Internal Conflict (1)
The Player Management Agency's official ranking placed Function at 0th.
Honestly, some people questioned whether it was right to suddenly create a new slot above 1st for an existence whose identity and background remained completely unknown. This wasn't some unofficial ranking cooked up by a private player fandom, nor a provocative list made by a YouTuber chasing views. It was an official ranking, so why use the word "0th" at all?
Naturally, the Player Management Agency's move split public opinion into two camps.
Some were simply looking for faults.
Others were simply happy that Function had been recognized, perhaps even more so than Function himself.
Reactions within player society were clearly divided.
The Player Management Agency had anticipated this response.
Around the same time, inside the Player Management Agency headquarters.
Director Mun Gwon-su addressed the entire executive meeting regarding the decision to place Function at 0th.
"Placing Function at 0th in this quarter's player ranking announcement was my personal directive."
"……."
Even within the Agency, criticism had arisen that this wasn't some childish prank and that 0th place made no sense. Various media outlets had also sharply criticized the Agency for putting Function at 0th, questioning how he could achieve record-breaking climbs of up to two floors a day, what his abilities were, whether he was even Korean, and why no information had been disclosed while the Agency engaged in such contradictory and seemingly playful behavior.
"What do you think is the biggest difference between the time Yu Junhyeok was active and now? I'm sure all of you have felt it directly or indirectly while working or going about your lives. Let's hear your thoughts."
A brief silence followed.
Starting with the vice minister seated at the table, the senior executives began speaking one by one. Mun Gwon-su simply listened quietly and nodded.
None of it satisfied him.
'These are the people sitting in executive and director positions.'
Even though Mun Gwon-su nodded indifferently, the executives seemed to interpret his nod as agreement and grew increasingly verbose.
"……And on top of that, as you already know, Director, the overall level of players has risen significantly under the Agency's support and protection. Their level is different from before. It's high! We can say that, can't we?"
Mun Gwon-su nodded with a blank expression. These were supposed to be executives, yet all they offered was self-praise about how well they were doing their jobs.
The Director, who hadn't even taken a seat at the table and was instead sitting slightly apart from it, mentioned Team Leader Kang while addressing the room. His tone carried a hint of exasperation, as if he found everyone pathetic.
"Team Leader Kang Jinsu. Why don't you speak? What changed between the Incheon Magic Tower and the Suseo Magic Tower?"
It was unusual for the Director to give the floor to an Agency employee who was only attending as an observer. Every civil servant in the Player Management Agency knew that Team Leader Kang was the person the Director had been trusting and meeting with privately the most lately.
The surprising part was that most people had no idea what Kang actually did.
All eyes turned to the flustered team leader.
"I believe what was said earlier is accurate. However, from my limited perspective, the biggest difference isn't whether Yu Junhyeok is present or not, nor the changes in society over time. It's that players today are not united at all."
The vice-minister-level executives burst into incredulous laughter.
"Players aren't united?"
"Our players, who are more tightly knit than ever in the face of external threats?"
Of course, that was how it appeared to the executives. Player satisfaction surveys regarding the residential villages and protection measures they had implemented and enforced always came back positive.
Unable to watch any longer, the Director raised his hand to silence them.
The moment the vice ministers and senior officials fell still, he continued.
"That's correct."
The smirks on the vice ministers' faces instantly froze.
'Correct?'
"When Yu Junhyeok, the savior of Incheon, existed, the biggest reason players could unite was because a figure of that caliber led them forward."
The others nodded as well.
"We need someone like him. Even though our player numbers and levels can't compare to those of the United States, China, Russia, or Japan, that was the decisive factor that allowed us to clear the Incheon Magic Tower."
Yu Junhyeok's positive influence on Korean player society. Only that could save Suseo.
And not just Suseo Magic Tower. This anomalous phenomenon of Magic Towers appearing could continue indefinitely. They had to think about what came after, and after that.
"It's because there is no overwhelming powerhouse who can embrace every player with that kind of positive influence."
The current 1st-ranked player, known as the Sword Saint. His name and face were unknown, but that was the code the Player Management Agency used for him.
He avoided external interviews and, aside from a few paparazzi photos suspected to be of him, kept his identity hidden to ensure his safety. Even though he had been selected for the top-floor raid team, he didn't make any special sacrifices for the team's strength or help other players with their training.
"The Sword Saint was also one of the Sword God's disciples. Just like most of the current rankers. But unlike what they learned, there is no one who gives back or leads others. Maybe they think they're not yet qualified to teach anyone."
The vice ministers and their assistants felt a twinge of unfairness. Yu Junhyeok's case was a coincidence of his character, his hatred for the Magic Towers, his passion for climbing, and his altruistic nature all aligning. They believed his case should be treated as an exception, not used as the baseline for all Magic Tower climbers.
As expected, the Director pointed this out.
"You probably think Yu Junhyeok was a special case. That a leader capable of changing the world won't appear again. Unfortunately, that's not true. If someone like that doesn't emerge, the history of clearing Korean Magic Towers won't be updated beyond Incheon, including Suseo. You're all aware that, looking at any foreign examples, there are no records of foreign mercenaries clearing up to the 90th floor, let alone the 100th."
Could you buy that kind of nobility with money—climbing to the 100th floor at the risk of your life, burning your last breath to prevent a city's collapse? Would a player motivated by money burn everything for their final moment instead of continuing to earn money?
"Even if we force them by law and threaten them to participate in the top-floor raids, there's a limit. No? It would only breed more resistance."
What had truly inspired players to climb was their voluntary participation, driven by the heights Yu Junhyeok had shown them.
"That's why I put Function at 0th. I'm planning to gradually elevate him to the same position as Yu Junhyeok and have him reveal himself to the world."
The moment this top-secret information was declared among the Agency executives.
"Players' competitive spirit will be provoked, so until they accept that Function is an overwhelming existence, the voices of opposition will be louder. But what can we do? He really is overwhelming."
"Achoo!"
Choi Junseok sneezed and scratched inside his ear as if it itched.
"Ow, damn… Someone must be badmouthing me."
Sniffling, he watched Song Hana playing ball with Kkamdori.
"I'm starting to get sick of this hotel room too."
More than anything, the number of players had increased noticeably lately. It seemed the members of the raid team that had cleared the 65th floor had finished their group training and joined them here.
Consequently, the atmosphere inside the Player Residential Village felt somewhat restless.
The source of that restless atmosphere was none other than Function and Choi Junseok.
Both stemmed from dissatisfaction with the same person, but of course the players had no way of knowing that.
"There's a diamond-class room above mine?"
Oh Geun-sik, the vice-captain of the top-floor raid team, currently ranked 9th after the ranking update.
A massive, muscular body standing at two meters tall. After retiring from his UFC championship career and becoming a player, he had built his physique with all kinds of steroids and chemicals.
He looked at his fellow team members with a dissatisfied expression.
The top-floor raid team was an organization summoned by the nation—not officially, but effectively—and always striving to break through the highest floors as players. Of course, some members had joined after seeing the perks that came with it, people who hadn't reached the ultra-high floors themselves but wanted to suck up the benefits. Still, their enthusiasm for clearing the Magic Tower was genuine.
"Does it make sense that I'm only platinum grade?!"
"C… Calm down, Captain. I heard even Lee Jiyu, who's 17th, is in a gold-class room."
"Anyway, those Player Management Agency bastards are obsessed with ranking people."
Oh Geun-sik, huffing angrily, noticed something odd in the previous statement.
"Hey. And Lee Jiyu isn't 17th, she's 19th. Didn't you see the update?"
"Ah, right…… You're correct. 19th."
Unlike the players sprawled below, those at the top floor—
"If he's a government-managed player, why hasn't he joined the top-floor raid team?"
"Maybe he's still climbing the Magic Tower?"
"Ha! This is ridiculous."
He crushed the lit cigarette in his palm to extinguish it and shook his head.
"So you're saying there's some government-affiliated player named Choi Junseok or whatever in that diamond-class room up there somewhere?"
"……That's correct."
"Ha, that bastard. I need to go see his face."
As always, he boarded the elevator and pressed the top floor, but it was only a platinum-class room like his own.
Oh Geun-sik stormed over to the counter with heavy, angry steps.
"Damn it, are you saying the diamond-class rooms have their own hidden elevator?"
"……We cannot disclose how to access the diamond-class annex……"
BOOM!
As if mocking the fact that players were ordinary people outside the tower, Oh Geun-sik slammed his fist down, and a corner of the massive marble desk shattered and fell away.
"Bring that bastard here right now. Or take me up there. Huh?!"
Just then, his teammates spotted Choi Junseok watching from a distance and muttered.
"It's… It's Choi Junseok!"
Following their words, Oh Geun-sik's gaze snapped toward him.