Chapter 187 : Chapter 187

Chapter 187 - Elevation (2)

In the great cavern of pure white light.

A knight clad in faintly glowing armor silently gazed at the phantasms rising before him.

The phantasms, summarizing the phenomena occurring outside the Tower, easily numbered in the hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands, yet the knight calmly kept them all afloat.

It wasn’t difficult to observe them. He was, after all, the one who stood at the pinnacle of the beings governing the Tower, the ‘Platinum Knight’.

-...Now, it is not long.

The mere expression of his will caused a storm-like afterglow of mana to leak out into the surroundings.

He could see the waves emanating from the Tower, surrounded by golden mana, spreading throughout the world.

The Platinum Knight himself had sown them upon the world.

Soon, according to his will, he would ‘purify’ all these useless things.

-My companion.

A fond sigh escaped his lips.

If someone were to ask him if this was indeed the right thing to do, it would be true that he would be at a loss for an answer.

But, even so, he had no intention of stopping what he was doing.

Because at the end of all these actions, there existed only ‘one person he must save’.

A woman caught in a terrible curse that could only be broken by involving the entire world.

-Wait for me. It will not be long now.

Muttering so, the Platinum Knight stood before the cracked ‘fissure’ in front of him.

The Gate of Judgment.

The entrance to the ‘beyond’, the highest floor of the Tower, the control key the System had embedded in this dimension.

How long had he guarded this place?

How many heroes and villains had he cut down to keep his ‘contract’?

Even that long penance was finally coming to an end.

-Come, you who have reached.

He already knew the information.

Who the ‘human’ he would be facing was.

-...

In fact, from the Platinum Knight's perspective, it was a bit absurd.

His name was Kim Gyu-sik. A mortal who hadn't even lived half of his given life was his ‘final opponent’?

If that kid could grasp even a little of what lay in his path.

He would probably be facing great mental anguish by now.

Either running away, unable to overcome his fear. Or coming to fight, enduring the crushing pressure that weighed down his entire body.

-...I sincerely hope to avoid a worthless battle.

The Platinum Knight muttered so, truly meaning it.

I just hope he doesn't run away.

***

“I just hope he can hold out for a day...”

As Kim Gyu-sik muttered so and swept his hair back, a multitude of gazes poured in from nearby, as if to say, ‘What is this crazy man spouting now?’

It wouldn't be strange to be treated this way for spouting such words near the Tower, where the mana was pumping in real time, making one feel crushed just by standing close.

But, Kim Gyu-sik was still looking dignified, as if to say, ‘I said it with all my heart, so what are you going to do about it?’

“...Why on earth did you bring that here?”

Seo Ah-in said, pointing her finger at the old PC he was preciously hugging in his arms.

It was an object that this man had been lovingly carrying around since he found it in the warehouse.

“Because it’s a cheat key.”

“...Excuse me?”

“It's something like that.”

This time, a reply accompanied by a yawn came back.

As he was indifferently picking his ear, the surroundings began to get noisy.

Two portals opened, tearing through space.

One belonged to the Association, and the other to the Spirit Realm.

“...”

And seeing that, the corners of Kim Gyu-sik’s mouth twisted strangely.

As if he were trying his best to hold back laughter.

“...Where on earth was the point of laughing just now?”

“No, everyone’s so grim, like they’re about to die, it’s a bit...”

“...”

“...”

A sense of futility, as if to ask, ‘Is this really the reaction of a human facing a world-ending crisis?’, began to surface from all around.

But as always, the one who elicited such reactions was making everyone clutch the back of their necks by not paying a single bit of attention to them.

“...So, everyone. First of all, thank you for gathering.”

A man in a researcher's gown, dispatched from the Association, cleared his throat and opened his mouth.

Compared to the tremendous army that had gathered to subjugate the King of Flies before, the number of people could be called modest, but in the first place, it was a burden for an ordinary human to even face the beings dispatched from the Spirit Realm.

“...”

Sweat trickled down the researcher's forehead.

At the edge of his vision, Kim Gyu-sik, who was still fiddling with the PC he held in his arms, was caught.

In fact, in terms of the gravity of the situation, this ‘Tower Collapse’ incident was far more serious and dangerous than the previous resurrection of the King of Flies.

Although the risk in the worst-case scenario for both was the extinction of humanity, this situation had no visible solution and was progressing much faster.

Unlike the King of Flies, for which at least some data had been accumulated, this abnormal phenomenon of the Tower was nothing short of an unprecedented natural disaster.

In such a situation, the fact that fewer people had been gathered than for the King of Flies put more pressure than expected.

Mainly, the pressure of what kind of crazy thing that man Kim Gyu-sik would pull this time.

Certainly, considering that man's tendencies, the reason he only called this many people this time was because he thought the situation could be resolved with just this level of manpower.

Then, a very simple conclusion can be drawn.

The fact that he reduced the number of people who would ‘help’ him in a more serious situation than before meant that his own combat power had increased even more than before.

Then, if the combat power of the man who single-handedly slaughtered the King of Flies had increased.

What on earth was he going to do?

“...Chief Researcher. What is it?”

Only after hearing an executive from the Association clear his throat nearby did the chief researcher realize that he had been lost in thought. He was startled and fumbled through the documents he had brought.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Rather, I think I need to explain the requested materials a bit.”

The researcher said, conjuring complex formulas and data like a hologram nearby.

They were materials scraped together mainly for the purpose of making the ‘Tower Conquest Team’ members here aware of how dangerous it was.

“...First of all, I’m sure you’ve all heard that the entrance to the Tower is sealed.”

As the researcher spoke, a simulation video recreating the ‘mana storm’ that was still visible to the naked eye was playing at his fingertips.

“To be precise, the ‘entrance’ of the Tower is still open. However, it’s impossible to even approach because a storm that flays the skin and crushes the bones of even the highest-ranking climbers is raging in real time. The primary objective is to quell that storm and enter the Tower.”

“Right. And how do we do that?”

“That is...”

I don't know either.

It’s a problem that the world's leading scholars couldn't find an answer to even after putting their brains together.

But, there is one person I can believe in.

The researcher smiled awkwardly and glanced at Kim Gyu-sik out of the corner of his eye.

It was a look that said, ‘Won't that person somehow manage?’, and normally, it would have been a gesture deserving of a slap for dereliction of duty as the person in charge of the briefing.

But surprisingly, everyone present was instantly convinced.

“...”

Right. Is this the Kim Gyu-sik effect?

The convinced researcher continued his explanation.

“The real problem is after entering the Tower.”

With a sigh, the researcher began to move the hologram image to the next scene.

Barriers firmly lodged inside the Tower. Traps. And all sorts of demonic beasts packed inside.

“...This is the situation at the ‘entrance’ alone, observed from the outside.”

The researcher continued in a stiff voice.

“It’s as if they’ve picked only the trickiest enemies from each floor and combined them in the most difficult way to deal with. It’s a composition that almost feels malicious.”

The researcher added that, though he wasn’t sure if it was an appropriate analogy, it was like a stage in a game designed to say, ‘Can you even clear this?’

He said that even demonic beasts that were physically and theoretically incompatible with each other were now arranged so harmoniously inside that it felt shameless, solely focused on screwing over any intruders.

“...So, for now, we'll have to start by quelling the mana storm over there. We only have three days at most, so if we mobilize all the best magic coordinators gathered from various places, we should be able to stop the storm, even if only for a very short time.”

A very brief moment, just a few seconds, but surely Kim Gyu-sik and his companions would be able to use that earned time more preciously than gold.

And as for the measures that would follow, by pouring in all the currently available manpower...

“...Wait. Wait a minute.”

The researcher, who was about to continue, suddenly realized that the atmosphere around him was unusual and shut his mouth.

It was clear that no one was listening to him.

Instead, they were all staring blankly at one spot.

“Excuse me? What is it?”

“It seems we can send home all those invited magic coordinators.”

“...”

What is this now.

What on earth is going on? The researcher turned his head, wondering.

And he had no choice but to be instantly convinced.

Over there, Kim Gyu-sik, who had already ‘reached’ the entrance of the Tower, was tapping the giant stone gate at the entrance with his hand.

“...Didn't you say that even the highest-ranking climbers would have their flesh and bones separated in that storm...?”

“...I have a list of personnel who died just like that right now.”

“Then what on earth is that...?”

How should I know.

No, in the first place, it's impossible for any climber to walk inside like Kim Gyu-sik is doing, as if it were a ‘stroll’.

That’s not a human, it’s a crazy scene that could be called the realm of a demigod!

“Hmm.”

And while everyone was gaping at what was happening.

Kim Gyu-sik, who had been patting the stone gate, started checking something by tapping the computer he was holding in his arms a few times.

“Hmm. Right.”

Then he lightly swung his fist.

Yes.

Just a light swing was all.

-!

-!!!

-!!!!!!!!!!!

-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the party.

Could only stare blankly at.

The stone gate shattering into pieces, the mana barriers being crushed into dust and scattering, the traps being smashed all at once and sucked out of the storm, and the chunks of demonic beasts being pulverized in one blow with pitiful screams.

“Right. Entrance cleared.”

Kim Gyu-sik, scratching the back of his head while yawning, then turned to the party as if to ask what they were doing there.

“...Why does everyone look like they've seen a ghost?”

No.

This situation couldn't be compared to a mere ghost.

That thought flashed through everyone's mind.

“...Ah, so that’s why he brought fewer people than before.”

At Seo Ah-in’s mutter, everyone had no choice but to be convinced.

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