The moment they entered Floor 46, Rajix sniffed the air.

SNIFF SNIFF.

A thick metallic scent.

No doubt about it.

There was ore here.

The location was that big boulder over there.

“HWEHH!”

If he mined ore and gave it to his Summoner, the Summoner would be really happy, right?

Then he could be acknowledged again.

When they first met, he thought he was about to be kicked out.

Even now, when he thought about that time, it felt like he might faint.

He worked hard, thinking he must never be kicked out again.

Thanks to that, he’d managed to secure a place.

And once he did, he started liking this place more and more.

Especially his Summoner. Even more.

Even when he didn’t come back with his backpack stuffed full, the Summoner still smiled at him, removed his rival for him, and even let him eat delicious carrots to his heart’s content.

Carrots.

Just thinking about them made saliva pool in his mouth.

He’d tasted carrots in all sorts of worlds, but the carrots in this world were the best.

And that wasn’t all.

His Summoner and companions always called his name properly.

Not “hey,” or “you,” or “Rajjiks,” or “Jiks,” or “Squeaky....” Not like that—Rajix.

It was so, so good.

To be a worker who could be respected.

Rajix had become someone who couldn’t leave this place anymore.

Staying with his Summoner and companions for a long, long time—that was his life’s goal.

But a problem came up.

All the hides he’d peeled so far... didn’t become money?

Because of that, even the basilisk hunting had been paused.

That was bad.

Hides being useless—

His heart started rushing.

He’d thought he’d fully secured his place.

That was an illusion.

He was at risk of even having his right to eat carrots taken away.

Then what?

He just had to give something else.

Luckily, he found the answer on Floor 46.

Metal was valuable anywhere.

Of course this place wouldn’t be any different.

His Summoner would praise him again, right?

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Chasing the metallic scent, he hammered at the rock.

Fragments of stone scattered in all directions.

RATTLE, THUD THUD!

Meanwhile,

Juhyeok just watched in silence.

Because watching a round, fluffy furball swing a pickaxe was a truly rare sight.

Stone fragments bounced off after striking the safety helmet Rajix was wearing.

So that was why he always wore a helmet.

Not to be cute.

Right. No matter what, safety came first.

[You have succeeded in the Floor 46 mission.]

“Huh?”

“HWEENG?”

[Notice: You have achieved a Floor 46 clear rank of S++ in the Black Tower (Korea).]

[S++ Clear Reward: You will be awarded a Platinum Badge.]

[You may challenge Floor 47.]

[Exiting the Black Tower (Republic of Korea).]

When did it end?

He’d been watching so blankly, he hadn’t even noticed time passing.

POP!

Juhyeok and the summoned entities returned to the living room of the spacious penthouse.

“HWEENG....”

Rajix made a miserable face.

The reason was obvious.

“Didn’t you fill the backpack again?”

“No... I couldn’t even peel any exoskeleton.”

He fumbled the backpack off and took out the ore, setting it down. It looked like there were about five chunks.

Rajix couldn’t even meet Juhyeok’s eyes as he watched for his reaction.

“Sorry.”

“...”

“If we go in one more time, I’ll work hard. I’ll fill the backpack all the way.”

All of a sudden, Juhyeok’s chest felt strangely tight.

It was like sympathy from the same illness.

The other summoned entities seemed to read the mood too, because they didn’t say anything.

“No. That’s enough for today. Rest. And don’t clean either.”

At Juhyeok’s words, Rajix’s eyes went round like he’d been struck. He trembled, teary.

“...Am I... n-not needed?”

What was he even saying?

“Who said you’re not needed?”

Cossack, Meatshield, and Gyeon Dallae hurried to add a word each.

“Who say not need a worker who even do mining? If anyone go out, I go out first.”

“That is correct. Sir Cossack may be someone you can take or leave, but if Sir Rajix is not here, this great manor will someday fall.”

“Warrior respects Rajix. Must stay here. If Rajix disappears, sad. If assassin disappears right now, nothing.”

“W-wait, I-I didn’t mean it like that...”

With the others encouraging him, Rajix’s expression brightened to the limit.

“You heard them, right? Rajix is the person I need most.”

Rajix looked so happy his fur practically bristled.

“HWEE!”

Snorting hard through his nose, he planted both hands on his hips and struck that proud, signature expression of his.

Man, he was cute. So cute.

“Want to rest and eat some carrots? I ordered organic ones—there’s a pile in the fridge’s vegetable drawer.”

But Rajix shook his head side to side.

“I won’t eat carrots.”

“Then what do you want to do?”

“I want to go in one more time. I’ll ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) fill the backpack all the way.”

“I said you can rest....”

“Can’t we?”

“Uh...”

Did he have a ghost ancestor who died because they couldn’t work?

Gyeon Dallae slid closer and whispered.

“Master, do as he wishes. Sir Rajix is already a servant down to the bone.”

“...”

There was nothing else to do.

“Fine. We’ll go in one more time. Go fill the backpack all the way.”

“HWEE!”

And so, they repeated Floor 46.

This time too, Juhyeok stood beside Rajix and watched him work.

Cossack, Meatshield, and Gyeon Dallae didn’t kill the scorpions—instead, they lured them this way and that, just dragging out time so Rajix could work smoothly.

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!

As he broke the boulder, glittering ore mixed with metal would snag and pop out with a little thunk against the pickaxe.

Then he’d pick it up and put it into the backpack.

How exhausting was that?

Breaking rock, picking up ore.

He had to do two jobs alone.

“I’ll pick up the ore for you.”

“HWEH? No. It’s hard.”

“Even if it’s just this, I’ll feel better.”

“HWEENG...”

Rajix didn’t know what to do, but if the Summoner insisted, he had to follow.

Putting ore into the backpack was easy.

All you had to do was bring it close to the backpack, and the ore would slide in automatically.

It kept going in.

It had to be pretty heavy.

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!

Rajix focused only on extracting ore.

He didn’t care if terrifying scorpions came.

If his Summoner would be happy, he would be fine dying while mining ore.

Meanwhile, Juhyeok could only worry about him.

He works too hard.

At this rate, he’ll get sick.

Juhyeok kept picking up the ore Rajix extracted, again and again, and putting it into the backpack.

It couldn’t be helped.

If he didn’t help Rajix, who would?

And then—

THUNK!

A piece of ore caught at the backpack’s opening and wouldn’t go in.

Was that it?

So it was finally full.

Somehow, Juhyeok looked even happier.

“Yes! It’s done. Done! Now let’s go home and rest. What are you doing? Hurry up—let’s clear and get out.”

The other summoned entities moved as if they’d been waiting.

“YESSIR! Our turn now. Leave it to us.”

“Finish fast.”

“I will shake the bells, so Cossack and Meatshield should at least earn their meals.”

“Princess, please give us the whirlwind beat.”

Rajix’s face was unbelievably bright.

Did he really like working that much?

“Heh.”

“Look at that sweat. Sweat.”

“Heh.”

Well, as long as he was happy. Work or play.

Maybe doing it like this for a while wasn’t bad.

Helping Rajix.

And they’d completed the mission anyway.

POP!

They exited the Tower.

The ore they took out of the backpack—

Big and small chunks, more than about seventy in total.

Compared to hides, the volume was much smaller.

Rajix’s backpack, unlike a Player’s Inventory, seemed to be measured by weight.

Even though each chunk of ore was small, each one was extremely heavy—maybe because it was mixed with metal.

What metals are all these?

Looking closely, each one was a different color.

The pitch-black metallic substance mixed into stone looked like adamant, the silver looked like orichalcon, and the yellow looked like sectonium.

So they all come out together.

Among them, there seemed to be the most adamant.

He stored the mined ore in an empty room.

The amount was still small.

It would be better to gather it and hand it over all at once.

But making him work every single day didn’t feel right, either....

In that case, climb.

Up to Floor 49.

Then, on the first clear, he could let Rajix rest.

Tower climbing began.

Up to Floor 49 was quick,

and then repeated clears over ten days.

And now there wasn’t much left.

The Floor 50 privilege check, and the Random Summon cooldown.

*****

Korea was peaceful.

At least, there were no problems with Tower climbing.

But the situation in the neighboring countries was completely different.

Japan.

Yoo Cheolmin couldn’t recover his shattered mind to the very end.

He refused to even Enter Tower, trembling.

So he was stripped of every benefit he’d received upon naturalization, and he and his family were driven out to a small city in Japan.

In the end, the Japanese government chose to sign a temporary Player naturalization contract with the United States.

A U.S. government-affiliated Player clearing the low sixties became Japanese for one month.

No one knew how much Japan had shoveled at the United States in exchange, but wouldn’t it be at least dozens of times the holy sword rental fee?

As for the other neighboring country, China’s situation was even worse.

Fire had reached their feet.

Floor 59 was right around the corner.

But even after kidnapping that many Players, they still failed in the end.

At this rate, the Collapse Countdown was about to start.

If you failed to stop one, three would collapse in succession.

In the end, China’s choice was the same as Japan’s: a temporary naturalization contract.

In truth, Floor 59 was an awkward number.

The current global average clear floor was 55.

Only a handful of countries had cleared Floor 59.

The United States, the Republic of Korea, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Norway, Saudi Arabia, about that many.

As for the late sixties, there were only two countries: the Republic of Korea and the United States.

Really, even the Republic of Korea and the United States should have adjusted their floors.

One floor every six months.

Slowly, step by step.

But how were you supposed to stop Players from going into the Tower and clearing whatever they wanted?

When you didn’t even know who would clear which floor, when, in the first place.

Even having too many talented Players became a problem.

In the past, in the United States, there had even been a time when three uncleared upper floors were cleared all at once within a single month.

Korea had been like that too.

Now, the floors were high enough that it didn’t happen.

And the state actively intervened, so it could be regulated.

But they couldn’t relax.

Because at any time, anywhere, some unknown Player could suddenly pop up and attempt an uncleared upper floor with no regulation at all.

Anyway, from China’s standpoint, there wasn’t a good place to request temporary naturalization.

The United States already had a specialized Player temporarily naturalized to Japan, asking Korea would bruise their pride, and in the end, they had no choice but to beg Russia.

They had to pour out an enormous price for one month of temporary naturalization.

They even demanded land, and part of Heilongjiang Province became Russian territory.

A new border line was drawn.

For China, it was a miserable humiliation.

Even if they’d survived the crisis thanks to it.

In the midst of all that, the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates entered Korea through Incheon International Airport.

*****

Tower Player Awakening Administration.

Commissioner Park Kyungsoo and Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil were in conversation.

“Commissioner, what about Crown Prince Abdul bin Sala? You said you’d meet him today.”

“I’m scheduled to meet him this evening, together with the President.” 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

“Do you happen to know what he wants? The Crown Prince suddenly visiting Korea....”

“Look at this first. It’s material that came over from the National Intelligence Service.”

Commissioner Park Kyungsoo placed the documents on the table.

Had they identified the people behind the attempted elite Player kidnapping incident?

Jeon opened the documents, but... no.

“Abu Dhabi... a terror attack?”

“Yes. Just three days ago.”

“I’m hearing this for the first time. Wasn’t this something that didn’t even make the news?”

“The United Arab Emirates government controlled the coverage. More than ten Players were blown apart all at once.”

“...What?”

Jeon read the documents more closely.

“Insane. Karim Zahid is dead too?”

“It’s unfortunate. And more than ten Players above level 50 under state management died with him.”

Karim Zahid.

A national-sponsored Player who had been challenging Floor 60 of the United Arab Emirates’ Black Tower.

How much had the United Arab Emirates invested in raising him?

They’d bought up every Trait enhancement rune that appeared on the market to raise him.

The biggest culprit that made Trait enhancement runes vanish from the market was the United Arab Emirates.

Because they’d been stuffing them into their talented Players without restraint.

“As far as I know, the time limit for clearing Floor 60 of the United Arab Emirates’ Black Tower had around twenty days left. But if Karim Zahid and the level-50 Players all got blown apart....”

“It’s a horrific thing.”

That was right.

Not only their top Player, but even the mid Players who formed the backbone were gone.

“No, how did they even run security?”

“Security was the problem. One of the guards was an Islamic extremist. And that was discovered right after the incident.”

A chill went through him.

Thinking about it, this wasn’t someone else’s problem.

Because outside the Tower, Players were no different from ordinary people—something like this could absolutely happen in Korea too.

Not long ago, something similar had almost happened.

“They came to request temporary naturalization from Korea. Still, Nam Gaeun is impossible. Not a chance.”

“Of course. But it looks like the United Arab Emirates is desperate. They’re begging us to allow it, saying they’ll restore it immediately after the clear.”

A country’s top Player was not a temporary naturalization target.

Even the United States raised and operated specialized temporary naturalization Players separately.

Because dual citizenship wasn’t allowed.

A Player could only Enter the Tower of a single country.

There was even a theory that ordinary people with dual citizenship couldn’t Awaken at all.

If you temporarily naturalized, and the other side pretended to be crazy and refused to restore your nationality?

How many real cases like that had there been?

Temporary naturalization was something only a powerful state could do.

“The U.S. specialized Player is in Japan, Russia contracted with China, and the United Kingdom, France, Saudi Arabia, and Norway don’t have Players dedicated to temporary naturalization either, so they must be stuck. I can see why they came to Korea.”

“They likely judged that we had relatively more leeway after succeeding on Floor 66 most recently.”

The United Arab Emirates’ Black Tower was located near oil fields.

If the Tower collapsed, the oil fields wouldn’t be safe either.

Magic Stones were doing their job as replacement energy well enough, but oil was still a valuable resource.

Commissioner Park Kyungsoo briefly glanced around, then lowered his voice.

“In fact, there’s one more person the United Arab Emirates wants, besides Nam Gaeun.”

“Are you talking about Section Chief Lee Mina? Absolutely not. No chance. She’s climbing the 60s too, and even if she were qualified, we can’t send her.”

Section Chief Lee Mina was also not a temporary naturalization candidate.

She was the Administration’s Plan B.

You could say she’d inherited Nam Gaeun’s role.

“It’s not Section Chief Lee Mina.”

“Then who?”

“The Player who’s recorded consecutive S++ clears up through Floor 49.”

“Hah.”

Had the United Arab Emirates lost their mind?

“No, they don’t even know who it is....”

Of course Park Kyungsoo and Jeon Gwangil knew, but—

“It seems the United Arab Emirates believes Korea has identified the S++ Player.”

“Even if we have, temporary naturalization is out of the question.”

Bong Juhyeok’s current floor was 49.

He’d need to climb 11 floors within 20 days—

and that wasn’t difficult for him at all. He’d be up there in 11 days, probably.

“We have to insist we don’t know. We can’t even give them a chance to test the waters.”

“Why are you like this? Do I look like someone who wouldn’t do that?”

“Hahaha. I always trust you, Commissioner.”

Commissioner Park Kyungsoo gave a faint smile and continued.

“Still, give Bong Juhyeok a hint that something like this happened. It’ll blow up in the press soon anyway.”

“Yes. We were going to meet today regardless.”

“Ah! How’s the hide business going?”

“That..., there’s been a snag.”

“What is it?”

“We don’t have enough hide cutting and crafting tools.”

Basilisk hide had to be cut with blades made from Tower metal.

If you forced it with equipment, it wasn’t that it couldn’t be cut, but the hide would be damaged.

More importantly, delicate crafting was impossible.

You couldn’t even sew it.

“Do the workshops not have enough metal to spare?”

“They’re already tight just making weapons...”

“And importing is hard too, right?”

“Yes. They probably don’t even have enough to make their own equipment.”

Jeon Gwangil was worried too.

It was a business Bong Juhyeok had trusted them with, and it looked like it was going to grind from the start.

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