“This actually works.”

“Told you it would, didn’t I? Heh-heh-heh-heh.”

It wasn’t just about clearing it successfully.

My level went up, I pulled off an S++ clear with a Multinational Tower Access Ticket, and I even got the badge.

Up to now, Players could only clear the Tower of the country they belonged to.

So of course, I’d assumed you could only receive Platinum Badges in the Black Tower (Republic of Korea).

I’d thought the Multinational Access Ticket was just a “support” or “business trip” kind of thing.

But it applies?

‘That ticket... is surprisingly not bad?’

If that’s true, then the “privilege floor endings” change from 5 and 0 to 4 and 9.

Meaning the next privileges would be Floor 64 and Floor 69.

And since I have one more ticket, if I use it again, the endings would change to 3 and 8...

But it still wasn’t certain.

What if this was basically me receiving the badge I’d have gotten on Floor 60 of the Black Tower (Republic of Korea) in advance, by taking it from the Black Tower (United Arab Emirates) first?

In other words, what if they said it was “duplicate application” and refused to give me a badge later?

To find out, I could just clear Floor 60 of the Black Tower (Republic of Korea) right now, but...

‘Oh, come on.’

My eyes landed on Meatshield’s leg.

It was a complete mess from walking through poison puddles.

The skin had melted away, and the tendons were fully exposed.

I couldn’t even tell if that thing should be able to walk.

“Are you okay, Meatshield? That looks like it hurts a lot.”

“A warrior does not feel pain from a wound like this. It will heal cleanly in a little while.”

And it really did.

New flesh knitted itself back together at a crazy speed.

Seriously, his regeneration alone was on an absurd level.

“What do we do? We go right into Black Tower (Republic of Korea) Floor 60?”

“...”

“If we use this method there too, it works. This is all thanks to my excellent strategy and tactics.”

This little weasel.

He’s not the one in pain, so of course he’s ready to go right back in.

Does he not see Meatshield’s melted calf?

“Heh-heh-heh, heh-heh-heh... heh-heh?”

John Cossack felt something was off from the way I stared at him, and at the same time he glanced at Meatshield’s injured leg.

Then—

“Oh, not today. To, tomorrow is better.”

That’s right.

Today, we’re done.

You want him to go through that kind of suffering twice in one day?

That’s inhuman.

Let’s check the privilege instead.

Whether the Black Tower (United Arab Emirates) Platinum Badge is recognized.

I opened my inventory.

When I checked the sixty badges—

[You will be granted a privilege for accumulating 60 Platinum Badges.]

“Oh!”

It grants it. The badge counts. Then...

[Privilege: One Ladder-Climbing Ticket (One-Time Use) will be granted to your inventory.]

“...What?”

What the hell? Another prank?

*****

Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil was meeting Lee Mina—who had just been promoted to Team Leader—in his office.

“Team Leader Lee. Did you do well yesterday?”

Team Leader Lee Mina visited my place every three or four days to collect Tower materials.

Right after the Floor 59 S++ clear, she’d gone to the penthouse again too.

“Yesterday, I met Player Bong and received Tower ore and four full-hide wyvern skins. They said they’d send one sheet of each as a sample, but since I left work right away, I wasn’t able to put them into the materials warehouse.”

“R-really?”

Honestly, he’d been hoping.

Because Player Bong had started the wyvern section.

He had zero worries about the clear itself.

Of course it would be S++, and it really was.

What Jeon Gwangil had been hoping for was the leather.

Could they bring back wyvern leather too?

Turns out he didn’t even need to worry.

“Hurry and take it out. Wyvern leather is something you can barely see even as a Tower reward.”

“Yes. I’ll take them out one by one.”

SWOOSH!

A deep black hide slid out of Team Leader Lee Mina’s inventory—like the basilisk, it was a full hide.

Everything except the wings was still attached.

Earth wyvern.

Compared to other attributes, its defense was extreme, which made it perfect for making Player armor.

“Hahaha, incredible. Magnificent.”

“Are we handing these over to HG Fashion too?”

“No. The Administration will buy this. Earth wyvern isn’t suitable for everyday lifestyle products. The right move is making armor or bulletproof vests.”

The second was flame wyvern leather.

“Look at this. The red color. It’s so pretty.”

“It has excellent insulation too. If you wore it in winter, it would be extremely warm.”

“You couldn’t wear it in summer.”

“Then you wear frost wyvern leather.”

“Oh!”

Frost wyvern was pure white.

And it gave off a gentle chill.

Then what about lightning wyvern?

“If you wear this, will it tingle with electricity?”

“Touching it doesn’t seem like that. But the color is an iridescent blue, so it’ll probably be popular.”

Four kinds of wyvern leather.

Each one had a distinct character.

That’s why people go on and on about wyverns.

Then, suddenly—

“Hm?”

Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil found something strange while inspecting the hide, near the wyvern’s head.

“...This.”

A hole, like it had been pierced by a bullet.

Not just one, either—more than ten.

“Looks like bullet holes, right? Or arrows, or magic?”

“One of those.”

Since it was a flying monster, using ranged weapons wasn’t strange.

Even melee Players had to carry a pistol or a crossbow for pulling.

But Player Bong Juhyeok was, as he’d stated, a Summoning Trait.

Yet this tough leather was pierced cleanly like this?

And it hadn’t self-repaired.

Meaning it had taken significant damage.

“Feels like a spirit caster. Someone who’s enhanced their summons at least three times.”

“If they can fire arrows, it’s probably wind-type or water-type.”

“Yes. If it was Elaim or Silpherion, wouldn’t it be possible to pierce it?”

If you enhance the water spirit Undine three times, it becomes Elaim, and if you enhance Sylphid three times, it becomes Silpherion.

“If they enhanced their Trait, they’d have pulled multiple spirits—two after one time, three after two times.”

“Yes. If they’re clearing S++ ranks, they’d definitely have gotten Trait enhancement runes as Tower rewards at least once or twice.”

Among Summoning Traits, spirit summoning was relatively rare.

Of course, being a spirit summoner didn’t mean S++ clears were easy.

Handling spirits was brutally difficult.

And enhancing summon rank wasn’t easy either. Even if you fed it a rune, enhancement could fail.

Plus, there were many kinds of runes.

A rune for spirit rank enhancement, a rune for beast rank enhancement, a rune for golem rank enhancement...

If they knew exactly what Player Bong Juhyeok’s summoned entities were, they could even provide support.

“Anyway, Floor 60 is soon.”

“...Whew. That’s why I’m worried.”

It was going to get extremely troublesome.

Below Floor 50, it had been manageable.

Most countries were in the late 50s, or the 60s, anyway.

But now?

Player Bong’s climbing floor was higher than the global national average.

Calling them a guaranteed check for Tower clearing wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

People wouldn’t just sit still.

They’d do anything to uncover their identity.

And the Tower Player Awakening Administration absolutely could not allow that.

At that moment—

BZZZZ! BZZZZ!

A smartphone rang.

Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil’s phone, and Team Leader Lee Mina’s phone too.

What?

He answered.

“It’s me—what’s going on... what?”

Jeon Gwangil sprang up.

“W-wait. Say that again. Uh... r-really? Then why is the Global Notice message from that country? Y-you confirmed it? You’re sure? Ah—o-okay.”

This was bad.

His heart pounded violently.

He felt dizzy enough to collapse.

“N-no. It can’t be. It can’t be.”

He had to verify the facts immediately.

*****

It took about an hour for the Black Tower (United Arab Emirates) Floor 60 S++ clear to become known in the Republic of Korea.

Of course, with social media, the news spread much faster than that—but it took time to fact-check.

Breaking news flooded out like a dam burst.

<BREAKING) Black Tower (United Arab Emirates) Floor 60 S++ clear... it wasn’t Korea?>

<BREAKING) Fact: as of yesterday, the Republic of Korea’s S++ clear record was Floor 59.>

<BREAKING) High likelihood of naturalization—unclear whether temporary or permanent.>

<BREAKING) Can you naturalize in a single day? Official says it’s absolutely possible.>

<BREAKING) Finally revealed: why Crown Prince Abdul bin Sala quietly returned.>

<BREAKING) Public rage exploding—government and the Tower Player Awakening Administration hit with a flood of blame.>

ㄴIs it actually naturalization?

ㄴI’m losing my mind. I couldn’t focus on anything all day.

ㄴSame, I took a half-day today.

ㄴI have an acquaintance in the United Arab Emirates, and it’s literally a festival there right now. Total chaos.

ㄴDid they cave to an oil-country money bomb?

ㄴThey said it was a blank check—how much did they write in?

ㄴThis is so suffocating. Like sweet potato stuck in your throat.

ㄴFuck, where did my relief go?

ㄴBin Sala stole it.

ㄴNational pride sales have been discontinued. Where am I supposed to get my fix now?

ㄴThis is insane—who is it? We don’t even know the identity, so we can’t even curse them properly.

ㄴThe Republic of Korea’s best Player is Nam Gaeun!

The atmosphere was ugly.

Whether the Republic of Korea’s Black Tower clear time limit had a lot of time left or not, it felt like they’d had their top Player stolen right in front of their eyes.

Angry people swarmed the Administration’s website and crashed the forums.

On the Blue House National Petition platform, more than a hundred posts related to it went up.

Meanwhile, me?

*****

I was on the phone with Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil.

“No, Deputy Commissioner. It isn’t naturalization. I’ve never even been to the United Arab Emirates embassy. I didn’t acquire citizenship, either.”

He was asking if I’d naturalized to the United Arab Emirates.

In this situation, it was a perfectly understandable misunderstanding.

“The Black Tower (United Arab Emirates)? W-well, I guess someone did it. And they did it very well.”

If I revealed the existence of the Multinational Tower Access Ticket, it would be simple, but I didn’t want to.

It wasn’t something that dropped a lot, and I only had one left now.

And per the contract, I had to use it on Black Tower (United Arab Emirates) Floor 61.

“I’m not going anywhere. Black Tower (Republic of Korea) Floor 60? I’m clearing it tomorrow, so don’t worry—just wait.”

Naturalization, my ass.

I’m busy enough to die.

I hung up, then checked the message floating in my head again.

[Privilege: One Ladder-Climbing Ticket (One-Time Use) will be granted to your inventory.]

“Seriously.”

A ladder?

A ladder?

Even roulette had made me sweat bullets.

‘Things go great, and then once in a while it gives you something weird.’

[Use your finger to poke the number written on the ticket. Once you poke it, ladder-climbing will begin. If you do not poke it within 1 hour, the opportunity will be lost.]

Fine. Let’s at least see what this ladder looks like.

And then a hologram video appeared in front of my eyes.

‘Yeah. I knew it.’

Eight vertical lines, spaced widely apart.

Each line had a number.

From 1 to 8.

The final slot at the bottom of each line was a prize.

Magic Stones 200 kg, Summoned Entity Rank-Up Rune, sectonium 50 kg, a Strike Skill Rune, wyvern leather armor, 100 healing potions, a Multinational Tower Access Ticket (One-Time Use), and finally, a Trait enhancement rune.

‘Thank god there’s no blank.’

But the horizontal rungs between the numbers and the prizes weren’t visible.

They were «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» obscured like fog.

If you picked a number, the rungs would probably reveal themselves.

Which meant nobody would know where the ladder would end.

I squinted, hoping I could see the rungs anyway, but...

‘Tch. Can’t see a damn thing.’

The best result was a Trait enhancement rune.

Second best was a Summoned Entity Rank-Up Rune.

I didn’t need anything else.

Well... the Multinational Tower Access Ticket would be decent too, I guess?

I copied the ladder’s shape and the prizes onto a sheet of paper about the size of a wall calendar.

I wanted to show the summoned entities what kind of bullshit this “privilege” prank was.

“So you’re saying you can’t see anything about how the rungs are laid out in the middle?”

“Right.”

“Holy shit. If you mess up, you get Magic Stones.”

“Cossack, you pick. Which number feels good?”

“How about 7? Lucky seven.”

That... kind of sounded reasonable.

“A Summoner is a man. A man is number 1.”

Of course.

A man among men.

What about Gyeon Dallae?

“On the far-right line, beneath line 8, there lies the long-dreamed-of Trait enhancement rune.”

“Yeah.”

“But what if there are no rungs between the lines, and it simply descends straight down as a line-ladder?”

That was a fair point.

People pulled that trick all the time.

But would the System really do that kind of prank here?

And Rajix?

“...SQUEAK?”

He trembled and avoided my gaze.

Don’t ask. Veronica?

“Hrrrp... smacking... snore...”

I figured. Yep. Don’t wake her.

So, when you combine the opinions: a man is 1, lucky is 7, and in case it’s a straight-line trick, 8 where the Trait enhancement rune sits.

1, 7, 8.

But I wasn’t planning to pick any of those.

Don’t listen to summoned entities.

If the number they chose failed, someone would end up getting roasted.

If you’re Korean, it’s 3.

“Going with 3. Let’s finish this fast.”

This damn ladder.

Whatever. Just give me something.

‘You think I’m going to sweat like roulette?’

Not a chance.

I’ll be bold.

I’ll take it coolly.

I pulled the Ladder-Climbing Ticket out of my inventory.

And when I pressed the number 3 printed on it, the ticket POPPED out of existence.

[You have selected 3.]

[Ladder-climbing will begin.]

At the same time, the obscured part flashed and revealed itself.

So how were the rungs laid out?

‘...Huh?’

There were rungs everywhere.

So many it made me dizzy.

“You gotta be kidding me!!!”

And then—

“Corporal Veronica Caliber! Is it time for sentry duty?”

My shout made Veronica, who had been asleep, shoot upright.

“...You don’t have to stand duty, so sleep.”

“Th-thank you.”

Snore... snore...

What a life.

It finally started.

A red dot blinked, then slowly began descending the ladder.

I grabbed a pen and traced the path on the paper exactly as the red dot moved.

“Is it coming down like this?”

“Yes.”

“Ah... my heart trembles.”

Everyone clustered around me, watching where my pen went.

The red dot descended on line 3.

It hit a rung and changed direction.

Went down, changed direction again.

Back and forth.

It had to reach the far right.

That was where the Trait enhancement rune was.

“No, it has to go right—why does it keep going left?”

“I’m just tracing what it does!”

“Can’t we force it with strength?”

“This girl is soft-hearted and cannot bear to watch.”

“Oh! It’s going, it’s going! It’s going right!”

“Yeah! Let’s go—LET’S GOOOOOO! LET’S GOOOOOO!!!”

“C-corporal Veronica Caliber! I will prepare for duty.”

“...Don’t get up. Sleep.”

“SQUEAK!”

“Ooh, good. Keep going right... huh? Why is it reversing again?”

“No! You can’t go there!”

“SQUEEENG...”

“Oh! It changed again!”

“Yeah, the vibe is good.”

“If it keeps going that way, we win.”

“I will change the direction by force. Ugh!”

“Hey, idiot! Why are you using Enlargement in the living room?”

“It’s coming down...!”

“Huh? Why left again?”

“AAAAAAAH!”

“Ah, this girl shall faint.”

“No!!!”

“Corporal Veronica Caliber! I believe I misheard, sir!”

“Just sleep!”

“It... it’s down.”

“That is not the place. Ah!”

“P-please. Change direction.”

“I’m not the one doing it!”

“Left is no good! That’s Magic Stones!”

“FUUUUUCK!!!”

“CLACK!!!”

“Corporal Veronica Cali—”

Stop.

It reached the bottom. My pen stopped too.

“Huh?”

“Uh?”

“Oh!”

“Ah!”

“SQUEEEAK...”

And the prize there was...

“A Summoned Entity Rank-Up Rune?”

“It is a rank-up rune.”

“I-is it... good?”

It was good.

Not the best outcome, but the second-best.

Whew.

Anyway, I survived it.

“Rajix the worker!”

“SQUEAK!”

“Are you prepared for promotion?”

“...SQUEAK?”

SR.

Or SSR.

I was dying to know.

What Rajix would become.

*****

Deputy Commissioner Park Kyungsoo arrived at the Tower Player Awakening Administration and walked inside while taking a barrage of questions from reporters packed in front of the entrance.

“Commissioner! The S++ record holder—was it naturalization?”

“Was it permanent naturalization, or temporary naturalization?”

“If it was temporary naturalization, was there a backroom deal with the United Arab Emirates?”

“Please answer.”

“The people are curious.”

“Where are you going, Commissioner? Commissioner!”

Park Kyungsoo’s face was tense as stone.

He strode straight into Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil’s office and threw the door open.

“H-how did it go?”

“They say it’s not naturalization.”

“...Really?”

“Yes. I confirmed it myself. They’re at the penthouse right now. They said they’ll clear Floor 60 tomorrow.”

“Hah... I aged ten years.”

Park Kyungsoo walked to the sofa and dropped into it.

All strength drained out of his body.

Still, if it wasn’t naturalization, that was a relief.

He’d almost had a heart attack.

At that moment—

BZZZZZ! Another call.

“Is that the President?”

“Yeah. What do we say?”

“I don’t really...”

If they said “don’t worry,” it would signal that they knew who the S++ record Player was, and if they pretended they didn’t know, they’d look incompetent.

“Haa...”

What choice did they have?

They just had to keep their mouths shut until the Floor 60 clear message sounded tomorrow.

────────────────────────────────────

────────────────────────────────────