Juhyeok was at his family home.

Eating the home-cooked meal his mother had set out for him, chewing on fruit too.

“Everyone’s been doing fine, right?”

“Can’t you tell just by looking? Things are so uneventful it’s worrying.”

That did seem to be the case.

His parents looked very healthy, and Minhyeok had gotten plump like a little pig.

“But Juhyeok, about unification. Is that really happening? Is it already decided that the Awakening Administration is setting up a branch in North Korea?”

“I think so? I heard they already selected all the staff to send over.”

“So Chairman Kim Injung finally came to his senses.”

In reality, they had forced him to come to his senses.

His younger brother Minhyeok joined the conversation too.

“I heard someone else had more influence than Chairman Kim Injung.”

“Someone else? Who?”

“They say the real power in North Korea right now isn’t Kim Injung, but the new Minister of the People’s Armed Forces. Supposedly that guy is leading unification.”

“Ah! Mr. Cossack.”

“Cossack? It’s Go Sageuk. Did you go overseas or something, hyung?”

Hmm, this idiot really knew nothing.

“And how do you even know the name of some high-ranking North Korean official? Were you always interested in current affairs?”

“He’s famous on the Tower Climbing Gallery board. North Korean Players post there and leave comments too.”

“You still go there?”

“I clicked a link and checked it out, and it was pretty fun. It’s the hottest board around these days.”

“Really?”

The Tower Climbing Gallery board.

Juhyeok had gone there a few times himself in the early days of his Awakening, trying to pick up information.

“So Go Sageuk is the most popular one there?”

“No.”

“Then who is?”

“The Korean Peninsula’s greatest Player, the holder of S+++ records, the tower snatcher, the man who climbs towers with teleportation arts.”

What was this nonsense about teleportation arts?

Still, hearing he was popular did make him feel good.

His shoulders straightened a little too.

“The North Korean Players especially worship him almost like a god. Oh! And they even shout your name all over the place.”

“...Why my name?”

“Long live Juhyeok! They say it’s short for the spirit of Juche revolution.”

“...”

“If it were the spirit of democratic revolution, it’d be Long live Minhyeok.”

This was driving him insane.

At this rate his name was going to turn into a worldwide catchphrase.

“Anyway, eldest son.”

“Yes?”

“Now stop climbing towers and just take the holy sword rental fees while taking it easy.”

“That’s right. The greatest Player will handle everything anyway, so this is your chance to retire.”

“...Hmm, I’ll take care of it myself.”

If I retire now, it’ll be a disaster.

The whole world will explode, you know?

Forget unification, another war might break out.

Things had gotten too big.

He was already past the point where he could quit halfway.

“But Minhyeok.”

“What?”

“Don’t you want to Awaken?”

“You’d have to make me do it.”

“I’m asking if you would if you got the chance.”

“No! I’m absolutely not becoming a Player. I’m definitely going to be a civil servant.”

He figured as much.

“...What kind of civil servant?”

“A community center one, obviously.”

“What about the Awakening Administration? I heard the pay is higher there than most places, and promotions come faster too.”

“No thanks. I’m going to work somewhere ordinary, where nobody notices me, at a normal job, stay there forever even if my rank is low, and retire quietly.”

Yep. This guy really was a true weak man.

At that moment—

Ding!

The SNS messenger notification chimed from his smartphone.

“Hmm.”

“What is it? A loan text?”

“No, a friend.”

“...You had friends too, hyung?”

“Yeah. Go Sageuk, the Minister of the People’s Armed Forces. He says he wants to meet right away.”

“So it was a loan text.”

Even when told the truth, he still would not believe it.

Anyway, he should get going now.

Something urgent seemed to have come up.

*****

Cossack was on his way to the Pyongyang Black Tower by car.

He had arranged to meet Summoner Bong at the Black Tower.

How happy would he be when he handed over the Trait Enhancement Rune?

Screeech!

The car stopped just near the Black Tower.

He could feel Summoner Bong’s presence from far away.

“Comrade, you can go now.”

“Yes? But when it’s time for you to return...”

“I’ll take care of that myself, so you just get off work and go rest.”

“A-ah, understood. Long live Juhyeok!”

“Long live Juhyeok!”

After confirming that the car had driven back toward Pyongyang—

SPOT! POP-POP-POP-POP!

He ran in one burst with Shadow Step.

“Summoner Boooong!!!”

Juhyeok saw Cossack charging toward him like a madman.

No, what kind of urgent matter did he have to come sprinting over like that?

“Why did you call me? Did some kind of accident—”

“No sir. No accident!”

“Then what?”

“Tra! It’s Tra!”

Tra?

Did he come here after eating hangover soup or something?

“Wait a second. I put it in my pocket... huh? Where’d it go?”

Flustered, Cossack started rummaging through his pockets.

“I-I definitely put it in my pocket. Huh? Wh-what the...”

Tsk, tsk. What a scatterbrain.

Looks like that North Korea posting had really piled up the stress.

Well, how hard must it have been?

Not like he got paid extra just for working more.

“Ah! Here it is. Please take it. It’s from my heart.”

“...”

Anyway, Juhyeok accepted the small dark object Cossack handed him.

‘Hmm.’

It was hard.

A stone.

And unknown patterns were engraved on the surface.

Its appearance was exactly like—

“Huh?!”

No way! Why is this showing up here?

“I-is it right?”

“It is, sir. It’s a Trait Enhancement Rune.”

“How did you get a rune...?”

“I made a deal.”

A deal?

“You didn’t threaten somebody and steal it, did you?”

“No, what do you take me for? I’m Cossack—the master of negotiation, the man with an offer that cannot be refused, the mastermind behind masterminds, the seasoned negotiator.”

Who in the world had he dealt with?

And then came Cossack’s explanation.

Apparently the head of the Black Market Guild had been abducted and imprisoned in the North Korean Player camp.

He had received the rune in exchange for letting him go.

“Oh! Truly a magnificent Minister of the People’s Armed Forces, comrade!”

“I’m embarrassed, sir. Beans grow where beans are planted, red beans grow where red beans are planted. Ain’t it only natural that under a magnificent summoner there’d be magnificent summoned entities too? Hehehehe.”

Wow, beans and red beans. That really was the perfect expression.

“Aigo, beans and red beans, that’s exactly the phrase for it. Hahahaha!”

He really had not expected this at all.

For Cossack to bring him another Trait Enhancement Rune.

Just the runes Cossack had brought back by himself already made two.

“I honestly don’t know how to express my gratitude.”

“This Cossack knows Summoner Bong’s heart already. Between alpha males, words ain’t even needed, right sir?”

That was right.

An exchange of glances was enough.

But—

“Now then, how many badges should I pin on you?”

“Awww, why you gotta make my chest heavy like that? Badges are too precious.”

And yet as he said that, Cossack pushed his chest out.

This was definitely a 3-badge job.

One pinned on, then two, then three.

“Attention!!! From here on out as well, I shall repay Summoner Bong’s grace with an unceasing supply of runes. Long live Juhyeok!” 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“Long live Go Sageuk!”

“Hehehehe.”

“Hahahaha.”

This felt satisfying.

What would they have done without their founding merit subject?

They never would have made it this far.

“Our founding merit subject Mr. Cossack, I’m absolutely never going to delete you from the Catalog roster.”

“Huh?”

Cossack tilted his head.

Delete from the Catalog all of a sudden?

“The Catalog roster is full with all 10 slots now. So if I do one more Random Summon, it says it’ll delete the oldest summoned entity first.”

“...Huh?”

Cossack looked flustered.

“Who do you think the oldest entry is? It’s you, Mr. Cossack. If I Random Summon again, you get deleted from the Catalog.”

“...Y-yes? Huh?”

His hands and feet were trembling.

“Hahaha, don’t worry. You think I’d ever throw you away?”

“U-uh, is that so?”

Cossack’s face had gone as pale as the vampire Jepetto’s.

“Come on, why are you so scared? I’m telling you, I really won’t!”

“Y-yes, yessir...”

How could he throw Cossack away?

‘Anyway, if I consume this, does that mean 10 simultaneous summons?’

He would be able to call out the entire Catalog.

Once Princess Gyeon Dallae succeeded in her breakthrough and came back, they should try climbing Floor 77 together.

*****

As befitted an advanced tower-climbing nation, the Korean Awakening Administration was a place where all kinds of tower information were shared and circulated.

For example, information about the fox fiends on Floor 74, the bound spirits on Floor 75, and the Korean-style monsters on Floor 76.

Also things like, clear only the basic mission if possible, though on some floors even the additional optional mission might be worth attempting.

And one more thing.

Refrain from climbing Floor 80.

Would it not be better to go up as late as possible?

Refrain from climbing Floor 80.

Everyone had already sensed that.

That Floor 80 would not be ordinary.

Because they had already experienced it once.

Floor 70, Kabalan’s Curse of the Average.

What if something similar happened on Floor 80 too?

The country that reached it first would obviously be the one to take the hit.

So everyone had made a tacit agreement.

To park at a suitable floor.

But did things in the world ever go as planned?

It began with a single video uploaded to YouTube.

In the video appeared more than ten people wearing animal masks.

They introduced themselves as the Apostles of Devotion.

In the video, they made one demand of the United States government.

Shut down and burn every church and religious temple in the United States.

If that demand is not fulfilled, we will climb the American West Coast Tower to Floor 80.

That was all.

A ridiculous claim.

Shut down and burn every religious building in the United States?

And # Nоvеlight # if that was not done, they would climb the West Coast Tower to Floor 80?

Was this supposed to be a threat?

Even if they only did the basic missions, the 70s were hardly some easy stretch.

This absurd video became a brief topic people talked about for a short while, then was soon forgotten.

Then it became a hot issue all over again.

Because it actually started happening.

The American West Coast Tower had been at Floor 73 complete and attempting Floor 74.

And yesterday, that West Coast Tower’s Floor 74 had been cleared.

Had America’s top Player done it?

But it was not Gerald.

Someone unknown.

Could it really be the Apostles of Devotion?

The media began paying attention.

The White House and the Department of Homeland Security were thrown into emergency mode too.

The next day.

Another threatening video was uploaded to YouTube.

One person wearing a lion mask demonstrated vanishing with a SPOT! as they entered the tower.

A little later—

West Coast Tower Floor 75 was cleared too.

The United States erupted.

*****

There were two kinds of Players.

Those who were under government control.

And those who were not.

The former were state-developed Players.

They signed contracts with the state, received meticulous support from specialized personnel, and aimed to climb the upper floors.

The latter were ordinary Players.

They were free.

They had no obligation to climb the upper floors.

Their main purpose was to bring back Magic Stone rewards through repeated clearing.

In terms of numbers, there were far more ordinary Players.

Over 95% were ordinary Players.

Then what about talent?

Did ordinary Players have less talent than state-developed Players?

Absolutely not.

State-developed Players were stronger because they received government support.

Items, potions, Trait Enhancement Runes, and so on.

By ratio, it might actually be that talented people were distributed more broadly among ordinary Players.

No one knew only because it had never been proven.

The United States had been like that in the past.

There had once been a Player who climbed uncleared upper floors faster than the state-developed Players.

That was back when Collapse deadlines did not stack.

When you had to fill the entire 6-month time limit before climbing the next upper floor.

Yet in the span of just one month, 3 uncleared upper floors of the American West Coast Tower had been cleared.

Uncontrolled clearing.

But there had been no way to stop it.

They did not even know when or where a Player would enter a tower.

As the difficulty increased while climbing higher floors, such incidents had disappeared.

But now.

The same thing was happening again in the American West Coast Tower.

The difference was that this time there was a clear purpose.

An act of terror using Floor 80 climbing as the means.

The FBI launched an investigation.

But with nothing more than a video and the organization’s name, it was impossible to uncover their identities.

Minister MacMillan and Director Antonio were speaking with grave expressions.

“This is insane. The Apostles of Devotion? What kind of bastards are they?”

“Just your standard cult.”

“You’re saying a lousy cult has Players capable of clearing floors in the 70s?”

“They do, since they cleared them.”

“Haa.”

Of course, because the clear deadlines stacked now, it had nothing to do with Tower Collapse.

In one sense, that made it a good thing.

But what if they really did manage to climb Floor 80?

How could anyone know what might happen?

For example, something like Kabalan’s Floor 70 curse spreading across the entire Black Tower system.

“Antonio, what do you think? Do you believe they can successfully climb Floor 80?”

“At first I thought it was impossible, but if they’ve reached Floor 75...”

The environment for it had been created.

The barrier of the undead section was gone.

The relatively easier 70s, the distribution of tower reward equipment.

It might actually become reality.

The possibility was more than real enough.

As if to prove that—

the next day a new video was uploaded, and a person wearing a tiger mask entered the tower.

And Floor 76 was cleared too.

*****

America was in an uproar.

Uncontrolled upper-floor climbing.

Floor 80 drawing closer and closer.

Juhyeok was also watching the breaking news on TV together with his summoned entities.

This was what he had been worried about.

But he had never imagined it would happen in that way, and in America of all places.

“Do you think they can really make it up there?”

The Mad Demon nodded as if it were obvious and replied,

“You experienced it yourself too, did you not, summoner? The basic missions in the 70s are very easy. If one has a certain amount of talent and equipment, they can be cleared well enough.”

That was true.

Even the basic mission Human-Faced Birds on Floor 76 were around wyvern level—no, in some ways they were easier than wyverns.

...Should he stop them?

He did still have one Tower Floor Intrusion Ticket.

If he worked it right, maybe he could stop them on Floor 77.

But the ones climbing now were not individuals.

They were some strange group organization called the Apostles of Devotion.

What if there were 2 or more climbers?

Even if he caught one, what about the other?

“Would it be all right if this old man spoke his mind?”

“Of course.”

“I know not whether they will reach Floor 80 or fail, but I think it would be fine to leave them be.”

“Hmm.”

“It is a floor we must go up eventually anyway. If stopping them were possible, that would be one thing. But if it is not...”

The Mad Demon’s thought was to leave them alone.

Because it was a floor they would have to climb someday anyway.

“If something happens, do you think we’ll be able to respond?”

At Juhyeok’s question, the Mad Demon smiled and said,

“Summoner.”

“Yes?”

“This old man has directly experienced many summoners, and heard of many more indirectly... but among them, there has never been even one, in the present or in the past, as strong as you.”

“...”

The Mad Demon sure was good at flattering people.

“Who else could command 10 summoned entities, and move them with one heart and one will besides?”

“...”

His face was getting hot.

“I do not say it idly. You are the greatest. And there will never be another summoner like you.”

“...”

Now even his chest was swelling grandly.

“So whatever happens, do not worry. You can overcome it all.”

Well, if he was going that far, there was not much else to say.

It happened in America, so America would handle it.

The other summoned entities did not seem especially concerned either.

Rajix was off playing catch with Blood Wolf, Veronica was taking a nap, Bardin and Meatshield were doing physical training, and Cossack was giving Jepetto mental discipline.

“Repeat after me. Summoner Bong’s blood tastes bad.”

“Tastes bad!”

“Just smelling it makes me want to throw up.”

“Makes me want to throw up!”

“The most delicious blood in the world is Meatshield’s blood.”

“Meatshield’s blood is the most delicious!”

Jepetto was fully whipped into shape.

In truth, even though they were the same rank, he could not rebel against Cossack.

The Mad Demon and Meatshield were glaring nearby with fierce eyes.

“We gotta do well. We gotta be perfect.”

“Perfect!”

“Summoner Bong must never need to use Random Summon again.”

“Random Summon absolutely forbidden!”

“Good. Very good.”

It was such a peaceful world.

And then at last, the thing he had feared finally happened.

[Global Notice: Humanity encounters the Demonic Beast Lord Diamat (Copy) for the first time.]

They had actually climbed Floor 80 in the end.

[Global Notice: The Demonic Beast Lord Diamat (Copy) observes the world through the Player who climbed to Floor 80.]

[Global Notice: Information about the world is transmitted through the Copy to the true Diamat.]

[Global Notice: The Demonic Beast Lord Diamat (True) manifests outside the tower.]

Manifest?

Like summoned entities?

But what was this?

Was that all?

It was.

No further Global Notices followed.

Was there no curse or anything?

One day passed, then two, then three...

And the world remained quiet.

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