The Heavenly Demon Destroys the Tower - Chapter 62
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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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Episode 62
FIPA Headquarters, Conference Hall.
In this auditorium where the awards ceremony was taking place,
reporters had already gathered in dense crowds before Lee Kang-han even entered.
“Wow. Looks like every reporter from LA showed up.”
“Is Strong Lee’s status really at this level?”
“Did you miss it yesterday? The moment he stepped into the arena, he earned ten stars.”
“And he’s been Awakened for less than a month now. Can you believe it?”
Reporters gathered in small clusters,
exchanging talk about Lee Kang-han,
“He’s here!”
The conference hall doors swung open and Lee Kang-han stepped inside.
Click, click!
Camera flashes erupted from every direction without pause.
As he walked steadily up onto the platform,
“Ah. Strong Lee, it’s an honor to meet you.”
A middle-aged man with half his head already balding—
FIPA Chairman Blaet extended his hand with a broad smile.
As they clasped hands,
click, click!
The flash sounds rang out even more intensely.
Blaet, releasing the handshake, continued to wear his smile
as he gazed out at the gathered reporters.
“As you all know, this awards ceremony was originally held to honor Strong Lee’s achievement in becoming humanity’s first to topple a tower.”
Lee Kang-han—the first human ever to bring down a tower.
In truth, this achievement alone was so remarkable that the FIPA chairman himself had seen fit to host a special ceremony.
“Yet, during that brief time before Strong Lee came to Los Angeles, he accomplished several even more astounding feats!”
And so Blaet began to enumerate the achievements Lee Kang-han had cleared.
Not only did he destroy another tower,
but he gained increased Score acquisition, and even obtained an accessory slot +1 for all of humanity.
Blaet raised his voice as he listed all these accomplishments.
“Since towers first appeared, no Player has achieved anything of this magnitude. And to think it was all accomplished in the Iron Rank!”
The FIPA chairman continued his accolades toward Lee Kang-han,
but Lee Kang-han himself, listening through the interpreter beside him,
‘……Father sent a message. I never would have imagined it.’
He recalled the message that had arrived this morning,
carefully examining each person on the platform below.
His father, who had been silent all this time, had suddenly sent word to meet at the awards ceremony.
So he had wondered if perhaps he was somewhere among the reporters,
‘But he doesn’t seem to be here……’
Even as he looked carefully and intensely amid the flashing lights,
he couldn’t find a single person who resembled his father.
‘Does he mean to meet me on the way out, after the ceremony ends?’
As Lee Kang-han continued surveying the hall,
“……And so! We have prepared a very special item for you!”
After Blaet’s long speech came to an end,
the long-awaited presentation of the ‘special item’ began.
“Oh, finally!”
“What’s this item that FIPA’s giving?”
“The way he kept emphasizing how special it is, it must be no ordinary thing…….”
At the news of the item presentation, the reporters grew excited and turned their attention to Blaet,
“However, this item is stored in a very special location, so I’m afraid I cannot show it to you here…… I apologize for that.”
As the chairman announced it couldn’t be unveiled here,
“Oh, what?”
“He’s not giving it to him right now?”
Disappointment was written plainly on their faces.
“What is the effect of this special item?”
“What rank does the item have?”
A few reporters fired off questions,
“That depends on Strong Lee’s choice.”
Blaet said everything depended on Lee Kang-han’s choice.
“Then, shall we go?”
He led Lee Kang-han through the rear door behind the stage of the Conference Hall.
He guided him directly.
“What? You’re not giving me time for an interview?”
“They said they’d arrange seating after the item selection.”
“Seriously, what kind of item are they giving out that warrants all this fuss?”
“We’ll have to keep waiting until Strong Lee shows up…….”
While the reporters grumbled about FIPA’s procedures,
‘My choice?’
Lee Kang-han, who had heard Blaet’s words through the interpreter, tilted his head.
A choice, he said.
So they were letting him pick an item?
‘If there’s a sword, I should grab one.’
Lee Kang-han had been needing a sword ranked A or higher.
If FIPA had prepared a ‘Special Item’,
it would exceed Rank A at the very least, wouldn’t it?
Lee Kang-han thought things were working out perfectly as he followed Blaet.
Escorted by security personnel in an airtight cordon, Lee Kang-han and his party
arrived at Basement Level 3 of the FIPA Headquarters building.
“This way, please.”
Where Blaet led the group was a massive iron door.
Before the door with a white cross drawn upon it, he brought his hand forward.
Then.
Flash……!
Light rippled, and the door slid open smoothly.
As three doors bearing crosses opened in sequence,
‘Are they storing items back there? The security’s certainly airtight.’
What kind of item could warrant such ironclad security measures?
Anticipation began to build.
Standing before the fourth door,
“From here on, only myself and Lee Kang-han will proceed. This is a Highly Classified Area, so I ask for your understanding.”
Blaet smiled with an approachable warmth as
he said this to Lee Kang-han’s party.
“Won’t the Celestial Demon need an interpreter?”
“It’s fine. Lee Kang-han won’t have reason to speak English in there.”
Shin Yu-ri translated Blaet’s words.
Lee Kang-han nodded.
“Understood. We’ll go in together.”
With that, everyone stepped back.
“Shall we go.”
Only then did Blaet open the fourth door.
Then.
A brilliant white light flooded his vision.
‘The interior is dazzlingly bright.’
As Lee Kang-han squinted against the sudden glare,
“Kang-han.”
From within the fourth room,
a familiar voice spoke in Korean.
* * *
“……Father?”
“It’s been a long time.”
Lee Kang-han gazed at his father, Lee Jun-il.
He’d expected to meet him when everything was over and he returned to the hotel.
He never thought he’d see him here.
“But…… when did you become affiliated with FIPA?”
And if he was stationed in a Highly Classified Area like this,
he couldn’t be a low-ranking member of FIPA.
‘He even looks healthier now.’
The father who had been gaunt and withered when they were traveling the country searching for his mother
Since arriving at FIPA, he’d regained his health and developed a robust physique.
“It’s been a while. I’ve been handling classified work all this time, so I couldn’t get in touch. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m just relieved to see you’re healthy.”
“But…… how’s your physical condition? Any problems?”
Lee Kang-han nodded at his father’s question.
“Yes, well. My condition is always good.”
“Nothing’s changed since you came in here?”
“Well, everything’s kind of blinding, but otherwise……”
“That so? That’s a real relief.”
Lee Jun-il’s visible relief was striking at that answer.
‘Why is he reacting like that?’
Lee Kang-han found his father’s response puzzling.
“Jun-il, your son seems to be fine.”
“Yes. Thankfully so.”
“Then you should speak to him directly about……”
Blaet and his father began conversing in English.
He had no choice but to watch silently from the side.
‘I should have studied English more.’
Honestly, back when he was sleeping twelve hours a day at home, would he have ever imagined this?
As Lee Kang-han stood there, not understanding what the two of them were saying,
Thump.
Blaet suddenly dropped to his knees on the ground.
“Our Father in heaven……”
He began to pray.
‘……What? All of a sudden?’
Why was he praying here?
Lee Kang-han watched Blaet, who had entered his own reverent world, with a dumbfounded expression.
“Kang-han, let’s go. Don’t mind the chairman.”
“Ah…… yes.”
His father walked ahead, and he followed after him.
‘The light is getting stronger.’
Until the fourth door had opened, it was just an ordinary basement corridor.
But this space he was now walking through under his father’s guidance
was nothing but radiance—as though he were walking through light itself.
Lee Kang-han followed after him.
“Are you alright?”
Lee Jun-il asked Lee Kang-han repeatedly if he was okay.
“Yes, I’m fine, though all I can see is light.”
“Good. I’m relieved—even if you have the Cheonma Body Constitution, you’re truly not a demon’s servant.”
“……A demon’s servant?”
Why did demons come up here?
“If you’d been following a demon, you wouldn’t survive unscathed under this light. Your body would have burned away.”
Was that what this was about?
Lee Kang-han regarded this radiance-filled space with fresh eyes.
‘I came all the way to Los Angeles for a special item, but I could’ve died if things had gone wrong.’
He’d wondered why they didn’t hand out items in a public place.
So there was a trap like this?
And then,
“……You knew about that and still brought me here, Father?”
He felt disappointed even toward this father he’d just reunited with.
If the power of the Cheonma Body Constitution really was connected to demons, he would’ve just burned to death.
“I had confidence that you didn’t follow a demon. Even so…… I’m sorry.”
Lee Jun-il apologized sincerely, bowing his head deeply to his son.
At that sight, Lee Kang-han sighed.
“Apologies aren’t necessary. More importantly, what exactly are these demons you’re suddenly mentioning, and what is this light? I came to get an item, but what’s going on……”
“You’ll find out once you go in.”
“Go in further?”
“Yes. And like you said, you came here to receive the special item, didn’t you?”
That blasted special item.
I came all the way to Los Angeles for this, and look what kind of experiences I’m having.
Still.
‘I’ve come this far—I need to know what’s inside.’
It wasn’t about the item anymore.
He was genuinely curious what lay hidden beneath FIPA Headquarters.
Lee Kang-han nodded.
Whoosh.
Lee Jun-il stepped aside, gesturing for him to proceed.
“When you go in, you might be a little shocked.”
“I’m already quite shocked, I assure you.”
“Right? I’m truly… sorry.”
Then, abruptly, he dropped to his knees.
“Our Father in heaven, forgive this wretched son who dared harbor doubt. Thank you for sparing my boy…….”
He had suddenly begun reciting a solemn prayer, much like Chairman Blaet had done.
‘Wait… wasn’t he supposed to be non-religious?’
The chairman had been the same way before.
Could FIPA actually be a branch of the Vatican or something?
Lee Kang-han regarded his father with an expression of bewilderment.
‘I’ll just go in.’
He moved forward, determined to discover what lay within.
After another five minutes or so of descent.
‘Another door.’
A golden door inscribed with a white cross.
Unlike the four doors he’d passed through before.
This one was several times larger.
In terms of scale, it felt less like a door and more like an entire wall that had become a gateway.
……
As Lee Kang-han approached it.
Zing……!
The golden door slid open automatically.
Revealing the scene within.
The first thing that caught his eye was an enormous eye.
An eye far larger than Lee Kang-han himself.
Six pairs of massive white wings sprouted from its upper portion, edges, and lower rim.
Flutter, flutter…….
Six pairs of wings undulated slowly, and the azure eye continued to hover weightlessly in the empty air.
“Could this possibly be… an angel?”
Seeing how his father and Blaet kept offering prayers.
He’d suspected there might be some divine entity or holy relic within.
But he’d never imagined an angel could look quite this grotesque—just a floating eyeball with wings.
Yet.
‘Is this really an angel?’
It bore little resemblance to what he’d imagined.
As Lee Kang-han gazed at the luminous, self-radiating eye with its wings.
Zing…….
A system message materialized before his eyes.
[‘Kael’ proposes to become your Patronage.]
[If you accept the proposal, the ‘Patronage’ category will unlock in your system.]
Patronage?
Was there such a thing?
Lee Kang-han hesitated for a moment upon seeing this unfamiliar system option.
[You are the holder of the trait ‘Cheonma Body Constitution’.]
[If you accept a Patronage, your Cheonma Body Constitution rank will permanently drop to F.]
‘F?’
The follow-up message cleared away his hesitation entirely.
F rank.
And if it was locked at that, there was no reason to accept.
He pressed No.
Shudder shudder shudder…….
The massive eye trembled.
Flare……!
All six pairs of wings erupted in flames.
‘What in the world—just now?’
Lee Kang-han’s brow furrowed at the sudden barrage of firepower.
Bzzzzzz……
A message window materialized before his eyes.
[Why did you reject my patronage?]
[It doesn’t matter if you follow another faith. Even no faith at all is acceptable.]
[Reconsider.]
So this was what happened when he flatly rejected the patronage.
Lee Kang-han explained his reasoning to the eye-winged angel, whose feathers were now aflame.
“I declined because accepting your patronage would drop my Cheonma Body Constitution to Rank F.”
Then.
[Shit.]
The message appeared at once.
Scratch. Scratch.
A line struck through the profanity.
[That was a bug.]
“A bug……?”
Did the system have bugs too?
It certainly seemed like genuine frustration leaking through.
[Forget about it. More importantly…….]
Whoosh……
The flames vanished from the burning wings.
[I promised you a reward. Is there any particular item you desire?]
The eye-winged angel immediately brought up the matter of an item.
The Cheonma Demolished the Tower (Serialized)
Author │ Yeom Bi
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Daelyung 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 no part of its contents may be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the company and the author.
Violations 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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