Czechia, Prague.

The Black Market Guild’s executives gathered in one place for an emergency meeting.

Anyway, it happened.

There was no undoing it.

“Whatever it takes, we have to clear the uncleared upper floors. That’s the only way to reduce our losses.”

“We’ve got plenty of equipment and weapons, and plenty of elixirs and potions too, so Floor 71 will be quick.”

It was the best option available right now.

“We don’t need to hesitate about the undead section either. Even that supposedly difficult Guardian Death Knight got nerfed, didn’t it?”

Guildmaster Dmitry agreed.

All they had to do was climb.

The new North Korea tower.

Even if the reward odds were lower than the Republic of Korea Black Tower, as long as they reached Floor 71, they would receive the four-item gift set.

“If we’d just kept even one Tower Jumping Ticket, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“That’s my biggest regret too.”

In truth, they’d had plenty.

But after the Chinese government bought tickets and then made a point of succeeding in the climb to Floor 71, other countries that witnessed it rushed to buy them up.

Even though the price they named was steep.

If only they’d known, they should have kept just one.

Still, it was doable.

Everyone gathered here was a Player in the high 50s.

They also opened the floodgates on the items the black market had been holding, sparing nothing for their guild members.

From the top of the head to the tips of the toes, they fully geared them out in Tower reward items.

And that wasn’t all.

Holy water, elixirs, potions...

Using the guild’s organizational power, they bought everything that appeared, the moment it appeared.

That was how the trial run began.

The goal was three floors in a day.

First, a Level 55 Player cleared Floor 55, then a Level 56 Player followed, then a Level 57 Player.

The result: success.

It was even extremely stable.

The money had been °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° worth it.

At this rate, the undead section would be quick too.

Was it a problem to climb without North Korea’s permission?

What was the problem?

Those bastards didn’t have any authority over Tower clearing, or any power to stop it.

At this point, would there even be a reason to change nationality after a year?

The North Korea Black Tower was practically going to become the Black Market Guild’s property.

No matter how many times Dmitry turned it over in mind, there was nothing that could go wrong.

Dmitry was certain of it.

*****

The United States, Washington, DC.

Minister MacMillan carefully placed a Trait Enhancement Rune into a high-end steel case packed with cushioning.

One of the two Trait Enhancement Runes purchased from the black market.

“To think this one rock cost 9.5 billion dollars.”

“Even if you have the money, you can’t get it. Consider it a stroke of luck we managed to obtain it at all.”

“I know. Anyway, good work.”

Director Antonio shrugged.

“Do you know what the next most expensive item is after a Trait Enhancement Rune?”

“What is it?”

“A Tower Jumping Ticket. The price is shooting through the roof.”

“That expensive?”

“It lets you skip the annoying stretches. It’s useless above Floor 71, but still.”

A Tower Jumping Ticket.

A representative item that had been reevaluated.

Its utility really was outstanding.

If a Player managed to climb to Floor 66, that was basically it.

Use the ticket, and it was an elevator to Floor 71.

“I’m surprised how many people have them. Before long, there’ll be plenty of countries coming up to Floor 71.”

“...Do you think North Korea might have them too?”

“No way. And even if they did, they would’ve sold them long ago. That government can’t wait to cash out the moment an item drops.”

“Tsk! Seriously, they’re out of their minds.”

“If they’d spent that money on improving Player treatment, even just that...”

MacMillan agreed.

Temporary naturalization sales—what an absurd idea.

Then, as if something occurred to the minister—

“Right. There’s information I heard from the CIA Director about that...”

“What is it?”

“I heard a black market organization was deeply involved in this naturalized-Player situation.”

“Hm? The Black Market Guild? That’s where we bought the runes.”

“Right. They temporarily naturalized to North Korea to start a new business...”

Minister MacMillan began explaining.

Antonio listened, then let out a hollow laugh as if it was ridiculous.

“Ha, ha, ha. They crashed before they even got the business off the ground.”

“How many do you think there were? People commissioning Rejuvenation Elixir and Potion of Disease Treatment.”

The plan had been to make new items the black market’s main trade goods in exchange for the sharply reduced odds on Trait Enhancement Runes.

Rejuvenation Elixir, Potion of Disease Treatment—demand was enormous.

Bring them back, no matter what.

No matter how much it costs, I’ll buy them all.

“It’s chaos in America too. You have no idea how much the rich old folks are drooling over it.”

“Even President Lloyd is greedy for Rejuvenation Elixir. That man’s old.”

But the business had failed spectacularly.

And for a year, they couldn’t even change nationality.

“Well, it’s not like they’re going to sit on their hands.”

The Black Market Guild.

Most of its core members were Players.

Skilled, experienced.

Of course they would be searching for a countermeasure.

“I know. They’ll climb. They’re already climbing.”

“Already?”

“According to information that came in today, the North Korea tower’s clearing progress is listed as ‘Floor 57 cleared.’”

“Hm. Three floors a day... so it’s not North Korea’s government-raised Players.”

“Right. The black market Players are the ones climbing.”

North Korea couldn’t control the climbing of its own Tower at all.

All it could do was watch, helpless.

If that continued, what would happen?

The Black Market Guild could become one axis of North Korean power.

But there was one question.

“Do you think North Korea’s government knows? That the Black Market Guild organization was involved in these temporary naturalizations.”

“They probably know. Do you think those bastards don’t have ears?”

“This is suddenly getting interesting. How North Korea’s government will respond.”

MacMillan nodded, wearing a bitter smile.

East Asia was truly dynamic.

Incidents and accidents never stopped.

China, Japan, and now even North Korea.

“Anyway, when do you plan to go to Korea?”

“As soon as possible. I already set it up.”

This Trait Enhancement Rune was for Player Bong Juhyeok.

A gift specially prepared to build rapport.

America’s benefactor who rescued Gerald.

Thanks to that, both the East Coast Tower and the West Coast Tower had been climbed to Floor 72.

And there was also the warning that the Floor 73 human chimera hunting dog basic mission would be quite difficult compared to before, so be careful.

Player Bong Juhyeok was a pioneer who shared information about the floors already cleared in advance.

From now on, all information about uncleared upper floors would come from that Player.

How grateful was that?

A rune worth 9.5 billion dollars?

Compared to what Bong Juhyeok had done—and what Bong Juhyeok would do going forward—it was a bargain.

*****

Juhyeok was in a car on the way to the TOWER PLAYER AWAKENING ADMINISTRATION.

An appointment had been set ahead of time, and on the way there, in the car with Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil—

“Um... nothing’s happened, right?”

“Are you referring to the North Korea Black Tower?”

With an incident that big, it would have been strange not to ask.

“Yes. What else would there be?”

Jeon Gwangil let out a short sigh and spoke.

“Whew. For now, we’re still severely lacking information. North Korea is such a closed society.”

As expected.

Even if it was the government, what could it do?

Juhyeok felt the same.

Well, up until yesterday, Juhyeok had even considered just taking the Tower outright.

But thinking about the backlash that would cause, it didn’t seem right.

Still, if the North Korea tower developed a problem and collapsed, or thinking about oppressed North Korean Players, the heart wavered again.

“The National Intelligence Service is coordinating with American intelligence agencies to assess the situation, but it will likely take some time.”

“...Yes, yes.”

“If it’s America, they’ll find out quickly. If anything changes, I’ll contact you immediately.”

There’s no need to contact me.

The more Juhyeok knows, the heavier it gets.

Was it a mistake to ask?

“Oh! Since we’re talking about America, I should mention this—Minister MacMillan will likely enter Korea soon as an unofficial special envoy.”

“...Is the minister coming to see me?”

“Yes.”

A high-ranking person.

A U.S. minister, no less.

There was no need to come in person.

It was burdensome.

Still, if the minister came with hands full of something, Juhyeok might shut the eyes and meet anyway.

“I heard the minister is bringing a handwritten letter of thanks from President Lloyd of the United States, for the work of rescuing Player Gerald.”

“...”

A handwritten letter of thanks?

No, this wasn’t it.

A letter?

A letter!

That’s what they were going to use to settle it?

From the country that prints dollars, couldn’t they just wire a clean 300 million dollars or so?

A letter, seriously.

A phone call would be more than enough.

Then a thought struck.

“By any chance, have you received any contact from Mr. Cossack or Princess?”

“Uh, ah, no, I haven’t?”

So it came.

Jeon Gwangil looked flustered.

“Did they ask for the location of the Chairman’s palace in North Korea?”

“Th-that...”

“Or the schedule for the Supreme People’s Assembly.”

“....”

Jeon Gwangil couldn’t answer.

Because contact had come.

Back at the badge award ceremony, business cards had been exchanged, and Jeon Gwangil’s number was known.

But Jeon Gwangil had been told it had to be kept absolutely secret from Player Bong, so Jeon Gwangil hadn’t said anything first.

“They told you not to tell me.”

“Mm.”

“It’s up to you whether you tell them or not, Deputy Commissioner, but you know what happened in China and Japan, right?”

“...Yes, yes.”

“They’re good people, but sometimes even I can’t stop them.”

Jeon Gwangil winced.

Player Bong was right.

Why would those people insist on learning that?

The Chairman’s palace in North Korea might end up drenched in blood.

But the frightening Mr. Cossack kept talking about Summoned Principles, Article Three, and demanded to be told no matter what—

Just then, the car arrived in front of a large warehouse.

Good.

A topic change, right now...

“Player Bong.”

“Yes?”

“We’re here. You can get out.”

“Here...”

This wasn’t the material warehouse Juhyeok always came to.

“This is the reserve warehouse. We call it Warehouse No. 2. It was built in case the existing warehouse filled up. There are no walls dividing sections, so it’s larger.”

I see.

But why Warehouse No. 2?

“As I mentioned before, we were storing the gift entrusted by Crown Prince Bin Salah of the United Arab Emirates in Warehouse No. 2.”

Ah.

Juhyeok had heard about it before.

But what was it?

A “gift.”

Jeon Gwangil walked up to the huge steel door of the locked Warehouse No. 2.

When the security device recognized fingerprint and iris—

DRRRRRRK, the door slid open to the side.

At the same time, the inside of the warehouse came into Juhyeok’s view.

‘Huh?’

What is this?

It’s a parking lot.

Looks like they were using an empty warehouse as a parking garage.

Anyway, the cars parked inside were all nice.

Cars elite Players drove?

“These are all gifts.”

“...”

Did I hear wrong?

The parked cars—no, the supercars.

In other words, cars that were expensive, and hard to buy even if you had money.

“...All of this is a gift?”

“Yes.”

Holy shit.

Stay calm.

Keep a straight face.

If I look too happy, I’ll look cheap.

Seven in total.

A McLaren, a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, a Porsche, a Bugatti—and a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley too.

Now that Juhyeok thought about it, Juhyeok remembered joking about a Bentley during the reunion gag with Cossack.

“We’ve already registered the plates. Insurance is all set too. The keys are all inside. You can drive off immediately.”

“...I see.”

No, seriously.

Thank you.

Now, after holy-sword owner, building owner, and major shareholder, it was time to become a supercar owner too.

“And this, as well.”

Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil pressed the button on the Bentley’s trunk.

It opened with a smooth glide, revealing an aluminum case inside.

It wasn’t an ordinary case.

It felt like opening it would reveal stacks of cash.

But what was inside wasn’t cash.

‘Watches?’

Wristwatches set with dazzling jewels.

Even at a rough count, there were well over ten.

“I checked, and these aren’t just watches. They’re all limited editions. I understand even one of these is over a billion won. This one is two billion, and there’s even a three-billion-won one here...”

Ahhh.

Crown Prince Bin Salah.

Big-hearted alpha-male big brother.

All Juhyeok did was clear one Tower.

And toss over a couple Tower reward items.

And this was the gift?

It wasn’t about the money.

It was the generosity that felt grateful.

‘The United Arab Emirates is way better than America. They really go hard!’

From now on, the United Arab Emirates was the big brother.

“Please pass this along to Crown Prince Bin Salah. Tell the crown prince that if there’s any difficulty with Tower clearing, I’ll resolve it immediately.”

“Understood.”

After receiving a gift, how could Juhyeok sit still?

“The cars will be difficult to take all at once, so you can just use this as your parking garage, and whenever you have time, slowly...”

“Wait.”

There was no need for that.

I’m taking them all at once.

“Rajix, Designated Summon.”

SPOT! Rajix flashed into existence—

“WAAAH...”

“Oh, welcome. Rajix.”

“WAAH!”

Rajix waved at Jeon Gwangil in greeting.

“Rajix, you know those items we looted... no, the items we received, right?”

The treasures from the necromancer dungeon on America Black Tower (NO.1) Floor 72, the one they intruded to save Gerald.

“Take them all out over here.”

“WAAH!”

SSSSSSS...

A pile of items accumulated in one corner.

“This batch—give one each to our ELITE TOWER CLIMBING TEAM for free. A gift from me.”

“Uh, you really don’t have to...”

“And Rajix!”

“WAAH?”

“You have mango juice, right? Take that out too.”

SSSS.

A large water-jug container of yellow liquid was placed on the warehouse floor.

Jeon Gwangil tilted the head.

‘Is that really mango juice?’

But why put it in something like that...

“It’s a mental fortification elixir.”

“E-elixir?”

“Before our ELITE TOWER CLIMBING TEAM enters the Tower, have everyone chug one paper cup. The effect should be pretty good. I tried it.”

Then, Juhyeok leaned in and whispered softly to Jeon Gwangil, who was standing there blankly.

“This doesn’t have the Tower-only modifier. Deputy Commissioner, you should drink a cup whenever you’re thirsty too.”

“Gasp!”

Every time Jeon Gwangil met Player Bong, Jeon Gwangil’s heart sank with a thud.

Might need to take some kind of calming pill before meetings.

An elixir that wasn’t Tower-only.

Something rare.

Hard even to see.

And there was this much?

But would there be any left for Jeon Gwangil to drink?

Players’ mentality accounted for more than half of their ability.

The ELITE TOWER CLIMBING TEAM had to drink it.

Juhyeok was in a good mood.

Didn’t even come expecting anything.

Now load up the cars—

“Rajix, put the cars away. Except that one Bentley.”

The Bentley had to be driven personally.

SSSS, SSSSS, SSSSSS—

One by one, the supercars entered the Subspace Backpack.

Even watching that, Jeon Gwangil said nothing.

When the cute Rajix laid a hand on a supercar, the car vanished.

Nothing surprising about it.

What’s surprising about putting a car in a backpack?

*****

Czechia, Prague.

At the Black Market Guild headquarters,

The guild members and Dmitry advanced at breakneck speed toward Floor 70.

The next day, and the day after that.

Finally, they reached the undead section.

Dmitry was confident.

A rapid breakthrough.

Starting with Floor 61.

The dark mummy, said to be the weakest among the undead.

A section where, supposedly, any decent Player could clear even without holy water.

Dmitry didn’t drink holy water either.

A close-combat Trait user, Dmitry equipped sword and shield and charged straight at the dark mummy—

“...Insane!”

A dense dark aura.

Just getting close made Dmitry’s head spin.

Dmitry hurriedly chugged holy water.

‘They said it was easy...’

Wasn’t the dark aura supposed to be weakened?

Don’t tell me “weakened” meant only this much?

It was only Floor 61.

Still, Dmitry did kill it.

After a bloody fight that took three bottles of holy water.

Now Floor 62 was worrying—the dark zombie.

A dark zombie that was far stronger and faster than the dark mummy.

The next day, Dmitry entered Floor 62.

‘Mm.’

Dmitry realized it the instant the floor began.

‘This is going to be rough.’

Even after drinking holy water in advance and wrapping the entire body in the power of Radiance, it was still like this.

Ten bottles of holy water, fully doped with elixirs, burning potions—only then did Dmitry barely manage to clear it.

But Dmitry’s confidence shattered into pieces.

Even if Dmitry died and came back to life, Floor 63 seemed impossible.

The undead section of the North Korea Black Tower.

It was completely different from every other tower.

This wasn’t the time to ask why.

If they couldn’t even clear the North Korea tower, they might have to sit there sucking their thumb for a full year.

A countermeasure was urgent.

The guild couldn’t do it alone.

‘There’s no choice.’

What they needed now was cooperation with the North Korean government.

Put North Korea in front and rent a holy sword at the national level, or request a clear.

North Korea or South Korea—either way, it was Korea.

The same people.

‘First, I’ll have to make contact with a representative on the North Korean government side.’

Even then, Dmitry still didn’t know.

Dmitry had been underestimating the North Korean government.

And that was a very big mistake.

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