Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Two Are Better Than One
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Section Chief Im Hyun-sik paced back and forth anxiously, muttering to himself.
"It was weird from the start."
Why on earth was this TOPKING guy pretending to be a girl named Seo Yoojin?
It wasn't normal by any stretch of the imagination.
But as he pieced it together bit by bit, the truth began to emerge.
Seo Yoojin and TOPKING had both been dropped into Hell difficulty and were close.
And Seo Yoojin had no choice but to die due to the Hell difficulty environment.
TOPKING grieved for her but saw that the child couldn't let go of her worries about her family, so he made that decision.
'I'll take care of her family in her place.'
"Then..."
It all made sense now.
TOPKING had pretended to be Seo Yoojin, announcing that she hadn't died.
And got the government to actively support her family.
Under Tower Management Bureau policy, families separated due to being summoned to the Tower received government aid.
Counseling, regular check-ins, and so on.
But if you died in the Tower, they only got a meager condolence payment, and the support ended.
TOPKING must have exploited that, hiding his identity to ensure her family kept getting aid.
Even making them think she was still alive until he himself died someday.
"Gasp."
"Are you okay, Section Chief?!"
Im Hyun-sik clutched his chest a little.
If that was true, how complicated and painful was this whole situation?
He recalled her parents coming to the Tower Management Bureau in tears, begging them to save their daughter.
If this was fact, he didn't have the confidence to deliver it straight.
Thump thump—
After thumping his chest a few times to calm down, Im Hyun-sik wiped his sweat and said,
"Tell her family that Seo Yoojin is doing well."
"S-Section Chief..."
"I know, I know. But in my view, this is the best. TOPKING says she's doing fine—is that a lie? And make sure the family separation aid keeps coming."
"Understood."
Im Hyun-sik caught his breath and looked up.
The Tower was a tale of protagonists overcoming trials, but behind it lay a place of horrific deaths and suffering.
Now, he truly supported TOPKING.
Hoping he wouldn't die, even in Hell difficulty.
Of course, if Seo Yoojin saw this, she'd clutch her neck and faint.
Why the hell are you killing off someone who's perfectly alive?!
"Whoa."
It was a pretty surprising experience.
Just breathing was making my Mana proficiency skyrocket.
The mere existence of the circle was enough to cultivate Mana.
Plus my talent and Hell difficulty bonuses meant proficiency piled up fast, even at D-rank.
And I could really feel the level-ups.
Even my items had jumped from low D-rank to mid, gaining a whole new level of power.
Each step from D-rank onward made a huge difference.
Hitting Lv.5 boosted my Mana capacity by at least 20%.
Levels were incredibly valuable now.
Though the time to grind proficiency geometrically increased too.
"Alright, time to check the clone."
The clone I could only summon after hitting D-rank.
The moment I unlocked the potential ability, I could use it instinctively, like my own limbs.
Just like spamming Combination before.
So I summoned it, and an identical girl emerged from thin air.
She was a young girl with long, ebony-black hair like mine, her face completely expressionless, lacking free will.
She was naked, so I quickly tossed her some clothes to wear.
I wasn't worried about the Constellations seeing.
The Tower protected climbers' privacy, at least.
Even in Constellation Gallery, they only noticed after she was dressed.