The meeting was monotonous and hidebound.
Because while the problems caused by the Towers were clear and severe, the methods that could be used to respond in practical terms were far too limited.
In a word, the proceedings were focused on the “establishment of a global Tower response system,”
- Disclosing and sharing information on the current state of the Towers, response measures, and cooperation,
- Establishing a joint response system in which Admitis around the world would unite to deal with Towers with high danger levels,
- Setting protocols for managing high-risk Towers,
- Sharing the results of each nation’s research on Tower monsters,
- Strengthening equipment support and recovery management measures for Admitis’ safe execution of missions,
- And seeking solutions to the economic and social problems caused by the Towers.
“...and so, rather than insisting so heavily on national priority, we should unify the authority to requisition each nation’s S-rank Admitis when a Tower threat arises that a neighboring country cannot handle.”
“Preposterous! In many cases, each nation’s S-rank Admitis are effectively beyond even their own governments’ control, and you want authority to requisition them? I’m sure the S-ranks will obey that authority so very well.”
They said they should not fall into national priority, but in truth, every country placed its own security first.
They also said that the Admiti Alliance should hold control over the S-ranks, but S-ranks could not be controlled. They could only be coaxed.
A point of compromise remained far out of reach.
As the discussion continued without reaching any conclusion, one person obtained the floor and asked,
“The point at issue keeps focusing on S-ranks, but S-ranks are not omnipotent. What will we do if a Tower over one hundred floors appears? No matter how S-rank they are, the entry limit is exactly the 100th floor. How do you plan to conquer the monsters from the 101st floor onward?”
In that instant, the air throughout the conference hall grew strangely heavy. Some averted their eyes, and others let out quiet sighs.
Faced with an uncomfortable truth that everyone knew but had deliberately avoided bringing up, they all maintained silence.
The 100-floor Tower in Texas, still considered the greatest and worst Tower in history.
Twenty Admitis composed solely of S-ranks had carried out the raid and completed it, but that Tower on the 100th floor had been the most vicious one of all, with more than half of the S-ranks dying.
But what if a Tower higher than that appeared?
It would clearly be a disaster in and of itself. A calamity dreadful even to imagine.
However, judging from the current trend of increasing numbers and difficulty of Towers, a Tower above one hundred floors could by no means be dismissed as mere fantasy.
The chair presiding over the meeting spoke in a somber voice.
“Ahem... There has not yet been a single precedent anywhere in the world of a Tower exceeding one hundred floors.”
“While it is true that no Tower of 101 floors or higher has ever appeared yet, there is no guarantee that one will continue not to appear in the future. Do you intend to devise countermeasures only after the problem erupts?”
Because it was a necessary question, the meeting proceeded on that topic, but most did not open their mouths.
The truth was, there was no alternative. Even though it was a future they could fully imagine coming to pass.
The conference room fell silent, as if cold water had been poured over it.
Unable to keep watching, a group of experts and scholars obtained the floor.
“In the case you mentioned, we have no choice. We would have to progress as far as possible inside the Tower, and for the remaining portion that cannot be climbed, trigger a Tower Break and attack it from outside...”
Another doctor continued.
“I believe the time has come for us to consider and prepare for an active strategy that induces a Tower Break proactively, rather than merely responding passively to and cleaning up after one.”
But the opposition was no less fierce.
“No, do you think we don’t know that? If we deliberately trigger a Tower Break? How do you plan to bear the social and economic damage? The entire populace will be shaken, and the social order we have barely managed to maintain will collapse all at once.”
“One way or another, if a Tower over one hundred floors appears, a Tower Break will inevitably occur. There is no choice. Who said they wanted a Tower Break?”
The opinions that alternatives should be sought with a focus on ways to efficiently block Tower Breaks, since floors of a Tower that even S-ranks could not climb might appear, were not exactly new.
It was simply a topic with only one predetermined answer.
Because if that day came, everything would lead to unavoidable consequences.
“We need an active shift in thinking. Even now, we must fortify and militarize every city. This is no time to worry about property damage in cities; we must make it so entire cities can function like supply depots and support systems that aid combat.”
“No, in what manner is that supposed to be possible?”
“There are many ways. We could install automatic defensive walls in city centers and around Tower entrances, or activate powerful barriers in specific areas so monsters cannot cross those boundaries. We could also quickly seal off combat zones with defensive walls installed in the ground, deploy turrets and mobile drones throughout cities so that when a Break occurs they immediately search for monsters and automatically fire in response, or have major buildings switch into defensive mode in emergencies and serve as bunkers for Admitis. There could be any number of methods.”
“In the case of newly built cities, perhaps it might achieve some degree of effectiveness, but in old downtown areas and the like, is it even possible to fortify and strategize an already existing city?”
“It’s not as though Towers only appear where we want them to... How are we supposed to equip every city in that kind of combat mode!”
“Even when armored divisions deploy, all they can do is barely mop up remnants, and you’re talking about turrets? Drones? Can such things even inflict meaningful damage against monsters?!”
The fierce rebuttals pouring out came into sharp conflict with those who had brought up the idea of turning cities into battlefields.
That was when it happened.
“Yes, S-rank Admiti Jeong Suho of Korea, please speak.”
Tap, piiing—
“Ah, ah. Good to meet you. I’m Jeong Suho.”
The moment Suho took the microphone, everyone who had been arguing back and forth shut their mouths and looked at him.
An overwhelming presence.
Suho’s presence, as the man who had released a massive quantity of Tower items that had never existed in the world, stopped a meteorite, fundamentally resolved the global energy problem, and even cleanly dealt with nuclear waste, was something no one in the conference hall could dare compare to.
“Uh... hypothetically, if a Tower over one hundred floors appears, if a day like that ever comes, as you all are saying, I will lend out super-enhanced androids.”
The entire conference hall stirred at the bombshell declaration.
The performance of the super-enhanced androids had already been sufficiently proven in the Break response at Japan’s 92-floor Tower.
However, because of their rarity as a limited production item compared to their powerful capabilities, each country had reluctantly paid Suho the astronomical sum of one hundred trillion won to buy them.
But lend them? Lending?
Amid the murmuring conference hall, Suho’s voice once again carried outward.
“A Tower Break is different from an ordinary raid. Monsters from every floor come pouring out all at once, practically speaking. That means the response team needs to be large in number, and preparations have to be thorough. The super-enhanced androids definitely have a limit in quantity. Since several countries purchased some, there are even fewer now. That’s why I’m saying this.”
Suho looked around at the audience and said,
“Countries that have already bought one or two units may need many enhanced androids to respond to a major Break, and countries that have not yet been able to acquire even a single one because their national budgets are even more lacking can borrow them only when things are urgent. So I think a rental system would be fairly decent. What do you think?”
The matters he threw out indifferently, one after another, were each enormous enough to decide the fate of nations.
Even if everyone gathered here spent several days putting their heads together to devise an alternative, there was likely no answer better than this one sentence from Suho.
“Th-then, Admiti Jeong, what period and price are you considering for the rentals...?”
“Mm... I haven’t thought about it yet, but let’s see... How about around one trillion won per unit for one week per rental? That’s only one percent of the purchase price. What do you think?”
“Th-that is absurdly—”
“No, no. I believe that is a sufficiently reasonable price...”
In an instant, the authoritative ITRS conference hall turned into a flea market.
There were those who said it was cheap, those who said it was appropriate, and even those trying to haggle.
From one side of the increasingly noisy conference hall, someone shouted loudly and shot to his feet.
“You... you arrogant bastard!”
When they looked, it was Alex Carter. The publicly recognized number one Admiti in the world, excluding Suho.
Displeased by Suho making the world compete over android rentals, he rose in indignation.
“You again...”
But Suho now found it tiresome to respond to him one by one.
With a single gesture from Suho, two tank-type Android Ascends materialized behind Alex.
When two newly made humanoid androids appeared behind Alex in an instant, the people around them were horrified and drew in sharp breaths.
Some sprang up from their seats to flee, while others even tumbled backward with a crash.
The average combat power of an Android Ascend rivaled that of an S-rank Admiti.
Those two units grabbed Alex by both shoulders, pressed down with force, and sat him back down in his chair.
The bodyguards who came running tried to pull the androids away from Alex, but the two did not budge, as though they were statues made of steel.
“Y-you...!”
Though he was the world’s strongest tanker, Alex’s face reddened to the point of bursting with bewilderment and humiliation after being overpowered by force and made to sit.
Suho took the microphone again and said,
“Ah, come on, let’s not use vulgar language in this sacred conference hall. And don’t shout, either. Got it?”
When he snapped his fingers again, the two Android Ascends restraining Alex vanished like mirages.
Even though this was a conference hall everyone had entered after handing over all weapons, the fact that such rules did not apply to Suho instilled fear in those gathered.
Like the words of a single man holding an automatic rifle among a group of people with only their bare bodies, Suho’s right to speak, which had already carried power, now possessed an even more overwhelming influence.
After that, the meeting proceeded smoothly.
Above all else, the rental fee for the super-enhanced androids went up.
It was because representatives of countries that wanted to obtain priority rental rights kept speaking up and raising the price, and because of that pointless competition, the “one trillion won per week” Suho had set as the rental fee leapt all the way to “three trillion won per week.”
They’re making that fuss even when I say I’ll give it to them cheap. Seriously.
“Yes, I think that’s enough on this topic. I’ve made a note of the countries that spoke up in advance, and I’ll accept applications from the remaining countries individually afterward. I’d like to lend them out more cheaply, but it’s a shame that the quantity is so limited. Then, Mr. Chairman, please move on to the next topic quickly.”
Suho handed the microphone to the chairman, whose face had turned pale at the unprecedented situation.
In the conference hall, where it had become unclear just who was presiding, the chairman cautiously brought up the next topic.
While the meeting continued on various miscellaneous subjects, Suho took out his tablet and busily tapped away at the calculator.
‘Oof... How many more of these do I have to make for rentals to run smoothly...?’
His head was in a whirl.
He felt as though he had walked of his own accord into an antlion pit from which there was no escape from painful, tedious, repetitive grinding.
But having started it, it seemed the time had come to grit his teeth and endure.
* * *
Several more weeks passed after that.
On the new city island, Smart City Island Bigyeongdo, not only Suho’s family but also the residents of Elysium now visited in groups to enjoy vacations on the island.
Because they took photos and videos and posted them on social media, Bigyeongdo became famous throughout the world as a blessed vacation paradise.
Wealthy people all over the world lined up saying they wanted to visit at least once, but in truth, extremely few obtained that right.
For starters, money could not buy the right to enter Bigyeongdo.
Because before Suho, any amount of money was trivial.
The only standard was one’s relationship with Suho.
If someone had left a good impression on Suho, then regardless of nationality, age, gender, wealth, poverty, or status, they could enjoy Bigyeongdo for free as much as they wished before leaving. But if they had not, then no matter what they did, they could not enter this dream island.
It was a place where even the President of the Republic of Korea or the president of a major power could never set foot if they failed to meet Suho's approval. Yet there were also surprisingly cases where permission was granted easily,
and the most representative example was Seungbin's family.
Now, seven-year-old Seungbin and his mother had arrived on Bigyeongdo aboard Suho's quadcopter.
They were the bereaved family of Team Leader Choi Jeonghyeon, a bodyguard who had lost his life protecting Suho's family from terrorists two years ago.
Having decided to act as an uncle to Seungbin, Suho met with the boy from time to time and provided for all his needs, inside and out.
He sent hundreds of millions of won in living expenses every month and even gifted several high-end androids, yet his heart was never at ease whenever he saw Seungbin.
It was because he felt as though his own complacency had made the boy fatherless.
He had also recommended that the mother and child move into Elysium Heights, but Seungbin's mother had politely refused.
Because the house they currently lived in held memories of her late husband, and because Seungbin had many good friends at the daycare he currently attended.
Of course, Suho respected that decision.
"Wow... is this Uncle's house?"
Seungbin's eyes went wide as he looked at the buildings filling the island. His mother also covered her mouth, her eyes filled with surprise.
She had known it was an artificial island, yet she had never imagined it would look so magnificent.
"Uh, uh... no, I have a separate house. In Seoul."
Suho scratched his head, feeling awkward. How was he supposed to explain this to a young child?
"Then which one of these is yours, Mister?"
"Hmm... all of them?"
"Wow... Mister, you're super rich with buildings. You're a landlord. A landlord! They say landlords are second only to the Creator!"
"Haha, you know that saying? Well, I am a landlord. A landlord who owns many buildings."
After arranging good accommodations for Seungbin and his mother, whom he hadn't seen in a while, Suho diligently showed them around every corner of Bigyeongdo, introducing them to scenic spots, facilities full of fun attractions, delicious restaurants, and more.
And he told them to enjoy their trip together as mother and son to their heart's content.
"Seungbin, from now on, you can come and play here whenever you want, okay? The trip here and back is free, and all the facilities and food here are completely free."
"Wow... th-then, Uncle, maybe..."
"Yeah, what is it? Tell me."
"Can I come with my friends from daycare?"
"Oh, of course, of course! You can come as much as you want. You could come here for a daycare field trip. Uncle will send an octocopter shuttle for you."
"Yay!"
Seungbin threw himself into Suho's arms.
Watching the bright smiles that never left the mother and child's faces, Suho felt that building the artificial island had been the right decision.