[Internet Cafe.]
Kang Min sat in a dimly lit corner, the blue light of the monitor reflecting off his dark bangs.
In front of him sat a tray of steaming instant ramen, a couple of triangular kimbaps, and a tall cup of carbonated soda.
He picked up a kimbap, tore off the plastic wrap with his teeth, and took a massive bite.
*Munch... munch...
His eyes nearly rolled back in his head.
The salt, the processed rice, the artificial flavoring of the ham.
It was an explosion of chemicals that his tongue hadn't experienced in over a decade.
In the Tower, "dining" was a labor-intensive survival ritual.
'To eat a single monster corpse, I had to properly boil the meat overnight just to soften the chitinous fibers...'
Min thought as he chewed.
'Then, I had to leave it out in the sun for an entire day to let the mana-toxins evaporate.
Only after two days could you eat the meat without getting diseases or dying from immediate food poisoning.'
He took a slurp of the spicy ramen broth.
He was never the type to forage for herbs or roots.
He was a meat-eater through and through.
He lived on a diet of sun-dried monster corpses and stagnant water filtered through charcoal.
Compared to a piece of half-rotted, boiled lizard tail, this cheap convenience store food hit the spot better than he could have ever imagined.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and turned his attention to the screen.
His fingers, still feeling a bit clumsy on the mechanical keyboard, began to scroll through blogs and news sites.
Most of the top posts were about the Towers around the world, but specifically, the one here in Seoul.
He clicked on a wiki page titled
[The Cataclysm History].
The explanation was the same he remembered from the beginning.
On December 31st, 20XX, massive, impenetrable tower structures appeared simultaneously in every major city across the globe.
They manifested, tearing through skyscrapers and parks like they had always been there.
On January 1st of the following year, the "Notice" appeared.
Holographic screens floated in front of every human being on Earth.
[Conquer the Towers or humanity will perish.]
Panic turned into a desperate migration and people entered the towers.
By clearing floors and defeating monsters, they gained rewards; stats, abilities, and skills.
Out of that survival of the fittest, "Climbers," also known as "Players," were born.
Kang Min's eyes darkened as he read the date of the first entry.
Back then, he wasn't a player.
He had only decided to climb the Tower a few years after losing his family.
---
"I need a Player ID."
He muttered to himself.
The wiki was clear: without an ID, you couldn't legally enter the Tower, you couldn't trade in the player markets, and you certainly couldn't leave through the official gates without being flagged as a criminal or a stray.
But he had nothing.
He had briefly considered going to the police station, but he dismissed it immediately.
'If I waltz in there and say I'm Kang Min of so and so from...it'll just cause problems.'
After all he and his family were considered missing years back.
After five years of being missing in South Korea, the law assumes you are dead.
It had been thirteen years.
If he had "died" in the Tower in 2032 as he recalled, then statistically, he had died twice now. Once to the law after his family went missing and he went into the tower, and once to the Floor 666 Dragon.
He ruffled his hair, let out a frustrated groan, and took another bite of his kimbap.
'What should I do?'
He had no money.
Apart from his now empty inventory with no coins, he didn't even have a single SK Won in his pockets.
Only reason he was in an internet cafe and eating was because of a bizarre encounter a few hours ago.
***
Kang Min had been wandering through the subway station, trying to recognize the layout of Seoul.
He was standing near the stairs when he saw an old lady.
She was struggling with three massive, overflowing bags of groceries and a small cart that had a broken wheel.
Min wasn't trying to be a hero he was just annoyed by the clattering sound of the broken wheel.
He walked over and didn't say a word.
He just reached out his left hand and grabbed the heaviest bag.
The old lady gasped, clutching her chest.
"Oh my!"
Min hauled the bag up onto his shoulder and gripped the cart with his other hand, pulling it up the stairs with a single, violent heave.
The old lady followed him up the stairs, panting.
When they reached the top, Min slammed the bags down on a bench and turned to leave.
"Wait! Wait, young man!"
Min stopped.
She reached up, grabbed his face, and told him to lower his head.
"Lower your head, child!"
Min was so confused but he lowered his head.
The old lady immediately pinched both of his cheeks with her wrinkled fingers, pulling them hard.
"Thank you!
Oh, such good manners!
You must have been raised so well by your parents!"
She chirped, looking at him like he was her own grandson.
"Young people these days just walk past, but you... you have such a diligent, hardworking face!"
Min stood there, his cheeks being pinched, his brain short-circuiting.
The old lady dug into her purse and pulled out a wad of cash.
She pressed several thousand-won bills into his hand.
"Take this. Buy yourself something nice to eat.
A growing boy needs his strength!"
Min looked at the Won in his hand. It was enough to buy food for at least two days...three if he skipped lunch.
"I... I didn't..."
"No arguments! Go on now!"
She patted his arm and went on her way, leaving Min standing in the middle of a subway station, clutching 30,000 Won.
***
Kang Min sighed, clicking back to the main search page.
It was crazy how humans adapted.
'Back then when I decided to climb the tower and even years before during the Cataclysm when the towers descended those who went in never came out...
And as such more went in to know what happened.
People thought they abandoned their world and found better living conditions.
But seeing it all now after so many years the tower and the world have direct contact.'
And then there was the most absurd thing of all.
[The Constellation Stream].
Min clicked on a series of articles, his eyes narrowing as he read through the wikis.
The Constellation Stream was introduced to the players and the world thirteen years ago—right around the time he died.
While the system messages claimed it was created by "Higher Beings" to better the chances of humanity's survival, the reality was much more cynical.
It had become a source of entertainment.
The Constellation Stream was actually a sea of higher beings; Stars, Gods, and Myths.
Through the Towers, they brought "Sponsorship" to the players, giving them Coins and rare rewards.
Some players even became "Direct Disciples" of specific Constellations, gaining divine powers in exchange for providing high-quality entertainment.
Min grit his teeth together so hard they creaked.
The Tower had taken millions of lives.
And now, those "Higher Beings" had turned all that suffering into a show for their own amusement.
He saw a video on the sidebar of a man in a suit explaining the mechanics.
"The Constellation Stream actually syncs with Earth's internet infrastructure," the man said, smiling widely.
"This allows regular humans to watch the broadcasts on their phones while the Stars watch from above.
It has unified our world with the heavens. What a blessing!"
"Blessing my ass," Min growled.
He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling.
But then again it hit Kang Min that before all this he had wanted to become a streamer who broadcasted online games.
A memory came rushing to him.
***
"...You want to be a farmer?
That's ridiculous...how the hell do farmers even gain a way of living life...life on the farm seems so boring...."
"Well what do you want to do?"
"Streaming...when I get it right in life I'll become a full time pro player streamer for online games...dominating one game after the other..."
***
With that...the cataclysm tower took alot of things from his life...one of them being....a Streamer.
"..."
*Ding!
A notification sound popped up on the site he was browsing, snapping him back to the present.
The notification was for a "Live" happening on Nutube.
Min clicked it.
The screen filled with high-definition footage of a man with bright blonde hair and striking blue eyes.
He was swinging a sword, easily slicing through a swarm of One-Eyed Bats and small Dungeon Crawlers.
The caption read: [World's First Player to Clear Floor 19! LIVE!]
The blonde man turned to the floating camera, flashing a perfect, white-toothed smile.
Min looked at the chat.
It was moving so fast he could barely read the names.
---
[Top-Tier-Simp]: OP!!! HE'S SO COOL!
[DragonSlayer99]: Look at that sword work! Floor 19 is basically ours now!
[StarGazer]: Marry me, Oppa!
[NoobHunter]: Is he really soloing this? That's insane!
[CoinFarmer]: Sending 500 Coins! Keep going!
---
Min looked at the viewer count.
[113,000 Viewers].
Then, a series of special messages flashed across the top of the chat in gold.
[ 'CoinFarmer' has issued a Mission!]
[Mission: Clear the next room using only your left hand.]
[Reward: 10,000 Coins]
[The Constellation 'The Seeker of Bloodshed' has sponsored 30,000 Coins!]
[Comment: Show me more guts!]
The blonde player laughed, bowing to the camera.
"Thank you for the missions!
10,000 coins? Easy!
I'll show you why I'm the ranker of the new era!"
---
"All that for just small and easy missions?"
Min muttered.
His eyes scanned the screen again.
'World's First to Clear Floor 19?'
He opened another tab and scrolled through something that made his jaw dropped.
The furthest any human had climbed in the last thirteen years was the 19th Floor.
"How does that make sense?" Min whispered.
"What about the other players who went in all those years back....are there no records...I was sure humanity had cleared more than that..."
Then it hit him.
Even if most had fought and climbed that far...there was no way for the outside world to know...after all...no one could enter the tower and exit freely.
At the time not even devices such as phone worked in the tower.
'Was that the reason the Constellation Stream was introduced?'
It pained him to think about it.
"If I get a player ID and start streaming... I'm sure to take over faster than anyone else can or could."
He searched for the requirements to get a Player ID and a climbing permit.
He scrolled down to the 'Processing Fee' section.
$10,000,000$ SK Won.
Min stared at the number and his jaw stayed dropped for a full ten seconds.
"Greedy bastards."
"How is anyone supposed to acquire that much money? Especially those from the middle or lower class?"
He felt a wave of frustration.
"Even if I managed to scavenge the money for the ID and permit, I would need equipment if I'm going to start broadcasting."
'And as a player most of the coins go to even the basic stuff....so as coins go into your account they go out at the same time especially when in the tower.'
He needed a plan.
"I need a way I can get paid in Won to get a player ID Permit....get money to buy streaming equipment....and at the same time take a position where I'm not forced to spend coins while in the tower...while secretly hunting and clearing dungeons in the tower..."
"But what...?"
Suddenly, an ad popped up in the upper right corner of the screen.
---
[URGENT RECRUITMENT: POTTER NEEDED] Requirements: High physical endurance, discretion. Pay: 1,000,000 Won upfront / 5,000,000 Won upon completion of a 3-day expedition.
---
A slow, predatory smile spread across Min's face.
"Jackpot."