Chapter 2

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 2

Chapter Title: Tower News and Survivor Whispers

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-“Even clearing just the Easy difficulty gets you to level 10 or higher. Your body becomes incredibly healthy—it's like starting a whole new life. Some say you even become a quasi-superhuman. Ah... it's really something else... You have to experience it yourself to understand...”-

-“A viral internet video shows someone firing guns at a Normal difficulty survivor for testing. The American participant in this experiment acquired a trait that greatly reinforced his outer skin and cleared the trials. Not only standard pistol rounds, but even 5.56mm and 7.62mm rifle bullets were almost entirely blocked at 10 meters, and even when they hit, there was hardly any damage.”-

-“According to claims from Normal difficulty survivors, they typically reach around level 30, and at that point, they enter the ranks of superhumans where bullets barely affect them. There's some variation person to person, of course, but generally, level 30 means shrugging off pistol rounds with ease.”-

-“The president has issued an emergency order directing all elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as kindergartens and daycares, to instruct students to set the Tower trials to Easy or lower. This is only the second such instance in the history of the Sixth Republic, and the first if you consider it a standard emergency decree rather than a fiscal one since the constitutional reform. The opposition is criticizing it, saying it's a routine measure that could have been implemented without an emergency order, and accusing the president of abusing the crisis to consolidate personal power and veer toward dictatorship.”-

-“There's also a rumor circulating about one more Tower difficulty level. Something called Random difficulty... That's the word on the street. Nothing's been confirmed yet. But if Random difficulty is real, that would make six difficulties total instead of five. The presidential office, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Education, and other administrative bodies have all stated there's no official confirmation, and they reiterate the government's stance that everyone should choose Easy to ensure at least minimal survival odds.”-

-“Breaking news just in: The UN has decided to compile clear strategies and know-how from Easy difficulty survivors and distribute them worldwide. The goal is to maximize humanity's survival rate.”-

-“One thing survivors who've come back from the Tower say is this: The Tower doesn't pull in survivors all at once—it takes them one by one. That's what they claim. But time doesn't pass inside the Tower's worlds, so from our perspective, it looks like mass abductions happening simultaneously.”-

-“It's been reported that the Ministry of National Defense is considering granting special military ranks to Tower trial survivors who cleared Normal difficulty or higher. This follows the U.S. example, where they're planning special units composed solely of Tower clearers and have already sought congressional pre-approval. An anonymous Defense Ministry official said that neighboring countries like North Korea, China, and Japan are all on the verge of forming superhuman special forces from Tower survivors, and that Korea must create its own to prepare for the rapidly changing global security landscape.”-

-“The United States has officially announced the world's first Very Hard difficulty Tower trial survivor. The survivor, Christopher Garcia, is a Mexican-born Mexican national who officially naturalized as a U.S. citizen just days ago, according to U.S. authorities. Officials confirmed his Very Hard status by testing against other domestic Tower clearers. Garcia revealed that before clearing the 70th floor's final trial, his level was 72. It's said that level 30 shrugs off regular bullets, and level ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠50 ignores anti-tank weapons entirely. Everyone's watching to see what level 72 means.”-

-“The Mexican government has condemned the U.S. over Christopher Garcia's naturalization, calling it blatant talent poaching—not just Mexico's problem, but a global one. Indeed, the U.S. is actively encouraging naturalization by offering citizenship, benefits, and relocation incentives to Normal difficulty or higher Tower survivors worldwide. Numerous such survivors from Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Latin America have naturalized in the U.S. Governments around the world are expressing concern and regret over America's talent recruitment policy.”-

The Tower doesn't just change the trial difficulty based on your choice—the number of floors you have to clear changes too.

That's probably why survivors are urging everyone to pick Easy.

Easy difficulty: 10 floors.

Normal difficulty: 30 floors.

Hard difficulty: 50 floors.

Very Hard difficulty: 70 floors.

Hell difficulty: ...probably 90 or 99 floors? Or maybe 100?

Just speculation. No one's cleared it.

'...They say once you're inside the Tower, each floor is its own separate world... Feels just like a damn fantasy novel.'

Just like those famous Korean webnovels about climbing towers, the worlds inside are completely otherworldly.

You enter a different dimension per floor and have to clear the trials the Tower assigns...