I'm the Only Wizard Climbing the Tower - Chapter 58

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 58: 058

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Right after returning to reality, I opened my status window as usual.

[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 22)]

[45,300 Points]

There it was, the number 45,300.

I couldn't help being surprised.

"Did my Points jump by ten thousand just because I reached the Golem Floors? That's incredible...!"

Yesterday, I had earned 36,000 Points.

Today, I had earned a whopping 45,000.

That was a ten-thousand-Point increase in one go!

As expected of Golems.

Those ridiculously generous monsters gave 300 Points each!

They really were worth their huge size.

To think they handed out this many Points.

I should keep catching lots of them and dote on them from now on.

More importantly.

"Magic Stones..."

Glance.

I turned to look at the living room.

Instead of the countless ramen boxes usually scattered everywhere, only two ramen boxes sat there alone.

They were filled with blue stones the size of fists.

Magic Stones.

The material needed for cheap electricity generation!

And I had brought back 151 of them.

I made another vow.

"Wait for me, King Korea. Someday, I'll provide cheap electricity to every citizen...!"

For now, I could only bring back a little over a hundred at a time...

But once I started bringing back Magic Stones in bulk, I would be able to protect Korea's energy security!

People had been making a huge fuss lately about high oil and gas prices...

As a patriot, I should lend a hand.

Anyway, I had safely finished today's climb.

It was time for the usual routine.

-Click!

I quickly took a picture and made a post.

[Post Title: Newbie climbed Floor 21 today...]

[Author: Blue Dot]

(Two ramen boxes sitting alone in the living room)

Newbie went to Floor 21 today...

It was some kind of medieval city ruins.

Just like people said, there were tons of Golems...

So I smashed them all.

But just smashing them normally was a little boring.

So I beat a few dozen to death with my bare hands.

They were surprisingly easy to kill.

Maybe... I'm secretly talented at fighting?

Will you call me Muhammad Ali from now on?

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!

Anyway, today's earnings!

151 Golem Magic Stones... 3 million won each.

453 million won.

45,300 Points.

Total earnings, 906 million won...

Urgh!

My Points increased from yesterday, but my total earnings actually went down...!

But why are these Magic Stones only worth 3 million won?

Isn't the unit price for loot way too stingy?

Why am I earning more Points but making less money overall...?

Anyway.

I'll bring back tons and tons of Magic Stones from now on and provide cheap electricity to every citizen.

I'll take responsibility for King Korea's energy security!!!

Everyone, just wait a little!

I'll make it so you can blast the air conditioner without worrying about the electricity bill!

└I thought you'd be quiet today after throwing that huge fit at dawn, but here you are again as expected.

└Needlessly diligent bastard.

└How do you kill Golems with your fists? Isn't that something only Hunters from the Highest Floors or people with that kind of technique can do?

└└This poster is famous for being committed to a bit. Don't feed him.

└Why does it look so empty now that he usually posts pictures full of ramen boxes, but there's only two boxes here?

└└Right? Hahahaha, it looks ridiculously pathetic.

└└Is this what they call getting spoiled? When I first saw this guy's posts, even one bag looked insanely impressive.

└└Now it feels empty unless the whole living room is packed full lol.

└FYI, Korea doesn't have Magic Stone power plants, so even if you bring back Magic Stones, all of them will be exported overseas. Your Magic Stones will never be turned into electricity for Korean citizens.

└└Blue Dot: I know there aren't any power plants... but if I bring back tons of Magic Stones, the country will build one, right? Isn't it better to use them for power generation than sell them?

└└No, they absolutely can't. You need to reach the Highest Floors, Floor 42, to get a Magic Stone Reactor artifact. Korea only has two Hard-rank Hunters, Kim Taeseok and Choi Yejin...

└└Blue Dot: Oh, was that the problem? Then I'll get to Floor 42 and farm a reactor. Problem solved, right?

└└How the hell would that work?

└Magic Stones are cheap because the only places that can really buy them are the United States, Britain, France, and Germany. Only a few countries produce electricity with Magic Stone Reactors, so they have no choice but to export them there at bargain prices.

└For reference, one Small Magic Stone can produce 100,000 kWh of electricity. Producing that much electricity with coal power would take roughly 40 tons of coal.

└And 40 tons of coal costs around 10 million won at futures prices. It's used everywhere in the world, so supply is high, but demand is also high.

└Magic Stones, on the other hand, are supplied worldwide, but only the United States and a few major powers demand them. That imbalance between supply and demand makes Magic Stones far cheaper than coal for the same amount of power.

└That's why Magic Stones only cost 3 million won.

└└Blue Dot: I don't know what you're talking about, but thanks for explaining anyway.

└└I'm losing strength here. I wrote all that carefully and this is the response I get?

└└You just copied that from Kingmu Wiki and are pretending you put effort into it, tsk tsk.

└└Shut up.

...

"Hmm. So even if I bring back Magic Stones, they can't be used for power generation right away?"

It seemed I needed to reach Floor 42 and bring back a Magic Stone Reactor or whatever before electricity could be generated.

That made sense.

You couldn't just turn an unknown resource like Magic Stones into electricity with modern technology.

A specialized artifact was probably needed to extract energy from them.

Of course, that wasn't much of a problem.

"If it's Floor 42, I'll get there in around twenty days. By then, I'll have built up quite a collection of Magic Stones too."

Floor 42.

A floor that Easy-rank and Normal-rank ordinary people could never reach.

A floor that even Hard-rank ordinary people only barely reached after overcoming endless hardships.

But to this body, the Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter, it was simply a place I was guaranteed to reach.

In twenty days, Korea's first Magic Stone power plant would be built.

Anyway...

I had safely completed Floor 21 today.

Tomorrow was Floor 22.

* * *

The next afternoon, I made my first settlement payment to my SSS-rank porter, Na Hyeji.

"I transferred money to your account, Hyeji-ssi. Ten percent of the earnings, 90.6 million won. Buy Iing Iing some snacks."

-Iing Iing?

"Um... Jiho-ssi? Is it really okay for me to receive this much? Getting tens of millions of won this easily feels like more than I deserve."

Hyeji-ssi hesitated at my generous split.

A few dozen million won had landed in her account after only one day, so she seemed to feel a little guilty.

Well, up to now, all Hyeji-ssi had done was serve as Iing Iing's launch pad.

The cute, adorable, admirable, and praiseworthy Extreme Lunatic Hell Fairy, Iing Iing, did all the work.

Hyeji-ssi herself just lounged around and did nothing.

How enviable...!

"Ah! I'm jealous! You just press a button and let a fairy carry you! While some people are twisting their whole body around to use magic, Hyeji-ssi doesn't have to do anything because her fairy handles it all!"

"Um... I don't really have anything to say. Honestly, that's all true..."

"Live your life like Na Hyeji!!!"

-Iing Iing!

"..."

Hyeji-ssi shrank back, looking ashamed.

You thought you had it too easy too, right?

I had a pretty easy setup myself, but hers was even more effortless.

After hesitating for a moment, she spoke.

"Then... you can give me a smaller share. Five percent, no, even three percent would be fine..."

"How about no pay?"

"...No pay would be a little difficult."

Maybe Hyeji-ssi still had a speck of conscience left.

She was offering to lower her own share.

Of course, I had no intention of reducing it.

"Forget it. I'll keep giving you ten percent. But I'll take all high-value loot, like artifacts, for myself. Let's go with those terms."

"Is that really okay? It's only tens of millions now, but later I'll be receiving hundreds of millions..."

"I'm worried you'll run away. I'm an Extreme Lunatic Hell patriot, so America's offer didn't shake me. But you were a traitor who dreamed of leaving Korea from the start."

I hadn't forgotten.

When we first met, she had wanted to get carried to the Middle Floors, then leave Korea for America...!

Hyeji-ssi recoiled at my words.

"A traitor?! That's too harsh!"

"You selfish bastard. Are you saying it's fine if the country collapses? In Korea, with only three months left until its Points run out, being dragged away under the Hunter General Mobilization Order, forced to climb the Tower and pay Points, devoting the little life you have left to the nation, then disappearing together with every citizen when the Points run out, that is true happiness!!!"

"Jiho-ssi, stop using weird memes! You sound like a genuinely crazy person!"

Anyway.

This was the point.

"Once we reach the High Floors or Highest Floors, it's obvious both your identity and mine will be exposed. At that point, America might really come looking for us with trillions of won. I need to treat you well enough that you won't be tempted by an offer like that."

I was an Extreme Lunatic Hell patriot Hunter.

I had not yielded to the astronomical money, fame, and privileges America offered.

I had steadfastly chosen to remain in my homeland.

Even that much money couldn't break this body's resolve.

Na Hyeji, on the other hand, was an unpatriotic person who had dreamed of leaving Korea for America.

Once Hyeji-ssi's identity as a Fairy Mage was exposed and she reached the High Floors or Highest Floors, many countries would offer to recruit her.

To stop her from being tempted by money and leaving then, I needed to give her proper treatment.

"So, Hyeji-ssi. Don't ever leave Korea, okay? After I've done this much for you, if you still leave Korea, I'll be very sad, miserable, and pissed off."

"No! I'm not leaving Korea! Korea won't collapse while you're here, Jiho-ssi. I want to live in our country too, where I can communicate easily and live comfortably...!"

That was what she said...

But people's hearts were like reeds, always swaying.

Even if she had no intention of leaving Korea now, a remarkable offer could still shake her resolve.

How tempted had I been when America offered to recruit me?

That was why I needed to treat her well from the beginning instead of neglecting her and losing her later.

'You have to be good to people while they're still with you. Korea collapsed because it couldn't do that.'

In the Tower's early days, Korea became drunk on cheap Points imported from developing countries and neglected its Hunters.

As a result, many Hunters had left the country.

I wasn't as foolish as Korea had been back then.

"I'll give you ten percent, so never leave Korea and stay by my side."

"...Okay. Since you're offering, I'll accept gratefully. I have no plans to go anywhere, so don't worry."

"Good."

The Magnet Pet business was settled.

Now it was time to prepare for the next floor.

"Hyeji-ssi. You looked into Floor 22, right?"

"Yes. Floor 22... the Factory Floor, right?"

"That's right."

The floor we would enter this time was Floor 22.

It was called the Factory Floor.

"There's a huge factory in the middle of a city, and Golems swarm out of it."

The structure of Floor 22 was simple.

There was a huge factory in the center of the city.

Golems poured out of it in droves.

The goal of Floor 22 was to avoid the monsters flooding out and escape to the Escape Portal outside the city.

In other words, it meant that the packed hordes rushing at us right from the start could be wiped out in one blow!

"Hyeji-ssi. I think today's clear will take around ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?"

"I'm using Super-Fireball."

The strongest spell in my arsenal.

Super-Fireball.

It was a magical eraser that perfectly deleted anything in front of it.

If I hit the factory with one Super-Fireball right at the start, all two hundred Golems would die, right?

What ten minutes?

It wouldn't even take three minutes to kill the enemies.

Let's finish this quickly and come back.

"Entering the Tower."

[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 22)]

[Na Hyeji (Republic of Korea: Floor 22)]

[Please select the floor you wish to enter.]

"Floor 22."

[Entering Tower Floor 22.]

Flaaash!

The Floor 22 clear began.

* * *

Moscow, Russia.

Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.

The director's office.

"So... you've found out who those China bastards were targeting when they got caught?"

A middle-aged man with a huge build and a fierce expression spoke.

His name was Boris Vladimirovich Volkov.

He was the director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.

At his question, a subordinate answered.

"Yes, sir. The Hunter targeted by the Ministry of State Security is named Baek Jiho. He is believed to be Korea's sixth Hard-rank Hunter."

Rustle.

The staff member placed documents on the desk.

They contained information secretly obtained from the Ministry of State Security.

It was a collection of files about Baek Jiho.

The subordinate continued.

"However, the information has been heavily contaminated. There is too much disinformation from the National Intelligence Service..."

"Disinformation?"

"Yes. It says he is currently a Middle Floors Hunter in the Floor 20s, climbs one Tower Floor every day, and earns tens of thousands of Points per day..."

"...Is that supposed to be information people would believe? It's full of nothing but absurd nonsense."

"Exactly."

The information China had gathered naturally came from breaching Korea's National Intelligence Service.

Back when there had still been a hole in the office of the National Intelligence Service's Fourth Deputy Director, China had bribed them for that information.

It had now passed through China and reached Russia.

Naturally, the agents of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service did not believe it was true.

A Hunter who had only reached the Middle Floors earned tens of thousands of Points a day?

He climbed one Tower Floor per day and reached Floor 20 only twenty days after he began climbing?

It was too ridiculous a story.

No one would believe it.

Boris snickered as he put a cigar in his mouth.

"Those National Intelligence Service bastards have a funny way of protecting information. Is their strategy to exaggerate it instead of hide it?"

"..."

"Well. Since he was a Hunter those China bastards targeted, he must be useful in his own way. Let's bring him here."

Russia had learned of Baek Jiho's existence.

Like China, Russia was a country that kidnapped Hunters from other nations and ran them as Point factories.