Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 403: Eighty-Ninth Floor, A Nation for Giants (1)

The tower always had a way of hiding something, and given that I was climbing with knowledge from Ha Hee-Jeong’s previous life, it was my role to uncover those secrets.

Nearly every floor featured trials that differed from what she’d described. Because of that, I rarely found myself truly surprised.

Mental skills like Scientist Do’s Composure and Clarity of Mind surely played a part in that as well, but this time was different.

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has deviated from the original course. He will no longer enter The Room of Faith and Reversal and will instead enter A Nation for Giants.]

What the hell is this? The whole floor changed? Didn’t Natalie say it is only supposed to shift starting from the ninety-first floor?

I couldn’t hide my shock the moment I saw the message. It had been a long time since something had shaken me this much.

Suspended in the dark, countless questions began to surface. Although my thoughts grew tangled, it didn’t take me long to calm down. Countless experiences had taught me that panic wouldn’t get me anywhere.

Natalie probably meant that things would change starting from the eighty-ninth floor.

Both Ha Hee-Jeong and I had been mistaken. In hindsight, it had been a natural assumption. Even when hidden missions brought about changes, they hadn’t ever replaced a floor.

Of course, I had known the ninety-first floor—which was also an all-climber floor—would change, but that was how I had interpreted Natalie’s words.

It was only plausible that the trials would begin to shift as we neared the hundredth floor, the so-called conquest of the Tower.

In the end, that was nothing more than an excuse—I simply hadn’t thought it through. A change to the eighty-ninth floor was entirely reasonable, yet I had completely overlooked it.

I cast aside the unnecessary thoughts as there was no point in dwelling on them. It wouldn’t change anything.

All that mattered now was accepting the reality before me and overcoming the trial that lay ahead. It was time to steady myself.

Natalie did mention the trial could prove difficult.

Even so, I remained enveloped in darkness. Perhaps it was the tower’s way of showing me a sliver of consideration, a moment to compose myself before stepping into an unexpected ordeal.

I reread the message once more. The trial had changed, yes, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.

It had specifically stated that “Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s” trial would be shifted.

In other words, the change applied only to me. The others would still be facing the original eighty-ninth floor.

I did feel a flicker of concern at leaving Ha Hee-Jeong behind.

My trial will clearly be more difficult.

Still, she was already familiar with the eighty-ninth floor, while I could handle this one on my own. I was more than capable, no matter what it turned out to be.

[Welcome to the eighty-ninth floor of the Tower of Ordeal: A Nation for Giants.]

[Primary objective: avoid the giants’ gaze and meet the Giant Resistance. Time remaining: 23 hours 59 minutes.]

My surroundings hadn’t brightened yet.

In the short span of time I had waited, I checked the message twice. There was an unfamiliar term embedded within it.

Primary objective.

That implied there was a subsequent goal, most likely one that would follow after encountering the resistance.

Also, other parts didn’t add up.

Avoid the giants and meet the Giant Resistance.

The tower was suggesting that the giants and the resistance were two different entities. It was likely related to the title of the trial, A Nation for Giants, though I couldn’t say exactly how.

Regardless, I concluded that I would need to proceed cautiously.

This was a world that belonged to the giants. I had no idea how large they would actually be, but someone of my size would stand out regardless.

Since “avoiding the giants’ gaze” is my primary objective, I will focus on that before taking any risks to find the resistance.

Once I finished organizing my thoughts, I realized there wasn’t anything particularly troublesome about it. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

I would simply activate Shadow Veil to conceal my presence, then begin searching for the resistance.

The tower apparently judged that I had been granted enough time to prepare as my vision gradually began to brighten. I sensed familiar presences nearby. I didn’t need to turn to know who it was—Doppy, Yoonie, and Ryun.

What is the tower thinking? Is Doppy necessary for this floor?

It didn’t matter either way.

The moment I felt solid ground beneath my feet, I activated Shadow Veil and erased our presences.

I grabbed his shoulder and ducked down. “Doppy. Shh.”

He inhaled sharply.

A city unfolded before my eyes. We were standing atop the roof of a massive building.

It wasn’t structured like a modern city. The stone architecture was oversized and rough, but not so crude as to appear primitive.

Between the buildings, giants moved through the streets.

Wow. They are about fifteen meters tall.

They were undeniably humongous.

The scale of the world was throwing me off a bit, but visually, it wasn’t jarring. After treating it like I had been shrunk, it became easier to handle.

I extended my senses to confirm whether anyone had noticed me. Fortunately, no one had.

Those giants are strong.

Even among humans, a difference in size was a critical variable that couldn’t be dismissed. Moreover, these beings were at least eight times larger than I.

I didn’t know what a giant’s base strength looked like. Their skin appeared thick, hard to pierce. Most climbers couldn’t stand against them.

Of course, that didn’t mean much to me. At best, I would call them a hassle.

Although I don’t know how strong their elites are.

I had to be cautious. Even if I couldn’t sense a god right now, an ordinary giant was way too powerful for me to dismiss that possibility entirely. This could very well be a first-class god’s world.

I briefly scanned the area from the rooftop and didn’t spot any immediate threats.

As long as I found the resistance within the next twenty-four hours, I would be fine.

Hee-Jeong.

Now that I had a general grasp of the situation, my thoughts turned to Ha Hee-Jeong on the eighty-ninth floor. The same went for Alexei, Seo Ho-Su, and the rest of the party.

Considering my skills, I hadn’t been concerned about the eighty-ninth floor—I would have no trouble breaking through the illusion myself, and then I could help her.

Unfortunately, that would be more difficult after the change.

Unlike me, Ha Hee-Jeong would likely struggle to overcome the nightmare—trauma wasn’t something to scoff at. Ha Hee-Jeong, having experienced so much adversity in her previous life, could face something far more terrifying than I could imagine.

I had to confirm it for myself.

“Doppy, can you stay hidden for a few seconds?”

“Of course!” he whispered.

“Just wait here a moment. I’ll open a portal.”

After I activated the necklace that Ha Hee-Jeong and I shared.

The space warped, and a white room appeared, just like Ha Hee-Jeong had described. Inside the massive space, people were lying down in a clockwise formation.

I had appeared next to Ha Hee-Jeong.

Hmm?

One thing didn’t match my expectations. Although I had moved as quickly as I could, a few of the lower-ranked climbers were already awake.

There weren’t many, but still.

Perhaps they had experienced a different flow of time compared to me. Or perhaps since there were so many survivors, the weakest illusions were just that easy to overcome.

Did I overthink the situation?

Despite my concerns, the lower-ranked climbers weren’t attacking anyone. Rather, they were standing in front of the top-ranked ones, almost protectively.

There were about sixty in total. One stood a bit apart, but the rest had formed a solid line of backs.

I opened a portal and brought Doppy through. Only then did the climbers finally notice us.

“Huh?”

“It’s Su-Hyeok!”

“Where?”

“Right behind you!”

“Oh!”

Startled, the climbers hurried toward me.

“Su-Hyeok, where were you? We woke up, and you were gone. We were shocked.”

“See?! I told them I didn’t kill you! Su-Hyeok, they accused me of killing you!”

The man—who had been standing apart—looked on the verge of tears. The others scratched their heads awkwardly.

“Well... I mean, you weren’t here, so...”

“I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”

Someone stepped forward and bowed his head toward the distraught climber. Even without seeing his face, I recognized Park Sang-Hyuk.

“Would twenty thousand achievement points be sufficient?”

“What? Oh, um, yes.”

“I’ll send it as soon as I return to the waiting room.” Pausing, Park Sang-Hyuk glanced around before adding, “Everyone else should apologize, too.”

“We’re sorry.”

“Sorry!”

Judging by how naturally they listened to him, they had to be a part of the Shadow Su-Hyeok fan club.

Park Sang-Hyuk approached me with care. “Sorry for the commotion. We were worried that something had happened when we couldn’t find you.”

“Haha, the tower just assigned me another trial—”

“What? Are you okay?” he interrupted, eyes wide with alarm.

“I’m fine. It shouldn’t be an issue. I just stopped by because I was worried something would happen to you all.”

“Not only can you travel between trials, but you also came back for us, too? You really are amazing, Su-Hyeok.”

The climbers behind him all nodded. Their eyes were practically glowing with admiration.

I still didn’t understand something, though. Only about sixty climbers had woken up, but Park Sang-Hyuk was ranked in the three-hundreds.

How is he already conscious?

“So what is this trial? Why are the others still unconscious? And why was that guy accused of killing me?”

Park Sang-Hyuk let out a small sound of realization and explained, “It’s a trial that ends once you overcome a nightmare. It also tempts people. If you kill a sleeping climber, it offers you skills and stat increases. We were standing guard in case there were any nonbelievers—no, traitors—among us.”

He glanced at me with an uneasy expression. I pretended to be hearing it all for the first time.

“Huh.”

“A trial like this on the eighty-ninth floor... the tower really is ruthless. Please don’t worry, though. We’ve been guarding everyone carefully.”

I glanced at him and studied his expression. “Looking at everyone who has woken up, it seems like most of them are on the lower end of the Leaderboard. Do the nightmares differ based on rank?”

“Yes, that’s what I believe as well.”

“How did you wake up so early, Sang-Hyuk?”

“Honestly.” He let out a sigh as if he couldn’t believe it himself. “In the nightmare, you were killing climbers. As if that would make any sense. I realized right away it wasn’t real. A few others picked up on it as quickly as I did.”

He looked at me, eyes gleaming, as if hoping for praise. The climbers behind him were already nodding along.

Now that I looked more closely, the uneven gaps in the circle of climbers suggested that most of those who had already awakened were members of the Shadow Su-Hyeok fan club.

Not all of them, but probably a good chunk.

That made me feel conflicted. Part of me was grateful for how much they trusted me, but having it expressed so directly made it hard not to feel uncomfortable.

Thinking on it further, this trial was only manageable if the climbers had built up enough trust in the previous floors.

“Thank you for trusting me.”

“Oh, I wasn’t expecting you to validate us. It’s only natural. You said your trial seems okay, right?”

“Yes. I confirmed that nothing is of immediate concern.”

“That’s a relief. But you’re going to be facing another tough trial. I can’t help but worry.”

Park Sang-Hyuk showed genuine concern.

As I offered him an awkward smile, he glanced toward Ha Hee-Jeong. “You’ll be staying with Hee-Jeong, I imagine?”

“Yes. I’ll stay until she wakes up, just in case. I’ll take care of the top-ranked climbers, as well.”

“Understood.” Nodding slightly, Park Sang-Hyuk stepped back and began leading the other climbers toward the center of the room.

More climbers among the lower ranks were beginning to stir.

“Whoever is awake, come this way! If you act out, we’ll strike you down immediately!”

I turned my attention to Ha Hee-Jeong. Her face was contorted in pain.

“Su-Yeok! Can I cast a calming spell?” Doppy asked concernedly.

I shook my head. “No. She has to overcome it on her own.”

Sitting down beside her, I studied her expression.

What kind of nightmare is she facing?

Watching her suffer wasn’t easy for me either. It felt like my mood was sinking lower and lower.

Fortunately, Park Sang-Hyuk kept the other climbers from crowding me, giving me a quiet moment. A few minutes passed like that.

Out of nowhere, Ha Hee-Jeong’s fingers twitched as if reaching for something. I instinctively reached out and took her hand. Warmth spread through my palm. Within that warmth, a sharp jolt like a current of electricity ran up my arm.

I adjusted my posture as she gripped my hand harder and harder.

Her eyes opened.