Juhyeok decided not to worry anymore.

The North Korea tower wasn’t about to collapse right away, and there was no need to fret in advance over something that hadn’t even happened yet.

The summoned entities were worried?

They tended to make a big deal out of things in the first place.

To the point they tried to stop him from clearing the tower.

And how many times had North Korea threatened people?

Those were the ones who fired off ballistic missiles at the drop of a hat and ran their mouths about turning Seoul into a sea of fire.

The public had gotten chronic about it by now and just shrugged it off.

Juhyeok drove the Bentley toward the TOWER PLAYER AWAKENING ADMINISTRATION.

He took the wheel himself.

Once he hit the road, cars moved aside on their own.

They didn’t have to, but still.

It made him feel oddly puffed up.

From now on, he wouldn’t be going out by catching rides in someone else’s car.

Why would he, when he had his own?

And at this point, the time for hiding his identity and all that had already passed.

Even now, he was on his way to meet the Minister of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

They said the President had written a handwritten thank-you letter for rescuing Gerald.

A 25-year-old life that had been a high school graduate bouncing from part-time job to part-time job was now riding in a Bentley to meet an American minister.

Anyway, he drove safely and arrived at the main gate of the Administration, where he met Jeon Gwangil.

“Welcome.”

“Am I late?”

“Not at all! You’re right on time.”

After finishing parking the Bentley, Juhyeok entered the building.

This visit from Minister MacMillan wasn’t official.

They said the minister had come for one purpose only: to meet him.

There were no official events.

Maybe that was why there weren’t any reporters around, either.

Juhyeok went into the Commissioner’s office with Jeon Gwangil.

And finally, he met Minister MacMillan.

The person he’d only ever seen on TV.

MacMillan beamed and offered a handshake.

“Now we finally meet. Player Bong!”

“....”

There was an interpreter beside him, but for the first greeting anyway—

“...How do you do, nice meet you.”

“Nice to meet you.”

MacMillan gripped Juhyeok’s hand tightly as he spoke.

“I wanted to say it in person. I’m truly grateful. For saving Gerald.”

“...It was nothing. It was just a lucky opportunity. Maybe God helped.”

“Hahaha! Just as I heard, you’re humble.”

It was true.

It really had been pure luck.

He’d only tried to find out what the Tower Floor Intrusion Ticket even was.

MacMillan held onto Juhyeok’s hand for a long time without letting go.

And kept saying things...

Hah.

He wanted this to end quickly so he could go home.

“This is a handwritten letter from President Lloyd at the White House. Here...”

Right.

That was what he came to receive.

Juhyeok carefully took the letter and unfolded it.

“....”

It was in English.

He didn’t like it.

Why would someone write a thank-you letter in English to a Korean?

Did they think every Korean could read English?

“There’s a translated version of the letter on the back.”

“Ah! Yes, yes.”

There was nothing special in it.

Just the usual—thank you for this, thank you for that, thank you for everything.

Could he leave now?

Today he had to go grocery shopping.

There were a lot of mouths to feed.

The monthly food bill wasn’t a joke.

And Meatshield would be coming back soon.

He had to cram the refrigerator full for that bottomless appetite.

Meatshield would be coming back as LSSR—how much would Meatshield eat then?

“Ah! And also...”

Minister MacMillan pulled something out of the bag.

“This is a small gift from America to Player Bong.”

“...Thank you.”

It really did look small.

A little metal box.

“You can open it now, if you’d like.”

With zero expectations, Juhyeok opened the metal box.

CLICK!

“Hm.”

He’d seen this thing a lot.

What was it? It looked exactly like a Trait Enhancement Rune...

“Huh?”

What is this?

He rubbed his eyes and looked again.

No doubt about it.

With trembling hands, he picked it up and checked the item information.

<Trait Enhancement Rune.>

Effect: Upon consumption, strengthens the Player’s Trait by one stage.

A plain, simple description.

No way to mistake it for a Trait Addition Rune.

A real Trait Enhancement Rune.

Man, something this precious?

“I don’t know if you’ll like it. Hahaha.”

Ah...

Minister. Our minister.

He liked it.

How could he not?

“I’m not asking you to recognize anything, but it was hard to get.”

Of course it was.

If it were easy, he would’ve done Trait Enhancement a hundred times by now.

“We made secret contact with the black market and purchased it. I hope it helps.”

The weak man’s chest swelled grandly.

Juhyeok walked up to Minister MacMillan and wrapped MacMillan in a sudden hug.

“Tank you berry much! Big brother!”

“...What?”

“If there’s ever a floor you’re struggling to clear, tell me immediately.”

“U-uh, o-okay.”

America really was a big brother.

What huge guts.

He needed to reflect on himself for ever suspecting the minister’s generosity, even for a moment.

Sure, the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates’ gift had been nice too.

Supercars were fine.

But driving them around was dangerous.

How many traffic accidents happened every day?

Wristwatches?

He had a metal allergy, so he barely wore them.

So he carefully put the Trait Enhancement Rune into his Inventory—

And in that instant!

A prickling at the back of his head.

A gloomy presence, pressing in at the same time.

‘What is it?’

He turned his head.

‘...Oh.’

Two people stood there like sacks of barley left in place.

Park Kyungsoo and Jeon Gwangil.

Their expressions were heavy.

Well, yeah.

Their mood wouldn’t be good when their country’s top Player was hugging a foreign minister like that.

‘Did I look too happy?’

He should’ve managed his expression.

They looked uneasy.

Worried he might naturalize to America.

Come on.

He wasn’t going to America.

He’d just gotten loud because he was grateful.

*****

Juhyeok left the Administration again and went home.

He didn’t even have time to shop.

He wanted to take Minister MacMillan to get a whole Dongdaemun chicken and treat the minister to a meal at home, but Park Kyungsoo and Jeon Gwangil were watching, so he just left.

‘If I consume this rune, is it the seventh Trait Enhancement?’

The first perk, the encore perk, the roulette perk, the payment for clearing the United Arab Emirates Black Tower, the Restore scroll from matching Rajix’s shards, Saudi compensation for the holy sword damage, and lastly America’s gift.

It hit him all at once.

Joy tasted best when it was shared.

Juhyeok called his summoned entities.

Seven in total, excluding Meatshield and Blood Wolf.

“Summoner Bong, Cossack’s here. When we go eat cold noodles?”

“Master Bong, this humble girl pays her respects.”

“CERTAIN VICTORY!”

“My lord!”

“WAAH,”

“Summoner, this old man is here as well.”

And Mari, with her head stuck into a corner of the living room.

Ding!

<Mari> : Thank you for calling me♡ Summoner.

Mari sent a K-Talk message.

Man, the living room got loud when seven of them all said something at once.

Thank goodness Meatshield wasn’t here.

“All right. I have something to show you.”

“A good sword?”

“Of course it’ll be something good.”

He took the rune out of his Inventory.

“Ta-da!”

The moment he raised it high—

“Hm?”

“...Gasp!”

“Oh!”

“T-that is?”

“Heh heh heh! Good. Very good.”

“WAAAH...!”

Ding!

<Mari> : Congratulations♪

CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP!

Applause rang out.

“Congratulations. But this is only what you were due to receive.”

“Now the momentum’s on our side. That’s a weight off our minds.”

Cossack turned his head and dabbed a tear sliding down with a fingertip.

How important was Trait Enhancement to a Player?

Especially for a Summoner—it mattered even more.

And yet Summoner Bong—who was only Level 74—could now already call forth eight summoned entities.

“Princess!”

“Why?”

“Play the music!”

“...”

Juhyeok brought the raised rune to his mouth.

Why save it?

He should eat it right now.

Then swallowed it.

[Awakening Trait is strengthened.]

‘The Status Window?’

[Trait] : Summoning (Simultaneous summons: 8)

Eight now.

He checked the Catalog too.

[Catalog] : John Cossack/ barbarian meat shield/ Gyeon Dallae/ Rajix/ Mad Demon/ Veronica Caliber/ Lucius Bardin/ Blood Wolf/ Aliamari.

With one slot open, the one he could call—no, the animal he could call—was—

“Designated Summon: Blood Wolf!”

SPOT!

“WOOF! WOOF!”

“WAAH!”

Seven summoned entities, one dog.

Eight total.

But Juhyeok wasn’t satisfied.

He would keep going.

Ten, twenty, thirty—until he could call them without any limit.

‘Is there anywhere I can get one more Trait Enhancement Rune?’

Minister MacMillan said the minister got it from the black market.

Then there might still be stock.

‘I should make time and look into it later.’

*****

TOWER PLAYER AWAKENING ADMINISTRATION.

Minister MacMillan finished the business and left.

Apparently, the minister planned to return without stopping anywhere.

In the end, meeting Player Bong Juhyeok and delivering the gift had been the only reason MacMillan had come to Korea.

A minister from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security acting as a delivery person.

But Park Kyungsoo knew why MacMillan went that far, and so did Jeon Gwangil.

“Bitter.”

“I’m angry.”

“At this rate, one day, Player Bong might...”

“Ah! Commissioner! Don’t! Words can come true. Please.”

“Sorry. I’m just anxious.”

The meeting between Minister MacMillan and Player Bong.

That warm, friendly atmosphere.

It didn’t feel good.

It stirred up a vague emotion too.

If he had to put it into words...

Self-loathing?

Yes.

A brutal self-examination.

The TOWER PLAYER AWAKENING ADMINISTRATION couldn’t even bring Korea’s best Player a single Trait Enhancement Rune.

If Player Bong ever declared a switch of nationality to America—

They wouldn’t even have a justification to stop it.

“Should we try to get one too? What about the black market?”

“Actually, I just logged into the dark web earlier using my identification number.”

“Huh? Already? Did you talk to them?”

“No. I couldn’t.”

“Why?”

“Access was blocked. Looks like they cut the tail and went under.”

“This again?”

It happened from time to time.

The Black Market Guild operated with a strict cell structure.

If even one executive was caught by Interpol or an intelligence agency, they immediately shut off all trades and went into hiding.

That was how the Black Market Guild had survived.

Once the dark web was blocked, item trading stopped.

And that was why countries generally pretended not to see it.

“We won’t know when trading will resume.”

“Yes.”

“Whew. All right. Ah! The elixir—how’s the effect? Is it usable?”

“There’s a mental fortification elixir among tower reward elixirs, but it doesn’t even compare.”

“Oh? Really?”

Even the item name was strange.

<Sage-Brewed Mental Fortification Elixir>

It was brewed by a sage.

No idea who that was, but still.

“It’s far more potent than holy water. If you use it together with the holy sword, it creates synergy, so it becomes even better.”

That was why, starting today, Korea’s elite Players planned to begin climbing the upper floors too.

Reservations for the holy sword rental had thinned out.

For a while, it had mostly been rented to foreign Players, but now the reservation schedule had empty gaps here and there, so Korea’s elite Players were getting chances too.

“Don’t forget to take the rental fee every time.”

“Player Bong said he wouldn’t take a rental fee from Korean Players.”

“No. We should. We can’t even get him a Trait Enhancement Rune. We should at least do that for him.”

And so, Juhyeok’s bank account would never run dry.

*****

The engineer, the maker, and the designer.

The tower administrators were talking among themselves.

[Hasn’t he used the Tower Occupation Proclamation Loudspeaker yet?]

[This Savior seems to have a very cautious personality. I thought he would use it at least once out of curiosity.]

[Tsk. With this, will it even be a proper trial?]

[Forget a trial—he’ll just keep getting stronger. In fact, weren’t the floors up to Floor 79 designed for the Savior?]

[Whew, right. Three summoned entities will overcome hardships and strengthen their ranks.]

[One has already broken through, so that leaves two.]

[That’s not all. With the Mark of Salvation, he can also strengthen the grade of souls, can’t he?]

[In the end, we have no choice but to decide it in the eighties.]

[To be honest, even the eighties feel unstable.]

[Should we shake things a little?]

[No. We’ve already interfered a lot. If we interfere any further, causality will twist.]

[It feels like the entire universe is helping this Earth’s Savior.]

The designer, the engineer, and the maker all agreed.

Everything that had happened so far proved it.

*****

Time flowed quickly.

Black Towers across the world were cleared one after another.

Countries that held Tower Jumping Tickets borrowed the power of holy water to climb only up to Floor 66, then took the elevator to Floor 71.

Countries without tickets came into Korea and, with the holy sword, holy water, and every kind of elixir fully stacked, climbed to Floor 71.

And so the world’s average Black Tower floor came close to 70.

All because the True Kabalan clear had weakened the dark aura in the undead section.

Of course, excluding the North Korea Black Tower.

It was smooth.

Earth fully entered the era of high-grade Magic Stones.

Juhyeok was at the Namyangju villa.

He planned to welcome Meatshield here.

That’s right.

Meatshield was coming back.

Meatshield would return in glory as an LSSR summoned entity.

In the middle of that, two summoned entities were whispering in secret in a corner of the villa.

“Mad Demon, we really can leave North Korea alone?”

“Are you insane? That place is the most dangerous right now. It must be dealt with as soon as possible.”

“Then what do we do? Summoner Bong doesn’t really like killing people.”

Mad Demon nodded.

But Mad Demon didn’t think that was a Summoner’s flaw.

It was just the Summoner’s nature.

And that was exactly why Mad Demon liked the Summoner even more.

“Then there’s no choice. We remove the danger without killing anyone.”

“Huh? How?”

“Assassin. What’s your manifestation time limit?”

“Nine hours.”

“...Enviable. I’m still at three hours.”

“That one-star rating at the start was huge. You should’ve been careful. The moment you came out, you were so happy you let killing intent pour out.”

“Ahem!”

Cossack flinched at Mad Demon’s forced cough.

“Anyway, you need to be dispatched to North Korea.”

“Dispatched?”

“Subdue North Korea’s Chairman and turn him into a puppet.”

“Mm. I don’t have a mind-control skill, but—”

“Threaten him. You’re good at that, aren’t you?”

“It’s not threatening. It’s negotiation. I’m Cossack, master of negotiation, creative strategist.”

North Korea was a dictatorship.

National policy was decided by a single word from the Chairman.

If the Chairman was controlled?

The threat vanished in an instant.

You might even hope for unification.

And it was an absurdly easy job.

Who could handle Cossack?

Stealth, infiltration, negotiation, assassination, lockpicking, cracking someone on the back of the head...

No person or force existed that could stop Cossack.

Even if a liberated Level 70 Player charged in, it would end in a single slash.

Like swimming with your feet on the ground. Like eating cold porridge.

But there was one hardest problem.

Would the Summoner permit it or not?

“Mad Demon, you suggest it to Summoner Bong. Tell him we’ll handle North Korea.”

“...I can’t.”

“Why?”

“I finally got my relationship with the Summoner into good shape. If he starts disliking me, I’m finished.”

“Ugh.”

“And soon that barbarian will return as a legendary rank too, and once another two weeks pass, there’s also a Random Summon opportunity. My spot is shaky.”

That was the scariest situation of all for Mad Demon.

Before, Mad Demon had been the only LSSR summoned entity, but °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° soon there would be three.

Mad Demon’s value would obviously drop.

And if Mad Demon ever rubbed the Summoner the wrong way...

“You suggest it, then.”

“...Uh, I don’t want to either. You do it, Mad Demon.”

“Tsk! Do you want to die?”

“I’d rather die.”

“You little—”

That was when—

“Hey, what are you two doing over there? The meat’s burning.”

At Juhyeok’s call, Mad Demon and Cossack—

“Ah, understood. We’ll be right there.”

“Yes, sir! I’m going too.”

They hurried over.

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