Chapter 74
This time, I didn’t go on a trip a few days before the 20-day mark.
My sister kept making a fuss, telling me not to go, and I also felt a little conscious of my family.
Since I had no reason to force myself to travel while feeling uncomfortable about it, I just stayed home.
Instead, I planned to challenge Floor 6 a bit earlier in the day.
I had to avoid getting caught by my family.
Tomorrow during the day, I could go out, rent a motel room or something, and challenge it there.
\[Nightmare\]
Participants: 378,822
Time Limit: 21 days, 5 minutes, 39 seconds
Highest Reached Floor: 5
- There are now 5 minutes left. Alejandro will soon enter Floor 6…
Before going to sleep, I watched the live news on my phone.
Alejandro, the Nightmare clearer who had declared he would challenge Floor 6 before me.
Honestly, I had thought a lot about whether I should stop him, leave him alone, or just challenge it first myself.
After all, another person clearing Nightmare with no information was… honestly, pretty absurd.
I knew that better than anyone.
…But did I have the right to stop someone else’s challenge?
Wouldn’t that be far too arrogant?
I had seen Alejandro’s interview too.
He said he would no longer leave the burden entirely to me.
It was an interview where I could feel his firm determination to save humanity.
I had to respect his choice.
So I decided to challenge at the 20-day mark, just as I originally planned.
Considering what Alejandro had accomplished so far, he was also someone with incredible ability.
Because of that, I couldn’t deny that I had some expectations.
Maybe?
I was still human too.
I still hadn’t completely abandoned the hope that someone might truly succeed and share this burden with me.
- 10 seconds left! 10, 9, 8…
Soon, Alejandro would enter.
I stared at the news screen, wishing for his success.
And the moment the countdown reached zero…
\[The Tower makes a proposal to “Person123.”\]
A message appeared before my eyes.
“…”
I narrowed my brows.
This again…
What the hell is this?
The exact same thing as one year ago had happened.
Back on Floor 4, the Tower had also made me a proposal exactly one day before my challenge, at the moment when 21 days remained.
Maybe because I had already experienced it once, I wasn’t that shocked.
But the one about to challenge right now wasn’t me.
It was Alejandro.
So the first thought that came to mind was,
Why the hell is it making another proposal to me?
And the second thought was,
Now that the three-year rule was gone, what kind of proposal was it planning to make?
Calmly, I checked the messages that continued appearing one after another.
And then…
\[If “Person123” accepts the following penalty, he will receive a special reward in exchange.\]
\[Penalty: “Person123” will be prohibited from entering Nightmare difficulty Floor 6 for 21 days.\]
\[Reward: “Person123” will acquire “Skill: Ark (?)”.\]
\[Skill: Ark (?)\]
Designates a 3-kilometer radius as the domain of the Ark. The Ark completely blocks external threats, including the Fallen, and humans within the Ark’s domain are immune to the Tower’s curse. Only humans permitted by the skill caster may enter the Ark’s domain. The skill can be used in an activation/deactivation format, and an activated Ark lasts forever.
Type: Special
Willpower Cost: None
Cooldown: None
\[If you enter Floor 6 before accepting the proposal, the proposal will be nullified.\]
\[If “Person123” wishes to accept the proposal, please indicate your acceptance.\]
After checking the proposal, I frowned even more and let out a sigh.
“Huh…”
…What is this?
What the hell is it trying to do?
---
The moment the Nightmare time limit reached 21 days.
Exactly like one year ago, a message appeared before all humanity.
\[The Tower makes a proposal to “Person123.”\]
The Tower had made another proposal.
However, its contents were completely different from last time.
The penalty the Tower presented to Person123 was not something like reduced physical ability or a skill ban.
It was a 21-day ban from entering Nightmare difficulty Floor 6.
In other words, it was telling him not to challenge Floor 6 at all until the time limit ran out.
People fell into shock.
\[Reaper: If he’s banned for 21 days, isn’t that basically telling him not to challenge Floor 6?\]
\[Retriever: What kind of bullshit trick is it pulling this time…\]
\[Honeybee: This isn’t even a penalty, it’s just blatant. It’s going this far?\]
\[Ricky: Look at the reward. Ark.\]
\[Heavy Weapon: Wait, so right now…\]
What the Tower offered in exchange for the penalty was a skill called “Ark.”
It designated a 3-kilometer radius as the Ark’s domain.
Its effects were immunity to the Tower’s curse and the blocking of external threats, including the Fallen.
People soon realized what the Tower was proposing to Person123.
\[Festival: …Is it saying that even if the world ends, it’ll open a small path for humanity to survive?\]
\[Monster Hunt: As long as Person123 doesn’t challenge Floor 6, that is.\]
If the Nightmare time limit ran out and 99% of humanity died…
In a world where 99% of humanity had become monsters, there was no way the remaining 1% could survive. That was no different from the end anyway.
But if Person123 chose the Ark?
At least the humans inside the Ark could live safely.
Although it was only a safe zone with a 3-kilometer radius, the continuation of humanity would at least be possible.
\[Bomb: This proposal makes no sense. In the end, most people die, and only an extremely tiny minority survives. That’s the same thing.\]
\[Shepig: Would Person123 accept this…?\]
\[Grape: No way. If he chooses it, most of humanity dies.\]
\[Howard: But how many people can fit in a 3-kilometer radius?\]
\[Solar System: No idea. Maybe about a million?\]
While the communication window was in chaos, the real world was no different.
The venue that had been livestreaming Alejandro’s entrance to Floor 6 also became noisy because of the Tower’s sudden announcement.
“…What the hell.”
Alejandro, who had temporarily stopped his entry and read the Tower’s entire proposal, twisted his expression.
He was the one challenging Floor 6 right now.
So why the hell was it making another proposal to Person123?
Even the contents of the proposal were absurd.
Ark?
What the fuck was that?
After reading the description, it was basically a skill that would let someone become king of the world after the apocalypse.
…It would give him a skill like that just for giving up on challenging Floor 6?
It was trying this hard to stop Person123 from challenging.
But what about me?
Alejandro couldn’t help feeling as if the Tower had completely ignored him.
His pride thoroughly wounded and his insides boiling, he looked around at the chaotic surroundings and shouted,
“Person123!”
The commotion died down, and everyone’s attention focused on him again.
Alejandro looked straight into the front camera and said,
“…You may accept the Tower’s proposal. I will clear Floor 6 anyway.”
The most important moment had been ruined, but if he succeeded in clearing Floor 6, the spotlight would return to him.
‘Tower, you son of a bitch.’
So I’m not even worth paying attention to?
Let’s see if you can still act like this after I clear Floor 6.
\[Would you like to enter Nightmare difficulty Floor 6?\]
And so Alejandro entered Floor 6 as planned, almost as if he were rushing in out of anger.
Not long afterward, the number in the Nightmare communication window decreased by one.
Alejandro had failed to clear Floor 6.
But no one paid attention to that anymore.
Because the world was not in a situation where it could care about something so minor.
News media all over the world scrambled to report the news.
“The Tower has once again made a proposal to Person123.”
Panels seated around news desks exchanged words with grave faces.
“Now the Tower is trying to stop Person123’s challenge itself. It is offering him a reward simply for not challenging.”
“But that reward… the Ark. If Person123 gives up clearing Floor 6 and chooses the Ark, then even if the world ends, a small number of humans will be able to continue existing.”
“A 3-kilometer radius is about half the area of Manhattan, New York. Manhattan’s population is approximately 1.6 million.”
“If Person123 chooses the Ark, the death of the vast majority of humanity will be unavoidable.”
“Is there any chance he might give up on the clear and choose the Ark?”
“Looking at Person123’s actions until now, I believe that possibility is very low, but…”
In the end, what people focused on was what Person123 would choose.
Naturally, the overwhelming majority did not want him to choose the Ark.
The number of people the Ark could save would be an extremely tiny minority, and no one believed they would be included among them.
Would Person123, who had done so much for humanity, really choose a path where most of humanity died?
Even so, people believed he would never give up the challenge, but…
\[Cat: …Couldn’t he choose the Ark? It does open a path for humanity to survive, at least.\]
\[Greatsword: Does that make sense? The remaining billions will all die!\]
\[ThatBoard: If it were me, I might choose the Ark. How long do you think we can keep holding out like this?\]
Person123 cared for humanity.
That was something people no longer doubted in the slightest.
But…
No one knew how that care would work.
If Person123 tried to prioritize a slightly more certain continuation of humanity over an uncertain future, choosing the Ark and giving up the clear was not impossible.
As they waited for Person123’s choice, people trembled with anxiety.
Some immediately took action.
Since Person123 was Korean, they judged that if he chose the Ark, the Ark would likely be formed in Korea.
Flights to Korea from all over the world sold out instantly.
Conglomerate owners, high-ranking government officials, and others tried to enter Korea through private jets.
People clinging to even the faintest hope began flooding into Korea, and the Korean government also found itself thrown into emergency by the chaos.
Less than a day after the Tower’s announcement, the world had fallen into utter turmoil.
---
\[Nightmare\]
Participants: 378,821
Time Limit: 20 days, 6 hours, 54 minutes, 16 seconds
Highest Reached Floor: 5
The time was gradually approaching.
After telling my family I was going out for a walk, I left home and sat deep in thought inside a motel room.
“…”
\[Skill: Ark (?)\]
Designates a 3-kilometer radius as the domain of the Ark. The Ark completely blocks external threats, including the Fallen, and humans within the Ark’s domain are immune to the Tower’s curse. Only humans permitted by the skill caster may enter the Ark’s domain. The skill can be used in an activation/deactivation format, and an activated Ark lasts forever.
Type: Special
Willpower Cost: None
Cooldown: None
Looking at the description of this skill called Ark…
The Tower’s intention was painfully clear.
If I accepted destruction without challenging the floor, it would let at least a few people live.
How should I put it?
It even felt as if the Tower was trying to negotiate with me, telling me to be satisfied with this much.
It hadn’t been long since I confidently said I would struggle all the way to the end.
But my honest feeling was…
How much longer could I keep holding out?
Wasn’t it inevitable that I would eventually fail, and the world’s destruction was only a matter of time?
And even if, by some chance, I endured all the way to the end…
What would be waiting there?
But if I chose the Ark…
I and my family could definitely survive.
The problem of the Fallen would also be solved.
Humanity would be trapped in a much smaller world than the one it had lived in until now, but it would continue to exist.
I looked it up, and a 3-kilometer radius was roughly the size of one district in Seoul.
Apparently, if people stood packed so tightly they barely had space to set their feet down, hundreds of millions could fit.
Of course, that wasn’t realistic…
Still, maybe a few hundred thousand people could live somewhat like humans.
Food issues and various other problems…
Since the Fallen wouldn’t pose much of a threat to me, maybe if I diligently moved in and out of the Ark, things could somehow work out.
And if the Tower’s curse activated only once when the time limit ended, and if I continued steadily dealing with the Fallen…
Perhaps in the far future, more of humanity than expected could survive.
I really thought about all kinds of things over the course of a day.
If I chose the Ark, where would I form it?
How would I accept people during the remaining 20 days?
How would order be maintained afterward?
But even as I continued those thoughts…
In the end, everything arrived at one question.
Could I really trust the Tower?
The Ark’s description said it would completely block external threats and that the Ark would last forever, but that too was merely the Tower’s power.
If I chose the Ark, humanity would essentially live within the Tower’s grasp from then on.
Honestly, my mind had already tilted long ago.
Let over eight billion humans die, and save only a few hundred thousand to a few million at most?
No matter how I thought about it, the numbers just didn’t add up.
Even so, the reason I still had the slightest lingering attachment was…
If I chose the Ark, I could at least save my family for certain.
And there was also the anxiety that maybe this was the Tower’s final proposal.
That maybe I was kicking away humanity’s last chance to survive even a little with my own feet.
“…At least be a little more generous.”
I muttered pointlessly into the air.
I didn’t know whether the Tower was listening, but I spoke to it.
Even Th*n*s let half of humanity live. You could have offered at least that much. A mere 3-kilometer radius?
Of course, no answer came from the Tower.
Fine…
This really won’t do.
Then let’s flip the table.
After making up my mind one last time, I stood up.
“I’ll clear Floor 6 too.”
And Floor 7, Floor 8, Floor 9, and every floor after that.
Until I finally climb all the way to the end, or until you make me an offer that satisfies me, I will not stop.
No.
I cannot stop.
\[Would you like to enter Nightmare difficulty Floor 6?\]
The scenery before my eyes changed.