Chapter 3
It had been 20 years since the pitch-black Black Tower was erected.
The tower, sleek and cylindrical, with a dark exterior, was an entirely different scale compared to typical skyscrapers, it was truly massive.
Each country in the world had one or three of these towers.
South Korea had one.
It was located on a mountain in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province.
When the towers first appeared out of nowhere one morning,
armies from each country were dispatched and scientists and the press gathered to find out what they were.
However, no one could get close to the tower.
They were visible, but physically blocked off.
It seemed to prevent humans from entering.
It was the same even if you tried to enter from the sky.
What on earth was that?
Why did it appear?
No one knew until the players appeared.
When they appeared, they found out the truth.
The tower was meant to be climbed.
By who?
Of course, by the players.
Those who earned the right to enter the towers.
The number of players was estimated to be 0.01% to 0.02% of the total population.
Approximately 700,000 to 1.5 million out of the 7 billion people on Earth.
In South Korea, this meant about 5,000 to 10,000 out of a population of 50 million.
Only players could enter and exit the tower whenever and wherever they wanted, ignoring the constraints of space and time.
What happened when they entered the tower?
They carried out missions given to each floor.
Climbing the tower was like a game.
Inside the tower, players climbed the tower while carrying out difficult missions based on their powerful abilities and skills.
Players were fundamentally independent.
Partying or cooperative climbing was impossible.
It was not allowed at all.
Even if they performed the same mission on the same floor, the phase was different.
They would never encounter each other inside the tower.
Facing the tower alone, without any help.
A single player could determine the fate of a nation.
If they succeed in the mission, they received a reward.
In the real world, the magic stones they brought back became an essential resource for industries.
The rewards increased as they climbed higher.
But no one knew how many floors the tower had.
The country that climbed the highest was the United States, which had 66 floors and 2 towers, both were conquered up to the 66th floor.
Korea also had a very good climbing speed.
They had reached up to the 65th floor.
Just one floor short of the U.S.
But why keep climbing?
Was it necessary to continue?
It was not just for the rewards.
If the players didn’t climb the upper floors that hadn’t been cleared, the tower would collapse.
The time limit was about 6 months.
Within that time, a player must conquer the highest unconquered floor.
What if the upper floors weren’t cleared?
[Notice: The progress of the black tower in △△ country is slow.]
[Notice: The tower collapse countdown has begun.]
[Notice: Countdown will stop when you successfully climb the highest unconquered floor.]
Eventually,
[Notice: The black tower in △△ country collapses.]
The tower collapsed.
It was a huge disaster.
It was not just the tower that collapsed.
The entire city where the tower stood split open, magma erupted, and huge sinkholes appeared everywhere, completely destroying the entire city.
That was what happened in India 3 years ago.
There were 3 towers in India.
New Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai.
Out of these three, Mumbai’s black tower climbing stopped at the 43rd floor, and about 180 days later, it happened.
Over 10 million people died, and Mumbai was now a lost city.
It didn’t end when one tower disappeared.
A new tower rose in Chennai, India.
So, India still had three black towers.
It collapsed and built up again.
So tower climbing had become an issue that the national government had to deal with directly.
Countries formed and managed ‘elite tower climbing teams.’
There wasn’t much a government could do regarding tower climbing. They provided supplies that players could take into the tower, offered mental health care, or gathered and shared strategy information.
In any case, only players could enter the tower.
Since they were ordinary people outside the tower, they needed personal protection.
The players also had a time limit for conquering the tower.
If they didn’t enter the tower for more than 3 months, they lost their qualifications.
So the government was desperate to secure and manage talented players.
※ ※ ※
Bong Joohyuk returned home after finishing his part-time job at the meat restaurant.
He had said in advance he would take the day off tomorrow.
He also called the convenience store owner.
‘Let’s try entering the tower.’
Just take a quick look.
If it was too tough, he could just quit.
If he did nothing for three months, it would all just pass by.
[General Skill]: Tower Entry (Once per day) / Tower-Exclusive Inventory
Since he had made up his mind, he decided to do it now.
He had already researched what the first floor was like.
The mission was to hunt monsters.
Their defense was quite high, but they were said to have almost no attack power.
Just beat the monsters up, and it would be over.
They were tough, so they didn’t die easily, but.
“Well then…”
Wait a minute!
A sudden thought occurred to him.
Should he summon the crazy assassin John Cossack?
Wasn’t there a better option?
Summoning someone else with a sound mind instead of John Cossack.
Who knew?
Maybe he might even get a Legendary Special Super Rare grade.
Alright.
Let’s give it a shot and then decide.
One more random summon.
But,
[Random summon is not available.]
[Random summon cooldown is 28 days 11 hours 08 minutes 37 seconds left.]
‘…There is a cooldown?’
About a month, he estimated.
Cossack’s designated summon had a cooldown of three hours.
It made sense.
Since there was no cost involved, without a cooldown, he could just keep summoning until he got a good grade.
Let’s just summon Cossack.
SR, Super Rare, was also a great grade.
He wouldn’t know that I tried to summon someone else, right?
Jookyuk hoped not.
In that case…
“Designated summon, John Cossack!”
Whoosh! Flash!
Once again, a message popped up asking him to rate his satisfaction.
[Before the designated summoning, please leave a satisfaction rating for John Cossack.]
Feeling a bit guilty, Joohyuk gave it a full 5 stars.
[John Cossack has been summoned.]
“Thank you for the 5 stars, Summoner Bong. I am at your service! Just give me the orders.”
Ahhh!
What a polite guy.
“I’ve decided. Let’s enter the tower.”
“Oooh! Already? That’s brave of you… Ah, no, forget what I just said. You shouldn’t be too brave.”
“Don’t worry. I’m just going to take a quick look and then leave.”
“You’re truly wise. Once inside the tower, don’t lift a finger. I’ll make sure it’s a smooth and safe ride.”
John Cossack rubbed his hands together and fawned over him.
Joohyuk nodded, satisfied.
He wouldn’t know, right?
That I was about to summon someone else just a moment ago.
Joohyuk would feel bad if he knew.
“Shall we go? Oh, by the way, can we enter together?”
“Oh, I’ll definitely go with you. I’m Summoner Bong’s tool and hunting dog. Hehe.”
Is that so?
Well then.
Joohyuk entered the tower.
Current time 11 pm.
The entry cooldown was based on a daily cycle.
So even if he entered now, after an hour, when it was midnight, he could enter again.
But was there really a need to be that diligent?
[Would you like to enter the Black Tower in South Korea?]
[The available floor for entry is the 1st floor.]
Of course,
“To the 1st floor.”
Woosh!
In Bong Joohyuk’s apartment,
he and John Cossack disappeared at the same time.
※ ※ ※
[You are entering the 1st floor of the Black Tower in South Korea.]
Finally, he entered it.
At the same time, system messages began scrolling up.
[Physical abilities have been enhanced according to your level.]
[Traits and combat skills are now available for use.]
Automatic physical enhancement…
It was subtle, but he felt a slight increase in strength.
Just at level 1, though.
“We’ll move now. Please follow me.”
The entrance was a safe zone.
To receive the mission, they needed to go further inside.
Once the mission appeared, the challenge would begin.
Ding!
[1st Floor Mission: Eliminate 5 Tough-Skinned Fat Grubs.]
[Time limit: Within 2 hours.]
[Completion Condition: Tough-Skinned Fat Grubs 0/5]
[Failure Condition: Death or Mission Abandonment]
The mission was a simple monster subjugation.
However, it was not simple at all for Joohyuk.
‘Haa,’
He was worried.
Catch grubs?
The terrain was a barren wasteland, without even a blade of grass.
Grubs were crawling here and there.
They were as big as a puppy you’d kept at home.
He didn’t even know where they were facing.
They had no hands or feet, eyes, nose, or mouth.
So they had no way to attack.
Instead,
‘Their skin is tough.’
Which meant they were hard to kill.
Indeed.
From what he heard from other players, it took about 30 minutes to kill just one.
Some even failed the mission because they took too long.
Well, you wouldn’t die if you failed.
The 1st floor was a place to test one’s skills.
The Tough-Skinned Fat Grubs crawling around were essentially training dummies.
Would Cossack be able to handle it?
Typically, players with summon traits shared levels with their summoned creatures(?).
If Joohyuk was level 1, John Cossack was also level 1.
But since it was marked with a grade instead of a level, maybe it was different.
“You know the mission on the first floor, right?”
“Yes!”
“Then let’s go.”
“Understood! I’ll carry out your orders.”
Swish!
Cossack disappeared from the spot.
“Huh?”
Where did he go?
In the blink of an eye, Cossack appeared before one of the grubs.
“Blade Explosion.”
He swung his glowing red dagger.
Slash!
Thud!
Boom!
The Tough-Skinned Fat Grub exploded.
“…Wow.”
So easily?
That was one down.
“I’ll finish this quickly.”
John Cossack executed his skill.
Once the dagger embedded into the grub’s body, it exploded immediately.
Slash! Thud! Boom! Slash! Thud! Boom! Slash! Thud! Boom…
Two, three, four… and the final, fifth one.
[Tough-Skinned Fat Grubs Eliminated: 5/5]
[You have successfully completed the 1st Floor Mission.]
[You have leveled up.]
[Reward: 100g of Magic Stone]
Following that,
[Notice: You have achieved an S++ grade for clearing the 1st floor of the Black Tower (Korea).]
[S++ Clear Reward: You have been awarded a Platinum Badge.]
‘…What is this,’
That was fast.
Definitely not level 1.
And an S++ clear grade.
Did they even rank clearances?
‘It must be a good thing.’
Joohyuk didn’t know what was going on, but it was definitely great.
So he had 2 rewards.
Usually he only got magic stones.
‘Platinum badge…’
What was this for?
It seemed to be awarded for achieving an S++ clear grade.
[You may now challenge the 2nd floor.]
[You are exiting the Black Tower in South Korea.]
Swish!
In an instant, the environment changed.
Joohyuk was back in his small apartment.
‘I’m home.’
He had already completed the mission and returned?
‘How much time has passed?’
He entered at 11 pm.
But now it was 11:03 pm.
Only 3 minutes had passed.
Reading the messages on the 1st floor took about a minute.
Moving to the mission area took about a minute.
The actual time spent eliminating the grubs… probably less than a minute, or not even that.
“Good work. Hehe,”
John Cossack smiled brightly.
“I didn’t do anything, though.”
“That’s what you did good.”
“…”
Was this a dream?
Just slash! Thud! Boom! Then, swish! And then suddenly they were back.
‘It was really easy?’
The status window showed [Level]: 2LV
He had heard that it ended only when you felt exhausted from beating the grubs to death.
Let’s check if he got the rewards.
The tower-exclusive inventory.
It worked even outside the tower.
But only rewards from the tower could be placed in and taken out; other items couldn’t be stored.
‘…There it is.’
100g of magic stone.
Also, a platinum badge.
It was a real badge.
‘Do they expect me to wear it on my chest?’
That was a bit embarrassing.
Joohyuk took the magic stone out.
A small, glittering stone the size of a fingernail.
100g was worth about 50,000 won at the current rate.
That was because the price of magic stones was dropping day by day.
It used to be quite expensive in the beginning, when humans first got their hands on magic stones.
Now they were much more common.
‘The first person to clear the floor must have made a lot of money.’
He had heard that each tower had a first-clear system.
The first player to complete the mission on each floor received rewards ten times, sometimes even fifty times greater.
Were the rewards only magic stones?
If you completed a high-rise mission of 30 floors or more, you’d get a series of extraordinary items.
‘Still, I made 50,000 won.’
In just three minutes at that.
Cossack laughed next to him and Joohyuk’s face lit up.
“Should we get a midnight snack? What do you like?”
“I’ll eat anything.”
“How about jokbal?”
“…S-Spicy jokbal?”
“No, garlic jokbal.”
“Garlic is… still spicy.”
This guy really couldn’t handle spicy food.
“Then I’ll order regular front legs.”
“Hehehe, I’ll accept it gratefully. Thank you for your kindness.”
Grateful? Over jokbal?
“But Mr. Cossack.”
“Yes!”
“Is that how you usually speak?”
“Which part do you mean?”
“Well, you keep shortening your words a lot.”
“T-That’s because I’ve spent so much time with my previous summoner…”
Aha.
If he had to explain, would it be like the influence of an ex-boyfriend?
In this case, it would be the influence of the previous summoner.
“I’ll fix it if you’re not comfortable with it.”
“No, it’s kind of fun to listen to. Hahaha!”
“Hehehe!”
Anyway, Joohyuk was certain now.
‘It’s totally doable.’
It was not dangerous at all.
Though, it was only the 1st floor.
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