Thumbs-Up from the Absolute

"Wow. Three hundred and fifty thousand experience, and my level goes up by a measly one."

The higher your level climbed, the more experience the next one demanded, and the curve shot up fast. That was why even the highest-leveled Awakener in the world was only level 78. Part of it, of course, was that everyone took the uppermost floors as slowly as they possibly could. Rush a floor before its three-month clear deadline was up, and all that came back down was a collapse. The world had already learned that lesson.

"So in the end, level alone won't get you up a tower..."

Fortunately, resurrecting Kim Minsung had changed the situation. I only had to keep using him to hold the Daejeon Tower back from collapse, the same as before. And now that he had become an Apostle, I had been told I could Summon him inside the tower.

I would have to try the Summon myself before I knew what it actually did. Taken at face value, though, I might be able to bring him along the way you brought a summon or a tamed pet, and clear the tower with him at my side.

On top of that, Kim Minsung had been named the 1st Apostle. Which meant there could be a second, and a third, didn't it?

I had no Mark of Omnipotence at the moment, so making another Apostle was impossible. But if I climbed the tower and obtained one, I would be able to make many more. Apostles handed over bonus experience and loot, and even shared a modest slice of their stats. More was simply better. I wanted as many as I could get. That was the thought in my head when—

Ding—!

"Hm?"

Praise? There was a feature like this?

I read the description again. Nothing was consumed. Which meant there was no reason not to send it.

I fired a thumbs-up at Kim Minsung.

"Yes!"

Kim Minsung roared. He was satisfied. There could be no greater joy than that.

The interviewer conducting the session online startled at the sudden roar and asked.

"D-did something good happen?"

"Hahaha! It's nothing. I'm simply glad I cleared Floor 51 in one piece."

"I see! When the broadcast cut out for a moment, it was absolute chaos. Could you tell us in a little more detail what was happening then?"

"Ah! As you saw, it was a truly ferocious battle. We had fallen into the orcs' trap and couldn't move an inch, and then a minotaur showed up on top of that."

"Yes. In some quarters, people have been analyzing it as... well, that your head was cut off. That sort of thing."

"I thought I had died too. But right then, He healed me."

"Ah, so that was it! But didn't you refuse the healing?"

"I am ashamed to say I did. I was far too arrogant, and far too foolish. But He forgave my arrogance and granted me another chance."

"Ahaha... R-right! Thank you for your time. That was Kim Minsung, the Hope of Daejeon!"

Kim Minsung's interview became an enormous topic. Mostly in a cultish sense.

Meanwhile, the Awakening Management Bureau had been holding a round-the-clock state of emergency.

"We still haven't identified this person?"

"I'm sorry, Commissioner. We've cross-checked every record we can access, but nothing stands out."

"The Americans have already decided the healer is Korean, and they're putting the pressure on! Does that mean they have information only they know?"

The Bureau's two directors had no answer. They shut their mouths. Given American intelligence, it wasn't an impossible story. Then again, it was just as possible they were simply looking for a pretext.

The Chief of Staff, who had been listening in silence, raised a hand.

"What if we spoke with Mr. Kim Minsung?"

"Why him?"

"He has received healing twice. And this time he was beheaded, died, and came back to life."

"Isn't that just a rumor?"

"No, sir. The video analysis team has confirmed it several times over. It's already circulating among the public as well."

The Commissioner stroked his chin.

"So what you're telling me is... this healing Awakener is capable of bringing even the dead back to life?"

"That would follow."

"And this Awakener might be Korean?"

"Yes. With a very high probability."

The Commissioner opened a drawer. Dozens of documents were stacked inside.

"The United States, China, Japan, France, Germany, Britain... they're swarming me in a pack, demanding to know who this person is."

"Yes, sir."

"Then stop the investigation."

"...Sir?"

Everyone gathered in the commissioner's office tilted their heads. Stop the investigation, out of nowhere?

"Suppose we investigate and actually find them. How long do you think we could hide that person from the surveillance nets of those great powers?"

"That's..."

"Let a single National Assembly member barge in with a freedom-of-information request, and it gets released. No questions asked."

"We can refuse on legal grounds."

"Six months is the limit."

The Commissioner's eyes gleamed.

"Let me be precise. I am telling you to stop the public investigation."

"You mean..."

"Form a special task force in secret. Build an organization that can support them and respond at a moment's notice if it comes to that. We don't need to dig. If they need us, they'll go public. Or they'll make contact."

The Director of Intelligence raised a hand.

"Will that be all right? They'll hang an incompetence narrative on you."

"Then I resign."

"The public is going to demand an aggressive investigation, and the lawmakers from both parties will naturally close ranks and apply pressure. Parliamentary inquiries will be coming in constantly."

"So you're saying yours truly will achieve a grand national unity no one else has ever managed? All the better."

"This is hardly the time for jokes."

The Commissioner laughed.

The Chief of Staff spoke.

"Those are words that could move a man to tears, and I've heard them. But we need balance."

"Balance?"

"We need at least enough visible action that you, Commissioner, don't have to resign."

The Director of Intelligence stepped in to agree.

"He's right. If you buckle under the pressure and step down, we can already see exactly what sort of person the next commissioner will be."

The Commissioner sighed and nodded.

"This damned Hell Joseon won't even let a man rest. ...Drag the investigation out as long as possible, and finish forming the task force quickly. Small, and elite."

"Yes, sir!"

"Haa... I'm exhausted."

All I had done was sit on the sofa and cast Heal, so why was I this tired? Honestly. Still, it was nothing compared to climbing a tower myself.

Unfortunately, no loot had dropped. There hadn't been any climbers making a first clear of a high floor, either. All in all, a rather dull receipt.

Even so, my mana stones now totaled 7,656 kilograms, and I had a full 15,312 coins.

"I did hear mana stones have a cap..."

Was it ten thousand per point of Strength? If I put more points into Strength, that was the end of it. Not really a problem. What mattered more was that the market price of mana stones had started to climb.

The price of mana stones, stuck for ages around 100,000 won a kilogram, had jumped this morning into the 110,000 range. So holding really did win in the end? I had held this long. I might as well hold even harder. That was the thought in my head when—

Vrrrrrrrr—!

A text came in. I barely kept in touch with anyone, so messages were usually meaningless junk.

"Hm?"

"I... won the housing lottery?"

My breath caught in my throat. A Gangwon apartment, the very thing everyone dreamed of, and I had won the lottery for it! I had always assumed a winning ticket was something that would never happen in my lifetime.

"LET'S GOOOOOOOOO—!"

No. Wait. There was a problem.

"What do I do about the down payment...?"

Originally, my aunt had said she would cover it. Not because she was fond of me. The plan had been to file for the first-time special supply under my name, then snatch the place out from under me through a loophole. But I would have to be out of my mind to hand a Gangwon apartment over to my aunt.

"There's ten million won in the account..."

A soul-scraping, maxed-out loan was not something an unemployed kid was going to get. So there was only one answer.

"The tower. I'm going to the tower. The tower is the answer."

I had no idea yet how I was supposed to write up a funding plan. First, though, I had to get to the tower and turn mana stones into cash. The chance to become a resident of Gangwon—the very thing no one could stop yearning for—had finally come!