Chapter 15: The Tower's Veterans (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 15: The Tower's Veterans (2)
The clinking of ice in their coffee cups accompanied their introductions.
The Bald Human's real name was Lee Tae-min.
He was a student majoring in mechanical engineering at Korea University.
Wait, what? He played that many games in high school and still got into Korea University?
A place that others struggled to get into even after studying ten hours a day?
This guy was truly something else.
In more ways than one.
Let's see what kind of ability this smart engineering student got.
Clicking his tongue, Jinhyuk activated 'Eye of Truth'.
——————————————————
Name: Lee Tae-min
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Level: 11
Strength: 13, Agility: 15, Stamina: 16, Mana: 21
Stat Points: 0
Coins: 2,500
Class: None
Unique Ability: Machine Lord
Skills: Lv2 'Sandbox Mode', Lv2 'Command', Lv2 'Hacking'
——————————————————
As expected, he got this.
Jinhyuk's eyes narrowed.
Machine Lord.
It was a unique ability specialized for fighting armies rather than individual opponents.
Back in the Tower of Trials, the Bald Human—no, Lee Tae-min—had used this ability to enjoy wide-area mob hunting.
A balanced type with solid offense and defense.
Aside from its high mana consumption, it was a flawless ability.
Now, next...
Jinhyuk's gaze shifted to the side.
He saw the face of the woman who had played under the alias Bulgwang-dong Nuclear Fist.
Her real name was Yu Yeon-hwa.
When he first heard her name, he hadn't known which family Yu Yeon-hwa belonged to.
But as the introductions continued, he finally realized who she was.
Yu Cheon-yeong.
A living legend in the martial arts world who had shocked the globe by adapting Taekwondo perfectly for real-life combat.
Yu Yeon-hwa was the granddaughter of that very eccentric master.
And his precious maternal granddaughter, whom he doted on endlessly.
Even in the Tower of Trials, she used to beat down giants over seven meters tall with her bare hands.
Seeing her now, it made perfect sense.
After all, the same blood as Yu Cheon-yeong ran through her veins.
Jinhyuk activated 'Eye of Truth' once more.
——————————————————
Name: Yu Yeon-hwa
Gender: Female
Age: 25
Level: 12
Strength: 25, Agility: 22, Stamina: 17, Mana: 5
Stat Points: 0
Coins: 4,775
Class: None
Unique Ability: Kyokushin Taekwondo
Skills: Lv3 'Grand Purity Hwarang Heart Method', Lv2 'Grand Purity Hwarang Art - No Retreat in Battle', Lv2 'Mana Reinforcement'
——————————————————
This is quite interesting too.
An ultra-close-range tank and damage dealer.
Her unique ability and skill set truly lived up to her nickname, Bulgwang-dong Nuclear Fist.
Seeing how their levels were similar, the two of them must have been hunting together.
Well, they had always synergized well in the past.
[Copy Condition: These two are companions who have been together for a long time. When the three of you reach the 20th floor of the Tower, you can copy the abilities of players Lee Tae-min and Yu Yeon-hwa.]
Reading the copy condition, Jinhyuk nodded.
Since these were the abilities of the most hardcore veterans, it made sense they couldn't be copied easily.
It'll be tough for the time being.
But it didn't matter.
The three of them would reach the 20th floor one way or another anyway.
It was then.
"Hyung, what are you doing? It's your turn."
Lee Tae-min, sitting across from him, tilted his head.
Since he didn't know about the existence of 'Eye of Truth', Jinhyuk nodding at the empty air looked strange to him.
"I'm Kang Jinhyuk. I'm 27, and I used to be a Paprika TV BJ."
"Oh! Hyung, you were a BJ? I watched Paprika TV sometimes too! Gaming? Mukbang? Ah, since you're handsome, maybe you were a male cam BJ."
Lee Tae-min leaned in with a bright smile.
Even though they had played together in the game, today was their first time meeting in person.
Yet, there wasn't a shred of wariness in his demeanor.
"Yeah. I quit now, though."
"Come on, hyung, just speak casually. It's not like we just met yesterday in the game."
"Yeah, that'll be more comfortable for us too," Yu Yeon-hwa chimed in.
Both of them were incredibly friendly.
I thought my social skills wouldn't fall behind anyone's because of my BJ days.
Or perhaps he had built up walls because he had only associated with people trying to stab him in the back lately.
Weighing benefits.
A month of ruthlessly stabbing people in the back whenever necessary.
Because he had taken that for granted, this kind of friendliness felt awkward.
Companions... It's been a while since I heard that word.
Chuckling, Jinhyuk nodded.
"Alright. I'll speak casually then."
* * *
Once the awkwardness dissipated, the three of them moved to a different place.
This was the result of Jinhyuk's strong insistence.
Fragrant coffee wasn't bad, but...
How should he put it?
There were so many other things he wanted to eat more.
The place they ended up at was a restaurant famous for pork belly and soybean paste stew.
Looking at the golden-brown, thick meat and the stew packed with tofu, he felt like he might cry.
This is on a completely different level from moss and mushrooms.
In novels, there were often scenes where returnees who had been in another world for hundreds or thousands of years shed tears while eating Korean food.
But in reality, it didn't take that long.
If you locked someone in the mountains for just a month and fed them nothing but grass, human instinct would drive them to sell their soul for a single Choco Pie.
Suddenly, he remembered his days in the military training camp.
Those Sunday memories of switching religions depending on whether they offered Choco Pies or Mon Cher cakes.
Ah! Come to think of it...
Another thing he wanted to eat came to mind.
"There's a Baskin-Robbins down the street. How about we get some ice cream for dessert?"
"Ice cream? I'm down!"
"Hyung, Noona, stay here. I'll go get it. But what flavors do you want?"
Lee Tae-min half-stood from his seat.
"Mint chocolate."
Jinhyuk answered without hesitation.
At that, the two of them grimaced.
"Ugh, that toothpaste-flavored ice cream?"
"Oppa, people either love or hate that. It feels like brushing your teeth while eating."
These punks...
To not recognize the combination of refreshing mint and sweet chocolate.
He could let other things slide, but not this.
"Never insult mint chocolate again."
Because mint chocolate had a more rock-solid fanbase than any other flavor.
* * *
Over their meal, Jinhyuk listened to the two of them talk about what had happened over the past month.
The birth of various guilds and the conflicting interests surrounding the Tower's resources.
The policies of each country and the trends regarding coins, and so on.
None of it was information he could afford to miss.
"As you probably know, hyung, most of the guilds from when we played the [Tower of Trials] have regrouped."
Lee Tae-min lightly flicked his finger.
Then,
Whirrrr!
[Lee Tae-min activates Lv2 'Sandbox Mode'.]
Seven symbols appeared in the air.
They were all familiar.
America's 'Titan', Europe's 'Olympus', China's 'Zhonghua', Japan's 'Samurai', and India's 'Gandhara'.
And finally, Korea's 'Dangun' and 'Ssaulabi'.
They were the symbols of the guilds that had represented the world.
Yu Yeon-hwa also nodded slightly as she looked at the symbols.
"They all know. That monopolizing information among existing members is advantageous."
Of course. At the very least, the players belonging to those guilds weren't fools.
They wouldn't recruit new members recklessly, nor would they release the high-level information they possessed.
"What about the BJs? There must be guys raking in coins while working freelance."
At Jinhyuk's question, Lee Tae-min's face darkened slightly.
"Yeah. Mostly, famous people who were active before are using their names to squeeze views out of viewers. Also, this is just a rumor, but there seem to be people trying to run coin farms like we did back then. They're a group called 'Demonic Humans'. They've been all over the news lately."
"...They're out of their minds."
"Right. If they get caught, they're looking at life imprisonment."
A coin farm.
In short, it was a workshop where people were forced to watch specific videos to farm views.
In the past, it didn't matter because NPCs filled that role in the game.
But not now.
If they locked people up in a factory-like place just to extract coins every month, the government wouldn't stand by.
However, Jinhyuk was certain that Lee Tae-min's words weren't just idle rumors.
The world had changed.
The common sense they once knew had crumbled.
This meant they must never judge the future by the standards of the past.
In that sense, he needed to warn them.
They needed to know about that guy too.
"If the two of you travel together, the chances of you getting targeted are low, but I'll tell you anyway."
Jinhyuk spoke slowly.
"I ran into that swordsman about a month ago."
"Huh?!"
"That leech?"
This time, the two of them answered simultaneously.
Hey, keep your voices down.
All the customers in the restaurant are staring.
But as if they couldn't care less about that, a barrage of questions followed.
"Where? Where did you see him?"
"Oppa, does that guy draw his sword without warning in real life too?"
The Sword Saint.
He was a ranker who used barriers alongside a swordsmanship so relentless it could only be described as vicious.
They had run into him occasionally back in the [Tower of Trials].
He was a reckless madman who would attack first without saying a single word.
Of course, Jinhyuk had crushed him every single time. So miserably that he shouldn't have dared to challenge him again.
Had he killed him over a hundred times?
A normal person would have given up.
The problem was that, whether out of a sense of purpose or rivalry...
He had fallen into some strange delusion and doggedly stalked their every move.
To be precise, my every move.
No joke, he had targeted Jinhyuk while he was eating, sleeping, and even when he went to the bathroom, so it was only natural to shudder at the thought of him.
"We didn't meet face-to-face. By the time I got there, he had already vanished from the National Museum of Korea with the 'Iron Sword Inscribed with Qianlong'."
"So he was after a replica too... Wait, hold on. You went there too, hyung? I heard that place was a complete hellhole."
"I've always felt this, but you really have nerves of steel, oppa. How did you even think of going there?"
"I had some things to take care of there too. Anyway, you guys should be careful. He won't recognize you by your looks alone, but he'll know instantly if he sees your unique abilities or skills."
This was why bringing over the abilities they used in the past was a double-edged sword.
While familiarity was an advantage, it was also practically a fingerprint identifying the player.
"Yeah. Thanks for letting us know."
"Whew. We'll have to be careful. You might be fine, oppa, but honestly, the two of us are a bit scared..."
Lee Tae-min and Yu Yeon-hwa let out soft sighs.
It seemed their terrible memories from the past were flooding back.
Well, this seemed to cover most of the information exchange.
"Shall we call it a day and head out?"
Jinhyuk leaned back in his chair.
With every second being precious, this was enough eating and drinking.
"Huh? Already?"
"It's not 'already,' it's nine o'clock."
He had to climb the Tower again starting tomorrow.
Besides, he wanted to take a hot bath for the first time in a month and sleep soundly in a proper bed.
The two of them reluctantly stood up.
"Hyung, but didn't you say you were away somewhere for a month?"
"I did."
"Then, does that mean you haven't taken the test yet?"
"The... test?"
What test?
At Jinhyuk's reaction, the two of them wore expressions that said, I knew it.
"Well, because the death toll spikes starting from the second floor, the Awakened Association only allows those who pass their test to go up."
"They issue an authentication code... like this."
Yu Yeon-hwa showed him her wrist.
A very faint, barcode-like tattoo was imprinted there.
Ho, look at this.
So, they were trying to block any riffraff from entering. That was the idea, right?
Putting up such a pretext would certainly reduce people's resistance to taking the test.
To reduce casualties.
What nobler purpose could there be?
But that wasn't the real goal of those at the top.
There was only one reason they conducted the test.
To identify the hidden powerhouses.
To be precise, to draw those powerhouses to their side.
Suddenly, he remembered the day the Tower of Trials first appeared.
Was it Han Sang-jin? The name of the man who introduced himself as the president of the Awakened Association?
He could never forget that shallow trick of trying to gather awakened players through TV broadcasts.
"Where is this testing site?"
Since things had turned out this way, it was a good opportunity to check how much he had grown.
No.
Actually, this is exactly what I wanted.
Thump! Thump!
Jinhyuk's heart began to beat a little faster.
This system created by the Awakened Association.
There was a way to exploit it.
To my advantage.