Juhyeok’s officetel.

Today too, the smell of instant noodles filled the place.

They said we were only eating instant noodles for a while.

Instant noodles after clearing Floor 34, instant noodles while resting the next day, and now—instant noodles again.

When I called Gyeon Dallae and Cossack over, they went straight to the kitchen and pulled out a pot first.

How do you eat instant noodles for three days straight?

I said we should at least order delivery, and they said they wanted to eat instant noodles for at least five days.

They said that was the only way they’d feel at ease.

If you were going to do this, you shouldn’t have eaten that much back then.

Four people eating one hundred and fifty servings—what the hell was that? One hundred and fifty servings.

‘And I couldn’t even properly eat two servings.’

So when they asked me to eat instant noodles with them, I said no.

I was going to order chicken later and eat it by myself.

Right now there were only two summoned entities cooking instant noodles—Cossack and Gyeon Dallae.

What about Meatshield?

I couldn’t summon him.

Because the Catalog looked like this.

[Catalog]: Dull Barbarian Meatshield of the Great Plains Tribe (Summon Unavailable)

Summon Unavailable...

I’d already asked.

What Summon Unavailable in the Catalog meant.

That was yesterday, actually.

When Juhyeok asked, Cossack scratched his face and answered.

“Normally, rank-ups are real dangerous. You gotta strengthen the soul. So while strengthening, um... i-if you f-fail, there’s a chance you... disappear...”

“Gasp!”

Disappear?

My heart went ice-cold.

‘...Did I give him poison?’

Cossack came back just fine, didn’t he?

“What the hell...”

I had heard something like that from Cossack before.

That rushing it was dangerous, that he’d go back and prepare properly before doing it.

But I didn’t realize it was this dangerous.

“Is that... really true? Disappear?”

“...I don’t really know that part either,”

Haa.

This is driving me crazy.

But then Gyeon Dallae said,

“Do not worry. If it were true disappearance, it would be deleted from the list entirely. The fact that it says Summon Unavailable while the name remains means there must be another reason.”

Another reason...

What could it be?

She wasn’t just saying that to comfort me, right?

“While strengthening the soul, on an extremely rare chance, the jump can become larger and rise explosively by two or more levels. In such cases, it becomes impossible to summon for several days.”

Oh!

My anxiety vanished.

If it wasn’t a bad thing—if it might even be a good thing...

Gyeon Dallae really is royalty by birth.

How does she know so much?

ZAP!

Juhyeok glared at Cossack.

‘Talking like you know when you don’t.’

He went on about disappearing and scared me half to death.

Cossack shrank and avoided my eyes.

Anyway, I’d heard something similar before too.

A game’s enhancement content.

You apply an enhancement scroll to a weapon or armor and a blessing triggers—what would’ve been +1 becomes a huge success and goes to +2.

Blessed enhancement. Or critical enhancement.

If that was the reason, thank god.

“Hehehe. Thinkin’ about it, Princess is right. That idiot’s soul is like a flower garden—pure. Pure souls enhance real well.”

I felt relieved.

Wait.

If it’s a two-level jump...

“Does that mean Meatshield becomes SSR too?”

At my words, Cossack’s shoulders slumped.

What would he do without his favorite thing to scold?

That was yesterday.

And even now, Meatshield was still Summon Unavailable.

Looks like they finished cooking the instant noodles.

Cossack and Gyeon Dallae sat naturally at the table and started slurping.

Peaceful.

No yelling.

If I had one complaint—

‘Tsk.’

I’ve got over three billion won in my account, and we’re eating instant noodles.

Still, their noodle-making skill improved, so now the broth was perfect, the noodles weren’t soggy, and everything was springy and excellent.

From now on, even if we eat instant noodles, it won’t be just instant noodles.

At minimum: abalone instant noodles, octopus instant noodles, king crab instant noodles, truffle instant noodles, jumbo prawn instant noodles, wild pine mushroom instant noodles, truffle Korean beef instant noodles...

‘Later, I should go grocery shopping.’

For now, I’d just let them eat instant noodles.

At least they cracked in plenty of eggs and green onion.

And with that, Tower climbing is temporarily paused until Meatshield returns.

I was going to take a few days off anyway.

Juhyeok opened his smartphone and searched the news.

Nam Gaeun’s Black Tower (Republic of Korea) Floor 66 clear, scheduled for tomorrow.

Originally, they didn’t want to announce the schedule because they were afraid she might fail like Japan, but thanks to Nam Gaeun’s strong insistence, the date had been set.

<I’m not afraid. If I fail, I’ll just keep challenging it.>

<I’ve already identified the specter’s attack patterns. Before the real clear, I even ran practice drills.>

<I can be confident because I have the holy sword. Once again, I thank the owner who lent it to me.>

How are people reacting?

Because of the backlash from Yoo Cheolmin’s surprise naturalization, most opinions about Nam Gaeun were overwhelmingly positive.

└ It’s okay even if you fail.

└ Yeah. Just come back safe. Recover your mental, then challenge it again and again.

└ You have the holy sword. We believe in you.

└ I’ve been praying every dawn.

└ Well, if it’s Floor 66, let’s go straight to 67 too.

└ Read the room. Floor 67 is still far away.

└ Let’s go! Hang in there!

And I think I even saw a comment that looked like it was mine.

‘Oh right. I said I’d get Nam Gaeun’s autograph.’

I should get it after she clears Floor 66.

I should stop by my parents’ place too.

‘And I can bring the talismans Gyeon Dallae wrote for them.’

In that instant—

BZZZT!

A call came in.

It was Team Leader Jeon Gwangil.

“Hello?”

It’s late, but congratulations on achieving a record of thirty-four straight S++ clears.

For this?

There had been a lot of noise, sure.

On TV, in newspapers, online—so-called experts came out and said the 30s were a turning point in Tower climbing, that difficulty skyrockets, and that S++ clears would become impossible.

But I achieved it anyway.

“Nam Gaeun is the amazing one. Is everything going well preparing for Floor 66?”

Smoothly. We also borrowed a light-attribute item and handed it over. Based on our support team’s analysis, we have no doubt she can clear it. She’s confident herself.

“Yeah. I have no doubt it’ll go well too. Please tell her for me to hang in there.”

Haha, understood.

It wasn’t empty praise.

She really is incredible.

Oh. One more thing I need to tell you...

“Yes.”

About that apartment that bastard Yoo Cheolmin lived in.

An apartment, all of a sudden.

Did they find out Cossack went there?

“Ah... why the apartment...?”

It’s currently empty. There’s no one to move in, so if you’re interested, we’ll just transfer it to you. We can do the deed transfer.

“....”

What?

Did I hear that wrong?

Wasn’t Yoo Cheolmin’s place a penthouse?

Just transfer it to me means...

“For free?”

Yes. But you’ll have to pay the maintenance fees separately. That part can’t be covered.

The maintenance fees alone would be insane for a penthouse...

But who cares about that.

They said deed transfer.

Still—

‘Do I take it? Or not?’

I have to choose carefully.

This isn’t something you decide on the spot.

I needed to check everything I needed to check.

“Could you give me a little time? I want to think it over.”

That’s fine. Even if you take the apartment, nothing will really change. It’s just a gesture of sincerity for you renting the holy sword cheaply.

Maybe.

But is it really only sincerity?

I should talk with the summoned entities.

Then decide.

*****

After we finished our instant noodles and washed the dishes,

Juhyeok called Gyeon Dallae and Cossack over.

“I got a phone call just now...”

I explained the details to the two of them.

Then I opened my laptop, searched up photos of the penthouse Yoo Cheolmin lived in, and showed them.

As the price for breaking his contract, all his Korean assets were confiscated.

This home was one of them.

“Cossack, you know well, right? Since you went there once.”

“Yessir!”

“How was it?”

“I can’t put it into words. It was so damn huge. There was even a rooftop garden. You can grow lettuce and eat Korean beef.”

Gyeon Dallae studied the photos carefully too.

“It appears better than the palace this girl lived in during her lifetime. It seems like a home worthy of the Master’s stature.”

I thought the same.

But more than “stature,” I needed space.

Juhyeok had more family than his parents’ house now.

If my Trait enhancement goes through a few more times, is it really going to be only three summoned entities?

How are we supposed to cram into this tiny place?

“So, do you think it’s better to keep living here, or should we move?”

“I like it here too. But if possible, wouldn’t a bigger house be better?”

“This girl also agrees with Cossack.”

“Hm...”

In truth, I’d already decided.

I need a bigger place.

And I loved that penthouse.

But my dilemma right now wasn’t “move or not.”

It was—

Do I accept it for free? Or do I pay and buy it properly?

That wasn’t an easy decision.

So when I said as much—

“In my opinion, I’m against free. There ain’t no free in this world. Capitalism is ruthless. You end up payin’ the price some other way.”

“This girl believes you may accept it. Compared to the grace you have bestowed upon them, that house is a trivial price.”

They disagreed.

Cossack had a point.

Gyeon Dallae also had a point.

What do I do?

If I take it for free, it feels like I’ll get indigestion.

‘Should I just buy it with money, properly?’

The most expensive thing I’d ever bought was a forty-million-won hand shield.

And even that was with a loan.

Because it was about survival, so that one doesn’t count.

I’m not the type to just buy buy buy.

“Impulse purchase” doesn’t apply to me.

If I need something, I go to an online shopping site.

If I find something I like, I put it in my cart first.

Then I find a similar product and put that in my cart too.

I compare a bunch of items, check cost-performance, and pick the single one that feels best.

And then do I pay right away?

No.

I read reviews.

Why are the good reviews good?

Why are the bad reviews bad?

Is it viral marketing?

Only after weighing everything do I finally bring my mouse to the checkout page.

Click right away?

No way.

I’ll hit back and search again to see if this is really the best choice.

I have to repeat that process multiple times.

There were times it took over three hours just to buy one thing.

And after all that, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the product I bought was usually under ten thousand won.

I trembled buying even ten thousand won...

and now we’re talking about an apartment?

Anyway, the debate was going to get long.

I was thirsty, so I needed something to drink.

“Let’s keep going while we each have a coffee. On the delivery app—”

Cossack said,

“Delivery fee’s a waste. I’ll go. We gotta save after eatin’ all that beef.”

“You don’t have to. Delivery fees aren’t that much.”

“I’m faster than delivery. It’s right up front. I’ll be back quick.”

If he insisted, then—

“Here. Pay with this card.”

“Yessir!”

“Just in case, take the perception-interference talisman and the entry card key.”

“Got it. Before I go, take your order.”

*****

Cossack left the officetel alone. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

A world that still wasn’t ruined.

People moving busily.

Roads packed with cars.

From that bottomless space filled with nothing but souls,

just being able to come out with a body was something to be grateful for—

and yet, on top of that, he could enjoy all the world’s wealth so freely.

Summoner Bong had to live a long, long life.

Past a human’s fixed lifespan, like an elf or a dragon.

They just had to keep clearing the Tower.

Among Tower rewards, there were treasures that extended a human lifespan.

Once they got into the 80s floors, those would start appearing one by one.

‘Anyway, which café do I go to?’

Korea had way too many cafés.

Enough to give you decision paralysis.

Even around the officetel, there were tons.

He didn’t understand why people drank that bitter coffee like water.

Even Summoner Bong only drank iced americano.

Meanwhile, Gyeon Dallae liked strawberry latte, and he liked sweet-and-sour grapefruit ade.

‘Let’s go to the biggest one.’

That star-something café.

It had the most people.

If that many people came, it must be good.

Cossack had the perception-interference talisman on him.

He opened the café door and walked in.

‘Where’s the kiosk again?’

He knew how to use it.

A few days ago, when they went out in Seoul after eating Korean beef, he’d watched Summoner Bong operate it a few times.

He could just walk up to an employee and order, but he should try it himself too.

So he started toward the kiosk—

‘Huh?’

Cossack’s eyes caught something suspicious.

Two men sitting at a table with their drinks, tapping their smartphones repeatedly.

‘Oh...’

A completely ordinary sight.

But he could feel it.

The thick smell of blood coming off them.

‘Well, well?’

Cossack was an assassin.

When you meet your own kind, you can tell in an instant just by looking at them.

He began probing instinctively.

Small cuts on their hands.

From handling blades.

And a faint smell of gunpowder coming from inside their jackets.

‘A gun.’

Their ankles were suspicious too.

Probably carrying knives.

And not just one.

In their sleeves, at their waist—

In this peaceful world, men who had killed people—no, who had probably killed at least dozens—two of them, sitting in a café near Summoner Bong’s officetel, casually drinking?

A coincidence?

Not a chance.

Still, they could be Korean soldiers or state intelligence agents.

Cossack shifted his steps slightly.

Then he passed the table where the suspicious men were sitting.

He didn’t even turn his head.

First, his own unique mana—Mark of Tracking.

Sssst. Sssst.

Both of them.

Just then, the men stood up and left.

Cossack postponed his drink order and followed.

The moment they stepped outside the café—

VROOOM, SKRRRT.

A suspicious van pulled up and stopped.

RATTLE—the door opened, and the two men climbed in.

Reflected in the café window, there were quite a few people inside besides those two.

Cossack stamped Mark of Tracking on the van too.

Let’s see.

If they show up again tomorrow.

Of course, they might have nothing to do with Summoner Bong at all.

But if he judged there was even the slightest connection—

Cossack’s mouth twisted upward.

He was smiling, but his face was terrifying.

Eyes cold enough to freeze solid.

Between his lips, a red tongue flicked out.

‘I should prepare a lot of ribbons.’

He planned to keep it a secret from Summoner Bong.

Because Summoned Principles, Article Three had already been triggered.

Cossack went back into the café and ordered the drinks.

Then he loaded the tray and returned to the officetel.

BEEP, BEEP-BEEP!

He opened the door and shouted in a powerful voice.

“ATTENTION! Hehehe. Delivery Cossack is here!”

“Good work. Hurry up and sit.”

“Yessir!”

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