The Weight of Internal Energy
The system message flashed before my eyes.
You have exhausted all daily attempts.
Connection will now terminate.
You may attempt again starting at 00:00 based on Korean server time.
Thud!
It felt like someone had grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and yanked me backward. My vision went completely black.
When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer inside the tower. I was standing in the middle of my tiny studio apartment.
“Yeah. There’s a limit on how many times you can enter the tower each day.”
“Doesn’t mean I can just sit around and rest.”
I popped a Moonview Stone into my mouth and sat down in the lotus position.
Gulp.
The stone slid down my throat. A refreshing, pure energy began to wriggle inside me. I immediately began circulating the Three Talents Qi Gong, guiding the stone’s energy through my entire body.
“So this puts me at the level of a third-rate martial artist now, huh.”
Internal energy really was difficult to raise. Consuming the same spiritual medicine repeatedly caused its effect to diminish. The fact that the cultivation method I practiced was the basic Three Talents Qi Gong didn’t help either. It was, at best, third-rate martial arts. The amount of internal energy accumulated with each full circulation was pitifully small.
“Still, the internal energy gathered through Three Talents Qi Gong doesn’t conflict with any other cultivation methods. That’s the important part.”
Internal energy accumulated through Three Talents Qi Gong carried no particular attribute. Whether the practitioner later learned orthodox, demonic, or heretical techniques, it could be absorbed without any loss. That was its true value.
“What is it?”
“Ah, that’s true. If you practice a superior method, your existing internal energy gets amplified along with it.”
Operating a cultivation method of a higher grade than Three Talents Qi Gong would amplify the internal energy already stored within me during the circulation process. There was still some loss compared to directly absorbing the Moonview Stone’s energy, but—
“Since I can only absorb one every fifteen days, it’s better to take a small loss in exchange for speeding up the process.”
Of course I do. What kind of second-round player would I be if I didn’t?
After finishing my circulation, I checked my phone. There were hundreds of missed calls and over a thousand unread messages.
“They’re all useless contacts.”
The messages were filled with people I barely remembered. Old university classmates, juniors from lectures I’d taken—people who had no real connection to me in my previous life. Back then, before the true value of my Devour ability became known, I had been scraping the bottom even among players. My phone had never blown up like this.
I scrolled through them quickly. The shift in my position had created a completely different future.
Then one message caught my eye.
“This is from Daekyeong Corporation. We would like to offer Yu Jinho the role of promotional model for our newly released player equipment.”
“From the Immortal Guild, we would like to discuss a sponsorship deal with Player Yu Jinho…”
“Whoa. Companies are already reaching out.”
I opened a browser and played a few commercials featuring famous hunters wearing high-end gear. Nyx watched them carefully, then tilted her head.
“What is?”
“Goddess.”
“Three days without cotton candy.”
“Think about it. You’ll figure it out.”
I whistled lightly. The corporate offers had come faster than expected. Still, I had no intention of contacting any of them right now. I needed to raise my value even higher.
The more tower records I broke, the higher the sums they would have to offer. There was no point in rushing. In the end, in a capitalist society, money was power. But if I played my cards right and bought enough time, I could name my own price.
That aside—
“Tower synchronization is already at nineteen percent.”
It was progressing faster than I remembered.
I gave her a brief explanation of Gate Break.
“They used you too, didn’t they?”
If I had been in her position, I wouldn’t have been able to think so lightly of it. Were all gods who had reached the realm of concepts like this?
“...I see.”
No, that wasn’t it. Nyx’s mercy came from her care for mortals. Among the current generation of gods, such compassion was extremely rare.
“I really chose the right partner.”
“Not judging. Respecting.”
For a brief moment, Nyx’s pale face flushed bright red.
Lady Goddess, you’re so obviously flustered right now.
I turned my gaze away from Nyx and looked at my status window.
Gate Break. In my previous life, the first stage of erosion had begun around March 2026. At this rate, it would happen by the end of this year or early next year.
It was nearly half a year faster than I remembered.
The only difference from my previous timeline… was me.
After thinking it over, the reason became clear. The faster synchronization rate meant players were tackling the tower with far greater enthusiasm. Replacing tutorial records, breaking the highest scores on the first and second floors—those were the only things that could motivate players worldwide.
A butterfly effect.
Just as I had awakened Lee Jiyoung’s potential early and turned Oh Jiwon—who should have had his player rights revoked—into a rising star, the accelerated tower synchronization was another inflection point caused by my regression.
The future had changed. And not all changes were necessarily positive.
But I wouldn’t back down.
I stared at the status window with hardened eyes. Even if it brought the coming tragedy forward, even if I couldn’t predict what new disasters might arise, I couldn’t afford to hesitate out of fear.
To defeat the Old Gods of the tower, I needed to become stronger as quickly as possible.
I began preparing to head out.
“Training.”
Even if I couldn’t enter the tower, there were still plenty of things I could do outside.
The next day.
As soon as the sun rose, I ate a hearty breakfast and logged into the Babel Tower app.
“There’s a saying that the early bird gets the worm.”
I had no idea what part of that was supposed to be impressive, but Nyx sounded genuinely amazed. Without wasting any time, I selected the third floor.
Whoosh!
When I opened my eyes, the scenery had changed.
Straight Path to the End
The Passage of Death is riddled with countless traps. A path where retreat is impossible—you may only move forward. Reach the end of this road.
▶ Objective: Reach the end of the passage
⏳ Time Limit: 24:00:00
A space enclosed by walls on all four sides. Layers of gray stone were stacked so tightly that not a single gap could be seen. Torches hung on the walls, their crimson flames driving back the darkness of the passage.
“It’s a solo mission.”
The passage stretched straight ahead. Without hesitation, I began walking down the gray path.
Click-clack—!
After only three steps, the sound of gears meshing echoed in my ears. The flat walls on both sides split open, and arrows shot out from within.
Sixth Sense detects danger.
I instantly covered my entire body with Thorn Armor.
Crunch!
The arrowheads collided with my armor, reducing its durability by seven percent. Thanks to the synergy between Thorn Armor and Iron Scales, its defensive power surpassed even magic-grade armor, completely neutralizing the impact.
“This much is nothing.”
Nyx really didn’t like dark places or schemes, despite being the Goddess of Night.
“Traps aren’t that dangerous once you know about them.”
“Not exactly.”
The traps on the third floor were placed randomly. While the types of traps were fixed, their exact locations and timing changed every time someone attempted the mission.
“I’ll have to figure out the positions by taking a few hits.”
Was there even a need to push myself here? I had the Sixth Sense skill, which warned me of any danger in advance. With the added synergy from ultrasonic detection, I could probably handle these traps with my eyes closed.
Clack.
I hadn’t even taken many steps before something activated far ahead. A chunk of ice flew straight toward me, surrounded by white frost.
I crossed both arms in an X and met the incoming projectile head-on.
Thorn Armor durability reduced by 15%.
More than double the durability loss compared to the arrows. The impact was clearly stronger. After that, traps continued to trigger with every few steps—sudden pitfall traps, flames raining from above, hidden projectiles launched from unexpected angles.
I continued walking forward in silence.
“I’ve got something I want to test.”
The third-floor mission. In my previous life, it was a passage I had to risk my life to clear. Maybe that was why I wanted to experience each trap with my own body and carefully compare just how much stronger I had become since my regression.
Interesting.
A smile naturally formed on my lips. It wasn’t simply because the defensive power of Thorn Armor was high. Even if the armor absorbed the impact, it couldn’t completely disperse the force behind it. If your body couldn’t withstand the power of the attack, you would still be knocked back.
Yet no matter how many traps struck me, my stance never faltered. That was proof that my strength, agility, and endurance stats had risen significantly.
As expected. All that steady use of Devour had paid off.
My specs were already far too high to be considered those of a player who had only been at this for two days. It was all thanks to Devour.
“Yeah. This should be easy enough.”
I looked down the passage with calm, sunken eyes. The path ahead was shrouded in darkness. From the starting point, I would need to walk ten kilometers to reach the end. The average clear time was about half a day—which was exactly why players hated this mission.
Clack.
Another trap activated. This time, a mass of flames flew straight at me. Instead of taking it with my body, I stretched out my right hand.
Mana Absorb has been used.
Pure spheres of magical power could be absorbed without limit. The Maw of Gluttony responded to the user’s magic power stat, and mine already far surpassed that of an average low-floor player.
Shhhhhk!
The chunk of ice was swallowed by the dark red energy.
“Gotta pick up the pace a bit.”
Lady Goddess, maybe hide the moisture in the corner of your eyes before you say that. She had clearly already yawned and was pretending she hadn’t.
“From now on, you won’t have time to be bored.”
I tensed the muscles in my legs.