Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: The Law of Missing an Empty Seat
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The Tower Management Bureau was still racking its brains over complicated issues today.
If they thoroughly investigated TOPKING and the missing Seo Yoojin, some truth might come to light. But they had provided only one crystal-clear fact.
Section Chief Im Hyun-sik wiped the sweat trickling down his increasingly shiny bald head as the days passed.
"So, you're saying Seo Yoojin was dragged into the Tower?"
"Yes. Nothing else comes up. Even if you ask North Korean defectors or high-ranking officials about TOPKING, there's no mention of some specially trained human weapon from the North. Of course, it's possible only a tiny elite leadership knew, or they burned all related documents."
"At any rate, it's confirmed a minor entered the Tower?"
"We scoured every CCTV in the area, and the conclusion is that Seo Yoojin vanished completely from her own room. In cases like this, it's one of two things: a Hunter crime or getting pulled into the Tower. But the investigation team of Hunter cops found no traces of abilities."
"Any chance we missed it?"
"Low. At minimum, it'd take a high-ranking Hunter at C-rank or above."
Until a Hard difficulty climber emerged from the Tower, those who had reached C-rank wielded the greatest influence on society and were actually the strongest, so they were called high-ranking Hunters.
There were very few of them.
It'd be ridiculous for one to personally kidnap a single girl.
Eliminating that possibility...
"No way TOPKING is that Seo Yoojin girl?"
Section Chief Im Hyun-sik had hit upon the singular truth, but it quickly crumbled into absurdity.
It didn't make sense to him.
"No, no, that can't be right. TOPKING is a monster on another level. No way that girl followed the same path."
If Seo Yoojin were here, she'd feel deeply wronged, but she did have a lot of karma.
Yeah, who told her to tackle the Tower so destructively?
"What about this possibility, then?"
"Possibility?"
"That both TOPKING and Seo Yoojin entered Hell difficulty."
"What kind of nonsense is... Wait."
Section Chief Im Hyun-sik thought it sounded plausible.
"That does make sense. There's no rule saying only one person can enter Hell difficulty alone. Multiple people entering Hell happens sometimes. In the process, TOPKING and Seo Yoojin interacted, and TOPKING didn't want to reveal his identity, so he gave us her personal info instead."
One of the other staff in the meeting room raised a hand and spoke.
"Then why wouldn't Seo Yoojin reveal herself on the community?"
"She's a girl, right? Probably big on SNS but never tried the community, so no need. Instead, there's a chat room for same-difficulty climbers, so if she talked a lot with TOPKING there, it's not weird."
Of course, Seo Yoojin, who had been going full lone wolf since entering, had no idea such a feature existed.
"Even so, would she casually share sensitive personal info like her address with a stranger?"
"How discerning is a 14-year-old? And as the only two Hell climbers, why wouldn't they get close?"
"Even if it's a plausible scenario, Section Chief, the fact is..."
The meeting room's mood sank in an instant.
In that case.
A girl barely 14 years old had been dropped into Hell difficulty, where even someone like TOPKING—who tackled the Tower destructively—could die without it being strange?
It was horrific no matter how you looked at it.
The Tower was a place where anyone could die, sure, but that was for full-grown adults. Not something a child should endure.
Especially not Hell, which was said to be certain death—no hope of clearing even Hard.
"Try contacting TOPKING again."
They couldn't just sit by.
If a little girl was left alone in Hell difficulty, she'd die even standing still, and climbing would mean unimaginable suffering.
The records clearly showed the agony and trials of those who had reached the 9th floor in Hell.
They couldn't let a child go through that.
"Uh, but it's hard to reach him, Section Chief."
"Why? Did TOPKING block us?"
"No, he's solving puzzles right now."
"Puzzles?"
"Yeah, about 100 of them..."
"..."
Just as they said.
"Heh heh heh... Puzzles... fun... heh heh."
He was diligently solving puzzles.
"Heh, heh heh heh, this one's almost done too..."
I wondered what skill she'd awaken that wasn't just proficiency, but the gallery explained it.
Basically, my intelligence was already top-notch, so rolling my brain around formed a skill.
Makes sense. Parents were doctors and lawyers, right?
Hmm.
But still.
I'm not sure I'm that smart.
I fiddled with my head—whose contents were a mystery—and finished the puzzle in front of me.
Good, this one cleared easily too.
The Constellations didn't solve it directly, but someone gave a great idea, so it wasn't hard.
I leisurely tried to move to the next floor.
"...Huh?"
No up button.
Rubbed my eyes a few times, but only the down button was there.
Which means...
100th floor.
I finally hit it.
Thud-
A flood of lavish praise poured in, and I faceplanted forward.
Whoa, so tired.
Not just pulling an all-nighter—I'd fried my brain solving puzzles. Body and mind both wrecked.
Wouldn't be surprised if I passed out right here.
Half-collapsed, I barely lifted my eyelids to check the festival-like gallery.
The Constellations were thrilled like it was their own victory.
A grueling march solving 100 puzzles over days and nights had united them in cheer.
It was bad before, but now worse—they saw 100 puzzles as way too unfair.
Practically a death sentence, so they empathized hard.
For me, total honey.
"First..."
No time to check rewards.
Sleep first.
I slammed my head to the floor and plunged into unconscious slumber.
Nickname Yoo Seung-gil, real name Yoo Seung-gil.
He was a standard climber even within the Tower.
Someone who could advance through effort so far, but now hitting limits.
Still, with family outside, he climbed desperately.
He had just broken through to the 27th floor.
Compared to before, a huge leap.
Normally, months per floor wouldn't be odd.
But Yoo Seung-gil wasn't as happy as expected after surmounting a big wall.
He shed his full-body iron armor, slumped in the waiting room, and as usual opened Climber Gallery.
Like modern folks grabbing phones at rest, his sole joy in this Tower world was Climber Gallery.
Discussions of TOPKING were always lively.
Starting so spectacularly drew eyes inevitably.
"Thinking about it..."
He recalled confidently blasting through floors just now.
Where did this courage come from?
The Tower inherently tormented climbers, crushed them, drowned them in trials.
Thus, it was always a frightening place.
Always demanding one's limits.
In that, TOPKING was climbers' spectacle and hope.
Casually clearing floors in unforeseen ways.
Unprecedented.
Even great rankers who reached Hard 40 groaned in pain at first, some weeping they'd rather die.
They pushed through desperation to barely surpass.
Naturally, watching climbers got scared.
If even rankers shit blood climbing, what about us?
Trial meant pain.
But TOPKING was different.
1st floor: Sliced goblins effortlessly, posted proof.
2nd: Beat the "flee" boss to death.
3rd: Hunted ambushers before guards, bizarrely conquering trials.
Throughout, TOPKING stayed cheerful.
No pressure from Hell limits or timers—he wrote like the trials were fun, easing climbers' heavy burdens.
It gave courage, showed the Tower wasn't terror but a wall to smash.
Now Yoo Seung-gil realized.
TOPKING wasn't a fleeting clown.
He was a mental pillar.
Not just him.
Someone leaped tall Towers watching TOPKING.
"..."
Deeply agreeing, he commented too.
Didn't notice at first, but one by one realized: he was everyone's pillar.
And the TOPKING they all missed so dearly was...
"Snoooore..."
Sprawled on the waiting room floor, sleeping soundly.