The next morning.
On his way out of the house for his shift at the convenience store, Joohyuk called his father.
“Father, are you working hard on your rehabilitation? Is your hip bone healing well?”
– You think it heals that easily? I’m bedridden half the day. Why are you calling? It’s not like you live far away, you should visit in person.
“I’m a little busy these days. Let’s eat out together next time.”
His parents’ house was also in Seoul.
A two-room kitchen and a bathroom.
Joohyuk started living alone because the house was too cramped.
There were two grown sons in the family.
When they were younger, the brothers shared a room, but as they grew up, it became quite uncomfortable.
– Is everything okay?
“What could go wrong? I’m just broke. Ha, it’d be nice if I could awaken right about now.”
He probed a bit.
– “What would you do if you awakened? There’s a 0.01% chance it might happen, but even if it did… you wouldn’t do it!
“Huh?”
– How would you enter the tower? You completely take after me.
“…”
Joohyuk’s father was convinced that he wouldn’t become a player.
It wasn’t an incorrect assumption.
They knew each other better than anyone else.
“Well, you’re not wrong.”
– Stop daydreaming about useless stuff and come home soon. Let me see your face.
The reason Bong Joohyuk had the mindset of wimpy, safety-first, ordinary citizen, was due to this kind of family history(?).
What about the other guy who inherited the same genes?
He called his younger brother, Bong Minhyuk.
“…Anyway, Minhyuk, if you awaken, would you enter the tower?”
– Are you crazy? Absolutely not. I’d quietly spend three months and then just give up.
“I thought so. You wimpy bastard.”
– Right back at you. You’re a wimp too.
“You brat.”
Well, you couldn’t fight your genes.
– Anyway, just bear with it a little longer. I’ll graduate soon and lift up our family, and pay back what I owe you.
“…You talk big.”
– I’m sorry. And thank you.
“Yeah, just study hard.”
Joohyuk called his mother too.
“Mom.”
– Yeah, son, what is it?
“Is everything okay?”
– Yeah. I’m doing well. Except that I got fired from work yesterday.
Huh?
“That doesn’t sound okay… but why?”
– It was because of a troublesome customer. He said he’d give me a good satisfaction rating if I cleaned up all the trash and food waste in his house. How could I just let it slide? I gave him a piece of my mind! And then I got fired.
“Ah…”
– Don’t worry. I’ll find another job soon. Don’t worry about us and just take care of yourself. Don’t even think about sending me money.
His mother was bold and brave.
She couldn’t stand injustice.
That was why his father fell head over heels for her.
No wonder his father considered asking her out on a date his greatest achievement in life.
‘Ahem.’
Joohyuk felt his pride hurt.
The pitifulness of paternal genes.
‘…I must have inherited some of Mom’s genes. Yes! definitely.’
That was for sure.
That was why he entered the tower.
‘Anyway, I have to keep climbing.’
Especially since his mother got fired and their source of income was cut off.
From what he heard, floors 1 to 5 were supposed to be very easy.
‘They say the mortality rate is 0%.’
A sort of tutorial, a practice game.
‘I’ll go up to the 5th floor and then…’
If it was manageable, he’d keep going.
If not, he’d stop.
※ ※ ※
Working part-time at a convenience store during the day, working at a meat restaurant at night, and conquering the tower with John Cossack after returning home.
It was Joohyuk’s daily plan.
The success of the plan depended on Cossack.
So he should always be grateful.
He always gave him a perfect five-star rating.
“Sir! I-I don’t know what to do with myself. You give someone as inadequate as me 5 stars.”
“If I could give you 10 stars, I would.”
“Hehe, I’m glad you’re satisfied.”
“What should I do on the second floor…”
“You? You won’t even have time to do anything. I’ll clear it in three minutes.”
“Hahaha, that’s great.”
“Hehehe, it sure is.”
Now, before they got started.
“Can I ask you a few questions?”
“Oh! Of course.”
“When we first met, you said you came from a place with a lot of people, right?”
“Yes, there’s a large space and we wait there.”
“How many?”
“Whew, a lot. Probably more than 300.”
So there were over 300 gacha(?) characters that could be summoned.
That was a lot.
The ranks were all different, though.
“How do you get out of there…?”
“You have to be called to go out. Then you manifest in this physical form.”
The call seemed to mean summoning.
“But why the satisfaction rating?”
“The better the rating, the more benefits we get. For example, longer materialization time, rank increase, more chances to receive calls, it goes without saying.”
“Ah!”
He’d find out more details later.
Let’s enter the tower.
The most important thing was safety first.
The more greedy you got, the shorter your life would be.
[You are entering the 2nd floor of the Black Tower of Korea.]
What was the mission?
[2nd Floor Mission: Elimite Cunning Fat Grubs]
[Time Limit: Within 2 hours.]
[Completion Condition: 0/10 Cunning Fat Grubs]
[Failure Condition: Death or Mission Abandonment]
This time, it was cunning fat grubs.
“I’ll finish quickly and take you home.”
“Shall we have some chicken today? And maybe some beer…”
“I’d be grateful.”
Slash! Thud! Boom! Slash! Thud! Boom! Slash! Thud! Boom…
[You have successfully completed the 2nd Floor Mission.]
[You have leveled up.]
[Reward: 200g of Magic Stone]
[Notice: You have achieved an S++ grade for clearing the 2nd floor of the Black Tower (Korea).]
[S++ Clear Reward: You have been awarded a Platinum Badge.]
‘This is crazy, so crazy.’
Once he entered, he achieved S++.
No, was it okay to be this easy?
It was too fast.
‘I could even go in and out before my morning shift.’
Re-entering the tower wasn’t based on a 24-hour cycle, but on a daily basis like a game quest.
So the next morning.
[3rd Floor Mission: Eliminate 10 Ice Cold Fat Grubs.]
[You have leveled up.]
[Reward: 300g of Magic Stone]
[Notice: You have achieved an S++ grade for clearing the 3rd floor of the Black Tower (Korea).]
[S++ Strategy Reward: Platinum Badge.]
It was the same for the fourth and fifth floors.
The rewards were 400g and 500g of Magic Stones.
And he still received Platinum Badges.
A total of 5 badges were displayed side by side in a corner of his inventory.
‘What are these even for…’
At that moment!
[You have collected 5 S++ grade Platinum Badges.]
It popped up.
‘What’s this?’
[Accumulating 5 Platinum Badges grants you a special reward.]
[Special Reward: Awakening trait enhancement.]
“Oh!”
Trait enhancement.
“Status Window.”
[Name]: Bong Joohyuk
[Affiliation]: Black Tower (South Korea)
[Level]: 6LV
[Trait]: Summon (Simultaneous Summon: 2)
[Catalog]: John Cossack
[Trait Skill]: Designated Summon/Random Summon/Summon Dismissal
[General Skill]: Tower Entry (once per day)/Tower-Exclusive Inventory
[Battle Skill]: None
One thing stood out.
Summoning 2 people at the same time.
‘I can bring one more companion with me?’
Who knew breaking records would feel this good.
It would be even safer.
John Cossack alone was already unstoppable.
‘If I use Random Summon, I can bring one more… Ah, right.’
The cooldown, the waiting time for reuse.
There were still 20 days left before the random summon could be used again.
‘I’ll wait until then and summon one more so that all three of us can go together…’
No, actually.
‘I won’t participate in the battle, so it’ll be just two of them.’
This was a sweet deal.
Let’s take it slow from now on.
Until the Random Summon cooldown ended.
Tomorrow was another climb.
No need to hesitate and let’s go up.
To the 6th floor.
※ ※ ※
Hannam-dong, Seoul, South Korea.
Tower Player Awakening Management Office.
Director Park Kyungsoo was waiting for the tower-wide announcement message with sweaty palms and a tense mind.
When would it come today?
Morning, noon? Evening? Or late at night?
The timing might vary, but it was definitely the same person.
They were steadily climbing the Tower, floor by floor.
The general message, in other words, the announcement.
It was something only players of each affiliated tower could hear.
That was why numerous players gathered in the office.
After a while,
“Gasp!”
“…Oh my gosh!”
“Again?”
Director Park Kyungsoo asked urgently.
“D-Did the announcement come?”
“Yes, it’s the S++ grade clear of the 6th floor of the Black Tower (Korea).”
“Haha…”
The S++-grade clear announcement had been popping up for 6 days in a row.
Who could this be?
‘It’s definitely someone who just awakened recently.’
For the rank to be calculated normally, a player with a level matching the floor must clear it.
In other words, only a level 6 player could set a record on the 6th floor.
‘The highest known record so far is A grade.’
He learned for the first time that there was something beyond that.
And that an S++ grade would trigger a general announcement.
Who was this person?
A person of incredible talent.
If they continued to achieve S++ ratings on the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th floors…
Kyungsoo must find them.
He must find them and take special care of them.
If he wasn’t careful, they might get snatched away by another country.
What would happen if they got snatched away?
If a player changed their nationality, their tower affiliation would change.
For example,
If a player with [Affiliation]: Black Tower (Korea) went to Japan and changed nationality, it became [Affiliation]: Black Tower (Japan), and so on.
‘…That absolutely can’t happen!’
It was something he didn’t even want to imagine.
‘I need to make sure Korean-affiliated players keep quiet about this first.’
Though he wasn’t sure how well that would work.
‘I hope I get a call soon.’
To properly operate as a player, they needed to register with the Management Office.
The call should be coming any time now.
※ ※ ※
The tower climbing was progressing smoothly.
“Today is the 8th floor, right?”
“Yes!”
Floors 1-5 were tutorials, and floors 6-10 were beginner-friendly sections.
“Let’s do our best. Maybe I should start joining in…”
“No! It’s not a team effort; I’ll handle it alone!”
“Hmm, if Mr. Cossack runs into a dangerous situation…”
“Oh, that’s unlikely to happen, but if it does, just curse at me from behind. It would be because I’m stupid.”
Would this be really okay?
Yesterday was the 7th floor.
The mission was to break through a horde of monsters and retrieve a flag from a high hill.
It was incredibly simple.
The monsters couldn’t handle Cossack’s lightning-fast speed.
As expected, they got another S++ rank and platinum badge.
What about the 8th floor?
The moment they entered the tower.
[Mission: Eliminate 10 Red Thorn Frog Warriors.]
A swampy terrain where the ground sucked at your feet.
And the frog warriors.
They were small but terrifying.
Unlike grubs or larvae so far, they had mouths and long tongues.
Fortunately, they didn’t have teeth, but…
Actually, Joohyuk didn’t even have a chance to look closely.
Zip! Zip! Zip!
John Cossack dashed forward at a terrifying speed, zigzagging his way through.
Whip!
Swoosh!
The Red Thorn Frog Warriors’ tongues lashed out towards Cossack.
Slice!
Their long tongues were cut in midair.
Buzz!
Cossack’s dagger extended due to the sword aura.
Slash! Slashslash! Slashslashslash!
Pieces of frog flesh flying everywhere.
The frogs couldn’t withstand Cossack’s sword aura.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Grrribbit, Grrribbbit…”
Stab!
Flop!
[You have successfully completed the 8th Floor Mission.]
[You have leveled up.]
Having conquered the 8th floor, Joohyuk was now at level 9.
[Notice: You have achieved an S++ grade for clearing the 8th floor of the Black Tower (Korea).]
[S++ Clear Reward: You have been awarded a Platinum Badge.]
[Reward: 800g of Magic Stone]
[Reward: Tower-exclusive Healing Potion (5)]
Snap!
Back to Joohyuk’s apartment.
“Good work today too!”
“I didn’t even do anything.”
“Entering the Tower itself is the hardest task. Once you’re inside, I handle the rest.”
So the ‘work’ was just entering the Tower.
“Anyway, it’s easy. It’s over so quickly.”
Of course, it was Cossack who did all the work, not him.
“Still, we shouldn’t let our guard down. It’ll get harder as we go higher. Especially from the later floors of the 10th floor onward, it won’t be easy.”
That was true.
Never let your guard down.
Joohyuk knew this well.
Did he achieve this because he was strong?
No, it was all because of Cossack’s ability.
People should know their limits.
That way, you’d live long.
Anyway, it was another 3-minutes clear today.
Maybe he should give Cossack a gift for his hard work?
Joohyuk pulled 50,000 won from his wallet.
“There’s still plenty of time left, so why don’t you go out, have some fun, and eat something nice? Just don’t get into any trouble.”
“I can’t do that!”
“Why not?”
“I can’t leave Summoner Bong’s side. I’ll just stay home and watch TV.”
“Hmm.”
This command didn’t apply to the principle of absolute obedience either.
It must be because of the first principle.
The summoner’s life was the top priority.
“Should we order some chicken?”
“Oooh! That sounds great!”
Joohyuk opened a delivery app and ordered a chicken.
‘Let’s take a look at the rewards.’
First, the new reward, the Tower-exclusive healing potion.
As the name suggested, it was exclusive to the tower.
It couldn’t be used in reality and Joohyuk had no use for them either.
‘I’ll give it to Mr. Cossack.’
But what should he do with these magic stones?
The total amount he’d accumulated so far was 3.6 kg.
It was still just a handful.
Though they were stones, they were dense, so they took up little space compared to their weight.
‘I’ve earned 1.8 million won.’
But only if he sold them.
What was the point of just keeping them in his inventory?
He should cash them out.
But selling magic stones.
This was an issue that required a lot of consideration.
In fact, a task much more difficult than climbing the Tower was waiting for Joohyuk.
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