Chapter 6

Continuous Changes

Several months had passed since Lee Shin acquired the Sphere of Immutability.

[A challenger has entered.]

[A challenger has entered.]

[A challenger has entered.]

Multiple system notifications flashed in succession across the empty air.

No doubt another wave of challengers had stepped through, aiming to farm points today. By now, the vast majority of them had given up all hope of killing the boss to climb the Tower.

It had been quite some time since Lee Shin began instructing Kim Kang-cheon’s group in exchange for payment. Others had pleaded for guidance as well, but his time was far too limited. I’ll be able to create a proxy to handle the instruction soon enough, Lee Shin thought. When that happens, I can take tribute from everyone and foster their growth at scale.

Dismissing the system windows with a casual flick of his wrist, Lee Shin returned to his research.

Interpreting the research left behind by Jean Evrium remained a daunting task. The documents possessed far greater depth and insight than he had anticipated, spanning dozens of volumes that fundamentally condensed down to a core study: Divinity and mana, souls and death, life and death, and the boundaries between them.

It was a vast synthesis of multiple magical fields combined into one, and even now, Lee Shin had grasped less than a fraction of its true contents.

“Souls and death… Death, huh…”

When he acquired the Sphere of Immutability, he had experienced the memory of dying over a thousand times. He recalled the system message that had flashed before his eyes back then:

[Your comprehension of ‘Death’ has rapidly increased.]

He hadn’t fully understood the message at the time, but reading Jean’s notes on death made the difference painfully clear. Not only could he comprehend Jean’s complex theories, but he could also spot the flaws and missing pieces in the logic at a single glance.

Lee Shin shook his head, clearing his thoughts.

Scattered throughout the notes were hints of research aimed directly at combating the gods themselves. It appeared Jean Evrium, too, had suffered some deep conflict with the divine.

Then there was this specific document—a bundle of paper that looked exceptionally ancient. Yellowed and brittle, it had clearly decayed long before any preservation magic had been applied to it. Written in ancient script, its readable contents were severely limited, containing words Lee Shin had encountered only a few times while climbing the Tower:

Faith, war, fragments…

While little could be proven for now, Lee Shin had an intuitive feeling that the answers would reveal themselves as he climbed higher.

Gods and the Tower. What is the relationship between the two? Did the gods truly create this place?

Judging by what the gods had said on the 100th floor, their intentions were undoubtedly embedded within the Tower. Yet if a god had truly constructed it, what was the deal with the Sphere of Immutability?

[Sphere of Immutability]

Does not forget.

It was an ability that directly defied the absolute authority of the gods. Furthermore, given that it had restored memories from before he even entered the Tower, its power was clearly not bound by the Tower’s rules alone.

I don’t know.

There were far too many variables to ponder and endless tasks demanding his attention. He simply lacked the hands to get it all done. He needed to hurry up and finish assembling the Skeleton Mage currently in progress.

“Just need the Soul Orb now, and it’s complete.”

The physical bodies were finished. A few minor adjustments remained, but those could be tweaked continuously on the fly.

[You have defeated a challenger.]

[You have defeated a challenger.]

[You have defeated a challenger.]

Sudden notifications filled his view as the group finished their daily point-grinding session and withdrew.

[Mana increased by 60.]

Whenever the challengers completed a session and retreated, Lee Shin automatically gained mana proportional to their numbers. Thanks to this arrangement, his total mana had already surpassed five digits.

Mana: 13,400 / 13,400

“Still a long way to go.”

With his mana meridians shattered, finding a way to repair his body remained the top priority.

Unseal Phase 2: Mana Grade Lv. 2

Only by raising his Mana Grade could he unlock the second phase of his body’s physical seal.

[Mana Grade Lv. 2]

Required Mana: 50,000

Required Intelligence: 100

Fifty thousand mana.

If he could restore even a portion of Jean’s former vessel—a body that had once reached transcendent status—his combat capability would skyrocket.

Looking directly at the numbers left him feeling slightly impatient, but he forced himself to calm down and wait. The influx of challengers entering the Tower would only grow over time, and with it, his rate of mana gain would accelerate. The day his seal was broken was not far off.

[Korean Challengers Community Board]

└ Looking for Korean challengers.

└ Where did everyone go? Did a war break out while I was inside the Tower or something? Did all the Koreans die off?

└ Seriously, WTF! How has not a single person come up in months?!

└ What are we supposed to do about the National War? Korea is the only country with no new blood coming up. We can barely hold our territories!

└ The challengers from Isocia are getting slaughtered right now!!!

└ At least Isocia made it up high! I’m still stuck in the 10th-floor range… I miss seeing fellow Koreans!

The online community dedicated to Korean challengers was currently in flames.

At some point, a bizarre anomaly had begun: no new challengers were climbing up from the 1st floor. The supply of new blood had completely dried up, leaving the high-floor challengers suffering the consequences.

Climbing the Tower was rarely a solo effort; it required forming teams, building guilds, and operating as nations. Having the continuous inflow of manpower suddenly cut off out of nowhere left the upper floors completely bewildered.

While the absolute top-tier rankers at the highest floors hadn’t felt the full impact just yet, it was obvious that a major crisis was brewing for everyone down the line. Fire was practically burning at their heels.

Every year on December 1st, a Dimension Gate opened on the 50th floor. Because inter-floor travel was permitted between floors 50 and 100, anyone who had reached the 50th floor could utilize this gate when the date arrived.

The Dimension Gate was the sole means of transit between Earth and the Tower, remaining open for just one month. It was also the event that those trapped inside the Tower were waiting for most desperately—a chance to return to Earth and figure out what on earth was happening.

└ Korea isn’t actually ruined, right? Tell me it’s not.

└ Why would Korea be ruined?! We’re one of the few nations with a massive high-floor player base.

└ Which is exactly why so many other countries are trying to keep us down!

└ Korea has Cha Yu-min! He’s a top-tier ranker at the apex floor! Who would dare touch us?

└ Did the government go crazy and ban people from entering the Tower again? Like they did 10 years ago?

└ Stop talking nonsense.

└ Then why aren’t any rookies coming up?

└ Why do you assume people aren’t entering the Tower in the first place? Maybe they just can’t get past the 1st floor.

└ Because the 1st-floor boss is ridiculously strong?

└ Bullshit! How would that even make sense?!

Occasional theories suggesting that the 1st-floor boss was abnormally overpowered were promptly lashed out at and buried under a barrage of dismissive comments.

The community board was only accessible once a player reached the 2nd floor. Because of this, no one on the upper floors had any idea what was happening on the 1st floor, and the underlying anxiety continued to escalate. Furthermore, since inter-floor travel was impossible below the 50th floor, once a challenger advanced up a floor, they could never return down.

Ultimately, the upper-floor challengers had no choice but to wait for the Dimension Gate to open on December 1st to get even the slightest clue about the 1st floor’s status. Only then could they learn whether something had gone disastrously wrong on the outside.

1st-Floor Waiting Room.

A dozens-strong cluster of light pillars rained down onto the central square of the village.

“Welcome, welcome! I am Toing, the manager of the 1st-Floor Waiting Room!”

Over ten people had arrived in a single batch this time.

Among them, six men possessed burly frames and razor-sharp gazes, wrapped in a lethal aura as if they had just stepped off a bloody battlefield.

Ignoring Toing entirely, their brows twitched as they took in the sight of a fully established village built right in the middle of the waiting room.

“What is the meaning of this?” the leader muttered.

“Pardon?” Toing asked, tilting its head.

“Why is there a village built here? This place is supposed to be an empty plain.”

“Aha! The challengers who came before you built it!”

“Why?”

It was a natural question, and Toing answered casually, as if long accustomed to it.

“Ummm… because they had nowhere to sleep?”

“What?”

“Yep!”

The man’s brow furrowed tightly as he glared at the rabbit. Standing atop a flat stone slab to greet the newcomers, Toing suddenly found the man’s hand reaching out toward it.

Grab.

At that exact moment, Baek Hyun appeared out of nowhere, catching the man’s wrist mid-air before he could grab Toing.

“Who the hell are you?” the man barked.

“Ahaha, this guy is the administrator, but he’s a bit of an idiot. I’ll answer your questions instead.”

The man’s brow twitched as he felt the force behind the grip. When Baek Hyun released his hand, the man lowered his arm without resistance and eyed Baek Hyun intently.

His grip strength…

The man examined Baek Hyun with sharp, calculating eyes.

On the surface, he looked like a standard Korean man in his mid-twenties. His physique seemed decently built, but nothing beyond ordinary.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Baek Hyun.”

“You know that’s not what I’m asking.”

“Then what are you asking?” Baek Hyun replied, looking genuinely clueless.

“I am Park Ju-hyeok, Team Leader of the Special Task Force under the Korean Challenger Association. Our team was formed by the government and the association to clear the Tower as swiftly as possible.”

“And?”

The unexpectedly lukewarm response caused Park Ju-hyeok’s lips to twist into a scowl.

Hearing his prestigious title and responding with a arrogant ‘So what?’ attitude was the typical behavior of someone overly confident in their own abilities. In situations like this, pressing them down with absolute force right from the start was the only way to crush their arrogance.

Like lightning, Park Ju-hyeok’s hand thrust forward, aiming straight for Baek Hyun’s collar.

Reacting instantly, Baek Hyun used his left hand to gently parry Park Ju-hyeok’s arm aside, twisting his body to fluidly deflect the attack.

Baek Hyun looked flustered by the sudden ambush, while Park Ju-hyeok was inwardly stunned that his surprise attack had been so effortlessly neutralized.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Baek Hyun asked, looking genuinely bewildered.

Noticing the crowd gathering around them, Park Ju-hyeok’s expression hardened. Causing further disturbance here would gain him nothing.

He couldn’t fathom why a village had been erected here, but something fundamental had clearly changed.

The people here are no different from civilians who haven’t cleared a single floor yet.

Yet the man before him had briefly matched his move. Why would someone with such skill still be lingering in the 1st-floor waiting room?

It’s better to stay on good terms with someone who might become a high-floor ranker later on.

Park Ju-hyeok decided to offer an apology first.

“My apologies for the sudden strike. It seems there was a misunderstanding.”

Seeing him apologize so readily, Baek Hyun’s irritation quickly vanished.

“Fine. I’ll let it slide this time.”

“Why is someone of your skill level not climbing the Tower yet? And what is the reason behind this village?”

The questions were piling up. The atmosphere of the village was strange, too—there were far more people than expected, and the scale of the village was surprisingly large. It looked as though every single challenger who had entered over the past few months had abstained from climbing, opting instead to settle down here permanently.

Baek Hyun gave a faint smirk at Park Ju-hyeok’s questions.

“If you want the answer, try challenging the next floor. You’ll find out soon enough.”

Park Ju-hyeok failed to grasp his meaning. If they challenged the 1st floor and cleared it, they wouldn’t be able to return down here, leaving them unable to solve the mystery of this village anyway.

“You refuse to share the secret, then?”

“Ah, well… think whatever you like.”

“If you won’t talk, fine. We’ll figure it out ourselves.”

Realizing he wouldn’t get an answer out of Baek Hyun, Park Ju-hyeok turned around to leave with his team. As they walked away, Baek Hyun’s voice called out from behind:

“Oh, and don’t go around picking fights with people like that!”

“Noted.”

As the Special Task Force departed to inspect the village, Park Hye-won and Kang Ji-hoon stepped out from the surrounding crowd of spectators and walked up to Baek Hyun.

“Why was that guy so rude?” Hye-won grumbled.

“Someone like him has a reason to act like that,” Ji-hoon chuckled. “He did say his team was backed by both the government and the association.”

“So what if he’s backed by the government?”

“Hey, connections are everything in life, kid,” Ji-hoon joked.

“Ugh…” Hye-won sighed, shaking her head at his playful banter.

Meanwhile, Baek Hyun watched Park Ju-hyeok’s departing back with a look of genuine pity.

“What’s wrong?” Hye-won asked, glancing at him curiously.

“He looks like a guy who was hot stuff on the outside world,” Baek Hyun mused. “I was just wondering how crushed his self-esteem is going to be when he gets thoroughly beaten up by ordinary-looking people here.”

“Wait, why did you tell him to challenge the 1st floor? If he meets Senior…”

Baek Hyun’s lips curled into a wide grin.

“Rookies gotta get their initiation rite, right?”