Chapter 5
"Ten years since Seoul ended up like that. I don't know how long it's been since we got good news."
Amid the towering buildings stood a Tower of Babel stretching upward as if it would pierce the heavens.
The wrinkled old man gazed beyond that hundred-story Tower, so out of place in Korea, toward the direction where the once-glorious capital of the Republic of Korea had stood. He was smiling.
If he was sixty this year, it was difficult to call him old in this era of aging populations—but the twists and turns of his life over the past ten years had been quite severe.
"Chairman, we've obtained information on the Climber at the Incheon Tower."
"I've been waiting for this, truly. Do you know how excited I am? I haven't even touched my favorite strawberry milk."
"At your age, you should probably cut back on dairy...."
"Must be nice being young! Hahaha!!"
A woman with torn stockings, a crumpled suit, unwashed hair, and hollow eyes set down a stack of documents. In response to the surveillance team chief's rebuke, the chairman replied in a sulky tone that being young was all well and good, but she shouldn't overdo the caffeine.
"What do you think, Chief Won Da-hye?"
Chairman Yoo Gyeong-yeon of the Republic of Korea Climber Association asked the young woman he trusted most—and whom he had arbitrarily marked as the next chairman. People already called it ten years ago, but to him, the incident was only ten years old.
When the Tower suddenly rose in Seoul, the ruling party regulated the Awakened as dangerous factors that could go off at any moment, while the opposition tried to recruit them—and countless political parties pursued power far too great for any individual to possess. There had even once been something called the Incheon Climber Workers' Union.
He didn't even want to think about how much blood had been spilled before the Climber Association was established to deal with the Towers.
If a Tower was left unattended for a certain amount of time, its collapse rate rose. It rose just as much when too many resources were mined from inside. But if people climbed the Tower, the collapse rate fell. That was how resources were supplied from the Towers, with people slowly climbing one floor at a time and mining resources, while companies, guilds to which Awakened belonged, and new political parties supporting them from behind...
They were all things he was sick of talking about by now.
Politics was exhausting. It's not as if he had wanted this position in the first place.
"There'll be a Cabinet meeting, I suppose."
The moment they awakened, 『Climbers』 became capable of communicating even if they couldn't read. That was why the Awakened who had grown exhausted on that nightmarish day had left, regardless of whether the country collapsed or not. Even now, many people still voiced their resentment toward the Awakened who had departed.
The Republic of Korea had the fewest Awakened of any country in the world.
It was ironic. Should they laugh because their quick response had been possible thanks to the widespread popularity of Tower-climbing fiction? This had once been a country that even regulated adult products. Many things had changed now. The newly established president was a vulgar power broker from the rotten entrenched elite, but that actually made things easier, since he took care of the upper class, such as guilds and corporations, rather than the citizens.
Chairman Yoo Gyeong-yeon had always done his best to keep the country from collapsing.
Neither guilds nor corporations nor Climbers could ignore the Climber Association. It existed as the country's only means of restraint, and the fact that Climber-related crimes did not occur was also thanks to it.
His conquests of the Busan 77-floor Tower, the Icheon 50-floor Tower, and the Hwaseong 40-floor Tower.... As Korea's most authoritative Climber and the strongest Climber of Korea's first generation, he had seized that power through force.
His ideology was, above all, conquering Towers.
Guilds, corporations, Climbers—he didn't care who did it, as long as the Towers were conquered and the tragedy that had occurred in Seoul never happened again. That was enough.
But he had never imagined something like this happening, so the corners of his mouth remained stretched all the way to his ears.
"Chief, I'm not dreaming, am I?"
Even for him, this was the first time he had seen a 『Platinum-Clear Floor』 in Korea with his own eyes.
A 『Platinum-Clear Floor』—called a Platinum clear inside the Tower and indicated outside by a change in the floor's color—had appeared in the Incheon Tower.
The first problem was that no one knew the conditions for clearing one. Even if someone learned those conditions through [the Tower's rewards], once they had reached that floor, they would never receive another chance to challenge it. All the skills and stats they had gained would reset if they gave up on the climb and tried again, with the same result. The only way was to provide the information to another Climber, but very few people ever did that.
Platinum clears were rare, but they could generally be achieved either by obtaining information in this way or by finding hints inside the Tower floor.
The absolute condition was that every Climber received exactly one chance at the moment they reached each floor.
In practice, it was no different from being told not to fulfill the conditions at all.
The benefits of a 『Platinum-Clear Floor』 surpassed the imagination. Even non-Climbers could enter through the Tower, use modern civilization in its entirety, and even use it as a bunker or shelter in an emergency. Moreover, the environment inside the floor restored itself according to its long cycle even if no one climbed higher. That meant it provided semi-permanent resources until the Tower was conquered.
Such Platinum-Clear Floors appeared from time to time in countless Towers.
But there had never, not even once, been a case where someone obtained one starting from Floor 1.
And before anyone knew it, it was already Floor 2.
"Could a Climber who regressed to save humanity from destruction have appeared?"
"I told you to stop reading novels.... It would've been better if one had regressed. That's the problem—they haven't."
The photograph Won Da-hye showed as she turned the first page was unmistakably a drawing of a character. A 2D character, to be precise. Unsure how he was supposed to react, the chairman briefly wondered whether he should respect her tastes... but decided to calmly ask the young woman instead.
"Could you explain it so even this old man can understand?"
"Wakamo Inarizushi. 243 centimeters tall and weighing 211 kilograms. A fox god, 1,000 years old this year, who was sealed away and released into the modern era and has been doing internet broadcasts for five years now. A str... no, a VTuber."
"What's a VTuber?"
"Um... people who put on an image like this and do personal broadcasts are called that."
Even as she explained it, Chief Won Da-hye wore an awkward expression. Honestly, she found it absurd herself.
The right to enter a 『Platinum-Clear Floor』 belonged to the Climber who had cleared it, making that person effectively the floor's owner. The Tower honored the Climber by engraving their name in large letters.... That name was 【Wakamo Inarizushi】! Naturally, the chief wanted to ask her subordinate whether they had been drinking in the middle of the day, but unfortunately, this was reality.
"So the person who broadcasts in virtual reality is climbing in person? That this is actually a fox god who has lived for a thousand years? The Tower rose, so surely such beings could exist too, right?"
"Will the people above us accept that?"
"They'll have to."
The air suddenly grew heavy. The chairman's eyes, which always gave a pleasant impression, gleamed like a beast's. At last, an outstanding Climber had appeared in Korea—what did their identity matter? Having no criminal record was enough. Any political party that tried to obstruct the climb or make an unnecessary approach would have to be ready for bloodshed.
"But I'm glad the person is a broadcaster. People in that field are always conscious of others and manage themselves carefully. Of course, there are cases where they get drunk on fame or become too greedy—but make contact carefully so the person doesn't get upset, Chief. You like that sort of thing, don't you?"
The chief kicked the chairman in the shin and ran out, saying she understood. He deserved to be kicked for treating her personal hobby like a joke.
The chairman couldn't understand why she was so embarrassed. In an era like this, everyone probably had one or two hobbies that might be called otaku interests. But the reason she had rushed out lay elsewhere.
People said the world was full of incredible coincidences... Who could have guessed that the person who became interested after watching a stock-market stream, accidentally became a fan, and even created and managed a café that was practically abandoned would be the chief of the Climber Association's surveillance team?
"Wow, no. Haah. What... Seriously, this is insane."
Ripping at her hair, she checked the YouTube channel, visited the café, and searched every place where she might be able to make contact, but everywhere was in complete chaos. Every community was ablaze over the person who had given Korea its first Platinum-Clear Floor. The fact that the person wasn't even human but a VTuber only made things worse.
And it was Won Da-hye's oshi at that—the one who rarely streamed and spent all day talking and donating in other VTubers' streams as a clipper!!
"Boss, turn on the stream! What is this now?!"
[A Japanese Climber has illegally entered Korea and is climbing the Incheon Tower?!]
"Aaaah!!!"
Meanwhile, internet news articles that hadn't even been properly investigated had already begun posting absurd stories on the front page.
As soon as one entered Incheon's 100-floor Tower, one could see a magnificent, towering monument of honor bearing a bizarre name. It wasn't a name a Korean would use, and it was too strange even for a Japanese name. How could a person's name be Inarizushi?
"We're screwed."
She had no manager because she didn't care whether the chat became filthy. She had no editor because she edited her own videos. She knew her fan café existed but never visited it. The only way to contact her was by email, but she knew the ecosystem of VTubers... no, streamers. Her inbox would already be on fire. A phone number? There was no way she had one.
"Why is the lunatic who was clipping videos and promoting the duel tournament yesterday in the Tower?!"
The other VTubers she had collaborated with should have her contact information.
"Is this really the right thing to do...?"
Was it really right to go around asking people like this?
When Chief Won Da-hye timidly opened the door on the Association's first floor, reporters swarmed her like rabid dogs and began bombarding her with questions. But how could she explain this? It might actually have been better if Wakamo had smuggled herself in from Japan and gone into hiding in Korea. Then Japan would have lost a brilliant talent to Korea, after all!!
But the Wakamo she knew was Korean!! She wanted to deny it, but Wakamo might really be a fox god..!!
And they expected her to explain that right now?
[The Incheon Tower's Floor 3 has fulfilled its Platinum conditions and is opening to all humanity!!]
Her head was killing her, yet a fanfare rang out around her. It felt as though it were mocking her.
The memory of how she had happily worshiped Boss as a god just the other day because every stock he invested in kept rising flashed through her mind.
She couldn't bring herself to say anything harsh in case he really was a fox god, and merely trembled.
All she could do was leave a comment on Wakamo's channel community telling her to start streaming.
※※※
"Wow, look how fast the posts are going up."
The fact that an internet window could open meant live broadcasting was possible!!
"Now I know why I didn't take any damage on Floor 2."
I sat astride the corpse of the [Angry Boar] that appeared on Floor 3 and worried, but the impact was far greater than I could have imagined. Cold sweat broke out as my channel and inbox both went up in flames, so I blocked everything. Thanks to that, I finally had some peace of mind.
[Status Window]
[Climber : Wakamo Inarizushi]
[Class : VTuber]
[Age : 1,000 years old]
[Stats]
Mana : 149,367.
My mana had risen exponentially! Naturally, that was the result of riding something even hotter than the algorithm. I had spread my name throughout Korea.... I was asking my clipper acquaintances and VTuber acquaintances what on earth had happened, but that wasn't important right now.
[Internet Connection]
-[Climber] accesses the internet recognized by the [Climber].
-[Video Recording] can be linked with skills.
-Using skills consumes mana.
The fact that I had internet access meant..... I could play games too!
"Now that I have some breathing room, I should build a Duel deck for the collab."
I logged into the game and checked my cards while reading the window floating before my eyes.
[You are climbing in the Incheon Tower's Floor 3 World]
-The Tower contains various monsters. Let's hunt an [Angry Boar]!
[Platinum Achievement Conditions]
-Defeat it using a weapon crafted on Floor 2 (1/1)
-Defeat an [Angry Boar] without getting hurt (1/1)
[Rewards have increased due to the Tower's Platinum clear]
"This time, I'm definitely picking an attack skill."
[Choose 1 reward]
[Idol's Flame]
-Consumes stored mana to create a flame.
[Idol's Thunderstrike]
-Consumes stored mana to fire a lightning spear.
[Worshiped God]
-Mana recovery speed increases in proportion to the number of believers.
[My Worlds]
-Has the same functions as 『Virtual Chat』.
-The room's quality varies according to the number of floors the [Climber] has conquered.
-Summons a private space the size of a small studio apartment.
[Acquired the skill [My Worlds]!]
"[Tower Exit]!!"
I returned home faster than light and struck a pose.
"[My Worlds]!"
Without even figuring out what the skill did, I stuck my face into the portal that appeared in midair, confirmed that it led to a suitable studio-apartment-sized space, and shoved everything inside at random. I put in my bed first, grabbed my computer, filled the space with my precious VTuber merchandise, emptied my house, then entered and closed the portal.
A spatial skill...! Among unique skills, this was one of the rarest!!
Then I paused to think for a moment.
The hesitation lasted an instant; the decision took only a moment. I grabbed the VTuber collection and computer tower I had gathered over the years. Although acquiring this property had involved countless hardships...
If this got in the way of my path as a VTuber, I didn't need it...!!
I could enter the Tower and come out in Incheon, after all!!
I boldly set fire to my own house.
I would never come back again... not until I succeeded as a VTuber....
"I'm sorry, Going Merry...!!!"
With tears in my eyes, I said goodbye to my home and threw myself into the portal.