My Assigned Hunters Climb the Tower - Chapter 22

========== CHAPTER 22 ==========

Lee Seong-ha asked urgently, as if he couldn’t understand.

“Hey, didn’t you say there were still two months left before the Tower appeared?”

“……Right. I did.”

Gyeol gritted his teeth. Before the regression, the day humanity’s history changed was definitely two months away. However, the scene unfolding before his eyes—the purple sky, the mana surge, and the lightning tearing through dimensions—was undoubtedly a precursor to the ‘Tower’s Descent’.

Had his regression, or the future he changed, become a butterfly effect that accelerated the massive wheel of fate?

That was when it happened.

“Uh……? What’s that? There’s something in the sky.”

Following the tip of Kang Hun’s finger, everyone’s gaze turned toward the center of Seoul, beyond the clouds.

Cutting vertically through the purple sky, a massive ‘shadow’ of unfathomable shape was descending toward the ground. It wasn’t a building. It was the bottom of a bizarre and grand metallic structure, as if it were being forcibly shoved through from beyond the dimensions.

A massive shadow, large enough to cover the entire city, was cast, completely blocking out the sunlight.

“No way… how is that a building….”

Along with Kwon Do-geun’s bewildered muttering, a blinding flash erupted from the bottom of the ‘Tower’ that filled the skies over Seoul.

[Notification: The Earth Zone’s trial begins.]

[Notification: The ‘Tower of Truth’ descends.]

The system’s mechanical voice rang in the ears of people all over the world. Two months ahead of schedule, humanity’s worst disaster was beginning.

The whole world fell into silence. In the center of every country’s capital, the massive pillar floating just a few meters above the ground allowed no physical impact or magical approach. It was the moment when all the common sense and technology humanity had built up became powerless before that massive fortress.

But the real horror wasn’t the Tower’s appearance.

“……There are no monsters?”

Lee Seong-ha muttered blankly while refreshing the hunter community on his smartphone. The reports coming in from around the world in real-time all contained unbelievable information. With the appearance of the Tower, monsters had vanished from all dungeons on Earth.

Hunters who were in the middle of clearing dungeons were bewildered to see the empty interiors, and soon had to shudder at the silence that followed. It wasn’t that their prey had disappeared. A strange premonition covered the world, as if the hunting dogs had gathered in one place to follow a greater master.

It was then, as speculation, conjecture, and doomsday theories were swirling like a whirlwind.

Chi-ji-ji-jik—!

Seoul’s electronic billboards, home TVs, smartphones in hand, and even old radios that had been turned off. Every video and audio device in the world simultaneously caused electromagnetic interference and began to display a single message.

[Guide to the Earth Zone Trial]

A dry, mechanical voice struck humanity’s ears.

[The Tower of Truth consists of 100 floors.]

[Therefore, we will select 100 ‘Pioneers’ to represent humanity.]

On the screen, red letters were engraved on parchment stained with dried blood.

[The condition for the trial is clear.]

[Once the 100 Pioneers clear all 100 floors of the Tower, all dungeons on Earth will vanish, and the planet will be restored to a ‘normalized’ stage.]

A moment of silence passed. And the sentence that followed was like a dagger.

[However, if the trial fails or the time limit is exceeded, the Earth Zone will be ‘disposed of’ and destroyed.]

Destruction.

The world froze at the weight of that word.

[Hunters who wish to participate, gather at the designated Tower entrances in each region by XX date, XX time.]

Even after the message disappeared, people couldn’t move for a long time. The fate of 7 billion people rested on the lives of 100. This was no longer a raid to earn money, nor a fight for honor.

Watching the tablet that had returned to a black screen after the parchment vanished, Lee Seong-ha gave a sharp nod toward Gyeol. His gaze was clearly asking.

‘Is it exactly the same, down to the last syllable, as before the regression?’

Gyeol nodded with a heavy expression. Then, Lee Seong-ha scratched the back of his head and sank deep into the sofa. Annoyance and absurdity crossed his face.

“Damn it. If it’s the same, that means being selected isn’t based on skill, but a popularity contest?”

“It’s not just a simple popularity contest, but the essence is similar. That’s why I told you about the ‘Pope’s Rebel’ image for the past week. That concept will definitely work in this situation.”

At Gyeol’s calm joke, Lee Seong-ha chuckled as if it were absurd. Kang Hun, who had been staring intently at the tablet screen next to him, asked with wide eyes.

“Popularity contest? What does that mean? Are you saying people choose who enters the Tower? Not the Tower itself?”

Gyeol put down the tablet and stared directly at his party members. Now, the week-long calm before the storm was over.

“To be precise, the Tower has gathered people to hold a ‘Preliminary Round’. 100 hunters are selected per country. The moment you enter the 1st-floor preliminary area to be among those 100, a ‘Channel’ is forcibly broadcast via all electronic media worldwide.”

“If you say channel… like a broadcast?”

Kwon Do-geun, a former movie actor, asked with interest. Gyeol continued his answer.

“Right. 24-hour live broadcast. For just 3 days. The battles and survival in the Tower’s preliminary area are broadcast to all of humanity in real-time. Viewers watch the hunters’ every move for those 3 days and vote. Only the top 100 by vote count get the ‘Pioneer’ qualification to climb the real Tower.”

When Gyeol’s explanation ended, Kang Ji-hyun said with a shocked expression.

“No way…. So this is like some audition program? Humanity’s survival is at stake, and it’s decided by votes regardless of skill? What do the viewers know!”

“Ji-hyeon-ah, the viewers aren’t stupid. Votes will go to those who show overwhelming skill.”

Gyeol’s voice sank even lower.

“But this is also a ‘show’. In competition between top-tier players with similar skills, it’s a different story. They’ll look at who is more attractive, what their personality is, or if they have something unique. The public naturally reacts to stimulating things. Appearance, personality, narrative. All of that must be a strategy.”

Gyeol looked at the massive Tower outside the window once again.

“No matter how strong you are, if the viewers don’t choose you, you’ll have to go home from the entrance, let alone the 100th floor. And the result is the destruction of humanity. We need to prepare. The cruel reality survival show watched by 7 billion people has already begun.”

“But Boss.”

Kwon Do-geun, who had been listening to the explanation, tilted his head in confusion and asked.

“How do you know that in such detail? The government and the Hunter Bureau are in chaos analyzing the message that just popped up. You’re talking like someone who has experienced it before.”

It was a sharp point. Kwon Do-geun’s eyes were full of suspicion. Gyeol was silent for a moment. He judged that it was time to tell his party members about his ‘regression’. To have them fully trust and follow him, he needed to reveal the source of this unrealistic information.

Gyeol slowly opened his mouth.

“Actually, I…….”

That was the moment.

Ppi-i-i-i-ik—!

A sharp warning sound that seemed to tear his eardrums struck Gyeol’s head. His vision flashed white, and a forced system message filled his sight.

[Warning: Do not disclose information regarding ‘regression’.]

[Notification: This information is a taboo that can shake causality.]

The system, which had been silent even when called, popped out at a critical moment to block his mouth. Gyeol frowned and shouted inwardly.

‘What? Why stop me now! I already told Lee Seong-ha everything!’

[Answer: Subject ‘Lee Seong-ha’ is an exception to causality.]

[Warning: If disclosed to others, Pioneer qualification will be revoked and the system will be forcibly terminated.]

Even when he asked for the reason, the system did not answer further. It was an absurd logic that only Lee Seong-ha was an exception. Gyeol gnashed his teeth inwardly.

‘Only Lee Seong-ha gets special treatment, this system is insane.’

As the silence dragged on, Kwon Do-geun’s expression became even more peculiar. Just as Gyeol was struggling to come up with a plausible excuse, Kwon Do-geun looked at Gyeol with shocked eyes and exclaimed.

“Don’t tell me…… Boss, are you a ‘Precognition’ Hunter?”

“……Huh?”

“Ah! That’s why! That’s why you gave instructions at Arcadia as if you could see the future, and why you knew we shouldn’t use mana! My goodness, the Precognition Hunter I only heard about is right in front of me!”

Kwon Do-geun concluded on his own and started making a fuss.

“They said Precognition Hunters are state-secret level, so you starting the management company was actually to recruit us in advance after foreseeing the Tower’s descent? Wow, goosebumps!”

Gyeol stared at Kwon Do-geun with an absurd look. Next to him, Lee Seong-ha, who knew the whole truth, sent a look of disbelief toward Gyeol as if to say, ‘Do you really have precognition?’ Gyeol also looked at Lee Seong-ha and responded with an expression that said, ‘Why is that guy’s imagination like that?’

The gazes of the two, looking at each other with pity, collided in the air. Gyeol didn’t want to get involved in this topic anymore, so he quickly changed the subject.

“Focus. The important thing is the ‘Preliminary Round’ that’s about to start.”