The Legendary Regressor Devours the Tower - Chapter 08

Episode 8

Han Geonu was clutching his head in anguish.

‘Fuck, you want me to do this?’

His demand was utterly absurd.

It was to draw aggro from everyone around by lying that he had finished the tutorial with an EX-Rank.

Specifically, when it was his turn and he went into the Inspection Room.

No matter how good it was to join a major guild, how the hell was he supposed to handle the aftermath?

‘The guy arrived, so I should report it, but…’

After finishing the tutorial, he had returned to the guild office under orders to stand by.

Shortly after that, they told him to help find that monstrous guy.

They had even forced him to hand over all his items except for his basic weapon, stripping them away.

‘No… I must catch him no matter what and earn their recognition.’

Feeling desperate, Han Geonu was completely absorbed in searching for the monster rookie alongside the HR staff.

However, finding the guy without any proper information was practically impossible.

In the end, after suffering through the whole weekend, Han Geonu said that since he knew the guy’s face, he would camp out at the Association and wait for him to show up.

He added that he would contact them the moment he spotted him, which would allow them to contact him faster than anywhere else.

It was certainly a reasonable argument, so the staff gave their permission, and he had been sitting in the waiting room since morning, watching those coming to register.

‘They stripped all my items. Just like that guy said, I’m probably just a disposable card to them.’

Since he possessed Bulgul, which could grow up to A-rank, he could knock on the doors of other guilds, but Horus, which that guy suggested, was ranked 8th—one spot higher than Cheonha.

If he joined that guild, he might be able to restore his crumpled pride.

‘Right. Cheonha, you crazy bastards. Treating me like garbage, huh? I won’t let you bastards prosper either.’

Just then, Sungwoon, who had been waiting outside the waiting room, went into the Inspection Room, likely because it was his turn.

‘Let’s do this.’

Han Geonu stood up with a resolute expression.

He headed toward the main entrance, threw open the doors, and shouted.

“I am the climber who finished the tutorial with an EX-Rank!”

At his bombshell statement, the recruiters went wild.

“Is that really true?!”

“The inspection results aren’t out yet?”

“Are you certain? What about the inspection?”

Faced with a barrage of questions, Han Geonu felt his mind go completely blank.

He had drawn the aggro for now, but what was he supposed to do next?

“A-Ah, I haven’t taken the inspection yet!”

The Cheonha Guild had blocked Han Geonu from taking the inspection.

In order to camp out in the waiting room and monitor the test-takers.

So it was true that he hadn’t taken the inspection.

“Ah, so that’s why you’re revealing it in advance. To hear out guild offers before the Association makes a move.”

“Could you spare some time to grab a coffee and chat with us?”

“It will only take a moment!”

The recruiters, having made quick calculations, threw courtship offers at Han Geonu.

“This is the Jingeom Guild! We can offer you better conditions than any other guild!”

At the name Jingeom, Han Geonu’s eyes shook violently.

Jingeom was the guild founded by Sword Saint Pyo Byeongwoo and currently ranked number one in South Korea.

A guild like that was courting him like this?

Is this really happening…?

“……That’s fine. I have no intention of joining a guild yet.”

As much as he wanted to talk with Jingeom, Han Geonu wasn’t EX-Rank; he was a loser who finished with an F.

While others received various rewards such as skills and gold in the tutorial, he, whose score was zero, received nothing at all.

‘Damn Cheonha bastards. You welcomed me with open arms back then, but now you’re trying to dump me?’

Fine, whatever.

I’ll get into Horus somehow, receive support, and start over.

“Han Geonu-ssi! What on earth are you doing?!”

At that moment, a familiar voice struck Han Geonu’s ears.

Its owner was none other than the staff of Cheonha.

They were looking at Han Geonu with dumbfounded expressions, but Han Geonu bared his teeth and smirked at them.

“Shut up, I am the EX-Rank! You fucking bastard!”

Sungwoon, who entered the Inspection Room, showed his queue ticket to the employee.

“Could you show me your ID?”

“Just a moment.”

Sungwoon took out his ID from his wallet and handed it to the employee.

The employee typed skillfully, and before long, handed back a sheet of paper along with the ID.

“Could you fill out only the checked sections here?”

“Yes.”

After briefly filling out the consent form, he handed it to the employee, who then stood up from his seat.

“……I apologize, but could you follow me for a moment?”

“Pardon?”

Sungwoon tilted his head.

Having completed the consent form, it should now be time to receive a keycard and enter an empty inspection capsule to get scanned.

“There is nothing for you to worry about, Climber-nim.”

At his polite attitude, Sungwoon nodded.

Looks like they noticed.

The employee guided Sungwoon to the back door of the Inspection Room, and after exiting through the back door, they boarded an elevator.

The floor was the 5th floor.

When the elevator doors opened, a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his early 50s was standing in front of it, accompanied by staff members.

“Welcome. I am Association President Choi Hyuk.”

He extended his hand toward Sungwoon with a friendly smile.

‘It’s the Association President.’

The 2nd Association President, Choi Hyuk.

Including his entire past life, this was the first time he faced him so closely.

The reason was that Sungwoon had already died before receiving an invitation.

Seeing a person he had only seen in photos up close felt fresh.

“Yes. I am Yoo Sungwoon.”

Sungwoon shook his hand.

“First, let me apologize for making you come all the way up here.”

“Does that mean I can just complete my registration and leave?”

“Haha, I’m afraid that won’t do. We can’t simply send back the first person in the entire world to finish with an EX-Rank.”

As expected, he really had noticed.

‘Well, there’s no way it wouldn’t get caught.’

Since it was something he had anticipated, Sungwoon acknowledged it with a nod.

“How did you know?”

“Isn’t it natural that if your tail is long, it will get stepped on?”

“I see.”

“I would like to talk for a moment. Would that be alright?”

“Yes. I came up here intending to do so.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Choi Hyuk dismissed all the staff and entered the Association President’s office with Sungwoon.

He tried to break the ice with light conversation, and Sungwoon responded with casual nods.

The casual conversation ended as coffee and refreshments were placed before them.

“Then, please tell me the reason why you brought me here.”

“……Well, Sungwoon-ssi, is there a guild you wish to join?”

Guilds.

The reason they were able to sustain themselves was partly money, but also the Guild Points obtained from the tower.

Rankings were decided using these Guild Points, and rewards were distributed differentially based on settlement from the tower.

This was also why guilds tried to recruit talented prospects by any means necessary.

To climb to higher floors.

“I don’t.”

“Why is that? You could join with the best treatment possible.”

“Because I don’t need it.”

At the honest reply, Choi Hyuk’s eyes widened, and he soon let out a hearty laugh.

“Haha! I see.”

“Of course, if it’s the Association, that would be a different story.”

At Sungwoon’s words, Choi Hyuk’s eyes gleamed.

Creating this opportunity in the first place wasn’t simply to have a conversation with Sungwoon.

His intention was to build a relationship first and later suggest joining the Association.

However, since Sungwoon opened the door first, there was no reason not to get straight to the point.

“Do you have any intention of joining the Association?”

“If you grant me solo climbing, item support, a comfortable living space, and the authority to establish a guild, I could give it some thought.”

If guilds represented growth, the Association could be said to represent control.

Unlike guilds where ranking battles were fierce, what the Association did was control those guilds and climbers to maintain balance.

However, even this balance would soon collapse.

By nature, skilled climbers were bound to gather in guilds.

Even so, Sungwoon showed interest in the Association rather than a guild.

This was because he could act more freely than in a guild, his identity protection would be solid, and he could also receive help in laying the foundation by establishing his own guild.

“Mmm, may I ask why you want solo climbing?”

For an inexperienced climber, solo climbing was not only dangerous, but also resulted in great losses.

First-time rewards based on clear scores.

Securing rewards thoroughly from the early stages was essential to building power.

Therefore, it was standard practice to climb with the help of those who had already finished climbing the lower floors.

“Because being alone is comfortable.”

At the simple and concise answer, Choi Hyuk was momentarily taken aback.

“Mmm……”

It went beyond mere confidence reaching the sky just from achieving EX-Rank.

“Could we continue our conversation after proceeding with the inspection first?”

It wouldn’t be too late to talk after seeing the inspection results first.

“Let’s do that.”

Sungwoon moved to the inspection equipment following the employee’s guidance.

‘If it’s EX-Rank, what kind of rewards did he get?’

Deputy Lee Kichul stole fascinated glances at Sungwoon, who was following behind.

He was the very person who checked Sungwoon’s ID and guided him all the way to the Association President.

‘The gentleman you are currently dealing with, please escort him straight to the Association President.’

When he handed over the simple consent form, orders came down from above.

Lee Kichul intuitively realized from that order that the man who finished with an EX-Rank had appeared before his eyes, and guided Sungwoon to the Association President.

He didn’t know what kind of conversation had taken place, but he must have received an incredible offer.

Since the Association President himself personally moved, it was beyond imagination.

“Can I go right in?”

Sungwoon pointed to the inspection equipment.

“Yes. I contacted them in advance to clear the space. You can comfortably get it done and come out.”

“Okay.”

Only after he went inside the inspection equipment did Lee Kichul sit down in a chair and let out a sigh.

Why did today feel especially exhausting?

“Daeri-nim.”

While he was taking a short break, Hwang Chanhee cautiously approached.

“What’s up? Are there no more test-takers?”

“Ah, the thing is… It was getting a bit noisy outside, so we paused it for a moment.”

“Paused?”

Lee Kichul tilted his head.

What on earth happened for the inspections to be paused?

“Well… There’s an Awakened going around shouting that he’s an EX-Rank.”

“EX-Rank?”

Lee Kichul stuck his head out and looked outside.

Indeed, the outside was noisy enough to cause disruptions to the inspections.

The people waiting to be inspected huddling near the main entrance was probably because of the Awakened claiming to be EX-Rank as well.

“What kind of situation is this? There hasn’t been a single test-taker that could be said to have finished with an EX-Rank yet, right?”

If one finished with an EX-Rank, they ought to possess skills corresponding to it, but among the test-takers tested over the past few days, there wasn’t a single person like that.

“Yes. More importantly, isn’t the EX-Rank the person who just went into the equipment?”

“I understand it to be so for now, but… we have to see the results first.”

“I’m really curious. What kind of result will come out?”

Thanks to the Awakened outside desperately hyping himself up, he gained a brief breathing room.

Hwang Chanhee sat next to Lee Kichul and waited for the test-taker to come out.

[Inspection complete.]

The process finished quickly.

The door of the inspection equipment opened, and Sungwoon slowly stepped out.

“Is it finished?”

“Yes. Please wait a moment—”

Upon checking the results sheet, Lee Kichul’s body froze solid.

“Mm? Daeri-nim? Are you alright?”

Hwang Chanhee, who had approached while pretending to worry about him, also glanced at the test paper and froze right along with him.

‘C-Crazy?!’

Does this result they’re looking at right now even make any sense?