Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 006
Chapter Title: Gravitational Pull
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⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Mana stone chunk stored.] [Ruler's Silver Trident stored.] Han Jeong-woo stored the spoils he'd just acquired in his inventory.
He immediately exited the Tower and returned to his studio apartment.
He still had a bit of mana left for climbing the Tower, but something more urgent had come up.
"...Gravitational Pull."
Han Jeong-woo's eyes sparkled as he checked the skill information.
Following Gravity came Gravitational Pull.
The common thread between the two forces was their power to draw objects in.
As a test, he extended his hand toward the glass sitting on the kitchen sink.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Pulling in the target.] Paht!
To his amazement, the glass floated up into the air and slipped smoothly into his hand.
"Nice... then what about this?"
But the true value of the Gravitational Pull skill wasn't limited to simply drawing in objects.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ [Gravitational Pull] As Han Jeong-woo activated the skill, a black mark appeared on the sink where the glass had been moments before.
The next instant, the glass in his hand floated gently back into the air, then flew precisely toward the newly created black mark and settled back into place.
The core of the Gravitational Pull skill: designate any object or target as a single coordinate and forcibly draw the desired subject to that point.
"...This is seriously insane."
Han Jeong-woo couldn't hide his excitement at the endless possibilities of the Gravitational Pull skill.
He took a moment to breathe deeply and calm his racing heart. He still had one more reward to check.
The Skill Enhancement Ticket he'd earned from the daily quest.
Han Jeong-woo toyed with the small ticket in his hand, suddenly gripped by indecision.
Should he use it right away, or just sell it?
Selling it alone would net him several times the fortune he'd scraped together over ten years.
He might even upgrade from this cramped studio to a swanky apartment with a prime Han River view.
But those sweet daydreams didn't last. Han Jeong-woo decided to use the ticket.
There were risks he couldn't handle if he tried to sell it now.
The biggest issue was that without registering as an Awakener, he couldn't even use the official exchange.
And the black market? Even riskier. He'd be lucky not to get robbed by thugs eyeing the Skill Enhancement Ticket—forget getting fair value.
No matter that he was an EX-rank Awakener who'd cleared SSS-grade on the 10th floor. Compared to A-rankers on the 20th or 30th floors, armed with diverse skills and experience, he was still a total rookie.
Even the B-rank Awakener he'd met yesterday proved that.
That guy hadn't withstood his power, sure—but if he had, Han Jeong-woo would've been the one in trouble.
"Yeah, better to use it myself for now."
No need to gamble his life on it.
With his decision made, Han Jeong-woo tore the ticket in his hand.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Skill Enhancement Ticket used.] [Gravity Control (Lv.1) skill level increased.] [Gravity Control (Lv.1) → Gravity Control (Lv.2)] Gravitational Pull had no level system, so the enhancement automatically went to Gravity Control.
"Duration and max multiplier both went up."
There was no visible change, but Han Jeong-woo could instinctively feel the skill had grown stronger.
The duration, barely over a minute at Lv.1, had tripled to a full three minutes. The max gravity multiplier had jumped past 10x to a whopping 20x.
As he savored his growth, a brilliant idea flashed in Han Jeong-woo's mind.
It was a notion that just might elevate his abilities another level.
Eager to test it out, he headed straight to the 11th floor of the Tower.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Entered Korea Tower 11th floor.] [Mission: Defeat one Fierce Gray Wolf.] The 11th floor was a dense forest, thick with trees.
Little sunlight penetrated, leaving the surroundings dim, with a chilling wind whistling through the thick fog.
As Han Jeong-woo pulled his collar tighter against the sudden drop in temperature, a eerie wolf howl echoed from deep in the woods.
"Awoooo...!"
Han Jeong-woo reflexively opened his inventory and pulled out the trident.
Right then, a massive gray-furred beast burst from between the trees.
"...That's a wolf?"
The 11th floor monster, the Fierce Gray Wolf. Easily 1.5 times bigger than a normal wolf, its bulk matched two grown men put together.
Its red eyes gleamed in the darkness.
With a guttural growl, it kicked off the ground and charged at Han Jeong-woo.
That's when Han Jeong-woo hurled the trident in his hand at the wolf with all his might.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ [Gravitational Pull] [Target's gravitational pull amplified 20x]
The trident flew toward the wolf, drawn by Gravitational Pull.
Amplified 20x, it rocketed forward at near-sonic speed.
Meanwhile, the wolf caught the split-second motion of Han Jeong-woo winding up and dodged on pure animal instinct.
But the wolf didn't know.
That a black brand—inescapable—had been etched right in the center of its abdomen.
That mark was the focal point of the Gravitational Pull, the coordinate drawing in whatever Han Jeong-woo desired.
The trident twisted mid-air, slicing through the sky exactly as the wolf evaded.
Toward that one coordinate alone.
Kwa-gwang!
Towering trees blocking its path snapped like matchsticks, but the trident's ferocious momentum never faltered.
Finally, it plunged like lightning into the wolf's torso—right at the black brand.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [11th floor cleared!] [Achieved SSS-grade clear on 11th floor.] [Reward: Acquired 300g mana stone.] "...Kuhaha, it works!"
The exact scenario he'd envisioned right before entering the Tower had played out perfectly, and Han Jeong-woo couldn't hold back his bursting laughter.
But the joy was short-lived. He was soon confronted by a harsh reality—his chronic weakness: mana shortage.
Actually, Han Jeong-woo's total mana pool was generous compared to others on the same floors—above average, even.
The problem was his skills guzzled mana like crazy. Especially the Gravitational Pull application he'd just unleashed, which consumed an insane amount proportional to its devastating power.
It packed destruction leagues beyond simple Gravity Control crushing, but at the cost of draining his mana in seconds flat.
"Guess that's it for today."
After retrieving the trident, Han Jeong-woo exited the Tower, looking a bit fatigued.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ While Han Jeong-woo was conquering the Tower, over at the Korea Awakener Management Agency's Strategic Talent Management Team.
"What a real Mutant..."
Baek Yoon-seok had a new routine lately.
Monitoring the Korea Tower climbing rankings in real-time—specifically, the one and only 'Mutant.'
"This is insane. How's he climbing like this?"
7th floor: SSS-grade clear. Time: 2:14. New all-time record.
Then 8th and 9th floors: same SSS-grade, never exceeding 3 seconds. Utterly dominant.
But what shocked him even more wasn't the clear times—it was the climbing pace.
Low-floor Awakeners usually managed 1-2 floors a day, tops. But this 'Mutant' lived up to the name, breaking 4+ floors daily on average.
Short clear times made it possible, maybe.
Still, to any outsider, it was freakishly abnormal.
"Mental fortitude and mana reserves already at high-floor Awakener levels?"
The two biggest hurdles for low-floor Awakeners were:
First: mental fatigue from killing living beings. Some even developed PTSD or quit climbing altogether.
Second: inevitably low mana pools. A few skill uses and you're tapped out—no staying in the Tower all day.
Yet 'Mutant' charged ahead at two or three times the normal speed, as if those limits didn't exist.
"...No way he's hitting the 10th floor at this rate, right?"
The 10th floor: infamous 'Newbie Crusher.' Where countless low-floor Awakeners despaired, quit, or died.
But moments later.
The Mutant record popped up before his eyes.
[Korea Tower 10th Floor Ranking: Mutant (SSS) / 7 seconds] SSS-grade as expected. Clear time slipped to 7 seconds—slower than before—but it didn't matter.
The 10th floor boss, Lizardman King, was on another level from prior monsters. A longer clear time was natural.
But considering other S-rankers clocked 20+ seconds... 'Mutant' had proven monstrous power transcending S-grade.
As Baek Yoon-seok sat speechless, awed by the Mutant’s feats—
His phone blared from his pocket. Not just his—every phone in the office screeched with piercing alarms.
"...What? Some accident?"
Baek Yoon-seok fumbled for his screen in panic.
[Emergency Disaster Alert] Awakener Management Agency: Gate outbreak and monster appearance near Suyu-dong studio village in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul at 12:10 today. Avoid the area. Nearby residents, evacuate to safety immediately. Tune into disaster broadcasts on TV/radio. "Suyu-dong studio village?"
Baek Yoon-seok's eyes bulged. A gate right by his own place in Suyu-dong studios?
He shot up and rushed to Choi Jin-il.
"Team Leader! Did you see the disaster alert?!"
Choi Jin-il, face grim, nodded—he'd already checked."Yeah. But it's weird. Didn't we just handle a Dobong-gu gate a few days ago?"
"The one near Hanbit Villa? Not even a week ago."
"So why so soon?"
It didn't add up. Stats showed gates every two or three months minimum. Back-to-back this close? Unheard of.
"Exactly... Hey, Team Leader, about that—"
"Oh right. Officer Baek, isn't your place nearby?"
"Yes! So... could I pop home real quick?"
"...Why home? Something wrong?"
"Well... you know how my Kkukku's alone there? Probably fine, but if a monster shows up..."
Baek Yoon-seok knew it was a ridiculous ask. Ditching work for a dog in a crisis?
But he was sure. If anyone—especially fellow dog-lover Team Leader Choi Jin-il—would understand, it'd be him.
"That is serious. Go on, hurry back."
"...Thank you, Team Leader!"
"But! Just swinging by home looks bad. While you're there, check the site, assess if we need extra Awakeners, then report back."
Baek Yoon-seok's tense face relaxed in an instant. He bowed to the team leader and bolted from the office like the wind. To save Kkukku—or rather, to support the scene.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Han Jeong-woo, fresh out of the Tower.
He flung open the window for some air. Then nearly screamed at the sight outside.
"Ugh!! What the hell is that?!"
Right below his third-floor window, a hole gaped in mid-air.
Like a black hole sucking in all light, it pulsed ominously, radiating an alien energy utterly foreign to this world.
"...A gate? Why the hell here?"
His mind went blank. Utterly incomprehensible.
But one thing was crystal clear.
Leave it be, and his place would get trashed again, just like a few days ago.
"...Can't let that happen."
He'd been powerless then. Not anymore.
Han Jeong-woo's eyes hardened coldly.