Chapter: 40
Yujin recognized Lee Gi-seok at a glance.
It wasn’t difficult. The man appeared in the media so often that almost everyone knew his face.
‘So he’s the one who worked the hardest outside the Tower to bring it down?’
The Tower of Light.
It didn’t take long for the world to learn what would happen if no one could conquer it.
Those who had reached the 5th floor and returned outside couldn’t stop talking about what they had experienced.
As a result, the entire world was thrown into chaos.
World leaders held emergency meetings several times a day, desperately searching for a way to destroy the Tower.
They couldn’t entrust the fate of humanity entirely to the uncertain existence known as Players.
While Yujin had been tirelessly climbing the Tower, the people outside had also been doing everything they could.
Of course, as everyone knew, their efforts hadn’t produced good results.
Among those working outside, Lee Gi-seok had become the most famous figure in Korea.
That was because he proposed an approach completely different from every other country.
Complete support for the Players.
The United States, China, Japan, India…
The countries where the Tower of Light had appeared all focused on one thing: destroying it with overwhelming military force.
They literally tried every possible method.
Bombs.
Heavy construction equipment.
Missiles.
They even sent tens of thousands of special forces soldiers inside in an attempt to invade it.
In the end, one nation had even fired a nuclear weapon.
But the Tower of Light remained completely unharmed.
Not even a scratch.
From the beginning, it existed outside the laws of physics.
There was no way such methods could ever destroy it.
Lee Gi-seok had realized that from very early on.
So he searched for another solution.
Support the Players with every resource available so they could climb the Tower.
From small things like ensuring they had stable lives in reality…
To large-scale support like gathering and distributing information, establishing guilds, and supplying equipment.
He did everything he could to help them climb even a single floor higher.
Thanks to that, Korean Players achieved higher average climbing records than those of other countries.
‘I never bothered accepting any support during my first run.’
He hadn’t thought he needed it.
He believed he could clear everything on his own without anyone’s help.
And he had.
The only problem was that no one survived after the clear.
‘This time, I’ll make use of it.’
Not for himself.
For the people who would become his hands and feet.
Lee Si-ah.
Park Ji-hoo.
And one more person he hadn’t chosen yet.
At the very least, they needed support.
Yujin couldn’t handle everything alone.
‘I need to keep getting stronger too.’
If his growth slowed because he spent all his time cleaning up after others, then the priorities would be completely backwards.
That was why…
The very first person he sought out after returning outside was Lee Gi-seok.
“So… you’re saying you know?” Lee Gi-seok asked with wide eyes.
“That’s why I went through all this trouble to find you.”
Yujin shrugged.
“…Wait a moment.”
Lee Gi-seok pulled out his phone and made a call.
A short while later, the blaring sirens finally stopped.
The soldiers approaching them also halted.
They hadn’t completely lowered their guard yet, but at least they no longer seemed intent on attacking immediately.
“Come with me. This sounds like it’ll be a rather long conversation, and the hallway isn’t the place for it.”
“Works for me.”
Yujin nodded and followed behind him.
Lee Gi-seok led him into what appeared to be his personal laboratory.
Experimental equipment, stacks of documents, and all kinds of mysterious devices were scattered everywhere.
“Would you like some coffee?”
Apparently it really was his lab, because he naturally walked over to the electric kettle as he asked.
Coffee…
It had been a long time since he’d had any.
He was tempted.
But there was something he wanted even more.
“Do you happen to have any cola?”
The pinnacle of modern civilization.
Cola.
He hadn’t even seen it for nearly ten years.
Just imagining that sweet, throat-tingling drink made him unbearably thirsty.
“I do.”
“Then I’d appreciate that.”
Instead of the kettle, Lee Gi-seok opened the refrigerator beside it.
“Zero, please.”
Heh.
Lee Gi-seok chuckled and pulled out a can of Zero Cola.
“You’ve got good taste.”
“Cola has to be Zero.”
“Absolutely.”
Smiling as if he’d instantly taken a liking to him, Lee Gi-seok handed him the can.
‘Looks like he’s relaxed a little.’
Seeing the completely different expression from before, Yujin nodded and opened the can.
Psshhhā
The sound of carbonation escaping was unbelievably nostalgic.
Unable to resist, he took a huge gulp.
“Ahhh!”
His throat stung.
Maybe because it had been so long, the carbonation felt incredibly intense.
Frowning, Yujin took several more gulps before finally setting the can down.
“You look like someone drinking cola for the first time.”
“Not the first time. Just… the first in a long while.”
He answered casually.
“Now that you’re done, let’s begin. Who exactly are you? Ah, I’m not asking for your name.”
He already knew that.
Yujin carefully chose his opening words.
Honestly, conversations with words weren’t his specialty.
He was much more confident letting his fists do the talking.
Still, conversations were all about confidence.
Remembering something he’d once read online, he opened his mouth.
“I’m a Player.”
“…A Player?”
“You know all those people who disappeared when that damned Tower appeared, right?”
There weren’t just one or two.
Over twenty thousand people had vanished.
It was impossible not to know.
Wasn’t Lee Gi-seok himself researching the connection between the Tower and the missing people?
“So where do you think all those missing people went?”
Lee Gi-seok reached the answer almost instantly.
“Don’t tell me… they’re inside that Tower?”
“Correct.”
Yujin grinned.
“There are about twenty thousand people inside. Well, there are a lot fewer now. Anyway, the people in there are called Players.”
Lee Gi-seok fell silent.
It wasn’t a completely unimaginable possibility.
People had long speculated that the missing individuals might be inside the Tower.
There simply hadn’t been any way to prove it.
But now, someone claiming to be one of those missing peopleāa Playerāhad appeared before him.
Suppressing the excitement welling up inside him, Lee Gi-seok carefully asked,
“What exactly is that Tower?”
“Hmm…”
Yujin thought for a moment.
It wasn’t easy to summarize the Tower of Light in a single sentence.
Then a few words suddenly came to mind.
“A complete bastard? Son of a bitch? Motherf***ing piece of shit?”
…
Nothing but curses.
Lee Gi-seok felt he had a rough idea of what kind of place it was.
The man before him had survived soldiers firing live ammunition at him without being captured, yet even he reacted with such hatred.
That alone was enough to tell him just how dangerousāand utterly hellishāthe Tower was.
Naturally, though, that wasn’t an objective explanation.
So he asked again.
“Tell me in more detail. What’s happening inside? And why were you the only one able to come back?”
“Then I should probably start with this.”
Yujin finished the rest of his cola, leaned back in his chair, and began.
“That Tower is called the Tower of Light. It’s made up of one hundred floors. The people climbing it are called Players.”
One hundred floors?
That sounded tall.
But considering the Tower’s appearance from the outside, it was strangely small.
‘Are the ceilings unusually high?’
That was the conclusion Lee Gi-seok reached.
“Inside there are monsters, humans, animals… all kinds of things. Players have to hunt monsters while climbing upward. Well… there are also people who hunt other people.”
Lee Gi-seok’s face hardened.
Hunt people?
Did that mean murder happened regularly?
Come to think of it, Yujin had mentioned earlier that the number of Players had decreased significantly.
The story was much darker and heavier than he’d expected.
Straightening his posture, he continued.
“Why do they climb the Tower? It sounds like someone is forcing them.”
“That’s right.”
Yujin nodded.
“Strictly speaking, it’s not forced… but it might as well be.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“If no one climbs the Tower…”
He paused.
“…the world will be destroyed.”
Lee Gi-seok couldn’t say a word.
Park Ji-hoo walked slowly.
He could feel people’s eyes on him.
Naturally, it was because of how he looked.
He wasn’t stupid enough not to realize that.
But he didn’t particularly care about their stares.
He never had.
Even before entering that terrifying Tower, people had always looked at him that way.
Contempt.
Disdain.
Disgust.
Pity.
He had seen those expressions so often that they had become part of everyday life.
There was no reason to start caring now.
With heavy footsteps, Park Ji-hoo kept walking.
After who knew how long…
The dazzling neon signs and crowded streets gradually disappeared, replaced by dirty, grimy alleyways.
His chest felt heavy.
The crushing pressure made it difficult to breathe, and his pace gradually slowed.
‘Maybe…’
Maybe the Tower had been better.
The thought startled him.
No matter how miserable reality was…
Could it possibly compare to the Tower?
That place was living hell itself.
Sighing, Park Ji-hoo continued onward.
Eventually, he stopped in front of an old iron gate with most of its paint peeled away.
His home.
The place where his little sister was waiting.
And the place where those damned people lived.
Everything beyond that rusted gate was filled with both love and hatred.
As he hesitated in front of itā
“Get the hell out of this house, you bastard!”
“What?! You son of a bitch, have you lost your mind?!”
The familiar sound of vicious shouting echoed from inside.
‘Nothing’s changed.’
A month.
Maybe even longer.
Even though he’d disappeared, nothing about them had changed.
They probably hadn’t even tried to look for him.
Maybe they had even been relieved.
Life was hard enough already.
At least there was one less mouth to feed.
That thought hurt.
Even so…
They were still his parents.
Biting his lip, Park Ji-hoo reached out.
Creeeakā
The rusted hinges screamed.
At the same time, the shouting that had been loud enough to shake the neighborhood suddenly stopped.
“…I’m home.”
He had thought about it countless times inside the Tower.
If he ever made it back.
If he returned home.
If he faced his parents again.
What should he say?
He had come up with several possibilities.
But in the end, the only words that left his mouth were the same ordinary greeting as always.
“Y-You!”
The man he used to call his father pointed at him with wide eyes.
“You little bastard! You ran away from home! How dare you come back here?!”
Exactly the reaction he had expected.
“Ji-hoo!”
His mother was no different.
Looking at the two of them, Park Ji-hoo slowly spoke.
“Where’s Si-yeon?”
It was a perfectly ordinary question.
Yet their reactions were anything but ordinary.
He might not have noticed before.
But now, it was obvious.
Their eyes trembled ever so slightly.
‘Something happened!’
A nameless sense of dread filled him.
He asked again.
“Where is Si-yeon?”
