Another peaceful day on the 17th floor of the White Tower.
The big boss had arrived.
Literally a big boss.
A gigantic Magnus Ego Gigant, its engine shut down, standing in the plaza.
To think that enormous thing was slurped right up—
then whoosh, spat back out.
The terrifying capability of Rajiks, the dimensional porter's subspace.
Who could've imagined this was even possible?
Just what is that guy, anyway?
From top-tier servant, to cosmic porter, and now a dimensional porter—Rajiks just kept evolving.
Anyway, thanks to his ability, they'd carried the Gigant back.
A colossal robot that only grew more imposing the longer you looked at it.
"…It's amazing."
"Preload!"
Not just Juhyeok—Kosak, Gobang, the Mad Warrior, Mackenzie—everyone gazed up at the Gigant with satisfied expressions.
For a man, it was impossible not to feel his heart race.
"Summoner Bong."
"What is it?"
"I just got an idea."
"An idea?"
"What if we put the Magnus Gigant on display outside so people can come see it?"
…This thing?
"Of course we'd charge admission and photo fees. Kyaa! It's awesome. Just standing there, it'd rake in money, wouldn't it?"
There it was again—the businessman mindset.
Is money all that's in your head?
You're a civil servant, for crying out loud.
The Minister of the Korean Democratic People's Republic's People's Armed Forces, no less—
Still, it wasn't a bad idea.
Buy some land outside Seoul, plop it down with a bang, and it'd become a tourist attraction.
Anyway, magitech engineer L was hard at work on the Gigant's chest.
They planned to change the Gigant's operating method.
So she was modifying the magic circuits.
The automatic Ego Gigant was too stupid.
And if converted to a piloted type, it might be fully affected by the magic sword.
So instead—command-based.
Move it by inputting commands.
Something between automatic and piloted.
The downside was that commands had to be entered manually, but it could distinguish friend from foe and its basic combat capability would remain unchanged.
Still, despite all that, the Gigant had a fatal flaw.
Its fuel efficiency was absolute trash.
One ton of high-grade mana for 24 hours of operation.
Only 15 hours if it entered combat mode.
Did that make any sense?
It only moved if you poured one ton of high-grade mana into the fuel intake on its back.
And if it broke, repairs were nearly impossible.
But was one ton of high-grade mana really a problem?
And if it broke—so what?
Just carry back a new one.
"When will the modifications be done? I want to test it already."
The magic sword hadn't been crafted yet.
Instead, they'd secured a suitable steel H-beam.
Big enough for the Gigant to grab and swing.
The test location?
Obviously, the tower.
The question was—which tower.
Aren't all towers the same, so why bother choosing?
Juhyeok now had dual nationality.
Earth No. 1,001 and Earth No. 675.
"There should be a Black Tower on Earth No. 675. I'm sure of it."
The status window proved it.
[Affiliation 2]: Black Tower (Earth No. 675 – Germany)
Just going to check would be simple.
And the elevator fee was free, wasn't it?
Just then, L approached Juhyeok.
"Summoner, the modification is complete."
"Oh! Faster than expected."
"Modifying the magic circuits wasn't difficult. We just had to change the command-input method."
"Then we can do a test run?"
"Yes, we can."
Perfect.
Let's take it along.
Call Rajiks.
"Please put this back into the subspace bag."
"H-hoeng!"
Since it was standing upright, they had it lie down.
L issued the command to the Gigant.
Would it really understand?
—Activation command. Input operating mode. Execute prone crawl.
In that instant—
Gwoooong! Boom! Gwoong! Kaboom!
The massive Magnus Ego Gigant flattened itself against the ground.
"Oh!"
An exclamation escaped everyone.
The Gigant followed L's commands precisely.
"It's smart… If you ask for its paw, will it give it?"
This guy—
Does he think the Gigant is a pet dog?
Next came loading the Gigant into Rajiks's subspace bag.
Sssht, riiiip… ssshhhht!
Having done it once already, it went in more easily than before.
"The entrance stretched. If we put it in and take it out a few more times, it'll go in even easier."
Like clothes or shoes.
The more you wear them, the more they stretch.
Now everything was ready.
And the test site was—
"Let's go take the elevator."
"…Yes?"
"What?"
"You mean the 1st floor of the White Tower?"
"For what reason would we go there… don't tell me?"
The summoned beings realized Juhyeok's intent.
"Ahem."
"That's a bit…"
"It seems dangerous."
"This girl is deeply concerned. I wonder if you'll be all right."
Everyone looked worried.
"I'll explain on the way. Just get on first."
They boarded the elevator.
Dimensional transfer.
Arrival at the 1st floor of the White Tower.
Ah, since it's free, how nice.
We should use it more often.
Juhyeok explained to the summoned beings why he'd come to the 1st floor of the White Tower.
The changed status window.
Dual nationality.
If there really was a tower you could enter in a ruined world?
Then we should clear it.
Suck it dry.
Just the naturally spawned highest-grade mana crystals in the 84th-floor Ice Wall Mine alone were worth it.
And while we're at it, take revenge for Max.
"Hm, Summoner."
"Go ahead."
The Mad Warrior still looked uneasy.
"Even if there is a tower on Earth No. 675, to enter it you must first exit the 1st floor of the White Tower."
"That's right."
Direct entry from the White Tower to the Black Tower was blocked.
You had to go outside first.
"However, Mackenzie's meteor summoning may have exposed your existence."
He understood what that meant.
The dragon had died very noisily.
"What if something more terrifying than a dragon is waiting outside for you to emerge?"
Hmm.
A plausible concern.
"Especially the Administrators. Do not underestimate them. Going out now would be dangerous."
By "Administrators," he meant those of Earth No. 675.
They had surely become aware of Juhyeok's existence.
And in a world where the boundary between the tower and reality had collapsed,
there was no telling what they might do.
"If I leave the White Tower together with the summoned beings, it'd be safe—but we can't do that…"
Why?
The summoned beings didn't have status windows.
So the White Tower entry and exit skills weren't registered for them.
They could only leave if Juhyeok summoned them—
outside, or inside the Black Tower.
Either way, the summoner leaving the White Tower alone?
Who knew what might be waiting?
For the summoned beings, that was absolutely unacceptable.
These were the same people who'd made a fuss about not letting him enter the Black Tower alone.
"Can't you just not go out?"
"With an energy barrier, Mackenzie's barrier shield, and even Dallae Fairy's talismans…"
"Still dangerous. What if a dragon uses its breath?"
"The dragon's dead."
"There could be another."
"Then I'd just run. Enter the tower."
"What if you aren't given even that much time?"
These people!
Why were they trying so hard to scare him?
To be honest, Juhyeok was a bit scared too.
What if he really went out and some dragon-like bastard was lying in ambush and pounced on him?
There was no way to enter the tower without the Administrators noticing—
"…Wait."
There was a method worth trying.
Juhyeok opened his inventory.
He took out an item and put it on.
Sliiide.
Juhyeok's body vanished.
The summoned beings gasped and looked around in panic.
"Huh?!"
"What?"
"W-where?"
"He's gone. Disappeared."
"…Don't tell me."
Outside the 1st floor of the White Tower?
That dangerous place where who knew what might be waiting?
"D-did he go out?"
"It seems he did."
"Huh… he's really gone. He's definitely not here."
"H-hoee…"
Kosak collapsed to the ground, pounding the floor and shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Oh no, this is terrible. Our Summoner Bong's gotten gutsy. He's become a real man. He was supposed to stay a wimp—what is this?"
Then he shot Mackenzie a sharp glare.
"This is all that old mage's fault. Summoning meteors and drawing attention for no reason, and now you've put our Summoner Bong in danger."
Mackenzie panicked.
"N-no… the Summoner asked me to drop them."
The accusations poured in.
"You should've refused. You're old enough—don't you have any sense of judgment?"
"H-hoek!"
"Meteors aren't anything special. All you did was expose the Summoner."
"…Th-the Dragon Heart."
"So what? You can't even eat it."
"Th-this girl's heart is shaking. Nothing must happen to the Young Master."
"If something happens to the Summoner, I will cut off your head."
"If the commander dies, we all die. I die, you die—everyone dies!"
At that moment—
Sliiide.
Juhyeok reappeared.
"I knew it. You start fighting the moment I'm gone. This is why I can't leave my seat."
What the—?!
"Ah!"
"Oh!"
"Thank goodness."
"Huh? Did you come back in?"
"Not exactly. I just used stealth for a moment…"
"Stealth? Then even this old man should have noticed."
"That's right. I'm the expert in stealth, aren't I? No matter how well you hide, I catch it all."
Juhyeok showed them the cloak on his back.
"It's a perk item I got. I tried using it—what do you think?"
The summoned beings' eyes sparkled.
"Oh! A concealment shroud."
"It's a higher-tier skill than stealth. With this, no one knows. Even dragons won't."
"No one can perceive you… The simple description makes it more trustworthy."
"It might even fool the eyes of the gods."
"A proper perk has appeared for once."
"The 10-minute duration is a bit of a shame, though."
"This girl is deeply impressed. The heavens are surely protecting the Young Master."
Juhyeok agreed.
Even the summoned beings of Lerssal couldn't perceive its concealment.
"So this is what it was meant for."
Anyway, as long as he didn't attack, the concealment wouldn't break.
"So, I can go out and come back, right?"
"It seems possible."
"I'm still uneasy, but… p-please be careful."
"Absolutely do not attack. Move gently."
"If anything feels off, retreat immediately."
After waiting another ten minutes,
Juhyeok activated the Transcendent Concealment Shroud.
Spot!
He stepped outside the 1st floor of the White Tower.
And then—
"…This is insane."
The summoned beings' concerns had clearly not been unfounded.
Step, step.
A Death Knight was walking right beside him.
No—there wasn't just one.
Monsters were everywhere.
It was the ruined city that had been thoroughly cleaned out by meteor summoning.
Yet now, an even greater number and variety of monsters roamed the place.
Thankfully, no one noticed Juhyeok.
Not even when they passed right by him.
The concealment shroud worked perfectly.
"I should first check whether there's a Black Tower here… huh?"
There was no need.
A towering Black Tower stood boldly right in front of him.
"What? When did that get built?"
It definitely hadn't been there before.
Then—
"Checking the German Black Tower's progress."
Ding!
[Location]: Berlin Black Tower, Germany
[Cleared]: 79th Floor
[In Progress]: 80th Floor
[Time Limit]: 179 days 13 hours 34 minutes 52 seconds
"Ah!"
Was this the tower Max had been clearing?
"So I inherited the Black Tower too."
He'd climbed pretty high.
Well, he had strengthened his traits twenty times.
Let's go in.
The path was open up to the 80th floor, but that might have a boss, so as a warm-up—start from the 79th floor.
Juhyeok murmured quietly.
"Entering Berlin Black Tower, 79th floor…?"
Spot!
"…."
It was different.
Completely different from the 79th floor of Earth No. 1,001.
In Juhyeok's world, the 79th floor was the imperial palace of the Baration Empire—
Kosak's theme floor, a time-attack mission.
But here…
Blackened land.
A crimson sky.
Scorched, half-burnt trees.
What kind of place was this?
And what was the mission?
"First, summoning."
He deactivated the concealment shroud.
Spot, spot, spot, spot, spot—
The summoned beings appeared one after another.
"Hooh."
"This place is…"
"Is this the Black Tower of a ruined world?"
"Hoe."
"What floor is it?"
Juhyeok answered.
"79th floor. Very different, right?"
"Indeed. Completely different. It isn't a theme floor."
"Perhaps because there was no summoner-player in this world?"
"That's right. With no summoned beings either, no story theme floor would have formed."
"I'm curious what the mission is."
But before that—
"Mr. Rajiks?"
"Hoe?"
"Deploy the Gigant."
"Hoeng!"
Rajiks stretched out his hands,
then stepped backward.
Sssht, sssss… clang, rrrrip!
The Gigant slowly emerged from subspace,
along with the temporary weapon—a long steel H-beam.
"Ms. L?"
"Yes, Summoner."
"Let's begin."
"Understood."
The command-type Gigant.
L issued orders to it.
—Activation command. Input operation mode. Execute standing posture.
Creak—
The Gigant rose to its feet.
—Activation command. Input operation mode. Equip weapon.
Its huge hand gripped the steel H-beam.
"Let's go."
—Activation command. Input movement method. Advance forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
With wide strides, the Gigant advanced slowly.
Juhyeok and the summoned beings followed at a distance.
A moment later—
Ding!
The mission appeared.
[79th Floor Mission: Defeat 80 Hell Gatekeeper Cerberuses.]
[Completion Time Limit: 14 hours.]
[Failure Conditions: Death or mission abandonment.]
"…Cerberuses?"
Suddenly—
Sssht, ssssh!
Dogs burst out of the blackened ground.
Each was larger than an elephant, with three heads apiece.
"Large-class."
"But still below giant-monster tier."
Attributes?
Ones breathing fire, ones breathing cold, undead Cerberuses, and some even larger than the rest.
"Do we fight?"
"No. Don't do anything."
Juhyeok looked at L.
L nodded.
—Combat command. Input combat type. All Cerberuses… annihilate!
Whirr—clack!
The Gigant bent its waist,
like a sprinter at the starting line.
Then—
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
It charged straight into the mass of Cerberuses, moving its house-sized legs.
What followed was combat—
no, calling it combat felt wrong.
"This is a massacre."
"Total bullying."
"They're being trampled."
"Spectacular."
Bam-bam-bam-bam!
Cerberuses were kicked flying, crushed underfoot, split in half by the H-beam, or grabbed and burst apart in the Gigant's hands.
"Incredible."
"It's reassuring that it's on our side."
"Very comforting."
"Anyone got popcorn?"
"Hoe!"
"Oh! Thank you, Supply Commander! …Do you have cola too?"
"Doesn't look like there's time to eat."
Slaughter.
Utter slaughter.
Poor large Cerberuses.
The Gigant was a tyrant of the battlefield.
Ruthless.
Killing mechanically.
Well—of course, it was a machine.
In terms of compatibility and sheer scale,
they never stood a chance.
The Gigant was an 85th-floor giant monster.
These were just 79th-floor Cerberuses.
Crunch!
Crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch!
The clear was almost over.
Had three minutes even passed?
It was overwhelming.
Exactly the kind of clear Juhyeok wanted.
"I like this."
Four tower entries per day.
Since they were already here, might as well go up to the 82nd floor.
With the level difference, it'd be judged an S+++ clear.
Badges could be earned starting from the 82nd floor.
The administrators of Earth No. 675.
Those managing the only Black Tower left in that world.
[Huh?]
[What? I told you not to say 'huh,' didn't I? Do you know how—]
[I can't help it. Huh! Huh!]
[…What happened?]
[A 79th-floor mission just triggered in the system.]
What?
[That means someone entered the tower?]
[Yes.]
[…Bring it up.]
Pop!
A hologram appeared.
The administrators were struck dumb.
[Th-this is insane!]
[I-is what I'm seeing real?]
[Is the footage wrong? No—it's not.]
There was only one Black Tower on Earth No. 675.
And only one player who could clear it.
The summoner from Earth No. 1,001 who had obtained nationality.
Then how would a summoner fight?
Obviously, the summoned beings would fight in their stead.
But what unfolded in the hologram before them was beyond imagination.
[W-why is a Magnus Gigant there?!]
An 85th-floor giant monster on the 79th floor?
And it was attacking—no, slaughtering—the tower monsters, the Cerberuses who were practically allies.
[…]
[…]
[…]
They were so dumbfounded that no words came out.
[I-it's over.]
[I'm seeing it too.]
Cerberuses weren't impossible monsters to defeat, but—
three minutes.
Just three minutes.
That was all it took for eighty large-class Cerberuses to be crushed.
What was the summoner doing?
Crunch, crunch—
chewing popcorn.
[Hah… hahaha… ha…]
A hollow laugh escaped.
What kind of clear was this?
[What kind of place is Earth No. 1,001… to produce something like that?]
No one could answer.