༺ The Steel Tower (2) ༻
The silhouette of a metal wall could be seen beyond a thin curtain of fog.
The base of the Steel Tower was covered in a thin fog, making it impossible to estimate its size.
The clearing where the Steel Tower stood was filled with silence, making it feel sacred.
The combination of the thin fog, the towering presence of the Steel Tower that seemed to fill one’s entire field of vision, and the serene atmosphere made the clearing seem detached from reality.
A gigantic Object, that buildings couldn’t even dare to compare. Only mountains could rival its size.
The Steel Tower.
I couldn’t even begin to estimate the scale of the tower, no matter how many times I looked at it.
The clearing, as massive as the tower itself, was filled with tranquility. And since, for some reason no Objects seemed to approach the area, it was very quiet.
Approaching the Steel Tower, I placed my hand on its surface, which looked like a colossal wall.
It’s cold.
On top of that, there was a rhythmic pulsation of power on the clean, dust-free surface of the tower.
Looking at the Steel Tower’s killing condition again, it was still the same as before.
[Nostalgia]
It’s pronounced ‘nɒˈstaldʒ(ɪ)ə’, right?
Why English all of a sudden?
Out of all the killing conditions I had seen so far, the only Object whose killing conditions were written in English was the Steel Tower.
In fact, when I first checked it, it was not in English.
Was it Russian? Or, perhaps it was written in an alphabet that I didn’t know.
However, when I checked the conditions every day while staying around the Steel Tower, the condition had changed before I knew it.
But still, it wasn’t in Hangul.
Why English?
The point was, whether the killing condition was in Korean, English, Russian, or even an alien language, it was still utterly useless.
[Nostalgia]
Homesickness; a longing for home.
Or perhaps a longing for the past.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out what to do.
Perhaps, if I made the Steel Tower miss something, the situation would resolve itself?
Or maybe, the Steel Tower had a home and I needed to take it there?
Back when I still lived in Seoul Forest, I couldn’t comprehend the condition at all. And now, even after a long time had passed, I was still at a loss.
I had expected that the wording would change, or a new idea would come to mind since it had been a while since I last saw it.
It wasn’t a condition that was hard to accomplish like that of the Hungry Ghost, rather it just irritated me and made me mad.
The condition made me feel stupid since I couldn’t solve it, when it felt like it was actually a solvable problem.
***
I cautiously climbed up the smooth wall of the Steel Tower, taking my time with each step.
Given the near-vertical inclination, it should have been physically impossible to climb. However, while using the Phantom Form, walking on the wall was not that difficult.
The original owner of the Phantom Form, the giant mole I killed a year ago, seemed capable of flying through the sky. Yet, strangely, I couldn’t replicate that part of the ability.
Logically speaking, if I could phase through solid places, wouldn’t it be normal to be able to phase through the air as well?
I wished someone would give me a lecture on this confusing ability.
By the way, there was a reason why I didn’t rush to climb the Steel Tower, despite the dire situation in Seoul.
It was because of something that had struck me as weird a year ago.
Even at a glance, it was odd, and it was the first phenomenon that would come to my mind whenever something strange happened at the Steel Tower.
Since I was the only person who had ever climbed the Steel Tower, didn’t that mean this is a secret known only to me?
After all, it was difficult for humans to get here, and strangely, Objects did not approach the Steel Tower at all.
The peculiar thing I discovered was that, once you reached a certain altitude while climbing the Steel Tower, the view one would encounter was unlike anything one could have expected.
It wasn’t just at the level of ‘Wow, it’s amazing because it’s so high.’ The scenery one would see was something otherworldly.
***
Standing on a platform in the middle of the Steel Tower, I felt the strong wind blow against me, ruffling my hair.
As I looked around, I was greeted by a truly extraordinary sight.
The view from the summit of the Steel Tower was definitely not Korea.
Neither the coastline nor the distant ruins of North Korea were visible.
In fact, this wasn’t even a place on Earth.
The first thing that caught my attention was the presence of the seven moons above me.
These moons possessed a stunning array of the seven different colors of a rainbow, each one asserting its distinct hue.
In stark contrast to the vibrant moons, the ground beneath was stained black, as if it were sick.
‘Hmm.’
However, the scenery before me now didn’t seem much different from the scenery I had seen a year ago.
If it were related to a violent change, like the pulsation, this view should have also gone through a more intense change for it to be considered normal.
From my present position, it seemed as though I could touch the massive moon in the sky if I just stretched my hand, but I would likely never be able to reach it from here.
It wasn’t a matter of something logical like distance.
Rather, it felt like there was something other than just physical distance separating me and the moons.
It was as if there was an unimaginable amount of distance between the Steel Tower and the scenery I witnessed.
Even though I knew it was out of reach, I still couldn’t resist the urge to jump when I saw those big moons.
Hop-! Hop-! Hop-!
It was something I had to do at least once after climbing the Steel Tower.
***
After jumping down from the towering heights of the Steel Tower and landing on the clearing below, I immediately sensed a shift in the atmosphere.
As I tried to figure out what had changed, the tranquility that once made this place feel sacred was shattered.
Screech-!
In the stillness of the clearing, a dissonant sound of metal meeting metal echoed faintly from beyond the fog.
Screech-!
Gradually, a faint human figure became visible within the thin veil of mist.
The human walked unsteadily, making a grating sound with each step.
Suddenly, a human hand emerged from the curtain of fog.
It was a twisted, grotesque hand, tinged with an eerie blue hue and carrying the putrid smell of a rotting corpse.
The silhouette visible through the fog undoubtedly belonged to a human.
However, the human seemed to have machines attached to it, all over its body.
The machines seemed to be simultaneously falling apart due to the pulse of the Steel Tower, as well as regenerating at a rate comparable to their destruction.
Was it an Object or a machine?
When I looked at it with my ability, I realized that it was an Object.
Its killing condition seemed to be—
[Destruction of the main body]
It appeared to be an object capable of perpetual regeneration until its main body was destroyed.
With its regenerative power, it even withstood the Steel Tower’s ability to destroy civilization.
As the Object-human fully revealed itself to me, it became evident that it was anything but a normal human being.
Although it was about as big as a human, had a human-like silhouette, and moved like a human, it couldn’t be called a human.
Its contorted facial expression, marred by agony, its darkened blood congealed from being dead for a long time, and its rotten, decaying eyes spoke volumes.
It was just a corpse that had been reanimated with the help of mechanical devices.
The mechanical zombie, which gave off an unpleasant aura, ignored me and continued walking.
It kept walking until it reached the Steel Tower.
Once there, the pained expression on its face disappeared, replaced by a twisted grin.
Embracing the Steel Tower with outstretched arms, it unleashed a terrifying surge of energy, accompanied by fierce vibrations.
Thump-!
Thump-!
It was the pulsation of the Steel Tower.
The zombie, ensnared in the pulsation, was reduced to powder before disappearing. However, the pulsation did not stop; it continued for several more times.
I had just discovered the cause of the pulsation!
I saw exactly when and how the pulsation occurred!
***
Based on the frequency of the pulsations, it seemed like those zombies were being sent from a certain location on a regular basis.
Sure enough, as I followed the path to the north, the direction from which the zombies had come from, I saw another mechanical zombie in the distance.
If I prevent these zombies from reaching the Steel Tower, I could stop it from pulsating.
But how?
The zombie was able to withstand even the Steel Tower’s ability. Moreover, it was clear that even if I tore its limbs apart, it would regenerate in an instant.
As expected, this situation would only end if I were to track the movement of the zombies and destroy the main body, wouldn’t it?
As I entertained this thought, a strange sensation washed over me.
In fact, it was an uneasiness that I had felt from the very first time I saw the zombie.
The mechanical zombie seemed to be strangely disjointed, even though it was an Object.
Should I say that it felt like each of its parts were functioning separately?
Even though the zombie appeared to be one Object, it turned out that each part of it was a different Object when I looked closer.
Skin, heart, skeleton, internal organs—
They were all different Objects.
When I pulled out the heart, which seemed to be the most important part, the blood vessels which were made of gold came apart as well.
In an instant, the killing condition of [Destruction of the main body] disappeared.
The mechanical zombie, having lost its power to infinitely regenerate, crumbled into dust without delay.
In the place where the zombies had stood a mere moments ago, all that remained was a mixture of human blood, flesh, bones, and internal organs of unidentified animals.
The meticulously crafted golden heart, and the sturdy metal skeleton, forged from a strong alloy, had disintegrated into nothingness.
Were these Objects created by combining several Objects?
If so, then were they created by humans?
It was a type of Object I had never seen before.
It seemed as though several different Objects had been bound together with a golden heart at its center. However, I had never heard of such technology being developed.
Moreover, were these combined Objects truly the cause behind the pulsation of the Steel Tower?
Had this pulsation incident been deliberately orchestrated by someone?
I had found a compelling reason to find the main body of the mechanical zombie.
