└ 59 seconds for the 9th floor record—isn’t that way too slow? lol

└ For real, the clear was 12 times slower than usual lmaooo

From the 1st through the 8th floor, Mirinae had consistently posted clear times of 5 to 6 seconds.

Yet that same Mirinae had unexpectedly recorded a sluggish (?) clear time of 59 seconds.

Considering the previous record had been in the 30-minute range, a time of under one minute was still an astounding achievement.

It was simply that the gap between this and his previous absurd records made it seem like a joke.

└ See! I told you it’s Divine Explosion! The power was too weak so he couldn’t one-shot it this time!

└ But here’s the weird thing. If Divine Explosion couldn’t kill it in one hit, how did he finish it off?

└ Maybe he fought with a weapon?

└ The record is 59 seconds, though? Even sprinting at full speed would take at least 50 seconds?

└ He probably got some good items and used them lol. Aren’t there items that trade for millions even at level 1?

└ Wow, his awakened skill is OP, and his real-world identity is OP too? Damn…

The superhumans were still obsessively trying to uncover Mirinae’s identity.

If he had only cleared the 1st floor in that unprecedented fashion.

And then quietly climbed afterward, things might have eventually settled down.

But following the 1st floor.

He had cleared floors 2 through 8 in around 5 seconds each.

How could anyone not be interested?

Mirinae’s name had already attracted attention worldwide, far beyond Korea.

While only superhumans affiliated with Tower 25 could view the Tower 25 Community Forum.

There was no shortage of superhumans carrying its contents to outside forums.

└ If Mirinae is really a chaebol, even Soma wouldn’t be able to touch him easily lol

└ That’s hard to say. I heard it’s not just Soma—all three Emperors are looking for Mirinae now.

└ The Electric Empress and Aha (Iron Heart) too? What’s going on?

└ Are you new here? Those three are allies.

└ Wow! The ones who already have everything are scheming together?

└ Still, it’s better than rankers fighting among themselves. The Tower 5 in Lagos was destroyed because rankers kept warring with each other lol. That’s how we got a tower in Seoul haha.

└ If all of Korea’s top 10 rankers were still alive, we’d probably be in the same boat lmaoo

└ It’s disgusting. I’m going to climb to the top floor and make everyone kneel before me!

└ Why is this guy suddenly so worked up? There are surprisingly a lot of superhumans with dark intentions lol

Yoon Changdae fell into deep thought as he reviewed the real-time information flooding the chat room.

Mirinae… a chaebol?

That might make him a bit tricky to approach.

He had been meticulously combing through western Seoul, but he had deliberately excluded certain locations.

Political and business figures had taken certain precautions against superhumans, so barging in uninvited could easily get him caught.

At any rate, where on earth could the Summoning Stone be?

Since superhumans were referred to by their aliases, there was no way to know who was who unless they revealed themselves.

So even if he found a newly awakened superhuman, discovering their alias was no easy task.

But Mirinae.

Had taken the Summoning Stone that Kim Taemin possessed.

Therefore, finding the Summoning Stone would immediately reveal who Mirinae was.

And once he confirmed Mirinae’s identity?

First, he’d need to have a Talking About with him, heh heh heh.

Kim Taemin was struggling to clear the top floor within the time limit all by himself.

He would miss the first-clear bonus, of course.

But he could simply extort that much more from the bastard.

Just as he had deliciously devoured the Skill Enhancement Ticket a few days ago!

“Keuh heh heh…!”

He had been momentarily distracted by the sweet rewards and failed to check his surroundings.

“Kyaaaah! Mommy! Mommyyy!”

A girl of about ten had spotted Yoon Changdae clinging to the ceiling of the corridor-style apartment and let out a piercing scream.

Fortunately, his stealth skill’s cooldown had reset, and he immediately cloaked his body.

“What? What? What’s wrong?”

The girl’s mother came rushing over to check on her daughter.

“A monster! There’s a muscle monster on the ceiling!”

The mother hastily scanned the direction her daughter was pointing.

But there was nothing to see except an ordinary corridor ceiling.

“A muscle monster? What kind of nonsense is that?”

“No, I definitely saw it! It was a muscle monster!”

“Stop saying strange things and open the door!”

“…That’s weird? …It was really there!”

Yoon Changdae watched the little girl walk away as he quietly swallowed his fury.

How dare she scream and call him a monster when he had such a warm, friendly appearance?

The brat must have terrible eyesight and not even wear glasses!

Yoon Changdae pulled a small object from his pocket and flicked it toward the retreating girl.

Tak!

“Huh?”

Feeling something hit her back, the girl turned around.

On the floor lay a lollipop.

It was a candy of such extreme sweet-and-sourness that children would fight over the last one.

Naturally, her mother would have done everything in her power not to buy it for her.

“What? Something else?”

“Oh? Ah, no!”

The girl quickly snatched up the lollipop and slipped it into her pocket.

Yoon Changdae smiled with satisfaction as he watched.

Keuh heh… Eat that and let your teeth rot!

Yoon Changdae chuckled pleasantly and reminded himself why he had come here.

Now then… shall we resume searching for the Summoning Stone?

Yoon Changdae’s transparent body clung to the wall like a chameleon, shifting this way and that across the apartment’s exterior.

…Figuring that was payment enough for startling the little girl.

* * *

└ What? It’s 10 PM, why no announcement?

└ The 10th floor is a boss zone, so he’s probably struggling a bit lol

└ True, the Mutant Zombie is tricky. For a zombie, it’s fast, has good defense, and even shows intelligent movement haha

└ Ah, my near-death trauma from that floor is coming back. I should go back and chop it to pieces again.

└ Lol bro, there are quite a few people who struggled on the 10th floor lol

└ Even with tons of preparation, it’s not easy. I think I’m going to have nightmares too—maybe I should go sweep through it once lol

└ But it’s been over 3 minutes already, is there really no announcement?

└ Who knows? Maybe he’s taking a break today? Repeating the 9th floor haha

Shin Jungho organized his thoughts as he browsed the chat room.

A decent item called a Free Summon Ticket had dropped, but he had no intention of stopping yet.

Having realized that the Random Box was his best hope, he planned to keep climbing higher.

However, today’s 10th floor clear time was set for 11 PM.

He had been clearing at exactly 10:00 PM simply to appear like a creature of habit.

And changing the time this time was to throw such predictions into chaos.

He would have preferred to clear at random times like morning or noon, but it would obviously be caught on the cafe’s CCTV.

Even if he wasn’t recorded on camera, having announcements pop up only when he was absent would look even more suspicious.

No, it would become a definitive reason for suspicion.

Ultimately, he couldn’t escape the constraints of being an office worker and part-timer, but he intended to introduce as much variation as possible within those limits.

Not that it would make a huge difference.

Still, sowing confusion in people’s speculation was necessary.

When the time came, Shin Jungho immediately summoned Lea.

“We’re clearing the 10th floor today.”

“I shall serve you to the best of my ability.”

The two immediately began their Tower climb.

[You have entered the 10th floor of Tower 25.]

= Objective: Defeat 1 (Boss) Mutant Zombie.

= Time Limit: 1:00:00

The objective itself involved only a single boss.

But the boss Mutant Zombie was flanked by 10 fast zombies and 10 powerful large zombies.

Handling them one at a time would be manageable somehow.

But the Mutant Zombie’s attacks, intelligently targeting blind spots while the other zombies swarmed, were considerably threatening.

…That is, if one were to engage the zombies in close combat.

“Meteor Summoning.”

A massive black space opened above the zombies’ heads.

“It looks to be about 27… 28.3 buildings in size! Magnificent, my Lord!”

It had been a while since one this large had appeared.

A meteor the size of an island.

Shin Jungho hastily shouted.

“Can you block it?!”

Until now, the largest had been the equivalent of 20 apartment buildings.

A 30-building-class meteor was a formidable opponent (?) that even Lea was facing for the first time.

“I shall block it with my life!”

Kwaaaaaaaaaang!

The ground shook violently as a powerful shockwave rippled outward.

Lea stomped the ground harder than ever before, moving her body with blinding speed.

“Hat! Hat! Hat! Hat! Hat! Hat! Hat! Hat! Hat! Hat! Hat! Hat! Hat! Hat! Hat…!”

Lea’s Hat-Hat Defense unfurled in a fan shape before Shin Jungho.

Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuk!

A fierce gale swirled around the Hat-Hat Defense.

One step outside and it felt like the wind would snatch him up and hurl him into the air.

Parureureu!

The Return Ticket gripped tightly in Shin Jungho’s hand shook violently.

Kugugugugung!

“Ugh!”

The violent tremors made it difficult just to keep both feet planted on the ground.

This time, even Lea’s foot-stomping didn’t seem to help much.

“Hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat!”

Lea deployed her defensive technique with every ounce of her strength.

He could only see her back, but she was truly moving with a desperate resolve.

Shin Jungho suddenly found himself wondering.

Who in the world…

…are we fighting?

[You have cleared the 10th floor of Tower 25.]

[10 Magic Stones have been granted.]

[Your level has increased.]

[You will automatically return in 10 seconds.]

“Return!”

The ground kept shaking so persistently that it was hard to hold steady.

Stepping outside the Tower, the stable floor of a room greeted them.

“Hahk! Hahk! Hahk! Hahk! Hahk! Hahk! Hahk! Hahk! Hahk! Hahk!”

Her claim of risking her life was no exaggeration—Lea’s face was flushed deeper red than ever, revealing severe breathing difficulty.

So really…

…what were we fighting?

Lea was in such agony that even asking if she was alright felt like an intrusion.

[Announcement: Mirinae has cleared the 10th floor of Tower 25 in the fastest time.]

[Amazing Achievement accomplished!]

[As a special reward for the Amazing Achievement, 1 Platinum Random Box has been provided.]

[Amazing Boss Clear Achievement accomplished!]

[As a special reward for the Amazing Boss Clear Achievement, 1 Platinum Weapon Acquisition Ticket has been provided.]

Platinum…

Two of them?

Boss battles appeared every 10th floor.

Clearing a boss battle yielded special rewards different from the usual.

The 10th floor’s reward was a Weapon Acquisition Ticket.

Weapons, armor, and other equipment usable in the lower floors appeared at random.

But he had never seen a Weapon Acquisition Ticket or a Random Box with the “Platinum” prefix before.

Given that they bore the “Platinum” designation.

Surely… it wouldn’t hurt to have a little hope?

“M-My Lord! Hahk! Hahk! Congratulations! Hahk! Hahk!”

Even while gasping for breath, Lea somehow managed to offer her congratulations.

“Catch your breath and rest a bit more. Otherwise, I’ll ask you to open the Platinum Random Box.”

Lea’s face froze as she slowly averted her gaze.

…Was it really that unpleasant?

Shin Jungho chuckled and turned his attention to the Platinum Weapon Acquisition Ticket.

In truth, a superhuman climbing normally would have had high expectations for a Weapon Acquisition Ticket.

With luck, they might draw a weapon that would serve them all the way through the intermediate floors.

But Shin Jungho couldn’t muster much excitement.

Even if a staff suited for a mage class were to appear.

He was more worried it might only make the summoned meteors even larger.

The most he could hope for was some defensive equipment.

But even that was largely meaningless with Lea around.

So he decided to check the less anticipated Platinum Weapon Acquisition Ticket first.

“Use it.”

Light burst from the paper, and an item materialized, landing softly on the floor.

Fairly…

No, quite…

No, an incredibly enormous…

War hammer.

Its long handle was about the height of an adult.

Its head was enormous, as if a Summoning Stone had been affixed to it.

Wow.

Now I have two Summoning Stones at home.

…Can I return this?