Chapter 15: Veterans of the Tower (2)

The clinking of ice in coffee continued as introductions were exchanged. The man with the bald head in the game turned out to be Lee Tae-min, a student majoring in mechanical engineering at Korea University. ‘What the heck? So after playing games so much in high school, he got into Korea University?’ One of the most challenging universities to enter where most study for at least 10 hours a day? This guy is really something, in many ways. ‘Let’s see, what kind of ability did this smart engineering student obtain?’

Jin-hyuk activated his ‘Eyes of Truth’ with a flick of his tongue.

Name: Lee Tae-min

Gender: Male

Age: 23

Level: 11

Strength: 13

Agility: 15

Stamina: 16

Magic Power: 21

Owned Stat Points: 0

Owned Coins: 2,500

Job: None

Unique Ability: Machine Monarch (機械君主)

Skills: Lv2 ‘Sandbox Mode’, Lv2 ‘Command’, Lv2 ‘Hacking’

‘As expected, he got this.’ Jin-hyuk’s eyes narrowed. Machine Monarch, a unique ability that’s specialized more for warfare than one-on-one combat. In the past trials within the tower, Lee Tae-min, or should I say Baldie, enjoyed wide-area mobbing using this ability. His offensive and defensive stats were both solid. Aside from the high magic consumption, it was an ability with little to fault. Now, what’s next…

Jin-hyuk’s gaze shifted to the side, where the face of the woman who was once known as ‘Nuclear Fist of Bulkwang-dong’ appeared. Her real name was Yu Yeon-hwa. He didn’t realize who she belonged to upon first hearing her name. But as the introductions continued, he came to understand who she was. Yu Cheon-young, the living legend of martial arts who astonished the world with her perfectly adapted Taekwondo skills. Yu Yeon-hwa was the granddaughter of this very person. ‘And the grandchild most cherished above all.’

In the trials of the tower, she had single-handedly pummeled giants over 7 meters tall with her bare hands. Seeing her in person, this all suddenly made sense – the blood of Yu Cheon-young flowed through her veins. Once again, Jin-hyuk activated his ‘Eyes of Truth’.

Name: Yu Yeon-hwa

Gender: Female

Age: 25

Level: 12

Strength: 25

Agility: 22

Stamina: 17

Magic Power: 5

Owned Stat Points: 0

Owned Coins: 4,775

Job: None

Unique Ability: Extreme Taekwondo (劇震跆拳道)

Skills: Lv3 ‘Taechung Hwarang Mind Method’ (太淸花郞心法), Lv2 ‘Frontline Retreat Refusal’ (臨戰無退), Lv2 ‘Magic Power Enhancement’

‘This is quite interesting.’ She’s a close-combat tank and dealer. Her unique ability and skill set suitably reflect her nickname ‘Nuclear Fist of Bulkwang-dong’. Allowing for their similar levels, these two must have hunted together. Given that they had great synergy in the past.

[Copying Conditions: These two have been working together for a long time. When the three of you reach the 20th floor of the tower, you may copy the abilities of players Lee Tae-min and Yu Yeon-hwa.]

After reading the copying conditions, Jin-hyuk nodded. The abilities of the top-notch players among the veterans can’t be copied easily. ‘This might be challenging for a while.’ But it didn’t matter. The three of them gathered here would reach the 20th floor one way or another.

At that moment, “Brother, what are you doing? It’s your turn.”

Lee Tae-min, sitting across from him, tilted his head. Since he didn’t know about the ‘Eyes of Truth,’ he found Jin-hyuk’s head-nodding at thin air to be odd.

“My name is Kang Jin-hyuk. I’m 27 years old, and I used to be a BJ on Paprika TV.”

“Whoa! You were a BJ, bro? I used to watch Paprika occasionally! Were you a gamer? Mukbang streamer? Oh, with your looks, maybe you were a facecam streamer.”

Lee Tae-min smiled as he approached, bright and cheerful. Although they had interacted online, today was their first real-life meeting. However, there was not a trace of wariness about him.

“Yeah, I’ve quit now though.”

“Just talk casually, bro. We’ve known each other for more than a day or two in the game, haven’t we?”

“Right, that actually makes it easier for us too.”

Yu Yeon-hwa chimed in as well. Both of them were anything but ordinary in terms of sociability.

‘I thought my sociability wasn’t bad either, considering my time spent as a BJ.’ Or maybe it’s because I’ve been surrounded by backstabbers the whole time, I’ve become more wary. Weighing benefits, and without hesitation, plunging a knife into the neck when needed – it was a tough month that had seemed all too normal.

“Comrades, huh… It’s a word I haven’t heard in a long while.”

Grinning faintly, Jin-hyuk nodded.

“Sure, we’ll go casual.”

***

After the initial awkwardness had faded, the three of them moved to a new place. Jin-hyuk had strongly suggested it. The fragrant coffee was fine, but… Somehow, there were many other things he preferred to eat.

The place they found was famous for its grilled pork belly and soybean paste stew. On seeing the perfectly grilled thick slices of meat and stew filled with tofu, tears nearly filled his eyes.

‘It’s totally different from moss and mushrooms.’

In novels, returnees who spent hundreds or even thousands of years in different worlds often cried over Korean food. But in reality, it doesn’t take that long. After only a month in the countryside eating just grass, one would sell their soul for just a Choco Pie; it’s human nature.

He suddenly remembered his time in the training center. Memories of Sundays when religions changed over a Choco Pie or a Mon Cher. Ah! Speaking of which…

Another craving came to mind.

“How about we pick up some ice cream down at Baskin-Robbins for dessert?”

“Ice cream, yes!”

“Stay here, brother and sister. I’ll go get it. But, what flavors do you want?”

Lee Tae-min was about to stand up when Jin-hyuk immediately responded without hesitation.

“Mint chocolate.”

Both of them made faces.

“Ew, that toothpaste-flavored ice cream?”

“Bro, that flavor really divides opinion. It feels like you’re brushing your teeth while you eat it.”

These kids… Failing to appreciate the fresh mint with the sweet chocolate. It’s one thing to not know much, but this cannot be overlooked.

“Don’t ever insult mint chocolate again.”

Mint chocolate aficionados support it as solidly as concrete.

***

While eating, Jin-hyuk learned about the events of the past month from the two. About the formation of various guilds and the conflict over resources of the tower, the policies of different nations and trends related to coins, and so on. All were critical pieces of information none could afford to miss.

“As you may know, brother, the guilds from [Trial of the Tower] mostly reassembled,” Lee Tae-min said as he flicked his fingers lightly.

Then,

Woong!

[Lee Tae-min has activated Lv2 ‘Sandbox Mode’.]

Seven patterns appeared in the air, all symbols he’d seen before. ‘Titan’ from the U.S., ‘Olympus’ from Europe, ‘Zhonghua’ from China, ‘Samurai’ from Japan, ‘Gandara’ from India, and Korea’s ‘Dangun’ and ‘Fight Daddy’. Symbols of the guilds that represented the world.

Yu Yeon-hwa nodded slightly as she looked at the symbols.

“Everyone probably knows this. It’s beneficial for the existing members to monopolize the information,” she said.

That’s right. At least the players in those guilds weren’t fools; they wouldn’t casually take new members or release high-level information they knew.

“How about the BJs? There must be freelancers gathering coins?”

Jin-hyuk’s question caused Lee Tae-min to darken slightly.

“Yes. Mostly famous figures using their fame to squeeze out views from their audience, and this is just a rumor, but there seems to be an attempt to start a coin farm. A group called ‘Mine,’ they’re causing quite a stir in the news lately.”

“Madness.”

“Right. It would be a life sentence if they’re caught.”

Coin farm—a facility forcing specific people to watch certain videos continuously to extract views. This was not an issue when NPCs took over in previous games, but now, it was different. If people were forced into a factory and made to generate coins, the government wouldn’t remain silent.

Yet Jin-hyuk felt like Lee Tae-min’s words weren’t entirely rumors.

The world had changed. The usual standards had fallen.

One must not use the past to judge the future. With that in mind, a warning seemed necessary. Those two should know about him as well.

“You two might be less likely to get involved if you stick together, but I’ll mention it just in case.” Jin-hyuk slowly began, “About a month ago, I encountered the Swordsman.”

Both reacted in unison.

“What!?”

“That leech?”

Both were quite expressive; the other customers in the restaurant even turned to look.

Calm down a little. People are staring.

However, they disregarded this, continuing their barrage of questions.

“Where, where was this?”

“Brother, did that person immediately draw a sword even in reality?”

Swordsman. A ranker notorious for relentless swordsmanship and even using barriers. He was someone they’d occasionally encountered in the [Trial of the Tower], always attacking first without a word—a real loose cannon.

However, he was always taken down mercilessly to the point he couldn’t dare to challenge them again. He must’ve been killed more than a hundred times, right?

Ordinarily, one would give up, but the problem was his bizarre fixation with them…

‘Actually, with me.’

It wasn’t a joke; he was so persistent that he stalked me even while I was eating or sleeping, even pouncing when I went to the bathroom. Naturally, I was frustrated.

“I didn’t come face to face with him. By the time I got there, he had disappeared from the National Museum of Korea after snatching a ‘Qianlong Iron Sword’.”

“So he also aimed for a replica… Wait a sec. Does that mean you were at the museum too, brother? That place was a living hell!”

“I don’t know how you thought to go there, brother. You really have nerves of steel.”

“I had something I needed to take care of. Anyway, be careful. At a glance, they may not recognize you, but if they see your unique abilities or skills, they’ll catch on immediately.”

Carrying over abilities from the past had its downsides. On one hand, they were familiar; on the other, they were as good as a fingerprint for identifying a player.

“Thank you for telling us.”

“Phew, we have to be careful. Not like it’s not scary for us two…”

Lee Tae-min and Yu Yeon-hwa exhaled softly, seemingly recalling atrocious memories from the past. It seemed like enough information had been exchanged, so…

“How about wrapping up here for today and start heading out?” Jin-hyuk pushed his chair back.

Every minute and second were precious. Eating and drinking seemed sufficient for now.

“Already?”

“It’s already 9 PM.”

Starting tomorrow, they’d have to climb the tower again. Plus, he truly craved a hot bath and a good night’s sleep in a proper bed after a month-long absence.

The two stood up reluctantly.

“But brother, didn’t you say you were away for a month?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, haven’t you taken the test?”

“Test?”

What test?

The expression on Jin-hyuk’s face caused both to give a predictable ‘I-knew-it’ look.

“Well, from the second floor and upward, there was a spike in deaths, so the association of awakened individuals decided only people who passed a test can go up.”

“It’s done with a kind of identification code, like this.”

Yu Yeon-hwa showed him her wrist, where a barcode-like tattoo faintly resided.

Oh, look at that?

So, they decided they didn’t want just anyone going up. In other words, a good approach to reduce the test’s intimidation.

Loss reduction as the ostensible reason.

What a noble cause—what could possibly be more honorable?

But at the core, the true reason is more complex. The test is about one thing: singling out the hidden powerhouses.

‘More specifically, to pull those powerhouses onto their side.’

He suddenly remembered the day the Trials of the Tower first appeared.

‘What was his name? Han Sang-jin? The man who introduced himself as the president of the Association of the Awakened?’

The shallow attempt to gather awakened players through the TV was unforgettable.

“Where do you take this test?”

Given the situation, this might be a good opportunity to see how much he had grown.

No, it was exactly what he was looking for.

Thump! Thump!

Jin-hyuk’s heart began beating faster with anticipation.

The system created by the Association of the Awakened.

He could use it to his advantage.

‘In my favor.’