The moment Rajix entered the 46th floor, he sniffed at the air.
The rich scent of metal.
No doubt about it.
There was ore here.
The location was that big boulder over there. 'Hoeeh!' If I mine the ore and bring it to the Summoner, she'll be so pleased!
Then I'll be acknowledged again.
When we first met, I thought I was going to be thrown out.
Even now, just thinking about that time makes me want to faint.
I must never be thrown out again, and so I worked hard.
Thanks to that, I've earned myself a place.
And the more I stayed here, the more I came to love this place.
The Summoner especially is the best.
Even when I didn't fill my backpack completely, she smiled at me; she got rid of my rivals; and she let me eat delicious carrots to my heart's content.
Carrots.
Just thinking about them makes my mouth water.
I've tasted carrots from many different worlds, but the carrots in this world are the best.
And that's not all.
The Summoner and my comrades always call me by my proper name.
Not "Hey, you," or "Rajij," or "Jix," or "Jixjix"... but Mr. Rajix.
It's wonderful.
Being a worker who is respected.
Rajix was now a creature who could never leave this place.
His life's goal was to stay with the Summoner and his comrades for a long, long time.
But a problem had arisen.
You're saying the pelts I've been skinning aren't worth money anymore?
And so the Basilisk hunting had been suspended as well.
This was bad.
The pelts are useless?
His heart grew anxious.
He'd thought he had fully secured his place.
That had been a misunderstanding.
He was even in danger of losing his right to eat carrots.
In that case?
I'll just have to give her something else.
Fortunately, he had found the answer on the 46th floor.
Metal is valuable everywhere.
Naturally, it would be no different here as well.
The Summoner will praise me again, won't she?
Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang!
Chasing the scent of metal, he struck at the rock.
Stone chips scattered in every direction.
Tududuk, tok-tok!
Meanwhile, Juhyeok simply watched without saying a word.
After all, the sight of a round, fluffy ball of fur swinging a pickaxe was an extremely novel spectacle.
The stone chips bouncing off the safety helmet Rajix wore.
So that's why he always insists on wearing that helmet.
Not because it's cute.
Right, safety comes first, above all else.
[You have cleared the 46th floor mission.]
"Huh?"
"Hoeng?"
[Notice: You have achieved an S++ clear rating for the 46th floor of the Black Tower (Korea).]
[S++ Clear Reward: A Platinum Badge is awarded.]
[You may now challenge the 47th floor.]
[You are exiting the Black Tower of the Republic of Korea.]
'When did it end?'
He had been watching in a daze and lost all track of time.
Spot!
Juhyeok and the summoned ones returned to the spacious penthouse living room.
"Hoo-eng…."
Rajix made a face on the verge of tears.
The reason was obvious.
"You couldn't fill your backpack again?"
"Nooo, I couldn't even skin an outer skeleton."
He slowly took off his backpack and laid out the ore—there seemed to be only about five lumps.
Unable to even meet Juhyeok's eyes, Rajix stole glances at him.
"I'm sorry."
"..."
"If I go in one more time, I'll work hard. I'll fill the backpack all the way."
Juhyeok's heart suddenly ached.
There was a sense of shared misery there, too.
The other summoned ones also seemed to sense the mood and said nothing.
"No. That's enough for today—go rest. Don't even clean."
At Juhyeok's words, Rajix's eyes went wide with shock, and he said, choking up.
"...I'm not nee, needed?"
What are you talking about?
"Who said you're not needed?"
Kosak, Gobang, and Gyeon Dallae hurriedly chimed in as well.
"Who'd say a worker who even does miner's work isn't needed? If anyone leaves, it'd be me."
"That's right. Kosak may be expendable, whether here or not, but without Mr. Rajix, even this grand household would fall to ruin someday."
"The warrior respects Rajix. He must stay here. If Rajix disappears, the warrior will be sad. The assassin could disappear right now and it wouldn't matter at all."
"W-wait, that's not what I meant…"
With his comrades' encouragement, Rajix's expression brightened considerably.
"You heard that, right? Mr. Rajix is the most needed person here, more than anyone."
Rajix was so delighted his fur practically stood on end.
"Hoeng!"
Puffing out snorts of breath, he placed both hands on his hips and put on his characteristically proud expression.
Aigoo, how cute. Just adorable.
"Shall you rest and have some carrots? I ordered the organic kind—there's a whole stack of them in the vegetable drawer of the fridge."
But Rajix shook his head.
"I'm not eating carrots."
"Then what do you want to do?"
"I want to go in one more time. I'll fill the backpack all the way."
"I told you, you can rest...."
"Can't I?"
"Uh..."
No, is there some ghost of an ancestor who died because he couldn't work?
Gyeon Dallae crept close and whispered.
"Young master, let him do as he pleases. Mr. Rajix is already a servant to the bone."
"..."
There was no helping it.
"Fine. Let's go in one more time. Go fill that backpack up."
"Hoeng!"
And so began the repeated clears of the 46th floor.
This time, too, Juhyeok stood beside Rajix and watched him work.
Kosak, Gobang, and Gyeon Dallae, so that Rajix's work would go smoothly, didn't kill the Scorpions but only lured them here and there, simply stalling for time.
Kang-kang-kang-kang!
As he smashed the rocks, ore glittering with mixed metal would come loose with a pop, caught on the pickaxe.
Then he'd pick it up and put it in the backpack.
How exhausting it must be.
Breaking rocks, picking up ore.
He essentially had to do two jobs all by himself.
"I'll pick up the ore for you."
"Hoeh? No. That's tiring."
"This much, at least, will set my mind at ease."
"Hueng..."
Rajix was at a loss, but if the Summoner insisted, then he supposed he had to comply.
Getting the ore into the backpack was easy.
He only had to hold it near the backpack, and the ore would slide right in, automatically.
It kept going in.
It must be quite heavy.
Kang-kang-kang-kang!
Rajix focused solely on mining the ore.
He didn't care whether the terrifying Scorpions came or not.
As long as the Summoner was pleased, he wouldn't have minded dying in the middle of mining ore.
In contrast, Juhyeok could only worry about Rajix.
'He's working too hard.'
At this rate, he'll make himself sick.
So Juhyeok, too, kept picking up the ore Rajix mined and stuffing it into the backpack.
There was no helping it.
If he didn't help Rajix himself, who would?
Then, at some point.
Tak!
An ore got caught at the mouth of the backpack and wouldn't go in any further.
The end?
He'd finally filled it all the way.
For some reason, Juhyeok's expression was even happier.
"Alright! It's done. Done! Now let's go home and rest. What are you doing? Let's hurry up and clear it and get out."
The other summoned ones, as if they'd been waiting for this.
"Yesep! It's our turn now. Leave it to us."
"We'll finish it quickly."
"I'll shake the bell, so Mr. Kosak and Mr. Gobang, just focus on earning your keep."
"My princess, please give us a hwimori beat."
Rajix's face was so bright.
Could working really be that enjoyable?
"Heeh—"
"Aigoo, look at that sweat, that sweat."
"Heeeh—"
Well, as long as he was happy, whether working or playing.
Hmm, things going like this for a while might not be so bad.
Helping Rajix along.
The mission was complete, too.
Spot!
He exited the tower.
The ore taken out of the backpack.
Large and small lumps, about seventy or more of them.
Compared to the pelts, the volume was far smaller.
It seemed Rajix's backpack was measured by weight, unlike a player's inventory.
Although the lumps of ore were small, each one was quite heavy—perhaps because metal was mixed in.
'What kinds of metal are all these?'
Looking closely, they were all different colors.
The jet-black metallic substance mixed into the stone looked like Adamant, the silver like Orihalcon, and the yellow like Sectonium.
'So they all come out at once, huh.'
Adamant seemed to be the most common among them.
He stored the mined ore in an empty room.
The amount was still small for now.
It would be better to save it up and hand it over all at once.
But making him work every single day didn't sit right either....
Might as well climb, then. Up to the 49th floor.
That way, Rajix could rest on the first clear.
The tower climb began. Up to the 49th floor was quick,
followed by ten days of repeated clears.
And with that, not much remained. The check of the 50th floor benefits and the cooldown on the random summon.
***
Korea was peaceful.
At least, there were no problems with the tower climbing.
But the situations of the neighboring countries on either side were completely different.
Japan.
Yu Cheolmin was never able to recover his broken spirit in the end.
He trembled so violently he refused even to enter the tower.
As a result, he was stripped of all the benefits he had received upon naturalization and was driven out with his family to a small provincial city in Japan.
What the Japanese government ultimately chose was a temporary naturalization contract for players with the United States.
Players under the US government, who were clearing the early part of the 60th floor, became Japanese citizens for one month.
No one knew exactly how much Japan paid America in return, but it had to be at least dozens of times the rental fee for the Holy Sword.
As for the other neighbor, China, the situation was even worse.
Sparks had fallen right at their feet. The clearing of the 59th floor was staring them in the face.
But despite kidnapping that many players, they had failed in the end.
At this rate, the collapse countdown would begin.
If you fail to block one, three collapse one after another.
In the end, China's choice, like Japan's, was a temporary naturalization contract.
In truth, the 59th floor was an ambiguous height to be stuck at.
The current global average climbing floor was the 55th.
Only a handful of countries had cleared the 59th floor.
The United States, Korea, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Norway, and Saudi Arabia, roughly.
For the latter half of the 60th floor, there were only two countries: Korea and the United States.
In truth, Korea and the United States should have controlled their floor progression. One floor every six months.
Step by step.
But how could you stop players from entering the tower and clearing as they pleased?
When no one knew who, when, or which floor was being attacked.
Even an overabundance of talented players was a problem.
In the past, there had even been a case in the US where three unclerced upper floors were cleared all at once within a single month.
Korea had experienced the same.
Now, being at a fairly high floor, such things no longer occurred.
Moreover, with the nation actively intervening, things could now be controlled.
Still, they couldn't rest easy.
Because at any time, in any place, a player of unknown identity could pop up and recklessly attempt to climb unclerced upper floors without any floor control.
In any case, from China's perspective, there was no suitable place to request temporary naturalization.
The US already had professional players temporarily naturalized in Japan, and asking Korea would wound their pride, so in the end, they had no choice but to beg Russia.
They had to pay an enormous price for a single month of temporary naturalization.
They even demanded land, and part of Heilongjiang Province became Russian territory.
A new border was drawn.
For China, it was a devastating humiliation.
Even if it did mean they had gotten past the crisis.
Meanwhile, the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates entered Korea through Incheon Airport.
***
The Awakening Management Agency.
Director Park Gyeongsu and Deputy Director Jeon Gwangil were having a conversation.
"Director, what about Crown Prince Abdul bin Sala? You said you were meeting him today."
"The meeting is scheduled for this evening, with the President."
"Do you happen to know the reason? For the Crown Prince to suddenly visit Korea."
"Take a look at this first. It's material transferred over from the National Intelligence Service."
Director Park Gyeongsu placed the documents on the table.
Could the mastermind behind the attempted kidnapping of elite players have been identified?
He opened the documents... but that wasn't it.
"In Abu Dhabi... a terror attack?"
"Yes, a mere three days ago."
"This is the first I'm hearing of it. Isn't this an incident that hasn't even been on the news?"
"The UAE government has controlled the reporting. Around ten players were blown up all at once."
"...I'm sorry, what?"
Jeon Gwangil read the documents carefully.
"Good heavens! Karim Zahid is dead, too?"
"A tragic loss. What's more, around ten players of level 50 or higher under state management died along with him."
Karim Zahid.
A state-sponsored player currently challenging the 60th floor of the UAE's Black Tower.
How much effort had the UAE poured into raising him?
A player raised by sweeping up every Rune of Trait Enhancement that hit the market.
The biggest culprit behind making the Trait Enhancement Runes disappear from the market was none other than the UAE.
They had fed them to their country's talented players without restraint.
"As far as I know, the United Arab Emirates has about 20 days left in their time limit to clear the 60th floor of the Black Tower. But Karim Zahid and all the level 50 players got blown to bits, so..."
""
"Terrible business."
"It is."
Not only the tower's main players but also the mid-tier players who could have supported them were gone.
"How on earth did they handle security?"
"Security was the problem. One of the bodyguards turned out to be an Islamic extremist. It came out right after the incident."
It's a chilling thought.
Come to think of it, it's not someone else's problem.
Players are practically ordinary civilians outside the tower, so something like this could easily happen in Korea too.
In fact, a similar incident nearly occurred not long ago.
"So they must have come to Korea to request temporary naturalization. But Nam Ga-eun is out of the question. Absolutely not."
"Of course. But the UAE seems desperate. They're begging for permission, saying they'll restore everything immediately once the floor is cleared."
Each country's top player is not eligible for temporary naturalization.
Even the United States separately raises and manages players dedicated to naturalization.
That's because dual citizenship isn't allowed.
A player can only enter the tower of a single nation.
There's even a theory that ordinary people with dual citizenship can't awaken at all.
And what if someone gets temporary naturalization, then plays dumb and never has their citizenship restored?
How many real cases like that were there?
Temporary naturalization as a business is something only a powerful nation can pull off.
"America's naturalization-dedicated player is in Japan, Russia has a contract with China, and Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, and Norway don't have players handling temporary naturalization either, so they must be at a loss. I can understand why they came to Korea."
"They must have judged that we're relatively free, having just cleared the 66th floor most recently."
The UAE's Black Tower is located near an oil field.
If the tower collapses, the oil field won't escape unscathed.
Magic stones are serving their role well as an alternative energy source, but oil is still a precious resource.
Commissioner Park Gyeong-su glanced around for a moment, then spoke in a quiet whisper.
"Actually, there's one more person the UAE wants besides Player Nam Ga-eun."
"You mean Manager Lee Min-a? Absolutely impossible. Manager Lee is currently climbing the 60th floor herself, and even if she qualified, we couldn't send her."
Manager Lee Min-a is also ineligible for temporary naturalization.
She is the Management Agency's Plan B.
You could say she inherited the role that Player Nam Ga-eun once held.
"It's not Manager Lee Min-a."
"Then who?"
"A player who recently recorded consecutive S++ ratings in clears up to the 49th floor."
"Ha!"
Have the UAE lost their minds?
"No, and we don't even know who it is..."
Of course, Park Gyeong-su and Jeon Gwang-il know, but"
"the UAE seems to believe that Korea has identified the S++ player's identity."
"Even if they do know, temporary naturalization is out of the question."
Player Bong Ju-hyeok's current floor is the 49th. He would need to climb 11 floors within 20 days—but for him, that wouldn't be difficult at all. He'd probably make it in 11 days.
"We absolutely have to stonewall them, insisting we know nothing. We can't even give them an opening to probe."
"What's the matter? Do I look like someone who would do that?"
"Hahaha, of course I trust you, Commissioner."
Commissioner Park Gyeong-su gave a short laugh and continued.
"Still, let Player Bong Ju-hyeok know that this kind of thing has come up. It'll break in the media soon anyway."
"Yes, I'm actually meeting him today."
"Oh, right! How's the leather business going?"
"That's... we've hit a snag."
"What kind?"
"We're short on leather cutting and crafting tools."
Basilisk leather has to be cut with blades made of tower metal.
We could force it with other equipment, but the leather would be damaged.
More than anything, fine craftsmanship would be impossible.
The stitching itself wouldn't hold.
"The workshop doesn't have spare metal?"
"They're barely keeping up with weapon production as it is."
"Importing is difficult too, I take it?"
"Yes, they'd be short of materials for their own equipment."
Jeon Gwang-il was worried as well.
It was a business Player Bong Ju-hyeok had entrusted to him in good faith, and now it looked like it would hit turbulence right out of the gate.────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────