Chapter 107
"...Therefore, it is judged that clearing the 7th Floor is close to impossible."
Max, who had been leading the presentation, concluded with that statement.
The figures from the Climbing Bureau and the Government nodded with stiff faces.
In truth, an in-depth analysis wasn't even necessary.
The 7th Floor information post uploaded by Person123 was at a level where anyone who saw it would think, Ah, this is a bit...
Director of Climbing Bureau Liam glanced at Taylor, who was sitting to one side.
She also had a stiff, hardened expression.
The United States had no reason to unreasonably challenge the Nightmare Difficulty anymore.
The start of the Nightmare Project had the grand purpose of preserving Humanity and allowing the United States to lead the Tower Climbing, but...
With the appearance of Person123, that purpose had long since changed.
The Nightmare First Clear was something only Person123 could achieve.
The reason Nations climbed the Nightmare was all simply for their own national interests.
In fact, from the 4th Floor onwards, the Climbing Bureau was in a position where they couldn't just welcome Taylor's continued challenges.
Still, Taylor had eventually succeeded in climbing up to the 6th Floor, but...
No matter how they looked at it, the success rate for this 7th Floor was too low.
It was to the point where Person123 had personally singled out the United States and China to leave a warning.
Was there any reason to keep challenging it?
The scale of risk and return had now completely tipped to one side.
Perhaps China wouldn't challenge the 7th Floor either.
If the United States challenged it alone and ended up losing Taylor... It was a terrible thing to even imagine.
Knowing when to stop, wouldn't it be the wise choice for both sides to stop here?
"Taylor, what are your thoughts?"
People's gazes focused on her.
Taylor opened her mouth.
"...I don't think there is a reason to come to a conclusion right now."
After the meeting ended.
Max asked as he walked alongside Taylor.
"Are you planning to challenge it?"
Max knew.
What kind of conviction she held.
The expected answer returned.
"I have to try."
"...Taylor, I don't want to say this either, but it's truly a crazy thing to do."
"Hasn't it been like that up until now?"
"Don't you know it too? This 7th Floor cannot be compared to the other floors. Why would Person123 even give a warning?"
t it's truly a crazy thing to do." "Hasn't it been like that up until now?" "Don't you know it too? This 7th Floor cannot be compared to the other floors. Why would Person123 even give a warning?" The Body Left-Right Reversal gimmick.-Right Reversal gimmick. This wasn't something that could be practiced. Unless they could somehow swap the neural networks of the Left Brain and Right Brain. Unfortunately, Humanity did not yet poss-Right Reversal gimmick.
This wasn't something that could be practiced.
Unless they could somehow swap the neural networks of the Left Brain and Right Brain. Unfortunately, Humanity did not yet possess such technology.
No matter how much one understood it in their head, would it be possible to immediately adapt to that sensory chaos?
He wondered how on earth Person123 had managed it, but he was always an exception.
Taylor shook her head.
"I don't plan on rushing to challenge it either. Still... I will never completely give up on the Nightmare Climb."
After parting ways with Max.
Taylor entered the 5th Floor.
Before heading out for a Zone 5 Hunt, she stopped by the Drake Restaurant.
"Oh? You came alone today."
The owner, Drake, saw Taylor's face and quietly welcomed her. She also gave a nod of greeting.
As a Nightmare Climber, she didn't operate openly on the 5th Floor. In fact, she wasn't even officially part of the Public Order Squad.
Still, since she frequently interacted with the Public Order Squad, she often hung out with the Squad Members, and because this was their main meeting place, she was acquainted with the owner.
"Is there any Horned Deer Steak left?"
"You have amazing timing. There's exactly one piece left."
The Horned Deer Steak, a delicacy of the Drake Restaurant.
It was delicious enough that eating it when stressed would make you forget your stress for a bit.
Taking an inconspicuous corner seat, Taylor waited for her meal to come out.
However...
Suddenly, her gaze fixed on the Entrance of the restaurant.
A man wearing a hat entered the restaurant.
It was a familiar face.
The man also spotted Taylor and made a slightly surprised expression.
Approaching closer, he sat in the seat opposite her. In a seemingly glad voice, he spoke.
"To think I'd see you here."
"...Hello."
Ye Cheonwi.
Even though the Drake Restaurant was practically the Public Order Squad's territory, Climbers from the Black Star Society also dropped by frequently.
Even so, it was strange for the head of the Black Star Society to visit this place alone.
Ye Cheonwi smiled and said.
"Please don't misunderstand. It's a coincidence. How would I know where you are to come looking for you?"
"I never misunderstood."
"That's a relief then. The Horned Deer Steak here is such a delicacy that I, too, occasionally drop by in secret."
Taylor didn't bother mentioning that it was all sold out because she had just ordered the last one.
"Do you have business with me?"
"Ah, of course I do. I was just wondering what you were thinking."
Ye Cheonwi nodded and asked.
"What are you going to do? About the 7th Floor."
"..."
"Honestly, I was a bit happy when I read the post, you know? Even though it was a warning, seeing Person123 single us out and mention us made me feel like he was worried about our safety."
Ye Cheonwi spoke talkatively, as if chatting with a Friend.
Taylor didn't answer, but she couldn't deny his words.
Honestly, she had felt a similar way.
She was continuously challenging the Nightmare with the desire to be even the slightest bit of help to Person123.
And in those actions, there was nothing but her conviction for Humanity.
But Taylor was also Human.
It felt as if the person she was desperately chasing after had briefly looked back at her, so while she felt conflicted, she was also somehow a little happy.
"For the record, I will be challenging it."
"...Don't you think you'll fail?"
"That's not important, is it? If we stop climbing, our roles are over anyway."
Ye Cheonwi smiled.
"Isn't that right? I thought you were the same kind of person as me, but was there actually no need to ask?"
Taylor didn't find Ye Cheonwi's gaze, which seemed to see right through her inner thoughts, very pleasant.
"Of course, I'll have to prepare much more thoroughly than for the other floors."
"I wish you luck."
Taylor replied bluntly.
Right then, the Horned Deer Steak she had ordered came out.
"Here is the Horned Deer Steak you ordered."
Ye Cheonwi said.
"I'll have a Horned Deer Steak as well, please."
"Huh? We just ran out with this one."
"Ah."
Seeing Ye Cheonwi look over in fluster, Taylor let out a small chuckle and cut into her steak.
* * *
After uploading the information post for the 7th Floor.
My daily life flowed by without any special events.
Living diligently for a year until I challenged the next 8th Floor.
...Or so I say, but I actually spent most of my time doing Zone 5 Hunts.
Crunch!
A shard of Ice pierced through the Bone Dinosaur's head.
The one controlling my body right now was Ma-Wang.
Whenever I handed over my body, all Ma-Wang did was reinforce the Ice Castle built in Zone 4 or sit on the Throne and zone out.
Lately, he had been doing some Monster Hunts for me as well.
I had persuaded him.
I told him I'd let him hunt the Zone 5 Boss himself.
And that we should quickly defeat the bosses and expand our Sectors, because who knows, something else might come out just like how Ma-Wang was buried in Zone 4.
Ma-Wang didn't seem entirely uninterested, as he listened to me.
Roaming the Fog Forest and hunting Monsters.
Ma-Wang's power put a strain on my body, but against these mob monsters, there was no need to use it to the point of strain.
Just casually flicking tiny shards of Ice was enough for instant death, after all.
While watching Ma-Wang hunt, I asked something that suddenly came to mind.
‘Demon Lord, is there any chance I could learn magic too?’
Real magic, not the Power of the Tower.
If I could use it, I would also be able to use Rapid Fire with magic without any cooldowns.
Ma-Wang snorted and said.
"Stop talking nonsense."
‘Aw, don't be like that. Please teach me a little.’
"I have no intention of teaching you, but you can't use it anyway. Your Nature of the Soul is completely flawed to begin with."
‘...Nature of the Soul?’
Ma-Wang explained.
He said that the people of the Demon King's World and the people of this World had completely different natures of soul and body.
In other words, it seemed that Earthlings had a fundamental structure that made them incapable of using magic.
‘But Demon Lord, you use it just fine with my body, don't you?’
"And what happens when I use it?"
‘Ah.’
"Your body being too pathetic to withstand my power is one reason, but it's also because your constitution itself is incompatible with magic."
Is that so.
Then I wondered why using a Magic-type Skill wasn't a problem, but...
Just as Ma-Wang had said before, a Skill was merely an imitation of magic and not real magic, so that must be why.
Anyway, it was a bit of a shame that I couldn't learn it.
Ma-Wang's Body Rental Time ran out.
Having gotten my body back, I hunted a bit more before Exiting the Tower.
"It's already one o'clock."
I took out some items from my Subspace.
A bag filled with Lowest Grade Magic Stones and Lower Grade Magic Stones.
They were the magic stones I had received from Billon's courier last time.
Whenever I received magic stones, I didn't go straight to the exchange to sell them, but always brought them home first and sold them later...
The reason I went out of my way to do that was for show to my Family.
After all, my Family only knew that I was getting magic stones by clearing the Easy 1st Floor.
It would be strange if I didn't show myself going out to sell magic stones periodically.
"I'll be heading out for a bit."
"Alright. Are you going to the exchange?"
"Yes."
I was about to head out the Front Door with the bag full of magic stones.
I heard a room door open, and my Younger Sibling hurried out.
"I want to go too!"
"What?"
"I want to check out the Magic Stone Exchange. Can I tag along?"
Without even waiting for an answer, she told me to wait ten minutes and went right back into her room.
...What's with her all of a sudden?
* * *
She knew it made no sense.
But Kim Seo-A kept having strange thoughts lately.
Her Oppa, Kim Seohyeon.
Why was it that, every year, right at the moment the Nightmare Difficulty was cleared, he was nowhere to be seen?
When the 1st Floor was cleared, he had gone out of the house.
When the 2nd Floor was cleared, it was during the early dawn hours when everyone was asleep.
For the 3rd Floor and 4th Floor, he was on a trip...
And the 6th Floor was cleared during the day, right when Kim Seohyeon happened to be out again.
And this time, the 7th Floor was also cleared at dawn.
Her Oppa always showed a nonchalant reaction whenever the Nightmare was cleared.
Furthermore, Person123 was a Korean male.
Could all of this really be a coincidence?
...Of course it was a coincidence. She knew that.
Or what, was he supposedly Person123? Her Oppa? That guy?
It would be more believable to say the Earth was flat.
A Savior who risked his life to climb the Nightmare on the Front Line for All Humanity.
A Hero who willingly shouldered penalties to save even a small minority of people without leaving anyone behind.
As his own flesh and blood, Kim Seo-A knew very well.
That Kim Seohyeon was a person whose personality was far removed from such things.
He was cautious, hated standing out, and was the kind of person who would absolutely never do anything even slightly dangerous...
Anyway, she knew in her head that it made no sense and was just a coincidence.
Still, it left her feeling bothered for no reason, so she wanted to check something, anything.
She followed Kim Seohyeon as he went to the exchange to sell magic stones.
They arrived at the Magic Stone Exchange by car.
Kim Seohyeon had his ID checked by a Staff Member and handed over the bag of magic stones.
The Staff Member took out the magic stones and measured their weight.
Kim Seo-A stood next to Kim Seohyeon and quietly watched the scene.
She had looked it up on the internet.
The Lowest Grade Magic Stones and Lower Grade Magic Stones that dropped in Easy Difficulty were a pale blue.
The medium and Higher Grade Magic Stones that dropped in normal and Hard Difficulty were a deeper blue, and only the Highest Grade Magic Stones that dropped in Nightmare Difficulty were a special golden color.
The magic stones Kim Seohyeon brought were all pale blue.
"11.91kg of Lowest Grade Magic Stones, and 9.7kg of Lower Grade Magic Stones."
The Staff Member also stated they were lowest and lower grade.
If Kim Seohyeon was a Nightmare Climber, this would make no sense.
Because it was said that only Highest Grade Magic Stones dropped in Nightmare Difficulty.
He received the payment via bank transfer and they left the exchange.
"Did you get a good look?"
"Yeah. It's fascinating."
"What got into you all of a sudden..."
Kim Seo-A shook her head, finding it funny even to herself.
...What kind of ridiculous suspicion had she been harboring?
As expected, there was no way her Oppa was Person123.
* * *
After finishing the magic stone transaction and coming out.
Since we were already out, we ate lunch at a nearby restaurant.
Watching my Younger Sibling frantically stuffing her face with beef, I thought to myself.
‘Is this brat really suspecting me?’
She had never shown any interest before, but then she suddenly tagged along to sell magic stones out of nowhere.
Did she want to verify if I was actually selling them properly?
"Is it good?"
"It's amazing."
Or maybe not. Was it really just a whim?
Anyway, she was making me worry for nothing.
I also ate some meat while scrolling on my phone.
I was browsing through news articles without much thought.
- Anomalous Signs detected in Pyeongyang, Surveillance System on North Korea strengthened...
"...?"
There was one article that caught my eye.
It was breaking news related to North Korea.
But somehow, it didn't seem ordinary.
I looked up more related news.
- This is breaking news. It is highly likely that the Unusual Undercurrents currently flowing within the North Korean Military are a movement for a Power Shift. The Korean Government is...
...What is this.
Does this mean a coup d'état has occurred in North Korea?