The Best Way to Persuade
Fortunately, his wallet was still tucked among Yujin's things.
He pulled out a card and was about to swipe it when he noticed his smartphone was there too, so he transferred the money through internet banking instead.
The balance left in his account was a mere one million won or so.
An absurdly small sum—but it didn't matter.
"I can always earn more."
There were countless ways for a player who had returned to reality to make money. In the first round, some people had used those methods to amass staggering fortunes.
Of course, those idiots who got hooked on the money game never even made it to the fiftieth floor before they all collapsed. You couldn't completely ignore reality, but what demanded far more focus was the Tower itself. The ones who forgot that all died without exception.
Well, in the end, even the ones who climbed the Tower diligently died too.
"Anyway, what matters right now is getting to the Blue House."
Yujin stepped outside.
The streets looked no different from before he had been summoned into the Tower—except for one thing.
"What the hell is that supposed to be?"
"I heard aliens built it."
"Nothing else really explains it."
Passersby were staring off in one direction, trading remarks. Yujin's gaze followed theirs of its own accord.
A colossal black tower.
A structure that had no place whatsoever in a city like Seoul rose high enough to scrape the sky.
"The Tower of Light."
December 25th. Christmas Day. The very day Yujin had been summoned. In the real world, that enormous tower had suddenly appeared—in Seoul and every other major city across the globe.
Two hundred of them in total.
There had been no omen. One moment they simply… were there. As if they had always stood in those spots from the beginning.
Naturally, every nation that found itself hosting a tower had gone into emergency mode. The military locked down the perimeters; around-the-clock surveillance and research began. Yet a full month later the towers still showed no reaction, and nothing of substance had been uncovered.
Except one fact.
At the exact instant the towers appeared, tens of thousands of people had vanished simultaneously. Not simple missing-person cases. They had literally disappeared. Someone mid-conversation. Someone mid-meal. Someone watching television with their family. Countless people evaporated as if they had never existed. The only things they left behind were electronic devices—smartphones, watches, and the like.
Researchers had strained to find a connection between the missing and the towers, but beyond the fact that a phenomenon utterly alien to every known law of nature had occurred, they had discovered nothing at all.
"Of course they don't know."
Even he, who had cleared the Tower, still didn't understand. What the Akasha System truly was. Why something like that had appeared on Earth. And how—or why—he himself had been sent back into the past. Yujin knew none of it either.
"This time I should look into that side of things too."
He added one more goal to the list.
"Ah—taxi!"
Spotting a yellow cab rolling past, he raised his hand.
"Namsan, please."
"Huh? Mister, that's a restricted zone."
The Tower of Light in Korea stood on Namsan. The entire surrounding area had been sealed off; civilian access was strictly forbidden.
"Just as close as you can get is fine."
"All right then."
Figuring he only needed to drop the passenger near the control line, the driver pulled away.
"Going to gawk at that big black thing?"
Even so, the man tried to make conversation. Yujin had no intention of playing along. He might chat with the goshiwon landlady, but a taxi driver he would never see again? Not a chance. He stared out the window in silence.
The driver, however, was not so easily discouraged.
"Lots of young people these days going to look. No sense of fear at all. What if they wander too close and get hit with radiation or something?"
Whether Yujin answered or not, the man simply poured out whatever he felt like saying.
"They'll be beating the ground and crying when something big finally happens. Kids these days just don't think things through. Back in my day we weren't like that. If you're gonna die, at least die alone somewhere nobody knows."
…Should I just kill him?
The thought crossed Yujin's mind that the world he was trying to save could probably spare one person like this.
"Shut your mouth. You're being loud."
When the irritation finally piled high enough, Yujin delivered the warning in a voice cold as ice.
Silence fell.
Being cursed out by some punk kid should have set the driver off, yet he clamped his lips shut and kept stealing glances at Yujin through the rearview mirror. Something about the passenger must have told him that crossing the line would end very badly.
"A bastard who can't even help with the climb, running his mouth with garbage."
To Yujin, every person on earth fell into exactly two categories: those who could help clear the Tower, and idiots. By that measure the taxi driver was firmly in the second camp. And Yujin was not patient enough to listen to idiots spouting nonsense.
Ignoring the driver who kept watching him in the mirror, Yujin closed his eyes. The quiet was perfect for thinking.
What was his name again?
The head of the facility researching the Tower. He had already been a fairly well-known scientist even before this whole mess started.
Ah, right. Lee Ki-seok.
Some theoretical physicist with a theory name so long nobody could remember it. He appeared on the occasional broadcast and even ran a YouTube channel trying to make science accessible. Not that it ever seemed especially popular.
Still, Lee Ki-seok was regarded as one of the greatest scientists Korea had ever produced. That was why he had been appointed director of the Tower research facility.
Will he believe me?
The first round had been different. Dozens of people had returned to reality together then. With only three of them back this time, his credibility would be far thinner. Even so, Yujin wasn't particularly worried. If the man didn't believe him, he would simply make him believe.
Fortunately, Yujin had plenty of ways to convince Lee Ki-seok.
First I'll meet him and see what kind of person he is.
If they could talk, words would do. If words failed, other methods. He only needed to make the man accept the existence of the Tower and of players.
How long had he been lost in thought when the car finally stopped?
"Uh…"
The driver carefully broke the silence. Yujin opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the barricade stretched across the road in front of the taxi. They had arrived.
Without a word he held out his card, paid, and stepped out. The passenger-side window rolled down.
"You piece of shit! Some brat who still has milk on his chin telling an adult to shut up? Is that how your parents raised you?!"
The stream of curses rapidly receded into the distance.
"Hmm."
He hadn't expected to hear that. For a moment he considered chasing the cab down and teaching the man a lesson, then dismissed the idea. Sooner or later the driver would pick the wrong person and regret it. From the way he talked, the odds looked excellent.
Even so, Yujin memorized the taxi's plate number as it disappeared.
Seoul 38A 4XX5.
Just in case. Who knew when they might meet again?
He was repeating the number under his breath so he wouldn't forget when he sensed someone approaching from behind.
"This is a restricted area. Turn around and leave."
A soldier. Rifle in hand, face openly irritated, waving him off with a dismissive flap of the hand.
Yujin studied him for a moment, then turned away. He had planned to slip in unnoticed, meet Lee Ki-seok, and leave. There was no need to start a scene here.
"Now even neighborhood bums are showing up. We keep telling them not to come near, and there's always one idiot who just doesn't listen."
Yujin stopped dead.
"What did you just say?"
He understood the soldier's frustration. As the taxi driver had said, reckless kids kept coming to gawk at the Tower. Having to deal with them over and over would make anyone short-tempered. But did he have to talk like that?
"I said leave. Keep loitering and you'll get arrested."
The soldier shooed him like a stray dog.
"Hmm."
Yujin changed his mind.
Slip in quietly, meet Lee Ki-seok for a quick talk? Screw that.
At this point he was going straight in.
"Move."
He turned back toward the soldier.
"Ha. You've got to be kidding me."
The man barked a laugh. Of course he looked ridiculous—some nobody in a stretched-out tracksuit and flip-flops trying to act tough. But Yujin was no neighborhood bum.
"If you don't move, you'll get hurt."
"This guy's really itching to get arrested."
As the distance closed, the soldier twisted his face and spat on the ground.
"I warned you."
Conversation over. He had already been far more patient than usual.
Crack!
A palm shot out at a speed no ordinary human eye could follow. Something shattered, and the soldier who had started the trouble crumpled.
"What the hell?!"
"Grab that bastard!"
"This is A2, this is A2! Unknown assailant causing a disturbance at the control line!"
Other soldiers who had been watching from the temporary outpost poured out in alarm. Four of them.
Yujin didn't wait for them to reach him.
He lightly kicked off the ground and shot toward them like a bolt.
"Hup—!"
The soldiers froze in shock. In that fleeting gap, Yujin's hands moved.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
All four dropped at once, each knocked unconscious by a precise, crushing blow to the temple.
Waaaaaaaaaaail—!
A piercing siren began to howl. They had detected the intruder.
Yujin walked forward at an unhurried pace.
"This is the best method of persuasion."
He could have shown them items. He could have demonstrated Chunbae's power. Lee Ki-seok would have understood immediately that none of it made sense under any scientific theory. But in the end Yujin chose the worst method—and the best. Displaying his own strength. Doing something no human should be able to do, then using that as proof. If they still didn't get it? He would simply use a little more force. The only downside for him was a bit of extra hassle. Actually, as stress relief it might even be a gain.
"Move it, move it!"
"Toward the A2 post!"
"Is it the enemy? How many?"
"One!"
"What? Only one?!"
Armed soldiers closed in at speed. Hearing their shouts, Yujin lifted a hand and spoke to Chunbae.
"Open wide for me, Chunbae."
"Kku-a-a-a-ang—!"
Yujin thrust his arm into the little bear's mouth and pulled out an enormous Sun Blade [D].
"People never believe anything until it happens to them."
So he intended to let them experience it firsthand.
"Kku-a-a-a-ang—!"
Chunbae let out a delighted cry, as if this was going to be fun.