Chapter 8
Chapter 8
"What's going on?"
When Sang-hyeok asked, Yun Chae-rin first glanced around.
The researchers and reporters who had finished the verification were still scattered throughout the testing area.
"Let's move somewhere else for a moment."
The two of them stepped out into the hallway beside the verification room.
Once the door closed and the reporters' voices and the sounds of equipment being packed away faded, Yun Chae-rin spoke first.
"Sang-hyeok, you were in the Ilseong technical area today."
"Yeah."
"As far as I know, only people involved in the Association verification can enter that area."
Sang-hyeok looked at Yun Chae-rin.
"What are you trying to say?"
"Were you involved in the equipment repair?"
Yun Chae-rin glanced back at the closed verification room door.
"After the verification ended, Director Kim Seo-yun and the researchers looked at you first."
"So you think I was involved in the equipment repair?"
"Because a problem they couldn't solve until yesterday was gone today."
"My sister and the research team found it overnight."
"A problem that only occurred when monster mana touched the equipment, solved in a single night?"
Sang-hyeok's eyes narrowed.
"So you even knew the conditions under which the equipment was malfunctioning, Chae-rin."
Yun Chae-rin paused briefly, then answered calmly.
"Taeseong is also a stakeholder in this evaluation. I simply confirmed what was already circulating in the industry."
"Right. I'll take it that way for now."
Sang-hyeok didn't press further.
At that, Yun Chae-rin studied Sang-hyeok's expression and softened her voice.
"Then let's leave work talk here."
Yun Chae-rin lightly traced her engagement ring with her finger.
"Shall we talk about us, then?"
"Us?"
"We've never really talked since getting engaged. We don't even know how each other is doing."
A faint smile spread across her lips.
"Before our families bring up marriage again, I think it would be good for us to spend some time together first."
"Time?"
"Let's at least have a meal together this week. I'm curious about what happened today, and I'd like to hear how you've been all this time."
Before the regression, even when Sang-hyeok asked to meet first, Yun Chae-rin had rarely made time for him.
Yet now she was using their engagement to arrange a private meeting.
She hadn't suddenly developed feelings for him.
'She's curious about the changes she saw at Ilseong today, so she's using her position as my fiancée to probe me from closer than anyone else.'
The calculation was obvious, but there was no reason to refuse.
Sang-hyeok needed an opportunity to end this engagement too.
"Fine. Pick a place and date and send it to me."
Yun Chae-rin's smile deepened slightly.
"I'll contact you within the week."
"Good."
Sang-hyeok added.
"Actually, I was planning to talk about our engagement too."
"What about it?"
"We'll talk that day."
Yun Chae-rin's finger, which had been tracing the ring, stopped.
Just as she was about to speak again, the verification room door behind them opened and Kim Sang-jun stepped into the hallway.
"Sang-hyeok. Dad's looking for you."
"Got it."
Sang-hyeok gave Yun Chae-rin a slight nod.
"Contact me once you've set a date."
Before, he would have been so happy just because she'd asked to meet that he'd have checked the date over and over.
But the current Sang-hyeok didn't look back even once.
His changed attitude and the image of him standing among the Ilseong researchers kept nagging at her.
Yun Chae-rin decided to confirm just how involved he'd been in today's events.
A short while later, back in the Taeseong waiting area, Yun Chae-rin opened her tablet.
[Ilseong Group 1st Field Suitability Verification Result Report]
The cursor blinked over the blank report.
Yun Chae-rin recalled the conversation from the hallway and began typing.
[Ilseong prototype sabotage: failed.]
[Method of sabotage neutralization: unconfirmed.]
[Kim Sang-hyeok was present in the Ilseong technical area on the day of verification.]
[Contact with Director Kim Seo-yun and research staff confirmed.]
Yun Chae-rin added one final line.
[Need to confirm whether he was involved in the equipment modification process.]
She designated the report's recipient.
[To: Strategy Planning Office Director Kang Tae-o]
Click.
[Report sent.]
Yun Chae-rin stared at Kim Sang-hyeok's name, still listed for separate investigation, then closed the tablet and looked down at the engagement ring on her finger.
For her, this meal wasn't a formality to show both families, but an opportunity to directly confirm Sang-hyeok's changes and his role within Ilseong from her position as his fiancée.
* * *
After leaving the verification area with Kim Sang-jun, Sang-hyeok got into the Ilseong company vehicle where Kim Do-hyeon was waiting.
As the car pulled away, the partition between the driver's seat and the back seat slowly rose.
Whirr.
The outside noise was blocked out, but Kim Do-hyeon didn't speak right away.
On his tablet, the verification results issued by the association just moments ago were displayed.
[1st Field Suitability Verification: Passed]
[2nd Comparative Performance Evaluation Eligibility: Maintained]
Kim Do-hyeon stared at those two lines for a moment, then set the tablet down.
"Yesterday, two World Achievement announcements came from Korea."
Sang-hyeok didn't answer.
"Both achievements came from the tutorial."
Adamant Dummy destroyed.
Indestructible Guardian defeated.
The achiever's name wasn't disclosed, but the affiliated country was listed as the Republic of Korea.
"That very day, your Trait awakened."
Kim Do-hyeon's gaze turned to Sang-hyeok.
"Today, you showed up at the research building carrying a Heroic-grade record stone you said you got from the tower."
Kim Do-hyeon had personally witnessed Sang-hyeok's eyes changing in the conference room the day before, and the sight of hidden components appearing from the record stone.
The timing was too precise to dismiss all of it as coincidence.
"The Undisclosed player who took down the Indestructible Guardian."
Kim Do-hyeon asked briefly.
"Is it you?"
Sang-hyeok met his father's eyes.
He had no intention of revealing the regression or the true nature of <Heart of the Apocalypse Demonic Dragon> to anyone, but there was no need to hide from his father the fact that he was the Undisclosed player.
Kim Do-hyeon wasn't the kind of person to exploit a secret his son's life depended on for business.
Until Sang-hyeok grew strong enough to protect himself, his father could shield him with Ilseong's name and security network, and he also had the authority to connect the records brought from the tower to Kim Seo-yun and the research team to turn them into actual results.
"Yes."
Sang-hyeok answered.
"It's me."
Kim Do-hyeon's finger stopped over the tablet.
Even as the lights outside the window swept across his face, his expression didn't change, but it took longer than usual before he spoke again.
"Come to think of it, you pointed at Taeseong even before checking the prototype. Did you know that through your Trait as well?"
Sang-hyeok answered without avoiding his father's gaze.
"I didn't find that out through my Trait."
"So you're saying you obtained separate information."
"That's correct."
"The source?"
He couldn't say it was from his pre-regression memories.
That was the one fact he had no intention of revealing to anyone.
"I can't tell you."
Kim Do-hyeon's eyes narrowed.
"Not even to me?"
"No."
The car fell quiet, but Sang-hyeok didn't make excuses or add anything.
Revealing that he was the Undisclosed player and confessing the regression were entirely different matters.
After a moment, Kim Do-hyeon nodded.
"Understood."
His father didn't press further and changed the question.
"Who knows you're the Undisclosed player?"
"Only you, Father."
"What about Sang-jun and Seo-yun?"
"They know that I've awakened and that I have the record stone. They don't know I'm the Undisclosed player."
"The researchers?"
"They wouldn't know either. I haven't given them any clues that I'm the Undisclosed player."
Kim Do-hyeon thought for a moment, then asked again.
"Still, Sang-jun and Seo-yun know when you awakened. The researchers saw your abilities directly. Won't someone else like me connect the two?"
"What they saw was only me finding the equipment's abnormalities with my eyes and showing them through the record stone. I never showed them any combat ability."
"So they'll assume your awakening is research- or analysis-oriented."
"Yes. It would be hard to see a newcomer like that as the same person who defeated the Indestructible Guardian. They'll consider the overlapping awakening timing a coincidence."
After hearing the answer, Kim Do-hyeon took out his phone.
"Even so, we need to eliminate as many clues as possible that could lead to your identity. Publicly, I'll arrange it so that Seo-yun and the research team found and fixed the defect."
His fingers moved quickly across the screen.
"I'll personally manage the materials regarding your abilities and the record stone. I'll also have the researchers who participated in yesterday's repair sign separate security agreements."
"What about Sang-jun?"
"I plan to have Sang-jun only look for internal collaborators. There's no need to tell him that you're the Undisclosed player."
Kim Do-hyeon wrote out and sent several instructions, then put his phone down.
"With secrets like this, the fewer people who know, the better."
When Sang-hyeok nodded, Kim Do-hyeon immediately asked.
"Can that record stone be used if someone else takes it?"
"No. It's bound to me."
"What about transferring just the records inside separately?"
"That's also impossible. However, I can show records I've permitted to other people."
"You can decide who sees which records?"
"Yes."
Kim Do-hyeon thought for a moment, then continued his questions.
"Can you keep recording things you encounter in the tower from now on?"
"If it's something I've seen directly, yes."
"Monsters too?"
"Not just monsters, but equipment, magic circles, and barriers as well."
"Then you can keep bringing materials for Seo-yun and the research team to use."
"If it's my sister and the research team, they'll find ways to make use of it."
The record stone had already been used to save Ilseong's prototype.
The more new monsters and devices Sang-hyeok encountered while climbing the tower, the more research material Ilseong would have.
"Keep the record stone in your possession."
"That's my intention."
"And show Seo-yun only the records she needs."
"Yes."
"Find new powers and techniques in the tower and record them."
When Sang-hyeok looked at his father, Kim Do-hyeon continued.
"Ilseong will handle turning them into something usable in reality."
It was the answer Sang-hyeok had wanted.
He would find clues to powers and techniques in the tower, and Kim Seo-yun and the research team would turn them into equipment players could use.
The technology and equipment accumulated that way would help Ilseong grow and give Sang-hyeok the strength to protect his family.
But Kim Do-hyeon's expression hadn't relaxed yet.
"If your identity gets out, who would move first?"
"China and Russia, most likely."
"They won't just target you."
"They'll pressure my family first."
"So you know."
"That's why I need Ilseong."
Sang-hyeok continued.
"Until I'm strong enough to face them alone."
"How long do you think that will take?"
"I don't know yet."
Sang-hyeok paused to choose his words, then added.
"But I'll climb as fast as I can."
Kim Do-hyeon's finger tapped his knee once.
"If you need anything, tell me right away."
"How much may I ask for?"
"Equipment, people, locations, funding."
Kim Do-hyeon added without hesitation.
"Ilseong will do everything it can for you."
"Understood."
Kim Do-hyeon picked up the tablet with the association verification results again.
[1st Field Suitability Verification: Passed]
After staring at the pass result for a while, he spoke in a low voice.
"Well done."
At those brief words, Sang-hyeok couldn't answer right away.
It was something he'd never heard even before the regression.
No, Kim Do-hyeon wasn't the type to hand out praise to his children easily in the first place.
Instead of saying "good job," he made sure they had what they needed; instead of saying "I'm worried," he quietly backed them up.
That father had, for the first time, verbally acknowledged something Sang-hyeok had accomplished.
After a brief silence, Kim Do-hyeon continued.
"Until you become strong enough that no one can lay a hand on you, I'll cover your back."
Before the regression, his father had struggled alone to protect the crumbling Ilseong, and Sang-hyeok hadn't been able to lend any strength from beside him.
This time, each of them had something they could do.
If Sang-hyeok brought powers and techniques from the tower, his father would use them to rebuild Ilseong.
"Thank you."
Kim Do-hyeon nodded briefly.
Outside the window, the emblem atop the Ilseong headquarters swept past.
Before the regression, it had been a light that finally went out amid the flames.
This time, Sang-hyeok had no intention of letting that light go out.
* * *
That evening.
Back in his room, Sang-hyeok checked his phone first.
[Ilseong Group Standard-Issue Mana Defense Equipment Passes 1st Field Suitability Verification]
[2nd Comparative Performance Evaluation Eligibility: Maintained]
Related articles were quickly appearing.
Before the regression, on the same day, the exact opposite articles had filled the screen.
[Ilseong Group mana defense equipment defect officially confirmed]
[2nd comparative performance evaluation qualification lost]
Starting with those articles, the follow-up supply negotiations had gone to Taeseong.
Research personnel had left, and with investment drying up as well, Ilseong had begun losing ground in the player equipment market.
This time was different.
He'd saved the prototype and kept Ilseong eligible to advance to the next evaluation.
Sang-hyeok closed the articles.
What he'd blocked today was only the first failure that would have befallen Ilseong.
Before the regression, Taeseong had continued to steal Ilseong's technology and people, and when Korea collapsed, they were the ones who sold player equipment technology and tower resources, and even state secrets, to China and Japan.
This time, he intended to restore Ilseong to the center of the player industry and bring down Taeseong, which stood in the way, first.
To do that, he needed power above all else.
Sang-hyeok opened his status window.
[Name] Kim Sang-hyeok
[Level] 1
[Trait Name] <Heart of the Apocalypse Demonic Dragon>
[Unlocked Authorities] <Erasure>, <Demonic Dragon’s Eye>
Only Lv.1.
Taeseong was allied not only with major domestic guilds and high-level players, but also with overseas forces.
If he confronted them head-on now, far from dealing a blow to Taeseong, Ilseong's equipment business would only face even fiercer interference.
And Taeseong wasn't the only reason Sang-hyeok needed to grow stronger quickly.
About one year until Korea collapsed.
Four years until humanity lost in the Dimension League.
Climbing the tower at the same pace as everyone else would be too late.
'One floor a day.'
It was a goal Sang-hyeok had set for himself.
It was a pace most players would consider reckless.
But Sang-hyeok had already accomplished things considered impossible in the tutorial, twice.
He'd destroyed the indestructible Adamant Dummy and even brought down the Indestructible Guardian, which hadn't even been meant as a target to defeat.
So there was no reason to decide this goal was impossible before even trying.
Enter the tower every day and break through one floor at a time with the highest evaluation possible.
Grow himself and Ilseong together with the powers, materials, and records obtained in the process.
How far he could go was something he'd find out by throwing himself at it.
Sang-hyeok focused his will.
'Infinite Tower.'
A notification appeared before his eyes.
「Would you like to enter the Infinite Tower?」
Sang-hyeok didn't hesitate.
'Enter.'
Flash!
White light shot up from beneath his feet and swallowed Sang-hyeok's body and the room.
At that moment.
Thump!
Sang-hyeok's heart beat hard.
A beat later, a far heavier resonance overlapped it from deep within his body.
Boom!
The room and the white light vanished from his sight.
Before his eyes stretched a black land where neither stars nor the moon were visible.
At the edge of the horizon, something enormous lay prone, breathing.
At first, he thought it was a mountain range.
But the black surface, stretching like a ridgeline, slowly swelled and sank, and with each exhale, the dust of the earth was pushed away in all directions.
It was a dragon.
A black dragon so massive that its head alone could cover a mountain.
When Sang-hyeok's gaze reached its face, the closed eyelids slowly moved.
Shhk.
Red eyes emerged from the darkness.
The enormous eyes stared directly at Sang-hyeok.
Boom──!
A second resonance shook the black land.
At the same moment, the same resonance erupted from deep within Sang-hyeok's chest.
The instant Sang-hyeok reflexively raised a hand to his chest, the scene before his eyes cut off abruptly.
「Entering the 1st floor of the Infinite Tower.」
When the white light cleared, Sang-hyeok stood in the middle of a pure white space.
Beneath the palm pressed to his chest, his heart was beating at its usual pace.
Thump.
Thump.
The heavy sound that had resonated deep within his body moments ago had already vanished.
'What I just saw...'
Just as Sang-hyeok was about to open his status window, a new notification appeared first.
[1st Floor Trial: Battlefield of Choice]
[Measuring the player's combat aptitude.]
Vmmmm.
Three empty panels appeared in front of him.
On a normal 1st floor, the names of three battlefields suited to one's aptitude would soon be displayed.
But just before the battlefield names appeared, another notification interrupted.
「Confirming the player's combat record.」
Letters rapidly scrolled up.
「Holder of an Impossible Achievement.」
「Adding a special option based on the Impossible Achievement.」
VMMMM!
A dark-red panel appeared below the three empty panels.
An unfamiliar battlefield name slowly appeared on the dark-red panel.
「Hidden battlefield <Battlefield of Collapse> is now open.」