Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Point of Connection with the Outside
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The world was in turmoil.
It was the first time since Awakening Day that things had shaken up like this.
This was a massive incident.
"What the hell happened?!"
An unexpected magnitude 6.0 earthquake.
The Hunter Management Bureau had been in chaos since morning.
Lee Seon-ho, head of the Situation Management Department, was directing it all.
He quickly pinpointed the epicenter.
"Daegu? Daegu doesn't sit on any tectonic plates!"
"It's an earthquake originating from the Tower of Trials!"
"This isn't just in Korea!"
Shouts echoed from all directions.
A mountain of reports piled up on Lee Seon-ho's desk.
His ears stayed open, his eyes scanning instantly.
The accumulating data led to a conclusion.
Hunter management bureaus from every country had already reached out.
They were requesting information sharing.
Has the same thing happened to you? Have you figured out the situation?
"We've completed our situation report as well. Yes. We've dispatched a special task force for cause analysis. We'll share the results as soon as they come in."
Communications with the U.S., which was friendly toward Korea, were done.
Neighboring China and Japan?
Not even worth contacting.
In the era of gates and towers, relations were sour.
There were reasons for it.
Poaching hunters, assassinations, diverting rewards.
No wonder things were bad.
"What the hell is going on?!"
The bureau director stormed in next.
Jin Seong-cheol yelled into the chaotic situation room.
He was calling for Lee Seon-ho.
Just come over here already. Tsk.
"Here's the summary. We've sent cooperation requests to the U.S., Mongolia, the UK, and seven other countries."
"They've started investigating the cause too?"
"We're the last ones."
"Haa, we're just giving them an excuse to squeeze us for money again."
They needed to identify the cause as fast as possible, even a second sooner.
That way, they could figure out countermeasures and reap the benefits.
If they were late, they'd have to beg other countries.
Would those guys hand it over for free? Fat chance.
The director scratched the back of his head furiously.
A few more hairs from his already thinning scalp fell out.
"Who'd we send on the special task force?"
"A-grade hunters, along with the disaster response team."
Korea was currently weak.
It never had many strong ones to begin with.
A-grade was the best they could do.
Damn this fair system.
Whether the land was small or the population dense or sparse.
It divided strong and weak proportionally anyway.
And this was the result.
'S-ranks retire or go missing from overwork, heavy responsibilities, and stress. Some even emigrate to other countries.'
Who'd want to stick around this harsh land?
Unless they got treated right according to their rank.
Lee Seon-ho shook his head.
"Here's the list of guilds that responded to the cooperation request."
"Hm, Taeguk and Geon-gon. As expected, they're the fastest."
"They're on good terms with us."
Guilds were registered in the system.
One of its functions was to unite hunters.
Most hunters joined guilds.
There were plenty of benefits.
Take the Tower of Trials, for example.
If one guild member set a new record?
The whole guild got a buff.
Buffs bred more buffs.
Better rewards, byproducts.
All of it bolstered national power.
That's why countries managed guilds.
They propped up guilds made of friendly hunters.
Results weren't great, though.
"Mu-gak Guild and others responded too."
"Don't they have some pro-China, pro-Japan elements mixed in?"
"That's why they're demanding compensation."
"Can't be helped. Approve it."
"They're asking for top-grade mana stones too."
Jin Seong-cheol slammed the desk.
Reports scattered everywhere.
Hit your own stuff, geez. More mess to clean up.
"Reject them! Our noses are already touching the grindstone!"
"Got it."
In this time-sensitive crisis, they checked the main monitors.
Body cams, drones.
Changes at Korea's Tower of Trials.
Cameras captured it from every angle.
The changes weren't huge.
Just one, if anything.
"The entrance rotated?"
"It's rotated about 13.4 degrees from its original position."
She recited the real-time data as it came in.
Jin Seong-cheol fell silent at Lee Seon-ho's report.
'Rotated, so what? Did the tower's difficulty change? Or more high-risk gates spawn?'
No. Nothing changed after the earthquake.
Friendly guilds and bureaus nationwide confirmed it unanimously.
'Just the tower's whimsy? Like it got stiff and the whole thing twisted its back?'
As if.
Jin Seong-cheol grinned fiercely.
In the era of gates and towers.
Countless awakeners emerged, incidents abounded.
Were those incidents friendly to humanity?
Not at all. All extreme trials and ordeals.
This change would be the same, no doubt.
So he waited.
Arms crossed, the director maintained silence.
Lee Seon-ho jiggled his leg, waiting too.
Then, at some point.
"Wha?!"
A camera idly pointed at the sky.
The staffer monitoring it shot to their feet.
"H-Here! A change! A system message!"
"What?!"
A system message.
On the first day of this new era.
A message had appeared in the sky.
All humanity looked up.
It had been vague.
It was like a prophecy.
We've given you the power and environment to grow stronger, so do it.
Humanity's growth will right the scales.
Even without following it, you had to grow strong.
Fail to close a gate, monsters pour out.
Was the tower quiet?
No.
Occasional sudden missions.
Fail to clear, penalties hit.
That's why humanity grew stronger.
For their nation.
To survive all sorts of dangers.
"The message is being etched in!"
"Put it up on the full screen!"
Now was the turning point.
The second message in 50 years.
It appeared clearly in the sky.
······What?
It was everyone's shared thought.
All the trials so far.
All that tragedy and pain.
'Just preparation time?'
And the system imposed a new trial.
No, this time it wasn't a trial.
Despair.
It intended to grant humanity despair.
Earth Quest: Survive the Monster Impact
⏰ Time Limit: [23:59]
A monster wave exploding forth, not just pouring out.
Block it for one day.
That was the global common quest.
With one condition.
The seed of despair's monopolizer.
No time to agonize.
At the base of the Tower of Trials.
Gates were sprouting like weeds.
All varieties.
From the hardest red to easy purple.
Vibrating like they could vomit monsters any second.
"Scour every damn record! Seed of despair! Collect every related keyword, no exceptions! And request help from every university professor and scholar on it!"
Gate analysis, management studies.
Even scholars studying internal environments and civilizations.
Director Jin Seong-cheol shouted urgently.
"Gate reactions critical! Five minutes left! After that, every gate around the tower will unleash hell!"
A shout from the staff analyzing gates.
Chills ran down their spines.
Golden time: five minutes.
Miss it, and the country was done.
This relatively weak nation, Korea, would fall.
'No, erased from the map.'
Like North Korea turned Monster Land.
Korea would meet the same end.
Couldn't let that happen.
Jin Seong-cheol snatched one of the ringing phones.
"Yes, Mr. President. We've confirmed the emergency. Countermeasures are already underway. Yes, we'll resolve it swiftly and protect the people's safety."
Every country was probably in pandemonium.
Preparing for Monster Impact.
Searching for the seed of despair simultaneously.
But everyone was equally stumped.
So, what the hell was the seed of despair?
I swallowed uranium.
Gulped it down with dirt mid-fall.
No clue how much.
This body being fine was thanks to my innate ability, probably.
'Well, it's calories that should've exploded ages ago. Carrying that around unscathed.'
Conclusion: I'm okay.
Everything around me isn't.
But surviving matters most, right?
'Alive, great. But... going out's a problem.'
How to define me now?
Walking ground zero.
A radioactive mass melting life instantly.
Yeah. Can't stay like this.
Meet family in this state?
Couldn't even imagine.
'Getting out isn't the issue.'
Need to at least suppress this power.
Or remove it.
Then head outside.
While securing contact with the outside.
"Please."
Hoping for a reward that granted such a wish.
I stared at the messages lined up before me.
They appeared after clearing this place, Tower of Despair –1st floor.
Lots of them.
The standout one at the bottom.
Finally saw it.
The question of monopolizing this tower.
I pondered as I tapped it.
What if I refuse?
It read my mind and stated the penalty.
Neat.
More than that, Monster Impact?
First time hearing it, but ominous as hell.
'If that hits, my family could be in danger.'
Only one choice.
No place to go back to anyway.
"Alright. I'll monopolize it."
This despair was mine now.
And simultaneously.
All these rewards were mine alone.
Amid the corpses.
A bit uncomfortable, but I sat easy for now.
Tapped the messages in that state.
"Additional reward chest first."
The chest from monopolizing the Tower of Despair.
It dropped before me.
Thud!
A heavy sound. Ominous look.
A fairly large iron box.
Carved skulls everywhere.
A massive one on the front.
Like it wanted me to grab the upper jaw.
'Golden skull.'
I gripped it and pulled up.
Black energy surged forth.
Looked cursed.
Junk?
"Hm?"
The energy faded.
I peered inside and pulled out the item.
A half-rotted wooden ring.
Growth-type item!
Jackpot.
No grade yet since it's just starting.
Wearer fulfills conditions right.
Raise well: S. Fail: F.
All or nothing.
"Good thing there's plenty of death here."
501 goblin corpses I'd killed.
I cheered inwardly and slipped on the ring.
It resized instantly to fit my finger.
I looked at it on my index finger.
Reap the overflowing death here!
Whoooosh!
Mighty suction.
But no hair fluttered.
It ignored the living.
Devoured every dead thing around.
'Doesn't even leave corpses.'
Need to use carefully.
Pull gear or byproducts first.
Memorized the caution.
Checked the ring's change.
Fed it that much, barely F.
Demands insane amounts of death.
Wonder what it'll become.
Excited inwardly, I claimed the next reward.
First Record Holder.
I was the first to enter and clear the Tower of Despair.
A reward to support such a being.
Claimed it right away.
A crystalline pill dropped from thin air.
I caught it and yelled.
"Jackpot!"
Passive Awakening.
Effect simple.
Checks the consumer's current state.
Grants a fitting unique ability.
Separate from innate ability.
Hunters built arsenals this way.
Mainly abilities, skills, passives.
I got the key to unlock a passive.
Of course it was rare.
Saw one trade for 30 billion on the news.
Just for clearing floor 1?
Tower of Despair lived up to it.
Tough, but rewards solid.
"Please, please be radiation control passive···."
Prayed fervently, swallowed the pill.
Change hit immediately.
Body glowed once, passive acquired.
Knew without status window.
It was visible now.
'Whoa.'
Yes! Control or manipulation, same vein.
This should let me contain the radiation.
I stared at why I was thrilled.
My body as reference.
Thick green stretching hundreds of meters.
It stopped spreading.
Undulating like mist, staying by me.
'That's the radiation.'
Could toggle visualization.
No more green annoyance.
"Alright. Let's control it."
Suck it all into my body first!
Fresh sense from the new passive.
Focused my will hard.
Come in, come on!
Results instant.
Zing.
Radiation coalesced.
Not all into body, just index finger.
Of the 100 spread around, maybe 1%?
'No. 0.1%.'
Just a bit denser around the finger. Done.
Lv 1 limit?
'Yeah, can't fill up on first bite.'
Practice steadily.
Not impossible.
Stuck here, time's all I got.
"Last one now?"
Guild reward from new record.
Checked my record first.
Jeong Yu-seong's initials engraved.
Everything below 1st blank.
Only I found and cleared the Tower of Despair?
One per country below the Towers of Trials.
This was definitely it.
'Situation suggests other countries got Monster Impact too.'
Soon they'd find their towers.
Throw in strong hunters, monopolize.
Ranks would fill after.
'I'm the first discoverer and vanguard.'
Not even F-grade sidekick before.
Me clearing what'd challenge S-grades.
Crazy on reflection.
"Ahem. Guild reward left."
No one to praise me.
Scratched cheek awkwardly.
Checked final reward.
I had no guild, obviously.
Couldn't make one solo.
Needed at least three, unanimous consent.
But if this communicated outward.
"Reliable friends who won't betray."
Taeguk or Geon-gon.
Narrowed it down.
"Maybe leave a message with the reward."
Checked the reward.
A buff for guild members.
Permanent, even.
Auction this? World-top guilds quake.
Chuckled, picked the guild.
"Take good care of it."
Foreign Monster Impacts worried me too.
Could reach Korea.
This was insurance.
Taeguk Guild, grateful protectors of Korea.
Thanks to them, I mined safely.
Family hospitalized safe.
Resisted foreign temptations, spies, ambushes.
Upheld creed to protect Korea even in death.
Friendly guilds get the reward.
A filthy huge buff from a stranger.
But that was enough.
A lone individual earning absolute trust from Korea's #3 guild, a massive organization.