Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Impossible One.
He was the rookie attracting the most attention on South Korea's PlayerNet these days.
Neither his name nor his face was known, but he was climbing the tower one floor a day and racking up SSS ratings in succession.
By now, people had even started guessing when the next record would go up and waiting in front of the public record board.
Today, it was Floor 5's turn.
As the time when the record was expected to appear drew near, the messages in the chat window grew sparse.
Just as everyone was focused solely on the public record board, it happened.
[Korea/Lv.42] Soju in Rice Soup : Floor 5 is up.
[Korea/Lv.37] Tower Climbing Starts Tomorrow : Another SSS?
[Korea/Lv.42] Soju in Rice Soup : No. This time it's a hidden Hall of Fame!
Soon someone captured the Hall of Fame screen and posted it in the chat window.
[Floor 5 Hall of Fame]
[Trial: <Corrupted Spirit Vein Corridor>]
[Classification: Hidden Trial]
[Achieved Record: First Complete Conquest]
[Conquest Rating: SSS]
[Achiever’s Public Name: Undisclosed]
[Affiliated Nation: South Korea]
The fact that there was a hidden trial on Floor 5 had never been known until now.
The Undisclosed player had immediately achieved the first complete conquest and an SSS rating in a trial no one had discovered before.
[USA/Lv.61] IronJack : There was a hidden trial on Floor 5?
[Korea/Lv.29] Miracle of the Han River : Corrupted Spirit Vein Corridor? Has anyone seen it in a strategy guide?
[Japan/Lv.55] Tsukikage : No. Floor 5 only has three regular trials: Defeat, Defense, and Survival.
[Korea/Lv.37] Tower Climbing Starts Tomorrow : How does that person find things nobody else knows about on every floor they enter? Whoa.
[USA/Lv.61] IronJack : It's not just discovery. They even got the first complete conquest.
While questions about the hidden trial poured in, someone gathered all the records Impossible One had set so far onto a single screen and posted it.
From the two impossible achievements in the tutorial, to the Floor 1 hidden battlefield, to the SSS streak starting from Floor 2, to the just-updated Floor 5 hidden trial, everything was listed in order.
[Korea/Lv.29] Miracle of the Han River : Two impossible tutorial achievements, Floor 1 hidden, and now even Floor 5 hidden.
[China/Lv.68] Beijing Swordsman : They leave a record that never existed before on every floor they enter.
[USA/Lv.61] IronJack : The pace of one floor a day hasn't changed either.
[Korea/Lv.37] Tower Climbing Starts Tomorrow : Impossible One did it again. Whoa.
[Japan/Lv.55] Tsukikage : Impossible One, huh. Now that I see it, it's a fitting nickname.
At first, it had been a nickname coined as a joke by low-floor Korean players.
Now even foreign players had started calling him Impossible One.
That was when South Korea's national status was updated as well.
[Hall of Fame Record Reward]
[South Korea Achievement Points +500]
Korean players reacted even faster than they had when the hidden trial was revealed.
[Korea/Lv.42] Soju in Rice Soup : 500 points came in!
[Korea/Lv.51] Gangnam Iron Fist : 500 points from one low-floor hidden trial? Seriously? Whoa.
[Korea/Lv.55] Blue Moon : It's a first complete conquest. There's no way it would give the same points as a regular Floor 5.
[Korea/Lv.33] Newbie Protection Squad : Impossible One cut the shortfall by 500 points all by themselves. Seriously, thank you. T_T
[Korea/Lv.29] Miracle of the Han River : At this rate, people overseas are going to start hunting for their identity too.
[Korea/Lv.51] Gangnam Iron Fist : That's why the Association should find them first and protect them. We can't let them get taken by an overseas guild.
Every time Sang-hyeok climbed a floor, South Korea's achievement points piled up along with his personal records.
By that much, South Korea's projected point shortfall for this quarter shrank.
Posts cheering on the next clear flooded the Korean board.
On the analysis boards of Japan and China as well, posts compiling his records from the tutorial to Floor 5 went up one after another.
The public name field was still empty.
Even so, a name to call the owner of that blank space had already been born.
Impossible One.
While the chat was in an uproar, screenshots of his records spread rapidly beyond PlayerNet.
The Korea Players Association and major guilds in each country immediately began analyzing the Floor 5 record.
While they were only peering at the public records, Ilseong was finishing preparations to examine the items brought directly by the owner of those records.
* * *
That same afternoon.
The security zone under the chairman's direct authority in Ilseong headquarters' underground research building.
As the last researcher left, the thick door closed.
Kim Do-hyeon was seated at the head of the table, and Kim Sang-jun was leaning against the opposite wall.
Standing in front of the empty examination table, Kim Seo-yun's gaze lingered on the metal case Sang-hyeok had brought.
"You sent out all the researchers just to show us this?"
Sang-hyeok nodded and unlocked the case.
Click.
Two objects lay on the black cushioning material.
A jagged black fragment and a crystal with a dark-red glow.
Sang-hyeok took out the black fragment first.
"It's called <Collapse Core Fragment>."
Kim Seo-yun's eyebrows twitched slightly.
Sang-hyeok set the dark red crystal down beside it as well.
"This one is <Corrupted Spirit Vein Crystal>."
"Hold on."
Kim Seo-yun's gaze moved back and forth between the two materials.
Both were names directly connected to the hidden records that had resurfaced on PlayerNet today.
"<Battlefield of Collapse> is where Impossible One achieved a complete conquest on Floor 1, right?"
"Right."
"And <Corrupted Spirit Vein Corridor> was just added to the Floor 5 Hall of Fame."
"That's right too."
Kim Seo-yun looked straight at Sang-hyeok.
"Then why do you have the items that came out of those places?"
Kim Sang-jun's gaze also turned toward Sang-hyeok.
Instead of answering, Sang-hyeok looked at Kim Do-hyeon.
Before coming here, the two of them had already finished discussing how much to reveal.
"I'll explain."
Kim Do-hyeon spoke.
"That Undisclosed player has agreed to work with Ilseong."
"You mean Impossible One?"
Kim Sang-jun asked again, pushing off the wall.
"Yes."
"When did you make contact?"
"I can't disclose how we made contact."
Kim Do-hyeon's answer was firm.
"Not asking about that player's identity is a condition of the cooperation."
Kim Seo-yun looked down at the two materials on the examination table.
"What kind of cooperation is it?"
"They will provide Ilseong with materials and research data obtained from the tower. Ilseong will research ways to reproduce that power through real-world technology and equipment."
"Then what did Ilseong agree to give?"
"We agreed to transfer a portion of Ilseong's shares. Any prototypes we develop will be offered to that player first, and we'll also provide the equipment and resources they need for climbing."
Kim Seo-yun's expression grew serious.
"So this isn't just a simple arrangement to buy and sell a few materials."
"That's right. Ilseong grows through what that person brings, and that person climbs to higher floors with Ilseong's support."
It was a partnership in which each side provided what the other needed.
Impossible One provided materials and records from the tower in exchange for equipment they needed.
In return, Ilseong got first access to research data other companies couldn't obtain.
Kim Sang-jun looked at Sang-hyeok again.
"Still, why are you the one bringing the items?"
"Sang-hyeok is the designated liaison."
Again, Kim Do-hyeon answered for him.
"That player personally named him."
"The youngest?"
"They said Sang-hyeok's eyes and record stone are needed. Sang-hyeok will examine the items Impossible One hands over first. He'll select the ones worth researching at Ilseong and record their effects on a record stone so the research team can see them."
Both of them already knew about Sang-hyeok's ability to find flaws in Ilseong equipment.
It wouldn't be strange for Impossible One to have chosen Sang-hyeok as the liaison because of that ability.
"So from now on, you'll be bringing things like this?"
Kim Seo-yun asked.
"When I obtain something worth researching."
"And you'll be meeting that person directly?"
"No. I don't meet them in person. The items are delivered separately, and we only communicate through an agreed method."
Sang-hyeok said only that much.
It wasn't that he was hiding it because he didn't trust his brother and sister.
Until Sang-hyeok was strong enough to fend off overseas powers on his own, keeping the two of them in the dark was the safest way to protect them.
Kim Seo-yun looked at Sang-hyeok for a moment, then nodded.
"All right. I won't ask about their identity."
She put on gloves and pulled the two materials closer.
"Instead, tell me what these things can do."
Sang-hyeok pointed at the <Collapse Core Fragment>.
"This has the property of weakening barriers and wards."
"If we make use of this, we could create equipment that breaks down barriers or wards."
"Right. Impossible One handed it over expecting that too."
"Good. Then I'll start by analyzing the fragment and try to reproduce the same power in Ilseong equipment."
Kim Seo-yun placed the fragment in a transparent storage case and locked it.
Then she examined the <Corrupted Spirit Vein Crystal>.
"What about this one?"
"It only says it's a crafting material with condensed corrupted mana. I don't know the exact use yet."
"Then I'll start by checking how this mana corrupts its surroundings. We need to understand how the corruption spreads before we can figure out how to use it."
"Right. Impossible One handed it over asking us to look into that too."
The power contained in each material was different, but what Kim Seo-yun had to do was the same.
It was to uncover the properties of that power and reproduce it through Ilseong's technology.
As she held the crystal up to the light from various angles, Kim Seo-yun's gaze shifted to Sang-hyeok's left wrist.
A silver band was visible beneath his rolled-up sleeve.
A clear blue light glowed faintly from the pattern engraved inside the band.
"Sang-hyeok, let me see your wrist."
When Sang-hyeok extended his left arm, Kim Seo-yun examined the silver band closely.
"This is Taeseong's <Spirit Vein Bracelet>, isn't it?"
"Right."
"It's the item no one could use because of the curse."
"Not anymore."
Kim Seo-yun immediately looked up.
"Impossible One broke the curse?"
"Yeah. They advanced it by one stage in the Floor 5 hidden trial and returned it to me."
"Why did they go so far as to take your item there?"
"It's payment for handling the liaison and analysis work."
Kim Seo-yun kept staring at the <Spirit Vein Bracelet>, still visibly surprised.
"Is it recorded on the record stone too?"
"Only how it operates."
Sang-hyeok took out the <Demonic Eye Record Stone> from his inventory.
He placed his hand over the closed-eye pattern and called up the stored record.
Swish.
When the eye on the stone tablet opened, a vivid image of the blue-glowing <Spirit Vein Bracelet> appeared.
The scene of faint mana gathering from the surroundings into the silver ring and then seeping into the wearer was reproduced exactly.
[Ambient Mana Absorption]
[Wearer’s Mana Recovery]
Kim Seo-yun silently replayed the same record over and over.
With each replay, her usually calm eyes shone brighter.
"If we research this properly, we might even be able to recover the mana that disperses when equipment operates."
Kim Seo-yun asked without taking her eyes off the record stone.
"Sang-hyeok, can you share this record with the research team too?"
"Yeah. I'll make sure you can view it whenever you need to."
"Good."
She immediately opened a new document on her tablet.
Her fingers moved quickly as she listed three research items one after another.
[Mana Recovery]
[Corrupted Mana Analysis]
[Barrier Dismantling]
"I'll start with the <Spirit Vein Bracelet>. I need to check whether its mana-gathering power can be used in other equipment."
Kim Seo-yun tapped the other two items in turn.
"For the crystal, I'll first look into how the corrupted mana spreads, and for the fragment, I'll examine whether we can reproduce its barrier-weakening power."
"You've already thought about what equipment to make?"
"Not yet."
Kim Seo-yun smiled as she scanned the three items on the tablet.
"But I do know where to start."
Watching her, Sang-hyeok smiled without realizing it.
It felt as though the sister he remembered from long ago had returned before his eyes.
'Right. This is who she was.'
She had been happiest when discovering the potential of new equipment.
Whenever Kim Seo-yun lost herself in talking about research, she seemed to shine brighter than anyone.
Before the regression, he hadn't been able to see that side of her for long.
As Ilseong declined, its research budget and staff had been the first things cut.
Kim Seo-yun had been forced to devote herself to cleaning up immediate failures and protecting the businesses that remained instead of pursuing the research she wanted.
Even amid all that, she had never let go of Sang-hyeok's awakening condition, which even he himself had given up on.
She had gone in and out of the lab looking for data, and in the end, she had apologized instead, saying she couldn't find the answer.
In this life, it was his turn to help his sister.
Sang-hyeok could personally bring the records and materials needed for research from the tower.
Using them as a foundation, he intended to rebuild Ilseong and let his sister pursue whatever research she wanted.
'This time, I'll make sure you get to do all the research you want.'
Kim Do-hyeon examined the three research items written on the tablet in turn.
"The three research projects you just outlined will be separated from the existing development team and run as a separate initiative."
Kim Seo-yun looked up in surprise.
"Father, we've only confirmed the possibility so far."
"That's why you need to start testing it now. You'll oversee the work. I'll assign the necessary personnel and equipment separately."
Kim Do-hyeon turned his gaze to Kim Sang-jun.
"Designate the research area as the chairman's direct security zone. Make sure no one can view or remove the data and materials provided by Impossible One without Sang-hyeok's approval."
"Proceed with the promised share transfer immediately as well. When a prototype comes out, provide it to Impossible One first."
"Understood."
As the personnel, equipment, and security procedures were settled one by one, Kim Seo-yun's surprised expression gradually relaxed.
When the final instruction ended, she smiled and nodded.
"Then I'll do this properly."
"Good. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."
"It doesn't feel like pressure. I'm actually looking forward to it."
Kim Seo-yun immediately pulled the tablet closer and began listing the necessary personnel and equipment one by one.
Sang-hyeok watched the list growing rapidly across the screen.
For now, he'd brought only one record and two materials.
If he brought more records and materials from the tower in the future, the research Ilseong could attempt would grow by just as much.
There was no guarantee that every research project would succeed.
Still, if even a few of those projects led to working equipment, people might someday start wondering whether Ilseong was hiding alien technology or something.
While Sang-hyeok was imagining such a future, Kim Seo-yun finished entering the last item and was about to press the save button.
Ding.
At that moment, before her finger could touch it, the tablet screen lit up first.
Kim Sang-jun's phone screen lit up as well, and the same notice appeared before Sang-hyeok's eyes.
「Here is the end-of-season schedule for the current Channel League season.」
[Time Until Current Season Ends: D-36]
Upon reaching Lv.20 and obtaining an entry pass for Floor 20 of the Infinite Tower, the Channel League opened automatically.
From Lv.20 to Lv.30, players were assigned to the Iron tier and competed in the Rookie League, and upon reaching Lv.31, they moved on to the Regular Channel League.
Players could participate once per day, and anyone entering alone was randomly grouped with players from the same country.
Players who had coordinated beforehand could also form a fixed team and participate.
Points earned in the Rookie and Regular Leagues were all added to the same national season score.
Kim Seo-yun immediately opened the detailed status.
[Iron Rookie League Auto-Unlock Conditions]
[Reach Lv.20]
[Possess Floor 20 Entry Pass for the Infinite Tower]
[South Korea Channel League National Season Ranking: 64th / 64 Nations]
[South Korea Iron Rookie Fixed Team: None]
"We don't have a prearranged team this time either."
Sang-hyeok's gaze lingered on the auto-unlock conditions.
Currently, Sang-hyeok had climbed to Floor 5.
To obtain the Floor 20 entry pass, he had to climb fourteen more floors.
If he kept his goal of one floor per day, there was enough time to join this season.
However, every day of delay meant one fewer match he could play this season.
Kim Sang-jun checked the season end date.
"Impossible One is on Floor 5 now, right?"
"Right."
Kim Seo-yun calculated the remaining days.
"If they maintain their current pace, they can enter the Rookie League with 22 days left before the season ends."
"As long as they don't get stuck along the way."
Kim Sang-jun's gaze turned to Sang-hyeok.
"Did that person say they could keep up this pace?"
"They said it's possible. The goal of one floor per day is unchanged too."
Kim Seo-yun looked back and forth between the remaining season period and the research plan she had just made.
"Then I should hurry too."
"The research?"
"Yeah. While that person climbs the tower, I'll push this research forward as much as I can."
Sang-hyeok checked the Rookie League status again.
The opponents he would face there were not just ordinary rookies.
Promising prospects directly sponsored by the Sixteen Celestial Seats were also gathering on that stage one by one.
Thump.
Deep in his chest, the Heart of the Apocalypse Demonic Dragon beat heavily.
Sang-hyeok took in the remaining days.
[Time Until Current Season Ends: D-36]
'Before entering the Rookie League, I'll draw out at least one more Authority from this heart.'