Forming the Ascent Team (2)
The conditions were the same.
Drop formal speech for swift, efficient orders.
Skip the camps and follow the training methods their leader dictated.
Hwang Dae-un, the same age as Kang Si-a anyway, agreed at once.
"That's only natural, hyeong-nim!"
If anything, the rule only made him feel the weight of Si-woon's leadership more clearly; he grew even more deferential.
And Jang Cha-yul?
She studied Hyun Si-woon for a quiet moment.
Unlike Hwang Dae-un, her answer was not instantaneous. But she soon gave a calm nod.
"All right. If that's the leader's decision, we follow it."
Just as Ha-wol had said, her will was straight as an arrow, yet she was not the type to raise pointless rebellion.
Once the interviews were finished, they ate the food they had bought from the camp and talked lightly among themselves. The shared connection through Kang Si-a dissolved the awkwardness quickly. Jang Cha-yul being twenty-seven—the same age as Baek Do-hee—helped the ice break as well.
After the meal they tested the party-assembly horn. Everyone scattered as far as they could in every direction. Ten minutes later, Hyun Si-woon raised the horn to his lips.
Bwoooo!
A clear, pure note rang out.
In that instant Si-woon felt a subtle sensation, as if he were linked to every member of the team.
Then—
Whoosh, whoosh!
As if they had simply teleported, the party members appeared right in front of him.
"Whoa."
"What the—? That was instant."
"For real… There wasn't even a warning. We just arrived."
Exactly.
The performance was rock-solid, but they would have to be careful when they used it. People had their privacy, after all.
"This is definitely going to be useful inside the Tower."
Hyun Si-woon was satisfied. That single ability would raise the party's survival rate and strategic flexibility by several levels at once.
"Anyway, we have to move on to the third floor soon, right?"
"The th-third floor?"
Jang Cha-yul's eyes went wide.
"Already, hyeong-nim?!"
Hwang Dae-un looked just as stunned.
They had every reason to be shocked. They had not even cleared the second floor yet, and the community consensus was clear.
"Everyone says you should wait as long as possible before going to the third floor…"
"That's right, hyeong-nim. It's a whole different level of difficulty from the first and second floors… Only about five hundred people have actually made it through."
Most players recommended farming gear thoroughly on the eighth-rank monsters and gathering every scrap of strategy information before carefully ascending.
And yet here Si-woon was, saying they should prepare for the third floor the moment they cleared the second?
Baek Yeon-ho, listening, let out a short laugh.
"You two. Stop worrying."
Baek Yeon-ho himself was already a veteran of the Tower of Despair; the third-floor strategy lived in his head. But Hyun Si-woon was something else entirely—stagnant water itself. The way he had carved through those two Bursting Demons still burned in Yeon-ho's memory.
"Whatever the community says is nonsense. Ignore it. You too, noona. Just trust our leader and follow. Right?"
Baek Yeon-ho raised a thumb and pointed it at Si-woon.
"Si-woon. Be honest."
"Huh?"
"How far did you get in the Tower of Despair when it was still a game?"
Si-woon simply smiled and let the question slide.
"What?! Why?! Why won't you say?"
"Just… I did okay. I'll tell you later."
There was no reason to reveal that he was EndSeeker right now. Once they passed the tenth floor, they would figure it out on their own. Across the entire world, he was the only gamer who had gone that far.
"Anyway, I'll teach the two of you the second-floor clear. Thoroughly and completely. Memorize everything starting today. Then within a week, the two of you go in and clear it yourselves."
Training resumed the next day.
Hwang Dae-un and Jang Cha-yul joined the morning session as well.
"Hyeong-nim?"
The moment he stepped onto the empty lot, Hwang Dae-un could only stare in admiration. It was still before dawn, yet Hyun Si-woon was already soaked in sweat, driving his footwork with ferocious intensity. The movement was both fast and strangely refined.
Si-a kept praising him… No wonder.
Even back in the athletes' village, Kang Si-a had been famous not only for her talent but for her monstrous work ethic. National-team athletes would click their tongues when they saw how much she trained on her own. And the person she had praised until her mouth ran dry was Hyun Si-woon.
Watching the scene before him, Hwang Dae-un began to understand why.
He's diligent.
When the leader set that kind of example, the rest of the team had no choice but to follow.
"If you're here, start warming up. We'll begin together once everyone's gathered."
"Yes, hyeong-nim!"
He had already decided to treat Si-woon with full respect, but seeing this with his own eyes only deepened the feeling. In the athletes' village, the strong who quietly forged themselves like this always succeeded in the end.
I got lucky.
He had joined almost by accident thanks to the Ascent Team formation event, but this was an enormous stroke of fortune. A leader who had already cleared the second floor and spoke of the third as if it were nothing. Not only strong, but someone who trained his teammates systematically and efficiently. Landing under a leader like that was basically winning the lottery.
About thirty minutes later people began filing down from the abandoned building one by one—Baek Do-hee, Baek Yeon-ho, Kang Si-a, and finally Jang Cha-yul.
"All right. Let's get ready."
With Hyun Si-woon's low voice, the real morning training began.
Ha-wol directed the session. Of course the members knew nothing of her existence; they believed Si-woon was running everything.
"Stair climbs first."
Si-woon pointed at the entrance of the abandoned building. Dusty, half-collapsed stairs ran from the first floor all the way to the fifth.
Stair climbs? That's nothing.
Pretty basic.
Hwang Dae-un and Jang Cha-yul, who had been tense, thought as much. It was the kind of stamina work they had done to death as athletes.
"Thirty round trips without stopping. Maintain speed."
Thirty…?
Well, it was a lot, but still within the realm of normal training. They obeyed without complaint.
"Hah… hah…!"
"Huuuh… huuuh…!"
As time passed, everyone's breathing grew ragged. Si-woon was no exception.
"Hah… hah…!"
Even so, he kept going steadily.
The reason he could?
You brat! Why aren't you moving faster? Don't let a little heavy breathing from that flesh of yours rule you! Do you think you can learn this lady's martial arts with willpower that weak?
…Ha-wol's constant nagging.
The moment his pace threatened to slow, her scolding exploded in his mind.
The pain of the flesh is fleeting! It is nothing more than proof that your spirit is feeble! Firm your will and steady your breath! The power sleeping inside you will never be broken by mere stairs! With every step you take, think of yourself as shattering your limits!
Strangely enough, hearing her voice sharpened his mind and poured strength into his limbs. She seemed to be using some kind of technique; Si-woon received a great deal of help from it.
When the thirtieth round trip finally ended, everyone's legs were shaking so badly they staggered. Si-woon gave them no rest.
"Hoo… ha! Next is holding the horse stance. Focus your breath below the navel."
He demonstrated. Back straight, knees bent as if astride a horse. It looked simple, yet holding the exact posture demanded extreme lower-body strength and balance.
What?!
Are you kidding me?
Hwang Dae-un and Jang Cha-yul were aghast. No real rest, and now this insane horse stance?
"Breathe in deeply through the nose, sink it all the way to the lower abdomen, then expel it short and sharp through the mouth. Don't let the posture collapse—focus!"
Si-woon's instructions felt less like ordinary strength training and more like true martial cultivation.
Baek Do-hee kept collapsing and forcing herself back up. Baek Yeon-ho and Kang Si-a held on well—though even they had struggled at first; only the endless repetition had toughened them.
"Khh…"
Hwang Dae-un's legs began to tremble like aspen leaves. His lower body had been forged by judo, yet enduring this stance was an entirely different matter. The full weight of his body concentrated on his thighs, and on top of that he had to manage the unfamiliar dantian breathing. It was pure hell.
These people do this kind of training every single day…?
One minute was easy enough to endure. Three minutes, then five, became something else entirely.
Even national-team training isn't this brutal!
It was the kind of reckless regimen that could easily cause injury if something went wrong.
"Do-hee noona!"
Si-woon called out.
"Yeah!"
"That's enough for you. Walk around and keep healing us."
"…!"
Hwang Dae-un recoiled in shock.
Healing?
So they were going to keep training while torn muscle was being stitched back together on the fly?
Jang Cha-yul's mouth fell open as well. She leaned in and whispered to the approaching Baek Do-hee.
"Do you all… do this every day?"
"Mm."
Baek Do-hee gave a small nod.
Is this something humans are supposed to do?
This isn't training—it's torture.
These people are on a completely different level.
The two of them understood it deep in their bones.
At the same time, a fierce competitive fire flared up inside them—the stubborn will of elite athletes who wanted to endure this insane training and become stronger. Their mindset was cut from a different cloth than ordinary people.
Once morning training ended, it was time for Hyun Si-woon's second-floor strategy lecture.
He had turned an old desk on the second floor of the abandoned building into a makeshift tactical board.
"The second floor is fog, swamp, traps, and monsters. Those four are the core. Some traps kill you instantly if you step wrong, and the limited visibility makes it easy to lose your sense of direction, so stay sharp."
He explained every type of trap, the locations of the six outposts, and how to find them, one by one in meticulous detail. He even taught them the hidden route for catching the Phantom Arms Dealer—and the easy method for doing so.
"The dealer randomly drops rare items, so it would be good if you grab one."
"Wow…"
"Hooo…"
The two newcomers were stunned. They had been studying second-floor strategies through the community themselves, yet they had never possessed information this detailed.
Just who is this guy?
He's insane. Actually insane.
Even Jang Cha-yul, who had been a little skeptical of the younger Hyun Si-woon, now stood with her mouth hanging open. The man simply defied common sense.
Training continued like that.
They still did not teach the two full martial arts. That would come only after the entire Ascent Team had cleared the third floor.
One week later the members headed to the Tower together to see Hwang Dae-un and Jang Cha-yul off for their second-floor run.
"You have to come back alive."
"Of course we will. It's only the second floor."
"Knowing that much should be enough."
"…"
They swallowed hard.
The two of them would enter together. Because the Ascent Team leader was not going with them, they might run into other parties inside. That was the part that worried Si-woon.
I wish there was a save function…
Leaving aside how hard he had trained them, the thought of the people who had now become his comrades dying in there was enough to make him irritable.
No. I don't need to think that way.
Just as they trusted him, he decided to trust them.
"Do well in there, Dae-un and Cha-yul noona."
They had stuffed the theory into their heads and carved the practice into their bodies. With their talent they would clear it without much trouble. Of course, the Tower was a place where unpredictable variables always lurked.
Please.
Hyun Si-woon hoped.
Come back after breaking through that wall with your own strength.
Soon the two walked toward the entrance with resolute faces. The rest of the party moved to the opposite exit side to wait.
If they simply followed instructions, it should take no more than five hours even if things dragged.
But—
"Hmm?"
"…Hmm."
The expected five hours came and went. The sun had long since passed its peak and begun to sink westward. Still no one appeared at the exit.
"Why aren't they out yet?"
Baek Yeon-ho muttered anxiously, chewing on a fingernail. Kang Si-a's smile gradually faded as well.
Time continued to flow mercilessly. Dusk settled, the surroundings grew dark, and the air turned chilly. More than ten hours had passed since they entered the Tower.
"Don't tell me…"
"They didn't die, right…?"
A trembling voice slipped from Baek Do-hee's lips.