Not one, but two—no, three.
It all began from the 16th floor.
[Entering the 16th floor of the Black Tower of the Republic of Korea.]
[Physical abilities have been enhanced to match your level.]
[Traits and combat skills are now available.]
His physical capabilities rose yet another notch.
Kosak moved to the front to receive the mission.
Juhyeok followed behind him.
But then—
"Gobang! What are you doing, not following us?"
The barbarian Gobang acted as if he hadn't heard a thing.
He didn't even look over.
Instead, Gobang stared blankly at Juhyeok.
Got a temper, huh.
Looks like he at least knows whose orders to listen to.
"Please follow us, Mr. Gobang."
"Understood. Gobang absolutely obeys summoner."
Only then did the barbarian warrior Gobang move to follow.
From now on, I'll have to issue commands one by one.
Even if it's annoying.
[16th Floor Mission: Eliminate 30 Goblin Scouts.]
[Time Limit: Within 5 hours.]
[Completion Condition: Goblin Scouts 0/30.]
[Failure Condition: Death or mission abandonment.]
The moment the mission appeared, the forest grew restless.
Rustle, rustle.
Something was moving.
"Summoner Bong, activate your energy shield. Also be ready to use Shadow Step immediately."
"Got it."
Right then!
"Kekek!"
"Keeeek!"
Goblin scouts suddenly appeared.
Judging by their numbers, they must have been lying in ambush.
'That's way more than fifty.'
Spit! Spipipip!
Black, needle-like projectiles flew toward the three of them.
From the front, from behind, from the ground, from the treetops.
"Dodge!"
Clack, clack-clack—
"I'll block them!"
Kosak knocked away the poison darts flying toward Juhyeok with his daggers and charged into the forest.
But then—
'Huh?'
The barbarian warrior stood there without moving, even as poison darts struck his body.
They didn't even embed themselves properly.
When he shook his body once, the darts fell off in a clatter.
"Mr. Gobang? What are you doing? Don't just stand there getting hit—go wipe them all out."
In that instant—
The barbarian warrior's eyes flashed like a wild beast's.
"Receive order. Kill them all. Kill human assassin too."
"Except Mr. Kosak."
"Assassin excluded."
Such a high-maintenance summoned creature.
But—
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
"Kuaaaaaah!!!"
With a thunderous roar, the barbarian warrior joined the battlefield.
The goblin scouts fired poison darts, but they bounced off his thick hide without piercing it.
Grab!
As soon as a scout's head was caught in his massive hand—
Crunch!
Splat!
He crushed it outright.
"…What the—"
That grip strength was absurd.
Is that really a human?
Kosak weaved through the poison darts, slicing goblin throats, but the barbarian warrior Gobang didn't bother with such finesse.
Poison darts, arrows—it didn't matter.
He charged forward at a terrifying speed, grabbed their heads, and crushed them.
Crunch! Splat! Crack!
Or he'd grab a leg and slam them into the ground.
Whirl! Thud! Thud-thud-thud!
Overwhelming power.
In the midst of it all, the barbarian looked back at Juhyeok with an innocent expression, as if asking, Am I doing well?
"Yes, well done, Gobang!"
"I got praised by summoner. I do better than assassin."
That's true.
At least when it comes to combat.
'And this barbarian is only Rare rank?'
He deserves at least SR—no, even SSR.
'Maybe he's Rare because he's dumb.'
That must be it.
Being stupid is a fatal flaw.
Gobang completely dominated the battlefield.
Goblins flew through the air.
Not because they had wings, but because the barbarian threw them.
Huge trees were uprooted and hurled.
House-sized boulders were sent flying.
Goblins that failed to dodge were crushed one after another.
Kosak nearly got flattened by a rock himself.
"Hey, you crazy bas—"
What a lucky pull.
The barbarian warrior tanked every poison dart attack from the goblin scouts with his bare body alone.
With all the aggro drawn away, Kosak's attacks became even more ferocious.
Juhyeok also pulled a mace out of his inventory.
The energy shield was already active.
Ting! Tingtingtingting!
Poison darts struck the shield and fell away.
'…Whoa! What if I didn't have this shield?'
This is nice.
'Didn't expect to test the energy shield here.'
Special rewards really are insane.
No wonder I can't give up the Platinum Badge.
'Then what about skills?'
I'd only practiced alone so far—how would it feel in real combat?
'Let's try it.'
Juhyeok stepped forward.
'Shadow Step.'
Swish!
Juhyeok vanished in an instant.
Only an afterimage remained.
Poison darts struck the shadow and passed right through it.
Pipipip!
Swish! Swa-swa-swat!
'This is busted.'
Is there a better skill for escaping than this?
There was a reason Kosak told him to learn this first.
He was getting more proficient by the second.
To the point where the poison darts no longer felt scary.
The scouts focused their fire on Juhyeok, but—
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish…
They could only be helplessly toyed with by his rapid movement and misleading afterimages.
'This is fun.'
Way more than I expected!
'Do I actually have talent for this?'
No way!
That's ridiculous.
In the end—
[Notice: You have achieved an S++ clear rank on the 16th floor of the Black Tower (Korea).]
[S++ Clear Reward: A Platinum Badge has been awarded.]
Two is definitely better than one.
No—was it three?
※ ※ ※
Hannam-dong, Seoul.
Commissioner Park Gyeongsu and Team Leader Jeon Gwang-il were chatting over warm tea.
The S++ clear record holder—Player Bong Juhyeok.
They had even sold him equipment at dirt-cheap prices.
"Whew, that's a load off my mind. Was Player Bong satisfied?"
"Yes, it seems so. He said he plans to climb the 16th floor this evening."
"Oh? Then it was worth it."
Please let him have already started climbing.
And set another record while he's at it.
"By the way, should we keep Player Bong's affiliation as it is? Or continue pretending we don't know?"
"Pretending we don't know is the better option."
"Why?"
"First, it lets us hide the existence of an S++ record holder. Second, given Player Bong's personality, this approach is more efficient."
"Hm."
"We just watch quietly, and when there's something we can support—like this time—we step in immediately."
Commissioner Park nodded.
Honestly, he still didn't quite understand it.
They'd practically tried to shower him with benefits, yet he didn't even blink.
"Well then, I'll head out. You?"
"Player Bong said he's tackling the 16th floor today, so I'll confirm that before leaving."
"Think he can pull it off again? From the 16th floor onward, it gets extremely difficult."
"Well, let's wait a little and see—"
Just then!
Knock, knock.
Someone entered the commissioner's office.
It was Lee Min-ah, a player and section chief at the Administration.
"Oh, Chief Lee, what's going on?"
"I-it just came in."
"What did—ah! Don't tell me?"
"Yes. A record of an S++ clear on the 16th floor of the Tower."
"Haha."
Sell him a few pieces of gear cheap, and he clears it immediately?
"Consecutive S++ clears up to the 16th floor… is that even possible?"
Chief Lee Min-ah replied,
"In baseball terms, it's like a single pitcher achieving sixteen consecutive perfect games."
"That's a crazy record."
It wasn't something to be happy about unconditionally.
At this level, would neighboring countries really stay quiet?
"We must thoroughly conceal the information. Keep a close eye on any movements from China or Japan in particular."
"Yes."
They also needed to continue building trust.
"Form a dedicated task force. And include Player Bong's family among those to be supported."
Helping the player himself was one thing—but if his family also received benefits?
That might be even more effective.
"But don't make a show of it."
"…If we don't make it obvious, won't he fail to realize it was us?"
"Player Bong will figure it out. He's timid, not stupid."
"Yes. I'll take full responsibility and move forward with it."
Commissioner Park Gyeongsu had found his goal.
During the remainder of his term, he would —no matter what—bring Player Bong Juhyeok into the elite team.
※ ※ ※
Korea's Tower climbing record stood at the 65th floor.
Tied for second place worldwide alongside Norway and Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, China and Japan—both fellow East Asian countries—lagged far behind.
In truth, information about each floor of the Tower had come to be regarded as a public asset shared by all of humanity. Knowing what appeared on which floor and what type of missions awaited was not particularly difficult.
The real issue was the players.
Since a nation's fate depended on a single player, securing highly skilled players was the key.
That was why fierce scouting wars broke out, or why talented players were classified as national assets and protected under strict supervision.
Yoo Cheol-min, who had single-handedly cleared the Korean Black Tower up to the 65th floor and was now challenging the 66th, was a player coveted by countries all over the world.
Japan and China, in particular, were relentlessly persistent in their attempts to recruit Korean players.
It was practically a silent war.
If Yoo Cheol-min were to change his nationality, that country would immediately surge up to the 65th floor.
China had a massive population.
Naturally, the number of players was proportional.
Yet China's Tower progress stood at only a completed 58th floor and an ongoing attempt at the 59th.
Compared to Korea's completed 65th floor and challenge of the 66th, the gap was glaring.
They had tried every method imaginable.
Granting heroic titles to first-clear players, showering them with rewards…
The production of magic stones was enormous.
As a result, China's economy was flourishing.
But the problem remained—the stagnant Tower progress.
Near Shanghai, where the Black Tower stood, only about two months remained until the deadline to clear the unchallenged upper floors.
If the collapse countdown were to begin then?
They couldn't afford to just sit back and do nothing.
They needed aggressive countermeasures.
Namely, attracting outstanding players through naturalization policies.
So where would they find such talent?
In the neighboring country—Korea.
Talented players were everywhere.
Even if they couldn't recruit Korea's top player Yoo Cheol-min, just naturalizing any member of the elite team would eliminate concerns about Tower collapse.
Public opinion? National pride?
None of that mattered.
Those things had collapsed long ago.
And then came the news from Korea.
A player with consecutive S++ clears up to the 16th floor?
No one like that had ever been heard of or witnessed before.
How could they sit still?
There were hardly any pro-China politicians in Korean politics, so under-the-table maneuvering was difficult—but they still had something to rely on.
Ethnic Koreans of Chinese descent with Chinese roots, holding Korean nationality. Naturally cooperative toward China.
Even now, they were exerting every ounce of effort to gather information on the elite team and the S++ record holder.
※ ※ ※
Japan's situation was even more desperate than other countries'.
There was only one Tower, but its location was the problem.
Japan's Black Tower was located west of Mount Fuji.
It was far from major cities, but experts predicted that if the Tower collapsed, it would affect the seismic fault lines.
An unprecedented massive earthquake could strike the Kanto region.
The sinking of the Japanese archipelago could become a reality.
Even the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant might not be safe, raising fears of a tragedy repeating itself like Fukushima.
Korea, by comparison, was fortunate.
Its Tower wasn't in a major city or on a fault line.
That was why Japan harbored such intense jealousy toward Korea.
Why was Japan's Tower located on a fault line, while Korea's was tucked away in a sparsely populated rural mountain area?
Why were Korean players superior to Japanese players? Wasn't Japan, by common consensus, a gaming powerhouse?
When the Tower first appeared, Japan had been confident.
Tower climbing was practically a game system.
With countless hikikomori in Japan doing nothing but staying home and playing console games all day, they thought Tower climbing would be easy once those people awakened as players.
But the results were disastrous.
Tower progress: the 56th floor.
Dead last among Korea, China, and Japan.
They could somehow struggle through the 50s, but once the 60s arrived?
Tower collapse would be inevitable.
Japan's choice mirrored China's.
Bring Korean elite team players to Japan.
Or recruit the much-talked-about S++ clear record holder.
At least Japan had many pro-Japan politicians embedded within Korean politics. By leveraging them, good results would soon follow.
※ ※ ※
The 16th floor was cleared with an S++ rating.
Kosak said the 17th, 18th, 19th, and even 20th floors would pose no problem.
"Summoner Bong, I almost pissed myself. To think you'd turn a dumb barbarian like Gobang into something actually useful."
Honestly, he was stronger than Mr. Kosak—but…
"Come on! It was only possible because you led the way, Mr. Kosak."
"Hehehe, you flatter me."
"Hahaha!"
Then he looked at the barbarian warrior.
"Hey, Gobang, you bastard! Stop stuffing your face!"
"Kitchen tasty."
"Chicken! Is this a kitchen? Chicken!"
"Yes. Kitchen."
"Ah, for fuck's sake!"
After a clear, a party was standard practice.
So they ordered chicken.
Considering the barbarian warrior's size, they ordered ten chickens—but they were disappearing in an instant.
He'd grab a box and dump it straight into his mouth.
Crunch, crunch!
He even chewed the bones.
"Summoner is good person. If feed kitchen, I give my life."
"Chicken!"
"Right. Kitchen."
"Jesus Christ…"
It was just chicken.
The 20th floor was right ahead.
Assuming everyone received Platinum Badges—
'What will the special reward be?'
A skill? An item? Trait enhancement?
Anything was fine, as long as it made him safer.
Even during the 16th-floor goblin scout extermination mission, there had been danger for him.
Without Shadow Step and the energy shield, he would have been hit by poison darts for sure.
If he imagined having neither skills nor protection?
He had to stay cautious at all times.
Overconfidence was absolutely forbidden.
Let's deal with the 17th floor first.