Chapter 177
In the midst of all this, Beijing. Hunter Management Bureau.
The dozens of Communist Party officials had gathered in front of a huge screen.
Each held a cigarette as they talked with grave expressions.
China’s Hunter Bureau chief, Wang Qian, tapped the table anxiously.
“How long has it been since Japan entered Floor 50?”
“Exactly two hours.”
“And Korea?”
“No word yet. But they’ll make a move soon.”
“Our assault team is currently clearing Floor 49. We should have a result in about an hour at the latest.”
“I see….”
The reason they were so anxious was simple.
China had been getting pushed back in the recent power struggle.
Since the Tower appeared, global hegemony was no longer determined by economic or military strength.
What mattered more was how many powerful hunters a country had.
More precisely, the number and quality of its hunters now represented its economic and military power.
In this competition, the United States was, needless to say, overwhelmingly in first place.
Naturally, thanks to that lunatic who walked around wearing the Stars and Stripes.
So what about China?
They had plenty of hunters—just as many as their population would suggest.
But in terms of quality, they were terrible.
Compared to the countless A-ranks underfoot, they had only three S-ranks.
“Too few. Far too few.”
“It can’t be helped. We banned Tower climbing because we couldn’t control it if there were too many S-ranks, remember?”
“Now we have to increase them, even if we have to take that risk.”
Of course, this had all been by design.
An S-rank hunter was a walking nuclear weapon.
What if they banded together and got ideas of their own?
A coup or regime change would be nothing.
If too many superhumans appeared, the Communist Party’s ability to maintain the system would be threatened.
So the government had been rigorously managing hunters’ growth all along.
Even now, every aspect of an S-rank’s daily life was under surveillance and wiretapping.
On top of that, if anything suspicious was detected, missiles were already locked on for an immediate strike.
They were fully prepared to sacrifice a city if it meant preserving the system.
“The situation has changed, hasn’t it? All because of those damn little countries….”
But Korea and Japan had been making unusual moves lately.
They had announced reserve S-ranks and declared that they would challenge Floor 50.
If they succeeded, Korea and Japan would each have two S-rank teams.
Combined, that would surpass China’s three.
Moreover, after the recent incident with the Korean startup Aeternus, China’s face had been rubbed into the dirt.
For Chinese people, who valued face more than anyone else in the world, it was a humiliation they couldn’t just swallow.
“This can’t go on.”
Whether for practical reasons or to save face, it didn’t matter.
They made their decision.
They would form one more S-rank hunter team, even if control became a little harder.
Of course, they had to be people vetted more thoroughly than anyone else.
“Those Red Dragon Unit guys—are they reliable?”
“Yes. We didn’t even pick anyone with Communist Party members among their relatives.”
“Then they should be trustworthy.”
Guanxi was the best method proven over 4,000 years of Chinese civilization.
Just as Wang Qian was sipping coffee and trying to calm himself.
Bad news he really didn’t want to hear arrived.
“Breaking news! Japan just cleared it….”
“Damn it. Then they got the Legendary too?”
“They say they secured it.”
The faces of everyone who heard that news twisted.
So the small-country bastards really had pulled it off.
“And Korea?”
“They just entered. It’ll be a while before they come back out.”
“That’s at least a relief.”
Fine. They would catch up soon anyway.
That was when it happened.
Ding!
Suddenly, a message appeared before every hunter in the command center.
[World Announcement]
“What is this?”
Wang Qian frowned and checked the message.
[Someone has taken a great step forward.]
[Humanity has prepared to move on to the next stage.]
“The next stage? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Wait! We’re detecting an abnormal response from the Tower!”
“What?”
The operator watching the monitors screamed.
Immediately afterward, the Black Tower vibrated and an earthquake struck.
Koo-goo-goo-goo!
People toppled from their seats.
But there was no time to feel pain. The message that followed was even more shocking.
[The Black Tower Cataclysm Big Bang Patch is now in progress.]
[Warning! Get away from the Tower!]
[Hunters inside the Tower will be forcibly expelled!]
“Expelled? Wait, then what about the Floor 49 assault team?!”
Wang Qian shot to his feet.
What was going to happen to the Chinese hunter team currently attacking Floor 49?
A flash of light burst from the tower entrance on the monitor.
[Ugh!]
[W-what?]
At the same time, people were bounced out of thin air.
It was the S-rank candidate team: the Red Dragon Unit.
They looked around in confusion.
[We’re outside the Tower?]
[We were definitely in the middle of a fight…?]
[Did we clear it?]
[No. It says something about a patch…. What is this? Did it invalidate the clear?]
Clear invalidated.
That much was still manageable.
Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any damage, and they could just try again.
In fact, since they’d already experienced it once, clearing it next time should be easier.
But the next line shattered that expectation.
[Tower entry will be restricted during the patch period.]
[Estimated duration: 1 week]
[Patch details]
[1. A large-scale remake will be carried out for the floors below Floor 50. Difficulty and rewards will be readjusted.]
[2. Unique-rank items and above will no longer drop below Floor 50.]
[(Read more….)]
“W-what?”
Wang Qian’s eyes widened.
No more Unique-or-higher item drops?
Then did that mean they could no longer obtain the Floor 50 Legendary?
And the Floor 49 team that had just been kicked out had lost that chance forever?
“B-but Korea says they just succeeded in clearing Floor 50!”
“What? Damn it…!”
Wang Qian slammed his desk.
Then did that mean the Legendary had just gone to the Korean and Japanese teams that cleared it?
Was there really such a ridiculous thing?
Why now of all times? If they had waited just a few more days, the chance would have come to them too!
“No, it can’t be a coincidence.”
Wang Qian quickly regained his composure and muttered.
There was no way all of this had just happened by chance.
“Someone has taken a great step forward….”
It was obvious who it was.
It had to be the people who had just cleared Floor 50.
Korea’s Kim Hanbyeol. Or Japan’s Hirose Yuki.
Grrrk. Wang Qian ground his teeth.
“I’ll make both of them pay the price.”
They couldn’t let this slide.
If they did nothing while their face had been smashed into the dirt, then his own head would be the one to roll.
“First, this patch thing… the list is ridiculously long. Sort this out and send it up as a report. Also review countermeasures.”
“Countermeasures, sir? How far should we go….”
“That plan from last time. Prepare it.”
“B-but if we actually carry that out, it’ll put us on the brink of war!”
“Do you think I don’t know that? It’s precisely because this is an even bigger threat than that!”
“…!”
Watching his subordinate bow silently and withdraw, Wang Qian clenched his fists.
They couldn’t back down like this.
This time, it was their turn to teach them a lesson with a club.
***
The Daejeon earthquake quickly subsided.
“What on earth just happened….”
I slumped down in front of the Tower. I didn’t have an ounce of strength left in my body.
It felt like I’d just done an intense workout.
It was strange. I had come out of the Tower without doing anything at all.
“Why are there so many….”
In front of me, an enormous number of notices floated in the air.
I was so inexplicably exhausted that I could barely read them.
I slowly read them one sentence at a time.
[Detailed Cataclysm Big Bang Patch Notes (World-Opener exclusive version)]
“World-Opener?”
Not even a pioneer. What a pointless name.
I didn’t even know what it was supposed to mean.
For now, I ignored it and kept reading the information.
[1. Massive remake of the areas below Floor 50]
[The history of areas that have undergone the Great Rebirth will be permanently fixed.]
[Time zones and locations will be finely adjusted.]
“I’ll skip this for now….”
I ignored the parts I couldn’t understand and moved on to the next line.
[2. Accessibility overhaul below Floor 50.]
[To preserve history, more observers will be recruited.]
[Climbing below Floor 50 will become easier.]
[2.1 Difficulty selection system overhaul.]
[Difficulty can be reset on every floor below Floor 50.]
[2.2 Infinite re-climb system implemented.]
[Re-entry to the areas below Floor 50 is possible without limit.]
[2.3 Mid-battle surrender system added.]
[If you hit a crisis during battle, you can pay a fee to escape the Tower immediately.]
“What?”
I rubbed my eyes in disbelief.
Unlimited re-entry? And an escape function too?
That would make leveling and farming so much easier.
It would be on a completely different level from before.
“Why does it get easier just because I cleared it?”
It wasn’t exactly a welcome patch.
That was when the line written below caught my eye.
[However, a toll must be paid for re-entry and escape.]
[A portion of the toll will be paid to the No. 1 ranker of that floor.]
“The No. 1 ranker? That’s me, isn’t it?”
I thought back over my memories.
From Floor 1 to Floor 50.
I had been No. 1 on every floor. The nickname was uniformly set to “ㅇㅇ.”
“So the money paid by hunters all over the world comes to me?”
That’s more like it.
It looked like I could just sit back and print money.
Of course, I still didn’t know how much that fee would be.
[2.4 Item drop table changes.]
[On floors below Floor 50, items of Unique rank or higher will no longer drop.]
“That’s pretty big too…?”
So now there’d be no more jackpot item drops to chase below Floor 50.
In an instant, I understood what this patch meant.
“They’re kicking away the ladder, aren’t they?”
Climbing the lower floors had become easier.
Maybe more hunters would come back.
But if there were more hunters, how were they supposed to get stronger?
They would have to rely entirely on the existing hunters.
Because good gear could no longer be supplied.
In the end, the lower floors would become a setup where people mined mana stones like crazy and handed them over to the higher-rank hunters.
The upper-rank hunters would then climb even higher with those mana stones, and the gap would keep widening.
As far as I was concerned, that was only a good thing.
I had already secured my items.
It was just a shame I didn’t have enough items to sell outside.
“There’s still plenty left….”
The patch didn’t end there.
It seemed they hadn’t called it Cataclysm and Big Bang for nothing.
[3. Currency system.]
[All costs can only be paid in ‘high-grade mana stones’.]
[All existing mana stones will be classified as ‘low-grade mana stones’.]
[High-grade mana stones can only be obtained on Floor 51 and above.]
“… They’ve lost their minds.”
Looks like the Tower was dead set on kicking away the ladder.