Unspoken Truths
The next morning.
Bathed in the warm morning sunlight, I ate a special breakfast sandwich prepared by Do Sangjin.
He had sliced a freshly baked loaf of bread in half, spreading butter on one side and jam on the other.
It was stuffed to the brim with potato-egg salad, three strips of crispy bacon, and a slice of savory cheddar cheese.
On the side were tomatoes sprinkled with sugar.
To wash it down, a shake made of peanuts and bananas blended with milk.
Munch, munch.
Delicious.
Gulp, gulp, gulp.
So good.
Daze...
Imir stared at me eating with his mouth half-open, a completely blank look on his face.
It looked like he was about to drool at any second.
Demons shouldn't feel hunger, though?
"What are you doing?"
"Ah."
Slurp. Imir quickly wiped his mouth.
"It... it just looks so delicious..."
"Of course it is."
"M-Master, it seems you have other useful slaves besides me...!"
Wait, what?
Did he think Do Sangjin was a slave just because he saw him doing housework?
He must think they were in the same boat.
"Imir."
"Yes, Master!"
"Do you think Sangjin-ssi is a slave like you?"
"A-Are they not...? But he clearly takes care of your food, clothing, and shelter..."
"You really don't know your place."
"I-I'm sorry!!! I'm so sorry!"
Imir immediately dropped to his knees and began to beg.
"If anything, Sangjin-ssi is the ruler of this house..."
"T-The ruler...?"
"Just like how you demons rule over each floor, Sangjin-ssi rules over this house."
"I-I see..."
The Ruler of Breakfast.
The Ruler of Lunch.
The Ruler of Dinner.
The Ruler of Laundry.
The Ruler of Organizing.
The Ruler of Cleaning.
The Ruler of Housekeeping!
"Sangjin-ssi is truly a magnificent being."
"I... I understand..."
"He is not someone a mere slave like you can casually talk about."
"...!!!"
"You won't have much reason to interact with him anyway, but make sure you understand the difference in your social standing."
"I will keep that in mind, Master!"
Having established the hierarchy, I popped a sugar-sprinkled tomato into my mouth and turned to Imir.
"By the way."
"Yes, Master."
"Who exactly built the Babel Tower?"
"...!"
Imir's face instantly went pale, just like when I had asked about his true body the day before.
"T-That is..."
"You don't know either?"
"No. I do know."
"Then tell me."
"But there is a restriction placed upon me..."
Imir looked at me with a face filled with terror.
"This isn't even a question about your true body, is it?"
"Y-Yes, that is true. But regarding the Babel Tower..."
"You can't say it?"
"Yes. Even my true body, not just me, would probably be unable to answer."
Even a powerful demon couldn't speak of it?
Was information about the Babel Tower controlled that strictly?
"Then give me a hint."
Who on earth made the Babel Tower, and why did humanity, along with all the other races from different dimensions, have to climb it?
"T-That..."
Seeing him hesitate, it seemed he did know, even if he couldn't speak of it.
"I'm not asking for the whole story. Just give me a hint."
Imir squeezed his eyes shut. After a moment, as if making up his mind, he opened his mouth.
"T-The Babel Tower was... by ■■■ for the amusement of ■■..."
What? The words in the middle were completely muffled.
"Do you want to die?"
"Pardon? Yes?"
"Speak clearly."
"I-I am trying! ■■■! The ■■ of ■■!!"
As I frowned, Imir began to shout desperately.
But...
"..."
I couldn't hear it. It was as if the sound had been muted.
Furthermore,
Bulge...!
Bulge...!
The more he tried to force out the forbidden words, the more his body began to swell here and there, as if someone were inflating balloons inside him.
"Ack!!"
The moment Imir's neck ballooned up,
"Stop."
I gave him the signal to stop.
"T-T-Thank you... cough!"
Imir barely managed to return to normal, coughing violently.
Whatever it is...
Just attempting to speak of the 'origin' of the Babel Tower was enough to make a demon's body explode.
It was a terrifyingly powerful restriction.
"Hmm..."
In the end, if I wanted to know, did I have to find out myself?
Well, I'll probably find out naturally as I climb the tower...
I finished the rest of my peanut-banana shake and leaned back comfortably on the living room sofa.
Time to watch some TV.
Click. The moment I pressed the power button on the remote,
Beep-beep-beep. The door lock chimed, and Do Sangjin walked in carrying heavy grocery bags.
Imir instantly transformed back into a white cat.
I stood up and asked Do Sangjin,
"Need a hand?"
"No, thank you. I have it under control."
Since he said he was fine, I immediately lay back down.
"You went grocery shopping."
"Yes. The best ingredients are available early in the morning."
Truly the ideal housekeeper.
"I also bought some canned tuna for the kitty."
"Oh, you didn't have to."
"It weighed on my mind that I couldn't give it anything yesterday."
At that, I glared at Imir.
M-Meow...
Letting out a clumsy meow, the white cat scurried over to Do Sangjin.
While Do Sangjin popped open the tuna can for Imir, I turned my attention back to the TV.
...Isn't it still illegal to awaken minors?
Woo Jumin was a special case. Awakening minors was still strictly illegal.
The Administration Office still filtered out minors.
So how did they do it?
As if answering my confusion, the announcer's voice flowed from the TV.
"..."
I stared at the screen, remote still in hand.
"That's a sweet deal."
A simple impression escaped my lips.
He awakens them, strengthens their abilities, and reduces the tutorial mortality rate? That really was a sweet deal.
Back in my day, you had to be prepared to die just to enter!
Having to enter the tutorial to get a trait, and then trying to survive with it, was basically Russian roulette.
But if you could awaken outside the tower, strengthen your abilities, and then clear the tutorial?
You wouldn't need to bust your ass training like they did at the Administration Office.
You awaken. Oh, my ability is spearmanship? You strengthen it. And once you feel strong enough, you enter the tutorial.
Killing slimes or ratmen would be a piece of cake. It was only natural that the mortality rate would drop.
Then...
Everyone and their mother will want to become a Hunter now.
Hmm. That would raise the nation's Contribution Points, make dealing with Demonic Outbreaks easier, and turn South Korea into an overwhelmingly powerful Hunter nation, wouldn't it?
Maybe the Administration Office would even scout Park Kangsu.
If the Administration Office scouted him, it would be game over. They could systematically discover, train, and deploy Hunters.
Perhaps the Administration Office was already in contact with him.
In that case...
Should I go get my abilities strengthened too?
If he got certified by the Administration Office, other Hunters would definitely line up to get strengthened.
Choi Muryeong, Ban Haeyeong, and Han Sion. Those three would definitely get it. They had to conquer the 60s floors, after all.
Maybe I could get strengthened too, under the condition of running the tower with them a few times.
"..."
But there was one thing that felt strangely off.
'I wanted to help as many people as possible.'
The image of Park Kangsu smiling benevolently, as if he wanted nothing in return, lingered in my mind.
If he really wanted to help people, shouldn't he have joined the Administration Office from the very beginning?
Instead, he chose to establish Gakseonghoe.
He was independently gathering followers, awakening them, and acting like a pseudo-guild.
Why would someone who claims to 'want to help people' go out of their way to do that?
Is he truly good... or just pretending to be?
I'd have to wait and see.
The next day.
Just in case, I stopped by the Administration Office to register Imir as a 'summoned beast'.
I figured I could just register him as a magical cat beast.
"Congratulations on obtaining another summoned beast!"
"Hahaha."
"Did you get it as a reward this time too?"
"Well, you could say that."
"At this rate, aren't you going to change your class to a Summoner?"
"Should I?"
"No. You absolutely must stick with the [Heavenly Slaughter Star]."
Kang Mina suddenly turned dead serious.
I didn't have any intention of becoming a Summoner anyway, so I just smiled and nodded.
By the way.
"You must be busy lately."
Kang Mina's dark circles had reached all the way down to her chin.
"You saw the news..."
"Is there anyone who hasn't?"
Currently, the number one search term on Korean portal sites was Gakseonghoe, and number two was Park Kangsu.
The public interest was explosive.
The narrative of reforming juvenile delinquents seemed to have worked wonders.
"Isn't the number of Awakened going to skyrocket?"
Kang Mina set down her coffee and shook her head.
"That's the thing... It's not that simple."
"Why?"
"Right now, we can't even grasp how many people have awakened through Gakseonghoe."
"What?"
"Leader Park Kangsu and all the Gakseonghoe followers are completely unregistered."
"Really?"
"And of course, we have zero information on their abilities..."
"Then... could it all be a scam?"
Kang Mina shook her head again.
"No, it's not. The total Contribution Points of South Korea are actually rising."
"Then isn't it fine?"
The more national Contribution Points, the better. That was common sense even a three-year-old knew.
But Kang Mina let out a deep sigh.
"Leader Park Kangsu is deliberately avoiding the Administration Office."
"..."
"He's hiding something."