Chapter 6: Information Sharing (Part 1)

The Nightmare Difficulty 1st Floor cleared with only 3 hours left until the apocalypse! Humanity saved from the brink!

I had been sleeping like the dead since yesterday afternoon and only woke up in the early hours of the morning. Out of habit, I started fiddling with my phone. Whether it was X-Tube news or portal site articles, everything was plastered with a single piece of news. I tossed my phone onto the pillow and stretched.

“Nghhh…”

I felt quite refreshed. It was only natural, considering I had just passed a major crisis. Even if it only meant prolonging our survival by a year… well, isn’t it a good thing that I get to live another year instead of dying yesterday? Hahaha. It was truly a day that made me realize the preciousness of life.

“Ha…”

Right, one year. Does this mean I have to challenge the 2nd floor too? To be honest, I felt it yesterday: this is something probably no one can clear. Nightmare Difficulty wasn’t designed for humans to beat. I only managed to clear it because my abilities were a perfect match and I had a stroke of luck.

‘No, but maybe the 1st floor is different now.’

Since I cleared it, the 1st floor is no longer an uncharted demonic realm with zero information. If I share the intel, won’t people start clearing it one by one? Once the information is out, people will prepare thoroughly based on it, and the number of challengers will increase. And if more people climb Nightmare Difficulty? Some other exceptional person might clear the 2nd and 3rd floors all the way up!

As long as they clear the 1st floor, they can level up and use skills. Then I won’t have to enter the Tower risking my life anymore. I could reclaim my peaceful daily life. I opened a feature I hadn’t checked yesterday.

“Communication Window.”

The Communication Window—a place where Climbers could talk to each other and create posts. In short, it was a community exclusive to Climbers. Since it was a reward for clearing the 1st floor, I suppose it’s only for those on the 2nd floor or higher.

A nickname. I fell into thought for a moment. Even when playing games, I’m the type who spends a long time just setting up a character’s name. This is taking unnecessarily long again. Let’s just pick something simple.

Once the nickname setup was finished, a window floated before my eyes.

Four windows divided by difficulty. The numbers next to them likely represented the number of Climbers who could access those windows. For Nightmare, it was just me.

I tried entering the Easy window. It seemed that while writing was restricted to your own difficulty, you could view other difficulties without limits.

Upon entering, the Easy window was further divided into several channels. It seemed each channel had a maximum capacity of a thousand people currently connected. I joined the channel with the most people. Everyone was talking about the Nightmare Floor 1 clear.

So this was the format. It was a forum where Climbers from all over the world could gather and talk. Everything appearing in Korean was likely due to the Tower’s real-time translation ability, which wasn’t particularly surprising. After all, the Tower’s messages appear in everyone’s respective languages anyway.

In any case, everyone seemed intensely interested in me.

‘An Unregistered Climber…’

Actually, in our country, it’s illegal for a Climber not to register. If I were to step forward now and report as a Climber, revealing to the state that I am the Nightmare Conqueror, what would happen?

There are advantages. A Climber who has cleared the 1st floor and awakened their status window can acquire skills and enter the Tower with items. Since all rewards from the Tower can be brought outside, not just Magic Stones but also Skill Stones and items are traded. If I informed the government, I could receive investment—Skill Stones, items, whatever.

But would that ever be free? Ultimately, it would mean I’d have to keep challenging the Nightmare Difficulty.

“That’s a bit much.”

I shook my head. Once I revealed myself, there would be no turning back. Besides, the weight of responsibility was too heavy. It’s not like I have some grand sense of mission. I only challenged the 1st floor because everyone else was dying and I was clutching at straws. If possible, I didn’t want to keep climbing the Tower. But if I revealed myself as the Nightmare Conqueror, regardless of my will, I would never be able to return to a normal life. Considering everything, it was better to remain unregistered.

The chat suddenly moved at high speed. I turned off the Communication Window. While I was browsing, day had broken. When I left my room, my father was watching TV in the living room and my mother was preparing breakfast in the kitchen.

“Good morning.”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. I think I was a bit tired yesterday.”

My father seemed to be in a good mood. The morning news was on the TV, and naturally, it was about the Nightmare clear.

“Sigh, I wonder what’s going to happen to this world…” My father clicked his tongue.

A world where humanity’s lifeline is extended by one year for every floor cleared in the Tower. It really had become an absurd world.

– Along with the clearing of the 1st floor across all difficulties, it is reported that new individuals have once again been called by the Tower. Similar to the Day of Upheaval a year ago, a total of 400,000 people have been summoned this time…

My father looked at the TV and asked, “Seohyun, you didn’t get called, did you?”

“Me? Of course not.”

“Right. Even if you ever become a Climber by some chance, you must never think about climbing the Tower.”

“Come on, Dad. Why would I? What’s the point of making a lot of money if you die? One slip-up and it’s over.”

I replied cheekily.

“Yes. That’s a relief then. Nothing in this world is more precious than a person’s life.”

I completely agree, Father. But well, things turned out like this. This was exactly why I could never tell my family. I knew exactly how much they would worry.

“Are you going to work today?”

“Of course. I’m the boss, I have to go.”

After breakfast, my father left for work and my younger sibling went to school, as classes weren’t canceled. The world almost ended yesterday, but it’s as if nothing happened. Truly a remarkable country.

“Seohyun, aren’t you going to school today?”

“I’m heading out at 1:00.”

I also had an afternoon lecture. I sat at the desk in my room and accessed the Communication Window again.

The Nightmare window, with only me in it, was empty and desolate. Before I left, I planned to post information about the Nightmare Floor 1. I desperately hoped that after reading this, Nightmare Conquerors would start appearing in droves.

‘…Is it a bit much to hope for that?’

To be honest, what I went through yesterday wasn’t fit for a human. But even if I don’t hope for it, people will challenge it anyway. The headcount increased this time too. I was just lucky. How could I shoulder this heavy burden alone? For the sake of the world not ending, more Nightmare Difficulty conquerors were absolutely necessary. This information was for them.

I began to write the post, organizing the contents in my head.

***

Following the clearing of the Nightmare Difficulty 1st Floor, the whole world was busy dealing with the fallout. The world didn’t end, but the fear of extinction people felt until the floor was cleared was no different from a pandemic. The financial markets were a mess, and since there were plenty of people causing a ruckus saying it was the end of the world, society was in total chaos. South Korea was actually in quite good shape.

But that was that; they had to prepare for what came next. The crisis of the apocalypse hadn’t vanished; it had merely been postponed by one year.

“We stood at a grave crossroads. Faced with the unknown threat of the Tower, the fate of humanity was like a candle in the wind, and everyone hoped for a miracle. And a miracle truly happened. As the President of the United States of America, I express my unspeakable gratitude and respect to the hero who succeeded in clearing the Nightmare Difficulty 1st Floor. Now, we see hope. One year is a long time. Our government will do its absolute best—more actively and more desperately than ever before—to conquer the Nightmare Difficulty so that such a situation never arises again.”

Meanwhile, everyone was searching frantically for the Climber who had cleared Nightmare Floor 1.

“Still no announcement?”

“What about China or India?”

“Everyone’s quiet. Is it really an Unregistered Climber?”

“I heard they logged into the Climber Communication Window. Is there any post?”

This was the only person who had conquered the 1st floor of Nightmare, which had been shrouded in mystery. That person was the front line of humanity’s hope. And the information on Nightmare Floor 1 that they held was of immeasurable value.

What if a specific country intended to keep the identity of the Nightmare Conqueror a secret? Or if they were an Unregistered Climber with no intention of revealing themselves? What if they planned to monopolize the information? Only a day had passed, but it was natural for everyone to be anxious.

And then, around noon.

“It… it’s up!”

“They just released the info on Nightmare Floor 1? For real?”

A post suddenly appeared in the empty Nightmare Communication Window.

Without any unnecessary small talk, the post began with that simple sentence.