Chapter 14

Chapter 14

[Command Monster Summon Ticket and Special Ability Reset Elixir X2 have been issued.]

These were the results that came out of [Golden Goblin’s Treasure Chest].

First, I knew very well what the Special Ability Reset Elixir was.

I had already received one as a reward before.

With this, I could use Instant Kill twice.

No.

Once Instant Kill’s cooldown fully passed, that made three times.

Even if three of the Imugis I fought before appeared, I could fight and win easily.

Just looking at it made me feel reassured.

Honestly, I had thought I would never be able to get one again.

Special Ability Reset Elixirs were difficult to obtain, and even if you tried to make one yourself, the recipe was so absurdly bizarre that crafting one was practically impossible.

In terms of acquisition difficulty alone, it was harder than clearing the game.

‘It definitely makes sense for one to appear from the Golden Goblin’s Treasure Chest.’

I was lucky.

More importantly.

There was something else that caught my attention.

‘Command Monster Summon Ticket?’

I had never heard of it in my life.

Since it was not in my knowledge, it seemed like an item that had not existed in the game either.

Considering it had appeared from the treasure chest, it was at least worth as much as the Special Ability Reset Elixir, or possibly even more.

[Command Monster Summon Ticket]

-You can summon a monster under your Command outside the Tower.

Oh, then did that mean I could summon Poing outside the Tower too?

Monsters did appear on Earth.

Gangseo-gu had been turned into ruins by the monsters that appeared en masse during the incident, after all.

However, that was slightly different.

Because it had happened due to the Dungeon Synchronization phenomenon.

There had been no way for Poing, who was inside the Tower, to come outside.

At least, that had been the common sense I knew until just now.

But now, a method has appeared.

It had not been long since I got to know Poing.

Still, maybe camaraderie really existed.

While climbing from the 2nd Floor to the 8th Floor, I had grown attached to it in that short time.

It had bothered me a little to leave Poing behind and exit the Tower, so this worked out well.

Meanwhile, Poing, who did not know that fact, tilted its head as if puzzled.

‘Should I reveal it later?’

Surprising it with a surprise might not be bad either.

“Ha-jin, what’s wrong? Is that a good thing? You’ve been grinning since earlier.”

“Who knows. I’ll tell you later.”

“Tch, tell me too! I’m curious!”

Poing puffed out its cheeks and stuck out its lips.

Because its cheeks were so plump, it looked just like pudding.

I chuckled at that sight and pressed its head down firmly.

Since I was going to make it a surprise, it was too early to say.

There had to be some fun in surprising it.

So I changed the subject.

“We’ve rested enough. Should we start going to the 9th Floor?”

“Yeah! Good!”

As expected, nothing beat Tower climbing for changing the subject.

After six floors in a row, it was time to challenge seven consecutive Tower floors.

Honestly, six floors in a row might be common, but if it was seven floors at once, then even if it was not a world record, would it not be enough to set a record in our country?

My heart was already pounding at the thought of going outside and checking.

I was not even hoping for the news.

It was not as if I had done anything that amazing.

I would be satisfied if I was mentioned casually in the community.

***

[You have cleared the 9th Floor.]

[Reading total subjugation score.]

[You have been selected as the MVP.]

Immediately after smoothly climbing the 9th Floor with Poing.

I left the Tower right away.

When I came out of the Tower, a cramped room of about five pyeong greeted me.

At first, it felt completely unfamiliar.

But after living here for a while, it felt like home.

Whirrrr—After turning on the air conditioner, I took water out of the fridge.

Ah, that was cold.

‘Well, is there any special news?’

After the last Dungeon Synchronization incident, Gangseo-gu had become ruins.

With a single Synchronization phenomenon, a towering forest of buildings had turned into a plain.

Dungeon Synchronizations happened from time to time.

However, this was the first time this had happened in Seoul, the heart of the Republic of Korea.

So, until I entered the Tower, various government departments and guilds had been arguing over who was responsible.

A fair amount of time had passed after I entered the Tower.

I was trying to check whether there had been any progress, but—

Pffft!

The moment I turned on the news, I sprayed water from my mouth.

“W-what is this?”

[Breaking News] “Pingkkyu Gyongdyu brought the entire world to its knees.” — 7 consecutive MVPs + Tower world record, the whole world is shocked!

[Breaking News] “This is K-Class!” Pingkkyu Gyongdyu writes myth-like history with 7 consecutive MVPs…

What the hell? Just what was going on?

Cold sweat ran down my back.

I threw my phone aside and immediately turned on the TV.

“The Tower is shaking because of a single person, Pingkkyu Gyongdyu! Overseas rankers? What does it matter if they are famous? Our country possesses Pingkkyu Gyongdyu.”

Click.

“Seven consecutive MVPs, the highest record in the world… We are now witnessing the moment the Taegeukgi is planted at the peak of history. Everyone! This is all thanks to Pingkkyu Gyongdyu’s achievements!”

Click.

“Pingkkyu Gyongdyu is still an unknown figure who has yet to reveal his identity. Can you estimate who he might be?”

“Well? Perhaps he is a rookie who received unprecedented support from a large guild, or perhaps he is the successor of one of the Seven Stars….”

Fuck…

Was I having a nightmare?

Something unbelievable had happened.

No matter which channel I switched to, everyone was talking about me.

Even religious channels, including Christian, Catholic, Buddhist channels, and educational broadcasts.

A grand religious unification that had never happened even once in the twenty-first century had occurred.

And it was over my dark history, of all things.

‘At least the media is better.’

On NewTube, where individuals ran channels, it was a full-blown disaster party.

Praise that made my face burn just from hearing it was running rampant.

Everyone had gone insane.

No, maybe the world’s common sense had gone wrong.

How could someone say the name Pingkkyu Gyongdyu with a solemn, serious expression?

Just hearing it made goosebumps rise all over my body.

This made no sense.

That was shocking in its own way.

But there was something even more shocking.

‘No one has ever climbed seven Tower floors in a row until now?’

Was that possible?

The higher one climbed in the Tower, the more the difficulty skyrocketed.

However, the lower floors were climbable in their own way.

At least, I had thought so.

But not a single Chosen in the entire world had a record like that?

To be honest, it was shocking.

Climbing ten floors in a row was something I had often done whenever I was bored.

Just thinking about it made me dizzy.

What would have happened if I had seriously decided to climb ten floors in a row?

The feat of setting a world record did not stop at the news.

[A message has arrived from the Republic of Korea Crisis Response Committee.]

[A message has arrived from K-Shinhwa Alliance….]

[A message has arrived from the Murim Public Enemy Guild….]

………….

……..

….

..

[A total of 215 messages have arrived.]

Just in case, I checked the messenger.

A gasp came out on its own.

Last time, there were around eighty.

Now, there were more than twice as many.

It was nice to receive attention.

But this had gone too far.

I had only imagined being passed around as a meme on the community and making it onto the popular posts.

Just as my mind was beginning to grow faint from the overwhelming amount of attention.

Ding!

A notification sound came from my phone.

[Delinquency Notice: The current principal and interest balance of the loan held by you, dear customer, is 454,847,000 won, and this month’s interest amount is 2,321,300 won. Please make your payment.]

“Ah.”

For a moment, it felt as though I had escaped a dream and returned to reality.

Right.

I had been drunk on this unrealistic situation and had briefly forgotten.

Pingkkyu Gyongdyu might be a world star basking in the spotlight, but the human Sung Ha-jin was a debtor saddled with an enormous debt of 450 million won.

Even the room I was staying in was not a house under my name, but a company rental dormitory.

“This is insane.”

The most urgent problem was the due date for the loan interest.

I had to pay it within two days.

Right now, the money left in my account was only 200,000 won, which I had saved to use for meals while climbing the Tower.

Where was I supposed to get more than two million won right away?

My head was already aching.

It was then.

Ring, ring!

My phone rang.

I thought I had set an alarm, but that was not it. It was a call.

The number was unknown.

‘I shouldn’t have anyone calling me.’

Was it a collection call?

Maybe it was.

It did not seem like it would stop ringing, so I answered for now.

Click.

-Hey, you bastard, Sung Ha-jin! Where the hell are you wandering around?!

The moment I answered, a roar like he had swallowed a train’s smokestack blasted through.

“Who are you?”

-What? Who? Who, you say? You bastard, I’m your team leader! Do you know today is the dungeon exploration day or not? Are you out of your mind? You do want to keep making money, don’t you?!

Team leader?

Come to think of it.

Sung Ha-jin, the original owner of this body, did have a job despite seeming to live such a hopeless life.

He was a porter affiliated with Eunhye Co., Ltd., and that was why this house was also a rental dormitory belonging to the company.

When I quietly checked the calendar, there was a mark saying it was dungeon exploration day.

This was definitely my mistake.

I was at fault for failing to check it.

-Hey! You know that with one word from me, you’ll never set foot in this industry again, right? Get your head on straight. Tch, this is why trash who aren’t even Chosen are no good. What kind of confidence do you have, strutting around with one self-defense Wand?

But.

Separate from my mistake.

This had clearly crossed the line.

-And last time, I told you to write up the paperwork for the exploration I went on and submit it, didn’t I? Ha-jin, you know I’m busy. You’re resting because you don’t have work right now, aren’t you? Can’t you even do this one thing for me?

What followed was even more ridiculous.

I could feel it. This bastard might be even worse than he looked.

Because this was a routine I had heard many times before.

It started with, ‘These opportunities come to you because I look after you. You should be grateful.’

Then, if results appeared, they acted as if all of it were their achievement.

I had suffered this kind of gaslighting plenty of times, so I could see right through it.

-Is this for me? It’s all for the team. If our team does well and I get promoted, you’ll get incentives too. You need money to pay off your debt, don’t you?

Sure enough, the exact routine I knew played out through the phone.

-Anyway, come quickly to the address I sent you. There are two hours left until entry. You handle the bags and equipment. I usually do it, but… you’re good at those chores. The person who is good at it should do it. Who else but you would do it on-site? It would be wrong to make a precious Chosen use their hands, wouldn’t it? Then I’m counting on you.

The call ended there.

Nausea surged up.

If I had been the porter Sung Ha-jin, I would have had no choice but to endure it even while knowing it was unfair.

Because of his debt, he had no source of income and no house.

And if he tried to look into another industry, there were few jobs as good as a porter, where life-risk allowances were added.

So even if he had wanted to ram into them head-on, it would have been realistically impossible.

Because the team leader knew that situation, he was acting like such a complete bastard.

‘But you see.’

I did not endure things.

Living while only being on the receiving end did not suit my temperament.

When I lifted my head, one messenger caught my eye.

[Contract offer from the Republic of Korea Crisis Response Committee.]

The dark history I had wanted to hide.

Perhaps this time, it might help me.