I Conquered the Tower with the EX-Class Character That I Raised - Chapter 1

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 1
[Breaking news: The second subjugation attempt against Frost Dragon, the Break Boss entrenched in Pyongyang—also known as the Ice Dragon—has failed.]
Through paper-thin walls, the television from the neighboring apartment bleeds into my room.
Nothing but pessimistic droning.
[The Hunter Association has decided to immediately assemble a third subjugation squad centered around Han Seol-ah, the Guardian Hunter. However, experts estimate the success rate of subjugation at less than 3%, making the collapse of South Korea a foregone conclusion….]
…Let me correct myself.
Beyond mere pessimism—these are tales of absolute despair.
—South Korea will fall soon.
“I always knew a day like this would come.”
I just never thought it would be today.
Click. Click.
[Frost Dragon defeated.]
[Obtained: Shattered Scale.]
“…The pattern’s predictable.”
[Frost Dragon defeated.]
The boss that Han Seol-ah couldn’t overcome.
The Ice Dragon.
I’m slaughtering it right now in a game.
Remarkably, the “Calamities” of reality and the “Monsters” of games are identical.
Patterns, stats, skills, weaknesses—everything.

The game I’m playing, “Lost Honor,” is obsessed with historical accuracy, after all.
A creature that can’t be caught in reality.
In the game, it falls easily.
‘…If only this were reality.’
A Frost Dragon would go down in a single strike.
Looking back…
‘South Korea will collapse’—I thought that a full ten years ago.
Ever since the “Towers” appeared across the world.
The world changed in countless ways.
Those blessed by the Towers gained superhuman abilities called “Awakening.”
Each time someone climbed a Tower, precious resources that defied all known physics poured forth in abundance.
…But even then, I knew South Korea was doomed.
The Towers were a blessing for some.
But for others, they were a catastrophic curse.
‘…And we were the latter.’
Failure to update the highest floor within the allotted time triggered a “Break”—a colossal gate opening to unleash powerful boss-class Calamities. That madness.
A Break was a catastrophe of the highest order.
Several nations that couldn’t stop one simply vanished from existence.
In other words.
If a nation has the means to climb the tower, it is blessed.
If it lacks such means, it is cursed.
Simply put, it was the logic of power.
Yet something felt profoundly unfair.
The starting floor of each tower was bizarre.
For the United States, floor 2.
For Japan, floor 23.
For China, floor 48, and so on….
Fourteen towers appeared in major cities across the globe, yet each began at a different floor.
The United States, assigned a relatively low floor, rejoiced without restraint, while China struggled to break even a single floor and had to endure the devastation of the Breaks.
Of course, a tower also appeared in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
The starting floor was…
A staggering 94 floors.
The difficulty was utterly insane.
This is why everyone, myself included, believed South Korea was doomed.
Every ambitious attempt to conquer the tower failed, grinding through our finest hunters until nothing remained.
South Korea declared the tower “unconquerable” and has merely scraped by, barely withstanding the Breaks that repeat every month….
For a full ten years.
“We’ve held on quite long, haven’t we.”
…And now that desperate struggle was finally showing signs of collapse.
South Korea’s sole hope.
The last S-rank hunter.
The Guardian.
Han Seol-ah.
She awakened at the tender age of seventeen and has saved South Korea from the brink of annihilation for ten long years—yet a boss has appeared that she cannot, under any circumstances, defeat.
“…If Han Seol-ah has fallen, then it’s over.”
What remains, then?
Only the wait for extinction.
“Accept your death….”
The villa, usually bustling with noise, is silent as a tomb.
The only sound is the television left on in the neighboring unit.
Han Seol-ah’s national apology press conference regarding the third subjugation operation is just beginning.
“The quiet is rather nice.”
All combat-class hunters were conscripted into the second and third subjugation forces.
All “citizens” who failed to awaken combat-type abilities have evacuated to shelters.
I alone remain in this villa.
Why?
Because I never awakened.
…Which means I’m not even treated as human.
Earth now recognizes only those who possess mana as truly human.
What if you don’t possess mana?
Then you’re not human!
Surprisingly, this is common sense in this world.
If I’m caught wandering outside without mana?
They sense no mana from me and treat me like a Doppelgänger—a shapeshifting beast—before attempting to kill me.
I speak from experience.
So I.
“Play games.”
Games in name, livelihood in truth.
I was immersed in ‘Lost Honor’.
From ten years ago when I became unable to awaken, until this very day.
This game has sustained me when stepping outside was nearly impossible.
‘I sold items to buy food.’
Items from Lost Honor can be converted to real currency.
The mad developer who created this game allows players to list items on the auction house and receive ‘Points’—a tradeable currency—in exchange.
A game where diligent play translates to real earnings.
Could you resist?
“I couldn’t.”
Had the registration requirement not been ‘must be unable to awaken’.
It would have become a global phenomenon.
How frustrating.
In any case, my escape into this virtual world wasn’t a reckless decision.
“…I should sell some items and buy winter gear.”
The Frost Dragon’s erosion, in simple terms, transforms the surrounding area into a place far colder than the Arctic—a ‘Far-Far-North’ of sorts, or so I’ve heard.
In this modern age, with mana-infused arcane engineering winter equipment, wouldn’t I be able to endure a bit longer?
Points are never a burden to accumulate.
‘People still live even in the fallen lands of India, don’t they?’
Isn’t that my future?
Ding—!
[Urgent Quest Arrived!]
[Classification: Epic]
[Will you accept?]
“Huh?”
[Urgent Epic Quest]
[Save South Korea from the Brink of Annihilation]
“…?”
What is this?
Lost Honor is a game set in a medieval fantasy world.
There is no place called ‘South Korea’ in it.
And now, when South Korea is genuinely facing the threat of destruction, a quest like this appears.
“What is it hinting at?”
Could it be…
Is it talking about actual reality?
‘That can’t be.’
Reality isn’t a game, after all.
In this case, it makes more sense to interpret it as South Korea appearing as a new location in Lost Honor.
“A new region… Finally, fresh content is being updated.”
[Quest Objective]
[Awaken S-Rank Hunter Han Seol-ah to EX-Rank]
What in the world is this supposed to mean?
“Han Seol-ah?”
The one doing the press conference on TV right now? The Guardian Han Seol-ah?
“…What?”
S-Rank Hunter Han Seol-ah—it’s explicitly stated right here.
There’s no getting around this.
‘Han Seol-ah is being added to the game?’
“…This could be fun?”
Fascinating.
Extremely so.
The Guardian of South Korea.
The Frost Queen.
The strongest INFP, and so on…
The hunter beloved by all South Korean citizens, bearing countless titles.
To think I could actually meet that Han Seol-ah within the game itself.
[Reward]
[Awakening]
“Oh.”
An awakening, no less!
“So my character gets to experience the awakening I could never achieve myself.”
This is incredible.
…And a little envious, too.
Because awakening is something that will likely never come for me.
[Will you accept?]
[Yes] [No]
The “Yes” button gleams in gold, urging me to accept quickly.
—As if asking, would you really skip this amazing content?
That’s what it seems to say.
The addition of a new region: South Korea.
Quality time with Han Seol-ah, my favorite hunter.
And on top of it all, my character’s awakening.
All this dopamine laid out before me.
“This should be fun.”
Sweet.
Just imagining it makes my mouth water.
I moved the mouse and clicked without hesitation.
[No]
I chose “No,” that is.
Most people would naturally press “Yes” here.
“But I’m not most people.”
When everyone else says “Yes,” I press “No.”
The reason for my refusal is simple.
They’re trying to manipulate my thinking.
I have no intention of losing in this kind of psychological game—this “let’s see if you’ll resist”—not ever.
If I mindlessly follow these manipulations, eventually I’ll find myself in a situation with irreversible consequences.
And when that day comes, coughing up blood and crying “I should have refused”…
The result of a choice cannot be undone.
I know this from experience.
“Well then. Let’s see what happens.”
Of course, I didn’t reject it recklessly without a plan.
‘I’ve seen the pattern before.’
When I act sulky like this, pretending to be offended…
[Rewards have been modified]
A negotiation comes through.
[Rewards]
[Awakening]
[Possession Ticket] (new!)]
“…Possession Ticket?”
Just from the name, I can’t tell what kind of item it is.
Even clicking on it with the mouse revealed no additional information.
“Hmm.”
[Do you accept?]
[Yes] [No]
This time I pressed “Yes.”
If I refuse again, the Quest itself will disappear.
[Connecting world to world…]
[Please wait a moment]
“Ah. An update?”
Since they’re adding new content, it naturally takes time.
I dove onto the bed.
I buried my face in the soft mattress and closed my eyes.
In the quiet room, the silence was broken as the TV sound from the neighboring apartment beyond the thin wall came through far more clearly than before.
[That’s correct. I take full responsibility for the failure of the second subjugation. I humbly apologize.]
“….”
[The third subjugation, unlike the previous two attempts… huh?]
“…?”
[What? Huh?]
Han Seol-ah’s composed voice cracked.
“What is it? A broadcast glitch?”
My apartment doesn’t have a TV.
I couldn’t bring myself to get one since I couldn’t afford to make noise.
Through the TV next door at Chul-soo’s place, I could only access the broadcast through sound.
So I couldn’t precisely understand what was happening to Han Seol-ah right now.
Murmur, murmur—
…And apparently it was the same at the scene, as the journalists’ murmuring in response to Han Seol-ah’s sudden action came through vividly.
[….]
After that, Han Seol-ah’s silence stretched on for quite some time.
[…Yes.]
Soon a voice tinged with resolve came through.
Right after that.
[What?]
[What, what?]
Along with the bewildered voices of the journalists.
[H-Hunter Han Seol-ah?]
[What! The person just disappeared!]
[Emergency! Emergency!]
[Get the supervisor now!!!]
Complete chaos erupted.
“What, what?”
Han Seol-ah suddenly disappeared?
The Han Seol-ah who was conducting the press conference just vanished?
It’s hard to follow what’s happening.
[…Uh. Excuse me?]
“…No, wait? I can hear her voice?”
Unlike the chaos unfolding in the TV in the next room.
Han Seol-ah’s voice came through loud and clear.
[Um, hello?]
Han Seol-ah’s voice saying.
[P-Please calm down, journalists! Let me assess the situation…]
[Calm down? Calm doooown? Does it look like now is the time to calm down! Who’s going to catch the Frost Dragon without Han Seol-ah!]
[Find Han Seol-ah nooooow!!!]
[We’re doomed! South Korea is finished!]
Chaos erupted across the television screen.
…The two situations didn’t align.
In one place, Han Seol-ah was chattering away without a care.
In another, they were in an uproar claiming Han Seol-ah had vanished.
[Nebula?]
“…Huh?”
Nebula?
That’s my character’s name.
[Are you there?]
“….”
Now that I think about it…
Han Seol-ah’s voice…
wasn’t coming through the television beyond the wall.
It was behind me.
More precisely, it was emanating from my computer speakers.
“…No way?”
I clutched at my wildly racing heart, my footsteps trembling as I turned toward the monitor.
[Are you there?]
“….”
And there on the monitor I confirmed it. More specifically, inside the game.
…Han Seol-ah was there.
Silver hair shimmering with an ethereal blue luminescence.
Eyes as blue as a cloudless sky.
“Ha, haha.”
[I… I heard you were going to make me EX-rank…]
Han Seol-ah had been summoned into my game.
Ding—
[Days until Quest Clear: D-5]
[Upon Quest Failure: Annihilation]
…accompanied by an ominous notification.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————