March 21st, 2018. Incheon Airport.

Yeon-woo adjusted his clothes as he walked across the airport terminal.

A shaved head with a neatly arranged military uniform. A Korean flag shined brightly on his arm, indicating his belonging to a military contingent.

After organizing his backpack, he made a phone call.

*Click*

“Sergeant Cha reporting in from Korea.”

[Understood. Take it easy and try to comfort your parents while you are there.]

“Thank you.”

After expressing his gratitude, Yeon-woo ended the call and put his phone down.

Coming back from a three-year stay in Africa, he felt much warmer and peaceful in Korea than in Africa.

However, Yeon-woo’s mind was in distress.

With a cigarette in his mouth, he took out something from his pocket. It was a letter he received during his mission.

The word ‘Obituary’ was written on the letter. His younger brother had disappeared five years ago, and this obituary was now notifying him of his brother’s death.

* ?*? *

The funeral had ended.

His brother’s ashes were scattered at the sea in front of Taejongdae, his brother’s favorite place.

Yeon-woo hadn’t heard any news him during the last five years, but now he had returned to him inside a cold urn.

“This is what he was holding when the body was found.”

The person who discovered his brother’s body took out a small box.

Yeon-woo opened it with care. The box contained two things.

One was a faded photograph, and the other….

“…A pocket watch?”

In the photograph, his brother was in front of a shabby looking house, wearing some kind of medieval armor, next to some people with unusual appearances.

Was he filming a movie somewhere? He thought.

Yeon-woo had roamed around all sorts of places, but he had never seen anything like this.

“Uhm….”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

As Yeon-woo was unconsciously touching his brother’s figure in the photograph, the man’s interjection brought him back to his senses.

At the same time, a question came to his mind, but it wasn’t an appropriate place to ask it, so Yeon-woo only thanked the man and returned home.

* ?*? *

He quietly looked at the photograph in his room. In it, his brother was still smiling.

They were twins. Born with identical faces and features, and yet they were so different.

His brother was a model student, but weak and introverted. He enjoyed reading books and watching movies.

Yeon-woo, on the other hand, was very extroverted. He was also athletic, thus he applied both to PE as a major, and to the military academy.

People around them were surprised by how different they could be.

Nonetheless, the two of them had always stuck together.

The little brother would hold onto his scatterbrained brother and teach him how to study, and the older brother would tell his brother lying in bed, about how fun and exciting things were outside, several times a day. Both of them were so devoted to one another.

But then, with only one day before the CSAT, his younger brother had disappeared.

And so many things had changed since then.

His mother, who was originally suffering from a chronic disease, had passed away. After searching for his brother for over two years to no avail, Yeon-woo had given up on everything. He enlisted in the military as a non-commissioned officer, volunteered himself to be dispatched to Africa and left Korea.

It was at that time that he became less of an extrovert and grew to be more cynical.

From that point on, contact with Korea had naturally been cut off. He thought he would never return to Korea, ever again.

But now, five years later, his brother had returned to him as an obituary letter.

“….”

At first, he had been mad at his brother, who disappeared without a word and now had become like this. The first thing that had come to his mind was that his brother was so self-indulgent.

But as the funeral began, he started to feel empty, as if his soul was being torn apart. And by the time he had scattered his brother’s ashes in Taejongdae, his heart had been bursting at the seams.

He wanted to ask what had happened to his brother, what had he been doing, and why did he have to return like this.

But his brother in the photograph did not say a word. Just like how he hadn’t said anything during the past five years.

“Ha….”

Yeon-woo put the photograph down and checked on the pocket watch.

It was worn out and badly thumbed, as if it were more than a hundred years old.

Only ‘XII’, the roman numeral for 12, and the hour hand was left of the watch, and it was not working. He took it to a jeweler to repair, but the only answer he got was that it was too rusty to fix.

‘This is the present that I gave my brother back then.’

When they were 19 years old, the year they became third graders in high school, the brothers gave each other a present on their birthday. The younger brother gave him a book for him to study, and Yeon-woo gave his brother a pocket watch to wish him luck on his CSAT.

This was that pocket watch.

Yeon-woo grabbed the pocket watch, it slipped and clung perfectly into his palm. It was just the right size.

‘I knew it.’

He remembered how he wandered around every jeweler, looking for a pocket watch that would perfectly fit in one hand.

Then Yeon-woo flipped the watch over, and on the backside saw a name written in cursive on one corner.

J. W. CAH

“Whoa! I really needed a watch. Thanks bro. Compared to a digital watch, this is way cooler.”

“Puhaha! How is it? Your big brother’s got a nice fashion sense.

“But what is this written on here? Looks like J. W. is my name, but CAH? *pft*”

“Hmm? That’s our family name, ‘Cha’.”

“How is this ‘Cha’? It’s spelled CHA!”

“What? Dammit! Give it to me.”

“Why?”

“I’m gonna talk to the guy from the jeweler to fix it.”

“It’s OK, don’t bother. I’ll take it. From now on, I’ll just write CAH whenever I write my name.”

Then, the younger brother confidently put the pocket watch into his pocket.

After that, the younger brother proudly wrote ‘CAH’ as his name when he went to apply for a passport.

At that time, Yeon-woo had felt both sorry and grateful at the same time.

Yeon-woo chuckled as he recalled his past memory.

While he was running his hand over the pocket watch, he pressed on a knob by accident.

*Click*

‘Huh?’

Wasn’t it broken? He thought.

The knob slid inside the watch.

Then suddenly….

*Tic* *Tac*

The hour hand that seemed to be stopped started to run.

To my older brother who will listen to this sometime in the future.

A familiar voice was heard inside his head.

“…!”

Yeon-woo subconsciously sprang up to his feet.

It was a voice he hadn’t heard in five years. It was a voice he thought he would never hear again. It was his brother’s voice.

*Thump* *Thump*

His heart started to pound like crazy.

By the time you hear this, I guess I will be already dead.

It was not a hallucination.

Yeon-woo checked if there was a recorder inside the pocket watch, but it was nowhere to be found.

The voice was clearly ringing inside his head.

How is this possible? He thought.

I am sorry. Everyone had a hard time because of me, didn’t you? I just wanted to find a medicine for mom. I thought I could return home soon, but time had gone by too quickly.

“What?”

It was at this moment when his eyes got strained.

*Whoosh*

Suddenly, in front of his eyes, a flood of his brother’s memories passed by like a panorama.

It, was a diary.

* ?*? *

Oct 9th, 2013.

A strange text message arrived on my phone. It said it will fulfill whatever I wish for. Nothing else was written in it, only buttons to decide whether I want to join or not.

Normally, I would have ignored the message, but I couldn’t help thinking about mom in the hospital looking more and more haggard everyday.

So I pressed the ‘yes’ button just in case my mom would be cured.

Nothing had changed.

I felt very hollow. In the end, it was just a prank.

But from that day on, I started having a strange dream.

It was a dream about climbing what seemed like an infinitely tall, 99-story tower.

Oct 12th, 2013.

It was definitely not a dream!

Everything was clear. It was a real world.

A world where not only different races like elves and dwarves, but also monsters like orcs, trolls and dragons exist, and a world where several universes and dimensions intersect in one place.

The tower is sitting in the middle, waiting for people from all over the world to climb it. The moment when a person breaks through the ninety ninth floor, he or she will become a god, or that’s what I heard someone saying.

People pointed at the tower and called it,

The Tower of the Sun God,

Obelisk.

But that doesn’t mean a thing to me. Instead, the only thing that matters is that somewhere in this tower exists an elixir that can cure all diseases, the Panacea.

With that in my hand, I could save mom from her illness.

Oct 28th, 2013

I was able to team up with some like-minded friends and started climbing up the tower.

Still, it wasn’t easy at all.

We had to kill all sorts of monsters, and each and every time we faced mortal dangers. This place, it may look like a game, but it’s not. It’s reality. If you die, everything is over.

But my teammates and I are talented. Back in reality, my far-from-well body always caused worries for my family, but in this world, through runes I was able to see the light.

We were told that we were the first team to ever break through the first ten floors within four days.

Since then, I began to seriously consider.

I would not be able to live both my life in the real world and in the tower at the same time.

Nov 9th, 2013

I made up my mind.

I tried explaining to my brother about this place. But whenever I faced him, the words wouldn’t come out of my mouth. Do I say, ‘there’s a world named The Tower, and I’m trying to salvage some medicine in there’?

But my brother, even though he looks gruff on the outside, he has such a warm heart on the inside. What would he say? I bet he would volunteer to take my place instead.

That cannot happen.

So in the end, I decided to leave home. They will be looking for me, but it will only take about half a year.

I’m sure I can find the elixir by that time. And just like that, I disconnected myself from the real world.

Dec 1st, 2013

My teammates and I named ourselves ‘Arthia’.

Arthia is the best in every single way, both in teamwork, and in individual skills. We are at the top of our game.

We then rapidly broke through several floors, and there is no one in the tower who doesn’t know our name.

I might be able to get a hold of the Elixir much faster than I thought.

······

Sep 7th, 2014

Our climbing speed has slowed down. I thought I would only need half a year, but now I might need one more year.

Nov 11th, 2014

We had a fight with some high ranking clans who regards us as an eyesore. We now have more obstacles to overcome.

······

Feb 31st, 2015

Negotiations have broken down.

A war has begun.

······

Jul 2nd, 2015

The alliance of clans we fought against has just collapsed.

Arthia, which originally started with only twelve people, has now grown into one of the ten largest clans, all of our teammates have become high rankers.

And I, Arthia’s leader, have risen up to ninth place. It is said that I’m the fastest ranker to ever get into the top ten.

However, I can’t just stand here and celebrate.

Because of the war, we haven’t had time to find the elixir. We need to pick up our speed and climb the tower.

······

Mar 4th, 2016

I’ve found someone I love.

······

Sep 19th, 2016

Another war has begun.

An enmity between Arthia who wants to climb higher and other high ranking clans who want to maintain the status quo has arisen. I’ve been trying my best to persuade them, but it isn’t easy.

To make matters worse, some of our teammates agree with their ideas. They just can’t voice out their opinions because they are worried.

Even though I was fully aware of this, I pressed on our clan to continue climbing up the tower, so we couldn’t avoid conflicts.

But even now, time keeps flowing.

I feel like I’m going crazy.

······

Jan 2nd, 2017

Arthia is now ranked in fifth place. However, the war hasn’t ended yet, and everyone is too tired.

······

Jun 6th, 2017

We found a traitor in our clan.

We were able to kill him before he could rise up, but it was enough to cause a rift amongst our teammates. Everyone has started to distrust one another.

Our members are leaving the clan one by one.

Jul 1st, 2017

My body feels heavier.

I have been poisoned.

Oct 30th, 2017

Half of our members have already left the clan. We keep on losing battles, and now we don’t dare to climb to higher floors. I tried asking all around to look for the elixir, but I couldn’t obtain any kind of information about it.

And my body is slowly breaking down.

Nov 1st, 2017

The person I loved left me with a dagger stabbed into my heart.

I was barely able to block it with my skill, but I was unable to continue suppressing the poison. My body is starting to rot.

Dec 30th, 2017

I miss my brother.

······

Feb 1st, 2018

I am the only one left in Arthia.

Why did things go so wrong?

Was it because I trusted people too much? Or was it because I was too absorbed in satisfying my own needs, and forgot to look after my teammates?

Or else….

Was it because I left my family?

Feb 28th, 2018

On the last day of February, I finally got my hands on the elixir.

Now I need to find a way to send it home, but there’s no way I can. I can’t leave the Tower even if I want to, I’m being surrounded by other people.

Maybe they think I will treat my poison with it if I leave.

Everyone is coming to kill me. There was no one left by my side.

Now I know.

The fact that there is only one person I can trust.

But I cannot show them my weakness.

The message ended there.

“…!”

Yeon-woo quickly examined the pocket watch again, just in case he could find another trace of his brother, or another message hidden inside.

But he couldn’t find anything.

*Flop*

Yeon-woo sat down heavily on the sofa.

He continued handling the pocket watch without saying a word.

It had scratches in several places and was missing its minute hand. He felt like the experiences that his brother had gone through on ‘that side’ were being portrayed right in front of his eyes.

Then Yeon-woo slowly rewound the knob.

*Click*

To my older brother who will listen to this sometime in the future. By the time you hear this….

His brother’s recorded voice started speaking again from the beginning.

After that, Yeon-woo once again rewound the knob.

By the time you hear this….

In the same place, Yeon-woo rewound the watch over and over again.

And every time, he could hear his brother’s voice inside his head.

The same voice, the same tone, the same diary.

[Starting the succession process]

At that moment, a small screen popped up under his retina.

Interface system.

This meant he was successfully connected to The Tower.

And then, his body began to change.

*Swoosh*

Something was wriggling inside his lower abdomen. He felt as if there was a snake curled up in his stomach and it was raising its head up.

It was a refreshing feeling, and yet, at the same time, it felt as if a weird seed was sprouting inside him.

It was mana. The basic element that constitutes the foundation of the world. It is also the power that people from other worlds and The Tower dealt with.

*Bang*

A cluster of mana exploded inside him. Through an unknown path, it spread out in all directions throughout his body.

He felt something was changing on the inside.

And then,

*Crackle* *Crunch*

His body started to twist and convulse, followed by a fierce pain as if he were being torn apart.

He felt like his body was being disassembled and pierced by countless needles.

During military school, his tolerance against torture had been trained, but this was completely different.

Even so, Yeon-woo held tight onto his sanity. Not even a groan came out from his mouth.

He was sitting in place as he kept rewinding the pocket watch and listened to his brother’s voice again and again.

By the time you….

His skeletal frame was being altered. The joints in his body were readjusting, and his muscles turned soft and then hard again. A black substance was secreted out from his torn skin, which gave off a bad odor.

All the impurities in his body had been eliminated, and his muscles and skeleton had been refined.

*Crack* *Crack*

He was in such a terrible pain, but this was nothing compared to what his brother had gone through.

And then, what seemed like an endless process finally came to its end.

[Awakening finished]

[Your awakening process is incomplete. Current progress: 5%]

[Your current body is insufficient to complete the succession process. Refine your body to complete the succession process. As your body improves, the succession progress will also advance.]

[Your current status is ‘Incomplete Dragon Body(龍體)’]

[Your physical abilities have been partially improved]

[Your traits have been confirmed]

[Your skills have been registered]

[You have acquired the qualifications of a player. You can only register once inside Obelisk.]

Yeon-woo was in no condition to concentrate on what the strange voice was saying.

After that abominable pain, some strong feelings lingered in his mind.

“....”

But Yeon-woo still couldn’t take his eyes off of the pocket watch.

To my older brother who will listen to this sometime in the future….

* * *

As Yeon-woo rewinded the watch several times, he assimilated his brother’s memories left inside the diary.

Five years worth of memories.

The memories of when he met his teammates and founded Arthia. The memories of when they were so happy after successfully clearing one of the hardest floors. The memories of when they stood back to back, fighting their war.

The memories of himself drenched in blood, feeling worn out. The memories of when he kissed his love for the first time…. The memories of when he wept aloud because of her betrayal. And the memories of when he walked alone towards his enemies that were flooding in like water.

As the memories were being embedded into his head, Yeon-woo could the feel happiness, sadness and all the other emotions his brother had felt.

Inside, Yeon-woo had become his brother.

And at that moment, when everything had ended,

“....”

[Player: Yeon-woo Cha]

Trait: Cold-blooded

Strength: 10 ??Dexterity: 15?? Health: 12 ??Magic Power: 21

Skills: Draconic Eyes, Sense Strengthening, Foresight

Yeon-woo awoke from the overflowing thoughts. As he opened his eyes, a transparent panel popped up right in front of his eyes.

‘It was true. Everything.”

He was hoping for it to be a lie. He would have prefered everything to be a dream or an illusion, but it wasn’t.

It was reality.

Yeon-woo’s expression sunk.

Now he knew about everything his brother had gone through. Who put his brother to death, and the reason why his brother had to return like that after five years.

The Tower was a place that could turn someone into a god.

But to Yeon-woo, it was nothing more than a lawless area where everyone bites at each other’s throat.

And his brother was bitten by the starving demons inside that place.

If that’s the case,

“I will pay you back.”

Following their rules,

“Equally to you all.”

Yeon-woo was given his brother’s abilities as they were.

A player. He had acquired the minimum requirement to climb the tower.

And now it was time for him to come forward.

Sadness disappeared from his eyes.

“....”

Only cold fury remained.

* ?*? *

Yeon-woo silently stared at the transparent panel that was in front of his eyes.

“So this is the ‘Status window’?”

The status window was further classified into three tabs: Traits, Attributes, Skills.

Traits showed the player’s personality or talents.

The first trait his brother had obtained was ‘Psychometry’, the ability to communicate with his surroundings.

His brother was able to overcome many dangers by the using his Psychometry to communicate with objects or skills.

In addition to that, Attributes showed a quantification of a player’s capabilities, and Skills showed the standardized skills that players could use inside the tower.

‘It’s just like a game’

When talking about Obelisk, his brother had said “it may look like a game, but it’s not. It’s reality”.

Now he understood why.

‘Currently, I have Cold-blooded as my trait.’

[Trait: Cold-blooded]

An ability to maintain rationality in any situation. Shows great immunity to mind control and brainwash class curses.

This was a talent Yeon-woo originally possessed.

It seems that it was created based on his training as a professional soldier.

A power that helps him keep a cool-headed judgement in chaotic situations and command his army on the frontlines.

‘It’s not bad.’

No, it wasn’t just ‘not bad’.

It was perfect.

It was very important to have a card in his hand that could help him protect himself in a world full of bizarre magics and skills.

‘Only, my attributes are too weak.’

Even though he had gone through an awakening as a player and his body had also been improved, he was still just a normal human.

On average, his attributes were all below 20.

For climbing The Tower where all sorts of monsters existed, he was too weak.

But it was no surprise.

He had no idea how to handle mana, and he wasn’t particularly skilled at anything. Also, his knowledge on the concept of skills was too scarce.

The only thing he could rely on were his instincts that had been honed by war.

So was the Skill tab.

[Draconic Eyes(龍魔眼)]

Eyes of a dragon. Sees through the truth. Can partially peek into an object or person’s abilities.

[Sense Strengthening]

The five senses are greatly improved.

[Foresight] (Special)

Can see a certain amount of time into the future.

His Draconic Eyes were the only vestige his brother had left behind for him through the succession process in the pocket watch.

‘Jeong-woo was able to make contract with an ancient dragon(古龍) on the 11th floor by chance. Is this something left from that encounter?’

The draconic species(龍種) are arrogant and ferocious by nature, yet are also beings that seek the truth.

It seems his brother had been partly exposed to their nature, and acquired the eyes that can peek through the truth.

But how big of a help would this be was yet to be known.

‘Seems like Sense Strengthening was generated according to my Trait.”

It was a skill that allowed him to arbitrarily control his five senses, that are sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste.

Yeon-woo liked this skill the most.

It’s unpredictable what could happen in a battlefield.

He might have to locate enemies that are out of sight, or he might have to trace out a faint smell of oil. There was also a time when he had to listen to the distant footsteps of the enemy.

If he could handle such senses freely, it would be very helpful in his attempt to climb up the tower.

‘What bothers me the most is this one,’

Yeon-woo’s eyes were fixed on the last skill.

‘Foresight.’

Yeon-woo looked at the pocket watch in his hand.

‘Is it because of this?”

Skills were given according to players’ Traits, but sometimes they were given according to the player’s environment or their most precious object.

Especially skills with the word ‘special’ attached behind, it’s safe to say that it was a skill of his own.

‘OK. For now, let’s just do it.’

Yeon-woo took a deep breath.

It was clear that compared to other players, he was starting on a better foothold thanks to his brother’s help.

But even so, there was a long way ahead of him.

The ones who brought his brother to his death are the strongest amongst all rankers.

They had grown stronger and stronger throughout the course of several years, some even hundreds of years.

He had a long way to go if he wanted to catch up with those people.

The image of his brother in the photograph came back to his mind.

‘You only wanted me to find the elixir and live the rest of my life peacefully, but….’

He clenched his fist, causing his veins to stick out.

‘I’m afraid I don’t think I can just let things go.’

* ?*? *

Yeon-woo proceeded to sort out his personal affairs.

[Sergeant Cha! what are you talking about? You’re leaving the army all of a sudden?]

He heard the commander’s furious voice over the phone.

It was no surprise.

Upon hearing about his brother’s death, the commander had sent him back to Korea to allow him to get himself sorted out, but now he was applying to be discharged without any prior notice. If Yeon-woo were the commander, he would also be mad.

Yeon-woo, however, did not give any specific excuses.

[Did something happen? Or did you have any complaints? If you did, just tell me. If ‘Cain’ leaves, what am I supposed t…! ]

“I’m sorry.”

Yeon-woo hung up the phone right after saying that.

His phone rang again, but he turned off the phone and threw it into a garbage can on the street.

The commander had cared for him like a son, so he had to cut off the connection even more adamantly.

The only thing left was his house, but he also put it out on the real estate market.

Anyway, the house had been unused since he got dispatched, and now there was no reason to leave it any longer.

He didn’t want to have a place to come back.

With the money he had, he bought several stuff.

He filled his newly purchased backpack with some basic clothes and as many combat rations as he could; Equipped himself with dozens of knives that he used back in the army and some tools for survival like medical kits.

He once thought about buying firearms and bombs from the black market, but soon shook off the idea.

‘The Tower is a place that was built to test a player’s skills. It’s better to avoid such things. Besides, if I can’t continuously supply myself with ammunition it’s just going to be cumbersome.’

And once everything was ready, Yeon-woo came out to a lonesome park early in the morning.

He was wearing jeans and a black hoodie with his hood drawn over his eyes, and he carried a backpack full of luggage on his right shoulder. He had already burned the uniform and the bag he used to carry before coming out.

‘Considering the time difference between Obelisk and the real world, ?is it about a week after the last round began?’

To enter The Tower, he had to go through this one place first.

The tutorial.

The place to test players who want to enter The Tower. It was disadvantageous to enter such a place a week after it had already started.

But Yeon-woo still decided to enter during this period.

‘Players who start late are also given advantages. The more I catch up with the front runners, the more points I get, and there’s also a hidden piece that is only given to latecomers. ?Moreover,’

Yeon-woo’s eye let out a bleak glow.

“I’m sure it’s around this time that ‘that guy’ shows up.”

As Yeon-woo organized his plans step by step in his head,

*Click*

He wound the knob of his brother’s pocket watch backwards.

Then, a cluster of lights spread in the middle of the park, and a shadow suddenly sprang up.

The shadow swirled around and formed a lump.

A door(門).

It was a gateway to the world where The Tower was located.

Yeon-woo stepped inside the gate without any hesitation. His eyes looked colder than ever.

“From now on,”

‘I will make sure to let the people beyond this gate know who they messed up with.’

“I am Jeong-woo Cha.”

And so, the gate closed.

Whoever desires to become a god, climb up The Tower!

* ?*? *

[You have now arrived at floor 0, The Tutorial Hall.]

*Swoosh*

Yeon-woo frowned due to the bright light that pierced his eyes.

His eyes were tingling and his vision was shaking violently. He felt dizzy as if he was going through a high-altitude flight.

[Your trait ‘Cold-blooded’ has helped you maintain composure]

He felt something wriggling inside his body, holding the previously spinning world straight. The motion sickness soon subsided.

Yeon-woo was able to look around more comfortably.

He found himself in a passage that ran all the way in a straight line.

The walls were made of hard stone, and the ceiling was studded with stones emitting light at regular intervals.

But overall, the light was too dim, so he could only see things two meters ahead.

Beyond that was all darkness.

‘I’m really in’

Yeon-woo clenched his fists. It was the same scenery he saw from the diary.

The Tower serves both as a gateway and as a trial to test the participants that wish to become a god. Naturally, The Tower refuses to accept anybody and everybody, so the trial takers have to prove themselves worthy.

The place to test such qualifications is the tutorial, often called ‘floor 0’.

‘Beyond this place, are the people who hurt Jeong-woo.’

Yeon-woo that, just by closing his eyes, he could recall the numerous scenes he had seen in the diary, the ones who had betrayed his brother and drove him to death.

But he didn’t get agitated. ?He kept his head as cool as he could.

‘Just wait a little. I’ll be there soon.’

To enter the tower, the first thing he had to do was to pass the tutorial with a high score.

It couldn’t just be a high score.

‘An overwhelmingly high score. I have to take the first place.’

Of course, it wasn’t going to be easy.

The Tower is connected to numerous dimensions, spaces and worlds, and among them, only those who are highly capable have the chance to participate as players.

Yeon-woo could also be considered strong if only looking at his planet Earth.

But the universe was infinitely wide, and so were the strong.

Yeon-woo, who had focused only on physical abilities and instinctive senses, had many weak points compared to the already existing players. If he tried to get through the tutorial like this, he would be dead without even being able to take a few steps.

However,

‘The tutorial, at the same time, is a place where I can obtain that kind of qualification.’

His brother have had a very weak body before climbing the tower. Nevertheless, he proved himself by passing the tutorial, and ended up achieving the incredible feat of reaching sixth place in the rankings within the shortest amount of time ever.

The tutorial isn’t just a test for physical abilities. It tests various aspects such as players’ talent, judgement, agility, resourcefulness, and decisiveness. It summed up the results, and rated the players.

Naturally, there’s always have been a number of deaths in the process.

No, most of them had been overconfident in the little capabilities they had and rushed into the tutorial, only to end up dead.

Fortunately, Yeon-woo was aware of the dangers of the tutorial. And he was also aware of the value this place had.

‘Hidden pieces can be found everywhere. I have to gather as many of these as possible to finalize the incomplete succession.’

At present, Incomplete Dragon Body (5%) was displayed on Yeon-woo’s status window.

His brother’s achievements(業) had not been completely passed onto him yet. Yeon-woo intended to refine his vessel as much as possible in order to replace the word ‘incomplete’ with ‘complete’.

‘To make my vessel as complete as possible. Let’s focus on that for now.’

After organizing his thoughts, Yeon-woo then quietly took out a white mask from his bag and put it on his face.

He would have to face a lot of people, so he covered his face in advance. Yeon-woo then slowly walked forward along the passage.

* ?*? *

Who knew for how long had he been walking.

In that moment,

“Ohyohyohyo. A guest at a time like this. I almost missed you and let you go.”

Suddenly, as a blue glow flashed in the air, a portal opened up, and someone dropped down from it.

In an instant, Yeon-woo instinctively stepped back and took a combat stance with two daggers held crossed in front of him.

It was because the appearance of the sudden intruder was too strange.

A small stature that looked like only reached his waistline. Its skin was full of bumps and looked scabrous, its eyes were long and slanted. In particular, the glistening fangs that came out over its thick lips, piercing all the way through his mouth, stood out.

The mere sight of it filled him with disgust.

A monster.

It was a creature called goblin.

However, it gave Yeon-woo a very different impression from the normal goblins he saw in the diary.

Unlike the normal goblin which usually has low intelligence and is only faithful to its instinct, the goblin in front of his eyes was wearing a strange monocle on one eye and a smart looking tuxedo.

His well mannered behavior gave off a dignified atmosphere.

“No matter how broad-minded I am, if you act like that, it does hurt my feelings. So why don’t you put down your daggers?”

Contrary to his words, the goblin was smiling delightedly and winking one eye.

Only then did Yeon-woo seem to realize what the goblin before his eyes was.

‘The guardian’

Those who manage and oversee each floor and trial in The Tower.

“Greetings. I am the guardian of the floor 0, Yvlke. Meeting like this is also destiny, why don’t you give ourselves a round of applause? Ohyohyohyo.”

Yeon-woo lowered the two daggers.

The guardians belong to The Tower and lead the players throughout the trials. There was no reason to keep his guard up against him.

“Ho, you believe me?”

“That’s because it’s good to keep the guardian’s advice in mind even if it sounds like a trivial thing.”

“Oh my. I guess you know about us a little. Since you were wearing a mask, I thought you were just shy. Anyway, it should be much easier to talk now.”

Yvlke began explaining with some light jokes.

“The tutorial is divided into seven sections, from A to F. Each section has a different environment, and a different challenge. You will be given scores depending on how you perform these challenges over a given period of time. At the end of the tutorial, all the scores will be added up and the results will be announced.”

Yeon-woo was already roughly aware of the rules thanks to the diary.

However, in order to avoid attracting too much attention from the guardian, and to confirm the rules he knew, he asked some questions.

“Do I have to pass all 7 sections?”

“Not exactly. The tutorial is a place where you simply need to prove you possess the minimum qualifications. If you think your score is already high enough, you can simply stop there, but it’ll be good to pass every trial to get a higher score.”

“What are the benefits of getting a higher score?”

“Players are given better rewards in proportion to their score. Shouldn’t there be some motivation for players to get better results? The Tower and us guardians are very thorough in regard to that. Ohyohyohyo.”

“How long does the tutorial last?”

“Players are given 30 days, one month. How you divide the time you spend in each section depends solely on the player. However,”

Yvlke smiled as he adjusted his monocle.

“It’s been around a week since this round started. There’s only about three weeks left of it. What do you want to do? Will you join in from the next round?”

It’s only been a week may sound like something simple. However, a week in the tutorial was by no means a short time.

A period of time equal to one-fourth of the whole tutorial.

‘During that first week, the front runners must have already run far ahead. To a point where latecomers could never catch up.’

The higher the score, the better the reward. It also increases the probability of passing the tutorial.

For Yeonwoo, who was planning to achieve a lot within the tutorial, this was a very unfavorable start.

However,

‘That’s what I expected anyway.’

A slight smile rose from Yeon-woo’s lips.

Not caring about his reaction, Yvlke went on explaining.

“Although this place is called the tutorial, it’s still quite difficult. Normally, when passing through a section, we advise players to organize a party with at least three to five people. That way, players can proceed smoothly.”

“That means I get a higher score if I pass a section alone, right?”

“Yes, but it will be much harder.”

“If a late solo player catches up with the leading parties, do they get any benefit from that?”

Yvlke’s eyes shone behind his monocle.

He realized what Yeon-woo was thinking.

He gave off a broad smile, which made his fangs stand out even more.

“The Tower grows based on players’ achievements(業). The score calculation will be adjusted accordingly to the player’s individual achievements, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Understood.”

After he finished confirming, Yeon-woo started to lightly warm up.

*Crackle*

‘No matter what, I must kill ‘that guy’. If I miss him, it will mess up the whole plan.”

Yeonwoo recalled the biggest of the hidden pieces that could only be obtained within the tutorial.

The guy who only appears during certain period of time.

Only by killing him, would the succession process become much easier.

*Crunch* *Crackle*

His muscles began to tighten, his blood began to circulate faster, and his mind became lucid.

Yvlke took a step back.

He had already noticed that Yeon-woo wouldn’t listen any more to his advice.

There had been players like him before, and in the end they were one of two kinds.

The ones that were too confident in their abilities, rushed forward and got fucked, or the ones that were truly a sight to behold.

Whatever it was, Yvlke thought it would be fun to watch, so he did not stop Yeon-woo.

“If that’s what you want.”

*Snap*

Yvlke lightly flicked his fingers, creating a huge panel in the air.

[Beginning the trial of floor 0.]

[Trial: You, a participant who aims to become a god, must prove yourself worthy of climbing The Tower. During the given time, pass through 7 gates and 7 challenges.]

[Requirements: achieve a high score within the time limit.]

“Let the trial begin.”

Yvlke said goodbye with a dignified look as he disappeared like the wind.

Then, a timer appeared in his place.

[549:37:88_96]

[549:37:88_95]

······

‘There’s about 22 days and 21 hours remaining?’

Yeon-woo clenched his dagger and stepped forward.

‘Let’s do this.’

A new message popped up as he crossed the line that seemed to divide the starting zone from Section A.

[You have entered Section A]

[Either break through or deactivate all the traps in this section]

A straight passage.

He felt like the darkness was beckoning him to go that way.

Yeonwoo carefully took a step forward, keeping his nerves on edge.

But although he kept his guard up, nothing happened even after a considerable amount of time.

As if nothing ever existed.

An ordinary person would have relaxed a bit by now, but the further in Yeon-woo went, the more alert he became.

Yvlke said it would be easy to pass through as long as players formed a party of 3~5 people.

If that was correct, he shouldn’t underestimate this place.

Above all, danger comes without any notice. And when it comes, it always wipes out everything like a raging storm.

Like right now.

*Thwish*

Out of nowhere, an arrow shot across the darkness.

Yeon-woo instinctively turned his body aside.

The arrow brushed past his left forearm. He could feel a scorching pain. Blood splashed as his clothes were torn.

*Twing*

‘A steel arrow!’

He came back to his senses. Yeon-woo frowned while looking at the arrow that was deeply embedded into the wall.

The arrow was not made out of wood, but steel.

His arm would have been torn off if he had allowed that arrow to hit him. If it had hit his head or abdomen it would have been deadly.

The diary had warned him about the various traps in Section A.

However, the location of each trap was different each time and they were randomly activated, so his brother’s experience wasn’t of much help.

All he could do was staying alert and dodge his way through.

*Swish* *Swish* *Swish*

Steel arrows flew towards him in succession, all from different directions.

It was impossible to track them with the ***** eye.

Yeon-woo crouched low and rolled forward. At the same time, he grabbed onto the backpack he was carrying on his back.

Because it was thick, filled with clothes and various tools inside, it was useful as a cover.

He had brought it for this purpose in the first place.

*Puck* *Puck* *Puck*

Three steel arrows stuck into his backpack.

The impact was so strong that he felt as if his arm was coming off each time an arrow hit his backpack. Two of them even pierced through the backpack and poked out as if shyly showing their faces.

He somehow managed to straighten himself up and stuck closely to a wall.

In a situation where he didn’t know where he was being sniped from, he had to reduce his physical exposure as much as possible. It was a rule he had learned the hard way.

However,

*Shlickt*

Some traps seemed to have been installed not only at the front, but also at the back and at the very bottom.

Before he knew it, there was an arrow stuck deep into his left thigh.

“Hup!”

At that moment, Yeon-woo felt like he saw a spark right in front of his eyes.

In spite of the terrible pain, he gritted his teeth and tried turning his body around, but

*Puck* *Puck* *Puck*

Once again, arrows came flying in, they ripped through his backpack and penetrated his left shoulder, forearm and ribs.