Chapter 168

After a night with Ayu, I woke up rubbing my eyes and sat up.

“Ugh.”

It seemed a bit cold as the blanket had disappeared, and I saw Ayu struggling.

Since we had spent the night together and bathed before sleeping, I patted her head and covered her with the blanket.

After getting up, I brushed my teeth and was about to open the fridge to prepare breakfast when suddenly, the phone rang.

Worried that Ayu might wake up, I quickly answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Ha-chan.”

Hearing the urgent voice, I quickly adjusted the phone properly.

The voice belonged to none other than Seolhyang.

“Baeksan has entered the Tower of Apocalypse.”

Hearing this, my eyes widened in shock.

I quickly scanned my surroundings.

Baeksan wasn’t around.

He must have slipped away while Ayu and I were occupied.

“When?”

“Last night, I think. He must have sneaked out while I was asleep.”

“Got it. I’ll ask around here.”

If it’s about Heuksan, Baeksan would know best.

Realizing I needed to find Baeksan first, I hurriedly grabbed clothes from the wardrobe and got dressed.

“Ugh, Domi Oppa?”

Ayu, awakened by the noise, sat up covering her chest with the blanket.

She rubbed her eyes, looked at me, and tilted her head with half-opened eyes.

“What’s going on?”

“Baeksan seems to have gone to the Tower of Apocalypse.”

Hearing this, Ayu’s eyes widened as she fully woke up.

“…Why?”

She tilted her head, looking confused.

“I’m not sure either. That’s why I’m going to check it out.”

Baeksan might have the answers.

Hearing my words, Ayu nodded and got out of the bed.

Feeling shy, she quickly covered herself and put on her underwear.

Then, she wore the same clothes from yesterday and stood beside me.

“Let’s go together.”

Ayu, the Greatest in the World and Cheonma, is the most reliable person to have by my side, so I nodded.

“Okay, I’ll count on you.”

I said that to Ayu and opened the front door.

There stood Baeksan, leaning against the wall.

Had he been waiting here?

He glanced at me and sighed with a displeased face.

“You came out quickly.”

“Sorry.”

As I apologized, Baeksan, not particularly bothered, glanced at Ayu and spoke.

“You must have moved because of the news that the other me in this world went to the Tower of Apocalypse.”

“You knew about it.”

Yet, he didn’t stop me, which meant Baeksan had done the same.

“Yeah, I spent three years in the Tower of Apocalypse and came out. Naturally, the other me in this world would go too.”

Hearing this, my eyes widened.

This was something I hadn’t heard before.

“I told you, didn’t I? By the time I properly understood the world, JMC, Giraseong, and Alters were all nearing their end. That’s the reason.”

Having lived in the Tower of Apocalypse, he must have been unaware of the outside situation.

Hearing Baeksan’s new circumstances, I headed towards the elevator.

“Why did you enter the Tower of Apocalypse?”

As Ayu silently followed, I asked Baeksan, who looked out the window.

There, the Tower of Apocalypse shimmered like a mirage.

“I wanted to find my worth.”

Hearing the word ‘worth,’ I looked at Baeksan curiously.

“At that time, I was a distrustful idiot who couldn’t trust people, not even myself.”

Though he’s not an idiot now.

“So, like clinging to the Six Evils and fighting, this time I clung to the Tower of Apocalypse to find my worth. Just like the Returners around you depended on you, I decided to depend on the Tower of Apocalypse.”

Saying this, Baeksan clicked his tongue with a dissatisfied expression.

“Not knowing it was all meaningless. Like a terminal middle schooler.”

Even speaking harshly to himself, Baeksan looked at me as if to say, ‘Enough.’

“Are you going to get him?”

When Baeksan asked, I answered as if it were obvious.

“Yeah.”

Just hearing Baeksan’s words, there was no reason for Heuksan to enter the Tower of Apocalypse.

If it’s meaningless, we must stop him.

So, when I said that, Baeksan sighed and spoke.

“Be careful. In the Tower of Apocalypse, things always happen beyond recognition.”

Hearing Baeksan’s warning, I nodded in understanding.

Since Seolhyang went ahead to wait, I immediately turned my gaze to the Tower of Apocalypse.

At that moment, my head buzzed and rang.

Feeling an unfamiliar sensation, I frowned as a voice echoed in my head.

[€Come$¤]

A jumbled language, not a proper one, echoed.

“Just answer in your mind.”

Meanwhile, advice came from Baeksan’s side.

Hearing that, I answered in my mind.

At that moment, my vision blurred and flew away.

Feeling as if my spirit was being sucked somewhere, I shook my head and regained consciousness to see a certain landscape.

A yellow field stretched far, swaying under a crimson sky.

In that warm atmosphere, I remained silent for a while.

It was a sensation of an unseen landscape invading my mind.

“Don’t stare at the sunset too much. Your spirit will be sucked in.”

Meanwhile, Baeksan, who appeared beside me, advised.

I quickly averted my gaze from the sunset.

I almost got into trouble staring at that.

At that moment, Ayu appeared beside me.

She glanced around and approached me.

“Hmm, the natural energy here is strange.”

Ayu also seemed to feel something, making a wary expression.

Seeing Ayu like that, I picked up my phone.

Will this even work?

Looking at the phone, as expected, it showed no signal.

Feeling disappointed, I put the phone in my pocket as another person appeared behind us.

“Ah, Eun-hyeon.”

“Nice to meet you.”

It was none other than Eun-hyeon.

Still wearing an eye patch, she glanced at the Tower of Apocalypse and smiled faintly.

“This place hasn’t changed.”

“Have you been here before?”

“Yes, a long time ago, briefly.”

Eun-hyeon said that and stood beside me.

“Seolhyang isn’t far from here.”

Suddenly, a white tail swayed behind Eun-hyeon.

With her exceptional detection abilities, she also knew Seolhyang’s location.

“Please guide us.”

“Of course.”

Eun-hyeon said that and started walking with me.

Following her, I saw silver hair in the distance.

The wind blew, revealing her face under the sunset, incredibly beautiful.

Seeing that, I was momentarily entranced until Ayu elbowed me.

“What are you staring at?”

Ayu looked at me with a jealous face, and I smiled wryly.

“Are you jealous?”

“Hmph, I don’t know.”

Seeing Ayu pouting, I shrugged.

“If you don’t know, then whatever.”

As I said that and quickly headed towards Seolhyang, Ayu widened her eyes and followed me.

“Domi Oppa!”

“Why don’t you know?”

Hearing my words, she followed me with a sulky expression.

By now, I had become accustomed to dealing with a jealous Ayu.

“Seolhyang.”

“You came?”

Seolhyang turned to me with a bright smile, then glanced at Ayu and clicked her tongue.

“You came.”

“Why do you sound dissatisfied?”

They’re ready to fight as soon as they see each other.

“Rather than fighting, Baeksan is the priority now. We need to know how far he’s gone in the Tower of Apocalypse.”

Prioritizing Heuksan, Seolhyang and Ayu glanced at each other and stopped.

Instead, Seolhyang approached me and spoke.

“There’s an easy way to find out.”

When I asked about the method, Seolhyang looked at the distant staircase.

“If you go up to the 10th floor, you can roughly figure it out.”

“You’re talking about Alters.”

Seolhyang nodded in agreement.

Wolfgang Baegar, the S-class Hunter and city lord of the 10th floor, always sits there like a fixture.

Of German origin, he’s famous among Hunters for preventing people from climbing the Tower of Apocalypse.

“The Tower of Apocalypse was recently cleared up to the 22nd floor.”

I had been keeping an eye on the Tower’s situation.

Recently, a Returner from the US challenged and cleared it.

“But Alters are still here.”

“Alters have slightly downsized recently due to various events, but it’s still a gathering of S-class Hunters.”

Seolhyang also seemed aware of Alters’ situation.

Meanwhile, we had arrived at the staircase.

“Let’s go up quickly.”

Cleared floors in the Tower of Apocalypse can be ascended without hindrance.

So, I started climbing the stairs with the four of us.

The Tower of Apocalypse’s scenery changed with each floor.

And these were places I had never seen in my life.

“It’s because they’re modeled after some other dimension. How could you have seen them in your lifetime?”

Hearing that the Tower’s floors imitate other dimensions, I felt a strange sensation.

What exactly is the Tower of Apocalypse?

Why did it appear on Earth, and why does it protect against invaders while opening dimensional gates?

Many questions arose, but I knew well that Baeksan couldn’t answer this part.

Like swallowing bitter water, the Returner’s mouth, quietly gazing at the Tower of Apocalypse, couldn’t easily open.

Finally arriving at the 10th floor.

I felt a strange sensation seeing the blue snowflakes falling from the sky.

For ordinary people, touching them would cause frostbite, but for the four of us, they were just prettier than regular snow.

We had reached a stage where environmental factors no longer mattered.

“Hmm.”

Suddenly, Ayu’s eyes turned red, and she snorted.

Simultaneously, my detection ability sensed several people.

Each one was extraordinary, clearly from Alters.

“Domi Oppa, what will you do?”

Ayu asked my intentions, and Seolhyang and Eun-hyeon also looked at me.

“If possible, we’ll talk.”

Red sparks flew from my hand.

“We don’t have time, so if they engage, we’ll subdue them.”

No holding back.