Chapter 201: Fifty-Second Floor, Penance (3)

A chilling glint flashed in Kalain’s eyes. As a challenger like him, I could understand why he spoke with such bitterness.

During my climb, I had encountered many species that had been or were oppressed. Kalain likely mistook me for one of them.

Yet, his hatred was so intensely overwhelming that even I struggled to comprehend it.

Many gods act evilly, true.

That didn’t mean that all of them were wicked, though. Some had fallen victim as well, and others I had met seemed benign. Moreover, the tower often leaned in favor of such deities.

Yet, he harbored this much anger toward the tower because of me, someone he had only just met. There had to be a deeper story behind his fury.

“You can’t even speak, or even express yourself. Another curse inflicted by this fucking tower,” Kalain growled through gritted teeth.

His rage-fueled speech continued, “Those motherfuckers. How can they treat a sentient being like this?”

I silently observed him.

When Kalain noticed my lack of reaction, he offered a faint, almost pitying smile. “It seems like you don’t understand. What I mean is, even if your god has ordered you to do this, it’s still wrong. Every being deserves free will. Forcing you to remain trapped here, sacrificing yourself for someone else, is nothing but tyranny.”

I nodded inwardly.

Although Kalain had misunderstood my circumstances, what he said wasn’t entirely wrong. The tower contained countless non-human individuals who had either been created for trials or forcibly conscripted into them against their will.

It was unjust without a doubt.

“My species is no different from yours. We, too, were thrown into an unfair situation without understanding why. We lived peacefully when they suddenly summoned us and demanded that we climb the tower. They even deceived us with some ridiculous contract.”

Perhaps the sanctuary had soothed his mind and body, because Kalain had begun speaking much more freely. His tone had grown noticeably more amicable, as if he now saw me as a kindred spirit.

With a self-deprecating chuckle, he continued, “And then, I lost family, friends, and lovers. Far too many. More than I can even count.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly lost in memories of the past. “None of them deserved to die like that.”

I stared at him.

At last, I began to understand Kalain’s hatred. I knew of many who had died in the tower, but with Ha Hee-Jeong’s regression to guide me, no one close to me had died. Because of her, I had been able to save far more people.

Kalain hadn’t been granted such an advantage. He had likely stood helpless, watching the people he loved perish right before his eyes.

“I don’t know if you truly understand what I’m saying, but I’ll do my best to free you from this place.”

He turned his gaze toward the end of the passage.

“

Hmm

. Maybe you’ll be released once we reach the summit. If not, don’t worry too much. I never forget when I owe someone.”

His eyes curved into crescents as he smiled, although it appeared unsettling. Despite his smile, anger, hatred, and regret—along with many conflicting emotions—swirled within him, so intense that they almost seemed tangible.

“Regardless, I am going to destroy the tower and the gods, no matter what it takes.”

He carried an unshakable conviction.

“Even if you don’t remember me after this floor, it doesn’t matter. I’ll remember you. Someday, I’ll come back to get you out of here.”

***

[Reach your destination. Time remaining: 11 hours 46 minutes.]

Our only point of reference remained the radiant pillar of light shining down upon the summit. We trodded along, continuing our grueling journey while maintaining a one-meter gap.

However, as time passed, the psychological strain and physical exhaustion grew more intense, even though the blessing we shared by staying close hadn’t disappeared. Rather, the environment itself had become increasingly brutal as we approached the summit.

The first twenty-four hours had been dominated by relentless heat. Then came the cold.

Moreover, the cold ended up being far worse than the heat. With only thin cotton clothes and a single robe each to shield us, the biting chill was nearly unbearable.

We had now traversed the cold for about twelve hours. My hands and feet had long since gone numb, and I trudged forward with my gaze fixed on the ground, half-conscious.

At least we have been able to find sanctuaries along the way. That has been our only saving grace.

Including the first one we had discovered, I felt fairly sure we had found six so far. At this point, it was difficult to keep track.

Interestingly, after I discovered the first one, Sixth Sense began activating whenever we neared a sanctuary. It wasn’t surprising. My intuition had always been sharp, even from the very first floor, and Sixth Sense only bolstered it.

I have also grown a bit closer to Kalain.

While most of our climb was spent in silence, Kalain occasionally broke it by talking to himself or to me, depending on his mood. He had spoken about the world he came from, the trials he had endured in the tower, and the people he had lost.

Some of the trials he described were unfamiliar to me, which made me wonder if each tower or zone had its own unique challenges.

Listening to him stirred an unexpected sense of sympathy within me. Kalain was a pitiable man. The trials he had faced had been far more brutal than those I had.

Amid those harrowing ordeals, he had lost his father, his lovers, and his friends—the people he cherished most.

“

Hmm?

”

Kalain’s sudden, dull exclamation snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see what had caught his attention and immediately understood.

Snowflakes were falling onto the ground. Lifting my gaze to the sky, I saw hundreds of thousands—no, millions—of snowflakes descending from above.

Of course.

I had noticed the white expanse near the summit earlier, so I had mentally prepared for the possibility of snow. I hadn’t expected it to start snowing this soon. however.

We still need to climb for at least five more hours.

The snowfall, which began as a light flurry, quickly intensified. Within twenty seconds, the sky was completely overcast.

At the same time, the chill grew sharper, biting against my skin. A fierce blizzard swept through the air, the howling wind bringing it with a bone-deep cold. The snow piled up rapidly, covering the ground in less than a minute.

“Fuck. As if the hallucinations weren’t bad enough, now there is a damn snowstorm?”

I couldn’t have agreed more. Ever since my time in the military, I had always thought of snow as nothing more than garbage falling from the sky[1].

Still, at this moment, I realized that snow wasn’t entirely bad. Snow melted into water, and right now, my thirst had reached a terrible level. Although I knew the snow would create more difficulties later, I couldn’t suppress the joy that surged within me.

Before entering this floor—and even before entering the tower—I could have gone a day without food or water without breaking a sweat. Not here, however, not on the fifty-second floor.

The falling snow suddenly looked beautiful. Even if I couldn’t do anything about my hunger, at least I could quench my thirst. Without hesitation, I dropped to my knees and began scooping handfuls of snow into my mouth.

Kalain grew concerned, and he shouted in alarm, “Hey! What are you doing? Are you unable to walk anymore?”

From his perspective, it looked like I had collapsed. I didn’t care about his reaction, though.

The snow froze my mouth to the point of making my teeth ache. Yet as the icy flakes melted in my mouth, the sensation of liquid against my parched throat made it all the more worthwhile.

The icy water soothed the dryness in my throat, and I let out a long, satisfied sigh. “

Aaaaah

.”

“What the. You didn’t collapse?” Kalain muttered in disbelief, watching my warm breath escape into the cold air.

For the first time in what felt like forever, I felt alive.

I trembled with exhilaration, though a lingering sense of inadequacy remained. Scooping another handful of snow, I crammed it into my mouth without hesitation.

“Oh, right! When it melts, it turns into water! You’re a genius!”

Kalain, now kneeling just as I was, began devouring the snow in a similarly ravenous manner. I realized that he was somewhat unfamiliar with snow.

That wasn’t surprising. Of the countless worlds in the universe, surely some of them had limited or no snowfall.

Is his thirst that unbearable?

Seemingly unsatisfied with simply using his hands, Kalain plunged his head directly into the snowbank, gulping down mouthfuls of it.

Now that is a bit much, isn’t it?

It struck me as unnecessarily crude, even though I didn’t show it outwardly. His thirst had clearly been tormenting him, and I couldn’t fault him for that.

***

[Reach your destination. Time remaining: 6 hours 4 minutes.]

The snow had grown so deep that my feet no longer just sank slightly into the snow, but became completely engulfed with each step. It reached up to my thighs now, forcing me to waddle awkwardly as I lifted my legs higher and knocked the snow aside with each step. This naturally slowed my pace and drained my energy even further.

As expected, the cold continued to be merciless. I had lost all feeling in my legs below the thighs, and my hands, exposed outside of my robe, felt stiff and half-frozen.

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Even worse, the summit seemed tantalizingly close, almost within arm’s reach.

Maybe it is an hour away?

Yet it felt like an endless journey, impossibly far away.

Damn it.

Cursing inwardly wouldn’t change anything. Even though we moved at a snail’s pace, almost inching forward on our hands and knees, we had to keep moving.

Kalain and I stuck close together, no longer leaving even the smallest gap between us. At some point, our shoulders began to brush with every step.

Turning my head to either side, I scanned the world around me. Other than the glowing pillar of light at the mountain’s peak, only a white void of swirling snow and icy wind filled the air.

Unfortunately, the howling wind, unrelenting blizzard, mounting psychological strain, and persistent hallucinations were all taking their toll, leaving my mind in a hazy stupor.

I need to find another sanctuary.

Without one, there was no way we would reach the summit.

Kalain appeared to be struggling just as much as I was. His muttering, which had been a frequent occurrence earlier, had ceased entirely. That silence had started when the hallucinations began to intensify.

For me, the biting cold and the exhaustion felt unbearable.

For Kalain, it was the psychological pain and the vivid illusions.

One thing was certain, however: if either of us had been alone, we wouldn’t have made it this far.

Come on. There should be another one nearby. Ugh.

I silently pleaded for my intuition or Sixth Sense to guide me, but nothing responded. All I could do was press forward, one step at a time.

How much time had passed? Thirty minutes? An hour? Two?

Perhaps not even ten minutes had gone by.

I couldn’t tell anymore. My mind seemed to be in a daze, half-conscious, and only fragmented memories of my journey surfaced.

The only thing I could recall with clarity was the warmth of Kalain’s shoulder brushing against mine. In this harsh and unyielding trial, that warmth was the sole comfort I could rely on. It felt more soothing than anything I had experienced in a long time.

Is this what Kalain felt when he relied on me for solace?

It felt like the bond between us had deepened. As if a silent understanding had formed.

My scattered thoughts began to coalesce when my intuition suddenly flared to life. It felt as though I could see the sanctuary buried beneath the snow.

Five meters to my right. Beneath the snow. Is this what people call a “mind’s eye”?

Quickly. Wait, I need to bring Kalain, too.

I reached out and grabbed Kalain’s wrist. I couldn’t leave him behind.

He raised his head, which had been drooping forward.

Contrary to my assumption that he would be half-conscious, his eyes gleamed with a sharp, almost unnerving clarity. For a fleeting moment, his intense gaze appeared frightening.

In the blink of an eye, however, his expression returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

Was it just my imagination? A trick of the cold, perhaps?

“Wait, did you find a sanctuary?” Kalain asked in a trembling voice.

Unable to speak, I simply turned my body in response. So far, he had always followed me when I acted this way. Strangely, Kalain grabbed my wrist tightly and prevented me from moving.

“The summit is just ahead. We don’t need another sanctuary. Let’s keep going.”

What the fuck? We are barely holding on, and he suddenly wants to skip the sanctuary?

I tried shaking off his grip, just as I had done earlier, but this time Kalain’s hand clamped down like a vice. Our arms swayed in the air as I struggled against him.

What the hell is wrong with him?

Frustration bubbled up within me, and I turned sharply to glare at him.

Kalain shook his head with a resolute expression. “Let’s just keep moving forward. If you’re struggling, I’ll carry you. I can’t stay here anymore. These hallucinations are fucking with me too much.”

He tugged at my arm insistently. For someone who looked like he was on the verge of collapse, it felt absurd that he would carry me. Moreover, his claim made no sense because the previous sanctuaries had suppressed the hallucinations.

He has to be completely disoriented from the illusions.

He left me with no other choice.

Recalling an old self-defense technique, I twisted my wrist and lowered my arm, breaking free from his grasp. Kalain’s hand slipped, almost crumbling away.

Even if he didn’t follow me willingly, the hallucinations would eventually drive him to come after me. Besides, I needed to reach the sanctuary first to recover enough strength to bring him back if necessary.

If I want to survive and save Kalain, I have to reach the sanctuary.

With renewed determination, I sprinted toward the sanctuary. The thick snow hindered my movement, but with the sanctuary so close, nothing else mattered.

Though my body had felt completely drained earlier, I felt a surge of energy propelling me forward.

I began clawing at the snow where the sanctuary was buried, quickly reaching a depth of two meters

My hands, numb and unresponsive, dug relentlessly through the packed snow. Though I wanted to move faster, my frozen fingers wouldn’t cooperate.

Still, I continued digging furiously until a faint glow began to emerge from beneath the snow. The radiant light of the sanctuary enveloped me, wrapping my body in its warm embrace.

Relief washed over me as my strength slowly returned.

Suddenly, a thought struck me—Kalain.

Wait, where is he? Didn’t he follow me? Or did he collapse somewhere behind me?

Panic surged within me, and I looked back.

Nobody was there.

The snowflakes carried by the wind stung my frozen cheeks like tiny needles, and my half-frozen hair whipped violently in the storm.

***

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has discovered all seven sanctuaries, completing the hidden mission ‘The Guide.’ All stats increased by 5.」

「Invisible message: By completing the hidden mission ‘The Guide,’ the phantom of Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s predecessor has disappeared.」

「Invisible message: Once Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok reaches the summit, he will be granted the ability to create illusions.」

1. It’s mandatory for Korean males to serve in the military for 18 months, and one of their primary tasks in winter is to brush off the snow every single day. My friends told me that was the worst job ever haha. ☜