Chapter 163

On the Tower of Heaven's second floor, Chae Ye-Ryeong and Jin Do-Yoon crossed through the red door that Choi Yu-Seong had pointed out. Their eyes widened at the sight of the spacious room that revealed itself before them.

"The maze was impressive, but this is fascinating too," Ye-Ryeong remarked.

"A square... We should call it a cube," Do-Yoon said as he instinctively scanned his surroundings.

Upon noticing something, his eyes lit up.

‘There are people here.’

In the large cube-like room of over 100 pyong , there were ten unfamiliar faces gathered in a corner as if they were a group. When Jin Do-Yoon and Chae Ye-Ryeong suddenly appeared, the group quickly turned over to look. Their eyes shone. To be precise, they only took a mere glance at Do-Yoon.

‘They're looking at Ye-Ryeong.’

There was only one woman among the ten gathered, and the rest were men. These guys were casting a sticky and uncomfortable gaze at Chae Ye-Ryeong.

Just as Do-Yoon felt their gazes and tried to block Ye-Ryeong, the youngest man in the group said, "Stop. Let's not do anything that will make us feel bad."

Only then did the group slowly look away from Ye-Ryeong. Despite their disappointment, they refrained from complaining and simply smacked their lips.

‘He looks young. Is he the leader of that group?’

Do-Yoon looked at the young man who appeared to be in his early twenties with a twinkle in his eyes.

When their gazes met, the young guy smiled lightly at Do-Yoon. He said, "You don't have to be too wary. We just met here too. We were considering whether to move forward or not.”

“...” Jin Do-Yoon silently nodded in response.

"Hi, I'm Kim Woo-Gon. If you're finding it hard to navigate this mysterious tower, why not join me? Whether it's waiting for a rescue team or exploring other solutions, it's going to take time...and it would be much less lonely to have more people around, wouldn't it?"

“...” Do-Yoon nodded his head again without answering.

‘Kim Woo-Gon. It's a name I've never heard before.’

The young man didn't seem to be a famous player, but Do-Yoon felt uncomfortable for some odd reason. He even thought that the young man could have been a villain from outside.

"You seem to be the quiet type. That's okay. Come find me whenever you need me.”

Jin Do-Yoon ignored Kim Woo-Gon. He led Chae Ye-Ryeong to a corner of the room that was as far away from the group as possible.

"They are suspicious, aren't they?" Chae Ye-Ryeong commented.

Do-Yoon nodded his head in agreement.

While Jin Do-Yoon and Kim Woo-Gon faced off, Ye-Ryeong had been trying to gather information by sensing the vibe.

"We're surviving here, but how do we get food? There doesn't seem to be any place to relieve our physiological needs," Ye-Ryeong pointed out.

Just as Do-Yoon was lost in thought, a bright white light flashed around the area where Kim Woo-Gon's group had gathered on the outer edge of the room. All of a sudden, a pile of honey fruits that could be found on the first floor appeared.

"Huh...?" Chae Ye-Ryeong exclaimed with widened eyes. Having witnessed that from afar, she murmured, "Food appeared like magic?"

“Indeed…” Do-Yoon nodded, finally understanding the situation now.

Kim Woo-Gon’s crew was sat in strategic positions that could monopolize food. It was now understandable why Woo-Gon had been so arrogant a moment ago.

"Would you like to have some?" Kim Woo-gon asked as he approached Jin Do-Yoon and Chae Ye-Ryeong with some of the honey fruits in both hands.

‘What should I do?’

Jin Do-Yoon was lost in thought for a moment.

"We're fine," Chae Ye-Ryeong said, boldly stepping forward.

Kim Woo-Gon flashed a strange smile. "That seems possible for now. Alright then. As I mentioned earlier, just let me know whenever you need something."

"We appreciate it." Ye-Ryeong smiled brightly in response.

With a casual shrug of his shoulders, Kim Woo-Gon returned to his group to share the honey fruits and started to eat.

After another half an hour had gone by, Chae Ye-Ryeong found an answer to the second question that she had.

One of the ten members who had been gathered by Woo-Gon suddenly stood up and disappeared beyond a stone gate in the direction they were heading.

‘There are five doors.’

Ye-Ryeong had no idea what role each door played, but it seemed that the group was dealing with most of their physiological needs inside of them.

Another interesting observation was that the location where the group had gathered food was quite close to the stone gate.

In addition, shockingly, the one young woman in the group occasionally went beyond the stone gate with the other eight men—aside from Kim Woo-Gon. Unless one was a fool, anyone would know what was going on beyond the stone gate when that happened.

‘No wonder they were giving me those uncomfortable looks.’

Chae Ye-Ryeong frowned as she realized that fact.

‘There's plenty of food, the issue with physiological needs has been resolved...and now he's playing king of the hill.’

Clearly, Kim Woo-Gon was the one who had set this game. Among the gathered men, he was the only one who didn't lay a hand on the woman. However, in exchange, he seemed to have gained the upper hand over the group.

In reality, it was a rather comical situation. The cube's interior was indeed large and enclosed, but there was still a way forward. The group had come up to the second floor from the first, so it was natural that there would be a way to the third floor.

Thus, if the woman who was being manipulated by Kim Woo-Gon and his group could muster the courage to move forward, she wouldn't have to endure their insults. On the other hand, those who lacked the courage to move forward would remain trapped and vulnerable as prey to Kim Woo-Gon's group.

Watching the two of them from afar, Kim Woo-Gon appeared to believe that Do-Yoon and Ye-Ryeong were the latter case.

‘We're simply waiting for other people, but…’

Woo-Gon was probably unaware of that fact.

Only a day had passed, but it felt slightly longer to Do-Yoon and Ye-Ryeong.

Kim Woo-Gon, who was sitting in the corner, approached Ye-Ryeong and Do-Yoon again. He asked, "Aren't you curious about what's beyond that cliff?"

"We are," Chae Ye-Ryeong replied.

Kim Woo-Gon revealed a sly smile. He said, "I've explored all five doors with my group, but they are quite dangerous unlike the first floor. There weren't any major issues up until the entrance, but beyond that, there were many corpses that looked like they had been ripped apart by beasts. There must be a rather threatening monster there... As you know, in our weakened state, it could be a significant threat to us.”

“Oh…”

"I'm sharing this information because I'm concerned that your curiosity might cost you your lives. Of course, I cannot interfere with whatever decision you two make..." Kim Woo-Gon finished speaking, casually shrugged his shoulders, and turned around to return to his spot.

‘He's a really bad person.’

Chae Ye-Ryeong now fully understood how Kim Woo-Gon had created this group.

‘Even if I go, I still want to scold them badly…’

As Ye-Ryeong pondered over various thoughts, light suddenly burst out from the center of the room. Everyone, including Kim Woo-Gon's group, Jin Do-Yoon, and Chae Ye-Ryeong, naturally turned their attention towards the light.

Looking at the person who had appeared through the light, Ye-Ryeong quickly raised her hand and shouted, "Hey, kiddo! Over here!"

While scanning the surroundings to assess the situation, Yoo Jin-Hyuk's gaze suddenly landed on Chae Ye-Ryeong. He yelled back, "I told you not to call me a kiddo!"

"Forget it, come here quickly," Ye-Ryeong said.

Was it due to the bad situation? Chae Ye-Ryeong felt much more relieved to see Yoo Jin-Hyuk than usual.

Ye-Ryeong went over to Jin-Hyuk and put her arms around his shoulders, then whispered, "Don't make eye contact with those guys. They're really bad people. Kids shouldn’t grow up seeing those things.”

"Bad people?"

Yoo Jin-Hyuk, who had seen and lived through a lot of bad things since he was young, was inwardly scoffing.

"You made it. Great job," said Do-Yoon.

Jin Do-Yoon greeted Do-Yoon with a delighted face. Then, he said, "Yes, hyung. Is Yu-Seong hyung not yet…?"

"The young master hasn't come yet."

"Oh, come to think of it, there's no noona either."

"Yeah, we have to wait a bit more."

Kim Woo-Gon's gaze grew icy as he watched the trio huddled together and whispering in low tones.

***

As time passed, Chae Ye-Ryeong realized she was getting quite hungry.

Once more, light burst forth from the center of the room, revealing the arrival of yet another person. And to their surprise, it was none other than Jin Yu-Ri.

"Unni!" Chae Ye-Ryeong greeted Yu-Ri with a bright expression as she jumped up from her spot.

"Oh, Ye-Ryeong? Am I the last one... No, I guess I’m not," Yu-Ri said while scanning the area out of habit and giving a suspicious glance towards Kim Woo-Gon and his group. She quickly approached her own group.

"Did I appear like that too? It’s quite cool," Yoo Jin-Hyuk asked Ye-Ryeong after adapting well to the situation inside the cube.

"The vibe is odd. Who are these guys?" asked Yu-Ri in a hushed tone. She was still scanning the room with her sharp eyes.

“Those are the people who arrived first. They have a monopoly on food and…” Ye-Ryeong then explained everything she had found out to Jin Yu-Ri in a low voice.

After hearing the whole story, Yu-Ri naturally furrowed her eyebrows. She said, "They're really unbearable people. We should leave as soon as Yu-Seong oppa arrives.”

"We can’t punish them, right…?" Ye-Ryeong asked.

"Well..." Yu-Ri looked over at Kim Woo-Gon, who was staring at her group.

‘They'll probably make their move soon though.’

Despite the small number on her side compared to the ten on Woo-Gon’s side, Yu-Ri was unafraid.

‘Thanks to the things Yu-Seong oppa has taught us, we've become a little stronger in various ways and have come here…’

The problem was that the Kim Woo-Gon crew did not know this fact. Also, their crew was close to double the number of people in Yu-Ri’s group. This meant that Yu-Ri’s group could get hurt or be in danger if conflict arose.

"For now, let's pretend we don't know anything," Jin Yu-Ri suggested.

Chae Ye-Ryeong nodded in agreement.

A little later, about five more people appeared. Two of them felt uneasy about the atmosphere and went towards the next room, while three others decided to stay in the room due to Kim Woo-Gon's persuasion and threats.

With the arrival of three more people, Kim Woo-Gon's previously uneasy expression due to Yu-Seong's growing group size had transformed into a relaxed smile.

Then, in the midst of their situation, Yoo Jin-Hyuk, who had been watching Kim Woo-Gon's group constantly monopolizing the food, frowned and asked, "Should we ask for some food?"

Although they could use the entrance to the other room beyond the stone gate to resolve their physiological needs like those guys, hunger was different. This was especially true for Jin Do-Yoon and Chae Ye-Ryeong, who had arrived first; they were almost all skin and bones.

"It won’t be free," Yu-Ri commented.

"How annoying," said Jin-Hyuk while pursing his lips.

Just then, light erupted from the center of the room once again. The person they had all been waiting for appeared.

"Yu-Seong hyung!"

"Young master!"

"Boss!"

"Oppa."

Yu-Seong appeared somewhat embarrassed as his group approached him with a welcoming shout. Raising his hand lightly, he said, "Oh, everyone… It looks like you all arrived first, but..."

Yu-Seong was no fool. Despite his happy emotions, he could sense that something was wrong with the atmosphere.

‘What's going on? Food will be automatically supplied on the second floor, won't it?’

As he surveyed the group's condition, Yu-Seong couldn't help but feel concerned. It was clear that the group was in a bad state.

Sensing a change, Kim Woo-Gon approached Yu-Seong, who was still scanning the area to assess the situation after the unexpected realization, and spoke to him.

1. about 3558 square feet