Throb!
A vicious hangover pounded behind Jin-hyuk's eyes.
"Ugh…"
Holding his temples, he dragged himself out of bed. His throat burned with thirst, so he opened the fridge and chugged an entire 1-liter bottle of ice water.
As the cold flowed down his throat, his foggy mind cleared.
"Haa… I might live."
The ramen from last night had been spicy enough to kill him, but that wasn't important now.
'First, I need to edit and upload the 50th-floor first-clear video before someone else does.'
He hadn't seen another player past the 20th floor, so the chances were practically zero…
Still, human nature trusted nothing.
Click.
Jin-hyuk turned on his computer, planning to put on some background music while editing.
But then—
"Uh?"
A Viewtuber he watched often was live-streaming something.
'The Tower of Trials Becomes Reality! With…'
A dramatic clickbait title… but the shocking part was the 300,000+ live viewers.
Something big had happened.
Jin-hyuk's heartbeat quickened.
Pound! Pound!
He clicked the video.
Click!
Audio blasted into his ears.
[Wow! Bro! Do you see that? Everyone is watching this, right?!]
The streamer was shouting hysterically.
A tower appeared on screen—in the middle of Seoul.
The sight was unmistakable.
[User 'Melon Flavored Watermelon' just reported this tower looks exactly like the one from the VR game Tower of Trials, released 11 years ago! Can you believe this? Uh? Wait!]
The streamer suddenly raised a hand, and the camera view shifted… turning the whole sky red.
It wasn't sunset.The sun didn't set at 10 AM.
'No…'
Jin-hyuk swallowed.
He recognized this omen.
It was the same phenomenon that appeared when he first launched [Tower of Trials] years ago.
[The first update of the reboot version of 'Tower of Trials' has been completed.]
Reality and the game were merging.
The sky outside his window turned red—exactly like the stream.
Then—
A blue status window flickered into existence before his eyes.
It had begun.
[All players, conquer the next level of the Tower within 90 days.][If you fail, humanity will perish.]
The world humanity once knew…dissolved in an instant.
His mind felt like a computer crashing from overload. But Jin-hyuk forced himself to breathe.
"Phew… phew…"
If Tower of Trials had become reality, then freezing up now was suicide.
'I need to move. Now.'
He shot up from his chair so fast it fell over behind him.
He didn't stop.
He had to go.
Outside.
To the place where he could get the item.
He bolted out of his apartment and sprinted down the stairs, lungs burning.
But strangely—
His chest felt warm.
It had been so long since he'd run toward a goal, not on some treadmill.
After several minutes of sprinting, he arrived at the city center—now filled with panicking crowds.
"W-What's the fastest train to Busan?!""Forget Busan! I'm leaving Korea—anywhere abroad!""The towers appeared all over the world! Where are you gonna run?!""Anywhere but Seoul! I've seen enough disaster movies to know how this goes!"
Chaos everywhere.
Everyone wanted to flee.
'Yeah… fear of the unknown.'
A natural instinct.But in crisis, opportunity always hid in the cracks.
Now was not the time to run.
It was the time to advance.
'This spot was one of the designated "Outside the Tower" zones on the Korean server.'
Across South Korea, there were about 30 such spots.
This one was simply the closest.
He walked to the large underground shopping plaza and took the escalator down.
[Entering event area.]
It was eerily quiet.
A giant tower had appeared. The sky was red. Humanity was on a 90-day countdown to extinction.
No wonder all the shops were empty.
Except…
Not everyone was gone.
"…"
"…"
Dozens of people stood around the fountain. All silent. All serious.
Players.
People who at least played the early floors of the game.
They didn't need to speak.Everyone knew why the others were here.
Items would spawn soon.
But only five.
Meanwhile, over 20 people waited.
Simple economics—too little supply, too much demand.
Then—
"You… you're Kang Jin-hyuk, right?"
A familiar voice.
Jin-hyuk turned and saw a tall, yellow-haired man.
Lee Jong-soo.
Of all people.
"Haha! It is you. Even the guy who lives in front of his computer came running!"
Lee Jong-soo walked up grinning.
He was a Paprika TV partner BJ.500,000 Viewtube subscribers.Insta-famous. Good looks. Popular.
And worst of all—
'He's the CEO of the company I'm contracted under.'
"Shouldn't you be broadcasting right now?" Jin-hyuk asked calmly.
"In this situation? No way."
"What situation?"
"Don't pretend you don't know. You were hardcore in this game. So? How far did you get? Don't hide info—we're colleagues after all."
Colleagues.
That word irritated him more than the hangover.
This trash once—
'Scammed tons of BJs with predatory contracts.'
Promised editors and funding.Stole 60% of earnings.And when people resisted?
Nothing.
He had Korea's biggest law firm backing him.
Good people suffered.He thrived.
"Since you're good at games, how about a better contract? I'll treat you well."
He patted Jin-hyuk's shoulder.
Disgusting.
"...Lee Jong-soo."
"Hey! You can't call your CEO by name!"
Ah, right. He was the CEO.
In this world, bad people floated to the top.
To avoid becoming a victim, you had to become worse than them.
"If you're the CEO, then act like one. Then I'll call you CEO."
"What?"
Jong-soo's expression twisted.
"You don't remember? You gave your business card to that female BJ, she refused, and you kicked her while she cried? Caused a whole scene?"
Jong-soo's face stiffened.
"And after that, you stalked her. Found her address. Police warning. How shameful. If it were me, I'd die from embarrassment."
"Y-You insane?! I'll bury you! You'll never stream again—!"
He grabbed Jin-hyuk's collar.
"I retired yesterday."
And—
"Don't be rude, you little bastard. I'm older."
Crack!
Jin-hyuk headbutted him.
"Kuak!"
Jong-soo stumbled back, a tooth flying out.
'God, that felt good.'
Ten years of pent-up frustration evaporated instantly.
But no time to celebrate.
'It's about to appear.'
Kukukuku!
The water in the fountain swirled violently.
Puak!
A massive 4-meter mangrove tree erupted upward.
'Finally.'
"Ohhhh!""The Mangrove!""I knew this was the spot!"
Notifications blinked.
['Mangrove of Greed' has appeared.][One fruit can only be consumed by one person.]
Four glowing fruits hung from the branches.Each one boosted Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Magic.
Amazing items.
But…
Only four.
And 24 people.
'Pretty intense…'
Stats in the early game were priceless.
"M-Mine!""No! It's mine!""Kuaaak!"
Everyone lunged at the tree, climbing, pushing, grabbing.
Chaos erupted.
"I-I'm late!"
Lee Jong-soo panicked.
He watched others already swallowing the fruits.
"It'll be a win-win if you share half with me! Split it!"
No response from Jin-hyuk.
He wasn't here for the fruits.
'Not yet.'
Casual players only knew about the fruits.
Veterans knew something else.
A greater reward.
Finally—
The last fruit was eaten.
The tree began to tremble.
Kiiiiik!
Everyone froze.
Then—
"R-Right! Eating all the fruits triggers the boss!""Damn it! I forgot!""Ack! Run! I died 50 times here!"
People ran for their lives.
Level 1 players couldn't beat this tree.
"Um…"
Even Jong-soo started backing away.
"Giving up already?"
Jin-hyuk asked.
"O-Of course! Anyone knows you die here instantly."
"That so? Too bad. The real reward only appears now."
Jong-soo stopped.
"Is… is that true?"
"If it wasn't, would I still be here?"
Jong-soo hesitated.
Jin-hyuk clearly wasn't interested in the fruits.This explained why.
It made sense.
"Assuming it's true… what do we do?"
"Dig into it."
Jin-hyuk pointed.
"We approach from the sides. If we go alone, we die."
"You want to divide its attention."
"Exactly."
Everyone else fled.
Only the two of them remained.
"Don't hesitate. If either of us falters, we die."
Jin-hyuk crouched to the right.
"No worries. I played this game a bit too."
Jong-soo crouched left.
"Now!"
Jin-hyuk dashed.
The tree turned toward him.
But—
Jong-soo stayed still, grinning.
"Idiot. You think I'd help you? Be a nice decoy for me."
He sprinted toward the tree alone.
Jin-hyuk smirked.
'Good. He hasn't changed at all.'
If Jong-soo had behaved differently, that would've been confusing.
Then—
KWAANG!
A massive hidden tree trunk burst out of the fountain.