Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: The Betrayal
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Player Nam Ga-eun commuted to the Awakening Management Bureau every day.
To use the gym there.
Her pre-Tower climbing routine was weight training.
"Hup!"
She started with a light 100kg deadlift.
"Kyah!"
You can't rely on player level alone.
A solid foundation of physical strength was needed to maximize the level application effects inside the Tower.
Additionally, she needed to practice swinging her sword outside as well.
Her trait was Swordsman.
Unlike Yu Cheol-min, who had the All-Weapon trait, she could only use swords.
But since she had achieved trait enhancement, the variety of skills she could use with the swords she wielded was fairly wide.
Thud!
She put the barbell down,
"Phew,"
She was currently climbing the 62nd floor.
It was a mentally exhausting section because she had to deal with the undead.
The 62nd floor spawned Dark Zombies.
The zombies' Dark Aura eroded players with dark power, corrupting them.
The flow of mana was restricted, physical strength weakened, the mind was gnawed at, leading to lethargy, and even suicidal impulses were induced.
Dark Aura.
You had to endure this to overcome the undead section... it was no easy feat.
Especially for a close-combat class that had to engage the undead in melee.
But Nam Ga-eun never gave up.
If she was going to be defeated here, she wouldn't have become a player in the first place.
Steeling her resolve, she opened the lid of her tumbler containing her protein supplement and gulped it down.
'Should I go shower?'
She needed to wash up meticulously and prepare for another attempt at the 62nd floor.
She was about to head to the showers in her sweat-drenched body when,
"Huh?"
Something felt strange.
She could hear footsteps and shouts.
"What's going on?"
Stepping out into the hallway, she saw bureau employees moving busily here and there with dazed expressions.
Was there a fire?
'The fire alarm didn't go off.'
She spotted a familiar female employee passing by.
"Unnie!"
Nam Ga-eun had a bright personality and was friendly with everyone at the bureau.
Section Chief Lee Min-ah was no exception.
"Unnie, unnie!"
"...Huh? Oh, Ga-eun. Sorry, I'm a bit busy."
"That's why I'm asking why everyone's so busy! Did something happen?"
Lee Min-ah avoided Nam Ga-eun's gaze and hesitated.
"Um, well, it's..."
"Is it hard to answer? Between us?"
"..."
"Now I'm even more curious."
"Let's talk later. You'll find out anyway."
"Then tell me now. Unnie, it's me, Nam Ga-eun, the bureau's Elite Player Plan B."
"Sigh,"
Lee Min-ah let out a big sigh.
Then she said.
"Yu Cheol-min is missing."
"What? Why him? ...D-did he die in the Tower?"
"No, literally missing. He disappeared alone last night while drinking at a club. He's currently unreachable."
Disappeared alone?
How many close and long-range bodyguards were assigned to the elite team's top player?
"Could he have gotten drunk and entered the Tower from the club?"
Lee Min-ah shook her head in denial.
"Absolutely not. There's another reason."
"Hmm... That's weird. There's more to it. You know, don't you?"
"Sigh, the truth is... it's like this..."
Section Chief Lee Min-ah's explanation continued.
Nam Ga-eun's eyes widened.
"That damn bastard!"
With less than three months left until the 66th floor conquest deadline, this was a huge problem.
The Awakening Management Bureau was thrown into chaos.
Player Yu Cheol-min's disappearance last night.
In reality, it was an intentional disappearance.
How did they determine that?
The place where Yu Cheol-min vanished was a large club in Nonhyeon-dong, Seoul.
A place packed with people, but since it was his regular spot, the security team didn't suspect anything.
It was just his usual routine,
But he disappeared in an instant.
From the large private room where Yu Cheol-min had gathered people, drinking and partying,
It was utterly baffling.
They urgently checked the club's CCTV footage.
"He was disguised?"
"Yes, he changed clothes, wore glasses, and even a wig. It was hard to identify in the dark club, but here..."
"Damn it!"
Footage of Yu Cheol-min captured in a relatively bright area.
The scene showed him, disguised, escorted by someone, slipping out the club's back door.
Zooming in closely made it clear.
There was no hint of coercion at all.
Yu Cheol-min was walking out confidently, leading the way with a smug smile on his face.
"It's voluntary."
"It seems so."
"sigh, this is terrible."
It would have been better if he had been kidnapped.
Suppressing his anger, Bureau Chief Park Kyung-su asked Jeon Gwang-il.
"What about the National Intelligence Service? What are they saying?"
Due to its importance, the security for Player Yu Cheol-min was the responsibility of the NIS.
"They say they have no excuses, even with ten heads..."
"Who wants to hear excuses? We need to find out where he went. Mobilize the entire NIS if you have to!"
"W-well, actually, it's not just Yu Cheol-min who disappeared,"
"Who else?"
Jeon Gwang-il hesitated before speaking.
"Right after Yu Cheol-min vanished, we checked his family home... his immediate family members are also missing."
"The police? Isn't family security handled by the police?"
"Five security police officers were subdued by someone... they were found tied with cable ties on the apartment rooftop after being hit with tasers and assaulted. They're currently hospitalized."
"Heh heh,"
A hollow laugh escaped.
Was this all the NIS and police of South Korea amounted to?
The feeling was bad.
Yu Cheol-min's voluntary disappearance.
His family gone too, the police guarding them overpowered.
'...Could it be?'
At that moment!
Bzzz!
A call came in for Jeon Gwang-il.
"It's the NIS. I should take this."
"Go ahead."
Jeon Gwang-il answered the phone and spoke with someone.
His expression grew increasingly grim.
"Is it confirmed? ...Sigh, yes, yes, I understand."
After hanging up.
"Japan."
"...What?"
"Circumstantial evidence suggests Yu Cheol-min and his family boarded a smuggling ship bound for Tsushima, Japan, early this morning. It seems..."
Jeon Gwang-il frowned, as if struggling to continue.
Finally,
"It... it seems to be for naturalization purposes."
"Damn it!!!"
The bomb had finally exploded.
It was a national crisis perhaps worse than war.
"He fled to Japan?"
"He must have lacked confidence in conquering the 66th floor. If he operates from Japan, he can start from the 57th floor."
That seemed to be the case.
The Japanese Black Tower.
Even if he conquered only one floor every six months, he could idle for 54 months—four and a half years.
"That traitorous bastard!"
How much effort had they put in to him?
For the purpose of supporting the 66th floor conquest, they had groveled left and right, complaining of headaches to acquire light-attribute items.
They had fully mobilized diplomatic channels with their ally, the United States, to borrow 66th-floor conquest know-how and light-attribute items.
And now it had all been for nothing.
Due to naturalization, Yu Cheol-min's affiliation would soon change.
The Black Tower.
When the Tower first appeared and the existence of the status window became known,
People were puzzled.
The biggest question was the 'Affiliation' entry.
[Affiliation] : Black Tower(RUSSIA)
The country's name was blatantly embedded in the status window.
Why a country name?
The reason was soon revealed.
A specific country's Tower could only be entered by players holding that country's nationality.
Koreans enter the Korean Tower, Americans the American Tower, Russians the Russian Tower.
So what if you changed nationality?
If a Russian player naturalized to the US and acquired citizenship?
[Affiliation] : Black Tower(USA)
The status window affiliation changed.
It didn't matter where the player was located.
Whether in Russia, Europe, or Africa, entering the Tower would always lead to the Tower of their status window's national affiliation.
And soon, Yu Cheol-min's status window would also...
[Name] : Yu Cheol-min
[Affiliation] : Black Tower (Japan)
[Level] : 66LV
Change to this.
To understand how big of a deal this was,
It was like a world-class Korean soccer star, a striker for the national team who had even been the top scorer in the English Premier League,
Naturalizing to Japan right before a World Cup qualifier match between Korea and Japan.
"First, assemble all elite team players. There might be players who followed Yu Cheol-min to Japan."
The Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo, Japan.
It was packed with reporters.
A pre-announced press conference for Player Yu Cheol-min's naturalization to Japan.
Actually, the naturalization process could have been done quietly.
It was, after all, about poaching another country's player.
It wasn't something to boast about domestically, nor was it good optics to trumpet it globally as an achievement.
But the Japanese government boldly decided to make it public.
Because they wanted to see South Korea thrown into chaos.
How entertaining would it be?
Mass confusion, blame-shifting, and power struggles would ensue.
Finally, Player Yu Cheol-min entered the press conference venue.
In a voice full of gravity,
"Today, I, Yu Cheol-min, leave Korea to operate as a Japanese player. In this regard..."
Click click click click! Click click!
Camera flashes erupted.
South Korean public opinion and the media erupted as well.
Joo-hyuk was, as usual today, diligently tackling the 28th-floor repeat mission.
"Go. Algobang."
As Kosak pointed at a tree with his hand,
"Wooooooooo!!!"
The barbarian warrior Gobang let out a roar and charged headfirst into it.
Koo-woong!
The tree shook violently, much like Joo-hyuk's reed-like heart.
"Watch your head. Chestnuts are falling."
Under Kosak's protection, Joo-hyuk ran towards the fallen chestnut burrs—no, the Jungle Trolls.
"Scattered Lightning Strikes!"
Bang!
Crackle!
Five forked lightning streaks.
Once more!
Bang!
He used the Falling Thunder Soul Chaser skill occasionally too.
Because Jungle Trolls lived in trees, they weren't very large.
Instead, they were nimble and quick.
But who would have known?
That Jungle Trolls would have a day when they fell from the trees.
This was hardly a conquest.
It was too easy, ridiculously so.
"Ooh! The feel is thrilling."
Kosak spoke while rubbing his hands together, bowing slightly.
"Hehehe, are you satisfied?"
"I finally feel a bit relieved. It feels good, like my true alpha male nature is being revived."
"Ayu! You shouldn't be too alpha male-like. You need to restrain yourself."
"Is that so? Hahaha!"
"Hehehe."
Since it was a repeat mission and there was no chance of getting an S++ rating, they took it slow.
They dealt with one tree, rested until mana replenished, then moved to another.
The reward was only Magic Stones.
Good rewards rarely came from repeat missions in the first place.
Still, the Magic Stones collected so far amounted to over 30kg.
He had earned 15 million won.
'What should I do with the money?'
What to do!
Buy land.
Buy a building.
And then retire later and live a life of leisure.
"Let's have a company dinner, a dinner."
But Kosak shook his head side to side.
"You don't need to worry so much about dinners."
"Why?"
"That pig Gobang eats too much."
"Hey, I can't do that. He worked hard ramming his body into the tree."
"That was originally his job. He used to whine and try to elicit sympathy before, you know? Huh? He's staring with those big eyes? How dare he to an SSR."
Gobang, sniffling but still speaking his mind.
"I don't eat much. I eat little."
"What bullshit, bullshit, how is that eating little? You devour a whole pizza like it's an Oreo."
Joo-hyuk had to step in.
"Now, now, no matter how much he eats, it won't drain my bank account. So..."
But then.
Ding!
A notification message arrived on Joo-hyuk's smartphone.
Thinking it was another loan advertisement or illegal gambling message, he looked at it, and in that instant,
"...Eek!"
When Joo-hyuk was startled, Kosak was startled too.
"You scared me! What is it?"
"Th-that."
He showed him the smartphone.
"Huh? A notice for a general meeting summoning all players affiliated with the Elite Team? What's this? And it's today."
It seemed like an emergency meeting.
Given that it was suddenly scheduled for today.
"Sigh, I hate meetings,"
"...Pardon?"
"They'll make me talk at the meeting, won't they? In front of all those people."
"How many attendees are there?"
"Not sure, maybe around 150?"
"Hmm, that's a big problem. A big problem."
"Is there a way to skip it?"
"I'll think about it."
Joo-hyuk and Kosak pondered deeply.
"What if you call and say you're sick?"
"I'm not sure if that excuse will work. It says attendance is mandatory without exception."
"Or I could go to the Awakening Management Bureau and set a big fire during the meeting. Then the meeting might be suspended."
"Are you insane? A summoned being? Setting a fire because you don't want to attend a meeting?"
"I'll really do it. Just billowing smoke to trigger the fire alarm..."
"Oh...!"
Just then!
Bzzz!
The smartphone rang.
"You have a call."
"Shh!"
Quieting him, Joo-hyuk picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
- This is Jeon Gwang-il. I have something to discuss.
Ah, he's going to tell me to attend the meeting.
"O-oh, about today's emergency meeting, I really have to..."
- You don't need to come.
Huh?
That's a relief.
No need to set a fire after all.
- Instead, I'd like to meet with you alone. Something serious has happened.
Meeting Team Leader Jeon Gwang-il? We meet often, so it's not difficult.
But a serious matter?
"What serious matter?"
- It's embarrassing for me to say, but you'll probably be able to see it on TV soon.
"Ah, yes. Then I'll go. Where?"
- I'm in a position where I can't leave my post, so let's meet at the bureau. I'll send a car.
He didn't know what it was about, but anyway, while going to the bureau, he could sell off the Magic Stones and items in his inventory.
How much could he get for the items?
It'd be nice to get around 50 million won.
But what on earth was happening?
He said it might be on TV.
Click!
Joo-hyuk turned on the power.
The news played.
It was a breaking news report.
"...Huh?"
Was it real?
Not a movie or a hidden camera prank?
But no matter how much he watched, it was real.
The same content on every channel.
The world was turned upside down.
'Yu Cheol-min naturalized to Japan?'
What utter nonsense...
"That damn bastard! Pus-filled scum!"
Even though he considered himself an ordinary guy, he would never do something like that.
"Traitor, betrayer, cowardly loser."
Should he send Kosak over?
Make him taste what SSR is like?
Doesn't he know what a head ribbon is?