Convenience Store 24: The Tower of the End 1st - Chapter 93



Only Krnovel

Episode 93 ?? Floor, Back Room

I swallowed without realizing it.

I don’t know which floor this is or what kind of space it is.

But one thing is certain… … .

‘Did I come to a place where only managers can enter?’

Otherwise, there would be no reason for such bulletin boards to exist.

It seemed like I had landed on a floor where only the managers were allowed entry.

I looked around in case someone came.

‘Tower of the End, Tower of the End… … .’

I quickly found the ranking of the Tower of Apocalypse.

‘Ah, I found it. But what is this… … .’

It was good until I found it.

But the ranking is not very good.

‘548th place?’

However, it was not like there were many foundations laid underneath.

‘548th out of 616? But even though I’ve cleared up to the 51st floor, my ranking is like that… … How far have I cleared the other towers?’

I took another close look at the leaderboard.

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[547 – Challenging the 52nd floor of the Pure White Tower.]

[548 – Tower of Doom, challenging the 52nd floor.]

[549 – Tower of Judgment, challenging the 50th floor.]

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If you look closely, you can see that each tower’s name has the number of the floor you are challenging written on it.

I stuck out my tongue as I looked at the towers that were located beneath the Tower of Doom.

‘It seems like most people are having trouble at the 50th floor. Well, it took us a really long time to clear the 50th floor too… … .’

Suddenly, a question arises.

‘But are the bosses on the 50th floor of other towers also Behemoths? Oh, does that matter right now?!’

I quickly walked up to the bulletin board and tried to remove the sign that was attached to it.

Wood thud thud-

‘Wow! Why is it so firmly stuck?’

I was wondering if there would be any change if the rankings between the top were changed.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.

‘Whew, more than that… … what Barbatos said was true.’

His words that there were various other towers besides the Tower of Doom and that they were competing for rankings seemed to be true.

‘And if destruction is so near, that means that ranking will be at the bottom.’

I understand the situation.

But still, many questions lingered in my mind.

‘If a certain tower is cleared first, what happens to the other towers? If all the towers are clearing the same floor, how are the rankings determined?’

And the biggest question of all.

‘But how high do you have to go to be considered safe?’

What I’m saying is that I don’t understand the criteria for stability at all.

At that time, I was rolling my head while looking at the rankings.

Ss …

Suddenly, on one side of the white space, something like a black door opens to the left and right, like an elevator door.

‘Uh uh… … .’

Time passed so quickly that I didn’t even have time to run to the convenience store.

“… … .”

I ended up locking eyes with a being that walked out of the black space.

‘… Barbatos?’

Shudder-

He too seemed very surprised that I was here.

But for some reason, the corners of his mouth soon rose.

Isn’t that just lifting your finger and putting it to your mouth?

‘What… … .’

Sasa sasa sasa sak-

Suddenly, something like a black net appears and begins to cover the convenience store.

The moment the net covered my surroundings in an instant.

“Ha, I’m tired.”

A woman walked out behind Barbatos and sighed.

“You’re tired? Haha, that’s a funny joke.”

“I’m not joking, I’m serious! Do you think I’m not tired?”

The woman didn’t even realize that I or the convenience store existed.

I was just having a conversation with Barbatos.

As the two managers were having a casual conversation, the woman looking at the rankings said:

“Isn’t it really amazing if you just watch it?”

“What’s so strange?”

“I’m talking about our top joker card. Honestly, if it were me, I would have just revealed all the information about the destruction and asked for the help of the raiders, but he didn’t do that, right?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. How does he know about the time of destruction? Isn’t that information only revealed when it’s right before destruction?”

Barbatos frowned as he finished speaking.

The woman looked at Barbatos with her mouth open.

“You said you told me that even if you risked the penalty for leaking information?”

“Me? Did I?”

Looking at Barbatos, who was consistently pretending not to know while laughing.

The woman nods.

“I already heard everything from Gehanna.”

“Hehehe… … Anyway, I agree with what you said. Leaving information to the raiders would have been a method of its own, but he didn’t do that.”

Barbatos changes the subject naturally.

He continued speaking with a smile.

“And that was a pretty smart choice.”

“why?”

“If that were the case, there would have been a high probability that the attack would have failed. You know that too, don’t you? What kind of results did the floors face when they were pushed to the edge of the cliff and had their time revealed?”

Barbatos frowns again and smiles.

“Ah, that’s true. Most people just self-destruct… … .”

“Ahem!”

Suddenly, Barbatos cuts her off.

“That makes it more interesting. It’s fun to watch.”

“That may be true, but we’ll have to wait and see. We don’t know the future either.”

“You’re right. We’ll find out if we just wait and see. By the way… …Can you go and call Gehanna for me?”

“Huh? Suddenly? Are you trying to fight?”

The woman looked at him with anxious eyes.

Barbatos answers softly.

“Quickly.”

“Oh, okay… … But you really shouldn’t fight! I don’t want the sparks flying to me!”

“Don’t worry, it’s work. Just go.”

Ss …

As the woman disappeared into the black space.

“Coolook… … .”

Barbatos twitches his hand, black blood dripping from his mouth.

Then, the black net that had been surrounding me and the convenience store slowly disappeared.

I slowly approached Barbatos.

‘I don’t know why he helped me, but… … .’

Expressing gratitude would be a priority.

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. This is the first time this has happened, so it’s interesting.”

Barbatos burst into laughter, as if he was really enjoying himself.

“But are you okay?”

“You don’t have to worry, it’s something I can handle. More importantly, the fact that you’re here means you saw that too.”

When he pointed to the leaderboard, I nodded.

“After seeing it, I only had more questions.”

“Oh, oh, oh! Yeah, I guess so. There are bound to be a lot of things I’m curious about.”

I opened my mouth, putting aside my shame for a moment.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Hahaha! You are truly shameless, you are truly a talent fit for the abyss! You are free to ask questions, but you are also free to answer.”

“What happens if a tower is conquered first?”

“I’ll leave that to your imagination.”

Clear rejection.

But I didn’t give in and continued asking questions.

Still, Barbatos gave no answer.

“Is that the end of the question?”

“yes.”

Actually, I didn’t expect Barbatos to give me an answer.

That doesn’t matter though.

‘Rather, I’m grateful that you helped me.’

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t answer?”

“Still, I’m thankful that I didn’t get into trouble thanks to that.”

“Hahaha! I really like how you have no shame but are polite.”

Suddenly, Barbatos raised his hand and pointed to the ranking list.

[[500 – Tower of Arrogance, challenging the 60th floor.]]

A black, dark border was added to one list.

“It will take two years to get there before we can talk about certain safety.”

“yes?”

“Coolook… … .”

Barbatos spits out blood again.

He opens his mouth with difficulty.

“It seems like my colleague is coming back soon… … . How about you going back too?”

“… … .”

‘Is that female manager coming back?’

I was about to go back to the convenience store.

He turned his head and asked Barbatos.

“But why are you helping me like this?”

“… … .”

Barbatos slowly raises the corners of his mouth.

“I’ll think about what to answer when you get to my floor.”

I would have liked to talk to him more.

As the black door between the white space began to open left and right, I quickly inserted the key into the hole.

* * *

‘Phew… … ‘

I came back home but I’m still in a daze.

‘I don’t know where to start or how to think about this.’

I started taking notes in my notebook, recalling what had just happened.

‘There are 616 towers in total, and we are ranked 548th among them… … .’

Besides that, Barbatos had a conversation with another administrator.

[When destruction is imminent, the time remaining until destruction will be revealed] was also written in the note.

‘But the most important thing is this.’

It is safe to climb up to the 60th floor within two years.

At least that’s what Barbatos said.

‘Up to 60 floors within 2 years… … .’

I quickly rolled my head.

‘It took almost 3 months to conquer the 51st floor… … Then it takes 24 months to climb 8 more floors? That’s just the right amount of time.’

But this is only the case when things go well.

‘If the attack is sluggish on any level. Hmm… … .’

My head hurts.

‘Why on earth did Barbatos tell me this information?’

Is it really just a matter of simple interest?

Or is there some other reason?

I don’t know.

‘I’m also curious about what happens if another tower finishes conquering the tower first, and the criteria for ranking and duration. And… … .’

Thoughts eat away at thoughts.

My head is too complicated.

“Eww!”

I jumped up from my seat.

‘What’s the big deal about the other towers!’

That’s not important right now.

What’s really important is that we have to get to the 60th floor within two years.

‘I would like to reach number one within two years, but realistically, that would be difficult.’

[1 – Tower of Silence, challenging the 78th floor.]

I clearly remember that the first place winner was challenging the 78th floor.

‘They say we have to clear the 78th floor to get first place. But while we’re going up, those guys are just sitting around playing!’

Of course, other towers will also continue to attack the tower.

‘We need to increase our attack speed even more than now.’

Of course, compared to before, it is true that the current attack speed has gained momentum.

But when I look at the cold reality, I can’t help but think that we still have a long way to go.

‘First, 60 floors within 2 years. If I want to speed up the conquest from here… … I guess the only way is to level up.’

If you level up and unlock new abilities.

It will provide more diverse possibilities.

There is ample money.

Although I spent a lot of gold to get to level 40 before.

He ran a cafe and a convenience store and amassed a total of 12,000 gold, or about 12 billion won.

‘If some of the money is withdrawn as a down payment… … .’

I really wanted to just invest all the money I had into leveling up.

The purchase of the building was already in progress.

‘Ugh, let’s take out the funds we need right now.’

If you deduct 7 billion won from the purchase price of the building from 12 billion won, the remaining amount is 5 billion won.

Considering that it cost 5,000 gold to develop the ability last time.

There is room to develop your abilities once in a while.

‘We’ll reach the 60th floor within 2 years! We’ll definitely reach it! No, we’ll go beyond the 60th floor and become number one!’

“Accumulate gold coins.”

Tiring-

[Use gold accumulation. Would you like to level up using 50 gold?]

‘okay.’

[Gold accumulation has been successful. 50 gold will be deducted.]

[Level increased by 1.]

[Level… … .]

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.

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Golden waves were coming and going over my body repeatedly.

[Additional costs apply to unlocking abilities after level 50.]

[The amount required to unlock the ability is 5,000 gold.]

As expected, a message asking me to pay a large sum of money appeared before my eyes.

‘Ugh… … .’

5,000 gold. Converted into cash, it’s 5 billion.

It’s a truly dizzying amount of money.

‘But if it can give me new possibilities, then this level of investment is worth it!’

[The amount required to bloom this ability is 5,000 gold. Would you like to bloom it?]

“Let’s go!”

[5,000 gold will be deducted.]

‘Please give me an ability that will help me conquer! Or at least a decent ability… . . . ‘

[You have acquired the ability, ‘Special Stamp’.]