Has Function Reached His Limit? (1)
Has Function hit his limit on the 11th floor?
The mysterious F-rank who brought a whirlwind to the Magic Tower. Maybe the 9th floor was his ceiling after all.
Speculation swirled around Function. He had shattered the record for the 10th floor, but the fact that he had cleared it with only one other person led many to assume he had received outside help.
As if to confirm their suspicions, no new record appeared for the 11th floor.
People reacted in two ways. Some believed Function had finally reached his limit. Others thought he simply had personal matters preventing him from climbing that day.
Most leaned toward the first theory. Two reasons stood out: he had not cleared the 10th floor alone, and since he supposedly cleared floors in mere seconds anyway, why would he skip a day unless he could no longer continue?
Would he really waste a Magic Tower entry ticket that could only be used once every twenty-four hours?
Thirty-six hours after Function cleared the 10th floor with no new record on the 11th, fear began to spread. Rumors of his death even started circulating.
Someone had even started a YouTube live stream simply filming the 11th- and 12th-floor walls of the Hall of Fame on the first floor of Suseo Magic Tower. Eighteen hundred people were watching the silent broadcast.
The chat scrolled nonstop with calls for Function.
Meanwhile, Choi Junseok was sprawled in his room, lazily scratching his stomach while watching TV. He found it amusing how the world argued about him, and it felt real that his position was steadily rising.
“People sure are interested in Function, aren’t they?”
Song Hana said this while sharing ice cream with Kkamdori. Lee Nayeon, lying upside down on the sofa with her long hair dangling and legs propped against the wall for circulation, nodded expressionlessly.
Her tone remained calm despite the bizarre posture.
“With this level of fame and popularity, wouldn’t it be fine to debut as Function yourself, my lord?”
“Exactly. At this point, why not just reveal everything?”
The thought had crossed his mind, but two reasons made it a bad idea. First, exposing his face and identity now would bring no benefit. Staying anonymous behind a mask was far more advantageous for safely earning large sums of money. He was already receiving the maximum support possible from the Player Management Agency. Revealing himself would not bring any extra perks, only increase overseas attempts at recruitment or outright kidnapping disguised as scouting.
“Now, please look at this graph. It shows Function’s climbing power up to the 10th floor. While the seconds fluctuate, the overall trend was upward until recently, when it plateaued or even declined. The turning point was the 10th floor. We can analyze it this way…”
It was a self-proclaimed Magic Tower analyst, breaking down Function’s power graph second by second like a stock chart, connecting the peaks of bar graphs and calling it a power curve.
Choi Junseok watched the segment on the news and rubbed his stubbled chin.
‘Wow… they’ve really gone off the deep end.’
The credibility of TV news had clearly hit rock bottom. People were already declaring him dead just because he had not set a new record on the 11th floor.
“Heh, these idiots.”
Curious what kind of reaction he would get if he cleared the 12th and 13th floors back-to-back, Choi Junseok immediately used Haetaesik’s forge entry ticket. A red portal appeared. He picked up Kkamdori and stepped inside.
The Balrog’s Sword he had obtained from the hidden stage would be very useful here.
At the same time, Commissioner Mun Gwon-su visited Team Leader Kang Jinsu’s office at the Player Management Agency and had coffee with him. Kang Jinsu knew this was not merely a casual check on work progress.
“Function was climbing two floors at a time, then suddenly stopped?”
“Yes. It seems he used an additional entry ticket.”
“That item’s current market price is…”
“Around 180 million won per ticket.”
“Ah, right. Hearing that number jogs my memory. I had to talk down the Gurkha mercenaries when they demanded extra tickets so they could clear ten floors a day on the lower levels.”
Commissioner Mun Gwon-su sipped his coffee calmly, but his next words carried an edge.
“So, do you think Function has reached his limit? The higher-ups haven’t made any official statements yet, but my phone has been ringing nonstop since morning.”
It meant many people were contacting him privately, asking what had happened to Function.
“Function will climb again today. The 11th floor is far too early for him to have hit his limit. You don’t think so either, do you, Commissioner?”
“Who knows? Maybe he obtained some opportunity that only works ten times.”
“I know him. Function is not that kind of person. Just wait half a day. He will prove how foolish everyone speculating about his limit truly is.”
Kang Jinsu did not know the true extent of Function’s power, but he was certain of that much.
“That little guy! How cute! Want some lava?”
Haetaesik seemed to have a soft spot for cute things despite his muscular build. Kkamdori merely tilted its head at the mention of lava, then flapped its tiny wings and flopped flat on the floor as if annoyed.
Choi Junseok simply grabbed Kkamdori’s tail where it lay and gave it a firm tug. With a thud, Kkamdori opened its mouth and vomited up an item.
“Gwe-ek!”
The item it spat out in one go was a burning greatsword.
‘Burning Balrog’s Sword (Miscellaneous)’
Haetaesik’s eyes widened instantly at the sight.
“No way! How did you get this? A Balrog’s Sword?!”
While useless to other players as it was not equipment, everything was just material in Haetaesik’s forge, whether gear or miscellaneous items. Kkamdori, having somehow expelled the massive sword, let out a belch and purred under its master’s touch.
“Can you turn this into a weapon?”
“Oh… my god. Of course. I want to start right now, but there’s a problem.”
“What is it?”
“To use this as a weapon, I’ll need a lot of magic stones. A very large amount. High purity.”
“…Can’t you just roughly hammer it into a usable size?”
“Hey now! It’s not that simple.”
“How much exactly?”
Haetaesik rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a single purple amethyst-like magic stone. It looked clean and radiated a strange power—clearly high quality.
“At least five kilos of stones this pure.”
“Five kilos?”
“Why? Can’t do it?”
Drawing on his porter experience, Choi Junseok roughly knew the market price of magic stones. The government purchased high-grade stones at around twenty million won per hundred grams, or 0.1 kilos. Price was determined by weight rather than grade. One kilo cost roughly two hundred million won at the government’s discounted purchase rate. If a player had to buy them instead, the price would easily double or more. In other words, five kilos meant a raw material cost of one billion won. Purchasing them would likely run between 1.3 and 1.5 billion.
“Do you even know how much that is in Korean won?”
“Not my problem.”
“…”
Choi Junseok had nothing to say. Honestly, it felt like he was being asked to provide materials for free while Haetaesik took no commission.
“If you melt that item down…”
“You’ll get at least a Legendary-grade sword with a level-100 requirement. That’s my estimate. Any additional effects?”
The burning sword would have excellent synergy with the floors ahead. Undead monsters dominated up to the 15th floor, and frozen ice-attribute monsters would appear up to the 20th. As expected—
“Can’t you tell just by looking? It carries the power of fire and darkness, so it’s effective against anything of the opposite nature. If you think it’s too expensive, just say so.”
Honestly, buying a Legendary item for 1.3 to 1.5 billion won? Even non-rankers would jump at the offer.
“Just keep planning it. I’ll bring exactly what you need.”
Haetaesik accepted the Balrog’s Sword with satisfaction and nodded, his eyes sparkling as if he had received a wonderful new toy.
Back in reality, Choi Junseok knew exactly who to contact.
“So… you need five kilos of magic stones? Preferably high quality?”
“That’s right.”
“Is everything all right lately?”
“There was something, but nothing you need to worry about.”
Nothing to worry about, huh. Kang Jinsu nodded for now at the vague reply. From his tone, it sounded like he had already climbed the 11th floor yesterday. The matter with his cousin Park Suho seemed to have been resolved as well. Lee Jiyu visiting his house was a concern, but honestly, having an S-rank player looking out for him favorably was not a bad thing.
“Five kilos of magic stones would easily exceed a billion won at market price.”
“Is that too much? Doesn’t the Player Management Agency manage them?”
“It falls under our jurisdiction, though the Magic Stone Management Corporation actually handles them… but really, it’s all the same world.”
“Then lend me some. Just five kilos.”
“A billion won.”
“Yes.”
Kang Jinsu thought this guy was getting more shameless by the day, but he also knew there was only one possible answer.
“Understood. I’ll contact you once they’re ready. Five kilos should fit in one large box for delivery.”
Kang Jinsu ended the call.
“Five kilos of magic stones…”
It sounded like calling home to the countryside and saying, “Hey Mom, it’s me—send five kilos of sweet potatoes or cabbage from the farm.”
“Of course we’ll provide them.”
That afternoon, while Kang Jinsu was buried in paperwork to secure the five kilos of magic stones, the Player Management Agency headquarters once again erupted with excitement.
“Function has simultaneously cleared the 12th and 13th floors!”
Hearing the commotion outside the office, Kang Jinsu’s lips curled upward. Of course. He was not the kind of person to fall so easily. Then Kang Jinsu quietly changed the requested amount on the support form from five kilos to six kilos.
“I’ll make sure to get you a little extra.”
In just the past two days, the amount Kang Jinsu had poured into the Function project had already exceeded 1.5 billion won. And at that very moment, a notification window appeared before Choi Junseok, who had just cleared the 12th floor.
Congratulations!
You have cleared the 12th floor.
Congratulations!
Hidden reward condition achieved: Cleared in the shortest time as a solo player.
Clear time: 8 seconds.
Would you like to register anonymously on the Hall of Fame? (Y/N)
Registered anonymously.
Hidden reward and clear reward have been granted.
Would you like to return? (Y/N) Automatic return in 30 minutes.
Special condition achieved! — ‘Cleared 5 floors with the highest record’
Rewards granted for achieving the special condition.
It was the notification granting a special privilege for setting the highest records on a total of five floors: the 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, and 13th.