The Heavenly Demon Destroys the Tower - Chapter 47
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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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Chapter 47
When Lee Ganghan mentioned that he’d risen to Rank C,
Shin Yuri’s eyes simply blinked.
‘Wait, how long has it even been since he became D Rank……?’
It hadn’t been a full week since he’d destroyed the tower and made his D Rank public.
And already his Rank had climbed again.
Could such a thing even happen?
Shin Yuri then recalled,
today’s streaming footage of Lee Ganghan.
“I wondered why you seemed stronger today than yesterday…… so it was because you’d risen to C!”
“That’s correct.”
“Then I’ll need to renegotiate with foreign parties! We should be able to secure better terms this time!”
With that, noting that the possibility of the Cheonma Body’s decline had essentially vanished,
Shin Yuri’s eyes glimmered as she confidently declared she’d secure higher contract conditions.
Then.
“Actually, for the time being, I’d prefer to stay in Korea if possible.”
Lee Ganghan spoke thus, his thoughts drifting to his room.
That chest of drawers that had forcibly pulled him into the First Tower.
Since then he’d investigated the room, but found nothing particularly unusual.
Still.
‘If I can understand why I went to the First Tower from that room…… I can secure another means to access the First Tower.’
For Lee Ganghan, a means to reach the First Tower.
The item Seal of the First Tower was already in his inventory.
But the seal had a two-week cooldown between uses.
If he could identify the ‘mechanism’ that had pulled him into the First Tower from his own room,
he could enter the First Tower far more frequently.
Of course,
he’d need to contend with the guardian of the First Tower’s basement first floor.
‘Christopher Columbus’—he’d need confidence to defeat him.
‘But now I can manage it.’
Compared to that moment when panic seized him at the sea,
with the Cheonma Body now risen to Rank C and grown stronger,
he could certainly handle Columbus’s sea.
He’d have to repay that debt soon enough.
“But…… even with such a disparity in contract terms?”
Shin Yuri spread multiple contract pages across the table for comparison.
Compared to Korea’s contract terms, which were plastered with Performance Bonus conditions,
the proposals from Saudi Arabia, the United States, and China were a complete reversal.
“Well, if you hit all the Performance Bonuses, Korea’s offer really is the best.”
“That’s obviously…… because they only wrote in impossible conditions.”
It wasn’t as if they were joking around.
Achievable bonuses carried small payouts,
while the contract reserved huge sums like five billion for items that seemed impossible.
Yet.
“Hasn’t at least one been achieved?”
“That one is…”
“And the Score, well, who knows? They say that lately levels stopped increasing, so instead Score points accumulate now.”
……
Rank C had already been achieved.
Score ranking at fiftieth place was unpredictable.
With his level now at twenty-five, capped from further leveling and instead accumulating through Score,
he had no way of knowing what effect it might produce.
“So that’s why you’d prefer to stay in Korea for now, isn’t it?”
“Yes. There are some things I need to do in Korea.”
“Is it about finding your mother, as you mentioned before?”
“Yes, that as well…… and there’s also business to settle regarding my house.”
Finding his mother’s whereabouts,
and until he discovered the ‘mechanism’ that would let him access the First Tower——
he had no desire to emigrate abroad.
“So what I’m saying is,”
Whoosh.
Lee Ganghan held the Korean contract in his hand, plastered with incentive clauses.
“Can I squeeze this man for everything he’s got?”
“……Pardon?”
“Seeing him play these petty tricks, I’ve got the urge to play a few of my own.”
Whoosh.
As he spoke, Lee Ganghan waved the contract back and forth with his hand.
“Demand more incentives, then fleece him dry, yes?”
“You’re asking to…… demand more right here?”
“Yes. He put those clauses in thinking they’d never be met anyway — that’s why they’re so absurd. But I’ve already achieved one, and the Score…… I think it might actually be doable. Korean Players have been getting better funding lately, haven’t they?”
Two incentive clauses that were never supposed to be achieved.
One of them, C Rank, was already complete.
A Score Ranking in the top fifty was theoretically impossible for an Iron player to reach.
‘……But if it’s the Cheonma… it just might be possible.’
Diamond players didn’t spend every day in the Tower the way Lee Ganghan did.
But if he kept ascending with the same diligence and demonstrated overwhelming results as he did now,
breaking into the top fifty wasn’t entirely beyond the realm of possibility.
“I think…… it might be achievable.”
“Is that so?”
At Shin Yuri’s affirmative answer,
Lee Ganghan’s lips curled upward.
“Then I’ll squeeze him properly…… so he can’t play these cheap tricks again, yes?”
Until now, Lee Ganghan had listened to Shin Yuri’s proposals with good humor,
showing nothing but a pleasant face.
But now he looked as though someone had just prodded a sleeping tiger’s whiskers.
It was different from how he treated Shin Yuri.
Toward the congressman who had bothered him,
there was a clear intention to crush him decisively this time.
“…….”
And sensing that fierce resolve from Lee Ganghan,
Shin Yuri smiled more brightly than ever before.
“I’ll follow your lead completely, Cheonma. To be honest, Ju Yongwan has driven more than a few talented players out of the country.”
“Has he?”
“Yes. He’s at the core of the anti-Player faction. He’s cut Player benefits again and again, funneling that budget into his own district. I could forgive it if it went toward actual district development…… but he’s just been lining the pockets of the corporations funding him.”
So the heart of the anti-Player faction
was now pulling these games to launder his image.
“I’ll handle Congressman Ju Yongwan along with my father. I’ll secure incentives worth at least double what’s in the contract, so in the meantime, please don’t reveal your C Rank achievement.”
“Understood.”
“I do need to ask your permission for something first, though.”
“Permission for what?”
“When I meet with Congressman Ju Yongwan’s people, I might say some unflattering things about you. Lies, technically.”
“What kind of lies?”
Shin Yuri’s voice grew quieter.
“Things like…… you don’t understand how the world works, you think all the incentives are achievable, you’re naive and trust your agent too much — that sort of angle?”
Mmm.
“Are you saying something indirectly?”
“Oh, no!”
Shin Yuri quickly waved her hand to deny it.
“I was actually surprised today.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t expect you to be so willing to squeeze Congressman Ju Yongwan dry.”
As she spoke, Shin Yuri’s eyes sparkled.
“Since Congressman Ju Yongwan is someone at the core of power, I honestly didn’t think we should touch him…… but seeing you actively seize this opportunity, my eyes have opened. You’re truly the Cheonma.”
“I simply don’t like being bothered.”
Lee Ganghan gave a low chuckle.
He was already running his mind at full throttle with the Manma Front operations and pushing through the First Tower.
He had no patience for a congressman causing problems on the side.
“Right! I’ll make sure the incentives are tied to this matter thoroughly. I’ll report to you as things develop, so just give me your orders anytime!”
“Understood. Then I’ll leave that to you…… Did the letters appear in your Trait yet?”
“My Trait?”
Shin Yuri, who possessed an SSS-Rank Trait.
She’d said that letters would appear the more she helped with TP exchanges.
Lee Ganghan was still curious whether letters continued to appear.
“This is a screenshot I took again last time…….”
With a swift gesture,
Shin Yuri showed him the photo on her phone.
Failed *** (Rank: SSS)
You **** **** ****.
This time *** ***** *** *** *******.
Instead, the mightiest of humanity ****** *****.
The more you aid the strong, *** ***.
*** *** *** *, *** *** **.
‘There are more letters than last time.’
The TP exchange does seem to have an effect, then.
Lee Ganghan regarded the letters that had come to mind.
‘I can’t make out the content, but… it doesn’t seem like an ability description at all.’
For an SSS-Rank ability, there should be some hint about what the ability does.
The Trait name doesn’t even come through—just “Failed”.
The content keeps telling her to aid the strong.
He found himself doubting whether this was a genuine Trait description.
“I still can’t get a grip on what the ability is, but… ever since meeting with the Cheonma, letters have been opening up like crazy. I really can’t thank you enough.”
“What did I even do? I just exchanged some TP, that’s all.”
“Still, though.”
After expressing her gratitude to Lee Ganghan once, twice, three times over,
Shin Yuri said, “I’ll contact Congressman Ju Yongwan’s office within the next day or two and secure even better incentive terms. Please just wait a bit longer.”
“Understood.”
Waiting a few more days was no trouble at all.
With that thought, Lee Ganghan held off on signing the contract.
And the next afternoon.
Ping.
A message from Shin Yuri.
[Cheonma.]
[I’ve tripled all Performance Bonus items across the board.]
[Will you sign today?]
A photo of the contract arrived—this time with Performance Bonus tripled from the previous day.
* * *
A short while earlier.
Congressman Ju Yongwan’s office.
Unlike his usual habit of arriving early,
Ju Yongwan showed his face at the office at ten in the morning.
“Good morning!”
“Ah…… hard at work, I see. I’m late.”
The moment he opened his mouth, a faint smell of alcohol drifted through the office.
Swift as a blade,
one of his secretaries produced a hangover cure, which
Ju Yongwan gulped down without hesitation.
“Thanks. I had a drink yesterday with the Management Bureau Director and his daughter.”
“You mean Shin Yuri?”
“Yeah. That girl’s sharp—she’ll make it even further in society than her father.”
As Ju Yongwan offered his praise for Shin Yuri,
he let out a wide yawn.
“The Cheonma fellow is such a stubborn ass, apparently she’s had a rough time. Even when she tried to convince him to meet with me, he wouldn’t budge—she apologized several times about it.”
“I see…….”
“That explains why he didn’t show up to that last dinner. There was a reason after all.”
“Yeah. The Cheonma said he doesn’t understand much about whether an incentive-based contract or base salary is more advantageous. She really went to bat for him.”
Saying he’s at an age where he doesn’t know the ways of the world yet,
it turned out Lee Ganghan was even more clueless than expected.
“So when she subtly mentioned the offers from the United States and China, the numbers were substantial, I’ll tell you. That’s why I decided to triple the incentive tier.”
“What?”
“Tripled, you say…….”
“Wouldn’t that be far too generous?”
Lee Ganghan’s Performance Bonus clause.
The secretaries under Ju Yongwan knew this well enough.
They hadn’t guaranteed such large sums for readily achievable targets.
But for things like reaching “Cheonma Body Rank C” within this month,
or “Score Ranking 50th,” they’d promised 5 billion won each.
Triple that came to 15 billion apiece.
Even for a Cheonma, it was an astronomical sum.
“The betting amounts from other countries are too massive. They say we’d need to raise it threefold just to make it convincing.”
“I see…….”
“Besides, the bottom two clauses really aren’t achievable, are they?”
“That may be true, but…….”
“Once he gets dizzy staring at the tripled Performance Bonus and this month passes without him collecting those big payouts… that’s when he’ll finally come to his senses. Or so I’m told.”
He’d be ecstatic looking at those Performance Bonus items tripled, imagining it was all his money.
But next month, reality would come crashing back.
He wouldn’t land the biggest incentive at all.
And even if he achieved every other Performance Bonus, it’d still fall far short of what the foreigners were offering.
“Then he’ll come crawling to me of his own accord, asking to revise the contract terms. He’ll be much more obedient by then. Or so they say.”
Ju Yongwan let out a low chuckle.
“Ha ha. The boy knows how to handle people.”
The secretaries, hearing this, thought to themselves.
‘That Cheonma fool…… picked the wrong agent.’
‘Still, you need to get on the good side of the old man if you want to do business.’
‘By next month, that punk won’t be able to whine about training anymore.’
Dazzle the Cheonma with nothing but the Performance Bonus figures,
and once reality sets in, bring him back and make him compliant. That was the agent’s strategy.
As far as player representation went, it was the worst possible conduct.
Yet no one in this room questioned her methods.
It was the standard approach countless businessmen had already employed
to curry favor with politicians of Ju Yongwan’s stature.
“Have the Management Bureau contacted and tell them to triple the amounts.”
“Understood.”
“I’m going to get some sleep. These young people sure can drink…….”
Ju Yongwan yawned once more and rose,
heading into the private rest area at the corner of his office.
Once he was gone, the secretaries bustled about following his directives.
“About Lee Ganghan’s contract…….”
Even then,
‘How long has it even been since he hit Rank D? He’s not getting to Rank C.’
‘Score Ranking 50th…… that’s all Diamond and Platinum players. No way an Iron achieves that.’
‘This is why young people these days need financial education. They don’t know what’s in their favor.’
They were convinced Lee Ganghan had been thoroughly swindled.
And hours later.
“The Management Bureau called. That kid signed.”
“Unbelievable…… he actually signed it. Sir, looks like picking a good agent really matters.”
When word came that he’d signed,
the secretaries huddled together, each chiming in.
“Agent GLASS is renowned for her success…… I never thought she’d pull such a stunt.”
“Really. She had a reputation for treating players well, didn’t she?”
“Still, he signed on those terms…… isn’t he bewitched by Shin Yuri?”
“That could be it. Lee Ganghan is supposed to be twenty-four, right? Peak vigor.”
“Right. Word is Shin Yuri in person is stunning. If she deliberately sweet-talked him, he’d probably fall for it.”
As they discussed Lee Ganghan’s signature
and gossiped whether he’d been bewitched by Shin Yuri,
“But…… surely he’s not already at Rank C, is he?”
One of the secretaries
inadvertently voiced a guess that was uncomfortably close to the truth.
However.
“No way, that’s impossible.”
“It hasn’t even been a week since he hit Rank D.”
“Well, that much is certain. There’s no way he could be playing a different game on the side, no matter how you slice it.”
The other secretaries chimed in one by one.
They didn’t push the speculation any further.
In practical terms.
That’s what made sense to believe.
“Next month, we’ll finally see the Cheonma Body in person.”
“Even so, he’s famous now—should we ask for his autograph?”
“He doesn’t do autographs, apparently.”
“Is that so?”
Just as they were growing certain that Lee Ganghan couldn’t push any further.
Ding.
One of the secretaries’ phones chimed with a notification.
“Oh. This guy’s not holding back. He’s starting a stream right now.”
“Really? The Cheonma streams are always over so fast there’s nothing to watch.”
“Not today. He’s challenging Floor 10 of the Infinite Tower.”
“Oh. Is that so?”
Floor 10 of the Infinite Tower.
Unlike the previous floors, this one imposed a two-hour time limit and measured how far one could ascend within that window.
“Then why don’t we watch that while the director sleeps.”
“Think he’ll set a new record? The current Iron record is 61 floors.”
“He’s got the chops for it. The guy’s a monster.”
“I’ll watch too.”
And so the secretaries gathered in small groups.
Beginning to watch Lee Ganghan’s ascent of Floor 10.
The Cheonma Demolishes the Tower (Serialized)
Author │ Yeom Bi
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyeong
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyeok
Address │ 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Daelung Post Tower 1st)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Yeom Bi 2025
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder, and the contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher and 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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