Even on the country's largest site, the Black Tower Climbing Gallery, consecutive S++ clears were still a huge topic of discussion.
It was a site frequented by many players—but of course, there were plenty of ordinary people as well.
└ Orc sections are one thing, but trolls will be tough.
└ I tried it myself. It's no joke.
└ Heh heh heh, how are you supposed to deal with that terrifying regeneration? I gave up on climbing past the early 30s a long time ago.
└ Just cut off their heads.
└ You make that sound easy?
└ I think the comment above is right. Three days ago there was a site-wide notice for Floor 25, but nothing since then.
└ Guess he hit his limit. Honestly, trolls are hard.
└ What a disappointment. So he got stuck on Floor 26.
└ Disappointment, my ass. Clearing Floor 25 is already amazing. Has anyone here even cleared Floor 1?
The reason there hadn't been a site-wide notice for three days was nothing special.
The protagonist of the clear had simply been busy moving house.
But who would know that?
In that instant—
The comment section suddenly erupted into chaos.
└ Huh?
└ Gasp!
└ Oh!
└ Whoa.
└ What?
└ Cr—
└ For real?
└ He's insane. Completely insane.
└ My god! This is legit, totally legit.
Comments streamed down endlessly.
Most of them were from IDs that had verified player status.
└ What is it? What happened?
└ It just popped up. Floor 26, S++ rank clear.
└ So trolls are chumps now? Who said he got stuck? Reflect on yourselves.
└ Who is this guy, seriously? I want to see his face at least.
└ If his face gets revealed, he'll be more popular than Yoo Cheol-min.
The appearance of a new hero.
South Korea's first consecutive S++-rank clear up to Floor 26 of the Black Tower.
The ripple only grew stronger.
People went wild with national pride, and the media and broadcasters moved quickly.
Players whose faces were already known appeared on TV talk shows, sharing stories and comparing their own experiences to explain just how incredible an S++ clear really was.
Major corporations also acted fast.
The Ilsung Group fired the opening shot.
If Floor 27 got an S++ clear, it'd be 27%.
If Floor 28 got an S++ clear, 28%.
They planned to run this for fifteen days.
It even affected the stock market.
The value of South Korean stocks surged dramatically.
The composite stock index skyrocketed without limit.
※ ※ ※
Ding-dong!
The doorbell of the newly moved-in apartment rang.
Click!
He opened the door.
"Player Bong Juhyeok, your food delivery is here. Ten orders of fried chicken, correct?"
"Ah—s-sorry for the trouble."
Food made less spicy for Kosak's sake.
He'd boldly eaten tteokbokki, saying that now that he'd been promoted to SSR he couldn't remain a spice weakling—but it ended in disastrous failure, and he'd nearly crossed the threshold of death.
"Still, that's an impressive amount of food."
"Well, after finishing a clear, I get insanely hungry…"
"Hahaha, you could be a mukbang YouTuber. Here you go."
"…Thank you."
Customized resident services for a player officetel.
Delivery was only allowed up to the first-floor security office.
Bringing items to each unit was handled by the building's management staff.
They even ran small errands.
Dropping off and picking up laundry, dispatching cleaners when needed.
With so many players living here, the advantages were endless.
The officetel had every facility imaginable.
Restaurants that could cover all three meals, cafés, a gym, coin karaoke rooms, a laundromat, even a swimming pool.
I should've moved in sooner.
This kind of luxury was a first in his twenty-five years of life.
Getting exposed for an S++ clear during the awakening evaluation was a godsend.
At first, he'd thought he was screwed.
He'd only wanted a standard contract, planning to quietly clear floors and leave.
But to get exposed?
How much he'd regretted it.
He should've done repeat missions instead of clearing a new floor—then no one would've noticed.
And why did Kosak have to run around making such a fuss?
Damn it all—the third clause of the Three Principles for Summoned Beings.
Yet that incident became the catalyst for an elite-team contract.
Under normal circumstances, such a contract would've been impossible.
Body-cam footage was mandatory.
Elite contracts were decided based on recorded clear footage.
He might have been the only person ever to receive an elite contract without filming.
I thought elite players lived dangerously and would die in the Tower any day now.
But now?
Life was great.
Could a mindset really change this completely?
Well, whatever.
That's just how weaklings are.
He had just finished the Floor 26 S++ clear.
The mission was to eliminate twenty Marsh Trolls.
Floor 26 was infamous for being brutally difficult.
Because of the Marsh Trolls' regeneration?
No.
It was the swamp itself that drove people insane.
Of course, thanks to the Shadow Step skill, he got through relatively smoothly.
Juhyeok took down one himself.
With the barbarian Gobang tanking and the SSR Kosak providing escort, he smashed the Marsh Troll's skull.
Perhaps because of the power of Soul-Origin Thunderclap, the Marsh Troll didn't even get the chance to regenerate.
"Since you worked hard, how about some chicken…?"
In the living room, Kosak and Gobang were kneeling neatly, completely absorbed in the TV.
"…Heh."
"…"
A music chart program.
Cheerful girl groups danced and sang on screen—
"Uh, hello?"
They didn't even pretend to hear him.
Which was understandable.
In Juhyeok's old studio apartment, he'd had a worn-out 27-inch TV.
The TV in the new officetel was 85 inches.
The image quality and size weren't even comparable.
It was basically experiencing a whole new world.
"…Aren't you going to eat the chicken?"
Ahh!
No different from three-year-old kids totally hooked on children's cartoons.
Juhyeok set the chicken down in a corner and watched TV with them.
They really are pretty.
Lively teens and twenty-somethings in stylish outfits, dancing and singing energetically—would chicken even register in their eyes?
But once the girl group ended and it was the boy group's turn—
As if by magic, the two of them immediately lost interest.
"Oh! Fried chicken-ssmka?"
"I eat more."
Now the chicken caught their attention?
"Mr. Kosak?"
"Yesm?"
"Do you have a girlfriend? Or… did you?"
"Can't date— no, didn't date."
Yeah, right.
"Anyway, dating is no good. …If I date, the sharp tension I keep honed gets dulled. Assassin's fate."
"Sure, sure."
Sharp tension?
No idea who he was talking about.
"But why doesn't Summoner Bong have a girlfriend?"
A counterattack?
Fine, he'd play along.
"…It's the fate of an elite player. If I date, my unbreakable willpower might weaken."
"Ohhh! You really are similar to me. People who do great things never have time for romance."
"R-right? If I hadn't awakened as a player, I probably would've had a girlfriend."
"Hehehehe!"
"Hahahaha!"
A weakling always wins through self-justification.
A mental victory, that is.
"By the way, I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For not even buying you a roll of toilet paper for the housewarming."
"Toilet paper, what are you—"
"Oh! Are we working on Floor 27 tomorrow too?"
"Since we already touched Floor 26, let's just push straight to Floor 29."
"Yesm!"
Floor 30 was on hold.
Because the cooldown on random summoning was steadily approaching.
Thirteen days left.
If they finished up to Floor 29, ten days would remain.
For Floor 30's eighty trolls and the twin-headed troll, he'd summon one more person and clear it together.
Then what about those ten days?
Repeat easy, comfortable floors and work on skill proficiency.
※ ※ ※
Juhyeok's mother, Hong Geumja, shook hands with attorney Lee Changseok and expressed her gratitude.
"Thank you for your hard work, counselor. We won thanks to you."
"Hahaha! I wanted to get you more compensation, but it ended up being only ten billion won…"
"No, this is more than enough. I was going to donate it anyway."
"Are you sure?"
"I planned to donate it from the start."
"Then I won't take my legal fees either."
It didn't even need to go to trial.
Public opinion wasn't on their side.
Decisively, when it was announced that water purifiers in government offices nationwide would be switched to another company, Jinsemul Co. surrendered completely, raising both hands in defeat.
"Oh! Should I look into a suitable place to donate?"
"Yes, please. If possible, focus on orphanages—and put the donor name as my son's."
"Your son's name is…?"
"Juhyeok. Bong Juhyeok."
"Understood. I'll take care of it immediately."
They got compensation, an apology from the abusive customer and headquarters—
It should've been a happy outcome, but Hong Geumja's expression wasn't bright.
How could she not worry when her son was working as a player?
She could only pray desperately.
That nothing would happen, and that he'd stay safe.
His father, Bong Cheolsu, was hospitalized in the VIP ward of Ilsung Hospital.
It was a luxurious room.
A reception area, premium sofa, caregiver bed, spacious bathroom.
Perhaps because of that, the younger son, Bong Minhyuk, came straight to the hospital after school every day.
"Son?"
"Yes!"
"Is this your house? Want me to stamp your attendance card?"
"Hah! It's way too comfortable. And caregiver meals are free too. The food's amazing."
"We'll be moving soon."
"I'll just stay until then."
That little punk.
Coming to the hospital not to take care of him, but to make his own life comfortable?
Doesn't he have any friends?
…Well, he understood.
Whose son was he, after all?
He'd just gotten a call from his eldest son.
He seemed safe, which was a relief.
Honestly, the more he thought about it, the more it felt like a mystery.
Why on earth did he decide to become a player?
If it were Minhyuk, he wouldn't have even considered it.
"Dad, you can stop worrying about hyung. I looked it up—elite players actually have a much lower death rate than regular players."
"Is that so?"
"They get professional support teams. They even provide essential items for clearing."
Even so, worrying was unavoidable.
"Turn on the TV. Let's see if there's a story about your mom."
"The news channel?"
"Yeah."
Right on cue, breaking news came on.
"Incredible. How do you even get twenty-six in a row?"
"At school, everyone talks about that every day."
"Oh! What floor did Juhyeok say he was on?"
"When I talked to him yesterday, he said somewhere in the twenties. I don't know the exact floor."
"Hmmm."
Bong Cheolsu tilted his head slightly.
"Could it be… that the S++ record holder is your brother?"
"Oh come on, Dad, not this again. Just eat your food. You have to say things that are actually possible.
Then Juhyeok getting an elite contract is possible?"
"Huh? That's true too. …Still, there's no way it's him, right? He's one of the most famous players in the world."
"Right? I was just saying it on a whim."
Neither of them knew much about the Black Tower,
but they knew how incredible an S++ rank was.
The conditions that measured a player's talent—
Bravery and fighting spirit, perseverance, an unbroken heart…
Unfortunately, none of those applied to their son Juhyeok.
A macho man, my foot.
He was a textbook weakling.
※ ※ ※
Black Tower, Floor 27.
The mission was to kill twenty Ice Trolls within four hours.
Just like the Marsh Troll mission, the environment was the real problem.
You had to hunt Ice Trolls on a rugged peak covered in eternal snow.
He'd done a mission in a similar environment before.
The cold had pierced even his padded jacket and nearly scared him half to death.
When players first started tackling Ice Trolls, the cold was what caused them the most trouble.
Later on, items were developed, making it much easier.
Ding-dong!
He opened the door at the sound of the bell.
"Player Bong, I brought what you requested."
It was Team Leader Jeon Gwang-il.
He'd come to deliver the item Juhyeok had requested to borrow.
"I really don't know how to thank you for always taking such good care of me."
"Not at all. Supporting elite players so they can clear the Tower is our job."
"I'll use it well and return it."
"Then good luck on Floor 27."
What Jeon Gwang-il brought was a one-piece leather armor set made from volcanic orc hide, including shoes and a hat.
There was nothing better for blocking out the cold.
Volcanic orc hide often appeared as a reward around Floor 24.
Then why do I never get item rewards?
It was always magic stones, and occasionally Tower-exclusive healing potions.
Even the energy barrier had been a special privilege.
Let's go.
He summoned Gobang and Kosak.
[Entering South Korea's Black Tower, Floor 27.]
Fwooooo—
The moment they entered, a howling icy wind swept over them.
Even though it was a safe zone, the chill was palpable.
But it wasn't cold.
The gentle warmth radiating from the volcanic orc hide made it almost hot.
"Aren't you cold, Mr. Gobang?"
"A warrior does not feel cold."
"And you, Mr. Kosak?"
"Hmm, I'm SSR-ssmda, SSR! D-d-d-dak, c-c-cold like this, with magic, d-d-d-dak, I d-drive it away."
Judging by how his teeth were chattering nonstop, he seemed extremely cold.
"…Want me to take it off for you?"
"Gasp! N-no-ssmda. D-d-d-dak, if I move, d-d-d-dak, I'll be fine."
They needed to finish quickly.
He accepted the mission—
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Gobang climbed the snowy mountain as if it were nothing.
If he were just a bit smarter, Gobang would be a real SSR.
Kosak went berserk.
The assassin ran around wildly, as if trying to overcome the cold.
Ah, it's warm.
It felt like lying under blankets in a heated room.
He was almost getting sleepy.
Good items really were worth their price.
Should I start moving soon?
At least he should kill one.
That was when—
[Ice Trolls defeated: 20/20]
[You have succeeded in the Floor 27 mission.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Reward: Magic Stones 2.7 kg]
[Reward: Tower-exclusive Holy Sword of the Paladin Commander of the Roland Holy Kingdom]
"Huh?"
Already?
He hadn't even warmed up yet.
[Notice: You have achieved an S++ clear rating on Floor 27 of the Black Tower (Korea).]
[S++ Clear Reward: A Platinum Badge has been awarded.]
Kosak stood there with flushed cheeks, snot running from his nose.
"Hehehe."
Sniff!
The snot that had been hanging out slid right back into his nostrils.
"…"
Looks like he wanted to finish fast because of the cold.
He must've been freezing.
That aside…
An item finally dropped.
And it was a weapon, no less.
[Reward: Tower-exclusive Holy Sword of the Paladin Commander of the Roland Holy Kingdom]
A black sword—
A two-handed sword.
Even holding it with one hand was difficult.
Just dumb stabbing and slashing.
You had to see blood right in front of you.
"Hmm."
He already had a sturdy mace.
He'd sell it later.