Whispers of the Spiral (1)
The moment they returned to Eden Camp, the atmosphere erupted into pure celebration.
Kuuuuung!
The instant Pungjo settled its massive body onto the open ground, a roar of cheers burst out as if the people had been waiting for exactly this.
"Oooooooh!"
"They're here! Our heroes have returned!"
"You lot! You're back!"
It was the residents of the camp.
Children and adults alike came pouring out, welcoming the return of the six with unbridled enthusiasm.
The residents were not Climbers.
That was why they had no idea what had unfolded on the community boards.
Thanks to Ma Gang-il, they at least knew there were Towers in cities like Seoul and that Climbers could wield power beyond ordinary humans—but they knew nothing of Atla's appearance.
So why the celebration?
All thanks to Park Du-shik.
"Uncle Du-shik said the whole country nearly went under, and our heroes stopped it!"
"And it wasn't just stopping it either. He said they crushed it so overwhelmingly that other Climbers couldn't even compare!"
"That pitch-black sky clearing up again yesterday? That was all you guys!"
Park Du-shik's gift for gab was truly something else.
He had taken the community's feverish reactions and analysis posts and rewritten them into language the residents could easily grasp.
He left out the complicated system jargon, but the core message was crystal clear.
Our heroes are the strongest in the entire country, and because of them, we survived once again.
That single fact alone filled the residents' chests with swelling emotion and fierce relief.
In a ruined world—a hell swarming with monsters where even tomorrow's survival was uncertain—they had just confirmed once more how powerful this sturdy fence protecting them truly was.
"You worked hard, really hard!"
"We heard the news and already heated up some water, so go rest up right away!"
Hyun Si-woon accepted their praise with a light smile.
"Puhihit!"
A woman was half sprawled across the sofa, giggling to herself.
Wearing a thoroughly delighted expression, she was none other than Jang Cha-yul—also known as the community's resident ghost.
"We all got nicknames."
"Nicknames?"
Baek Yeon-ho, who happened to be walking past after a shower, asked.
"Yeah. Si-woon's the Pioneer, Do-hee's the Saintess, Si-a's the Divine Archer, and I'm the Dragon Knight!"
"Ohh, not bad. What about me?"
"Heh heh, you?"
"Yeah."
"You're Knifehand-jwa."
"Huh?"
Baek Yeon-ho's face twisted in disbelief.
"No, everyone else got cool names—why am I the only one…"
"Because all you showed them was you ditching your shield and carving open the shell with knife-hand strikes."
"Come on, even so…"
"Still better than Dae-un, though."
"Eh?"
Hwang Dae-un, who just so happened to be walking by, went wide-eyed.
"Noona, what do you mean by that? What's my nickname?"
"You're Bear-tank-jwa."
"…What did you just say?"
Hwang Dae-un's face crumpled.
"No way—there are so many good nicknames out there, and I get Bear-tank-jwa?!"
"Can't be helped. At first you almost got cool titles like Bulldozer or Tyrant."
Even as she spoke, Jang Cha-yul's cheeks kept twitching with laughter.
"But the footage of you roaring while you were prying open the shell hit way too hard. Take a look. Pure bear energy—nothing else."
"That was just a battle shout…"
"Battle shout or roar, doesn't matter. You're already Bear-tank-jwa. Accept it."
"Hwaaaa…"
Hwang Dae-un crumpled into the corner of the sofa with a look like the world had ended.
Watching him, Baek Yeon-ho felt a strange kinship and patted him on the shoulder.
"It's okay, Dae-un. Bears still look strong. What even is a knife-hand, seriously."
Beyond that, Jang Cha-yul shared the analysis posts that had managed to figure out their entire party.
"Wow, this person is a real detective."
"They got almost everything right. Even the party assembly trumpet."
"But is this actually fine? Our names, faces, even the techniques we use—everything's out in the open now…"
"Should we ask Hyeong-nim?"
Hwang Dae-un just shrugged.
Somewhere along the way he had stopped thinking for himself entirely.
"Doesn't matter."
Hyun Si-woon spoke calmly before the party members who had gathered before him.
"Back when we were weak, sure—we had to be careful."
He swept his gaze over the members.
They had only just cleared the 7th floor, yet their strength already far surpassed most high-floor Climbers. Absolute monsters.
"Even if they know us, what can they actually do?"
His words were not arrogance.
They were a cold, clear-eyed assessment of reality.
At the Climber level, within the Korean server, no group existed that could dare to mess with this party.
Even Yoo Jin-hyeok's party couldn't touch them.
So?
Having their names and faces known changed nothing.
If anything, the pests who might pick pointless fights would back off on their own, making life more convenient.
It was only a matter of time anyway.
As long as they kept climbing the Tower, exposure was inevitable.
Being known favorably like this was actually a good thing.
Anything beat negative publicity.
And from now on, I'm changing my stance too.
Until now, Hyun Si-woon had only ever looked after himself and his comrades—nothing more.
In a ruined world, the luxury of caring about others had seemed pure extravagance.
Eden Camp, the wandering merchants—
In the end they had all been nothing more than tools for his own survival and convenience.
But now he had room to breathe.
Power, capital, and information.
He finally had the mental space to offer goodwill to someone else.
Decisively, the Atla event had changed his mind.
I can't do it alone.
What if there had been not a single Climber on Jeju Island, in Busan, in Ulsan who could help him?
Even with the spirits' power, clearing the raid in two hours would have been impossible.
And if server-wide events like this kept coming?
The entire server has to grow.
From now on he planned to start leaking the information he knew, bit by bit, through Owl.
Not the hidden-grade secrets, but he would carefully sort and organize the things that were simply good to know ahead of time.
Just as Hyun Si-woon was thinking of Owl—
Ding!
You have received mail.
Wow.
Speak of the devil and he arrives.
The sender was Yoon Tae-shik.
Leader of the Owl Guild.
Hm?
Yoo Jin-hyeok?
Hyun Si-woon fell into thought for a moment.
An unexpected proposal.
Right after they had demonstrated such an overwhelming gap through the Atla raid, he had expected pride would keep them from making contact for a while…
And the highest information fee?
They're lowering their stance?
A smarter move than he had anticipated.
Instead of letting jealousy or competitive spirit blind them into maintaining a pointless hostile relationship, they were quickly accepting reality and moving to secure greater gains.
Hyun Si-woon always rated that kind of pragmatic judgment highly.
Should I meet them?
But first.
There was one thing he needed to pin down.
Hyun Si-woon rubbed his chin for a moment, then sent a reply to Yoon Tae-shik.
Extremely short and concise.
"Puhat!"
Yoon Tae-shik couldn't help bursting into laughter the moment he received Hyun Si-woon's reply.
Exactly like him.
A question that cut straight to the heart of the matter with zero unnecessary fluff!
The highest information fee, huh…
He relayed Hyun Si-woon's reaction to Yoo Jin-hyeok exactly as it was.
He seemed willing to meet, but first they needed to prove the value of that "highest information fee"—an unspoken pressure.
A short while later, a reply arrived from Yoo Jin-hyeok.
The instant Yoon Tae-shik opened the mail, he shot up from his seat without realizing it.
"What is this. Is this real?"
His eyes went wide with shock.
The shadow standing nearby approached in surprise.
"Hyung-nim, what's wrong?"
"…Look at this."
With a trembling hand, Yoon Tae-shik shared the mail contents.
"Eh?"
The shadow's mouth fell open.
"How would they know that? They've only cleared the 7th floor themselves?"
"How should I know."
"If it's real information, that's huge. Worth buying at the absolute highest price…"
"But…"
Yoon Tae-shik lowered his voice.
"There's also the chance it's a bluff. A probe, or bait just to force a meeting somehow."
"The credibility is pretty thin. So, just ignore it?"
"No."
Yoon Tae-shik shook his head.
"If there's even a 1% chance it's true, we have to verify it. This is information we cannot afford to miss."
His fingers rapidly tapped the air.
He rubbed his hands together, waiting for the reply.
It came quickly.
"Hmm."
Yoon Tae-shik let out a low groan.
"They're coming on strong…"
His instincts as a profiler spoke.
This was no bait.
This was genuine.
For some reason, Yoo Jin-hyeok is desperate.
At the same time, he also held absolute conviction in the value of the information he was offering.
Otherwise he would never make a gamble like this.
"We'll have to ask first."
A dark night.
Hyun Si-woon stepped outside for a moment and read the mail.
Changes after the 10th floor, huh…
So some other event was going to happen?
— Hmph. How absurd. Are you actually falling for such nonsense?
While he was thinking to himself, Ha-wol needled him.
"What do you mean?"
— If they mean what sort of incident will occur after the 10th floor, then of course this lady knows as well. I experienced it myself.
"But?"
— But one cannot reveal that to a Climber. It is a rule of the Tower. The moment you break it, you are sealed into eternal darkness, never again to see the light.
Ha-wol's gaze pierced through Hyun Si-woon.
— And yet a Climber who has barely cleared the 7th floor knows of such a monumental rule? It is 100% a lie. Nothing more than a ploy to force a meeting with you somehow.
"…Is that so."
But then why?
What reason would Yoo Jin-hyeok have to go so far as to lie just to meet them?
If it was to try something malicious… he was thinking wrong.
Their current combat power was beyond imagination.
"Even so, I'll meet him."
— You stubborn brat.
"Worst case, I just pretend to fall for a lie. Learning why he went so far as to lie just to meet me is already not a loss. And the best case?"
The corner of Hyun Si-woon's mouth curled up.
"I get real information I didn't know."
— …Well. That much is true, I suppose.
Hyun Si-woon no longer hesitated.
He immediately sent a reply to Yoon Tae-shik.