Chapter 348: Eighty-Second Floor, A Dream Within a Dream (1)

「Invisible message: Welcome to the eighty-second floor of the Tower of Ordeal: A Dream Within a Dream.」

「Invisible message: Escape the dream constructed by the first-class god, ‘The Primordial Dream,’ Iris. Time remaining: 4 hours 59 minutes.」

「Invisible message: Failure to escape will result in eternal slumber.」

Looking in the foggy mirror of a run-down bar near campus, I inspected my reflection. My cheeks were flushed, and my face was faintly glowing. There was a subtle trace of alcohol on my breath.

It was strange. I hadn’t had that much to drink, and typically, it was hard to notice the scent of alcohol on oneself.

Why did I even come here?

As soon as the thought surfaced, I realized I couldn’t think of the reason.

How did I forget that?

My mind felt hazy, almost detached, and a subtle sense of dissonance lingered. It seemed like I was tipsier than I had assumed. A slow burn spread through my chest.

I had only drunk about half of what would normally get me tipsy, but it just wasn’t sitting right tonight.

Well, it isn’t like things have been easy lately.

I had a hunch about why I came here. My mental fatigue had piled up, and the stress had been getting to me.

I should just finish what is left and head home.

Nothing irked me more than losing control when I was drunk.

I turned on the tap and rinsed my hands. The water was icy cold against my skin.

Reaching behind my neck with one hand, I rolled my head side to side. Thankfully, it helped, clearing my head, if only just a little.

Time to go.

The sound and colors of the bar hit me the moment I pushed the bathroom door open. Everything felt so loud and vivid.

It was a scene I had seen a hundred times. Some people were laughing aggressively, others were arguing, and a few murmured drunken grievances with flushed faces.

I passed through it all and returned to our table, only to find Ha Hee-Jeong slumped over, completely out.

You have got to be kidding me.

A handful of her hair had fallen into the bubbling kimchi stew we had ordered.

I stood there, momentarily stunned. She had completely checked out during the short time I had been in the bathroom. Ha Hee-Jeong wasn’t someone who usually went down that easily. Maybe something was really bothering her today.

I let out a heavy sigh, feeling a flicker of irritation. “

Ugh.

”

We had come here tonight because I had broken up with my girlfriend.

Well, technically, I was dumped. Whatever.

Either way, if anyone was supposed to be drunk and out cold, it should have been me. Yet here she was, passed out before I had even gotten the chance. Honestly, I didn’t know what to say.

Unbelievable.

Cleaning this up would be my responsibility, too.

I dropped into my chair with a thud, tore off some napkins, and gently wiped the stew out of her hair. After setting the stained tissues aside, I grabbed my glass and downed what was left in one swift motion.

My top priority would be to get her home safely by taxi.

Actually, no. It isn’t safe to send her alone in this day and age.

That wouldn’t sit right with me.

I would ride with her. If she sobered up

en route

, I could drop her off and head home from there. If not, I would accompany her to her place.

Ugh.

Sending her home in this state felt a little awkward. Her mother was kind, but strict when it came to propriety.

It isn’t even my fault.

The more I thought about it, the more I hated how things had turned out. Somehow, our positions had completely reversed.

Why am I, who is already going through a rough time, stuck handling the aftermath too?

Perhaps it was because of my growing frustration or the alcohol, but a persistent heat continued to burn in my chest. My gaze landed on the rounded back of Ha Hee-Jeong’s head.

At that moment, a strange wave of

déjà vu

stirred.

What the fuck? Ugh, screw it. She won’t remember this anyway. May as well give her a smack.

Whack!

The sound of the hit was sharp and oddly satisfying.

Still facedown, Ha Hee-Jeong groaned and reached back to rub her head. “

Ah! Ugh.

What the hell?”

She hadn’t even reacted properly, which meant she was well beyond coherence. Moments ago, she had seemed perfectly fine, which made the contrast feel even stranger.

A sense of dissonance crept in. Something about this wasn’t right, as if the night had veered off-track, like this wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

No. This is exactly how it should be.

I had told myself already that our roles were meant to be reversed.

Letting out a deep sigh, I headed to the cashier and paid the bill. I placed Ha Hee-Jeong’s left arm over my shoulder and held her right forearm with my other hand.

She wasn’t that heavy, likely thanks to her staying active.

Once we stepped outside, I was greeted by the hubbub and bustle of the alley behind the university.

We need to get away from the crowd.

Guiding her past thick plumes of cigarette smoke and noisy groups of drinkers, I steered us toward the main road.

At the end of the sidewalk, I turned my head left and waited. For some strange reason, there weren’t any taxis in sight tonight. A few cars passed, but none displayed the “Available” sign.

“Hee-Jeong. Come on, snap out of it.”

“Nnngh—”

She was still barely upright. I couldn’t just keep waiting like this. I pulled out my phone and requested a cab, but didn’t receive a response even after five minutes.

Seriously?

It felt like luck had abandoned me altogether tonight. Honestly, I considered buying a lottery ticket on the way home, just to test how bad it really was.

Even after ten more minutes, not a single taxi showed up.

You have got to be kidding me.

Something felt off. The heat in my chest hadn’t faded, and my thoughts still felt adrift, like I was floating above reality. It was disorienting enough to make me wonder if someone had spiked my drink.

I exhaled hard, and my irritation continued to bubble up.

Maybe someone up ahead is flagging them all down.

There was an intersection roughly two hundred meters ahead. I figured moving over there could be a better idea.

Adjusting my grip, I supported Ha Hee-Jeong as we walked. “Come on. Try putting some strength into your legs.”

“

Uungh—

”

Out of nowhere, as we passed a narrow alley, she suddenly stopped.

She stiffened in my arms. “Su-Hyeok.”

“

Huh?

Are you awake?” I perked up, but her response was nothing I could have anticipated.

“Do you,

uh

, want to rest for a bit?”

“What?”

Still leaning into me, she tilted her head up and looked at me, her eyes glossy at the corners. “Let’s just rest a little. I’m really tired.”

She nodded faintly toward the alley. It was lined with motels, dim neon signs flickering overhead, and small gatherings of people stood in their glow.

I turned back to her and blinked in disbelief, unable to contain a short, humorless laugh. “Are you serious right now?”

“No.”

“Then what are you even saying?”

The strange dissonance I had felt in the mirror earlier came rushing back, sharper than before. This wasn’t like her. This wasn’t how she acted.

Ha Hee-Jeong pressed her face into my chest. “I just... want to be with you. Right now.”

I froze, completely thrown off. No response came to mind for a few seconds. “You’re seriously drunk. This isn’t okay. Come on, we’re leaving.”

As I tried to move, however, she held me back. “Why? Don’t you want to?”

“That’s not it. It’s just—damn it. What are you even saying? What’s wrong with you?” My patience was starting to fray. “I broke up just a few days ago, alright? And it’s not like we’re... whatever you think it is.”

“What do you mean, ‘whatever it is’?”

“We’re friends.”

Ha Hee-Jeong looked me straight in the eyes.

Only then had I truly met her gaze and realized something was off. Her pupils looked clouded, as if a fog had settled inside them.

The burning sensation in my chest surged, so intense it felt like it would burst. Suddenly, the world seemed to freeze, and something deep inside me erupted.

A sensation I know all too well.

It was divinity.

At that moment, everything became clear. As soon as I had stepped onto the eighty-second floor, my memories had—

***

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has escaped the first dream. Proceeding to the second.」

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has resisted the dream crafted by the first-class god, ‘The Primordial Dream.’ The power of the Celestial Mountain Blossom within his divinity has grown stronger.」

Mountains of corpses, and seas of blood.

No other expression suited the scene more perfectly. The ground was slick with blood, the stench of death saturating the air.

I was on the one-hundredth floor.

We had charged in with zero intel. Everyone, except for me and a handful of others, had died because the enemy was far too powerful.

It was an apostle of a first-class god.

The battle had been savage, and though we emerged victorious in the end, calling it a win didn’t feel right.

Blood pooled like rivers at my knees, soaking through my clothes until my thighs were drenched. A burning sensation pulsed in my chest. Tears streamed down my cheeks, trailing across my nose and lips.

Ha Hee-Jeong’s lifeless body lay before me. Her wide-open eyes stared blankly into the sky.

“Why... why...”

I lifted my left hand to shut her eyes, then stopped.

My gauntlet was smeared with blood. I removed it and gently closed her eyes with my bare fingers.

A torrent of emotion surged through me, and it was too tangled to name any single one. Overwhelming rage consumed my thoughts. The heat in my heart felt unbearable, like it would tear itself apart.

I buried my face in her shoulder. Her body was still warm. Her scent, now mixed with blood, lingered faintly near my nose.

“Why... why did this happen...”

Ha Hee-Jeong’s death was my fault.

I had misjudged the situation. I had believed that I could receive that strike, but in the end, I couldn’t.

It had been a moment of absolute crisis. She had switched places with me and taken the attack directly.

If only I had been more cautious.

No, if I had been just a little stronger, this never would have happened.

Regret surged through me like a breaking wave.

“This is my fault.”

“No. It isn’t. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Someone placed a hand gently on my shoulder.

When I lifted my gaze, golden hair spattered with blood fell into view. It was Alexei.

She was wrong. It was my fault.

I shook my head at her and lowered it once more onto Ha Hee-Jeong’s shoulder. It felt as if a part of my chest had been ripped away. My skin burned, and my consciousness felt unmoored, like I was floating just above reality.

“It wasn’t your fault. It was an accident.”

The warmth on my shoulder briefly pulled away, then returned, more firmly this time.

Golden strands of hair draped across my back. Alexei had wrapped her arms around me from behind. A scent unfamiliar to me lingered in the air. Her slender hands lightly patted my forearm as if offering comfort.

“But we made it through the hundredth floor. It’s over now, so you can be happy.”

The words offered no solace. Without Ha Hee-Jeong, what meaning did happiness even have?

Alexei’s voice softened further. “But you still have me. The two of us... we can find happiness together.”

My brow furrowed.

Something felt off. While a searing sensation flared within my chest, my thoughts turned razor cold as if frost had settled over my mind. I couldn’t recall the details, but I had the distinct sense I had experienced something like this not long ago.

I shook my shoulders and pulled away from Alexei’s embrace.

Then, raising my head, I fixed my gaze squarely on her. “Who are you?”

This was all wrong. Not only was her demeanor completely unlike Alexei’s, but the entire situation defied logic.

A long-buried memory surfaced.

Ha Hee-Jeong’s death wasn’t set in stone. She had told me that those who died during their climb could still be revived after conquering the tower.

How could I have forgotten that?

The moment that realization struck, divinity erupted from deep within my chest.

Damn it.

That was when I understood that this was a second illusion, another dream. As soon as I came to that conclusion, my vision inverted, and my consciousness began to slip.

***

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has escaped the second dream. Proceeding to the third.」

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has resisted the dream crafted by the first-class god, ‘The Primordial Dream.’ The power of the Celestial Mountain Blossom within his divinity has grown stronger.」

***

Sunlight brushed the corners of my eyes. A faint golden glow gathered atop my darkened lids.

When I opened them, a sharp headache greeted me like a hammer to the skull.

A marble ceiling stretched above me. I was lying in a bed, and someone stirred nearby.

“You’re awake?”

I turned my head to find a woman I didn’t recognize gazing at me.

She was beautiful—undeniably so—and a complete stranger. Her pale and luminous skin flowed from the nape of her neck down her shoulders, fading beneath the blanket to the soft curve of her collarbone.

It was clear that beneath the covers, she was fully unclothed.

What the hell is going on?

I jolted upright as my mind struggled to grasp the situation. My headache intensified, pounding harder.

Gripping my head, I looked back at her and asked, “Who are you?”

Her eyes were tinged with sorrow, and held mine. “I am Iris, Su-Hyeok. You’ve dreamed of the past again. Try to remember... It’s already been three hundred years since you conquered the Tower of Ordeal.”