Chapter 2: Prelude
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 2: Prelude
Throb!
A splitting headache and a vicious hangover washed over him.
"Ugh..."
Jinhyuk massaged his temples as he got out of bed.
Parched with a burning thirst, he chugged a one-liter bottle of ice water from the fridge.
As the freezing water gulped down his throat, his mind slowly began to clear.
Sigh.
Now I can breathe.
He craved some hangover ramen, but there was something he had to do first.
First, I need to edit and upload the video of yesterday's first-ever clear before someone else steals the credit.
He hadn't seen even a shadow of another player past the 20th floor, so that was unlikely, but...
...you never knew what might happen.
Whirrr!
Jinhyuk quickly booted up his computer.
He went to ViewTube to find some background music to work to.
But then...
"Huh?"
A ViewTuber he frequently watched was live.
The stream was titled: "The Tower of Trials has actually appeared. This is for real."
Clickbait titles were common in this industry, but a stream with over 300,000 live viewers was an exception.
Something was up.
Jinhyuk moved his mouse cursor.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart began to beat uncontrollably fast.
He didn't know why.
He just felt that the moment he clicked, everything would change.
Click!
He entered the stream.
-Whoa! Guys, look! Look at that! Can you see it? You're all seeing this, right?
On the screen was the ViewTuber, gasping in disbelief, and...
...a massive tower.
It was real.
A colossal tower had appeared right in the middle of Seoul.
One that was all too familiar.
-I only found out because Melon-Flavored Watermelon tipped me off, but apparently, this is from a game released eleven years ago called [Tower of Trials]. Can you believe this? Wait, hold on.
Sensing something, the ViewTuber suddenly looked up.
Right then...
The screen in the video began to turn blood-red.
It wasn't a sunset.
The sun didn't set at 10:00 AM.
No way...
Jinhyuk swallowed hard.
He knew exactly what this was.
The omen that appeared when he first played the [Tower of Trials].
[The 1st update of the 'Tower of Trials' Reboot Version has been completed.]
The boundary between reality and virtual reality blurred.
Before the eyes of the ViewTuber on screen...
...and before his own eyes in reality, a blue status window flickered.
It had begun.
[All players must conquer the next floor of the tower within 90 days.]
The world everyone knew crumbled, and...
[Failure will result in the extinction of humanity.]
Just like that...
...the game became reality.
* * *
His mind was as chaotic as a half-loaded computer, but Jinhyuk quickly pulled himself together.
"Whew. Whew. Whew."
He regulated his breathing.
He needed to keep a cool head.
If the [Tower of Trials] had truly become reality, this was no time to hesitate.
I have to hurry.
Jinhyuk stood up from his chair.
The chair rattled and fell over.
But he didn't have the luxury of time to pick it up.
He had to go.
Outside.
More precisely, to the place where he could obtain that item.
Kicking open his front door, Jinhyuk bolted down the street.
Crossing roads and sprinting up stairs, he ran until his breath caught in his throat.
But why?
Driven by excitement and anticipation, he didn't feel tired at all.
On the contrary...
...his heart swelled at the thought of escaping the endless treadmill of a life where he had merely survived day by day.
How many minutes had he been running?
When he arrived at Central City, it was already packed with a sea of people.
"W-what time is the earliest train to Busan?"
"Damn it, forget Busan! We can't stay in Korea. Abroad. Yes, we have to go abroad to survive!"
"That damn tower appeared all over the world, so what do you mean 'abroad'?"
"Then where are we supposed to go?"
"Anywhere but Seoul! Haven't you seen the movies? If we're stupid enough to stay here, we'll die!"
Most of them were trying to flee Seoul.
They must be terrified.
It was the instinct of every living creature to fear the unknown.
But opportunity always hides within a crisis.
Now was not the time to run, but to move forward.
On the Korean server, this place was designated as one of the [Out-of-Tower Area]s.
There were about thirty of them in the entire country.
The reason he chose this one was simply because it was the closest.
Looking down into the underground area, Jinhyuk stepped onto the escalator.
[Entering the Event Area.]
The underground shopping mall was quiet.
With a tower suddenly appearing, the sky turning red, and talk of the end of humanity, no one was in the mood to casually run their shops.
And there certainly weren't any customers buying hamburgers.
Of course...
"..."
"..."
...that didn't apply to everyone.
As expected...
Jinhyuk narrowed his eyes.
Dozens of people were scattered around the fountain.
He didn't even need to ask to know.
The people here were those who had played the early stages of the [Tower of Trials].
In the wordless silence, they warily sized each other up.
It was only natural.
The items about to appear here were limited in quantity.
At best, there would only be about five.
On the other hand, there were over twenty people.
Low supply, high demand.
It meant some of them would go home empty-handed.
Right then...
"Hey... you're Kang Jinhyuk, right?"
A young man's voice called out from behind Jinhyuk.
I know that voice...
Jinhyuk turned around to see a well-built man, about 180 centimeters tall, with dyed yellow hair.
Lee Jong-su.
To think I'd run into this bastard here.
"Haha, I knew it! Kang Jinhyuk! Wow, you came here too. Well, I guess it makes sense, since you spent all day glued to your computer in your room."
Lee Jong-su approached with a smirk.
A Paprika TV partner BJ.
He had 500,000 subscribers on ViewTube and a massive following on Instagram.
In other words, he was a highly successful, popular influencer.
And he was also the CEO of the agency I was signed to.
"Aren't you supposed to be streaming right now?" Jinhyuk asked.
"Come on. With things looking like this, who cares about streaming?" Lee Jong-su shrugged.
"What do you mean, 'things looking like this'?"
"Don't play dumb. I know you played this game pretty seriously. More importantly, tell me—what floor did you actually reach? We're colleagues in the same industry, so don't hold out on me. Let's cash in on this together."
Colleagues?
Colleagues... really?
For a moment, Jinhyuk felt as if he'd been struck on the head with a hammer.
He still remembered the things this piece of trash had done.
He used unfair contracts to scam BJs at the agency he founded.
He had promised to cover editors' salaries and various content production costs, but it was all a lie.
On top of that, he took a 60% cut of all revenue, leading to the bizarre phenomenon where the harder a BJ worked, the more money they lost.
Protesting did nothing.
He had the backing of the most famous law firm in Korea.
If you don't like it, sue me.
The contract was signed with mutual consent, after all.
In the end, the BJs who had been treated like slaves quit streaming in tears.
Close colleagues.
Friends who had started from the bottom together.
One by one, they left the industry.
"I know you're good at games, and your mukbangs are pretty entertaining. I'll even give you a slightly better contract as a special favor. What do you say?"
Lee Jong-su placed a hand on Jinhyuk's shoulder.
It was sickening. Every single word coming out of this guy's mouth made him want to throw up.
"...Lee Jong-su."
"Hey, hey. Even in private, you should call me 'CEO.' Tsk."
Ah, right. "CEO."
There were two things he had realized in his life so far.
First, bad guys continue to succeed and live well.
And second...
...to avoid being preyed upon by them, you have to become even more vicious and ruthless than they are.
Those two things.
"Act like a CEO if you want to be called one."
"What?"
Lee Jong-su's expression soured.
Jinhyuk couldn't care less.
He kept going.
"Don't you remember? You handed your business card to a female BJ, tried to hit on her, got rejected, and threw a massive crying fit."
It was a shame he was the only one who saw it.
He really should have recorded it.
"And that's not all. You said you couldn't give up, tracked down her home address, and stalked her. You got reported and ended up at the police station. Man, what a pathetic excuse for a man. If I were you, I would've bitten my tongue and died of embarrassment."
"Y-you! Are you crazy?! I can bury you so deep you'll never be able to stream again!"
Lee Jong-su grabbed Jinhyuk by the collar.
"Sorry to break it to you, but I quit streaming as of yesterday."
And...
"And watch your mouth, asshole. I'm older than you."
Crack!
Jinhyuk slammed his forehead straight into Lee Jong-su's face.
"Argh!"
Lee Jong-su's head snapped back.
Broken teeth and blood splattered onto the floor.
Man, that felt good.
It felt like finally pulling out a tooth that had been aching for ten years.
"Ugh..."
Jinhyuk looked down at Lee Jong-su, who was clutching his face in agony.
But only for a brief moment.
It should be appearing soon.
The exact moment that thought crossed his mind...
Rumble, rumble!
Violent bubbles erupted from the fountain.
The calm surface of the water rippled wildly, and then...
Boom!
A four-meter-tall tree shot up into the air.
It's finally here.
"Ohhh!"
"It's the Mangrove!"
"I knew my memory was right!"
The waiting crowd gasped in awe.
[The 'Greedy Mangrove Tree' is growing.]
[Each person may consume only one fruit.]
This was one of the hidden opportunities players could obtain before entering the Tower of Trials.
Jinhyuk stared at the colorful fruits hanging from the Mangrove Tree.
These mouth-watering, ripe fruits had the effect of increasing Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Mana stats respectively.
They were excellent items.
That was an undeniable fact.
The problem was...
...the quantity.
Only four fruits in total...
With twenty-four people waiting, the competition was roughly five to one.
Jinhyuk licked his lower lip.
This is going to be a bloodbath.
The advantage of boosting stats in the early stages was something no one would willingly give up.
"I-it's mine!"
"Get out of the way! I was here first!"
"Kyaaaah!"
Everyone lunged forward to grab the fruits.
By any means.
No matter what it took.
They had to get their hands on them before anyone else.
Soon, the Central City underground shopping mall turned into utter chaos as people scrambled up the tree and shoved each other out of the way.
* * *
"D-damn it! There's no way we're getting a fruit now. We're too late!"
Lee Jong-su panted heavily.
Just as he said, it was too late to head to the fountain now.
Crunch!
"Y-yes! I got it!"
Someone had already plucked the first fruit and stuffed it into their mouth.
It wouldn't be long before the remaining fruits disappeared into someone else's stomach.
"If you had teamed up with me and split the fruits, it would've been a win-win for both of us!"
Lee Jong-su kept shouting, but Jinhyuk didn't bother replying.
There was no need to.
From the very beginning, those four fruits weren't what he was after.
Not yet. It's not time yet.
Ordinary people wouldn't even know the tree had fruits.
Those who had played a few times would focus entirely on eating the fruits.
But a veteran...
...would enjoy a much more twisted and sadistic process.
The reason was simple.
That path led to a far greater reward.
Finally, all the fruits on the tree were gone.
Right at that moment...
Screeech!
The tree shrieked.
Having been stripped of all its fruits, the main body was about to go on a rampage in its fury.
"O-oh, right. Once all the fruits are eaten, this thing gets incredibly dangerous."
"Damn it. It's been so long since I played, I forgot."
"A-ahhh! Run! I died here at least fifty times!"
Belatedly realizing the gravity of the situation, the crowd began to shrink back.
They had to run immediately.
There was zero chance a weaponless Level 1 player could defeat this tree.
"Ugh..."
Lee Jong-su also stumbled to his feet.
"Giving up already?" Jinhyuk asked.
"O-of course! I have no intention of dying a dog's death in a place like this."
"Really? That's a shame. The real reward of this event can only be obtained after all the fruits have been eaten."
Lee Jong-su, who was turning toward the escalator, froze.
"Is that true?"
"Why else would I still be standing here?"
"..."
Lee Jong-su's mind raced.
So that's why he didn't show much interest in the fruits.
That explains it.
If there was a bigger reward, everything made sense.
He's a guy who did nothing but play this game, so there's no way he's lying.
If nothing else, there was definitely a sweet scent of opportunity in the air.
"Let's say you're telling the truth. What's the plan?"
"We have to close the distance."
Jinhyuk pointed toward the center of the tree.
"If only one of us moves, it's easy to get targeted. We have to approach from both sides."
"So we distract it."
"Exactly."
The crowd had all fled upstairs.
Only Jinhyuk and Lee Jong-su remained in the underground area.
"Keep in mind, if even one of us hesitates, we're both screwed."
Jinhyuk lowered his stance and slowly moved to the right.
"Don't worry. I didn't just start playing this game yesterday either."
Lee Jong-su moved to the left.
The two took their positions.
At that moment...
"Now!"
Jinhyuk lunged forward.
In an instant, the tree's vines whipped toward him.
However...
...Lee Jong-su didn't budge.
He stood right where he was, baring his white teeth in a grin.
"You dumbass. Who would actually listen to you? Go be the bait. I'll take the treasure for myself."
Step!
He then bolted toward the center of the tree.
As their eyes met...
...Jinhyuk thought:
...Thank goodness. I'm glad your personality hasn't changed.
If you had somehow turned over a new leaf, I might have actually felt a bit guilty.
With a deafening roar...
Crash!
...a massive root hidden beneath the fountain suddenly erupted upward.