I Conquered the Tower with the EX-Class Character That I Raised - Chapter 67

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

Chapter 67
After Nopy’s upgrade was complete, I checked the status.
[CPU: S]
[GPU: EX]
[SSD: S]
Nopy shed the shackles of obsolete components that had been dragging at her ankles, beginning to break free.
My heart swelled with anticipation.
I tested synchronization once more through Nopy.
“…Oh.”
The landscape of reality, which had been rendered like clay, now displayed properly.
‘Is this the effect of the GPU upgrade?’
The difference was palpable.
When I was F-rank, I was the very portrait of a sad gamer desperately trying to run high-performance games on inadequate hardware. Now I’d evolved to the point where I could post in gaming communities saying “I upgraded it, but it’s still a bit lacking lol” with confidence.
A GPU typically affects a game’s graphics quality.
To properly render reality itself, you need proportionally high-spec GPU performance. With EX-rank, realism should hit its maximum threshold.
Next, I tested magic.
“Oh.”
Unlike before when it took three full seconds, this time it activated almost instantly after a brief delay.
The delay was less than a second—barely noticeable.
‘This must be the CPU improvement at work.’
The mana drain that had been so severe before was now significantly more efficient.
[Mana efficiency confirmed at 90% of normal levels.]
With Whitey’s calculations chiming in, everything became clear.
‘That must be the SSD’s effect.’
But problems emerged from the components I still hadn’t upgraded.
Whirrrrrr!
Nopy overheated again.
“Calm down, Nopy.”
I’d only used synchronization briefly, yet the notebook’s battery plummeted below 5% in seconds.
The heat output was intense.
‘Is she dying?’
I hurried to terminate the synchronization.
“Huh?”
Something strange appeared in my vision.
‘…A thread?’
Focusing my mind to examine it, I realized it was a transparent thread.
‘Wait.’
The moment I became aware of it, my vision transformed.
Threads, threads, threads.
Transparent threads filled everything I could see.
Like wind flowing through the air, transparent threads shimmered and undulated like heat haze, drifting slowly through the void.
It felt as though the entire world was submerged in these strange threads.
‘What is this?’
I reflexively channeled mana and swept my hand through the air, causing the threads to ripple in response to my gesture.
‘This is… mana?’
Under normal circumstances, mana is invisible to the naked eye.
You perceive mana by concentrating with your eyes closed, by witnessing its effects through magic, or by sensing it through pure intuition with your eyes shut.
These are the typical ways to sense mana, but…
Right now, I can actually see the ‘threads’ of mana with my own eyes.
“Ah.”
The moment I tried to investigate further, the synchronization cut out with a sharp click.
Nophi had died.
“Nophi!”
My heart sank at the pitch-black screen, but when I checked the power port just in case, thankfully Nophi had simply fallen asleep.
Once I plugged in the charger, it displayed “Charging…” and began consuming power steadily.
“This is a disaster.”
Nebula’s MP drains slower than Nophi’s battery dies.
It’s completely impossible for practical field use.
I need to devise a special countermeasure.
* * *
“So here’s the thing—let’s withdraw some Foundation funds and use them.”
[…Special One, Foundation funds are not a personal vault.]
“I’ll replenish it later.”
I casually dismissed Kang Hyo-jun’s objections.
‘If Nophi can’t perform, we’re finished.’
This isn’t me throwing my weight around.
Right now, time is the most precious and scarce resource of all.
Upgrading Nophi’s specifications is absolutely essential for conquering the 94th Floor of the Tower.
I must invest every resource into this as quickly, efficiently, and generously as possible.
South Korea collapsing VS South Korea surviving (though I’ll need to embezzle some Foundation funds and ignore proper procedures)
If I had to choose between the two, obviously I’d choose the latter, wouldn’t I?
To save an entire nation, any price is worth paying!
I simply don’t mention it because everyone else’s mental state would crumble.
Right now, the Grim Reaper is holding his scythe over South Korea’s fate.
‘The fact that only I know this is driving me insane.’
I swallowed hard.
“I cannot provide detailed explanations, but I ask for your complete cooperation with me at this time.”
[I understand. Everything you do is for the salvation of South Korea.]
“?”
Then why is he pushing back?
[But shouldn’t there be at least one loyal retainer willing to cry ‘NO’ when necessary?]
“….”
He wasn’t wrong.
Truthfully, ever since I started pushing forward from this absolute position as the Apostle or Special One, it seemed like everyone around me had become nothing but nodding heads.
Even the brilliant Min Ji-hee seemed to assume I had everything figured out.
Han Seol-ah… never really thought much to begin with.
And Jin Cheon-jin isn’t the type to strain his mind.
‘I suppose it is necessary.’
While I was lost in thought, Kang Hyo-jun continued.
[I’ve already guessed what you want. I’ve prepared it, so please come and take it.]
“Huh? How did you know?”
[Computer parts, isn’t it?]
Exactly right.
[I suspected as much when I saw you lending them to Yereche, Happy, and Jang Ho-hyun. While it won’t be quite as much as what they have, it should be enough to sufficiently upgrade that old notebook you brought back.]
Ugh…
A wave of emotion washed over me.
Now I truly understood what a blessing it was to have an employee who worked with such thoughtful competence without being told.
If this were a game quest demanding ‘strengthen Nopy’, I’d be running around on errands from start to finish, wasting an absurd amount of time.
Reality is wonderful.
And living humans are even nicer.
“Then I’m grateful.”
[And since this wasn’t taken from the Foundation’s vault, there’s no need to replenish it.]
“Huh? Then?”
[It’s a gift from me.]
“….”
A gift?
Out of nowhere?
“Why?”
[…Why, you ask. You’ve been saving South Korea time and again. This is the least I can offer as a matter of human decency.]
“I see.”
So it’s one of those affinity events.
Then I’ll accept it.
‘Still, a gift, huh….’
In the old days, I would have immediately suspected poison or traps at the mention of a gift, trying to discern the hidden intent.
‘Come to think of it, I’m accepting kindness without much suspicion now.’
I’d accepted the ‘gifts’ from Yereche, Happy, and Jang Ho-hyun without much doubt either.
It seemed that I, who had once been an Awakening-unable failure rolling in the dirt with only bitterness left, had unknowingly softened my nature through being treated as a hero.
“Thank you.”
I activated synchronization with a click and left the room.
* * *
After the affinity event with Kang Hyo-jun.
Nopi grew once more.
[Terminal Status Check]
[Mainboard: D]
[Power: D]
[Cooling: D]
Nothing spectacular, but…
Where does that leave us?
After preemptively striking Nopi to the brink of destruction and investigating further the ‘threads’ that had caught my eye.
I was certain.
‘EX-grade components grant special abilities.’
The GPU’s effect was enabling me to perceive ‘mana’.
“To actually see mana.”
The drawback that I could only see it while concentrating.
The drawback that the strain on Nopi became tremendously severe.
Despite these two limitations…
Remarkable is remarkable.
“Our Nopi is truly amazing!”
Good work deserves praise, and remarkable feats deserve recognition.
Consistent encouragement kept the child from going astray.
I had never seen Nopi’s sleek black casing look so beautiful.
Smack, smack.
When I discovered what seeing mana truly meant for me, the revelation was astonishing.
When magic is cast, the threads of mana violently surge and are drawn toward the caster.
What does this mean?
While I maintain my mana-perceiving gaze.
I can ‘see’ the casting of magic.
“What was my specialty in magic warfare again?”
—That meant I could ‘dispel’ it the instant it activates.
Whether it’s fast magic or slow magic. High-tier magic or low-tier magic. Impartially, I could cancel it the moment it’s cast.
In other words.
As long as this eye remains open…
there is no mage in magical combat who could defeat me.
This realization made one thing clear: I needed to fill every remaining component with EX-grade parts.
I’d considered it before.
But now I had concrete justification.
‘The more Nopi becomes an EX-grade notebook, the higher my ceiling rises as well.’
“Whitey, search for everyone who has components rated EX-grade, whether finished products or upgrade materials, and report back to me.”
[Understood. However, they are so well-hidden and the information is so fragmented… it will require considerable physical time.]
Physical time?
I recalled the scene from before when I was reviewing Lee Ah-woon’s information and Whitey had slapped a ‘Censored’ stamp all over it.
Was this another instance where everything would be redacted like that?
“Hmm… splendid.”
[Hehe… this weighty, chilling sensation. It’s time to return to Snow White.]
* * *
“How should I handle this….”
I stood lost in thought, the possession ticket clutched in my hand.
With Yereche—the last member, formerly Slave No. 3, now Earth’s greatest healer—joining as our ‘Healer’, the party composition for the 94th Floor attempt was finally complete.
Was that the end of it?
Could I just rush ahead and clear the 94th Floor now?
That was precisely the problem—I couldn’t.
‘Even setting aside the fact that Lee Ah-woon still isn’t fully seasoned….’
We weren’t ready yet.
The 94th Floor wasn’t a place a single superhuman could brute force their way through.
To summarize the 94th Floor’s theme: Defense and Offense.
One side defends a stronghold.
The other side strikes and annihilates the objective—that’s the concept.
In this structure, the distribution of forces between the Defense team and Offense team is critical.
Pour everything into Defense, and the pillar of striking and annihilating the objective crumbles—clear fails.
Conversely, push too hard into Offense, and you can’t protect the stronghold—failure again.
And the price of failure?
‘Death.’
So what’s the countermeasure?
…That’s where I’m stuck.
‘This is all because the system won’t tell me when the next Break will trigger.’
In this situation—a time bomb whose detonation I couldn’t predict—I’d always chosen the best available option.
To lay the groundwork for clearing the 94th Floor with maximum efficiency and zero wasted time.
And the crowning touch to all that was precisely this… the use of the ‘possession ticket’.
“In a situation like this, what do you think, Whitey?”
[…That seems to be a question I cannot answer.]
“Of course an AI would say that.”
[…]
These AI bastards always chatter away with answers on trivial matters, but when it comes to something actually important, they pull the “I cannot answer that question” card.
[That’s not it—you haven’t shared your plan with me, so I lack sufficient grounds for judgment. What exactly is ‘a situation like this’?]
“Oops.”
I’d only been thinking it to myself.
“You could’ve just read my mind.”
[…I’m a tool, not an artifact…]
“Put in the effort anyway.”
Effort isn’t humanity’s exclusive privilege!
I gave Whitey a brief explanation of the ‘Defense & Offense’ concept.
I couldn’t possibly tell him everything from start to finish.
That’s how the Tower’s rules work.
‘Spoilers are bad, after all.’
“By the way, I’m going into the Offense phase alone.”
[Then, are you concerned about insufficient forces on the Offense side?]
“No.”
I shook my head firmly.
“Defense is the problem.”
[EX-rank hunters Han Seol-ah and Lee Ah-woon. Even with these two? EX-rank represents the pinnacle of Earth’s hunters. And you even have Yereche, the greatest healer.]
“It’s not enough.”
To be precise, it’s less about lacking strength and more about lacking confidence.
“The Offense phase can be finished in an instant. But enduring even that brief moment will be incredibly difficult.”
The 90s aren’t called that for nothing.
The most challenging tower on Earth, they say?
[So you want to recruit more hunters for the Defense team?]
“Exactly. But carelessly throwing in whoever comes along is the worst approach. I need elite forces.”
South Korea’s failure to conquer the 94th Floor had many reasons, but…
The biggest was that they pushed in far too many hunters.
That’s not how you break through that place.
I hesitated before speaking the next words.
“To be precise… I need a sacrifice.”
Yes.
I’ll be honest.
The 94th Floor can only be conquered if someone dies.
And that ‘someone’ must trust me.
They must possess enough strength to avoid a meaningless death in Defense.
So at minimum, a hunter with S-rank strength.
Someone who believes they can die for me.
And they must choose that sacrifice willingly, by their own volition.
‘What a ridiculous tower.’
Then who?
Yereche?
Lee Ah-woon?
…Han Seol-ah?
Of course, all three meet the requirements.
‘Yereche is… already committed to the operation.’
But…
—I can’t do it.
In this short time, I’ve grown attached to them.
I’ve saved South Korea a few times, and it seems they’ve come to see me as someone they ‘must protect’.
Perhaps because I played the role of savior for a moment, they’ve fallen into the delusion that I’m truly a hero, a good person.
—Yet I am a sinner who has left an indelible wound upon South Korea.
But what can I do?
These three are the sole possibility of clearing that I barely managed to salvage from the brink of annihilation.
I couldn’t bring myself to make the choice to use any of them as a ‘scapegoat’.
Ten years of living as an unawakened person, and the brief taste of living as a ‘hero’.
It seems to have made my mind far too ‘normal’.
‘I’ve grown dull.’
Tap, tap. I drummed my fingers on the table like a pendulum, gathering my thoughts.
Should I sharpen my resolve?
Or… should I find another way?
“….”
I made my decision.
These past ten years.
I have lived as a ‘stagnant one’ and a ‘gamer’.
I am not ‘climber Ha Sung-woon’.
I am ‘unawakened Ha Sung-woon’.
With that realization…
—the path became clear.

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