What Part of This Looks Like a Tower?
The exterior of the mysterious tower that had suddenly materialized near the heart of Seoul was a scene of utter chaos.
A massive crowd had already gathered, turning the area into a bustling sea of humanity.
"Due to the sudden appearance of a new tower, entry beyond the police line is strictly prohibited! We appreciate your cooperation!"
A police officer in a yellow vest barked into a megaphone, while dozens of citizens murmured anxiously in front of him.
The newly emerged tower resembled the Tower of Babel in design, but it was far grander and taller—so colossal that its majestic silhouette was visible from almost anywhere in Seoul.
Citizens flocked toward the tower, held back only by police officers and barricades. Overhead, surveillance drones buzzed through the air, adding to the palpable tension.
"Ah, I was planning to grab a bowl of soup at that famous gukbap place nearby, but I guess that's out of the question today..."
Someone muttered in disappointment, their voice quickly swallowed by the surrounding clamor.
Reporters in neat attire stood before the barricades, delivering updates in polished, professional tones.
"How many minutes has it been since the Glory Guild's vanguard entered the tower?"
"Roughly thirty minutes, sir."
"...Strange."
Nearby, members of the Glory Guild had pitched tents, waiting anxiously for any word from their vanguard.
Yoon Seo-jin, the Vice Guildmaster of the Glory Guild, scowled. He had meticulously handpicked the vanguard to prevent any mishaps, and they had agreed to use Tower Exit if anything seemed amiss. Yet, the designated return time had long since passed, and there was still no sign of them.
"Surely nothing went wrong. You know how strong our guild members are better than anyone, Vice Guildmaster. Every single person we sent in is a veteran who has climbed past the 40th floor of other towers. They're a reliable bunch—I feel like they could take down a dragon if one popped out."
"That's exactly why I'm worried. You never know what might jump out at you inside a tower. Especially a newly spawned one like this."
While the other guild members remained confident in the vanguard's strength, Vice Guildmaster Yoon Seo-jin couldn't shake his unease. He paced around the perimeter of the tower, clenching and unclenching his fists.
"Come on, don't stress too much! Why don't we head over to that restaurant right across the street and grab a hot bowl of blood sausage soup? You rushed over here the moment the tower appeared and skipped lunch, didn't you?"
"Sigh... Yeah, now that you mention it, I am pretty hungry. Let's eat first—"
At that exact moment—
Flash!
A pillar of light erupted at the entrance of the tower.
Within the radiant glow, a human silhouette materialized.
"What in the...?"
"A-A pillar of light just appeared in front of the tower! Inside... Ah! It's one of our vanguard members!"
"Oh! Did they make it back safely?!"
The tension finally melted from Vice Guildmaster Yoon Seo-jin's face.
Moments later, more pillars of light flared up, revealing that Park Chun-ja and Ban Hwi-yeol had also returned.
However... an unexpected crisis immediately presented itself.
"...Every single one of them is unconscious."
The returned climbers lay sprawled on the ground, their eyes rolled back in dead faints.
Fortunately, they were still breathing and their hearts were beating, but they looked utterly devastated, as if they had barely escaped the jaws of death.
Their unfocused eyes stared blankly, their souls seemingly sucked clean out of their bodies.
"This is an emergency! Get the healers over here immediately! Contact the nearest hospital as well—this might not be a simple fainting spell."
"Uh... both of our healers are currently inside the restaurant eating gukbap—"
"How can they stuff their faces with soup at a time like this?!"
"I'll go drag them out right now!!!"
Meanwhile, inside the restaurant, a healer who was just about to take a bite of his piping-hot, spicy bean sprout pork soup...
"The Vice Guildmaster needs a healer out there right now!!!"
"What?! I ordered this because they said we weren't swapping shifts yet!!!"
"I told you to wait for your turn before ordering! Now get moving!"
Forced to abandon his untouched soup, the healer sprinted back to the scene and began casting recovery spells on the unconscious vanguard members.
Yet, no matter how many cleanse spells he cast, they had absolutely no effect.
"This is weird... There's nothing physically wrong with them. No curses, no dark magic, no status ailments at all... It looks like they just fainted from sheer shock."
"So we can't wake them up right now?"
"Maybe if I just pinch and pull their cheeks, they'll wake up?"
With those words, the healer grabbed Ban Hwi-yeol's cheeks and gave them a hard yank.
"AARRGGHHH!!!"
Ban Hwi-yeol's eyes snapped wide open as he shrieked, jolting awake!
His eyes were dilated with absolute terror. He gasped frantically for air, his entire body trembling like a leaf.
Leaving the startled healer sprawling on the ground, Vice Guildmaster Yoon Seo-jin rushed over to calm him down.
"Are you alright? Take a deep breath first."
"Ugh, *gasp*! *pant*... *pant*...!"
Only after Yoon Seo-jin rubbed his back and helped stabilize his breathing did the focus return to Ban Hwi-yeol's eyes.
Slumping onto the asphalt, Ban Hwi-yeol frantically patted down his face and body before letting out a long, shuddering sigh of relief.
"You seem a bit better. Can you tell me what happened inside?"
"...I survived."
"...What?"
"I survived... I died once, and then I came back to life!"
"What on earth do you mean by—"
*Flash!*
At that moment, another pillar of light erupted, returning Kim Chun-sik and Elizabeth.
The healer, who had been stealthily trying to sneak back to his soup, was dragged back by his collar to check on the two new arrivals.
Both were confirmed to have fainted from sheer shock. Just then, the summoned ambulances arrived, loading up the unconscious vanguard members to rush them to the hospital.
Ban Hwi-yeol and Yoon Seo-jin followed closely behind in a gray mid-sized sedan.
The healer was crammed into the car with them just in case, and he was practically weeping.
"Waaaaah! My spicy bean sprout pork soup!!!"
"...Just shut up."
The Vice Guildmaster's voice was laced with pure venom, instantly silencing the terrified healer.
Ban Hwi-yeol took a deep breath and began his report.
"First... let me explain what we experienced on the 1st floor."
"...And that's everything."
"Good work. Get some rest at the hospital for the time being."
After listening to the full report, Yoon Seo-jin sent Ban Hwi-yeol and the healer into the hospital.
Left alone, he stroked his chin, carefully digesting the information he had just received.
The 1st floor can be cleared just by breathing, and it grants a resurrection buff that lasts for a full day...
It was unprecedented.
Resurrection—even if it was a one-time buff granted right after entering—was an effect no other tower in existence had ever provided.
He thought back to the other towers.
Small-scale towers of twenty to thirty floors, easily climbed even by novices.
Medium-scale towers of forty to sixty floors, challenged by moderately experienced climbers.
And large-scale towers of eighty to ninety floors, reserved only for the absolute elite.
Though they differed in size, their structures were identical.
In almost every tower, floors one through five shared a similar, gentle difficulty curve.
Designed as training grounds, they started easy and gradually ramped up the challenge.
In the beginning, only weak monsters like flame boars, horned rabbits, and giant mushrooms spawned.
The rewards were equally modest—class-specific skills or a tiny handful of Tower Coins.
But this new tower was completely different.
Its very structure was abnormal.
The trial of the 1st floor was unbelievably easy.
Yet, it granted an anomalous reward like resurrection.
It meant there was a catch.
He said there were hundreds of exploding rabbits on the 2nd floor...
That was likely the reason.
The 2nd floor seemed simple on the surface.
Survive for thirty minutes.
There were no conditions to attack, nor any rules forbidding them from killing the rabbits.
But according to Ban Hwi-yeol, those rabbits were all bombs.
It looked like a straightforward survival mission, but the moment you attacked the rabbits, it mutated into a high-difficulty evasion trial.
Surviving for thirty minutes amidst a sea of exploding rabbits?
The trial itself was a trap.
Then, what if there was no resurrection buff?
A chilling thought suddenly crossed Seo-jin's mind.
What if this tower had sent climbers to the 2nd floor without that resurrection buff?
The result would have been an absolute wipeout.
The Glory Guild would have dispatched another search party to find the missing vanguard.
But with zero information, the backup team would have met the exact same gruesome end.
...Wait, is it even possible to exit this tower midway?
Even Kim Chun-sik and Elizabeth, who had tried to escape using Tower Exit, had ultimately died and resurrected.
In other words, what if even Tower Exit was disabled?
It meant you couldn't leave or pass on information unless you died.
If exits were blocked on the 3rd and 4th floors as well—
Then this wasn't a tower. It was bait.
It was a structure designed solely to lure people in and slaughter them.
Yet, this tower provided a resurrection effect called Grace of the Angel (Minor) right from the 1st floor.
In other words, it was a structure designed to trick climbers into thinking this absurd difficulty was actually manageable.
It forced them to die repeatedly to accumulate information, gradually baiting them to find a way forward.
It wore a mask of kindness, but its true nature was utterly malicious.
It looks peaceful on the surface, but in reality... it's a system where someone must die for information to be gathered. How... insidious.
Yoon Seo-jin reached his conclusion.
He quietly began drafting a report to submit to the Guildmaster.
Meanwhile, on the 95th floor of Naejibtap.
"Yahoo!!! PC bang, here I come!!!"
By consuming 150 Tower Coins, a portal leading outside the tower from the 95th floor has been created.
At the thought of using the internet for the first time in decades, Tricia's mood soared to an absolute high, unleashing her long-suppressed instincts!
She was so desperate to get out that she didn't even hesitate to spend her precious Tower Coins to open a portal!
At first, Ghibsa had tried to stop her, warning her of the dangers, but Tricia had managed to convince him by arguing that they needed to assess the outside world to protect their home (the tower).
Having secured a way out, Tricia leaped forward, diving headfirst into the portal!
"Alright! Let's go to the digital world, full of love, dreams, hope, and dopamine!!!"
*Splat!*
"Guergh!"
However, her dive was abruptly halted by an invisible wall blocking the portal.
*What the hell? Was my diving angle off?* Tricia wondered as she stared at the new system window that popped up.
Permission denied.
Entity 'Eriel Tricia' is currently restricted from leaving the tower.
"Don't fuck with me, you piece of shit system!!!"
Unable to hold back her rage, Tricia burst into tears.
"Waaaaaaah!!!"
She wept sorrowfully, looking exactly like a toddler who had just had her ice cream snatched by a passing bully...
This... is a Tower Administrator...?
The system was already deeply concerned about the future of this tower.