Chapter 22
Climbing Special Agency (Korea). Abbreviated as the Climber Bureau.
Established a few months after the Day of Upheaval two years ago, this central administrative agency oversaw all matters related to Climbers, and even now, it was still chaotic, busy, and often run by rule of thumb.
It wasn't just the Republic of Korea; the situation was the same in other countries as well.
Humanity still severely lacked information about the Tower, and just keeping up with the ever-changing flow of the world was a struggle in itself.
"There's too much work\~ I'm overflowing with work\~ Oh, I love it, I'm so happy\~."
A Staff Member muttered while typing on their keyboard with hollow eyes.
Perhaps they had built their own defense mechanism to withstand the extreme stress. Or maybe they had just lost their mind.
They already had a mountain of work, but with the Nightmare 2nd Floor cleared, the Climber Bureau's workload had multiplied several times over.
Furthermore, it was even worse this time than when the 1st Floor was cleared, because in addition to the New Climbers, the Tower had announced a New Rule.
Those who do not climb the Tower within three years will die. Climbers who had no intention of climbing the Tower suddenly had a fire lit under them. Especially those in Nightmare Difficulty.
Sorting out that series of chaotic events naturally fell to the Climber Bureau. Registering, classifying, and organizing New Climber information, planning the expansion and construction of Climbing Training Facilities, budgeting, an endless barrage of civil complaints... Why did the work keep increasing no matter how much they finished? Was it a bug?
Humanity's lifeline being extended by another year was certainly a joyous occasion, but the lifelines of the Climber Bureau's staff might have been shrinking in real time. There wasn't a single department that wasn't that busy.
"I'm really going to die. How is there not a single day out of 365 days a year where we aren't busy?" "We just have to blame our luck for being dragged here."
Staff Members enjoying a fleeting moment of rest while drinking instant coffee in the Corridor.
There were some who came as Volunteers, but they were a minority, and most of the Public Officials in the Climber Bureau had been semi-forcibly drafted from other ministries. It couldn't be helped, though.
"I'm seriously considering quitting these days." "Hold on. It's somewhat bearable if you think of it as working with a sense of duty." "Haha, a sense of duty... Oh."
Just then, the staff bowed in greeting as they saw someone passing through the Corridor.
A woman with an impression so blunt it felt cold. She also gave the staff a brief nod and walked past.
Watching her back, one staff member spoke.
"...Speaking of a sense of duty, shouldn't you be at her level to say you're truly working with a sense of duty?"
There was one department in the Climber Bureau composed entirely of Climbers. The Climber Surveillance Department.
And the person who had just passed by was Shin Sujin, the Section Chief of the Climber Audit Department.
Their work involved matters related to the 5th Floor Common Area and cooperating on Climber Crimes, making them a uniquely independent department that felt completely isolated even within the Climber Bureau.
Nevertheless, there was a reason Section Chief Shin Sujin of the Ascension Monitoring Department was a celebrity whom everyone among the Climber Bureau staff knew: she was a Level 20 Climber on the Normal Difficulty 11th Floor.
A High-level Climber who could live lavishly just by selling the magic stones that came out of the Tower was taking on all the hard work here as a Public Official. It was something difficult to understand normally.
"If I became a Climber, I'd quit this lousy job immediately. Still, isn't the probability of becoming a Climber much higher than winning first prize in the lottery?" "Hey, but the difficulty is what's important. What if you get Nightmare?" "Then, well... I'd have to jump off. Hehe." "True, it might be fine if it's Easy, but even Normal is a bit much now. I heard the Normal 1st Floor is no joke either."
The staff chatted a little more before sluggishly scattering back to work. It was another night shift today.
---
Over a month had already passed since I cleared the 2nd Floor.
What I was doing these days was the Befriending Quest with the Spirit of Darkness, Ban Diul.
"Diul, so what I want to say is that we're irreplaceable best friends. Soulmates, you could say? I'm not the only one who thinks so, right?"
This was the Forest Outside the 2nd Floor Tower.
Normally, you would automatically be moved to the Reward Room after finishing a Repeat Clear, but if you just came down from the Castle without defeating the Minotaur, the clear wouldn't progress any further.
I continued to attempt to commune with Diul while walking through the dark forest.
I had already decided on a nickname. I treated 'Ban' as his surname and 'Diul' as his given name, so I called him Diul.
For the most part, he was a completely apathetic guy no matter what I said to him, so it didn't seem to have much effect.
"Yeah, yeah, let's just take a walk. Should we run a bit?"
I went into the direction where the bushes were thicker.
The moonlight was obscured, and the darkness of the night deepened.
However, the surrounding scenery was clearly visible to my eyes.
This was Diul's basic ability, Suggestion: Pierce Darkness.
To describe it in more detail, it didn't look like night vision goggles, but rather, objects appeared as if they were drawn with white chalk on a black chalkboard. It was quite a unique field of vision.
Well, it wasn't exactly a hugely amazing ability.
At least now, the darkness was no longer an obstacle to me.
I sprinted quickly along the Forest Path, welcoming the cool night breeze with my whole body.
Diul floated next to my head and followed along diligently.
There were times when this constantly dry guy would at least show a feeling of liking something, and that was when he was in the dark.
More accurately, he liked the darkness in nature. Maybe because he was a Spirit.
He didn't seem to like it that much if I just quietly turned off the lights in my room.
That was why I had been coming into the 2nd Floor and taking night walks frequently these days.
They said I could use a New Ability once our affinity went up, but I didn't know what I was supposed to do.
I just figured it would go up eventually if I kept doing what he liked\~.
It felt like the sense of connection had gotten ever so slightly stronger than at first, but maybe that was just my imagination.
For reference, Hailyn no longer appeared on the 2nd Floor.
Unlike the Old Man of the 1st Floor Hidden Route, I hadn't killed her, so I wondered if there would be a difference, but there wasn't.
Even when I went to the Bridge where we had attempted our escape from the Black Knight, there was only a ruined bridge.
I even tried going down the Cliff to see if I could cross over, but I gave up because the bottom never appeared.
After running around the forest for a long time, I returned to my room.
I lay on my bed and turned on the Communication Window out of habit.
"Huh?"
A new whisper had arrived.
The sender was Chicken Sandwich. Billon Must.
We had exchanged brief messages after I cleared the 2nd Floor before, and this was his first contact in a month since then.
\[Chicken Sandwich: Have you been well? I am contacting you because I have acquired new Skill Stones.\]
\[Chicken Sandwich: The skills are the Normal Grade 'Swing' and the Normal+ Grade “Lesser Poison Resistance”. Swing is an Active Skill that enhances the power of swinging attacks, and Lesser Poison Resistance is a Passive Skill that grants a minor resistance to poison.\]
\[Chicken Sandwich: If these are skills you do not possess, I would like to deliver the Skill Stones to you like last time. Of course, if you do not wish to meet in person, another method is fine as well.\]
Oh... Well now.
He was offering to give me Skill Stones again. This time, there were even two of them.
Since we had already met once anyway, there was no reason to refuse.
"I'll gladly say thank you if he's giving them, but..."
But while the Swing Skill was relatively common, I knew Resistance Passive Skills were quite rare.
I wondered if it was okay to keep accepting things like this so readily.
There are people who feel burdened just by receiving things for free from others, and that was exactly me.
Of course, technically speaking, this wasn't free.
Mr. Billon Must was strictly investing in me, and in return, I was climbing the Nightmare Difficulty and extending the time limit.
Yeah, well, I should take what I can get.
I had already firmly made up my mind by now anyway.
I sent a reply.
---
We made an appointment to meet in the exact same way as last time.
When the day of the appointment arrived, I headed to the designated location, wrapping my face up tightly in three layers with a Hood, a hat, and a mask again this time.
An ordinary black sedan parked on the Roadside of an Alley.
After confirming one more time through the Communication Window, I approached and knocked on the window.
I opened the backseat door and climbed inside.
This was the second time seeing him, but a person with a completely unrealistic face was sitting in the seat next to me. Billon Must.
"Hello." "Nice to meet you. We see each other again."
We exchanged a light handshake and got straight to the point without any small talk.
Mr. Billon took two Skill Stones out of his bag and handed them to me.
"Thank you."
I acquired the skills right there on the spot.
\[You have acquired “Skill: Swing (Normal)”.\]
\[You have acquired “Skill: Lesser Poison Resistance (Normal+)”.\]
\[Skill: Swing (Normal)\] Instantly amplifies the power of swinging attacks. Category: Physical Willpower Cost: 10 Cooldown: 10 seconds
\[Skill: Lesser Poison Resistance (Normal+)\] Grants a weak resistance to poison. Category: Physical (Passive) Willpower Cost: None Cooldown: None
\[Difficulty: Nightmare\] \[Floor: 3rd Floor\] \[Level: 30\] \[Willpower: 600\] \[Skill: Teleportation (Rare+), Sixth Sense (Rare+), Flame Strike (Rare)(+1), Exaltation (Rare), Lesser Poison Resistance (Normal+), Leap (Normal), Swing (Normal)\]
It felt like my status window had gotten a lot richer.
Having finished the Skill Acquisition, I made eye contact with Billon, who was staring intently at me.
Hmm, awkward.
I was about to speak, but Billon spoke up first.
"I would like to continue delivering Skill Stones or items to you whenever I acquire them in the future. What do you think?"
He wanted to continue this bizarre connection.
I asked.
"May I ask you just one thing?" "As much as you'd like." "Why are you going this far for me? Do you really believe that much that I can continue to climb the Nightmare Difficulty?"
Billon nodded.
"I believe that you are the only one who can save Humanity." "I mean, why..." "You are the one who achieved the First Clear for both the Nightmare 1st Floor and 2nd Floor. Without any information, at that. The US Nightmare Challenger received all the support of their Nation and still failed, while you succeeded. Even just looking at the facts of what has happened, isn't the answer clear?"
Billon spoke as if making a declaration.
"That is why, Person123, I want to invest everything in you. I believe it is the choice with the highest probability for Humanity to survive. You just need to use me to your heart's content for your Nightmare Strategy."
I fell into thought.
As the silence continued, Billon gently continued speaking.
"Of course, your will is the most important thing, above all else." "There's something I felt while clearing the 2nd Floor." "...Yes? What is it?" "That it's absolutely impossible for anyone else to take the lead in clearing this insane difficulty."
In other words, my thoughts weren't much different from Billon's.
It wasn't that I wanted to be full of myself and act like I was the only special one.
I didn't have the slightest bit of confidence that I could continue to clear Nightmare either.
Still, the person with the highest probability of pulling it off was me.
No matter how much I wanted to turn a blind eye to reality and pass it off to someone else, that was the truth.
"Honestly, I'm not confident. I was just lucky with the 1st Floor and 2nd Floor, and I don't know how far I'll be able to make it in the future. But in the end, it's something someone has to do, so..."
I nodded.
"I'll give it a shot. Alright. Invest everything in me, Billon."
Billon stared at me blankly for a moment before breaking into a bright smile and holding out his hand.
As if a contract had been finalized, we shared a handshake once again.