Chapter 212

CHAPTER 212

The 17th floor of the White Tower is quite vast.
Juhyeok doesn’t know the exact total area, but the city he built occupies only a tiny portion of it.

There’s still far more unused land.
But now, that’s fine.
Because the hidden-class farmer, Dou, has arrived.

On top of that, thanks to the summoning achievement, the environment has shifted into one suitable for farming, and Earth’s flora and fauna ecosystem has begun to form as well.

Already, living creatures could be seen moving about in the fields.
Rabbits? There were even deer-like large herbivores in sight.

So you can’t just plant Immortal Peaches anywhere.
If herbivores wander over and gobble them up, that’d be a disaster.

Somewhere close to the city.
A place visible just by turning your head.
At the same time, fertile land where trees could grow well.

“Here. Suitable.”

Farmer Dou chose the spot.
Then Gyeondallae spoke up.

“This girl shall set up a barrier with golden grass.”

The Green Dragon hatchling, Crackers, also chimed in.

“I’ll install protective magic too. To keep pests and animals away.”

They needed thorough safety measures.
Immortal Peaches are precious, after all.

Gobang dug into the ground with a shovel.
Not too deep—just enough to plant the totem and the seed.

First, they planted the Omnipotent Aether Conversion Stake Totem that supplies immortal energy.

Once it’s driven in, that’s it.
It can’t be removed.

Carefully.

They drove it into the ground.

Next came planting the Immortal Peach.
Farmer Dou gently stroked the large peach with all six of his hands and spoke.

“Blessing of the land. Seed creation. Growth. Acceleration. Sprout, sprout. Abundance. Harvest.”

Crunch!

Swoooong—
As if responding to his words, the Immortal Peach released a sacred aura.

They placed the peach directly above the totem, covered it with soil, and watered it generously.
All that remained was waiting.

“When do you think it’ll sprout?”
“Tomorrow, expected. Immortal energy sufficient. Rapid harvest anticipated.”

Honestly, could you really cultivate such a precious Immortal Peach just because you had immortal energy?
A fruit without seeds, at that?

Most people struggle just to grow orchids.
Plants die quickly if you’re even a little careless.

But Juhyeok believed.
In the near-transcendent hidden-class farmer.
And in the tenant farmer Green Dragon, Crackers.

All they had to do now was wait for the peach to sprout, grow into a sapling, mature into a sturdy tree, and bear fruit.

Alright, what’s next?

Check the perks and dismantle the corpse of the fallen Demon Dragon, Helcrasus?

The existing accumulated badges: 214.
The postponed 89th-floor badge reward was judged as EX rank, adding 32 more.
The 90th floor wasn’t awarded.

Total accumulated badges: 246.
Physical badges: 83.

That meant 9 perks available.

He opened the inventory and checked the gleaming platinum badges.

Ding!
Perk reward notification incoming!

[Perk granted for accumulating 205 Platinum Badges.]
[Perk: One Catalog Expansion Ticket has been added to the Tower-exclusive inventory.]

Perk rewards started popping up rapidly.
Beginning with a Catalog Expansion Ticket, followed by a Multinational Tower Access Ticket, a Mission Reset Ticket, and more—

[Perk granted for accumulating 225 Platinum Badges.]
[Perk: A Summoned Being Rank-Up Rune has been added to the Tower-exclusive inventory.]

Oh! Nice.
This was exactly what he needed.

Time to raise the rank of the human Ice Crystal, Baek Danya.
With the one he already had, reaching SSR would be no problem.

[Perk granted for accumulating 230 Platinum Badges.]
[Perk: One Catalog Expansion Ticket has been added to the Tower-exclusive inventory.]

Another expansion ticket.
Ding!

[Perk: One Catalog Expansion Ticket …]

Three.

[Perk: One Catalog Expansion Ticket …]

Four.

Wait, nothing but expansion tickets?
Is this perk batch a dud?

[Perk granted for accumulating 245 Platinum Badges.]
[Perk: A Trait Enhancement Rune has been added to the Tower-exclusive inventory.]

…Huh?

Did I hear that right?

“No way… right?”

With a trembling heart, Juhyeok checked his inventory.

“It’s there?”

It’s real.

“Ura-cha-cha-cha-cha!!!”

At Juhyeok’s triumphant shout, the summoned beings came rushing over.

“W-what happened?”
“Did something serious occur?”
“My lord, this Bardin shall resolve it.”
“Did you get a reunion text message? Don’t worry—we’re prepared.”

“That’s not it…”

He pulled out the freshly acquired, still-warm Trait Enhancement Rune and raised it high.

“Trait Enhancement Rune pull—success!”
“Huh?”
“Wooooah!”
“Congratulations.””
“Indeed, congratulations.”
“Ho-e!”
“This girl always believed.”
“Eat it quickly before it cools.””

Pulling a Trait Enhancement Rune as a perk.
How long has it been since that last happened?

Now his status window read:

Fourteen summoned beings at once.

“Hehehe.”

A grin spread across his face.
A safer, stronger party.

Next—the final highlight.

Dismantling the corpse of the fallen Demon Dragon, Helcrasus.

“Mr. Rajiks.””
“Hoeng!”
“Let’s take out the corpse.”

They cleared space in the plaza on the 17th floor of the White Tower, pushing miscellaneous items aside.

Sssshk!
They took out the right half of the Demon Dragon’s body, split vertically in half.

Sssshk!
Then the left half.

“Wow…”

It’s huge.
How did the Sword Immortal cut this cleanly in half?
Well, he’s a celestial—of course he could.

“Where’s the dragon heart?””

Juhyeok turned to Crackers and asked.

“… Y-yes?”

Crackers had been staring blankly at the Demon Dragon’s corpse, mouth agape, and jumped in surprise.

“W-what did you say?”
“Whereabouts would the dragon heart be…?”
“A-ah. U-usually it’s slightly to the left of where the neck connects to the body.”

I see.
Left side of the corpse.

“Mr. Kosak!”
“Yes, sir! I’ll look.”

Even as he saw it with his own eyes, Crackers couldn’t believe it.
Not just any adult dragon, but an ancient dragon—cut vertically in half.

Fresh anger welled up toward the administrators.
What were they supposed to do with this?
Die?

It was a contract that might as well have told them to commit suicide.

Meanwhile, Kosak rummaged through the cut surface of the left half with a dagger.

“Found it. Black thing.”

They found it quickly.
A massive Demon Dragon Heart, radiating ominous energy, was lodged beneath the neck.

“But it’s another demon-energy–contaminated dragon heart. Tch! Bad luck.”
“Tsk, I suspected as much.””
“What do we do? Looks like elixir production will be delayed.”
“Well, there is a workaround, but…”

Slowly, the Berserker glanced at Crackers.

Crackers flinched and averted his gaze.

Then—
The magitech engineer, El, suddenly raised her hand.

“Summoner, I have a request.”
“Go ahead.””
“I’d like to use the Demon Dragon’s dragon heart.””
“For what purpose?””
“I was thinking of modifying Gigant Unit No. 3’s magic-core engine using the Demon Dragon’s dragon heart as the base.”
“Oh!”

Inside Gigant’s chest armor are five magic-core engines connected in parallel.

That’s what powers the Gigant.

“I’ll divide it into five parts and modify the core engines. It’ll greatly increase output and solve the efficiency problem.””

So it becomes a Dragon Gigant?
Our No. 3 unit equipped with a dragon-heart core.

Just imagining it felt great.
Why would he object?

“Go ahead. Use it freely.””

Now then—what about the rest of the corpse?
Should he ask the dragon expert, Marie?

Ding!

<Marie>: Once you remove the flesh, there’s nothing about a dragon corpse that goes to waste ♥月♡』

<ManlyGuy>: Is that so?

<Marie>: The meat’s too tough to eat, but the teeth, claws, bones, scales, and hide can all be used as materials for weapons and armor.

<ManlyGuy>: Processing?

<Marie>: It’ll take time, but if you dismantle it slowly, it should be fine.

<ManlyGuy>: It’s a corpse—won’t it rot over time…?

<Marie>: Never. There are no microorganisms or bacteria in the world capable of decomposing a dragon’s corpse. At most, it hardens and becomes fossil-like.

Then there’s nothing to worry about.
Let’s leave it on the 17th floor of the White Tower.
Roughly fit the right and left halves back together.

El moved the Gigant and aligned the two sides.
With its long body lying there, it actually looked convincing.
Anyone seeing it for the first time would be horrified, though.

The Black Tower of Earth No. 675 had been conquered up to the 90th floor.
Nothing particularly special happened—
except that the mission targets on the 89th and 90th floors were dragons.

In other words, even after entering the 90th floor, nothing occurred that affected the real world like with Kabalon on the 70th floor or Diamart on the 80th.

If that’s the case, then conquering the 90th floor of Earth’s—South Korea’s—Black Tower shouldn’t cause any major issues either.

Still, it feels uneasy.
Were the 89th and 90th floor conquests ever handled normally?

The fallen Demon Dragon Helcrasus was dealt with because the Sword Immortal descended.

The half-dragon Crackers surrendered and defected.

It was luck.

But on this Earth—South Korea’s Black Tower—they might have to face a proper conquest.
One where they overpower dragons with sheer force.

The conquest should be possible.
The summoned beings’ stats have improved beyond recognition.

However, what Juhyeok always wants is overwhelming victory.
Whether S+++ or EX, he must get the badges no matter what.

“The party needs a spec upgrade.”

They need more power.
And to do that—

First: modify the Gigant’s magic engine using the fallen Demon Dragon’s heart.
That was already progressing smoothly.

“I’ve already finished the design work. Once Marie completes the purification of the Demon Dragon heart, I’ll divide it into five and install them into the engine cores immediately.”

Second: Baek Danya’s rank-up.
The target is SSR.

So he placed the summoned-being rank-up rune into her hands and sent her to the top of a landmark building.

The memory regression technique to synchronize soul and body frequencies would be done after Baek Danya stabilized.

She possesses a rare cold-based ability.
If she can suppress and freely control the eternal ice crystal, she’ll be a tremendous asset.

However, since she can’t go alone, Major Ver accompanied her.
If the ice crystal flares up again, someone has to absorb it.

“I’m sorry every time, Major Ver. Please watch over me closely.”
“Major Veronica Caliber. Don’t worry.”

Third: evolving the hatchling Crackers into an adult dragon.
In some ways, this was the most crucial.

If Crackers recovered his original power, he’d be an enormous boost to their combat strength.

That’s why Juhyeok and the summoned beings were repeatedly clearing the 88th floor, where Sand Dragons appeared.

“Gobang! Grab the tail tight!”
“Gaaaah!””
“Bardin, blind it!””
“Light!!!”
“Old man, take its head clean off!””
“Got it.”

The goal was to collect the hardened heart located on the left side of the Sand Dragon’s neck before the 88th-floor completion message appeared.

Slash!
The Sand Dragon’s head was severed.

“Found it.””

[Sub-Dragon Sand Dragon defeated 1/1]
[You have succeeded in the 88th-floor mission.]

Before the exit message sounded—

“Extract the heart!””
“Hold it and pry it open!”
“I am!”
“Quick, quick!”
“Gaaaah!”
“Done. Dimensional porter!”
“Hoaah!”

Sshk!
The extracted Sand Dragon heart was successfully stored in the subspace bag.

[Exiting the Black Tower of the Republic of Korea.]

The hatchling Green Dragon Crackers watched the entire process from beginning to end.

Terrifying.
Absolutely horrifying.
Chills ran down his spine.

Even for an adult dragon, Sand Dragons are troublesome opponents.
They hide beneath the sand, making them hard to draw out, and even if you manage to fight them properly, their defense is so strong you need to fire three full venomous breaths just to melt them down.

But that group’s coordinated tactics?
Once the enlarged Gobang drew aggro with a Roar of Provocation, Bardin blinded it with the Shield of Radiance, while Kosak and the Berserker tore its hide apart with brute force.

Finally, the dragon heart was extracted.
Then Rajiks stored it in the subspace bag.

Perfect coordination.
It took less than ten minutes to kill it and pull out the dragon heart.

“They’re insane… completely insane.”

If he had been the mission target?
He’d have been hunted down effortlessly.
Even if he were an adult dragon.

“Good thing I defected.”

But there’s still worry.
Why are they collecting Sand Dragon hearts?

To feed them to him.
To evolve him into an adult dragon.

The summoner says it’s to strengthen his specs—but is that really all the summoned beings want?

Even now, they’re constantly eyeing his heart.
At this rate, his dragon heart might be ripped out.

You think it’s fine because the summoner said no?
No.

They can ignore that.

Summoned Being Rule No. 3, Clause 3:
The summoner’s safety comes first.

Make an elixir from a dragon heart and feed it to the summoner.
Then the summoner becomes safer.
Even if they have to disobey orders, they’ll do it.

Another concern.
Is it really possible to evolve into an adult dragon using only Sand Dragon hearts?

Absolutely possible.

Even now, his own heart was evolving at a frightening speed.

Because of the strange fruit the summoner gave him—the Immortal Peach.
The Immortal Peach was helping him fully absorb the magical power of the Sand Dragon hearts.
Of course he’d be anxious.

That miraculous Immortal Peach.
He shouldn’t have eaten it.

“To overcome this crisis…”

The summoner must quickly conquer the 89th floor of South Korea’s Black Tower.
And at the same time, he must hope that the person in charge there is not a corrupted dragon—
so they can extract and use that dragon’s heart instead.

“Hehe, our little dragon, hurry up and eat this Sand Dragon heart and grow big and strong.”
“Maybe a little later…”
“Nope! Eat it now. Transform into a dragon and gulp it down.”

It looks like they’re doing it for him, but—

“Why are you staring at my chest?”

Damn assassin-like bastard.

White Tower, 17th Floor

While Juhyeok was away repeatedly clearing the 88th floor Sand Dragons—

Spot!
Someone entered.

It was Commissioner Jeon Gwang-il.

He looked around, searching for Juhyeok.
Then—

“… Huh!”

Jeon Gwang-il staggered back in shock.

“W-what is that?!”

In the White Tower plaza,
lying across the wide open space—

A gigantic, grotesque monster.

“Th-that…?”

What is it?
A monster with gold and black colors chaotically mixed together.
It even had wings.

But since he’d grown immune thanks to Gigant exposure, he wasn’t too startled.
Gulp.

He swallowed once and looked closer.
Fine cracks ran across its face.

“… It’s split left and right?”

Not just the head.
The entire body had been cut in half.
It looked like someone had roughly put it back together.

“It’s dead.”

Who could’ve done this?
Player Bong and his summoned beings, obviously.

Jeon Gwang-il took out his smartphone.
Switched to selfie mode—click!

He had no intention of making it public.
Just keeping it as a souvenir.
He’d ask about it later.

“Exit.”

Spot!
Jeon Gwang-il left.

Then—

Spot!
Someone else entered.

It was CEO Jung Dong-hoon.

“Huuuh!”

He too was startled and stumbled back.
After staring blankly for a while, he also took out his phone—click!

“You could make this into a figure and sell it.”

With Gigant stepping on the corpse.

“… Exit.”

Jung Dong-hoon left as well.

Then, after some time—

Spot!

Another person appeared.

Bong Su-cheol, Juhyeok’s father, entered carrying a fishing bag.

“Ju-Juhyeok! Juhyeok!”

He called out, but there was no reply.

“Where did that brat go?”

Juhyeok had sent him a message.
That a fishing spot had appeared on the 17th floor of the White Tower.

Bong Su-cheol’s only hobby is fishing.
How could he stay still after hearing about a great new fishing spot?

Being able to come here just by saying “Enter!”—how convenient is that?
And when going home, all you have to say is “Exit!”

So even though Juhyeok’s companions still scared him, he endured it and came anyway.

Then—

“… Huh?”

Something enormous entered his field of view.

“Uwaaaahhh?!”

Bong Su-cheol jumped back in sheer panic.
A monster?

Such a huge monster?

What about his son, Juhyeok?
Could it be that monster—

Suddenly—

Swish!

“Safe. Please be at ease. Already deceased. Corpse state.”

Someone appeared behind him and spoke in a gentle voice.
One of his son’s companions?

Perfect timing.
Is Juhyeok okay?

He turned toward the voice—

“Th-that mo-mo-monster, monster, monst—uh.”

Bong Su-cheol couldn’t finish his sentence.

The person who appeared was Farmer Dou—
with six arms, three legs, and four eyes.

“Uh…”

…

Thud!

Bong Su-cheol fainted on the spot.

Farmer Dou scratched his head briefly, then picked up the unconscious Bong Su-cheol and walked off somewhere.