User blog:GoDai/GoDai's Translations: Everything about Shinsu.

The Manipulation of Shinsu
There are two ways to control shinsu (신수, Shinsoo; 神水; "divine water"): Generally speaking, when one says "manipulating shinsu", it usually refers to direct control.
 * Control through an item
 * Direct control

Being able to directly control shinsu is a very rare talent, and it can be said that this talent itself is an absolutely necessary requirement in order to become a ranker. Basically, most, if not all, selected regulars (선별인원, seonbyeolinwon; "chosen members") have some degree of control over shinsu, although this does not mean all regulars can become skillful manipulators of shinsu.

Shinsu manipulation abilities vary greatly among individuals, although members of the 10 great families have a large chance of being born with the talent of shinsu manipulation. Branch houses (분가, bunga) that originate from the main houses of the 10 great families are no exception to this probability of having the talent at birth. A few unknown members of these branch families keep the origins of their blood a secret, maintaining the passing down of the talent of manipulating shinsu.

Wave Wielder
Technically, the term "Wave Wielder" (파도잡이, padojabi; "one who knows and handles waves" or "wave controller") does not actually refer to shinsu manipulators, but rather something more specific. However, the two terms are often used interchangeably in the Outer Tower. In terms of battle positions, the Wave Wielder refers to a position that utilizes shinsu manipulation in order to participate in battle. However, this is merely a traditional definition and very few individuals actually fit these conditions. Most Wave Wielders have other direct battle abilities and commonly fill other positions.

(GoDai's note: When Viole starts owning everyone using shinsu, people suddenly think "He's a wave controller!" I think this is a similar case when someone that manipulates shinsu so skillfully can automatically be called a "wave controller" even if that's not their primary position. Enryu is a goddamned spear bearer.)

Contracts
In order to manipulate shinsu directly (without the use of an item) within the Inner Tower or Outer Tower, a contract with the administrator (관리자, gwanlija; "manager" or "guardian") of the floor must be made. In regards to items, only items that already have a contract made with the administrator can be used (GoDai's note: So basically items are like things that have a pre-made contract and are good to go the moment you take it out of the box). (For example, an item that has a contract with the administrators of the 2~30F cannot be used at 31F.)

Because one has made a contract with the administrator does not mean one can manipulate shinsu anywhere on that floor. (GoDai's note: Somewhere else, SIU talks about classes (등급, deunggeup; "class; rating; grade") which is relevant in regards to having the right to manipulate shinsu in certain places.)

After a contract has been made with an administrator, one must uphold several terms and conditions. If one violates any of these rules, the contract is considered to have been broken and one's rights are taken away, making their contract null. The strictness of these rules vary between class to class. In terms of the contract that rankers and high rankers make with their administrators, it can be said that they are nearly completely free of restrictions.

It is not impossible to manipulate shinsu without a contract. Simple manipulation of amounts below a certain standard is possible without a contract. Also, an innate resistance to shinsu, a body strengthening ability that utilizes shinsu, or other similar skills are all natural abilities that one can have, and therefore do not require contracts.

It is known that there is exactly one place in the Tower where shinsu can be freely manipulated without a contract.

The 10 great families, their numerous branch houses, and other families are able to manipulate shinsu without a contract. This does not actually mean they do not have a contract. It occurs because they are considered to have a contract at birth.

(GoDai's note: Considering how Laure is a member of some sort of branch of the Eurasia family, this could be what Yuga/Len meant when he said Laure was the only one in the room that already had a contract.)

All rights regarding the setting of Tower of God belong to its author, SIU. All of SIU's notes are subject to update, correction, and change. 2010.01.17

Source
(GoDai's note: Directly translated from http://blog.naver.com/inutero3334, 신의 탑 설정 (전체 공개) > 세계관 설정 > 신수의 조작과 계약에 관해서)

Shinsu Manipulation Technique Setting (1) - Basic Background (신수조작술 설정 (1) - 기본설정)
Externally manipulating shinsu to change the environment, to attack the opponent, or to carry out other actions is known as shinsu manipulation (신수 조작, shinsoo jojahk; most likely 神水 操作; "divine water manipulation"). Depending on the group or region, it also goes by several other names such as "water mastery" (수역, sooyeok; 水役; "to make water a servant") or "wind technique" (풍술, Poongsul; 風術; "wind skill"). The first person who began to systematically organize shinsu was one of the patriarchs (가주, gaju; "house head") of the 10 families, Biduh Gustang (비더 구스트앙, Bidder Gust-ang) All of the language (jargon), standards, and units related to shinsu that are used today all originate from Gustang's work.

The basic unit for shinsu manipulation is the bang (방, bahng; 放; "release"). The size of a bang is known as myun (면, myeon; 面; "surface"), and the concentration of the shinsu in a bang is known as su (수, soo; 水; "water").

Bang
The bang is the basic unit of shinsu manipulation. The more bangs one can control, the more skilled at manipulating shinsu one is judged to be. However, this does not mean one can manipulation greater myun and higher su with many bangs. As the number of bangs increase, control becomes more difficult. Overdoing the handling of bangs can physically and mentally exhaust the manipulator - in serious case, this may lead to death. If supported by a Lighthouse, the manipulation of the created bangs can become much easier, but this does not mean the number of bangs increases.

Myun
Myun refers to the size of a bang. Specifically, it refers to the surface area that shinsu is spread out across, regardless to height. 1 myun is equal to 1 pyeong (평, 坪; GoDai's note: A traditional unit of measurement used in Korea, with 1 pyeong being equal to around 3.306 square meters, or around 35.57 square feet I hear). (GoDai's note: So 1 myun of shinsu is equal to around 3.306 square meters of shinsu.) When discussing the size of a bang, the height is not considered because its range of fluctuation is large and heavily depends on the situation, which makes it difficult to discern. (Height is not involved in the calculation of the size of the bang. The height is dealt with by converting it using the numerical value of the concentration of the bang in question.) It can be said that the wider the myun one can control, the wider the area in which shinsu can be applied. However, because one can control a wide myun does not mean one can manipulate a certain concentration of shinsu within the myun. Normally, the center of a myun has the highest concentration of shinsu and the circumference has the lowest concentration, but skilled manipulators can make the outer layer quite dense. There are also some who can control the concentration within the bang quite freely, although this is quite rare.

Su
Su refers to the concentration of shinsu within a bang. Only the concentration of shinsu in the most concentrated area of the bang is used to calculate su. There is no numerical unit used on Earth that can be related to su. The measurement of su can only be done using a Lighthouse, Observer, or specialized senses. The higher the su, the more effective and destructive a bang is. This is why controlling a high su is extremely important. Normally, the denser the shinsu in the environment, the faster the su in a bang can be increased. However, there is a limit to the amount of su that can be pressed into a bang, and this limit depends on the person. The environment has no effect in overcoming this limit whatsoever. The concentration of su within a bang is not uniform, either. The value of su changes depending on the myun, so there are big differences in regards to su between individuals who manipulate shinsu. If one has very good mental concentration, it is possible to manipulate a high su of shinsu within a small myun. If one is very good at distributed data processing, it is possible to manipulate a certain amount of su within a large myun.

Relationship of the 3 factors
Basically, when discussing the bang, myun, and su an individual can control, Bang would actually refer to the maximum number of bangs one can manipulate simultaneously. Myun would actually refer to the maximum myun one can manipulate if they created only one bang, and Su would actually refer to the maximum concentration one can press into a bang, regardless of the myun in this case. For example, let's say someone can: Despite the fact that they are unable to do all of the above at the same time, they are still evaluated as being able to control "4 bang 100 myun 30 su".
 * control 4 bangs at once, but they're not very big or dense
 * control 100 myun if they create only 1 bang and focus everything on it
 * gather up to 30 su into a single bang

Bang, myun, and su are very closely related, and when supported by a Lighthouse or some other form of aid, large differences can be seen. Normally, the more numerous the number of bang, the smaller the myun and lower the su that can be managed, and the larger the myun, the lower the su that can be managed. Su therefore heavily depends on the numerical value of myun and bang, as an increase in either means a decrease in su. Fundamentally, this is known as the 'minus tendency' (마이너스 기질, maineoseu gijil; Minus 氣質; "minus constitution"). Sometimes, there is a special case in which the numbers of manageable myun and su instead increase as the number of bangs increases. This special case is known as 'plus tendency' (플러스 기질, peuleoseu gijil; Plus 氣質; "plus constitution"), and is an extremely rare talent.

The minus tendency can be overcome with improvement from training and support from external aids, which helps in reducing the amount minused (GoDai's note: So I could make it so that not so much myun and su is taken away when I make a second bang, by training and with support from my Lighthouse Keeper ally. With enough hard work and help, I could make it so that I can perfectly retain the size and concentration of shinsu in my first bang when I start making another bang. Then the minus value would be 0, since nothing has been taken away.). However, one can never become a plus tendency.

Also, being a plus does not mean one can produce an infinite number of bangs. Pluses find it equally difficult to increase the number of bangs.

Records
Up to present time, the person who holds the record for controlling the most shinsu simultaneously is Enryu. Although no precise results exist, one thing is for sure: The value far exceeds those of all previous records (According to a Lighthouse that could luckily record Enryu in battle, Enryu manipulated over 9000 bangs in that fight.). (GoDai's note: IT'S OVER 9000!!!!)

Source
(GoDai's note: Directly translated from http://blog.naver.com/inutero3334, 신의 탑 설정 (전체 공개) > 세계관 설정 > 신수조작술 설정 (1) - 기본설정)

Types of Shinsu Manipulation (신수조작방법의 종류)
There are two major types of shinsu manipulation: Flow Control is reading the original flow of shinsu and using that flow to manipulate shinsu. On the other hand, Reverse-Flow Control refers to reversing the flow to manipulate shinsu.
 * Flow Control (흐름제어, heureumjae'eo)
 * Reverse-Flow Control (역흐름제어, yeokheureumjae'eo)

1. Flow Control
Flow Control is reading the flow of shinsu and manipulating it according to that flow.

Although there is no exact predictable pattern to the flow of shinsu, shinsu does momentarily flow in certain directions, so one can efficiently manipulate shinsu by reading and using these temporary directional flows. (Once one begins to control shinsu in one direction, it is difficult to change direction.)

(GoDai: For those who know chemistry or quantum physics, think of it as London forces. Electrons randomly jump around in their orbitals, so even nonpolar molecules exhibit forces between each other as, in some brief moments, more electrons are on one side, creating a temporary dipole.)

The greatest advantage to flow control is that it allows the manipulator to control a large amount of shinsu without much effort. Flow control is much faster than reverse-flow control, and can control more shinsu.

Sometimes, one can take advantage of the flow of the enemy's bang of shinsu to make it his/her own. Of course, the most important part is reading the current flow of shinsu, and finding the optimum point - the best way to use it.

(GoDai: Since the flow of shinsu can be said to be chaotic and random, there will be short moments when the enemy's bang is actually flowing towards the user. This is when you can take advantage of this brief moment by turning the shinsu against the enemy.)

This also applies to Body Reinforcement (신체강화, shinchae gahnghwa; or "Physical Enhancement"). Every living organism has an individual flow of shinsu. By using this flow, one can heal themselves or others, or grant numerous abilities.

Of course, the opposite is also possible. If you strengthen or speed up the flow of shinsu within your own body, you can strengthen and speed up your own body, but you may also inflict a proportional amount of internal damage on yourself. This also applies to others. If you control your enemy's flow of shinsu beyond its limit, your enemy will be reduced to nothing but a skin, like a popped water balloon.

Let's take a look at the case of Blossom, who was the most talented and destructive in the Tower's history. She once proved that just by "accelerating" the shinsu in one area, she could instantly kill 99% of the population living there.

2. Reverse-Flow Control
Reverse-Flow Control is controlling shinsu by forcefully changing its flow. It is slower than flow control, and allows the user to control a smaller amount of shinsu. Reverse-flow control is mostly used to destroy or stop the enemy.

Reverse-flow control requires more caution than flow control. In fact, to use reverse-flow control, you need to be able to read the flow of shinsu even better than you need to for flow control. Of course, you don't need the talent to ride the flow like in flow control. You instead break, block, and shatter the flow and make it your own. (Even though this may sound very destructive, flow control is actually better for destroying things)

Of course it would be wisest to not make situations where you need to use reverse-flow control, but if you ever fall into a situation in which you must use reverse-flow control, listen to the wise words of Lightpen (라이트펜, Raiteupen), the current Vice-President (부회장, boohwehjahng) of the Research Institute (연구회, yeongoohweh). "There is only one thing needed to defeat an enemy using reverse-flow control. You just have to be overwhelmingly more powerful than your opponent."

3. A Combination of the Two Kinds
A few talented Wave Wielders in the Tower are capable of the magnificent feat of utilizing Flow Control and Reverse-Flow Control at the same time. (A simple analogy would be the talent of being able to play table tennis against two opponents at once holding a paddle in each hand.)

This does not mean the same thing as just making two bangs of shinsu. Of course, using different kinds of control in each bang is a difficult task, but you are only considered to have this talent if you can use both Flow Control and Reverse-Flow Control in the same bang.

The best example is Hwajeopgongpasul (화접공파술, hwajuhpgongpahsool; hanja unknown, maybe something like 禍接空波術, meaning "Catastrophic Direct Air Wave Technique"), a technique only taught to FUG members. This technique is a very destructive "Damage Technique" (타격술, tahgyeoksool; 打擊術). Once your body is in contact with your opponent's, you forcefully "reverse-flow control" the flow of shinsu in your opponent's body by accelerating the flow of shinsu inside your own body. You then "flow control" the returning shock inside your own body to protect yourself from the backlash. This is a dangerous technique that destroys everything in contact with your body while leaving you completely unharmed.

Source
SIU's Private Blog. Text is from [Text form ] (Two kinds of shinsu manipulation). Directly translated by GoDai.

[Investigation of the TOP] 01 Shinsu -Remake ([TOP의 정체탐방] 01 신수 -Remake) by 붉은 탑 (lucifer757)
(This is a summary by an epic user, Red Tower, over at the fan cafe. By the way, not my most epic translation ^^)

Hello, it's Red Tower... The Tower of God Research Center section of the cafe has just been made. It is a very pleasant sight ^^.

I posted a few other Investigation articles earlier but excluding the first 3, I honestly didn't have much time so they weren't satisfactory. So I decided that I would remake and repost when they make a Tower of God analysis section, and here it is ^^.

Since it's the first article, I decided to post something basic to the Tower.

I shall summarize Shinsu this time haha.

''The parts in italics are places that have speculations. I tried to only put up facts, but I didn't want to delete too many of what I wrote last time so I got stuck in a tight spot. I put it in slanted text, and I'll also let you know in the text, so please take note of that.''

Basics
First, I'll organize the basic concepts of the subject of Shinsu: Bang, Myun, and Su.

Basically speaking,


 * Bang: Number


 * Myun: Area


 * Su: Concentration

Bang is the indicator of control ability.

Myun is about application area and range.

It seems Su is attack power.

We say that a Wave Wielder who controls many bangs is a skilled Wave Wielder.

Bang is the number of separate pools of shinsu you can control at once. You could say that it is the index of a Wave Wielder's skill. If you control many bangs, the variety of control proportionally increases. For example, you can use one pool for defense and the rest of them for up down left right attacks. However, if you use that many bangs, the mental and physical stress that you experience increases.

Myun is the area that a bang takes up. Rather than separate bullets of shinsu, it is the value that relates to environmental changes. A traditional Wave Wielder is one that alters the flow of shinsu to make a strategically advantageous environment, but to manipulate the entire environment of the battlefield like that would require one to manipulate shinsu as wide as that. Probably, the person with a high value of Myun would be the person closest to a traditional Wave Wielder, Baekryun. (Although Enryu... is difficult to catch up to...)

Su is the concentration of shinsu, so it's a value that relates to attack power. It is the most important value to an offensive Wave Wielder, and decides the force of the shinsu bullet. ''Probably, since su decides the attack power, people other than Wave Wielders may have high values. This would be people like Urek or Kun Edan, who are highly-ranked Fishermen, Spear Keepers, etc.''

"Well, actually... the concentration of that barrier of shinsu doesn't seem to be particularly high."

Besides what Headon did, the most clearly defined use of Shinsu in Tower of God would be Lero- Ro's shinsu barrier.

This shinsu barrier was actually not a very powerful use of shinsu. Out of Bang, Myun, and Su, Myun is surface area, not height (GoDai: Myun is the surface area shinsu takes up when seen from bird's eye view). The surface area was close to a line, it was all composed of a single pool, and it was close to the daily concentration on a particular floor, so even if it was difficult to keep shinsu in the form of a "barrier", it could be said that it wasn't a too highly-skilled use of shinsu.

This is Lero- Ro's Shinsu Pressure technique.

Although more normal and wider in range compared to the barrier, it was still not a shinsu battle of a practical level.

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"That light... actually...?"'

"That guy... is a Wave Wielder!!"

'''Was it too many pictures... '''

Actually, it was Rauloi who showed the best example of an offensive Wave Wielder fighting so I wanted to show you the whole process with detail. What you see above seems to be a use of shinsu with a very high su, rather than myun.

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This is Bam's shinsu bullets.

Here, he didn't use 3 bangs; SIU just didn't want to make it boring like he did for Ho's scene so he showed it one scene. Bam actually shot 3 times, one bang each time. Up until that time, Ho was still more skilled than Bam.

Basic Properties of Shinsu
Now, shall I go into the professional explanation?

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"As all of you already know, shinsu exists anywhere in the Tower, and is a precious material that allows us to breathe and provides us with moisture in the Tower. There is no limit to shinsu. Just by using shinsu, one can attain immortality or godlike power. There is also a famous rumor that the famous Enryu can create life using shinsu."

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"Very long ago, Jahad, who came into the primitive Tower, taught civilization to the inhabitants, and conquered the Tower at the top, said "This place is too boggy"" - SIU 

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As Lero- Ro stated, shinsu basically provides moisture and air to organisms. However, the true scare of shinsu lies in its destructiveness.

According to SIU's blog,

'''Controlling shinsu is an important condition in order to become a Ranker. In other words, it is difficult to climb the Tower if you cannot control shinsu. '''


 * 1. Shinsu exists anywhere.


 * 2. It flows without ever stopping.


 * 3. Shinsu is created from nothingness.


 * 4. It is consumed by existing things.


 * 5. In low concentrations, it shows characteritics of a gaseous state, while in high concentrations it is closest to a liquid state.

The properties of shinsu revealed by SIU previously is about this much. However, we can confirm a few more properties. The best example would be attack methods using shinsu. Combining all the information released so far, we can think of 5 ways of utilizing shinsu.

5 Main Ways in Which Shinsu is Used
For example Quant's "Heukrin" is a skill that hides the body by swallowing up nearby light,
 * 1. Compression of Shinsu: The use of shinsu that other cafe users think of the most. It's attacking the enemy by compressing shinsu to increase its concentration. When Lero- Ro created the barrier, he said that he compressed nearby shinsu into the form of a barrier and shot it.
 * 2. Generation of Shinsu: Shinsu does NOT follow the law of conservation of mass, so it can be created from nothing. We have a reason to differentiate between compression and generation. In my opinion, I think the technique Lero- ro that used would also involve generation, not just compression.
 * Shinsu Compression vs. Generation: Compressing and generating shinsu both can increase the concentration of shinsu. However, the main difference is that compression is compression, while generation is like concentration increase. (There is no exact term.) In other words, shinsu compression drags in nearby shinsu to increase concentration, but shinsu generation just increases concentration by creating more shinsu. This phenomenon only occurs because shinsu can be created and destroyed, but due to that reason this phenomenon cannot occur in real life. It's not shown that the nearby shinsu levels go down when Lero- Ro and Rauloi use their attacks. Especially in the attack that Lero- Ro uses on the guy who can't go in, he increases the concentration around him to that of 30F and above, but the nearby shinsu concentrations don't go down that much. That means the technique that Lero- Ro used here must've involved a lot of generation and only a bit of concentration.
 * 3. Property Conversion of Shinsu: Yuga said this in the original. Shinsu is all-capable, and can become things light firand light. That means the most efficient way to use shinsu is not only to increase its concentration, but to also make it more offensive. Some similar examples would be Urek Majino, whose shinsu was said to be very fast and agressive, and Blue Advance Kun Edan, whose shinsu has been stated to take on the characteristics of lightning. I'm thinking Rauloi's attack was of this sort. (Although there probably was other stuff involved too.) When Lero- Ro used shinsu to press, he said that was the usual concentration in 30F and above, right? We then know that he increased the concentration of shinsu. However, Rauloi... I think the feeling was different from that. Although it didn't take on the power of the property of something like fire or lightning... Like a Energy-pa? (Kamehameha?) It was that kind of shinsu. I'm speculating that it involved changing shinsu into a more offensive property.
 * 4. Body Reinforcement using Shinsu: A technique that is extremely handy to Rankers; I think this technique would be a must for Fishermen, Scouts, and Spear Keepers. A technique that strengthens the body, it was tried for the first time by Ha Yurin, one of the 10 house heads and leader of the Ha family. (She is the great-grandmother of Ha Yuri Jahad, and is one of the more highly-rated amongst the 10 house heads in terms of physical ability.) Althoug in the original, Anak Jahad Jr. has been clearly shown using it, it seems that in reality Andorthy and several Fishermen have also used it, and I assume that other positions will also have mastered it to some degree. (Especially Akryung, Rak, etc.) It's like a self-buff that heightens basic physical abilities so it is a vital skill for close-up battle classes.
 * 5. Special Techniques using Shinsu: Although this could be included in the 3rd type, I believe this form was shown with much detail in the Hide-and-Seek test.

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and this is the best example, Bam's "Stop" that makes the opponent incapable of moving. It feels like a technique that a supportive traditional Wave Wielder would use, rather than an offensive Wave Wielder. Like shown in the series, it is a technique that is very good for aiding teammates in combat. It is also useful for creating chaos and confusion amongst enemies.

If there's other forms of using shinsu besides the above five, please add them.

Shinsu Physics
Below is an analysis of shinsu in terms of physics.

Although you can actually ignore most of them, I think it'll be useful for understanding the universe that the Tower is based in.


 * 1. Shinsu does NOT follow particle theory. Hm... Shinsu is more continuous rather than quantum. It is difficult to see Shinsu as being composed of little grains. Seeing how it exists by density, I believe we should say that it is close to continuous theory. (Hm... If there are no grains, are they quanta?) (GoDai: So Shinsu is NOT made of tiny little units. It is just one big watery mass, even at the nanometer level. Unlike atoms and energy, it is not composed of little bits or packets. There is no vacuum in a pool of shinsu, ever. You could say that it is truly homogenenous, as it will always be the same, no matter how much you cut it down.)


 * 2. Shinsu does NOT follow the law of conservation of mass. Shinsu can be created and destroyed (generated and consumed). It's as if it just appears out of nowhere, but disappears after being used.


 * 3. Shinsu can be freely converted. Shinsu can freely be converted from one state into another. It can materialize into a physical object, and can also create life. However, considering the point of number 2, I'm think we could apply the second law of thermodynamics in terms of basic physics to this... I think. (GoDai: With shinsu, alchemy is legit)


 * 4. The laws of shinsu are not consistent. This is pretty much the opposite of the hypothesis that "All laws of physics are consistent relatively". In the words, in real life a law of physics that occurred in one place should be the same in another place, but shinsu does one thing in one place and doesn't do it in some other place. Especially, different laws apply on different floors. (GoDai: This breaks Einstein's first postulate of special relativity)

Review
This is what I've analyzed about Shinsu so far. ((Although at the end I drifed off into the Astral world...)) Only a little bit about shinsu has been revealed so I'm planning to continuously reinforce this page, and please tell me what needs to be reinforced so that I can.

Personally, the reason I like Tower of God is this Shinsu. It's similar to Mana in other fantasy works... SIU has turned it into a substance-like concept. Ah, seeing Mana as a substance rather than a formless energy is a different feeling; it was a fresh shock for me, and although I do like webtoons that involve things like climbing this sort of Tower, the concept of Shinsu was another big reason I came to really like Tower of God. Also, should I say that Water is related to Sky/Heaven, Divine Punishment stories which are related to Life, Creation, Purity and the like, so it represents them?

Actually, I reorganized the previous Investigation articles, and there were many overlapping parts, I still plan to continuously reinforce the parts about shinsu. I'm also planning to delete the Investigation articles on the Remake section, and in case there are users who want to save comments, I will leave the previous article for a week. Thank you for reading this long post. This was Red Tower ^^

Source
Directly translted by GoDai from [TOP의 정체탐방 01 신수 -Remake - SIU Tower of God Official Fan Cafe].