Chapter 41
"So, you're saying even Section Chief Shin doesn't know what happened."
"That's correct."
Hearing the report from Shin Su-jin, who had recovered from her injuries and returned to duty, the Climbing Department Head narrowed his brow.
"But was it really a Stage 5 Fallen? Is it possible you saw it wrong or something?"
"Come to think of it, that might be the case. It was such a chaotic situation."
"...In any case, there was another monster, and it vanished without a trace."
The Seoul Arts Center Catastrophe, currently one of the incidents with the largest scale of damage in the Republic of Korea since the emergence of the Fallen.
During the subsequent investigation of the scene, all that was found was the corpse of a Stage 3 Fallen and a noticeably huge hole punched through the theater ceiling.
When the Stage 3 Fallen went on a rampage, the optical cable hub inside the theater was severed, so there were no internal CCTV records left from the time the audience started dying.
Therefore, the only way to grasp the situation at the time was through the testimony of Shin Su-jin, who had directly engaged the Fallen.
Because the circumstances at the time had forced her to report witnessing a Stage 5 Fallen, Shin Su-jin had no choice but to make excuses and claim she didn't know anything about the vanished Stage 5 Fallen.
The Fallen were an unprecedented disaster that had occurred suddenly, so it wasn't particularly strange for her to say she didn't know.
Besides, the Climber Bureau wasn't in a position to care about such follow-up investigations right now.
"There's a possibility the Fallen is hiding somewhere... I'll inform the Police to conduct further searches in the vicinity. Have you fully recovered now, Section Chief Shin?"
"Yes. I will head straight to the field."
"That's a relief. Keep up the good work, then."
Leaving the Head's Office, Shin Su-jin immediately prepared to move out.
The subjugation of the Fallen was still an ongoing process.
---
After the dead Climbers turned into the Fallen.
Naturally, a National State of Emergency was declared, and the military mobilized in full force.
- While these Fallen vary in their level of aggression from entity to entity, they are fundamentally identified as hostile to humans.
- It is presumed that there are differences in habits among the entities, and some exhibit peculiar behaviors. However, it is an undeniable fact that all of them have lost their human reasoning and are no longer human...
- The weakness of the Fallen has been revealed to be their heads. Their characteristic of not dying unless the brain is destroyed is similar to the Undead on the 3rd Floor...
From Stage 1 Fallen to Stage 5 Fallen, following the probabilities stated by the Tower, the Stage 1 and Stage 2 Fallen combined made up an overwhelming 99%.
Hundreds of Stage 1 and Stage 2 Fallen across the country were exterminated by the military or Climbers.
They were at a level where soldiers armed with guns could easily kill them, so the subjugation was carried out quickly.
However, from Stage 3 onwards, it seemed difficult to handle them with just the firepower of guns.
0.9% of 40,000 people—in terms of ratio, that was about 400 entities Worldwide.
Excluding the Fallen I killed at the Seoul Arts Center, a total of two Stage 3 Fallen appeared in Korea.
After one entity was discovered in Ulsan and another in Gyeongju, there was no news of any more appearing. Those bastards were reportedly dealt with by the Air Force.
Korea was on the luckier side.
Because not a single Stage 4 or Stage 5 Fallen had appeared. Except for the one I killed, of course.
In a way, it was fortunate that a Stage 3 and a Stage 5 Fallen had appeared together at the Seoul Arts Center that day, and that I happened to be nearby to take care of them at once.
Well, I don't know if "fortunate" is the right word when so many people died...
For a while, it was chaos Worldwide.
Countries around the World devoted all their efforts to resolving the disaster known as the Fallen, which had arrived without any warning.
For reference, it was said that one Stage 5 Fallen appeared in China and another in Canada.
I saw on the news that both countries succeeded in subjugating them quickly.
The one in China was reportedly handled by Wang Kai, the Record Holder for Hard Difficulty, alongside the military, while the one in Canada was subjugated through a joint military operation with the US Military.
Anyway, an incredible number of people died.
For a while, the only news was about subjugating the Fallen, how many more people had died, or how some Nation in Africa had fallen into a state of national paralysis...
Korea also managed to bring the chaos under control relatively quickly, but the total Casualties were said to be in the tens of thousands.
And so, as time passed, the Fallen Incident also came to a temporary close.
But once the situation calmed down a bit, a new problem surfaced.
- We need more thorough management and supervision of Unascended Climbers! We must ensure that such a terrible disaster never happens again...
The issue regarding the treatment of 1st Floor Unascended Climbers.
In people's minds, they were now no different from ticking time bombs that would turn into monsters in another year.
Nightmare Climbers were a particular problem.
With a fire lit under their feet, the Government put forward alternatives.
Larger compensation plans for Unascended Climbers, more active climbing support, the push for the Legalization of Euthanasia for Climbers who chose not to enter the Tower...
It was roughly things like that.
Anyway, they now had to either enter the Tower before their time limit ran out or die beforehand.
To ensure that, they had to make sure no one hid the fact that they were a Climber and enforce Mandatory Registration with the Nation.
Other countries were in a similar situation.
The Nation now had to be more thorough, and coercive measures and appeasements for Climbers went back and forth.
Naturally, conflicts were bound to arise in the process.
"What a mess."
I muttered while watching a protest scene from a foreign country on the news screen.
If the Tower's goal was to turn the World into a mess in one way or another.
The Tower was achieving its goal splendidly.
---
After the Fallen Incident, a single task emerged that every Nation had to solve.
The thorough identification of Unascended Climbers.
Until now, there were many countries where Climber registration was not mandatory.
A prime example was the United States, a country that didn't even have a Resident Registration Card due to privacy infringement issues, and where getting an ID card wasn't mandatory.
By the same logic, Climber registration wasn't mandatory either.
During the 1st Floor days, when the Day of Ruin was approaching, the United States briefly made it mandatory, but even that quickly reverted due to public backlash after the Nightmare 1st Floor was cleared.
However, even those countries now needed to take action somehow.
Otherwise, the disaster of the Fallen running rampant would repeat itself.
Of course, even with Mandatory Registration, people could just hide it, so the important thing wasn't coercion but practical measures like compensation plans.
Regardless, there was no reason not to enact laws.
Because the Government always wanted to tighten its leash on the Climbers, even if just a little, by any means necessary.
The Climber faction, growing at a terrifying pace with each passing year, was a massive threat to them. The justification was sufficient.
"We need to use this opportunity to suppress the Climbers a bit."
"Agreed. If we miss this chance, it will become even harder to control them in the future."
The starting point was the United States.
The US Government intended to use this opportunity to nail down several bills, including Mandatory Registration for Climbers.
Since the Citizens who had experienced the Fallen Incident fervently supported the Government this time around, they were also able to heavily leverage the power of public opinion.
"These crazy bastards, the Social Safety Contribution Act? What is this? Doesn't this mean they could even mobilize Climbers for war if things go wrong?"
"We can't just sit still. They're trying to put a leash on us while they have the chance."
However, the Climbers felt differently.
"This is an infringement on our freedom! Guarantee the human rights of Climbers!"
The International Climbers Association.
It is a private international association with its Headquarters in the United States and Branches in many countries.
This Association, with a Normal Difficulty 17th-floor Climber as its Association President, aims to protect and promote the rights of Climbers.
To put it bluntly, it was a coalition whose sole purpose was to further expand the interests of Climbers.
They fiercely opposed various bills that restricted the freedom of Climbers, including Mandatory Registration.
If they gave the Government even a little leeway, it could be used as an excuse to slowly chip away at their rights in the future.
It was the same for other countries, not just the United States.
"Does it make sense that you can't accept Mandatory Registration? Your selfishness is driving the World toward disaster!"
"Who knows what you'll do once you figure out the identities of all the Climbers! Are you saying you'll hunt us down and kill us if we don't die on our own?!"
The confrontation between the Government and the Association.
It naturally spread into discord and conflict between Climbers and the General Public.
The situation only continued to escalate.
---
Lately, the World was truly a mess.
I could tell just from the communication window.
\[Skull: People are seriously ridiculous. What right do they have to curse at us?\]
\[Rax: Thanks to who is the World not ending right now lol\]
\[Apple Juice: Shouldn't we properly band together for once too?\]
The confrontation between Climbers and the General Public.
I knew why the atmosphere was like this.
Because the news was constantly reporting that the Governments of each Nation and the Association were at odds.
I thought it would be resolved quickly, but it seemed to be getting worse as time went on.
- The only reason the World is being maintained right now is because we Climbers are risking our lives climbing the Tower! The Nightmare Climber Person123 is saving Humanity every year! And yet, does it make sense to persecute Climbers like this!
- Person123 climbing the Tower is entirely out of a noble Spirit of Sacrifice for Humanity. Are you trying to put yourselves on the same level as him, when you don't care one bit about the safety of the Citizens even after such a disaster occurred, and are only busy protecting your own interests? You should learn from Person123.
I also saw people from the Association and the Government bringing me up.
Lately, I had been getting a lot of whispers through the communication window as well.
Asking if I wasn't on the Climbers' side, telling me to step up and take the side of the Climbers.
No, what do you mean whose side, there's no such thing.
It wasn't for me to judge which side was unconditionally right.
Because it was true that the Government needed to take some measures, and it was also true that the Climbers' rights shouldn't be overly infringed upon.
It was already a difficult time, so it was just frustrating to see everyone doing nothing but fighting.
\[Chicken Sandwich: It's because the Government is inciting people to suppress the Climbers while they have the chance, and the Association is inciting the Climbers so as not to yield the initiative to the Government. Since neither side has any intention of backing down, well, for the time being...\]
Hearing it from Billon, there still seemed to be no sign of anything being resolved.
The Government had the power of public opinion behind them, but the Association had plenty of cards to play as well.
In the end, it was the Climbers who climbed the Tower to extend the time limit, and it was the Climbers who supplied magic stones to the World.
In fact, the Association President had even threatened that Climbers would no longer enter the Tower.
I had never cared about political issues before.
But I felt like if the situation escalated to the extreme like this, something terrible might happen.
Whispers keep coming every day, it's seriously annoying...
I just need to extend the Nightmare time limit, why do I have to care about this stuff too?
I opened the communication window.
\[Person123: I am on no one's side, so please stop mentioning me. My role is to climb Nightmare Difficulty, and I will focus solely on that. I hope for an amicable agreement between the Association and the Governments as soon as possible.\]
I paused as I was about to post the message.
It was obvious, boring, and pedantic.
Would they even listen if I just said this?
...If I'm going to intervene, I should do it properly.
I deleted the text and wrote it again.
\[Person123: I am neither on the side of the Climbers nor the Government. I hope you will each yield a little and reach an agreement.\]
\[Person123: If an agreement is not reached in the near future, I will not challenge the 4th Floor.\]
I'm not climbing the Tower just to see this kind of mess.
If you guys keep this up, I'm out too.
We can just all die together.
---
The World was turned upside down by the message Person123 posted.