It all began on the 16th floor.
[You have entered the 16th floor of the Black Tower of South Korea.]
[Your physical abilities have been enhanced to match your level.]
[You can now use traits and combat skills.]
Physical abilities raised yet another level.
Kosaku moved forward to receive the mission.
Ju-hyuk followed behind him.
But then?
"Go-bang! What are you doing instead of following?"
Yaman Go-bang had heard Kosaku's words, but that was all.
He didn't even glance at him.
Go-bang only stared blankly at Ju-hyuk.
He's got some sense.
He even seems to know whose orders to follow.
"Follow me, Go-bang."
"Understood. Go-bang absolutely obeys the summoner."
Only then did the barbarian warrior Go-bang catch up.
From now on, I'll have to assign every single order.
Tedious, but necessary.
[16th Floor Mission: Defeat 30 goblin scouts.]
[Time limit: Within 5 hours.]
[Completion condition: Goblin scouts 0/30]
[Failure condition: Death or mission abandonment.]
The moment the mission appeared, the forest grew noisy.
Rustle, rustle.
Something was moving.
"Summoner Bong, activate your energy shield. You should also be ready to use Shadow Footwork immediately."
"Got it."
At that very moment!
"Kekek!"
"Keeeeeek!"
Goblin scouts appeared out of nowhere.
They must have been lying in ambush—there were so many of them.
'Looks like well over 50.'
Spit! Spippit!
Pitch-black, needle-like objects flew toward the three of them.
From the front, from behind, from the ground, from the trees.
"Dodge!"
Takatak, tadadak—
"I'll block them for you!"
Kosaku deflected the poison needles flying at Ju-hyuk with his daggers and charged toward the forest.
But then?
'Huh?'
The barbarian warrior stood perfectly still even after being hit by poison needles.
They hadn't even lodged in properly.
With a single shake of his body, the needles rained down.
"Go-bang? What are you doing? Don't just stand there taking hits—go out there and sweep them all away."
In that instant!
The barbarian warrior's eyes flashed like a wild beast's.
"I hear the order. Kill them all. Kill the human assassin too."
"Kosaku is excluded."
"The assassin is excluded."
Such a high-maintenance summoned creature.
But still—
Boom boom boom boom!
"KUAAAAAAA!!!"
The barbarian warrior roared and joined the battle.
The goblin scouts hurled their poison needles, but they failed to pierce his thick hide and bounced right off.
Grab!
When the scout's head was caught in that massive grip—
Crunch!
BAM!
The barbarian warrior crushed it on the spot.
"···What the—"
Such incredible grip strength.
Is that thing even human?
Kosaku nimbly weaved through the poison needles and cut down goblins' throats, but the barbarian warrior Go-bang did none of that.
Whether needles or arrows flew at him, he charged with terrifying speed, grabbed them by the head, and popped them like bubbles.
Splat! BAM! Crunch!
Or he'd snatch them by the leg and fling them around like rag dolls.
Whoosh! Thwack! Thwack-thwack-thwack!
Terrifying power.
And amid all that, the barbarian looked at Ju-hyuk with an innocent expression, as if to say, Am I doing well?
"Y-you did great, Go-bang!"
"I got praised by the summoner. I'm better than the assassin."
Well, he wasn't wrong.
At least when it came to combat.
'That barbarian warrior is only Rare rank?'
He deserves at least SR—no, SSR.
'Maybe he's Rare because he's stupid.'
That must be it.
Being dumb is a fatal flaw.
Go-bang dominated the battlefield.
Goblins were flying through the air.
Not because they'd grown wings, but because the barbarian warrior was throwing them.
Massive trees were uprooted and hurled.
Boulders the size of houses went flying.
Goblins who couldn't dodge were crushed to death one after another.
Kosaku nearly got flattened by a boulder himself.
"You son of a—"
Glad I summoned him.
The barbarian warrior absorbed every single poison needle attack from the goblin scouts with his bare body.
With the aggro drawn away, Kosaku's freed-up attacks grew even fiercer.
Ju-hyuk also took out a mace from his inventory.
His energy shield was already active.
Ting-ting! Ting-ting-ting-ting!
Poison needles bouncing off the shield.
'···Wow! What if I didn't have the shield?'
Nice, though?
'So he's testing the energy shield here.'
The special reward content really does see everything through.
No wonder I can't give up the Platinum Badge.
'Then what about skills?'
He'd only practiced alone so far—how would they perform in real combat?
'Let's find out.'
Ju-hyuk took a step forward.
'Shadow Footwork.'
Swoosh!
Ju-hyuk vanished in an instant.
An afterimage remained where he'd stood.
The poison needle struck the shadow and passed right through it.
Pipipipit!
Swoosh! Swawawat!
'This is amazing.'
What skill could be better for escaping?
There was a reason Kosaku had told him to learn this one first.
He grew more proficient.
Proficient enough that the poison needles no longer scared him.
The scouts focused their poison needles on Ju-hyuk, but—
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh···
He was simply toying with them, rendering them helpless with his rapid movements and deceiving afterimages.
'This is fun.'
Way more than I expected!
'Could I actually have a talent for this?'
As if!
Don't be ridiculous.
Eventually—
[Announcement: You have achieved an S++ rating in clearing the 16th floor of the Black Tower (South Korea).]
[S++ Clear Reward: A Platinum Badge is granted.]
Having two is definitely better than one.
Or is it three?
※ ※ ※
Hannam-dong, Seoul.
Commissioner Park Kyung-su and Team Leader Jeon Kwang-il were having a conversation over warm tea.
Bong Ju-hyuk, the player and S++-rated clear record holder.
They had even sold him equipment at a bargain price.
"Whew, what a relief. Is Player Bong satisfied as well?"
"Yes, it seems so. He told us he'd attempt the 16th floor around this evening."
"Is that so? Well worth the effort."
Please, let him start climbing soon.
Setting records along the way, no less.
"By the way, should we keep Player Bong's affiliation as is? Or should we continue to pretend not to know?"
"Pretending not to know seems like the better approach."
"Why?"
"First, it allows us to conceal the existence of an S++ clear record holder, and second, given Player Bong's personality, this method is more efficient."
"Hmm."
"We'll simply observe quietly, and whenever something comes up that needs support—like this time—we resolve it immediately."
Commissioner Park Kyung-su nodded as well.
Honestly, he still couldn't understand it.
He'd dangled all those benefits in front of him, and the man didn't even blink.
"Let's call it a day. And you?"
"Since Player Bong said he'd clear the 16th floor today, I'll confirm it and then head out."
"Will he manage it again this time? It gets extremely difficult from the 16th floor onward."
"We'll see. If we just wait a little—"
At that very moment!
Knock knock.
Someone opened the commissioner's office door and entered.
It was Lee Min-ah, a player and section chief of the Management Agency.
"Oh, Section Chief Lee. What is it?"
"He, he just cleared it."
"What··· oh! Don't tell me—"
"Yes. An S++-rated clear record on the 16th floor of the Tower."
"Heh heh."
We sold him a few pieces of equipment cheap, and he goes and clears it right away?
"Back-to-back S++ ratings on the 16th floor··· is that even possible?"
Section Chief Lee Min-ah answered.
"In baseball terms, it's equivalent to a single pitcher throwing perfect games in sixteen consecutive outings."
"That's a insane record."
It wasn't something to simply celebrate.
At this level, would the neighboring countries just sit still?
"We must keep this information strictly hidden. Especially watch for any movement from China or Japan."
"Yes, sir."
We also need to keep building the relationship of trust.
"Put together a dedicated team. And include Player Bong's family in the support program as well."
He himself is one thing, but if we bring benefits to his family too?
It might be even more effective.
"But don't make a show of it."
"···If we don't take credit, how will they know it was us?"
"Player Bong will notice. He's timid, but he's not stupid."
"Yes, sir. I'll see it through personally."
Commissioner Park Kyung-su now had a goal.
Before his remaining term was up, he would absolutely get Player Bong Ju-hyuk onto the Elite Team.
※ ※ ※
South Korea's Tower climbing record stood at floor 65.
Tied for second place in the world, alongside Norway and Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, fellow East Asian nations China and Japan lagged far behind.
In truth, information about each floor of the Tower was recognized as a public good shared by all of humanity, so it wasn't difficult to know what appeared where and what types of missions there were.
The problem was the players.
A nation's fate depended on a single player, so securing skilled players was the key.
That was why fierce scouting wars broke out, or talented players were classified as national assets and rigorously protected.
Yu Chul-min, who single-handedly cleared floor 65 of South Korea's Black Tower and was now challenging floor 66, was a player courted by countries around the world.
Japan and China, in particular, were extremely persistent in trying to recruit Korean players.
It was practically a silent war.
Because if Player Yu Chul-min changed his nationality, that country would be guaranteed to reach floor 65.
China had a huge population.
Therefore, its number of players was proportionally large.
China's Tower climbing progress stood at a mere completion of floor 58, currently challenging floor 59.
A stark contrast to South Korea's completion of floor 65 and ongoing challenge of floor 66.
They had tried every method imaginable.
They bestowed heroic titles on their first climbers, showered them with monetary rewards···
Mana stone production alone was astronomical.
As a result, China's economy was flourishing.
But the problem was their sluggish Tower climbing.
The Black Tower standing near the metropolis of Shanghai, with barely two months remaining until the deadline for clearing the upper floors.
If the collapse countdown began like this?
They couldn't just sit on their hands.
They needed an active countermeasure.
Namely, attracting excellent players to their country through a naturalization policy.
Then where should they recruit talent from?
Their neighbor, South Korea.
Talented players were abundant there.
Even if they couldn't win over Yu Chul-min, South Korea's top player, naturalizing just anyone from the Elite Team would spare them any worry about the Tower's collapse.
Strategic ties, national pride—none of it mattered.
That kind of thing had already crumbled long ago.
And then, news arrived from South Korea.
There's a player with consecutive S++ clear records on the 16th floor?
They had neither heard of nor experienced such a player before.
Could they just stand by?
Since there were hardly any pro-China politicians in South Korean politics, they couldn't conduct underground operations—but they still had something to rely on.
Though their nationality was South Korean, those of Chinese-Korean descent—naturally cooperative with China.
Even now, they were exerting every ounce of effort to court the Elite Team and identify the S++ clear record holder.
※ ※ ※
Japan's situation was more desperate than any other country's.
There was only one Tower, but its location was the problem.
Japan's Black Tower was located on the western side of Mount Fuji.
Though far from major cities, there were predictions that if the Tower collapsed, it would affect the seismic zone.
An unprecedented great earthquake could strike the Kanto region.
The sinking of the Japanese archipelago becoming reality.
Worse yet, with the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant also deemed unsafe, a tragedy like Fukushima might repeat itself.
South Korea was comparatively lucky.
Its Tower was in neither a metropolis nor a seismic zone.
That was why Japan's jealousy toward South Korea was immense.
Why was Japan's Tower located in a seismic zone while Korea's Tower sat in a remote rural hillside with hardly any people around?
Why were Korean players superior to Japanese players? Weren't they Japan, the self-proclaimed and widely recognized gaming powerhouse?
When the Tower first appeared, Japan had been confident of itself.
Tower climbing was just like a game system.
And Japan was full of hikikomori who did nothing but stay holed up at home playing console games.
They assumed that once those people awakened as players, Tower climbing would be a piece of cake.
But the results were dismal.
Climbing progress: floor 56.
Last place among the three nations of China, Japan, and Korea.
Even if they somehow managed to get through the 50s, what about floor 60?
The Tower's collapse was as plain as day.
Japan's choice was the same as China's.
Bring Korean Elite Team players to Japan.
Or bring in the recently talked-about S++ clear record holder.
Fortunately, there were plenty of pro-Japanese politicians in the South Korean political sphere—utilizing them would soon yield good results.
※ ※ ※
The 16th floor clear was an S++ success as well.
Kosaku said floors 17, 18, 19, and 20 would be no problem.
"Summoner Bong, I nearly dropped dead back there. Turning even that good-for-nothing Yaman Go-bang into a useful human being."
Honestly, I wanted to say he seemed stronger than Kosaku, but···
"Well, it was only possible because you led the way from the front, Kosaku."
"Hehehe, you flatter me."
"Hahaha!"
Then he turned to the barbarian warrior.
"Go-bang, you brute! Stop eating already!"
"Kichin tastes good."
"Chicken! Is this a kitchen? It's chicken!"
"Sure, kichin."
A party after a clear was a given.
So they ordered chicken.
Thinking of the barbarian warrior's size, they ordered ten, and they were vanishing in an instant.
Grab a box, shovel it into his mouth, done.
Chomp, chomp!
He even ate through the bones.
"Summoner, good person. Feed me kichin and I give you my life."
"Chicken!"
"That's right. Kichin."
"Ugh, damn it!"
It was only a bit of chicken.
Floor 20 was right in front of them.
Assuming everyone would receive a Platinum Badge—
'What will the special reward be.'
A skill? An item? A trait enhancement?
Anything would be fine, as long as it made him safer.
In the 16th floor goblin scout subjugation mission, there had been danger for him as well.
Without Shadow Footwork and the energy shield, he would definitely have been hit by the poison needles.
What if he'd been bare-bodied, without any skills?
Always careful, always cautious.
Overconfidence was absolutely forbidden.
Let's push through from floor 17 onward.
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