Chapter 52

It was No Death and Hyuk-min, eating sundae soup together before meeting Hyun-jung, just as they did every day.

Unaware of what had happened last night, No Death ate his sundae soup in his usual silence.

“No Death, I have a favor to ask…”

“A favor? You?”

“Do you still have pull within Black Label?”

“Why, you have someone you want to hire a hit on?”

Hyuk-min fell silent at No Death’s uncanny intuition.

“Try fooling someone else. You have the eyes of someone asking for a hit. Who the hell is it? Someone you can’t handle.”

Last night, the Western Shaman, Ahn Hyunwoo, who had used that strange skill, came to mind.

Hyuk-min had no clue what kind of skill it was, or how the man could see the Death Knight’s soul. He felt Ahn Hyunwoo could become a variable once his plans began moving in earnest.

That was why, for a moment, he’d thought Black Label might be able to do something about it.

“Well, if it’s too difficult, I can go and take care of it myself, so just tell me. I’ve never failed once, you know? Except for you?”

But the moment No Death mentioned going himself, a memory from his past life surfaced.

The image of No Death trapped on the third basement level of the Shindang-dong department store…

‘That can’t happen.’

He could never let No Death clash with Park Chung-ho and his cronies.

“No, it’s fine. He’s a variable, but not a major one.”

“Tell me if you need it. I’ll help you. You’re our leader, after all.”

“Hyun-jung will be here soon. Let’s hurry up and eat.”

“Youth is a wonderful thing. I don’t know how she can run so well without even eating breakfast.”

There were only five days left until June 5th, the day the incident would occur.

Leaving No Death’s envious sigh behind, Hyuk-min forced himself to focus on his sundae soup.

Tiring.

Just then, the sound of a text message made him pull out his phone. Hyuk-min’s expression slowly hardened.

The text from Hwang Ji-young contained a single photo.

It was—

[Non-Disclosure Agreement.]

The beginning of all the tragedies that had befallen Hyuk-min’s family.

And the first plan Hyuk-min had been running toward all this time.

‘It’s starting to feel real.’

That single photo made it feel like the plan was right around the corner.

= = =

There were five days left until the incident.

In that time, Hyuk-min’s party pushed forward with their Tower ascent.

No one spoke to Hyuk-min’s party on their way to climb the Tower.

There was No Death with two swords strapped to his thighs, and a young girl carrying a massive gun two-thirds the size of her own body.

And there was Hyuk-min, leading them from the front.

They had become a party that exuded an extraordinary aura.

And so, for three days, they climbed without interruption.

In those three days—both short and long—Hyuk-min’s party had already passed the 66th floor and was now facing the 67th.

“Hyun-jung!”

“I see it!”

For three days, the members of Hyuk-min’s party had spent more time with each other than with their own families.

The time they spent focused solely on climbing the Tower, shutting out all distracting thoughts, hadn’t been wasted.

‘She’s definitely different.’

Between three days ago and now.

Just from being together so long, an unexpected change had settled over the party.

Thwump!

Hyun-jung’s blue bullet fired from afar.

The [Mana Bullet] tore through the air and pierced the head of an Orc Shaman that was about to cast a spell from a distance.

A single shot.

Thud.

The Orc Shaman—an elite among orcs—dropped in one blow.

Hyun-jung’s [Gun Mastery] had reached [Level 17], and her marksmanship had become formidable.

Piercing a monster’s head with a single shot was a given, and her sharpened senses—honed through experience—let her fill not only a support role, but even that of a sub-dealer on her own.

Zzzing! T-tzing!

Hyun-jung wasn’t the only one who had changed.

“One more!”

Zzzing! T-tzing!

If anything had grown as much as Hyun-jung’s skill, it was this.

Teamwork.

“I’ve opened a path!”

Two [Railgun] shots fired by Hyun-jung carved two long paths through the horde of orcs.

A single path made from the corpses of fallen orcs.

Black smoke surged into it at high speed, instantly cutting through the Orc Warriors’ encirclement and appearing before the cluster of Orc Shamans.

“This is a pain, so I’ll end it in one go.”

No Death, standing before the Orc Shamans, grinned.

In an instant, his black pupils devoured the whites of his eyes, doubling in size.

“Kerek! Kere-rek!”

“Chwi-rik!”

Startled, the Orc Shamans hastily redirected their wands and unleashed a barrage of magic at No Death, who was spewing black smoke.

Fire, water, wind, lightning.

Magic assailed him from every direction.

“[Wraith’s Presence].”

No Death paid it no mind. Instead, he spewed a vast amount of black smoke toward the Orc Shamans.

The smoke gushed out in a dense cloud and quickly swallowed him whole.

With a tremendous roar, the incoming magic obliterated the spot where No Death had been standing.

Rumble-rumble-rumble.

A huge crater formed where he’d stood.

The area was pulverized so thoroughly that not even a body could be found—and the black smoke spread even faster.

Then, unbelievably, a voice came from within that pitch-black smoke.

“Hyuk-min! I’ve tied up the shamans.”

Kieeeeeeek!

Chwiiiryaaaak!

Soon, screams believed to be the Orc Shamans’ echoed from within the hazy black smoke.

The black curtain had removed the Orc Shamans from the battle.

The tide had completely turned.

Now that he could focus solely on slaughtering the Orc Warriors, Hyuk-min took a deep breath.

“Hoo.”

Then, with the charging Orc Warriors behind him, he gave a nod toward the black smoke and said in a low voice.

“[Regression Mode].”

= = =

The Tower’s difficulty increased every ten floors.

It varied from floor to floor, but after the 60th floor, it had been rising exponentially.

“Haa… This is insane.”

No Death, having dealt with all the Orc Shamans, trudged over and collapsed to the ground.

“Good work.”

“Don’t look at me like that after using that [Regression Mode] thing. It makes me not want to get close to you.”

Maybe because [Regression Mode] hadn’t worn off yet, No Death seemed unusually awkward.

Just then, Hyun-jung skipped over and hugged Hyuk-min’s arm while he was still in [Regression Mode].

“What’s wrong? I like you in your old man mode too, Uncle.”

“Your eyes must be broken. Or maybe you just lack experience. Tsk, tsk. Even among assassins, there are plenty of crazies, and some of them have those eyes, that kind of vibe. When you think about the things they do and their ideologies, they’re not just dangerous—they make even me want to stay away.”

Eyes and vibe?

Hyuk-min understood No Death’s reaction immediately.

“Ah, that.”

“What the hell is that form anyway? It’s not like you’re entrusting your body to a demon from hell. That crazed look.”

A smirk escaped Hyuk-min’s lips.

“You’re not entirely wrong.”

“Huh?”

“It was a time when I was consumed by a vengeful demon, hardened by grit and malice.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s just something that is.”

As soon as he finished speaking, [Regression Mode] deactivated, and he returned to his normal self.

Hyun-jung came closer and hugged him tightly.

“I like you in your old man mode, Uncle, but I like you much better like this.”

Hyuk-min smiled and stroked Hyun-jung’s head.

The 67th floor was completely cleared.

Just as everyone started to relax, letting their guard down as fatigue seeped in—

“Agh, I’m exhausted… But something feels strange.”

No Death, lying on the bare floor, tilted his head.

He scanned their surroundings and frowned.

“Was the 66th floor, and now this 67th floor, always this hard? I don’t think it was.”

Hyuk-min’s eyebrow twitched.

In truth, he’d felt that too.

‘There are definitely more of them, and they’re stronger. Was I not the only one who felt that?’

But there was no way to confirm it, and even trying would be strange in itself.

It would mean he’d challenged these floors before.

That was why he was about to dismiss it as a misconception—an old memory from his past life surfacing at the wrong time.

“I think some old guy said he could get to the 100th floor by himself… Was I mistaken?”

“Kid, I’m a Revenant. A Revenant. I told you, I don’t die. Just give me enough time, and the 100th floor is a piece of…”

“Wait.”

No Death was thinking the same thing?

Hyuk-min needed to be sure.

“Are you sure? Does it definitely seem harder?”

“I’m not certain. Back then, I wasn’t in a good state, and I was just climbing the Tower recklessly to clear my head, so it’s not exact. It’s been a while since I stopped climbing the Tower. It could just be my imagination.”

Right. It could be.

Without something definite, people could mistake a hazy memory for a false one and move on.

But Hyuk-min—who had faced Hanbit Capital in his past life relying on memory alone—was different.

‘It might not be a misconception. If I’m feeling this way… it’s definitely gotten harder.’

No one’s memory was as certain as his.

He could vouch for that.

This feeling.

And No Death’s comment on top of it.

The difficulty had clearly increased.

Hyuk-min scanned the area.

“Each floor of the Tower accepts all adventurers who meet the qualifications and wish to enter, right?”

“Of course. That’s why if two parties enter the same floor they’re trying to clear, it’s polite for one team to back out after talking it over. Ah~ maybe that’s why. I used to clear it alone, but now there are three of us, so maybe that’s it.”

No Death might accept that explanation, but Hyuk-min couldn’t.

In his past life, the party that cleared the 67th floor had five members.

Yet the number of corpses on the ground felt similar to the number of monsters on the 67th floor back then.

‘The [System] has been causing a lot of problems lately. This has never happened before…’

The [System] cannot be wrong.

It was like an omnipotent god itself.

Still, Hyuk-min considered the possibility he was wrong and voiced an idea that had just occurred to him.

“That qualification you mentioned. Does it get measured higher if someone who has already cleared it re-enters?”

“Of course. Ah! That must be it, too. Since I’ve already cleared it, the Tower must have set a higher difficulty for us.”

Hyuk-min’s eyebrow twitched again.

“Ah, that makes sense. It wasn’t strange after all. It was supposed to be hard. Ah~ I get it now.”

“You dummy.”

“Hey, it happens. Were you a genius from the moment you were born?”

No Death might have been satisfied, but Hyuk-min wasn’t.

Right now, everyone was strong enough to kill monsters in single blows, so it was hard to measure precisely—but even so, the monsters felt stronger and faster than his past-life memories predicted.

The number of monsters had increased, and the difficulty of each floor had subtly risen as well.

‘What the hell is it? What’s the problem? Does it really count one person who has cleared it before as three people?’

He mulled it over a little longer.

Then a dry laugh escaped him.

“That’s not what’s important. What am I even doing right now… Ah, forget it.”

With the experiment so close and too much else to worry about, Hyuk-min decided to let the strange phenomenon go.

“Alright. If you’re rested, we need to go clear the 68th floor, right?”

“Again!?”

“Already?”

As Hyuk-min dusted himself off and stood, No Death and Hyun-jung—who had been fighting nonstop—stared at him with long faces.

There were only two days left.

“I told you. For the day after tomorrow, we need to clear up to at least the 69th floor by today. It would be even better if we can make it to the 70th.”

He felt sorry for them, but he had to push them if they were going to reach the 70th floor.

Maybe because he’d warned them in advance, Hyun-jung—who’d looked glum—was the first to smile brightly and leap to her feet.

“It’s a request from you, Uncle, so of course! Let’s run all the way to the 70th floor today!”

“Sigh, what the hell is on the 70th floor that’s causing such a fuss.”

Since the youngest had moved first, even the sluggish No Death followed and got up.

And so, as they headed for the next floor—the 68th—Hyuk-min tightened his grip on the Immortal Demon Sword, thinking of the Western shaman, Ahn Hyunwoo, who could become a variable.

‘To completely eliminate all variables, I have to get the [Hidden] on the 70th floor.’

Somehow.

[Soul Reading Art].

‘The [Soul Reading Art]. This time, I will be the one to take it.’

Thinking of the [Hidden] on the 70th floor—which should have been his next step—Hyuk-min strode forward with certainty.

Swoosh.

And on the 68th floor, the one Hyuk-min’s party was about to enter, a difficulty adjustment began.

The number and strength of the monsters appropriate for the difficulty were being measured.

It was the moment the monsters were about to begin their activity.

Just once—

All the monsters abruptly stopped.

And.

Fzzt.

A flicker like an old TV crackled through the air for a brief moment.

Then they resumed moving as if nothing had happened.

A [System] error that had never once occurred in history.

Hyuk-min’s party, having arrived on the 68th floor, never saw it—and the battle began again.