Choe Won-yeong had a daughter, a high school student who’d turned eighteen this year.
And soon, her daughter was going to die.
Because at fifteen, she’d been chosen as a Nightmare difficulty climber.
The data was still only a few years’ worth since the Tower had appeared, but there had not been a single official case of anyone under the age of fourteen being chosen as a climber.
Which ant the minimum age for selection was fourteen.
Like so cruel joke, her daughter had been chosen as a Nightmare climber on the very day she turned fifteen.
Her daughter, who at twelve had been diagnosed with osteosarcoma and had suffered through years of treatnt.
Just when she’d finally beaten the disease and they’d thought maybe miracles really did exist, what had been waiting for them was an even worse nightmare. Fittingly, given the na of the difficulty she’d been chosen for.
“I’m fine, Mom! I’ve still got two whole years, right? I just gotta cram a whole lifeti of fun into that ti, so I can skip studying and just have a blast, right?”
Still only a middle schooler, her daughter had said it as if it wasn’t even worth worrying about.
She’d always been a bright child. So bright that she hadn’t lost her smile even through the harshest chemotherapy.
“Hm? Mom… I’m really, honestly okay. Don’t cry.”
So Choe Won-yeong had tried, too, not to be sad.
In the ti that was left, she had to build as many happy mories with her daughter as she could.
She’d already lost her husband early; if her daughter was taken from her too, there would be no family left to her.
The happy days passed, and the end slowly drew near.
In a few weeks, her daughter would die. Die, and turn into a monster.
To avoid becoming a monster, her daughter would have to either enter the Tower, or be euthanized and have even her body destroyed so that nothing remained.
Both she and her daughter had chosen the latter.
A difficulty where even the most extraordinary people, after the most thorough preparation, had produced only around twenty successful climbers.
There was no chance of conquering Nightmare.
And even if there had been the faintest thread of hope… Choe Won-yeong could never have accepted her daughter dying in agony at the hands of monsters.
– Only three days remain until the Nightmare Ti Limit of twenty days expires. As the entire world prays for Person123’s success…
Whether the world ended or not, none of it really registered in her head.
The only thing that refused to feel real was the fact that her one precious daughter was about to die.
Still, she smiled in front of her daughter as if she were wearing a mask. Because her daughter hadn’t lost her smile either.
That night, after lying awake in silent misery and finally drifting off, she woke again in the small hours of the morning.
When she approached her daughter’s door, she heard quiet sobbing.
When she opened the door and stepped inside, her daughter was crying, stifling the sound.
“Hic… hngh… I’m scared, Mom… I don’t want to die…”
In the end, Choe Won-yeong could only crumble, pull her daughter into her arms, and weep with her.
The day before the twenty-day Nightmare Ti Limit expired.
Now, she had to accept the farewell.
She smiled weakly as she watched her daughter eat dinner.
And then, letters suddenly appeared before both of their eyes.
[The Tower is making a proposal to ‘Person123’.]
“…What?”
A ssage whose aning she couldn’t begin to grasp.
*
What the hell was going on.
I’d finally gotten my head straight, and now this curveball out of nowhere had thrown my brain into complete chaos.
A proposal? The Tower? To ? Out of nowhere?
What kind of ga is this…
[If ‘Person123’ selects one of the following penalties and enters Floor 4, the rule ‘Climbers who fail to enter the Tower within 3 years will die’ shall be nullified.]
What the Tower was offering in return was the nullification of the 3-Year Rule.
[1. Physical abilities reduced by 50%]
[2. Skill cooldowns doubled]
[3. Three random skills prohibited from use]
[4. Highest-grade skill prohibited from use]
[5. Items prohibited from use]
And if I wanted that, I had to pick one of the penalties.
My first thought the instant I saw it was… are you kidding ?
Physical ability cut in half, skill cooldowns doubled, three random skills banned, Destruction Ray banned, items banned.
Not a single one of them was anything less than brutal.
More than anything, the fact that the Tower was coming at with this kind of proposal in the first place was deeply, extrely suspicious and left a bad taste in my mouth.
[The penalty will remain in effect only during the first conquest of Floor 4.]
[‘Person123’, if you accept the proposal, select a penalty and enter.]
But this bastard… the fact that it’s even doing sothing like this, does it actually have a will of its own?
Not just so chanical system?
“Haah…”
I scratched at my head furiously and ran my eyes over the options again.
If, just if, I had to pick one, which would I go with?
[1. Physical abilities reduced by 50%]
Let’s set this one aside for now.
[2. Skill cooldowns doubled]
My skill rotation rate gets cut in half, and I’m a Magic Type main.
Fatal. Seriously fatal.
[3. Three random skills prohibited from use.]
If it rolled so common-grade skill I didn’t even use, it’d barely count as a penalty… but on the flip side, if it snagged my key skills one after another, that’d be hell. Pure gambling.
And the “random” part bothered .
Wouldn’t the Tower just rig it?
[4. Highest-grade skill prohibited from use]
This was synonymous with “Destruction Ray is banned.” My insanely broken finisher.
…I wasn’t sure. Considering the Floor 4 the, would this be more fatal than the others?
[5. Items prohibited from use]
Given the Floor 4 the, losing Diul was one thing… but losing Plli would be devastating.
Even setting aside junk like the ice dagger and all the rest.
Ugh… I don’t know.
Why is this suddenly being dumped on ?
Am I actually supposed to pick one? No matter how I look at it, I shouldn’t.
I’m supposed to tackle an already hellish Nightmare difficulty with a penalty on top?
Face twisted in frustration as I agonized over it, I suddenly thought to open the Communication Channel. And then.
“…?”
After seeing the ssages flooding in, I turned on the TV.
A breaking news broadcast was running.
– ssages from the Tower have appeared before people all across the globe. In an unprecedented turn of events, the Tower is making a proposal to Person123…
…why is this a planet-wide broadcast?
It even looked like not just climbers but ordinary people could see it too.
I could only sigh in disbelief.
*
After the Tower issued its notice to all of humanity.
The world went into ltdown. The Communication Channel was the first to explode with posts.
[Rabi: ?]
[Crusher: ??]
[Wow: tf is this…? not just right?]
[Green Field: since when does the Tower make proposals?]
[Lucifer: insane wtf is even happening]
[Fire Dragon: heard regular people can see the ssage too, not just us?]
The Tower making a proposal to a specific climber was, of course, sothing that had never happened before.
Nullification of the Tower’s 3-Year Rule.
In exchange, Person123 would have to accept a penalty.
The Communication Channel’s consensus quickly tipped one way.
[Cyclops: he’d have to be nuts to take this. no way can he accept.]
[Glass Bottle: every single option is way too harsh]
[Claude: 8 billion lives on the line, he absolutely cannot do this. just to save a few tens of thousands.]
[Hoda: well it’s tens of thousands a year so factoring in the future it’s more. plus the Fallen problem gets solved… still shouldn’t accept tho]
[Leafcar: Person123 are you seeing the Channel? do NOT pick a penalty!]
News outlets and dia around the world scrambled to air special broadcasts.
On a major Arican cable news network, panelists sat around the desk talking.
“The Tower has offered Person123 a penalty in exchange for nullifying the 3-Year Rule. What are your thoughts?”
“Absolutely, he must not accept. Absolutely not. This is a trap.”
A bespectacled man spoke with a stony face and unwavering conviction.
“The very fact that the Tower has singled out Person123 with a proposal is strange in itself. Just one day before he enters Floor 4. The intent to obstruct his conquest is blatantly obvious.”
The other panelists nodded in agreent.
“It seems clear under the current circumstances that the Tower intends to interfere with Person123’s conquest. He has no reason to play along with the Tower’s agenda.”
“If he enters an already horrific Nightmare difficulty with a penalty on top of it, how much would his chances of success plumt?”
“As unfortunate as it is, the continued existence of humanity is at stake. No one would be able to bla him for choosing not to take a penalty. Putting all of humanity first is simply the only reasonable choice.”
The overwhelming majority, naturally, hoped Person123 would not choose a penalty.
Because failing Floor 4 ant the end of humanity, and a penalty would dramatically raise the odds of that happening.
With eight billion lives hanging in the balance, there was no room for sentint.
“…Please, please choose a penalty! I’m begging you! Please!”
Those hoping he would choose a penalty were a vanishingly small minority.
Nightmare climbers who were facing imminent death, and their families or acquaintances.
They rushed out onto the streets, held small rallies, and cried out at the top of their lungs. Hoping that Person123, whose identity and whereabouts no one knew, would sohow hear them.
“Are you people out of your minds?!”
“If he picks a penalty, the world ends! You can’t be that selfish!”
Scenes of passersby stopping to hurl abuse at them played out, too.
[Nightmare]
Participants: 183,157
Ti Limit: 20 days 30 minutes 56 seconds
Floor Reached: Floor 4
A stormy twenty-four hours passed, and the twenty-day deadline was nearly upon them.
All that remained was Person123’s choice.
*
For a whole day I agonized, and agonized again.
Honestly, the conclusion had been obvious from the start.
‘Don’t pick one.’
I couldn’t choose a penalty.
That was the obvious answer.
Take on Nightmare difficulty, where even the most thorough preparation guaranteed nothing, and add a penalty on top?
That wasn’t sothing a sane person would do.
Had I already forgotten Floor 3? How many tis I’d almost died?
Floor 4 was more likely than not to be even worse than that.
For the world’s sake, too, choosing a penalty was out of the question.
Fail, and humanity ends.
Take on that risk just to save a small number of people.
Not just a small number. An extrely small number.
Was it even a fair comparison? Eight billion people worldwide, against tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands?
Sure, it’d solve the Fallen problem too.
And on the off chance my family got selected as climbers soday, it’d eliminate that risk as well.
Thinking about it rationally, even factoring all of that in, the scales still didn’t balance.
If I failed this ti, my family would all die anyway.
So no penalty.
…I knew that. It’s just that sothing sat heavy in my chest.
I pushed myself up from where I’d been lying on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
The TV news was pouring out report after report about the situation.
People insisting he absolutely must not choose a penalty. Rallies of Nightmare climbers’ families out on the streets screaming their lungs raw.
Whispers were flooding the Communication Channel too.
With the Tower slapping a planet-wide notice on everyone, the world had lost its mind all over again.
I wasn’t going to let their opinions get to . I couldn’t afford to.
It was simply a matter of making the right choice.
[Chicken Sandwich: No one has any grounds to bla Mr. Kim for not choosing a penalty. No one would even dare claim the right to.]
[Chicken Sandwich: Please don’t feel any guilt, even for a mont. This is nothing but the Tower’s trickery. Mr. Kim has already saved humanity several tis over, and refusing the penalty is the path that saves all of humanity once again.]
[Person123: Does Bilon want not to choose a penalty too?]
[Chicken Sandwich: …I will respect whatever choice Mr. Kim makes.]
I’d talked it over with Bilon too.
And sure enough, the answer was a foregone conclusion.
The twenty-day Ti Limit was almost up.
I had to choose.
– …In the end, whatever choice Person123 makes, we must respect it. Even if he chooses a penalty, and even if that results in the end of the world, I, at the very least, will honor the nobility of his spirit…
I switched off the TV blaring its broadcast.
I put on all my gear and stood in the middle of the room.
[1. Physical abilities reduced by 50%]
[2. Skill cooldowns doubled]
[3. Three random skills prohibited from use]
[4. Highest-grade skill prohibited from use]
[5. Items prohibited from use]
Looking at the options again, the whole thing felt absurd all over again.
Is it scared I might clear Floor 4 too?
Is that why it’s pulling a stunt like this?
“Seriously, what is this, putting the ace in check…”
If the goal was just to rattle my head no matter what I picked, then mission accomplished.
But I wasn’t going to choose a penalty.
[Enter Nightmare difficulty Floor 4?]
I ignored the penalty nu and pulled up the entry prompt.
“Ent…!”
Trying to shake off the sour feeling, I was about to shout it out defiantly when I froze.
“…”
Don’t do this.
I know it’s not my fault.
There’s no bla on for this choice.
It’s just a rule the Tower made up on its own and now wants to nullify on its own.
I…
“…heh.”
I let out a soft, wry chuckle.
I closed my eyes for a long mont, opened them again, and looked back at the penalty selection window.
“This is genuinely insane.”
I knew.
Everyone keeps calling a savior, and now I think I actually am one?
…Still. Just this once.
I wanted to dig my heels in a little.
I raised my finger.
*
After seeing the Tower’s announcent, Choe Won-yeong had gone outside.
She’d managed to find a rally held sowhere on the streets and joined others in the sa situation, crying out together. Please, choose a penalty.
Whether it was aningful, whether it would even reach Person123, she didn’t know. She was just grasping at any straw she could.
Exhausted to the bone, she returned ho and held her daughter, who threw herself into her arms in tears, tightly.
“I’m really okay, Mom… I’m okay now…”
On the TV news, the Nightmare difficulty Ti Limit tir filled the screen, its numbers ticking down.
Only a few minutes remained until the twenty-day deadline.
She knew.
If she was thinking of the world, she shouldn’t be hoping for a penalty.
She knew, too, that it was a terribly, terribly selfish wish.
But please… even so, please.
If only, just this once, she could be allowed to wish for a miracle.
[‘Person123’ has accepted the Tower’s proposal and selected a penalty.]
[The rule ‘Climbers who fail to enter the Tower within 3 years will die’ has been nullified.]
“…!”
Mother and daughter, locked in each other’s arms, raised their heads at the sa instant.
For a long while, the two of them stared blankly at the ssage before their eyes.
*
“Hoo…”
A dark office.
Sunk deep into his chair, Bilon dragged his hands down his face and exhaled a long, heavy sigh.
“…If that is your choice.”
He murmured, eyes fixed on the ssage hanging in the air.
“Please, see it through, Mr. Kim.”
*
The Tower Monitoring Division office at the Tower Climbing Special Agency.
“He… chose a penalty.”
Kang Ju-hyeok said, his instant noodles suspended mid-bite as he stared into space.
Shin Su-jin nodded, her expression tight.
Without even realizing it, she’d clenched her fist hard.
Praying, desperately, in her heart, that he would co back alive and whole.
*
“…He has made his choice.”
The live news anchor said quietly.
There was no need to say what he’d chosen.
Because everyone had seen the ssage.
Gwanghwamun Street, Seoul. A massive crowd gathered together.
For a mont, gasps and groans spilled out from every direction.
But soon, a few people clasped their hands and began to pray.
And then the people beside them, and seeing that, the people beside those, one by one, started to pray too.
Before long, the entire street had fallen into a quiet, profound hush.
The world held its breath and waited for the outco.
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