A Loophole in the System
The meeting between Geum Soo-ah and Kim Mu-saeng at the cafe did not last very long.
She desperately wanted to know what he had discussed with her father and what his next moves would be, but Mu-saeng proved impossible to pin down.
"Well, you know how it is."
"I feel like I'd have better luck just asking the chairman directly..."
"Was he satisfied? Probably?"
"It didn't seem too bad, I guess."
Every single answer he gave followed that exact pattern. He refused to provide a single clear, straightforward detail. No matter how sharp Geum Soo-ah's intuition and intellect were, piecing together the subject and flow of the conversation between Mu-saeng and Geum Byeong-cheol was entirely out of reach.
"...Haah, fine. Setting aside Park Hyun-gu's company for a moment... Kim Mu-saeng, you're still going to work with us, right?"
Conceding once again that she couldn't outmaneuver him in conversation—he slipped away as smoothly as an eel—Geum Soo-ah had no choice but to steer the topic elsewhere.
Mu-saeng hummed thoughtfully, tilting his head with a slight shake. "Is there really anything I can do alongside you or Director Yoon, Ms. Geum? Reaching the Tower's sixtieth floor is still a long, long way off for me."
High rankers like them couldn't descend to the lower floors to raid with him. How and where were they supposed to collaborate?
Geum Soo-ah's eyes sharpened. This wasn't about her father's conversation, nor was it about the artifact from the 66th Dungeon. There was only one reason she wanted Mu-saeng by her side now.
"The dungeon. Did you forget?"
An unidentified dungeon estimated to correspond to the 67th floor. Her goal was to conquer that treacherous place alongside Mu-saeng and the inexplicable abilities that even Yoon Pyo had acknowledged.
"Wait, can't you just acquire mana fingerprint data from the States and verify which floor it belongs to in no time?" Mu-saeng asked.
Currently, the highest officially recognized climbing record stood at the 71st floor. While Geumseong held the domestic record in Korea, there were guilds and nations—the United States included—that had pushed even further. Just as Korea One Way Group's Lee Eun-woo had verified the 66th Dungeon using mana fingerprint analysis, couldn't Geumseong simply run a diagnostic scan on their unidentified dungeon to determine its exact floor?
"Us? Geumseong?"
Geum Soo-ah let out a dry breath. That sort of cross-referencing was only possible for someone like the One Way Group, who had specific ties and backchannels. Information regarding high-tier floors and dungeons was classified under the strictest secrecy imaginable. Foreign conglomerates wouldn't just hand it over. Extracting that kind of intel required an astronomical price tag.
And this wasn't mere floor-clearing intel, either. It was a dungeon—a repeatable ground where strategies could be perfected, patterns researched, and precious artifacts farmed indefinitely. Handing over almost the entirety of the dungeon's projected profits would barely balance the scales of such a deal.
"Tsk, is that how it works?" Mu-saeng murmured, catching on to the reality of the situation after her brief remark. Yet his reaction remained remarkably lukewarm.
Geum Soo-ah leaned across the table, closing the distance between them. Her posture radiated an earnestness and raw sincerity rarely seen from the Deputy Head of Geumseong's Raid Headquarters. Sensing it, Mu-saeng held her gaze.
"Precisely. That's why... of course, I know it won't be easy. But we are prepared to offer you compensation that is more than fair—"
"Gather information on the 58th floor for me," Mu-saeng interrupted smoothly. "Actually, let me be very specific. I want everything you can find on a particular subject. Pull together all the intel available to Geumseong, as well as every allied guild you collaborate with across the globe."
At last, Mu-saeng laid his real terms on the table. It was a request he hadn't dared bring up before Geum Byeong-cheol. In truth, involving the chairman wasn't even necessary. Someone of Geum Soo-ah's standing possessed more than enough authority to dig up what he needed.
"What? The 58th floor? Specific information... What kind of information are you looking for?"
Geum Soo-ah immediately caught the change in his expression. The indifferent, half-interested demeanor he had maintained all afternoon vanished, replaced by an intensity so fierce it briefly caught her off guard.
Mu-saeng spoke with measured gravity.
He told her about the awakened ability Florist (E).
He told her about the skill Flower Arrangement.
And he told her about Joo Ye-rin.
"Records from beyond the 58th floor, records from before it—I don't care. Gather everything you can possibly find. If you do that... I will enter whatever dungeon you want."
Mu-saeng was certain of it. If Geum Soo-ah set her mind to the task, she wouldn't miss even the faintest trace Joo Ye-rin had left behind in the Tower.
"A-All right. We need time to prepare our expedition logistics anyway. In the meantime, I'll do everything in my power to dig up every scrap of data."
[What's there to prepare, anyway?] a squeaky, telepathic voice grumbled beside Mu-saeng's ear. [The 67th floor boss is just a little pest that plays cheap tricks with light in the dark. As long as you don't get hypnotized by—]
"Excuse me?" Geum Soo-ah tilted her head, catching a sudden shift in the air.
"Cough! Khh-khh! *Hrk!*" Mu-saeng hacked loudly into his fist, coughing violently to drown out the voice.
From leaving the Tower straight to the 55th Dungeon, and then facing South Korea's strongest Awakener—Mu-saeng had spent hours running on pure adrenaline without a wink of rest. Fatigue should have weighed him down, but his spirits were surprisingly light.
Sitting behind the wheel of his car, adjusting the high-grade tactical goggles perched on his face, he took stock of his haul. He had walked away with plenty.
"Man, Geumseong sure knows how to treat people. Unlimited complimentary stays at every single luxury hotel owned by the Geumseong Group... You really have to admire generosity like that."
He wasn't heading back to some cramped, dreary studio apartment where nobody awaited him. Instead, he was bound for a five-star hotel with dedicated concierge service ready to source whatever climbing gear or dungeon rations he required. At his current stage, having his general movements tracked by Geumseong didn't bother him in the slightest. All things considered, it was a thoroughly satisfying perk.
[If you wanted to track down that female Joo Ye-rin, wouldn't it have been faster to ask the beast directly?] Wahsh piped up, floating leisurely in the passenger seat as the car hummed down the expressway.
The former Tower Administrator had spent the ride ruminating over the conversations with Geum Byeong-cheol and Geum Soo-ah. Yet, when it came to human political maneuvering, an alien entity like him was inevitably out of his depth. Mu-saeng decided to enlighten him.
"If I did that, he would've held all the cards. Sure, the chairman seemed like a much decent guy in person than how the media paints him... but there's no reason to walk into an obvious trap."
Handing over his ultimate personal motivation to Geum Byeong-cheol? Definitely not now. There was no need to reveal his hand so early. He couldn't entrust the task to Yoon Pyo either, since the raid director would report straight to the chairman.
[And that female is different?]
"Yeah. I didn't explicitly tell her to keep it a secret, but Geum Soo-ah will handle it discreetly."
Her position as Deputy Head of Raid Headquarters carried immense clout, coupled with her standing as the chairman's daughter. If she determined that an investigation served Geumseong's long-term interests, she possessed the autonomy to push it through without reporting every minor detail upstairs.
[Hmph. Is that so?]
"Of course. Besides, Chairman Geum already saw you. If I started throwing Joo Ye-rin's name around on top of that..."
[Kkwak?! What did you say?! He saw me?] Wahsh squawked, bobbing violently in midair. The yellow rubber duck adjusted his thick horn-rimmed glasses in absolute shock.
Mu-saeng glanced at him, bewildered by the duck's surprise. "Uh, yeah. Obviously. That's why I said the guy's real character was way better than his public image."
Mu-saeng was certain of it. Geum Byeong-cheol had seen Wahsh. To think the very subject under scrutiny had completely failed to notice was almost comical.
From Wahsh's perspective, however, it defied comprehension.
[No, wait, kkwak?! He saw me and pretended he didn't? He heard what I said, too? That's impossible! He didn't look at me once! That beast never cast a single glance in my direction!]
"That's precisely what makes him terrifying. He saw you, and he actively chose to act like you weren't there. Man, if it were me, I wouldn't have been able to ignore a floating yellow rubber duck hovering inches from my face. The sheer discipline it took for him not to glance over once... He's one hell of an old man."
[That's not being impressive, that's just...]
Even with Mu-saeng's breakdown, Wahsh couldn't grasp the logic. If you see something anomalous, you react. If you hear someone speaking, you answer. Why would Geum Byeong-cheol sit there like a stone?
Looking at the cosmic entity who remained shockingly naive when it came to human psychology, Mu-saeng laid it out plainly.
"He didn't want to make things awkward for either of us on the spot. If you really are an Administrator, the last thing he'd want to do is get on your bad side. And by extension, he didn't want to alienate me—the guy walking around with an Administrator attached to his shoulder."
In other words, Geum Byeong-cheol might have already harbored suspicions regarding the existence of higher overseers within the Tower. That explained why he hadn't doubted Mu-saeng's audacious claims. That very realization had deepened Mu-saeng's respect for the veteran ranker's shrewdness.
"Think about it logically. Sraken saw you and heard your voice, right? And that old man back there was vastly stronger than Sraken ever was. Do you really believe he couldn't see you? Couldn't hear you? If I hadn't already known how Sraken reacted to you, even I might have bought his poker face. But he couldn't fool me."
During the confrontation in the 66th Dungeon fragment, Sraken had unmistakably perceived Wahsh. Mu-saeng remembered the serpent's faint reaction vividly. If an S-grade floor boss could sense him, an SSR ranker of Geum Byeong-cheol's caliber couldn't possibly miss him.
Yet the old man hadn't so much as twitched an ear while Wahsh zipped around his face spouting absurdities. That level of self-control commanded genuine awe.
[Hmm... Hiding one's true thoughts just proves how primitive humans are... Wait. What did the beast mean by what he said earlier?] Wahsh abruptly pivoted, his tone wavering somewhere between grudging respect and irritation.
"What part?"
[He claimed there's a way to earn greater rewards from party play than from a solo clear. I never designed any mechanic like that in the system architecture!]
The hint Geum Byeong-cheol had gifted Mu-saeng—a condition that an Administrator considered an outright impossibility. What did that condition entail, and how had Mu-saeng deciphered it?
"Pfft, haha! Yeah, you definitely didn't design it. You probably never imagined a human would ever try something so shameless. Korean gamers are built different, man."
[What in the world are you babbling about?]
"Hold on a second. Let's see here..."
Ignoring Wahsh's puzzled stare, Mu-saeng dialed a number on his hands-free system. Within two rings, a voice Wahsh recognized all too well boomed through the speakers.
—Hey, Mu-saeng! What's up?
"Hyung! What was your personal best in the Tower again? Floor 10, right?"
Between Mu-saeng and Park Hyun-gu, pleasantries were entirely unnecessary. Mu-saeng cut straight to the chase.
—Why are you rubbing salt in an open wound? Yeah, Floor 10. What about it?
"Even for a dungeon sherpa firm, having the CEO stuck on the 10th floor looks a bit weak, don't you think? Climbing higher would make marketing way easier. Don't you agree?"
—...Why are you stating the obvious like it's news? What do you actually want?
Hearing the skepticism in Hyun-gu's voice, the corners of Mu-saeng's lips curled into a broad smirk. Park Hyun-gu was the indispensable key to unlocking the greater rewards Geum Byeong-cheol had hinted at.
"I'm saying you should climb with me starting from Floor 11."
—With you? In the Tower? Out of nowhere? You're not having dark thoughts about taking us both out together, are you?
"Don't jinx me with that nonsense. I'll provide full VIP bus service. All you have to do is make one promise."
The Tower recognized only two modes of ascent: solo play or party play.
When challenging a floor in a party, the floor's difficulty scaled upward proportionally to the group's size, and the gross reward pool expanded to match. However, the system automatically distributed the spoils based on individual contribution, meaning an average party member typically walked away with a payout noticeably leaner than what a solo climber would earn.
So what happened if you manipulated the math?
"Don't lift a single finger. Don't move a muscle. Just stand there and let me clear everything alone."
What if one person monopolized one hundred percent of the contribution?
What if you entered with a party member who literally didn't strike a single blow or cast a single spell?
If you brought along a partner who registered zero percent participation under the system's stringent criteria, what then?
The overall difficulty of the trial would undoubtedly reflect a multi-person raid.
And the rewards?
—Hey, does that even make sense? Regardless of how weak I am, the moment the headcount increases, the floor's difficulty spikes—
"That's why we're going to test it, Hyung. At the end of the day, all you need is a higher floor clearance logged on your record anyway. It'll be great PR for Omkim, and you get to puff your chest out in front of the clients. Win-win, right?"
—I mean, on paper, sure... but I'm wasting my breath telling you this is crazy, aren't I?
"Heh. Have you ever seen me pull crazy stunts without a solid plan?" Mu-saeng grinned.
Hyun-gu's faint grumbling about having seen plenty of reckless stunts was lost beneath the deep growl of the acceleration.
The car surged forward, tearing down the open asphalt.
It was time to test the boundaries of the Tower's contribution distribution mechanics.
And more importantly...
'Aside from Geum Byeong-cheol, nobody in this country has ever exploited this method of leveling...'
Beyond the mythical elixirs, this had to be the secret hypothesis behind the chairman's astronomical growth curve.
And Mu-saeng was going to prove it.