Chapter 11 · 10 min
Chapter 11
How to Obtain a Tower Passport
[Your wish has been granted]
“I did it!”
“Waaah!”
Clara cheered as though she were even happier than I was.
I immediately tried moving my right leg.
It bends!
Until now, I had barely been able to wiggle my toes. But my right leg bent. I straightened the bent leg again.
It straightened!
Wow! I can move it however I want!
It was hard to contain my joy as I watched my right leg bend and straighten at will.
One year in a coma. Eight months in a wheelchair after waking up.
Long if you called it long, short if you called it short.
To be honest, I thought I was going crazy.
“Thank you, thank you so much! Clara!”
“Just leave it to this wife!”
Hah!
I laughed at Clara’s cheerful self, just as always.
Granting a wish by sacrificing sensation in a part of the body that had already lost it.
Normally, sacrificing this little would never have been enough.
There had been someone who tried to regenerate their right pinky and had been asked to sacrifice their left arm.
You could say the benefit of being the first person to clear Floor 5 was enormous.
‘Of course... Even this might be something the system window wants.’
Quite a few people made that choice.
They sacrificed things again on Floor 15, where they could make a second wish.
‘If you keep climbing the tower, I guess you eventually lose it. I should be careful.’
I had absolutely no interest in drugs, and I had never even put a cigarette in my mouth.
As for... alcohol, I had tried it exactly once.
‘The first day I ever went to a bar, I got into an accident and ended up in a wheelchair... After that, I stopped even thinking about drinking.’
Anyway, unlike before, I could feel strength entering my right leg.
“Clara, could you hold my hand?”
Squeeze.
Clara seemed excited too, because she pulled me upright in one motion.
It was moving to realize that with just this much help, I could stand using my own strength.
This feels amazing!
I should try walking!
“Should I hop on one foot?”
Tap.
Thud.
?
I fell over like some frail young lady.
“Ah!?”
Startled, Clara rushed over, helped me up, then naturally picked me up in a princess carry.
“Are you okay?”
“...Yes, I guess my muscles have wasted away and I don’t have enough strength in my leg.”
I naturally wrapped my arms around Clara’s neck so she would have an easier time carrying me.
[Would you like to register your name]
[Yes][No]
The system window that had been floating beside us since earlier. I selected ‘No’ again and returned home.
___________
Click.
At the sound of the door opening and closing, Mom looked over and spoke.
“Suho, the clear rankings caused another uproar today, didn’t they? You worked hard, son. Clara did wonderfully too! Hohohoho.”
Mom seemed to enjoy seeing people go wild every time I broke a clear record.
Even unawakened people could access the system-window Gallery.
But surely she wasn’t using the actual Gallery, right?
She really shouldn’t.
It was full of weirdos.
‘Mom~ You’re not looking at anything strange, right? Your son trusts you.’
She was probably using something more like a portal-site cafe, where there were at least fewer trolls. Yeah, definitely.
“Mom.”
“Hm? Don’t tell me...”
“I’ll say this first. I didn’t sacrifice anything. And... Clara?”
I held out my hand toward Clara.
With her supporting me, I grabbed the armrest of my wheelchair with my other hand and pushed...
With difficulty, but entirely through my own strength, I stood up.
Something I had not been able to do even once since injuring my legs.
Something I had dreamed of while thinking only of the Floor 5 wish, refusing to despair even after waking from my coma.
It had finally come true today.
“I only fixed my right leg. If I rehabilitate it, I’ll be able to stand comfortably on one foot.”
“S-Suho...”
Mom’s eyes were already brimming with tears.
“You really didn’t sacrifice anything, right? You didn’t give up any of your lifespan?”
“Yeah! Really, really. You already know, don’t you? I was the first person to clear Floor 5. The first in the world. Because of that, I didn’t have to sacrifice anything for the wish.”
In reality, I had sacrificed sensation in my left leg, which I did not have in the first place, but close enough.
“Ah... Thank goodness. Thank goodness.”
“I’m telling you, this is all thanks to Clara.”
Mom hugged me and cried, repeatedly thanking Clara.
“I scored a ton of daughter-in-law points!”
That day, Dad heard the news and immediately took a half day off work and came home.
Both of his hands were full of shopping bags.
‘No, Dad, I told you, not those clothes!’
They were all frilly princess dresses like last time.
Where the hell do they even sell things like this!
Actually, I already knew. Lots of clothing stores catering to otherworlders had opened up.
Despite having modern civilization, the other world was a class-based society, so its people liked the kinds of clothes nobles had worn in the past.
Since things had turned out this way, I might as well take pictures of the shopping bags.
I took photo after photo with my phone of the shopping bags covered in logos popular among otherworlders.
I was already looking forward to figuring out how to bait people on the Gallery with these.
Was this the fun of pretending to be weak while hiding your strength?
_____________
At the presidential residence, a report was submitted on a certain Hunter who had attracted everyone’s attention in only five days.
The anonymous clear-record holder. Han Suho.
“This time as well, it was the anonymous Summoner and a single summoned creature.”
“Yes. They became the first in the world to clear Floor 5. That anonymous Summoner did. As you know, everyone else who cleared Floor 5 spent the full fifty minutes doing so... But a 77-second clear was registered under the anonymous Summoner.”
“There’s still been no contact at all, correct?”
“Yes. Some people have sent in the status windows of their summoned creatures, but... As Association President, I can state with certainty that none of them are the one. There have been various guesses on the Gallery, but all of them are wrong. Whether it’s a level 9 elephant beastman or lion beastman, none of them could clear Floor 5 alone. Much less in 77 seconds.”
Even he thought it made no sense. And what on earth was the reason? Why insist on the number 7 in particular?
“Hmm... Seven, seven... If they’re fixated on that number, there must be a reason, don’t you think? Association President, do you have any guesses?”
“On the Gallery, they’re saying the person wants seven trillion won—”
“No, what do you think, Association President? Do you think it’s seven trillion?”
“W-well... Even I cannot really guess...”
“Seven trillion is difficult. Forget the summoned creature for now. Our first objective is to get the Summoner to come to the Association. Use any means necessary.”
“In that case, I have one idea.”
The Association President handed the President a report organizing the benefits he had been considering.
“How about this, Mr. President?”
The President looked over the Association President’s report and was momentarily at a loss for words.
“Um... No, actually, perhaps this is better? These are all feasible. Let’s implement it exactly like this. You’ve done well so far. I trust you, Association President.”
“Yes, thank you for your trust. Then I’ll make an announcement confirming these benefits as they are. Since it will be an official announcement that we are already providing them, the person will effectively be in a situation where they are receiving benefits they aren’t actually receiving. Perhaps it may make them reconsider hiding their identity, even just a little.”
______________
{Anon: I knew I could believe in you~~~ First in the world to clear Floor 5!}{41}
{Anon: It’s here it’s here it’s heeeeeere~~!!!}{9}
{Anon: This is sex this is sex this is sex}{5}
{Anon: We can’t lose Korea! We can’t lose our summon!}{10}
{Anon: What the hell is going on?
Was Floor 5 actually a floor that could be cleared?
Anon: A party that cleared Floor 8 and hit level 9 could probably do it, but as you know, you can’t reenter Floor 5
└Anon: By your logic, it has to be done while they’re still level 5, which is absolutely impossible, right?
└Anon: Maybe if it was a party of five otherworlders, but even then 77 seconds seems impossible
└Anon: How the hell did they actually do it alone?
{Anon: Association announcement is up!
One-line summary
The Association offers its boundless praise to our proud Hunter who became the first in the world to clear Floor 5 and would like to provide this Hunter with seven benefits first: annual tax exemptions worth 7.7 billion won, housing support worth 7.7 billion won, constant protection from seven Association Hunters, 700 million won annually for the summoned creature’s food clothing and housing, free medical care for the Hunter and their family for 77 years, a 77.7 billion won signing bonus for joining the Association as a Hunter, and finally 7 trillion won upon breaking through Floor 77
Anon: Ah, this bastard’s here again. Did you write it all in one line in Notepad and copy-paste it again?
└Anon: How did you know?
└Anon: Because this is the second fucking time
Anon: Has the Association gone insane? Seven trillion?
└Anon: Isn’t that basically pie in the sky? The condition is reaching Floor 77
└Anon: Some of the others are kind of pie in the sky too, aren’t they? What if they terminate the summoning contract?
└Anon: Shh, first we have to lure them in
└Anon: What about the 77.7 billion won signing bonus alone?
└Anon: Thinking about the elf Vice Commander, that seems reasonable. This one has higher potential than that woman. They’re a world-record holder
└Anon: Fuck, I should’ve become a Summoner too. One pull and they hit the fucking jackpot
└GiggleOneShot: Probably something the Association President decided? You can see his usual all-in style
└Anon: Still, isn’t it pretty good? They tailored it well for some guy obsessed with 7
└SwordMageF: Some guy? Is the anonymous Summoner your friend?
...Seven trillion? 77.7 billion?
Is this because I cleared it in 7 seconds? Ah, I should’ve done it in 8.
First, I calmed down and thought while reading the Association’s announcement.
What Summoners usually wished for on Floor 5 was a Tower Passport.
But because I had used my wish to fix my right leg, I couldn’t obtain one.
A Tower Passport.
It was an item that allowed otherworlders to level up inside the tower.
Koreans could only enter Korean towers. Otherworlders followed the country of the Summoner who summoned them.
However, while they could enter the tower, summoned creatures did not level up.
The passport was the item that made that possible.
The price sacrificed to a wish in order to obtain a passport was one year of lifespan. Its market price was about 100 million won.
I could easily afford one if I sold the colorful bracelet I’d received as the Floor 3 clear reward, but...
‘If the Association is throwing this much around, should I try contacting them once?’
“Clara, could you open your status window?”
I entered the Gallery through the system window.
The Association tab...
Among the countless Gallery tabs, I found the Association tab and entered it.
Is this the right person?
I found the status-window post uploaded by the Association President. Level 1 Kim Jeongdeuk.
That was the Association President’s name.
It was a post the Association President himself had uploaded for verification.
It said to use the Association tab for suggestions and that all personal messages would be blocked regardless of reason.
Ignoring that, I tapped the username Association President and sent him a private message.
(WheelchairHunter: Please send me a private trade request
I need a passport. I have to level up my summoned creature.
(Clara status-window image))
I attached a screenshot as well. Clara’s, of course.
‘She’s only level 5, but if he looks at her stats and skills, he’ll realize I’m the anonymous Summoner, right?’
Since this was the system-window Gallery, fabricating something like this was impossible.
Stats with values that could never appear at level 5. Especially if he tapped on Wish, he would be shocked.
After all, she was a mid-ranking ability user, which was also impossible at level 5.
Ding~!
[You have received a private trade request from the Association President]
[Item: Passport]
[Desired Price: 1 Lowest-grade Magic Stone Fragment]
[Would you like to trade]
[Yes][No]
In less than five minutes, I received a request from someone who wanted to sell me a 100-million-won passport for a Lowest-grade Magic Stone Fragment worth 10,000 won.