The sixteen-member S-rank raid team who had withdrawn rested comfortably for three nights and four days at Elysium Heights.
Elysium Heights itself was no different from one enormous indoor amusement park, equipped with every cultural and entertainment facility imaginable, so there was no need to go far.
They enjoyed the hot springs with their families, savored fine cuisine and wine, and rested while sharing the conversations they had never gotten to have.
They had originally planned to stay out for only about three days, but they were outvoted, and their break was extended by another day.
Rest time passed all too quickly, and the day to climb the Tower again approached. Only 137 days remained for the Tower raid.
They had been pressed for time because so much had been spent on the initial recruitment of S-ranks before Suho stepped in, but thanks to the raid party’s swift progress, they had more than made up for the delay and earned this much breathing room.
As they prepared to reenter, they restocked all the supplies the government had prepared for them.
In particular, they packed plenty of Nutri Ampoules. This time, they did so with the resolve not to come out until the raid was completely finished, taking more than enough.
“Whew... Still, I’m worried about the way back.”
“I know. We set aside five days last time, but wouldn’t it actually take longer? If we have to carry all our luggage and go on foot...”
“It could take longer. Especially when we’re passing through that glacier zone and the desert zone, dragging electric carriers is going to be exhausting.”
Relatively poor low- and mid-rank Admittees, who found it difficult to purchase high-end item types, usually used “flight jetpacks,” which were bulky, heavy, and inefficient in terms of energy. But this S-rank team, without exception, all possessed “flight-type items,” making their swift exit possible.
However, each of their flight devices was not something that could withstand a great deal of weight, so they had no choice but to travel back on foot.
It would have been nice if they could bring in large items like camping vehicles, but the waiting room, the space where they first entered, did not have enough room for that. It was always a lingering regret.
As the raid team prepared to reenter the Tower and gathered their equipment, Suho watched them quietly for a moment, then went to the restroom.
And then he took something out in front of everyone.
“Now then, everyone, I have a few things to give you.”
Everyone’s eyes lit up at the mention of something from Suho.
They put down everything they had been preparing and gathered around.
“What is it, what is it?”
“Wait, you just went to the restroom. Did you hide surprise gifts in there or something?”
“Haha, I didn’t hide them in the restroom. I made them on the way back from the restroom.”
After laying out an incomprehensible “truth,” Suho brought out three things in front of the team members.
“First, this is food. You all packed your Nutri Ampoules, right?”
“We did. That’s practically why we came out.”
“We packed plenty.”
“Good. Since you have Nutri Ampoules, I think it would be best to keep what I’m giving you only as emergency rations.”
What Suho took out was a large, transparent, sealed container like a medicine bottle, filled with tiny tablets about the size of a pinky fingernail.
“This is called [Vitanova]. Just one tablet provides all the calories and nutrients you need for a day. It optimizes metabolic activity in the body and maximizes stamina and recovery. It also alleviates some mental fatigue.”
This was a pill Suho had made after locking himself in the alchemy laboratory for several weeks. Though it was a single-use consumable, it was an A-rank item.
It was a meal replacement pill containing small amounts of Everleaf, which grew from the value of the Soul Flute and the old divine tree, as well as Starwood bark and intermediate regeneration potion.
When he shook the transparent container, hundreds of pills rattled inside.
Danbi looked at the pills and asked,
“Do we take them with water?”
“No, these are chewables, so you can just chew and consume them. They should taste pretty good too.”
“That’s seriously amazing...”
Karim and Emilia also voiced pure admiration.
“So you can get things like this if you collect Tower items...”
“Wow, I’ve climbed the Tower all this time, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Haha...”
Suho wanted to tell them, “This isn’t item collecting! I made it!” but he couldn’t.
Taewung picked up the container with his large hand and asked,
“How many are in one bottle?”
“Three hundred tablets per bottle.”
“Wow, then even if we run out of Nutri Ampoules, that’s enough for us to eat for eighteen days.”
“Huh? Why eighteen days?”
“Because there are sixteen of us... Isn’t it roughly eighteen days...?”
Wondering if he had miscalculated, Taewung rolled his eyes.
“Ah, so that’s how you calculated it. I prepared one bottle per person.”
Suho took out an entire box of Vitanova from his subspace.
A box containing more than a dozen bottles of Vitanova.
Among the people gaping at the sight, Park Seoyeon muttered,
“Should we just return all the Nutri Ampoules before we go...? They’re bulky and heavy...”
“Haha, keep those as they are, and keep these literally as emergency supplies.”
“What kind of emergency supply completely tramples the standard supplies...?”
Everyone accepted without hesitation, each taking a bottle of Vitanova and putting it in their carrier, smiling broadly all the while.
“And this is...”
The second thing Suho took out was an item worn over both shoulders. Huge wings made from Airium alloy and Elder Silk.
“This is an item called [Titania Port Wing]. It’s a transport-type flight item.”
“Transport-type flight?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
As a demonstration, Suho put it on his shoulders and infused it with ether.
Then, with a sharp flutter, the wings spread wide, and their size was tremendous. The wingspan easily exceeded six meters.
“It’s huge...!”
“Unbelievable. Seriously, around what Tower do super-strange items like this even come from...?”
Smiling at the people examining the enormous wings from every angle, Suho continued his explanation.
“[Titania Port Wing] is light, but its durability is powerful. So when lifting heavy objects, it can handle them easily without being damaged. And if you look all around the wings, there are anchor points similar to raptor talons. These firmly hold on to objects.”
“Wow...”
“This is an item too. This one is S-rank.”
“S-rank? You said S-rank?”
“Really? Th-this is S-rank?”
“N-no way...”
Suho considered S-rank items to be practically failed creations, but in reality, S-rank items were exceedingly rare even if one searched the entire Earth.
Among Joshua, Thomas, Lee Danbi, and Han Taewung, the only one with an S-rank item was Thomas.
At the mere mention of S-rank, Suho clicked his tongue inwardly. He thought it was a good thing he hadn’t explained that the pills were A-rank items.
If he had, everyone might have treasured them so much they wouldn’t take a single pill until they returned.
“You said the way back was going to be a headache, right? So one person can wear this and gather all the luggage together at once.”
“Wow! Then we really can get back quickly.”
“I see...”
“That’s amazing. Then we won’t have to go on foot, so we could get back in a single day, couldn’t we?”
“Hooray! Should we rest at Elysium Heights for a few more days before we go?”
“Tsk—rest all you want after we finish the raid.”
“Yessir.”
All the raid team members clapped and rejoiced at the reduction in time it would take to return.
Everyone had been beaming after receiving the incredible pills as a gift and gaining the hope that they could fly back, but—
The item Suho took out next made their faces darken.
The last thing he took out was a sword.
“Whoa... A sword? Who is that for?”
“This is... for Danbi.”
“Pardon? What?? Me??”
Eyes wide, Danbi came forward in front of Suho as if she had been called up onstage as an actress.
“I happened to obtain a sword this time, and it was exactly a freezing-attribute sword. It’s made of something called Cold Moon Steel, and I thought it would be perfect for a swordswoman with a freezing attribute.”
“Uh... I don’t know if I should suddenly accept something like this...”
Danbi dazedly accepted the sword Suho handed her. The moment she gripped the hilt, engraved with a pattern in the shape of ice crystals, she felt something, and her gaze sharpened.
“You feel it, don’t you?”
“This is...”
The refined ether within Danbi, a cold-attribute swordswoman, flowed naturally into the sword.
Then a change came over the blade, which had looked like transparent ice. Glittering frost crystals flowed along the sword’s surface, forming a sharp blade.
All the team members were entranced by that mystical appearance.
“Th-th-th-this... its rank...”
“It’s S-rank. That one too.”
“Ah... Aah...”
Danbi’s hand trembled finely as she held the S-rank freezing-attribute sword.
In truth, high-end swords were extremely expensive, and those with added attributes were especially rare, so Danbi had spent a long time together with [Song of the Stars].
Of course, [Song of the Stars] was also one of the finest swords in Korea, but fundamentally, it was not a cold-attribute sword, but a light-attribute one. It was also A-rank, not S-rank.
Since no cold-attribute sword above B-rank existed not only in Korea but anywhere in the world, she had been forced to use Song of the Stars.
But finally, now, she had a weapon that fit her body perfectly like tailor-made clothing, one that settled perfectly into her hand. Tears welled in Danbi’s moved eyes.
The sword Suho had just gifted Danbi was actually an SS-rank item, but he did not bother to emphasize that.
Because the people of Earth had yet to recognize or understand that items above S-rank existed.
Explaining even that would make the conversation far too long.
With her eyes wet and hazy, Danbi asked,
“Does... this sword have a name?”
“Seolbing. That’s its name.”
“Seolbing...”
Danbi, overwhelmed with boundless emotion over a single sword, quietly approached Suho and bowed her head deeply.
“I... don’t have anything... I can pay you with in money... I’ll work hard, risking my life. As much as you’ve looked after me.”
“Oh, why would you risk your life? Please don’t do that. If it helps you, that’s enough for me.”
Feeling awkward, Suho scratched his head and changed the subject.
“Now, now! Everyone, you should go in now! I think it’s time!”
As the entire raid team headed back toward the Tower gate entrance, all their eyes could see was Danbi’s sword.
An S-rank attribute weapon, a main weapon perfectly suited to oneself—what were the odds of suddenly receiving something like that as a gift in one’s lifetime? How many lottery jackpots on top of lottery jackpots would it take to compare?
They thought such useless thoughts.
In truth, over the past few seconds—or rather, over the past few months—Suho had shut himself inside the workshop of his subspace storage and struggled to make everyone’s equipment, along with the [Vitanova] pills and [Titania Port Wing].
No, at the very least, he had tried to make Thomas’s magic gun, Joshua’s staff, and Taewung’s armor, but...
In the end, he had exhausted himself making the freezing sword.
Again and again, only countless A-rank and S-rank results appeared, failure after failure, and his irritation had piled up as far as it could go.
Perhaps because he had the knowledge but still lacked experience, the odds were so terrible that he was utterly worn out.
Then, as soon as the SS-rank [Seolbing] appeared, he stopped crafting and covered everything up. Making the others’ equipment would have to wait until next time.
He comforted himself with the thought, “When your luck has fallen into a cesspit, you’re not supposed to keep gambling.”
“Next time, we’ll return with news of the Tower’s complete conquest.”
“Good luck!”
“Stay healthy!”
Seen off by all the people from the government, the clan members of each clan, their families, and countless others, the sixteen S-ranks disappeared back into the Tower.
As Winky began whining again when Taewung, with whom it had spent the past few days, vanished, Suho soothed it and turned away as well.
* * *
At last, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport contacted him.
They informed Suho that, according to his request, negotiations, compensation, and relocation had all been completed with every resident in the area around Yeongyang County and Bonghwa County in North Gyeongsang Province.
They also confirmed that there was not a single person anywhere in the designated zone, whether in the mountains or on the plains.
However, the vice minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport still asked about Suho’s plan in a worried tone.
Since Suho had been firm, they had done as he wanted, but the area had the worst possible transportation access, and even within North Gyeongsang Province, it had mountainous terrain, meaning most of the region was effectively mountains. On top of that, even securing a large-scale water source would not be easy.
“If you want to build something, you’ll have to cut down the mountains in the area... It’s a task difficult even to imagine. It would be better to reclaim land on the West Sea side...”
“Come on, reclaiming land in the West Sea is something the government could do perfectly well on its own. And what I want to build is a smart, ultra-large city located far away from the capital region. Large enough to share all of Seoul’s infrastructure. Wouldn’t it need to be at least that much to ease South Korea’s overconcentration in the capital?”
“Hoho... It sounds good, but that isn’t as easy as you make it sound. Overcrowding in the capital region isn’t a problem that can be solved with money alone...”
“I know. I know that too. That it won’t be easy. That’s why this is meaningful to me. I really, truly, desperately need a challenge I can pour more of my ability into, with all my strength.”
“...I see.”
The vice minister, who did not understand Suho’s words at all, merely frowned while holding the phone.
“In any case... I sincerely hope that Admittee Suho obtains the results he desires. If there is anything you need, please make a request.”
“Nothing for now. I won’t be able to do anything while the mountains are being cut down. Oh, please thoroughly control the roads so that no one can approach the areas around Yeongyang County and Bonghwa County for the time being.”
“We are already doing that. We will raise the security level even further from now on.”
“That will do. Thank you.”
After ending his call with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Suho went to find Rabi.
“Rabi! Rabi! Help me out.”
Rabi, who had been somewhere else, appeared in front of Suho through teleportation.
“What were you doing?”
“I was organizing some of the items in Cheonyangwon. Lately, you’ve ordered quite a lot of things, Suho.”
“Ah, so that’s what it was. You said before, didn’t you? That you could interfere with Earth’s reality. You said you’d even gotten the administrator’s permission.”
“That is correct.”
“Then can you help me?”
“Please tell me first why you need it. This is a different matter from warehouse management and the receiving and issuing of warehouse goods, so I will hear the details and make a judgment.”
“Oh... Fascinating. You make judgments like that too?”
“What exactly do you take me for...”
“A warehouse keeper who’s clever but, unfortunately, diligent too?”
“...Do not copy me.”
“Hahaha, anyway, I’ll give you runes. If you help.”
Rabi’s expression, which had briefly soured at Suho’s teasing, brightened completely.
“Runes?”
“Yeah. It’s a pretty big job, so when it’s finished, I’ll give you ten thousand. How’s that?”
“What sort of assistance do you require? Let us begin the work at once.”
As expected, Cheonyangwon was invincible.
* * *
Suho flew into the sky above the areas around Yeongyang County and Bonghwa County in North Gyeongsang Province, where he could look down over everything, took up his position, then entered the subspace warehouse from there and marked a dimensional gate point.
Then he asked Rabi to open a gate at that location that had been turned into a portal window.
Together, they looked down upon the areas around Yeongyang County and Bonghwa County.
“Hm, it’s all mountains and fields and countryside.”
“Right. If your field of view is secured like this, you said you can physically interfere without crossing over yourself, didn’t you?”
“That is correct. In a state of quantum superposition, dimensional projection technology is used to cause interference between the dimension and the physical realm. It is interdimensional superpositional interference technology, a higher-level technique than dimensional overlap, and I can manage up to this much.”
Rabi puffed up proudly, and the sight was quite cute.
“Your Azure Dragon race must be specialized in space.”
“Oh, that is correct. Each dragon species has different specialties, but the Azure Dragon race is fundamentally a race with spatial manipulation abilities. We are a higher species on an entirely different level from those mongrel dragons that handle things like water or fire.”
“Oh... So there are ranks even among dragons. Are there any above you?”
“There are, though only a few. The Gold Dragon race, with time manipulation abilities, for example. There are also those with matter manipulation abilities or energy manipulation abilities.”
“Wow... I see...”
“So, what would you like me to do?”
“Ah, look. The land down there is all mountains and fields, isn’t it? I’d like you to shave it down into very flat land. I’ll mark out exactly from where to where.”
“That is not difficult.”
Suho did have a subspace storage ability, but his storage was limited.
It had to be a distinct object not combined with anything else, and it had to be completely independent before he could put it into subspace.
In other words, he could store a bucket filled with water, but not the water of a lake; he could store a sack filled with dirt, but not the dirt of the ground itself.
While Suho’s subspace storage ability had such limitations, Rabi, whose innate ability was spatial manipulation, had no such restrictions whatsoever.
Rabi could cut out any desired space, or carve away any desired space.
In fact, Rabi used that very ability to manage the tremendous number of items in the subspace warehouse and bring them out according to Suho’s requests.
“Shall I shave down everything protruding, starting from the highest mountain, and align it all to the height of the lowest ground?”
“Yeah. Oh, then where does the stone and dirt you dig out go?”
“Hmm... That is an issue, but may I pile it up in one section of your subspace warehouse, Suho?”
“Ah, do that. It’s spacious in here.”
“Understood.”
Even if they moved mountains, there was no need to worry about space.
Even if they shaved down every mountain in a region, what percentage could that possibly fill of a subspace warehouse the size of the solar system?
“Living beings with a certain level of intelligence won’t come along, and only trees, dirt, and rocks will enter, right?”
“That is correct.”
“Yeah, that’s a relief. There are still a lot of wild animals in the mountains for now... It’s a relief they won’t be stored in the subspace warehouse... Hm...? Wait.”
Just as Rabi was about to begin the work, Suho hurriedly called Rabi to a stop.
“Wait, Rabi! Hold on!”
“Yes?”
“You were just about to shave it all down in one go, weren’t you?”
“Of course. There is no reason to drag out such a troublesome task.”
“There’s not a single person left in that whole area now, since they’ve all been evacuated, but there are probably still plenty of wild animals.”
“Hm, wild animals cannot enter the subspace anyway.”
“That’s exactly the problem. If you carve away the mountain in one shot, hundreds of meters of space will suddenly become empty air, won’t it?”
“Ah...”
“Then won’t all the animals living there suddenly fall to their deaths from hundreds of meters up?”
“That is true.”
“If that happens, I think there’ll be an uproar about us massacring a whole population of wild animals.”
“Hm, then what should we do?”
“Let’s do this. Shave it down at a speed of one meter per minute. Then that’s 100 minutes for 100 meters, 200 minutes for 200 meters, about that pace... If it’s shaved down at that speed, the wild animals won’t suddenly plummet, and they’ll each run off somewhere safe on their own. How about it?”
“......”
“Good idea, right? Wow, I think I’m a genius.”
Suho was so pleased with himself, thinking it was an excellent idea, that he failed to notice Rabi’s crumpled expression at having to spend hours on a task that could have been finished in a matter of seconds.