HHDT 9

Chapter 9

[Infinite Tower – Level 2]
[Entering Iron Tower No. 31]

Lee Kang-han looked at the message in front of him.
“So this is Iron Rank.”

The Iron Tower.
It was the next stage after clearing the Beginner’s Tower, the first step of the Infinite Tower.
The tower rankings started at Iron, followed by:
Bronze → Silver → Gold → Platinum → Diamond.

The Iron Tower consisted of stages 1 through 10.
From stage 11 to 20 was considered Bronze, and the names changed every 10 stages.
Usually, players could reach up to Silver with effort,
but it was said that without an A-rank or higher trait, climbing Gold and beyond was very difficult.

“So most players stick to Bronze and Silver and earn TP there.”

From a national standpoint, Bronze and Silver players were still valuable TP earners.
While not treated as well as core Gold players,
if they could endure the pain of death and maintain mental stability,
they could earn more than most professionals.

“Anyway, let’s start with the stream first…”

After setting up his TowerTube channel,
a new system window had appeared for it.
Lee Kang-han turned on the live stream from that window.

Then—

Ohh, Cheonma’s here!
Entering the tower just 24 hours after clearing the last one? Hardcore.
He even made a channel. This is when you reel in viewers lol
Channel license costs 50,000 TP… He must be loaded?

Chat messages popped up immediately.

“I got the license as a reward yesterday for hitting 50,000 viewers.”

Whoa, they give that?
I think I heard of that. If a player maxes out their audience, they get a free license.
So in big-population countries like China, people can just get it free.
Yeah, but it’s way harder to get into the top 10 there.
True, they compete with like 200k viewers in the beginner stage lol

While people chatted about the license, more viewers started joining.

“About 1,000 people? Not that many.”

After having 50,000 viewers last time,
Lee Kang-han wasn’t impressed by 1,000.
But actually, for an Iron-level streamer who just went live,
it was already a record-breaking number—he just didn’t know.

As he responded to the messages, suddenly—

[‘Scout J of Ilseong Guild’ has donated 1,000 TP.]
[This is the Ilseong Guild. We tried to send you a contract offer, but a message says it’s not possible. Have you already joined another guild?]

A massive donation of 1,000 TP came with that message.

First donation is 1k TP?!
That’s like 1.3 million won… Ilseong is on another level.
Cheonma really is a rare find these days.
Yeah lol I bet foreign guilds will start donating too.
But did he already join a guild?

Apparently, it wasn’t Kim Joo-young but a major company’s guild—Ilseong—that tried to scout him.
Since they sent a big donation, he felt he should reply out of manners.

“I checked the guild system, but apparently ‘Cheonma doesn’t serve under others,’ so I can’t join a guild.”

???
Is that real???
What kind of nonsense is that lol
Even solo-trait players can still join guilds
He’s bluffing to raise his value, we all know lol

Even though he told the truth, no one believed him.
It felt just like when he got accused of lying before.

“Ah, I can’t really show my system window to prove it.”

Nah you can show it
There’s a camera icon on the top right—click that so we can see
We have to see this lol
This reminds me of that time someone said muscles grow while sleeping
Show it!
Show it!

The chat started spamming for him to show it.
Lee Kang-han chuckled and reopened his guild system window.
He clicked the camera icon as the viewers suggested.

[Cheonma does not bow to others.]
[Only ‘Cheonma Divine Cult’ can be created.]

The message was now shared with everyone.

Holy s*** lol
It’s real???
He really is Cheonma…
Okay then, let’s just create the Cheonma Divine Cult!

“It costs 100 million TP.”

100 mil lmao
Might as well build a Gangnam tower instead
That trait is OP, but I guess this is the balancing penalty
Yeah, better to climb another floor than get buffs or gold

With a 100 million TP price tag, the cult idea was quickly dropped.
Lee Kang-han chuckled and looked ahead.
He was at floor 0, the starting point for all towers except the Beginner Tower.

Standing on plain dirt, he finished preparing and
walked toward the wooden door that would start his climb.

“Well, let’s go in.”

Step. Step.
As Lee Kang-han walked toward the door—

By the way, what’s your tower number?
We can give tips if you tell us 🙂
Iron Towers only go up to 99, so we got some strats ready

“I’m on number 31.”

Wait, 31?!
That’s the maze one ㅡㅡ;
Are you smart?

“I’m a high school grad.”

Wow, the worst matchup for Cheonma…
You can’t set records every time lol
At least you can still climb it eventually
I’ll start drawing a map now

Iron Tower No. 31 was a maze-type tower.
As soon as Lee entered the first floor,
he understood why people said it didn’t suit him.
There weren’t any enemies—only stone walls.

[Iron Tower No. 31 tests your wisdom!]
[Break through the maze to climb to the next floor!]

And with a message urging him to use his brain,
he stood at the entrance of the maze.

‘I really hate mazes.’

Puzzles, riddles, navigating—
Those kinds of games were never his thing.
Back when he played games, if the path was too confusing,
he’d get annoyed and uninstall it.

And now, despite having the power of the Heavenly Demon,
he ended up in a tower that didn’t suit that power at all.

Actually, if anyone else got 31, it’d be a lucky break lol
Right? It’s a bonus mission
As long as you walk, you’ll get through it eventually
I healed my broken body and heart here after the Beginner’s Tower trauma

No monsters appeared in this maze map.
For most players who had died or barely survived in the Beginner’s Tower,
Tower No. 31 was like a bonus stage.
Just keep walking and you’d reach floor 10 and clear it.

But for Lee Kang-han, who wanted to build up his channel,
Tower 31 wasn’t good news.
He couldn’t show off his Cheonma powers here.
Just him bumbling around looking lost on stream.

‘Hmm… maybe I’ll summon the chieftain.’

Navigating was better with two people.
He opened Manmajeon and summoned the Goblin Chieftain.

“All hail the Heavenly Demon! Eternal prosperity to the Ten Thousand Demons!”

The chieftain bowed deeply.

“I am eternally grateful, my lord! To offer us goblins a place to live…!”
“You mean Manmajeon?”
“Yes!”
“Well, I did invest quite a bit. Make good use of it.”
“Understood! Thank you, thank you!”

The Goblin Chieftain immediately praised him emotionally.
He looked like he’d have a loyalty stat over 90.
Then Lee Kang-han remembered something.

‘Ah, the horn.’

The “Horn of the Castrated Goblin Chieftain.”
An S-rank item he got before.
But it had to be equipped… down there.
He wasn’t sure whether to sell it or give it to the chieftain.

“But wait, if I give him the horn, doesn’t that create a goblin territory inside Manmajeon?
But I already built that place with 40,000 TP… isn’t that the same?”

Curious, he asked the chieftain.

“I got your horn as a reward.”
“My horn…?”
“Yeah. But looks like you’ve regrown it?”

Lee glanced downward.
The chieftain had all three horns again.

“Oh, my horns regenerate over time.”

So it worked like resurrection.
Infinite use?

“But that horn is just a replica. If I get the real one, I’ll be much stronger.”
“Oh? And if I give it to you, it makes a goblin territory? What’s the difference from the place I already built?”
“Ah, well…”

The goblin, fidgeting since hearing about the horn, replied:

“If we gain a territory, we can grow stronger.”
“Grow?”
“Yes. In the current shelter, we merely survive. But in our own territory, we can evolve.”
“Ah, so you mean like leveling up?”

So if they stay in the shelter, they just survive at low levels.
But giving him the horn would let them grow and become stronger.

“Yes. And also… I will no longer appear in the Beginner’s Tower. I’ll become the ‘real one.’”
“Oh? Then isn’t that bad? It removes the goblin tower for newbies.”

Lee had easily cleared the goblin tower.
Would removing such an easy stage be unfair to new players?

“I was going to give it to you, but… maybe it’s better to leave the goblin tower for beginners.”

NO WHAT ARE YOU SAYING 😭😭
Please just get rid of that cursed goblin
You could get your name in the Infinite Tower textbooks for this
So many newbs quit because of that freaky thing
But what’s the horn’s actual power?

Curious viewers asked about the horn’s ability.
Lee decided to share the info.

“Equipping it gives +1 magic power, and lets you revive once. It breaks after that.”

Whoa that’s awesome
It’d sell for a lot
For real, even Diamonds would want that gear

“But… it has to be equipped on your crotch.”

Oh…
That’s kinda…
Most top players are basically idols. That’d look weird.
Also, it’d block lower body armor lol
Yeah, guess that lowers the value

Yeah, crotch-slot was a huge drawback.
With that, people quickly lost interest.

‘Might as well give it to him.’

He was curious about the goblin territory anyway.
And it didn’t seem like he could sell it for much.
So he took out the horn and gave it to the chieftain.

“Y-You’re really giving this to me?”
“Yeah.”
“How could you! This horn was forged by a dragon from a unicorn’s horn! It defies death!”
“Hey, don’t make me regret it. Just take it already.”
“All hail the Heavenly Demon! Eternal prosperity to the Ten Thousand Demons!!!”

The goblin burst into tears and bowed repeatedly.
Clearly, the horn was immensely valuable to him.

Then—

[You have bestowed the Horn upon the Castrated Goblin Chieftain.]

Flash—!
A blinding light shone from the goblin’s body.

[The Castrated Goblin Chieftain becomes a ‘Unique Being.’]
[Beginner Tower: Goblin Tower has been removed.]
[Tutorial Boss: Castrated Goblin Chieftain will no longer appear.]

Just like the chieftain said,
the Goblin Tower vanished once he received the horn.
And the message was shown not just to Lee Kang-han, but everyone.