Chapter 44
Choi Won-young had an eighteen-year-old high school daughter.
And her daughter would die in a short while.
She was chosen as a Climber for Nightmare Difficulty when she was 15.
It had only been a few years of recorded data since the Tower appeared, but there were no official cases of anyone under the age of 14 being chosen as a Climber.
In other words, the minimum age requirement to be chosen as a Climber was 14.
Like a cruel joke, her daughter was chosen as a Nightmare Climber on her 15th birthday.
Her daughter had suffered for years receiving treatment after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma at the age of 12.
After barely curing the illness, she thought miracles did exist, but what awaited her after was an even worse nightmare, just like the name of the difficulty her daughter was chosen for.
"It's okay, Mom! I still have two more years to live. I have to super-compress a lifetime of playing until then, so I can just play to my heart's content without studying, right?"
Her daughter, who was only a middle schooler, said it as if it weren't even a trivial worry.
She was naturally a bright child, to the point where she never lost her smile even while undergoing harsh chemotherapy.
"Huh? Mom... I'm really fine, you know? Don't cry."
So Choi Won-young-young-young also tried not to be sad.
She had to build as many happy memories with her daughter as possible during the remaining time.
Having sent her husband off early, if her daughter left too, she would have no family left.
Happy times passed, and the end slowly approached.
In a few weeks, her daughter would die. She would die and become a monster.
To avoid becoming a monster, she had to either enter the Tower or undergo euthanasia and leave not even a corpse behind.
Both her daughter and Choi Won-young chose the latter.
A difficulty that even all sorts of exceptional people challenged it after thorough preparation, yet there were only a little over twenty successful people.
There was no possibility of clearing Nightmare.
Even if there was a thread of possibility... Choi Won-young could never accept her daughter dying painfully from monsters.
- Only three days remain until the 20-day Nightmare Time Limit, as people worldwide pray for Person123's success...
Whether the World would be ruined or not didn't really register in her mind.
Only the fact that her one and only precious daughter would soon die simply didn't feel real.
Still, she smiled in front of her daughter like she was wearing a mask, because her daughter hadn't lost her smile either.
That day, after suffering inwardly and barely falling asleep, she woke up at dawn.
As she approached the room door, she heard sobbing.
When she quietly opened the door and went in, her daughter was crying with a stifled voice.
"Sniff... Hic... I'm scared, Mom... I don't want to die..."
Choi Won-young also eventually broke down, hugging her daughter, and could only wail together with her.
The day before the 20-day Nightmare Time Limit.
Now, she had to accept parting with her daughter.
She smiled weakly as she looked at her daughter's face while eating dinner.
*At that moment, text suddenly appeared before the two of them.*
\[The Tower proposes to 'Person123'.\]
"...Huh?"
A message whose meaning they couldn't understand.
---
What in the world was going on?
I had just barely steeled my resolve, but this sudden curveball threw my mind into chaos.
A proposal? The Tower to me? Suddenly?
What kind of trick was this...
\[If 'Person123' selects one of the following penalties and enters the 4th Floor, the Rule: Climbers who do not enter the tower within 3 years die will be nullified.\]
What the Tower offered me in return was the 3-Year Rule Nullification.
\[1. 50% reduction in physical abilities\]
\[2. Skill cooldowns doubled\]
\[3. Three random skills disabled\]
\[4. Highest-grade skill disabled\]
\[5. Item usage disabled\]
If I wanted that, it was telling me to pick a penalty.
The thought that came to mind as soon as I saw it was... “This is bullshit.” That was it.
Physical abilities halved, skill cooldowns doubled, 3 random skills disabled, Line of Destruction disabled, items disabled.
There wasn't a single one that wasn't heavy.
More than anything, the fact that the Tower was making this kind of proposal to me was very, extremely suspicious and uncomfortable.
\[The penalty will be maintained only during the First Attempt of the 4th Floor Clear.\]
\[If 'Person123' wishes to accept the proposal, please select a penalty and enter.\]
But this bastard... When I see it do something like this, does it actually have a will?
It's not just some mechanical system?
"Haa..."
I scratched my head vigorously and took in the choices again.
If, just if I were to choose, what should I pick?
\[1. 50% reduction in physical abilities\]
Let's skip this one for now.
\[2. Skill cooldowns doubled\]
For me, whose main focus is magic, the speed at which I cycle my skills would be twice as slow.
It's fatal. Quite fatal.
\[3. Three random skills disabled.\]
If it landed on some unnecessary Normal-grade skills, it wouldn't even be a penalty... but on the contrary, if my Main Skills were caught one after another, it would be hell. It was just a gamble.
And the fact that it was random bothered me.
Isn't the Tower going to rig this?
\[4. Highest-grade skill disabled\]
It was synonymous with saying the Line of Destruction was disabled—my super-freaking-strong Ultimate Skill.
...I'm not sure. Considering the theme of the 4th Floor, would this be more fatal than the others?
\[5. Item usage disabled\]
Considering the theme of the 4th Floor, even if Diul being disabled was one thing, Flee being disabled was fatal.
Even if I let the rest of the miscellaneous items like the Ice Dagger slide.
Ah... I don't know.
Why are you suddenly giving me this ordeal?
Do I have to pick this? No matter how I think about it, it's a no, right?
You want me to clear the already bullshit Nightmare Difficulty while carrying a penalty?
I agonized with a scowl, then suddenly turned on the communication window. But.
"...?"
Seeing the conversations popping up in the communication window, I turned on the TV.
Breaking news was playing.
- The Tower's Message has appeared to people Worldwide, an unprecedented event where the Tower is making a proposal to Person123...
...Why is this a Global Announcement?
It seemed like not only climbers but also the general public could see it.
I was so dumbfounded that only a sigh came out.
---
The Tower issued a Global Announcement to Humanity.
The world went into an uproar. First of all, messages exploded in the communication window.
\[Ravi: ?\]
\[Crusher: ??\]
\[Wow: What is this...? I'm not the only one seeing this, right?\]
\[Blue Fields: The Tower makes proposals too?\]
\[Lucifer: This is crazy, what kind of situation is this?\]
\[Fire Dragon: They say the General Public can see the message too, not just us?\]
The Tower making a proposal to a specific Climber was, of course, something that had never happened before.
The Tower's 3-Year Rule Nullification.
The price Person123 had to accept in return was a penalty.
Public opinion in the communication window quickly flowed to one side.
\[Cyclops: Are you crazy enough to accept this? You absolutely shouldn't accept it.\]
\[Glass Bottle: Isn't every single choice too much?\]
\[Claude: The lives of 8 billion people are on the line. This is absolutely a no. Accepting it just to save tens of thousands of people is not an option.\]
\[Hoda: Well, it's tens of thousands every year, so if you think about the future, it's a lot more. The Fallen One problem would be solved too... But still, he shouldn't accept it.\]
\[Leaf Tea: Person123, are you looking at the communication window? You absolutely must not select a penalty!\]
Special broadcasts were urgently scheduled on news and media worldwide.
Even on a representative cable news channel in the United States, panelists sat around a desk and talked.
"The Tower has proposed a penalty to Person123 in exchange for the 3-Year Rule Nullification, but what are your thoughts?"
"Absolutely, he must not accept it. Absolutely. This is a trap."
A man wearing glasses spoke firmly with a stiff face.
"It's strange from the start that the Tower pinpointed Person123 alone to make a proposal, just one day before he enters the 4th Floor. It blatantly shows an intention to interfere with his clearance."
The rest of the people nodded as if they agreed.
"It seems obvious in the current situation that the Tower has the intention to interfere with Person123's clarity. He has no reason to follow the Tower's intentions."
"How much would the clear probability drop if he enters the already terrible Nightmare Difficulty carrying a penalty?"
"It's unfortunate, but the Survival of Humanity is on the line. No one can criticize him for not selecting a penalty. It's only natural to prioritize Humanity as a whole."
The absolute majority of people naturally hoped that Person123 would not select a penalty.
A Conquest Failure on the 4th Floor meant Humanity's Ruin, and a penalty would drastically increase that probability.
With the lives of 8 billion humans on the line, there was no room for sentimentality to intervene.
"...Please select a penalty! I earnestly beg you! Please!"
Those hoping for the penalty selection were only an extremely small minority of people.
The Nightmare Climbers who were about to face death soon, their families, or acquaintances were affected.
They hurriedly came out to the streets, held small rallies, and shouted at the top of their lungs, hoping that Person123, whose identity and current whereabouts were unknown, would hear them.
"Are you people crazy?!"
"If he chooses a penalty, the world will be ruined! You shouldn't act so selfishly!"
Scenes of passersby looking at them and cursing also unfolded.
\[Nightmare\]
Participants: 283,157
Time Limit: 20 days 30 minutes 56 seconds
Floor Reached: 4th Floor
Stormy 24 hours passed, and the 20-day time limit was almost upon us.
All that remained was Person123's choice.
---
I agonized and agonized for a day.
Actually, the conclusion came out a long time ago.
'Let's not select it.'
I shouldn't pick a penalty.
That was the obvious thing to do.
Is adding a penalty to Nightmare Difficulty, where I couldn't guarantee even a 1% chance of success even if I challenged it fully prepared?
It wasn't a sane thing to do.
Have I already forgotten the 3rd Floor? How many times have I almost died?
The 4th Floor was highly likely to be even tougher than the 3rd Floor.
Even for the sake of the World, selecting a penalty was something I couldn't do.
If I fail, it will be Humanity's Ruin.
It is taking that risk to save a minority of people.
It was not just a minority, but an extreme minority.
Was the 8 billion population Worldwide versus tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people even a comparable issue?
Of course, the Fallen One problem would be solved too.
And it could also prevent the one-in-a-million risk of my family becoming Climbers.
Thinking rationally, even taking those into account, I found that the weight on the scale still didn't match.
If I don't succeed this time anyway, my family will all die too.
So a penalty is a no.
...I know, but my heart just feels heavy.
Lying on the bed and blankly staring at the ceiling, I raised my body.
Many news reports related to the current situation were broadcast on TV news.
People saying a penalty was absolutely no penalty, the rallies of Nightmare Climber families coming out to the streets and screaming...
I also received a ton of whispers through the communication window.
The Tower had hit Earth with a Global Announcement, so the World was in an uproar again.
I didn't care about their public opinion. I shouldn't care either.
It was just a matter of my making the right choice.
\[Chicken Sandwich: There is no one who will criticize Mr. Kim for not selecting a penalty. No one even dares to have the right to do so.\]
\[Chicken Sandwich: You don't need to feel guilty by any chance. This is just the Tower's trickery. Mr. Kim has already saved Humanity several times, and the path of not selecting a penalty is the choice to save all of Humanity once again.\]
\[Person123: Does Billon also hope that I don't select a penalty?\]
\[Chicken Sandwich: ...I will respect Mr. Kim's choice.\]
I also had a conversation with Billon.
As expected, the answer was a set issue.
The 20-day time limit was now up.
I had to make a choice.
- ...In the end, we must respect whatever choice Person123 makes. Even if he selects a penalty, and even if the World faces ruin as a result, at least I will respect his noble spirit...
I turned off the TV on which the broadcast was playing.
After equipping all my items, I stood in the middle of the room.
\[1. 50% reduction in physical abilities\]
\[2. Skill cooldowns doubled\]
\[3. Three random skills disabled\]
\[4. Highest-grade skill disabled\]
\[5. Item usage disabled\]
Looking at the choices again, I was dumbfounded anew.
Is it scared that I might clear the 4th Floor too?
Is that why it's pulling this kind of trick?
"What's with this Ace deterrence, seriously..."
If the goal was to disturb my mind no matter what I chose, then it succeeded.
But I'm not going to select a penalty.
\[Would you like to enter the Nightmare Difficulty 4th Floor?\]
I ignored the Selection Window and brought up the Entry Window.
"En...!"
As if shaking off my uncomfortable feelings, I was about to shout boldly, but I paused.
"..."
Let's not do this.
You know that it's not right.
There is no fault of mine in this choice.
It's just a rule that the Tower arbitrarily set and arbitrarily decided to nullify.
I...
"...Hah."
I let out a soft chuckle.
After closing my eyes for a long moment and opening them, I looked at the penalty selection window again.
"This is truly a crazy thing to do."
I know.
Just because others call me Savior, Savior, do I think I've actually become a Savior?
...Still, just this once.
I wanted to be a little stubborn.
I raised my finger.
---
Choi Won-young went outside after seeing the Tower Announcement.
She barely managed to find a rally held on the street and shouted together with people in the same situation. , pleading for him to please select a penalty.
She didn't know if it was a meaningful action, or if it would even reach Person123. She was just grasping at straws, whatever it was.
Returning home exhausted, she tightly hugged her daughter who threw herself into her arms crying.
"I'm really okay, Mom... I'm okay now..."
On the TV news, the Deadline Timer for Nightmare Difficulty was displayed as large as a door, ticking down.
Now, there were only a few minutes left until the 20-day time limit.
She knew.
If she thought about the World, she shouldn't hope for the penalty selection.
She also knew that it was a terribly selfish wish.
But please... Still, please.
If only she could be allowed to hope for a miracle just this once.
\['Person123' has accepted the Tower's Proposal and selected a penalty.\]
\[The Rule: “Climbers who do not enter the tower within 3 years die” is nullified.\]
"...!"
The mother and daughter, who were hugging each other, raised their heads at the same time.
The two of them stared blankly at the message before their eyes for a long time.
---
"Huu..."
A dark office.
Billon, buried in the back of his chair, wiped his face dry and let out a deep sigh.
"...If that is your choice."
He muttered while looking at the message floating in mid-air.
"Please succeed, Mr. Kim."
---
The Office of the Climber Bureau's Ascension Monitoring Department.
"He selected... a penalty."
Kang Juhyeok said, staring into mid-air with his cup noodles half-scooped.
Shin Sujin also nodded with a stiff face.
She ended up clenching her fists tightly without realizing it.
Earnestly praying inwardly, he hoped that he would be able to return alive safely.
---
"...He has made his choice."
The anchor of the real-time news spoke quietly.
There was no need to say what he had selected.
Everyone had seen the message.
On Seoul's Gwanghwamun Street, countless crowds gathered.
In an instant, sighs flowed out from here and there.
But soon, a few people began to pray with both hands clasped together.
Then, the people next to them began to pray, and seeing that, the people next to them again also began to pray, one by one.
Soon, the entire street was submerged in a quiet silence.
The World held its breath and waited for the result.