Chapter 10
The attention surrounding Han Geon-woo died quickly.
What? One of the Awakened just got Locked.
There had been eyewitness testimony.
But more importantly, the Association had applied a Lock to one of the people Awakened that day.
That meant the Awakened had joined the Association.
Go ahead and receive your inspection. We'll talk afterward.
In the end, Han Geon-woo reluctantly went through the inspection.
His lie was immediately exposed.
Only then did the scouts side with the Cheonha Guild employees.
You're blacklisted! No guild will ever take you!
As expected, their interest transformed into anger.
Han Geon-woo was placed on the blacklist.
Cheonha ruthlessly expelled him and cursed him, promising to make his Tower climbing life as difficult as possible.
"Damn it. I'm finished..."
Han Geon-woo deeply regretted what he'd done.
His sense of betrayal toward Cheonha and hope of joining Horus had pushed him past the point of no return.
Now the only person he could rely on was the bastard who had made the proposal in the first place.
But for some reason, no matter how long he waited, that bastard never appeared.
"Son of a bitch. I swear I won't let you get away with this."
Han Geon-woo remembered his face perfectly.
If he couldn't crush him with strength, then he would curse him so thoroughly that nothing in the bastard's life ever went right.
Bzzz.
At that moment, his smartphone vibrated.
The caller wasn't saved in his contacts.
"Those guild bastards?"
They said they'd blacklist him.
Now they wanted to harass him over the phone too?
Fine.
Bring it on, you fucking bastards.
Perhaps because he'd been drinking, Han Geon-woo's confidence surged.
He answered aggressively.
"Fuck! Who are you?!"
[It's me.]
"How the hell am I supposed to know who 'me' is?"
[Horus.]
That single word instantly sobered him.
Han Geon-woo hurriedly readjusted his grip on the phone.
"H-Hold on, are you...?"
[Yeah. The guy who killed you.]
He remembered Seong-un taking his number and saying he would contact him later.
Han Geon-woo's eyes reddened.
"I thought you'd stabbed me in the back..."
So the bastard did have some loyalty.
[I did.]
Fuck.
He took that back.
Heat immediately rushed into Han Geon-woo's head.
"You want to die? You actually admit it?"
[I asked around, and apparently you made such a huge mess that you've been blacklisted.]
"That's all because I did what you told me to!"
[You should've used a little common sense.]
"Shut up! This is all because of you. Take responsibility."
[Yeah. Since you're blacklisted, Horus is canceled.]
"You fucking bastaaaard!"
Bam!
Unable to contain his rage, Han Geon-woo slammed his fist into the floor.
If he'd known this would happen, he would've never listened to that bastard.
Even if he left Cheonha, he still possessed Indomitable, a skill that could grow to A-rank.
He could've at least entered a mid-sized guild.
He'd been blinded by the name Horus.
[So I'm going to make you another offer.]
"Offer?"
[Join the guild I'm creating.]
"...Fuck. Your big offer is telling me to join some brand-new guild?"
Raising a new guild was like trying to pluck a star from the sky.
Established guilds had already secured nearly every piece of the market.
How could a new guild possibly squeeze itself in?
There were people who still managed to raise new guilds.
But every one of them had powerful backing.
[What if the Association is backing me?]
"What...?"
[Doesn't that change things?]
"Hah. You expect me to believe that?"
[Believe it or don't. That's up to you.]
"Do you think I'm an idiot? Why would the Association support someone who's establishing his own guild?"
[Because I'm different from everyone else.]
"...Are you serious?"
If that was true, wouldn't this be an opportunity that would never come again?
The person who had easily killed Han Geon-woo was being backed by the Association.
Even if the guild was newly established, it could grow extremely quickly.
[Why would I bother lying to you?]
Gulp.
With the Association's full backing, the idea really was possible.
"You're really okay with me? I tried to kill you."
That was what Han Geon-woo couldn't understand.
Why would Seong-un invite someone who had tried to kill him?
[You reminded me of someone.]
"Huh?"
Reminded him of someone?
What did that mean?
[So, what's your answer?]
"...I-If you're really okay with me, I want to join."
[Okay.]
"A-And one more thing."
[What?]
Han Geon-woo hesitated before speaking slowly.
"I'm sorry... Even if it was the Tutorial, I really did try to kill you."
First, he wanted to apologize for what he'd done.
Even though it was inside the Tutorial, he had genuinely intended to kill Seong-un.
All because he wanted to show off after obtaining Indomitable and joining a major guild like Cheonha.
[It's fine. You were such small fry that I never felt threatened anyway.]
Seong-un casually accepted the apology.
"I swear I'll never betray you."
[I like that loyal attitude. From now on, call me Hyung.]
"...How old are you?"
[Want to die?]
Cold sweat ran down Han Geon-woo's back.
Was it because Seong-un had already killed him once?
That question didn't sound like a joke at all.
The Association handled everything at incredible speed.
They assigned Seong-un a mid-level unit in a luxury apartment near the Association.
He didn't even need to move his belongings himself.
Association employees handled everything.
They also installed top-of-the-line appliances and furnished the apartment with everything he could possibly need.
"Whoa. This is insane..."
Unlike Seong-un, who sat on the sofa, his friend Seo Jae-pil was busy looking around the apartment interior.
Seong-un deliberately pretended not to understand.
"Why? Doesn't your guild give you things like this?"
"Hey, why would they give an apartment to some mediocre guy like me?"
"But it's Horus."
"Tch. They already spend hundreds of millions of won supporting me with items. They don't give me an apartment on top of that."
"That's a little disappointing."
Seong-un whistled and pulled out the sword he'd received from the Association.
===
[Asgard Sword]
-Type: Sword
-Rank: A
-Attack Power: 250
-Critical Rate: 2–2.5%
-Remaining Durability: 100%
-Special Ability (1): When hit, low chance to activate [Passive: Asgard's Benevolence]
-Special Ability (2): When attacking, low chance to activate [Active: Asgard's Wrath]
===
Support really is nice.
He hadn't even properly started climbing yet, but all his equipment and armor were already A-rank.
In his previous life, he had entered the first floor carrying the sword he'd received in the Tutorial.
Not choosing a weapon had provided bonus points during the Tutorial.
But from now on, equipment choice had no effect on evaluation.
In other words, using higher-rank weapons and armor wouldn't reduce his clear score.
"It's still a shame... Someone like you should've joined a guild instead of the Association."
After finishing his tour, Seo Jae-pil sat down on the sofa and openly showed his disappointment.
When Seong-un said he planned to climb alone, Jae-pil had wanted to convince him to join Horus somehow.
But Seong-un had chosen the Association instead.
"Forget the guild. More importantly, are you okay?"
"Huh?"
"You failed to clear the 13th Floor, right?"
"Haah... I'm so embarrassed I could die."
To put it simply, Seo Jae-pil had failed his attempt on Floor 13.
"You came back alive. What's embarrassing about that?"
"I went up completely prepared. And I still failed..."
"If it was Floor 13, you probably got stuck in the maze."
"Huh? How did you know?"
Floor 13.
Its maze was on a completely different scale from the one in the Tutorial.
The difficulty was enormous.
Its patterns also changed every time.
Even someone who had perfectly memorized the strategy guide could easily become stuck.
The real problem was that every wrong path triggered all kinds of traps.
If someone was unlucky, they could fail to escape one of those traps and lose their life.
Still, there was no need to despair merely because he'd failed.
Coming back alive meant he could challenge it again.
"That's where people usually get stuck."
"Haah... It makes me want to swear. I memorized every pattern."
"Just try again next time."
Seong-un himself had failed the 13th Floor sixteen times before barely reaching the 14th.
There was no reason to become depressed over a first failure.
"...More importantly, were you serious about putting that blacklisted guy in your guild?"
Only after returning from the Tower had Seo Jae-pil checked Seong-un's message.
At first, he'd been confused.
Once he heard the full story, concern naturally followed.
"Were you eavesdropping?"
"I wasn't trying to! I could just hear everything!"
When Seong-un narrowed his eyes and stared at him, Seo Jae-pil jumped from his seat and waved both hands.
"Fine, I'll believe you."
"I'm telling you, it's true! Anyway, are you serious?"
"Yeah."
At first, Seong-un had thought Han Geon-woo was simply an idiot.
The kind of person blinded by greed who constantly caused trouble.
But when Seong-un saw him at the Association, there had been desperation in his eyes.
That look reminded Seong-un of his old self.
It didn't seem to be simple greed.
There was probably some other reason behind it.
That was why Seong-un had used Horus as bait to test him.
The result was extremely satisfying.
As long as his desperation is satisfied, he'll do anything.
Seong-un decided there was no harm in bringing him in.
So Han Geon-woo became his choice for the guild's first member.
"You really do choose the hardest possible path."
"Tell me about it."
"Haah. Fine. Do whatever you want."
Seo Jae-pil sighed deeply and stood.
"Leaving already?"
"Yeah. Looks like you're finally going to start climbing. The distraction should get out of the way."
He'd come today to have a proper conversation with Seong-un after a long time.
He had no intention of repeatedly pushing Horus on someone who had already rejected guilds and joined the Association.
"Get home safely. And don't rush back into Floor 13 just because you failed."
"Wow. Am I seriously getting advice from a guy who hasn't even cleared Floor 1 yet? Hahaha!"
Seo Jae-pil burst into laughter with an absurd expression.
Seong-un silently wondered something as he watched him.
Once Seong-un started climbing, the entire world would begin shaking.
Would Jae-pil still be able to laugh this innocently then?
"You won't lose anything by listening."
"Fine. I'll remember your precious advice."
His friend was only just beginning to climb.
Still, nothing Seong-un said was wrong.
Climbing meant risking one's life.
Once impatience took over, judgment became clouded.
Eventually, one could cross a river from which there was no return.
Seo Jae-pil engraved Seong-un's advice into his heart and waved goodbye.
He told Seong-un to contact him anytime if he needed anything.
"Then... shall I finally begin?"
After Jae-pil left, Seong-un remained alone and equipped his gear.
[Would you like to enter Floor 1 of the Tower of Ruin?]
Entering the Tower was simple.
Unlike the Tutorial, where he had needed to wait for matchmaking, he could now enter whenever he wished.
[No party exists.]
[Would you really like to begin climbing? *Upon re-entry, your Evaluation Score will be reduced.]
The score reduction only applied to climbers who had never cleared the floor before.
Even if someone normally qualified for S-rank, the re-entry penalty could drop their result to A or B.
That meant climbers had to decide carefully.
"Begin."
Seong-un didn't hesitate for even a second.
[Entering Floor 1 of the Tower of Ruin.]
His vision turned black.
Less than 0.1 seconds later, it brightened again.
A landscape completely different from Seoul, South Korea stretched out before him.
Under his feet was a circular platform carved from blue-glowing stone.
Beyond it, small wooden huts were clustered together.
[You have entered the Village of Beginnings.]
This was Floor 1.
The Village of Beginnings.
Its theme was monster extermination, just like the Tutorial.
However, unlike the Tutorial or small Towers, there were steps he needed to complete first.
[Would you like to begin a Sponsorship Broadcast?]
Sponsorship Broadcast.
After clearing the Tutorial Tower, the Community had been unlocked.
This wasn't an ordinary online community.
It was a System accessible only by climbers.
Through it, climbers could watch broadcasts and even donate the Gold they possessed.
It could be considered a mechanism for helping later climbers.
But in reality, the climbers who gathered large audiences and swept up huge amounts of Gold were mostly members of the vanguard.
There was an obvious reason.
High-floor climbing, unusual lower-floor strategies, and other content capable of attracting attention were extremely difficult for latecomers to provide.
"Begin."
Of course, it wouldn't be difficult for Seong-un.
Once he showed a few impressive performances, people would naturally gather.
And Gold donations aren't the only benefit.
The Tower also distributed items and titles through broadcasts based on ranking.
Hidden opportunities existed among those rewards.
That was why climbers never ignored broadcasting.
Large guilds in particular actively promoted their members, making it dramatically easier for them to attract viewers.
All those advantages combined were another reason latecomers desperately tried to join guilds.
[Sponsorship Broadcast has begun.]
[Would you like to set a nickname?]
A nickname.
"Meteor."
Meteor.
That was the nickname Seong-un had used in his previous life.
There was no reason to think about it.
He simply chose the same one.
Perhaps because he was a latecomer, the broadcast currently had zero viewers.
He probably wouldn't gain a single viewer until the floor clear ended.
That had also happened in his previous life.
There was no reason to worry.
You couldn't fill your stomach with the first spoonful.
At least, that was what he'd thought.
-Hi.
As though they'd been waiting for him, one viewer immediately entered Seong-un's channel.
Their nickname was Unknown.
Unless the viewer directly donated, Seong-un couldn't see their actual nickname.
"Hello."
He genuinely hadn't expected anyone to enter.
There were far too many people.
Practically anyone could create a channel.
It was common for broadcasts to have zero viewers.
He hadn't expected much at all.
And yet someone had arrived.
-What? Why does this person look like a mannequin?
A mannequin.
The Association had used the Lock System to seal all of Seong-un's information.
Naturally, the viewer couldn't recognize his face either.
"Good question. I wonder why."
Pretending not to know, Seong-un walked away from the stone platform.
