“A bet, you say? You’re proposing a wager involving a fee?”
“It’s no fun if we only wager the fee. How about we add a little more to the stakes? If I lose, I’ll pay double the fee. And I’ll also answer one question of yours, Mr. Rick.”
“Hmm. Now that’s quite interesting.”
A smirk curled up on Rick’s lips.
To a worn and weary middle manager, any anomaly was always a source of amusement.
Especially if it related to the player he was most keenly observing—it was the perfect entertainment, fee aside.
There was no end to the questions he had.
For instance, why did the player replace the set item obtained from defeating one of the strongest boss monsters in the middle layers, the Yaksha, with an unfamiliar weapon?
How could a player ascending the Tower for the first time know more than the residents themselves?
And the most curious of all: how would the player overcome the imminent crisis he was about to face?Rick didn’t ponder for long.
“What kind of bet are we talking about?”
Rick accepted the proposition.
“I’ll open a gate here, and all you have to do is guess where it leads. If you lose, you will exempt me from transaction fees for life.”
“Ha ha ha. You must be joking. You think there’s a gate I don’t know about?”
“That’s why I’m suggesting we bet.”
Jinhyuk gave a sly smile.
Provoking curiosity with a little challenge was an added bonus.
“…Very well. Since you’re offering such a generous donation to Rick Hennessy, I’ll gladly accept double the fee.”
Rick nodded agreement.
Immediately after, a gate with a greenish hue closer to blue appeared before them.
“This is…?”
Rick’s pupils quivered.
It was naturally something he couldn’t comprehend.
Even those who had seen the peak of the Tower in the past couldn’t have known such a thing existed.
And how could Rick, a mere middle manager no matter how shrewd or well-informed, recognize it?
Purple runes outlined in black began to emerge.
This was a gate leading to the chamber of a senior manager.
The ‘Shadow Gate’.
Wooooong!
Only after the gate fully opened did Rick realize where it led.
“Thank you sincerely for waiving the transaction fee.”
“Mr. Jinhyuk… who exactly are you…?”
Rick stuttered, but soon let out a rueful chuckle.
“It seems I was the one overlooking things. And here I was, betting against you, Mr. Jinhyuk, of all people.”
Truly, an interesting player.
Probably, even in front of ‘them’, he wouldn’t be intimidated.
In fact, it might well be the senior managers who ended up on the back foot.
“Please, I hope you’ll negotiate well. For those who ascend the Tower.”
Rick took off his bowler hat and bowed deeply.
“I’ll be back.”
Jinhyuk stepped through.
＊＊＊
Clip-clop…
As he passed through the shimmering surface, the entire landscape before his eyes had transformed.
Barren tree branches, piled snow, and a small cabin at the center of the forest appeared.
It was a place that reminded one of the Nordic region.
[You have entered the domain of senior manager ‘Vendivia’.]
‘I thought I might be dealing with dragons or something, but it looks rather ordinary from the outside.’
Jinhyuk surveyed the surroundings slowly.
This was his first time here.
He never imagined he would one day visit the abode of one of the senior managers.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart pounded rapidly.
Approaching the door, every sense was on high alert, his body primed to spring into action at any moment.
‘A senior manager and yet, no trace of magic power?’
It wasn’t that there was no magic power.
Like humans can’t hear ultrasonic waves, the overwhelming magic was simply impalpable.
Just then:
“Come in. The door’s open.”
A thin voice echoed from within the cabin.
So far, not a bad start.
At least there was no immediate attack for barging into someone’s private quarters.
Thud!
Jinhyuk opened the door and stepped inside.
Whoosh…
A wave of heat hit him.
Inside the log cabin, warmed by an open fire, sat a female elf with striking black skin.
A dark elf. Specifically, one considered the progenitor of dark elves.
“Phew, I was just wandering around and got lost, so it’s good to warm up by the fire. I nearly froze to death out there.”
“Hah… always with the cheek. And what, should I offer you a steaming hot soup and a blanket next?”
“Hmm? I wasn’t exactly asking for that, but if you insist, I’d like some cream soup with sausage sliced as thick as my thumb and peas, and a blanket made of doe fur, please. I have baby-soft skin, so it has to be from a doe, not a buck.”
“…”
Jinhyuk’s comment seemed to momentarily sour Vendivia’s expression.
However, it was only for an instant.
“They told me one of the middle managers had a troublesome player to deal with. It looks like you’re the one. Damn. Quite the annoying fellow indeed.”
Vendivia clucked her tongue, then began pouring wine into a glass—practically overflowing it.
“Enough of the nonsense. Why out of all senior managers did you pick me? Just tell me without beating around the bush. I have no patience for draggy probing.”
Shadow Gates operate on a targeted invitation system.
That is, one chooses the desired senior manager and the gate leads directly to them.
The moment the gate was activated, seven managers had appeared before Jinhyuk.
And from among them, he chose the dark elf ‘Vendivia’.
He had to handle this first question carefully.
Senior managers were notorious for their capriciousness.
“There’s no particular reason. The only information given about senior managers is their name and race. So I thought it best to converse with the most rational race, the dark elves. I doubted Ms. Vendivia would coddle me just because we’re on the same side.”
“Coddle? What do you mean by that?”
“Don’t you know? One among you has crossed the line. And crossed it quite severely, for that matter.”
“…”
The wine swirling ceased abruptly.
An expression of someone who hadn’t anticipated this level of knowledge.
“If a manager colludes with a particular faction, that, to me, disqualifies them from being a manager, doesn’t it?”
“What do you want? Spit it out. No beating around the bush.”
“I’ll make it so that the managers can fully perform their roles. So please, lend me your aid.”
Managers fulfilling their roles…
Such pointed words hit hard.
It was as much a statement that Vendivia too was failing as a manager if she didn’t help.
“How arrogant. To question our roles, and you’re merely a player.”
Vendivia’s sharp fangs flashed as she spoke.
For a moment, the cabin seemed to lose all its warmth.
When a senior manager revealed her killing intent within her domain outside the stairwell, it was natural to feel a bone-chilling cold.
But the oppressive atmosphere didn’t last long.
“I like your boldness, though.”
Vendivia stood up.
“By nature, we don’t interfere with what happens in the Tower. That said, we only stand back when things take their natural course.”
“Does that mean you’ll help?”
“Help… you give me too much credit. The entity trying to escape the rift right now isn’t something even senior managers can handle. We can only forcibly keep them contained within one level of the Tower. So if that thing does burst out, we have no choice but to leave it be until the appointed time.”
Of course.
That’s why the system gave only the quest to ‘survive’.
However.
“There is a way. If certain conditions are met, we might be able to buy the ‘time’ Ms. Vendivia mentioned.”
He had faced a similar situation before.
He had endured an excruciatingly tough time then, but…
He had survived.
Survived and moved on to the next chapter.
“You speak with such certainty because you haven’t experienced it. Or, how is it possible for you to remain so composed? Usually, when faced with the impossible, humans react with outrage or despair—it’s human nature, isn’t it?”
“The Tower can be unreasonably harsh and unfriendly, true. But it never presents us with the impossible.”
“You are indeed a unique human. Not a single one of the residents who have ascended the Tower thought like that before… Then, may I hear why you think so?”
The final question.
Jinhyuk slowly began to speak.
“The Tower wishes for someone to reach the summit more than anyone else. To arrive at the end of this world.”
He wasn’t sure if this was the right answer.
Nor could he tell if it pleased Vendivia.
So he spoke calmly, with sincere conviction.
For that was truly what he believed.
“A one-day clear of the 16th floor.”
“…!”
“Why the surprise? If you’re as confident as you say, defeat the boss on the 16th floor within a day. If you do, you’ll get this as promised.”
From Vendivia’s possession emerged a jewel that emitted a mystical light.
‘The Soul Stone of Yearning’.
A special item capable of inflicting damage on the soul.
Judging by its size, it was of intermediate class.
Meaning enough to withstand frenzied battle for at least a few hours.
“You need this, right? For that new weapon you’re carrying?”
[Senior Manager ‘Vendivia’s Qualification Test]
Objective: Defeat the boss monster of the 16th floor on your own and unlock the path to the 17th floor.
Condition: Solo play (limited to boss defeat) / 23h:59m:59s
Reward: Soul Stone of Yearning (4h)
A status window appeared in front of him.
The first gate to survival against the Left Arm of Destruction had opened.
“One day. Understood.”
Jinhyuk accepted the quest.
Before leaving the cabin, Vendivia added:
“I’ve seen countless climbers over the years. Empires, martial worlds, divine beings from each mythology, spirits of the elemental kingdom, demonkin, celestials… All confident they would see the summit of the Tower. And I was looking forward to it, thinking that someone, some force, could make it.”
Her voice carried a bitter note.
“But as you can see, all those forces and rankers have failed to reach the summit. Now they’re simply fixated on claiming and expanding their own territories.”
That’s why.
The managers themselves compromised between ideals and reality.
Now, instead of hope, they lived the same life over and over, bound by the contract with the system.
“However, perhaps… you might be different.”
The conversation ended there.
＊＊＊
The Trial Tower’s 16th floor was entirely a massive tropical rainforest region.
Despite being one of the smallest in the 50-story Tower, it was fraught with carnivorous plants, insectile monstrosities, and the hot, humid environment – all threatening the survival of the players.
As such, wandering for days on end often wasn’t enough to reach the boss monster of the 16th floor.
But.
‘To think there’s a challenger.’
Jinhyuk looked toward the entrance of the ruins.
Signs of a sizable group entering the boss-studded interior were evident.
‘Around twenty people, perhaps.’
Outside the ruins, a flag emblazoned with a giant rock golem, the symbol of the Titan Guild, stood firmly planted—a declaration that until their raid failed, entry by other guilds was forbidden.
Engrossed with the empires and martial worlds of the middle floors since clearing the 15th floor, he had overlooked this news.
‘At least they weren’t just lazing around.’
If they’d made it this far, they must have assembled a formidable raid party.
Of course, ‘formidable’ wouldn’t suffice for reaching the end of the ruins.
They might handle the mid-level named monsters, but the boss would likely be too much.
‘I have to defeat the boss alone, so I better hurry.’
Just then.
“Kii-rik!”
“Sssht, sssht!”
The screeching of metal heralded the arrival of a massive snake and spider.
‘Did they just roam around the ruins?’
Drooling as they approached, they seemed disinclined to let him pass without a fight.
Timing couldn’t be better.
He’d been looking for something to get his hands warmed up, so it was time to approach this like a practice game.
Jinhyuk activated his ‘Aether Inventory’.
“It’s been a while since I’ve used these, so the finish might not be very clean. I have a feeling the control won’t be easy.”
Beyond the fluctuating portal, instead of his usual weapon, a quite distinctive one appeared.
Click-clack!
Click-clack!
Strange-looking dual guns were loaded.
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