Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: The Elevator
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When the Necklace of Liberation Rune first appeared.
I had talked about it with Gwang-ma.
He said there were cunning bastards who intentionally spread this item into the world.
I asked who they were, but he didn't give a detailed explanation.
As it turns out, they were the Administrators.
The ones behind Diarmat, who do all sorts of things to collapse the Tower.
What on earth is their goal?
Why are they doing this?
Could it be that they created the Tower?
Diarmat didn't have an answer for this either.
He only said that beings called Administrators exist, that they ordered it, and that their ultimate goal was the elimination of Summoner Players.
'What a bunch of clowns. Why eliminate me? All I've done is climb the Tower. Scary bastards.'
Of course, I trust the Summoned.
But honestly, I can't help feeling uneasy.
Anyway, from the meek-looking restaurant employee Lingling in her 30s...
Diarmat released his Polymorph and returned to his true form as a Succubus.
She was a Queen, no less.
Femme fatale beauty, an alluringly swaying tail, and an outfit with severe exposure like a cosplayer at a comic convention.
When she slightly twisted her body and begged for her life, he thought his chest was about to tumble out.
It was a fatal temptation for an Ordinary Guy.
Ah! Of course we should spare you, was nearly blurted out.
He was definitely a dangerous temptress.
A beauty to topple nations—truly fitting for Diarmat.
And now she's requesting to defect?
Honestly, it's bewildering.
She's a Tower monster.
Was he some kind of North Korean spy?
'...Hmm.'
In a way, it makes sense.
Diarmat, when you think about it, is a Tower spy who received a mission from the Administrators, came to Earth, and planned acts of disruption and division.
'That's why he uses the term "defection".'
What should I do?
"P-please spare me."
Honestly, he didn't get why she's doing this.
For a Tower monster, she had a very strong will to live.
Weren't they just souls anyway?
They reset and came back to life even if they died.
"If you die outside the Tower, your soul vanishes. You can't be resurrected."
Ah!
He understood.
It meant you reset if you died inside the Tower, but not if you died outside.
'He came out bearing an incredible risk too.'
She got caught in the end, though.
"Comrade, this bitch, a traitorous wench will betray again! Did you think we were that easy? No way!"
Kosak, suddenly possessed by the Minister of People's Armed Forces again.
Diarmat waved her hands in denial.
"I, I absolutely won't betray you. No, I can't. Just accept my defection."
"We don't take in black-haired beasts. Look! It's not even jet-black hair!"
It's definitely black hair.
"...I also made this decision prepared to accept the risks."
What risks?
"I broke the contract with the Administrators, so I receive a penalty. My qualification as a Monarch will be stripped away."
It seems to mean her stats drop.
And he's willing to endure that just to survive?
"What does Gwang-ma think?"
"This old man always supports the Summoner's decision. The path you choose is the right one."
Gyeon Dal-rae?
"It is suspicious, but if the system oversees the defection, I think it is worth trusting."
Veronica, Gobang, and Bardin too.
"It's right to accept defectors. That way, enemy morale drops."
"He looks weak, but he might be useful."
"My Lord, it is a repentant lamb."
Joo-hyuk's heart was leaning towards it too.
Isn't it the more, the merrier?
The more, the better.
Moreover, they are treated as a separate group from the Catalog list.
That means we can increase their numbers without needing expansion rights.
'There might be other defectors besides Diarmat.'
Anyway, if we accept the defection, Diarmat is freed from the Tower.
Then what about Kosak's father, Hartman?
It keeps bothering me.
With Earth players' current level, it's difficult to reach the ultra-high-difficulty mission on the 77th floor.
But later, as skills gradually improve, or if a player above level 80 reaches the ultra-high difficulty through repeat missions?
'He could be conquered.'
Kosak's father Hartman dying at the hands of a player?
An utterly unacceptable event.
Could he too be freed through the method of defection?
So he asked Diarmat.
"It's impossible. Hartman and I are fundamentally different."
How?
"There are two types of souls belonging to the Tower. One is a contractual relationship, the other is forced bondage."
Hmm.
"I am in a contractual relationship, but the other souls in the Tower are no different from enslaved beings. They probably don't even know their own situation?"
The explanation continued.
Diarmat descended to Earth with the purpose of a specific mission.
To disrupt the world, sow discord... quite high-level work.
Free will is needed for active judgment.
That's why she came out under a contract for that mission.
On the other hand, the bound souls have no free will, he says.
It sounds plausible at first, but is that really true?
How would you explain Gyeon Dal-rae's master, Haeryeong?
She was aware of her situation and the Tower.
"Haeryeong was a unique being. Having experienced a transcendent world, she was already a soul that had surpassed human rank. She could have left the Tower at any time."
It was also in Haeryeong's background story.
It said she had reached the end of ascension.
"The reason she couldn't leave the Tower was within herself. Regrets, attachments, anguish, atonement, repentance, guilt... she punished herself. Haeryeong didn't want to be freed."
I think I understand.
Her beloved disciple Gyeon Dal-rae died, the Heavenly Empire fell, and in her weakened state, she was subdued by her companion Gumiho and forced to consume human livers.
But after meeting Gyeon Dal-rae, all her attachments disappeared.
Thus, with Gwang-ma's help, she retraced the path she had once experienced.
What about Hartman compared to that?
Even though he's the same LSSR grade, he hasn't transcended human rank.
Bound to the Tower, he was merely assigned to the 77th floor as a mission target.
Therefore, there are only two ways to free Hartman's soul from the Tower.
Either raise the rank of his soul like Haeryeong so he can escape on his own, or have the Tower release its bondage.
Could the Administrators do it?
If they can, he wished he could meet and talk to them.
Anyway, he needed to decide now.
Will he accept Diarmat's defection request? Or reject it?
Honestly, he'd already decided.
It's obvious just looking at it.
'Why wouldn't I accept this?'
The angle for an achievement was sharply in sight.
The achievement reward was right before his eyes.
'Achievements over special perks.'
The era of special perks was over now.
Let's go! To the era of achievements.
Come! To the Ordinary Guy.
I'll embrace them all.
"Defection request accepted."
Huh?
'Whoa...'
Contract voidance penalty.
That's pretty big.
He dropped three grades from LSSR to R.
A queen demoted to a commoner.
The 80th floor mission changed too.
Because the vacant position needs to be filled.
Discriminatory treatment.
She has to obey the commands of the Summoned too.
'Does she have to obey Hyeolrang's words too?'
If she's lower than a dog, that would be truly miserable.
A brand?
Right then!
Sssszzzzt!
"Aaaah!"
A tattoo engraved on Diarmat's forehead.
Simultaneously, it shone brightly and then faded away as if absorbed.
*Ding!*
And Diarmat's information came into view.
That's right.
Seven here, three at home.
A total of 10, and with Diarmat added, it's currently 11.
*Poof!*
Diarmat vanished to match the numbers.
Well, having one more is good, but...
'Where would I use an R-grade Lesser Succubus?'
She's too weak.
Could she even hunt monsters?
Next?
*Ding!*
"Yes!"
The achievement popped up as expected.
What is it?
'Hmm.'
Another White Tower-related reward?
A new entry, it says.
The Basic Menu had three entries: Environment, Communication Tower, and Generator.
He'd executed each once.
'What's the one that got added?'
Well, he'd find out when I enter the White Tower.
'Let's go home first.'
Another hurdle cleared.
There are still unresolved matters, though.
*Poof!*
Joo-hyuk and the Summoned arrived at the penthouse.
They worked hard, so I let them rest.
'Need to settle accounts.'
First, the badges.
The cumulative badges until now were 106.
Physical ones: 17.
In this climb, I conquered from the 75th to the 80th floor of Korea's 2nd Tower.
Excluding the 77th floor, where I didn't receive a badge...
Cumulative badges 116.
Physical ones: 27.
Added badges: 10.
He could receive 2 special perks.
'Will something good come out?'
Especially something like a Catalog Expansion Right.
But Joo-hyuk shook his head.
Because he now knew of the Administrators' existence.
They are undoubtedly restraining him.
Would good perks come out in this situation?
Maybe he shouldn't expect a Catalog Expansion Right.
Still, let's open them.
Who knows?
Something good might come out.
'......'
That's harsh.
1 ton of High-Grade Magical Ore is an amount easily mined just by entering and exiting the 76th floor.
Next!
'Oh!'
This one's okay.
Speak of the devil,
I accepted a defection, and a perk perfectly matching it comes out.
'Unless it's Awakening Enhancement, it should be done in a day or two.'
Let's give it to Diarmat right away to grade up and come back.
What's an R? An R!
She should at least be an SR.
He checked the perks.
What's left?
The achievement reward.
New entry added to the Basic Menu.
Joo-hyuk touched the [Basic] menu that appeared as a hologram in the air.
What got added, I wonder.
Then the entry that rose up.
'What?'
Elevator?
What's this now?
- By installing an elevator, you can move to other floors of the White Tower. The elevator only stops at permitted floors. Installation cost: 1,000 tons of High-Grade Magical Ore.
'Whoa...'
He never imagined it.
An elevator.
You can go to other floors of the White Tower?
What's there if he went? No, who's there?
White Tower floors were given to players.
I was assigned the 17th floor.
The owner of another floor would also be a player.
'Surely not...'
It's unlikely another Earth player was assigned a White Tower.
Then it might not be Earth, maybe a player from another world.
It's certain other worlds exist.
Where the Black Tower exists.
It's a fact the Summoned have always mentioned.
'Is this perhaps dimensional travel?'
He couldn't know for sure.
He'd only find out if he installed the elevator.
'This could be fun.'
The installation cost wasn't fun, though.
'1,000 tons of High-Grade Magical Ore,'
Let's scrape and gather it all at once.
The Tower Administrators were in an uproar again.
"Haah!"
"This is driving me crazy."
"Hoo, we keep getting breached in weird areas. No way to stop it."
"Diarmat, how dare you betray the Tower?"
"Giving free will in the first place was a mistake."
"That was unavoidable. If free will wasn't given, the mission would have been impossible. The problem is she used that freedom to defect."
"Idiot, going out and getting caught without accomplishing anything."
"Who could have known Gyeon Dal-rae learned something like a tracking skill?"
"Anyway, we're in big trouble. The achievement reward is an elevator."
"Even if an elevator is installed, it's too fast."
"Right. If Earth was nearly destroyed and connected, it wouldn't be a problem, but a connection while it's still intact..."
"This means he can now intervene in projects progressing in other worlds."
"It's horrifying."
"Administrators from other worlds will protest. Asking what we were doing while he grew this big."
Protesting would be fortunate. They'll probably mock and ridicule us?"
"We need to show we did something too."
"How?"
"Make the 81st floor an impassable floor. Make it impossible to pass."
"Hmm, ...won't work?"
"Can't we just raise the difficulty once as an event nature?"
"That's also difficult. It violates causality."
"We can talk to the party involved. If they accept, causality would be satisfied, wouldn't it?"
"Huh?"
"That's right. If it's done through mutual agreement, there's no need to worry about causality."
"He already knows of our existence, right? Wouldn't it be okay to meet him once?"
"Hmm......"
The Administrators' worries grew long.
Diarmat was also dealt with.
Checked the perk and achievement reward.
Now what to do?
First, the item received as the 79th-floor reward.
He needed to send Kosak with the Summoned Being Grade Breakthrough Rune.
During the two weeks Kosak was gone, he planned to send Sergeant Major V, the vampire Jepetto, Hyeolrang, etc., to North Korea instead.
But not right now.
Joo-hyuk climbed to the 77th floor with the Summoned.
Quickly dealt with the prisoners, cleaned up the surroundings neatly, and then.
Kosak faced his father Hartman again.
"...Lian?"
"Father?"
"Is this heaven? Or an illusion?"
"It's not an illusion or the afterlife. This is the Tower."
"The Tower, you say,"
"Anyway, take this medicine first and let's start."
Kosak made Hartman drink the Vitality Recovery Potion he received from Mari.
Drinking this wouldn't cure him.
Since Hartman's dantian was damaged, his vessel of life force, was broken, it would just leak out even if filled.
It's only to buy a little time.
A conversation between father and son.
Actually, this is the third time.
But the situation was exactly the same each time.
After painstakingly explaining and making him aware, Hartman would die after a while.
When entering the Tower again, it resets and we have to start over from the beginning.
'This will never end at this rate.'
Isn't there some method?