VVChapter 6
The Horn of the Castrated Goblin Chief.
Kang Han knew exactly what this item was.
‘That was the thing stuck where his balls used to be.’
He remembered how, during the tutorial, the horn had been attached in place of the goblin chief’s missing parts. Every time the chief died and resurrected, one horn would disappear.
Right then, the item description appeared before his eyes.
[Horn of the Castrated Goblin Chief]
Grade: S
A horn attached to the groin of a castrated goblin chief.
When equipped on the groin, increases Magic Power by 1.
If the user dies while equipped, they will be revived once.
The item will be destroyed upon revival.
It gave +1 Magic Power and a one-time resurrection.
In the Infinity Tower, where even a single stat point was valuable, this was a pretty decent item.
But…
‘Why does it have to be equipped down there…?’
It had to be worn on the groin to work. Kang Han felt uncomfortable just thinking about it.
Did he really need +1 Magic that badly?
At that moment, another notification popped up below the item description.
[If the item is given to the Goblin Chief of the Ten Thousand Demon Legion, he will be strengthened and a Goblin Zone will be established within the Legion.]
‘So, not just powering him up, but establishing a Goblin Zone too…’
The chief had said that the Ten Thousand Demon Legion was just full of darkness right now. If a Goblin Zone appeared, it would definitely bring change.
However—
‘This tower happened to be filled with goblins, which made the auto-hunting easy. But if the next tower has different monsters, won’t this be useless?’
The Goblin Chief had barely managed to bring 50 goblin minions. That only worked because this tower had goblins.
In other towers, negotiation or taming wouldn’t work the same way.
‘Hmm. I’ll have to think about it.’
So Kang Han decided to just store the horn for now and closed the special reward screen.
[Unlocking clear rewards…]
[Level +5]
[Gained 10,000 TP]
Clear rewards based on performance.
TP, or Tower Points, were used like currency for anything related to the Infinity Tower.
‘1 TP equals 1 dollar, right?’
He’d heard that beginner towers didn’t give out much even if you cleared them. But thanks to his SSS+ rank, the rewards were generous.
10,000 TP meant about 13 million won (~$9,500 USD).
And then came more rewards.
[Entered Korea’s “Top 10 Prospects” list]
[Received additional TP based on TowerTube viewers]
[Gained 50,000 TP]
[Viewer cap reached]
[Earned permission to create a TowerTube channel]
Because of his record-breaking run and the 50,000 viewers, he was rewarded with 50,000 extra TP and a channel license.
‘60,000 TP… That’s like 78 million won (~$57,000). Guess I don’t need to go to that logistics center job anymore.’
Now he understood why people risked everything to become players.
Just as he was feeling good about not needing to worry about money for a while—
[All rewards have been received.]
[Logging out from the Beginner’s Tower…]
His body flashed with light and disappeared into the portal.
Meanwhile, in a park in Gyeonggi-do—
Whoosh!
Kang Han suddenly appeared out of thin air, startling nearby passersby.
“Whoa, that scared me.”
“Must be a player.”
“Oh yeah, it’s the first of the month today, huh? Maybe a new player got picked.”
“Man… I didn’t get picked again. Sucks.”
The 1st of every month was the day new players were selected by the Infinity Tower.
Though it had been around for 10 years—meaning around 1.44 million people should’ve been chosen by now—due to early dropouts, Korea still had fewer than a million active players.
‘My shoes are clean again.’
He looked down at his sneakers.
They’d been soaked in goblin blood, turned green—now they were spotless white again.
‘How much time do I have before I pass out?’
The sky was already glowing red with sunset.
Normally, he returned home from the logistics center at 4 p.m., but he’d spent over 3 hours in the tower. So now it was past 7 p.m.
‘I let that goblin auto-hunt run too long.’
Due to his condition, Tower Syndrome, Kang Han passed out for 12 hours at a set time—usually 8 p.m.
That meant he had less than an hour before he collapsed.
‘I better run.’
Zoom!
He kicked off the ground and dashed across the park at an incredible speed.
“Whoa, that guy’s fast…”
“Is he a sprinter?”
Even the pedestrians were amazed at how fast he moved.
‘My body feels lighter than usual. Is this because I became a player?’
He’d always been athletic, but now his body felt far stronger—far lighter.
But wasn’t it said that tower powers didn’t work in the real world?
Player stats only affected things inside the tower. If powers could be used in the real world, the world would be total chaos.
The only things that slightly crossed over were base stats—strength, agility, stamina.
That’s why players trained hard in real life, to raise their real physical stats before entering the tower.
However—
‘All three of my base stats were 10+, which is extremely rare. Is this thanks to the Heavenly Demon Physique?’
Thanks to that trait, even real-world performance was getting boosted.
‘Well, whatever. At least I’m healthy.’
He returned home to a small, older standalone house in Yongin.
The moment he stepped in, the clock showed it was exactly 8 p.m.
‘Should be passing out soon… but I’m not sleepy at all.’
Even in the tower, he hadn’t felt sleepy. Now back in the real world, it was the same.
After showering, he lay on his bed in his uniquely soundproofed room—added because he’d scream in his sleep due to Tower Syndrome.
But now…
‘…What’s this?’
Blink. Blink.
Even with his eyes closed, he felt wide awake.
‘So this is what insomnia feels like.’
He’d never experienced it before. No matter how much caffeine he drank, he always collapsed after 12 hours awake.
But now?
He was completely alert.
‘Must be because I became a player.’
Now he finally understood what people meant when they said the tower could change your life.
Still wide awake, he pulled out his smartphone.
Might as well gather some info on the Infinity Tower.
‘Also need to learn how to exchange TP.’
As soon as he entered a tower-related online community, his screen exploded with posts.
[Player “Kang Han” Sets New Record in Beginner’s Tower!!!!!!]
[Analysis of “Cheonma” Ver.1]
[Cheonma Even Covered by News Outlets]
[Disgraced Mike Posts “Fake News” After Losing Record]
[Why “Just Sleep and Get Buff” Is a Lie — Let’s Break It Down]
Everything at the top of the forum was about him.
‘…What the heck?’
All this noise over a beginner-level record?
Even news outlets were talking about it.
‘Are there really that few prospects in Korea?’
As he scrolled down, one post caught his attention.
[What Is Cheonma? Origin and History Explained]
‘Yeah, I should read this.’
Even though he picked the “Heavenly Demon” skill, he didn’t actually know much about what it was.
To be honest, if he’d known it came with all that creepy chanting, he probably wouldn’t have picked it.
Ding ding!
His phone buzzed.
It was a message.
Kim Jooyoung:
Yo
Yo
You’re the guy who broke the record, right? What happened??
Oh right, you’re probably sleeping now.
Call me tomorrow.
Kang Han had few friends thanks to his 12-hour sleep schedule.
But Kim Jooyoung, his middle and high school friend, was an exception.
He’d gone to the army, dropped out of college, and now worked in a big guild’s scouting team.
‘Guess I should call him now, since I’m not sleepy.’
Ring…
He called Jooyoung right away.
“I’m not asleep.”
[You? Awake? What’s going on?]
“Dunno. Guess I’m just not sleepy.”
[Weird. Must be because you’re a player now.]
“I’m trying to find out.”
[So what did happen?]
They talked for a while about the tower and his experience.
Then Kang Han asked:
“Hey, how do I exchange TP?”
[You can go to the Tower Authority office to exchange it directly. But guilds will give you a better rate if you sell through them. TP affects guild rankings, so they pay more. Best to join a guild before exchanging.]
“Really? Is your guild any good?”
[My guild?]
Jooyoung answered firmly.
[Absolute trash. Don’t come.]
“…Got it.”
Apparently, being a scout didn’t mean he had to sugarcoat the truth.
[You’re probably gonna get offers from foreign guilds too. If you’re not strapped for cash, just wait a bit. Or go exchange a small amount for now.]
“Sounds good.”
[Wanna meet up tomorrow? I’ll come over.]
“Okay. But I don’t know when I’ll wake up. Come after lunch.”
[Will do.]
They hung up.
Kang Han stared at the ceiling.
Eventually, the time hit 11 p.m.
‘Ah… finally getting sleepy.’
He’d only spent 3 hours in the tower, so his sleep got pushed back by 3 hours.
That explained it.
With that mystery solved, he drifted off.
The Next Morning.
“Ugh…? What the…?”
When he woke up—
He found new wounds on his body that hadn’t been there yesterday.
