Jung Eun-chae
"Oppa, can't I climb the tower too?"
"Huh? Eunchae, are you bringing that up again?"
Kong
"Ouch!"
"Eunchae, I told you to start climbing the tower only after I die, didn't I?"
"Chee, that again! I told you not to say things like that! It makes me feel anxious."
"Hahaha, alright, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Anyway, my Eunchae must never climb the tower until dirt enters my eyes. I'm saying this as your guardian, so keep it in mind, okay?"
"Pfeeh... Fine..."
No matter how much I complained, oppa never allowed me to climb the tower.
When we lost our parents at an early age, oppa lied about his age to work at construction sites even though he was just a high school student, feeding and raising me.
Even though he was at most two years older than me, oppa always acted like an adult in front of me.
School uniform costs, field trip fees, and even academy tuition—
Carrying an A-frame carrier and hauling bricks at that young age, oppa enabled me, his younger sister, to live as an ordinary high school girl who wouldn't feel inferior anywhere.
Of course,
oppa dropped out of high school.
There was no way he could balance both studies and earning a living.
No,
perhaps if it hadn't been for me, it might have been possible.
But oppa boldly gave up his own future for the sake of mine.
"I told you, school just didn't suit my nature in the first place!"
That was what oppa said over and over while comforting me as I cried when he came home after dropping out of high school.
Oppa was a genius among geniuses who had never once missed first place in the whole school.
There was no way school didn't suit him.
"Our Eunchae is ugly, so you need to study hard to at least make a living in this tough world, you know?"
"Why, you...!"
Although oppa was playful about everything, to me he was both parent and heaven.
Then came a certain day.
Oppa and I awakened simultaneously on the very same day.
"O-Oppa! I see something weird in front of my eyes! I think... it's that status window! Oppa! I think I awakened!"
"Me too! Eunchae, I see it too! I awakened as well!!"
The two of us hugged each other and jumped up and down.
Back around that time, the market price of magic stones was still decent.
Since back then, simply awakening meant the problem of making a living was easily solved.
"Why would you need to climb the tower too, Eunchae! Your oppa has talent maxed out like this, doesn't he? Can't you trust your oppa? I'm telling you, this South Korea will be protected by your oppa!"
Oppa tackled the tower alone right from the start.
And he strictly stopped me from entering the tower.
Of course, since magic stones and items coming from the tower were worth money, if two people went in, even if not double, a 1.5 times more comfortable life would be possible.
However, to oppa, more important than anything else in the world was my safety.
"They say my tower climbing speed is second to none. They said there's never been a talent like me in South Korea before? I barely managed to refuse when the Bureau tried to sign me to a lifetime contract. My Eunchae, let's eat beef every single day starting today, okay?"
"I hate beef!"
"Eat it even if you hate it. Our Eunchae is ugly, so you at least need a good body, which means you have to eat lots of protein."
"Why, you...!"
Oppa received ace treatment at the Bureau. We moved into a pretty nice apartment, and we were able to spend rich days without worrying about meals three times a day.
Truly, just as oppa said, there was no need for me to enter the tower.
I normally enjoyed college life, while oppa rode a wave of success and became the youngest player to reach the 30th floor.
It felt like that happiness would last forever.
But...
"Oppa... did you drink again?"
"Aigoo, our ugly Eunchae... Oppa was in such a good mood today that I had a drink, alright? I'm sorry for showing my ugly Eunchae such a drunk appearance..."
The drunk appearance wasn't the problem.
Though I tried hard to look away,
over several months, the wounds on oppa's body had been multiplying.
"Ah, just a little, just a tiiiny bit more and it was a guaranteed clear! Ha, my Eunchae should've seen it, oppa really almost cleared the 49th floor, you know? Haa, there are 2 months left on the time limit for the 51st floor... I have to go up quickly..."
Right around the time the Tower of Trials ceased to be merely a means of livelihood and took on meaning in itself... the limit of oppa's talent arrived.
Oppa broke down far too quickly.
Of course, it was a time when the whole country was worrying about the collapse of the Tower of Trials,
but oppa's self-blame was far too severe.
Oppa wasn't breaking down just physically.
His mind,
even his heart were all breaking down.
Of course, it was something I couldn't understand back then.
"Eunchae!! It worked! It worked! 51st floor! I cleared it!"
"Oppa!!"
One day, suddenly,
the former vitality returned to oppa's face.
Oppa rapidly surpassed the 49th floor and cleared the 50th and 51st floors.
The Bureau praised oppa as an unprecedented hero,
and oppa, worried about my safety, turned down media attention and smiled brightly even while being called merely 'Player Mr. Jeong affiliated with the Bureau.'
{Invaluable news. The 52nd floor of South Korea's Tower of Trials has been cleared. Player Mr. Jeong affiliated with the Bureau, after saving South Korea by clearing the 51st floor 4 months ago, has once again challenged the highest floor...}
"Eunchae! Did you watch the news?? My ugly Eunchae, guess who Mr. Jeong on the news is? Take a guess~"
"Chee! The people of the world probably have no idea that oppa is such an idiot, right? Ugh... To think the fate of South Korea rests on an idiot like this... It's the end of the world, the end of the world!"
Oppa prevented the collapse of the Tower of Trials once again by clearing up to the 52nd floor...
On the night he cleared the 52nd floor. After falling asleep, he never woke up again.
"Why!!! That makes no sense!! Why on earth would a perfectly fine person suddenly die! Why! My oppa is only twenty-seven! Why does a twenty-seven-year-old suddenly die!!"
"His lifespan... It seems his lifespan has expired. Jeong Eunchae-yang, the truth is, your oppa, Player Jeong Hakyung-nim, pressed the 50-Year Button to prevent the collapse of the Tower of Trials for the sake of the nation and the people."
"...The 50-Year Button? That thing from the news? Why would my oppa press that! Why would my oppa!!"
Was the sense of duty and self-blame in oppa's heart at a level I couldn't even dare to fathom?
Oppa had pressed the 50-Year Button without my knowledge and become strong.
Twenty-seven-year-old oppa probably thought he could easily live another 20 years or so even after sacrificing 50 years of his lifespan.
He probably mistakenly thought he could naturally stay reliably by my side until I reached middle age.
Humans
can never know their remaining lifespan.
There was no way to know with what mindset and what plan oppa had pressed the 50-Year Button.
Even after that, I never blamed oppa nor resented him.
Just,
I simply missed oppa so much.
If,
if I had known the time remaining for oppa was so endlessly short...
even if I went back to the past, I probably wouldn't have been able to stop oppa from pressing the 50-Year Button,
but,
I could have made more memories and had more conversations by oppa's side.
I would have treated him more affectionately.
I would have put even one more piece of meat meant for my mouth onto oppa's plate.
If only... I had known the time remaining for oppa was so endlessly short.
{Player Jeong Eunchae, the next-generation ace of South Korea's Bureau, has succeeded in clearing the 54th floor, putting her name down as the youngest and fastest player to clear the 54th floor. Following ranking number one Player Kang Taeseok, with Player Jeong Eunchae as well, South Korea can once again breathe a sigh of relief from concerns over the collapse of the Tower of Trials...}
"You said I could climb the tower once oppa died, right? Look at me. I've even cleared the 54th floor now, you know? They say I'm the next-generation ace. Unlike oppa, I didn't hide, and I proudly revealed my name, so my name pops up on the news all the time. Aren't you jealous? As for me... I don't even have anyone to protect... sob... so it doesn't matter at all if I reveal my name, sob... sob... Aren't you jealous? I'll protect South Korea too. Turns out the Tower of Trials isn't even that big of a deal, sob... sob... sob... sob..."
Now that oppa is gone, I am the one climbing the tower.
"What's this? Was it my imagination? I could've sworn her eyes were brimming with tears just now."
Having stepped out of the gukbap restaurant, I was in a state of confusion at the strange reaction of the woman who had been sitting across from me.
Player Jeong Eunchae, a person I was seeing for the first time in my life.
No, wait, since I've seen her countlessly on the news, maybe it's that she was seeing me for the first time?
At any rate...
Asking to borrow the Sage's Necklace, okay.
Since she's a magic-type player, naturally she could covet the Sage's Necklace.
Scolding her a bit because she spoke so casually about money?
No, I mean, I'm at least four or five years older than her, so isn't that much well within my right to say?
But why does a grown young woman suddenly tear up in front of someone she's seeing for the first time...
Was my story about getting dumped by Hyojeong and pressing the 50-Year Button in a fit of rage... a bit sad?
Ah, that could definitely be the case.
"Is she normally a bit sentimental? If I told her I pressed the button twice, would she faint right on the spot or something?"
"Excuse me! Sob..."
Huh?
Turning around, Player Jeong Eunchae was standing there before I knew it.
Did she follow me out?
Persistent, isn't she?
It wasn't my imagination.
Brimming in both of her eyes as she called out to stop me were tears that looked ready to burst at any moment.
However,
for some reason, her lips were pulled up unnaturally as if trying hard to force a smile, but—
"The boiled pork... There was a lot left, aren't you going to eat it before leaving?? You're ugly... sob... so you at least need a good body... sob... You ought to eat lots of protein... Waaaaah... sob..."
In the end, tears as big as chicken eggs poured out rapidly from her eyes.
Unable to understand this situation, it was inevitably quite baffling to me.
"Picking a fight... while crying...? What is this...?"
Could there be another case where the phrase 'dumbfounded' fits better than this?
"The meat... sob... Go eat more, hurry... sob sob"
Being truly dumbfounded, I could do nothing but stand there staring at her as she sobbed.