In the heart of downtown Seoul.
Core members of the [Glory] and [Darkness] guilds had gathered before the Tower.
Only one person had entered the portal that morning.
“I’ll be back before the gukbap gets cold,” Crow had said, then vanished.
The [Glory] guild members, awaiting his return, finished their gukbap (TL Note: A Korean soup dish, often with rice.), then ordered and consumed braised pork until their stomachs were full, yet Crow remained unseen.
Given that the portal itself had vanished approximately five minutes after Crow entered, there was no way of knowing if he even had a means of returning.
Nevertheless, the [Darkness] guild members remained unfazed.
“Crow will be fine,” they seemed to imply, as if worry were a luxury, and soon they too ordered gukbap, beginning their meal at a leisurely pace.
“At times like these, nothing beats a hearty bowl of gukbap.”
Witnessing this scene, Yoon Seojin, the Vice Master of the [Glory] guild, was utterly dumbfounded.
“Weren’t you the ones who mocked us for eating gukbap in such a situation…?”
“We’re only human; we need to eat to live.”
“I heard you’ve been starving since yesterday? My apologies for the misunderstanding.”
As information about the [Glory] guild and the Tower was exchanged, one of the [Darkness] guild members, upon learning that Yoon Seojin had not eaten all day yesterday, offered an apology.
“Still, you should have been more thorough with the portal investigation. Do you even know where we obtained the information?”
“I thought you might have used an informant, but it seems not.”
“Crow simply said he saw a post about a portal while web surfing. At first, he thought it was an obvious hoax, but when he actually came here, it truly existed.”
“…Tsk.”
Yoon Seojin quietly clicked his tongue, resolving to conduct security training for guild members again soon.
“Honestly, Crow is the strange one. Who would immediately act on a single gallery post like that? The person who uploaded it must just be someone working nearby.”
*Twitch*─
The son of the pork gukbap restaurant owner, who was serving, flinched.
The [Darkness] guild members took another spoonful of their warm gukbap and added.
“Regardless, Crow will be fine. I can’t imagine him failing.”
As if in agreement, everyone nodded.
Until that moment, no one had harbored any worries for Crow.
****
Yet…
Even after the [Darkness] guild members finished their gukbap and lunchtime approached, Crow still did not return.
At this, a creeping sense of unease began to settle over the [Darkness] guild members.
This was no mere trial; it implied a terrifying difficulty, one that could challenge even him for hours.
Or perhaps… something truly dire had occurred within the Tower.
A deepening silence gradually fell upon the plaza before the Tower.
“……They’re still not out.”
As someone muttered in a low voice, anxiety and fear began to subtly spread.
The portal had already vanished, and there was no way to send reinforcements. Not knowing where the portal led made re-entering the Tower’s first floor entrance extremely perilous.
One of the [Darkness] guild members asked.
“Hey… does anyone know where that portal was connected to?”
“We don’t know; the portal is gone now, so we can’t [Appraise] it.”
“Then you should have [Appraised] it beforehand! What exactly have you been doing all this time?!”
“The Vice Master already attempted to [Appraise] it initially. However, they said their skill level was too low, and the [Appraisal] failed.”
Here, Yoon Seojin’s [Appraisal] skill was Level 8, while Crow’s was Level 10 (MAX).
As a brief piece of general knowledge, climbers can acquire various skills by ascending the Tower.
To raise skill levels, one can hunt monsters to gain skill points, use Tower Coins to enhance skills, or absorb ‘essences’ containing skills.
“Isn’t it strange? If it were a dangerous place, he should have already exited using [Tower Exit].”
“Or perhaps… as the Vice Master mentioned, it was a structure where [Tower Exit] wasn’t possible from the start?”
Ominous speculations circulated.
Then, a climber from the [Darkness] guild clenched their fist and declared.
“Crow… he’s not someone who would die so easily.”
“But there’s no guarantee he’s alive, is there?”
“You only say that because you don’t know his true power!”
The atmosphere began to grow heavy. Eventually, the [Darkness] guild members found themselves divided in their opinions.
One faction argued for immediately entering the Tower to ascertain Crow’s fate, while the opposing view questioned how they would escape from a place even Crow couldn’t endure.
Yoon Seojin also fell into deep contemplation. Should he deploy the pre-arranged substitute team, or should they seek another approach?
At that very moment.
“Huh? Wait… I see something in front of the Tower.”
The surface of the Tower’s outer first floor rippled.
Invisible seams split open, revealing a faint, luminous crack.
Everyone’s gaze collectively darted towards it.
“……!”
All held their breath.
──Then, a man in a black-and-crimson suit, his crow mask in place, quietly stepped out.
“……Crow!”
Relief and exultation bloomed on the faces of the [Darkness] guild members.
He was unharmed. More than that, he bore no visible injuries, radiating an even more potent aura.
As Crow reached them, questions erupted like a burst dam.
“Mr. Crow! What kind of place was inside the portal?”
“Are you alright? More importantly, how did you return to the Tower’s first-floor entrance?”
“What exactly happened inside the portal? Are you feeling okay?”
However, Crow remained silent. His gaze fell upon the spot where the portal had been.
The portal… had already vanished.
‘…The portal leading to the 95th floor is gone. Perhaps that’s a good thing.’
It was clear that someone must have taken action after he entered the portal.
He recalled his battle with the night sky, the stillness that emerged within it, and his conversation with the being who effortlessly dealt with it—the [Tower Administrator].
He remembered the shocking information about the Tower she had revealed, having disclosed herself to be Korean.
Finally, he thought of the extravagant gifts she had bestowed upon him.
But… it was too noisy now.
“Mr. Crow! Please tell us what happened inside!”
*Murmuring*─
“…It’s too loud. Move aside.”
“……”
When Crow spoke with a hint of irritation in his voice, the surrounding crowd instantly fell silent and parted, clearing a path.
After the situation was somewhat managed, Crow approached Yoon Seojin, accompanied by a [Darkness] guild informant.
Yoon Seojin greeted Crow warmly.
“Crow… I’m relieved you’re safe. I have a mountain of questions myself, but…”
“There are too many ears listening here… For a moment, may I use a skill?”
“What—?”
“[Silent Gravity Field].”
*Snap.*
With a flick of his finger, a transparent barrier formed.
“It’s a soundproof barrier. For five minutes, nothing spoken within will be heard outside.”
Yoon Seojin stared at Crow with wide, astonished eyes.
“…What on earth do you intend to discuss?”
Crow pondered for a moment.
To his knowledge, Yoon Seojin, the Vice Master of the [Glory] guild, was widely praised as a capable, highly responsible leader who cared deeply for his subordinates.
Upon meeting him in person, Crow immediately recognized him as a man of strong responsibility.
That was why, when Crow first met Yoon Seojin, he had deliberately stated, “I’ll go in alone, so don’t interfere.”
Had he not said so, the [Glory] guild would surely have arranged for members to accompany Crow, fulfilling their duty to their mission.
Perhaps… Yoon Seojin himself might have even followed.
After all, he was also a skilled climber.
Thus, Crow chose him as the first person to whom he would reveal the information he had acquired.
‘This information is too vast for me to handle alone. I need at least one person with whom I can discuss it from the perspective of ‘humanity’.’
The [Darkness] guild master was merely a cooperative partner, providing him with numerous benefits and appropriate payment for his achievements, but not someone he could fully trust.
Therefore, he selected Yoon Seojin, known for his intelligence, strong sense of responsibility, and the trust he commanded from his subordinates.
He believed that Yoon Seojin, the Vice Master of the [Glory] guild, with his upright values and strong sense of responsibility, would make the right judgment on whether the information he was about to reveal should truly be released to the world.
The reason he brought along the [Darkness] guild informant was merely a precautionary measure, to prevent any unnecessary rumors from spreading that Crow distrusted his own guild.
But… was this judgment truly correct?
Was sharing this information with the [Glory] guild’s Vice Master, instead of reporting it to the [Darkness] guild first, truly the right choice?
At that moment, Tricia’s sincere voice replayed in Crow’s mind.
[I will trust you.]
Those words resonated deep within Crow’s heart.
Yes, it was time to make a choice.
To speak, or to conceal.
The nine-second silence, which felt like an eternity, finally broke, and Crow quietly began to speak.
“…I’ve just had a conversation with the [Tower Administrator].”
“W-what did you say?”
“…Excuse me?!”
Yoon Seojin’s eyes and mouth widened, unable to conceal his astonishment and excitement.
Beside him, the [Darkness] guild informant questioned whether they had misheard the revelation.
“The Tower Administrator stated that the Tower requires resources to sustain itself. And those resources are the Tower Coins that we climbers can acquire within the Tower.”
Yoon Seojin’s eyes gleamed. As he listened to Crow’s words, his brain rapidly analyzed the incoming information.
“Tower Coins are generated from a climber’s entry, combat, consumption, growth, and death. The one who operates the Tower with these generated Tower Coins is none other than the Tower Administrator.”
In Yoon Seojin’s mind, massive puzzle pieces that had long remained enigmatic began to shift and fall into place, one by one.
“The Tower cannot be maintained without climbers. Therefore, it was designed with a repetitive structure of trials and rewards to keep climbers constantly active.”
As the final puzzle piece clicked into place, Yoon Seojin nodded.
“……Just as I suspected.”
“…You don’t seem particularly surprised?”
“I had a vague premonition. One of my hypotheses proved to be precisely correct. More than that, to think Tower Coins were the resource sustaining the Tower…”
Crow also observed the reaction of the [Darkness] guild informant beside him.
“Uh… uhm…”
He appeared to have been so utterly shocked by the preceding revelations that he had lost his ability to speak coherently.
When Crow gently shook the [Darkness] informant’s shoulder, he finally regained his composure, trembling as he asked.
“D-does that mean… we were nothing more than ‘fuel’ for the Tower, to be used and discarded…?”
“…That’s essentially it.”
Crow replied dispassionately.
The informant plunged into a deep panic.
Confusion, fear, and denial.
“How… how can I possibly believe that? There’s no proof, to begin with!”
As the informant began to deny what they had heard, Crow quietly retrieved a box from within his [Wormhole].
From inside that box, he took out and displayed an angel-shaped bottle containing a brilliantly glowing liquid.
“This is a gift from the Tower Administrator. Would this suffice as proof?”
“What did you say…?”
Yoon Seojin, without hesitation, activated his [Appraisal] skill.
Fortunately, the [Appraisal] skill successfully activated─
[Appraisal Result: Holy Water of the Illustrious Angel (High Grade)]
[Effect: Restores 100% Health and Mana, Cures all diseases and status ailments, Treats all mental illnesses, Recovers all injuries, Grants [Angel’s Blessing (Mid)] upon consumption.]
[[Angel’s Blessing (Mid)] – Grants resistance to most diseases and status ailments, 35% damage reduction, 1.5x increased physical recovery, smooths skin wrinkles, grants one immediate resurrection upon death then removes buff, duration 3 days.]
Yoon Seojin instantly doubted his own eyes, remaining silent before finally uttering a single phrase.
“……This is unbelievable.”
Yoon Seojin stared blankly at the holy water.
Its fraudulent effects were so potent that no recovery item he had ever used could compare.
It possessed such superior effects that it rendered all the expensive potions climbers had used until now utterly worthless.
His mind felt utterly overwhelmed.
While Yoon Seojin appraised the holy water, Crow simultaneously appraised its effects.
Having confirmed its astonishing properties as expected, Crow retrieved the bottle and then looked at Yoon Seojin, stating.
“This is only the beginning.”
“…The beginning of what?”
“The information we know about the Tower, the existence of this potion… I intend to reveal this information to the public.”
“…!!!”
“However, I will reconsider based on your judgment. So… what are your thoughts, Yoon Seojin?”
Crow had just dropped a massive bombshell onto Yoon Seojin!
