The Tower's Trial: Floor 8. Declaration of War

At eight p.m.

It took me a while to organize my thoughts and materials, so I started the broadcast considerably later than usual.

[Lee Do-hee has started a broadcast: 101 Reasons You'll Get Screwed If You Join a Major Guild]

"Phew, hello, everyone."

- Doha

- The title is fucking apocalyptic ㄷㄷ

- Whoa.... What the hell is going on?

- Do-hee, what's with the title?ㅋㅋㅋ

- You're taking shots at the major guilds? Seriously?

- Do-hee, I'm scared...

- Ms. Lee Do-hee, I'm rooting for you!

As expected, the viewers reacted in all sorts of ways.

They knew too.

They knew that the major guilds were fucking awful, but that Korea could no longer survive without them.

They instinctively knew that, as citizens living in South Korea, they had no choice but to kneel before them.

- Do-hee… You mustn't mess with the major guilds.

- Ah…

- Protect Do-heeㅠ

- Is this because of those shitty reporters?

- What kind of decision did you make overnight?

- Fuck, are the major guilds really that strong?

- They're fucking strong;;

The major guilds.

The major guilds consisted of an alliance of six guilds.

The Oseong Guild, the most successful of them all, backed by the global conglomerate Oseong Group.

The Baekya Society, made up of healers and priests who had swallowed up the medical and pharmaceutical industries.

The Red Magic Tower, centered around mages.

The Steel Alliance, made up mainly of sweaty men such as warriors, martial artists, and tanks.

The Black Veil, made up of Awakeners in the thief, archer, and assassin classes.

And finally, the Golden Dawn Society, which coordinated the others from behind the scenes and was deeply involved with Korean political circles.

This was what I had realized while investigating these bastards' activities all this time.

‘They seem to fight, but they unite.’

Even when they seemed to be fighting over something, whenever anyone challenged them, they all came rushing in to gang up on the challenger.

Whether it was a new small or mid-sized guild, an individual Awakener, or a politician, they united.

At first, I had devised a plan to drive them apart and defeat them one by one, but there were no openings.

‘You only see an opening once they grow weak.’

It would not be an exaggeration to say that their influence had swallowed Korea whole.

That was why they had no need to fight each other. Their fields were slightly different, and there was plenty of profit to go around without having to monopolize everything.

But what if their position in Korea weakened?

If the size of the pie they could eat in Korea shrank, there was a chance they would start fighting each other over it.

So first, I had to reduce the total pie of the six-guild major-guild coalition.

And this was the first step.

This time, it would not end with merely clearing Choi Tae-soo's name.

"Yes! Quite a lot of viewers have already arrived."

Today was Sunday evening.

It was the peak time for internet broadcasts, and since one huge topic after another related to me had been pouring out, even more people were flocking here.

[Current viewers: 112,322]

- What's with the title?

- With this many viewers, it's time to shoot porn, isn't it?

- It's been a while since we've seen serious Do-hee.

- Her outfit is normal today too.

"First, you remember the bulletin board I made a long time ago, right? The Fabricated Articles board. Let's go there."

Do you remember? Something similar had happened in the past.

Right after I cleared Floor 3, I had achieved the incredible feat of becoming the first person in the world to reach SS grade, but so much false information had spread that I created this board.

Although I had not personally managed it during that time, my fans were still posting there and even kindly rebutting the claims on their own.

- Honestly, the reporters crossed the line yesterday.

- Seriously, why the fuck did they pull down her pants and take pictures?

- Time to teach them a lesson~~!

[Fabricated Articles Board]

YBN: [Shocking: Did She Obtain the World's First SSS-Grade Reward Through Prostitution?]

There was no need to read the article.

It was so full of fabrications that I wondered how something like this had even made it onto the main page of a portal site.

She had even photoshopped out her own hand, cleverly compositing the picture to make it look as though I had been caught enjoying public exposure.

"Let's start with this one. Refuting the fabrications will be incredibly simple. Status Window!"

If I opened the Status Window and checked the details of Lewdness, everything was listed there.

"Haah… I didn't think I'd have to show this again, but you can see it, right?"

[Prostitution Experience: 0 times]

This section recorded every sexual experience I had had, almost like a historical record.

- Nobody believes itㅋㅋㅋㅋ

- We don't believe it, but apparently some ordinary people who read the article do.

- Wow… This clears it up so easily.

- The Status Window can't lie, so that's the end of the explanation.

Of course, if I had only intended to clear my name, I would never have started this in the first place.

"Now then! I wonder who wrote this?"

- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

- Time to take them down~

- Time for a counterattack!!

- This is grounds for a lawsuit over spreading false information, isn't it?

I followed the link and looked at the reporter's information.

[YBN Reporter Oh So-young]

A neatly taken photograph showed a short-haired woman with light brown hair.

"Reporter Oh So-young!! Wow, this woman… She pulled down my pants and took pictures of me early yesterday morning, right? Let's see what this woman usually does, shall we?"

Of course, I had already seen exactly what this bitch was up to.

This was a kind of public execution.

If that bitch was watching my broadcast, she would feel the same humiliation I had felt yesterday.

"Now… let's see?"

[Oseong Guild Announces a New Strategy]

[The Only True Greatest Guild of This Era Is the Oseong Guild]

[Lee Do-hee, Owner of the World's First SS Grade, Turns Out to Be an Illegal Distributor of Obscene Material!?]

[What Is the True Identity of the Female Awakener Who Barely Increased Her Breasts with an SS-Grade Reward?]

[Let's Examine the Oseong Guild's True Strength]

[Oseong Guild Master Han Seung-yoon to Marry Oseong Group's Eldest Daughter!?]

[Oseong Guild Master Han Yong-un, the Man Who Makes Japan Tremble]

"What's this? Wow~ At this point, isn't she basically an honorary Oseong Guild member?"

I did not know whether she was genuinely an honorary member of the Oseong Guild. But one thing was certain: she was clearly doing this in exchange for money or something else from them.

And it wasn't just me.

When I looked a little further back through the articles…

[Yoon Seong-hwan Caught Having a Secret Meeting with a Bar Woman!!]

[Promising Prospect Yoon Seong-hwan Suspected of Tax Evasion!?]

There were also cases where she had relentlessly targeted someone named Yoon Seong-hwan instead of me.

"Yoon Seong-hwan... It says here that he has now joined the Oseong Guild. And after joining, not a single negative article has come out about him."

No physical evidence?

"Yes~ There's physical evidence here too. They even confessed in an email to me, kindly saying they would take down the articles if I joined their guild."

I showed the viewers an email sent to my Pantheon TV account.

- Wow… That's truly disgusting.

- How many times have they done that to be so damn shameless... It's revolting.

- Did the Oseong Guild order them to do it? ㄷㄷ

- Major guilds (sexual harassment and fabricated articles using female reporters)

- I'm seriously fucking embarrassed. How is that the number-one guild?

- Sigh… The ugly truth of Korea's major guilds is so embarrassing.

- They do it that openly?

"Did you think I was just someone who would sit quietly because I didn't sue you for sexually harassing and insulting me, Reporter?"

- No way, is it finally happening?

- King-level counterattack incoming.

- They need to get hit with a real-life lesson before they come to their sensesㅋㅋㅋㅋ

"Yes. I'm going to sue this reporter for spreading false information, defamation, and forcible sexual assault. You do know that sexual harassment between women counts too, right?"

I was not going to do it right now. If I built a guild or found an agency later, I would leave it to those dogs. When would I ever have the time to handle everything myself?

But at least a clear warning would be issued, and the truth behind the fabrications would be revealed.

- Wow…

- That suddenly got realistic.

- You're really doing it?

- I feel like I just got hit with a bucket of cold water…

- Do-hee, it's okay that we sexually harassed you, right…?

"Of course, I don't care if viewers post shit in the chat or go to weird communities and shitpost. I'll only sue the ‘major-guild lackey reporters’ who spread false information."

- Lackey reportersㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

- They really did it so blatantly.

- Come to think of it, promising prospects were noisy until they joined a major guild, then went silent the moment they joined…

- This is seriously scary. It gives me chills…

- So we can keep sexually harassing her? What a fucking bargainㅋㅋㅋ

How confident must they have been to attack promising prospects with articles that left all the evidence on record?

They must have had no opponents capable of defeating them, leaving individual Awakeners feeling hopeless and forcing them to choose the path of the major guilds.

This reporter was not the only one who had done such things.

The Baekya Society, the Red Magic Tower, the Steel Alliance, the Black Veil, and the Golden Dawn Society.

I rounded up all the reporters they had prepared, one after another, and publicly executed them.

Since I had already identified all these articles and reporters while researching materials every afternoon, they were easy to find.

- Wow;; Fuck, the major guild bastards' tyranny makes me sick.

- It's even scarier that they do it so openly without trying to hide it.

- I didn't know it was this bad. I thought they were still human, but they're beasts.

- This is so devastating and horrifying...

- Seriously, it makes me sick. They're fucking disgusting;;

But there was no point in cursing the major guilds here.

What good would it do for powerless citizens to curse them? They could not stop buying Oseong Group's products, nor could they refuse the Baekya Society's medical services.

The most important thing was something else.

How to reduce their power and influence.

"I didn't expose this because of such petty fabrications."

- You call this trivial?

- Fuck, what else is there?

- You were preparing this in advance, Do-hee.

- Is this related to the tall man?

- This is trivial...?

"All Awakeners in Korea, listen carefully!"

The key was the Awakeners.

"You must never, ever join a major guild!! And if you've already joined one, leave right now, no matter what penalty you have to pay."

This was something I had emphasized even in my previous life.

Once you joined a major guild, your growth was blocked, no matter how promising you were.

"I'm going to tell you why you mustn't join them, and about the structure of the major guilds that you don't know about."

- What the hell, she really came prepared today.

- The tall man.....ㅠ

- It seems Do-hee had her own circumstances too...

- Is she finally going to expose it?

- Wow... I can't believe there was someone who could say this...

- The structure of the major guilds...?

To understand the structure of the major guilds, you first needed to understand the Constellation system.

There were currently two types of Constellations.

Upper Constellations and Lower Constellations.

The difference between them was whether or not they had the authority to grant Awakeners the power to form subcontracts.

A subcontract was like a contract that served as a link, connecting an Awakener who had directly contracted with a Constellation to another Awakener.

Put simply, it was like multi-level marketing, or a subcontract under a subcontract.

And all the major guild masters had contracts with Upper Constellations capable of forming subcontracts.

Using that power, the guild masters directly formed subcontracts with newcomers on Floor 10 or below who had not yet contracted with a Constellation, granting them favorable stats.

Hearing this, you might think that the newcomers simply received better stats and skills, right? But reality was different.

The moment you signed a subcontract, it was no different from stamping a slave brand on yourself for life.

The biggest reason was that the guild master could unilaterally terminate the subcontract whenever they wanted. Of course, terminating the contract would not kill you.

But you would lose everything related to the skills and traits you had built up through the subcontract.

For example, using my current traits as an example, it would be like my Unique Stat disappearing, taking <SSS-Grade Divine Onahole Body> and <SS-Grade Lewd Lee Do-hee's Divine Power> with it. In the end, the moment your contract was terminated, you lost most of the abilities you had built up.

So if they did not want to lose their abilities, they ultimately had to become the guild master's slaves and do anything they were told.

‘What a vicious method.’

And what did these bastards do with this system?

They manipulated contribution points.

Just as Yoon Seong-gi and I had been practically forced to split it in a 7:3 ratio on Floor 8, the guild masters and the original core members took everything in a 10:0 ratio.

They lured them into danger by giving them the false hope that one day they could train hard and earn a position among the executives. Even knowing it was wrong, they had no choice but to agree.

The moment they refused, they were finished. The higher they climbed, the more traits became entangled with Constellations, making escape impossible.

At first, they would think, ‘I can cut ties and leave if it gets this bad.’ But at some point, they realized they could do nothing without their Constellation skills and traits.

Even if they did not want to become entangled, the major guilds ordered them to choose traits that would forcibly bind them to the system.

They kept thinking, ‘This will be enough,’ and, ‘I just have to endure this one more time,’ until they were submerged in a swamp they could no longer escape.

This was the current major-guild system in South Korea.

Every promising newcomer became a meat shield for the major guild old guard and a slave who paid tribute in contribution points.

"Cruel, isn't it? But this is the truth. This is why no new high-level Awakeners emerge in Korea! This is why Korea continues to fall behind other countries!!"

Without realizing it, my voice grew louder, and I became enraged.

This was how I truly felt.

I was angry that they had betrayed me, but what enraged me even more was that, by betraying me, they were merely making it easier to bleed the new Awakeners dry...

"It's all because of the major guilds' tyranny. And by the time you realize this for yourself, you'll already be as good as dead."

Thanks to all sorts of perverted acts and world-first achievements, I had been able to gather an audience like this. But if someone exposed the major guilds after leaving one, where could they do it?

On a broadcast? A tiny stream that didn't attract a single viewer?

Or to the police or prosecutors, who were in league with them?

A community filled with trolls?

Of course, the politicians were all on the same side too.

The only place they could talk was with acquaintances, but the moment they told those acquaintances, those acquaintances would be put in danger.

In the end, they had no choice but to become slaves who went off to die, believing they could reclaim the brilliant past they once had.

And the biggest problem was not this.

[Lugia donated 10,000 won]

So what? Korea will collapse without the six major guilds! If Seoul turns into a sea of fire because nobody can clear the next floor, are you going to take responsibility?

That donation message struck at the most painful point.

There was no one to replace them.

Do you think this was the first time anyone had exposed them? Naturally, there were people with a strong sense of justice everywhere.

But although the public knew intellectually that the major guilds did terrible things, they deliberately turned away.

‘I haven't been harmed.’

‘It can't be helped.’

‘I'm not the perpetrator...’

‘Besides, don't we need the major guilds?’

‘It's only one or two people.....’

‘Surely there aren't any wronged people in the world?’

By repeating these things to themselves like brainwashing, they turned away even when they saw pitiful victims.

But I was different.

I had confidence.

I had courage.

I had determination.

And I had the ‘ability’ to accomplish it.

"Yes. I'll take responsibility. Floor 78, right? You really haven't climbed for shit... I cleared it two months ago, so do we have ten months left?"

[Current viewers: 215,567]

And I had hundreds of thousands of viewers watching me.

- No way....

- Uh-oh...?

- Wow, fuck;;

The corners of my mouth rose slightly in a mocking smile, then fell again.

This was not arrogance.

It was confidence.

I kicked back my chair and stood up.

I raised my clenched fist high and shouted with all my strength.

"Floor 79! I'll clear it!!!"

- Crackle...

As I clenched my hand, a little purple mana was released.

- Is this for real...?

- Wow, fuck;;

- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What a relief~~

- The part about not climbing for shit is the bestㅋㅋㅋ

- If it's Lee Do-hee, it might be possible...?

- She's declaring war on the major guilds... At least this is giving me a shitload of dopamine.

- Is this real?

- Nghh, divine-power pouch...

- If there's someone capable of this, we really don't need major guilds.

- Do-hee, you've really gone insane.

- Crazy bitch... She's seriously crazy...

- Chills...

"Someone has to do this. Awakeners, how much longer are you going to bow down before the tyranny of the major guilds!!!"

Without realizing it, emotions surged up from deep within me.

"It's not too late, even now. All Awakeners, leave the major guilds. Stop making yourselves their slaves. You were promising talents who could have shone brilliantly!"

I was so angry.

Because of the major guilds' vested interests, Korea alone had failed to make any progress all this time.

How could we advance when all the new Awakeners climbing the Tower became mass-produced Awakeners molded to suit the guilds' tastes?

"Resist!! Struggle!! Decide your own fate!!!"

Despair.

Rage.

Hope.

And a longing for freedom!

Humanity's most fundamental instincts had to burst forth.

I stared straight ahead and shouted.

"Everyone in Korea. We no longer need the major guilds that are eating away at Korea. I'll do it!!!

"I, Lee Do-hee, will make Korea great again!!!!"

Make Korea Great Again.

The first speech to restore order to this land.

A mere Floor 10 Awakener was discussing the future of Korea.

‘Now then, you major-guild bastards, what are you going to do?’