Chapter 43: The First Proposal (1)

“Seohyun, while you’re at it, grab a plate and pick out an assortment of sushi too.”

“Okay.”

I hummed to myself as I picked out food. It was a crowded weekend buffet. I was out for a family meal for the first time in a while.

“Eat something other than crab, Seoa. Why come all the way to a buffet just to eat one thing?”

“Because I’m only eating the most expensive item.”

My younger sibling had been stubbornly piling up snow crab legs and eating them for a while now.

“Is it really that good? Honestly, I can’t tell much of a difference between that and imitation crab.”

“That’s because your palate is cheap, Oppa.”

“Eat up then, my dear sister with the ‘premium’ taste buds.”

Feeling full, I started picking at some dessert. My father wiped his mouth and asked, “Anyway, Seohyun, how is work going these days?”

“…Work? It’s always the same. I just keep repeatedly clearing the 1st Floor.”

“Right, always be careful. Come to think of it, didn’t they say starting this year, there are health insurance benefits for… Climbers? Are you looking into things like that?”

“Yes, I’m checking all of it.”

My sister chimed in. “Oppa, get me a phone for my birthday this year. It’s about time I changed mine.”

“Be quiet and just keep eating your crab.”

I remembered they used to worry about me entering the Tower, but lately, that wasn’t the case. Well, my Parents were just unusual; repeatedly clearing the Easy 1st Floor wasn’t exactly something to worry about.

Going in and out of the Tower while leading a normal daily life in reality—my life was always the same. Hanging out with friends, going on trips, or coming out for family outings like this; that’s how I lived. After all, isn’t the reason we climb the Tower so we can live happily? Since this happiness isn’t guaranteed every year, I had to enjoy it to the fullest.

The idea that I had to risk my life every year to survive—and that not just my life, but the lives of all Humanity were at stake—was a surreal reality that had now become my everyday routine. As my mind grew relaxed and lazy, the absurdity of it all made me let out a small chuckle.

“Why are you suddenly laughing? Did you eat something wrong?”

“Watching you eat reminds me of a cow chewing its cud.”

Ignoring my glaring sister, I sipped my drink. There were six months left until I had to conquer the 4th Floor.

***

Many things had passed since the Fallen Ones Incident, and the early autumn of September arrived, still lingering with heat. Even though I felt I lived each day to the fullest, Time flew by in the blink of an eye. Before I knew it, the Nightmare deadline had only about two months left.

Since I had to challenge it when 20 days remained on the clock, the date of entry was closer to 20 days than two months.

The number of Nightmare Conquerors fluctuated, increasing and then decreasing by one occasionally, but now there were over twenty. The variety of countries had also increased. Still, the ones most actively climbing the Nightmare Difficulty were the USA and China. Both had succeeded in clearing the 3rd Floor this time as well, following closely behind me.

– Reports say discussions are held within the Nobel Committee to select Person123 as a candidate for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Surprisingly, such news reached my ears. Wow, me, a Nobel Peace Prize winner? It was so absurd it was funny, but I did think I deserved it. To say otherwise wouldn’t even be modesty. But since they didn’t know who I was, how exactly did they plan on giving it to me? I thought it would just end with talk, but…

– This year’s Nobel Peace Prize… has been decided to be awarded to our great hero who saved Humanity. It is Person123.

– The committee is aware that this decision deviates from traditional customs. This is because the recipient’s real name, nationality, and specific identity have not been confirmed. Nevertheless, his achievements in preventing the end of the world several times are known to all, cannot be denied, and are beyond a shadow of a doubt; thus, this decision was made.

– The committee believes that his unprecedented sacrifice and devotion, unparalleled in all of Human history, justify this extraordinary decision. Just as a special recommendation resolution for the Nobel Peace Prize was unanimously adopted at the UN General Assembly recently, the recommender for this award is the entire world.

– The medal and prize money for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize will be specially managed by the Nobel Foundation until the winner appears in person. The ceremony will be held at the Oslo City Hall in Norway, watched by the entire world, with the UN Secretary-General acting as a proxy…

They really gave it to me. Wow! I won the Nobel Peace Prize! I couldn’t brag to anyone, so I just thought, I guess that happened.

The reason I climbed the Tower was ultimately for myself as well. If I didn’t climb, my family and I would die. Since I wasn’t carrying some grand cause on my shoulders, I didn’t need to care what people thought.

.

.

.

Could I succeed on the 4th Floor? Would I be able to survive this time as well? I was now used to the stray thoughts that increased as the deadline approached. I controlled my mind and focused on training.

Though “training” mostly consisted of raising my Skill proficiency.

Whoosh!

A red dot appeared in the air slightly above the ground, and a spherical zone formed around it. The Undead that entered the zone caught fire and collapsed.

Creates a Burning Zone with a radius of 5 meters within a 10-meter range. Targets within the range receive continuous burn damage. Requires 50 seconds of Concentration to cast.

A newly acquired Rare+ grade Magic skill. It was a field-type skill that dealt continuous damage within an area. Its power was decent, and the range was quite wide. Incidentally, this wasn’t a skill I got from Billon. I obtained it after enhancing my 2-star Flame Strike to 5 stars.

I hadn’t known this, but if you enhance a skill to 5 stars, the final enhancement doesn’t just improve the skill’s effect; instead, you randomly acquire a higher-tier skill of a similar type.

One Skill Enhancement Stone was something I got as a 3rd Floor Reward, and two were thankfully procured by Billon. After dumping them all into Flame Strike, I ended up with this Burning Zone skill. I never imagined such a hidden piece existed.

One question was why this fact hadn’t been revealed until now. Even if Enhancement Stones are rarer than Skill Stones, had no one ever reached 5 stars even with a Normal grade skill? Maybe… or maybe someone knew and was monopolizing the information.

So, I just released the info on the Communication Channel. No need for thanks. Regardless, focusing only on Flame Strike instead of spreading the enhancements out was the right choice. Now Flame Strike produced five fireballs, and since 5 stars was the maximum, I couldn’t enhance it further.

More importantly, this Burning Zone skill. It was finally my first continuous Magic skill! As long as my Willpower didn’t run out, it could be maintained indefinitely. In other words, I could keep it up forever. Considering the theme of the 4th Floor, I had pulled a pretty good one.

Of course, there were also things Billon had given me during that time. First, Skin Hardening, which I had wanted for a while. Since this was also a continuous skill that consumed Willpower per second, it had great efficiency for me. It was a bit a shame I got it at this timing since defense probably wouldn’t be important for the 4th Floor.

Next were the Normal+ passive Low-grade Burn Resistance and the Normal skill Frost Bullet… nothing special there. Finally, I obtained an item. An item that increases Willpower recovery speed. It wasn’t very necessary for me, but it was better than nothing. It would make refilling Willpower while Time was stopped a bit faster.

Three skills, two Enhancement Stones, and one item. Billon had procured quite a lot for me over the past year.

“Diul, you’re going to unlock your ability for me when I’m in danger this time too, right? Right?” I asked, looking up at Diul.

Diul reacted with his usual indifference. I still hadn’t been able to unlock Diul’s third ability, even though I had taken him on night walks almost every single day for a year without fail. I felt a bit slighted. Still, as I kept using the stealth ability, the duration had increased to about 15 minutes. I trusted that a new ability would be unlocked when I was in danger again.

After clearing the 3rd Floor repeatedly and getting rid of the Undead boss, I summoned Fliya.

“Alright, time for sparring.”

I moved my Body urgently against the lunging Fliya. Besides skill practice, I also consistently warmed up my Body without skills against the max-enhanced 3rd Floor boss or Fliya. The senses of the Body were important, after all.

After finishing my training, I left the Tower. When I went out of my room to get some water, my family was watching TV in the living room.

– On October 23rd, large crowds are expected to gather on Gwanghwamun Boulevard in Seoul. People are also taking to the streets at Times Square in New York and St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican to pray for Person123’s success…

My sister watched the news and said, “Should we all go out too?”

My mother stopped her. “No. It’s dangerous with so many people. Let’s just pray at home.”

True, who knows what kind of chaos would erupt—especially if I were to fail with so many people gathered. My sister looked at me as I drank water and said, “Oppa, why are you going on another trip instead of just staying home?”

“Because I want to.”

“Just make sure you pray properly while you’re there, seriously.”

If it’s a prayer for me, I do it every day. Please let me survive that treacherous Tower.

Like every year, I was going on a trip two days before the 20-day deadline. I would have one last refresh, steel my mind, and then challenge the 4th Floor.

– The Government will proceed with the protocols for Unclimbed Climbers starting November 10th…

Another news report came on. It was about the Unclimbed Climbers. I had challenged the 1st Floor with about 3 hours left on the clock. So, the date they would die this time wasn’t exactly a 1-year interval, but when there were 3 hours more than that left. Not much difference, though.

The Government paid out large sums of consolation money to the unregistered Climbers. That money was also compensation for agreeing to enter the Tower themselves or be cremated without leaving a corpse after dying via legal euthanasia. It was unknown whether those who died beforehand would also turn into Fallen Ones. And even with all those measures, no one knew where a Monster might pop up next.

It’s unavoidable, I suppose. Well, what’s the use of thinking about that now? I had my own Climb to worry about.

“I’m off.”

A few days passed, and the day of the trip arrived. Like an annual ritual, I hid my written will in my room and left the house with my backpack on.

***

October 22nd. Another year had already passed, and only one day remained until the fateful day Person123 would challenge the 4th Floor. It was a time when people were starting to find it hard to focus on work. Tomorrow, it would be decided once again whether the world would end or not.

“…Huh?”

“Eh?”

People walking the streets suddenly stopped and looked into the air. They stared at the message before their eyes in confusion. It was a message that appeared before everyone in the entire world, not just the Climbers.

***

Having traveled to Jeju Island, I spent the day having fun before returning to the hotel.

Only one day left. Tomorrow, I planned to climb the summit of Hallasan during the day. That would be the end of it. Then I’d return to the hotel and prepare for entry.

I was enjoying a relaxing break with a beer when it happened.

I froze with the beer still in my hand. I slowly set the can down and stared at the message floating before my eyes.

“…What?” What is this?