The Heavenly Demon Destroys the Tower - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Prologue
Ten years ago.
[‘The Infinite Tower is being installed.’]
This message appeared before the eyes of every person on Earth.
“What, what is this?”
“Did I just imagine something……?”
A couple sitting on the sofa watching television together froze in shock.
On the news, a breaking report of the tower’s appearance was spreading.
A tower that had materialized simultaneously in the capitals of every nation.
“Honey, I think this is actually happening……?”
“I know. What on earth is going on?”
As the couple stood bewildered.
“I’m going to bed first~”
Their son, now in his first year of middle school.
Lee Gang-han bowed his head sleepily to his parents.
“Already? It’s not even eight o’clock yet. You’re going to bed?”
“Yes. I’m feeling strangely sleepy.”
“Gang-han, a tower just appeared out of nowhere! But you’re going to sleep without watching this news?”
“Ah, I saw the message appear too…… but I just can’t keep my eyes open.”
“Fine. Get some rest.”
With that farewell, Lee Gang-han went into his room.
And the next day.
“Gang-han still hasn’t woken up?”
“He went to bed early yesterday…… I guess he was tired.”
“Still, we need to wake him up so he can get to school.”
At those words, the mother nodded and stepped into her son’s room, then—
“Eek, eeeek!”
She screamed.
“Wh-what’s wrong?”
The startled father rushed into his son’s room.
On the bed.
Instead of their slender middle school son.
“……Who are you?”
A man lay there with a youthful face.
But then again.
His face looked exactly like their son’s.
Then.
“Ah…… I slept well.”
The man lying on the bed began to sit up, when—
“Huh? What?”
Pat. Pat.
He touched his own body and his eyes went wide.
“Wh-why is my body like this?”
“……Gang-han?”
“Yes! It’s me!”
This man is really our son?
‘The face is similar, though…’
‘Is this really Gang-han?’
The couple exchanged bewildered glances before.
“When’s your birthday?”
“What’s your blood type?”
“When’s your mother’s birthday?”
They fired questions at him.
“It’s…… December 28th, but you mixed it up and thought it was the 18th, so you gave me the wrong gift last time!”
“Ah…… he really is our son?”
A mistake only the family knew about—Lee Gang-han’s mistake.
Once he answered that, the couple accepted that the man before them was their ‘son.’
Only.
“Just what, what happened to you?”
“I don’t know either. I woke up and suddenly……!”
Why his scrawny son had suddenly transformed into a muscular, broad-shouldered young man remained a mystery.
That mystery had never been solved.
Episode 1
Tower Syndrome.
A series of peculiar ailments that emerged after the Towers appeared.
This condition had been reported in countless cases worldwide.
Its defining characteristic: it struck only children aged fourteen.
‘Twelve hours of sleep and physical transformation—those were the hallmarks.’
Those afflicted with Tower Syndrome would sleep for a mandatory twelve hours.
Upon waking, they’d either be skeletal and gaunt,
or bloated with excess weight.
The physical changes swung wildly from one extreme to the other, always for the worse.
Lee Gang-han was the only known case where the transformation had yielded a muscular physique.
‘Honestly, I’m grateful for what the body became.’
One hundred ninety centimeters tall and eighty-two kilograms.
Not a trace of fat—just muscle packed densely from head to toe.
It was the kind of body any man would envy.
To have acquired such a physique without effort, simply by waking from a single night’s sleep—
that was an undeniable physical advantage.
And yet.
“Ten years have passed now. Shouldn’t I be getting better by now……?”
A long sigh escaped him.
Lee Gang-han exhaled heavily.
Everyone else who’d contracted Tower Syndrome had supposedly recovered already.
So why was he still sleeping twelve hours every single day without fail?
‘Once you’re free of Tower Syndrome, your body returns to its original state regardless of whether you’d become skeletal or bloated. That’s what they said.’
When he was younger, he’d even hoped the condition would persist indefinitely just to keep this body.
But those days had long since passed.
‘Sleeping twelve hours a day has become exhausting.’
Eight in the evening to eight in the morning.
Thanks to this body’s compulsion to collapse at those fixed hours, he found himself with eyes shut during times when even elementary school children were awake.
And yet, even with this physical prowess, he couldn’t pursue sports seriously.
‘If Tower Syndrome eventually lifts, my body will just revert to what it was before anyway.’
He feared that any athletic investment now would amount to nothing the moment the condition lifted.
So he’d never truly pushed his physical capabilities to their limit.
Beyond that,
‘……this body’s also been the cause of my family falling apart.’
Another sigh.
Whenever he thought of the past, Lee Gang-han couldn’t help but exhale with resignation.
“Gang-han! Can you move this stuff too?”
Just then, a voice called out to him.
“Yes! Right away!”
Lee Gang-han was currently at the Logistics Center.
Thanks to his exceptional physical abilities,
he was treated as something of an ace around here.
“Man, this guy’s really got the strength. Did you do sports back in the day?”
“Back in the day? Look at those muscles. He’s probably still training now.”
“I sleep well.”
The older men burst into hearty laughter at his answer.
“If sleeping well gave you muscles like that, my daughter would be nothing but muscle!”
“Still, muscles grow best when you sleep well after a workout.”
“You really take care of your body, don’t you?”
As for exercise, all he did was the work at the Logistics Center,
plus a run home afterwards—that was the extent of it.
‘No point in going into my whole situation at length.’
A smile crossed his face.
Lee Gang-han simply smiled and nodded.
Then.
[Breaking news just in. The Phoenix guild has been dissolved. Core members of the Phoenix guild have immigrated to Saudi Arabia, where they report establishing a new Phoenix guild…….]
Someone had put their phone on speaker mode.
News broke even in this place.
“Another one leaving?”
“Why are so many Players emigrating lately?”
“Not just America, China, Japan—even Saudi Arabia’s taking them.”
“Are conditions really that bad? These Player bastards make plenty of money; they should think about staying for their country.”
The Logistics Center had become a gathering place for grievances about Players.
Even as they cursed the Players for earning well yet wanting more,
“But won’t it be dangerous if they all leave like this?”
“The Tower’s been brightening at a frightening pace these days…….”
Worry about Player defection hung in the air alongside the resentment.
‘The Infinite Tower…….’
The Tower that had appeared ten years ago.
Humanity had tried to destroy it, but it sustained not the slightest damage.
At first, mankind didn’t know how to cope with it.
[You have become a Player.]
[You are granted the right to challenge the Infinite Tower.]
But as people awakened as ‘Players’ and gained the ability to enter the Tower,
humanity gradually began to understand how to deal with the Infinite Tower.
After ignoring the Tower led to the collapse of several nations, and they weathered countless trials and tribulations,
mankind had grown accustomed to a world with the Tower in it.
Now, ten years later,
even middle-aged men, grandfathers, and grandmothers used terms like Tower and Player naturally in conversation.
And.
“Gang-han, someone like you should become a Player…….”
“Right? Look at his build. He’s tailor-made for it.”
Lee Gang-han, who had often been told to exercise and train in martial arts during his school years,
had recently been hearing that he was perfect for becoming a Player.
“But wanting to be a Player doesn’t make it happen, does it? You need an Awakening.”
“True—Awakening is all luck anyway.”
“Wait, isn’t today the first? Isn’t the first when Players get their Awakening?”
“I didn’t.”
“What a shame. Gang-han would’ve been perfect for it.”
The men around him clicked their tongues.
Lee Gang-han didn’t show it on his face,
‘Didn’t happen again.’
but he felt the sting of disappointment inside.
‘Tower Syndrome and the Tower—they have to be connected somehow.’
A sleep disorder named ‘Tower Syndrome’ from the start.
If he became a Player, wouldn’t he be able to understand the connection between the two?
This month’s first day seemed to be a bust as well.
‘I’ll wait for next month.’
Thinking this, Lee Gang-han wrapped up his work.
“I’ll be heading out then.”
“Sure. Thanks for your hard work~!”
As he said this and turned toward the exit to leave for the day,
Ding.
[You, ‘Lee Gang-han’, have become a Player.]
[You are granted the right to challenge the Infinite Tower.]
A message appeared before his eyes.
* * *
“Huh……?”
Lee Gang-han blinked.
‘I’m Awakening now?’
He’d thought he’d missed it this month too.
Thank goodness it came, however late.
A wave of relief washed over him.
He recalled the procedure that followed Awakening.
‘The most important thing is the Trait, they said.’
Trait.
An ability granted to every Player upon Awakening—one ability per person.
It was the most crucial criterion for evaluating a Player’s worth.
And for Lee Gang-han,
[You have acquired the Trait ‘Heavenly Demon Physique’.]
he was given the Heavenly Demon Physique as a Trait.
Heavenly Demon.
‘Heavenly Demon…… I’ve seen that in martial arts novels.’
Let me take a look and see what it’s about.
Lee Gang-han tapped on the Trait that appeared in his vision.
Whirrrrr…….
[Confirming Trait ‘Heavenly Demon Physique’.]
[Measuring Compatibility between Trait ‘Heavenly Demon Physique’ and Player ‘Lee Gang-han’…….]
After displaying that message about measuring Compatibility, a loading screen took its time.
[You possess a physique in the top 0.01% of humanity.]
[Compatibility matches at 95%.]
[Trait Rank shifts from F to SSS.]
The Rank displayed oddly, ranging from F to SSS.
‘What’s with the Rank like this?’
If it’s F, it should be F.
If it’s SSS, it should be SSS.
Lee Gang-han frowned,
[due to high Compatibility, there is a glimpse of possibility that it may become SSS.]
[A bonus Skill will be granted.]
[Please choose one Skill.]
His expression brightened at the message that followed.
A bonus?
He welcomed that.
One.
[Skill – Heavenly Demon Divine Art 1st Star] Rank F or higher
[Skill – Heavenly Demon Dominion Step] Rank E or higher
[Skill – Heavenly Demon Divine Art 2nd Star] Rank E or higher
[Skill – Heavenly Demon Divine Sword] Rank D or higher
[Skill – Heavenly Demon Divine Art 3rd Star] Rank D or higher
.
.
.
He could choose from the Heavenly Demon Divine Art spanning from 1st to 7th Star,
and when he saw the other Skills interspersed among them, his eyes grew dizzy.
Why were there so many with “Heavenly Demon” attached to them?
After scanning nearly twenty Skills, Lee Gang-han
focused his gaze on the Rank listed after each Skill.
‘In this case, I should pick the one with the highest Rank.’
Since the bottom one would be the Skill with the highest Rank,
that’s what he’d go with.
Lee Gang-han tapped on the Skill at the very bottom.
[Would you like to acquire ‘Skill – Heavenly Demon Eternal Worship of Ten Thousand Demons’?]
A Skill that could only reach SSS Rank.
The message asked if he would master the ‘Heavenly Demon Eternal Worship of Ten Thousand Demons’.
‘A long name like that…… so it’s some kind of ultimate technique?’
Lee Gang-han had only read a few martial arts novels in his childhood.
As for the Heavenly Demon Eternal Worship of Ten Thousand Demons,
he had no way of knowing that it was actually a mantra of veneration for the Heavenly Demon.
So when he selected the Skill,
[You have selected bonus Skill ‘Heavenly Demon Eternal Worship of Ten Thousand Demons’.]
[Receive the reverence of the masses. The more bows you receive, the stronger you become.]
‘Bows?’
Bows, he was told?
‘It wasn’t an ultimate technique?’
Lee Gang-han had only blinked his eyes when he grabbed his phone, deciding he should search the internet for answers.
[You have selected a bonus Skill.]
[Beginning the tutorial for ‘Infinite Tower’.]
A system message appeared in succession.
“Wait a moment.”
He wanted to know what the Heavenly Demon Eternal Worship of Ten Thousand Demons actually meant.
Lee Gang-han tapped rapidly at his phone screen, but
—WoodWiki / Heavenly Demon Divine Cult
—Heavenly Demon eternal! Worship of ten thousand demons!
—The Heavenly Demon has graced us with their presence!
the portal sites didn’t immediately yield a clear definition.
He was about to continue searching for the precise meaning when
[Player summoned.]
A brilliant flash—!
His body blazed with light, and
then vanished.
The Heavenly Demon Wrecks the Infinite Tower (serialized)
Author │ Yeum Bi
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyeong
Published by │ J-Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyeok
Address │ 204-ho, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Daelung Post Tower 1st, Guro-dong)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
© Yeum Bi 2025
※This work is published by J-Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder, and the contents may not be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the company and the author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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