Chapter 133

Summon of the Tower (2)

The South Korean government announced a scheduled press conference to be held for the entire world to see.

- So suddenly at this time? What's going on?

It was only a few days after Hibiki and Nate were certified as SSS-Class by the International Hunter Association. The topics included unprecedented system messages recently encountered by the Awakened hunters across the globe and the future movement of the Celestial Dragon's ace guild members. The combination of the two most talked-about subjects made people draw an apparent imagination.

- What, could this be... - What else could it be? It was Seo Jin-Wook again! - So they're the selected users the system mentioned?! - Oh, my days, something unimaginable has been unraveled.

Some watched the briefing live with curiosity, others with excitement, and others with concern. The eyes of the whole world were on Korea. In the midst of it, the president's statement had begun.

"Guild Master Seo Jin-Wook of the Celestial Dragon Guild in Korea was recently 'selected' by the system as an excelling Awakened and has become qualified to challenge the ordeal for this world to proceed to the main quest."

The explanation continued after going through a sufficient adaptation. It was said that a month later, the Gate leading to the dungeon called "Tower of Choice" was to open, and only those who had undergone the ordeals with Seo Jin-Wook would be able to enter it. It had also been mentioned that after climbing the Tower all the way to the 100th floor, the path leading to the main quest would open. The reaction was intense.

- It's as if the system officially recognized that the best hunter on Earth is Seo Jin-Wook! - But isn't it unfair to take the two companions from Celestial Dragon as well? I acknowledge Seo Jin-Wook, but the other two could be picked from other countries. - It's inevitable that Seo Jin-Wook holds the ability to choose.

What was left was whether to support or oppose Seo Jin-Wook's challenge to the Tower. The South Korean government had already been negotiating with governments behind the shadows before declaring that to the world. Thus, most of the allies had already come to an understanding. They were expecting the civilization-reforming-grade items and its influence it would bring by entering the main quest. The support of the Perza species, the aliens at the Australian Gate, also contributed to the formation of such a positive atmosphere.

"I will take this opportunity to make public the correspondence of our ally, the Pezra species."

After following through several trades, Seo Jin-Wook sought the alien's understanding and began to take a step back. As he became busier and busier, he could not show up for every transaction. Instead, the alien requested that they send an agent that Seo Jin-Wook himself designated. In return, he dispatched a Celestial Dragon hunter. In a recent deal, the hunter accompanying the envoys asked the Pezra species' opinion regarding the Tower of Choice. They knew that they had summoned the Tower much earlier than Earth and that they were actively climbing it. To reply, the Pezra envoys told them that they were willing to send their official advice in the form of correspondence. The contents were as follows:

- New friends. Earthlings. I heard you were about to summon Tower of Choice. I would like to extend my sincere congratulations.

From the beginning, there was a hint of viewing the climb of the Tower as something positive.

- First of all, from the position of a species currently climbing the Tower, the system message hasn't revealed everything to you yet. If you climb more than half of the Tower, another fact will be revealed.

They let us know openly the truth that the system had slyly hidden.

- The hidden truth is that more Gates will open when you proceed to the main quest, and the protection device will also disappear.

It was a piece of information released in consideration of their neighbors who had established precious ties with them.

- Nevertheless, we are still climbing the Tower... and we advise our neighbors to do so as well in good faith.

The reason for the advice was simple. It was because they knew that the positive effect of encountering new quests and items was more significant than the risk of opening more Gates. Since they started the tutorial a long time ago, they had seen and heard enough examples of dimensions that went to the main quest before them. That's why they were able to say those words.

- Above all, your civilization that we had indirectly experienced... is determined to have the ability to overcome any form of turbulence, even if it is not to the point of perfect preparation.

The general public opinion also flowed in a similar direction. Of course, it was impossible to unify opinions around the world into one. The representative country that had called for the opposition was....

- The People's Republic of China is firmly against a portion of Korea's hunters' independent acts on quests that affect the entire world! The Korean government and Celestial Dragon should stop their arrogant, self-righteous, one-sided atrocities right now!

Of course, the trend had already leaned to one side, and only a handful of people listened. There was another reason for such an atmosphere to be made.

- According to the Pezra, it takes about ten years to climb the Tower anyway, right?

The internal structure of the Tower didn't merely require the hunters chosen by the system to kill monsters. It also involved solving troublesome tricks and puzzles that controlled the flow of Mana on each floor, and it was causing a lot of trouble for the Pezra. Therefore, people on Earth thought the choice to start climbing early wasn't wrong at all. There was a premise that they could travel between the Tower and the Earth with the returning stone anyway. Of course, everyone had no idea how short the whole process could be shortened if the hunter, who possessed the [The Successor's Eyes], were to climb the Tower.

*

A month later, somewhere in Korea... Government officials and some of the Celestial Dragon were gathered in a place that hadn't been disclosed to the public.

"Then, Guild Master Seo Jin-Wook, and the two of you as well. We wish you the best."

Opening the Gate that led to the Tower of Choice was decided to be held behind closed doors because they were worried about any possible interference from opposing factions.

- Shhh!

In my hand, I had a 'key' in the shape of a steering wheel that shone in gold.

[Summoning Key (Rank: System)] -Key given to an Awakened individual who has completed all of the 'Verification of Qualification' quest. It summons the Gate leading to the Tower of Choice.

It was similar to a one-person dungeon key prepared for the successor.

Whoong!

I turned the key clockwise with force and, I was able to observe how a golden vortex was created. A thousand emotions overwhelmed me.

'In my past life, they had summoned the Tower early, but they didn't care about climbing it or not. Not even the hunters who got the qualifications showed any interest.'

The difficulty of the Tower was so much higher than expected that the cost-effectiveness did not match. Rather than struggling to climb, exploring S-Class and SS-Class dungeons with similar difficulties to each of the Tower's floor was much more profitable, and the compensation items were also decent, so they only poked around the initial stages of the Tower and pulled out. No one also tried hard to climb the Tower, since by reaching the last 100th floor and they would only receive the option of 'entering the quest.' It was hard to judge the trade-off benefits. In the end, the SSS-Class dungeon collapsed in a state where we hadn't entered the main quest, and human civilization itself was destroyed. It was at that point that the Last Five stepped foot on the Tower.

'If we had started the main quest early and raised the level of civilization further... and if strengthened our power, would we have been able to overcome even the SSS-Class collapse?'

It was a meaningless imagination due Angelica.

-Woong!

"Well, we'll be right back."

Leaving behind those who watched us in silence, we crossed the Gate.

*

- You have entered the Tower of Choice!

In front of us, who crossed the golden Gate, a colossal Tower soared through the sky. It wasn't just the height that was enormous. It was also impossible to see how huge the perimeter was.

"Wow!"

Nate admired.

"That..."

Hibiki also sounded nervous.

"That's the Tower of choice, right? I never thought I'd see that."

The dragon murmured in an indifferent manner.

Goong!

As soon as we showed up, the crouching presence in front of the massive door on the first floor unraveled itself.

- Those who received the qualification to climb the Tower.

It's heavy telepathy. It was a metal golem. Its body was made of alien metal.

Rumblee!

Blue light filled its two eyes, each joint all over its body and its circuits.

- To enter the first floor, you must take me down first.

Slowly, as it raised its body, its height of more than 10 meters was boldly revealed.

'It looks grand, but in reality, its power that was turned off had simply been turned on.'

Behind its back was the door to enter the first floor of the Tower. From the center of the enormous Mana Core, like a blue fog, the Mana was transmitted through the atmosphere to become the source of the Golem's power.

"So that's the gatekeeper of the Tower, right?"

I had shared the Tower's structure and the appearing monster information with all of our party members, reasoning out that the information had been obtained from the alien species.

"As we've heard before, that Golem needs to be damaged throughout its body evenly. Otherwise, the damage will be self-repaired."

I thought of how hard we worked in the entrance in my past life. It made me recall the memory of the past—specifically, the climb before I was reborn as Seo Jin-Wook.

*

A scream as if to struggle...

"Nate, you retard! Can't you properly control those god damn skulls?"

Wielding the Scepter of Ishad, Hibiki yelled. She was the Great Wizard who lashed out profanities as always when the battle situation got worse.

"Hey! Stop doing that!"

As soon as she settled down and tried to pour down spells, the skeleton troops blocked her view, causing her irritation to explode. The same thing even happened twice. However, Nate concentrated on controlling the subordinates without turning his head. It was a thorough disregard for her.

"Damn it!"

The rune shone once more from her scepter. [Inferno (Rank: SSS)]! [Greater Thunderbolt (Rank: SSS)]!

Boosh! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Flames and lightning intertwined and covered the Golem. Behind the blazing heat, the gatekeeper, receiving the shock on its body, stumbled. However-

Weing!

Its body, as huge as a mountain, stepped back in an instant and escaped! None of our party members had the skills to fix that giant in one place. They had already used the SS-Rank constraint magic, but it's useless.

"Damn it, if only I had learned the SSS-Class Summon Mastery!"

Even I, who was looking at her through the body of 'Choi Seung-Hyun,' couldn't help but agree with her. We all had witnessed the magic chain summoned by the alien who obtained that card. It had indeed shown overwhelming restraining force. As far as I could judge using the [The Successor's Eyes], it's enough to tie that Golem up motionless. But before we could enter, we couldn't afford to prepare until that point.

Wee-ing!

The Golem's body glowed blue. The flow of its Mana was something only I could see. Hiding behind the skull troops summoned by Nate, I shouted. My old voice was scratched roughly.

"The Golem is starting to heal!"

Randy, with the devil's sword, charged onwards.

"Aaaaaah!"

Purple sword energy gushed out of his sword.

"I'll cover you!"

From behind, Angelica, the saint, blew an arrow of blue Mana. And-

Click, clack!

Nate's subordinates, with only their bones left as it had been a long time that he had acquired them and turned them into his possessions, tenaciously clang on. But then-

-Woong!!

Once again, the broken and charred metal body was restored.

Bam!

Randy rolled on the ground after being hit head-on by the Golem's violent writhe.

"K-argh!"

As he tried to charge again, he stopped and convulsed instead. Then he looked down at the devil's sword in his hand with a look full of hatred.

"Please... At least in times like this!"

It was a meaningless expression of emotion. Whenever Randy faced a crisis, the devil's word stuffed more vicious telepathy into his mind as if it had been waiting for that opportunity—aiming for a moment of mistake to lead to his death.

Whoooooo!

The Golem rushed in like a gust of wind. Someone yelled in desperation.

"I mean, how the hell are we supposed to get to the 100th floor if it's already this difficult when we're still at the entrance?!"

*

I escaped from my memory and focused on reality again.

'... Who was the last one to shout like that? Perhaps it would be Nate.'

I looked at Nate of the current timeline. His appearance from my memory was similar, but the expression in his eyes was entirely different. Recognizing the meaning of my gaze, he nodded.

"Are you ready?"

Only Nate and I could see the entity that answered to his words, but- Everyone could hear her telepathy.

- Do I recognize the presence in front of my eyes as an enemy and attack?

It was the operating system of the item that Nate owned, the [Imperial Protection Program]. A feminine-shaped form composed of Mana floated on top of his curly hair. Thanks to the months of education, artificial intelligence no longer poured out attacks without distinguishing between who was an enemy and who was an ally. It was the result of Nate's hard work.

"Yes, attack!"

There was a flash in the air above Nate. When the brilliant crack disappeared, a magnificent structure was summoned, floating in the air. The cannons immediately scattered lingering light at the muzzle.

"...?!"

Pa-pa-pat! Boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boom!

Accurately targeting the body of the 10-meter-high metal Golem, the large-calibered multi-round cannon poured out bullets of lights, all trying to destroy its prey. There were only a few bullets crossing the air and missing in vain, even though it was firing thousands of rounds per second. Like a highly-trained marksman, each shot stuck sharply on the outer skin of the Golem.

Whooong!

Over the wound as if ants had ripped it off, blue light fluttered. It was a clear sign that it was trying to regenerate from its wounds.

"I won't give you any chance. Battery!" "I told you not to call me that!"

Euclid rumbled and activated her skill.

[Mana Legacy]

As soon as the Mana transferral toward Nate began, he gave the spirit of the item another instruction.

"Draw Mana from me and use it right away!" - Performing as instructed.

That was an item that initially absorbed the owner's Mana bit by bit and charged it, and it would stop functioning when the Mana it had accumulated had been completely consumed. However, right at that moment, it had absorbed Nate's Mana as naturally as the water flowed. That was because it was convinced that such an act would not cause Mana exhaustion on the subject of protection. The dragon behind it was constantly refilling the Mana consumed by Nate like a fountain of rejuvenation, after all. As a result, for as long as the dragon's Mana Capacity hadn't been emptied yet, the magazine of the item was almost infinite!

Boo-boo-boo-boom!

Flames continued to spark, and light exploded all over the gatekeeper's body.

Paht!

It tried to escape with so much mobility that it no longer fit its gigantic body. The hailstorm of shells, which flew persistently and in great numbers, followed it inch by inch, never losing its mark.

Woooo!

Even when the Golem extended its hands and blocked the incoming barrages, the assault did not stop or falter. After all, we had observed that the gatekeeper's regeneration speed could not keep up with the momentum of the shells that gnawed at its body little by little. I wondered how many minutes it lasted before succumbing to its inevitable fate.

- The gatekeeper of the Tower has been defeated!

A massive chunk of metal was literally torn into shreds and turned into powder.

"Good!"

Compared to our attempt in my previous life, it was effortless.