Eun-Ho had entered the Tower with a purpose from the very beginning. This trial, too, had been set in motion through meticulous calculation.
1. The Undying - 51.9%
His plan was to locate the stock certificates, then secure the former chairman’s 51.9% stake. Afterward, he would carry out the final plan and seize complete control of the company, ensuring its shareholders would never be able to sway it again.
“Is this the reward you desire?”
However, the box before him seemed too big. In the former chairman’s memories, Eun-Ho had seen a simple brown document envelope.
What could possibly be inside?
Creak—
There was a reason it appeared as a box instead of a simple document.
“Take it.”
When he opened the box, the first thing he saw was the lid. The document had been fitted into the lid's inner side, encased between panes of fine glass. A brown envelope rested neatly within.
Next, his gaze shifted to the interior of the box, lined in deep-navy velvet. It was drawn to the seven indented slots carved into it and the objects nestled within them. On closer inspection, he noticed that each slot held a small cylinder wrapped in red silk, no larger than the palm of a hand. Inside each cylinder sat a bead.
Eun-Ho muttered, “This is...”
Seven cylinders and seven beads. The moment he picked up the red bead, a translucent window appeared.
[Temperamental Flame]
The item window was sparse, barely showing a name, with no description or effects listed. Even so, Eun-Ho tried to infer what he could from the names alone.
[Temperamental Flame]
[Arrogant Swamp]
[Stubborn Lightning]
[Swift Verdure]
[Impatient Downpour]
[Surging Wave]
[Lively Death]
I am lost.
“What are these?” Eun-Ho asked.
“They are both a gift and a shackle, granted to those who pass the Tower’s trial.”
A gift and a shackle.
The pairing of those two words made him faintly uneasy.
“Pray. If you do, they will lend you their power.”
Pray?
Eun-Ho understood immediately.
“However, child.”
“Yes?”
“Once will suffice. Do not indulge further.”
“And what if I do?”
“Then those beings will begin to use you in turn.”
The ones who would lend power through prayer had to be the ancient gods who had appeared time and again. However, being captivated by that power would mean losing himself. Even the Guardian Dragon before him was proof enough.
The power of a god was overwhelming, which was enough to strip one of reason entirely.
Eun-Ho lowered his head in gratitude. After all, the Guardian Dragon had no obligation to offer such advice. “Thank you for the warning.”
He then stored all seven beads in his inventory. One after another, they dissolved into nothing.
Once they were gone, he reached for the lid.
Click—
Eun-Ho removed the glass panel containing the document.
[Stock Certificate]
- Owner: The Undying
- Share: 51.9%
The document was slightly smaller than an A4 sheet. The paper appeared simple despite its luxurious material and gold-trimmed edges, yet what it represented was anything but simple.
“The company will truly become yours now.”
“Yes,” Eun-Ho replied.
His objective had been achieved. Now, only the final stroke of the revolution remained. Only by acquiring this could he proceed. It was time to see it through. With that resolve, Eun-Ho stored the document in his inventory as well.
Just as he moved to close the box, something rolled within the hollow space behind the glass panel.
Clink—
[Primordial Memory Orb]
- A fragment of memory left behind by the immortal, modeled after Earth.
It was a small globe, about the size of a child’s fist. Blue oceans and green landmasses blended beautifully, wrapped in faint, mist-like clouds.
Earth. That orb from the child before was much smaller than this...
The Guardian Dragon’s gaze lingered on the globe for a moment before drifting away. She then tapped away with her long fingers, as if inputting something unseen.
[Deep Interview - Complete]
[Evaluation - Processing...]
A moment later, a loud chime rang out, followed by a series of messages.
[Congratulations!]
[You have passed the final trial!]
[You have obtained the key.]
It was the words he had been waiting for.
As the announcement marked the end of the long trial, he breathed out slowly.
“Now, it is all over. What remains is,” the Guardian Dragon said, “the conclusion.”
Once again, a hazy smoke rose into view.
“Hmm?”
“Euuuuuun-Hooooo!”
Time seemed to slow to a halt as the cave around him turned red. It wasn’t the world that had changed but his own vision. A blood-red haze devoured his eyes. It was a vivid, fresh red, just like the clump of blood that the Undying had spat out when he had met his demise in Eun-Ho’s hands.
Eun-Ho’s right eye burned as though a blazing ember had been shoved into it, searing everything. He swayed unsteadily, feeling as if his soul had slipped out.
Don’t tell me it left something behind...
Eun-Ho remembered the final moment of that ancient dragon, when the Sky-Shattering Blade had split into hundreds of fragments and shredded its mind.
“Lee Eun-Ho!”
If the Undying had embedded a fragment of its soul into Eun-Ho at that moment, and if it had prepared this as its final move, then it all made sense.
“The Undying... That one is here.”
The nameless god’s words echoed as well. Perhaps here hadn’t meant the Tower at all, but within Eun-Ho.
He’s persistent to the very end, Eun-Ho thought.
Even in death, that endless, vile desire refused to let go of its obsession and greed. As he recoiled at the thought, a reddish light swallowed him whole.
[You have absorbed the memory fragment.]
Fwoooosh—!
***
Enveloped in light, Eun-Ho drifted like a small sailboat until he reached a hill. He struggled to stay conscious, barely managing to remain upright. When his vision steadied, he saw people gathered there.
“Where am I?” he muttered.
[You have absorbed the memory fragment.]
This was the place where the Undying’s memories had brought him. He had expected something akin to a hell overrun with evil spirits, but it was totally different.
“Heaven?”
Streams flowed, not with water, but with honey. Trees bore different fruits on each side—east, west, south, and north. Sunlight poured down warmly, and even the gentle breeze carried faint music.
It was a place of abundance, like the gardens described in ancient myths.
“We pray, we pray...”
The people here prayed.
“Please grant us our daily sustenance...”
The gods’ benevolence answered them with lavish feasts.
“Please grant our children a place where they may sleep and dream in peace...”
The gods’ generosity raised sturdy roofs over their heads.
“Please grant us comfortable clothes and garments...”
The gods’ grace clothed them.
It seemed every one of those countless prayers was answered, always.
“Thank you, as always.”
It seemed closer to heaven than hell. That was what Eun-Ho had believed, until the former chairman's voice rang clearly in his mind.
“That one will die soon.”
One of the men praying also collapsed.
“Keugh!”
Despite having been perfectly fine just moments ago, the man began to wither. His face darkened, and his back bent. His taut skin also shriveled into wrinkles, and his limbs stiffened.
“What’s happening all of a sudden?!” Eun-Ho asked instinctively.
“His allotted lifespan has ended,” the Undying answered as if it were obvious. “Perhaps thirty years at most. Children grow in an instant, become adults, and soon wither and die.”
It was exactly as the Undying said. People who had seemed perfectly healthy dropped dead in the blink of an eye.
Their condition didn’t matter. They were born and lived by the will of the gods. When that will ended, so did they.
“We pray...”
Here, humans were nothing more than passing winds. They could obtain anything through prayer, but when their short lives ended, they couldn’t take even a speck of dust with them.
“Is it not a truly dreadful world?” the Undying asked. “So I changed it.”
Eun-Ho could understand now why the Undying had brought him into this memory.
“The first Deicide was the first revolution. It halted reincarnation, imprisoned the gods, and saved humanity,” said the Undying. “It was a choice made for the wretched.”
He was justifying himself, claiming that he had been a rebel and that everything he built had been for the greater good.
What a suffocating level of self-rationalization, Eun-Ho condemned inwardly.
“My power will soon fade. When it does, those foolish gods will awaken once more. The world will return to an age ruled by primitive deities. Is that what you want?” the Undying asked.
And endless excuses, dressed as reason, Eun-Ho thought.
“I know you. You would not wish for such a world either,” said the Undying.
Persuasion or temptation, perhaps even both, Eun-Ho noted.
“Revive this body. That is the best choice you can make,” demanded the Undying.
Then, finally came a threat.
“So what you’re saying is, because you disappeared, the ancient gods are about to awaken again? Is that it?” Eun-Ho asked.
“That is correct. And when that happens, this world will regress to a primitive age of myth—”
“Well, that’s hard to say,” Eun-Ho interjected. He didn’t bother listening any further. After all, there was no way the Undying’s persuasion or threats would work on him. “I’m not so sure about that, either.”
The one leading the company now wasn’t the Undying, but Eun-Ho himself. They were not the same. Everything from their worth to the lives they had led was different.
Even if the gods returned, would everything humanity had built simply vanish? Would the burning desire for freedom disappear overnight?
“Foolish child. Do you truly not understand how weak those beneath you are?”
“I'm sure there are people like that.”
Some would certainly dream of a world where sweet fruit ripened endlessly with nothing more than a prayer. There could also be people who wouldn’t mind living short lives, vanishing like the wind, so long as they were cared for.
Even so, Eun-Ho’s answer didn’t change. “Whatever kind of life someone chooses, that’s their freedom.”
“How dare you—”
He rejected it all. “Neither the gods, nor you, nor I have the right to force that choice on anyone.”
He refused the promise of hollow abundance, just as he refused a life deliberately shaped by suffering. Above all, he rejected a world where people existed as puppets, their strings pulled by those seated high above.
“So, we’ll till our own fields with our own hands. We’ll cook our own meals with our own seasoning,” he said firmly, then added coldly, “Now get out.”
The voice fell silent. It was the kind of silence that came from swallowing rage or even from severing the last remaining thread.
“You will fall,” said the Undying.
Heat gathered around Eun-Ho’s right eye. He felt that the final fragment of the Undying’s soul was burning itself away.
“You, too, will become a servant to those foolish gods, licking at their feet.”
“Worrying about things that aren’t your business... We usually call that meddling,” Eun-Ho replied dryly.
It didn’t matter.
“You haven’t changed,” said the Undying.
“Yeah, I tend to be consistent.”
“Always shameless. Always bold. I should have torn that face of yours apart long ago...” With only a fragment of power left, barely clinging to his eye, the Undying was no match for Eun-Ho. “You are strong. Strong enough that, in my current state, I cannot even touch a single hair on your head. However...”
Flames ignited within his eye and burrowed into Eun-Ho’s mind. It felt as though the circuits in his brain were burning, the scent of scorching filling his senses.
“I do not die—”
Deciding it was enough, Eun-Ho interrupted, “Reinforce Petrify with ten points.”
Crack—!
From his eye, a diamond-like hardness spread through his skull and across his skin. Then, he pressed his palm against his right eye. “Bolt from the Blue.”
With a flash, lightning pierced straight into his eye. Sparks surged through his veins like a storm.
“Disappear.”
Fwoooosh—!
The Undying’s world went completely dark.
***
“Eun-Ho! Are you okay?” Ji-Eun asked, full of concern.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself resting in her arms. “Did I pass out?”
“Yes, for a moment. If you’re dizzy, you should lie down a bit longer.”
“No, I’m fine.”
“But...”
He couldn’t stay down, even if he wanted to.
[Your rank has increased from 80% to 100%.]
[Promotion has been completed.]
Eun-Ho’s heart pounded as if he had been reborn.
[Your unique ability has transcended its limits.]
[Your Mind’s Eye has awakened.]
[You have gained Foresight.]
Things he had never been able to see before now came into view.
Boom—
A deep, resonant drumbeat echoed inside his head, drawing closer.
Boom—
A lighter chime layered over it, forming a strange harmony that seemed to urge him to rise.
“You’ve overcome even the final trial.” The Primordial Guardian Dragon smiled gently, as if she had expected nothing less. “Go. Return to your world.”
She opened a door. Just like before, it appeared not on a wall, but drawn upon the ground like a painting.
My world, Eun-Ho thought.
He turned back. Ji-Eun and Jae-Hyuk met his gaze and nodded silently.
Ji-Eun said softly, “Let’s go.”
“Yeah. Let’s go home,” Jae-Hyuk said.
It was time to return to the company, the place where everything had started and where it would all come to an end.