The First Doom Tower Survival Post
Ha-seong Yang immediately grabbed the fin of Aorum Bi-dan. Squeeeze—squeeeze— The creature let out a pitiful, eerie wail, but he ignored it. If it had been captured, it was his pet now.
"Aorum Bi-dan? That translucent, mysterious creature you only see in Survival difficulty? I don't know shit about that. From now on, your name is Biseok."
Squeeeze! It sounded like a pigeon cooing, or air being squeezed from a bellows.
Alright, time for me to take it for a spin, Biseok.
"Hey, hey, hold on... Lower your body a bit. You know you can't just shoot up high all at once, right? Head toward that lake—"
He climbed onto the back of the creature, which floated lightly like a helium balloon. His legs dangled in the air, and the floating sensation made his knees go weak.
"Whoa, whoa. The lake. Head to the lake, Biseok. But not too deep."
As he spoke to it, he glanced at his Status Window.
The name's right there next to Sacred Object... so it's bound to me, right?
It'd be a pain if it ran off and he had to call the cops or something.
...Anyway, since the Imprint and I are all in this together, running wouldn't do it any good, would it?
With those thoughts, he rode around on the creature for about ten minutes. It was fun, like being on an amusement ride... but he had plans for the day, so time to wrap it up.
"Fun, right, Biseok? You're one lucky bastard. Your owner's got cheat keys. Without me, you'd still be at the bottom of that lake, munching on plankton."
At his words, the creature's chest puffed up and then contracted, letting out squeeeze—squeeeze— sounds. You're happy too, huh, buddy.
Ha-seong mounted Biseok again and tilted his head back to gaze at the sky—or rather, beyond the cave, past the branches of the giant tree. He'd head there later. Honestly, climbing higher than an apartment building right from the start was a bit much for his nerves. Sure, he could just yell to exit the tower if he fell... but that wasn't urgent right now. He knew what lay beyond. At the very least, he wanted some safety gear on his body first.
Grinning and leaping around only to snap his neck? No way—not for the most important guy on Earth right now. Absolutely not because he was scared of heights.
Logging out of the Tower.
"Alright."
With that, his vision flipped. The moldy, dusty stench of his studio apartment hit him, the musty air rotting his lungs. He never noticed it before, but after the forest of Floor 1, he could feel his body decaying alive.
He flopped onto the bed and accessed the Hub System.
Any info on Doom Tower Floor 1? Survival difficulty, of course.
A question he'd seen dozens—maybe hundreds—of times in the community. Now it was time for him to post.
Before he cleared it, more climbers had picked Doom Tower Survival, thinking they had to step up as the world ended. Very few actually entered... but they deserved some reward for that courage.
"Nickname..."
He sucked at this. Even as a kid gaming, he'd agonize over names the night before. No cringy black history stuff.
...Just use my real name?
Most other Survival climbers used real names. They were brands, getting global cheers and support. Cleaner and easier to distinguish. But he had no plans to reveal his identity.
"Straightforward."
The community system resembled modern galleries. Popular posts with tons of recommendations gathered in a unified feed, sorted by Origin, Cycle, and Doom Towers, then by difficulty. You could only post in your own tower and difficulty—comments were fine anywhere.
Scanning around, Survival difficulty posts had insane views and recs—hundreds of thousands baseline. Only six in the world, humanity's frontline against the curse. Origin had two, Cycle three... their categories had posts, but Doom Tower Survival? Not a single one. He was the only survivor so far.
A monumental first post. With slight tension, he wrote it.
— DoomSurvivor
As the title says, info on Doom Tower Survival Floor 1.
Unlike other difficulties, goblins appear. Specifically: two regular goblins, one with a shield, one regular infantry, and one spearman and one archer each.
After wiping them out and following the path, there are two booby traps.
Next, two hobgoblins from Hard difficulty guard the cave entrance.
After killing the hobgoblins, proceed deeper into the dark cave. No threats inside the cave.
Finally, at the cave's end, there's a wide clearing with light streaming from the ceiling. Kill the bull-sized giant centipede Arthropleura there to clear.
The Super Disaster Response Agency of Korea—formed after countless deaths post-tower emergence—had vast authority, budget, and support from Foreign Affairs, Defense, etc. It drew the most public interest.
Its elite staff shared intel with foreign agencies, supported climber crime investigations, handled registrations and licenses, tracked dangerous individuals, classified abilities, bought and redistributed Skill Books and Enhancement Stones, partnered on Magic Stones... even censored tower leaks. They managed everything tower-related.
Amid the frenzy of surveying 300,000 new climbers (including Koreans), support policies, first Doom Floor 1 clear, and new Joint Trial system, no one dreamed of leaving. Then a voice echoed:
"It's up, Director!"
"Y-yeah! I'm seeing it, you punk!"
Seong-cheol Kang, ex-special forces turned NIS agent, became agency head in eight years. Expert in counterintelligence, intel, special ops—and a former Hard difficulty high-floor climber. Prideful and honor-bound from military/NIS days. His frantic dash stunned the staff.
"Finally posted. Why's his ass so heavy?"
Governments not sharing intel? They could—didn't matter. Real gold was in the tower community posts. That's why they monitored 24/7, even hiring ex-climbers.
Kang grinned at the long-awaited post.
— DoomSurvivor
Jeongmal Doom Tower Survival Floor 1 info, as titled.
Goblins like other diffs. Two goblins, shield one, infantry one, spear and archer one each.
Wipe 'em, path has 2 traps.
Hobgoblins (Hard) guard cave mouth.
Kill, go deep dark cave. No threats.
End: lit clearing. Kill giant Arthropleura (bull-sized centipede) to clear.
"Arthro... what?"
"Arthropleura. Giant arthropod from Carboniferous to early Permian. If based on real, ~2.5m long, 50kg. But 'centipede' is iffy—similar ecology, different look."
"Uh-huh. But... you think a human can kill that?"
"...Hard to believe. No reason to lie, though. Explains why thousands died in Doom."
Not just the giant bug. Vile, savage, cunning goblins using human weapons. Shield ok, but archers? Difficulty skyrockets. Plus two hobgoblins, superior to adult males.
Crazy to fight the arthropod, but sheer numbers might luck one win. But after goblin horde? Impossible.
"Tower crazy or this guy's crazy..."
War vet, he knew human limits. No heroes like John Wick. Humans are frail.
"Know what to do? No compares, so assume true."
"Yes, sir!"
New training for Doom Survival climbers... how to even? Paleontology for weaknesses? Headache. Smart folks would handle.
Even translated, language quirks. Analyze structure, words...
"Better than nothing."
Normals can't clear. Hard/Normal farm stones, books, gear, dump on Survivals. Not solo clears. Doom hardest tower consensus.
"Hey, buddy."
"Yes? Sir!"
To a passing staffer: "Monitor sales trends? Skill Books flag quick—check that. Talk to US too."
"Got it!"
New hero. World would lionize. Burden for one person. Quit mid-climb? No—other five Survivals were forced heroes via global tacit agreement. Praised engineered.
Scared to quit? Sure. But public? Madmen or cursed won't hand flowers.
"Fuck..."
Bitter ordering it. Shameful scheming against humanity's heroes.