Kaesong Magic Tower and the Second Function
The area around the department store event hall was crowded and noisy, which turned out to be fortunate.
At Lee Nayeon's bold declaration, the man in the suit merely blinked as though he hadn't heard her properly.
He quickly continued with what he had come to say.
“I apologize for disturbing you while you're busy.”
As he reached into his inner pocket as if to pull something out, Lee Nayeon's eyes sharpened into a glare.
She seemed to have mistaken it for him drawing a weapon.
Choi Junseok stepped forward in front of her, signaling for her to calm down.
“What can I do for you?”
If he hadn't, there was no telling where her slowly clenching fist might have ended up.
The man immediately produced a business card and bowed his head.
“Good day. I'm Kim Jin-ho from the Super Sonic marketing team.”
The card indeed read Kim Jin-ho of Super Sonic's marketing team.
“The reason I've stopped you so rudely is because I'd like to scout the lady beside you as our next Super Sonic model.”
“A model…?”
Lee Jiyu's manager, Kim Jin-ho, studied Choi Junseok, who was carrying the conversation in the woman's place like a spokesperson.
Boyfriend, maybe?
They weren't holding hands or standing particularly close, so they didn't look like a couple, but the man was handsome enough for the assumption.
“Please contact us at your earliest convenience. Ah, were you perhaps on your way to purchase our products?”
That had indeed been the case, though Choi Junseok wished it weren't. Before he could reply, the man gestured ahead as if the answer didn't matter.
“This way, please. It's fine, don't refuse. We'll provide you with complimentary items as sponsorship.”
“Excuse me? Sponsorship, just like that?”
“Please accept it as a simple gesture of goodwill. Our CEO and main model, Director Lee Jiyu, has been quite busy lately, so she's been searching diligently for a replacement model.”
Some of it was true.
From those words, Choi Junseok clearly sensed that Lee Jiyu had sent this man to keep an eye on them.
Whether it was because he'd reached a ranker's level and developed sharper instincts didn't matter.
What mattered was that Lee Jiyu was still looking for Function.
However, Choi Junseok, a regular Korean citizen, was being offered free merchandise with no strings attached?
Well. Might as well take what's offered.
And so the two emerged from the department store with shopping bags in both hands.
Even with the sale going on, the combined price of the items easily exceeded 900,000 won.
When the staff tried to give only women's clothing, Choi Junseok cleared his throat loudly beside them until they threw in men's outfits as well.
Full sets from head to toe, plus extra clothes.
I was planning to max out the government card anyway…
Still, Choi Junseok knew the difference between taking what was offered and outright greed.
After all, he'd already spent 18.3 million won on the sofa and giant TV.
Even if he now had a card he could swipe without limit, he still needed to find more ways to earn money.
I should also figure out a safer way to loot items.
After finishing their satisfying free shopping spree, they were about to hail a taxi when Lee Nayeon spoke to him internally, warning of a tail.
We're being followed. It appears to be a summon of the woman named Lee Jiyu who was at the event hall.
Not a summon. A subordinate.
Either way, their intent is clear.
Stay calm and act natural. Don't show hostility.
Understood.
If we suddenly change routes suspiciously, it'll only look more suspicious.
Choi Junseok tried his best to appear nonchalant as he rode the taxi home.
At least they don't know my full identity yet.
They might not have discovered that Lee Nayeon was a summon either.
He couldn't be certain since he wasn't F-grade, but they could simply be following because something felt off.
Or perhaps he really was just a street-casting pervert.
The latter would have been preferable. The former seemed far more likely.
After all, the man had tried to steer them toward meeting Lee Jiyu under the pretext of sponsorship.
It looked like genuine model scouting to anyone watching, but Choi Junseok had seen through the hidden motive.
They definitely noticed something.
Upon arriving home, Choi Junseok locked the door with his heart pounding.
It felt like he'd experienced a lifetime's worth of being tailed in just the past few days.
First America, then Korea. After Korea would come the S-grade players from the Five Great Guilds.
Lee Nayeon looked at him as if urging him to summon a sword.
Her lips moved silently.
They're coming up the stairs outside.
Somehow they'd bypassed the building's door code—an impressive feat.
A sword materialized at her waist. A chilling silence followed.
As her thumb rested on the guard, her eyes grew ice-cold.
She gestured toward the door with her lips.
They're right in front of the door…!
Her expression suddenly shifted to surprise.
“Gaaaah!”
A grown man's scream echoed from outside, followed by the sound of something freezing solid.
Crack-crack!
At the terrifying sound of ice, Choi Junseok peered through the peephole.
A man was trapped inside a block of ice, looking like a baby dinosaur in amber.
From below came the rapid footsteps of Song Hana running up the stairs.
When Choi Junseok opened the door in confusion, Song Hana looked down at them with a proud expression.
“Got him! This guy! Hehe! The effect was instant, right?”
“…Hah, Hana-ssi. Is this person dead?”
“Nah, this won't kill him! He's fine! It's just a seal.”
“Hana-ssi, do you happen to have any protective talismans or something? Like ones that create barriers?”
“I do! Protective talismans! They're super effective! Want one?”
While the boastful girl handed Choi Junseok a protective talisman, he stared at the frozen Kim Jin-ho.
The man's eyes were wide with shock, frozen in place. If he'd died instantly, it wouldn't have looked strange.
Lee Nayeon, hand resting on her sword, asked,
“Shall I finish him?”
Amid the dizzying situation, the most reasonable choice was still the Player Management Agency.
But before Choi Junseok could even call Team Leader Kang, a message arrived saying Kang was already on his way to the apartment.
“Nice to meet you, Song Hana-ssi. I'm Team Leader Kang Jin-su of the Player Management Agency. Please just call me Team Leader Kang.”
“Hello!”
Team Leader Kang was no ordinary person either, calmly introducing himself with a block of ice containing a human sitting in the room.
People who'd been in the player world long enough were rarely normal, but even Kang, whom Choi Junseok had thought was a regular civilian, nodded calmly at the frozen man. Choi Junseok felt a strange sense of betrayal.
“I'd heard about Song Hana-ssi's skills, but they're truly impressive.”
“Right? Ehehe, thanks!”
She glanced repeatedly at Choi Junseok as if to say, Did you hear that? He praised me.
“What, you two already knew each other? No, wait—Team Leader Kang, have you been monitoring us with cameras near our building?”
“No. The reason I came today… has nothing to do with this frozen man.”
When Choi Junseok gave him a questioning look, Kang continued.
“Let's deal with this first. It seems Supersonic Bunny has found you after all?”
“From the circumstances, it looks that way. I don't know how she figured it out, but she noticed something the moment we ran into each other at the event hall… Could my face have been—”
He shook his head firmly.
“It's impossible for it to have been revealed. Even the Director doesn't know your face, and he only refers to you as Function, not your real name.”
“So you're saying internal information couldn't have leaked.”
“The only other possibility is that she memorized the personal details of every F-grade player out of revenge and used appraisal on an F-grade she'd never seen before…”
“That's not it either. I gave him a talisman that can disguise his status window.”
Song Hana placed both hands on her hips and snorted proudly.
“Would it be possible to alter this person's memories?”
“It is! How would you like them altered?”
“About two or three hours ago.”
As it turned out, Song Hana was practically an all-purpose Doraemon.
That's actually possible?
Thanks to her versatile talismans, the situation resolved smoothly.
She altered the memory so that he would only remember failing to tail them after leaving the department store.
Song Hana drew the talisman diligently and slapped it onto the block of ice.
Cracks began forming in the ice.
Crack! Tiny ice crystals scattered and sparkled.
The moment the startled Lee Jiyu manager tried to shout something—
Thwack!
Song Hana jumped and stuck the talisman straight onto the man's forehead.
His eyes instantly grew unfocused. With a vacant expression, he turned and walked out the door.
It was a chilling sight, but Song Hana just giggled as Lee Nayeon patted her head.
“It worked, right?!”
Choi Junseok quietly gave her a thumbs-up.
Team Leader Kang looked somewhat reluctant.
“This doesn't completely solve the problem, but it'll serve as a temporary measure. We'll do our best to cover the aftermath. It would be wise to start looking for a new place to move within the next few days. That aside… the real reason I came today is different.”
“What is it?”
Choi Junseok tensed at the sudden gravity in Kang's tone.
“A Magic Tower has appeared in North Korea. This is the first time in history.”
“…A Magic Tower appeared in North Korea?”
“Yes. It's located south of Kaesong. If South Korean players go to the northernmost point of Paju, they'll be within range to enter the North Korean tower.”
Magic Towers transported players to the nearest entrance based on their location, though there was a distance limit.
“So you want me to go in and snatch the hidden reward on the first floor?”
He already knew. In his previous life, a tower had appeared in North Korea as well.
Back then, Choi Junseok hadn't paid much attention—more accurately, he hadn't had the luxury. He'd been busy completing the government-mandated player training as an F-grade porter.
“As expected of Junseok-nim. You're quick to understand.”
Every Magic Tower's first floor granted a hidden reward to the first player to achieve the highest record.
It was a universal trait across all towers worldwide.
Kang bowed his head again and made the request formally.
“On behalf of the government, including the Ministry of National Defense, I sincerely ask for your help! Typically, the first floor of every Magic Tower contains a hidden reward. In other words… this is your time to shine. Please prevent North Korean players from obtaining the first-floor hidden reward. I beg you!”
It was a request, sure, but against North Korea? Was this really okay? Wouldn't it start a war?
“…Is this even allowed?”
“Ideally, we'd like you to completely destroy the tower, but that's probably impossible.”
Destroy the tower…
It might actually be possible, but Choi Junseok stayed silent for now.
“We've prepared a vehicle to take you to Paju. If we leave now, the tower entry tickets should reset around noon. So please depart immediately—before the North Korean players arrive. We've prepared information on the first floor's structure. As for the clear conditions…”
Messing with North Korea?
He couldn't resist.
At the same time, North Korea issued an official warning to the South less than an hour after the Magic Tower appeared.
It was a formal statement from the First Deputy Director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Summarized in one line, it read:
“If you dare stick your shameless faces out to gawk at our northern tower, be prepared to bleed!”
It was a clear reaction to the realization that South Korean players could approach from Paju.
Approximately thirty minutes after the warning arrived, an anonymous player sent South Korea's official response.
“Summon!”
BOOOOOOM!
Congratulations!
You have cleared the 1st floor.
Congratulations!
Hidden Reward Condition: Achieved the fastest solo clear time.
Clear Time: 0 seconds.
Rewards will be distributed.
Would you like to register anonymously on the Hall of Fame? (Y/N)
Registered anonymously.
Hidden and clear rewards have been distributed.
This meant there would be no more hidden reward farming on the first floor from North Korea.
The 0-second clear had been possible thanks to the “Protective Talisman” Song Hana, the S-grade home security guard, had given Choi Junseok.
At the same time, this event marked the beginning of the legend of the Second Function among South Korea's Player Management Agency and players.
The reason was simple.
If the anonymous player who had wrecked North Korea's first floor was truly Function, then what happened the next morning wouldn't make sense.
Function had cleared the 8th floor of Suseo Magic Tower in record time according to his own schedule.
Suseo Magic Tower Hall of Fame list:
8th Floor: Record '5 seconds' — Anonymous + 0 others (F-grade)
If the Kaesong Magic Tower incident had been Function's doing, then it would have been impossible for him to clear Suseo Magic Tower's 8th floor in 5 seconds right after.
It wasn't just a matter of time—the absolute system restriction of one entry per 24 hours made it impossible.
However, the anonymous clearer of Kaesong Magic Tower's first floor was also listed as F-grade on the Hall of Fame wall.
Upon receiving this information through their spies, North Korea had only one reaction.
At first, they thought South Korea had sent Function to cause chaos, but that clearly wasn't the case.
Could it be… us? Has a Second Function appeared in our country as well?!
North Korea's wishful thinking ignited.
Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un reportedly sprang up and issued strict orders to “immediately find and reward the people's glorious warrior,” which was widely broadcast on North Korean media.
Both sides began swallowing dryly, trying to understand what was happening.
This was the emergence of the so-called Second Function.