Chapter 148

The world where souls live is desolate.
Without physical bodies, their five senses are cut off.
They can communicate with one another, sure—but is it any fun?

Still, they endure.
Because of an unfathomable contract with the laws themselves, a mission was bestowed upon the souls.
Help the savior who summoned you and save the world.

Summoner player.
The power of that class needs no explanation.
Perhaps an irregular that exists due to an error of the Tower.

And yet, it had never once succeeded.
In every world without exception, the Tower collapsed, and with it the boundary between the world and the Tower vanished.

They never even climbed very high.
Usually, everything collapsed around the average curse of the 70th floor of Kabalon.
And this was in worlds where summoners existed.
That was how difficult clearing the Tower was.

But this summoner was clearly different.
The number of currently active summoned beings had already exceeded ten, and thanks to that, the climb was proceeding at breakneck speed.

And then, eventually, the incident happened.
Something truly shocking.
Rumors spread, one trailing after another.

『I heard a nuke went off in the Earth Tower.』

『… Ah! Damn it!』

『Shit! I thought they were holding out.』

『Tsk tsk, then Earth's finished now, huh? Retaliatory nuclear strikes will start flying soon, and it'll be annihilated before the Tower even collapses.』

『Hey, I haven't even gotten out yet—what am I supposed to do if it's already over?』

『Jeez, what was that Mad Demon doing? He should've killed the politicians playing with nukes first.』

『Haah… does this mean I won't get out this time either?』

Telepathic chatter filled with frustration, regret, despair, and lamentation.
But then?

『No, you idiots—what did you hear me say? Did you even understand?』

『A nuke went off, didn't it? Isn't that the start of nuclear war?』

『For fuck's sake! It went off in the Tower. Inside the Tower! Not outside—inside!』

『… What?』

『What kind of ridiculous nonsense is that?』

『Wait! Inside the Tower? You mean the place where you get missions on each floor?』

『Yeah. Nuclear fission occurred on the 81st floor and blew a gigantic monster to pieces.』

The souls were bewildered, completely at a loss.

『Th-that's impossible. Why would a nuke go off inside the Tower?』

『Did some nuclear-bomb-specialty player appear or something?』

『Was it that foul-mouthed bitch Marie from Choksi? Did she really synthesize a nuclear-fission homunculus?』

『No. None of that.』

『Then how?』

『They say the Earth summoner airlifted a nuclear warhead into the Tower and detonated it.』

In that instant—
Silence fell over the infinite world.
Of course it did.
This wasn't a joke.

『R-really?』

『For sure. It came straight from the Mad Demon's mouth.』

『Th-then is there any chance the Mad Demon lied?』

『The shaman who was recently promoted to legendary grade confirmed it too. She doesn't lie.』

Suddenly, the souls erupted into noise.

『Wow!』

『Hahahaha!』

『Magnificent.』

『Hohoho, that really clears the chest.』

But there was still a question.

『But was the Behemoth on the 81st floor really strong enough to need a nuke?』

『Yeah. The Mad Demon alone should've handled it.』

『There was a hidden reason.』

『What kind?』

『The administrator revealed themselves before the summoner and tried to make a deal. Under the law of equivalent exchange—state what reward you want, and if you succeed, you'll get it. But the mission will become harder.』

『They tried to negotiate? That insane administrator bastard!』

『Have they lost their mind? That's a blatant violation of causality. It's an abuse of authority.』

『I'll tear them apart.』

『Put on an administrator badge and suddenly they can't tell shit from soybean paste.』

『Those fucking trash bastards. My wish will never change—snapping the administrators' necks.』

Amid all that, one thing stood out.

『So what did the summoner ask for? Immortality? Trait enhancement? World domination?』

『The liberation of souls bound to the Tower. And what that meant was—』

The explanation continued.

『Ah!』

『As expected… it wasn't for himself.』

『Altruistic. The title "savior" fits him perfectly.』

『…』

『No wonder he's so strong.』

『Hmm, isn't that just adorable?』

『I want to get out quickly and meet the summoner too.』

『Yeah. Random summoning should be coming soon.』

『This time it's definitely me! Summoner! Please wait!』

That was when it happened!
A strange telepathic voice cut into the souls' conversation.

『Not a chance, sirs. Wake up from your dreams. None of you are getting summoned.』

Huh?
Someone using this kind of tone in telepathy?

『Oh!』

『You're an assassin.』

『The protagonist finally shows up.』

『Congratulations. I envy you.』

『… But what do you mean? Why won't we be summoned?』

『The catalog's full, sirs.』

『Huh? If the catalog's full, an expansion ticket should come out.』

『That's the thing—it ain't coming out.』

『Why wouldn't it?』

『Right. When the catalog fills up, it's supposed to come out automatically.』

『The probability of a catalog expansion ticket is extremely high. You can increase it to 20, 30, even 40 people.』

『But it ain't dropping. Even stacking three or more privilege rewards, it still ain't coming out. Ain't that strange?』

Not coming out?
That couldn't be right.
Only then did the souls realize how serious this was.

『Don't tell me… the administrators did this?』

『Indeed. It's definitely probability manipulation.』

『Those bastards—using such underhanded tactics?』

『Ha! Not satisfied with trying to deal with the player, now they're even manipulating item drop rates?』

『Those petty, beggar-like scum.』

Souls originally hate administrators.
They regard them as sworn enemies.

『Are we just going to sit still? We should rise up.』

『How?』

『Just go all out! Until the infinite world is turned upside down.』

『Lowering item drop rates? And daring to strike deals with players? Run your damn operation properly! … Like that?』

『Louder!』

『We accuse the administrators of abusing their authority, you bastards!』

『Is causality some dog's name? Equivalent exchange? Go fuck yourselves!』

『You despicable fucks! Do you have no conscience?』

『Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!』

『Administrators, get lost! Administrators, get lost! Administrators, get lost! Administrators, get lost! Administrators, get lost! Administrators—』

『You fucking bastards! You fucking bastards! You fucking bastards! You fucking bastards! You fucking—』

...

...

『Chirp chirp, spio, spio! Chirp chirp, spio, spio! Chirp chirp, spio, spio! Chirp chirp, spio—』

『Who's making cicada noises?』

The wailing of the souls filled the infinite world.
Endlessly, spreading like a plague.

The roar of enraged souls.
A massive current.
It showed no sign of stopping.

Naturally so.
If there was no catalog expansion, random summoning itself might come to a halt.

Was there anything more important to souls than this?

Beijing, China.
These days, newly inaugurated Chinese President Liu Zhao was all smiles.

All three Chinese Towers had climbed into the 70th floors.
They had finally broken through the undead section, once thought impregnable.

All thanks to holy water and Tower reward items.

Moreover, the climb through the 70th floors was extremely smooth.

Just as rumored—it was really easy.
Once past the hardships of the undead section, a flower-lined road spread out before them.
Of course, this was limited to basic missions only.

Still, even just basic missions were more than enough.
Starting with the 71st floor, then 72nd, 73rd, 74th—

All three Towers were cruising at high speed.
The 80th floor was now right before their eyes.

How could he not be in a good mood?
For the time being, there was no need to worry about Tower collapse.

However, there was something that irritated President Liu Zhao.
Namely, the peninsula bastards from that small country.

South Korea and North Korea.
Those who didn't know their place had begun discussing reunification with each other.

Absolutely unacceptable.
It had to be stopped before reunification could occur.

"Is the outreach finished?"

"Yes. We made contact with North Korean People's Army player Major Jang Chang-su. The item was delivered safely as well."

"Is he trustworthy?"

"Trust the money. We promised 30 million yuan. We already brought his family to China and paid 5 million yuan as an advance."

Thirty million yuan—nearly six billion won in Korean currency.

"And if he changes his mind at the last moment?"

"Major Jang Chang-su is in stage-four pancreatic cancer. He doesn't have long to live. For his family's sake, he'll definitely do it."

President Liu Zhao nodded in satisfaction.
Both South Korea and North Korea needed to be punished.
If the two countries unified, China's security would be threatened.

South Korea acquiring nuclear weapons.
What if nuclear warheads were mounted on Hyunmoo missiles capable of reaching Beijing?

And on top of that, control over East Asia?
South Korea was already surging ahead as a leading nation in Tower conquest, and now whispers were spreading about seating South Korea as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
It was nothing short of horrifying.

"When is the operation?"

"In a few days, there will be an event in Pyongyang for the establishment of a regional branch of the Awakening Management Administration. That day will be D-Day."

The world's best Tower-climbing and conquest organization.
South Korea's Awakening Management Administration.

And now they were building a branch in North Korea.
South Korean civil servants starting work on North Korean soil, handling affairs for North Korean players?
If that wasn't reunification, then what was?

"It's perfect. Chairman Kim In-jung, People's Armed Forces Minister Go Sa-geuk, Park Gyeong-su—who will soon take office as the Pyongyang Awakening Management Administration branch chief—and Commissioner Jeon Gwang-il will all be attending. High-ranking officials from both the South and the North will be there."

China had actually received an invitation as well.
They had scoffed at it.

"This cannot fail."

"Major Jang Chang-su is a player. And his level is quite high."

"Didn't you say he's stage-four pancreatic cancer? No matter how much he uses a Rune Necklace of Liberation—"

"That's not the case. The moment he uses the Rune Necklace of Liberation, the abilities inside the Tower apply in full. It will succeed without fail."

One more thing.

"What about the risk of our involvement being exposed?"

"There will be none. The item was airlifted from Pakistan, and it's Russian-made anyway. Only Major Jang Chang-su knows about it, and once he's dead, it will be buried forever."

"Good."

Even if something did happen, there wouldn't be much reason to suspect China.
Especially given how unstable North Korea's political situation had been lately.
A terrorist incident was more than plausible.

Suddenly, President Liu Zhao recalled a world announcement from not long ago.

That nuclear fission and nuclear fusion reactions would not occur inside the Tower.

What a ridiculous announcement.
You couldn't even bring nuclear weapons into the Tower in the first place, so why bother?

'But outside the Tower is different.'

This was reality.
A nuclear backpack was easy enough to carry, and if you detonated it, it would explode.

They had given North Korea plenty of chances.
But if they still wouldn't listen?
Then there was no choice but to suppress them by force.

Juhyeok decided to clear floors 77 through 81 of Korea's No. 1 Black Tower.
Balance had to be maintained.

There had already been plenty of talk.
Claims that he'd only cleared the North Korean Tower, suspicions that he'd defected north, accusations that he'd become a communist.

'Why the hell would I be a communist?'

It was the same Tower, the same nationality.
When he carried them through with Tower privileges, they'd talked about northern advance reunification and all sorts of nonsense.

So he decided to climb consecutively.
To secure platinum badges and privileges as well.

First was the 77th floor, whose ultra-high-difficulty optional mission had been changed.
Eliminate the serial-killer sword master, Jordik.

"This is my chance to use the Hartmann sword form!"

Declaring a bold frontal duel, he slipped into the prison where Jordik was hiding, sneaking in under stealth.

Swish.
Stab!
Thunk!
Finished with a flawless ambush.

Clap clap clap clap!
Thunderous applause poured in.

"Ahem! I am sword master Rrsssal. Rrrr."

Everything was fine, except—

"Didn't you say it would be a frontal duel?"

"This is an assassin's frontal duel."

"What about the Hartmann sword form?"

"I used it when cutting his neck."

"… Right."

Well, fine.
No matter how much of a sword master someone was, an assassin had an assassin's way.

The 78th floor was carried solo by Kosak as well.
The ultra-high-difficulty mission: eliminate Jericho, guild master of the Cruel Guild.
After all, it was his own theme floor.

The 79th floor required eliminating Emperor Callius in the Imperial Palace Maze Annex.
A time-attack mission, but Gyeondallae's tracking talisman made it easy to find him.

Kosak dealt with Callius according to his father's instructions.
If possible, don't kill him in one blow—engrave the pain slowly.

The 80th floor?
Nightmare, the nightmare steed, replaced after Diamat's defection.

This one was also a nightmare-type.
True to its name, Nightmare bestowed nightmares.
So the moment they entered, dream-based attacks began.

But they didn't fall for it.
Juhyeok no longer saw Jinsuk in his dreams.

Marie had created a drug that allowed them to avoid the nightmare's innate skill, Dream Domain.

Potion of Sleep Control, manufactured by the Sage

Once you drank it, you didn't fall asleep.
Your eyes stayed wide open.

And if you didn't sleep, you didn't dream.
The side effect was not sleeping for about three days—but that barely even counted as a side effect.

On top of that, Gyeondallae's Exorcism Talisman .
A talisman that blocked one instance of malicious external energy.

With just these two, you wouldn't dream.
And if you didn't dream?

Nightmare was just a slightly strong horse.
Physically, it was easier than a wyvern.

Finally, the 81st floor.
In Tower No. 2, it had been the ultra-giant monster Titan Behemoth, strengthened as the result of equivalent exchange.

So what were its specs after the difficulty returned to normal?

[81st Floor Mission: Defeat 1 giant monster Behemoth.]
[Time Limit: Within 15 hours.]

"Ultra" and "Titan" were gone.
The time limit was now 15 hours.

A breeze.
The Behemoth that had once been as big as a mountain had shrunk pathetically.

To put it in perspective, something that had been an elephant was now a mouse.
Still enormous, of course.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!
The smaller Behemoth was moving.

'This'll be hard.'

Not for him, but for other players.
Even with the fluff gone, it was no easy difficulty.
It would be hard to kill.

Honestly, the 70th floors had been way too easy.

This was what high-floor climbing should be like.

Juhyeok sensed it.
This place would become a new checkpoint of despair.

Except for him, almost every player on Earth would taste frustration before the wall known as the 81st floor.

"I beg to differ."

"Huh?"

Differ?

"Players' despair will probably start from the 80th floor."

"Ah."

He understood immediately.

"If you get caught in the dream, it's over. You can't even abandon the attempt. Without preparation, players will just wither and die on the 80th floor."

True enough, but—

"We have the Potion of Sleep Control and the Exorcism Talisman."

"Correct. With those, it'll be easy. Just like the holy sword in the undead section."

Kosak rubbed his fingers together lightly.

"The holy sword used to be a solid cash cow, didn't it? Its popularity's died down now, so it's time to switch to a new revenue source. Hehehe."

A new business venture.
Selling the Potion of Sleep Control and the Exorcism Talisman.

"How much?"

"Expensive. Ain't that the price of a player's life?"

Right.
Without these, you'd be as good as dead—
trapped in a dream, never waking up.

"I'd recommend not selling them to disobedient types. They could be used for indoctrination—or even world domination."

Is this old man having another episode?
Looks like he still hadn't given up on world domination.

Anyway, suppose the 80th floor could be cleared with potions and talismans.
What about the Behemoth on the 81st floor?

'There's really no good answer.'

Even weakened, it was still huge.
Juhyeok pulled out his smartphone and recorded footage of the Behemoth moving.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!
Even if he couldn't show a clear video of the fight, this would be enough to warn people.

In any case, the conquest began.
A giantified fortified barrier blocked the Behemoth's advance.

Back then, it had been unthinkable—but now, at least grabbing onto one of its legs was feasible.

And then Gyeondallae's talisman techniques.
The Mad Demon and Kosak's damage output.
The clear was quick.

With that, Korea's No. 1 Black Tower was cleared up to the 81st floor.
Final tally?

Total badges: 128.
Physical items: 23.
And the privileges?

[You have accumulated 120 platinum badges. A privilege will be granted.]
[Privilege: A Multinational Tower Conquest Ticket has been added to your inventory.]

"Damn it."

[You have accumulated 125 platinum badges. A privilege will be granted.]

[Privilege: A Rune of Defector Grade Promotion has been added to your inventory.]

'… Still no expansion ticket.'

Bastards.
So petty.
Were they sulking because he detonated a nuke inside the Tower?

Still, he got another Rune of Defector Grade Promotion.

'Why does this keep dropping so well?'

A balloon effect?
Like saying, since one path was blocked, try going this way instead?

"Mr. Diamat?"

"Yes."

"I'll give you the rune. Go raise your rank."

"… Again?"

"Let's meet again as Ssseul."

If things kept going like this, being a defector wasn't bad at all.

"Understood, Master. I'll tell Director Go that I won't be able to attend tomorrow and be back."

Tomorrow?

Oh right.
The event was tomorrow.

The opening ceremony of the Pyongyang Awakening Management Administration branch.
Former Commissioner Park Gyeong-su would take office as branch chief, and Commissioner Jeon Gwang-il would attend.
Director Go, People's Armed Forces Minister Go Sa-geuk, and Kosak as well.

"Then attend the event first and go afterward. I'll talk to Director Go."

"Thank you, Master."

Naturally, Juhyeok planned to attend the event as well.
Even if he didn't step forward directly, shouldn't he at least offer his congratulations from behind the scenes?