The tower administrators were talking.

[He succeeded in Trait Enhancement again.]

[There was no helping it. It was a reward that is guaranteed at 100 cumulative badges.]

[Even so... how many times has he gotten Trait Enhancement from the system in total?]

[Four times in total. The rest were brought in by the summoned entities from outside, or received from other countries.]

[If you really look at it, it’s three times. One of those four came from spinning the roulette.]

[Right, the roulette. He pierced through that absurdly low probability as if to show it off. Anyway, that makes eight Trait Enhancements in total?]

[Yes, that’s correct. He is now in a state where he can simultaneously summon 9 summoned entities.]

[A record.]

[It is a record.]

[He might pull off Trait Enhancement again.]

[Not only that, the probability is very high. It would not be an exaggeration to say it is already predetermined.]

[Haa... from here on, tower climbing will be on the level of a stroll. If Catalog expansion gets added on top of that, I can’t even predict how many he’ll be able to call out.]

[Then he’ll get through the Floor 80 ordeal without trouble.]

[With that number of summoned entities, what would be impossible?]

[Exactly. And now that Aliamari’s seal has effectively been lifted.]

[And what if he achieves another feat and gets more White Tower-related rewards?]

[All of us will start having our competence questioned. We might even get thrown out.]

[Whew... what can we do right now?]

[For now, the only choice is to block Catalog expansion. If that happens, then no matter how many times he gets Trait Enhancement, there will still be a limit.]

[Good! Lower the probability of Catalog Expansion Ticket rewards in the perks.]

[By how much?]

[As far as you can. To the absolute minimum. Any more achievements would be troublesome. If White Tower-related rewards keep coming out, it’ll cause problems for the other projects we’re running too.]

[Understood. I’ll adjust the Catalog Expansion Ticket probability to the lowest possible level.]

[And if an expansion ticket comes out even then?]

[...Well, what are we supposed to do then?]

*****

Jepetto was getting beaten like a dog.

No, it was even worse than that.

Because even a dog was beating him too.

Blood Wolf had clamped onto Jepetto’s crotch and was hanging there.

“GRRRK! GRRK!”

“Kyaaaak! S-save me...”

“It’s not even useful, you mosquito bastard!”

Cossack with soccer kicks, Veronica with the butt of her magic gun, Rajix with a pickaxe, Bardin torturing him with Radiance.

Even Mari’s homunculi joined in.

Good thing they weren’t the explosive kind.

The moment he was summoned, Jepetto started by getting beaten.

He was getting thoroughly pounded flat.

Juhyeok did not stop them.

He was asking to be bestowed blood.

Saying it was a noble soul, and that was why he wanted to taste the blood.

Was he joking?

How was he supposed to grant that?

If he did not draw a line here, then from now on the guy would be smacking his lips every time he looked at him.

But on the other hand, seeing him get beaten did make his heart ache a little.

Tsk, tsk. He should’ve thought before he spoke.

“Um...”

“Mm? What is it, sir?”

“Let’s stop. At this rate, he’s going to die.”

“Let’s just kill him while we’re at it.”

“That’s right. That bastard dared covet Summoner Bong’s blood. He can’t be left alive.”

“This warrior will finish it. With a flick to the forehead.”

“...”

A forehead flick from an LSSR ranker.

That would definitely kill him.

And make him unsummonable for 100 days.

“Let’s not do that. Just talk him through it slowly. He seems good by nature.”

“...Hmm. If that is truly the will of the summoner.”

And then tears rolled down from the shut eyes of the collapsed Jepetto.

“M-master... you are t-truly so pure and n-noble. I... I overstepped my place. Ugh! Uwaaah...”

“It’s okay. It’s okay. Just don’t do it next time.”

“Uwaaahhh!”

Jepetto broke into loud sobs.

But Cossack did not even blink.

“Crying your eyes out, huh? Jepetto, I’ll personally take responsibility and educate this bastard.”

Educate him, huh.

When they were both SSR.

“Workplace bullying or ostracism is forbidden.”

“Oh, come on. This Cossack was ranked number one best workplace senior of the year, selected by all summoned entities in 2024. I’m the kind of senior who cherishes his juniors, not tramples ‘em.”

On what basis was he number one?

“Well, do as you like. And make sure your spacing is correct.”

“Yessir!”

He just hoped they would not handle him too harshly.

“Ah! Summoner Bong!”

“Yes?”

“If tomorrow goes well, the Trai... uh...”

“What did you say?”

“Huh?”

“You started to say Trai, and then cut yourself off.”

“A-ah, no I didn’t.”

“You did.”

“I didn’t, sir.”

He absolutely did.

Why stop in the middle of saying it?

Anyway, before he got beaten to death, Juhyeok sent Jepetto back.

“Jepetto, Dismiss Summon.”

SPOT!

Only then did that whole uproar finally come to an end.

After that they played around a bit more.

And as time passed and passed, the summoned entities whose manifestation time limits had run out returned one after another.

Juhyeok was left alone.

After he finished cleaning up the rest.

“White Tower Floor 17 Entry.”

To the White Tower.

The green plains spread out before his eyes.

And high-grade Magic Stones piled up like mountains.

What was allowed in on entry was the same as in the Black Tower.

The clothes he was wearing, the things he carried on him, and tower items.

He had put the Magic Stones Rajix gave him into his Inventory and moved them over in advance.

This should be enough for 10 tons.

He tapped the [Basic] item in the hologram menu.

One of the 3 submenus currently unlocked.

<White Tower Floor 17 Wireless Communication Network>

It would create a network within a certain range, and even connect to Earth’s communication network.

And it was also the cheapest.

10 tons of high-grade Magic Stones.

‘Should I build it?’

The moment he touched the menu,

[Would you like to construct the White Tower Floor 17 Wireless Communication Network? The cost is 10 tons of high-grade Magic Stones.]

‘Construct.’

[Constructing the White Tower Floor 17 Wireless Communication Network.]

And then,

SPAAAT!

Most of the piled-up high-grade Magic Stones disappeared in huge chunks.

FLASH!

And in the blink of an eye, a giant communications tower appeared in the middle of the green plains.

An iron tower shaped like the Eiffel Tower.

[A network has been established. Communication with the outside is now possible.]

Juhyeok pulled his smartphone from his pocket.

When he ran the apps,

‘...It really works.’

Internet, games, bank apps, social media, everything ran just fine.

Even inside the tower.

What should he build next?

<White Tower Floor 17 Power Plant>

But that was not possible yet.

The cost was a whopping 20 tons of high-grade Magic Stones.

Twice what he had just used.

Time would solve that.

He just had to go into Floor 76 with Rajix and mine more.

There was no need to clear the Twin Nine-Tailed Foxes again.

‘Still, no matter how many times I look at it, this place is incredible.’

White Tower Floor 17.

Did it really only have a shelter function?

He would find out once he started decorating it.

And there might be more White Tower-related rewards later too.

*****

The Awakening Administration.

Jeon Gwangil was sunk in deep thought over the Player Awakening Rune.

Should he use this rune himself?

Or should he pick one ordinary person who looked talented and awaken that person?

Jeon Gwangil was in his early forties.

Late for active Player work.

In truth, once you were in your forties, the odds of Awakening also dropped very low.

‘...Should I hand it to someone else?’

That had its own problem.

How was he supposed to judge a would-be Player’s talent before Awakening?

You only knew that after Awakening.

Of course, mentality was the top priority, but,

beyond that there were combat ability, judgment under pressure, skill proficiency, compatibility with one’s Trait, and so on.

Player talent was judged through a very complex combination of factors.

For example, say a soldier serving in a special forces unit awakened.

Would that automatically make him a talented Player?

Not necessarily.

Once you entered the tower, magic power and physical abilities were equalized to the level of that floor.

A trained soldier and an untrained civilian were no different in physical ability there.

And mentality?

Would a special forces soldier be free of PTSD?

Mentality could look stable, and then collapse in an instant.

Once it collapsed, it was hard to recover.

Rather, ordinary people with easygoing, cheerful temperaments and average personalities often did better as Players.

There was no need to even mention Player Bong.

And looking at Player Nam Gaeun and Gerald of the United States told you the same.

Gerald especially.

He had even spoken with Director Antonio about it.

The man got sulky when bored, whined, and had no patience.

And yet Gerald was America’s top Player.

Despite never having received special training.

Jeon himself had strengths too.

He had passed the grade-5 civil service exam, and his first job had been the Awakening Administration.

The know-how he had built up by proposing the Player nurturing program and serving as its director.

‘...What should I do?’

The 고민 dragged on.

At last, Jeon Gwangil made his decision.

He would try Awakening himself.

Player Bong also wanted him to awaken.

And how much had he wanted it himself?

For a chance at Awakening to come to him.

But until he turned 42, the fortune of Awakening had never come.

Yet now the opportunity had arrived.

Then he had to do it.

Once he made up his mind, action was immediate.

Jeon Gwangil picked up the rune and swallowed it whole.

The instant he did—

Srrrk.

The badge hanging on his chest melted away and disappeared.

Ding!

[Jeon Gwangil has Awakened.]

“Hahaha.”

So Awakening was this simple?

He felt absolutely nothing.

The only difference was that he could hear the messages.

‘Anyway, now that I’ve awakened.’

The most important thing was his Player Trait.

‘Status Window.’

[Name]: Jeon Gwangil

[Affiliation]: Black Tower (Korea)

[Trait]: Monstrous Strength and Divine Ferocity

[Trait Skills]: Superhuman Strength / Fighting Spirit / All-Out Strike

[Generic Skills]: Enter Tower (once per day) / Tower-Only Inventory

‘Monstrous Strength and Divine Ferocity...’

He had heard of it before.

A rather rare Trait of the martial-force type.

Then what was left?

Enter Tower.

Jeon Gwangil pressed the intercom and called Team Leader Lee Mina.

“Commissioner, you called for me?”

“I’m not Commissioner yet.”

“Well, you will be soon. But what is it?”

“You know body cams? Bring me one.”

“What are you going to use it for?”

“I’m using it. I’m going to enter the tower and try killing a maggot.”

“...What?”

Team Leader Lee Mina had no idea what he was talking about.

“You’re entering the tower, Commissioner?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“Can’t you tell by my face? I’m serious.”

“Umm, do you perhaps have some item that lets ordinary people enter the tower?”

“There’s no such thing. I just awakened.”

“Ahh! So you awakened... wait. What? Awakened?”

Lee Mina’s eyes went wide.

Awakened?

In his early forties?

“...Um, if this is because you’ve been under too much stress from work lately—”

“Team Leader Lee.”

“Yes?”

“If I enter the tower here, that’ll be proof, right?”

“T-that’s true.”

“Then hurry and bring me a body cam.”

“Uh, uh, yes, yes.”

Lee Mina hurried out and came back carrying a body cam.

“Then I’ll be back. Keep it a secret that I’ve awakened for now.”

“T-that would be best, right?”

Jeon Gwangil took the body cam and activated the Republic of Korea Black Tower NO.1 Floor 1 Entry skill.

SPOT!

Only Team Leader Lee Mina remained in the office.

“...It was real?”

It really was Awakening.

He had entered the tower right in front of her eyes.

What proof could be more certain than that?

“...Wow.”

What in the world was going on?

The superior she served suddenly Awakening out of nowhere?

What was there to do?

It had actually happened.

Lee Mina waited.

Had it been about thirty minutes?

SPOT!

Jeon Gwangil appeared again.

“...That was faster than I expected. Did you clear it?” 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“Yeah. I’m surprised too. Maybe I’ve got talent?”

“The Magic Stone...?”

“Here.”

It was the size of a fingernail.

The reward for Floor 1 was only 100g, after all.

“May I review the body cam footage?”

“Of course! That’s why I wore it.”

Lee Mina played the body cam video.

A first-person perspective.

The target was a tough-skinned fat maggot.

It was huge and had excellent defense, but no attack power at all.

And yet that giant maggot got kicked once and rolled away across the ground.

At the same time, the punching began.

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

After a few blows came crashing down, the maggot’s hide started splitting.

And then, CRACK!

The maggot was crushed.

‘Good heavens!’

Honestly, she had been startled inside.

Setting Awakening aside, hunting this recklessly—

“W-what was your Trait?”

“Monstrous Strength and Divine Ferocity.”

“Ah!”

After carefully watching the footage all the way through,

“Commissioner.”

“You think it looks decent?”

Lee Mina grabbed Jeon Gwangil’s hand with both of hers and said,

“Let’s sign a contract. An elite contract.”

What nonsense was this?

“I’ll raise you properly.”

“...I’m the Commissioner.”

“That doesn’t matter. Even if you’re a civil servant, dual employment is still possible when it comes to the Player profession.”

“E-even so...”

Lee Mina’s eyes sparkled.

Like a tiger that had found prey.

“Commissioner, you deserve treatment worthy of your talent. Join the elite team.”

“...”

“I’ll bring the contract right now, so don’t move from here. Ah, our Commissioner’s going to be rich.”

“...”

What was he supposed to do?

He had not expected this kind of result at all.

*****

Pyongyang Player camp.

Dmitry anxiously kept chewing on his fingernails.

A day and a half remained.

The deadline before his Player qualification would be revoked.

If he did not acquire a nationality by midnight tomorrow, his Inventory would vanish too.

But there was no way.

Not while he was locked up like this.

‘Why isn’t he coming?’

Go Sageuk, the Minister of the People’s Armed Forces.

He had clearly said he would come.

He had to come.

Only that person could pull him out of this pit of despair.

‘Back then, I offered too little money.’

That was right.

He had asked with a mere 300 million dollars.

The scale had been too small.

Didn’t the other side know he was the head of the Black Market Guild?

‘It should’ve been 1 billion dollars.’

Funds he could use freely.

Almost his entire fortune, but not something he would begrudge.

If he told them to bring his laptop, showed the money with their own eyes, and offered 1 billion dollars in exchange for acquiring a nationality and escaping North Korea?

They would absolutely be tempted.

A sum large enough to place someone in the top ten richest people across both North and South Korea.

‘But the Trait Enhancement Rune is absolutely out of the question.’

It was a precious item, the foothold for his comeback.

He had to protect it no matter what.

At that moment—

CLUNK!

The iron-barred door opened.

“Have you been well?”

He had come.

The current most powerful man in North Korea.

Go Sageuk, the Minister of the People’s Armed Forces, who could get him out of here with a single word, appeared with an interpreter.

“Guildmaster comrade, have you given it some thought?”

“O-of course I have.”

“And the conclusion?”

Whew. One deep breath.

“I have a secret borrowed-name account. It holds 1 billion dollars. If I have a laptop, I can show you with your own eyes. If I can just get out of here, I’ll transfer it immedia—”

Swoosh!

Go Sageuk raised a hand and cut him off, frowning deeply.

“You son of a bitch, you still haven’t come to your senses, have you!”

“...What?”

“Listen very carefully!”

The atmosphere went cold.

A chilling killing intent that sliced at his skin.

“As I told you before, if it isn’t a Trait Enhancement Rune, then there is no negotiation to begin with.”

“Aaaah, th-that item truly isn’t with me.”

“Stop feeding me bullshit.”

“It really is the truth.”

Go Sageuk leaned in until his mouth was near Dmitry’s ear and whispered,

“Let’s do it this way. I’m going to sit here for exactly 10 minutes. When those 10 minutes are up...”

He pulled a cold blue dagger from his arms.

“I’ll plant this knife in your skull and go on my way.”

“No, I swear—”

“Shh! If you keep babbling, I’ll stick it in right now.”

The killing intent grew denser and denser.

Go Sageuk’s triangular eyes flashed.

Dmitry realized by instinct.

This was a man with absolutely no hesitation about killing people.

And eyes that had already killed many.

Now escape was not the issue.

Nor was keeping his Player qualification.

His life itself was in danger.

Once 10 minutes passed, he would definitely die.

One minute passed.

Three minutes, five minutes, and when nine minutes had gone by...

“Fine then. I’ll grant your wish.”

“W-wait!”

“What is it?”

He could not hold out anymore.

“I-I’ll give it to you.”

Dmitry pulled the Trait Enhancement Rune from his Inventory and placed it in Go Sageuk’s palm.

“Good. You made the right choice.”

Go Sageuk’s eyes were satisfied.

Looking at the interpreter,

“Hey, you!”

“Yes!”

“Send Guildmaster comrade to the Czech embassy. Safely.”

“Understood.”

The interpreter led Dmitry out.

After confirming that no one else was there,

“Yessss!!!”

Cossack threw both hands up and cheered.

“Damn, I was so nervous I thought I was gonna die.”

There were bastards like that sometimes.

Hard men who would not even fear death if it was for their beliefs.

They were extremely hard to handle.

What if the man had refused to take the Enhancement Rune out of his Inventory and told him to just kill him?

Fortunately, that guildmaster had not been that type.

In truth, all this time he had not even dared bring it up to Summoner Bong.

That he would bring back a Trait Enhancement Rune.

What if he told him in advance and then failed?

Summoner Bong would obviously have been disappointed.

But now he could say it proudly.

‘Gotta give it to him quickly.’

What if he got Dismiss Summoned while carrying something this precious?

He should contact him and tell him to come over to North Korea fast.

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