Juhyeok summoned all the previously summoned beings who had briefly visited the Prison of Infinity just for bragging rights and granted them residency rights as well.
Then he immediately dismissed the summons.
Straight back to the 17th floor of the White Tower.
Counting the summoned beings, the dog, and the defectors, there were a total of eleven people hanging out here.
Including Juhyeok, that made twelve.
This place wasn't affected by the limit on simultaneous summons.
It was basically a waiting room.
Whether it was random summons or converted defectors, he could accept whoever came and just send them to the 17th floor.
They waited inside, and when Juhyeok summoned them from outside the 17th floor, they would manifest, act during the manifestation period, then return.
Outside the White Tower, however, the simultaneous summon limit applied.
Exactly ten people maximum.
Anyway, in the waiting room, anything was possible.
External communication, even electronic devices, worked without any restrictions.
There was a residential complex, paved roads, a parking lot, and even a swimming pool.
So with physical bodies, they could eat and drink, play games, loaf around, watch TV, sleep—basically do whatever they wanted.
Buildings, roads, and other infrastructure were copied and pasted.
Everything else was transported from outside via subspace backpacks by Rajiks.
Home appliances, food, even cars.
"What would I have done without Rajiks?"
Rajiks, the all-purpose handyman, the cosmic farmhand.
The very foundation that kept Juhyeok's party running.
"Ho-e!"
Rajiks began cleaning house after house together with Blood Wolf, laying out furniture and household goods as well.
With his Rrssal-grade cleaning skill, everywhere he passed sparkled brilliantly.
Thanks to that, they spent their days playing joyfully.
They didn't even notice time passing.
Oh, peace itself.
Another peaceful day on the 17th floor of the White Tower.
Everyone entertained themselves just fine.
Spot!
Kosak, who had been fooling around without restraint and apparently provoked the Berserk Demon again, fled in a panic.
Papapat!
The Berserk Demon chased after Kosak with ferocious momentum.
Under the warm sunlight, Veronica lay on a sunbed in a bikini, sunbathing.
Next to her, Diamant lounged on another sunbed, sipping a mojito.
Beside them was Gyeondallae.
With books piled high, she was reading elegantly.
Gobang, Bardin, and Jepet had set out long ago, saying they were going to explore the 17th floor.
What about Aliamari?
She had claimed one house as her own and was immersed in the internet with a laptop and tablet,
occasionally brewing potions to supply to the Player Shop.
For the summoned beings, this was heaven—a utopia.
Juhyeok felt deeply satisfied.
But it wasn't enough.
He needed to copy more, paste more.
For that, securing high-grade magic stones was essential.
Even the top-grade magic stones required for resident registration came from refining high-grade ones.
"Summoner Bong."
"Can't we refine normal stones into high-grade ones?"
"Normal stones? High-grade stones?"
"Short for normal magic stones and high-grade magic stones."
"Ah!"
Then top-grade stones would be top-grade magic stones.
"I already asked Mari. The ratio is one to one thousand. You need to refine one ton of normal stones to get one kilogram of high-grade stones."
Time wasn't exactly abundant.
"Yikes, that sounds incredibly inefficient."
"You only need to refine high-grade stones into top-grade ones."
"Agreed."
In that case, how about going to mine some high-grade stones?
One advantage of the White Tower's 17th floor being a waiting room—
"Recruiting personnel for high-grade stone mining! One tanker, one laborer, multiple DPS!"
The summoned beings raised their hands, shouting, "Me, me!"
"Uh… thief classes are a bit…"
"I-I'll work hard! I can bandage myself! Please let me join!"
"Well, alright."
The 17th floor had become a labor market.
"Noble tanker Mr. Gobang, sub-tank Mr. Bardin, commoner DPS Kosak and Jepet, and cosmic high noble Lord Rajiks with Blood Wolf—get ready."
He only needed to call the required personnel.
Before, he had summoned everyone indiscriminately and let them play at home, but now that wasn't necessary.
The numbers were small, so calling it a market felt a bit shabby, but what if more people gathered later?
Juhyeok left the 17th floor of the White Tower.
Then he used designated summoning.
Spot! Spot! Spot!
Today's objective was mining high-grade magic stones.
They alternated between Tower No. 1, Tower No. 2, and the 76th floor, but the veins were gradually drying up.
Unlike item treasure vaults, ore veins didn't reset.
They would soon be depleted.
Before that, they needed to secure another tower.
Anyway, let's go in.
Today's mining spot was—
[Entering the 76th floor of the Black Tower (NO.2) of the Republic of Korea.]
Spot!
A valley like the background of an ink landscape painting.
A sea where the natural energies, the flowing forces of harmony, converged.
For that reason, high-grade magic stones were found here in vein form.
"Is there another floor like this?"
That was when—
"Huh?"
Someone was there.
Not a monster.
He had experienced something like this before.
"Hm?"
"Hm."
"Again?"
"That bastard!"
"Looks like he's having fun."
A single person stood before them.
Like a hologram video.
"…Administrator?"
That's right.
But he felt subtly different from before.
Ah.
[That's correct. Nice to meet you for the first time.]
For the first time?
[I'm the new administrator. All the previous administrators were dismissed.]
...
I knew this would happen.
They deserved to be fired.
[The former administrators greatly overstepped their authority. Upper management was aware of it. Whew… the world of infinity—the souls—are extremely angry.]
Of course they were angry.
Random summoning had been suspended because of probability manipulation.
It seemed the earlier protest and Kosak's bragging had worked.
By the way, what happens when an administrator gets fired?
[They will pay an appropriate price. The Black Tower will be normalized.]
Oh! That's great.
[So before restoring reward probabilities, we would like to compensate you for the damages you've suffered.]
"Compensation?"
No way—what a windfall!
[First, I apologize on behalf of the former administrators for their misconduct.]
Oh, no need to apologize.
But what's the compensation?
[A special reward. You will receive it upon clearing the 82nd floor of the Republic of Korea's Tower No. 1.]
What?
Kosak immediately exploded in anger.
"Hey, you bastard! You're pulling that 'equivalent exchange' crap again, aren't you? Trying to secretly raise the difficulty!"
[Trickery? What do you take me for? I swear, there will be absolutely no change in difficulty.]
"And if you're lying?"
[I am a pure and flawless soul who cannot lie. I was born that way.]
Pure and flawless?
Does he think he's some kind of angel?
[…]
"Really?"
[Anyway, the difficulty of the 82nd floor will remain the same. Well, it's slightly harder than the 81st floor, since it's the giant monster zone, and the higher you go, the tougher it gets—that's the rule of the tower.]
The 80s floors were the giant monster zone.
No wonder Behemoth showed up right from the start.
But if they got bigger the higher they went—
"By the way, earlier there was a world announcement saying that explosions based on Earth science—gunpowder, nuclear fission, nuclear fusion—don't occur, right?"
[Yes, that's correct.]
"Is there any chance that announcement will be canceled during normalization?"
[That's not possible. It's a legitimate restriction that doesn't violate causality. Gunpowder, nuclear fission, and nuclear fusion will remain prohibited.]
Tch.
They could've at least lifted that.
[Instead, we've prepared rewards that you'll find satisfactory. The guaranteed rewards are an enormous quantity of high-grade magic stones, a catalog expansion ticket, and one random rune.]
Oh!
Three rewards at once.
Just hearing it felt good.
And finally, a catalog expansion ticket.
That meant random summoning would soon resume.
"How enormous is 'enormous' for high-grade magic stones?"
[So much that they won't even fit in your inventory. At least ten tons, I'd say? Since you've acquired the White Tower, you probably need them more than ever these days.]
Of course he did.
And what about the random rune?
"Is it possible to get a trait-enhancement rune?"
[If you're lucky.]
He was confident.
If it came to luck, wasn't Bong Juhyeok unbeatable?
Did he get this far by skill?
No—he got here by good pulls.
[Ah! There's also a hidden mission. It offers the same enormous quantity of high-grade magic stones and one random rune as rewards.]
Huh?
A hidden mission?
And the rewards were good too.
[It so happens that someone here has a connection to the giant monster guarding the 82nd floor.]
A connection?
Who could that be?
[Of course, you don't have to clear the hidden mission.]
What do you mean, don't have to?
He'd clear everything—main mission and hidden mission alike.
Wait.
Could it be—
"Do other towers' 82nd floors get the same rewards? For example, Tower No. 2 or towers of other countries…"
[That's not possible. Only the 82nd floor of the Republic of Korea's Tower No. 1. And the special reward is limited to one time only.]
Tch.
If you're going to give, give generously.
Though honestly, he hadn't expected it.
[I'll be going now. From now on, I will never appear before you again. I wish you good fortune.]
Juhyeok cautiously waved his hand.
Goodbye.
I'm not going far.
The new administrator chuckled at the sight.
[Don't relax. I may be responsible for operating the tower, but I'm also an existence that gives trials to players.]
Trials are just life itself.
[I'll do my best within the authority I have. You should do your best too. Well, you'll despair anyway once you reach the 90th floor.]
...
If you're leaving, just leave—why curse people on your way out and sour their mood?
Compensation for the former administrators' abuse of authority.
And probability normalization.
All of it would be granted upon clearing the 82nd floor.
When Juhyeok returned to the 17th floor of the White Tower and told all the summoned beings about his conversation with the new administrator—
"Ohh, a random rune—sounds like a fine reward."
"The guaranteed catalog expansion ticket is also something to truly welcome."
"They said it's the giant monster zone—won't it be difficult?"
"It'll be harder than Behemoth, but they said they won't touch the difficulty."
"The real issue is the hidden mission."
"Yep! They said one of us has a connection to the 82nd-floor monster. It must be related to that."
"If it's the giant monster zone, then maybe…?"
Gyeondallae glanced sideways at Gobang.
"Could it be a fully matured super demonic beast Hydra?"
That was possible.
Gobang's themed floor.
The one they'd met during the ultra-high-difficulty mission on the 72nd floor had been an incomplete necromantic Hydra.
A fully grown Hydra also counted as a giant monster.
That thing could appear.
"A warrior doesn't mind. In fact, it's what I hope for. I'll tear off all nine heads."
Unshakable confidence.
As expected of Gobang, the Rrssal barbarian warrior.
Let's go first.
Republic of Korea Tower No. 1, 82nd floor.
The place where a one-time special reward awaited.
The random rune was tempting, but the basic reward was also something to look forward to.
An enormous quantity of high-grade magic stones.
Twice over, no less.
At least ten tons, they said.
That meant there was a chance to use it—
the item he had stored away in his inventory after receiving it as a privilege.
Effect: If used before clearing a tower mission, item rewards increase from a minimum of 2× to a maximum of 10×.
Limitation: Does not apply to tickets or rune items.
Ten times the high-grade stone reward—hit it big.
That would be insane.
[Entering the 82nd floor of the Black Tower (NO.1) of the Republic of Korea.]
A mission with no difficulty adjustment.
That meant a freebie.
[This floor grants a special reward.]
[Limited to one time only.]
Yes, yes. Sounds great.
If he cleared both the main mission and the hidden mission—
Two chances to receive massive quantities of high-grade magic stones,
two chances for random runes,
and a catalog expansion ticket.
He'd get the expansion ticket, expand the catalog, and immediately summon new beings.
Anyway, what was the environment like on the 82nd floor?
First impression—it was dark.
It felt like entering a huge cave.
Probably underground.
"Didn't we meet the Hydra in a cave too?"
So what if it's fully grown?
There were four Rrssal summoned beings.
Game over.
Giant-sized Gobang hoisted Bardin of Radiance high like a torch.
"Light!!!"
Fwaaaaah!
The surroundings lit up so brightly it hurt the eyes.
Juhyeok and the summoned beings advanced into the underground cave.
A massive cavern opened up ahead.
A wide, tall space where a giant monster could move freely.
Then—ding!
A mission appeared.
[82nd Floor Mission: Defeat 1 Giant Serpent Apophis.]
[Time Limit: Within 15 hours.]
[Completion Condition: Giant Serpent Apophis 0/1]
"…So it's not a Hydra?"
Apophis.
It sounded familiar.
And then—
Shashashashash.
From one side of the dark cavern, a giant serpent crawled out.
Giant Serpent Apophis.
It was so massive that it dwarfed even a KTX train in thickness and length.
Tsrrp, tsrrrp.
Even its tongue was the size of an Amazonian boa constrictor.
"…It is big."
"Still about on par with Behemoth."
"Indeed. A warrior can handle it."
"Doesn't seem too difficult."
At that moment—ding!
[82nd Floor Hidden Mission: Summoned Being Rajiks's Revenge Against Giant Serpent Apophis.]
[Completion Condition: Rajiks deals at least 10% of Apophis's total HP in damage 0/10%]
"…What?"
It was Rajiks?
"Ah!"
Now it all made sense.
The cause of Rajiks's death.
He had been swallowed by the Giant Serpent Apophis in an underground labyrinth.
That was why the hidden mission's condition was revenge.
Rajiks had to deal at least 10% of Apophis's total HP.
Of all people, Rajiks.
A non-combat laborer class.
"Is that even possible?"
Juhyeok glanced toward Rajiks.
But—
"Huh? Where did he go?"
He'd been right beside him just moments ago.
Then Gyeondallae pointed with her finger.
"Over there…"
Rajiks was crouched in a corner.
His head was pressed against the ground, his body trembling violently.
He seemed too afraid even to look at Apophis.
He couldn't meet its gaze.
It looked like severe trauma—PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.
And in that state, he had to deal 10% of Apophis's total HP?
Rodents' natural enemies were reptiles—snakes.
And this was the very creature that had swallowed him whole.
It hurt to see.
Was he supposed to force him to fight in this situation?
Juhyeok agonized for a long time.
Then he made his decision.
I'll abandon the hidden mission.
This wasn't something that should be forced.
It was far too heavy a burden for Rajiks.
He'd dismiss the summon and let him rest on the 17th floor—
"No."
Would avoiding it really solve anything?
Rajiks's trauma would remain forever.
This wasn't about clearing the mission or rewards.
"We'll reset this 82nd-floor mission too."
"…Pardon?"
He still had one tower mission reset ticket left.
"That's a good call. The reward is a shame—it's a once-only chance."
"What matters isn't the reward. That stuff is take it or leave it."
A pathetic oversized snake daring to be our cosmic farmhand's trauma?
Unacceptable.
Intolerable.
Even skinning it to make bags wouldn't be enough—
or maybe soaking it into snake liquor.
Top priority:
Overcoming Rajiks's trauma.
"We'll do it."
"That's right. Rajiks the laborer isn't weak."
"This young lady believes as well. Do you think the title 'cosmic farmhand' is given lightly?"
"Senior Veronica Caliber agrees. The experience our quartermaster has built up won't go anywhere."
"This old man will help too. The summoner is right. Rewards aren't the issue—we must overcome the ghosts of the past."
Everyone believed in Rajiks.
"Apophis will appear in Tower No. 2 as well. Let's train hard against that one, then clear Tower No. 1 where the special reward is."
Juhyeok took out a ticket from his inventory.
[Do you wish to use a Tower Mission Reset Ticket?]
[Upon use, you will automatically exit, the mission of this floor will be reset, and the entry record will be deleted.]
Zzzzt!
[You have used a Tower Mission Reset Ticket. Exiting the tower.]
And thus, the Rajiks Trauma Recovery Project began.
The training ground was Tower No. 2, 82nd floor.
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