Shopping had been satisfying.

Every built-in closet in the penthouse bedrooms was stuffed full with the clothes and accessories the summoned entities had bought.

Well—given how much money they’d spent, it would’ve been weird if it wasn’t full.

The only problem was that Juhyeok still hadn’t shaken off yesterday’s humiliation.

He’d kicked his blanket so much in his sleep that his legs felt sore.

The fourth-round after-party had been something else, too.

They’d eaten and drunk like there was no tomorrow at a barbecue place.

Just that one night had cost tens of millions of won.

And yet his bank balance barely looked like it had moved.

If anything, it felt like it grew the more he spent.

Not long ago, a Russian Player had come to the Republic of Korea, paid the rental fee, and borrowed the holy sword.

Russia had two Towers.

The highest floor was 63, and the clear time limits were different, so the Player had only climbed one of them.

They’d even made a reservation to come back again in two months.

Thankfully, nothing went wrong.

The clear had succeeded, and the holy sword had been returned safely.

Ten million dollars deposited into his account.

To Russia, that was probably pocket change.

Compared to what they must have paid him to clear China’s three Towers in sequence through temporary naturalization...

The money was growing at a ridiculous rate.

Holy sword rental fees, Tower ore he supplied directly to the Administration—he hadn’t even received the leather money yet.

‘Should I just buy a building?’

That wasn’t a bad idea.

Much better than leaving piles of cash sitting in a bank account.

Anyway, it was time to try Floor 65.

The original plan had been to park at Floor 64.

The perk ended there, so he hadn’t wanted to force the climb any higher.

He’d been thinking: if he got a new summoned entity, he’d build rapport, buy a car, maybe do a nationwide road trip.

But he’d changed his mind.

A huge part of it was Cossack’s wicked little idea—turning Lucius Bardin, the inquisitor, into a holy sword.

Just remembering dark ghouls bursting apart under Bardin’s Radiance gave Juhyeok a strange, prickly sense of satisfaction.

So what would it be like against the Floor 65 dullahan—the headless knight?

It was an undead monster people called a “mid-boss,” in its own way.

There was another benefit to climbing higher, too.

More item fragments would become detectable through Rajix’s searching.

If he didn’t climb in this situation, how could he call himself a “tower weak man” worth the name?

Before they went in, Juhyeok called Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil.

Ah! Player Bong, what brings this on? Calling me first and everything.

“It’s nothing big. I was thinking of clearing Floors 65 and 66 too... that’s okay, right?”

Hahaha, of course. If you want to go up, you should. Just—please hold back on Floor 67. You know how it is. We have to fill the time limit completely.

“Oh, I’m obviously not going to Floor 67.”

People would lose their minds.

Even when he’d finished Floor 64 at S++, the media had gone crazy.

Shouldn’t he stop? An uncontrolled genius is dangerous.

“Let’s leak something while we’re at it.”

Pardon?

“Leak that I’m not going to Floor 67... and that the Tower Player Awakening Administration had an understanding in advance with Meatshield.”

That’s...

“Honestly, they probably all know already.”

Holy sword, leather, ore supply.

If someone wasn’t an idiot, they’d have figured it out.

That the Administration had a relationship with an S++-rank clearer.

Understood. I’ll only hint at the nuance. Vaguely.

That took care of the notice.

Now, Floor 65 first.

Juhyeok summoned the others one by one.

Starting with the most senior.

“ATTENTION! Summoner Bong’s right hand—quick-witted, top-class secret agent—Cossack reporting in!”

He appeared wearing luxury sunglasses he’d bought at the department store.

The same look Juhyeok had seen last.

‘So it really does save the state exactly as-is.’

Next was Meatshield.

Meatshield showed up in a top-tier designer suit.

Designer shoes. A tie.

And a Platinum Badge gleaming on his chest.

“Summoner. Meatshield is here.”

He looked incredible.

The fit was sharp—almost absurdly so.

“But you can’t go into the Tower wearing that. If you use Enlargement, it’ll tear.”

“It’s fine, Summoner. It will not tear.”

“...Why not?”

“It was saved and registered as my personal belonging. When I enlarge, the clothes stretch.”

“Ah!”

So he was going to become a giant... in a suit?

Then Gyeon Dallae.

“Thank you for summoning me again today.”

Jeans, a T-shirt, sneakers.

A perfect Korean teenager.

What about Rajix and Veronica?

“SQUEAK!”

“Certain victory! Staff Sergeant Veronica Caliber has answered the Commander’s call!”

They’d both bought a lot, but neither looked different.

Rajix’s purchases were stored in the Subspace Backpack, and Veronica’s were packed away in the closet.

“Alright. Shall we go to Floor 65?”

To hunt a dullahan.

Weapons, they’d summon once they were inside.

*****

[Entering Black Tower (Republic of Korea) Floor 65.]

Floor 65 was plains.

So even from the safe zone, the mission area was visible, wide open.

It looked like an ocean.

A real ocean with waves.

Undead waves.

‘That’s brutal.’

The scale of it was army-grade.

Every undead type they’d seen up through Floor 64 filled the entire vast plain.

And on a ridge in the middle sat a headless knight on a skeletal horse.

That was the mission for Floor 65.

Kill the dullahan, and it was game over.

But it was hard.

To reach the dullahan’s position, you had to punch through an undead grand army.

How were you supposed to do that?

Of course, there was a comparatively easy method.

The dullahan didn’t stay motionless up on the ridge forever.

Soon enough, it would move.

Like it was playing commander, it would ride alone and make patrol rounds around the edges of the plain.

Usually, it took about five hours from the start of its patrol to reach the front edge of the mission area.

So if you did nothing and just held your breath, it would come all the way to you.

“If we wait about five hours, it will be easy. The dullahan is a knight, so its dark aura tends to be large in size and range, but it also has the weakness of having no head, so facing it is not difficult.”

In other words: kill it after five hours.

“Then what about an S++ clear?”

“That would be difficult.”

“Is it impossible?”

“If we take the direct approach, it is possible. If we break through the undead legion and kill the dullahan directly...”

“Hmm.”

Go straight through that?

‘That’s dangerous.’

Especially with Gyeon Dallae and Rajix—non-combat summoned entities.

Still, there was a way.

The direct approach.

They had a holy sword, too.

“Rajix and the Princess should move with Meatshield. Ride on his shoulder.”

Meatshield had done it before—he’d be used to it.

But—

“Eh? Can’t do that. The Princess, sure, but our worker Rajix—if he rolls, he’s faster than Staff Sergeant Veronica. Summoner Bong should ride.”

“SQUEAK!”

As if.

Children and teenagers first.

No matter how much of a “weak man” he was, he wasn’t yielding on this.

“Am I a slug? Who taught you Shadow Step? Huh? Did you forget Walking on Air?”

“Ah—th-that ain’t what I meant.”

“Summoner Bong, climb with this maiden. A scholar does not run even when it rains...”

“Enough. Do it my way. I’ll run, so get ready.”

“...Yessir.”

Break through the undead legion and kill the dullahan directly.

A clear no one had ever done.

Then again—every clear so far had been like that.

“Let’s begin.”

Fwoooom—!

Meatshield’s body swelled until it looked like it could touch the sky.

Even the suit expanded with him, which somehow made him look even more absurdly cool.

Maybe it was time to stop calling him a barbarian.

A cold, city warrior Meatshield—warm as sunshine to his allies.

“Designated Summon: Lucius Bardin.”

SPOT!

“Summoner! You are being deceived—”

“Shh. No skills except manifesting Radiance. No speech except ‘LIGHT!!!’ No struggling.”

“...”

Meatshield lifted the now-limp Bardin.

“Bardin. Manifest Radiance.”

“LIGHT!!!”

FWAAASH!

Radiance flared—so dazzling it stung the eyes.

At /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ the same time, Juhyeok and the others began moving forward carefully.

The moment the mission appeared, they’d sprint.

Far ahead, the headless knight stood tall on horseback.

They would charge—no hesitation.

Whatever blocked them, they would smash.

[Floor 65 Mission: Kill 1 dark knight dullahan.]

[Time Limit: Within 16 hours.]

[Completion Condition: dark knight dullahan 0/1]

A generous time limit.

Which probably meant the S++ judgment window would be long, too.

“Run!”

THUD THUD THUD THUD!

Meatshield led with gigantic strides.

“SKREEE!”

“KAK!”

“KRAAA!”

Undead swarmed in like piranhas that had smelled blood.

WHOOOM! WHAM! WHAM!

With each swing of the human holy sword Bardin, undead shattered into powder.

“Assault mode. Buckshot—small rounds loaded. Selector on full-auto. Executing tactical fire.”

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Veronica’s rapid buckshot fire.

Not to penetrate—just to stop the enemy from closing.

The undead hit by rounds staggered back a step at a time.

Cossack stuck close behind, guarding Juhyeok.

PAT PAT PAT PAT!

Both of them used the same skill—Shadow Step.

“Bardin. Radiance.”

“LIGHT!!!”

BWOOOOONG! FSSHHH—

They didn’t slow down.

Meatshield plowed through the undead like a military snowplow.

He couldn’t stop.

If he did, the undead wave would swallow them whole.

How long would it take?

No one knew. No one had ever walked this path.

But one thing was sure:

This was the fastest clear.

“Radiance.”

“LIGHT!!!”

Who was going to stop Meatshield?

He marched forward, swinging Bardin back and forth in front of him—

FSSHHH... FSSHHH...

—and even so, the undead kept coming, relentless.

Whenever they got close, Veronica suppressed them.

SWISH! SWISH!

Cossack’s Shock Break, which could halt a target in its tracks, flashed too.

SHRRIP!

Clink-clink.

On Meatshield’s shoulder, Gyeon Dallae shook her bell, and Rajix swung his golden pickaxe, urging him on.

“SQUEEENG!!”

But there were too many.

Endless.

Undead rose in wave after wave and crashed toward them.

“LIGHT!!!”

FSSHHH—

“LIGHT!!!”

And then something strange happened.

No one had ordered Bardin to manifest Radiance.

“LIGHT!!!”

He was doing it on his own.

He really was.

Lucius Bardin was shouting by himself.

“LIGHT!!!”

Bardin’s eyes were bloodshot.

His voice was soaked in madness.

His expression was crazy, too.

Was he evolving from fake madness into the real thing?

Even while Meatshield swung him, Bardin wasn’t just hanging there.

He swung his own flail along with it, smashing undead apart.

“Th-that—he’s a pervert. He added an auto-Radiance function himself. He’s enjoying it. Ugh. Gives me chills.”

Enjoying it? Now?

“Look at his face. Ain’t he smiling? He’s gone. I’m starting to suspect his tastes.”

Says the man who made him like this.

Same poison, different bottle.

When was Juhyeok going to meet a truly normal summoned entity?

‘No. I already have one. Our reliable worker Rajix.’

Juhyeok lifted his head and looked at Rajix on Meatshield’s shoulder.

“SQUEEENG!!!”

Rajix raised his golden pickaxe and screamed at the undead horde.

“...”

...Was Rajix starting to lose it too?

That would be a problem.

They had about a hundred meters left.

Meatshield charged.

“LIGHT!!!”

FSSHHH!

Eighty meters.

“Summoner Bong, we are nearly there. Please be careful to the very end.”

Sixty meters.

“Commander! Large rounds are ready!”

Fifty meters.

“Fire!”

ZEEEENG!

PA-JUJUJUK! FWAAASH!

The large round struck the dullahan’s body.

Its dark aura visibly weakened.

About thirty meters remained—

And at that exact moment,

Rajix bristled on Meatshield’s shoulder, fur standing on end.

“SQUEEEAK?”

Sniff, sniff.

A smell.

There was something there.

Right there.

But it was deep.

If he dug, it would take time.

And the clear looked like it was about to end.

Could he dig it up before then?

It would be tight.

If he was going to dig, it had to be now.

Even if they came back for a repeat run later, there was no guarantee it would still be there.

If the mission completed, the floor reset.

“SQUEEENG!!!”

WHIP!

Rajix finally jumped off Meatshield’s shoulder.

At the same time—

RROOOLL...

Rajix rolled, weaving through the undead.

“Top servant! Have you lost your mind?! Come back at once!”

Gyeon Dallae screamed in shock.

Juhyeok saw it too.

This was bad.

“Rajix!”

SPOT!

Juhyeok chased after him with Shadow Step as undead surged in.

BWOOOONG!

Blood Jade Force wrapped thickly around both arms up to the elbows, red and heavy.

PAT PAT PAT PA-PAT!

Juhyeok moved, leaving shadows behind.

SHHK! FSSHH! SHHK-KK-KK! FSSHHH!

Blood Jade Force lopped undead heads off as he shouted,

“Meatshield—dullahan first!”

“Ah—understood, Summoner.”

Rajix, though, had gone blind to everything.

Madness.

Items, items... badges, badges.

A golden pickaxe in each hand.

“SQUEEENG! SQUEEENG! SQUEEENG!”

CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK!

He dug down like a man possessed.

Juhyeok, Veronica, and Cossack were too busy guarding Rajix to breathe.

And Meatshield—alone, no, with holy sword Bardin—faced the dullahan.

WHIP!

The dullahan charged on horseback with a long lance—

SNATCH!

Meatshield grabbed the lance in one hand, locked it in place, lifted Bardin high, and brought him down like a hammer.

“LIGHT!!!”

Radiance blazed.

Bardin’s spiked armor.

And the flail’s follow-through.

WHIP! THUD! One.

“LIGHT!!!”

WHIP! THUD! Two.

“LIGHT!!!”

WHIP! WHIP! WHIP—

THUD! THUD! THUD—

Meatshield slammed the dullahan down again and again, like threshing grain.

CRACK! The dullahan shattered.

CRACK! The skeletal horse didn’t survive either.

The dark knight dullahan scattered into dust.

[dark knight dullahan killed 1/1]

[You have succeeded in the Floor 65 mission.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Reward: Magic Stone 6.5kg]

And—

“SQUEAK!”

Rajix, covered in dirt, raised a large rune fragment high from the hole he’d dug.

[Global Notice: You have achieved Black Tower (Korea) Floor 65 Clear Rank S++.]

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

[You may challenge Floor 66.]

[Exiting Black Tower (Republic of Korea).]

SPOT!

Juhyeok’s penthouse.

“Haa...”

“Hoo...”

“...”

“Mmm.”

“SQUEEAK...”

They hadn’t expected it to be this exhausting.

Everyone was spent.

Juhyeok, the summoned entities... and even the holy sword dangling from Meatshield’s hand—

swaying.

Bardin’s face was pale, eyes unfocused, spiked armor dented, sweat dripping in heavy beads.

“Guhhh...”

He looked like he was about to die.

There was no choice.

Juhyeok had to send him back.

“Dismiss Summon: Lucius Bardin.”

SPOT!

After catching his breath, Juhyeok looked at Rajix and asked quietly,

“...Why did you do that?”

“Sque—this.”

Rajix handed him a rune fragment.

“No—just one rune fragment, and you—what was so urgent about it?!”

He’d almost died.

They could’ve dug slowly during a repeat run.

Still, he needed to check the info—

“Huh!”

The rune fragment’s information rose in his mind.

<Nearly Completed Summoned Entity Rank-Up Rune (6/7)>

“Is it... a good one?”

“...This is insane.”

No wonder the chunk had been so big.

One more piece and it would be complete.

And Juhyeok’s inventory already contained countless rune fragments.

‘If even one of those fits...’

He opened his inventory, poured the fragments out in a clatter—

swallowed hard—

and started fitting them together one by one.

Slide, slide, slide...

Then—

SLIDE... CLACK!

One fragment snapped on like a magnet.

[You have obtained a Summoned Entity Rank-Up Rune.]

“Yes!”

“CLACK, sir!”

“Congratulations.”

“How many is this now? It is impressive.”

Rajix puffed up.

His badge edge looked sharper than before.

That made... four?

“Rajix.”

“SQUEAK!”

“You did well.”

“SQUEEEAK...”

“But there’s no badge.”

“SQUEAK?”

Rajix’s eyes went round.

He couldn’t just praise him unconditionally.

That sudden sprint had been dangerously reckless.

If he praised it here, Rajix might do it again next time.

“I didn’t order you to run out alone. Do you want to end up Summon Unavailable for a hundred days?”

“...SQUEAK. I’m sorry.”

“I was going to ban you from being summoned for three days. But I’ll forgive you because of this.”

“SQUEEAK...”

It hurt, but rewards and punishments had to be strict.

That aside—

“Veronica?”

“Staff Sergeant Veronica Caliber!”

“Congratulations in advance on your promotion.”

“Ah!”

“It’s thanks to Rajix, so...”

In that instant—

“S-Supply Officer!”

Veronica lunged and hugged Rajix hard.

Rajix vanished into her enormous chest.

He’s going to suffocate.

‘...Hmm.’

‘...Hmm.’

‘...Hmm.’

Anyway—

What would she look like now?

────────────────────────────────────

────────────────────────────────────