The 23rd floor was, once again, an undead floor.
A floor you desperately want to leave behind as quickly as possible.
But once the lower floors are cleared, things no longer end with a single room.
The structure becomes increasingly complex, and even accounting for the tower’s time distortion, there are many cases where you spend an entire day inside.
It feels as if the tower itself is beginning to narrate a story; a sign that the exit from the lower section is near.
[You have entered the 23rd floor.]
[Time limit: 2 hours 30 minutes.]
[23rd floor clear condition: Offer 12 Flesh Golems as sacrifices to enrage the dark sorcerer.]
The deeper into the lower floors, the more composite and troublesome the clear conditions become.
The floor layout itself starts splitting into stages like a maze.
That is why clearing the 100th floor within 300 days is never easy.
Worldwide, only four towers have been cleared since the Incheon Magic Tower.
Even with tens of millions of players rushing in, the number of cleared towers can be counted on one hand.
The missions are no longer simple “kill the monsters.”
There are floors where you must protect a village for a set time, or stand night watch; floors that grind away time, stamina, and mental strength.
The pressure of time required for the climb itself begins to mount.
This floor could also be called a test of courage, endurance, and mental fortitude.
A narrow corridor where only one person can barely stand.
A labyrinth of dark-red brick walls that twist and turn.
Inside that maze you must find the Flesh Golems.
More precisely, the moment you sprint around a corner, from both dead ends, Flesh Golems pop out in a bizarre jump-scare gimmick.
Flesh Golems.
Monsters that make you frown the instant you see them.
Nearly three meters tall, already oppressive, but that’s just the beginning.
A grotesque chimera stitched together from human, animal, and monster skin and organs.
Terror and disgust assault you simultaneously, and you have to fight their ambushes in a corridor too narrow to even form proper formations.
…That is, for ordinary parties.
A maze is something you simply pierce straight through.
“Summon!”
Above Choi Junseok’s head, the holy sword slowly materialized.
Target: the maze in a straight line.
He planned to punch a vertical hole through the winding paths.
‘The current fastest clear time for the 23rd floor is 8 minutes 21 seconds.’
Not a slow record by any means, but in front of Choi Junseok it was leisurely to the extreme.
WHOOOOSH—!
The holy sword shot forward in a straight line, smashing through the maze walls.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Walls shattered in succession; the entire floor shook like an earthquake.
Choi Junseok immediately summoned Lee Nayeon’s sword, Caliburn, and pointed it forward.
“Nayeon! I probably didn’t kill all twelve—”
In an instant, system windows flooded his vision.
[Congratulations!]
[You have cleared the 23rd floor.]
[Clear time: 12 seconds.]
[Would you like to register anonymously in the Hall of Fame? (Y/N)]
[The additional effect of ‘Fairy Dragon of Recovery’ has activated.]
[Mid-floor clear rewards have been issued.]
[Special condition achieved! – ‘Cleared 5 floors with new records’]
[Rewards for the special condition have been issued!]
[Would you like to return? (Y/N) – You will be automatically returned in 30 minutes.]
Lee Nayeon, who had been stretching in preparation to swing her sword, turned to him with narrowed eyes.
Even her glare looked like a scene from a visual-actor drama; beautiful in its own way.
“…They all died?”
Heh.
– Of course, Junseok-ah. We’re still in the lower floors.
“Calm down… I’ll let you swing on the 24th floor.”
“If you say so.”
It was also the right call for her to level up.
So the 24th floor clear was left entirely to Lee Nayeon swinging her sword.
Still, of course, a new record.
“Phew… I was getting frustrated. Now I feel alive again.”
Seeing her smile with the blood of the dark sorcerer’s undead disciples splattered across her face was somehow chilling.
But she was wearing athletic clothes that didn’t hinder movement at all.
She really looked like she’d just come back from a light jog……if not for the sword dripping blood in her hand.
***
The moment an anonymous F-rank solo clear was etched as the new record in the Suseo Magic Tower Hall of Fame,
the Church of Hamsu followers, who had been hysterically shouting that Hamsu was alive, filled a middle-school gymnasium to the brim.
Of course, among the believers were undercover NIS agents, detectives, and plainclothes police.
When the cult leader wearing his familiar mask climbed the stage, the crowd chanted “Hamsu!” in fervent unison.
“Hamsu! Hamsu! Hamsu! Hamsu!”
A truly fanatical atmosphere.
Had everything gone according to the leader’s plan, this would have been the turning point into a full-blown cult.
When the leader raised his hand, the frenzied room instantly quieted.
The believers looked up at him with eyes full of expectation.
They anticipated a speech that would declare his resurrection and turn their excitement into fanaticism.
Instead, the voice that came from the stage was weak and limp, completely different from before.
“I have a confession to make before all of you.”
The heat of believers who thought he had conquered death turned into doubt in an instant.
A different atmosphere. An ominous feeling. And then the words that followed:
“I… am not actually Hamsu.”
Everyone wore dumbfounded expressions, asking their neighbors if they had heard correctly.
The gymnasium filled with murmurs in a flash.
The leader removed his mask and continued.
“I faked my own death while impersonating Hamsu!”
The NIS and police agents felt relief that he was following the script they had given him.
But then came the bombshell.
“Hamsu-nim discovered me and personally contacted me! ‘How dare you impersonate me? I will come to punish you right now,’ he said!”
Exactly.
A Church of Hamsu believer who, out of infinite love for Hamsu, dreamed of becoming him.
No one who had seen the real Hamsu would believe it was him, yet the man clung to his delusion to the end, trying to become the first apostle who had witnessed a god.
‘Emergency situation. Emergency situation.’
While several agents reported into sleeve mics,
the bewildered believers hung on his every word.
“Hamsu-nim told me: ‘How dare you tarnish my name? Shall I make you atone with death? I will give you one last mission! Make the world blessed in my name! Then I will destroy the Suseo Magic Tower and all the towers of Korea for you!’ Ah! Brothers and sisters! Yes, I have become the first apostle to hear His voice!”
Some left in protest.
Some collapsed in despair and stared blankly upward.
But every single one of them listened to the former leader’s confession.
“And so I repented before Him! O great one, in which direction shall we walk? Then He said: ‘If you perform good deeds and service in my name, I will forgive your foolish sins!’”
The situation was flowing strangely, yet somehow heading exactly where the people who put him on that stage wanted.
Instructions came through the agents’ hidden earpieces from headquarters.
“Stand by for now. Observe the situation.”
“Therefore I step down from the position of cult leader and, following Hamsu-nim’s will, choose to walk toward a brighter world!”
<“Hamsu is alive.” The end of a cult…>
<Cult leader of the Church of Hamsu admits to self-orchestrated play. Police: “Considering charges of player impersonation under review”>
<Cult “Church of Hamsu” to be reborn as the Hamsu Foundation and social welfare organization; religious circles protest…>
At the same time, inside the government office.
Player Management Office Director Moon Kwonsu was scrolling through related news on his phone when a knock sounded.
Knock knock knock—
“Come in.”
The person who entered through the slowly opening door was, of course, Kang Jinsu.
“Hamsu is about to break through the lower floors. He has cleared up to the 24th floor. With an S-rank and SS-rank summon, he still shows no signs of hitting his limit.”
“…However?”
“With Hamsu’s public reveal becoming practically inevitable, it’s time the Office also prepares accordingly.”
“You mean that project.”
Kang Jinsu gave a small nod. A strange resolve lingered in his eyes.
“Understood. I had been thinking the time would come soon.”
“I never imagined the project that was halted with Yoo Junhyuk would restart with Hamsu.”
“Ah, and the state has decided to purchase the tower clear rights. The payment will be made in full, whatever Hamsu desires. It will take some time to process, though.”
Kang Jinsu’s lips curled into a faint smirk.
“He was treating that item like a blank check.”
“…We can’t go that far. We estimated the loss through Chinese intelligence channels and set the price accordingly.”
“And… he requested tax exemption.”
“Tax exemption is difficult. We’ll split the payment with related tax benefits instead. So how much is he thinking?”
“Seems to be in the hundreds of billions of won.”
“…Does he not know that dumping hundreds of billions on a single individual would get him dragged straight to the tax office or a parliamentary hearing?”
“He’s not that savvy about politics or the ways of the world.”
“Tax-free cash in the hundreds of billions… Well, we’ll think of a way to split it. Is it because of that penthouse?”
“Seems like part of it.”
It was hard to believe this was the behavior of a player who had only just escaped the lower floors and was about to challenge the 25th.
“Being able to challenge the 100th floor directly is a huge merit, but conversely, it’s useless unless a nation has the power to clear the 100th floor. Above all, it’s a gamble where failure equals death.”
“Correct. Return scrolls are disabled. Clear or die.”
“In this day and age, there aren’t many players with that level of resolve.”
Honestly, even challenging the 100th floor is extremely rare worldwide.
If Yoo Junhyuk-level giants hadn’t poured their time, stamina, and money into raising juniors and instilling in them a sense of duty to save the country, most would have refused to even try, despite being allowed emergency escape scrolls in the standard challenge.
Even though the law forces players to climb, it’s still like that.
“Do you think there is a player who would shove themselves into the 100th floor under ‘clear or die’ conditions? I don’t think so. That’s why the item’s value is inflated because of China. Still, we budgeted well over 100 billion won considering its value, Japan’s precedent, and friendship with Hamsu. Make sure to convey that properly.”
“Yes, sir.”
At that very moment, the director’s office door was knocked on again.
“We’re in a meeting—” “Wait.”
“This is an emergency. Is Team Leader Kang Jinsu here?”
“……?”
It was extremely unusual for someone to look for the team leader instead of the director in the director’s office.
And for an emergency, no less.
“The former Church of Hamsu leader who impersonated Hamsu has been kidnapped by an unidentified group.”
Both the director and Kang Jinsu’s brows furrowed at once.
What the hell is this now.