The core of the plan I've set up this time is to divert attention. I need to thoroughly disrupt the nerve of the city's ruler. She must be placed in a distracting environment. If things get tough, there's probably no better way to disturb the nerves of the city's ruler than to challenge her to a fight. But obviously, I can't undertake that role. If I were to get struck by lightning, I'd regress. The option of me fighting directly has been impossible from the beginning.
But they say the virtue of a great leader isn't about doing everything well but rather hiring the right person who excels in a specific domain. If I can't fight, then I just need to find someone to fight on my behalf. And as far as I know, among the humans who haven't yet reached the second floor, the strongest is Choi Ji-won. I'm a bit hesitant to face her due to the heartfelt conversation we once shared in the past, but I have no choice. There's no alternative. What do you expect from me?
But should I just wait blindly for when Choi Ji-won will come? I have thought about everything before making my move. Firstly, holding out on the second floor is pretty feasible. Silver-tier residents are devoted to their tasks because of the obligations. And since there's nowhere to spend money, or perhaps there's no free will to spend it, there's little interest in money. Everything is provided for free anyway. I've never been outside the city, but I've heard resources are abundant... so I understand why there's no intention of taking a payment. What does this mean? You can eat without paying. Food? Just go into any restaurant. Clothes? Just walk into any shop, and they'll let you take what you like. Sleep? There are inns in the city. Though they're empty due to a lack of transient population, they still exist. If you want to sleep, you can.
The environment is optimized for long-term endurance. If it had been a perilous environment like a tutorial, I wouldn't have dared to wait for Choi Ji-won. But when I reviewed my plan, it seemed perfect. In two months, Choi Ji-won will succeed in climbing to the 10th floor. This means she should arrive on the second floor within a month. There's no possibility of waiting for years.
"Well, then..." I settled in a corner of the construction site and began to observe the summoned individuals. When will you arrive, Choi Ji-won? I hope you come soon. The sun was setting. There was no sign of Choi Ji-won. I could only tell that during the day, more Asians were summoned, but as time went on, the proportion of Westerners increased. The tower probably has a fixed time, unlike the earth where time varies by region.
"Maybe it's time to sleep." As darkness fell and sleepiness set in, I made my way to the inn. I didn't plan to sleep long. I don't expect Choi Ji-won to arrive on the second floor during the early hours based on Korean time, but you never know. My vigil had just begun.
"Bro, who's that guy?"
"Don't know. He's just been sitting there every day. Just ignore him. Check if anyone with a gold mark has come. Ugh, damn it. They said the dawn shift is the best."
"Dawn shift?"
"If you had the gold mark, would you come during the day or at dawn? They said dawn has better chances."
A week passed.
Choi Ji-won still hadn't arrived.
The biggest challenge of doing nothing was overcoming boredom. Observing the faces of people arriving on the second floor and checking for Choi Ji-won was incredibly tedious.
"But do you think this gold mark is really meaningful? I'm not even sure if the rewards are that different..."
"Man, you really don't know anything, do you? In the underworld, rumors about the 'Magic Potion' have spread. I only recently found out it came from the tower, but it's a huge deal right now. Wealthy old folks are buying everything that comes out of the tower. Do you know?"
"That much?"
"I'm from Detroit. Right now, potions are the hottest items. Especially the lower grades; they're impossible to get even with money. Do you think I came to the second floor for no reason? If I bring this, it's going to sell like hotcakes. I could probably buy a truckload of women. You can't make women on the first floor, you know." "Right..."
But the street thugs blocking the alleyway didn't seem to understand, as they never ceased their chatter. Come to think of it, who would've expected someone with a gold mark to show up? Why would anyone wait aimlessly here for that? Both me and those thugs had our own battles to win against ourselves. There was a guy near me who was pretty talkative, so I wasn't bored for a while, but that had its limits too. Fighting with this feels tougher than battling goblins. When are you coming, Choi Ji-won?
Two weeks passed.
Yesterday, in the early evening, David, a Black man who had been friendly with me, cleared the second floor with a gold mark. How did he deal with the roadblockers?
"Move aside. I brought four marks. We should help each other out, right?"
"Whoa, wow..."
He bribed them with the marks. It probably took him around two weeks to gather enough gold marks to silence those blocking the way.
"The NPCs were a bit of a hindrance... but I was in the football club. In a game, you play to win, right?"
David looked as triumphant as a running back who had just made a touchdown. I contemplated saying something, but it felt pointless. When are you coming, Choi Ji-won? I'm going crazy waiting like this.
Two and a half weeks passed.
I saw some Koreans from time to time, but no familiar faces. Because of that, out of sheer boredom, I befriended the thugs blocking the alley near where I was (the ones who were loud last time had already extorted their gold marks and cleared. They call it "graduating"). I asked them something I had been curious about.
The tower's creator publicly declared that he would judge humans, and the tutorial showed it in action. Yet, I couldn't understand why there were those who acted wickedly. Their answers were more shocking than I expected.
"Well... someone else will handle that judgment. No one expects me to clear the 66th floor. Isn't it okay if I live a bit wickedly? It's not just me doing it."
Another said, "The judgment's done, right? So, we've paid the price. If there's another judgment later, then... just give me some stats. It's okay if we pay the price, right?"
Another, "I just don't care? My life's already screwed... we're all screwed anyway."
The world is vast.
Considering the entire world, are there more good people or bad? More educated or less? The fact that crimes never cease globally, in a way, seemed inevitable. When too much power is given to an individual, chaos ensues. I need to climb the tower quickly.
Three weeks passed.
After a long wait... I finally met a familiar face.
"It's been a while... or should I say that?"
Yes.
The person everyone was waiting for.
If this world were a novel and I was a reader, I'd have looked forward to the day we'd meet again. A person with a heart of justice. He approached me with a confident stride, extending his hand for a handshake.
"Good to see you. Do you remember me?"
It was Park Cheol-jin, a middle-aged firefighter.
"I was grateful during the tutorial. Thanks to you, I survived."
"I did wonder if I had dreamt it all... but I wasn't the only one with that experience. And when will we be able to make a portal to the first floor? It took a while to come to terms with all this."
"But the tutorial... I don't see any visible threats now, but our mission objective hasn't appeared yet."
It's good to see you.
To meet and tackle the second floor together... at this point, it feels like fate. By the way, how long have you been on the second floor? It's good to see you... but it would've been even better if there was another person I was happy to see. I inadvertently closed my mouth, feeling a bit down.
"Sorry, I have a lot I want to ask and talk about... but there's someone else coming. Ah, there she is."
Turning his body, Firefighter Park Cheol-jin looked towards the center of the plaza.
Step by step, a woman was approaching from the direction he was looking at. "... What are you doing here, looking like that?"
The swaying ponytail. A familiar-looking sword.
As I slowly turned my head, the face from my memories was staring intently at me.
Those cold eyes were fixed on me.
"... I was grateful for your help during the tutorial."
Choi Ji-won.
She had finally reached the second floor.