Chapter 163: One Week Until Descent

The Third Gate Burning had begun.

I realized this just from Riohr’s explanation.

Just as I was about to leave the Tower immediately, Riohr grabbed my shoulder.

“Climber!”

“Just a moment. I’ll take care of it quickly and come back.”

“No, that’s not it. As the Manager, there’s something I must tell you.”

Riohr must know.

He knows how urgent the situation is.

Even so, the fact that he stopped me meant there must be a reason.

I turned my head, thinking as much.

Looking at him now, Riohr’s face showed how worried he was.

After a brief pause, Riohr finally spoke, “As I mentioned, the walls of the Tower are collapsing and its power is leaking out.”

“So I have to hurry and block the Gates—”

“The Tower’s power leaking out doesn’t just mean the Tower is weakening. It’s an entirely different ‘power.'”

“What do you mean…”

“To put it simply, the more this power leaks out, the less time remains until the Tower descends into reality.”

My expression, already hardened from suspecting that Gate Burning was happening on Earth, grew even more grim.

Could it be that the situation was even more serious than Gate Burning?

“Then… how much time do we have left?”

“I can’t know the exact time, even as the Manager, but judging by how much the walls have collapsed and the amount of power leaking out…”

Riohr rapidly tapped his fingers in the air.

After a moment, he let out a small sigh and told me the result.

“One week. That’s about how much time is left.”

“One week…”

Could I block all the Gate Burnings in just a week?

It’s possible.

The problem is, I’m only confident about Korea.

Once Korea’s problems are settled, I could be dispatched overseas to help with Gate Burnings there, but there’s no way I can block all the Gate Burnings worldwide in a single week.

“And, once the Tower appears in your world, its System will change.”

“How?”

“First, the number of people who can enter the Tower increases. You’ll be able to climb the Tower with others.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“And the difficulty of the Trial of Ordeals will rise accordingly.”

“Ah…”

“In my experience, whenever the Tower descends into the world, the same thing always happens.”

Riohr took a deep breath and continued.

“Climbers slow down their ascent to protect their own worlds. When they try to challenge the Tower later, they’re defeated by the increased difficulty.”

“From a rational standpoint, staying in the Tower and climbing now has a much higher chance of success, even if it’s tough.”

“But the difficulty still goes up anyway, doesn’t it?”

“If you don’t leave the Tower, the difficulty remains the same even when it descends. If you climb all the way up before that, everything will be solved!”

Riohr shouted.

Was it because of the urgent situation?

There was a faint hint of madness on his face.

Honestly, it was a reasonable judgment.

Riohr didn’t know my world.

To him, it was more logical to focus on climbing the Tower for a greater cause rather than slowing down the climb to save a world he knew nothing about.

I understood.

But even so, I shook my head.

“No.”

“Climber, you need to think bigger! Even if you save a few more people now, it’ll be meaningless if the Tower descends and the world ends! If you leave now, it’ll only get harder to conquer the Tower!”

I know but this wasn’t an emotional decision either.

If it really were possible to do things as Riohr said, I would consider it but no matter how I look at it…

“That’s not it. It’s impossible to stay here and clear all the way to the 100th Floor right now.”

“What?”

It’s impossible.

With my current level, climbing all 100 floors of the Tower alone at once is just not doable, no matter what.

“Honestly, I’m starting to feel my limits. Maybe, even if my performance drops, I could push through to the Eightieth Floor.”

“No, no! Climber, you’re underestimating yourself! You can do it!”

“I know myself best. It’s just not possible.”

Even the Sixty-second Floor is already giving me a hard time.

Of course, if I reach the Eightieth Floor, I’ll be stronger with the materials and new items and helpers I’ve acquired along the way.

But after that?

No. 

It’s not possible.

I know myself best.

Even with the Gatekeeper’s Blessing and all, if I’m lucky, the Ninetieth Floor is my limit.

I was vaguely hoping the Hundredth Floor would be the final one, but even if it is, I’ll never be able to reach it.

“Th-then, are you giving up on climbing?”

“No, of course not.”

I’m not giving up.

That would mean accepting the doom that’s on its way.

I have no intention of dying right now.

Far from dying, I plan to live happily with the money I’ve earned as a blacksmith.

I want to travel overseas, stay at the world’s most famous hotels, and when I can finally go out, I want to drive an expensive sports car too.

So, there’s not even a hint of giving up.

“Then what will you do?”

“You said earlier, didn’t you? When the Tower descends to Earth, the number of people allowed to enter increases.”

“But the difficulty increases just as much! It’ll be even harder to conquer the Tower!”

“No. That’s not the case.”

From the start, my plan was never to climb the Tower alone.

I did get a little cocky and think maybe I could, but climbing up to the Sixty-second Floor has made me realize the truth.

I can’t climb the Tower by myself.

I’m a blacksmith, after all.

Rather than standing at the front, I’m meant to support climbers from behind.

“Even if the difficulty goes up a bit, having more people allowed in is far more advantageous for me.”

“I’m telling you, the difficulty increase isn’t something you can just brush off…”

“You’ve seen my helpers, right? If I equip the Rankers who enter with me with my items, it’ll be much easier to climb regardless of the difficulty.”

The reason I started climbing the Tower in the first place was to weaken the Monster Wave that comes when the Tower descends into reality.

After that?

I’ll leave the Tower conquest to the Rankers.

Now, I’m planning to climb alongside them, but from the start, I never intended to do it all alone.

And now, I’m confident.

With Korea’s Rankers—

No, if I gather the world’s strongest, equip them with my creations, and fight together…

No matter how much the difficulty increases, it’ll be easier than now to climb the Tower.

That’s my calculation.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Ugh…”

I explained my thoughts to Riohr.

He hesitated, but honestly, there was nothing more he could say.

I’d already made up my mind.

Maybe you’d call it a ‘set answer’?

Anyway, to carry out this plan, I need to hurry out, finish the Gate Burning, and preserve Hunter forces.

If any Rankers get hurt in the Gate Burning, it’ll be troublesome.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”

Riohr hesitated.

But his worries quickly ended.

“As the Manager, I’ll do everything I can here! Please, make sure to return! Climber!”

“Of course. Next time, I’ll even bring some seasoned chicken.”

“Seasoned chicken?”

“Yeah, seasoned chicken.”

With that, I left the Tower.

Naturally, the first thing I did was initiate a System Call to Nam Bora.

Even if I hadn’t, I could already hear the monsters’ howls and people’s screams from outside my window.

***

Right after the Hunter Association officially declared this incident the ‘Third Gate Burning.’

The Vulcanus Guild, now firmly one of Korea’s three major guilds, also accepted the Association’s request for support.

“From now on, we’ll operate on disaster protocol. Teams will split into groups of five and go out to provide support according to the Hunter Association’s requests.”

“Yes.”

“Command Center will be contacting you. Everyone, deploy to the field immediately as directed!”

“Understood!”

The Vulcanus Guild members headed out to the scene.

Thanks to long hunting and training, most of their levels had risen to Ranker status.

With those heightened abilities, the Vulcanus Guild members now defeated Monsters by drawing on their already considerable potential and powerful gear.

Anyone could see they were worthy members of one of Korea’s top three guilds.

– Vulcanus Guild, please send support to this address.

“Yes, I’ve sent it.”

– A gate has appeared near the World Cup Bridge. Can you provide support?

“No, all our teams are already out on assignments. If any team finishes their support, I’ll send them right away.”

– Thank you.

Nam Bora, at the heart of the Command Center, was in charge of communications with the Hunter Association.

Receiving reports from the staff, she quickly grasped the situation and gave orders.

Even though she hadn’t fought a single Monster, she was stopping the Gate Burning more reliably than anyone.

Without her, no matter how strong the Vulcanus Guild was, they would never have performed even eighty percent as well as they were now.

“Whoo!” She took a deep breath and drank some water.

There was no problem communicating with the Hunter Association.

The Vulcanus Guild was smoothly stopping the Monsters.

Korea’s Hunters were powerful enough to deserve the title of a Hunter superpower, even if there were many who had been dispatched abroad.

Korea wouldn’t fall so easily to Monsters.

However, there were some contacts that troubled her.

– Any word from Vulcanus’s Hunter yet?

– This is an emergency disaster situation. Please, we beg you.

– If Vulcanus could just provide equipment support, we could send more forces to defend the provinces…

– What could possibly be keeping him so out of reach even in a situation like this?

– We desperately need Vulcanus’s help. Please…

Messages hoping for Vulcanus’s help poured in.

Nam Bora was confident managing the guild members, but she couldn’t do anything about Vulcanus himself.

‘What can I do if I can’t reach him…’

She had already tried.

The moment Gate Burning was declared, she’d worried about Vulcanus more than anyone and sent him a message.

But as always, there was no reply.

She was curious, too.

What in the world was keeping Vulcanus so unreachable?

She wanted so badly to ask, but it seemed Vulcanus didn’t want her to.

If Vulcanus didn’t want it, she wouldn’t ask.

She had endured with that mindset.

But now, it felt like her patience was about to burst.

Not knowing Vulcanus’s whereabouts, she worried that he might have gotten caught up in a Gate Break…

Her worry wouldn’t stop.

‘No, get a hold of yourself.’

Worrying wouldn’t help her move forward.

Instead of worrying, she needed to keep things organized.

When Vulcanus, as always, suddenly made contact, she had to be ready to perfectly report and analyze the situation.

She had to help Vulcanus make the most of his amazing abilities at the right moments.

So, she worked through even her breaks, focusing all her energy on the Gate Burning crisis.

“Nam Bora?”

“Vulcanus!”

Finally, Vulcanus’s voice echoed in her ear.