On this Earth stood a mysterious tower where the gods lived. Its name was—the Tower of Korin!
Legend had it that anyone who climbed from the bottom of the tower all the way to the top through their own strength would meet a仙 with mysterious powers. And if they drank the sacred water the仙 gave them, their strength would multiply several times over.
For countless years, countless people had challenged the tower in pursuit of strength or for some other purpose. Unfortunately, almost all of them had met with miserable failure...
Some had climbed for days, run out of food and other supplies along the way, and then fallen all the way down, smashing into meat pies! Others had tried to fly up in planes, hoping to reach the top in one go, but they hadn't succeeded either. They always seemed to miss something for no reason, or else got shot down.
Over time, people had gradually reached a conclusion: anyone who tried to climb the tower without relying on their own strength would either meet with misfortune or never see the top.
Of course, that didn't apply to people with connections or powerful backers!
Like today, for instance.
Directly above the Tower of Korin, almost at the edge of Earth's atmosphere, stood the Lookout—a place even more exalted than the tower, one that ordinary people could never reach. Little Annie, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, and a certain enormously fat man named Yajirobe had arrived there aboard an aircraft that had gone "putt-putt-putt" through Earth's atmosphere.
Normally, if they strictly followed the proper procedures, an aircraft would never be able to find this place, let alone reach it. But for people with connections, that sort of minor problem wasn't a problem at all! They had come because the Guardian had