The Heavenly Demon Destroys the Tower - Chapter 23

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

Episode 23
[Cheonma, how on earth…… did you construct a temple like this?]
Karana, visible on the communication screen, spoke through tears.
She touched the structure built of blood-red bone, her eyes glistening.
An Orc Shaman’s Altar.
It was a gift constructed on a whim—better to give her this than elven lands.
‘I never thought she’d treasure it this much.’
Lee Gang-han answered the question while watching Karana caress the bone with an moved expression on her face.
“The SSS+ Reward came with a blueprint.”
[Hisss. A blueprint…… ? Cheonma, I owe you a debt. You received such a generous blueprint from an SSS+ Reward.]
“Well, don’t think of it that way. I benefit too if you settle here.”
He’d already made a show of investing more than half his entire fortune.
No need to boast again about choosing the blueprint instead of a hundred thousand Tower Points.
Lee Gang-han had presented it graciously, saying it was mutually beneficial.
[Hisss. No, didn’t you say you invested more than half your entire fortune? I have received an immeasurable debt of gratitude…….]
Karana, recalling Lee Gang-han’s exact words from moments before,
[and orcs always repay debts of gratitude.]
stared at the communication screen with grim resolve.
[Hisss. That thing from before…… Cheonma Cheonse Manma Angbok—does it benefit you?]
“That?”
Lee Gang-han recalled the message he’d received when Karana submitted to him.
[You have subdued a ‘named being’.]
[The other party did not submit completely. Cheonma Divine Art will not be enhanced.]
Because the other party had not submitted completely,
the Cheonma Cheonse Manma Angbok had granted him no enhancement effect whatsoever.
And as you could see from his experience with his friend Kim Ju-young,
halfhearted bows from others produced little benefit.
But now.
‘It seems like genuine sincerity might be in play this time.’
Karana, gazing at the Orc Shaman’s Altar and believing she had incurred a debt of gratitude to Lee Gang-han,
was affected when he mentioned investing half his entire fortune—
and now, rather than retract her bow of submission, she was voluntarily offering it again from the heart.
‘So people do appreciate a favor once you show the weight of it.’
Lee Gang-han was pleased with his choice to mention the half-fortune investment, and
answered Karana’s question.
“Well, you don’t need to bow many times. Just do it once more with genuine sincerity in your heart, and it’ll help me.”
[With genuine sincerity…… ?]
“Yes. Not more, not less—just once, bow with heartfelt gratitude. That’ll settle the debt.”
[Hisss…… understood. Then this one time, I shall bow while thinking of my teacher.]
Karana removed her hood and bowed with solemn resolve.
[Cheonma Cheonse Manma Angbok!]
Her voice rang out far louder than before.
[‘Half-elf Karana’ offers reverence born of sincere devotion.]
At that moment, the message appeared on the Manma Palace screen.
‘Ah. There’s the sincere reverence message.’
So the Orc Shaman’s Altar held that much importance for her.
As Lee Gang-han examined the message carefully,
a soft chime sounded.
[Cheonma Body trait is enhanced.]
[Cheonma Divine Art is enhanced.]
[Two races now reside in Manma Palace.]
[Cheonma Body trait upgrades to Grade D.]
The Cheonma Body trait strengthened, and with two races now inhabiting it, the grade rose to D.
‘There are three races in Manma Palace right now…… so the count didn’t apply until sincere reverence was offered.’
The orc had been forced to bow while not in his right mind, after all.
It seemed that hadn’t counted as proper ‘residence.’
‘The orc is still in a frenzy state anyway, so receiving his bow would be pointless.’
So Karana’s experiment had succeeded.
Now it was a matter of waiting for her to upgrade into a crimson orc.
As Lee Gang-han analyzed the messages before him,
[Did I…… help?]
Karana finished her bow and asked carefully.
“Yeah. A lot, actually. Thanks.”
[Chi, chi-iek……! R, really?]
She seemed flustered by Lee Gang-han’s gratitude.
[Don’t think you’ve repaid your debt with just one bow. If you evolve the orcs into proper Imperial Orcs, I’ll help you!]
She promised to evolve the orcs and help him in return.
“That sounds good. I’m looking forward to it.”
After assigning all four orcs to her, Lee Gang-han added,
“Oh, and the orcs do revive, but if they die at level one, they don’t come back. Keep that in mind.”
[Chi-iek. Got it. I’ll make sure we succeed before that happens! Then…….]
“Yeah. Work hard.”
He ended the call with Karana, whose eyes had gone wild with the thirst to experiment.
Thanks to the Orc Shaman’s Altar,
Karana’s cooperative attitude was a very good thing.
‘I spent four hundred million in a single day.’
Just today’s expenditure came to three hundred thousand Tower Points.
Without the Shaman’s Altar,
he would have gone bankrupt just creating the elf homeland and laying the groundwork.
‘Thank goodness the first race I subjugated was goblins.’
Compared to orcs or elves, goblin settlement costs were dirt cheap.
If he’d chosen a different race first, construction would have been impossible.
‘I managed it somehow, but to advance to the next stage, I’ll need to secure far more Tower Points.’
He earned far more than most Iron-rank players, thanks to the SSS+ Reward.
But he spent every bit of it—and more—at Manma Palace.
As Lee Gang-han sank into a moment of despair watching his account depleted in an instant,
his phone buzzed.
Buzz, buzz, buzz…….
Kim Ju-young: Yo yo yo
Kim Ju-young: Send me a video right now
Kim Ju-young: My channel’s getting massive traction!!!!!
Still not working at the company, apparently.
It had barely been any time since the tower climb ended, and Kim Ju-young was already nagging him to send videos.
-What sudden boom?
Kim Ju-young: An elf showed up, man!
Kim Ju-young: You gotta row when the tide comes in!
One elf appears and suddenly there’s a tide?
Lee Gang-han thought his friend was being overly dramatic.
Kim Ju-young: Check the tower communities right now, your elf screenshots are flooding in
Going to the tower-related communities as Kim Ju-young suggested,
[Today’s Cheonma Divine Art—Ability Still Active]
[Elf Joins the Cheonma Divine Religion]
[From First Appearance to the Bowing Scene—100 Images]
[Neck Tattoo Compared with the Orc Shaman’s]
The silver-haired elf.
Photographs of Karana were being uploaded in a fierce torrent.
* * *
Cheonma Lee Gang-han.
He had captivated public attention instantly by setting a world record in the tutorial,
but he was a player whose notoriety had plummeted after his Trait Grade was revealed to be E.
Though he had displayed impressive feats even after the tutorial,
the system-sanctioned ‘Trait Grade E’ worked fatally against him.
He failed to capture significant public interest.
-Cheonma? Oh, the world record guy?
-But his grade is E, right? Doesn’t his ability disappear soon anyway?
-Yeah. There are other time-limited ability cases too
An ability destined to fade.
Why waste attention on it?
Because so many people thought this way, they paid Lee Gang-han no mind.
Even when content about him occasionally surfaced,
So when does the Cheonma ability end?
Looking at how absurdly strong it is, he’s probably going to graduate from the tower just tasting Iron. Ha.
But isn’t burning bright and brief better than dragging on for a long time anyway?
What’s an Iron nobody like him know about living bright? Ha.
A player destined to end at Iron.
Most of the comments were nothing but dismissal—why bother paying attention?
But today.
When an elf was shown bowing to the Cheonma on live broadcast.
Interest that had faded from him was reigniting.
-The Cheonma’s only Trait Grade E? The ability still hasn’t disappeared?
-I saw a clip last time where even the sky was flying around—so he made the elf a summon too;
-Makes people bow and they become his summons. Ha. What kind of impossible ability is this?
-At this rate shouldn’t the ability disappear like tomorrow or the next day?
-That’s why viewers ask every time the channel goes live if he’s still alive. Ha.
-The elf is so pretty… I wish he’d summon a lot of elves before the ability disappears…
-I resubscribed to the channel, gotta see the elf. Heh.
Lee Gang-han’s channel was drawing attention again—thanks to the elf.
And as if pouring fuel on the fire.
Not long after the full video was uploaded.
When a special elf-focused video went up on the Cheonma channel, the view count began to explode.
-Wow… seriously, her beauty is on another level
-But why does she keep making that chirping sound? It doesn’t suit her;
-Other elves never even mix words with us, ha. Even getting to talk to her like this is something. Ha.
-Seriously, I’m curious why elves always completely ignore humans. Can you ask her about it?
-No, she thinks she’s an orc… so this elf probably won’t know either;
Elves that occasionally appeared from Gold and above.
Yet every elf that showed up here displayed extreme disdain the moment they saw a human.
They wouldn’t even attempt to speak.
If assigned to the same team as a human in a tower mission, they’d simply abandon the mission on the spot.
Meeting them as enemies, they’d slaughter humans without hesitation—that was the elf.
As viewers were marveling over the elf.
-Why does the Cheonma’s body look like that?
-??? What’s the problem?
-I love it
-——
-But seriously, what drug is he on and exercising? Those muscles are insane. Ha.
Watching Lee Gang-han tear off his shirt in the highlight.
They also took note of the body revealed beneath.
They’d already assumed he worked out, seeing the musculature glimpsed under his clothes.
But when he unintentionally exposed his upper body.
They saw a physique even more sculpted than expected.
-If the Cheonma weren’t afflicted with a time limit, sponsorship offers would already be pouring in
-Can’t he summon the elf outside? Then he could shoot a commercial with her right now. Ha.
-As if that would work? Ha. The goblin chief could pop out too.
-Ugh, if that bastard shows up in an ad I’m boycotting right away. ——
So Lee Gang-han regained public attention with the elf’s appearance.
And those paying attention to him.
Were not limited to Korea alone.
In Tokyo, Japan.
At the Tower Management Agency, affiliated with the Prime Minister’s Office.
Click. Click.
“Heh… the elf’s… pretty…”
A foolish-looking male civil servant.
Stared at the monitor screen with a vacant grin.
What he was watching was the silver-haired elf.
The highlight video that had become a sensation in Korea.
Had gradually begun to spread across the sea to Japan as well.
“I wish she’d keep coming out… once the Cheonma’s ability disappears, won’t be able to see her anymore?”
As he muttered that, staring fixedly at the elf’s face.
Tap.
Someone touched him from behind.
“Tanaka, what are you staring at?”
“Oh. Yes, Director?”
“Hmm. An elf? They’re synthesizing these these days? Looks so realistic…….”
“No, this one’s genuine. It’s TowerTube footage—it can’t be faked!”
“Is that so?”
Intrigued by the remark, the director seized Tanaka’s mouse and began manipulating the video.
“This player—could this be that Cheonma? The one who set the new record?”
“Yes, that’s right! Interest died down once he was revealed to be Grade E, but now with the elf’s appearance, it seems he’s drawing public attention again.”
“Mm…… He’s Korean, then?”
“Yes.”
“We could’ve recruited him a few years ago.”
Korea, which had drastically cut benefits for players.
Because of that, in recent years,
Japan had been one of the countries most actively recruiting Korean players.
Unlike Korea, Japan hadn’t reduced its support for players.
“Now the conditions have evened out, so recruitment’s become difficult. Just look into players from other nations instead.”
Too little, too late—Korea had closed the barn door
and raised its conditions to match Japan’s.
Now, from Japan’s management agency’s perspective, it was no longer worth investing to recruit Korean players;
it was far more efficient to probe players from economically poorer nations.
“And with a Trait Grade of E, the ability disappears soon anyway, doesn’t it?”
“Well, yes, but…….”
“Then there’s even less reason to pay attention. Tanaka, admiring pretty elves is fine, but shouldn’t you focus on your work?”
“Yes, yes! My apologies!”
“Right.”
So the director reproached his wayward subordinate for slacking off,
click. Click.
“If only it weren’t time-limited…… I’d really covet it.”
He studied Lee Gang-han’s highlight reel intently.
“Tell me, Tanaka—since we’re already in this channel, would you gather up some data on Cheonma for me?”
“The elf…… you mean, not the elf, but Cheonma?”
“That’s right. Stop gawking at that elf and get to work, would you?”
The director scolded his scatterbrained employee,
“Cheonma…….”
and gazed at Lee Gang-han’s footage with a meaningful look.
Whoosh.
Then he turned his back.
Cheonma was still only Grade E.
Merely a time-limited ability.
* * *
Meanwhile.
‘About time for sleep.’
Having finished his day’s work, Lee Gang-han lay down on his bed.
When he’d woken up yesterday, he’d received a hint about his Cheonma Body reaching Grade D.
‘Wonder if I’ll get more information this time.’
He closed his eyes, hoping for something more.
Now he would surrender his consciousness completely,
and wouldn’t open his eyes again until morning.
Lee Gang-han thought tonight would be just like any other,
[The blessing of [%&$&$ no longer holds dominion over you.]
[You awaken.]
The day his Cheonma Body advanced to Grade D,
Lee Gang-han became conscious for the first time.
Cheonma Tears Down the Tower (Ongoing)
Author │ Yeom Bi
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ J.P. Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 204 Daelung Post Tower 1st, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
© Yom Bi 2025
※This work is published by Jay Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder, and no part of the content may be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and the author.
Violation of this will result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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