Chapter 297

CHAPTER 297

Dual Traits.
Two traits.
So what does Ju-hyeok’s status window look like?

[Name]: Bong Ju-hyeok
[Affiliation 1]: Black Tower (Earth No. 1001, Republic of Korea)
[Affiliation 2]: Black Tower (Earth No. 675, Germany)
[Affiliation 3]: Black Tower (Earth No. 843, Republic of Korea)
[Level]: 100 LV
[Trait]: Summoning (Simultaneous Summons: 50) / Acceleration (Enhancement Stage 25)

That’s how it was.
And the additional trait skills?

[Trait Skills]: Gale Force / Attack Speed Explosion / Keen Reflexes / Rapid Retreat / Swift Approach … Flash (Cooldown: 10 hours), Adrenaline (Cooldown: 24 hours) …

An absurd number of them were attached.
And as befits trait skills, they’re concise.
This Acceleration trait is closer to a passive skill.

It intervenes in every other skill to maximize their effects.
For example, if there’s a Smash skill, it becomes an Attack Speed Explosion Smash.

The same goes for the skill Ju-hyeok is currently casting.
Gale Force Shadow Step.

Ts-pipipipip-pit!

Shadow Step was fast to begin with.
With the Gale Force passive added, it became impossible to track with the naked eye.

A summoner who escapes well.
Isn’t that a situation everyone’s always wanted?
However—

“Haahk, are you a loach or something? Just give up already!”
“Sorry, but you’ll have to let yourself be caught. I can’t resist the temptation of the badge.”
“Hueeeeek!”
“O Light!!! One who runs cannot defeat one who flies.”
“Brigadier General Veronica Caliber, Commander! I will embrace you. Please allow yourself to be caught by me.”

The generous bosom of Brigadier General Be.
It’s tempting to the ears, but—

Sorry, Brigadier General Be.
Next time.

Ts-pipipiririt!
For now, running is more fun.

Aaaaah!
Bong Ju-hyeok of the Gale Force.

It was lightning-fast.
No one could even brush Ju-hyeok’s collar.

“Got you.”

Hoon!

That’s just my afterimage, though.

“Huh?”

Ts-pipipit! Ts-pit!
Ju-hyeok’s shadows were everywhere.

Exhilarating.
Who knew running away could be this fun?

When he was younger, he was too scared to even do the doorbell prank every neighborhood kid tries at least once—
but now, he felt like he could do it.
Well, not that he would.

“We need to herd him to one side. Old man Ma, what are you doing? Get rid of the ground friction.”
“He’s too fast—my grease magic doesn’t work!”
“Dig the ground! Dig, dig! Make Summoner Bong trip!”
“I’ve tried everything. It won’t work.”

The summoned beings strained desperately to catch Ju-hyeok.

“At this point, we use the Heavenly Net!!! Follow this old man’s command!”
“Hah! Summoner Bong is the protagonist. Have you ever seen the protagonist get trapped in a Heavenly Net?”
“If you have time to flap your gums, grab the young master’s ankle.”
“How, when he won’t get caught?”

Everyone was in an uproar.
Catching Ju-hyeok.

Gyeon Dallae scattered talismans in all directions, Brigadier General Be hid in concealment and tried to scoop Ju-hyeok up the moment he appeared.

That wasn’t all.
Bardin of the Radiant Wings watched Ju-hyeok from the sky with a hawk’s eye, and Diamat openly unleashed techniques.

Even somersaulting Rajiks joined in.

Taeng! Pangeureureu!

“Hoeeek—”

With bloodshot eyes, he gave chase.

“Wow!”

Rajiks of Desire.
Do you really want to catch me that badly?

Even the rookie summoned beings formed groups of five and closed in, tightening the encirclement.
A true Heavenly Net activation.

As time passed, things grew unfavorable.
At this rate, he might get caught.

‘That won’t do.’

This was a matter of pride.
He would absolutely not get caught.

‘… Should I just smack each of them once?’

A good idea.
He could hit summoned beings, but summoned beings could never hit him.

‘Tch! That’s a bit…’

He’d escape fair and square.
Not sure if “fair and square” goes with “running away,” but—

At that moment!

‘Hm?’

An elevator caught his eye.

‘That’s it.’

A perfect means of escape.
Lure the summoned beings in the opposite direction, then use the ultimate skill Flash to get into the elevator.

Then just press the button and it’s over.
No one else can use the elevator but him.
Bong Ju-hyeok, the Gale Force dimensional traveler.

First, put as much distance as possible between himself and the elevator.
Ts-pipipipit!

“Flash.”

Flash!
Pit! Pit! Pit! Pit! Pit!
Back to the elevator.

“Ugh!”

Terrifying pressure bore down on his entire body.
So fast that a white line streaked through the air like light.

“W-where did he go?”
“T-there!”
“Huh?”
“Summoner Bong is taking the elevator! Stop him!”

And who’s going to stop him?
He pressed the elevator’s open button.

Srrrk—
The doors split open to the sides.

“Damn it, hurry up…”

The moment there was just enough space for one body—
Sssht!
Ju-hyeok slipped inside the elevator.

‘Hurry, hurry…’

He mashed the close button.
Then pressed the very top button instead of the 17th floor!

“Whew.”

Saved.

Let’s go to the 6th floor.
He’d play around on Earth No. 843 and then head back.

That was when—

Ding!

[You have selected the 7th floor.]

“What?”

What is this supposed to mean?
The 7th floor?
Aside from the 17th, wasn’t the 6th floor the highest?

But there it was.
A selection button labeled “7.”

‘When did a 7th floor button appear?’

If it appeared, they should’ve told him.

“I’m not going.”

Who knows what the 7th floor even is?
He pressed the open button to get out—

Click, click!

“… Huh.”

It won’t open.
Is it already in operation?

At that moment!

Ding!

[A solo mission has been assigned to the Summoner.]

A solo mission?
Hey, don’t do this. What’s wrong with you?

[White Tower 7th Floor Mission: Peeping]

Peeping?
Swoooong!
The elevator began to vibrate.

[Due to the absence of a Black Tower on this floor, no White Tower waiting area exists.]

That’s odd.

No White Tower, fine.
But no Black Tower either?

Why send a summoner to a place without a Black Tower?

[Therefore, summoning of summoned beings is impossible.]

What?!
Excuse me?
Wait a second—

[In order to enable summoning, causality must be established by constructing a Black Tower to generate a White Tower.]

Exactly.
So I shouldn’t go.

[Operation cost: 10 kg of top-grade magic crystals will be automatically deducted from your inventory.]

Ding!
Payment complete.

If he hadn’t had the crystals, it wouldn’t have activated—
but coincidentally, he had the exact cost.
A reward from clearing the upper 90 floors of the Black Tower on Earth No. 843.

Wow.

This is ridiculous.
It’s really happening.
Going alone, without any summoned beings.

Woooooong!

The elevator kept vibrating.

Honestly, he’d planned to do nothing for a while and just rest.
Hadn’t he worked hard enough?
Earth 843, then Earth 1001.

Clearing towers, running the integrated combat center, climbing to the 100th floor, nearly being buried alive with the tower and barely surviving—
after all that, why would he want to go anywhere else?

Of course, he wasn’t saying he’d never do it again.
If it were a parallel-universe Earth on the brink of annihilation, he’d obviously save it.

People need to be saved.
Turning away when you can help doesn’t make you human.
It’s worse than being a beast.
How’s that any different from those Black Tower administrator bastards?

But this isn’t it.
Going to a place without even a Black Tower and being told to do this?

A world where there’s no need to clear towers.
A place without even a White Tower waiting area, so you can’t summon anything.

‘Anyway, when are we arriving?’

Soon—

[The elevator has arrived at the 7th floor, Earth No. 1, Terra City.]

Did he hear that wrong?
Elevator 7th floor, Earth No. 1, Terra City.

Earth No. 1.

‘What the hell…?’

The scene before Ju-hyeok’s eyes—
a megacity.

Skyscrapers piercing through the clouds.
Lights so brilliant you couldn’t tell if it was night or day.
Drone-like aircraft flying through the sky.
It looked like Earth’s future.

There were people, too.
All of them looked similar.
Their gender was indistinguishable.
Average height, bald heads with no hair or eyebrows.

Their appearance was familiar.
How could he not recognize it?

‘… Administrators?’

Identical.
Build, appearance, atmosphere.

‘No way…’

Only then did he realize where he was.
A world where administrator-like beings live.

‘This is their main base…?’

Absurd.
Just like that?
To be transported in this way?

Ju-hyeok moved forward without thinking.

Srrrk.

Srrrk?
Not walking step by step?

“Huh?”

Strange.
He couldn’t see his own body.

No hands, no feet, no body.
It felt like he’d become invisible.

[For the peeping mission, you have entered an out-of-body state.]

“Ah!”

Peeping.
Meaning to watch secretly.

[While performing the mission, you cannot intervene in or be affected by the real world. Only peeping, contemplation, and astral movement are possible.]

‘Ooh!’

This isn’t bad.
They’re telling him to spy.

And since he’s in an out-of-body state, there’s no way he’ll be discovered.

It felt like being a spy.
And on top of that—

[For smooth peeping, the tooltip function has been activated during the mission.]

It was like a game.
Hover a mouse cursor over an object, and a tooltip pops up with an explanation.

Well, fine.
All of that is fine, but—

“How do I get back?”

Ding!

[Your stay in Earth No. 1, Terra City, is 1 hour.]

[After 1 hour, the out-of-body state will end and you will be automatically moved to the elevator.]

[The Peeking Mission can be performed once every 24 hours.]

Once a day.
A Peeking Mission from Earth No. 1 on the 7th floor.

That’s a relief.
As long as I can get back, that’s all that matters.

Srrrk.

Juhyeok moved while floating in midair.

A bustling metropolis.
Juhyeok had become a ghost.

Even if there was an obstacle blocking his way.
Swoosh.

Even if he ran into people.
Swoosh.

He just passed right through.

“This is kind of fun?”

And even!
Shoooot!
He could even fly up into the sky.

And if he stared at something for a while, a tooltip popped up.
It even happened when he looked at passing people.

• Grade-3 citizen.
  
   

So this place uses a class system?
Were the administrator guys Grade 3?
But still.

“Is this really a world where people live?”

The more he looked, the stranger this place felt.
It felt like something was fundamentally wrong.
When he stared at a building:

• Grade-3-only cafeteria. One meal: 1 credit.
  
   
• Grade-3-only communal housing. Monthly rent only: 30 credits.
  
   

When he looked at drones floating in the sky like birds:

• Angel Police Drone. Please cooperate with inspections. Non-cooperation will result in being shot.
  
   

Even the flyers stuck to the building walls:

• Apply to become an administrator of the Black Tower. A chance to rise in class.
  
   
• Immortal body exchange cost to increase by 50%. Hurry now.
  
   

So this kind of world is the main base.
Is this even a livable place?
No matter how you look at it, it doesn’t seem like it.

Who brought him here?
Obviously the White Tower— that Whitey guy.

Anyway, let’s keep peeking around.
The stay time is only one hour.

White Tower, 17th floor.
The summoned ones were standing in front of the elevator Juhyeok had entered, panting for breath.

“Wow! How can a person be that fast?”
“Even Noub was surprised. As expected of the Summoner.”
“Miss, my heart is at ease. Even the swaying Kosak Duke couldn’t catch the young master.”
“… Actually, I let him go?”
“Be quiet. You were only chasing after his afterimage.”
“Then who was it that stuck a talisman on that afterimage?”
“Haa, even chasing from the sky didn’t help.”
“Especially that last ultimate move was insane. Flash! And he was already way back there.”

The summoned ones looked pleased.
How could they not be happy when their summoner had gained the ability to escape so quickly?

“Escaping by elevator was also a wise decision.”
“It must’ve been close. You might’ve even wet your pants a little.”
“Gah! How dare you say such nonsense!”
“… S-sorry.”

Anyway.

“When will the young master return?”
“He probably pressed the 6th floor and went to Earth No. 843.”
“Hmm, I’m worried if he went alone.”
“Ah, it’s fine. Even alone it’s fine. You saw it earlier, didn’t you? Who can deal with our great Summoner? He’s even wearing the Necklace of Eternal Liberation.”

That was true.
In the human world, he would have no equal.

The summoned ones kept waiting in front of the door.
He’d probably be back soon.

Right then!
Wooooong!
The vibrating elevator.

“Is he here?”
“He’s here.”
“He’s here.”
“He’s here.”
“He has arrived.”

Srrrk.
The doors opened.
Juhyeok came out.

“Loyalty! Lightning-fast Summoner, this Kosak is impressed.”
“Haha, thanks.”
“This girl is also amazed.”
“I am kind of fast, yeah.”
“But where have you been? It feels like about an hour passed. Were you on the 6th floor?”
“No, the 7th floor. I went to the main base.”
“Ah! The main base? The main base, hmm, the main base…”

Kosak tilted his head.

“… Did I hear that wrong? Bongjin? Bomjin? Bungjin? Byeongjin?”
“I said the main base. The headquarters of the Black Tower.”
“Huh?”

The summoned ones’ eyes went wide.

“You see that new elevator button over there, right?”
“Mm.”
“If you press that, it connects to the 7th floor, the main base.”
“Oh…”
“It’s not a full connection, though. You can only peek.”

Gyeondallae looked worried.

“D-did anything bad happen to you, by any chance?”
“It was fine. It was a peeking mission, so I was in an out-of-body state.”
“Ah!”

And so Juhyeok told them the story of how he “accidentally pressed the elevator button and got sent to the main base as a ghost and was shocked.”

The summoned ones listened with blank expressions.

Then suddenly, as if something occurred to him, Kosak said:

“Summoner.”
“Yes?”
“Didn’t you go to the bathhouse?”

Huh?

“Out-of-body, invisible person—then isn’t it only natural to stop by the changing room or the bathhouse?”

Right then—

“Gah!!! You wretch! Do you think the young master is as base as you? To suggest a bathhouse to someone who thinks only of the mission!”
“… S-sorry.”

Hmm.
A bathhouse.
Now that I think about it, I didn’t consider that.
Should I have gone once?

But there was no need.
There has to be something worth seeing.

The Immortal Realm.
The long story about Guigok finally ended.

The immortals looked disgruntled.
Why?

They had thought Guigok wouldn’t even have the strength to lift a spoon.
They thought he’d just go and cause trouble.

But after hearing the story, it was the opposite.
He had played a surprisingly big role.
He was worthy of receiving Great Hero Bong’s gift.

Then their excuse was gone.
If he’d just gone and slacked off, they were planning to use that as a pretext to loot Guigok’s infinite space.

“Tch!”
“Hmph!”
“Damn it.”
“Look at him, all high and mighty.”
“I’m annoyed, but I won’t deny it.”

Still, the immortals were watching for any opening.

“So what about the Demon Immortal?”
“Huh? I told you I saw him.”
“Is just seeing him enough? You should’ve tracked him down and dragged him back by the hair.”
“Yeah, you basically just went and played around.”
“You call yourself an immortal and have no shame!”
“Self-reflect!”
“As punishment, open your infinite space!”
“I agree! You didn’t catch the Demon Immortal, so you should atone by opening the infinite space!”

Look at these guys?
What kind of nonsense are they pulling?

Heh.

Guigok grinned and pulled out a top-grade chairman’s chair from his infinite space.

He sat back comfortably in it, crossed his legs, lit a Cuban cigar with a click, and—

“Hoo…”

Blew out a cloud of smoke.

“So what if I went and played around?”

The nouveau-riche Guigok looked down at his companions arrogantly.
Overwhelmed by the atmosphere, the immortals shut their mouths.

Right.
It’s Guigok.
The sharpest mind in the Immortal Realm.
There’s no way petty tricks would work on him.

The immortals dispersed with gloomy expressions.
Only two were left.
The Sword Immortal approached Guigok and asked:

“So, you touched that crystal core or whatever a lot. Do you understand the structure of the Black Tower now?”
“Very well.”
“Then can you build a Black Tower in the Immortal Realm?”

Guigok shook his head.

“No. I thought it might be possible just hearing about it, but after touching it myself, it’s not something to take lightly.”
“… What?”

What?
If Guigok can’t do it, then there’s no way.

The Sword Immortal looked very disappointed.

“Really can’t?”
“Yeah. It’d actually be easier to pull it out and bring it over.”

Pull it out?

“Can you pull out the Black Tower?”
“You can.”
“… Huh!? W-what does that mean?”
“It’s in the hidden menu of the crystal core.”
“…”

Guigok isn’t the kind of immortal to lie.

“Then why didn’t you pull one out and bring it?”
“How would I pull it out? It belongs to Great Hero Bong’s world.”
“No, there are over a hundred Black Towers. You could just sneak one—”

Guigok waved his hands.

“No, that won’t work. To pull out one, you have to pull out the whole thing. The real body is a single tower in the hidden world where the control room exists. The rest are all copies. If the main body is pulled out, the copies all disappear too.”

And.

“And who has authority over the tower? Isn’t it Great Hero Bong? Only he can do it.”

In short, it’s impossible.
If they could pull out the tower and bring it to the Immortal Realm, things would be easy.

It’s a shame, but forget it.
The Black Tower in Great Hero Bong’s world is a magic crystal mining site.
If they pulled it out, it would cause an uproar.

“By the way, Guigok.”
“Hm?”
“If you have a spare pair of sunglasses, give me one. The sunlight’s been harsh lately and my eyes feel tired.”

The Sword Immortal said it casually.
But Guigok’s expression turned serious.

Leaning back in his chairman’s chair, he took a puff of his cigar and blew the smoke in the Sword Immortal’s face.

“Hoo…”

He stared at him without saying a word.
Seriously annoying.
Why are there so many beggars in the Immortal Realm?

With that kind of look.

Twitch!
The Sword Immortal’s forehead veins bulged.
This bastard—should I just beat him up?