Episode 55
* * *
“We need to start by speeding up the conquest of the Tower of Babel.”
Gyeonjirok cracked open the peanuts with a face that said, “You said you had something important to say, but this is all you got?”
“Yeah, I know. It’s been slow. We’ve become a suzerain state and now we’re only on the 39th floor. It’s so frustrating.”
“No, Leader. We’re not slow, we’re ‘falling behind.’”
“… … ”
That was close to a provocation.
At least that’s what it sounded like to the man who devoted his life to ‘conquering the top’ in this country.
Kyeonjirok raised his head. It was a smile that slightly revealed his teeth.
“… … There must be a reason why you are talking like this in front of me.”
“Director.”
Baek Do-hyeon looked straight ahead and said.
“There is a title called ‘Director’ in Babel.”
“… … ”
Thud.
Gyeonjirok, who had shaken off the broken peanuts, straightened his back. He seemed ready to listen.
“Once you clear the 50th floor, a transcendent space called ‘Interlim’ opens up, and this is the ‘achievement title’ you get there. The first person to pass the trials there will get it.”
“… … ”
“If you become a ‘director’ like that, you can interfere with the Babel network. That’s called ‘directing.’”
You will gain direct communication with Babel and some authority over the tower.
To put it simply, you can think of it as not being a mere awakened person, but rather an agent of the local Tower of Babel.
If the planetary representative is a king, then the director is like a castle lord.
“The problem is that ‘directing’ is possible in other locales as well as in the region to which it belongs.”
“……shit.”
The observation log was quick to understand.
“Then there was an error during the last tutorial?”
“Of course, it could be a coincidence, but there is a high probability that it was the work of a director from another region.”
In fact, Baek Do-hyun didn’t know it would be this fast or that it would be this hard.
No matter how much I think about it, that’s the only possibility right now.
“But the tower with 50 floors unlocked is still… … Ah, F*ck.”
“Yes. There is a ‘top’.”
The Tower of Babel in the abandoned land.
A place where people without state or name head.
I don’t know where it is, and I’ve never seen it if it actually exists.
People called the ownerless tower, which was certain to exist, the Tower of Nothing.
The background to its existence being first made known is the ranking debut of the stateless ‘Mad Dog’.
Also, the emergence of an international terrorist group of unknown nationality led by him.
Kyeonjirok nodded.
“That’s interesting.”
“… … ”
“Suddenly things are going crazy. I’m so busy climbing the tower, and now I have to keep an eye on foreigners too?”
Haha. He stopped laughing out loud and lowered his upper body.
The eyes of the observer shone darkly.
“You know what this means, right now, right?”
“Siege and defense.”
Baek Do-hyeon answered.
“The era of war between the ‘Directors’, or lords, will come. Even if there is no will to fight on this side, as long as there are those who attack, the damage will vary depending on how you block them.”
“… … ”
“Now you know why I said ‘left behind’?”
“… … ”
Kido’s tower has already surpassed 50 floors, and the American tower has already surpassed 40 floors.
It is true that Korea has been lagging behind up to now.
“Of course we have a ‘king’. The only king on Earth is here. But that’s a different story.”
‘Director’ is a troublesome position.
Especially if you have no intention of exploiting it.
Just passed the test of Babel. That doesn’t mean the strongest or the wisest.
As the name suggests, he is the ‘conductor’ who supervises and manages the tower.
The ‘director’ of the Korean Babel Tower that Baek Do-hyun remembers was originally an ordinary boy.
But it is clearly a ‘necessary’ position.
“A Mercury without a commander is just a fight between soldiers. Can you endure such humiliation?”
“A private?”
Kyeonjirok got up with a bright smile.
“I guess the throne has a designated owner. If you were born with all four limbs intact, f*ck.”
I walked over and pressed the button on the receiver.
“I should try to become a general and then die.”
[“Yes, Young Boss”]
“Send out an official document. To the five major guilds. Change the date of the 39th floor strategy meeting. Tomorrow at 1 PM. If you can’t attend.”
Gyeonjirok laughed fiercely.
“Leave it behind, you little privates.”
* * *
Same time.
A reasonable doubt was sprouting in Gyeonjio’s mind.
‘Am I perhaps… the protagonist of a book without realizing it?’
What the f*ck, the genre of my life changed one day and I’m the only one who doesn’t realize it and is just riding the HaHa bus?
Some kids are saying that among the characters in this novel, there’s a character called ‘Kyeonjio’ and that he’s the original ending boss, and they’re spreading rumors about it.
‘If not, how is it possible for someone to know everything like this and shout out JoJo?’
Starting with the regressor Mr. Baek Mo… …
Now, a guy who is obviously a villain has appeared, but whose beauty rivals that of the beautiful Sodalgi of the Gyeonggukji.
And a fox-like laugh. Our ancestors said that no one is normal if they laugh like that. Yeah.
If the regressor is just coffee, then this is tea. I got a strong feeling.
“Your complexion has improved.”
‘That’s because the saint who left home has returned.’
He came back a few minutes ago and is currently praying in real time with his hands and feet.
[Your Covenant, ‘The Reader of Destiny’ says, “My brother has been wrong a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times. Are you really not going to talk to him?” and sheds tears like chicken poop.]
[He says that the Wi-Fi was cut off for a moment, and waves his arms around, saying, “Look at this, my brother is living like a bachelor in such a remote and backward place.”]
‘I can’t see it.’
[The saint, ‘the one who reads fate’, is crying loudly and answering your brother’s words just now? Is that so? The monkey with tears in his eyes is doing the pose of covering his mouth.]
Geo, who answered in a half-hearted manner, glanced back.
“Why are you following me?”
“Are you afraid you’ll fall again?”
“Okay, then go on your way.”
“I’m worried.”
“When did you see me? Do you know me?”
“huh.”
“… … ”
“Now it’s time to ask how I know.”
A smiling voice said that the answer had been prepared.
He is really a strange guy.
Geo spread out his palms with a trembling expression.
“Number 1, regressor. Number 2, reincarnator. Number 3, book possessor. Number 4, eye power user. Number 5, dog-like stalker.”
“It’s multiple choice.”
“Choose.”
“Number 6, destiny.”
A fox smile that slowly closes its eyes.
He looks like a mysterious male protagonist from a Hayao Miyazaki film, or like an adult Peter Pan who comes on a stormy night.
‘I’m really unlucky… … ‘
I strangely like it. Really, ‘strangely’.
Kyeonji felt unfamiliar.
It was a truly unfamiliar feeling.
I’m sure my feelings are right, but I feel like they’re not…
‘yearning?’
Geo frowned sharply.
“What are you doing?”
“What?”
“What are you doing to me, you? What the hell are you doing? You pretty little X-bird.”
“Wow. You have a foul mouth, honey.”
A smiling adult fox approached and bowed his head. He put his lips close to Geo’s cheek and whispered.
“Why, did you… … ‘miss’ me?”
If we change the angle, our lips will touch. Geo swallowed his breath. Also, the smell of the wind.
This is really ‘strange’.
The expression disappeared from Geo’s face.
“What’s your name?”
The stranger answered.
“Don’t listen to me.”
[‘Libraryization’ activated]
[The only true incarnation – Jianjio authority confirmed.]
[Specify the area.]
[Do you want to proceed with the documentation of ‘Guido Maramaldi’?]
[The operation failed.]
[There is no object to document.]
‘Guido Maramaldi’ laughed.
“Did you fail, Joe?”
“… …What are you?”
“You don’t have to read it. I’ll tell you myself.”
The name is Guido Maramaldi.
The official ranking is 9th in the world.
Affiliation: Aegis. An American from southern Italy, the nickname given to him by Babel and the World Association is…
“Say ‘trainer’, little kitty.”
“… … ”
“Everyone sees the shadow of a lover in me. Primarily… … it starts with the sense of smell.”
A graceful finger brushed the bridge of Geo’s nose.
“What did you smell?”
I wonder. Guido bit his body.
“I’ll see you again soon.”
And just like that, he disappeared into the crowd without a trace.
Geo stared blankly at the empty space he had left behind. The unfamiliar feeling did not go away.
‘I couldn’t do anything.’
It’s not a question of stronger or weaker.
Magic is primal.
If the opponent had been strong, they would have reacted before Jianjiao even noticed.
Hana Geo didn’t feel any threat from Guido.
That means this side is far stronger. Still.
‘lover……’
Geo, who had been chewing on it unconsciously, soon frowned.
What are you talking about, seriously? Are you kidding me when I’m single?
“Is it because my body is weak?”
Well, that may be true.
Just now, there was something like a panic because of someone who lives far away.
[Seongwi, the ‘Fate Reader’ keeps raising both arms and asking when he can put them down.]
‘Keep holding on.’
Huh. Geo laughed and walked away. The coffee carrier he was holding in both hands swayed along with his steps.
That moment.
His short bob hair fluttered in the wind. Geo paused and raised his head.
【Let’s close this now.】
【It hurts my body.】
A disembodied hand ruffled Geo’s hair and left.
Kyeonji-oh slowly opened his eyes, which had been closed for a few seconds.
And only then… … did I close the stigmata that had been open the whole time.
A guide to proper living for rankers.
