Chapter 1 …
“Here’s your day’s wage.”
Jonghyuk received three fifty-thousand-won bills with no envelope and bowed his head in thanks.
“Thank you.”
“Young man… why do you keep coming to a place like this instead of working somewhere proper?”
The manpower office team leader, Cha Seongcheon, clicked his tongue and glared at Jonghyuk.
“What’s the point of learning anything now?”
Jonghyuk shrugged and stuffed the crumpled bills into his pocket.
“See you tomorrow.”
“No. Whether you go to college or get a job, don’t come here again.”
“You say that every time. Alright, I’ll be off then.”
With the usual joking farewell, Jonghyuk left the manpower office. The cold night air cooled his body, still covered in dust and sweat.
“Haah.”
Exhaling deeply, his breath formed little clouds in the air.
It had been an especially tough day. He had carried heaters up to the 10th floor without an elevator, leaving his body sore all over.
He knew from experience that tomorrow his muscles would ache so badly that even moving would be difficult, but he didn’t care.
He was used to this.
On his eighth birthday, his parents had been hit by a truck and killed while bringing home a present.
Jonghyuk, waiting endlessly at school with a paper party hat, only learned the news the next day.
After that, everything became a blur. His uncle came to pick him up, and he was dragged from place to place.
Living in his uncle’s house, Jonghyuk was kicked out on his 20th birthday, burdened with 800 million won in debt.
He had only just learned about the debt.
His uncle had embezzled the life insurance money, forced Jonghyuk to guarantee illegal loans, and fled.
“I don’t know either. Why are you blaming us for your uncle’s debt? I’m in hell myself right now.”
Jonghyuk even confronted his aunt, but she only said that his uncle had abandoned the family and fled into gambling debts, offering no solution.
Since that day, debt collectors began coming after Jonghyuk.
No matter how much they pressured or threatened him to repay the money, Jonghyuk only said he would pay without flinching.
“This bastard’s attitude is irritating. Boys, give him a lesson.”
The debt collectors beat him without mercy, claiming that scaring him early would make him obedient.
Jonghyuk endured it all without making a sound. Then he would go to the manpower office and send a fixed amount to the collectors every month.
Originally, the debt had been 100 million won, but interest had ballooned it to 800 million. He felt wronged but could do nothing.
“Even if you report us to the police, we can’t be caught. Don’t waste your energy. No one would even notice if you disappeared.”
Hearing that from a debt collector who smacked him on the cheek while laughing, Jonghyuk had no reply.
Because it was true.
He hadn’t finished high school. His middle school friends had long since lost contact.
Since he was 17, he had worked at factories and construction sites, but his blunt attitude and lack of social skills left him with no close friends.
People around him avoided him, claiming he gave off an unpleasant vibe. Without family or friends, no one would look for him if he disappeared.
Occasionally, the manpower office team leader, Cha Seongcheon, looked after him, but they weren’t close enough to reach out otherwise.
Creeeak.
Jonghyuk returned to his damp, moldy basement studio, clutching his empty stomach as he poured hot water into a bowl of kimchi instant noodles.
He ate breakfast and lunch at work, but had to buy his own dinner. Always doing physical labor, he got hungry quickly no matter how much he ate.
He slurped up the steaming noodles in one go.
Slurp!
Chewing the well-cooked noodles silently, suddenly…
Ding.
[Awarded: You have awakened.]
A translucent system window appeared before his eyes.
Awakening.
Awakened beings were granted mysterious powers along with the ability to enter the 999 towers that appeared across the world.
If a tower was not cleared within a certain time, it would randomly explode, killing countless people. When the first towers appeared and after six months when Tower 20 remained unconquered, two of the 999 towers had already detonated.
In short: disaster.
But it wasn’t all bad.
Unlike Earth, where resources were limited, the towers gave out “Magic Stones,” highly efficient, pollution-free resources, as rewards.
These magic stones sold for high prices, and videos of non-awakened people climbing the towers became a new form of entertainment.
Climbers of unconquered floors became popular as defenders of Earth, gaining both money and fame.
Even ordinary office workers sometimes awakened their abilities and earned their yearly salary in a single day.
“Of course, that’s only when you awaken a useful ability.”
Jonghyuk muttered to himself as he looked at the translucent window.
[Awarded: You have awakened.]
[Park Jonghyuk: Lv. 1]
[Ability: Affinity (Lv. 1)]
[Would you like to enter a tower?]
Seeing the consecutive pop-ups, Jonghyuk let out a hollow laugh.
Awakened abilities were usually granted based on a person’s deepest wish, desire, or most suitable potential.
Jonghyuk didn’t even smile. For someone with no friends and no desire to make any, he had been given Affinity.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
Affinity (Lv. 1): You are unconditionally loved by others. Slightly increases the target’s abilities. Allows partial borrowing of the target’s abilities. Does not work on other Awakened.
Loved by whom?
And it didn’t even work on other Awakened.
“Am I supposed to be loved by monsters?”
Jonghyuk slumped his shoulders, muttering to himself.
Even his awakening was a dud.
Just like his life.
After a moment, he reconsidered. Even a useless ability had merit if it let him enter the tower.
He could join a party and clear floors together, slightly increasing the chance of better rewards. High-level Awakened often repeated lower floors to level up and earn rare rewards.
Streamers on the internet even hired cameramen to film the Awakened.
Since Awakened were extremely rare, their pay was naturally high. Jonghyuk had heard that the pay for an Awakened assistant was about three times what he earned at the job site.
As he stared at the system window, he remembered there was a community for helping Awakened.
“Maybe I’ll check it later.”
Slurp!
Jonghyuk quickly ate his cup noodles while thinking.
Holding his full stomach, Jonghyuk lay on the bed and checked the Awakened community, called “Awakened Playground,” or “Agno” for short.
After signing up, he hesitated briefly over a nickname, then entered his real name.
“Guess I won’t be commenting anyway.”
After registering, he browsed the posts:
Tower 0 is seriously screwed [21]
What’s up with Tower 0? These guys have no honor [11]
Please don’t provoke the residents of Tower 0… [5]
Among the many posts, the ones about Tower 0 caught his eye.
“Tower 0?”
Although he wasn’t very interested in towers, he had heard something about Tower 0. New Awakened always started there with others.
Normally, clearing a floor allows you to move to the next, but Tower 0 was different.
It was less like a tower and more like an entirely different world.
Some said it was a themed dungeon humanity would eventually conquer; others called it an alternate world.
But the one thing known for sure: no one really knew about Tower 0.
Its residents hated Awakened, calling them demons. Approaching them—or even looking at them from afar—was extremely dangerous.
Jonghyuk clicked on one post:
(Day n of power leveling) Be careful in Tower 0.
There are still people who underestimate Tower 0. Newbies, seriously be careful. Once you enter, you’ll fall onto the streets. Don’t make eye contact, don’t talk, don’t even breathe if possible. First, find a tower guide.
He checked another post:
(Thor Hammer reporting) I almost died at Tower 0!!
I only trusted what I saw, tried to act friendly with a resident, got pelted with stones, barely escaped, and am now in the hospital. I don’t consider them human. We’re just talking goblins there.
└ Guess what’s the #1 reason people die in the tower?
└ Don’t ever do it as a joke.
└ Can’t believe people still do this.
“Sounds dangerous.”
Jonghyuk said flatly.
He had heard little about Tower 0, but now he understood the details.
Entering Tower 0 warped you to the middle of Polaune, the capital of the Polaris Kingdom.
From there, tower guides sent by the Association would lead you to the real tower in the northernmost part of Polaune.
Once there, you could enter Tower 1, and clearing it allowed you to skip Tower 0 entirely. At that point, the Association issued the official Climber’s Certificate.
“Hmm…”
Scrolling through the posts, Jonghyuk learned that the certificate was required to be hired as an assistant.
“Then it’s doable.”
Even in dangerous situations, he could leave the tower and return to reality if he wanted.
Tower 1 required eliminating 50 goblins, but the Association would help if the Awakened requested it.
Some posts even said you could clear only the first floor and work as an assistant.
“Let’s enter the tower first.”
Jonghyuk threw down his phone and muttered,
“Enter tower.”
Swish!
Before him stretched a long avenue crowded with noisy people. Well-paved streets were lined with buildings straight out of a fantasy world.
“So then…”
“Are you serious?!”
“I told you!”
Jonghyuk’s mouth fell open in astonishment as he passed by.
“You can understand everything they’re saying?”
The language was unfamiliar, yet its meaning hit him clearly.
Not just words.
“Filthy demons…”
“Disgusting beyond measure.”
The hatred-filled glares stabbed at him.
“So this is what it feels like.”
Jonghyuk stared back at the people glaring at him without a flicker of emotion.
Ordinary people would feel threatened or embarrassed and leave quickly, but Jonghyuk was different.
He was used to these looks.
“Better not stare too long, or stones might fly.”
Remembering a post where an Awakened had been hit by stones and hospitalized, Jonghyuk quickly looked away.
Unlike other floors that buff physical abilities, Tower 0 had none. Here, he was just a normal person.
Scanning the avenue, Jonghyuk spotted a woman holding a sign. Unlike everyone else, she wore a suit and shouted, “Awakened, please come this way!”
“All newly awakened, please come here!!”
As he moved toward her, he accidentally brushed against the shoulder of a large, bearded man walking from the opposite direction.
“Hm? Are you starting trouble now?”
The muscular old man with a gray beard glared at Jonghyuk and lowered his voice menacingly.
