Chapter 22: Decision (1)

Chapter 22: Decision (1)

The Korea Climbing Department.

Established a few months after the Day of Cataclysm two years ago, this central administrative agency oversees all matters related to Climbers. To this day, it remains chaotic, overwhelmed, and frequently forced to operate through makeshift measures.

The situation was much the same in other countries, not just South Korea. Humanity still lacked sufficient information about the Tower, and simply keeping up with the rapidly shifting tides of the world was a grueling task.

“So much work… overflowing with work… oh, I’m so happy, I’m so blessed…” an employee muttered, typing away with hollow eyes.

Perhaps he had built his own defense mechanism to endure the extreme stress, or perhaps he had simply lost his mind. They already had a mountain of tasks, but with the conquest of the Nightmare 2nd Floor, the workload at the Climbing Department had multiplied.

What made it even worse than the 1st floor conquest was that, in addition to the new Climbers, the Tower had announced a new rule: anyone who does not climb the Tower within three years will die. Climbers who had no intention of ascending suddenly found a fire lit under them—especially those in Nightmare difficulty.

The task of managing this ensuing chaos naturally fell to the Climbing Department. Registering information for new Climbers, classifying and organizing data, planning the expansion and creation of new Training Facilities, budgeting, and dealing with an endless flood of civil complaints… no matter how much work they finished, why did more keep appearing? Was it a bug?

While it was certainly a joyous occasion that humanity’s lifespan had been extended by another year, the lifespans of the department employees were likely shortening in real-time. There wasn’t a single sub-department that wasn’t drowning.

“I’m going to die, seriously. How is there not a single day out of 365 where we aren’t busy?”

“We just have to blame our fate for being dragged here,” a couple of employees said, enjoying a momentary break in the hallway with cups of instant coffee.

While a few had volunteered, the majority of the civil servants at the Climbing Department were semi-forcibly drafted from other ministries. It was unavoidable.

“I’m seriously considering quitting lately.”

“Hang in there. It’s somewhat bearable if you think you’re working out of a sense of duty.”

“Haha, a sense of duty… oh.”

The employees bowed as they saw someone passing through the hallway. It was a woman with a blunt, almost cold impression. She acknowledged them with a slight nod and passed by.

Watching her leave, one employee remarked, “…Speaking of a sense of duty, shouldn’t you be at least at her level to say you’re truly working out of duty?”

Within the Climbing Department, there was a division composed entirely of Climbers: the Climbing Surveillance Department. The woman who just passed was Shin Soojin, the head of that department. Their work involved managing the 5th-floor common area and cooperating on crimes involving Climbers; by nature, it was a highly independent department that stood apart from the rest of the office.

Despite this, Section Chief Shin Soojin was a celebrity among the staff because she was a Level 20 Climber on the 11th floor of Normal difficulty. A high-level Climber who could live in luxury just by selling the Magic Stones from the Tower was instead taking on grueling public service work. It was difficult for an ordinary person to understand.

“If I ever became a Climber, I’d quit this job instantly. Isn’t the probability of becoming a Climber much higher than winning the lottery?”

“True, but the difficulty matters. What if you get stuck with Nightmare?”

“Well then… I’d have to jump. Heh.”

“I guess. Easy is one thing, but even Normal is a bit much now. I heard the 1st floor of Normal is no joke.”

The employees chatted a bit longer before sluggishly scattering back to their desks. Tonight was another night of overtime.

***

More than a month had passed since the conquest of the 2nd floor. Lately, I had been focused on a quest to become friends with the shadow spirit, Hailyn Diul.

“Diul, what I’m trying to say is that we’re best friends. Soulmates, you know? I’m not the only one who thinks so, right?”

This was the forest outside the Tower on the 2nd floor. Normally, you are automatically moved to the reward room after completing a repeated clear, but if you descend the castle without defeating the Minotaur, the conquest does not progress further.

I continued to try and commune with Diul while walking through the dark forest. I had already given him a nickname; I treated ‘Hailyn’ like a surname and ‘Diul’ as his given name. Though, for the most part, he remained indifferent no matter what I said, making it seem like my efforts were ineffective.

“Alright, let’s just take a walk. Should we run a bit?”

I moved deeper into the thicket. The moonlight was blocked, and the night’s darkness deepened. However, the surrounding landscape remained clear to my eyes. This was Diul’s basic ability: dark vision that pierces the shadows.

To describe it accurately, it didn’t look like night-vision goggles; rather, objects appeared as if drawn with white chalk on a black chalkboard. It was a very unique perspective. While not an earth-shattering power, darkness was no longer an obstacle for me.

I sprinted through the forest paths, feeling the cool night wind against my body. Diul floated next to my head, hovering along. This habitually dry creature only showed a hint of positive emotion when we were in the darkness—specifically, he liked the darkness of nature. Perhaps it was because he was a spirit. He didn’t seem to care much for just sitting in a room with the lights off.

That was why I had been coming to the 2nd floor for frequent night walks. I was told that my affinity had to increase to use new abilities, but I didn’t really know how to make that happen. I just figured that if I did things he liked, it would eventually go up. I felt like our connection was a tiny bit stronger than at first, but that might have just been my imagination.

For the record, Hailyn no longer appeared on the 2nd floor. Unlike the old man from the Nightmare Floor 1 hidden route, I hadn’t killed her, so I wondered if there would be a difference, but there wasn’t. Even when I went to the bridge where we escaped the Black Knight, only the collapsed remains were left. I thought about crossing over and tried descending the cliff, but I gave up when the bottom never appeared.

After running through the forest for a long time, I returned to my room. I lay on the bed and opened the communication window out of habit.

“Huh?”

A new whisper had arrived. The sender was ‘Chicken Sandwich’—Billon Must. It had been a month since we last exchanged brief messages after the 2nd-floor conquest.

Oh… this is something. He was offering Skill Stones again, and two of them this time. Since we had already met once, there was no reason to refuse.

“I’m thankful if he’s giving them, but…”

I knew that while the Swing skill was relatively common, resistance-type passive skills were quite rare. I wondered if it was okay to keep accepting these things so readily. Some people feel burdened by receiving things for free, and I was one of them.

Technically, this wasn’t free. Billon Must was investing in me, and in return, I was extending the deadline by climbing Nightmare difficulty. Right, I should take what I can get. Besides, I had already made up my mind.

I sent a reply.

***

We arranged to meet in the same manner as before. On the day of the meeting, I once again bundled up my face with a hoodie, hat, and mask before heading to the designated location.

A plain black sedan was parked on the side of an alley. After confirming via the communication window, I approached and knocked on the window. I opened the back door and climbed in. It was only our second meeting, but the man with the surreal face sat in the seat next to me. Billon Must.

“Hello.”

“It’s a pleasure. Good to see you again.”

After a light handshake, we got straight to business without small talk. Billon took two Skill Stones out of a bag and handed them to me.

“Thank you.”

I absorbed the skills on the spot.

The status window was starting to look quite full. Having finished learning the skills, I met the gaze of Billon, who was staring intently at me.

Man, this is awkward.

As I was about to speak, Billon spoke first. “I would like to continue delivering Skill Stones or items whenever I obtain them. What do you think?”

He wanted to maintain this strange contact. I asked, “Can I ask you one thing?”

“Of course.”

“Why go this far? Do you really believe that I’ll be able to keep climbing Nightmare Difficulty?”

Billon nodded. “I believe that you alone can save humanity.”

“But why…”

“You are the one who achieved the first clear for both Nightmare Floor 1 and the 2nd floor—and you did it without any information. The US Nightmare challenger failed even with the full support of the nation, while you succeeded. Looking at the facts alone, isn’t the answer clear?” Billon spoke with conviction.

“That is why I want to invest everything in you, Person123. I believe it is the choice with the highest probability for humanity’s survival. You may use me as you wish for the sake of conquering the Nightmare.”

I fell into thought. As the silence stretched, Billon added softly, “Of course, your own will is what matters most.”

“I realized something while conquering the 2nd floor,” I said.

“…Yes? What was it?”

“That it’s impossible for anyone else to take the lead in conquering this insane difficulty.”

My thoughts weren’t much different from Billon’s. I wasn’t trying to be arrogant or act like I was special. I didn’t have much confidence that I could keep clearing Nightmare either. But even so, I was the person with the highest probability of pulling it off. No matter how much I wanted to ignore reality or dump the responsibility on someone else, it was the truth.

“To be honest, I’m not confident. I got lucky on the 1st and 2nd floors, and I don’t know how far I’ll be able to go. But someone has to do it, so…”

I nodded. “Whatever. I’ll give it a shot. Fine. Invest everything in me, Billon.”

Billon stared at me blankly for a moment, then broke into a bright smile and held out his hand. We shook hands once more, as if a contract had been finalized.