I'm the Only Wizard Climbing the Tower - Chapter 154

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.

Chapter 154

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The next morning.

Today too, I gulped down soybean paste soup while checking the morning news.

[Blue Dot secures 8.014 million Points in one day... Republic of Korea Point reserves continue to rise.]

[U.S. and Russia conduct successive large-scale troop redeployments. Authorities: “Planned exercises and force adjustments.”]

[Japanese government formally apologizes for abducting Korean Hunters. “We will work to prevent a recurrence.”]

[Government demands return of management rights for domestic IT companies transferred to Japan, increasing pressure in negotiations.]

[Establishment of the “Extreme Lunatic Hell Group” corporation completed. “Extreme Lunatic Hell” sign installed at Yongsan headquarters.]

It was another peaceful morning in King Korea.

I scooped up a spoonful of soybean paste soup and muttered quietly.

“Hmm. The people of King Korea are enjoying peace again today. What a fulfilling morning for this nation’s savior!”

Seeing the common folk of the Republic of Korea living happily made me feel good.

This was why I could never skip the morning news.

As I browsed the internet news section, one article caught my eye.

[Government demands return of management rights for domestic IT companies transferred to Japan, increasing pressure in negotiations.]

[Japan reluctant over Korea’s demand to return IT companies: “Existing sales contracts must be respected.”]

“Oho.”

It seemed our government was working hard to reclaim the IT companies Japan had taken from us.

In the past, Japan had bought our IT companies for dirt cheap.

Just like a country that was an IT wasteland and even coveted Raver Line.

They had completely kimchi’d our excellent IT companies using Points as bait!

The so-called Nekarakuve companies.

But now, the situation had completely reversed.

Korea had achieved a complete Point surplus.

Japan, after coughing up every Normal-rank Hunter it had abducted from Korea, had fallen deeper into deficit, bringing its impending destruction closer...

Our positions had completely changed.

Thanks to that, the government was now trying to reclaim the IT companies Japan had taken.

And who was that thanks to?

“Me.”

It was all thanks to this great one!

I grinned.

“Hehe. I can finally feel the Republic of Korea growing stronger! They’re trying to reclaim our companies one by one! Of course! We can’t let those wicked Japanese bastards take our excellent IT companies! Make Korea IT Great Again!!! Make King Korea’s IT great again!!!”

“Jiho, didn’t you like Japan?”

“No. Do you think I’m some pro-Japanese traitor, Noona?!”

Of course, I really loved and enjoyed God Japan’s excellent subculture.

But that was separate from this!

It wasn’t like I was some traitor like Hyeji.

Then, a brilliant thought suddenly crossed my mind.

“Hmm. Japan is probably going to start selling things off soon because they don’t have enough Points. Should I do some shopping too?”

Earning enough Points to save King Korea was already guaranteed.

I was earning millions of Points every day.

Eventually, I would definitely have more Points than I knew what to do with...

When that happened, couldn’t I buy companies for my own desires?

For example...

Japanese game companies.

Or animation companies.

The more I thought about it, the better the idea seemed.

I muttered quietly.

“Let’s accept good Japanese culture.”

“?”

“It’s time to open up Extreme Lunatic Hell pop culture...!”

Sonny, Rintendo, Bindai, just wait!

I’ll buy every last one of you!

Just as those Japanese bastards had completely kimchi’d our excellent IT companies...

I would completely kimchi their excellent subculture companies.

Reverse corporate theft!

Make King Korea’s subculture great again!!!

“Jiho, stop saying weird things and eat. You drain all my energy every morning...”

“Ah, wakatta.”

“And stop speaking Japanese too.”

Noona’s soybean paste soup was delicious again today.

As I continued eagerly spooning it down...

“Next up, now that the establishment of the Extreme Lunatic Hell Group corporation in Yongsan District has been completed...”

The TV news anchor’s voice reached my ears.

I glanced toward the television.

The morning news was still playing.

And on screen, a crane was raising an Extreme Lunatic Hell sign to the top of the high-rise building I had recently purchased.

My heart swelled with pride!

I pointed at the TV with my spoon.

“Noona, look! Our Extreme Lunatic Hell Group sign is going up. Doesn’t it make your heart feel grand?”

“Ugh... Jiho, do we really have to put that name up there?”

“Of course!!!”

I imagined it.

A bright electronic sign for the Extreme Lunatic Hell Group hanging atop a high-rise building in Yongsan, Seoul.

Majestic letters that would never go dark, even at night.

Whenever the common folk passed in front of the building, they would look up at the sign.

They would praise the achievements of this great one, who had saved King Korea.

And me?

I would sip wine in the chairman’s office on the top floor as I looked down at those commoners.

Heh...!

Just imagining it made me feel good!

Anyway, my headquarters...

I kept watching the news.

The screen changed.

“The newly established Extreme Lunatic Hell Group is expected to begin full-scale business operations soon. A large number of domestic and foreign reporters have gathered in front of the headquarters to cover future business plans and product release schedules.”

Then I saw countless reporters in front of our headquarters, where the electronic sign was being installed, all raising cameras in competition.

There were TV stations and newspapers.

A newspaper reporter with an FFF logo was there too.

Seeing a newspaper I often saw on Hunter Gallery made me strangely happy.

I muttered quietly.

“At this rate, Hunter Gallery will probably be talking about me too.”

The location of my headquarters had been revealed, and the sign was going up.

It was bait my obsessive Hunter Gallery stalker fans could not possibly ignore.

I took out my phone and opened Hunter Gallery.

Then...

[How is the company name actually Extreme Lunatic Hell]

[Eom... Jun...]

[(Conscience confession) Honestly, the company name is so hardcore that I kind of like it;;;]

[Apparently monster photos were posted on Reddit, anyone have the originals?]

[Fuck ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Extreme ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Lunatic ㅋㅋ Hell ㅋㅋㅋㅋ “Group” ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Motherfucker ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[This is ruining the nation’s prestige, seriously. Change the company name.]

[So when are they selling hair loss medicine???]

[Anyone visit foreign communities? Some weird story is spreading there.]

[Breaking) Torumph congratulates ELH headquarters opening in tweet]

...

They must have just seen the news.

Countless Hunter Gallery users had posted messages congratulating this great one on establishing a company.

I clicked on one at random.

[Post Title: How is the company name actually Extreme Lunatic Hell]

When he first said he was making a company, I naturally thought he was joking...

But he actually established a corporation with that name.

And he put the sign on top of the building too, fuckㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Does this guy have no brakes?

└Yesterday he posted his figurine, according to him, and today he put his nickname on a building in Yongsanㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└└This attention whore keeps getting bigger and bigger.

└└Good work, Kim Blue Dot. Farm all the attention in the world.

└Do employees have to say they work at Extreme Lunatic Hell when people ask where they work?

└└I’m dying just imagining it printed on a business cardㅋㅋ

└└Hello, I’m from the Extreme Lunatic Hell sales department. Here’s my business card.

└└What the hell do they even sellㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└Honestly, with that name, they should play an entrance theme through the company broadcast system.

└I don’t care what it’s called as long as it makes hair grow. When are they selling hair loss medicine already...

└I’m more excited for the aphrodisiac.

└└Sir... does it stand?

└└It doesn’t stand, you fucking bastard.

...

The Hunter Gallery users were celebrating the launch of the Extreme Lunatic Hell Group.

Touched, I brushed beneath my nose.

“Hehe. Even the common folk of Hunter Gallery are congratulating me on my success. The wine I sip in the chairman’s office will taste even sweeter.”

“Jiho, no matter how I look at it, they’re just making fun of your company name. It’s not too late. Change the name and take down the sign. What if people think your company is a joke? It’s actually an amazing company...”

“Silence! Extreme Lunatic Hell is my identity! I can never give it up!”

“Haah... Jiho, please work on your naming sense...”

Was that coming from the person who named her beloved car Vroomie and Squeakie?

Was this one of those dogs with dirt on its fur criticizing a dog covered in shit?

Unbelievable...!

Anyway, as I browsed Hunter Gallery, several posts caught my eye.

[Apparently monster photos were posted on Reddit, anyone have the originals?]

[Anyone visit foreign communities? Some weird story is spreading there.]

[What do you mean monsters are appearing in reality...?]

[The level of fakers these days, seriously...]

...

“Monsters appearing in reality? What kind of story is this now?”

This was supposed to be the time when Hunter Gallery gave all its attention to this great one.

How dare some other story interrupt?

Annoyed, I read the post.

[Post Title: Anyone visit foreign communities? Some weird story is spreading there.]

I visit Reddit and foreign communities often.

Lately, weird posts have been appearing there a lot.

Stuff like people seeing monsters in reality.

Or special forces-looking people coming to deal with them.

Posts and photos like that.

But when I checked again, they had all been deleted.

It seems like some kind of conspiracy theory is spreading, saying monsters have appeared in reality too and countries are censoring it.

Does anyone know much about this?

I only saw a few things myself, so I have no idea what’s what.

└I saw some too. There was footage of something like a Wyvern flying around somewhere in the American Midwest, and fighter jets shot it down.

└└Wasn’t that an AI video?

└└I don’t know... But there’s no way monsters could appear in reality, so it was probably fake footage.

└└It’s deleted now. What was that? It doesn’t show up even when I search. Is there an archived site anywhere? I want to see it again.

└I heard similar things were posted on Weibo in China too. The videos have been deleted now, though.

└└Everything gets deleted in China whenever someone posts anythingㅋㅋ

└└Looks like the accounts got suspended too.

└Tch, you believe that crap? They’re obviously faking AI videos. There are way too many attention whores these days. It reminds me of those old fake UFO and alien videos.

└Why don’t you go further and say they captured a living monster in Area 51 to study it? ㅋㅋ

└But it is suspicious that the U.S., China, and Russia are all redeploying their militaries.

└└They’re just conducting exercises.

└Something’s going on, but it’s still way too much of a rumor.

└I am Lee Junyoung from Anyang, Gyeonggi-do!!!

└└The whole world is full of attention whores...

...

The Hunter Gallery users were spouting such ridiculous conspiracy theories.

I clicked my tongue.

“There sure are a lot of attention whores with nothing to do these days. They’re even spouting conspiracy theories about monsters appearing in reality.”

Were Hunter Gallery users idiots?

There was no way monsters from the Tower could crawl into reality.

The world was just too convenient these days.

With strange things like AI appearing, faking things had become far too easy!

Anyway!

“Today is Floor 47, right?”

I thought about the floor I would be visiting today.

Floor 47.

The beginning of the latter half of the Highest Floors.

And the world where my city, Extreme Lunatic Hell Ark Last City Big-City, stood!

At first, it had only been a tiny fortress with a few thousand people.

Two days ago, its population had reached ten thousand.

Yesterday, it reached one hundred thousand, growing into a large city before I knew it.

So I looked forward to it.

How much would my city have developed today?

As befitted this great one’s city, it would surely be even more developed than before, with a beautiful and brilliant civilization in full bloom!

I raised my staff.

“It’s time for the mayor of Extreme Lunatic Hell...!”

“Jiho, eat first. Your food’s going to get soggy.”

And so, I waited for my party members.

[Entering Tower Floor 47.]

Flaaash!

The Floor 47 clear began.

* * *

The bright light faded.

I slowly looked around.

The first thing I noticed was the smell.

A smoky, stifling smell.

In other words, the smell of something burning.

“Cough. What is this? Did a fire break out somewhere? This is starting like the High Floors, when I had to act like a firefighting helicopter...”

“The air is so bad. I should’ve brought a gas mask!”

“...Hyeji, you still haven’t thrown that away?”

Smoke stung my throat every time I breathed.

The air was far hotter and stuffier than yesterday.

The ground beneath my feet was cracked apart.

Even the grass that had barely endured yesterday in its yellowed state had now been completely scorched, crumbling into gray ash.

If yesterday had been a somewhat dry desert...

Today had become a full-blown scorching apocalypse!

My party members complained.

“Fuck, it’s hot as hell...! Ah, I should’ve brought a temperature-and-humidity-control artifact!”

“I ordered one, but it hasn’t arrived yet, so I couldn’t bring it. I should’ve ordered it sooner...”

“Tch, what foolish people. You should have prepared thoroughly like me! What have you been doing all this time without buying even one temperature-and-humidity-control artifact?”

“You only have one because the government gave it to you for free, you bastard.”

Anyway, it was extremely hot and dry.

Hyeji and Choi Yejin were both, in their own ways, commoners of the Highest Floors, so their physical abilities should have been far better than ordinary people’s.

If even they were complaining...

Ordinary people would literally cook to death.

As I examined the environment...

“Iing...?! Iing! Iing! Iing iing iing iing!”

Iing Iing urgently cried out while pointing somewhere.

I turned my gaze where she pointed.

And I saw it.

Whoooosh...!

Far to the south.

Beyond the horizon.

Black smoke rose high enough to pierce the sky.

And beneath it...