A Secret Promise
Rewinding time slightly, to two hours before the conference began.
After finishing his sparring session with Yurinin on the 49th floor, the Fighting Colosseum, Crow received a message from a maid stating that Tricia was looking for him. He immediately headed to the warp point.
His destination was the Terrace of Night, located on the 95th floor of the tower.
The Silence of the Deep Night, an entity he had fought in the past, was sealed once more, serving as a quiet ornament in the dark sky.
Beneath it, sitting on the pristine white terrace, the pure white angel Tricia spoke softly as she waited.
"It's been a while, Crow."
"...Yes, it has."
Perhaps because he was certain she wouldn't harm him, Crow sat down comfortably in the chair opposite Tricia without his usual guard up. He got straight to the point.
"So, why did you call me here privately?"
"Just out of curiosity, I suppose? The Crow I know isn't the type to get involved in such tedious and complicated matters."
"...I simply wished for this conference to proceed smoothly."
At his reply, Tricia offered a meaningful smile and whispered softly.
"That's a lie. In truth, you don't really care what happens to the conference, do you?"
"..."
"You don't have to hide your real reason for coming. Feel free to speak comfortably. After all, our purpose today is 'information exchange' once again, isn't it?"
Crow averted his gaze and picked up his teacup. However, he quickly realized that drinking black tea was impossible while wearing his mask.
After a brief hesitation, he set the cup back down and spoke.
"...Fine. There is no need to hide it from you. To be honest, the government has been in a bit of an uproar. Some people have been spouting ridiculous nonsense—claiming that My House Tower is using some catastrophic monster to threaten the citizens, or trying to control the government through Divine Punishment and brands... As if such a thing would ever happen."
Flinch.
Tricia's conscience pricked her slightly, but she maintained a perfectly calm facade.
"There are always people who can't distinguish delusion from reality. If anything, the government's reaction is milder than I expected."
"If it were any worse, this conference wouldn't even be happening. The current new government is better than the old one in many ways."
"Come to think of it, you mentioned before that the government was completely overhauled when the tower appeared. What exactly happened?"
"I only gave you a rough outline last time. This time, I'll explain it in detail so you can fully understand."
And Crow began to slowly recount the series of events that had unfolded since the tower's appearance.
It was the era when the tower first appeared in the world, and those who awakened as climbers began to sprout like mushrooms after rain.
The government viewed this situation with extreme gravity. Eventually, they passed the Climber Special Punishment Act, which decreed that climbers could face the death penalty even for minor misdemeanors.
Any climber not affiliated with the government was treated as a "potential criminal" and stripped of state protection. They were barred from purchasing insurance and denied the right to legal counsel.
While those who joined government ranks received some support, the high mortality rate inside the tower meant that the allocated budget inevitably lined the pockets of corrupt officials.
The mistreatment and discrimination against climbers grew progressively worse, ultimately triggering a massive catastrophe.
A psychopath harboring an extreme hatred for the government awakened with the unique class, Reaper. Armed with a cheat-like, incredibly powerful instant-death ability, he began assassinating government officials broadcast on television one by one.
If an official was even slightly corrupt, the Reaper would personally hunt them down at their homes and slaughter their entire families.
The police officers investigating the cases, and even the high-ranking executives holding counter-terrorism meetings, all had their heads severed by the Reaper's Great Scythe.
In desperation, strong climbers were dispatched from the United States under the ROK-US Mutual Defense Treaty... but only their brutally mutilated corpses returned.
Ultimately, over seventy percent of the government's high-ranking officials were wiped out by a single man, the Reaper. The nation was pushed to the brink of collapse in an instant.
Seizing the opportunity, North Korea declared war, driving South Korea to the verge of utter annihilation.
However, there was a variable that North Korea had completely failed to anticipate.
The Reaper despised North Korea just as much.
No one in North Korea could stop the rampaging Reaper, who spammed his instant-death cheat at will. The North Korean military was utterly annihilated.
Unable to let their pride suffer defeat, North Korea committed the madness of launching a nuclear missile onto their own territory, barely managing to eliminate the Reaper.
However, the nuclear blast also destroyed a nearby tower, triggering a Tower Collapse phenomenon that unleashed countless monsters into the world.
With their military already wiped out, North Korea had no means to defend against the monsters pouring from the collapsed tower and was completely destroyed.
South Korea, its military and government functions paralyzed, fell into a state of total anarchy.
But then, a savior emerged.
It was the birth of a climber guild known as Glory.
The Glory guild was established to build a new government that respected climbers' human rights. To lay its foundation, the guild master, Park Yeong-gwang, personally stepped forward to exterminate the hordes of monsters overruning the former North Korean territory.
Mobilizing their mages, the Glory guild even completely neutralized the radioactive fallout.
Rising as national heroes, the climbers of the Glory guild worked tirelessly day and night to normalize the government.
With the sole objective of appointing politicians who genuinely cared for the people, they carefully selected clean, upright individuals to fill the government vacancies one by one.
However, displeased with the Glory guild's monopoly on political influence, Geom Heuk-beom founded the Geomheuk guild and began directly intervening in politics.
As a result, a new government was reborn under the full support of the two major climber guilds.
This new government ensured that climbers could enjoy their rightful rights as ordinary citizens, and their very first act was the permanent abolition of the Climber Special Punishment Act.
"Since then, numerous reform policies have been announced, and the world has truly begun to change. And also—"
"That's enough. You've explained it plenty."
"Yes, I suppose that is indeed sufficient."
Crow, who had seemed somewhat excited for some reason, quietly nodded at Tricia's words and returned to the original topic.
"At any rate, the real reason I am here... is because I was the first person to make contact with the tower's administrator. I was essentially dragged here to increase the success rate of the conference, even if only by a fraction."
"I figured as much. I was secretly worried that you might have come to oppose us."
In truth, she hadn't worried about that in the slightest. Tricia was merely teasing him to gauge his reaction.
Crow looked at Tricia and spoke with utmost sincerity.
"Since that day, I have never once thought of harming you or opposing you. On the contrary... I wanted to become your friend."
Tricia's eyes widened. She had never expected the word "friend" to come out of Crow's mouth.
"A... friend?"
"Is that strange?"
"Of course not! I wanted to be friends with you too, Crow. Shall we be friends starting today, then?"
"...Thank you."
And so, Tricia became Crow's friend. Though his face was hidden behind the mask, she was certain he was smiling.
After a brief silence, Tricia dropped her formal tone.
"Now that we're friends, we don't need to be so formal. Can we speak casually?"
"I don't mind. Do as you please."
"You still speak so stiffly, though."
"...There is a complicated reason for that."
Crow lifted his mask ever so slightly, revealing just his mouth, and murmured in a tiny voice.
"...When I wear this mask... my personality, well, it changes..."
He lowered the mask back into place and added:
"It is essentially like this. Do you understand?"
"It's a bit like the artifacts in Eriel that use emotions as fuel. I assume its effects are just as potent?"
"It grants absolute immunity to most mental attacks and enhances cognitive processing speed. There are no notable side effects other than the personality shift you just witnessed."
"I see. I'm a bit curious, though—could you take off the mask completely and show me your face?"
"That is..."
Crow trailed off at Tricia's request. After pondering for a long moment, he replied:
"...Could I show you after the conference is over, at least?"
"Sure, that's fine!"
Recalling the jawline she had glimpsed a moment ago, Tricia guessed that he probably had a boyish, youthful face. She was curious to see how much his personality would change without the mask, but the conference took priority, so she decided to wait.
"So, about that—"
Returning to the topic of the conference, Tricia leaned forward and whispered.
"Shall we make a secret promise?"
"...What kind of promise?"
"The conference starts at 6:00 PM. I plan to take some time to introduce my friends—well, the ones called Guardians—one by one."
Tricia's explanation was roughly as follows: she wanted to bring out her powerful Guardians in front of the delegation to intimidate them, securing the upper hand in the subsequent negotiations. It was a promise to just sit back and watch quietly, as nothing truly dangerous would happen. She also made a small request: if a situation arose where a fight seemed imminent, she wanted him to play along and pretend to clash with them—essentially putting on a pro-wrestling show.
"So, your goal is intimidation," Crow said.
"Exactly. We're going to prove to the world that we are strong and terrifying. That way, anyone we meet in the future won't dare look down on us."
"And what are the terms of this promise?"
At Crow's question, Tricia stood up and extended her hand.
"I will make sure this diplomatic conference concludes in a way that benefits both of us."
Of course, there would be negotiations and adjustments to the terms along the way, but it was a promise that she would at least guarantee the Holy Water trade went through.
"...Very well. I will keep my end of the promise."
Crow stood up as well and shook her hand, sealing their secret agreement.
...But their conversation did not end there.
"Crow, now that we're friends, would you mind taking on a personal request to celebrate?"
"A request? I'll hear you out first."
"I'm planning to unlock the use of electronic devices inside the tower soon! Even the internet!"
"?"
Crow was momentarily taken aback, but thanks to the mask's influence, he quickly regained his composure.
"So... could you get me some of the latest laptops and smartphones? As many as possible?"
"It's possible... though the latest models will be quite expensive. Still, I can provide them as a gift—"
Crow wasn't short on cash, and since he had previously received twelve bottles of Holy Water, he could easily afford to buy them for her.
But Tricia's request didn't stop there.
"On top of that, I also need identification cards for phone registration. Could you make just ten of them for now? They're for me and the Guardians!"
"...Even for me, that is a bit difficult."
Forging fake IDs was obviously illegal. Ultimately, it meant issuing official identification cards under the Guardians' actual identities. But could non-human species living in a tower actually obtain official IDs from the South Korean government?
However, Tricia saw right through his hesitation and added:
"If you fulfill this request, I'll grant you one wish. As long as it's within the realm of possibility inside the tower, of course."
"...!"
After pondering for a long moment, Crow looked up.
"...Very well. I accept the request."
And—the scene shifts back to the present, in the Meeting Room on the 99th floor.
"First, regarding our government's purchase of the Holy Water—"
"You saw the price with the tariffs applied last time, right? Buy it at that price. Next."
"W-well, we need to adjust some of the tariffs..."
"It's already incredibly cheap. Are you asking me to raise the price?"
"..."
Seo Ryuin wanted to argue, but since the price was indeed remarkably cheap, she was left speechless, her face crumpling in despair.
Watching this unfold, Crow muttered to himself.
Is it really okay for a diplomatic conference to feel like this...?
The atmosphere was so icy that he genuinely wondered if this could even be called a negotiation.