The Black Tower is alien.

It is a structure imbued with mana, an energy that never originally existed on Earth.

From Earth’s perspective, the Tower is no different from an external virus, a bacterium, or an imperialist invader.

Sure, it contributes to scientific civilization and economic development through the new energy resource known as Magic Stones, but compared to the danger the Tower poses, that contribution is insignificant.

Once a Tower rises, it cannot be removed.

The only thing that can be done is to prevent its collapse.

Although the Black Tower stands on Earth, it is, in truth, a separate space.

A place governed by rules unique to the Tower.

That is why entry requires permission.

Only a small number of awakened players are allowed to climb the Tower’s floors, complete missions, and bring back Magic Stone rewards.

Does that mean players are completely free?

No.

They too must obey rules.

For example, restrictions such as being allowed to enter only once per day.

The Inventory ability is another example.

A player’s general-purpose skill, Inventory, always carries the qualifier “Tower-exclusive.”

Only items that originate from the Tower can be stored inside it.

Earth-made items cannot be placed in the Inventory.

There are a few exceptions.

Clothing, shoes, and small objects that can be carried in one’s hand or kept in a pocket may be brought in as personal belongings.

Because of those rules, bringing weapons of mass destruction from Earth into the Tower was impossible from the start.

They could not be classified as personal belongings, nor could they be stored in the Inventory.

And yet—what was this?

The Black Tower administrators of Earth No. 675 still could not accept what had happened.

[... Nuclear weapons detonated? How?]

A nuclear explosion itself was nothing special.

During Earth No. 675’s past world wars, how many nuclear weapons had humans fired at each other?

The number of humans killed by nuclear weapons might even exceed the number killed by Tower monsters.

But this time, the explosion had not occurred outside.

It had detonated inside the Tower.

A violation of the Tower’s rules.

Something that should never have been possible.

And yet, the method had been perfectly legitimate.

A summoned entity, called forth through the summoner player’s unique Trait, had brought nuclear weapons in from the outside using its own innate skill.

[That hamster beastman... what exactly is ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) that thing?]

They had not even been this shocked when Magnus Gigants were taken in and out.

After all, those were Tower-made entities.

They had simply thought, So its subspace is enormous.

But this—

[Should we add clauses to the system banning gunpowder reactions and nuclear fission and fusion? We can implement them immediately once they exit.]

At the engineer’s suggestion, the Black Tower designer of Earth No. 675 paused to think.

[More importantly, is there any way to sanction that beastman laborer?]

[At present, we can’t touch him. Even the system cannot interfere with a summoned entity’s innate skill.]

Right.

If that were possible, such a skill would never have existed in the first place.

[Then there’s only one option. A patch banning gunpowder reactions.]

It was humiliating.

Unable to retaliate, they had been reduced to whining, “Next time, don’t hit us with that. It really hurt.”

[... Fine. Start the patch as soon as they exit.]

[Understood.]

That aside—

[Have you found a free contractor for the 89th floor?]

With the destruction of the demonic dragon Karatos, the 89th floor’s contractor position was vacant.

For now, it had been filled with dragon-tooth soldiers made from dragon bones.

[We’re currently negotiating with a suitable dragon.]

[Hurry. He might reach the 89th floor.]

[We can probably take our time. Clearing the 86th floor should already be difficult enough.]

[True. Nuclear weapons won’t work on the Phoenix. As the highest-ranked fire elemental, detonating a nuke would only make it stronger.]

Still, it felt like he might actually clear even the Phoenix.

If he succeeded on the 86th floor, then the 87th and 88th would likely fall quickly as well.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to them.

Had he cleared the Phoenix on Earth No. 1,001 too?

[... Still no contact with the administrators of Earth No. 1,001?]

[Yeah. They aren’t answering.]

Damn it.

Those bastards.

But there was nothing they could do.

Earth No. 675 and Earth No. 1,001—

Even though both were Black Tower administrators, they governed different domains.

Their goals aligned, but they were not in a superior-subordinate relationship.

They were not close, either.

And there was no obligation for them to cooperate.

In truth, they were competitors.

They would be lucky if the others were not laughing behind their backs.

[... Sigh.]

A long sigh escaped.

How had they ended up with such a disaster?

[At least we’ve bought some time. Let’s focus on ways to block his ascent.]

Right.

Even if the Phoenix could be defeated, it would likely take an enormous amount of time.

From what they had observed so far, none of the summoner’s subordinates possessed ice-attribute abilities capable of extinguishing the Phoenix’s flames.

The last remaining Black Tower in existence.

It had to be completely collapsed as soon as possible.

If only that player could be killed.

Only then could the project resume.

[How large will his reward be?]

[We put too much on the scale. If he had died on the 85th floor, it would have been quietly resolved. But that didn’t happen.]

The reward would exceed what had originally been contracted.

Did they really have to sit there and watch him revel in it?

Better not to look at all.

[... Turn off the hologram feed.]

Click.

On the 85th floor, the aftereffects of the nuclear explosion still had not settled.

At least the mission was complete.

“It’s probably still hot outside, right?”

It seemed best to let things cool down a bit.

Then Rajix said,

“Yes.”

SSSK, SSSK.

He pulled several bottles out of his subspace backpack.

“Hmm?”

They were Fire Resistance Potions.

Leftovers from when they had prepared for firefighting-type missions.

If they drank those, they could probably go outside.

“Give me one. I’ll try going out first.”

Cossack gulped down the potion, unlocked the bunker door, and opened it.

WHOOOOSH!

A wave of heat rushed inside.

“Ah! Hot, hot, hot—!”

Cossack slammed the door shut again.

“I almost got burned.”

It was still too hot.

Watching that, El said,

“I’m a golem. Heat won’t bother me. I’ll go.”

“Then why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“I thought you looked confident about going first.”

“......”

Just then—

Scratch, scratch, scratch.

Mari wrote something on a sheet of paper and handed it to Juhyeok.

—I’ll send the frost-potion homunculi outside first.

Frost-potion homunculi?

When had she even made those?

Scratch, scratch.

—You said before that we didn’t have any ice-attribute summoned entities, so I thought this might help a little... They should cool the outside enough.

He remembered saying that once.

They had tanks, melee DPS, ranged DPS, holy, fire, support—everything except ice.

“Oh man, I’m really glad I brought you along, Mari.”

At the praise, Mari lowered her head shyly.

Then—

SHASHASHASHASH.

She sent the frost homunculi outside the bunker.

SPLASH!

They sprayed the frost potions they were carrying, rapidly lowering the outside temperature.

Now it was time to go out.

El led the way.

“It should be fine now.”

Behind him followed Bardin, Mackenzie, Cossack, Rajix, and finally Juhyeok.

It was still hot, but bearable.

Juhyeok looked toward the distant site of the nuclear blast.

Desolation.

A massive crater gaped in the ground, like a meteor impact site.

Then—

The guaranteed rewards?

At that moment—

Ding!

[Guaranteed rewards are being distributed.]

Anticipation surged.

After all, they had gone all out.

[1 Trait Enhancement Rune has been added to your inventory.]

One, to start with.

Then—

[5,000 tons of high-grade Magic Stones have been awarded.]

“Huh?”

That was more than promised.

The contract had been for 3,000 tons—an extra 2,000 tons had been added.

But then another question arose.

How were they delivering that much?

At that moment— 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

ZIIING!

A transparent, door-like opening appeared in the sky.

CLATTER, CLATTER, CLATTER—

Sparkling, gleaming stones poured down endlessly.

“Wow!”

So that was how they did it.

“Here they come!”

THUD! CLANG! WHIRR!

Rajix flipped into the air.

Using his vacuum-like subspace storage, he began sucking in every single falling high-grade Magic Stone without missing even one.

“As expected of our dimensional farmhand!”

“That suction power is insane.”

“He’s practically a black hole.”

“A summoned entity you can trust.”

“No wonder he’s number one.”

Then—

[1.5 tons of top-grade Magic Stones have been awarded.]

“Ooooh!”

Even the top-grade Magic Stones exceeded the promise.

A full 500 kilograms extra.

Did you have any idea what that meant?

1.5 tons of top-grade Magic Stones meant 1,500 Residency Rights cards for White Tower Floor 17, materials for magic sword enchantments, and enough supply to let Veronica Caliber fire sub-light rounds without worrying about shortages.

High-grade or top-grade, it didn’t matter.

Rajix stored everything inside his subspace backpack.

Now the only remaining reward was the badges.

An EX clear was guaranteed.

The contract had specified 20.

Don’t you dare try to stiff me on those.

Ding!

[World Announcement: Black Tower (Germany) 85th Floor Clear Rank — EX.]

“... Huh?”

Did I hear that right?

EX rank?

Then the reward—

[EX Clear Reward: 20 Platinum Badges + 30 bonus Platinum Badges have been granted. Total: 50.]

“—What?!”

What was this?

20 plus 30? An extra thirty?

They were handing them out like candy?

“Fifty!!!”

“Huh? Fifty what?”

“Platinum Badges.”

“W-What?! For real?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

Unbelievable.

So there was a rank even higher than S+++.

Honestly, it made sense.

There had been nothing ordinary about this clear.

One giant Gigant and three ultra-giant monsters had been erased in a single strike.

“Let’s give three cheers.”

“Of course. Long live—!”

“Long live!”

“Long live!”

“Long live Rajix!”

“Long live Gigant Unit No. 1!”

“Long live Juhyeok!”

And then—

“For Gigant Unit No. 1, who burned brightly and departed, let us observe a moment of silence.”

The summoned entities mourned together with Juhyeok.

Farewell, my first Gigant.

We had received everything we were owed.

A perfectly satisfying clear.

I even felt grateful to the administrators.

But gratitude was gratitude.

And grudges were grudges.

Raising the difficulty to Extreme Hell Mode—fine.

But adding no mid-mission withdrawal?

“Those bastards.”

“Utterly despicable.”

“Hah!”

These administrators of Earth No. 675 were worse than the ones from our Earth.

If we had not brought ten nuclear warheads, we would have been trapped in the Tower with no way out.

How do we get revenge?

We can’t exactly punch administrators.

But there is one way.

By clearing the Tower in a way they never even imagined.

And if we stack another EX-rank clear on top of that?

If we clear it even faster than on Earth... it might work.

“As soon as we get back, prepare for the 86th-floor fire-suppression raid and return immediately.”

“Yes, sir!”

“I’ll prepare at once.”

Scratch, scratch.

—I’ll help too, with frost homunculi.

“Thank you, Mari.”

[All guaranteed rewards have been distributed.]

[Black Tower (Germany) 85th Floor difficulty has reverted to Normal Mode.]

[Exiting the Black Tower (Germany).]

SPOT!

Juhyeok and the summoned entities returned to White Tower Floor 17.

The other summoned entities, who had been anxiously waiting, burst into applause the moment they saw him return safely.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

After hearing what had happened on the 85th floor—

“Those bastards should be boiled alive.”

“Do not go easy on them just because the rewards were generous. They must be punished.”

“This warrior wonders where the administrators live.”

“Same here. Does anyone know their address?”

“Would such a thing even exist?”

“Right!”

An EX-rank clear.

Everyone had fulfilled their role perfectly. This had been the best possible outcome.

Cossack had secured North Korea.

That was why acquiring nuclear weapons had been effortless.

Rajix hardly even needed mentioning.

Without him, this strategy would never have existed.

El had piloted the Gigant.

Mackenzie, Bardin, and Mari had protected everyone inside the bunker.

Each of them had fulfilled their role perfectly.

Now then—let’s settle accounts.

“Rajix, take out 1.5 tons of top-grade Magic Stones.”

“Understood!”

FWAAAAASH!

A cascade of top-grade Magic Stones poured out.

Blindingly radiant.

So beautiful it hurt the eyes.

We wouldn’t need to worry about top-grade Magic Stones for a long while.

Next—the Trait Enhancement Rune.

No reason to wait.

I used it immediately.

Including Catalog summons and the defector Diamat—thirteen in total.

Simultaneous summon limit: 13.

Perfect.

Clean.

Mari rarely needed to be summoned anyway, so there was effectively one spare slot.

When’s the next random summon?

Still a long way off.

Hopefully the magic sword would be finished by then.

A new summon for the upper floors.

When a dragon appears—cut it down with the magic sword.

Finally, the Platinum Badges.

We had received 50 this time.

Previously accumulated badges: 150

Physical badges: 30

Now?

Add 50.

Total badges: 200

Physical badges: 80

I opened my inventory to confirm, and then—

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

[You have accumulated 155 Platinum Badges. A privilege will be granted.]

[Privilege: A Multinational Tower Access Ticket has been added to your inventory.]

[You have accumulated 160 Platinum Badges. A privilege will be granted.]

[Privilege: A LSSR Guaranteed Summon Ticket has been added to your inventory.]

“... Huh?”

[You have accumulated 195 Platinum Badges. A privilege will be granted.]

[Privilege: A Tower Clearing Mission Reset Ticket has been added to your inventory.]

[You have accumulated 200 Platinum Badges. A privilege will be granted.]

[Privilege: An Item Additional Acquisition Ticket has been added to your inventory.]

“Holy—!”

What were these rewards?!

“M-Madness!”

Of course, these were not ordinary badges.

They were official Platinum Badges earned from clearing Tower floors.

“This is insane.”

Once before, I had gotten 50 Platinum Badges from a lucky random box.

But those had not counted toward the cumulative total, so there had been no special rewards.

They were good for raising summoned entities’ ranks, but that was all.

These were different.

An Extreme Hell Mode mission enhanced by an equivalent-exchange contract with the administrators of Earth No. 675.

Nuclear detonation → EX-rank clear.

20 promised + 30 bonus.

Badges earned through legitimate completion.

Of course the special rewards applied.

And they triggered all at once.

“This is crazy.”

Special reward messages kept going off as items flooded into my inventory.

“Wow... thank you so much.”

I love you.

Extreme Hell Mode.

Then—

[Achievement: You are the first being in the entire universe to reach a cumulative total of 200 Platinum Badges.]

“... Oh my.”

This can’t be real.

An achievement?

My head was spinning.

Thank you. Truly, overwhelming gratitude.

Cumulative badges: 200.

Not Korea-first.

Not world-first.

Universe-first. That’s me.

[Achievement reward granted.]

If it’s universe-first, the reward should be special, right?

[A one-time skill that allows you to summon a Transcendent (Beyond) summoned entity has been registered in your Status Window.]

[Summoning a Transcendent (Beyond) summoned entity requires 30 Platinum Badges.]

[The one-time Transcendent (Beyond) Summon skill will be deleted after use.]

[The manifestation duration of the summoned Transcendent (Beyond) entity is 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, it will be forcibly dismissed.]

A Transcendent—Beyond—summoned entity?

It consumes 30 Platinum Badges to use?

What is this supposed to be?

...Did they just hand me an instant-kill button?