episode_0028

Feeling the safety of the vehicle, I finally caught my breath.

There were some beasts trying to block the vehicle here and there, but it wasn’t a big problem.

– We know there’s a male inside! Hurry up and bring him out!

– Don’t hog all the good stuff for yourselves!

– Bring him out nowww!!!

– Bring out the male! Let’s have a round with him!

The gimmick is the gimmick.

They couldn’t completely block the vehicle and eventually gave way.

“Ah, this is dizzying. I’ve experienced some bizarre things in my life, really.”

“Most of the men who come here for the first time say the same thing.”

Seeing this situation from the 1st floor to the 10th floor, I understood why the gimmick to advance to the next level was like this.

I managed to endure this, but it was also thanks to the equipment and buffs. Thinking about how many men would be captured here, it was pitiful.

“Do we have to climb from the 1st floor to the 10th floor ourselves?”

“Yes. Originally, when the 10th floor was open, you could freely move between the 1st and 10th floors.”

But now it’s closed, so that’s how it goes.

“Fortunately, we obtained the vehicle on the 1st floor, so we should be able to safely ascend to the 5th floor. It’s a rare gimmick that doesn’t usually appear, so we were lucky.”

So, the area up to the 5th floor is a safe zone.

“Is the atmosphere similar on the higher floors… where only people trying to capture men come out?”

“Generally, yes. That’s why there are many female hunters in this tower. From the 1st to the 5th floor, if you’re a woman, they’ll either let you go or kill you cleanly. If you’re a woman, as long as you have the skills, you can make a lot of money in the hunting area without any risk.”

“And what about men?”

“They end up as prey. There’s a breeding ground in the corner of the floors where men are kept, and once a month they organize a rescue team to send a rescue party. Not many people get caught, but they’re not completely absent either.”

If you’re a man, you’ll be swarmed as soon as you enter, so with mediocre skills, you’ll definitely be caught.

Is wearing the rescue team uniform to avoid such a disaster?

It’s a pity.

“From the 6th floor onwards, enemies provide pleasure regardless of gender. It’s a kind of curse; at first, it’s mild, but when you come to your senses, you’re addicted. It’s not as dangerous as Park, but it’s dangerous in a different way.”

The mention of being addicted to pleasure brought to mind the people on Madame’s side.

Are they the victims after the 6th floor?

“Most of the victims here are hunters who sell their bodies. They’re safe as long as they’re on the lookout for enemies, but they can’t always be in top condition. From the 1st to the 5th floor, once you’re rescued, it’s over, but from the 6th floor onwards, the mental effects linger, and there’s no way to save them at the current stage.”

They’re causing unimaginable harm to both men and women from the lower floors.

I couldn’t imagine what the upper floors would be like.

“When the floors weren’t closed yet, up to the 50th floor.”

I asked what it was like back then, and the driver’s expression noticeably hardened.

“In short, it was hell. Perverts paraded around with walls and walls mixed together. Men walked around in diapers, and women not only raped other women but also stabbed each other to death while lusting after other people’s lovers.”

Bang! Clang!

“Someone lusted after their own child. Incest was common. They sold drugs from the tower to breed beggars, and prostitutes lurked in the alleys, with twisted bodies found every day. There was even a crazy person who married the beasts we just saw as lovers!”

They married the beasts?!

“It was a complete mess like that?”

“The strategy itself was smooth, but the problem was that the floors opened quickly. Hunters with insufficient skills went to taste the 40th floor area on their own, thinking they could challenge themselves, and ended up getting destroyed.”

“Is the punishment so severe that you want to do such a thing?”

“Baek-eun’s Tower earned a week’s worth of punishment by completing 30-40 floors in just a few hours at the time.”

Risking their lives like that, huh.

Even now, traces of that time remain in Madam’s domain.

“This might backfire. Korea might become a hellhole.”

“Why did something like this happen in a Confucian country?”

“Maybe it’s because it’s a Confucian country? It might be an interesting idea to have something like this in Korea.”

“It seems plausible, but I don’t like it.”

The concept of the tower that appeared in the UK was [appetite], so it makes sense.

Do the Tower Lords know a lot about memes by any chance?

-Gyaaaaa!!!

-Male! Male! Male!

-My dickkkkk!!!

-Marry me, babe!!!

“Is there no mute function here?”

“Give up.”

The safari bus continued on without hesitation.

At the end of the park, there was a crack of light that looked like an exit, so I ran towards it and arrived at a new park.

“So it’s a similar sight until we reach the 6th floor.”

Ceres is the one driving the vehicle. There was a map next to the steering wheel, which I could tell was purchased from the 【Cartographer】.

Ceres probably won’t get lost. Ignoring the screams coming from outside, we relaxed and chatted.

Especially the witches who supported us from the Maan region, and the hunters who were clearly of a mid-level caliber.

“Have the seniors been staying in this tower for a long time?”

“Not that long. We were originally a party active outside.”

“Oh, an overseas party?”

“Yes. By chance, we met the guild leader and that’s when we moved to Korea.”

“I was happy because I thought we had joined a good guild at the time. But I never dreamed we would end up climbing this tower.”

“What do you usually do?”

“Ceres rescues victims from the 1-5 floors every month. And usually goes up to the 6th floor to rescue those who have fallen over there.”

“The 6th floor is addictive, so there are many victims who can’t be saved.”

“It’s faster than the lower floors, so we patrol almost every day.”

“For example?”

“Look ahead.”

The vehicle had already passed the 6th floor.

When the world seemed to shine with gold, the vehicle we were riding in disappeared and we found ourselves standing in the center of a ward.

It was so white. Even the iron bars inside the ward and the walls had “No climbing” written on them.

“…A mental hospital?”

I felt dizzy for a moment.

What? Is this a mental attack?

“Don’t just stand there, come on in.”

Following the command, I hurriedly followed and my mind cleared up.

Then I noticed a strange creature lurking around us.

A creature that wasn’t visible before we entered.

“An octopus…?”

It resembled Cthulhu.

A creature of unknown identity with a human body and a purple octopus face wandered around the ward in doctor’s attire.

Then our eyes met…

“Do you have any favorite dreams…?”

…Dreams?

Why the sudden question??

“Don’t answer. They won’t attack unless we provoke them first.”

“Non-aggressive?”

“Yes. So don’t hit them and don’t answer either.”

“Okay.”

Ceres pushed aside the octopus doctor and walked down the corridor without hesitation, leading us along with the map in hand.

A mental hospital inside the tower, the atmosphere is really strange.

The octopus doctors standing blankly in the corridor and the wide open doors of the ward all added to the eerie feeling.

“You rescue people from here?”

“That’s right. All the ward doors are wide open right now, right?”

“Yes.”

There was no one inside. Not a single person who looked like a patient was visible.

Empty hospital rooms and octopus doctors standing around like NPCs…

“If the doors are closed, someone is inside. Either they’ve been caught or they came here willingly.”

“They said that if you get caught on this floor, pleasure is injected, right?”

“Right. The octopuses here show people their favorite dreams. They inject pleasure into them, slowly breaking their minds.”

“The dreams are so realistic that even when you know it’s not real, you can’t escape, filled with people who are trapped.”

As we followed Seres up the stairs, our bodies were enveloped in light, and the word “[7th floor]” caught our eyes.

Walking down the hallway again, we headed towards the corridor on the opposite side leading to the [8th floor].

The octopuses didn’t actually attack us, and even though they recognized us, they only asked, “Do you have a favorite dream?” before attacking.

I asked Seres again, “You just mentioned that we should avoid the octopuses. What happens if we don’t?”

“We will be attacked. The moment we avoid them, they forcibly read our desired dreams and then attack us to make them come true.”

In the middle of the corridor leading to the 9th floor, there was a closed room with a victim inside.

“Would you like to see?”

Curiosity piqued, I nodded in agreement, and the door to the hospital room was opened.

Inside, it was quiet, and a woman lying on the bed caught my eye.

“Is she the victim?”

“Yes.”

An octopus doctor was attached to the woman’s head as she made slurping sounds, swallowing something. Despite being consumed, the woman was happily drooling and enjoying herself.

“Is this like something out of an alien movie where they suck out brains…!?”

“Stop with the disgusting remarks. They are consuming her dreams. If this continues, she will fall into pleasure addiction and rely on Madame for her body.”

“How do we save her?”

In that state, we can’t just drop her, so we have to kill her. At that moment, the bell will ring throughout the ward, and enemies will pour in.”

In other words, the moment we start to save her, we will have to face all those octopus doctors in this cramped room.

What a troublesome situation.

“Looks like a Hunter. But their attire is light. Probably someone who came here on purpose to be a victim.”

“You can tell just by looking?”

“There are plenty of similar cases here.”

Giving up one’s mind for a moment of pleasure.

How delightful must the dream be.

Do they even realize they are causing trouble all around them?

“We know there is a victim, so we will send a rescue team later.”

“Even if we do, those who want to be rescued will come on their own.”

It seems like there is no place in this tower that I find appealing, so I quickly closed the door to the hospital room.

The octopuses’ gaze felt more intense than before.

“This way is the 9th floor.”

My body glowed.

Passing through the stairs labeled [9th floor], we walked down the hallway again.

The structure where the stairs to the next floor were in different locations as we climbed up was truly malicious. If we didn’t have a map, we would have been lost.

It’s reassuring that we won’t be attacked as long as we avoid them by offering our dreams… but on the flip side, if we fail to offer the right dream, will we be attacked and become victims?

“We are almost at the 10th floor. It seems like we made it here without any major incidents, probably because it’s the lower levels.”

“What I experienced on the 1st floor?”

“It’s a joke when you think about the people who disappeared on the 10th floor.”

Well, it’s a joke that the man doesn’t die.

But thinking about what will happen after he’s caught… it’s fucked up.

“…Here we are.”

Finally, we arrived at the last staircase.

The stairs leading to the 10th floor were not the white stairs we had climbed so far but rough stone steps.

From here on, it was considered a gateway, and there was a blatantly eerie atmosphere.

“We will wait here. The current Seat of Power doesn’t like it when women are brought along, so from here on, please go up alone.”

The Seat of Power… Wasn’t that the gatekeeper assigned after the last trick incident?

“The Knight of Pure Love…?”

“Yes. A Seat of Power who is not easy to read. It’s best to choose your words carefully and avoid lies when speaking with them.”

“What kind of conversation technique is that? It’s damn difficult.”

“You’ll find out when you meet them.”

“Again with that tone!! What’s with the ‘you’ll know when you meet’ nonsense!? Am I being dragged here because of that phrase!? Are you trying to make me angry again!? Huh? Should I just kill you both on the spot!!”

“Understood. If you insist on speaking that way, let me give you an example. First, imagine a medieval knight who goes around with love on his lips.”

“…What?”

“And then, as loudly as possible, shout, ‘Chivalry! Justice! Chivalry! Justice!’ while dancing as flamboyantly as you can.”

“……..”

I don’t get it.

What is this monster?

Listening to it just makes me more confused.

“You still don’t get it?”

“No. I really don’t get it.”

“I wasn’t lying. It’s true. You’ll understand when you meet them.”

Ceres bowed her head in repentance for using that tone again.

“I’ll wait here for a day. Please don’t die. Lord Changgi.”

“You won’t die until Seongyeon strikes you down, so rest assured.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Her body was enveloped in light.

With the strategy she heard from the calf last night engraved in her mind.

She threw herself into the realm of the Undying to open the path for the misguided humans.