Chapter 106
Chapter 106.
Yongsan, Tower Management Office Association.
"Please come this way."
Lee Ganghan, who had come in Shin Yuri's car.
Entered the association with her and was guided to a conference room.
And there.
He faced Shin Gyeongcheol, who was looking around the monitors in the conference room with a serious expression.
"Ah, you're here. Sorry for calling you so early in the morning."
"Not at all. The situation seemed serious."
"Right. After being officially incorporated into Universe 101, a serious problem has arisen..."
Shin Gyeongcheol let out a quiet sigh.
"You know that the towers with occupation reservations have been transformed, right?"
"Yes. I saw the video of them surrounded by black energy and writhing. But earlier on the phone..."
"Right. I said it transformed again earlier. Let me show you what it looks like now."
When Shin Gyeongcheol operated the remote control.
The conference room monitor screen played a video.
A tower surrounded by black energy, emanating an ominous feeling.
Up to this point, it was the same as what Lee Ganghan had seen on the internet.
Kurrrrrr...!
Suddenly the area around the tower vibrated.
Ssssss...
At the very bottom of the tower.
The smoke on the first floor cleared, and a new appearance was revealed there.
The original form was nowhere to be seen.
From the first floor of the tower, now changed to golden metal.
Bang! Bang!
The impact sounds of metal clashing continued.
Small holes began to appear.
The holes that were initially dozens
Soon became hundreds.
And finally, from the entire wall surface of the first floor.
Long metal rods protruded.
"Those are..."
Long golden metal rods.
The front parts seemed to transform themselves, creating holes.
"Could those be guns?"
"Do you see them that way too?"
The golden metal rods that had changed to look like gun barrels and muzzles.
Chik, Chik...!
Smoke poured out of the holes.
Then.
Ratatang...!
The metal rods all spewed flames at once.
[What the fuck...!]
The person filming the video was startled and sat down.
But fortunately, his body was unharmed.
Swish.
When he picked up the camera again and approached the transformed tower while breathing heavily.
The first floor of the tower that had turned to metal
Was like a hologram, a semi-transparent form.
The man with the camera approached closer to examine this in detail.
Buuuung...!
A golden barrier appeared and blocked him.
When the video ended with this.
Shin Gyeongcheol opened his mouth.
"This video was taken by a FIPA staff member dispatched to Malawi in Africa. Malawi, for reference, was a country that was one step away from the Tower of Light exploding."
"I see..."
"Besides this video, reports about tower changes have come in from various places."
Beep, Beep.
When Shin Gyeongcheol operated the remote control, the video moved to the next one.
There, like what they had seen earlier.
The tower's form was observed to be changing.
However,
"The other places just seem to have changed color."
If the first video they saw had such severe changes that gun muzzles protruded from the tower that had turned to metal.
From the next video onward, the towers that had been engulfed in black energy
Had only changed color, with part of the first floor cleared.
Red, purple, white, and so on.
More than 10 towers maintained their original appearance with only color changes.
"According to data analyzed by FIPA, towers have changed in 17 countries that are in 'occupation reservation' status."
"17 places means..."
"There were eighteen races that made occupation reservations, but thanks to your efforts, one was reduced. You did really well destroying the tower last night. If not for that, towers in 18 countries would have changed."
Defeating Gershu had meaning.
When Lee Ganghan thought so.
Tak.
The screen moved to summary report data.
"According to FIPA's analysis... among countries with populations over 10 million, the phenomenon where towers change, commonly called 'occupation,' is proceeding first in countries with the lowest monthly score acquisition last month."
Countries that can't earn scores are being occupied first.
"What's peculiar about the occupation phenomenon is... in cases like Malawi mentioned earlier, only that metal tower was transformed."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that while occupation is proceeding in countries that can't earn scores, the 17 races aren't devouring one country all at once. Only one race occupies one country."
"It feels like when great powers in the old days drew lines and divided up colonial territories."
"Right, Yuri. They seemed not to invade each other's territories."
Countries that can't earn scores are being occupied first.
But the 17 races each decide on a country and occupy one at a time?
"Most countries that have been occupied are African countries. Score acquisition is somewhat related to economic power, so if African players have ability, they all go overseas."
"I see."
"If it weren't for Angels Wing operated by FIPA, many countries would have actually exploded... Players active in Angels Wing deserve respect."
Angels Wing.
FIPA's direct guild that goes to countries with dangerous scores to help them acquire points so the Tower of Light doesn't explode.
Shin Yuri had said that players belonging here had exceptional loyalty.
It seemed to be related to the angel in the basement of the FIPA building.
'They were doing good work.'
Come to think of it.
Didn't father say he was coming to Korea soon?
'He definitely said the business trip was 70% related to me and 30% related to Angels Wing...'
What would Angels Wing have to do with this?
When Lee Ganghan had such doubts.
Shin Gyeongcheol spoke in a heavy tone.
"Actually, the videos and photos we've seen so far were all limited to Africa. So from a Korean perspective, you might not really feel the impact. But... the last video is related to us too."
"If it's related to us..."
"North Korea."
He pointed north with his finger.
And let out a quiet sigh.
"The 17th occupation occurred in North Korea."
***
"North Korea? Chairman, I understand that the Tower of Light in North Korea hasn't been fully charged yet..."
Perhaps because it was an official setting.
Shin Yuri called Shin Gyeongcheol Chairman.
He nodded while looking at his daughter.
"That's right. North Korea is a country with severe internal control. More than African countries, they definitely held onto their players to prevent them from going to other countries."
North Korea, whose economic power was on par with the poorest African countries.
So normally, like African players, players should have escaped to foreign countries seeking better treatment.
But because internal crackdowns were so severe, North Korean players couldn't go abroad and were actually contributing to foreign currency earning by offering TP to the state.
Perhaps because they controlled players like this and worked them harshly.
North Korea somehow earned scores and didn't let the Tower of Light's gauge fill to the point of explosion.
But.
"What were the prerequisites for occupation earlier?"
"Population over 10 million and... countries with the lowest monthly score acquisition."
"Right. North Korea met those conditions."
"Monthly score... so they couldn't earn scores in August?"
"Correct. This is top secret information the National Intelligence Service told us..."
Shin Gyeongcheol lowered his voice.
"North Korea's supreme leader's health condition rapidly deteriorated, and internal control is failing. So they say quite a number of players have escaped to China or Russia."
"Ah... such a thing happened."
"Player escapes have been proceeding severely for several months... There are even rumors that North Korea recently requested help from FIPA unofficially. They had refused FIPA's intervention until now because they had leeway."
Hearing this, Lee Ganghan recalled his father's story.
'The 30% related to Angels Wing work... could it be related to North Korea?'
If Angels Wing players were being dispatched due to problems with North Korea's score management.
It could be related to father's business trip.
When Lee Ganghan was thinking so.
Beep, Beep.
Shin Gyeongcheol switched screens.
"The tower with occupation reservation in North Korea is quite a headache for us too."
"Is it related to us?"
"It's a tower near the armistice line."
A video appeared.
[Hey, what the fuck!? Is it an earthquake?]
Familiar Korean profanity was heard.
The screen focused on a tower beyond the armistice line.
The tower showing an ominous appearance surrounded by black energy.
[Uh... uh, why is that like that...?]
The bottom part began to change rapidly.
Unlike the several videos they had seen earlier that only changed color.
Like the very first video they saw, a tower whose form was completely transformed.
"This... looks like a tree trunk."
It looked like a giant tree had taken root rather than a tower.
Unlike the tower in the first video that shot guns, it didn't feel threatening.
But compared to the 15 towers that had only changed color, it didn't give a good feeling.
"Right. FIPA is speculating that it might be a tower where elves have made an occupation reservation."
"Hmm..."
"The tower whose form changed happened to be in North Korea, and near the armistice line at that."
"So that's the problem..."
Shin Gyeongcheol smiled bitterly.
"If you're holding any stocks, sell them all. There's talk of a second panic coming after the Mogadishu incident."
"I've never tried stocks."
"That's the right attitude."
When the chairman looked at his daughter meaningfully.
Shin Yuri got angry.
"Why are you looking at me like that, Chairman? I made a lot of money from stocks!"
"Made... past perfect tense, daughter."
"Ah, why! I really made a lot! Did I know this kind of thing would happen!"
She must have big money in stocks.
Come to think of it, when she said she would donate to Lee Ganghan to figure out his traits.
She said she only had 500 million in her bank account and would have to sell stocks for more.
'500 million, even then it seemed like a huge amount of money.'
Compared to then, now the earning scale was different.
It really felt like a lifetime had passed.
When Lee Ganghan was recalling old times.
"Ah. And I heard... human-exclusive equipment? How do you get that?"
"Ah. There's a Goblin black market in my Ten Thousand Demon Battle. I get things by bringing goods from there."
Lee Ganghan thought.
'I should share the story that came from there too.'
He decided to convey the story he heard from Goblin merchants without any additions or omissions.
'They definitely heard about 18 races making occupation reservations and asked to add 1 month, 2 months until extinction options...'
If Goblin merchants talked like that.
The current situation.
He could feel it was a serious crisis to the bone.
Rather than hiding this tightly.
It would be right to inform them how dangerous the occupation reservation situation was.
"Actually, I had a conversation with Goblin merchants about occupation reservations yesterday..."
"Oh, what is it?"
"The merchants tell you such things too?"
Shin Gyeongcheol and his daughter showed interest in Lee Ganghan's words.
"94% voted for extinction within 3 months...?"
"After hearing that 18 races made occupation reservations, they wanted to add 1 month, 2 months options..."
"Extinction... it doesn't feel real..."
Their faces hardened after hearing the Goblin merchants' voting results.
Occupation reservation.
They expected it would be a serious problem.
But was this serious enough to cause extinction?
"I should inform FIPA headquarters about this... Would that be alright?"
"Yes. I mentioned it because I thought the association should know."
"But this fact shouldn't be known to the public. Even when towers appeared, doomsday theorists caused great social chaos... If Heavenly Demon says such things, great chaos will happen again."
"We shouldn't talk about it on TowerTube."
Lee Ganghan, currently one of the most influential players on TowerTube.
If he brought up the story he had with Goblin merchants.
Great social chaos would come.
"I'll inform FIPA for now. Please wait here for a moment."
Shin Gyeongcheol left the conference room with a serious face.
And after about 10 minutes.
He returned and spoke to Lee Ganghan with a puzzling expression.
"Speaking of which, your father... is arriving tomorrow night?"
"My father?"
The business trip was postponed to 4 days later due to the notice.
But it was moved up again as things became serious?
'FIPA work life isn't easy either.'
When he thought so while looking at FIPA whose schedules constantly changed.
Shin Gyeongcheol continued.
"And... your father is coming with 'that person,' but they absolutely wouldn't tell me who the FIPA chairman is. They said you would know, do you have anyone in mind?"
That person?
If it's that person, could it be.
'Could it be... coming with the angel?'
Lee Ganghan recalled the angel's form with eyes clustered together and tilted his head.