The Booming Pork Soup Restaurant
A peaceful morning at the hospital!
"Aaaaaaargh!!!"
"Mommy!!!"
"Oh, you're finally awake?"
Otaku and Park Chun-ja, who had been unconscious since yesterday, finally opened their eyes.
Watching them, Ban Hwi-yeol let out a sigh of relief.
The two gasped for breath, instantly clawing and feeling around their own bodies. Only after confirming their limbs were still attached and realizing they were lying in hospital beds did they slowly regain their senses.
"...Did, did I really just die and come back to life?"
"Ugh... My body, my legs... are they still there? I was caught in the explosion, and my lower half... it was completely blown away..."
The two still couldn't believe they were alive. Raw terror was clearly etched in their eyes.
"Hard to believe, right? I felt the exact same way at first."
"Did you... die and come back to life too, Mr. Hwi-yeol?"
"Wait... then what about Team Leader Kim Choon-shik and Elizabeth? Don't tell me...?"
"They're in the next room. Let's go check on them later."
Ban Hwi-yeol chuckled softly, gesturing toward the adjacent room with his thumb.
He spoke in an excited voice, almost as if boasting.
"By the way, dying and coming back to life is way cooler than I thought! My muscle aches are completely gone! I feel like a brand-new man!"
Ban Hwi-yeol flexed his impressive muscles, grinning ear to ear as he bragged about how incredibly light and energized his body felt.
But Otaku and Park Chun-ja couldn't bring themselves to smile at all.
Otaku had died a horrific death, his entire body blown to pieces by the explosion, while Park Chun-ja had suffered an agonizing end with her abdomen and lower body completely vaporized.
They had vividly felt the excruciating pain of their bodies tearing apart and their breath fading away.
Compared to them, Ban Hwi-yeol—who had taken a direct hit to the head and died instantly without even having time to register the pain—was incredibly lucky.
Just the mere 'experience' of death was enough to traumatize them.
At the same time, the reality of their 'resurrection' sent a bizarre, surreal shiver down their spines.
Perhaps they were the very first humans in Earth's history to experience resurrection.
"Whew... Well, I can't deny it was a unique experience. Though it was an absolute nightmare of a pain that I never, ever want to feel again."
"Yeah... that pain right before dying... it hurt like absolute hell..."
For the record, though the climbers didn't know it, the 25% damage reduction from the Grace of the Angel also came with a built-in pain-dampening effect.
Thanks to that, the pain they actually felt was relatively mild compared to a 'true death.'
In other words, because the pain had been mitigated to just 'hurting enough to die,' they were barely able to return with their minds intact.
But what if they had felt the raw, unmitigated agony of a 'true death'?
The trauma would have run far deeper, potentially shattering their minds and leaving them as empty, vegetative shells of their former selves.
"Aaaaaaargh!!!"
Just then, another scream erupted from the adjacent room.
"...Ah, looks like the Team Leader is awake too. Want to go see?"
Ban Hwi-yeol casually stood up and headed next door, with Otaku and Park Chun-ja pushing themselves out of bed to follow him.
Kim Choon-shik and Elizabeth were suffering from particularly severe trauma, and it took a very long time for them to finally calm down.
Rewinding time to a day ago...
The Glory Guild was in utter chaos over an unprecedented crisis.
Just five meters away from the newly spawned tower where the vanguard team had just been deployed... a mysterious portal had suddenly materialized!
The remaining Glory Guild members gasped in shock and immediately called their vice-master.
"What?! A portal opened in front of the tower? I'm on my way right now! If anything happens, react immediately, but absolutely do not enter that portal!"
Yoon Seo-jin stopped writing the report he was supposed to submit to the guild master, grabbed his keys, and sped off to the scene.
When he arrived, the remaining guild members were already on high alert, guarding the portal from behind hastily erected barricades.
The portal slowly rotated, emitting an ominous crimson glow that radiated a sinister energy, as if a horde of monsters could pour out at any second.
On top of that, the elite vanguard team had just been ejected from the tower, unconscious from shock—an unprecedented disaster that pushed the guild members' anxiety to its absolute limit.
They were so anxious that some were seriously debating whether they should call other guilds for backup.
Yoon Seo-jin was no exception.
Is this portal... created by the tower? Or did it just happen to appear? No, a coincidence at this exact timing is too suspicious. Then, does this portal have a specific purpose? Damn it, there's too little information.
His mind was such a tangled mess that he felt a sudden urge to smoke, a habit he didn't even have.
Ultimately, the entire squad spent the night on high alert, keeping their eyes glued to the portal.
However...
In truth, this portal was actually a warp portal Tricia had set up by spending 150 Tower Coins just so she could go to an internet cafe!
It was literally just a mundane doorway connecting Naejibtap (My House Tower)'s 95th floor to the outside world!
But the problem was that Tricia herself couldn't go outside due to [Insufficient Authority], leaving the portal completely abandoned!
For that incredibly simple reason... the Glory Guild had been shadowboxing in front of a completely empty portal until the crack of dawn!
As the dawn broke and morning arrived, they finally hit their limit.
Vice-Master Yoon Seo-jin had pulled an all-nighter without eating a single bite since yesterday's lunch.
"Vice-Master, you're going to collapse at this rate! You should eat something..."
"How can I think of food in a situation like—!"
Rumble—
"..."
He locked eyes with his guild members.
With a deep sigh, Yoon Seo-jin decided to compromise with reality.
"We'll leave a skeleton crew here. The rest of us will grab a quick bite."
And so, Yoon Seo-jin led twenty-three guild members to a nearby pork soup restaurant.
<Puck-Puck-Hae-Yo Pork Soup>
What a bizarre name for a restaurant...
Yoon Seo-jin thought to himself as he stared at the sign.
As they stepped inside, the owner—whose smile was practically split from ear to ear now that his restaurant was in prime "tower-adjacent" real estate—greeted them with a beaming face.
"Aigoo~ Welcome! What can I get for ya?"
"I heard the spicy bean sprout pork soup is good here. Let's get that for all the tables. Vice-Master, what would you like?"
"The mixed pork soup, extra-large. And... add a large plate of boiled pork slices to every table."
Yoon Seo-jin said, pulling out a card emblazoned with the word Glory.
This morning, breakfast was on the vice-master.
"Boiled pork! Thank you for the food, Vice-Master!"
"Thank you, Vice-Master!"
"...Right. I'm sure everyone is starving. Let's eat well and get our heads back in the game."
Of course, the hungriest person there was the vice-master himself, but no one was foolish enough to point that out.
A moment later...
"Alrighty~ Here comes the soup first! Enjoy!"
Steaming hot earthenware bowls were placed on each table, and life slowly began to return to the guild members' faces.
"Whoa... so spicy and refreshing. Nothing beats pork soup!"
"Look at all this meat! Are you sure they didn't accidentally give us the extra-large?"
"Definitely not. Just look at the vice-master's bowl."
One of the guild members pointed toward Yoon Seo-jin's bowl to prove his point.
Quite literally, a mountain of meat sat before him.
This place doesn't skimp on portions.
Yoon Seo-jin took a slow spoonful of the broth and let out a soft breath.
So this is what they mean by the power of a warm meal... Just one sip, and my mind already feels at ease.
It was then.
Slam!
The restaurant door swung open, and unfamiliar shadows stretched across the floor.
"My, my. Leisurely slurping down pork soup in a crisis like this? What a waste of the Glory Guild's name."
Accompanied by the heavy thud of leather boots, three figures clad in the signature black coats of the Black Obsidian Guild stepped inside.
The one leading them looked down at Yoon Seo-jin with a cold, humorless expression.
"Are you the vice-master of the Glory Guild, Yoon Seo-jin?"
Yoon Seo-jin furrowed his brows and set his spoon down.
"...The Black Obsidian Guild. What business do you have here?"
"We came to gather information on the portal that appeared in front of the tower. Yet here you are, eating soup without a single thought of entering it. Do you people even have any intention of investigating that portal?"
The Black Obsidian Guild members snickered amongst themselves.
It was a blatant sneer, mocking the Glory Guild members as cowards.
The Glory Guild members inside the restaurant leaped to their feet, trembling with rage.
"What did you say? Are you looking for a fight? I'll take these bastards down right—!"
"This is a restaurant. Avoid unnecessary conflict."
A brawl was on the verge of breaking out, but Yoon Seo-jin raised a hand to hold his members back.
The tension in the air was thick enough to suffocate.
Yoon Seo-jin narrowed his eyes and spoke.
"We are monitoring that portal with extreme caution. However, it has shown an unusually low level of aggression. We were just about to assemble a new entry team to deal with it."
The Black Obsidian Guild member snorted in amusement.
"A 'new entry team,' you say. Sounds more like camping out at a soup restaurant to me. Am I wrong?"
The Glory Guild members' faces contorted with fury, but the Black Obsidian members paid them no mind and continued.
"Well, it doesn't matter. From this moment on, our Black Obsidian Guild will investigate that portal ourselves."
He gestured, and a figure waiting outside the restaurant stepped in.
A mask with a crimson glow, strongly reminiscent of a raven.
He wore a sharp suit with a striking red tie, but his entire presence radiated an ominous aura that sent shivers down everyone's spines.
A bizarre, shadow-like energy clung to his entire body.
"Allow me to introduce him. Our Black Obsidian Guild's strongest ranker... World Climber Ranking 9th, 'Crow'."
"……!"
Yoon Seo-jin's eyes widened in shock.
Gasps rippled through the surrounding Glory Guild members.
The real Crow is here?
Rumor had it that he was a monster among monsters, having fully conquered over six towers and single-handedly subjugated countless boss-class beasts.
And now, that very man stood facing Yoon Seo-jin in this quiet pork soup restaurant.
Crow quietly stared at Yoon Seo-jin before speaking.
"...I will go in alone. Do not get in my way."
His tone was brief and icy.
He then swept his gaze across the restaurant and muttered.
"...I'll be back before your soup gets cold."
With those final words, Crow turned and walked toward the portal.