Is There a Good Chinese Restaurant Nearby?
After the government climbers cleared out all the other climbers on the first floor, two security agents stepped into the lobby.
The first one to catch the eye was the man standing on the right—Lee Won-chung, a government security agent.
With broad shoulders squaring out his crisp black suit, a military-style buzz cut, and dark sunglasses, his very presence exuded an imposing pressure.
His silent, fluid movements were those of a highly trained soldier, and he walked with a blank expression, his fists lightly clenched.
Beside him, however, was someone who presented a stark, almost comical contrast.
Despite wearing the exact same black suit, his shoulders were completely slumped. Beneath his messy, shoulder-length hair, his forehead was slick with sweat, and his eyes darted around anxiously.
This was Kim Ha-chung, another government security agent.
Scurrying along beside his partner, he looked less like a government official and more like a farm animal being dragged to the slaughterhouse.
One was a lion radiating silent pressure; the other was a deer cowering in the lion's shadow.
Yet, standing side by side, they formed an oddly balanced pair.
Behind them, numerous other government-affiliated climbers stood in a tense, protective ring around the inner lobby of the first floor, ready to react to any sudden emergencies during the negotiations.
But the entities they were about to negotiate with... were mysterious beings that utterly defied human common sense.
"Bomburadillo Kronkodal."
"Lerolerolero Sharalnak."
"Kalily-the-World."
"Dearamentz Kshatrib."
"Blue-ringed Sea Umbrella Snake Hood Comb Jelly Rabbit."
"...T-Rabbit?"
Two entities, exchanging words in a bizarre, incomprehensible tongue, carrying on a mysterious conversation...!
One was an angelic girl presumed to be the [Tower Administrator], and the other was a rabbit beastkin clad in a bunny girl outfit.
"...Did you hear that? Are they casting some kind of secret spell on us right now...?" Kim Ha-chung asked, his voice trembling with terror.
Lee Won-chung raised an eyebrow. "...Isn't that just a word chain game?"
"What?"
"It looks like they're playing a word chain game using the names of monsters that live in the tower."
Just as he deduced, they were indeed playing a word chain game using the names of monsters native to Eriel!
Having correctly guessed their game, Lee Won-chung took a moment to gauge the atmosphere before stepping forward. "Are you the [Tower Administrator]?"
At the agent's voice, both girls turned their heads simultaneously.
A brief silence fell over the lobby. Eriel Tricia, the [Tower Administrator], was the first to speak. "Yes, I am—"
"Actually, I'm the administrator," Lekki cut in.
"...?"
Lekki had suddenly hijacked the conversation, claiming the title of [Tower Administrator] for herself!
While Lee Won-chung stood there bewildered, Tricia turned to Lekki. "Are you seriously going to keep lying?"
"I manage everything from here to the tenth floor, so it's not technically a lie, is it?"
"...I guess?"
"......"
Having lost his momentum due to Lekki's mischievous joke, Lee Won-chung struggled to find his footing.
For a brief moment, a spark of anger flared within him, but it subsided with strange ease.
Lekki's Authority of 『Anger』 had activated, but its power held no sway in Tricia's vicinity.
Meanwhile, Kim Ha-chung, standing right behind him, was desperately racking his brain to figure out how they could successfully convey the government's intentions to these beings.
His desperate, pitiful state was enough to make anyone feel sorry for him. Tricia looked at them and spoke.
"Pardon the interruption. Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Eriel Tricia. As you can see, I am the administrator of this tower. Now, what brings you here?"
"...We are from the government—the organization that governs the nation outside this tower. We have been dispatched to—"
"We know what a government is. Please, just get straight to the point."
"...Understood."
Now that a proper dialogue had finally been established, the two agents took a breath and began to explain the government's stance.
"The government is seriously considering cooperating with this tower."
"Indeed! We have been instructed to convey that the government is fully prepared to sign an official contract regarding the distribution rights of the Holy Water produced by the tower! We are highly receptive to accommodating your terms as much as possible! To that end, we would like to coordinate a date for an official summit—"
"Our government has always worked tirelessly in various fields for the sake of its citizens—"
The tedious, bureaucratic spiel went on for several minutes.
As they listened, Lekki suddenly leaned in close to Tricia's ear.
She whispered something in a voice completely inaudible to the agents...
Soon, both of them looked up at the same time.
Their eyes curved upward, and their lips curled into deeply unsettling, wicked grins.
"...From what I understand, there's a dish called jajangmyeon on Earth," Tricia said, her smile dripping with suspicion as she dropped her formal tone.
"And I hear they sell it at places called Chinese restaurants, right?"
"...Excuse me?"
The two agents blinked, utterly thrown off by the sudden, bizarre pivot.
Lekki immediately chimed in. "Right? In that case, you guys can just go to a Chinese restaurant and buy us some jajangmyeon! Go on, hurry up and get it!"
"...What? But first, we must discuss the negotiations regarding the summit... mgh?!"
When Lee Won-chung tried to steer the conversation back to the negotiations, Kim Ha-chung gasped in horror and slapped a hand over his partner's mouth.
But the words had already left his mouth, and like spilled water, they couldn't be taken back.
Tricia's smile vanished instantly. Resting her chin on her hand, she looked at them with a cold, bored expression.
"...Ah, listening to this is getting tedious. Maybe we should postpone the summit date by, say, a hundred years?"
"..."
"A hundred years should be enough time for your entire government roster to change, right? We can just hold off on selling the Holy Water until then~"
A... a hundred years?!
The moment Kim Ha-chung heard those words, his heart nearly stopped from the sheer shock. He was convinced the negotiations had completely collapsed.
But Lee Won-chung, standing beside him, reacted differently.
He perceived the situation from an entirely different angle.
This is a threat.
Forcing Kim Ha-chung's hand off his mouth, he spoke in a low, resolute voice. "...Are you... threatening the government right now?"
Lee Won-chung placed immense trust in the authority and control of the newly reorganized government established after the tower's appearance.
He believed that even if they were dealing with the [Tower Administrator], the government could easily handle them if they decided to take decisive action.
At his words, Lekki's expression shifted.
Lekki looked down at them with a sneer, her eyes filled with absolute contempt.
With a simple flick of her finger, a waiting maid immediately rushed forward.
"Maid."
"Yes!"
"Play the recording of the tenth floor."
"Right away!"
The maid immediately produced a crystal ball containing the recording of the tenth floor and projected the footage into the air.
"Aaaaaaargh!!!!"
Overwhelmed by extreme psychological shock, Kim Ha-chung instinctively fell backward, screaming at the top of his lungs. Lee Won-chung's body froze completely the moment he laid eyes on the screen.
What they were looking at was no mere monster.
It was something that had already transcended the boundaries of human comprehension.
Lekki giggled as she watched their reactions.
Tricia was doing her best to maintain a blank, stoic expression, but on the inside, she was absolutely howling with laughter.
The footage on the crystal ball continued to play.
In the video, Park Do-yoon fought desperately for his life, but none of his attacks seemed to have any effect on the monster.
There was a brief moment where he managed to land a clean hit—but the damage was completely regenerated in a matter of seconds.
Ultimately, the video cut to black right after showing Park Do-yoon's brutal defeat.
A heavy silence descended upon the lobby.
Kim Ha-chung, Lee Won-chung, and even the numerous climbers waiting in the wings...
Not a single soul dared to open their mouth.
After an agonizingly long silence, Lekki slowly stood up from her seat and looked down at Lee Won-chung.
"You know, if we were to release that thing outside the tower... don't you think it would be so much fun?"
"......?!"
"Right? It'd be incredibly fun, wouldn't it? I bet you'd be absolutely thrilled."
In Lee Won-chung's mind, a horrific vision of that monster appearing in the middle of downtown Seoul flashed before his eyes.
A completely devastated capital, the screams of children, and climbers dying helplessly as they tried to protect them...
He couldn't squeeze out a single word.
...In reality, neither Lekki nor Tricia had any way of releasing that monster outside the tower yet, but it wasn't like the humans knew that.
Deciding that they had instilled enough terror, Tricia looked down at Kim Ha-chung, who was shivering on the floor, and spoke in a commanding tone.
"You there."
"Eek! Y-Yes?!"
"Go find the absolute best Chinese restaurant near here right now. Order one of everything on the menu, and bring it to me."
"I'll bring it back this instant!!!"
The moment the words left her mouth, Kim Ha-chung bolted out of the tower faster than anyone had ever run before.
Left behind in a daze, Lee Won-chung barely managed to snap out of his stupor and scrambled out of the tower after him.
Finally, Tricia turned her gaze to the government climbers who had entered to guard them in case of an emergency.
"As for the rest of you standing there, go buy five bottles of Coke per person. Make sure they're the biggest ones."
"—Y-Yes, ma'am! Right away!!!"
The moment Tricia's command fell, they scrambled out of the tower in a frantic stampede.
Outside the tower, at the temporary government support headquarters.
Surrounded by communication equipment and laptops, the officials were anxiously awaiting the return of the two agents who had entered the tower.
"They should be negotiating with the administrator by now, right? Do you think they'll succeed?"
"They have to. We are standing at a pivotal moment in history."
Amidst the thick tension—
"Out of the way! Move! Everyone get out of the way!"
Someone burst out of the tower with frantic, heavy footsteps.
With a wild look in his eyes, a disheveled suit, and a loosened tie, it was none other than government security agent Kim Ha-chung.
"Agent Kim?! What on earth happened—"
"A Chinese restaurant! Find the best Chinese restaurant near here right now!!! Pack everything on the menu!!! As fast as humanly possible!!!"
"...Excuse me?"
The completely unexpected demand left everyone in the tent utterly dumbfounded.
"Jajangmyeon!!! If we don't bring them jajangmyeon, we're all going to die!!!"
"What kind of nonsense is that?! Have you lost your mind?!"
Just as the staff were about to restrain the hysterical Kim Ha-chung, Lee Won-chung burst out of the tower behind him, catching his breath as he added:
"I will explain. The Tower Administrator has put the summit on hold and demanded we bring them the entire menu of a Chinese restaurant, including jajangmyeon. If we fail to satisfy this demand, there is a high probability that more than half of Seoul will be wiped off the map..."
"...Did you both go mad in there? Or did you get hit by some kind of mental attack?"
Right at that moment, the government climbers began pouring out of the tower like a tidal wave.
"Where's the nearest supermarket?!"
"Just raid every convenience store in the area first!!!"
"Should we go to McDonald's and rip out their soda fountain just in case?!"
"That won't work inside the tower, you idiot! Don't do that!!!"
Watching the utter chaos unfold, the government's field commander could only mutter one thing:
"What a complete shitshow."