Juhyeok’s ambitious journey to take the perk and absolutely succeed at Trait enhancement.

The three summoned entities’ grim determination to carve out one more open slot and not lose their jobs.

It all started from Floor 36.

A large humanoid monster: the ogre.

Smaller than a minotaur, but an ogre’s strength is speed.

Stage 1 on Floor 36 is just kinda fast.

But from Stage 2 onward, that huge body gets as fast as an orc.

Stage 3?

Almost rabbit-level.

On top of that, they’re smart and crafty, so if they think they’re losing, they bolt in a flash.

And Stage 4—who knows what kind of movement skill they use—those bastards hop-hop, jumping high over players’ heads and tormenting them.

A technique that locks down their feet is important.

Players have crowd-control skills tailored to their Traits, but using them at the perfect moment is hard—hence all the talk about talent and talent—

And Juhyeok didn’t have any crowd-control skills.

Just his summoned entities.

SSR Meatshield, far bigger, stronger, and faster than an ogre.

CRUNCH! CRACK! SWISH!

“KUUUOOO!”

SSR shamaness Gyeon Dallae, binding the ogres across a wide area with debuffs.

“Wicked things, do not so much as twitch!”

And then there was the assassin John Cossack, eyes bloodshot, going berserk.

“GRAAAAH!”

To be fair, it wasn’t only Cossack who was desperate.

Who knows who the next summoned entity would be?

If you weren’t careful, you’d get fired.

And then you’d never again enjoy the happiness of company dinners the boss treats you to after a hard day’s work.

Of course you’d get desperate.

Juhyeok kept his promise.

He just stood there blankly in the rear.

But his mind was complicated.

He’d shouted, Keep it moving! all boldly, but—

‘What if I get all the way to Floor 50 and the perk still doesn’t show up?’

If his luck was bad, it’d be a total disaster.

‘No. It has to show up.’

There was one other way to achieve Trait enhancement besides perks.

The Trait Enhancement Rune.

But the odds were very, very slim.

You could only receive it as a reward item on Floors 40 or 50 and above, and these days it didn’t even show up on the market.

‘Should I whine at the Administration? Tell them to get me one?’

But that had a downside too.

It would mean owing an even bigger debt than taking the penthouse.

‘This is a mess.’

For now, let’s hit Floor 40, check the perk, and decide.

And so, Floor 36 too—

[Notice: You have achieved Clear Rank S++ for Floor 36 of the Black Tower (Korea).]

Floor 37 too—

[Notice: You have achieved Clear Rank S++ for Floor 37 of the Black Tower (Korea).]

Even Floors 38 and 39—

[Notice: You have achieved Clear Rank S++ for Floor 38 of the Black Tower (Korea).]

[Notice: You have achieved Clear Rank S++ for Floor 39 of the Black Tower (Korea).]

It was a crazy speed.

Once a day—every single morning without fail—the Global Notice rang out.

People would be watching their morning drama—

And they’d have to see the caption:

<Black Tower (Republic of Korea) Floor 3x S++ Clear Record!>

every day.

Maybe they’d become desensitized, because it wasn’t even amazing anymore.

└ Nam Gaeun VS the 39-straight S++ Clear Record holder

└ I’m Nam Gaeun.

└ Me too.

└ Hey, if you’re a civilian maybe, but if you’re a Player, you don’t pick Nam Gaeun.

└ Right, you gotta pick the S++ Clear Record holder no matter what.

└ How do you even compare to 39 straight S++ clears?

└ But isn’t he pushing it lately? He’s slammed clears four days in a row.

A 39-straight S++ Clear Record.

And four days in a row.

The national hype just would not die down.

And in the middle of that—

The biggest supplier of national hype in the country quietly slipped out of his hideout.

*****

Every time I used it, I felt it, but the perception-interference talisman’s effect was unbelievably good.

It went beyond just not recognizing your face—it scattered even your wariness.

Even if you passed right beside someone, they’d perceive you as someone they always saw, someone with no threat at all.

In fact, security around the officetel where Juhyeok lived had been tightened a lot lately.

There were more guards inside, and there were also more people watching the entire building from outside.

But in front of the perception-interference talisman, it was all useless.

Even when Juhyeok opened his officetel door and walked out at 4 a.m., when hardly anyone was around, they only reacted like, What, a dog going by?

When he’d walked a good distance away from the officetel, he saw dawn taxis.

He shyly raised a hand to stop one.

“Um, sir... I’m thinking of going to the traditional market in Gongju, South Chungcheong.”

“Huh? Where?”

“The traditional market in Gongju City. Is that... not possible?”

“That’s too far...”

“Ah... um, five hundred thousand won? Cash...”

“Put your seat belt on.”

The taxi flew down the road.

It took an hour and thirty minutes to get to the Gongju traditional market.

It was still dawn.

And yet there were already quite a lot of people.

When he checked the time, it wasn’t even 6 a.m. yet.

Juhyeok went into the public restroom in the market and summoned Cossack.

“ATTENTION! Cossack is here!”

“You’re ready, right?”

“I’m prepared.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

The reason they came to the market was... well, obviously, to shop for groceries.

“Should we buy fruit first?”

“There’s a lot more than that we need. It’s going to be really heavy.”

“Ah, I’ll carry it all. Summoner, you just pay.”

Like he said, they bought an absurd amount.

After shopping, they moved again.

They caught another taxi.

“Gyeryongsan National Park.”

“Yes, yes. Going hiking? Hop in.”

“We’ve got a lot of stuff, so the trunk...”

Juhyeok and Cossack got into the taxi together.

They didn’t say a single word the entire ride.

They arrived at Gyeryongsan National Park.

Then they went somewhere with no people around and summoned Meatshield and Gyeon Dallae too.

“I have awaited you, Master.”

“I’ll carry all of it. Give it to me.”

Gyeon Dallae took the lead.

“Though it is another world, the terrain looks similar, so that place should remain as well. Please follow this one.”

They took the trail up for a long while, then Gyeon Dallae turned off the path to the side.

A steep ravine appeared.

They kept walking.

“This is the place.”

“Where should we set the things down?”

“Mm, around here... ah!”

As if something had occurred to him, he looked at Meatshield.

“Could you move that rock over there?”

“Understood. Princess.”

A rock that looked insanely heavy was lifted in Meatshield’s hands as if it were nothing.

And beneath it, a flat stone slab appeared.

“You must clean it thoroughly. Scoop ravine water and scrub it hard with the brush you brought.”

“Yes!”

Without a single complaint, they did exactly as ordered.

Meatshield and Cossack carefully cleaning the stone, blackened with moss.

And Gyeon Dallae?

She had her own job.

The sight of her in a reverent posture, holding paper in her mouth, going shhk, shhk as she sharpened her blade—

‘Mm.’

A woman in white mourning clothes sharpening a sword.

It’s kind of... creepy.

Food was set out on the cleaned slab.

A pig’s head in the center, fruit and various ceremonial foods on both sides.

“We will begin.”

THUD-THUD!

Juhyeok, Meatshield, and Cossack knelt before the ceremonial table.

At the same time, Gyeon Dallae set the speaker in front of it and hit play.

CLANG, /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG, CLANG-CLANG-CLANG CLANG-CLANG-CLANG.

DONG! DONG-DUH-KUNG, DUH-DONG DONG-DUH DONG-DUH-KUNG!

A ritual that began with a brisk rhythm.

Gyeon Dallae started shaking her body wildly, holding bells and a sword.

“Oho, ohoi, ohi—speaking to the spirits of heaven and earth, I report this: look down upon Master Bong, and I pray his future will be filled with nothing but great fortune.”

Not one person laughed.

It was solemn, serious, and severe.

“I pray, I pray, I pray for Trait enhancement.”

When Juhyeok called it out first, everyone joined in one voice.

“I pray, I pray, I pray for Trait enhancement.”

It was a shamanic rite.

A prayer rite for the perk he’d receive from accumulating 40 Platinum Badges.

Would this work?

Isn’t believing in superstition kind of lame?

So what if it doesn’t work?

What matters is the effort of trying something.

And doing a rite isn’t even that unusual.

When starting a business, when filming a movie for the first time, when a politician runs for office—people do it all the time.

It’s all for peace of mind.

This time, let’s draw it out.

He didn’t want to disappoint his summoned entities.

If this kept up, he might end up begging the Administration.

Better this than that.

The rite reached its climax.

Gyeon Dallae’s dance grew even more violent.

WHIIIP—

A blue blade was thrown up into the sky.

Cossack snatched it out of the air and passed it to Meatshield.

Kneeling, Meatshield gripped the flat of the sword with both hands, then raised it with the blade facing upward.

At some point, Gyeon Dallae had taken off her socks, and stepped barefoot onto the blade.

Step. Step.

Gyeon Dallae riding the blade.

It felt good.

It would probably work.

*****

As expected, Juhyeok took a taxi back alone and arrived at his Seoul officetel.

He tapped the card key and entered.

After returning home from the day trip, Juhyeok began meditating with a reverent heart.

He had dismissed the summoned entities the moment the rite ended, so he could call them again soon.

In truth, clearing Floor 40 at S++ wasn’t the problem.

Clear success was already decided.

But what if, even this time, he failed to achieve Trait enhancement?

Honestly, he had no intention of getting rid of even one of them.

Even if a Legend popped up.

He’d rather give up on S++ clears altogether.

He was only doing this for Cossack and the summoned entities, who were trembling in fear of losing their jobs.

Alright! Time’s up.

Designated Summon, all of them.

“Are you ready?”

They all nodded, faces grim.

“Let’s go in.”

[Entering Floor 40 of the Black Tower (Republic of Korea).]

Before he knew it, they’d reached Floor 40.

They received the mission.

[Floor 40 Mission: Kill 80 ogres of any type and 1 Twin-Head Ogre.]

[Time Limit: Within 13 hours.]

[Completion Condition: All ogre types 0/80, Twin-Head Ogre 0/1]

Was killing monsters the problem?

No. The problem was checking the perk after killing them.

He didn’t even care about ogres.

All he could think about was killing them fast and checking the perk.

WOOOOOO—

A surging aura rose from Meatshield and Cossack.

Maybe the ogres sensed danger, because they couldn’t charge in right away and instead edged backward.

But could they really run?

The ogres were torn apart, and the Twin-Head Ogre, the moment it appeared—

“KWEK!”

And so—

[Notice: You have achieved Clear Rank S++ for Floor 40 of the Black Tower (Korea).]

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

SPOT!

The group returned to the officetel.

“I’m excited.”

“Shh! Don’t jinx it. Watch your words.”

“Yes.”

Juhyeok took a deep breath—

Then checked his inventory.

[Perk granted for accumulating 40 Platinum Badges.]

Let’s go. I’ve waited long enough.

If it still doesn’t show up this time, the Tower climb is on hold for a while.

Will Trait enhancement finally—

[Perk: Roulette Spin Ticket (One-Time Use) has been added to your inventory.]

“...Huh? What is this?”

Juhyeok’s face went blank.

“W-what? Did it show up?”

“Is it Trait enhancement?”

“Summoner, curious, tell me.”

Juhyeok didn’t answer.

He just stared blankly at the image floating in front of him.

[If you tear the One-Time Use Ticket, the roulette will spin. If you do not tear it within 1 hour, the opportunity will be lost.]

It was a round spinning wheel.

A single pointer on top.

And tightly packed, colored wedge-shaped sections of different sizes.

It was similar to the random box he’d received before, but the method was different.

The words written in the sections:

Magic Stones, herbs, items, potions, skills, all kinds of tickets...

‘Where’s Trait enhancement?’

It was there.

But it was the narrowest section.

‘So now it’s come to this—spin-spin-spin the wheel?’

Could you even thread the needle on that pointer?

“...Is it a bust?”

At Cossack’s question—

“We have to spin the roulette.”

“Huh? Ro-roulette? Like, it spins around?”

“That’s right. There is a Trait enhancement section, but... it’s a bit narrow.”

“How narrow?”

“This much.”

“Good lord!”

Don’t get worked up.

Even now, the summoned entities were staring at his face like baby owls.

“Wait. I’ll shower and come out.”

Juhyeok grabbed clean clothes and went into the bathroom.

He brushed his teeth first, as a way of reflecting on the curse he’d just muttered.

He washed his ears clean too.

He dried every corner, changed his underwear, changed his clothes, and came out of the shower—

“...”

Everyone’s gaze gathered on him.

They were all expecting something, and he had to spin the roulette under that crushing pressure.

Wow. This is really burdensome.

“...I-is there anyone who’ll tear the ticket for me?”

All the eyes withdrew.

The summoned entities suddenly started acting like they had something else to look at.

Turning their gazes elsewhere, like they were staring at distant mountains.

Anything to avoid making eye contact with Juhyeok.

“...Fine.”

Cowards.

You don’t want the responsibility, huh?

‘It would’ve been nice back when it was just, “Whatever, give me anything.”’

Either way, he had no choice.

After going as far as holding a rite—

Juhyeok took out the Roulette Spin Ticket (One-Time Use) from his inventory.

His hand trembled.

He took a few deep breaths—

“If it doesn’t come out, no cursing, okay?”

“Okay!”

“No cursing.”

“How could this one ever do such a thing?”

RRRIP!

He tore the ticket mercilessly.

CHRRRRRRRK!

The roulette spun.

It spun, and spun, and spun again.

The Trait enhancement section, tiny as a speck of mouse droppings.

CHRRRRRRRK!

It spins, it spins.

And it’s not just the wheel—his eyeballs spin too.

His head spins too.

A roulette that spins endlessly.

When does it stop?

It spins for a really long time.

It spins like crazy.

And then—

CHRRRRR... CHRRK... CHRK.

It began to slow.

SSSSRRRRR...

The wheel turned slowly from right to left.

“Come on, go! We even did a rite!”

SSSSRRR...

So slow.

Almost about to stop.

Just a little more. Just a little.

Juhyeok’s body twisted.

He leaned with the direction the wheel was turning.

Left, left—

The summoned entities’ bodies twisted with him as they watched in agony.

Left, left—

‘Oh! It’s getting close. Just a little more.’

Did the prayer rite actually have effect?

The Trait enhancement section and the pointer were getting closer and closer.

It felt like it would work.

No, it was almost there.

The wheel, nearly stopped.

Now the pointer was on the Trait enhancement section.

“St-stop!”

Just stop right there and it’s over—

But it still kept moving slightly to the left.

If it keeps going, it’ll pass.

“You damn dog-shit roulet—”

Juhyeok twisted his body the other way.

And the summoned entities twisted the other way too—

“It can’t go any further!!!”

If it passed, it would land on some herb section he’d never even heard of.

It’s a perk—am I supposed to eat herbs and fall over?

Go the other way!

Turn right! Right!

A jolt ran through him—Juhyeok clenched his right toes with all his strength.

In that instant—

Huh?

He heard something.

‘Click?’

At the same time, the wheel stopped completely.

And the pointer’s position was—

“Uh...?”

Trait enhancement.

“CLICK!”

[Trait is being enhanced.]

“CLICK!!”

Juhyeok threw both hands up.

“CLICK!!!”

The summoned entities cheered together.

Jumping up and down.

“CLICK!”

“It is CLICK!”

“CLICK!”

And so, his Status Window became—

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