The work toward reunification between North and South Korea was progressing smoothly.
Free travel between North and South was already possible, and road and rail connections were nearly complete.
Of course, there was still a long road ahead.
Establishing an economic community, forming a unified National Assembly, drafting a new reunification constitution, setting up a single or federal government, and so on.
But not everyone supported reunification.
Both in the South and in the North, there were clearly forces opposed to it.
Especially the pro-China faction in North Korea and some hardliners.
In their eyes, Chairman Kim In-jung and Minister of the People's Armed Forces Go Sa-geuk were traitors, sellouts.
As if they were handing the Democratic People's Republic of Korea over to the South.
Chairman Kim In-jung rose to the top of the elimination list.
The danger of assassination grew by the day.
There had already been actual attempts.
They were discovered in advance, but still.
In the midst of all that, Kosak visited North Korea and met with Chairman Kim In-jung.
"C-Comrade Go Sa-geuk!"
"Chairman Comrade, I have reported."
"No, that's not it!"
Kosak had been far too busy as well.
Just how much had happened?
CEO Jeong Dong-hun was taking care of the Pyongyang factory anyway…
So as Minister of the People's Armed Forces, he needed to check how reunification was progressing.
….
All of this was for whose sake, anyway.
"Is the great undertaking going well?"
"No problems. Just that those anti-reunification bastard sons of bitches seem to be plotting something…."
"Really? There are still that many reactionaries?"
"Yes, sir. Swarming everywhere."
"Hm. You're having a hard time."
Kosak listened to the report.
Anti-reunification forces were secretly growing in strength.
The State Security Department claimed it was rooting them out, but in truth, even that department couldn't be trusted.
What if something happened to Kim In-jung?
All ongoing reunification efforts would come to a complete halt.
If that happened, peace between North and South would rapidly deteriorate into conflict and could even lead to real war.
That would be a massive threat to Summoner Bong's safety as well.
So before coming to North Korea, Kosak had already spoken with Juhyeok.
At least until reunification was complete, Kim In-jung's safety had to be guaranteed.
"Chairman Comrade, take this."
Kosak handed Kim In-jung a stiff cardboard card.
"W-What is this?"
"A White Tower 17th-floor monthly lease pass."
"W-White Tower? There's such a place?"
"Think of it as a shelter. You'll be safe for at least a month."
Chairman Kim In-jung just blinked, still not understanding.
A shelter?
With just this piece of paper?
Well, he was given it, so he took it.
And then—
Tsst—Dae!
Letters were engraved onto the lease pass.
"Gasp!"
It was his own name.
Monthly resident: Kim In-jung.
At the same time—
Ding!
Even though he wasn't a player, a message sounded saying an entry/exit skill had been granted.
"Ah, is this an item?"
"If you got a skill, try entering. I'll be waiting."
"R-Right now?"
"Immediately."
If he was told to do it, he had to.
With a trembling voice, Kim In-jung called out.
"E-Enter."
Spot!
He vanished.
A moment later.
Spot!
He reappeared.
With a dazed expression.
"Uh… what in the world…?"
"You went and came back? Met people?"
"I-I did."
"Good. If anything happens from now on, run to the White Tower. Your life will be safe."
A shelter.
He finally understood its purpose.
Chairman Kim In-jung was deeply moved.
"Thank you. I will never forget this kindness, even in death."
"Isn't that only natural? From now on, devote your whole body to the great task of reunification."
"I will keep that firmly in mind."
"Depending on how you do, the lease will be renewed every month."
The business was finished.
Lastly—
Kosak sprang to his feet and raised both hands high.
"Long live Juhyeok!"
Then Kim In-jung stood as well.
"Long live Bong Juhyeok!"
Huh?
"Comrade…?"
Kim In-jung looked as if nothing were wrong.
"Everyone already knows the name, don't they? No need to be cautious."
"Well… that's true, but still, it's better to leave out the surname."
"I understand. Long live Juhyeok!"
"Long live Juhyeok!"
Kosak was satisfied.
With this, Kim In-jung wouldn't die, right?
Even if he were injured on the brink of death by a terror attack, as long as he shouted the entry skill, he could move to the White Tower.
That would keep him alive.
There was even an alchemist there, so treatment was possible.
Chairman Kim In-jung couldn't die yet.
At least not before finishing reunification.
The world of souls.
The souls were worried beyond measure.
When on earth would random summoning happen again?
Could it be that it was over for good?
『No one even comes by to brag anymore.』
『Even that vampire bastard hasn't come on assignment.』
『What if something happened to the summoner…』
『Damn it, what kind of unlucky shit are you spouting?』
『We don't know what's happening outside.』
Normally, when a summoned a summon, the summoned returned to the world of souls.
The same happened if the summoner died.
The only place the summoned could return to was this world of souls.
That was how they learned about outside events—through their testimonies.
But what if the summoner had obtained the White Tower?
And even succeeded in issuing residence passes so the summoned's residence moved to the White Tower?
Even if the summoner died, they wouldn't return to the world of souls.
They'd just be trapped on the floor of the White Tower that had become their residence.
There would be no way to know what happened to the summoner, or how many floors he was climbing.
『How far has he gone, I wonder.』
『Did he reach the 90th floor?』
『What comes out on the 90th floor?』
『How would I know? I couldn't even get past the 70s.』
『Didn't he say he killed the 87th-floor undead dragon?』
『The last confirmation was the 88th-floor lesser Sand Dragon.』
In the past, on his final assignment day, Jephet had said that.
That they were preparing to raid the lesser Sand Dragon.
『Did they kill the lesser dragon? If so, the 89th floor would be…』
『High chance it's a dragon. A real one.』
『Heh, a dragon, huh.』
『But isn't a full-grown one still manageable?』
『Have you ever killed one?』
『I have. Not in the Tower, but in the world I lived in. And not alone.』
『Dragon subjugation is usually a full national effort. The army and magic towers must've been mobilized.』
『Maybe an ancient dragon appeared around the 90th floor.』
『Hah… that one's hard even if a whole nation throws itself at it.』
『Yeah. Ancients are impossible to clear. None have ever been killed.』
『Don't tell me he faced an ancient dragon and…』
『Hah.』
『Phew.』
『Hehehe.』
Was random summoning really the problem?
They didn't need to go out.
Just cheering the summoner on from the world of souls was enough.
If he achieved great feats, benefits would return to the souls as well.
That was the contract from the start.
If the summoner completely cleared the Black Tower, all souls here would be freed.
The summoner was a savior.
That was how he was born.
So why try so hard to go out?
To help his path, even a little.
If you became a summoned, the summoner's achievements became your own.
『Whew…』
The sighs of souls filled the space.
And then, at that very moment!
『Have you all been well?』
Huh?
That soul's wavelength was extremely familiar.
『Jephet has returned.』
『G-Gasp!』
『Ooooh!』
『H-He's back, he's back!』
『Why so late?』
『The summoner—are they well?』
『Hurry up and tell us!』
Cheers and questions poured out.
Jephet was more satisfied than ever.
Yes, this feeling.
This was why he gave up White Tower 17th-floor residence and returned to the world of souls.
So what if he couldn't live in the White Tower?
Living only in the summoner's penthouse residence was more than enough.
『We cleared the 90th-floor ancient dragon and are preparing to climb the 91st.』
『W-What? Really?!』
『You hunted an ancient dragon? Incredible, incredible!』
『Hahahaha! I knew it!』
『To our summoner, an ancient dragon was nothing more than a well-boiled medicinal ingredient.』
『Explain in more detail. What happened all this time?』
『Take it slow. The assignment is a month long. Plenty of time.』
If you spill everything at once, content gets used up too fast and you'll have nothing left to say later.
『I'll start with the raid on the lesser Sand Dragon Gigant.』
『G-Gigant raid?!』
『What happened was—
You have to unravel it leisurely, one by one.
5
White Tower, 17th floor.
The summoned steeled themselves for the ascent of the Black Tower's 91st floor.
Checking equipment, asking the summoner to bid on auction items if something was needed, sparring to sync their teamwork.
A total of 17 summoned.
Quite a lot.
Of course, everyone got along well.
Still, there were pairs who matched especially well.
Rajiks always stuck close to Blood Wolf.
Beastkin and magical beast.
They couldn't help but get along.
Kosak is close with the mad demon, Mackenzie, and mostly the old-timers.
Even though they're always fighting.
Maybe all that bickering made them grow attached.
Gobang sticks with his soulmate Bardin.
Gyeondallae is with Major Bae.
The shut-in alchemist Mari also has a best friend.
That would be the magitech engineer El.
Since El is a golem, social anxiety probably doesn't apply.
Alchemy and magitech are intertwined work-wise, too.
Baek Danya looks after Mannyeon, who's practically like her twin.
Baek Danya handles Mannyeon's character education and all the cleanup.
From her perspective, keeping Mannyeon around also helps with her ice-art training.
Duu hangs out with the summoner's father when he visits occasionally.
As for Jephet, he's away on assignment, so he's not here.
Then what about the Green Dragon, Crackers?
Obviously…
"So you're saying we should be friends since you and I are both converts who defected?"
"Do you have a complaint? A dragon like myself is offering friendship to a mere succubus who isn't even a lord. You should accept it gratefully."
Diamat bristled.
"You green bastard, how dare you, huh? Even among converts there's seniority! I'm your senior! And not a lord? If I eat the Demon King's Heart, I'll rise instantly, you know?!"
Crackers tilted his head and asked.
"Then why don't you eat it? If you consumed it right now, you'd regain the qualifications of a lord."
"Uh… th-that's…"
"Afraid you'll have your organs harvested?"
"..."
That was exactly it.
He might end up as an eyeball vending machine for alchemy ingredients.
"Honestly, same for me. A dragon-heart vending machine."
Kindred spirits.
Perhaps they understood each other's circumstances better than anyone.
"T-The master wouldn't just let that happen."
"Don't you know Rule Three, Clause Three of the Summoned?"
Right.
If things went wrong, they'd be extracted without mercy.
"…You can get them from the auction house."
"And what if they stop showing up? Do you think dragon hearts and Demon King's hearts are that common?"
Crackers wasn't wrong.
There were more and more situations requiring medicinal ingredients.
The summoned were currently exhilarated by the effects of the enhancement elixir.
The summoner's abilities had changed beyond recognition.
They were nearing LSSR grade.
Having confirmed the elixir's effects, given Mari's shut-in alchemist personality, she was surely preparing a second elixir.
And how many types of elixirs were there?
Three.
The Elixir of Enhancement, the Elixir of Resurrection, and the Elixir of Healing.
And would she make just one bottle each?
Of course not.
She'd mass-produce them.
And was it just elixirs?
What about nectar?
She'd try to make that too.
All of those potions required organs of high-ranking demonkind and dragon hearts.
They had already swept the auction house, yet it still wasn't enough.
"…So what are you saying we should do?"
"What else?"
Crackers leaned in close and whispered.
"In this 91st-floor expedition, we converts need to firmly etch our worth into the summoner's mind."
"Hm."
"If you're afraid of becoming a vending machine, you'll never grow. We need to grow too. I'll become an ancient dragon, and you'll become a lord."
Diamat nodded in agreement.
"How long are you going to live just casting skills on the summoner? We need to be real help."
"If I became the master's main wife—"
Main wife?
Could she beat Major Bae?
Honestly, no.
"Eat the Demon King's Heart. Ascend to lord. I'll find a way to reach ancient dragon rank."
"O-Okay."
It wasn't just Crackers and Diamat.
All the summoned were burning with determination to clear the 91st floor.
On the 90th floor, they hadn't been the protagonists.
On Black Tower Earth No. 675, it was the Transcendent Sword Immortal.
On Black Tower Earth No. 1,001, it was the clones of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
They'd lost face.
But the 91st floor would be different.
This time, they would move at the forefront.
And so the summoned's resolve to conquer the 91st floor burned fiercely.
Juhyeok rode the elevator alone to the auction house.
To collect the proceeds from his auction sales.
The laptop sold a week ago went for about 600,000.
This time, the portable Play Switch game console should be similar.
So he hadn't even checked the winning bid.
No matter how expensive, it'd be under a million.
The goal of gathering top-grade mana stones was just one thing.
Bidding on a World Tree sapling.
Let's plant a huge tree on the 17th floor.
How nice would that look?
That would make two landmarks.
He had to keep saving diligently.
Register auctions every single day.
Juhyeok opened the locker.
And then he checked the winning amount.
"Uh."
Stacks upon stacks of top-grade mana stone storage tickets.
"…Blue tickets?"
Eight blue tickets worth one million each.
"And this many red tickets too."
Seventy-eight red tickets worth ten thousand each.
And one white ticket under ten thousand for the remaining change.
"How much did it sell for, anyway?"
He pulled up the auction status board to check.
– Current winning bid: 9,765,440 kg of top-grade mana stones.
"…Wow!"
…..
That's insane.
About 9.7 million.
After fees, 8.78 million.
"Seniors, aren't you bidding way too hard?"
Are top-grade mana stones common in other worlds?
Thinking about it, that might be the case.
They live in worlds where mana exists.
Even inside the Tower, you can mine top-grade mana stones.
So other worlds must have mana-stone veins too.
Like oil fields on Earth.
Worlds that pump mana straight out of the ground.
Anyway, if it keeps selling at this price every month, it might easily exceed 200 million kg.
Well, not everything would go for this price, of course.
"Still, the gap from the previous auction is huge."
Was it because he hadn't listed anything for a week?
"Then should I space them out?"
Nah, let's not.
If they want it this badly, unless something special happens, he should keep listing items every day.
Auction house business done.
Juhyeok returned to the 17th floor.
Preparations for the 91st-floor conquest were progressing smoothly.
Gigant Unit No. 3, equipped with the new dark sword and dark shield—
"Hoaaaah!"
Swoosh!
Went straight into Rajiks's subspace backpack.
Was that all?
Food, outdoor camping gear, five off-road SUVs…
They packed it to the brim until nothing more would fit.
What would they have done without Rajiks?
They wouldn't even have cleared the giant-monster zone on the 81st floor.
Rajiks was also the key to this 91st-floor run.
The ever-reliable dimensional porter.
On top of that, his abilities had improved from consuming the enhancement elixir.
And—
Sixteen.
He was bringing all the summoned.
Only one would remain waiting on the 17th floor.
Duu, the non-combat hidden-class farmer.
For that reason—
The Black Tower's 91st floor wasn't scary.
If anything, it was exciting.
What kind of mission would it be?
He'd heard time was separated.
Like Einstein's theory of relativity.
Time flowed over there while this side was frozen.
Meaning that even if they cleared it and returned, not even a minute would pass here.
On top of that, there was the save function.
And guaranteed EX-rank clear rewards.
But for now, he knew nothing.
There was only one way to find out how the 91st-floor mission worked.
"Go in and see for myself."
[Entering Black Tower (Republic of Korea, No. 1), Floor 91.]
They arrived on the 91st floor.
A stark white room, just like before.
"Everyone ready?"
"Yes!"
"Advance without hesitation. We shall guard your rear."
"A warrior is ready to offer his life."
"Light!"
Ding!
A mission appeared.
[Floor 91 Mission: The Great Journey Toward Completion – First Step]
And then—
[Will you accept the first stage of the Great Journey Toward Completion mission?]
"Hoo!"
One deep breath.
"Accept!"
Flaaash!
A mass of light bloomed on the 91st floor.
Spot!
Juhyeok and the summoned vanished.
Thus began the Great Journey.
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