One of the good things about being assigned White Tower Floor 17 was this:

A completely private space had been created just for Juhyeok and his summoned entities.

They could make as much noise as they wanted, blast music at full volume, and throw a loud, extravagant feast without caring what anyone thought.

There was no one around to complain about the noise between floors or general noise pollution.

“Let’s really cut loose.”

They could shout at the top of their lungs and even hold events.

After gathering opinions from the summoned entities, they decided to hold a singing contest.

They quickly threw together a simple stage.

They even set up a karaoke machine and large speakers.

Since it was a competition, they needed something to spark rivalry.

The first-place prize: one Platinum Badge.

No matter how short they were on badges, they could at least spare one as a prize.

Gyeon Dallae agreed to be the judge.

She did not seem particularly greedy for badges.

Or maybe she simply was not confident in her singing.

The singing contest began.

The one who kicked things off, as expected, was Cossack.

“The rising star of the Korean Wave, the national singer who sweeps the charts clean, the flower of reunification, Minister of the People’s Armed Forces, director of the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble, nice to meet you, I cried again last night, Whistling Cossack imda.”

He grabbed the microphone.

Then he pressed the number he wanted on the keypad.

The backing track started to play.

A ballad.

And a pretty famous one at that.

“What should I do? What should I do? How dare I, how dare I... loooove her.”

The song ended.

The karaoke machine score: 80 points.

An awkwardly average score.

“Tch, not a score I like, but I held my own.”

But Gyeon Dallae’s verdict was—

“Eliminated.”

“... What? No, why?”

“It does not suit the atmosphere, and your pronunciation is poor, so the lyrics are not conveyed at all.”

......

“Do you have a complaint? Bold enough to sing a banned karaoke song so brazenly—though perhaps it would have been different if you had sung it well.”

The second contestant was Bardin, the Human-Sword Saint.

Click click click click.

He entered the number.

“Light!!!”

FLASH!

Even the stage lights activated on their own.

“In the dark night, in the pitch-black night, I set out in search of dawn. Even if pigs cry and roosters crow, in my eyes it is... truly liiight.”

A holy knight’s hymn.

A song praising radiance.

BAM, BABABABAM!

Karaoke score: 100 points.

But—

“Eliminated!”

“HUK!”

Gyeon Dallae showed no mercy.

“Why?”

“Why are you suddenly singing a hymn? It is not even to a god you believe in.”

...

“Uh, I liked the lyrics.”

“Either way, eliminated.”

Diamat also entered the singing contest.

Somehow, she had obtained a white shirt and a softly fluttering blue skirt and came out wearing them.

“It is a song dedicated to my master. I prepared something that is popular these days.”

Click click click click.

She pressed the number.

Lightly moving to the beat, holding the microphone in one hand and stretching out the other, she sang with a fresh, lively voice while adding choreography.

“Ah, watashi no koi wa, minami no kaze ni notte hashiru wa, ah, aoi—”

BAM, BABABABAM!

100 points.

And Gyeon Dallae’s verdict?

“Eliminated!”

“Why?”

Diamat looked genuinely bewildered.

“This one’s mood is extremely bad right now.”

“No, but why is your mood—”

“Tsk! Next time, do not even touch the microphone.”

Of course, everyone else knew why Diamat had been eliminated.

She had sung a Japanese song.

But Gyeon Dallae had mellowed out a great deal.

In the past, she would have exploded in rage and shouted something like, You wench! How dare you sing a Jap song!

Well, singing a Japanese song was not the end of the world.

These days, Korean songs were popular in Japan too, apparently.

Still, nationalist hype was the truth.

It worked in any medium.

If she wanted first place, she should have sung a patriotic song.

Failing to satisfy the judge’s tastes had been her mistake.

Rajix grabbed the microphone next.

But—

“WAAH! WAH, WAH, WAAAH! HOO.”

“Eliminated.”

“WAAH.”

Poor Rajix.

Even though the lyrics were displayed on the screen, he just kept going “wah,” so of course he was eliminated.

Next, Veronica Caliber, Jepetto, and even Meatshield took the mic.

But the winner was—

Veronica Caliber, who knew nothing but military songs, took first place.

“V-victory!!! Veronica Caliber! Thank you!”

She was given one badge.

That brought her total to seven badges.

“Honored Summoner, you should sing a song too.”

“I won’t.”

“Come on, don’t be like that.”

“...”

“Shh! Absolutely do not make me.”

“Yes, sir!”

No song recommendations allowed.

He absolutely must not sing.

Because he was seriously tone-deaf.

Juhyeok had gone to coin karaoke alone a few times in the past.

His highest score had been somewhere in the 40s.

How was he supposed to sing with a score like that?

And so, the singing contest ended in great success, and the feast continued.

Juhyeok suddenly grew curious.

What was their stay-at-home alchemist doing?

On his tablet—

: Ms. Mari? Aren’t you bored? Come hang out with us.

: No, it’s fun just watching.

Well.

That figured.

They really were good at having fun.

: Next time, let’s definitely play together. Sing too.

: Yes♡♡♡

Juhyeok started drinking with the Mad Demon.

They brought out all the alcohol they had been saving.

Herbal Infused Liquor Brewed by the Sage.

High-end liquor supposedly brought from China.

They passed drinks back and forth.

“This is nice.”

“It is for this old man as well.”

Today, he would do nothing and just laze around like this on White Tower Floor 17.

Then afterward, it would be back to work.

First, random summoning.

It was time to welcome new members.

They would need to hold a welcome party later too.

They also had to show Apophis’s hide to Commissioner Jeon Gwangil.

To see whether it had commercial value.

If it did, they would skin it properly and supply it.

“In any case, Floors 81 and 82 were quite a rough ride.”

“They truly were. Completely chaotic.”

It had only been two floors.

But they had been truly turbulent and spectacular.

On the 81st Floor, they had used a nuclear strike to kill the super-colossal monster Titan Behemoth after the difficulty spiked sharply, and as a reward, they had liberated the soul of Cossack’s father.

On the 82nd Floor, as compensation for administrator overreach and probability manipulation, they had received a special reward, along with a mission tied to Rajix’s trauma, which they overcame brilliantly. The rewards from that had been enormous as well.

At first, they thought it would all turn out badly.

They thought it would be impossible to solve.

But in the end, everything came back as a positive result—an incredible windfall.

If this was not lucky Vicky, then what was?

Just look at the results.

A Catalog Expansion Ticket, an absurdly massive amount of high-grade Magic Stones, and even a Trait Enhancement Rune.

Enough to make him grateful to both the former administrator and the new one.

“It is all thanks to the ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) Summoner.”

“Oh, come on. What did I even do? I didn’t do anything special.”

“Hahaha, not at all! This is not empty flattery.”

The Mad Demon downed a glass of Herbal Infused Liquor Brewed by the Sage and continued.

“Who was the first to come up with the idea of a nuclear clear? Was it not the Summoner?”

Well... that was true, but—

“And on the 82nd Floor, was it not the Summoner who bought time for a perfect clear by using the Tower Clearing Mission Reset Ticket as well?”

Hmm.

They had used two tickets in total across Floors 81 and 82.

So now they had none left.

“Was it not because the Summoner made swift decisions, hahaha.”

“Ah, come on. Without all of you, I can’t do anything on my own.”

After hearing such kind words, Juhyeok poured him another drink.

Glug.

“Oh my, then this old man will return the favor.”

He accepted the glass.

“Yes!”

In truth, just as the Mad Demon said, the Tower Clearing Mission Reset Tickets had played a huge role.

Without them, they probably would not have earned an S+++ clear badge, and they likely would have given up on the hidden mission.

But now they had used them all...

Was there nowhere they could get more tickets?

The special privileges had already lost their shine, so it was better not to expect much from them.

At that very moment—

Roll, roll.

A cosmic farmhand rolling around everywhere while clutching a golden broom.

The moment Juhyeok saw him, something came back to him.

Back when tickets and runes had been scarce, they had made a tidy profit by assembling Rajix’s fragments.

They had even created a Trait Enhancement Rune.

Did he not collect fragments anymore?

He should ask.

“Mr. Rajix!”

“WAAH!”

When Juhyeok called out—

Roll.

Rajix rolled over.

“Let’s pick a day and go look for tickets and fragments. We can collect hides too, and mine ore.”

Rajix tilted his head.

Huh?

Did he not like the idea?

“Wah, there’s a lot.”

“... Pardon?”

What did he mean?

A lot of what?

“Wah.”

Rajix stretched out his hand toward Juhyeok.

And in that instant—

RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE!

An uncountable number of paper scraps, stone fragments, and all kinds of miscellaneous junk spilled out.

“I collected a lot. Fragments. Wah.”

What was all this?

Were these all rune and ticket fragments?

No—when had he even collected all of this?

“Why didn’t you say anything all this time...?”

Well.

Juhyeok had never actually asked.

RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE!

The fragments piled up higher and higher.

And then—

SLIDE, CLICK! SLIDE, CLICK! SLIDE, CLICK!

As if magnetized, they began sticking together.

[Fragments have combined.]

No way?

[You have obtained a Multinational Tower Access Ticket.]

[You have obtained an Item Additional Acquisition Ticket.]

[You have obtained a Tower Clearing Mission Reset Ticket.]

[You have obtained a Multinational Tower Access Ticket.]

[You have obtained a Tower Clearing Mission Reset Ticket.]

Messages began appearing nonstop.

“Holy—”

This was insane.

They were just combining and spitting things out.

Was it only tickets?

No, runes too—

SLIDE, CLACK! SLIDE, CLACK! SLIDE, CLACK!

[You have obtained a Summoned Entity Rank Breakthrough Rune.]

[You have obtained a Player Awakening Rune.]

[You have obtained a Random Skill Rune.]

[You have obtained a Rune of Level Up.]

[You have obtained a Player Awakening Rune.]

My god.

This was absurd.

His mouth fell open on its own.

He could not close it.

Ah, Mr. Rajix.

You have caused a massive incident.

How are you planning to take responsibility for such a great sin?

A weak man’s heart was about to burst.

“Teacher Rajix.”

“Wah?”

“How many badges do you need? How many would be enough?”

“Waaah....”

Perks and everything else did not matter.

Rajix himself was the perk.

He was the achievement.

Was this what it felt like to become newly rich overnight?

His inventory was crammed full of tickets and runes.

If there was one regret, it was that there had been no Trait Enhancement Rune—

Well, being too greedy was not good either.

Anyway, the momentum was with them.

They would not stop here.

“Straight into random summoning!”

Juhyeok called the summoned entities out to the penthouse.

He called Mari over as well.

As before, only ten people, excluding the Blood Wolf.

He told the Blood Wolf to run around and play on White Tower Floor 17.

There was no helping it.

The Blood Wolf was the easiest one to exclude.

Dog lovers might be offended by that,

but people came first.

He had already used the Trait Enhancement Rune.

So—

He had deliberately left one slot open, so if he did a random summon now, it would fill that slot.

Who would come this time?

“There’s no way we’ll get a dud, right?”

“There are none. Though there may be souls that are not quite sane.”

“Indeed. The Infinite Prison is a place that drives even ordinary people mad.”

Well, that was fine.

Who cared who came?

“Hahaha. I guess I’ve been pretty lucky. It feels like I’ve only drawn outstanding heroic spirits. I’m always grateful for that. You all think so too, right?”

The summoned entities fell silent, like mutes who had swallowed honey.

“... No?”

“Ahem!”

“Hmm!”

“W-well, that is...”

Well.

It was understandable that they could not answer.

Cossack, who put a ribbon on a loan shark’s head the moment he appeared;

the dull Meatshield;

the shouty Gyeon Dallae;

the short, stubby beastman Rajix;

the insane Mad Demon;

Veronica Caliber, who had come out half-asleep;

the fanatical Human-Sword Saint Bardin;

the socially anxious Mari;

the vampire Jepetto;

and the defected hero Diamat.

But so what?

Looking at the results, every one of them had turned out exceptional.

Now they were irreplaceable summoned entities he would not trade for anyone else.

So he was not worried this time either.

It did not matter who came.

So what if they were a little eccentric?

“Alright, let’s begin.”

Whew—doing a random summon again after so long made him a little nervous.

“Wait! Please hold on!”

“Why?”

“... Uh, uhh, are you sure you expanded the Catalog?”

Cossack looked uneasy.

They had said that if you performed a random summon without expanding it, the oldest entry would be deleted first.

“I expanded it. Twice, even.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

...

Then—

“Random summon!”

[Initiating random summon.]

FLAAASH!

A brilliant light rose up.

You could tell from the brightness and color.

The lower the rank, the weaker the light.

On the other hand, if it was intense, or multicolored?

At the very least SSR—or maybe even LSSR.

This time, the light was blinding.

And it was multicolored.

Which meant—

FLASH!

The light vanished in an instant.

He appeared.

Right in front of them.

An elderly man with completely white hair, just like the Mad Demon.

His hands were clasped tightly to his chest as he muttered to himself.

“Please, this time it’s my turn. It has to be me! I’m getting out! Oh gods! Heave-ho! Heave-ho!! Heave-ho!!!”

Huh?

Why was he like this the moment he appeared?

“... Catalog info?”

<Catalog: Lord of the Ruby Mage Tower, craving recognition, extremely extroverted 9-circle attention-seeking mage>

Name: Mackenzie Dronak

Rank: LSSR (Legend Special Super Rare)

Type: Mage (Human)

Manifestation Duration: 5 hours

Satisfaction Rating: None

Resummon Cooldown: 3 hours (applies after dismissal)

Ah!

A mage.

Mackenzie had been outgoing by nature from birth.

He had always thirsted for attention.

That was also why he had chosen the path of a mage, and accordingly, his magic boasted extremely flashy effects designed to draw eyes.

True to his nature, there was hardly anyone on the continent of Randelvenia who did not know Mackenzie.

He had been the continent’s top star mage, a mood-maker with outstanding social skills.

His death, too, had been spectacular.

As the day approached when he would return to the bosom of mana due to old age, he decided to hold a grand funeral.

Rather than dying lonely and forgotten, he chose a brilliant, stylish death.

To prepare for it, he installed massive communication crystal orbs in major cities through each branch of the Ruby Mage Tower and decided to broadcast his final moments live.

In the vast desert of the continent, with a single broadcast crystal orb floating in the air, the aged 9-circle attention-seeking archmage Mackenzie Dronak cast a Meteor Summoning spell—on himself.

And the meteor fell.

Even in the moment of death, Mackenzie had been extremely satisfied.

...

He had broadcast his own death live.

And even dropped a meteor on himself.

“This guy isn’t exactly normal either.”

At that moment, as if sensing the change in his surroundings, the new summoned entity, Mackenzie Dronak, hurriedly raised his head.

“... Hoh.”

He looked around, then saw the Mad Demon’s face.

“Oh!”

Then he made eye contact with Cossack, Veronica Caliber, Gyeon Dallae, Rajix... with everyone.

“Ooh!”

Finally, his gaze fixed on Juhyeok.

“Oooo!”

He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers—snap!

At that exact moment—

SWOOOOM.

The living room suddenly went dark.

At the same time—

BANG! BANG-BANG-BANG!

Multicolored miniature fireworks burst inside the penthouse living room.

That was not all.

Mackenzie pulled a sheet of paper from his robe and ripped it in two.

POP! POP!

A white light source formed in midair.

Two spotlights—focused beams.

One shone on Juhyeok.

The other shone on Mackenzie himself.

Rose petals fluttered down through the light.

The 9-circle attention-seeking mage Mackenzie spread his arms wide toward Juhyeok and strode forward.

The spotlight followed him.

What the hell?

Was this a concert venue or something?