“Did you just say that we, the 5 Heroes, are disregarding rules and regulations?” Specter asked, staring straight at the ones who asked such a question, the ones sent by Climb. They nodded, even as they shrank back.

“Are you denying it?”

“Of course I am. Strongly, in fact. If I’m being honest, I’m a little offended, too,” he said, looking displeased. At that, everyone stared at him intently.

Shim Deok-Gu also didn’t look very pleased because he was nervous.

‘What are you going to say, you bastard? Just follow the plan…’

Shim Deok-Gu had clearly told him not to let himself be provoked. ‘If he makes a single slip of a tongue here, he could turn the entire world against him.’ 

In other words, all the glory that the 5 Heroes had accumulated so far could crumble like a sandcastle. However, Shim Deok-Gu trusted that his friend wasn’t an idiot.

“Twenty-eight years ago, there was a Gate in Izmir, Turkey…” Seo Jun-Ho started.

It was notorious since it had already racked up 17 failed clear attempts. At the time, the mayor of Izmir decided that it would be impossible to clear the Gate with his power. So, he invited the coveted 5 Heroes.

“But we could not enter the Gate...”

The government had blocked them from entering the country, afraid that Turkey’s incompetence would make it become the laughingstock of the world. As such, Turkey’s government received harsh criticism, and later, a bill was passed to the World Congress.

“They proposed that the 5 Heroes would have the right to attempt any Gate as they saw fit.”

They wouldn’t need anyone’s permission to enter a Gate anymore. It was an unprecedented privilege.

After Specter was done speaking, Climb’s spokesperson shot their hand in the air. “Just a second. As far as I know, there was a prerequisite to exercise that right. Am I correct?”

“It wasn’t permission to enter any Gate, it only lets you enter Uncleared Gates deemed impossible to clear, correct?”

“Yes,” Specter said coolly. His opponents’ eyes flashed and seized the opportunity.

“I believe that your request is entirely unreasonable.”

“Even though progress has been slow on the 4th floor, it hasn’t been deemed as impossible to clear so far.”

“To be labeled as an Uncleared Gate, don’t they have to meet two requirements?”

“...”

They were correct. In most cases, for a Gate to be judged as an Uncleared Gate, a Gate had to be at least six months old with 14 failed clear attempts.

With one exception…

“Though all five of us received the right to enter any Gate, they granted a special privilege only for me,” Specter said.

“...?”

There was another component? Their faces revealed confusion. They had never heard of this before.

“I, Specter, hereby declare that the 4th Floor is at a difficulty that makes it impossible to clear, and I will forcefully intervene,” he announced plainly.

“...!”

It sounded like thunder had reverberated throughout the room. No one in Climb had ever predicted this scenario.

‘Wait, does that mean Specter’s additional special privilege is…’

‘He can declare a Gate to be impossible to clear whenever he wants?’

‘This is insanity. The meeting was held by representatives from each country, but they actually gave him such an outrageous privilege?’

‘Those lunatics!’

This was hard to understand for those who didn’t grow up in that era. After all, that was an enormous power too much for one person to possess.

He could declare any Gate he wanted to be Uncleared, and he didn’t need anyone’s permission to enter it. This made absolutely no sense in the current era, where the rights to enter Gates were sold for tens of thousands of dollars.

‘He played us for fools.’

‘This…This is dangerous.’

‘Even if we go right now and file a suit to get rid of that policy, it would take at least a few weeks to process. In that time, they’ll have already gone to the 4th floor.’

‘We can’t let them be the only ones to go. At the very least, we have to make sure a Climb member gets in as well.’

Flustered, every single person associated with Climb raised their hands.

“So, in the end, aren’t you saying that only the 5 Heroes will go up?”

“As Rahmadat-nim said earlier, Players exist to clear floors.”

“Other Players also have the right to enter the 4th floor.”

“You should give other Players an equal opportunity, so they don’t feel left out.”

“Oh, of course.” Specter didn’t get mad. In fact, he nodded eagerly. “I planned to mention this anyway, so good timing. As you said, we are Players. We do not consider nationality, age, or sex. As long as you are a Player with the determination and skills to clear floors, you are welcome. But according to Mr. Wei Chun-Hak, who has been to the 4th floor, the 4th floor is very dangerous. I cannot just sit by and watch as Players throw themselves in harm’s way. So, starting today, we will be holding a Player selection exam for four days. Players will face me or one of my comrades in one-on-one combat, and all those who last for five minutes or more will join our party.”

“...”

He had forced them into a corner. The members of Climb grew pale. They never thought that he would use their argument about the Players’ purpose against them.

‘Unskilled Players have always been seen as liabilities in a party.’

‘They’re telling us to forget it if we’re not skilled enough to handle one of them.’

‘They’re using Climb’s mission of focusing only on the floors against us.’

If Climb didn’t participate in the selection exam, their very existence would be called into question. However, even if they participated, none of them thought they could take on one of those monsters. And in the end, they would be mocked by the world for being so insistent when they weren’t even that skilled.

‘...It’s a checkmate.’

Unlike the members of Climb, whose faces grew dark, the reporters were looking at him earnestly.

‘If he’s too stiff, he’ll break easily, but something flexible can’t also be strong...’

‘He’s saying that they won’t leave anyone behind.’

Specter left a strong impression on the global spectators and received their eager support. It was very considerate of him to include anyone in the party without question, as long as they were just skilled enough. As such, they applauded him

***

As promised, the selection exam was held for four days.

However, there was something Seo Jun-Ho had completely failed to consider.

“Damn you, Seo Jun-Ho!” Skaya exclaimed.

“...Don’t do something like this again without giving us prior notice,” Gilberto said,

“Sorry.” He had never thought that so many people would come. “I was just trying to embarrass Climb a bit, and I didn’t think there would be many applicants as well…”

The problem was that they had underestimated the 5 Heroes. And this was an opportunity to spar with these legends. Even if they didn’t want to go up to the 4th floor, sparring with them was every Player’s dream.

‘We have close to 130,000 applicants.’ 

And that was only counting the ones who had applied as soon as the server went up.

Of course, it was impossible to accept every single Player, considering the time they had. In the end, they selected a thousand Players with the highest levels and carried out the exam.

Seo Jun-Ho looked down at the paper with the results and grinned.

‘...This should be enough. With this, they won’t curse us for going alone.’

They had a sweeping 1,000 wins. On top of that, not a single duel lasted more than 30 seconds.

***

The next day, he received an invitation from a familiar face. Kwon Noya had contacted him.

“You’re here.” As soon as Seo Jun-Ho entered the workshop, Kwon Noya glanced at him and silently patted him on the shoulder. “...You’ve done well.”

His words weren’t much at all, but they made Seo Jun-Ho’s heart warm. He chuckled.

“Thank you. Where’s the gear?” he asked.

“It’s inside.” Kwon Noya escorted him.

“We finished it for quite some time now, but its owner kept ignoring my calls,” he grumbled.

“Sorry, I’m late...”

“Should you not apologize to me, too?” The dwarf chief, Graham, suddenly came into view. He was sitting on the sofa inside the room. His childish face frowned.

“I have been unable to return to my village because I had been waiting to give this to you; it has been three months now,” he said without remorse.

“Again, I’m sorry…”

“...Ahem. Friends need not bow to each other as such.” Graham waved Seo Jun-Ho off and came over, carrying a chest much bigger than him with ease. He placed it on the desk.

“It was difficult work, but it was enjoyable in its own way. And the results were top-notch.”

“...True, but I’ll die before you can ask me to make something like this again,” Kwon Noya said.

The two best blacksmiths Seo Jun-Ho knew had both agreed that it was difficult work, but the results were stunning.

“May I open it?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.

“It is crying to meet the master it has been waiting a long time for. Go ahead.”

With his heart pounding away, Seo Jun-Ho opened the chest. Similar to its predecessor White Armor, it was in the shape of a belt. The color was slightly transparent white, like ice.

“Item data.”

[Midnight Sun]

Grade: Unique

Stamina +50

*Immortality: This armor cannot be destroyed.

*Disruption: This armor protects the user from all tracking skills below A-grade.

*Lightweight: This armor contains magic that makes it lightweight.

*Ice Augmentation: When an ice elemental skill is used while this armor is equipped, the effects are amplified.

Use requirements: Level 130, Magic Verification.

“...” Seo Jun-Ho stared at the description like he was possessed.

He turned. “Why is it called Midnight Sun?”[1]

“...Because you’re always hiding in the darkness. I thought your armor should be the opposite,” Kwon Noya explained.

“I tried to contest him, but I could not win against his stubbornness,” Graham added.

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho smiled softly. The midnight sun was a phenomenon in which the sun didn’t set when nighttime came, so the day remained.

‘I got scolded.’

It was a form of reprimand. Kwon Noya was both advising and warning him to keep shining and not let the wickedness of his enemies corrupt him.

“Why? There’s that saying: when you look into the void, the void looks back at you,” Graham said.

“You don’t need to worry about that. I only look at the void so I can kill it.”

“The same is true for them...”

“Well, they might be staring at me because I’m handsome.”

Kwon Noya was at a loss for words. He clicked his tongue. “Tsk, what did I say? There’s no point in worrying about this rascal.”

“If you do not worry for a friend when they are in pain, what makes you any different from a stranger?” Graham asked.

The two blacksmiths had become very close in the meantime. Seo Jun-Ho looked at them before equipping the belt.

As soon as he poured in his magic power, the belt vibrated gently.

Thwack! 

With the Kwon Workshop’s unique spread armor system, his entire body was instantly covered in armor.

“...It’s light. Like a feather.” Moreover, he didn’t feel any significant differences between Midnight Sun and White Armor no matter how he moved his joints.

“It’s something we added...”

“Optimizing the unique traits of Serium was what we focused on the most.”

Serium was a rare metal that raised cold-related abilities to another level. Seo Jun-Ho held out his hand toward the water cup on the desk. He was just trying to gently freeze the water, but he inadvertently froze the entire cup, making it shatter.

He squinted. “...Are the effects usually this good?”

He felt like the strength of his Frost skill had improved by nearly a hundred and fifty percent.

“Serium is a difficult metal to work on. So, it’s usually used to make something like a necklace or ring.”

However, they had created a set of full-body armor out of that very metal. If their skills hadn’t been up to par, the unique traits of Serium would have been completely lost.

‘With this…’

Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes sparkled as he stared at the shattered cup.

It wouldn’t be too difficult to progress through a certain technique the Frost Queen had written down in her diary.

1. The Korean word for the midnight sun phenomenon is called ‘white night’, but I thought the metaphor worked either way. ☜