They'd used up both tower entry chances for the day.... So now what?
Why would there be nothing to do?
We need to hold a welcome party for the new member.
"
We'll make it Veronica's welcome party too. Let's have a team dinner. Take the beef out of the fridge. Today, beer and soju are unlimited as well... Huh?
"
Snooore, krororong. There was Veronica, already sprawled flat out on the living room floor, fast asleep.
"
Whoa, she fell asleep the second she got out. At this point, should I call her Im-a-Sloth?
"
"...
Could be a panda or a koala too.
"
The three great sleepers of the animal kingdom.
Veronica, possessing enough sleep capability to belong among them. It was almost pitiable.
At least eat before you sleep.
Knowing what Veronica had so desperately craved before her death, they couldn't bring themselves to wake her."
She must've gone crazy from sleep deprivation. Better to just let her sleep.
"
"
Still, better to eat and sleep. Even pandas eat bamboo before sleeping.
"
"
Waking her up for no reason would just set her off. You saw her earlier, right? Tsk tsk. Pretty face, but that personality....
"
"
Huh? Pretty?
"
"...
Yes?
"
"
You just said it.
"
"
I did no such thing.
"
"
You did, though.
"
"
A-are you sure?
"
Kosak, slipping away under the pretense of going to grill the meat.
Well, look at that.
If things go well, the two of them might already be hitting it off.'This could be interesting.' He didn't know whether romance was possible between summoned beings, but there was no reason it couldn't happen.
Once outside, they eat, drink, sleep—they do it all.
Let's just have the team dinner.
Leave Veronica's share aside, since there was no telling when she'd wake up.
Beef sizzled away on the large table.
Drinking and eating, laughing and chatting....
It was a welcome party missing its guest of honor, but today wasn't the only day.
They could always do it again.
In truth, Juhyeok found this situation wondrous every single time.
He'd lived his whole life without a single proper friend.
Team dinners? As if.
He hadn't even dared to hope he could laugh and chat with people like this.
For Juhyeok, being able to enjoy moments like this with his companions felt better than succeeding as a Player.
In fact, that was why he'd bought such a spacious penthouse in the first place.
Right at that moment!'Gasp!' In an instant, Veronica, who had been sleeping in the living room, vanished.'...
Where did she go?' She'd been snoring away on the floor just moments ago.
It wasn't a summon release either.
But then Gobang, who was eating meat, pointed under the table with his finger."
Sergeant. She's over here.
"
Looking down, there was Veronica.
This time, sleeping under the table.
She seemed to have rolled over here from the living room.
The more he watched, the more fascinating it was.
"
A sleeping habit?
"
"
Hooeeeh....
"
"
It appears she was drawn here by the smell of grilling meat even in her sleep.
"
Seemed like it.
Even in the middle of sleeping.
Sniff sniff—her nostrils flared.
Smack smack—she smacked her lips.
"
We should probably wake her and feed her.
"
Kosak stared quietly at the sleeping Veronica, then smiled as if something had occurred to him and said:
"
Summoner Bong.
"
"
Yes?
"
"
Don't wake her. Please wait just a moment. I want to try something.
"
"
What?
"
Kosak gently placed a piece of beef into the dead-asleep Veronica's mouth.
Sniff sniff—her nostrils twitched.
Then her tongue darted out—nyahm!—and swept the meat into her mouth.
Kosak sprang up and applauded.
"
Amazing. Amazing! She ate while asleep. Truly astonishing.
"
Nothing but disbelief the more he watched.
No, seriously—chewing meat while lying down asleep?
Was this a skill too?
Perhaps intrigued, Kosak placed another piece of meat on Veronica's lips.
Nyahm, munch munch.
"
Incredible. Would you like to try too, Summoner Bong?
"
"...
"
Gobang also watched quietly for a moment.
Swoosh.
He placed two pieces around her lips.
Nyahm, nyahm, munch munch, smack smack.
"
Hooeeeeh?
"
Rajix too seemed fascinated.
He snapped off a piece of the carrot he was eating and, with an expression full of anticipation, carefully placed it on Veronica's lips. Nyahm!
"
Hooee, she ate the carrot too.
"
"
Well done. Worker Rajix. Meat and vegetables in equal balance....
"
Ptooey!
A chunk of carrot suddenly flew out of Veronica's mouth.
"
Hooeeek!
"
A disappointed Rajix. So she eats in her sleep, but her palate is picky.
In any case, the welcome party wrapped up nicely.
She did at least eat, even if only in her sleep.
Time passed and it came time to leave, but Juhyeok didn't wake Veronica.
And so she was released from summoning and vanished while still asleep.***Time remaining until the United Arab Emirates tower's collapse: 13 days.
Multinational tower-entry tickets could only be used properly if one met the qualifications.
Floors above the user's level could not be climbed.
Climb to floor 59 in Korea's Black Tower, then move to floor 60 of the UAE Black Tower. Which meant floor 52 today.[Entering the Republic of Korea Black Tower, Floor 52.][Physical abilities enhanced according to your level.][Traits and combat skills are available.]Floor 52, level 52.
His strength had grown to level-52 heights, and his mana was brimming enough to sustain Shadow Steps all day long.
Time to start moving.
His special-perk item had been stolen, but he still had the mace and buckler he'd purchased when he first started as a Player.
What kind of alpha male blames his weapons?
Gobang fights just fine barehanded.
Conquest prep: begin.
Summoned while still asleep once again today: Veronica Caliber."
Operational prep is comple... Aahh!
"
Veronica, who had been inspecting her machine gun, cried out in a flustered expression.
"
Is something wrong?
"
"
C-Captain! Ammunition depleted. Self-resupply has failed. My apologies. I will rectify this immediately.
"
Ammunition?
She needed ammunition?
"
What kind of bullets?
"
"
Mana stones are required. The machine gun loads mana stones as live rounds. Normally I resupply by extracting them from monster corpses, but yesterday we finished too quickly, so....
"
"
Really?
"
There was a mana-stone magnate right here. What was there to worry about?
"
Where does the mana stone go in?
"
"
You just put them all in here.
"
Veronica peeled off the top cover.
Now he understood why the rifle was so bulky.
The machine gun's interior was completely empty.
If she poured mana stones in here, it would easily hold five kilograms.
"
Rajix.
"
"
Hooeh?
"
"
You have mana stones saved up, right?
"
"
Hooee, yes. Lots of them.
"
"
Give them to the Sergeant.
"
Rajix opened his backpack.
Drawn out from within—clatter clatter—mana stones came pouring out.
"
How's that?
"
"
M-more than enough.
"
"
Reloading during combat?
"
"
Possible. Loading takes no time at all.
"
"
Then, Rajix, if Veronica ever needs ammunition, supply her with mana stones immediately.
"
"
Hooeh!
"
Veronica, too—"
If my ammunition runs out, I will raise my left arm to signal Supply Officer Rajix.
"
"
Fire to your heart's content. Don't ration your ammo.
"
"
Victory assured!
"
With a full load like this, how many shots could she fire?
"
Two shots based on large mana rounds, two hundred based on small ones. Single-fire and automatic fire both available.
"
Two hundred small rounds.
Two large rounds.
Roughly comparing, a hundredfold difference in power.
"
If you keep feeding in mana stones, can you just keep firing large and small rounds at will?
"
"
Small rounds have no limit even on automatic fire, but large rounds are capped at two.
"
"
Even with mana stones resupplied?
"
"
Large rounds strain the machine gun. After firing two, one hour must pass before they can be fired again.
"
A kind of cooldown. No matter.
The small rounds alone had decent power.
And apparently he could fire at will.[Floor 52 Mission: Slay 15 Steel-Beaked Jet-Black Griffons.][Time limit: within 14 hours.][Failure conditions: Death or mission abandonment.]Floor 52 went smoothly as well.
Veronica's pulling, chip the damage down and hand off to Gobang, then Kosak's finishing blow.
By this point it was less "smooth" and more "monotonous."
Of course, that didn't mean surprises never happened.
"
Squad members, would it be all right to hand off two at once?
"
"
Go right ahead. Even ten at once would be fine.
"
"
Roger! Best of luck. Princess, I ask for your focus as well. Aggro could break, so be careful.
"
"
Worry not.
"
Shlick! Shlick! Shlick!
But instead of two, three came down.
Gobang, blocking her path.
"Three of them. Machine gunner, fall back."
"
No! I'll take one.
"
Bzzzzing!
Veronica's machine gun glowed white-hot.
Taking a seated firing stance, she aimed with care, then—BRRRAAAP!!!
A massive large mana round scored a direct hit on the talon-clawed griffon's body.
THWACK!
Struck by the large mana round, the griffon plummeted helplessly.
At the same time, her kill count rose.
One shot had been enough.
But the aggro of the remaining two was still on her.
BRRRRAT-TAT-TAT!
Stopping their descent with automatic fire, Veronica then rolled head over heels out of the battlefield.
The remaining two that had chased after her—
"
Where do you think you're going!
"
Gobang seized both their necks at once.
And Kosak drove a dagger imbued with sword qi into their vital points, snuffing out their breath.
"
Hooee... so cool.
"
Rajix said, eyes going wide.
He seemed to have fallen for the sight of Veronica firing off one big shot and then rolling away to escape.
"
Worker Rajix, I look cool when I fight too. Did I ever tell you how I once walked down from the heavens?
"
"
Hooeehk? Th-that's dangerous. Summoner, you're cool even just standing still.
"
That's right.
As expected, Rajix is a worker with a good eye for people.
In any case, Veronica Caliber.
Perhaps because her previous life was a soldier, every one of her movements was measured and efficient.
Especially the sight of her, in a standing firing stance during automatic fire, relentlessly slamming small rounds into the griffons....
But there were drawbacks too.
Her cost-efficiency was worse than expected.
Mana stone consumption was heavy.
Gobang and Kosak only needed to be fed.
The moment Veronica raised her left hand, Rajix bolted out as if he'd been waiting—rumble rumble rumble"
Hooeeee!
"
Clatter clatter.
He opened his backpack and supplied her with mana stones.
"
Thank you, Supply Officer Rajix.
"
"
Hooeeee...
"
Rajix, holding the position of Supply Officer, serving on the very front line of combat.'Then I should probably join in soon....' Juhyeok took out his mace and buckler.
Seeing this, Veronica came rushing over, out of breath.
"
You must not go to the front.
"
"
Why not?
"
"
You could be hit by stray rounds flying from behind. In war, more soldiers die to friendly blind fire than to enemy kills.
"
Not her too.
How did she have so many different excuses?
"
Then what about Kosak and Gobang over there?
"
"
Hmm, Kosak is sneaky enough to dodge bullets, and Gobang looks like he wouldn't even flinch if he were hit.
"
"...And if I order you, Sergeant?
"
"
Reciting the Three Principles of the Summoned! One! The summoned place the summoner's life above all....
"
"
Ah, enough.
"
Those blasted three principles.
"
Besides, if the Captain goes out herself, who will command? A commander must not move rashly.
"
"
Command my foot.
"
"
I must have misheard that.
"
A commander, she says.
Does loafing around in the rear count as command too?'Hm...' Now that he thought about it quietly, she wasn't wrong.
If anything, it was perfectly realistic.
Being a commander, it was only right to lounge around in the rear.
In any case, floor 52 as well—[Notice: The Black Tower (Korea) Floor 52 conquest grade has been achieved: S++.]
The next day too.[Notice: The Black Tower (Korea) Floor 53 conquest grade has been achieved: S++.]
The day after that too.[Notice: The Black Tower (Korea) Floor 54 conquest grade has been achieved: S++.]***The UAE is a federation of states.
The main seat of power lies with the Supreme Federal Council, but among them, the King of Abu Dhabi, the most powerful, effectively rules the UAE.
Abdul Bin-Sala, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, was under house arrest in his residence.
All external activity had been forbidden.
It was no different from being locked in a prison.
He had ended up this way the moment he returned to Abu Dhabi from Korea.
Because of the failed temporary naturalization contract?
Absolutely not.
A mere failed contract could not be grounds for exile.
He was the Crown Prince, no less.
The cause was the Rune of Trait Enhancement.
An item that was supposed to be handed over as part of the Player temporary naturalization contract with Saudi Arabia.
His crime was handing it over to a mysterious assailant whose identity he didn't even know.
All he had received in return were two tower reward items and a verbal promise to clear floors 60 and 61 for him—and because he had to bear full responsibility for it, Bin-Sala had been exiled to his home.
Moreover, he now stood on the brink of being stripped of his crown prince status as well.
Was it merely the stripping of his title?
In the end, he would be expelled from the UAE altogether.
And then he would be eliminated by a killer.
Because a living exiled crown prince would be a burden to the next regime.
There was exactly one way to survive.
That man he had met at the hotel.
If he cleared floor 60 of the UAE's Black Tower.
Then Bin-Sala would escape his exile and be able to wield even greater power than he held now.
Just then!
Knock knock.
An attendant knocked on the door of the room where Bin-Sala was confined and entered.
"
How did it go?
"
"
Today, floor 54 of the Korean Black Tower was cleared at S++ grade.
"
"
I see.
"
Four consecutive days of climbing.
Honestly, he had been uncertain at first, but now he was certain.
Gobang.
A mysterious Player capable of exerting power beyond his in-tower abilities even in reality.
Gobang was without a doubt the one behind the S++-grade clears of the Korean Black Tower.
Clearing floors 51 through 54 consecutively over four days was to keep the promise he had made to him.
And how magnanimous he'd been, simply handing over extremely rare tower-reward weapons and a shield as a "gift."
Omar, the Player who had donned that equipment for his tower climb, had already climbed two more floors and reached level 29.
If Gobang cleared floor 60 as promised?'I absolutely must go to Korea.' Preparing a gift bundle worthy of the favor.
Somehow, he had to meet Gobang again.
He needed to maintain an ongoing relationship with him.
The fact that Gobang was a chilling, spine-tingling person didn't matter at all.
If anything, having made his acquaintance might be his good fortune.────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────