Chapter 64
The battle was over almost as soon as it began. I walked over to Chohogi.
“You can probably earn your keep on your own now, huh?”
As if responding to my praise, Chohogi stuck the spear he was holding into the ground and puffed out his chest.
I shrank him back to his original size and set him on my shoulder.
I looked around. Everything was over.
Then an important fact flashed back through my mind.
This was the 28th floor. Mr. Jeong Man-ho, the neighbor, had only ever made it to the 27th floor.
My heart started pounding.
“Could this... Daejeon Tower be mine now?”
Without realizing it, I swallowed dryly. A little tension came with the excitement.
I remembered what Dung Beetle had said.
He said that if the owner of a tower changed, a window might pop up letting you set a new nickname.
But that wasn't certain.
What if the existing ranking nickname, 'ㅇㅇ,' got permanently set in stone?
That would be a problem in many ways.
The whole world would learn I was in Daejeon.
I waited anxiously for a system message to appear.
Dung Beetle had to be right.
Soon, the translucent window I had been waiting for appeared before my eyes.
[Congratulations on clearing Tower Floor 28 (EXTREME).]
[The First Clear Bonus has been applied!]
[The Rank #1 Bonus has been applied!]
The familiar messages and rewards I'd seen many times before.
I skimmed past them and waited for the next message.
At last, the most important notification appeared.
[You have broken the highest climb record for the Daejeon Tower in the Republic of Korea.]
[You can record a tower ranking.]
[That name is set separately from the nickname used for floor rankings.]
“...Phew.”
The moment I checked the last line, a sigh of relief escaped me before I knew it.
Dung Beetle had been right. I was safe.
Right after that, a new window appeared before me.
[Please enter a name for the regional tower ranking.]
[Name:_____]]
The cursor blinked, waiting for my input.
I folded my arms and fell into thought for a moment.
“What should I write….”
'ㅇㅇ' was obviously out. And I couldn't use my official identity, Kim Han-byeol, either.
I needed a name that hid my identity as much as possible while still leaving enough impact for those who knew to recognize it.
What kind of name would be good? I kept thinking it over.
Then one name suddenly came to mind.
Without hesitation, I reached toward the floating keyboard in the air.
And carefully entered the name, one letter at a time.
[Would you like to register under that name?]
I pressed 'Yes' without hesitation.
***
Meanwhile, at the same time, in the Cheolhyeoldan Guild conference room.
Jeong Man-ho, the ruler of Daejeon Tower and an A-rank Hunter, looked like he was about to die.
In front of him, an aide was giving a passionate presentation.
“The trash mob patterns on Floor 28 have been analyzed into three types. The first is the electric-laser pattern, and in that case you must step back one pace….”
Not a single word reached Jeong Man-ho's ears.
He just propped his chin on his hand and stared blankly at the 3D model of the mechanical monster on the presentation screen.
'I want to go home….'
That was the only thought filling his head.
The tower-collapse countdown was right around the corner.
As the ruler of Daejeon Tower, he had a duty to clear it.
Besides, even the Association that was leading the strike didn't really want the tower to collapse for real.
Even the Association was telling Jeong Man-ho he ought to start getting ready now.
In the end, he was pushed into preparing to clear Floor 28.
“Haa….”
He poured guild resources into collecting other hunters' clear data and ran simulations day and night. Every preparation was perfect.
But all of that was money.
Jeong Man-ho genuinely did not want to go.
'Haa, if I were a mage class, I'd have it easy….'
The honor of being an A-rank Hunter, the position of guildmaster, the title of tower owner. He liked them all.
But he just couldn't get used to the fact that, for all of it, he had to risk his life every time he fought.
Just then, the conference room door opened carefully and the secretary peeked in.
“Guildmaster, I'm sorry, but there's a phone call. It's Guildmaster Jeong Tae-yeon of the Hwayeon Guild.”
Jeong Man-ho's brow twisted fiercely. Just hearing the name made his head throb.
“Damn it! Tell her I'm busy! Can't she see I'm in a meeting?!”
At the shout, the air in the conference room froze cold. The aide stopped talking and awkwardly straightened up.
Jeong Tae-yeon. That woman badgered him with calls practically every day, pestering him about when he was going to climb the tower.
“We're both A-rank Hunters, so how can you bully a business partner like this?!”
If he could, he wanted to run to the courthouse and file a complaint about this injustice.
This was too much, no matter how you looked at it. It wasn't the proper thing to do between partners.
But the secretary didn't back down, looking troubled.
“They said you really have to take it….”
“Ah, seriously!”
In the end, Jeong Man-ho shot to his feet.
He felt like he wouldn't be satisfied unless he unloaded a whole bucket of curses.
He took the phone from the secretary almost by force and pressed the call button.
“I'll really go tomorrow, okay! Really, give me a break…!”
That was the very moment Jeong Man-ho was about to pour out his complaints.
What came through the receiver was a cheerful voice that was completely unlike what he expected.
[Man-ho? You just cleared the tower, right? Congratulations. I thought you'd drag it out until the very last day and then get forced up at the end. You decided way earlier than I expected? Honestly, how admirable! I hope you'll stop the strike too while you're at it….]
Praise poured down like a waterfall.
Jeong Man-ho was momentarily speechless. All the curses and anger he'd prepared in his head evaporated.
“Uh... uh?”
Jeong Man-ho could only make meaningless sounds in confusion, and Jeong Tae-yeon, ignoring that reaction, finished what she needed to say and spoke sweetly as if that were enough.
[Anyway, you'll be busy, so I'll hang up now. Good work!]
Click.
The call ended. Jeong Man-ho stared blankly at his phone screen. Every pair of eyes in the conference room was on him.
'What? What did I do right?'
He couldn't make sense of the situation at all. Then—
Ding-dong-
A messenger notification rang from another phone in his pocket.
It was the official announcement chatroom for A-rank Hunters.
Jeong Man-ho unconsciously took out his phone and checked the screen.
[Park Sang-cheol: The highest climb record for the Daejeon Tower in the Republic of Korea has just been broken at 28 floors. Congratulations on your successful climb, Mr. Jeong Man-ho!]
“What is this.”
Jeong Man-ho's eyes widened. He reread the message over and over. Something was badly, badly wrong.
He hurriedly scrolled through the chat history. It was all about him.
[Lee Hyeon-woo: Congratulations, Guildmaster Jeong Man-ho!]
[Choi Su-jin:🎉🥳👏]
[Kim Jeong-han: Congratulations! You even changed your nickname so cleverly?]
[Park Sang-cheol: As you can see, our Hunter Association does not want the collapse of the Republic of Korea, and….]
A flood of congratulatory messages aimed at him.
Naturally, he didn't feel happy in the least.
Everyone thought he had cleared Floor 28.
That was why Jeong Tae-yeon had called him.
But he had definitely been in the conference room. Then…
“Who said I broke the tower? Who the hell was it?”
Jeong Man-ho's hands trembled. He immediately accessed the Hunter Association website and checked the nickname registered as the new ruler of the tower.
[Seoul Tower: Kim Soo-ho (53 floors)]
…
[Daejeon Tower: Jeong Man-ho Next-Door Bracelet Thief (28 floors)]
“Next door? Bracelet?”
At that moment, a child's face flashed through Jeong Man-ho's mind. The little kid he had met a few days earlier when the house shook.
“Could it be….”
No, it wasn't a 'could it be' situation.
“It's the parents of that house! Damn it, I knew something felt off from the start…!”
Jeong Man-ho came to that conclusion. That child couldn't possibly be an A-rank Hunter.
It must definitely be that child's parents who were the mysterious A-rank.
They'd been planning all of this since the move, hadn't they? His teeth chattered at the thought of that meticulous, vile scheme.
“End the meeting! Cancel the climb!”
Jeong Man-ho shouted and stormed out of the conference room.
Leaving the bewildered executives behind, he headed straight for the warehouse.
Without hesitation, he brought out one of the boxes he had stored away—a box full of disposable defensive artifacts.
It was packed with items that cost tens of millions of won apiece.
Jeong Man-ho tucked the box under his arm and ran to the parking lot, throwing himself into his black sedan.
“No matter what, I have to sweet-talk them into our guild... no, at the very least, get us allied.”
Vroooom-!
With a roar, Jeong Man-ho's sedan shot off toward home.
***
The moment I returned from the tower, I headed straight home.
There was a signboard there that I'd prepared a few days earlier.
After digging into the ground and firmly securing the sign, I stepped back and admired my work.
The sign had neat lettering on it, painted by my own hand.
[This is the house where the ruler of Daejeon Tower lives.]
[This area is a child protection zone, so please maintain a speed of 20 km/h or less within a 200-meter radius.]
[Warning: Speeding may cause your tires to burst.]
Everything, including the final warning line, was perfect.
I tapped the sign a few times with a pleased look.
From now on, I protect this neighborhood's children's safety on their way to and from school.
I had just finished my work when—
Screeeech-!
Along with the screech of a sudden stop, headlights washed over me.
A black luxury sedan came to a rough stop in front of my house.
It was Jeong Man-ho. I knew he'd come.
Jeong Man-ho walked toward me, spotted the sign I'd just put up, and froze in place.
His face twitched as it looked back and forth between the sign and me.
“What on earth is this?”
I glanced at the sign once, then smiled brightly—the innocent face of a child who knew nothing.
“Oh, this? It's an errand from my parents.”
“P... parents?”
Jeong Man-ho's face was full of confusion. He looked around and asked cautiously.
“Uh, um... yeah. So where are your parents now?”
“They're not here.”
“No, what do you mean?”
Jeong Man-ho looked completely lost.
I changed the subject by pointing at the shiny black sedan behind him.
“Your car, mister.”
“A car? You're asking for the car?!”
Jeong Man-ho flinched and backed away.
He blocked the car with his whole body like a mother protecting her cub and cried out.
“T-that one is absolutely not okay! This is my soul and all…!”
“No.... I just want a ride. A drive.”
I looked at him with an incredulous expression.
At my words, Jeong Man-ho's face turned bright red with embarrassment.
He coughed a few times, then reluctantly opened the back door for me.
“G-go on.”
In the end, I succeeded in getting into Jeong Man-ho's beloved sedan.
As I sank into the soft leather seat, I felt good.
If it were up to me, I'd want to ask him to let me drive, but that was probably impossible.
Besides, I probably wouldn't even be able to because I'm too short.
“Where should I take you?”
Jeong Man-ho asked awkwardly with a smile. I punched in the familiar address on the navigation system.
“Please take me here.”
The car pulled away smoothly.
I pretended to watch the scenery outside while sneaking glances at his expression.
Jeong Man-ho was clearly restless even while holding the steering wheel.
It was obvious he was looking for some chance to get in touch with my parents, that is, the new owners of the tower.
The car soon stopped in front of a clean, newly built building.
The building still had a sign that read 'One Star Management,' a name I still hadn't gotten used to.
The shabby officetel I used to visit was gone now.
“Please stop here.”
Once the car stopped, I took out my phone and called the broker.
“Mister, it's me. Could you come down for a second?”
A few seconds later, the building's glass door opened and a familiar figure appeared.
I rolled down the window and waved at him.
The broker looked around with a puzzled expression, then spotted me sitting in the back seat of Jeong Man-ho's car and his eyes went wide.
“Get in, mister.”
The broker climbed into the passenger seat with a bewildered expression.
An awkward, subtle current ran between Jeong Man-ho in the driver's seat and the broker beside him.
Jeong Man-ho spoke first, carefully.
“Um... are you perhaps the guardian?”
“Ah, no. No, that's right.”
The broker looked thoroughly flustered, as if he didn't know whether to deny it or agree.
“No, that's not it. I'm the manager, though….”
“The manager?”
Disappointment and confusion appeared on Jeong Man-ho's face at the same time.
The most awkward drive in the world started up again.
Only silence flowed through the car.
I deliberately said nothing, enjoying the awkward atmosphere.
In the end, unable to bear it any longer, Jeong Man-ho let out a groan and spoke first to the broker in the passenger seat.
“Mister Manager, I have something to say. I'm Jeong Man-ho of Cheolhyeoldan.”
“I know. Aren't you the owner of the Daejeon Tower?”
“I may not be anymore, but that's not the point. I really need to meet this child's parents... no, I mean the representative. Could you arrange a meeting for me?”
His voice was desperate. The broker glanced at me for a moment, then answered with a professional expression.
“I'm sorry, but that's difficult. Our representative has no intention of showing themselves in public for the time being.”
A clear look of disappointment flashed across Jeong Man-ho's face. He moved his lips for a moment, then finally let out a sigh as if giving up.
When we got back to the house, Jeong Man-ho got out of the car, unable to let go of his lingering disappointment.
He handed me the gift box he'd brought with him.
“Give this to your parents. And be sure to tell them it's a present from me.”
Inside the box were disposable defensive artifacts. They were quite expensive items.
I accepted the gift obediently.
Unable to ignore that earnestness any longer, I handed him a business card.
The card bore the name 'One Star Management' along with the broker's contact information.
“If anything comes up in the future, contact us through this number.”
Jeong Man-ho took the card and hesitated for a moment.
“...All right. Thanks for today.”
“Bye-bye~.”
He drove off. The heavy gift box in my hands felt pretty satisfying.