation, including mandatory Climber registration.

For once, citizens who had lived through the Fallen disaster strongly supported the government.

Public opinion gave the administration an enormous advantage.

“These sons of bitches. A Social Safety Contribution Act? What the hell is this supposed to mean? Are they saying they’ll mobilize Climbers during wartime if they feel like it?”

“We can’t just sit here and accept this. They’re using the crisis to tighten the noose around our necks.”

The Climbers, however, had no intention of accepting it quietly.

“This is a violation of our civil liberties! Protect the rights of Climbers!”

The International Climber Association.

A private international organization headquartered in the United States, with branches operating in numerous countries.

Its President was himself a Normal difficulty Climber who had reached Floor 17, and the organization officially declared that its mission was to protect and advance the rights of Climbers.

Put bluntly, it was a coalition dedicated to expanding Climber interests as far as possible.

The Association fiercely opposed every law that restricted Climber freedom, with mandatory registration at the top of the list.

If they yielded even an inch to the government, that concession could become the thin end of the wedge, allowing their rights to be eroded piece by piece.

Nor was the conflict limited to the United States.

The same struggle was unfolding everywhere.

“You refuse to accept mandatory registration? Do you even hear yourselves? Your selfishness is pushing the entire world toward disaster!”

“And who knows what you’ll do once you have the identity of every Climber stored in a government database? Are you saying that if we refuse to kill ourselves voluntarily, you’ll hunt us down and do it for us?!”

Government against Association.

The confrontation inevitably spilled over into hostility between Climbers and ordinary citizens.

And the conflict only continued to grow.

***

The world really had become a mess lately.

I could tell just by looking at the Communication Channel.

[Skull: People have some nerve. Who the hell are they to talk shit about us?]

[Laksa: who do they think is stopping the world from ending right now lol]

[Apple Juice: Isn’t it about time we properly organized ourselves?]

Climbers against civilians.

I understood how the atmosphere had deteriorated this far.

Every news broadcast showed the Association clashing with one government or another.

I had assumed the outrage would die down quickly, but it only seemed to worsen.

– The only reason this world still exists is because we Climbers risk our lives to ascend the Tower! The Nightmare Climber Person123 saves humanity every single year! And yet you dare oppress Climbers like this? How does any of this make sense?!

– Person123’s ascents are a noble sacrifice made for the sake of all humanity. How dare you compare yourselves to him when, even after a catastrophe like this, you show no concern for civilian safety and care only about protecting your own interests? Every one of you should learn from Person123.

Both the Association and government officials had begun throwing my name around.

Lately, Whispers had also been flooding into the Communication Channel.

Aren’t you on the Climbers’ side?

Can’t you speak up and support us for once?

Messages like that.

What sides?

There were no sides.

It was not my place to declare that one faction was completely right and the other completely wrong.

The government clearly had to take some kind of action.

At the same time, the rights of Climbers could not simply be trampled underfoot.

The world was already struggling enough.

Watching everyone tear at one another was suffocating.

[Chicken Sandwich: The government is using this opportunity to inflame public opinion and suppress Climbers, while the Association is riling up the Climbers in return so they don’t lose the initiative. Neither side is willing to back down, so for the time being...]

According to Bilon, there was no sign of the conflict being resolved.

The government had public opinion on its side, but the Association possessed its own leverage.

In the end, Climbers were the ones who entered the Tower and extended humanity’s Time Limit.

They were also the ones who supplied the world with Magic Stones.

The Association President had even threatened that Climbers might stop entering the Tower altogether.

Normally, I paid no attention to politics.

But if the situation continued to spiral out of control, I could not help wondering whether something truly catastrophic might happen.

Whispers keep pouring in every single day. This is seriously getting on my nerves...

All I needed to do was extend the Nightmare Time Limit.

Why the hell was I expected to worry about this too?

I opened the Communication Channel.

[Person123: I am not on anyone’s side, so please stop using my name. My role is to climb Nightmare difficulty, and that is all I intend to focus on. I sincerely hope the Association and the governments reach an amicable agreement as soon as possible.]

I was about to post the message when I stopped.

It was obvious.

Bland.

Pretentious.

Would anyone actually listen to something so toothless?

...If I was going to interfere, I might as well go all the way.

I deleted the message and rewrote it.

[Person123: I am neither on the Climbers’ side nor on the governments’ side. I ask both parties to make small concessions and reach an agreement.]

[Person123: If an agreement is not reached in the near future, I will not attempt Floor 4.]

I’m not climbing this Tower just to watch this circus.

If you’re all going to keep this up, then I’m done too.

For all I care, we can die together.