Nam Gaeun went to work at the Tower Player Awakening Administration every single day.

To use the gym inside the Tower Player Awakening Administration.

Her pre-climb routine was strength training.

“Up we go!”

Starting with a light 100kg deadlift.

“Kyahh!!!”

You couldn’t just trust your Player level.

Your base stamina had to be solid to maximize the level-application effect inside the Tower.

And she also had to practice swinging a sword outside, too.

Her Trait was swordsman.

While Yoo Cheolmin’s Trait was All-Weapon Warrior, she couldn’t use anything but a sword.

Even so, since she’d achieved Trait Enhancement, the variety of skills she could use with a sword was on the wide side.

THUD!

She set the barbell down.

“Hoo.”

She was currently climbing Floor 62.

Since she had to fight undead, it was a mentally exhausting stretch.

Floor 62 had dark zombies.

A zombie’s dark aura corroded Players with the power of darkness and made them fall.

It restricted the flow of magical power, weakened strength, gnawed at the mind until you became listless, and even made you feel impulses to kill yourself.

Dark aura.

You had to endure that to overcome the undead section...

...and it was no easy thing.

Especially for a close-range class that had to engage undead up close.

But Nam Gaeun never gave up.

If she was going to get crushed here, she wouldn’t have become a Player in the first place.

She steeled herself, popped open the lid of her tumbler full of protein supplement, and gulped it down in big swallows.

‘Should I go shower?’

I need to wash up thoroughly and get ready to challenge Floor 62 again.

She was about to head to the showers with her body drenched in sweat when—

“Hm?”

Something felt chaotic.

She could hear footsteps, and shouting.

“What is it?”

When she went out into the hallway, Tower Player Awakening Administration employees were rushing around in a daze, busy in every direction.

Did something catch fire?

‘But the fire alarm didn’t even go off.’

Just then, a familiar female employee passed by over there.

“Unni!”

Nam Gaeun had an outgoing personality, so she was friendly with people all over the Tower Player Awakening Administration.

Section Chief Lee Mina was a given.

“Unni, unni!”

“...Huh? Gaeun. Sorry, I’m a little busy.”

“Then why is everyone busy? Did something happen?”

Lee Mina avoided Nam Gaeun’s eyes and hesitated.

“Uh, th-that is...”

“Is it hard to answer? Between us?”

“...”

“Now I’m even more curious.”

“Let’s talk later. You’ll find out anyway.”

“Then tell me now. Unni, I’m Nam Gaeun, the Tower Player Awakening Administration elite Player Plan B.”

“Hoo.”

Lee Mina let out a big sigh.

And then—

“Yoo Cheolmin is missing.”

“What? Why him? ...D-Don’t tell me he died in the Tower?”

“No, literally missing. Last night, he was drinking at a club and disappeared by himself. We can’t contact him right now, either.”

Disappeared by himself?

How many bodyguards stuck close to the representative Player of the Elite Climbing Team, both near and far.

“Did he get wasted and Enter Tower from the club or something?”

Lee Mina shook her head.

“Absolutely not. There’s another reason.”

“Mm... This is weird. There’s more. You know, don’t you?”

“Haa. The truth is. What happened is...”

Section Chief Lee Mina’s explanation continued.

Nam Gaeun’s eyes went wide.

“That fucking bastard!”

With less than three months left on the Floor 66 clear time limit, this was a disaster.

*****

The Tower Player Awakening Administration was turned upside down.

Player Yoo Cheolmin’s disappearance last night.

In reality, it was an intentional vanishing act.

How did they decide that?

The place Yoo Cheolmin disappeared from was a massive club in Nonhyeon-dong, Seoul.

It was packed with people, but it was a place he always went, so the security team didn’t suspect much.

Because it was the same old routine.

But he vanished in an instant.

From a large room where Yoo Cheolmin had gathered people, drinking and partying and playing—

It was like a ghost had done it.

They hurriedly checked the club’s CCTV footage.

“It was a disguise?”

“Yes. He changed clothes, wore glasses, and even a wig. We couldn’t identify him inside the dark club, but here...”

“God damn it!”

Footage of Yoo Cheolmin caught in a relatively bright spot.

In the video, the disguised man was seen slipping out through the club’s back door under someone’s escort.

When they zoomed in, it was clear.

There wasn’t even a hint of coercion.

Because Yoo Cheolmin smirked and led the way out with an assertive, self-directed stride.

“Voluntary.”

“Seems that way.”

“Haa. This is the worst.”

If only he’d been kidnapped instead.

Commissioner Park Kyungsoo suppressed his rage and asked Jeon Gwangil.

“What did the National Intelligence Service say?”

Because of his importance, Player Yoo Cheolmin’s security was the responsibility of the National Intelligence Service.

“They said even if they had ten mouths, they’d have nothing to say...”

“Who asked for excuses? They need to find where he went. Even if they have to mobilize the entire National Intelligence Service!”

“Um, th-that, it’s not just Yoo Cheolmin who vanished...”

“Who else?”

Jeon Gwangil hesitated, then spoke.

“Right after Yoo Cheolmin disappeared, we went to his family home, and his immediate family’s whereabouts are also unknown.”

“The police? Aren’t they handling the family’s protection?”

“Five security officers were subdued by someone... They were tasered and beaten, tied up with cable ties, and found on the apartment rooftop. They’re hospitalized right now.”

“Hah.”

A hollow laugh came out.

The Republic of Korea’s National Intelligence Service and police are only capable of this?

He had a bad feeling.

Yoo Cheolmin’s voluntary disappearance.

His family was gone, and the police guarding them were hit.

‘...Don’t tell me?’

In that moment—

BZZZT!

A call came in for Jeon Gwangil.

“It’s the National Intelligence Service. I’ll take it.”

“Answer it.”

Jeon Gwangil took the call and spoke with someone.

And his expression rotted more and more with every second.

“Are you certain? ...Hoo, yes, yes. Understood.”

After he hung up—

“Japan.”

“...What?”

“Suspicious evidence was picked up that Yoo Cheolmin and his family boarded a smuggling boat to Tsushima, Japan, early this morning. I think...”

Jeon Gwangil’s face twisted like he couldn’t bring himself to finish.

And then.

“It looks like... it’s for naturalization.”

“God damn it!!!”

At last, the bomb detonated.

It might have been a national crisis worse than war.

“He fled to Japan?”

“I guess he wasn’t confident about clearing Floor 66. If he operates in Japan, he can start from Floor 57.”

That sounded right.

The Japanese Black Tower.

Even if he cleared only one floor every six months, that was 54 months—four and a half years of eating and living without doing anything.

“That traitorous bastard!”

How much effort had they poured into him?

To support the Floor 66 clear, they’d been groveling everywhere, whining and begging to secure light-attribute items.

They were even fully activating diplomatic channels with the United States—trying to borrow Floor 66 know-how and light-attribute items.

And now it all became useless.

With naturalization, Yoo Cheolmin’s affiliation would soon change.

Black Tower.

When the Towers first appeared and the existence of the Status Window became known—

People were puzzled.

The biggest question was the Affiliation field.

[Affiliation] : Black Tower (RUSSIA)

The country name stamped right there in the Status Window.

Why a country name?

The reason was revealed soon enough.

A given country’s Tower could only be entered by Players who held that country’s citizenship.

Koreans entered the Korean Tower, Americans the American Tower, Russians the Russian Tower.

Then what if you changed citizenship?

If a Russian Player naturalized into the United States and obtained citizenship?

[Affiliation] : Black Tower (USA)

The Status Window affiliation changed.

It didn’t matter where the Player was.

Whether they were in Russia, Europe, Africa—wherever they Entered Tower from, they entered the Tower of the country listed as their Status Window affiliation.

And soon, Yoo Cheolmin’s Status Window would...

[Name] : Yoo Cheolmin

[Affiliation] : Black Tower (JAPAN)

[Level] : 66LV

...change like this.

To explain how huge this was—

It was like a world-class Korean soccer player who was a national-team striker, and had even won the EPL Golden Boot—

Naturalizing into Japan right before the World Cup second-round qualifier Korea vs. Japan.

“First, summon all Elite Climbing Team Players. Someone might’ve gone to Japan following Yoo Cheolmin.”

*****

Tokyo, Japan, the Prime Minister’s Official Residence.

It was packed with reporters.

A pre-announced press conference for Player Yoo Cheolmin’s naturalization into Japan.

In truth, the naturalization process could have been carried out quietly with no issues.

They were stealing another country’s Player.

It wasn’t something to boast about domestically, and it also didn’t look good to brag about it to the world like an achievement.

But the Japanese government boldly chose to go public.

Because they wanted to watch Korea get turned upside down.

How fun would it be?

Total chaos, blame-shifting, power struggles—

At last, Player Yoo Cheolmin walked into the press conference room.

In a voice heavy with solemnity.

“Today, I, Yoo Cheolmin, will leave Korea and operate as a Japanese Player. Therefore...”

CLICKCLICKCLICK! CLICKCLICK!

Camera flashes exploded.

Korean public opinion and the Korean press exploded, too.

*****

Juhyeok was diligently clearing Floor 28’s repeat mission again today.

“Go. Meatshield.”

When Cossack pointed at a tree with his hand—

“WOOOOOOOO!!!”

With a roar, the barbarian warrior Meatshield charged in with a body slam.

KABOOM!

The tree shook violently, as if it were Juhyeok’s reed-like heart.

“Watch your head, sir. Chestnuts might fall.”

Under Cossack’s escort, Juhyeok ran toward the fallen chestnut burrs—no, jungle trolls.

“Falling Thunder in a Flurry!”

BANG!

BZZZZT!

Lightning branches splitting into five strands.

One more!

BANG!

And he used Falling Thunder Chases the Soul now and then, too.

Since jungle trolls lived up in trees, they weren’t that big.

Instead, they were nimble and quick.

But who would’ve known?

That jungle trolls would have a day where they fell out of trees.

This wasn’t even something you could call “strategy.”

It was too easy.

“Man! The impact in my hands is thrilling.”

Cossack spoke while rubbing his hands together in a sycophantic, fawning way.

“Heh heh heh, you satisfied?”

“Only now does my gut feel a little better. I feel good, like the instincts of a real man are coming back to life.”

“Oh, come on! You can’t be too much of a real man. You gotta restrain yourself.”

“Is that so? Hahaha!”

“Heh heh heh.”

Since it was a repeat mission and there was no chance of getting an S++ Clear Rank, they cleared it slowly.

Handle one tree, rest until magical power recovered, then move to another tree.

[You have successfully completed the Floor 28 mission.]

[Reward: Magic Stone 2.8kg]

The reward was just Magic Stones.

Repeat missions rarely gave good rewards in the first place.

Even so, he’d already gathered over 30kg of Magic Stones.

He’d earned 15 million won.

‘What should I do with the money?’

What else?

Buy land.

Buy a building.

Then retire later and live off it, doing nothing.

“Let’s do a company dinner, company dinner.”

But Cossack shook his head no, side to side.

“You don’t gotta worry so much about company dinners.”

“Why not?”

“That pig Meatshield bastard eats too much.”

“Come on. You can’t say that. He worked hard body-slamming trees.” 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“That was his job anyway. Before, too, he was whining and trying to bait sympathy and—huh? Looking at me with them big round eyes? How dare you, at an SSR—”

Meatshield sniffled but still said everything he wanted.

“I don’t eat much. I eat little.”

“Bullshit, bullshit. How the hell is that ‘little’? You’re a bastard who eats a whole pizza like it’s a damn snack cake.”

Juhyeok had no choice but to step in.

“Alright, alright. No matter how much he eats, my bank account won’t dry up. So...”

But then—

Ding!

A notification message popped up on Juhyeok’s smartphone.

Thinking it was another loan ad or an illegal gambling text, he glanced at it—and the moment he did—

“...Hk!”

Juhyeok startled, and Cossack startled right along with him.

“You scared me! What is it?”

“I-it’s...”

When he showed the screen—

“Huh? ‘Notice of convening an all-players meeting for the Elite Climbing Team’? Is this it? And it’s today.”

It looked like an emergency meeting.

If it was suddenly scheduled today.

“Haa, I hate meetings,”

“...Yes?”

“If there’s a meeting, they’ll call on me to talk. In front [N O V E L I G H T] of all those people.”

“How many attendees is it?”

“No idea. Around 150, maybe?”

“Mmm. That’s bad. Very bad.”

“Is there a way to get out of it?”

“I will think about it.”

Juhyeok and Cossack fell into serious contemplation.

“What if you call and say you’re sick?”

“I don’t know if that’ll work. It says right here, mandatory attendance without exception.”

“Then I will go to the Tower Player Awakening Administration and set a fire during the meeting. Then the meeting might get interrupted.”

“Are you insane? Summoned entity? You’re going to set a fire because you don’t want to attend a meeting?”

“I will really set it. If I just make smoke billow and trigger the fire alarm...”

“Oh...!”

Right then!

BZZZT!

The smartphone rang.

“You got a call.”

“Shh!”

After shushing him, Juhyeok picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

This is Jeon Gwangil. I have something to tell you.

Ah. He was going to tell him to attend the meeting.

“Oh, do I really have to go to today’s emergency meeting—”

You don’t have to come.

Huh?

Thank god.

No need to set any fires.

Instead, I’d like to see you separately, just the two of us. Something serious happened.

Meeting Team Leader Jeon Gwangil wasn’t hard. They’d met often.

But still—something serious?

“What happened?”

It’s embarrassing for me to say myself, but you’ll probably be able to confirm it on TV soon.

“Ah, okay. Then I’ll go. Where?”

I can’t leave my post. We’ll meet at the Tower Player Awakening Administration. I’ll send a car.

He didn’t know what was going on, but if he was going anyway, he might as well sell his Magic Stones and dump whatever items were in his inventory.

How much could he get for the items?

He hoped he’d get around 50 million won.

But what the hell was happening?

If it might be on TV—

Tick.

Juhyeok turned it on.

The news played.

It was breaking news.

“...Huh?”

Was this real?

Not a movie, not a prank?

But no matter how long he watched, it was real.

Every channel was saying the same thing.

The world had been turned upside down.

‘Yoo Cheolmin naturalized into Japan?’

What kind of absurd—

“This fucking—! That bastard like plague pus!”

No matter how much of a weak man he was, even he wouldn’t do that.

“Traitor, betrayer, cowardly loser bastard.”

Should he just send Cossack away?

Let him taste what an SSR is like?

You don’t know what a head ribbon is, do you?

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