The Infinite Prison.

Also known as the Bottomless Pit.

It was an unbelievably vast place, but when something happened, rumors spread surprisingly fast.

Because of how they communicated.

Soul resonance with soul.

In other words—telepathy.

『Did you hear the rumor? That psycho elf bitch went outside again.』

『No way. The foul-mouthed Aliamari?』

『Yeah. That one. Spitting curses anywhere, anytime.』

『This is bad. Isn’t Aliamari going to start by cursing at the summoner the moment Aliamari gets out?』

『No matter how insane, even Aliamari can’t do that.』

『But what is this summoner, some kind of trash collector? Why does the summoner only pull in weird ones like that?』

『Now I get it. The reason I never got out.』

『What is it?』

『I lived too normally.』

『Same here. Is there anyone as normal as me in here?』

『Haa. The normal ones can’t get out, and the ones with something missing are the ones who get out so easily.』

『Kekekeke, you lunatics. Where do you get the nerve to pretend to be normal? You’re all trash.』

『Shut up! You wicked bitch!』

『Mm. Fine. But if this summoner really is a trash collector, there’s nothing to worry about. Someday, all of you will be called too.』

『...Is that so? Then I have hope. I’m confident I can be even crazier than the Mad Demon.』

『The real crazy bitch in this neighborhood is me. Aliamari used to be under my foot.』

『Honestly, I could swear better than that elf bitch.』

『What is this, a sudden crazy-bitch, crazy-bastard competition?』

『I hope there really is a competition. If that’s what it takes to get outside.』

『Me too.』

『Me too.』

Aliamari, an LSSR-ranked alchemist.

The background description he had checked yesterday.

The life of the elf alchemist Aliamari was deeply unhappy. As a child, Aliamari was offered up by the same race as a sacrifice to the ancient Black Dragon Kashiurus. Aliamari spent an entire lifetime as a slave in Kashiurus’s lair.

The Black Dragon taught Aliamari alchemy. And alchemy became an escape that let Aliamari forget loneliness. Aliamari thought the rest of life would be spent alone—until a change came. The ancient dragon Kashiurus returned to the embrace of mana before Aliamari did.

Aliamari was free at last. But Aliamari never left the lair. A thousand years of solitude had already become part of Aliamari’s life. Even at the end, Aliamari was alone.

That was why Aliamari had extreme social anxiety, and why Aliamari became a shut-in alchemist.

Aliamari didn’t speak with anyone other than the summoner, Juhyeok.

Not even written conversations on paper.

Aliamari ignored even the words of Gyeon Dallae and Veronica—both women—and Rajix’s cuteness didn’t work either.

Cossack lingered around in front and got completely, brutally ignored, and the Mad Demon wasn’t an exception.

This was a problem.

He had to find a method.

Was he going to “fix” Aliamari’s social anxiety?

Not a chance.

Aliamari had lived that way for a lifetime.

It had become an identity.

Was it going to be “fixed” easily?

All he wanted was basic communication.

Not that inconvenient method of writing letters on paper.

This was 21st-century Korea.

There were plenty of ways to talk without facing someone directly.

So Juhyeok contacted Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil.

They met in the underground parking garage.

“The items are selling well, right?”

“Yes. The Player Shop is so packed there isn’t even room to step. You probably won’t need any loans when you purchase the building.”

“That’s a relief. If I’m short...”

“No. Inventory is overflowing. Oh—also, here.”

Jeon Gwangil handed over a file folder and a paper shopping bag containing three iPads.

“I processed all of them as Players who have permanently naturalized into Korea. Perfect identities, so please don’t worry.”

“Thank you.”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Juhyeok decided to give the summoned entities Republic of Korea nationality.

On paper, anyway.

He made up names roughly.

All that mattered was getting valid resident registration numbers.

Originally, it didn’t sit right with him.

Why would he register summoned entities into the national database?

But now there was a reason.

Because of Aliamari, if nothing else.

“Then if something happens, I’ll contact you again.”

“Yes.”

After parting ways with Jeon Gwangil,

Juhyeok went back up to the penthouse with the documents.

Then he summoned everyone.

“Alright, alright. Gather up.”

Juhyeok pulled out the iPads.

Six he had bought earlier, and three more he had asked Jeon Gwangil to buy this time—nine total.

A large 13-inch screen with cellular capability.

Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil handled the carrier contracts all at once.

“Sign up for K-Talk. I’ll hand out the resident registration numbers.”

Following Juhyeok’s explanation, everyone signed up, set nicknames, and added friends.

Then Juhyeok went into the small room and summoned Aliamari.

As always, Aliamari appeared with the head buried into a corner like a shut-in.

Juhyeok signed Aliamari up instead.

After writing instructions on paper for how to use it,

he invited everyone into a group chat room at once.

Ding-ding, message notification sounds rang out.

Everyone entered the chat room under the nicknames each had chosen.

<SocialButterflyCossa> : I’m here.

Cossack, insisting on being “social.”

Princess Gyeon Dallae—

<Princess♥Shaman> : Master Bong, this one greets you.

Where did she even learn that?

Kids these days didn’t talk like that.

Then again, was Gyeon Dallae “kids these days”?

<CosmicBaldFarmhand> : WAAH!

Rajix’s nickname exposed Rajix’s identity as-is.

<VeroberoSergeant> : CERTAIN VICTORY!

Sergeant Veronica too.

<Mad Demon> : I do not know if this is the correct way.

<BardinHolySword> : My lord!

Sergeant Veronica, the Mad Demon, and Lucius Bardin entered as well.

What about Aliamari the alchemist?

She’d definitely been invited.

<AlphaMale> : Mari?

Then—

<Mari> : Yes.

There you are.

Now, shall we really start communicating?

Cossack kicked things off first.

<SocialButterflyCossa> : Mari, nice to meet you. You must’ve been lonely. Don’t worry now. I will sincerely, devotedly—

Right then!

<Mari> : Shut up, you FUCKING piece of shit!

<SocialButterflyCossa> : Yes’m?

<Mari> :That ‘yes-sir’ act. That fake stiff typing. Why do you write like that? Your attention-seeker gimmick has limits, you asshole..

The chat room went silent.

Even Juhyeok doubted his own eyes.

A sudden blowup?

<Princess♥Shaman> : Your words are far too harsh. Sir Cossack does have shortcomings, but—

<Mari> : “Princess,” my ass. What the fuck are you? You little brat—want me to tear you apart?

<Princess♥Shaman> : Aaaah.

This was getting...

<VeroberoSergeant> : Mari. Watch your language. You’re an educated person.

<Mari> : Educated my ass. The one with nothing but big tits is lecturing me? Want me to fuck you up?

<VeroberoSergeant> : Wow! I’m going to live a long life.

Nobody could have imagined this.

<Mad Demon> : Turns out it really was a lunatic. Wait—an insane elf... now that I think of it, I remember hearing something.

<Mari> : Yeah, you piece of shit. Want me to pull your dentures out?

<Mad Demon> : Hahaha. This is entertaining.

In reality, Aliamari couldn’t even make eye contact with people.

Severe social anxiety.

But in the chat room—an absolutely savage keyboard warrior.

<BardinHolySword> : Mari needs repentance.

<Mari> : Repent? You fucking bastard—say one more word and I’ll shove something down your mouth-hole.

<BardinHolySword> : O light!!!

<CosmicBaldFarmhand> : WAAH?

<Mari> : Don’t pretend to be cute! Not cute at all! I’m serious.

<CosmicBaldFarmhand> : WAAAH...

<Mari> : Fuck! Stop it! I said stop!

It looked like she wavered a little, but even Rajix didn’t work.

<AlphaMale> : Um, Mari.

<Mari> : Yes, Summoner♡♡♡♡♡♡.

Only Juhyeok got a pass.

And what was with the hearts?

At last, the Mad Demon stood in front of Aliamari’s room door.

BANG BANG, he pounded the door.

“Open the door. Let us speak face to face. I want to see whether you can keep spewing filth when you’re looking someone in the eye.”

But the tightly locked door did not open.

*****

Gerald’s home, true to being American, was a large mansion in the Washington, D.C. suburbs.

Inside the estate, dozens of armed guards stayed on-site and protected Gerald at close range.

The dignity of America’s top Player.

But that was only the outward appearance.

In truth, it was surveillance disguised as protection.

For that reason, Gerald spent most free time in a bunker installed beneath the house.

An underground bunker built to shelter in case nuclear war broke out.

Nothing special.

Washington mansions tended to have bunkers like this.

And there were no CCTV cameras here.

After locking the door from inside,

Gerald took out the Liberation Rune Necklace from Inventory and put it on.

Then Gerald pressed the necklace rune—PUSH—releasing Player power.

This was the second time.

In an instant!

BWOOOOONG!

A surge of magic power thrashed inside the body.

“...Aaaah!”

Magic power overflowed.

Every skill Gerald had learned rose up in the mind.

“Fireball.”

FWOOOOSH!

A ball of flame formed over Gerald’s palm.

Close-range skills were the same.

After pulling out a sword from Inventory and infusing it with magic power—

ZZZIIING!

A clear blade aura wrapped the blade.

Slice!

A thick steel rebar chunk set aside for testing was cut apart in an instant.

‘Unbelievable.’

Now Gerald understood why the government wanted to regulate this item.

It was dangerous.

If Players all possessed items like this, the world would collapse quickly.

By Players’ hands.

Gerald had no intention of using it outside.

Just quietly, in a place nobody knew.

Satisfying desire in a timid way.

The one-hour duration ended quickly.

It was a shame, but it couldn’t be helped.

Now there was only one remaining use.

<Liberation Rune Necklace.>

Effect: For 1 hour, manifests Player abilities even outside the Tower.

Limit: Total 1 use remaining. When the count is exhausted, the rune is destroyed.

‘Is there no way to get one more?’

Even hiding and playing around like this was already enough to satisfy.

‘But I’ve played enough.’

Gerald left the bunker again.

It was time to prepare for clearing.

Climb the West Coast Tower from Floor 68, enter Floor 71, and claim the four-item gift set.

But why did Korea insist that the East Coast Tower Floors 72 and 73 should be limited to basic missions only?

What was there?

Gerald had heard the information, but irritation was unavoidable.

Floor 71 was very easy.

The Additional Choice Mission and the High-Difficulty Choice Mission too.

Of course, the last Extreme-Difficulty was hard.

Killing the fleeing Necromancer Kate Loreang.

Even with repeated clearing, she rarely got caught.

The moment she appeared, Gerald blasted magic and threw a finisher, but she escaped with blink or blocked it with a barrier.

Why wasn’t it working?

How did the Korean Player kill Kate?

And do it with an S+++ clear, at that.

It stung.

It wasn’t even that Gerald craved an S+++ clear.

Gerald knew his place.

There was no desire to compete with that Player.

Gerald just wanted to clear the Additional, High-Difficulty, and Extreme-Difficulty choice missions in a normal way, floor by floor.

But even that was forbidden?

No matter what, that was too much. Gerald was America’s top Player.

And before the Korean S+++ Player appeared, Gerald had been the best in the world.

‘There’s nothing I can’t do.’

What to do?

Gerald had been thinking about it for a long time.

East Coast Tower Floor 72.

And finally, Gerald decided.

‘I have to go up to Floor 72.’

He couldn’t stand it.

He would complete only the Additional Choice Mission and the High-Difficulty Mission.

Not the Extreme-Difficulty.

‘Director Antonio will chew me out later, but...’

So what?

Clearing would extend the collapse time limit anyway. That was better.

Cause trouble first, apologize later.

‘When should I go?’

Today.

Gerald hadn’t entered the Tower yet.

Just in case, Gerald left Director Antonio a message by smartphone.

I’m going to clear East Coast Tower Floor 72 before I clear the West Coast Tower.

SPOT!

Gerald vanished.

And Gerald did not return.

Not even after the entire day passed.

*****

Juhyeok’s penthouse.

Yesterday had been wild.

Aliamari the social-anxiety alchemist.

A textbook keyboard warrior.

According to the Mad Demon, Aliamari had been famous in that world too.

A foul-mouthed elf.

Cursing openly, right in people’s faces.

So the Mad Demon had never imagined that this elf was that elf.

An insane elf who was actually severe social anxiety.

How had nobody realized?

It was because of how “souls” communicated over there.

From Juhyeok’s conversation with the Mad Demon yesterday—

‘Souls do not speak with mouths.’

‘Then how?’

‘Within a certain radius, soul resonates with soul and conveys intent in a telepathic form. It is very similar to this chat window.’

It made sense.

Aliamari, an elf who had lived alone for a thousand years.

Of course meeting people would be terrifying.

Social anxiety.

Aliamari’s profanity was close to self-defense.

Or it was deliberate—making people dislike Aliamari, so nobody would speak first.

‘If possible, I should talk one-on-one from now on.’

In that instant—ZZZIIING!

A call came in.

When he checked, it was Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil.

They had met just yesterday.

“Hello?”

Ah, Player Bong... are you busy, by any chance...

“No, I’m fine. What is it?”

I just spoke with Director Antonio. But...

Director Antonio and Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil were close enough to talk regularly.

Juhyeok didn’t know what they had discussed, but after a brief silence—

It seems something has happened to Player Gerald.

“What?”

Juhyeok was startled.

Naturally.

‘Player Gerald...’

Wasn’t that his benefactor?

America’s top Player.

The first holy sword rental customer.

The person who rented twice a day and made it possible for Juhyeok to buy the penthouse.

“H-how? While climbing the Tower?”

Yes. According to Director Antonio, Gerald entered the Tower after sending a smartphone message saying Gerald was going to clear East Coast Tower Floor 72...

“So Gerald didn’t come back.”

Correct.

Floor 72.

Probably tried to challenge the Extreme-Difficulty 8-circle necromancer Norma and met disaster.

No—Juhyeok had repeatedly warned through Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil that stopping at the basic mission was best.

And now America was in an uproar.

A funeral-house atmosphere.

Was there any method?

No.

If a Player didn’t come out, that was the end.

How desperate did they have to be to reach even Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil?

Player Bong, please be careful as well. If you let your guard down, it will be a disaster. I’m asking you.

Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil sounded anxious.

‘Whew...’

Juhyeok felt heavy too.

Even if they had never met face-to-face, they were still Players.

And Gerald was someone who had helped him a lot with holy sword rentals.

It was unfortunate.

Was there no way to save Gerald?

‘If only I’d known ahead of time...’

Well, it would have been helpless either way.

The Tower was that terrifying.

One accident, and there was no way to reverse it.

Juhyeok had to stay tense too.

Danger could strike at any time.

Imagine if one summoned entity met disaster.

He wouldn’t see that summoned entity for a hundred days.

Two weeks without Meatshield already hurt his chest.

‘But there’s the resurrection rune.’

The Start Pack perk.

He could save once, at least.

With that thought, Juhyeok pulled the Start Pack items out of Inventory.

Summoned Entity Resurrection Rune, Tower Floor Intrusion Ticket, Tower Clearing Mission Reset Ticket.

He had never used any of them even once.

Tower Clearing Mission Reset Ticket might get used someday.

But which item was the strangest?

The Tower Floor Intrusion Ticket. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

<Tower Floor Intrusion Ticket>

Effect: Intrudes into a Tower floor currently being cleared by another Player. Your entry level must match. Can be used starting from Floor 71.

Entering a floor where another Player was?

Honestly, did that make [N O V E L I G H T] sense?

Clearing was always solo.

‘How do you even use this?’

Do you rip it?

That was when—

[Would you like to use the Tower Floor Intrusion Ticket?]

[Displaying the list of Black Towers currently available for intrusion.]

[Sorted by the lowest Player level first.]

“Ah!”

Scroll—

A list surfaced.

It went on endlessly.

[Black Tower (Russia) Floor 8, current clearing Player level 8LV]

[Black Tower (United Kingdom) Floor 9, current clearing Player level 9LV]

[Black Tower (Vietnam) Floor 10, current clearing Player level 10LV]

[Black Tower (Republic of Korea) Floor 10, current clearing Player level 10LV]

.

.

.

And at the very end—

[After selecting the Black Tower floor you wish to intrude upon, rip the ticket to move immediately.]

‘So that’s how it works?’

This was insane.

It even chose the intrusion destination for you.

And it showed the Player level on that floor.

In fact, when a Player entered a Tower, even if it was the same floor, the “phase” split.

In other words, even if two Players of the same level entered the same floor of the same country’s Tower, each would be in a different place.

But if the system chose a target like this?

You could go exactly where you wanted.

And once inside, you could interfere with—or kill—the specific Player clearing that floor.

‘This is something I should never use.’

And he wouldn’t, going forward.

Why would he enter a Tower someone else was clearing?

But then—

“Huh?”

Juhyeok’s eyes caught the very bottom entry in the list.

[America Black Tower (NO.1) Floor 72, current clearing Player level 72LV]

“...What?”

America Tower Floor 72?

East Coast Tower, even.

The floor Gerald entered.

‘Was there another level 72 Player besides Gerald?’

No.

As far as Juhyeok knew, there wasn’t.

Gerald had cleared America Black Tower (NO.1) Floor 71 too.

‘...Is this maybe...?’

If it was Gerald, then the clear time limit should have passed—so why did it still show “currently clearing”?

‘Don’t tell me Gerald is alive?’

Or maybe another level 72 Player was inside.

He couldn’t just sit there.

He had to confirm.

‘Summon everyone after entering the Tower.’

Juhyeok selected the Tower and ripped the intrusion ticket.

RRRIP!

[Intruding into America Black Tower (NO.1) Floor 72.]

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