Episode 2 Prelude
Throbbing!
A hangover came along with a terrible headache.
“Oh wow…”
Jinhyeok pressed his temples and got up from the bed.
I drank 1L of ice water from the refrigerator out of a burning thirst.
As the water that was cold enough to make my throat ache, I slowly came to my senses.
ha.
I’m going to live now
The ramen for hangover was very tempting, but there is work to be done first.
‘First of all, I’ll have to edit and upload the video I first cleared yesterday before it’s taken away by someone.’
I haven’t seen the shadows of other players since around the 20th floor, so that shouldn’t be the case… but
I didn’t know that it was a human thing.
Whoops!
Jinhyeok quickly turned on the computer.
And I tried to find music that suits me while working on View Tube.
however.
“uh?”
A view tuber of a channel I often watch was broadcasting live.
‘The Tower of Trials appears for real. It’s ㅇㄱㄹㅇ.’ with the title.
Title aggro was common in this industry, but it was an exception when the number of viewers watching a live broadcast exceeded 300,000.
There is something.
Jinhyeok moved the mouse cursor.
pounding! pounding! pounding!
My heart was beating uncontrollably fast.
I don’t know why.
Just clicking on it seemed like everything would change.
Click!
entered the broadcast.
-and! Brothers. that! that! do you see Everyone is watching, right?
On the screen, I saw a view tuber who burst into exclamations of exclamation… and
a huge tower.
Really.
A huge tower appeared in the middle of Seoul.
so familiar
-Melon Flavor Watermelon brother reported it to me, so I thought it was from a game called [Tower of Trials] that was released 11 years ago. Can you believe it? uh? Wait.
The view tuber suddenly raised his head as if he felt something.
Just then.
The screen in the video started to turn red.
It wasn’t sunset.
Because the sun never sets at 10:00 AM.
‘This can’t be…’
Jinhyeok swallowed dry saliva.
I know what this is.
A portent that appeared when I first played [Tower of Trials].
[The first update of the reboot version of ‘Tower of Trials’ has been completed.]
The boundary between reality and virtuality has blurred.
Even in front of the viewer on the screen.
And in front of his eyes in reality, the blue status window flickered.
It started.
[All players, please conquer the next level of the tower within 90 days.] The
world everyone knew collapses…
[If you fail, humanity will perish.]
Just like that.
The game has become a reality.
＊＊＊
His head was confused like a computer that had not been loaded, but Jinhyeok soon made up his mind.
“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.”
I adjusted my breathing.
You need to cool your head.
If the [Tower of Trials] had really become a reality, now was not the time to hesitate here.
‘I have to hurry.’
Jinhyeok stood up from his chair.
The chair rattled and fell over.
But there was no time to raise it again.
I have to go.
outside.
To be precise, to the place where you can get ‘that item’.
After kicking out the front door, Jinhyeok sprinted along the road.
I was out of breath as I crossed the road and climbed the stairs.
But why why?
The excitement and anticipation made me feel that it was not difficult at all.
Rather….
Just a life that I endured while looking at it for one day.
The fact that I could get out of that hamster wheel warmed my heart.
How many minutes did you run?
Arriving at Central City was already a sea of phosphate due to people.
“What time is the earliest to go to Busan?”
“shit. It’s Busan, it’s Nabal, and you shouldn’t be in Korea. foreign country. okay. I can live in a foreign country.”
“Now that damn tower has appeared in all foreign countries, what kind of foreign country is it?”
“Then where are you going?”
“Whatever it is, it’s fine as long as it’s not Seoul. Can’t you see the movie? If you remain stupid, you will die!”
Most of them were people trying to get out of Seoul.
‘It must be uneasy.’
Originally, it was the instinct of all living things to be afraid of the unknown.
But in crisis there is opportunity.
Now is not the time to run away, but the time to move on.
‘On the Korean server, this place was selected as one of the [regions other than the Tower].’
There are about thirty of them nationwide.
The reason I chose this one was because it was the closest.
Jinhyeok, who was looking down at the basement, went down the escalator.
[Enter the event area.]
The underground mall was quiet.
Suddenly, a tower appeared, the sky was dyed red, and mankind was destroyed, but no one was comfortable doing business.
There were even fewer customers who were buying hamburgers.
of course.
“….”
“..”
Not everyone is like that.
As expected…
Jinhyeok narrowed his eyes.
Dozens of people were scattered around the fountain.
I know you don’t even have to ask.
The people here are people who have played the early part of [Tower of Trials].
In the silence with no conversation, they looked at each other.
That’s right.
Items appearing here soon are limited in quantity.
If you’re lucky, maybe 5 of them.
On the other hand, the number of people exceeded 20.
The supply is low, but the demand is high.
It means that someone can’t get the item.
It was then.
“You… Kang Jin-hyuk, right?”
A young man’s voice came from behind Jinhyeok.
‘It’s a voice I’ve heard before…?’
When Jinhyeok turned his head, he saw a man with a 180 cm tall body and dyed yellow hair.
Jongsu Lee.
Do you see this child here?
“Haha that’s right. Kang Jin-hyeok! hey you are here too After all, I was sitting on the computer all day in the corner of the room.”
Lee Jong-soo approached with a smirk.
Paprika TV partner BJ.
He has 500,000 subscribers on ViewTube and a significant number of Instagram followers.
He is a so-called ‘popular’ celebrity.
‘At the same time, I was also the representative of the company I belong to.’
“Wasn’t it when the broadcast was in full swing?”
Jinhyuk opened his mouth.
“no way. The situation is like this, what kind of broadcast is this?”
Lee Jong-soo shrugged.
“What is the situation?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. I know you worked pretty hard on this game. tell me more What floor did you go to? Let’s not hide it from colleagues in the same industry and drink some honey together.”
colleague?
colleague…?
Jinhyeok felt a shock as if he had been hit in the head with a hammer.
I still remember what this trash said.
‘The company he founded cheated on the BJs with unfair contracts.’
They said they would provide an editor’s salary and various contents, but it was all a lie.
In addition, 60% of the total revenue was taken away, so the harder you worked on broadcasting, the more you lost money.
I protested, but to no avail.
Because I had the most famous law firm in Korea on my back.
If it’s unfair, do it according to the law.
The contract was written with mutual consent.
In the end, the BJs who acted like slaves ended the broadcast crying.
close colleagues.
Friends who have been together from the bottom up.
One by one, they left the industry.
“You are good at games. I know that eating shows are also delicious. I’ll specially make the terms of the contract a little better. huh?”
Lee Jong-soo put his hand on Jin-hyeok’s shoulder.
disgusting Even every single word this guy uttered.
“…Lee Jong-soo.”
“hey. hey. Even privately, call me CEO. Tsk.”
ah. right. Representative… it was.
There was something I realized in my life so far.
That bad guys continue to do well and live well.
also.
To avoid being beaten by them, you have to become more vicious and cruel.
Those are two things.
“If you are a representative, act like a representative. Then I will call you representative.”
“what?”
Lee Jong-soo’s complexion changed.
either that or not.
Jinhyuk continued to speak.
“I do not remember? You handed a business card to a female BJ while arguing and kicking, crying, and screaming, didn’t you?”
Too bad I was the only one who saw it.
I should have left a video.
“Is that all? He said he would never give up, so he found out the BJ’s house address and stalked her. Then I was reported and went to the police station. Ha real boy If it were me, I would bite my tongue and die. dead.”
“you you! Are you crazy? We can bury it completely so that it can’t be broadcast forever in the future!”
Lee Jong-soo grabbed Jin-hyeok by the collar.
“I’m sorry, but I stopped broadcasting yesterday.”
and.
“Don’t let go of your words, son of a bitch. Because I am older than you.”
Quaang!
Jinhyeok’s head dug into Lee Jongsu’s face.
“Keah!”
Lee Jong-soo’s head tilted back.
Broken teeth and blood gushed onto the floor.
‘I feel refreshed inside.’
It felt like I had lost a tooth that I had been suffering from for 10 years.
“Geuuuuuu…”
Jinhyeok grabbed his face and looked at Lee Jong-soo, who was suffering.
But it was only for a short while.
‘It’s time to show up soon.’
The very moment I thought so.
Cuckoo Cuckoo!
A violent stream of water rose from the fountain side.
I wondered if the calm surface of the water was shaking.
Whoops!
A 4m tall tree sprang up.
‘It finally appeared.’
“Ohhh!”
“It’s a mangrove!”
“As expected, my memory was correct!”
The people who were waiting also exclaimed.
[The ‘mangrove tree of greed’ grows.]
[You can eat 1 fruit per person.]
One of the opportunities you can get before entering the Tower of Trials.
Jinhyeok looked at the colorful fruits hanging from the mangrove trees.
Each of those ripe fruits had the effect of raising Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Magical stats.
It is a good item.
That’s an undeniable fact.
the problem is.
That’s it.
‘All in all, 4 eggs…’
Since there were 24 people waiting, the competition rate was 5:1.
Jinhyuk wet his lower lip with his tongue.
‘It must be quite fierce.’
The merit of being able to raise stats in the early stages was a factor that could never be compromised.
“It’s mine!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m first!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Everyone rushed to eat the fruit.
somehow
no matter what number you use.
You have to get your hands on it before anyone else.
Soon, the Central City Underground Mall turned into a mayhem with people climbing and pushing trees.
＊＊＊
“Damn the rain! Only then is the fruit wrong. It’s late!”
Lee Jong-su took a deep breath.
As the guy said, it’s too late to go to the fountain now.
Munch!
“It’s okay!”
Someone has already picked the first fruit and put it in his mouth.
Sooner or later, the rest of the fruit will also end up in someone’s mouth.
“It would have been a win-win if you had joined hands with me and shared the fruit in half!”
Lee Jong-soo kept shouting, but Jin-hyeok did not respond.
There was no need to respond.
In the first place, what this side was aiming for was not those four kinds of fruits.
‘yet. It’s not yet time.’
Ordinary people would not even know if there was fruit on the tree.
Those who have played a few times will only focus on eating the fruit.
And the deceased person…
enjoys a more perverted and sadistic process than that.
The reason is simple.
Because there is a bigger reward waiting for that side.
Eventually all the fruit on the tree was gone.
Right then.
Hey hey hey!
The tree howled.
Since all the fruits were taken away, the main body filled with anger is about to start rampaging.
“That’s right. Eating all of these fruits would be very dangerous.”
“Damn it. I forgot because I did it so long ago.”
“Aww! jump right now! I died here 50 times!”
People who realized the seriousness of the situation belatedly hesitated and retreated.
You must run away immediately.
There was no chance that a level 1 player without a weapon could win a fight against this tree.
“Ugh…”
Lee Jong-soo stumbled and got up from his seat.
“Are you going to give up?”
Jinhyuk opened his mouth.
“Of course not! It is unacceptable to be killed in a place like this.”
“okay? It’s a pity. The real reward for this event is what you get when all the berries are eaten.”
Lee Jong-soo, who was turning toward the escalator, hesitated.
“Is that true?”
“If it’s fake, why would I stay here?”
“….”
Lee Jong-soo’s head turned quickly.
I wondered why they didn’t show much interest in the fruit.
Was it for that reason?
Assuming there was a bigger reward, the front and rear were right.
‘It can’t be a lie because that guy who only played games said it.’
If nothing else, it was certain that it smelled sweet.
“Assuming what you say is true. So what are we going to do?”
“You have to dig in.”
Jinhyeok pointed to the inside of the tree with his finger.
“If you move one by one, it’s easy to be targeted. So you must approach it from both sides.”
“You mean to disturb the line of sight.”
“That’s what it means.”
People all went up.
There are only two people left in this basement, Jin-hyeok and Lee Jong-soo.
“Remember. If either of them hesitates, the worst will happen.”
Jinhyeok lowered his stance and slowly moved to the right.
“don’t worry. I didn’t play this game for a day or two.”
Lee Jong-soo moved to the left.
The two took their seats.
That moment.
“Now!”
Jinhyeok took his seat.
In an instant, tree trunks stretched towards Jinhyeok.
however.
Lee Jong-soo did not move from his seat.
He stood still, showing his white teeth.
“You bastard. Who listens to you? Go and be the bait. In the meantime, I’ll be aiming for treasure.”
Percussion!
And started running toward the center of the tree.
in the intersecting gaze.
Jinhyuk thought.
…It’s fortunate. His personality hasn’t changed.
‘If I had at least changed my mind in the meantime, I would have felt sorry, right?’
with a roar.
Kwaaang!
Suddenly, a tree trunk hidden under the fountain popped up.
