Spot!
Juhyeok and the summoned revealed themselves.
[You have arrived at the starting point of the Great Journey.]
The starting point.
No one knew where the end was.
A journey.
The process of travel.
Travel meant leaving home.
So Juhyeok had assumed the mission would take place somewhere else—away from their Earth's Black Tower.
But what was this place?
It was simple, yet mysterious.
"Wow…."
"A magnificent sight."
"I've never seen anything like this."
A brightly glowing sky.
A massive ringed planet, spiral galaxies slowly rotating, countless shooting stars constantly falling.
It looked like a sci-fi movie.
The stars felt incredibly close.
Would Saturn look like that if it were where the moon is?
Did gravity even apply here?
"Hff—hff!"
"What are you doing?"
"Testing whether I can breathe."
"You don't need to test it… you're already breathing."
To be honest, Juhyeok had secretly tested it too.
There's no oxygen in space—normally you can't breathe.
So being able to breathe here was strange.
"So… there is oxygen."
And beneath their feet—
A red land, with a straight blue road stretching across it.
Suddenly!
Ding!
[Mission: Follow the blue road and reach the crossroads.]
[Time Limit: None.]
[Reward: Mission Save Point Designation Ticket.]
"Hm."
That's the mission?
Just reach the crossroads.
Simple.
Definitely boring.
Something would probably happen once they got there.
And they'd get a save point ticket.
"I was expecting something, but this isn't great at all."
"It's just wordplay."
"I disagree. It is great."
"Why?"
"Because the summoner himself is a great being. Wherever he steps becomes a great journey."
What's with Mad Demon today?
That's embarrassing.
"Oh my, Elder Gwang, you sure know how to flatter. If a great man takes a step, doesn't that make it a great journey? Hehehe."
"Hahaha. You've still got a long way to go before you can match me."
Fine.
Let's go on a great journey.
Everyone here was someone who had carved their name into history in their own world.
All of them were great.
A great journey of great people.
"Let's get moving."
"Yes!"
Easy, right?
Just follow the road.
But just as they were about to walk—
"Why walk? Let's fly."
Huh?
Fly?
They didn't bring a plane.
"We've got the green airplane. He defected and hasn't done much since—might as well get our money's worth."
Ah!
Right.
They could ride Crackers if he transformed.
But would a dragon really give rides?
Dragons lived on pride alone.
Being treated like a mount?
"Welcome aboard Crackers Airlines. For your comfort, I will ensure a safe flight."
He can do it.
He even looked pleased to be given a role.
They quickly cleared some space.
Boom!
Crackers transformed into his green dragon form.
"Oh!"
Big.
Big enough for thirty people, easily.
"The back's wide. We could even lie down."
Suddenly!
[This area is a no-flight zone until the crossroads.]
"Huh?"
And even—
[Levitation and movement-speed-boosting skills are restricted.]
What?
They wanted them to walk on foot?
"Green, try flying anyway."
"Understood."
Flap, flap.
Crackers moved his wings.
"Gnnngh!"
He didn't lift even one centimeter.
"Tsk tsk, useless. A dragon that can't fly?"
"If he can't even be a mount, what's he good for?"
"We shouldn't have accepted his defection."
"All he does is sit in the White Tower watching TV."
"Disappointing. Just a parasite eating food."
"As a fellow summoned, I'm embarrassed."
"Hey now, Green's in the catalog division. He's a converted defector."
Then Mari, the shut-in alchemist who had bravely joined the 91st-floor expedition—
Shrrrrrk.
Her tiny homunculi formed letters.
—It's not too late. Want to take the dragon heart now? You saw the enhancement elixir's effect. Let's make more.
"Additional elixirs, huh? Tempting."
"The effects were good."
"It might be time for experiments."
"What experiments?"
"Whether a resurrection rune works on a dead converted defector."
"Probably not. We're summoned souls—we just need bodies, but they…"
"No harm in testing. If he revives, he becomes a heart vending machine."
"If he dies, we just get rid of one parasite."
Crackers panicked.
Remove his heart?
"But it clearly says no-flight zone! How am I supposed to fly?"
He protested seriously, but—
"Hah. A dragon, progenitor of magic, can't overcome such a trivial limit?"
"A dragon should manage."
"So much for the strongest being."
"He's probably not even a real dragon."
What about them?
Who here could fly anyway?
They couldn't either….
Crackers felt wronged.
So he looked to Diamat, the fellow convert, for help—
—but Diamat quietly looked away.
"Heh heh heh…"
Was that a cut-off?
What a cowardly succubus.
They'd sworn together just the other day to work hard and earn the summoner's favor.
"Hey! You damn bitch! You ranked up to lord, didn't you?! If you stay silent, I'm next and then you!"
"…W-What are you talking about? I—I'm still a nobody."
"You ate the Demon King's Heart and regained lord status—don't play dumb!"
…..
At Crackers' words, the summoned looked at Diamat with strange eyes.
Some even smacked their lips.
"Oh? Our succubus became a lord?"
"A succubus queen, huh?"
"High-quality materials."
"With boosted abilities, her 'techniques' must've improved too."
"Nope. Our Bong Summoner has no resistance. He'd fall instantly. Eliminate her first."
Crackers and Diamat glared at each other, eyes blazing.
The Crack-Dia Alliance.
Disbanded after just three days.
They really did bite at each other whenever they had the chance.
Can't let your guard down.
"Alright, alright, stop fighting and let's move. So what if we can't fly?"
Then El, the magitech engineer, spoke.
"What about riding a Gigant? Its stride is large—it's fast."
"Strongly not recommended. Ride quality is trash. You'll fracture your pelvis."
True.
How could anyone ride a stomping Gigant?
But they weren't walking either.
Not because they planned this—just luck.
"Mr. Rajiks."
"H-Huh?"
"Deploy five SUVs."
"H-Huh?!"
Sssshk!
Off-road vehicles he'd packed just in case.
Surely this was allowed.
They weren't flying, and it wasn't a skill.
"Ha! Behold the greatness of Earth civilization!"
"Can't we sell cars at the auction house?"
"If we could, we'd rake in 100 million mana stones easily."
Now that they mentioned it, that made sense.
Vehicles would probably sell well.
Even the Sword Immortal had fallen in love with a motorcycle.
But you couldn't take a car into an elevator.
Was there a way to sell them?
Maybe store them in auction tickets.
Meanwhile, the summoned boarded the cars.
Vroom.
Thankfully, the engines started.
They moved.
"Let's go."
"I'll take the lead car."
"I'll take car two—"
"Car three, hands up!"
Driving wasn't an issue.
Everyone could drive.
There were roads and cars in the White Tower, after all.
And so—
Against a cosmic sky backdrop,
Five SUVs in a single-file formation sped along the blue road of the red land.
Vroooom!
Kosak drove the lead vehicle.
Major Bae drove the rear guard.
Juhyeok rode in the middle.
But there was no end in sight.
Where was this crossroads?
It felt like five days had passed.
Now he understood why there was no time limit.
They wanted people to collapse from exhaustion and boredom.
From hunger and physical limits.
Of course, they could give up.
Abandon the mission and leave.
But—
"No way."
They'd come too far.
If they were leaving, it'd be after setting a save point.
"It's not even that hard. Feels like a picnic."
They were driving.
At worst, it was a long road trip.
They stopped sometimes, gathered to eat.
When bored, they pulled out a projector and watched a movie.
Then got back in and drove again.
After repeating this for several more days—
Just as unbearable boredom began creeping in—
Screeeeeech!
Kosak's lead car stopped.
He threw open the door and got out.
"We've arrived. Crossroads."
Juhyeok saw it too.
Two diverging paths.
Ding!
[You have arrived at the crossroads.]
[A Tower Mission Save Ticket has been delivered to your Tower-exclusive inventory.]
Phew. Now saving was possible.
It had taken forever.
Alright, since we're here—what's next?
Does this mean we've cleared it?
[Mission: Choose a path.]
[Receive 10 billion kg of top-grade mana stones and undergo dimensional naturalization – Right path]
[VS]
[Destroy the dimensional energy repositories and continue living as you are – Left path]
What the hell is this?
A sudden balance game?
Dimensional naturalization?
So… switch worlds entirely?
That was when—
Spot!
[I'll explain in detail.]
Someone appeared before Juhyeok and the summoned.
This felt extremely familiar.
[Whew, truly impressive, just as the rumors said. I never expected you to use automobiles.]
Pale white skin.
Red eyes, bald head.
A hologram with no physical body.
"…Administrator?"
But he was clearly different from the Black Tower administrators of Earth No. 675 or No. 1,001.
The pressure he gave off was fundamentally different.
"Hey… which Earth are you from?"
At Juhyeok's question, the administrator chuckled.
[I'm not a Black Tower administrator. I'm higher up the chain. If I had to compare… Black Tower administrators are like junior managers at a conglomerate. I'd be more like an assistant manager.]
Junior manager and assistant manager.
[Junior managers are still important resources, of course. Just like on Earth—without them, companies don't function.]
Was that an appropriate analogy?
[I also started as a regular employee, got promoted to junior manager, and eventually reached assistant manager.]
...
Going by what he said—
Black Tower administrators were usually junior-manager level.
Being promoted to assistant manager meant he'd produced results.
And what kind of results would that be?
Destroying a world with the Black Tower.
This bastard was bad news.
Basically a field commander of dimensional annihilation.
Juhyeok wanted to punch him, hard—but it was just a hologram.
"So? Explain."
[It's hard to judge just from the mission text. Let me show you in more detail. The right path. Dimensional naturalization in exchange for 10 billion kg of top-grade mana stones.]
Suddenly—
Swoooong!
Chzzzz—
A video unfolded before Juhyeok's eyes, playing rapidly like a panorama.
He understood immediately.
Receive 10 billion kg of top-grade mana stones and undergo dimensional naturalization.
The destination dimension?
A parallel Earth that existed somewhere.
Its level of civilization was similar to theirs.
The difference was maybe one or two smartphone generations.
And most importantly—
A world without the Black Tower.
Conflicts still existed, of course.
But there was no threat from the Black Tower.
Additional benefits for Juhyeok:
His player awakening would remain.
He could still summon his summoned.
The White Tower?
Of course, it would still be usable.
But it would now be connected to the world he naturalized into, not Earth No. 1,001.
Simply put, all connections with Earth No. 1,001 would be severed.
That was dimensional naturalization.
[Are you worried about family or acquaintances? Take them with you. Any number. Even 10,000 people are manageable.]
For an assistant manager, the offer was absurdly generous.
The 10 billion kg of mana stones alone were insane.
"I could plant ten World Trees with that."
And up to 10,000 acquaintances could come along.
Honestly, Juhyeok probably didn't even know 100 people—maybe not even 50.
Why go this far?
Because once Juhyeok was gone, they could take over Earth easily.
A classic attempt at bribery.
[I'm not asking you to decide immediately. If you choose the right path now, I'll give you about a month's grace period. Convince your family, your acquaintances—]
"Cut the crap."
[…What?]
"Explain the left path. Destroying the dimensional energy repositories. If we keep going left, that's what we reach, right?"
The assistant-manager-level administrator fell silent, his cold glare showing unmistakable anger.
So what?
What's he going to do about it?
Did he think Juhyeok would happily accept naturalization?
He didn't even want temporary naturalization within Earth, let alone abandoning it.
[So you're choosing the left path after all?]
At that moment, Kosak snapped angrily.
"Our Bong Summoner is left-wing, you bastard administrator! He walks on the left side of the road, his left eye sees better, his left side photographs better—did you not know? He's ultra-left!"
…That's political.
Well, whatever.
At least for this moment, left-wing it is.
[The left path… is that your final decision?]
Yes.
Now get lost.
[As I said earlier, I'm assistant-manager level.]
And?
[Compared to junior managers, the authority I wield is unimaginably greater.]
Oh no.
How terrifying.
[You seem fearless just because you killed a single ancient dragon and climbed this far…]
Yeah.
I'm not afraid.
That's why I'm going left.
"I don't trust myself. I trust these people."
Juhyeok walked forward, step by step, onto the left path.
Aaaah!
The bold stride of a true man, overcoming fear and choosing hardship.
The moment his foot crossed into the left path—
Ding!
[Main Mission: Destroy Dimensional Energy Repositories.]
[Time Limit: None.]
[Completion Requirement: Destroy Dimensional Energy Repositories 0/146]
The mission appeared.
Chzzzt!
Without so much as a goodbye, the assistant-manager hologram vanished.
But—
"…Wait."
Completion requirement.
146 dimensional energy repositories.
"Uh…"
Hey.
You should've mentioned that number beforehand.
"I thought it was just one."
And it was a painfully familiar number.
Anyone with half a brain would realize these repositories were tied to the Black Towers.
Then, beyond the left path—
Juhyeok saw countless structures.
"So those are the repositories."
They were pyramid-shaped.
About the size of a two-story building.
"146 of those…?"
And at that moment—
Sssssss.
Grotesque massive creatures emerged around the pyramids.
They looked like centipede-scorpion hybrids.
Hundreds of legs with sharp claws.
Terrifying jaws.
"Oh… damn."
Thanks to the enhancement elixir, Juhyeok could tell immediately.
Just how dangerous they were.
"Each one is at least Sand Dragon–level."
And there were thousands of them.
Hah.
Well.
Since they'd already chosen—
"Let's break a few and set the save point."
Swoooosh!
Rajiks pulled out Gigant Unit No. 3 from his subspace backpack—equipped with its massive dark sword and dark shield.
Crackers manifested in his green dragon form.
Mannyeon unleashed freezing cold, which Major Bae absorbed.
Gyeondallae prepared talismans and ritual prayers.
At the same time—Mad Demon, Gobang, Kosak, Mackenzie.
Kukoom! Kukoom! Kukoom! Kukoom!
Gigant Unit No. 3 advanced with thunderous steps.
And thus it began.
The Great Journey.
The Great War.