Chapter 81

Chapter 81.

There was one thing I had wondered about even while planning to clear the Tower.

The power I had obtained inside the Tower was stronger than that of every Hunter on Earth combined.

That was not a boast. It was simply a fact.

China’s Martial God, who had supposedly reached EX-rank through martial arts?

Sorry, but he could not even be compared to me.

Only after I had placed my clear of the 94th Floor “on hold” did the Tower appear in reality.

During that process, I had been forced to leave my power inside the Tower and return to reality.

Then, what would happen once I cleared the 94th Floor?

Would I be moved straight to the waiting room for the next floor, just as I had been when I first climbed the Tower, and begin attacking the 95th Floor?

Or would I be sent out into reality beyond the Tower like the other Hunters?

And most importantly…

What would happen to my power?

Now, I could finally resolve that long-standing question.

Once I cleared the 94th Floor, I would be sent outside like the other Hunters.

My power would remain inside the Tower.

I could not take it outside with me.

‘That makes sense, I suppose.’

Before the Tower had appeared—meaning before I had given up on the 94th Floor—I would likely have continued climbing the Tower by moving straight to the waiting room for the 95th Floor without going outside.

But I already had a record of putting my climb of the 94th Floor on hold once.

And because of that aftermath, had the Tower not appeared in reality?

The situation had changed from when I had been climbing the Tower as the First Climber.

Then.

Had climbing the Tower’s 94th Floor been no help to me at all?

Of course.

That was not the case either.

***

I returned to my room and logged into Lost Honor.

It had not even been that long ago, yet logging into the game on a PC felt like something from a very distant past.

DUN-DUN—

In the brief instant when the monitor lit up along with the grand background music for entry, a memory suddenly flashed through my mind.

It was the day I had first turned on the mysterious PC that had only Lost Honor installed on it.

When I first faced the login screen, what greeted me was not the usual ID or password input window.

[Q1. Describe the penalty for giving up on the Tower’s trial and temporarily suspending it, an act commonly known as “Pending.”]

The bizarre questions and answers that had followed beneath it.

Questions that ordinary people or those who had received the Blessing of the Tower would never know the answers to in their entire lives.

It was a cipher that only an extreme minority of people who had chosen “Pending” in the Tower and been expelled like me could see through.

Only after I had perfectly passed those security conditions that resembled past exam questions had I finally obtained the right to play this game.

As far as I remembered, fourteen people had climbed the Tower.

Among them, how many Awakening Failures existed across the whole world?

Considering that most of them had likely “failed” rather than gone “pending”…

There could not be more than five.

That meant this game had been created for that tiny handful of people.

‘When I first encountered this game, I thought it was just a simulator made by some developer obsessed with settings, since it had the exact same patterns as the Demonic Beasts in the Tower.’

But after clearing the 94th Floor and looking back, the puzzle pieces fit together.

‘An Artifact designed so that only Awakening Failures, in other words, those who put the Tower’s trial on hold, can open it.’

That was probably the true identity of Lost Honor.

DING.

The moment my expectation ripened into certainty, a new system window appeared in the very center of the monitor.

[A portion of your lost power has been recovered]

“As expected, it recognizes me.”

I knew this would happen.

FLASH—!

My vision shifted.

It was a familiar landscape, the Corridor of Constellations.

But the place where I stood was different.

I was floating in midair with the corridor beneath my feet.

[…Assessing aptitude…]

TA-DA—!

Along with a clamorous fanfare, notification windows filled the screen.

[All sword aptitude conditions have been fulfilled]

[All spear aptitude conditions have been fulfilled]

[All blunt weapon/axe aptitude conditions have been fulfilled]

[All shield/guardian aptitude conditions have been fulfilled]

[All martial combat aptitude conditions have been fulfilled]

[All bow aptitude conditions have been fulfilled]

[All assassination aptitude conditions have been fulfilled]

“Now that is a fine sight.”

Exactly seven.

Among the fourteen total categories that existed in Lost Honor, it was the half that corresponded to martial power.

The judgment had been made that I possessed aptitude for all of them.

For a moment, the faces of the Hunters I had used as Possession targets flashed through my mind.

Even Lee A-un, whose talent had been coveted by an Outer God, had initially possessed only “partial” aptitude for black magic.

In fact, only after I had gone through the work of supplementing his insufficient aptitude with an Outer God’s buff and cursed items had I been able to unlock “Pinnacle: Deathlord.”

But what about me?

Without any groundwork at all, purely through the realm I had achieved in the Tower, I had simultaneously broken through seven categories.

FLASH!

At the same time as golden light burst forth, seven Pinnacle classes were unlocked all at once.

[Pinnacle: Sword Saint]

[Pinnacle: Spear Saint]

[Pinnacle: Destroyer]

[Pinnacle: Aegis]

[Pinnacle: Battle Saint]

[Pinnacle: Divine Archer]

[Pinnacle: Shadow King]

“This is who I am.”

This was why I had not even considered Hunters like the Martial God or Jin Cheon-jin as candidates for Possession Tickets.

No matter how outstanding they were by Earth’s standards, they were inferior substitutes for me.

[Crossroads of Fate]

[The Scales of the Tower look down upon you…]

“Hm?”

Crossroads of Fate? Why was this appearing now?

It was something like a choice quest commonly seen in games.

And among them, it was an extremely important choice that would have a tremendous impact on the game’s ending.

FLASH! A set of scales as tall as a person appeared before my eyes.

The left pan of the scale contained the seven stars I had just seen.

[1. Unlock 7 Pinnacle Classes] (Existing)

A choice appeared above it.

‘If I choose this, it means all the classes will be unlocked as usual.’

Was there any need to choose anything else?

I looked to the right.

‘…!’

There, my beloved sword, Star Severance, had been placed in a tiny miniature size.

[2. Accumulate Contribution Points to take “Star Severance” outside the Tower] (New)

“Haa.”

My breath caught in my throat.

Star Severance was my other self.

It was a sword into which an enormous amount of effort and resources had been invested, enough that I could call it that.

Taking this outside?

It was no exaggeration to say that I would enter a state where there was nothing I could not cut.

Even as an Awakening Failure with Synchronization turned off, as long as I succeeded in stabbing someone with the blade, I would possess killing power capable of slaying anyone.

That was not all.

Star Severance was the only weapon capable of containing all of my abilities, and at the same time…

Even on its own, it was a fraudulent item with specs beyond those of a Genesis-rank item.

That meant I could expect a meaningful increase in specs even while synchronized.

‘The problem is whether choosing Star Severance means I have to give up all the Pinnacle classes I went through the trouble of unlocking.’

When I carefully pressed the choice on the right, my concern was resolved.

[Select the Contribution Points to offer]

[1. Sword Saint Unlock] □

[2. Spear Saint Unlock] □

(…)

[7. Shadow King Unlock] □

[※ Deferred classes will not be permanently lost, and each time you clear the next floor, you may choose again between unlocking them or converting them into Contribution Points]

“Aha?”

If this was not a choice where I had to permanently give up one of the two, then I could choose comfortably.

Seven unlocked classes appeared before my eyes, with checkboxes next to them.

It likely meant that a checked class would have its unlock canceled and converted into “Contribution Points” instead.

‘Which should I choose?’

I pondered for a moment.

What would be best?

The situation facing the Republic of Korea.

The path I had to take from now on.

The expected problems and obstacles…

For a moment, my head grew dizzy from the worries sprouting up like bamboo shoots after rain.

“I have decided.”

I made up my mind.

Most problems…

Were bound to crumple before overwhelming power.

Therefore.

This was my choice.

TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP.

I pressed six checkboxes in a row and clicked confirm.

[Pinnacle: Sword Saint has been unlocked]

[A bright light seeps into “Star Severance”]

As for the rest, I could unlock them when necessary while climbing the Tower, or simply use them as Contribution Points for Star Severance.

“Excellent.”

***

Next was the quest window.

“I cleared the Tower’s 94th Floor, so are you not giving me an Epic Quest or anything?”

Surprisingly, the Epic Quest was quiet this time.

Before this, when the Frost Dragon, Scathach, or Resonar appeared, it had readily thrown me quests like “prevent destruction,” and had handed me generous rewards as well…

But during this Unlimited Wave, there had been no sign of that at all.

‘Was the two-hour limit too harsh even for the developer?’

Though it would certainly be strange to give me a quest for something that had already passed.

“But giving me nothing is a little much, is it not?”

Clearing the Tower’s 94th Floor was not an ordinary problem either.

I had completely resolved the core issue that had been pushing the Republic of Korea into the crisis of destruction.

“I trust you are not about to say some holy nonsense like, ‘Since the crisis of destruction is gone now, there is no quest!’”

I opened the quest window and glared at the screen with my arms crossed.

[Emergency Epic Quest]

[Saving the Republic of Korea from the Crisis of Destruction 5]

“Oh.”

The quest appeared with perfect timing.

“I believed in you.”

It is not as though you are only going to run this business for a day or two.

Behave yourself.

“But unfortunately for you, I already dealt with the Republic of Korea’s crisis of destruction.”

[Objective]

‘Obviously, the objective must be to clear the 94th Floor.’

But the moment I read the next line…

[Subjugate the fallen divinity “Firmament Devoured by Madness”]

“Huh?”

Did I see that wrong?

…Of course, I had not.

The incident that had clearly occurred in reality was an infinite monster wave.

It had not been the descent of the Fallen God “Firmament.”

[The quest objective has been updated]

[Subjugate the fallen divinity “Firmament Devoured by Madness”] (Canceled)

“Canceled?”

The quest update continued before I even had time to be flustered.

[Subjugate the Unlimited Monster Wave]

“How am I supposed to subjugate something you sent out so it would not be blocked? That does not make sense, developer.”

Was it even reasonable to tell me to wipe out a wave that would not end until I cleared the 94th Floor?

Just as I was feeling dumbfounded…

[Subjugate the Unlimited Monster Wave] (Canceled)

A second strikethrough line was drawn.

[Clear the Republic of Korea Tower’s 94th Floor] (Achieved)

The final updated quest objective was exactly what I had expected.

“Mm.”

Normally, the quest window displayed only two lines.

[Objective] and [Description].

But now…

It had been plastered over with strikethroughs until it looked like a ragged mess.

Was this a mistake by Lost Honor?

‘…There is no way.’

Lost Honor did not make such “human” mistakes.

I had to assume there was intent behind it.

Then what intent was hidden in this ragged mess?

‘No way.’

Had it waited for me to log into Lost Honor…

And shown me events that had already passed as though they were “mistakes”?

If so, this meant only one thing.

‘It is showing me.’

The boss that had originally been scheduled to appear.

If that really had been the fallen divinity “Firmament”…

“You insane bastards in the Tower.”

They were out of their minds.

A divinity was an existence humans could never harm, no matter what they did.

Its rank was quite literally different.

Between humans and gods, there was an absolute difference in rank that could not be crossed through ordinary methods.

Just as a game character could not attack a real human.

It was a difference on the level of existing in an entirely different dimension.

Only the extremely few means designed to deal with divinities could land effective blows on a divinity.

Such means?

They did not exist on Earth.

Even I, now able to bring in several Pinnacle classes, was helpless against a divinity.

‘I would need to be able to synchronize with Nebula’s Void Knight later, or at least bring my sword, Star Severance, out of the Tower.’

It was truly a despair-inducing level of difficulty.

‘So something like that was originally scheduled to appear, but it changed…’

Considering they had tried to send out such a thing as a boss, there was no way the Tower had anything like a conscience.

It seemed there had been some other condition that prevented it from sending out a divinity.

‘The golden letters.’

I had one guess.

The golden, burning letters I had seen during the Resonar strategy, and when I cleared the “sacrificial lamb” gimmick on the 94th Floor.

That mysterious Transcendent had looked upon my strategy favorably and acknowledged it.

At present, I could not think of anything other than that being’s intervention.

A chill ran down the back of my neck.

‘Before I could even step forward to challenge the Tower or whatever else, my spirit might have broken and I might have accepted destruction.’

[Reward]

In any case, this was what mattered.

[Sub Quest Complete]

[Reality: Additional Sub Quest Reward Granted]

[Possession Ticket]

“Mm?”

Additional Sub Quest Reward Granted.

I remembered seeing this before.

When I awakened Lee A-un to EX-rank, I had received the “Party” function along with this notification.

‘After that, a completion window with a blank quest name and objective appeared before my eyes in reality.’

FLASH!

[Sub Quest: “ ”]

[Quest Objective: “ ”]

‘Same as before.’

[“ ” has been achieved!]

[Quest Reward]

[Aggro Radar]

‘Aggro Radar?’

It was not a function that existed in Lost Honor.

But it was not an unfamiliar function.

It had existed in online games I used to enjoy before the world ended up in this state.

To summarize, Aggro referred to a monster’s hostility.

When one said they were “drawing aggro,” it referred to the act of a Tanker drawing a monster’s hostility toward himself to protect allies from danger.

If it was an Aggro Radar, then it was likely a function that allowed me to tell which monsters held hostility toward me and which did not.

‘It was given not to Nebula, but to the real me, Ha Seong-un.’

This made one thing clear.

Rewards related to Synchronization were granted by Lost Honor itself.

Rewards for the real “Ha Seong-un” were granted through the detour of Sub Quests.

It operated on two tracks.

And that was not the end of the rewards.

[Hidden Quest: No-Death Clear]

“Right. There should be a Hidden Quest.”

I received the Tower’s own Hidden Quest reward.

And I received Lost Honor’s Hidden Quest reward.

It was truly killing two birds with one stone.

[Reward]

[Reality: Additional Sub Quest Reward Granted]

[Possession Ticket]

[Possession Ticket] (new!)

[Possession Ticket] (new!)

[Possession Ticket] (new!)

“Huh.”

The Hidden Quest reward was… extremely straightforward.

Three additional Possession Tickets.

“Hmm…”

I could not shake the thought: why now?

I looked back on the rewards that had been given for resolving Epic Quests until now.

After making Han Seol-ah EX-rank, I had obtained Synchronization.

Thanks to that, I had been able to come this far.

I had protected the Republic of Korea and cleared up to the 94th Floor.

After obtaining the Compendium, I confirmed that Lee A-un’s Potential Ability was EX, and thanks to that, I was able to use Lee A-un effectively in the following Resonar Subjugation Battle.

In this way, the rewards from Epic Quests had become the keys that allowed me to overcome the obstacles that followed.

In other words, I could also look at the reward and infer the nature of the next obstacle.

‘Something is going to happen that requires me to use Possession a lot?’

For now, that was the best way to think of it.

‘It is not bad.’

Possession Tickets were precious.

I could tell from the cases of Han Seol-ah, Lee A-un, and Kim Cheol-su, who had experienced Possession.

A Hunter who experienced Possession grew stronger by surpassing their limits.

At the same time, I could become stronger as synchronized classes were unlocked.

Because the supply had been stingy, only one ticket per cleared quest, I had to use them sparingly…

Now it felt as though I could finally breathe.

Although I had not been able to use it at the time, I had once received “Possession Enhancement” as a reward when I awakened Lee A-un to EX-rank.

Existing Possession Tickets had troublesome conditions: I had to write down the affiliated country, Hunter rank, alias, and real name without omission, and I could only possess Hunters from the same country.

I expected that if “Possession” was enhanced, these conditions would be eased, but I had not yet experienced it firsthand.

‘Then who should I…’

RING-RING—!

Just as I was about to sink into thought.

‘Hm?’

Min Ji-hee contacted me.

[Apostle, there is an urgent matter I must report.]

[The United States and other great powers have begun pressuring us under the pretext of a Tower High-Floor Farming Alliance.]

BEEP—! BEEP-BEEP—!

Along with a sharp warning sound, a red notification appeared in the air.

[Massive hostility toward you has been detected]

“Oho…”

The radar that appeared in the corner of my vision flashed red and detected the locations of the entities.

Beyond the Pacific, on a distant continent.

And in the middle of the West Sea.

The presence of those baring their teeth at me and the Republic of Korea was clearly marked on the map.

“Look at these bastards…”

After I had gone through hell to clear the 94th Floor, the packs of jackals who caught the scent thought this was an easy honey pot and were trying to stick their spoons in?

I toyed with the fingertips that tingled with the sharp edge of the “Sword Saint” I had just synchronized with, and grinned.

“Come at me, all of you.”