Chapter 140
Chapter 140
Chapter 140
Several months later.
The pinnacle of the tower.
The 37th floor, currently the highest opened floor where the Frontline Strategy Team was positioned.
This was a world where the sun never rose.
Only the pale traces of sunset hung like flames on the mountain ridges in this dark layer, the Dark World.
In this land shrouded in deep darkness.
Pat-.
A group of climbers was teleported in with bright light.
The Reverse Heaven Society, which had been climbing the tower at a terrifying speed, had finally caught up to the Frontline Strategy Team.
Splash-.
"Whoa, what the?"
Nam-gung Cheon, teleported to the 37th floor, jumped up from the swamp that was swallowing his feet and cast water-walking magic.
So-yul scolded him for this.
"I told you to wear boots."
"How am I supposed to fight wearing those? I'd rather go barefoot."
Leaving the grumbling Nam-gung Cheon behind, Francesca looked around and asked.
"Leader, what place do you think we'd rank?"
Seo-jin stroked his chin and answered.
"Well. Would there be a hundred climbers who've reached this far?"
It had only been about a month since the 37th floor opened.
Only the Frontline Strategy Team, along with a very small number of national representatives and corporate pioneer groups who were devoted to tower climbing, would have entered the 37th floor.
Even at most, that number wouldn't exceed a hundred.
So-yul illuminated the surroundings with magic and asked.
"What's our objective this time? I heard this is a world where the sun doesn't rise."
"Lady, does that mean we need to bring back the sun or something?"
At Austin's question, So-yul nodded.
"That's what we've been doing all along. Nothing new."
The Reverse Heaven Society had been solving the world's problems one by one as they climbed the tower—problems that existing strategy teams and climbers couldn't resolve.
Just as Seo-jin had done alone before, now they were working together.
Thanks to this, public opinion that had sharply deteriorated after the Atlantis incident had recovered to some extent.
Though corporations and media continued to pour out malicious articles about us day after day.
'You can't cover the sky with your palm.'
Even under corporate control and media pressure, there were members of the public who recognized the true worth of the quietly active Reverse Heaven Society.
New media like X-Tube and podcasts played a big role in this, led by Min-ho, who had gained huge popularity by live-streaming Seo-jin's past activities.
After his return, he continued broadcasting that tracked and analyzed Seo-jin and the Reverse Heaven Society's actions, despite constantly facing public criticism.
The facts verified in those broadcasts differed from the Nova's evil deeds claimed by existing public opinion.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that public opinion began to reverse from that point.
The Thief Guild, which ruled Chinatown on the 2nd floor, also worked to recover public opinion by supporting novice climbers who entered the tower daily.
Thanks to Chairman Han Seo-hee's behind-the-scenes efforts as well, public opinion that had once severely deteriorated had recovered considerably by now.
'Well, compared to before Atlantis, it's only recovered about 20 to 30 percent.'
Seo-jin stood quietly thinking, then slowly shook his head.
"There's no need for that this time. Bringing light back to this land will be the strategy team's job."
With that, he used Dispel Magic to extinguish the Light magic So-yul had cast.
Light in the darkness would easily become targets for surrounding monsters.
At Seo-jin's words, Nam-gung Cheon asked.
"Then what are we doing?"
"We need to help them from behind."
The Reverse Heaven Society's purpose wasn't to engage in bloody battles with the strategy team.
Our true purpose is to expedite the renewal of the highest floors as much as possible.
Sometimes that method might involve confrontation, but there are also times like now when we need to support or cooperate.
'The method to use on this 37th floor is support.'
Of course, this didn't mean we'd go find the strategy team right now to promise cooperation face-to-face and shake hands.
It meant handling things behind the scenes that the strategy team alone couldn't accomplish.
"According to what I heard from the Saintess, the native forces on the 37th floor are divided into two groups."
A force that worships the vanished sun and hopes for morning to come someday. Solaris.
And a force that worships the darkness covering the entire floor. Lunaris.
Currently, the Frontline Strategy Team was proceeding with a World Quest they received through Solaris.
At Seo-jin's explanation, So-yul's eyes widened.
"Eh? You met Ha-yeon?"
"Yeah, I had business with her."
Since forming a connection with Kwon Ha-yeon on the 10th floor, there had been occasions to meet three or four times.
Since both were quite busy, there wasn't much time, but Ha-yeon had come asking him to sell Eternal Snow Ice, and had also come to complain about slowing down his climbing speed.
The most recent meeting was after the 37th floor update, when they met during vacation for information exchange.
Of course, Seo-jin already knew the information, but since it would be strange for a latecomer to have information about the highest floors, he appropriately used Ha-yeon's name.
"Anyway, bringing light back to this place might be beyond the strategy team's power alone. So we plan to help the strategy team by proceeding with Lunaris-side quests."
"What? Then our activities might not even be known?"
If it was an achievement of bringing light to a world of only darkness, naturally the public's attention would focus on the strategy team proceeding with the Solaris-side quest.
If things went wrong, far from the Reverse Heaven Society's activities being known, they might be criticized for standing with the opposing force and hindering the strategy team.
At Nam-gung Cheon's point, Seo-jin shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, when did we ever show off?"
He didn't care about public attention. We just do our work.
Seo-jin encouraged his team members and took the lead walking forward.
"Let's start by finding the village where the natives live."
***
"Here it is."
A village they reached after much trouble, crossing poisonous swamps and fighting bizarre monsters that had evolved to have no eyeballs.
Large wooden stakes woven together and gates and watchtowers built from piled stones caught their eye.
They had safely reached the village, but everyone looked terrible.
They had been dealing with poisonous insects and monsters constantly attacking in darkness where they couldn't see an inch ahead.
Moreover.
"Heal, give me some healing."
"Th-the divine power isn't working well. You'd be better off using a potion."
Seo-jin looked at Siegfried, who was having trouble using healing magic, and fell into thought.
'This 37th floor is a layer without an administrator.'
No, more precisely, it's a layer managed by demons. From the 30th floor onward, demons rather than great beings from the tower manage the floors.
As such, there were big differences from previous climbing environments.
Unlike the lower floors where there were no major differences except mana concentration, from the 30th floor onward, each floor's environment was divided separately.
For instance.
'This 37th floor is a world where light has disappeared.'
Seo-jin looked up at the dark sky.
On this 37th floor, contractual powers like Siegfried's divine power and Austin's spirit magic were weakened.
On the other hand, it was an optimal environment for black mages to run wild.
However, Seo-jin didn't fall under that advantage since he hadn't made contracts with demons.
Moreover, it wasn't just the natural environment that differed from lower floors.
"fkc nja jar lrj."
A native gatekeeper blocking their path while speaking incomprehensible words.
Nam-gung Cheon looked at the dark-skinned native who resembled a dwarf and grumbled with a disgusted expression.
"Ah shit, another one we can't communicate with."
Below the 30th floor, there had been no problems communicating with natives thanks to the tower's blessing, but from the 30th floor onward, cases where the tower's blessing didn't apply occurred frequently.
The floors where such problems arose were floors where civilization hadn't developed much.
"We're not bad people. Okay?"
"fk fue krl."
"What's he saying?"
"Wait a moment, it seems."
"Can you understand?"
"Would I be able to? I'm just guessing."
"......"
The native guarding the main gate went inside and soon brought out another native.
Judging by the necklace made of small skulls and the staff in his hand, he seemed to be a shaman.
That native shaman gestured for Seo-jin to approach.
Then he handed over a jar and gestured to apply what was inside to his face with his hands.
'Mud, perhaps.'
Seo-jin followed the shaman's recommendation, scooped up the mud, and applied it to his face.
Then the native was pleased and handed the jar to the other team members as well.
"Th-they want us to apply this? Doesn't seem good for the skin."
"Think of it as a mud pack."
Smear smear-.
Starting with Francesca and Nam-gung Cheon, the team members applied mud to their faces.
As they were applying mud, another native woman came out from inside the castle gate.
That native handed Seo-jin's group outer coats woven from rice straw, like raincoats.
They were similar coats to what the natives were wearing.
When Seo-jin put on the coat first, the team members followed suit.
"fk dh kdj emf."
The native woman nodded, and only then could Seo-jin's group enter the village.
"It must be a custom of this place. Our appearance must stand out too much."
Their faces were too white and their clothing too conspicuous.
Both to the natives and to the dark god they served.
Still, it was fortunate that they let them into the village with just these measures, as it seemed they weren't very hostile to outsiders.
The structure of the village they reached following the shaman was simple.
Small stalls and shops formed around a central well.
Various facilities and huts arranged in concentric circles around this.
The native shaman led Seo-jin's group to a hut located at the lowest part of the village.
Nam-gung Rin instinctively read the energy felt near the hut and asked.
"Could this be a temple?"
"Yes, though it looks shabby."
A small hut woven from wood and rice straw.
It was too shabby a place for worshipping gods.
'Though the natives here worship darkness and Lunaris, this is ultimately a survival strategy to stay alive.'
They don't truly believe in and follow Lunaris because they like her.
Worshipping Lunaris was similar to offering sacrifices to appease a god's anger.
Following a path lined with beast and monster skulls on both sides into the hut, a large stone monument greeted the group.
Fortunately, the monument was inscribed with the tower's common language that Seo-jin's group could understand.
[Accumulate Merit.]
So-yul, who read the inscription on the monument, narrowed her eyes.
"Merit... do we need to clear some kind of quest?"
"It seems so."
Before his return, Seo-jin had climbed by clearing Solaris-side quests, so he didn't know exactly about the Lunaris side.
He only knew the general quest overview and direction, so Seo-jin was in a similar position to the other team members.
When he placed his hand on the monument, a notification window suddenly appeared.
Ting-.
[Entering World Quest.]
[Follower of Lunaris]
Accumulate merit for Lunaris, the dark god ruling the Dark World. Various quests will be added according to merit, and if you clear all of them, you can proceed with the opening quest to the next floor.
Quest completion reward: ??
After Seo-jin first accepted the World Quest, the team members also placed their hands on the monument one by one and received the quest.
Nam-gung Cheon read through the quest content and asked Seo-jin.
"Hey, isn't there some trick or loophole this time? When are we going to finish clearing all this?"
Having to clear quests one by one to finally obtain the last opening quest.
With the orthodox method, they couldn't even guess when they'd see the end.
This structure was probably why other strategy teams spent at least one to two months, or several months at most, on floor opening.
The other team members also looked with expectant eyes, but Seo-jin shook his head.
"If it were a regular climbing quest, maybe, but this is an opening quest to open a new floor. There are no shortcuts."
Opening a new floor wasn't possible just by killing some specific boss and obtaining a teleportation stone like previous climbing.
To open new floors, one had to clear quests linked to World Quests.
Even Seo-jin couldn't be free from such laws of the tower.
"Eh heh. Damn it."
"Then we'll have to stay on the 37th floor for quite a while."
Seo-jin observed his team members' slightly disappointed expressions and thought to himself.
'I understand this reaction too.'
Since they had only comfortably climbed floors that strategy teams had already opened, they probably didn't know opening new floors would be this difficult.
Though the Reverse Heaven Society had been in a position of cleaning up after strategy teams, they had clearly benefited from being latecomers.
But from now on, it's different.
They had to work towards opening higher floors under the same conditions and situations as strategy teams.
Seo-jin manipulated his status window to examine the quest content he had received in detail.
[World Quest#1]
Assimilate with the natives. Respecting their culture, customs, eating habits, clothing, and residential forms is the first step to meeting Lunaris.
#1-1.
The climber's appearance and clothing are too conspicuous. Take quick action before receiving the dark god's wrath.
Quest completion reward: World Quest#2 opening, 100 white stones.
After checking the quest content, Seo-jin slowly nodded.
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
With that, Seo-jin began removing the robe and clothes he was wearing under the raincoat-like garment.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
The women, including So-yul, were startled.
Seo-jin answered calmly.
"What do you mean what? I'm following the law of this place before incurring the dark god's wrath. The shaman didn't give us these clothes for nothing. You all undress too."