Near the heart of Seoul, a mysterious tower suddenly appeared.
The area was already packed with a dense crowd of people.
"Due to the emergence of a new tower, entry beyond the control line is prohibited. Please cooperate!"
A police officer in a yellow vest shouted through a megaphone as dozens of citizens murmured in front of him.
This newly appeared tower resembled the Tower of Babel but was much larger and taller, making it visible from anywhere in Seoul.
Citizens flocked to see the tower, but police and barricades held them back. Surveillance drones flew overhead, adding to the tension.
"I was planning to visit that famous pork soup restaurant nearby, but I guess that's not happening today..."
Someone muttered in disappointment, their voice quickly lost among the other noises.
"We continue our report. According to current information, the tower was first observed around 12:15 PM today. The Glory Guild has dispatched an advance team to investigate. There has been no news from the team yet, and other climber guilds are also showing interest in this tower."
Reporters in neat attire delivered updates about the situation from in front of the barricades.
"How long has the Glory Guild's advance team been inside the tower?"
"About 30 minutes."
"...That's strange."
The Glory Guild had set up tents around the tower, waiting for news from their advance team.
Despite carefully selecting personnel to prevent incidents, Vice Master Yun Seo-jin frowned as the team failed to return at the agreed time for Tower Exit.
"Surely nothing could have happened to them? You know better than anyone how strong our guild members are. Everyone we sent has experience climbing towers beyond the 40th floor. They're a solid team that could probably take down a dragon if one appeared!"
"That's exactly why I'm worried. You never know what might emerge from a tower. Especially a new one like this."
While other guild members trusted in the advance team's strength, Vice Master Yun Seo-jin paced around the tower, clenching and unclenching his fists with worry.
"Come on, don't be like that! How about we go to that pork soup restaurant right in front and get some blood sausage soup? You skipped lunch because of this sudden tower appearance!"
"Sigh... You're right, I am hungry. Let's eat first..."
At that moment.
-Flash!
A pillar of light appeared at the tower entrance.
And within it, a human figure emerged.
"What...?"
"L-look! A pillar of light appeared in front of the tower! Inside it... Ah! It's one of our guild's advance team members!"
"Oh! They've returned safely!"
Vice Master Yun Seo-jin's face finally relaxed.
Soon after, another pillar of light appeared, and Park Chun-ja and Ban Hwi-yeol could be seen returning from the tower.
However... an unexpected problem arose.
"...They're all unconscious."
All the returned members were unconscious with their eyes rolled back.
Fortunately, they were breathing and their hearts were beating, but they looked devastated, as if they had died and come back to life.
Their eyes were unfocused, as if their souls had left their bodies.
"This is an emergency. Get the recovery mages here immediately. Contact the nearby hospital too. This might not be simple unconsciousness."
"Um... both our recovery mages are currently eating pork soup at the restaurant—"
"Who could eat at a time like this?!"
"I'll call them right away!!!"
And so, the recovery mage who was just about to take his first bite of hot, spicy bean sprout pork soup...
"The Vice Master needs a recovery mage right away!!!"
"What?! I ordered this soup thinking I wouldn't be on shift!!!"
"I told you to order according to the shift schedule! Hurry up and go!"
In the end, he had to leave his soup behind and rush to the scene to start healing the unconscious advance team members.
But no matter what debuff removal spells the recovery mage cast, nothing worked.
"This is strange... There's nothing physically wrong with them, and they don't seem to be under any curse or darkness status effects... It looks like they just fainted from shock?"
"So we can't wake them up right now?"
"Why don't we try pinching their cheeks?"
The recovery mage said this while grabbing Ban Hwi-yeol's cheek and pulling it.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"
Ban Hwi-yeol woke up with wide eyes and a scream!
His eyes were filled with terror, he was gasping for breath, and his body was trembling.
The recovery mage fell backward in surprise at the scream, while Vice Master Yun Seo-jin approached to calm him down.
"Are you alright? Take deep breaths first."
"Ugh, huff! Huff...! Huff...!"
Only after Yun Seo-jin rubbed his back and helped stabilize his breathing did Ban Hwi-yeol's eyes return to normal.
Ban Hwi-yeol sat on the ground, feeling his face and body to confirm they were intact, then sighed in relief.
"You seem a bit better now. Can I ask what happened inside?"
"...I came back to life."
"...What did you say?"
"I came back to life... I died once, and then came back to life!"
"What are you talking about—"
-Flash!
At that moment, another pillar of light appeared, and Kim Chun-sik and Elizabeth returned.
The recovery mage, who had been sneaking back to his soup, was dragged back to check on the two new arrivals.
After examination, the remaining two were also diagnosed with shock-induced unconsciousness. An ambulance that had just arrived began transporting the still-unconscious team members to the hospital.
Following behind in a gray mid-sized car were Ban Hwi-yeol and Yun Seo-jin.
The recovery mage also boarded in case of emergency, and he wailed:
"Waaah! My spicy bean sprout pork soup!!!"
"...Would you please be quiet."
When the Vice Master spoke in an angry tone, the recovery mage became frightened and quieted down.
Ban Hwi-yeol took a deep breath and began his report.
"First... I'll explain what we experienced on the 1st floor."
------
"...That's all."
"Good work. Get some rest at the hospital for now."
After hearing Ban Hwi-yeol's full report, Yun Seo-jin sent him to the hospital with the recovery mage.
Left alone, he stroked his chin and began to contemplate what he had just heard.
'The 1st floor can be cleared just by breathing, and it gives a resurrection buff that lasts for a day...'
This was unprecedented.
Resurrection—even if it was a one-time effect given immediately upon entering the tower—was something no tower had ever offered before.
He thought about other towers.
Small towers with 20-30 floors that even novice climbers could ascend.
Medium towers with 40-60 floors for somewhat experienced climbers.
And large towers with 80-90 floors that only top-tier experts challenged.
Their sizes differed, but their structures were similar.
Most towers had similar difficulty levels for floors 1-5.
As if designed for growth, they started easy but gradually increased in difficulty.
In the beginning, only weak monsters like fire boars, horned rabbits, and giant mushrooms appeared.
The rewards were modest too. Job-specific skills or small amounts of Tower Coins.
But this new tower was drastically different.
Its structure was abnormal.
The trial on the 1st floor was unbelievably easy.
Yet it offered the unusual reward of resurrection.
This meant something sinister was at play.
'The 2nd floor had hundreds of exploding rabbits, he said...'
That must be the reason.
The 2nd floor seemed simple: survive for 30 minutes.
No attack requirements, no rules against killing rabbits.
But according to Ban Hwi-yeol, all those rabbits were bombs.
What appeared to be a simple survival mission turned into a high-difficulty evasion trial the moment you attacked the rabbits.
Surviving for 30 minutes among exploding rabbits?
That itself was already a trap.
'Then, without the resurrection buff?'
A question flashed through Seo-jin's mind.
What if this tower had sent climbers to the 2nd floor without a resurrection buff?
The result would obviously be total annihilation.
The Glory Guild would have dispatched another search team to find the missing advance team.
But without any information, the second team would have met the same fate.
'...Was it even possible to exit this tower in the first place?'
Even Kim Chun-sik and Elizabeth, who had said they would use Tower Exit to escape, ended up dying and being resurrected.
So, what if Tower Exit wasn't even possible in this tower?
It would mean you couldn't leave or transmit information unless you died.
If the 3rd floor, the 4th floor, and beyond also blocked exits—
This wasn't a tower; it was bait.
A structure designed for people to enter and die.
Yet this tower provided a resurrection effect called "Angel's Protection (Small)" from the 1st floor.
In other words, it was designed to make climbers think the tower's abnormal difficulty was manageable.
It guided them to accumulate information through cycles of life and death, finding their way forward.
It seemed kind to the outside, but in reality, it was incredibly cruel.
'It looks peaceful on the surface, but in reality... it's a system where someone must die for information to accumulate. Truly... malicious.'
That was Yun Seo-jin's conclusion.
And quietly, he began writing a report to submit to the Guild Master.
------
Meanwhile, on the 95th floor of My Home Tower.
"Yahoo!!! Internet cafe, here I come!!!!"
"150 Tower Coins have been consumed to create a portal from the 95th floor to the outside of the tower."
Tricia, who was super excited about using the internet for the first time in decades, felt her suppressed instincts being liberated!
She was even willing to use precious Tower Coins to create a portal to quickly get outside the tower!
At first, the butler tried to stop her, saying it was dangerous, but when Tricia convinced him that she needed to properly check the outside situation to protect our home (tower), he reluctantly agreed!
Anyway, having found a way out, Tricia jumped and dove into the portal!
"Now! Let's GO to the digital world full of love, dreams, hope, and dopamine!!!!"
Crash-!
"Oof!"
But her dive was blocked by an invisible wall in front of the portal.
What's going on? Was my diving angle wrong? She wondered as she checked the newly appeared system window.
"Access denied."
"Current entity: Eriel Tricia cannot leave the tower."
"Don't mess with me, you piece of s***!!!!!!!!"
Tricia finally couldn't hold back her curse words and wailed.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!"
She burst into tears like a child whose ice cream had been stolen by a passing thug...
This is... a Tower Administrator...?
The System was already starting to worry about this tower's future.
