Chapter 1. Is anyone here?

Chapter 1. Is anyone here?

"Ha... I'm so tired... so tired."

A monthly salary of less than 2 million won. After paying rent and student loans, and living frugally, he managed to save 100 million won a month, accumulating 120 million won. It was a large sum, but it was far from Sejun's goal.

“Phew. When will I be able to buy a ticket? Can I even afford it?”

Sejun sighed at the daunting goal.

Ten years ago, a 99-story black tower suddenly appeared in the heart of Seoul's Gangnam district. The tower had a geometric pattern and a structure that defied the laws of physics.

Such towers appeared simultaneously in 100 cities around the world. Each country investigated the towers on their territory but gained little information.

What they discovered was that the towers were 990 meters tall, made of a material so strong that even a nuclear bomb couldn't make a dent, and had no doors to enter.

Suddenly, people started coming out of the towers, passing through the walls naturally.

Investigators quickly identified them and found that they were people who had recently disappeared.

"How did you get into the tower?"

In response to the investigators' questions, they said they were sucked into a black hole and when they regained consciousness, they were on the first floor of the tower.

With this, information about the tower began to unfold.

- The 100 towers are connected as one.

- When you enter the tower, you awaken and gain a job as either a wizard or a warrior.

- From the second floor onwards, there are monsters, and the higher the floor, the stronger the monsters.

- You can receive rewards for clearing each floor, and the higher the floor, the better the rewards. However, clearing a floor again does not yield additional rewards.

No one knew the purpose of the towers. But one thing was clear: climbing the tower was profitable. Items obtained inside the tower could be sold for high prices on Earth.

Among these items was a ticket. The ticket was one of the main sources of income for awakened individuals, as it was highly likely to drop when clearing a floor.

Awakened individuals did not need tickets to enter the tower, but ordinary people needed tickets to gain entry.

Once inside the tower, they would awaken and gain the right to climb. Therefore, tickets were expensive and hard to come by.

In South Korea, the Korean Awakened Association bought tickets in bulk and sold them to hunters. The price was 150 million won per ticket, and due to high demand, it was set to rise to 200 million won in a week. Hundreds of people were already waiting to buy tickets.

'I can't give up!'

With the recent news of people making a fortune, Sejun made a big decision.

He would grow crops at home!

A way to tighten his belt. He didn't plan to grow anything fancy; he just wanted to grow a few things that would thrive with just water to save on living expenses.

'I'll start today.'

On his way home from the supermarket with leeks and a few other items, Sejun whistled.

He was excited about the prospect of saving on food costs and being able to eat fruits and vegetables to his heart's content.

'I'll save money to buy a ticket and enter the tower. Then I'll make a fortune in the tower and... with Sera...'

“Huhuhu...”

Sera was a member of the top Korean girl group, Moonlight Fairies. In short, she was a figment of Sejun's imagination.

As Sejun was lost in his daydream, a black hole appeared in the air in front of him.

And

Whoosh.

It started to suck everything in.

“Huh? What is this...!”

Sejun was shocked to see the black hole, which offered no view of the other side.

‘It’s a Vanishing!’

Vanishing was the phenomenon of being invited into the tower, through which the first awakened individuals all...

Anyway, this was luckier than winning the lottery!

Dada.

Sejun quickly sent messages to his family, worried they might search for him if he disappeared without a word.

When he finished sending the messages,

‘Why am I still here?’

He should have been sucked in a long time ago...

Sejun stared at the black hole, waiting to be taken. But the hole's suction didn't seem to be getting stronger.

“Come on, take me! What? Why is it getting smaller?!”

The hole was closing.

‘No! My future! Sera!!!’

Sejun decided. The future is about pioneering.

“Yeah! I'll go myself!”

Sejun ran into the hole. And so, he disappeared into the pitch-black darkness.

***

"Where am I?"

As soon as Sejun emerged from the hole, he realized something was off. The information he had about the first floor of the tower was completely different.

He had heard that the first floor of the tower had chandeliers illuminating the area, a white marble floor, and a wide square with shops selling equipment and potions, and training grounds where warriors and wizards could learn skills.

But here, there were no shops or training grounds, just a cave made of rock.

The only similarity to the first floor of the tower was that it was spacious.

At least, there was a ray of sunlight coming through a hole in the cave ceiling, even though there were no chandeliers.

'First, I'll find an exit.'

Sejun looked around, searching for a way out.

The first place he considered was the hole in the cave ceiling. But climbing up the arched ceiling to reach it seemed impossible unless he was Spider-Man.

'I'll look elsewhere.'

Sejun put his bag on a rock and began exploring the cave.

A while later.

"What is this place so wide for..."

The cave was much larger than he expected. The far end was almost invisible due to the lack of sunlight.

"I need to save my energy..."

Sejun reluctantly turned on the flashlight on his smartphone and continued exploring the cave.

Three hours later.

The cave exploration was complete. The cave was a completely enclosed space. He checked every gap and weak point between the rocks, but there was no way out.

"There's no exit... Could I be stranded here?"

Sejun muttered, dazed, and trudged back to the spot where the sunlight shone through the hole in the cave ceiling.

“What do I do...”

He had to admit it. It was impossible to leave this place alone.

"Hey! Is anyone there!!!"

Sejun shouted towards the hole in the cave ceiling as a last resort.

But

“Hey! Is anyone there!!!”

His desperate cries echoed within the cave, unable to escape through the hole.

“Hey! Is anyone there!!!”

Sejun shouted until his voice was hoarse, but no one, not even a single person, passed by the hole.

“Damn it. There's someone here!!!”

Thud!

Sejun, unable to contain his frustration, kicked the ground. A day passed.

Day 2 of being stranded.

[May 11, 6:00 AM]

Beep. Beep.

The alarm he set for work went off.

"Ugh..."

Sejun, uncomfortable in his makeshift bed, opened his eyes and turned off the alarm on his smartphone.

“...”

After waking up, Sejun spent the whole day staring at the hole in the cave ceiling.

Hours passed, and no one came.

“Is anyone there!”

His cries only echoed back, dampened by the wet rocks.

Rumble.

Sejun's stomach growled. Despite his worries, he needed to eat.

"Ugh... I'm really hungry."

He realized he hadn't eaten anything since he got off work.

'Should I eat something?'

Sejun found a flat rock and sat down.

And

Rustle.

He took out an apple from the bag, a cleaned apple given to him by a colleague.

'Thanks, Minjun.'

Sejun decided that if he ever got out of here, he would treat his colleague Minjun to sweet and sour pork. Minjun didn't actually like sweet and sour pork, but Sejun was craving it with his noodles.

With that, Sejun decided to treat Minjun and peeled the plastic off the apple, taking a big bite.

Crunch.

The sweet and sour juice of the apple filled his mouth.

'This is so delicious!'

As his appetite returned, his hunger became uncontrollable.

Crunch. Crunch.

Sejun devoured the apple like a madman.

"Ah."

He looked at the apple core and seeds left on the ground, feeling disappointed. The amount was far too little.

Thud. Thud.

Sejun dug a shallow hole with his foot and buried the apple seeds and core.

He then started taking out the items from his bag.

A laptop, a 500ml bottle of water he brought from the office, leeks, cherry tomatoes, and pumpkin sweet potatoes he bought to grow at home.

"One, two, three..."

Sejun began counting the cherry tomatoes in the plastic container to accurately assess his food supply.

27 cherry tomatoes, 10 leeks, 7 pumpkin sweet potatoes.

He decided to plant all the leeks, 3 cherry tomatoes, and 2 pumpkin sweet potatoes, and keep the rest as food.

Cherry tomatoes have many seeds, so 3 would be enough to plant a lot. As for the sweet potatoes, they were the only source of carbohydrates in his food supply, so he couldn't plant too many.

‘First, I need to fill my stomach.’

Crunch. Crunch.

Sejun washed one sweet potato and 5 cherry tomatoes in the pond.

At least there was a small pond in one corner of the cave, so he could get water.

‘If only there were some fish...’

There were no small fish or any other small animals in the pond. In fact, there were no insects or mice in the cave at all.

Sejun, who would normally be terrified of bugs and mice, found it a bit disappointing that there were none. He had seen many scenes in movies where people ate bugs and mice when they had no food.

'If my food runs out, I'll have to eat them.'

Of course, the best option would be to escape before his food runs out.

Crunch.

The sound of chewing the sweet potato cleared his mind. Now was the time to focus on the sweet potato.

Munch. Munch.

It was delicious! The sweetness increased with each chew, and it was much better than he expected. He thought it might be good to eat them raw sometimes, not just boiled or baked.

“Now, let's get to work.”

After eating one sweet potato and 5 cherry tomatoes, Sejun picked up the leeks.

And

Crunch.

He broke the leeks at about one-third of the root and separated the green leafy part, placing it on the ground.

'I'll eat it later.'

It might not taste good, but he might need to eat it to survive.

Sejun planted the white root part of the leeks in the soft soil where the sun shone.

Next, he planted 2 pumpkin sweet potatoes on the left and 3 cherry tomatoes on the right.

He simply buried the sweet potatoes in the ground and planted the seeds from the crushed cherry tomatoes.

Squish. Squish.

Sejun licked the tomato juice off his hands and approached the pond. He filled the 500ml water bottle with pond water and watered the plants he had just planted.

After finishing the work, Sejun lay on a rock, looking up at the ceiling, waiting for someone to pass by. With no food, he tried to conserve energy and occasionally shouted, “Is anyone there!”

But no one passed by.

Beep. Beep.

[May 12, 6:00 AM]

It was the third day of being stranded.