Gathering of the Eight Seconds
By the time the sun began to crest the horizon, a sea of heads was already crowding the fortress ramparts.
What in the world had happened last night?
Shrieks, feral roars, desperate shouts, tumult, detonations, collapses... A chaotic storm of horrific clamor and blazing fire had tangled through the dark. From within the walls, it had been impossible to discern what was truly unfolding out there. But now, every soldier standing along the ramparts could see the aftermath with their own eyes.
"Commander, look out there... Could it be...?"
"Aye. It's over. I can't sense a single monster."
The monster coalition's camp had utterly unraveled. Even the surrounding horde that had held the fortress in an ironclad siege was gone without a trace. The scrying crystal tracking monster lifeforce confirmed it beyond any doubt: no threat remained. The monsters had vanished.
The real question was who on earth could have pulled off such a feat.
Royal reinforcements? Impossible. There was no way to reach the enemy encampment without passing directly through the fortress. Geographically and physically, it could not be done.
"Did infighting break out among their ranks...?"
"If that were the case, only the flags would have changed."
"Right, exactly. That wouldn't explain why the entire valley is empty."
Even for civil war, the scene was far too clean. Even if their warlord had been usurped, there was no reason for every single tribe and breed to disappear into thin air. That left only one plausible conclusion.
"C-Could a dragon... or an angel or something... have appeared?"
The intervention of an overwhelming, transcendent being.
"Be reasonable. You think we would've missed a dragon running rampant?"
"An angel makes even less sense. The only recorded descent of an angel was during the miracle of the Ninety-Second Pope."
Neither dragons nor angels held up to scrutiny. However...
"C-Commander! Over there! Look! A person! It's a person!"
"Hm? Who could... what?!"
A human, on the other hand, made an appearance.
A lone figure trudged toward the fortress gates with an exhausted, dragging gait. To be precise, he looked less like an epic hero and more like a burnt-out office worker staggering home after an unpaid overnight shift.
"Whew! Working out all night really takes it out of you. Hey! Open up the gates, will you?!"
To the garrison who had resigned themselves to death under siege, waiting for distant reinforcements that were still weeks away, this sight was nothing short of miraculous.
"K-Kim Mu-saeng-nim?!"
"It's Kim Mu-saeng-nim! How on earth did—"
"The monsters... did Kim Mu-saeng-nim do all this?!"
The fortress defenders stared down in sheer disbelief. Mu-saeng chuckled and offered a casual wave. Seeing the soldiers poking their heads over the ramparts like a colony of meerkats was amusing, but that was hardly the only reason he was in such good spirits.
"Yeah, yeah! Everything's taken care of, so relax! Could someone bring me a cup of water? Make sure it's not poisoned this time! And call Hyun-gu hyung down, too!"
The payout for grinding down the entire monster coalition overnight was undeniably sweet.
Confirmed Geum Byeong-cheol's growth method, too. Perfect.
Strength +2, Stamina +1, Willpower +1, and more. Tightly gripped in Mu-saeng's hands were two special spoils: a rolled-up sheet of parchment and a glittering blue gemstone.
After giving a brief debriefing to the commanding officers and confirming the reality of the situation, the entire fortress erupted into wild celebration. Amidst the jubilant chaos, Park Hyun-gu came sprinting toward Mu-saeng, his face greasy from staying awake all night.
"Mu-saeng! I got the clear! Did you get the clear? I didn't get any rewards! Did you get rewards?!"
He looked just as disheveled as Mu-saeng, who had spent the entire night waging a one-man war.
Mu-saeng burst into laughter.
"Pwahahaha! What are you, a kindergartener? Looking at you, people would think you're the one who cleared the floor. What's with that face, anyway?"
"No, wait, hey! What the hell am I even supposed to say...?"
Hyun-gu had a mountain of things to say. In fact, his mind was so overloaded with questions and sheer astonishment that his thoughts were detonating in real time, reducing his speech to frantic stammering. And knowing that this absurd miracle was entirely Mu-saeng's doing only fueled his bewilderment.
"I'll explain everything step by step, so let's head out first. I'm dead tired, but a promise is a promise."
"What promise?"
"Tsk. Anyone who forgets doesn't get to eat."
Mu-saeng adjusted his pack with a scowl. Only then did the lightbulb go off in Hyun-gu's head.
"Beef...? Hey, but still! Is now really the time to be talking about grilled beef?! After pulling off a stunt like that, that's the first thing out of your mouth?!"
"We work hard so we can eat good food and live well, don't we? What's more important than beef?"
Mu-saeng shot back as if Hyun-gu were the crazy one. Hyun-gu shook his head in exasperation.
"You should be explaining the whole story from start to finish!"
"If you don't want any, don't eat."
That single remark shut Hyun-gu down instantly. Having known Mu-saeng for so long, Hyun-gu understood his quirks well enough to know that 'let's eat' simply meant 'let's talk over a proper meal.'
"I didn't say I wouldn't eat! Ahem... Fine, let's get out of here first. Man, in all my years, I never thought I'd clear a Tower floor while loafing around like an unemployed couch potato."
"I like the phrasing. Unemployed couch potato. That's why I told you to shave."
"Who the hell packs a razor and shaving cream into the Tower?! What kind of lunatic—"
"I packed them."
Hyun-gu had spent over two decades with Mu-saeng. At times like this, keeping his mouth shut and rolling with the punches was always the wisest choice.
"Let's just go. Yeah, let's go."
Ssssszzzz...
Mu-saeng hadn't exited the Tower purely to grill premium beef over charcoal in broad daylight. Nor was it simply out of guilt over teasing Hyun-gu.
"Hyung."
"Yeah?"
"Is there anyone else around you like yourself?"
"Where on earth would you find another flawless man like me—"
"Come on, I'm being serious."
Now that he had thoroughly verified the contribution-based reward mechanics of party play, a massive realization had struck him.
A two-person party increased the stage difficulty by 10% and the clear rewards by 10%. What about three people? Four? Five? If he dragged along deadweight party members and hoarded 100% of the contribution for himself, he could theoretically reap three or four floors' worth of rewards from a single clear!
"But they have to stay completely still and do nothing, right? Think there are many people who'd agree to that?"
Finding such people wouldn't be easy. He needed Awakeners who were perfectly fine receiving 0% contribution as long as it meant hitching a free ride to higher floors.
"Exactly. That's why I'm asking you. Buying you beef is my way of saying thanks in advance."
"Tsk. I'll ask around, but who knows... If I had stepped outside that tent and exchanged even a few words with the soldiers, the whole plan would've gone up in smoke, wouldn't it?"
"Undoubtedly. Given how primitive and ludicrous human behavior is... chatting with the soldiers on the 11th floor a couple of times or making them laugh would have counted toward your contribution under the guise of 'providing emotional comfort.'"
Wahsh's snide telepathic remark hit the nail on the head. Viewed from that angle, it made complete sense why this method of climbing had never become common knowledge. Betrayal? No, it wasn't even about deliberate betrayal. Simply following instructions to the absolute letter without making a single independent move was extraordinarily difficult for most people.
"Even if we bring several people, you could take charge in a corner and play the Mafia game with them or something. That'd keep them busy."
"Ha! Well, that does sound like fun."
"I mean it. I'm asking you seriously, so please see if you can find even one person."
Even a single companion would do. If he could start scaling his growth like this from the lower floors...
"Your haul must've been pretty damn sweet, huh?"
"It's not just about the rewards."
Having earned 0% contribution, Hyun-gu naturally hadn't seen Mu-saeng's system notifications. Hyun-gu playfully tried to hype up his younger brother, who had obliterated the elevated difficulty of the 11th floor single-handedly.
"Hehe, it's been ages since I saw Kim Mu-saeng this fired up. Not since back in the day—"
"Yeah. Ye-rin. Not since I begged you to help me confess to Ye-rin."
"Ahem... Uh, well, I wasn't trying to bring that up..."
"Hyung. Ye-rin is alive. In the Tower."
"......What?"
Hyun-gu snapped his mouth shut. The instinctive reflex to shout what kind of bullshit is that? rose straight to his throat, but he couldn't let it out. Mu-saeng's eyes were dead serious.
"...You're not the type to joke about something like that."
Mu-saeng hadn't cleared the 11th floor through ordinary endurance. He had cleared it using methods Hyun-gu couldn't even fathom—methods so absurd that even after hearing the summary, Hyun-gu had simply given up trying to understand. Hyun-gu realized once again that the Mu-saeng sitting before him was walking a completely different path from the past.
"Something big must've happened, Mu-saeng. You've been carrying a heavy weight, haven't you?"
Hyun-gu reached out and patted Mu-saeng's shoulder firmly. Mu-saeng felt a sudden, fleeting warmth prick at the corners of his eyes, touched by Hyun-gu's considerate restraint in not prying further. But that was all.
"Ahem! Well, whatever hardships there were, it's great news. Isn't that right, hyung?"
"Yeah. I'll find them. I'll make calls to everyone I trust and let you know. It'll take at least two or three days, though. Give me about five days just in case."
Seeing Mu-saeng deliberately brighten his tone, Hyun-gu answered with equal resolve. More rewards, faster growth—now that the reason and urgency were clear, and now that Hyun-gu knew what was at stake, he had zero intention of sitting on his hands.
Relief washed over Mu-saeng, and he smoothly steered the conversation elsewhere.
"Sounds great. While you do that, I'll go soak in a sauna and hit some dungeons. Perfect timing. Ah, you want to come along, hyung? The Geumseong Group hotel sauna is—"
"Wait, Geumseong? They're on the news."
"—Huh? What?"
Mu-saeng turned his gaze toward the restaurant television where Hyun-gu was staring. The screen displayed a live broadcast from Incheon International Airport. In front of an arrival gate surrounded by an overwhelming layer of armed security, a reporter was speaking with barely suppressed excitement.
"The guild master of 'Windbloom' smiled for reporters, stating that they arrived to attend an international conference hosted by Geumseong! And the United States is not alone. Just yesterday, Awakeners led by the Dean of the prestigious French academy 'Réveil Grande École,' alongside the CEO and lead engineers of 'Metalline'—the world's foremost manufacturer of Awakener equipment—as well as executives from prominent Tower-climbing corporations and global syndicates, completed their entry into South Korea."
The studio anchor chimed in to summarize the reporter's broadcast from the airport.
"The Guild Master of Windbloom, the Dean of Réveil Grande École, the CEO of Metalline... Without exception, these are figures universally recognized among the so-called Eight Seconds, are they not?"
The Eight Seconds.
It was an unofficial designation tracked with immense awe and dread worldwide, by Awakeners and ordinary citizens alike. It referred to transcendent monsters capable of wiping a major metropolis or an entire small nation off the map in eight seconds flat. In other words, treaty restrictions aside, three walking cataclysms who could reduce South Korea to rubble in moments had just touched down on domestic soil. Naturally, news outlets and broadcasts were whipped into an absolute frenzy.
"Yes, that is correct! The fact that these legendary figures have gathered in Korea for a singular purpose has sent shockwaves even through the World Awakener Association!"
"And what exactly is their objective?"
"An emergency conference hosted by Geumseong! Notably, this conference was completely absent from their official investor relations schedule. It is drawing explosive global attention because Chairman Geum Byeong-cheol—himself widely revered as a pillar of the Eight Seconds—has called and organized it personally on short notice!"
"Fascinating. What could possibly be the agenda of a summit convened with such extreme urgency?"
"The primary agenda of this conference is—"
Those three titans had converged on Korean soil at the personal invitation of Geum Byeong-cheol, who was never left out when counting the Eight Seconds...
Mu-saeng blinked rapidly, staring blankly at the screen.
"Wait a second."
"What's up?"
The larger a global guild was, the less likely they were to act erratically. They understood better than anyone how drastically even a single movement of theirs could shift the global balance of power. Yet here they were, moving in lockstep under such urgent circumstances. If extraordinary conditions had forced this gathering into existence...
"This couldn't be... because of me, could it?"
The Administrator of the Tower.
Mu-saeng had more than enough pieces to guess the truth behind the storm.