Prelude
Throb!
A hangover came along with a terrible headache.
"Ugh..."
Jinhyuk squeezed his temples and got up from the bed.
With a burning thirst, he drank 1L of ice water stored in the refrigerator.
As the cold water gulps down his throat, he wakes up little by little.
Haa.
He feels refresh after a while now.
He wants Spicy Haejang Ramen, but there is something that needs to be done first.
'First of all, I have to edit and upload the first video I cleared yesterday before it gets clear by anyone else.'
He hasn't seen the shadows of other players since around the 20th floor, so it won't happen... ….
But he didn't know it might be possible it was just a human instinct.
uuung!
Jinhyuk quickly turned on the computer.
And he tried to find music that suited his video when he was working on Nue tube.
"Uh?"
A Nue tuber of a frequently watched channel was broadcasting live.
'The Tower of Trials become real. With the title 'It's ㅇㅇㅇ.'
Title aggression was common in this industry, except when over 300,000 viewers were watching the live broadcast.
there is something that happens
Jinhyuk moved the mouse cursor.
pounding! pounding! pounding!
His heart was beating uncontrollably fast.
He doesn't know why.
The moment he clicked on it, everything seemed to change.
Click!
He entered the live.
-Wow! HyungNims. that! that! do you see Everyone is watching it, right?
On the screen, a Nue tuber bursting with exclamation... ….
A huge tower was visible.
It is a huge tower that appeared in the middle of Seoul.
It's too familiar.
-Melon flavored watermelon HyungNim reported it, so I thought it was released 11 years ago.
[It's from a game called Tower of Trials. Can you believe it? uh? Wait.]
The Nue tuber suddenly lifted his head as if he felt something.
Just then.
The screen in the video started to turn red.
It wasn't sunset.
The sun never set at 10 am.
'Unbelievable… … .'
Jinhyuk swallowed dry saliva.
I know what this is.
[The omen that appeared when I first played Tower of Trials.]
[['Tower of Trials'] The first update of the reboot version has been completed.]
The boundaries between reality and the virtual have dimmed.
Even in front of the Nue tuber on the screen.
And in reality, the blue status window flickered in front of his eyes.
It started.
[All players must conquer the next floor of the tower within 90 days.]
The world we all knew is falling apart... ….
[If you fail, humanity will perish.]
Just like that.
The game has become a reality.
＊＊＊
His mind was confused like a computer with overloading, but Jinhyuk quickly made up his mind.
"Whew. Whoo. Whoo."
He cleared his breath.
The head should be cooled.
[If the Tower of Trials has become a reality, now is not the time to be hesitating here.]
'I must hurry.'
Jinhyuk got up from his chair.
The chair rattled and fell.
But there was no time to get it back up again.
He has to go outside now.
To be precise, to a place where he can get 'that item'.
Jinhyuk came out of the front door and sprinted straight down the road.
It is a good item.
That is an undeniable fact.
the problem is.
that number
'All in all, it's 4 pills... … .'
24 people were waiting, so the competition ratio was 5:1.
Jinhyuk wet his lower lip with his tongue.
'It must be quite intense.'
The advantage of being able to raise stats in the early stages was a factor that could never be compromised.
"My, it's mine!"
"Don't make me laugh. I'm first!"
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Everyone rush to get the fruit.
no matter how many fruits it has.
You have to get it before everyone else.
Soon, the Central City underground shopping mall was turned into chaos with people climbing and pushing to the trees.
＊＊＊
"damn it! That's the fruit is already taken. It's too late!"
Lee Jong-soo took a deep breath.
As he said, it was too late to go to the fountain now.
rain!
"I got it, all right!"
Someone had already picked the first fruit and put it in their mouth.
Sooner or later, the rest of the fruit will go into someone's mouth.
"It would have been a win-win if you had shared the fruit in half with me!"
Lee Jong-su kept yelling, but Jin-hyuk did not respond.
There was no need to respond.
In the first place, that weren't the types of fruits he was aiming for.
'Not yet. It's not time yet.'
Ordinary people would not even know that there was a fruit inside the tree.
Those who have played the game a few times will focus on eating the fruit outside.
And being deceived… ….
Rather than that, he enjoys a more server and brutal process.
The reason is simple.
Because there is a bigger reward waiting for on that side.
Finally, all the fruit on the tree disappeared.
right then
howl howl howl!
The tree howled.
Since all the fruits have been taken away, the tree is full of anger it is about to start running rampant.
"that's right. If you eat all the fruit, it becomes dangerous."
"Damn it. I forgot about it, I play it for a long time ago."
"Ugh, ah! Jump right now! I've died 50 times here!"
People who realized the seriousness of the situation later hesitated and withdrew.
They must run away now.
There was no chance that a level 1 player without a weapon could win a fight against this tree.
"Uh..."
Lee Jong-su staggered and got up from his seat.
"Are you going to give up?"
Jinhyuk opened his mouth.
"It's all taken, of course! It's the norm to be killed in a place like this."
"Yeah? That's a pity. The real reward of this event is given when all the fruits are eaten."
Lee Jong-soo, who was turning towards the escalator, stopped.
"Is that word true?"
"If it's fake, then why am I here?"
"……"
Lee Jong-soo's head turned quickly.
He asked him why he didn't show much interest in the fruit.
Was it for that reason?
Assuming there's a bigger reward, right.
'There's no way it's a lie because the guy who only played that game said it.'
Not knowing anything else, he certainly smelled sweet.
"Assuming what you said is true. So what are we going to do?"
"You have to dig."
Jinhyuk pointed his finger at the inside of the tree.
"If you move to alone, it's easy to get targeted. So you have to approach it from both sides."
"You mean to distract its sights."
"That's it."
People all went up.
There are only two people left in this basement, Jinhyuk and Lee Jongsu.
"Keep in mind. If either of us hesitates, the worst will happen."
Jinhyuk lowered his posture and slowly moved to the right.
"Don't worry. I did not play this game for a day or two."
Lee Jongsu moved to the left.
The two dug down.
That moment.
"Now!"
Jinhyuk took his move.
In an instant, tree trunks stretched toward Jinhyuk.
By the way.
Lee Jong-soo did not move from his place.
He stood still, showing his white teeth.
"You bastard. Who would listen to you? Go and become the bait. I'll be aiming for treasure in the meantime."
percussion!
Then he started running towards the center of the tree.
in the intersecting gaze.
Jinhyuk thought.
… … thank God. His personality hasn't changed.
'I would have been sorry if he had done anything righteousness, in the past, right?'
with a roar.
kwaaang!
Suddenly, a tree trunk that had been hiding under the fountain jumped up.
He was out of breath as he crossed the road and climbed the stairs.
But why?
The excitement and anticipation didn't make him feel the slightest bit of difficulty.
rather… ….
A life he endured in just one day.
His heart warmed to the fact that he could get out of that treadmill.
How many minutes did he run?
When he arrived, Central City was already crowded with people.
"So, what time is the fastest train to go to Busan?"
"Damn. I'm from Busan, I can't stay in Korea. Foreign. Yeah. I have to go abroad."
"Now, all those damn towers appear in every foreign country, what foreign country is safe?"
"Then where are you going?"
"No matter what happens I will go, as long as it's not in Seoul. Don't you watch the movie? If you stay here like a stupid for nothing, you'll die!"
Most of them were people trying to escape from Seoul.
'They must be anxious.'
Because it was the instinct of all living things to fear the unknown.
However, in crisis there is opportunity.
Now is not the time to run, but the time to move forward.
'In the Korean server, this is
[Area outside the tower]
One of the places that were chosen.'
If you add up the whole country, there are about thirty.
The reason I chose this place among them was that it was the closest.
Jinhyuk, who was looking down at the basement, immediately went down the escalator.
[Enter the event area.]
The underground mall was quiet.
Suddenly, a tower appeared, the sky was dyed red, and the destruction of mankind was said, so no one was doing business comfortably.
There were even fewer customers who were eating hamburgers.
"……"
"……"
But Not everyone is like that.
also… ….Jinhyuk narrowed his eyes.
Dozens of people were scattered around the fountain.
He knows without even asking.
the people here
[Tower of Trials]
These are the ones who joined the first event.
In the silence without any conversation, they looked at each other.
yeah that's the way it is
Items that will appear here soon are in limited quantities.
If you're lucky, you'll probably have 5 or so.
On the other hand, the number of people exceeded 20.
Supply is low but demand is high.
It means that someone can't get the item.
It was then.
"You… are you Kang Jinhyuk?"
A young man's voice was heard behind Jinhyuk.
'It's a voice I've heard before... … ?'
When Jinhyuk turned his head, he saw a 180cm tall man with his hair dyed yellow.
Lee Jongsoo.
Seeing this man here.
"Haha, that's right. Kang Jinhyuk! Hey. You're here too. You've been holding on to the computer all day in the corner of your room."
Lee Jongsu approached me with a grin.
Paprika TV partner BJ.
He has 500,000 subscribers on Viewtube and has a significant number of Instagram followers.
The so-called popular broadcaster.
'At the same time, he was also the representative of the company he belonged to.'
"Isn't it the time for you to go live right now?"
Jinhyuk opened his mouth.
"Ah. The situation is like this now, what kind of show can be done?"
Lee Jongsoo shrugged.
"What's the situation now?"
"Don't pretend like you don't know. I know you've worked hard on this game. Tell me more about it. What floor did you go up to? Don't hide it from fellow industry associates, let's suck some honey together.
colleague?