In 2004, colossal obsidian structures known as Black Towers materialized across the globe, their sudden appearance sending shockwaves through humanity.
Simultaneously, mankind began to awaken, a phenomenon as mysterious as it was transformative.
Through this awakening, we gained a vague understanding of why these towers had appeared and how to confront them.
The awakened humans were dubbed “Players,” a designation as apt as it was unnerving.
Two decades later, in 2024, the Black Towers still loomed ominously, and a minuscule fraction of humanity continued to undergo the awakening process.
***
This year, 25-year-old Bong Juhyeok awakened, despite his fervent wishes to the contrary.
[Bong Juhyeok, you have awakened.]
“Holy shit! What the actual fuck!” Juhyeok exclaimed, his voice cracking with shock. It was early Sunday evening, and he had just been about to take his first bite of freshly cooked instant ramyeon in his cramped studio apartment.
“A-awakened?” he stammered, his mind reeling. This can’t be happening. Please, let this be some kind of mistake.
Juhyeok stood there, dazed for a long moment, his chopsticks suspended in mid-air. Why me? he thought, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
Some called awakening a blessing, a stroke of luck surpassing even a lottery win, with the potential to completely overturn one’s life. That is, if you survive.
But for Juhyeok, it felt more like a curse. He had never harbored dreams of becoming a Player and entering the tower. All he wanted was to live an ordinary life, even if it was a bit tough, without excessive ambition.
Juhyeok was a self-proclaimed low-tier male and a common man. He avoided injustice when he could and tried his best not to create dangerous situations. Entering the tower was extremely perilous, and the death toll of Players who failed their missions was a closely guarded secret.
“Ugh! It’s chilling just thinking about it,” Juhyeok muttered, his imagination conjuring gruesome images of Players torn apart by monsters, freezing to death in harsh environments, burning alive, succumbing to poison, being crushed in traps, or starving to death, unable to escape.
Was this awakening really happening? There was a simple way to verify. Juhyeok took a deep breath and called out, his voice trembling, “S-status window!”
With a soft whoosh, a translucent screen materialized before him:
+++
[Name]: Bong Juhyeok
[Affiliation]: Black Tower (Korea)
[Level]: LV1.
[Characteristic]: Summoning (Simultaneous Summons: 1)
[Catalog]: Empty
[Characteristic Skills]: Designated Summon / Random Summon / Summon Release
[General Skills]: Tower Entry (1 per day) / Tower-exclusive Inventory
[Combat Skills]: None
+++
“Haa,” Juhyeok sighed, his shoulders slumping. The awakening was undeniable. He skimmed through the information, his eyes widening as he reached the characteristic.
Summoning? That’s… unexpected.
When you awaken, you’re assigned a characteristic, and there were various types: Fire Magic, Ice Magic, Lightning Magic, Martial Arts, Superhuman Strength, Summoning, Swordsmanship, Spearmanship, Archery, Healing, and more. The Summoning characteristic was quite renowned, with different types of summoners like elemental, beast, golem, and demon beast summoners.
What kind of summoner am I? Juhyeok wondered. Should I try using a skill? He hesitated for a moment before muttering, “Random… Summon.”
Nothing happened.
“Ah!” Juhyeok exclaimed, feeling foolish. He had forgotten that skills shouldn’t activate outside the tower. A Player’s abilities were only supposed to work online, inside the tower. Offline, they were no different from ordinary people.
Just as he was about to give up, a message appeared:
[Initiating Random Summon.]
“Huh?” Juhyeok gasped, his eyes widening in disbelief.
Whoosh! Poof!
A flash of white light filled the room, momentarily blinding him. As his vision cleared, Juhyeok found himself face to face with… a person?
“Is this for real?” he muttered, blinking rapidly. Before him stood a Western man with reddish-brown hair, looking youthful and unremarkable.
“That’s right. I’m a person,” the man confirmed, his accent peculiar and his manner of speech oddly formal.
“What the…” Juhyeok trailed off, his mind struggling to process what had just happened. He had succeeded in summoning a human, outside the tower, where skills shouldn’t work.
The summoned man sniffed the air, his eyes lighting up. “Sniff, sniff, what’s that delightful aroma… Oh! ramyeon? May I have a taste?”
Juhyeok stared at him, dumbfounded. Not only did I summon a person, but I summoned a freeloader?
***
As the evening wore on, Juhyeok’s confusion only deepened. He watched in bewilderment as the summoned man, who introduced himself as John Kozak, devoured the ramyeon with gusto.
“Slurp, ah, slurp! Whew, it’s spicy. It’s been ages since I’ve had this,” Kozak exclaimed, his eyes watering slightly.
“Do you usually eat spicy food? I prefer milder flavors myself,” Juhyeok found himself saying, still trying to wrap his head around the situation.
As Kozak continued to slurp down the noodles, Juhyeok’s mind raced. Why did the summoning skill work outside the tower? And why a human, of all things?
He checked his status window again, focusing on the characteristic. A new message popped up:
[Summons humans and humanoids.]
[Summonable range includes R (Rare), SR (Super Rare), SSR (Special Super Rare), LSSR (Legend Special Super Rare).]
[The summoner and the summoned can communicate fluently in any situation.]
From Rare to Legend Special Super Rare? This isn’t some game character gacha, Juhyeok thought, his brow furrowing.
The message continued:
+++
**[The summoned follows three principles.]
- The summoned prioritizes the summoner’s life above all else.
- The summoned absolutely obeys the summoner’s orders.
- When principles 1 and 2 conflict, principle 1 takes precedence.**
+++
As Juhyeok pondered these principles, another status window opened, this time for the summoned being:
+++
**<Catalog: Deranged Assassin from the Cruel Assassination Guild>
Name: John Kozak
Grade: SR (Super Rare)
Type: Assassin (Human)
Manifestation Duration: 6 hours
Satisfaction Rating: None.
Resummoning Cooldown: 3 hours (applied after summon release)**
+++
A background story materialized as Juhyeok stared at the window:
John Kozak was a troublesome member of the Cruel Assassination Guild. In short, he was certifiably insane. However, his mission success rate was an astounding 99%, and he even managed to assassinate a 5th Circle Black Mage. His downfall came from his only failure. He died miserably while attempting to assassinate the Empire’s strongest Sword Master.
As Juhyeok read this, vivid scenes flashed through his mind, like watching a brief, intense movie of Kozak’s past. He saw the assassin concealing himself with stealth, ambushing targets from behind, and decapitating them with terrifying efficiency.
This is crazy!
Juhyeok thought, his stomach churning.
That man’s undoubtedly an assassin. He doesn’t hesitate to kill people.
But what truly disturbed Juhyeok was the sight of Kozak tying ribbon-like objects to the heads of his victims. Is it like a souvenir? he wondered, feeling sick. Or maybe he made it easier to carry.
The final scene showed Kozak’s demise, his body cleaved in half by the sword of a white-haired knight.
So I summoned a dead ghost? Juhyeok realized, a chill running down his spine. Yet, looking at Kozak now, happily slurping ramyeon, he appeared exactly like a living person.
Gathering his courage, Juhyeok decided to engage the assassin in conversation. “Mr. Kozak?” he began hesitantly.
“Yes!” Kozak replied enthusiastically, setting down his chopsticks.
“Where did you come from?”
“I don’t know,” Kozak admitted. “But it’s a place teeming with people.”
Not people, but a place teeming with ghosts, most likely, Juhyeok thought. Heaven? Or hell?
As their conversation continued, Juhyeok tested Kozak’s obedience, asking him to clean up and even, in a moment of morbid curiosity, to pull down his pants. To his shock and slight horror, Kozak complied without hesitation.
Just as Juhyeok was beginning to process the bizarre situation he found himself in, a loud banging on his apartment door startled him.
“Bong Juhyeok! Are you in there? Open the door now!” a gruff voice demanded.
Damn it! Juhyeok thought, his heart racing.
That gang of debt collectors. I completely forgot it was the interest payment day.
As Juhyeok dealt with the menacing debt collectors, he found himself caught between his newfound abilities as a Player and the harsh realities of his everyday life. The weight of his awakening, the summoning of an assassin, and the looming threat of his debts all pressed down on him, leaving him exhausted and overwhelmed.
That night, as Juhyeok fell into a troubled sleep, he couldn’t shake the feeling that his life had irrevocably changed. Little did he know that the true extent of that change would become horrifyingly clear the next morning, when he woke to news of a gruesome murder at the very loan company he owed money to, the victims’ severed heads adorned with familiar ribbon bows.
No fucking way, Juhyeok thought, his blood running cold.
What have I done?