Chapter 93: Before Floor 7

“Yeah, that’s a relief, hyung. Tell Noona I said hello.”

I ended the call with Ju-won hyung.

Thankfully, Jiu noona had returned home safely and seemed to have finally come back to her senses.

—Assemblyman Baek Gyu-ho has announced his voluntary resignation from the National Assembly. He currently faces multiple charges, including bribery and aiding and abetting in connection with the Religion of the Heavenly One. Prosecutors have also stated that they are investigating allegations that he gravely compromised national security...

When I stepped into the living room, the news was playing on the television.

Ever since I had posted the exposé on the Communication Channel, the entire country had remained in an uproar over the Religion of the Heavenly One scandal.

Judging from the recent coverage, every person involved was being investigated and punished without exception.

“The end times really are upon us.”

My sister lay sprawled across the couch, muttering as she watched the news.

I called out to her.

“Hey.”

“...What?”

“You should be careful around cults like that too.”

Perhaps it was because I had seen what happened to Jiu noona, but from where I stood, this kid did not look particularly reliable either.

My sister shot me a sidelong glance.

“Do I look stupid enough to fall for that kind of crap?”

“You are stupid, though.”

“Oh, come on. Why are you picking a fight with me again?”

—In an unusual development, Person123 personally intervened to dismantle the Religion of the Heavenly One and issued a statement through the Communication Channel. Analysts believe this demonstrates the depth of his regret and concern over the incident.

—The government has announced that it will actively investigate the current state of religious organizations connected to Person123 and introduce measures intended to prevent another incident like the Religion of the Heavenly One scandal...

My sister pointed the remote at the television.

“See? Person123 even posted about it himself. Who’s going to fall for something like that now?”

I was not so sure.

Things would probably remain quiet for a while, but as time passed, would the effect not gradually wear off?

It was not as though I could hunt down every cult leader in the world and beat the hell out of them the way I had dealt with the Religion of the Heavenly One.

Still, I did not have the time or energy to worry about every problem like that.

In any case, I had done everything I reasonably could.

“Just be careful. I’m only bringing it up because a college senior I know got pulled into the Religion of the Heavenly One.”

“...Really? Then did she actually see Person123 in person?”

“No idea.”

***

At present, there were several dozen Nightmare Clearers throughout the world.

Yet only two nations consistently remained close behind Person123.

The United States and China.

Both countries had staked everything on their attempt to clear Nightmare Floor 6.

They always committed all their resources to Nightmare difficulty, of course, but Floor 6 was inevitably far more important than any of the floors before it.

Clearing it awarded twenty levels at once instead of ten.

That meant reaching Level 60.

Even setting aside the unique prestige of being a Nightmare Clearer, that level alone placed them at the absolute summit of the Climber rankings across all difficulties.

This time, the United States made the first attempt.

They challenged the floor much earlier than they had on previous climbs.

They had consulted Person123 and prepared their strategy with meticulous care, but under ordinary circumstances, they still would not have moved so quickly.

Taylor’s determination had been the decisive factor.

She wanted to make the attempt as soon as possible.

In the end, she succeeded safely once again.

Not long afterward, China challenged Floor 6 as well.

Their result was the same.

Both countries now possessed a Climber who, aside from Person123, shared the highest record on Nightmare difficulty and had reached Level 60.

Slash!

Taylor swung her sword.

A Stick Insect had lunged at her through the mist from the top of a tree, but her blade, wrapped in Sword Aura, sliced one of its legs clean off.

Hisss...

The Stick Insect writhed violently, flailing its remaining limbs.

Taylor calmly severed them one after another, as though pruning branches, before finally cleaving the creature’s torso in two.

Green fluid spilled from its body as it collapsed and died.

Taylor wiped the blood from her blade with a strip of cloth, then tied the stained fabric to a nearby branch.

Afterward, she continued through the mist in search of her next target.

Zone 5 was dangerous.

Dangerous enough that Person123 himself had issued a warning about it.

Naturally, all available information on the monsters had come from Person123 as well.

The Bone Dinosaurs with their extraordinary durability.

The Stick Insects that disguised themselves as trees.

The Mist Ghosts capable of creating false duplicates.

And many others.

Even with that information, the fog-covered terrain made it difficult to sense approaching monsters.

Taylor left cloth markers behind as she moved, but a single lapse in concentration could still leave her hopelessly lost in the forest.

Despite all of that, she continued hunting in Zone 5.

She was not doing it for monster drops.

She was doing it to fill the Boss Gauge.

The Zone 5 boss was expected to possess strength equivalent to at least Level 100.

Why, then, was she filling the gauge for a boss she had no hope of defeating?

She was doing it for Person123.

The U.S. Tower Climbing Management Bureau had vehemently opposed Taylor’s decision to hunt in Zone 5.

It was simply too dangerous.

Even now, she was acting entirely on her own authority.

But Taylor had already decided what role she intended to play.

If all she ever did was obediently climb Nightmare difficulty using the information Person123 gave her, then what purpose did her existence serve?

Was she merely supposed to wait in line and replace him if he failed?

Taylor already knew the truth.

No one could replace him.

Not even her.

If Person123 failed, there would be no one left capable of continuing to climb Nightmare difficulty anyway.

That meant she had to make herself useful in whatever way she could.

Holding back because of the danger would be putting the cart before the horse.

As things stood, Zone 5 was an area where no one else was actively hunting.

There were vanishingly few Climbers strong enough to fight its monsters, and those who were capable had no reason to expose themselves to the risks.

Person123 had been filling the Zone 5 Boss Gauge alone.

Even if her contribution amounted to no more than a speck, Taylor wanted to ease that burden.

And so she continued struggling through the mist day after day.

As she pushed deeper into the forest—

“...!”

Taylor sensed something behind her and spun around.

What she found was not a monster.

A man stood with both hands raised, smiling as though to show that he meant no harm.

“I’m human.”

He was an Asian man with black hair.

Taylor lowered the sword she had aimed at him.

‘Ye Tianwei...?’

China’s highest-ranking Nightmare Clearer.

This was the first time Taylor had seen him in person, but she recognized him immediately.

The United States monitored him closely, and she had memorized his appearance from numerous photographs.

“I didn’t expect to meet you in a place like this. It’s a pleasure, Taylor.”

Naturally, Ye Tianwei had recognized her as well.

“...Likewise.”

Taylor lowered her weapon, but she did not relax her guard.

Ever since the Wang Kai incident, China and the Black Star Society had maintained a relatively low profile.

There had been no notable clashes between the two sides on Floor 5.

Even so, the United States and China remained rivals.

And this was Zone 5.

No one would ever know what happened here.

Not even if one of them were killed on the spot.

More importantly, why was Ye Tianwei here at all?

What was he trying to accomplish?

“I don’t think you need to be quite so wary of me.”

Taylor kept her eyes fixed on him.

“My apologies. My nerves are strained.”

“Understandable, considering where we are.”

Ye Tianwei’s gaze moved over the monster blood splattered across her clothing.

“Still, hunting monsters alone in Zone 5 is surprising. I doubt the U.S. Tower Climbing Management Bureau approves.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

Taylor studied him in return.

“What about you?”

Ye Tianwei had just as little reason to be wandering alone through such a dangerous area.

He met her gaze for a moment before breaking into a grin.

“I’ve been curious about you for some time.”

“...”

“It seems we really are cut from the same cloth.”

Taylor’s brow furrowed slightly.

What was he talking about?

At that moment, a monster burst from the mist beside them.

Taylor began raising her sword.

But Ye Tianwei moved first.

Bang!

Something shot through the air at tremendous speed and shattered the Bone Dinosaur’s skull.

Taylor froze and stared at him.

...What kind of skill was that?

At first, she thought it might have been a Normal+ grade Throwing Skill.

But the projectile had moved far too quickly for that.

Ye Tianwei brushed the dust from his hand and bowed slightly.

“It was a pleasure meeting you.”

“...Likewise.”

“Let us both continue hunting hard for his sake.”

He smiled.

“The two of us.”

Then Ye Tianwei disappeared back into the mist.

Taylor continued staring at the place where he had vanished.

Only after he was gone did the tension finally leave her body.

‘...For his sake?’

What had he meant by that?

Could Ye Tianwei also be hunting in Zone 5 for Person123?

Taylor realized that she could no longer understand what kind of man he truly was.

***

My days continued in the same monotonous pattern as always.

I traveled in and out of Floor 6 to advise the Nightmare Clearers on their strategies, then returned to Zone 5 to hunt.

The United States and China had both made their attempts earlier than expected this time.

And both had succeeded.

Recently, however, something strange had begun happening.

The Zone 5 Boss Gauge was slowly filling even when I was not hunting monsters.

Was someone else hunting in Zone 5 besides me?

I had clearly warned everyone that the area was dangerous.

Still, thanks to whoever it was, the gauge was filling slightly faster than before.

Even so, summoning the Zone 5 boss before challenging Floor 7 remained a distant goal.

—Breaking news: the second crewed exploration vessel launched by the American company Universe Z is about to arrive on Mars. This expedition is attracting particular attention because a Climber is among the crew. CEO Bilon Must has stated that the mission will test the effective range of the Tower’s influence...

That was the other story dominating the news lately.

Following the company’s first crewed expedition some time ago, Bilon’s Universe Z had launched a second spacecraft toward Mars.

Apparently, the technology had improved significantly, and the vessel was traveling much faster than its predecessor.

More importantly, this time there was a Climber aboard.

Just as Bilon had declared before, he intended to use the expedition to conduct at least a preliminary test of how far the Tower’s influence extended.

[Chicken Sandwich: If Tower abilities function normally on Mars, then we’ll have to assume there is an extremely high probability that the Curse reaches there as well.]

[Person123: What will you do after that?]

[Chicken Sandwich: We keep moving farther into the universe. The solar system, the galaxy, and then beyond...]

Whether humanity would survive long enough to see any of that was impossible to know.

Still, Bilon’s dream was undeniably grand.

Naturally, I was rooting for him.

But at this point, it was difficult to remain optimistic.

Because of the Demon King, I now knew that other worlds existed.

And the Tower had destroyed those worlds too.

No matter how far humanity traveled from Earth, would it truly be possible to escape the Tower’s grasp?

—The crew members are emerging now. We have been informed that they will shortly attempt to enter the Tower.

The entire event was being broadcast live.

The second exploration vessel had reached Mars safely.

The cameras also showed Bilon watching from the control center on Earth.

The Climber aboard the vessel was supposed to post on the Communication Channel first, then attempt to enter the Tower.

I alternated between the news broadcast and the Easy Communication Channel, waiting for the post to appear.

[Waffle: A post from the first Martian.]

A moment later, the Mars Climber’s message appeared.

[Palm Tree: Looks like posting works just fine.]

[Advertisement: lolololol]

[Black Pepper: I got my hopes up for nothing... Does this mean the plan to escape humanity to Mars is already dead?]

[Cardravolk: We still have the Tower entry test.]

Disappointment spread quickly through the channel.

Next came the attempt to enter the Tower.

The Climber appeared on-screen inside the spacecraft, smiling and waving toward the camera.

—Will it truly be possible to enter the Tower from Mars? The attempt is beginning now... Ah! He has entered!

The Climber vanished into thin air.

The news anchor released what sounded like a disappointed sigh.

Similar reactions swept through the control center.

The camera zoomed in on Bilon, who sat with his jaw clenched, slowly stroking his chin.

...Of course it worked.

I sighed and placed my phone down.

Even if humanity escaped Earth, the Tower had no intention of letting us go.

In the end, only one path remained.

We had to climb the Tower.