Chapter 138
Chapter 138.
While Lee Ganghan slept to tackle towers in the morning.
[Heavenly Demon Lee Ganghan withdraws from Transcendent candidate race.]
[Does this make it a three-way battle? Why did the most likely candidate, Heavenly Demon, withdraw?]
[Tower Management Office states his will was strong.]
[President Alfred praises Heavenly Demon on SNS for making a great choice.]
[World Ranking 1st Mike posts cryptic "Good deal" message on SNS.]
Despite the late night, news articles poured out.
-What??? Heavenly Demon withdrew?
-Why???
-Wasn't he almost certainly going to become Transcendent?
-Yeah, even with China and India's huge populations, Heavenly Demon had absolute advantage
-What did they do in America ㅡㅡ
-Alfred and Mike being happy is suspicious
Public opinion boiling over even at night regarding Lee Ganghan's withdrawal.
People couldn't understand at all why Lee Ganghan, whose voting victory was certain, had withdrawn.
-??? Why did Strong Lee withdraw?
-Looking at Alfred and Mike's reactions, it seems connected to them
-Oh... how should we interpret this?
-Mike, who was disadvantaged in the four-way race, is now in the most favorable position. This is all the result of Heavenly Demon's withdrawal!
-As an American, this news is welcome, but as a human, I can't accept it :(
-Strong Lee being replaced by Mike as Transcendent... I can't picture it
Even in America's tower communities, they were puzzled by the news of Heavenly Demon's withdrawal.
-Why did Heavenly Demon withdraw? Victory was confirmed?
-Shouldn't Wang Jiebin have come out then?
-Wang Jiebin may rank one below Mike, but his evaluation was better. He could have turned the tide!
-Zhang Haoran is also a good player.
-What's better about him than Wang Jiebin would be his bloodline!
-Why do this stupid thing of having 2nd place withdraw and 7th place enter the vote?
-Because they expected Heavenly Demon to come out...?
On the Chinese side, they showed regretful reactions, saying it would have been better if Wang Jiebin had entered if they knew this would happen.
Meanwhile,
[Strong Lee made a great decision. He's truly an amazing person.
He willingly gave up the chance to become Transcendent. Why? For humanity.
He's a courageous hero. I know him well. He's been a friend I've known for a long time!
He's smart, strong, and dedicated. The best!
America will always be with Strong Lee. Always has been, always will be.
Glory to Strong Lee. Glory to America. God bless America!]
From the message posted on President Alfred's SNS.
You could feel how excited he was just by looking at it.
-Wow, how many posts is Alfred putting up on SNS right now ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-What the hell did America give to Heavenly Demon? ㄷㄷ
-Looking at Mike saying "good deal," he definitely didn't withdraw for free
-So Mike is the likely candidate now?
-Wang Jiebin seems better at fighting, why didn't the Chinese choose him?
-I heard Zhang Haoran is related to the Chairman?
-ㅅㅂㅋㅋㅋㅋ Blood relations work here too?
While people looked at Alfred's SNS and suspected America had intervened somehow.
'It's chaos.'
Lee Ganghan, who woke up at dawn.
Seeing news articles completely covered with news of the Transcendent candidate withdrawal, gave a bitter smile.
The candidate withdrawal.
They quickly figured it out even without a notice.
'Well... I'll just do what I have to do.'
Since he had already decided on withdrawing from candidacy.
No matter what people said, he wouldn't care and would continue with tower conquest.
Lee Ganghan checked the time.
6 AM.
Last time when entering the tower, he told viewers he'd return the time to dawn shift.
It was a bit early to climb towers at this time.
'Since I have a schedule from morning today, I need to quickly clear one tower now.'
I'll only do dawn shift until today anyway.
With that in mind, Lee Ganghan.
Immediately entered a tower.
[Tower of Infinity Stage 21.]
[Entering Silver Tower No.24.]
The first tower entered after rising to Silver.
[Entering the 'Simple Fortress' with strong defensive stance.]
[Break through the enemies' defense and advance!]
This tower is about breaking through a fortress.
As Lee Ganghan was reading the message.
Ttiring.
[No.24 is a tower under 'Occupation Reservation'.]
[Difficulty increases, and other races may intrude.]
Here too, a message appeared saying it was under Occupation Reservation.
'They said it was about 1/3 probability, and I hit it exactly.'
Well, if I'm only conquering up to the 10th floor.
There shouldn't be any chance of meeting a Transcendent, so it should be fine.
As Lee Ganghan thought so and entered the 0th floor.
"Uaaah...! I got number 24!!!"
"This is the machine gun map!"
"Ah, I should have just used tower designated entry...."
The sight of three players crying out in despair was the first thing that caught his eye.
***
'Machine gun map?'
Machine guns.
Is this that map?
The Occupation Reservation tower of the Machine Race that shoots guns unfairly while this side uses cold weapons.
'Africa's... right, it was called Malawi.'
The modified tower that appeared in Malawi.
On the 1st floor changed to golden metal, long metal rods protruded.
Shooting guns in all directions.
Though it wasn't fully materialized yet, so even when shooting, it only appeared that way without actual power.
'If Occupation Reservation continues... the bullets fired from gun barrels will become real, not illusions.'
Among the modified towers that have appeared so far.
The Golden Gun Tower is evaluated as having the highest danger level.
Silver Tower No.24, the 'Simple Fortress' map wasn't originally like this.
But after Occupation Reservation, it suddenly started shooting guns.
Experts analyzed that there's definitely a connection between the Golden Gun Tower and 'Simple Fortress'.
'Since I can't go up to the 11th floor anyway because three entries aren't allowed, I should clear up to the 10th floor today and see how much the Golden Gun Tower's momentum weakens.'
As Lee Ganghan heard about machine guns and thought of the connection with the Golden Gun Tower.
"Oh!?"
"S, Strong Lee?!"
"It's Heavenly Demon!!!"
The three players who had been in despair.
Seeing Lee Ganghan like a rope dropped from heaven.
Their eyes sparkling, they approached.
Then.
"Ah. W, wait. How can I ask that to Heavenly Demon!"
"Quietly, quietly. That's Lee's problem."
"Ah. Why are there suddenly so many viewers.... They're telling me to ask Heavenly Demon to turn on TowerTube? Ah. That's...."
Whether people flocked to each of their TowerTube channels.
All three showed reluctant expressions while answering viewers.
'Ah. Because I didn't turn on TowerTube, they're making a fuss over there.'
There must be many questions about this Transcendent candidate withdrawal.
Lee Ganghan spoke to the three players assigned as team members.
"Could I do TowerTube for a moment? I think I need to make a position statement about the Transcendent candidate withdrawal."
"Oh my, of course!!! We can wait for hours!"
"I'm curious too! Why did you withdraw!"
After getting permission from team members.
Lee Ganghan turned on TowerTube.
Then.
-Finally opened
-Why why, why, why, why
-Did you withdraw from Transcendent ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-Stayed up all night after hearing the news...
-I sponsored 1010TP!!!!!
-Number 10 come back!!!
The chat window instantly became chaotic.
Everyone was asking Lee Ganghan in unison why he withdrew and asking for reasons.
If I don't answer this quickly, the spam will get worse.
"Ah. The reason for withdrawing from candidacy is simple."
Lee Ganghan opened his inventory.
And revealed Transcendent's Qualification #1.
[Transcendent's Qualification #1]
Grade: EX
A qualification obtainable when Divine Power reaches 5.
By achieving Divine Power 10 and obtaining Transcendent's Qualification #2, you can ascend to Transcendent.
When he pressed the camera button above the item description message.
The item description visible to all viewers.
-What's this ㄷㄷ
-There was another way to become Transcendent;
-If Divine Power 10 makes you Transcendent?
-Since he got the qualification when it was 5... wouldn't 10 be soon?
While people were surprised seeing the revealed item description.
Lee Ganghan continued speaking.
"There was this method to become Transcendent besides voting. So this time, rather than becoming Transcendent through voting, I decided to obtain Transcendent's Qualification up to 2."
Since there's a way to ascend to Transcendent.
I'll become Transcendent by gathering Divine Power instead of voting.
When Lee Ganghan revealed his intention like this.
-Still, voting would make you Transcendent faster ㅠ
-What if Divine Power doesn't reach 10;
-ㅇㅇ Wouldn't it be better to just quickly become Transcendent...
-The other candidates don't really suit being Transcendent
Most viewers showed disappointed reactions.
'Well, this reaction is unavoidable.'
Since viewers thought Lee Ganghan would naturally become Transcendent.
Just seeing the Transcendent's证 wouldn't quickly resolve their disappointment.
Still.
-If he becomes Transcendent that way, wouldn't having 2 human Transcendents be better?
-That's true but...
-It's not like Heavenly Demon goes to towers two or three times a day, it's once daily, so other players getting stronger is important too
-Does it make sense for Heavenly Demon alone to break all achievements ㅋㅋㅋ
-Even if you tell someone to keep carrying logs alone, they'll eventually collapse... need to get one more person
-That would be candidates 1, 7, 9 this time;
-They don't seem very reliable...
Regarding the need for more strong players besides Lee Ganghan.
Since there was some public consensus.
Quite a few voices supporting his choice also emerged.
"Then since I've stated my position, I'll proceed gradually."
"Ah. Heavenly Demon, then our formation is...."
"I'll try taking the lead first. Would that be okay?"
"Oh, oh my. Of course!"
The Simple Fortress map that fires machine guns from the 1st floor.
When Heavenly Demon said he'd take the lead, the three players' faces immediately brightened.
'Before going to the 1st floor, I should prepare defensive stance first.'
Lee Ganghan used Quiene.
Then.
Ssss...
His outfit instantly changed to a black suit.
"Oh. It's a suit."
"To see this in person...!"
While party members looked at this with sparkling eyes.
Swik.
Lee Ganghan looked at his wrist.
'Arena Promising Player Bracelet... its barrier is pretty useless these days.'
It was supposed to activate powerful protective magic when life was threatened.
Didn't it get torn like tissue paper by Yoo Doa's Demon-Conquering Heavenly Ascension Blade?
When Son Goku threw his punch, it got smashed immediately.
Without even noticing when it happened.
Now the bracelet has become just a sleeping pill one-tool.
'They said it upgrades if arena winning streak record is over 20 wins... would that be useful then.'
Lee Ganghan took his gaze off the bracelet.
And entered the 1st floor first.
A narrow dirt path stretching toward an uphill slope.
And at the middle of the uphill.
A wall made of stone and a small tower blocked the path.
'So this is why it's called Simple Fortress.'
The fortress wall that didn't look very high.
Even without Lee Ganghan, a Silver-level player could easily jump over it.
So when it was a normal map, 'Simple Fortress' was known as a low-difficulty map.
But.
When firearms were introduced here, the situation changed.
Thud, Thud.
As Lee Ganghan slowly walked toward the path.
Flash...!
Golden light flickered over the wall and tower.
Human-shaped mechanical weapons made of golden metal appeared.
'...What. Are they real robots?'
This universe has all kinds of races.
As Lee Ganghan looked at the brilliantly flashing robots.
Clang, Clang.
The robots' arms disassembled and assembled by themselves.
Changing into long guns.
Then.
Dudududududu!
Gunshot sounds echoing in unison from the fortress.
'They're really shooting guns?'
It's not like someone doesn't know how to shoot.
They can't use them because they can't bring them in, but those robots are enjoying gunpowder weapons by themselves.
As Lee Ganghan watched this in disbelief.
Ting! Ting!
Bullets that touched Quiene and the King of the Dead's robe bounced off.
'The bracelet barrier doesn't even activate.'
Since defense is easily possible with the King of the Dead's robe.
It doesn't consider this a life threat.
Lee Ganghan blocked the bullet barrage like that.
"Wow... it's endless."
When the shooting showed no signs of ending.
Swoosh.
He spread his palm.
Heavenly Demon Divine PalmHeaven-Breaking Meteor Palm
Flash...!
A red beam of light stretching in a straight line.
Even without using Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the beam of light much thicker than before.
Boom!
Devastated the fortress in one blow.
-They were shooting guns unfairly but got hit by laser ㅋㅋㅋ
-But those robots don't seem to break?
-Right, they disappear becoming light
-If those guys broke, just picking up the debris would make some money ㅋㅋ
Certainly, as viewers said.
The robots hit by the laser didn't explode or anything.
They all disappeared, becoming light without leaving any debris.
'If I summoned goblins to recover those, I would have gotten quite a lot of TP.'
That Machine Race.
What's their identity?
Lee Ganghan tilted his head and unconsciously fingered the King of the Dead's necktie.
Then from there.
[Krrrr...!]
Suddenly the sound of a dog barking was heard.