“This actually works.”
“I told you it would work, hehe.”
It wasn’t just about the successful conquest.
His level had increased, and he’d achieved an S++ grade conquest using the Multinational Tower Usage Ticket, even earning a badge.
Until now, players had only been able to conquer the tower of their own country.
So naturally, he thought Platinum badges could only be received from the Korea’s Black Tower.
He had perceived the multinational usage ticket merely as something for support or foreign excursions.
But to think it actually applied.
‘This ticket… is surprisingly useful.’
If that’s the case, the floors with special rewards would change from those ending in 5 and 0 to those ending in 4 and 9.
That means the next special rewards would be on floors 64 and 69.
With one more ticket, if used again, the final digits would change to 3 and 8.
But nothing was certain yet.
What if this was just receiving the badge from the UAE Black Tower that would have been awarded at floor 60 of the Korea’s Black Tower?
In other words, they might not give him a badge due to duplicate application.
To find out, he’d need to conquer floor 60 of the Korea’s Black Tower right now…
‘Oh my.’
The sight of Gobang’s legs entered Juhyeok’s vision.
Having stepped into poison pools, they were a complete mess.
The skin had dissolved, exposing the tendons beneath.
It was hard to believe he could even walk in that condition.
“Are you okay, Mr. Gobang? That looks really painful.”
“Warriors don’t complain about wounds like these. They’ll heal completely in no time.”
And they actually did.
The wounds healed rapidly as new flesh formed.
His regenerative ability was truly exceptional.
“What should we do? Shall we enter floor 60 of the Republic of Korea Black Tower right away?”
“…”
“We can use the same method there. This is all thanks to my excellent strategy and tactics.”
What a greedy bastard.
He’s claiming he’s not in pain and wants to go back in.
Can’t he see Gobang’s melted calves?
“Hehehe, hehehe… hehe?”
Kozak, sensing something unsettling in Juhyeok’s stare, glanced at Gobang’s injured legs.
“Oh, p-perhaps not today but t-tomorrow would be better.”
That’s right.
Today’s conquest ends here.
How could he make someone go through such pain twice in one day?
That would be too cruel.
Let’s check the special reward instead.
To see if the UAE Black Tower’s Platinum badge is recognized.
Juhyeok opened his inventory.
When he confirmed the 60 badges.
[Special reward for accumulating 60 Platinum badges.]
“Oh!”
It’s giving the reward. The badge is recognized. Then…
[Special Reward: One ladder game usage ticket (1 time) has been added to your inventory.]
“…What the hell?”
Fuck! Playing games with me again?
***
Deputy Chief Jeon Kwang-il was meeting with Team Leader Lee Min-ah, who had just been promoted, in his office.
“Team Leader Lee. Did you have a good visit yesterday?”
Team Leader Lee Min-ah visited Juhyeok’s home every three or four days to collect tower materials.
She had also visited the penthouse right after the 59th floor S++ grade conquest.
“Yesterday I met Player Bong and received tower ore and four wyvern hides. He said he was sending one of each as samples. I left right after work, so I couldn’t put them in the tower materials storage.”
“I-is that so?”
He had secretly been hopeful.
Because Player Bong had started the wyvern section.
He had no concerns about the conquest at all.
He’d expected an S++ grade naturally, and that’s exactly what happened.
What Jeon Kwang-il had been hoping for was the hide.
Would he be able to bring wyvern hide too?
But he hadn’t needed to worry about that either.
“Let’s take a look quickly. It’s wyvern hide, something rarely seen even as tower rewards.”
“Yes, I’ll take out one of each.”
Swoosh!
From Team Leader Lee Min-ah’s inventory emerged a deep black hide—like the basilisk, it was a whole hide.
All parts except the wings were intact.
Earth Wyvern.
Compared to wyverns of other elements, its defense is supreme, making it perfect for crafting player armor.
“Hahaha, magnificent. Truly impressive.”
“Will this go to HG Fashion as well?”
“No, the Management Office will purchase it. Earth Wyvern isn’t suitable for everyday items. It’s better for creating armor or bulletproof vests.”
The second was Flame Wyvern hide.
“Look at this. The red color. It’s so beautiful.”
“It also has excellent heat retention properties. Wearing it in winter would be incredibly warm.”
“You couldn’t wear it in summer though.”
“We have Frost Wyvern hide for that.”
“Ah!”
Frost Wyvern is white in color.
It emits a cool, refreshing chill.
What about Lightning Wyvern?
“Would this give you electrical shocks if you wore it?”
“It doesn’t seem that way from touching it. But its luminescent blue color will make it very popular.”
Four types of wyvern hide.
Each with distinct characteristics.
This is why wyvern this, wyvern that.
Suddenly.
“Hmm?”
While examining the hide, Deputy Chief Jeon Kwang-il noticed something strange on the wyvern’s head hide.
“…This.”
Holes that looked like they’d been made by bullets.
And not just one, but more than ten.
“They look like bullet holes, don’t they? Or perhaps arrows or magic?”
“One of those, I suppose.”
Since they’re flying monsters, using ranged weapons makes sense.
Even close-combat players must carry pistols or crossbows for pulling tactics.
But Player Bong Juhyeok, as he himself revealed, has a summoning trait.
Yet these tough hides were so perfectly penetrated?
They hadn’t even self-regenerated.
This meant the impact was substantial.
“It must be a spirit mage. One who has enhanced their summon grade at least three times.”
“If it can shoot arrows, it must be either wind or water element.”
“Yes, it could be Elaim or Silperion capable of such penetration.”
When the water spirit Undine is enhanced three times, it becomes Elaim, and when Sylphid is enhanced three times, it becomes Silperion.
“If he enhanced his trait, he must have drawn multiple spirits—two creatures for one enhancement, three for two.”
“Yes, naturally, while achieving S++ grade conquests, he must have received trait enhancement runes once or twice as tower rewards.”
Spirit summoning is relatively rare among summoning trait categories.
Of course, being a spirit summoner doesn’t make S++ conquests any easier.
Controlling spirits is incredibly difficult.
Summon grade enhancement isn’t easy either. Even with runes, enhancement failures are common.
Plus, there are various types of runes.
Spirit grade enhancement runes, beast grade enhancement runes, golem grade enhancement runes…
If they knew for certain what Player Bong Juhyeok’s summon was, they could offer some support.
“Anyway, floor 60 is coming up soon.”
“Sigh, that’s what worries me.”
Things were about to get very complicated.
When he was below floor 50, it was somewhat manageable.
Most countries were around the late 50s or 60s anyway.
But now?
Player Bong’s ascension level had surpassed the national average.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he had become a guarantee for tower conquests.
They won’t just sit idly by.
They’ll do everything possible to discover his identity.
The Awakening Management Office absolutely cannot allow that to happen.
Suddenly!
Ring! Ring!
Smartphones rang.
Both Deputy Chief Jeon Kwang-il’s phone and Team Leader Lee Min-ah’s.
What’s happening?
He answered the call.
“It’s me, what’s the matter… What?”
Jeon Kwang-il stood up abruptly.
“S-say that again. Uh…, r-really? Why would the general notice message come from that country? Y-you confirmed it? Are you sure? Ah, alright.”
This is bad.
His heart pounded violently.
He felt so dizzy he might collapse.
“N-no way, it can’t be. It shouldn’t be.”
He needed to confirm the facts as quickly as possible.
***
News of the UAE’s 60th floor S++ grade conquest reached South Korea about an hour later.
Of course, it spread much faster through social media, but fact-checking took time.
Breaking news poured in like a flood.
- <Breaking News) UAE Black Tower 60th floor S++ grade conquest…. not by Korea?>
- <Breaking News) Fact: Until yesterday, Republic of Korea’s S++ conquest record was floor 59.>
- <Breaking News) High possibility of naturalization, unclear whether temporary or permanent.>
- <Breaking News) Is naturalization possible in one day? According to officials, absolutely.>
- <Breaking News) Finally revealed. The reason Crown Prince Abdul bin Salah quietly returned.>
- <Breaking News) Citizens’ anger explodes, government and Awakening Management Office flooded with criticism.>
ㄴIs it really naturalization?
ㄴI’m going crazy. Can’t focus on work all day.
ㄴI took half a day off too.
ㄴI have an acquaintance in UAE, and it’s like a festival there. Complete chaos.
ㄴDid they surrender to the oil country’s money bomb?
ㄴI heard they offered a blank check, how much could they have written?
ㄴThis is maddening, like a stick in my throat.
ㄴFuck, where did my soda go?
ㄴBin Salah stole it.
ㄴNational pride sales discontinued. Where will we get our high now?
ㄴThis is driving me crazy, who the hell is it? Without knowing their identity, we can’t even curse them properly.
ㄴGa-eun Nam is South Korea’s best player!
The atmosphere was ominous.
Regardless of how much time remained for the Korea’s Black Tower conquest, hadn’t we just lost our best player with our eyes wide open?
Angry people flooded the Management Office website, paralyzing the message boards.
Over 100 posts related to this were uploaded to the Blue House National Petition Platform.
Meanwhile, what about Juhyeok?
***
Juhyeok was on the phone with Jeon Kwang-il.
“No, Deputy Chief. It’s not naturalization. I’ve never even been to the UAE embassy. I haven’t acquired citizenship either.”
He was asking if Juhyeok had naturalized to the UAE.
It was a situation that could easily be misunderstood.
“The UAE tower? Well, I suppose someone conquered it. And quite well at that.”
It would be simple to reveal the existence of the Multinational Tower Usage Ticket, but he didn’t want to.
They weren’t that common, and he only had one left.
Plus, according to the contract, he needed to use it on the UAE’s 61st floor.
“I’m not going anywhere. The Korea’s Black Tower’s 60th floor? I plan to conquer it tomorrow, so don’t worry and just wait.”
What naturalization?
I’m already too busy.
Juhyeok hung up and checked the message that appeared in his mind again.
[Special Reward: One ladder game usage ticket (1 time) has been added to your inventory.]
“Come on.”
What? A ladder?
After all this, a ladder?
I was already nervous enough during the roulette.
‘Just when things were going well, they give me something weird again.’
- [Touch the number written on the ticket with your finger. The ladder game will start once you touch it. If you don’t touch it within an hour, the opportunity will disappear.]
Let’s first see what the ladder looks like.
A hologram image appeared before his eyes.
‘I knew it would be something like this.’
Eight vertical lines were drawn with wide spacing.
Each line was numbered.
From 1 to 8.
The final boxes at the bottom of the lines contained prizes.
- 200kg of magic stone
- Summonee grade enhancement rune
- 50kg of Sectorium
- Strike skill rune
- Wyvern hide armor
- 100 Healing potions
- Multinational tower usage ticket (1 time)
- and lastly, Trait enhancement rune.
‘Thankfully, there’s no empty prize.’
But the horizontal lines between the numbers and prizes were invisible.
They were covered like fog.
Probably the horizontal lines would appear after selecting a number.
With this setup, no one can predict where the ladder will lead.
He squinted, hoping to see the horizontal lines, but…
‘Tsk! Can’t see a thing.’
The best outcome would be the trait enhancement rune,
The second best would be the Summonee grade enhancement rune.
The rest aren’t needed.
Actually, the Multinational Tower Usage Ticket wouldn’t be bad either.
Juhyeok wrote down the ladder’s appearance and prizes on a piece of paper about the size of a wall calendar.
He wanted to show his summonees what this ridiculous special reward game was all about.
“So, you can’t see how the horizontal lines are drawn in the middle?”
“That’s right.”
“Damn, we might end up with just magic stone.”
“Kozak, you pick one. Which number do you think is good?”
“How about number 7? Lucky Seven.”
That seems fine.
“A summoner is a man. A man is number 1.”
That’s right.
He’s the manliest of men.
What’s Gyeon Dallae’s opinion?
“At the far right, beneath line 8, lies the trait enhancement rune of my dreams.”
“Yes.”
“What if there are no horizontal lines between the vertical ones, and it’s simply a straight line ladder?”
That’s a reasonable point.
Such tricks are often used.
But would they pull such a prank here?
What about Razix?
“…Hoeaek?”
He trembles and avoids eye contact.
Better not to ask. What about Veronica?
“Hrurrp, smack smack, snore.”
I had hopes, but as expected. Better not wake her.
Summarizing the opinions so far: a man is number 1, lucky number 7, and number 8 where the trait enhancement rune is, in case they’re playing tricks.
Numbers 1, 7, and 8.
However, Juhyeok doesn’t plan to choose from these three.
Better not to listen to the summonees.
If their chosen number fails, one of them will be publicly blamed.
For Koreans, it’s number 3.
“I’m going with number 3. Let’s get this over with and rest.”
Damn ladder.
Whatever I get, I’ll take it.
‘You think I’ll be as nervous as I was with the roulette?’
No way!
I’ll approach this boldly.
I’ll accept whatever comes with grace.
He took out the ladder game usage ticket from his inventory.
When he pressed number 3 written on it, the ticket disappeared with a poof!
[You have selected number 3.]
[The ladder game will now begin.]
Simultaneously, the covered part was revealed with a whoosh!
How are the horizontal lines drawn?
‘…Huh?’
The horizontal lines are densely packed.
So many it’s dizzying.
“Son of a bitch!!!”
Then.
“Sergeant Veronica Caliber! Is it your turn for guard duty?”
Veronica, who had been sleeping, jumped up at Juhyeok’s shout.
“…You don’t need to stand guard, just sleep well.”
“Th-thank you.”
Snore snore snore.
What a blessed life.
Finally, it begins.
A red dot flashed and slowly descended along the line.
Juhyeok held a pen and traced the red dot’s path on his paper.
“Is it coming down like this?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, my heart is pounding.”
People gathered around Juhyeok, curiously watching where the pen would go.
The red dot descended along line 3.
It met a horizontal line and changed direction.
It descended further, then changed direction again.
Back and forth.
It absolutely needs to reach the far right.
That’s where the trait enhancement rune is.
“No, it should go right, why does it keep going left?”
“I’m just following what I see.”
“Can’t you force it to change direction?”
“This maiden’s weak heart can’t bear to watch.”
“Oh, it’s moving, it’s moving! Going to the right.”
“Yes, go, go for it! Go for it!!!”
“S-Sergeant Veronica Caliber! Ready for duty!”
“…Just keep sleeping.”
“Hoeaek!”
“Oh, good. Keep going right… Eh? Why back the other way?”
“Argh! D-don’t go there!”
“Waaah.”
“Oh! It turned again.”
“Yes, looking good.”
“Keep going that way.”
“I’ll change the direction by force. Uughh!”
“Hey! Why are you growing huge in the living room?”
“Coming straight down….”
“Huh? Why left again?”
“Aaaaarghhhh!”
“Ah, this maiden will faint.”
“Nooo!!!”
“Sergeant Veronica Caliber! I must have misheard.”
“Just sleep already!”
“I-it’s reached the bottom.”
“That’s not the right place. Ack!”
“Ch-change direction, please.”
“I’m not the one controlling it.”
“The left is no good! It’s magic stone!”
“Fuuuuuck!!!”
“Craaaaap!!!”
“Sergeant Veronica Cali….”
Stop!
It has reached the bottom. Juhyeok’s pen stopped too.
“Eh?”
“Huh?”
“Oh!”
“Ah!”
“Hoeeh…”
And the prize there was….
“It’s the Summonee grade enhancement rune.”
“Enhancement rune.”
“I-is that good?”
It is good.
Not the best result, but the second best.
Phew,
At least it turned out alright.
“Razix Worker!”
“Hoeaek!”
“Are you ready for promotion?”
“…Hoeng?”
SR.
Or SSR,
I’m very curious.
To see how Razix will change.
***
Director Park Kyung-soo arrived at the Awakening Management Office, fielding a barrage of questions from journalists lined up at the entrance as he went inside.
“Director, is it true the S++ grade conquest record holder has naturalized?”
“Is it permanent naturalization or temporary?”
“If it’s temporary naturalization, was there a secret deal with the UAE?”
“Please answer.”
“The public wants to know.”
“Where are you going? Director? Director!”
With a deeply grim expression, Park Kyung-soo.
He walked quickly to Deputy Chief Jeon Kwang-il’s office and flung the door open.
“W-what happened?”
“It’s not naturalization.”
“…Really?”
“Yes, I confirmed it personally. He’s currently at the penthouse. He plans to conquer floor 60 tomorrow.”
“Haha, what a relief.”
Park Kyung-soo walked to the sofa and collapsed onto it.
All strength had left his body.
At least it wasn’t naturalization, thankfully.
He thought he was going to have a heart attack.
Suddenly!
Ring! An incoming call.
“Is it the President?”
“Yes, what should I say?”
“I’m not sure either…”
If he says not to worry, it might signal that they know who the S++ grade conquest player is, but if he denies knowledge, they’ll seem incompetent.
“Sigh,”
What can he do?
He has no choice but to keep his mouth shut until tomorrow’s floor 60 conquest message arrives.