Chapter 17 (1/2): No One Is Allowed In

“Official statement on Shinhwa Guild’s failure to clear the 45th floor. Guildmaster Chulwoo Shin was seriously injured by a Wyvern attack. Reported to require extended recovery.”

Why did they fail despite having one more party member?

“The decisive factor was Kim Si-won’s attack, who harbors resentment against the Shinhwa Guild, leading to a significant drop in abilities.”

“Not just Shinhwa Guild. Repeated failures by South Korea’s representative guilds on the 35th and 40th floors!”

A tragic series of events that have crushed the stepping stone toward becoming an Awakening Powerhouse.

Is indifference the only answer?

The time has come for the nation to step in.

Calls for punishment against Kim Si-won are growing louder.

Day after day, this story has dominated the headlines.

It was the news of major guilds based in South Korea repeatedly failing to climb the Tower.

Starting with Shinhwa, renowned guilds like Mountain Lord Guild and Immortal Guild all fell short.

Of course, the main focus was on Shinhwa Guild.

The 45th floor.

The stepping stone to becoming an Awakening Powerhouse.

It’s not just the height of the floor.

From the 45th floor, the difficulty spikes sharply, earning it the nickname Wall of Lamentation.

Except for a few nations, the difficulty is so intense that most have no choice but to select Normal mode.

Naturally, the rewards for such a brutal challenge are enormous.

Both for individuals and guilds, but especially notable are the cumulative rewards.

If the 45th floor is cleared on Hard difficulty this time, the accumulated stars will greatly amplify the Tower rewards.

That’s why this 45th-floor challenge was so significant.

But they failed, resulting in tremendous national losses.

And it wasn’t an unavoidable situation—it was due to a personal vendetta by Kim Si-won.

Debate over the rightness or wrongness of that act was inevitable, especially among Awakened sensitive to the Tower’s cumulative rewards, gathered in the Bamboo Forest.

—”Shout it out, Kim Si-won is a bastard!”

—”Kim Si-won is a bastard.”

—”Son of a bitch.”

—”That’s just too much. No matter how important revenge is, interfering with the 45th floor’s challenge? That’s pure Satan.”

—”And that revenge was because he got dumped by a girl over his own fault?”

—”Ugh, pathetic bastard. Not only dumped but now taking revenge over it.”

—”If it weren’t for that bastard, the rewards would’ve skyrocketed.”

—”How much exactly would it increase?”

—”With 100 accumulated stars, the effect feels like about a 50% boost.”

—”Crazy!”

“A real national matter. Can someone just catch and lock that bastard up?”

Recently, the Bamboo Forest has seen a surge in Awakened logging in.

The active posts and live chats have been flooded with curses aimed at Kim Si-won for causing trouble.

It’s only natural.

The media’s fierce assault, fueled by Shinhwa Guild’s influence.

The deactivation of cumulative rewards due to climbing failure.

This struck a nerve with Awakened starved even for minor rewards.

With the immediate benefits gone, thoughts of the world’s first Very Hard difficulty climb vanished.

By now, among Awakened, Kim Si-won’s name had become synonymous with treason.

And it was all according to Shinhwa Guild and Chulwoo Shin’s plan.

They used their power and funds to create a wave of public opinion.

The aim was to portray Kim Si-won not as the world’s first Awakened to clear Very Hard difficulty but as an obstacle to national and Awakener interests.

If they shaped public opinion this way, even if Kim Si-won’s corpse turned up one day, no one would question it.

In fact, they might welcome it.

Then all the corruption he exposed, and intended to expose, would naturally be buried.

Chulwoo Shin was not a man to just stand by.

Using the power in his hands, he was slowly tightening the noose around Kim Si-won through behind-the-scenes work.

Though it was happening in reality, a backlash had begun to stir.

It started right after midnight.

[Calculating points for weekly rewards…….]

Weekly rewards!

Every Monday, the Tower tallies points by nation.

Points?

What points?

It’s the Tower’s “merit”—a composite measure including floors cleared, difficulty, and star counts.

Weekly and monthly tallies cause disparities among nations.

That’s why the Tower is divided by nation.

Naturally, fierce competition breaks out to claim more of these rewards.

And finally, the moment arrived for one of those: the weekly rewards.

Only five nations receive weekly reward benefits.

Until now, those spots have been held by the United States, China, Russia, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, or India.

Ranks 1 to 4 are fixed, with 5th place changing occasionally.

So everyone expected the same this time.

But then—

[Weekly rankings are now public.]

For all who have set foot in the Tower, the rankings appeared.

And upon checking, the world couldn’t help but stir.

Weekly Ranking

United States (1st): 1,303,500 (-)

China (2nd): 1,025,330 (-)

Russia (3rd): 987,665 (-)

Japan (4th): 852,300 (-)

South Korea (5th): 761,000 (↑20)

Instead of the usual 5th-place contenders—the UK, France, or India—South Korea claimed 5th place.

Compared to last week, it had jumped an astonishing 20 ranks, a rare miracle.

At that moment, the Tower’s message echoed across South Korea.

[Congratulations on entering 5th place in the weekly ranking.]

[Rewards earned from the Tower will increase by 50% for the duration of one week.]

And the reward was precisely the increase in gains.

Because of these weekly and monthly rewards, once a nation pulled ahead, it was difficult for others to catch up.

But what was this?

South Korea skipped 20 ranks at once to claim 5th place.

Why?

Even if they pretended ignorance, no one didn’t know the reason.

—”Shout out to King God Siwon!”

—”General King God Siwon!”

—”Who said anything bad about our Siwon?”

—”From now on, anyone who badmouths God Siwon is declared an enemy!”

—”That’s right, no matter how twisted your words are, facts are facts. If God Siwon hadn’t refused the Very Hard cumulative rewards, Shinhwa Guild wouldn’t have even tried the 45th-floor challenge.”

L —”Wow, finally someone who makes sense. I was about to lose it.”

—”Exactly. Shinhwa had been trying for three months and then gave up, saying they needed to regroup. Then they got one more party member and just threw themselves at it.”

—”Look at that knight’s mess. Everything is spun as Kim Si-won’s sabotage, but does Very Hard climbing look like a joke?”

—”That’s Shinhwa for you. Probably bleeding money from their members.”

—”Any proof Shinhwa was pocketing money? That’s just wild speculation.”

—”Those bastards even tried sending an assassination team to bury people, yet they keep quiet.”

—”You guys are mistaken. Even if Shinhwa disappears, there are plenty of guilds to take their place. But Kim Si-won? He’s the first in the world to clear Very Hard. These people don’t have brains—they’re targeting the wrong person to worship.”

—”You speak well. If it’s Shinhwa Guild vs. Kim Si-won, obviously Kim Si-won.”

—”They’ve been trying Very Hard for 50 years without success, yet all the hype is just for Shinhwa fans in Korea.”

—”Is the public opinion really flipped in one day? Anyway, these bastards chase immediate profit. Shout out to God Siwon! And let’s push those annoying Japanese aside with this momentum!”

***

One day.

In just one day, all the schemes and investments by Shinhwa Guild and Chulwoo Shin were unraveling.

Inside the Shinhwa Guildmaster’s office.

“The public opinion… has turned.” Chae Mu-yeol spoke in a grave tone.

It had to be.

They had mobilized all power, money, and means to shape public opinion.

All to kill Kim Si-won.

To reduce him to a presence harmful to national interest and Awakeners, making him easy to eliminate.

Despite all their efforts, the attempt had failed.

At first, it seemed successful.

But an unforeseen obstacle appeared: the weekly rewards.

That brought renewed attention to the world’s only Awakened to clear Very Hard difficulty, and the public opinion swung rapidly.

Chulwoo Shin, wearing his cap pulled low, said nothing.

“Prepare countermeasures…!”

“If it’s countermeasures, I’ve already set them in motion.”

His reply was colder than usual, as if coated in ice, making those present shiver.

But without succumbing to emotion—

“S-sorry. I should have prepared something sooner.”

He apologized for not acting in advance.

Of course, there was no response.

“But what kind of countermeasures did you prepare…?”

It wasn’t a question expecting an answer.

He asked cautiously.

Knowing what Shin had prepared was necessary for proper response.

“We’ll get Japan’s cooperation.”

“J-Japan?”

They shouldn’t be surprised.

But just hearing the word “Japan” slipped out casually was shocking.

From the past to now, relations with Japan had never been good.

Especially after the upheavals, things only worsened, largely because of Japan’s recent actions.

Now an Awakening Powerhouse, Japan revealed its long-hidden ambitions openly.

Forced occupation of Dokdo.

Continued disrespect toward other nations.

Refusal to support dimensional rifts.

Under the rising logic of power in the world, the Japanese government openly showed anti-Korean sentiment.

And it wasn’t just Japan.

Like an alliance, China and Japan continuously harassed South Korea.

It seemed these two powers, aware of South Korea’s potential, sought to suppress it.

And now Japan?

“Will that be okay? They’re desperate to suppress us.”

“Is there any other way?”