I’d been introverted since I was little.

It was like that in daycare, too.

Daycare was a wild jungle as well—a world of survival of the fittest.

Even if I was playing with a toy I liked and a stronger kid snatched it away, I’d just watch.

I could play with another toy.

It was the same in elementary school.

It got worse.

Poverty was the problem.

Grimy clothes, worn-out shoes, a bag that was falling apart... and on top of that, rumors that I lived in the most run-down villa in the neighborhood.

Back then, words like “villa bum” and “rental bum” were so popular among elementary school kids that it was basically a trend.

There weren’t many kids who wanted to be my desk partner.

Middle school, too—I was a loner.

It was when puberty hit, so my timid personality only got worse.

Well, even so, it wasn’t particularly uncomfortable.

I didn’t have any desire to make friends in the first place.

That atmosphere carried straight into high school.

I ate school lunch alone, too.

Being ostracized came standard.

In short, the life of an outsider.

Even trying to change something was scary.

If I just endured it and let it pass... living like that was more than enough.

I chose the easy road.

Plain and steady. Don’t cause incidents. Thin, but long.

But after I Awakened...

A crisis came to Juhyeok’s life.

Face those terrifying tower monsters head-on?

Actually fight them?

Me—the guy who couldn’t even make eye contact with the school bullies?

It was unimaginable.

A seismic shift that shook the direction of my life.

So this kind of day really came.

Monsters aren’t people.

They can’t even talk, can they?

There’s no fear that comes from relationships.

They’re no different from game quest mobs.

They exist for one purpose: you smash them and collect your reward.

SWAT! SWAT-SWAT!

Right now, at this moment, the one who stood out the most on the Floor 20 battlefield was Juhyeok.

CRUNCH!

Goblins’ skulls cracking under the adamant mace he swung.

The only problem was that without a weapon skill, they didn’t die in one hit.

So what.

If one hit doesn’t kill them, you hit them one more time.

CRUNCH! SWAT! THUD!

Cossack had said it.

A brave summoner dies fast.

He was right.

There’s a saying, too—“The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.”

I wanted to stop, too.

Go back to the beginning and live carefully, step by step.

Safety first. Absolute self-preservation.

How had I lived all this time?

Was I really going to change overnight like this?

But in this moment, I couldn’t stop.

The satisfaction you can only feel when a skill lands clean.

The electric jolt in my hands when I smashed a goblin’s skull.

My kill count shot up like something possessed.

Cossack didn’t stay still, either.

To the barbarian warrior, he said,

“Meatshield! Protect Summoner Bong. And if that hobgoblin bastard shows up, he comes first.”

“Got it. Summoner, I protect. Hobgoblin, kill.”

Then Cossack pressed in tight to Juhyeok’s side.

It was a chaotic melee.

You never knew when some blind attack would come flying in from nowhere.

Shadow Step was doing its job perfectly, but it wasn’t like I could dodge everything.

If I didn’t have the Energy Barrier, a few poison needles would’ve hit for sure.

TIT-TIT-TING, TING-TING!

With the barrier up, I could breathe.

But as it blocked attacks coming in from every direction, the barrier’s thickness was gradually thinning.

‘Still, Floor 20 isn’t enough to shake me.’

The problem was the shamans’ curses.

That, more than anything, had to be stopped.

Whenever a shaman entered Cossack’s field of view, he took that one first.

‘Am I still far from a hundred?’

It felt like I’d killed plenty...

That was when—

“KRAAAAH!”

A roar that shook the battlefield.

The goblins’ leader.

‘He’s here.’

The long-legged idol of those sad, short-legged goblins—the final evolution track.

The hobgoblin finally revealed itself on the Floor 20 battlefield.

Time to end it.

“Meatshield!!!”

The barbarian Meatshield answered.

“KUOOOAAARGH!!!”

THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD...

Barbarian warrior Meatshield charged at the hobgoblin like a lunatic.

Cossack also cast Shadow Step—his shadow-walker—at full throttle.

I tried to move too, but—

BOOOOM!

Meatshield’s gigantic fist dropped onto the hobgoblin’s crown.

It sounded like a bomb going off.

“KEK!”

At the same time, Cossack’s sharp dagger drove into the hobgoblin’s eye and churned its brain.

SHUNK! SHUNK-SHUNK!

The ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) hobgoblin died the instant it appeared.

A cooperative strike from a barbarian warrior and an assassin.

A Twin-Head Ogre wouldn’t be able to handle it like this, either.

And a mere hobgoblin?

[All goblins of any type 100/100, Hobgoblin 1/1]

[You have succeeded in the Floor 20 mission.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Reward: Magic Stone 2kg]

[Reward: Tower-Only Healing Potion (5)]

‘Damn it, I was a beat late.’

With a satisfied grin, Cossack said,

“Hehehe, good work, sir.”

Annoying, but—

“Everyone, seriously, great work. Thank you so much for protecting me.”

“Roger!”

“Protect. Summoner.”

[Notice: You have achieved a Clear Rank of S++ on Floor 20 of the Black Tower (Korea).]

[S++ Clear Reward: A Platinum Badge is awarded.]

S++ again.

And now I had twenty Platinum Badges.

So what would the perk be?

“I hope it’s Trait enhancement again, sir.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes, sir! If we do a Random Summon and pull at least SSR and have three people, we can bring ’em along, sir. It’ll be safer, sir. Just thinking about it makes me feel good, sir.”

“...Hmm.”

If that really happened, could anything be better?

[You may challenge Floor 21.]

[Exiting the Black Tower (Republic of Korea).]

※ ※ ※

At that time, the subtitles that appeared along the bottom of every TV channel.

<Breaking News! Republic of Korea Black Tower Floor 20 Clear Rank S++ Achieved.>

Because it was something people desperately wanted to know, the moment the overall notice was confirmed, it popped as breaking news on public broadcast.

Then it would spread across the nation—no, across the world.

The Administration wanted to avoid this situation, but how could they possibly silence the mouths of thousands of Players who could hear the notice?

So Commissioner Park Kyungsoo’s worry only deepened.

“Haa... A consecutive record through Floor 20 is nice, but... if too much attention gathers, it’ll be a problem.”

“That’s right. We can’t exactly control the news.”

“No! If we do, they might realize we know who the record-holder is.”

A mountain of worries.

And there’d been that item-robbery incident not long ago, too.

There was no guarantee something like that wouldn’t happen again.

“How’s it look... did you check on Bong Player’s family situation?”

“I looked into it carefully.”

Team Leader Jeon Gwangil set a thick binder on the desk.

“This is Bong Player’s father, Mr. Bong Cheolsu. A few months ago, he fractured his hip in an icy-road accident. After surgery, he’s currently in rehabilitation.”

“Oh dear. When you get older, bones don’t knit easily.”

“Yes, so he still has difficulty moving around and rarely goes outside.”

“Any way we can support them?”

“How about we connect him with the best hospital rehab center in the country? Of course, free of charge.”

“Good. Do it.”

Next, Bong Player’s sibling—

“This is his younger brother. His name is Bong Minhyeok, and he’s currently a first-year university student. He’ll be enlisting soon.”

“Perfect. Scholarship support would make it simple.”

“Exactly.”

Lastly—

“This is Bong Player’s mother, Madam Hong Geumja.”

“What does she do?”

“She used to work as a coordinator for a water purifier company, but she’s currently unemployed.”

“Hmm. Did she quit voluntarily, or...”

“It seems she had a conflict with an abusive customer, and the company forcibly terminated her contract.”

“That’s awful!”

Jeon Gwangil spoke in a low, careful voice.

“The person we need to be most mindful of is Madam Hong Geumja.”

“Huh? Why?”

“She has the strongest voice in the family. She’s got a fierce personality—her husband and sons can’t do a thing against her.”

“Oh? Really?”

But there was a problem.

If her personality was fierce...

“If we approach too aggressively, it could backfire instead.”

“I know. We have to be careful.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“Yes.”

“Then carry it out. We won’t spare any support.”

The Tower Player Awakening Administration deals with Players.

Compared to other government agencies, the range of authority it can exercise is broad.

Especially when it involves elite Players.

If it doesn’t work directly, it goes around.

And it takes the elite contract in the end.

※ ※ ※

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

A sound at the front door of Juhyeok’s home.

Cossack and Meatshield’s eyes flashed.

“De-delivery, sir. Smell is here, sir.”

“Delivery.”

“Shh! Go over there and hide where you can’t be seen.”

Juhyeok opened the front door and stepped outside.

This time, instead of using a delivery app, he’d ordered directly from a neighborhood Chinese restaurant.

Because the amount I needed to order was huge.

“Twelve sweet-and-sour porks and twelve bowls of black bean noodles, correct?”

“Y-yes.”

“You ordered a lot. Having a feast today?”

“Uh, y-yeah, yeah.”

“I figured. I added one order of fried dumplings as a freebie.”

One order of fried dumplings as a freebie... isn’t that kind of stingy?

“...You didn’t have to.”

“Hahaha. Enjoy your meal, and please order again. You know, right? Our Shinshinru is the best among the Chinese places around here.”

I’d never heard that.

I received the food, set it down, and checked—

‘There’s... no coupons?’

Not a single one.

What the hell is this?

But I couldn’t exactly ask what happened and demand them.

All my life, whenever something bothered me, I’d always just swallowed it and moved on.

Honestly, even if there were coupons, it was still a problem.

I’d never used one even once.

How hard it was to call and say, “I’d like to order with a coupon.”

So my drawer was full of all kinds of unused coupons.

Well, I wasn’t going to use them anyway.

...No. I couldn’t use them.

It was ridiculous.

In the Tower, I was a tough guy smashing monsters.

In reality, I was a weak man with a knot in his stomach who couldn’t even claim the rights he was obviously supposed to get.

“Hup! Black bean smell, incredible, sir. Meatshield, you never tried this, right?”

“Slurp!”

Drool poured from barbarian Meatshield’s mouth like a waterfall.

“Here, eat first. I have something to check.”

Like they’d been waiting, the two of them started tearing open the packages.

Alright. The moment I’d been waiting for.

Juhyeok checked the sparkling Platinum Badges in his Tower-Only Inventory.

[Perk will be granted for accumulating 20 Platinum Badges.]

‘Let’s see.’

[Perk: One Random Box will be granted.]

‘Huh?’

The perk is... a Random Box?

What is that?

<Random Box>

Feature: Three items that can appear in the Tower will come out at random.

Types: Magic Stones, about ten types of Tower-grown herbs, three types of Tower metal, about fifty types of Tower monster leather..., potions, elixirs, weapon items, armor items, accessory items..., combat skills, Rune of Level Up (up to 5LV), Tower Jumping Ticket (up to 5LV, up to 5 floors), Skill Cooldown Reset Ticket, Trait Enhancement Rune, Summoned-Entity Rank-Up Rune, Multinational Tower Access Ticket, Guaranteed-Rank Random Summon Ticket (one of SR, SSR, LSSR)

‘Why is there so much?’

Magic Stones, herbs, metals—those are a miss.

Weapons and armor, too...

‘Rune of Level Up’ only raises level, regardless of climb floor.

And ‘Tower Jumping Ticket’ jumps your cleared floors and raises your level along with it—who even wants that?

The Rune of Level Up is way better.

‘Multinational Tower Access Ticket’... does that let you clear another country’s tower?

If so, that might be the best one in there.

‘Guaranteed-Rank Random Summon Ticket (one of SR, SSR, LSSR).’

If an LSSR guaranteed ticket popped?

I could clear the Tower lying down.

Let’s be realistic.

Accessory item, elixir, combat skill, Skill Cooldown Reset Ticket, Trait Enhancement Rune, Summoned-Entity Rank-Up Rune.

‘It said three come out, right? There might be a chance.’

Juhyeok opened the box.

Open!

DING!

[Magic Stone 10kg has been granted.]

‘...Damn it.’

Still, I’d made 5,000,000 won.

Second one?

[Skill: You learn Mixed-Origin Thunderclap Staff.]

[Mixed-Origin Thunderclap Staff has been registered in your Status Window.]

“Oh!”

This is good.

Last one?

[A Summoned-Entity Rank-Up Rune has been granted.]

‘...Jackpot.’

If a pile of useless junk had come out, I was ready to curse up a storm.

A Summoned-Entity Rank-Up Rune.

Does it even need explaining?

The problem was...

Should I use it on Meatshield?

Or Cossack?

No. I don’t need to think about it.

We’ve shared too many meals from the same table.

Obviously Cossack.

‘...Or wait, did Mr. Meatshield eat more of the meals?’

Either way, since Meatshield’s here, I should call Cossack alone later.

Meatshield might sulk.

Then what about the skill?

A very martial-arts-novel-style name.

Skill: Mixed-Origin Thunderclap Staff

Description: Infuses a blunt weapon with the power of lightning. It consists of three forms in total and is growth-type.

Perfect.

A skill I needed right now.

And it’s growth-type.

[Mixed-Origin Thunderclap Staff, First Form “Falling Thunder Chases the Soul” has been unlocked.]

In an instant, the method for using the form unfurled inside Juhyeok’s head.

‘Should I try it?’

He pulled out the mace from his Tower-Only Inventory and swung it downward, but...

“Yeah, no.”

Not lightning—there wasn’t even a whoosh.

Outside the Tower, skills and levels didn’t apply.

And without any magic power, either.

No complaints.

If Players could use power in reality the way they did in the Tower, the world would turn into a complete disaster.

A world where guys like Choi Hoseok ran wild—

‘I’ll try it inside the Tower.’

Cossack’s eyes went wide at the sight of Juhyeok suddenly swinging a mace.

“Summoner Bong, why all of a sudden are you swinging the mace, sir?”

“Ah! I got a skill from the perk.”

“...I-is it an attack skill, sir?”

“Yes. It’s called Mixed-Origin Thunderclap Staff. They said it’s growth-type.”

“Oh no...”

Cossack fidgeted, unable to settle down.

Of course he would.

An attack skill—Mixed-Origin Thunderclap Staff.

Just looking at Summoner Bong’s face, he could tell.

That expression that said he was dying to use it.

He’d rush to the front and charge monsters.

And that would get more dangerous—

‘Ugh...’

They should’ve given him a defensive or escape skill.

Cossack’s worries only grew deeper.

────────────────────────────────────

────────────────────────────────────