Opening the Red Tower
Mu-hyuk hurried to find Count Kairon and gave a brief rundown of the current search situation.
Of course, he mixed in some well-placed lies.
"Hmm, so they're on the 6th floor?"
"Yes. They made it up to the 7th, but the monster there was too strong—we couldn't beat it no matter what. My judgment call was off. I'm sorry."
Count Kairon had looked a bit displeased at first, but as Mu-hyuk's explanation continued and he offered his apology, the count's demeanor softened.
"Hmph, that can happen. More importantly, how did you get back down?"
"As you know, my lord, I'm an outsider. I had more than enough ability to come down alone. The problem is getting down with them—we'd have to hunt monsters again, and that's a tough spot. That's why I came requesting support."
"Smart thinking. Very well, I'll dispatch troops right away."
"Thank you."
"I'll commend your achievements once they return."
"Yes, sir."
Count Kairon immediately assembled a force.
Ten knights and one mage—a total of eleven—headed straight for the destination.
They entered right away and pushed to the 2nd floor. They dispatched the variant Mad Dogs with ease, then climbed to the 3rd and 4th.
With the knights stepping up, monsters melted away with just a casual swing of their swords, minimizing the time it took to ascend.
Mu-hyuk, moving until dawn that day, reached the 6th floor and spotted the knight aspirants sitting dazed at the stairs to the 7th. He rushed over.
"You guys!"
"C-Captain?"
The aspirants jumped to their feet upon seeing Mu-hyuk.
They all wore shocked expressions, but Oun and Kokon reacted the most intensely.
They were the ones who had heard Mu-hyuk's final order.
"Thank goodness. You're all alive."
"Captain, you..."
"What the hell happened?"
Mu-hyuk revealed his true identity to them.
"Truth is, I'm an outsider."
"Huh?"
"An outsider...?"
In Illusion, NPCs viewed outsiders—players—as those chosen by the gods.
Of course, they didn't know players couldn't truly die.
No matter how advanced the AI, imprinting truly illogical common sense was tough when they thought like real people.
So it was framed as a special ability instead.
"I survived using one of my abilities."
"Ah...!"
They showed no particular reaction to Mu-hyuk's identity.
Even if he was chosen by the gods, there was no need to shun him like an NPC or overly idolize him.
"Seriously, what a relief!"
"I thought you were dead..."
More than that, they were relieved Mu-hyuk himself was alive, which left him simply grateful for their loyalty.
"Let's get out of here first."
"R-Right!"
Only then did they notice the knights behind Mu-hyuk.
The aspirants moved like lightning, bowing deeply.
"W-We greet the valiant Knight Captain!"
"Good work."
The knight captain's words made the aspirants tremble.
Overwhelmed with emotion.
"You don't look too worse for wear."
"Yes, sir!"
"We're fine!"
"Good. No time for rest. We're heading straight to the 7th floor to kill the monster and return."
"Understood!"
They ascended to the 7th floor with the knights.
The rampaging Cyclops Giant spotted the arriving knights and charged.
"I'll handle it."
One knight stepped forward.
Power Dash
The charging knight clashed with the Cyclops Giant in the middle.
They passed each other like a graze.
Thud.
The giant's body, sliced into four pieces, came into view.
Huh, damn...
Levels were truly brutal.
It felt a bit anticlimactic to take it down so easily, but it only fueled his resolve to grow as strong as them.
"Is that it?"
"Seems so."
"Good. Check around."
One knight scouting the 7th floor found a warp gate.
"There's an auto-warp gate here."
"Oh? Highv, could you take a look?"
"Certainly."
The mage examined the warp gate.
"Lucky break."
"Meaning...?"
The knight captain and mage conversed.
"Yes, it's linked to a temple in the Weibra Empire."
"Oh ho."
A bit more inspection later.
"There's something here too!"
"What's that?"
The captain, knights, and Mu-hyuk headed over.
A red orb came into view.
Mu-hyuk's eyes lit up the moment he saw it.
"Mind if I take a look?"
"Hmm, you?"
"Yes. I think I know what it is."
"In that case."
They yielded easily, unwilling to dismiss Count Kairon's guest.
Expressing thanks, Mu-hyuk placed his hand on the red orb.
The description was simple, but it confirmed everything.
Activating it would open the new content: the Tower.
All it needed was MP infusion...
He was a little worried.
He couldn't predict Count Kairon or the others' reactions once it activated.
No choice.
He needed the lie right now.
Mu-hyuk turned his head.
"Looks like I can activate it."
"Activate?"
"Yes. Not sure what exactly, but I can definitely activate something."
"Hmm..."
The captain pondered briefly.
Activate.
Activate what, exactly?
Some hidden feature?
It was just a place crawling with trash mobs anyway.
No real risk.
His thoughts tipped one way.
He had the authority for this much.
"Fine. Give it a shot."
"Got it."
Answering, he looked back at the orb.
Smirk.
Mu-hyuk smiled as he infused his MP.
All MP infused.
Activation conditions met.
Activate? [Yes/No]
Of course, yes.
Messages popped up that instant.
New content 'Tower' has opened.
A quest related to the 'Tower' opening has been generated.
The 'Red Tower' in the Weibra Empire is now revealed.
Players worldwide saw it.
*
A few more messages appeared for Mu-hyuk.
All Stats +(2)
In Towers, All Stats +(1) additional
It was massive.
Double EXP for a fortnight.
Plus a title.
Tower Opener.
The options were top-tier.
Jackpot!
What more was there to say?
A thrill surged through him.
Ugh...!
Even that would have been plenty.
But he got Achievement Points too—something he never expected.
Points earned only from world-altering feats in Illusion.
Their value was beyond words.
Even Mu-hyuk didn't know what they could buy.
He'd heard rumors...
But too much exaggeration and misinformation to trust.
Now he could check for himself.
The excitement lingered.
"Whew..."
He let out a long breath, sensing movement behind him.
"Did it activate?"
"Ah, yes."
"Hmm. Doesn't seem like anything changed..."
"Yeah, looks that way."
But it had changed definitively.
The tower's name and location were now revealed to the world.
As official content.
Rewards would come too.
Clearing the 7th floor would yield them.
But at current player levels, beating the Cyclops Giant was insanely tough.
Even reaching the 6th would take ages.
Mu-hyuk knew the strats and had level-65+ aspirants, so they cleared to 6.
For regular players?
At least a month.
I'll take it first.
After maxing levels for a fortnight.
The knight captain spoke then.
"Nothing special. Time to head back."
"Yes, sir."
They warped to the Weibra Empire temple.
Then straight to the castle and Count Kairon's mansion.
"It's late. Regroup here at noon tomorrow. Dismissed!"
"Dismissed!"
Mu-hyuk finally logged out.
The next day.
Having crashed late, he woke past 11 a.m.
"Ugh..."
No gym today.
Not much time till the meetup.
At least wash up.
Splashing cold water on his face sharpened his mind.
"Hah."
Habitually checking the homepage first.
It was on fire.
The forums had posts flooding in by the second.
Mostly Tower-related.
Refresh, and the first page filled anew with Red Tower posts by the second.
Then.
Several eye-catching titles popped up.
Mu-hyuk checked the notices immediately.
Mu-hyuk couldn't hold back a chuckle.
Talk about bare-bones.
Especially "Second, the Tower is different from dungeons." It was pure curiosity bait.
Mu-hyuk knew how, but others didn't.
They'd rush to the Red Tower, unable to resist.
That was the intent.
Towers gained meaning with more challengers.
Why?
Unlike dungeons, it wasn't a shared space.
A enters: A's instance.
B's party enters: B's instance.
C's guild: C's instance. No player collisions.
Limits applied. Guild parties capped at 100.
Monsters doubled every 20 players.
1-19: 1, 2, 3 monsters per floor.
20: 2, 4, 6.
40: 4, 8, 12.
First to conquer the top claims it, regardless of group size—tower vanishes.
Need to leak info first.
Mu-hyuk organized his thoughts and shut the laptop.
Whoosh.
He lay in the capsule and logged into Illusion.