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Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability

Chapter 110

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Coup (3)

I got Kang Tae-sung's location from Billon and warped there at the right time.

The heart of downtown Pyongyang.

For the short distance I was off, I borrowed the Demon King's power and flew the rest of the way.

In the distance, between the low-rise buildings, military hardware and people were clustered together.

Park Gwang-jin and the other North Korean climbers — the country's new head of power.

'...?'

Something about the atmosphere was off.

I kept myself hidden and watched from the rooftop of a nearby building, then entered the Tower.

I went up to Floor 5 and waited, pacing around Zone 0.

More people than usual were milling around — whether out of curiosity or something else.

When the scheduled time came, Kang Tae-sung emerged from the portal alongside the Peacekeeping Corps. Shin Su-jin was there too.

Still hidden, I moved up alongside Kang Tae-sung.

He exchanged greetings with the Peacekeeping Corps members and headed out of the Tower. I slipped out right behind him.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

...What?

The moment we stepped outside, Park Gwang-jin had fired at Kang Tae-sung.

An attack that wouldn't do a thing against him.

Was he not planning to keep his word?

But Park Gwang-jin didn't press the attack. He tossed the gun aside.

Then the two of them began to talk.

Kang Tae-sung demanding to know why, Park Gwang-jin sneering back his answers.

Listening to him, it was clear Park Gwang-jin was no different from any other petty dictator.

As I listened, the conversation took a strange turn.

"Quit the act. You never had any intention of letting me go, did you?"

"You figured it out?"

...Damn it.

Something had felt off. I'd half suspected it, but still.

North Korea had never intended to let Kang Tae-sung leave safely.

The gunshot, then, was to trigger combat status and lock him out of Floor 5.

Park Gwang-jin and the North Korean climbers radiated killing intent.

The moment before the fight broke out, I stopped time.

'What now.'

What do you mean, what now.

This was exactly the kind of situation I'd come all the way here to prevent.

Should I reveal myself and step in?

The man had already broken his word, so there was no guarantee he'd listen even if I did.

There was no reason to take unnecessary risks.

Better to neutralize everyone except Kang Tae-sung first. The military hardware too.

'Demon King-nim, could you freeze everything except Kang Tae-sung?'

Compared to my own skills, having the Demon King ice everything at once would neutralize them all in one clean sweep.

- You wretched thing. I indulge you once and you keep trying to put me to work.

'Just this once, please. Don't kill them.'

I handed my body over and released time.

The Demon King grumbled, but moved.

Flew straight into the middle of the crowd where Kang Tae-sung and the climbers stood, and...

Fwoooooosh!

Cold erupted in every direction.

People, tanks, drones cutting through the sky.

All of it froze solid. Except Kang Tae-sung.

The Demon King's magic wasn't a skill, but using the power too forcefully did break the invisibility.

"Wh... what..."

"What is this..."

The North Korean climbers fell into a panic.

I'd asked not to kill them, so only their heads had been spared from the ice.

I took my body back and landed below.

Kang Tae-sung stared at me with wide eyes.

I was wearing my mask, of course.

Before I could say anything, he spoke first.

"Are you... Person123-nim?"

I nodded.

Kang Tae-sung let out a long breath.

He turned his gaze to Park Gwang-jin.

"P-Person123...?"

Park Gwang-jin was staring over at me with a badly shaken expression.

"You didn't keep your promise."

At my words he seemed to collect himself, eyes darting around. "...That can't be right. I think there's been a misunderstanding."

Quick on the uptake, this one.

Either way, I had no interest in making this any more complicated.

'Demon King-nim, roughly how long until that melts?'

- I froze it lightly, so it should thaw on its own within an hour.

Infuriating as it was, I had no plans to do anything more to them.

I'd just get Kang Tae-sung out of here.

"I'll escort Kang Tae-sung personally. That should be fine, yes?"

"..."

Park Gwang-jin slowly nodded.

Taking him back by warp would be simple enough, but the warp device was single-use.

I'd have to fly with Kang Tae-sung to somewhere near Panmunjom.

The distance from here to Panmunjom was about a hundred kilometers, so it wouldn't take long. Not enough to hit overload yet.

"Let's go, Kang Tae-sung-ssi."

But Kang Tae-sung was watching Park Gwang-jin with a strange look in his eyes.

He spoke.

"...I won't be leaving."

What?

"I have to kill Park Gwang-jin."

What now...

I stared at him, and he spoke quickly.

"Please! Let me kill Park Gwang-jin here, now, and take control of the Republic's government. If Park Gwang-jin alone is removed, I can do it!"

"..."

"If things stay as they are, nothing in this country will change. My only desire is to bring down the rulers and save the people who are suffering. I will change it. Please trust me, Person123-nim!"

He meant every word.

...This was awkward.

What Kang Tae-sung was asking of me right now was to stand aside.

To bring down the rulers and save the suffering people.

Recalling the conversation between the two just moments ago, there was no real reason to doubt Kang Tae-sung's sincerity.

I stopped time and thought it over.

...Was there any reason to stop him?

Whether he could really change North Korea was something no one could know.

But at least, compared to a man like Park Gwang-jin holding power, there was room to hope for something far better.

Honestly, leaving things as they were sat a little wrong with me too.

What if Park Gwang-jin, irritated by my interference, ended up nursing a grudge against South Korea?

I released time.

"If Park Gwang-jin dies, is it actually possible for you to seize power?"

Kang Tae-sung answered without hesitation.

"The military has long since become little more than a puppet, and all real authority within the Party currently rests with the climbers. If I eliminate Park Gwang-jin and his inner circle gathered here, I can rally the remaining climbers around myself as their center. I can guarantee it."

"...Absolute nonsense!"

Park Gwang-jin, who had been listening, cut in frantically.

"Person123! You're not actually going to believe that garbage!"

"I-I led the revolution to success — so what do you think I did first? Obviously I secured the former Chairman's nuclear briefcase. If I die, nukes will be launched at Seoul."

...What did he just say?

At the word "nukes," my expression soured.

"Stay out of another country's business and just take Kang Tae-sung and go. That was the agreement, wasn't it? Then nothing will happen."

Kang Tae-sung said, "That's a lie. It's true that he secured Li Hyeok-chul's nuclear briefcase, but Li Hyeok-chul had to be killed immediately, so the authority was never properly transferred."

"The technicians assigned to reset the briefcase's codes are still working on it, and it'll take ages. Even the country's top cryptographic experts agreed that completely resetting the codes and fully transferring the authority would take a minimum of three months."

"...Hehe. Can you be sure about that, Tae-sung? You've been buried in Floor 5. A lot has changed since."

Park Gwang-jin looked at me. "Person123, you're from South Korea, aren't you? If you're curious whether what I'm saying is true or false, go ahead and bet your homeland on it."

The Demon King asked, - What is this "nuke" thing that has everyone in such a fuss?

'...It's like a bomb that can casually level an entire city.'

It seemed like he was just bluffing, but...

There was still an "if."

- Hand me the body again.

'Hm?'

- Isn't the solution just to make that rat confess whether he's bluffing or not?

'True, but... what are you going to do?'

Was he planning to torture him?

'You can't kill him.'

The Demon King told me to stop fussing and hand him over, so I did.

The Demon King walked up to Park Gwang-jin.

"What are you—"

A finger pressed to Park Gwang-jin's forehead.

His head began to shake violently.

"Gaaagh...!"

Eyes rolling back, Park Gwang-jin let out a convulsing scream.

The Demon King pulled his hand away.

Park Gwang-jin gasped and heaved, barely able to breathe.

It had only been a few seconds, but his eyes were filled with raw terror.

"Tell me whether your words are true."

"Ugh... ah..."

Park Gwang-jin shook his head like he'd lost his mind.

"N-no. It's not true... It was all a lie...!"

That came out fast.

'What did you do?'

- Touched his soul a little. The terror of having one's spirit freeze is not something a lowly wretch like him can endure.

That was terrifying...

Well. So there was no chance of nukes being fired at South Korea.

I looked at Kang Tae-sung.

He had been staring blankly our way, and now spoke.

"...Li Hyeok-chul never completed a succession protocol for nuclear authority in the event of his death while in power. As things stand, no one in the Republic has the authority to launch nuclear weapons. That is the truth."

"Understood."

I asked one last time.

"You can really do this?"

Now that it had come to this, Kang Tae-sung had to actually secure North Korea's power. I needed to see it through to the end.

Kang Tae-sung nodded firmly.

"Trust me. I will see it done."

I nodded too.

I stepped back from Park Gwang-jin.

Kang Tae-sung walked straight toward him with long, deliberate strides.

Park Gwang-jin still hadn't recovered — apparently the shock had been considerable.

Kang Tae-sung raised his fist.

He looked down at Park Gwang-jin for a moment with something complicated in his eyes, and then...

Crack!

He caved Park Gwang-jin's skull in.

Kang Tae-sung looked around at the remaining climbers.

They screamed in terror.

"P-please, Comrade Kang Tae-sung! Spare us...!"

Kang Tae-sung didn't kill them right away.

He extracted a rough picture of how the internal situation currently stood, then killed every last one of them without hesitation.

"I will proceed directly to the Central Committee headquarters. They say everyone is gathered there, so I will rally the remaining climbers and purge those who need purging."

Kang Tae-sung had Park Gwang-jin's head in one hand. He bowed toward me.

"My deepest gratitude. You have done me a kindness I could never repay in a lifetime."

"I'll come with you."

"Pardon?"

Now that it had come to this, Kang Tae-sung had to actually lock down North Korea's power. I wanted to watch with my own eyes and make sure it wrapped up properly.

* * *

The U.S. intelligence authorities were watching the situation in real time through surveillance satellites.

They had anticipated the possibility that the North Korean side might break the agreement.

What they hadn't imagined was a third party suddenly showing up.

"What on earth is happening?"

"It seems... everything has frozen solid..."

The footage being transmitted via satellite.

The moment one figure appeared, the North Korean climbers and even the military hardware across a wide area all appeared to freeze solid.

A climber.

There was only one person who could pull off something so absurd.

"...Person123."

Person123 had appeared.

The staff scrambled into motion.

The satellite footage had its limits in terms of image quality, but this was the first time Person123 had directly revealed themselves in the real world.

The Secretary of Defense watching the feed swallowed hard.

'What in the world...'

What kind of skill was that?

A wide-area frost magic skill?

An entire armed force neutralized in a single instant.

Trying to predict Person123's capabilities had long been a pointless exercise, but to think they had not only that black beam of destruction but a wide-area attack like this as well.

No — more than that, how had they just appeared in the middle of Pyongyang out of nowhere?

It had been the same during the sub-tower situation, but could Person123 truly be capable of instant travel across the entire globe?

The figure presumed to be Person123 and Kang Tae-sung appeared to be talking.

Shortly after, Kang Tae-sung began killing Park Gwang-jin and the North Korean climbers one by one.

The people watching held their breath.

What in the world was happening.

Kang Tae-sung and Person123 soon moved off somewhere at speed.

"...They're heading toward the Central Committee headquarters building."

The heart of North Korean power.

Something was happening that didn't look ordinary in the slightest.

Just guessing.

It looked like North Korea was about to change heads again.

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