At last, my first item.
Not a magic stone, and not a healing potion.
Not an item received as a special bonus, and not something bought from the Player Shop either.
An actual equipment item obtained as a reward for clearing a floor mission.
Equipment rewards are extremely rare.
They only show up once in a while in the Player Shop too.
And when they do, they sell immediately.
"Lucky."
A sword used by paladins—holy knights.
But at a glance, it looked extremely worn.
There was no scabbard, the blade was chipped in several places, the patterns etched into the blade had almost completely faded, and the grip was tattered and fraying.
On the plus side, it was huge and heavy.
What's a holy knight who spreads the gospel supposed to do with a greatsword this big?
Preach with a sword?
Do you believe?
No.
Then die.
Now wait, I believe—
Too late, you lost lamb!
Slash!
Kgh!
Like that.
But then I checked the description.
Effects: Increased attack power against undead enemies, Sacred Flame, Steadfast Mind, increased critical hit chance.
Limitations: Effects do not apply to enemies other than undead. Low durability—repairs are required after use.
Special Trait: A faint holy radiance dwells in the user's sword and body.
"So it does have its uses."
Still, the limitations were obvious.
Low durability, and against anything other than undead, it was basically just a normal sword.
Wait a second!
Wasn't the 60th floor supposed to be an undead zone?
I remembered hearing that.
Might sell for a high price.
Just in case, I asked Barbarian Gobang if he wanted it.
"A warrior fights with his fists."
"…"
This guy brings up "warriors" every chance he gets.
I asked Kosak too.
"Ohhh! Our Summoner Bong, moved again today by that ocean-like warm heart of yours!"
"Then would you like this sword?"
"Hehe, don't need a half-witted sword like that. Throw it in the recycling bin."
"…"
"What I use is wyvern leather armor and a dwarven-made dagger. Top-of-the-line stuff."
"Yeah, yeah."
Everyone was already so well-equipped that they didn't need some old sword.
Guess I'll have to sell it like I originally planned.
To sell a sword…
'I'll need to go to the Player Shop.'
I'd have to call ahead, get a car, go there, meet people, negotiate prices…
'Tch, way too many steps. I'll sell it later.'
Anyway, before climbing to the 30th floor, I was planning to grind repeat missions for skill proficiency and collect magic stones.
I could sell everything at once then.
'Though it's so old, I wonder if it'll even sell.'
Still, before getting rid of it—
I should try swinging it at least once.
Juhyeok stood in front of a large mirror, sword in hand.
"Hm."
Does this look okay?
It feels like I'm not holding the sword—more like I'm an ornament hanging off it.
"Heh, looks cool, Summoner Bong."
It obviously doesn't suit me. What's cool about this?
'This guy was definitely a sycophant in his past life. The kind who could ruin an entire country.'
Anyway, a brutish-looking greatsword.
It looked incredibly heavy and clumsy.
I wasn't even sure I could swing it.
"Grrngh!"
I grabbed the hilt with both hands and tried to swing.
Wobble. Wobble.
Outside the Tower, I'm just an ordinary person—I don't even have the strength to properly lift it.
My upper body got dragged around by the sword's weight.
Wobble, wobble, wobble.
"Oh! You're doing great! Totally looks like a holy knight!"
"…Buying what?"
"Huh?"
"I said holy knight."
"I'm not buying."
"Huh?"
The conversation was going nowhere, but—
"And does this really look like I'm doing well? I can't even overcome the sword's weight—I'm just wobbling around."
Flattery should have its limits.
"That's still pretty good. Outside the Tower, physical abilities and skills based on level are restricted."
Juhyeok already knew that.
"Tch, will those restrictions ever be lifted?"
"Sometimes they are."
…What?
"What do you mean, they can be lifted? You're saying players can use their abilities even outside the Tower?"
"That's right. Normally, it's impossible outside."
"But you just said it could be lifted."
"Well…"
Kosak paused, then continued.
"When the outside world becomes the Tower, the restrictions are lifted. That's the sign of destruction."
"Ah…"
He was right.
Reality itself—Earth—becoming the Tower.
Meaning the boundary between the world and the Tower disappears.
Then level scaling and skill usage would be possible.
"So if the Tower isn't conquered, that's what happens, right?"
"Y-yeah!"
Well, it wasn't some earth-shattering revelation.
Even if the Earth didn't literally turn into a Tower,
if the upper, uncleared floors couldn't be conquered and the Tower collapsed—creating a gigantic sinkhole visible even from space—
a new Tower wouldn't restart from the 1st floor.
It would begin from the uncleared upper floors of the collapsed Tower.
And if it still couldn't be conquered, the Tower would regenerate, collapse, regenerate again, collapse again.
If the entire planet turned into a ravaged wasteland riddled with holes—
whether the world became a Tower or not, it'd all be over anyway.
Which is exactly why the Tower has to be conquered.
'This is unsettling.'
What's the point of me alone playing it safe, clinging to self-preservation and safety-first living?
When everyone's about to die anyway.
No matter how much of a loser you are, you can't help but feel a sense of crisis.
※ ※ ※
Gwanghwamun, Seoul—Japanese Embassy in Korea.
In the basement of the building across the street, there was a quiet classical bar.
No sign, so you wouldn't even know it was a bar.
Only two patrons, and even the bartender was away.
One of them was Tomoda, a minister-counselor working at the embassy.
The other appeared to be a Korean player—
but was, in fact, a scout broker.
"They say they'll consider it positively if a few more conditions are added."
Not a firm yes—just a willingness to consider.
But even that was something.
Up until now, contact itself had been impossible.
The important thing was that a response had finally come.
"What kind of conditions?"
"Here. Please read this."
Tomoda read the note the Korean broker handed him.
"Hmm. Tell them these are conditions we can fully meet."
"Yes, I'll pass that along."
"Then when can we expect a definite answer?"
"Well… they said they don't plan to drag things out, regardless of the outcome."
"Hah! So they're comparing it with China's offer?"
"Oh, come on. You really think that person would go to China? They need time to settle personal matters, that's all."
Since the broker was hired by Japan, that was what he had to say.
But China was no pushover either.
They were just as desperate.
"You know this already, but until a decision is made, this has to stay absolutely secret—on both our sides."
"Hmph! Do you take me for an idiot?"
If the Korean government found out in advance, all their efforts so far would go to waste.
"Still, I'd rather not get stabbed in the back. Please make sure I'm not disappointed."
"Don't worry. He'll come to Japan in the end."
Tomoda nodded.
He had a good feeling about this.
He would definitely come.
"By the way… the 27-floor consecutive clear record made headlines, didn't it?"
"Yes. The media is in an uproar even now."
"And their identity still hasn't been revealed?"
"Well, they're keeping it under wraps, but it's only a matter of time. …Why? Are you interested?"
"It'd be a lie to say I'm not."
In truth, he was very interested.
If it were up to him, he'd want to bring that person to Japan too.
"But it's not urgent yet."
"Why not?"
"Because we need someone proven."
They didn't need an S++ clear.
What Japan urgently needed right now was a player capable of clearing the Black Tower's 57th floor.
Player Yoo Cheol-min—who had cleared up to the 65th floor.
If he came, Japan wouldn't have to worry up to the 65th floor of its Black Tower.
"If Player Yoo Cheol-min were to naturalize on our side, a typhoon would hit, wouldn't it?"
The Korean broker agreed.
"Yes. Both Korea and Japan would be utterly stunned. Just imagining it makes me shiver. This is such a huge deal that I'm literally risking my life here."
"Rest assured. We'll guarantee your status. Or how about taking this chance to move to Japan yourself?"
"Hahaha! Maybe I should?"
Japan naturalizing Yoo Cheol-min—the face of South Korea.
Calling it a typhoon wouldn't be enough.
The whole world would be turned upside down.
If things went wrong, a Korea–Japan war might even break out.
"A war, huh…"
Tomoda smirked.
A war was a price worth paying.
If Japan's Black Tower collapsed, a second Great Kanto Earthquake might occur.
In truth, Yoo Cheol-min was only a stopgap measure.
They talked big, but they expected he'd be unable to clear the 66th floor—Specters.
That was his limit.
He was meant to be used up to the 65th floor, then discarded.
The player they truly wanted was someone else.
They said it wasn't urgent, but—
the S++-grade clear record holder.
Had there ever even been such a player worldwide?
With an unprecedented streak of 27 consecutive floors.
'Korea really is lucky. How did a player like that come out of there?'
From a people steeped in servile mentality, no less.
※ ※ ※
So how do you check each country's Black Tower progress?
Simple.
A player just asks the system.
"Republic of Korea Black Tower progress status window."
Ding!
[Location]: Republic of Korea, Gangwon Province Black Tower
[Cleared]: 65 floors
[In Progress]: 66th floor
[Time Limit]: 92 days 13 hours 34 minutes 52 seconds
That's what appears.
At first, no one even knew what the time limit meant.
Or what would happen if it expired.
It was only after Mumbai collapsed that they understood.
Juhyeok, being part of the elite team, had naturally become interested in Tower progress—
but right now, what mattered more was the task in front of him.
Only the 27th floor.
He was still a long way off.
He wasn't going to rush upward.
Even a solid stone bridge should be tapped a hundred times before crossing.
Wrapped head to toe in Platinum Badge cumulative bonuses,
not a hair out of place, collecting everything that could be collected,
safety—then safety again, as he climbed.
'That was my original resolve.'
No reckless adventuring.
Know your place.
Leave the 66th floor to elite players with higher levels than mine.
There was still half the collapse deadline left, and the nation surely had its plans.
'They'll clear it soon.'
After all, South Korea had the unparalleled player Yoo Cheol-min.
What Juhyeok needed to do right now was clear the 28th and 29th floors.
"Welcome."
"Sssalute! Kosak greets Summoner Bong! Chuu!"
"Algobang's here too."
Now he was calling himself Algobang.
Wasn't that a nickname Kosak made just to mess with him?
And yet he used it like it was his real name.
'Pitiful. Just pitiful.'
A barbarian warrior who was fooled by others because he was dumb, and eventually met his death.
'I need to somehow get a Rune of Grade Enhancement and feed it to him.'
[Entering Republic of Korea Black Tower, 28th Floor.]
Jungle terrain.
Not an ordinary forest, but a dense jungle packed with gigantic trees.
It was pitch-dark, not a single ray of light penetrating through.
[28th Floor Mission: Defeat 20 Jungle Trolls.]
[Time Limit: Within 4 hours.]
"Phew, jungle trolls. If I were S-rank, it would've been a bit tough. No— even at SS-rank, soloing them for an S++ clear would've been impossible for sure."
That much made sense.
Why jungle trolls are troublesome—
They live in trees.
Their bodies are smaller than other trolls, which lets them live up in the canopy.
To hunt them, you have to climb the trees.
They never come down to the ground.
"Then is it easy now?"
"It is."
"Even for an S++ clear?"
"Piece of cake."
"How?"
"What do we have Gobang for? That guy's more useful than he looks."
Kosak said that as he lightly tapped Barbarian Gobang on the shoulder.
"Gobang, let's start."
"Got it. I'll do everything."
It seemed the two had some kind of understanding.
Gobang bent his waist and planted both hands on the ground.
Like a sprinter at the starting line—
and then, all at once—
"UOOOOOOO!!!"
Gobang charged straight at a massive tree.
KWA—AANG! KUDUNG!
What kind of noise was that?
Did a bomb go off?
The enormous tree shook violently, like a smartphone vibrating on full alert.
Wooduduk! Pujijijik!
The sound of the trunk cracking rang out.
Sssshhh—!
Leaves rained down in sheets.
"..."
What the hell?
Mom, that guy's scary.
Jungle trolls live in trees.
Do you think the trees they live in are small?
They're enormous.
More than twice as large as the biggest trees on Earth.
And that thing shook from a shoulder tackle?
Is he human? Or a tank?
'He could make a living demolishing buildings outside the Tower.'
How is Gobang only a Rare-grade summon?
No matter how dumb he is, with strength like that, shouldn't he be SS-rank at least?
"Algobang, my contracted summon! Weak, weak. Is that all you've got? At this rate, will we even get a feast?"
"I reflect. Algobang, going harder."
One more time.
Dadadadak!
BBAAAAK!
KWAKWAKWAKWAK! KWADDEUK!
The tree shook as if its roots were about to be torn out.
At the same time—
Thudududuk! Thududok!
Jungle trolls fell to the ground like chestnuts dropping from a burr.
"Good work. Algobang, my contracted summon. From now on, feast is possible."
"I eat tasty things."
Now it was SS-rank Kosak's turn.
He swept away the fallen trolls.
Blade aura wrapped around his daggers, lighting up the dark jungle.
Slash! Slash-slash-slash! Slash-slash!
The trolls couldn't even regenerate.
They were decapitated the instant they hit the ground.
"All right! Next tree, we go."
"…Y-yeah, we should."
They looked sloppy at first glance—
but these two were the real deal.
The strategy stayed the same.
Kosak pointed out a specific tree, and Gobang slammed into it.
"Go! Algobang, feast!"
"UWOAAAA! Feast!"
KWAKWAKWAK! KWADDEUK!
Thudududuk! Thududok!
And when the jungle trolls fell like chestnuts, Kosak harvested them.
It looked extremely simple—
but it was by no means a simple strategy.
"I kinda want to try it once myse—"
"Aww! Sure you can, absolutely. Our Summoner Bong, do whatever you feel like."
The reason Kosak agreed so readily:
Since the jungle trolls fell from such a height, they'd already taken heavy damage from the initial impact.
The dazed, wobbling trolls could be casually walked up to and finished off.
"That's it. Hehehe."
"Yes, it's over. Hahaha."
[Notice: You have achieved an S++ clear on the 28th floor of the Black Tower (Korea).]
[S++ Clear Reward: A Platinum Badge has been awarded.]