It had been almost an hour since Player Nam Ga-eun entered the 62nd floor.
Team Leader Jeon Gwang-il waited anxiously for the result.
Player Bong Juhyeok said he would stop by the player shop for a bit to sell some mana stones.
The more you interacted with him, the more fascinating he became.
The reason Jeon had first asked to see him was to request—if only for a single day sooner—that he climb into the 60th floors.
Naturally, that would be impossible.
How could someone go from the 29th floor to the 66th in just three months?
He had steeled himself for at least one tower collapse.
Given the tower's location deep in the mountains of Gangwon Province, the damage from a collapse would be relatively smaller than in other countries,
and even though no one knew where the second tower would appear, by then Player Bong Juhyeok might have entered the 60th floors.
But then he just casually brought back something called a Holy Sword?
He even looked annoyed, asking what kind of item it was.
Of course, that was partly because he was mentally and physically exhausted.
'What if he'd brought it back just a little earlier…'
Then Yoo Cheol-min might not have defected.
No.
That was dangerous thinking.
If that had happened, the Holy Sword wouldn't have gone to Player Nam Ga-eun.
The Administration would have handed it to Yoo Cheol-min without question,
since he was the official representative player of Korea.
And would that bastard really have decided overnight to change his nationality to Japan?
He must have weighed his options and moved only after seeing the angles.
He definitely would've taken the Holy Sword with him when defecting to Japan.
Because of Yoo Cheol-min, Commissioner Park Gyeong-su was currently at the National Assembly.
It was the regular session period, and a government audit was underway, so he'd been summoned immediately.
He was probably being bombarded with questions by the lawmakers right now.
Jeon wanted to inform Commissioner Park of this immediately, but as things stood, nothing had been verified yet.
'A holy attribute…'
Until now, everyone thought the natural enemy of dark aura was the light attribute.
But there was also a holy attribute?
He had never heard of it, never even seen it.
Even the United States likely hadn't secured a holy-attribute item.
The undead section of the Black Tower.
From the 61st floor onward, it was nothing but undead monsters.
As far as confirmed information went:
61st floor—mummies,
62nd—zombies,
63rd—skeletons,
64th—ghouls,
65th—dullahans,
66th—specters,
67th—phantom reapers…
That was as far as anyone knew.
The United States was currently challenging the 67th-floor Phantom Reaper.
And the Holy Sword might still be useful even up to the 67th floor?
If that were true, how much time would it buy them?
At that moment—
Knock, knock.
A cautious knock came from the door to Jeon Gwang-il's office.
"Come in."
Creak—
Juhyeok peeked his head in through the crack first.
"Ah! You're back. Did the mana stones sell well?"
"…Yes. But it looks like Player Nam Ga-eun isn't back yet?"
"Haha, it's only been a little over an hour. The time limit for the challenge itself is fifteen hours."
"That's taking a long time."
Jeon Gwang-il gave a bitter smile inwardly.
Compared to whom?
Player Bong Juhyeok's average clear time was around twenty minutes—and sometimes even faster than that.
So from that perspective, calling an hour "a long time" made sense.
Just then—
Whoooaah!
A mass of light appeared in the center of the office.
This was the return phenomenon of a player.
But it was impossible that she'd already cleared it, so…
Did she abandon the mission?
Was even the Holy Sword not enough?
Pop!
Player Nam Ga-eun appeared.
She looked utterly exhausted.
"P-Player Nam Ga-eun, h-how did it—"
"Just a moment. Let me drink a healing potion first."
She pulled out a tower-exclusive healing potion from her inventory and gulped it down.
Had she been injured during the challenge?
If so, then—
"Phew."
Nam Ga-eun took a deep breath.
Then she turned her head toward Juhyeok, quickly walked over—
—and hugged him tightly.
"Eek?!"
What the—?
"…!"
Juhyeok froze on the spot.
His mind went completely blank.
"Thank you so much. Without this Holy Sword, I would've failed again. It was really the best!"
Jeon Gwang-il jumped in shock at her words.
"Th-then, d-does that mean…?"
"Yes! I successfully cleared the 62nd floor."
"M-My goodness! H-how did you…?"
"Yes! What matters is an unbreakable spirit! I'm going straight into the 63rd floor tomorrow."
Tears welled up and spilled from Jeon Gwang-il's eyes.
Just how much anguish had he endured until now?
"But isn't tomorrow a bit too soon? You must be under a lot of mental strain."
"It's fine because of the Holy Sword's radiance. The dark aura didn't feel that threatening."
"Oh! To that extent?"
"I'm confident. With the Holy Sword, I think even clearing up to the 66th floor is possible. Honestly, without the dark aura, undead are just ordinary monsters."
That was true enough.
"Oh, right! I recorded the challenge, so please review the footage."
"Understood. …It's okay to make this public, right?"
"Go ahead. As much as you want."
Meanwhile, Juhyeok was still fidgeting restlessly.
"…Um, excuse me, but if you're going to keep talking, could you maybe let go of my arm first?"
"Oh my! I'm sorry. I was just so happy."
Only then did Nam Ga-eun release Juhyeok from her embrace.
At the same time, she carefully handed the Holy Sword back to him.
"You used it really well. But it's pretty badly damaged in places."
"Hm."
It certainly looked that way.
It had been a worn-out sword to begin with.
"…It's fine. Mm, they said it can be repaired, so I'll try leaving it with them."
Jeon Gwang-il quickly stepped in.
"There are many skilled craftsmen at the player shop's workshop. I'll ask them to take a look."
"And the repair cost?"
"Of course, we'll cover it."
"Then why don't you just buy it while you're at it? You'll need it if you're going to keep challenging the tower."
"Ah, th-that is…"
Sell it?
How could you possibly buy this with money?
You couldn't even dare to put a value on it.
He had to answer carefully.
Even assuming it was only usable up to the 67th floor, the targets weren't limited to Korea.
Every undead section across the world's towers would be eligible.
A hidden card capable of preventing tower collapses.
Jeon Gwang-il thought long and hard.
What kind of offer should he make?
An answer soon emerged.
"In my opinion, it would be better if you didn't sell this sword and kept ownership of it."
"…You're not buying it?"
Why all of a sudden?
He'd been thinking of selling it and buying a building or something.
"Instead, we'll rent it. One hundred billion won per use."
"Huh?"
One hundred billion per use?
"There are hundreds of towers around the world besides Korea's. A few have reached the 60th floors, but most haven't. We'll rent it out to the countries that do reach that level. Naturally, for a rental fee."
A rental fee…
That's good.
This is basically an inexhaustible money spring.
If you collect rental fees, landlord income becomes a joke.
Instead of 'above landlords is God,' should it be 'above landlords is the Holy Sword owner'?
But he couldn't handle it personally.
"Don't worry. The Administration will handle the rental procedures on your behalf."
"Oh! I'd really appreciate that. Then…"
Would Korea be free?
Could he even charge his own country's Administration?
'No.'
You take what you're owed.
That way, the relationship stays clean.
But charging too much wouldn't feel right either.
"…We'll set the Administration's rental fee at ten billion. Since you borrowed it for free this time, starting from the 63rd floor, ten billion per run."
"What? Ah, n-no, you really don't have to—"
"It's fine. We'll charge other countries more. Just make sure to advertise it well. Worldwide."
"Th-thank you. Truly, thank you."
Juhyeok was satisfied as well.
But now that he was making this much money… what was he even supposed to spend it on?
It was already kind of scary.
"Oh, right! There's exactly one place where rental is prohibited."
"Of course! I was going to ask you for that anyway."
Where else would be prohibited?
Japan, without question.
"Heh! If Yoo Cheol-min finds out about this, he'll probably pass out, right?"
Nam Ga-eun said, unable to hide her excitement.
Jeon Gwang-il's gaze sharpened.
"We'll kill him before that."
"Wow! Team Leader, that's insanely cool!"
With this much hatred aimed at him, how was he supposed to live?
Even walking around at night would be terrifying.
No matter if it was Japan.
So what if he's a player?
Outside, he's just a civilian.
Japan, too, would soon experience the blood-curdling fear of the 60th floors—unless another holy item appeared.
Meanwhile, Nam Ga-eun had been glancing at him repeatedly, and it was starting to feel uncomfortable.
"Um…"
"Oh my, would you look at the time. I've got something urgent to take care of, so I'll be going now."
If he stayed any longer, his energy would be completely drained.
And saying he was busy wasn't a lie.
Seriously!
※ ※ ※
The National Assembly Building in Yeouido.
The day Yoo Cheol-min's defection to Japan broke out happened to coincide with the period of the National Assembly's government audit.
Every public official responsible for the matter had been summoned.
Park Gyeong-su, Commissioner of the Awakened Administration.
Park Il-jun, Director of the National Intelligence Service.
Kim Cheol-min, Commissioner General of the National Police Agency.
The barrage of questions from lawmakers continued.
"Are Player Yoo Cheol-min's statements true? That he received no proper support, and that senior Administration officials were only interested in political maneuvering?"
An absurd claim.
That bastard had sucked up every special privilege imaginable.
"That is not true. Among elite team players, he received the highest salary, runes for trait enhancement, and we even invested enormous sums to support multiple light-attribute items."
"And yet he said those things? He went ahead and defected. The results speak for themselves."
"Yoo Cheol-min simply fled out of fear of the 66th floor. If I'm at fault, it's for being a poor judge of character. If I'd known he was that kind of person, I would've—"
"So you're admitting fault. And because of that fault, the Republic of Korea is on the brink of collapse."
Park Gyeong-su clenched his teeth and replied.
"We have a Plan B."
"You mean that female player who's been stuck challenging the 62nd floor for a hundred days?"
"…."
The National Intelligence Service was not spared either.
"What kind of protection were you providing? When Japanese agents took Yoo Cheol-min away, did you just stand there watching?"
Park Il-jun bit his lip hard.
"There is no excuse. I take full responsibility."
"And that's your answer? You need countermeasures."
"We'll bring him back by any means necessary. First, we plan to contact Player Yoo Cheol-min and ask him to cancel his change of nationality."
"And if he refuses?"
"…."
Director Park Il-jun fell silent for a moment.
Then, with a hard expression—
"He'll have to pay the price."
"…How? Are you saying you'll kill him?"
"If necessary."
"Hah! Listen here, Director. Do you have any idea where you are, making such reckless statements?"
Police Commissioner Kim Cheol-min chimed in.
"The police are also investigating. Anyone involved in this case, no matter who they are, will be thoroughly investigated and face the judgment of the law."
"Why didn't you do better from the start? Do you think saying that now reduces your responsibility?"
"I'm prepared to take responsibility—even if it means resigning."
It was practically a public flogging.
What else could they do?
Their mistakes were undeniable.
Not only Police Commissioner Kim Cheol-min, but also Park Gyeong-su and Park Il-jun had already considered stepping down.
And then—
"Commissioner."
Park Gyeong-su's secretary, who had been seated behind the witness stand, quietly approached and whispered.
"What is it?"
"A message just came in from Team Leader Jeon Gwang-il."
Why all of a sudden?
It's not like he didn't know what he was in the middle of right now.
'I'm busy. I'll check it later.'
'I think you should check it now.'
'…Huh?'
Just what could it be?
Park Gyeong-su took the smartphone from his secretary.
A moment later—
"Gasp!"
His eyes went wide.
"W-What is it?"
It was a long message.
The contents were detailed.
But could you really confirm something like this just by reading text?
Even with lawmakers glaring daggers at him, Park Gyeong-su immediately tapped his phone.
"Hello, Team Leader Jeon—what you wrote in the message… is it true?"
The lawmakers erupted at the sight.
"What do you think you're doing right now? Taking a call during testimony?"
"In the sacred National Assembly! Do you think we're a joke?"
"No wonder your player defected with behavior like that!"
Park Gyeong-su ignored them.
"You checked the clear footage? You did? Oh! It's sufficient? What about the timeline? Haha, good. Very good!"
He deliberately raised his voice as he spoke.
"The item can be repaired? Really? That's a relief. Then the 63rd floor tomorrow, right? Spare no support—do everything you can to help her manage her condition. And Bong—no, I mean, that person, I'll meet separately."
He ended the call, his demeanor suddenly relaxed.
"What was that about? What kind of call was so important you had to take it during a government audit?"
"Was it a dismissal call from the President?"
"You think you can just run away?"
Park Gyeong-su smiled calmly.
"I'm not running. I'll take responsibility."
"How?"
"We'll clear the 66th floor. We don't need the likes of Yoo Cheol-min."
The atmosphere grew even more hostile.
"Are you mocking the National Assembly?"
"Have you lost your mind? You think words alone will settle this?"
"Seems like instead of Yoo Cheol-min, you should be the one changing nationality, Commissioner."
The lawmakers sneered, but Park Gyeong-su simply smiled and said,
"Two hours ago, Player Nam Ga-eun of the Administration's elite team successfully cleared the 62nd floor of Korea's Black Tower."
Out of nowhere?
Commissioner Park Gyeong-su continued.
"Tomorrow, she plans to challenge the 63rd floor."
He's completely lost it.
The lawmakers shook their heads, clicking their tongues.
"And within one month!"
Ignoring their reactions,
"We will successfully clear the 66th floor. I'll stake my life on it. Not my position as commissioner—my actual life."
He declared it loudly.
Commissioner Park Gyeong-su's bombshell statement detonated in the National Assembly building.
A buzz spread.
Reporters present whispered among themselves, wondering why the commissioner was spouting such nonsense.
Then—
Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz, bzzz…
The reporters' smartphones vibrated all at once.
"…What?"
"A-an official release just dropped?"
"62nd floor clear? In just 1 hour and 20 minutes?"
"Is it confirmed?"
"Clear footage? Send it to me."
It was the beginning of a reversal.
What had been a government audit meant to assign blame for the defection incident turned into a stage for declaring a 66th-floor clear.
※ ※ ※
That evening.
Breaking news exploded across every media outlet in South Korea.
In an instant, the board flipped.
And what about Bong Juhyeok in all this?
With a small table set up, a bowl of purified water—no, clean water from the purifier—placed on it, and with Kosak and Barbarian Gobang summoned,
"Please, please, LSSR! Nothing but LSSR! Absolutely LSSR! A Legendary Special Super Rare!"
He was offering fervent prayers to the moon beyond his balcony window.
"LSSR!"
"LSSR no matter what!"
"Eh, er, esu, esu… ar!"
"Hey! Pronounce it properly!"
Because the cooldown for random summoning was coming up tomorrow.