Chapter 36: Rapid Changes on Earth (1)

 

“...”

 

A bed. A single computer. A mini fridge placed in the kitchen. Even a wardrobe.

 

Looking here... Looking there… No matter how I look around, it’s identical to my own apartment.

 

But I clearly saw the message that I had entered the first floor.

 

Could it be?

 

Is Earth the first floor of the tower?

 

My thoughts multiplied, making my head spin.

 

 

A familiar message window appeared before my eyes.

 

“...Hmm.”

 

I tensed my muscles and heightened my alertness.

 

From now on, nothing that happened would be considered strange.

 

But the message that popped up was... quite unexpected.

 

 

“...What?”

 

Just a moment ago, I was in a life-or-death battle with monsters…

 

And now they’re telling me to take a comfortable rest? No clear conditions? And a guidebook? Did I come here as a tourist?

 

The atmosphere had completely shifted, leaving me utterly bewildered.

 

Just as I was on high alert, wondering if this was a trap, a small box appeared before my eyes with a ‘pop!’

 

It had a design similar to the boxes that contained the golden beads on the 0th floor.

 

I grabbed the floating box and opened it... Inside, there really was a guidebook.

 

“...So, it’s not a prank…?”

 

I pulled out the guidebook and immediately checked the title.

 

<Guidebook for Climbers Chosen by God>

 

On the cover, an angel was holding a placard that read ‘Welcome’ with a bright smile.

 

“...”

 

Upon seeing the overall cheerful atmosphere of the guidebook, my face involuntarily scrunched up.

 

After throwing people into an island with ridiculous conditions where they can only kill or be killed,

 

Now what? They’re welcoming us?

 

It feels like I’m the butt of some distasteful joke.

 

Irritation surged uncontrollably.

 

However, I roughly grasped their intentions.

 

From their point of view, everything done up to now was simply a ‘test,’ and now that I’d passed the test, they intended to treat me accordingly - it was their form of hospitality.

 

But from my perspective, having looped back multiple times in an attempt to save people, this felt like a form of hospitality that was exceedingly unpleasant.

 

‘If this isn’t a joke... Should I be grateful for their so-called favor?’

 

After all, keeping my feelings aside, the guidebook was still a guidebook.

 

I gritted my teeth and opened it to check the contents.

 

<Table of Contents>

 

1. What Led to the Creation of This Tower?

 

2. How to Make the Most of the 1st Floor?

 

3. Curious About the Basic Rules of the Tower?

 

4. Why Climb the Tower?

 

The table of contents was written in a gentle tone, as if explaining to a child.

 

Flipping to the first page, I found that it contained the same information the fairy had explained during the tutorial, albeit with a bit more detail.

 

So, God is disappointed with human behavior, and the time for judgment has come, and the merciful God has decided to give humans a chance to survive, and that chance is the Tower...

 

Of course, I also acknowledge that humans are a mess. Lately, I’ve noticed a growing trend of utterly inhumane people.

 

But why should God be disappointed? If He’s the one who made us this way, then He should be disappointed in Himself for making us like this.

 

Having skimmed through it, I found it to be nothing but a useless drivel, so I quickly flipped through the pages to move on to the next section.

 

<How to Make the Most of the 1st Floor>

 

-God wishes for all climbers to fully showcase human potential. After all, you are nothing less than representatives of humanity. Therefore, maintaining your condition is not a choice, but a necessity!

 

-Various features are prepared on the 1st floor to ensure climbers can have complete rest:

 

-First, the shape of the 1st floor can be transformed anytime, however you want. Personalize your own 1st floor!

 

-Second, you can receive any item you desire on the 1st floor! However, you can’t take them outside the 1st floor!

 

-Third, miss your family? We will open a portal for you to head back to your hometown anytime! Similarly, a portal to the 2nd floor will also be available anytime.

 

-Once you have rejuvenated your body and mind and are prepared, why not challenge the 2nd floor?

 

“…”

 

I lifted my eyes from the guidebook and looked around my ordinary studio apartment.

 

To be honest, I’d always wanted to live in a spacious, clean apartment instead of this cramped space.

 

“…Oh.”

 

The moment that thought crossed my mind, the surroundings immediately transformed, reshaping into the interior of an average apartment.

 

Looking out the window, I could see the Han River flowing, and people were walking around.

 

*Swish.*

 

I opened the window and a refreshing breeze flowed in.

 

“…Does it work?”

 

I tried to reach my hand outside the window, but it was as if I hit an invisible wall; my hand wouldn’t go any further.

 

Alright then, let’s imagine something extravagant this time. A luxurious mansion.

 

My surroundings squirmed again, morphing into the interior of a mansion fit for Dubai royalty.

 

I climbed the stairs and entered a room at the center of the second floor. A grand bed that could easily fit ten people and an opulent chandelier greeted me.

 

Thinking of a delicious pizza, I suddenly found my favorite brand of pizza laid out on a table beside me. Imagining a cold drink, a bottled beverage with a straw appeared in my hand.

 

I took a sip of the drink and threw myself onto the soft bed. Then, I casually checked my phone.

 

“…I want to go back to Earth.”

 

As I said that, a blue portal instantly materialized next to the bed.

 

Rolling into the portal, I found myself standing once again in my familiar studio apartment.

 

“…Cola.”

 

I imagined a refreshing cola, but nothing happened.

 

Opening the window and extending my hand, it passed through without any resistance.

 

“…Huh.”

 

I chuckled bitterly, throwing myself onto the musty-smelling bed.

 

It was uncomfortable. I was already missing the softness of the bed from before.

 

“…I want to go back to the first floor.”

 

As soon as the words left my mouth, a blue portal rapidly formed.

 

Instead of stepping through it, I waved my hand to close the portal shut.

 

“…”

 

If other people were granted the same luxurious first floor as I was…

 

“We’re screwed.”

 

Humanity is on the brink of extinction.

 

The tutorial I was in was vastly different from what others must have gone through.

 

I’d been able to adapt quite well by repeatedly regressing, tackling most of the tutorial in this way.

 

Thanks to swordsmanship learned from Choi Ji-won and leveling up, I’d gained considerable power, and apart from the Minotaur, I’d never felt my life was at risk.

 

Even so, laying down like this made sleep creep upon me.

 

After constantly sleeping on the hard ground, the softness of the bed was a temptation too strong to resist.

 

But what about others who didn’t go through the tutorial with me?

 

For them, the tutorial must have been a series of unending stressors.

 

Due to a lack of food, they would’ve been constantly hungry.

 

When sleep came, it would be a fitful rest achieved under the looming threat to their lives.

 

As the angel suggested, perhaps they even had to kill loved ones to obtain beads.

 

And just when they must have thought they’ve barely survived the tutorial, an angel appears out of nowhere, demanding they pay a proper price to enter the tower.

 

Stress. Then more stress. Most of them were probably pushed to the brink of madness.

 

What if those people were to encounter the first floor I was in?

 

They might think something like this:

 

‘Do I really need to go to the second floor?’

 

The first floor provides everything material you could wish for.

 

Although they say humanity will be wiped out if we don’t reach the 66th floor… the likelihood is high that people would rather expect someone else to do the hard work.

 

Besides, the tutorial’s fairy only said humanity would be destroyed. It didn’t specify a timeline for climbing the tower.

 

There’s a lack of motivation. A genuine reason to risk one’s life to ascend this tower.

 

If this is God’s intent… maybe it’s to test something like human will? Sacrificial spirit? Something along those lines.

 

I have to admit, it’s a rather sophisticated way to bring about the extinction of humanity without actually killing anyone.

 

“First off... what’s the date today?”

 

Checking my phone, I was relieved to see that the date hadn’t changed. Perhaps it was due to my quick completion of the tutorial.

 

As soon as I unlocked my phone, a flood of KakaoTalk messages came pouring in.

 

The majority of the KakaoTalk messages urged me to check the news on portal sites immediately.

 

“...What is this?”

 

As my friends suggested, I opened a portal site to look at the news section, and it was... a spectacle, to say the least.

 

『Video of Superhuman Deleted Right After Posting on YouTube, Confirmed to be Real!』

 

『[Breaking News] U.S. Acknowledges Existence of the Tower! Survivors Officially Named ‘Players’!』

 

『Korean Government Officially Admits to Concealing Information: ‘Hid it to Prevent Social Unrest.’』

 

『Players Keeping Mum on the ‘Tutorial’... Is it Selfishness, or Something Supernatural?』

 

“...”

 

All the tower-climbing novels I’ve read were set in a society that had already adjusted to the existence of the tower. That’s probably why I’d never seen a scene like this before.

 

The tower... was changing the world.

 

– – – End of Chapter – – -

 

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