[Notice: Mirinae has cleared the 13th floor of Tower 25 in the fastest recorded time.]

[Notice: Mirinae has cleared the 14th floor of Tower 25 in the fastest recorded time.]

[Notice: Mirinae has cleared the 15th floor of Tower 25 in the fastest recorded time.]

Mirinae had torn through four floors in a single hour.

Two at 11 PM.

Two more at midnight.

It was nothing short of shocking and terrifying.

└ Insane! 10-second clears from the zombie section all the way to the minotaur section? Is that even possible? On a first attempt?

└ I told you it was one of the Hoebinghwan. My post will become legendary!

└ Yeah, the chat room auto-deletes old posts lol

└ Yeah, I knew that, so I saved the post. It’s already been featured

└ But clearing 2 floors back-to-back in one day means they used Tower Entry Tickets. Now a superhuman at the 10th floor has 2 of them too

└ Are they seriously rich? Tower Entry Tickets aren’t exactly cheap items, you know?

└ More importantly, I’m genuinely curious what Mirinae’s skill is lol

└ Yeah, zombies might go down in 5 seconds with a Divine skill, but what do you need to wipe out minotaurs in under 5 seconds?

└ It’s a rumor circulating from the States, but apparently there’s an ultimate fire magic that causes massive explosions. Armageddon, was it? They say someone got it from a Skill Acquisition Ticket dropped by the 70th floor boss

└ Yeah, I’ve heard that if you use that, most lower-floor monsters go down in one hit

└ What?! I thought it was Divine Explosion, but it’s Armageddon?! That’s insane!

└ Did they really get something like that right after awakening?

└ But there’s no other way to explain the current situation

└ Overpowered from the moment of awakening? So jealous damn…

It had only been a few years since the Tower appeared.

Perhaps because of that, there were occasionally people who obtained skills they’d never seen before upon awakening.

The fact that it was a skill obtainable from the 70th floor was enough to incite envy, jealousy, admiration, and longing among many superhumans.

However, since no one still knew who Mirinae was or what his official statement might be, it remained nothing more than speculation.

That evening, the day Mirinae broke through the 15th floor.

Kim Taemin reconvened the Triumvirate Meeting at a late hour.

Park Soyul arrived late at the meeting place and grumbled.

“What? That rat still isn’t here?”

Kim Taemin, who had already taken his seat, sneered.

“Spitting while lying down, I see. That doesn’t sound like something someone who’s 30 minutes late should be saying.”

“Unlike some people, I’m not exactly sitting around with nothing to do. So what is it?”

Park Soyul plopped down on the sofa and crossed her legs.

With her arms crossed and a subtly condescending gaze, it was crystal clear she’d walk out the moment she heard anything resembling nonsense.

Kim Taemin briefly pondered how to keep her from leaving.

Or rather, having called her all the way here, had he already done his due diligence?

Kim Taemin tossed out an appropriate bait.

“It’s about Mirinae.”

“Mirinae? Wasn’t that matter settled yesterday?”

They had roughly agreed on a story back in the Superhuman Management Agency conference room.

Still, Mirinae was a Korean superhuman—what would they do if the United States snatched him away?

Let’s do our best to protect him.

The discussion had wrapped up in roughly that manner.

All three had taken positions agreeing with that stance.

The emergence of a new competitor wasn’t exactly a desirable situation.

Still, having a capable superhuman in the same affiliated tower was also a good thing.

If Mirinae climbed to the higher floors and began farming, the probability of obtaining high-quality items would increase accordingly.

But then, why bring up Mirinae again here?

Did he receive some kind of separate offer?

When Park Soyul expressed her doubts, Kim Taemin answered with a sly smile.

“The Americans said they’d offer a handsome reward for handing over Mirinae’s identity.”

Park Soyul immediately caught on to where this was heading.

“Ha! You’ve really played your cards well, haven’t you? Find Mirinae, ship him off to the States, and you get your Summoning Stone back plus a gift package from America?”

They say every cloud has a silver lining, don’t they?

Just as Park Soyul said, losing Kkamangi had been as painful as losing his country.

But he never imagined that when Kkamangi returned, it would come bearing an armful of gifts.

Was that why it had taken so long to find its way back to him?

If that was the case, he could endure the wait.

First, find Mirinae.

Then coax him into going to the States, and everyone would be happy.

“Ah, right. So how about putting in a little more effort? If things work out, I think I could spare a Skill Enhancement Ticket or two as a reward.”

“…Exactly how much did you promise them? And why is America only contacting you?”

Kim Taemin shrugged.

“Isn’t that obvious? I’m the rank 1 of Seoul Tower, the Swordmaster.”

Park Soyul was sorely tempted to transform that pale face of his into a fine coat of charcoal-black skin.

If for no other reason than sheer disgust at his shamelessness, she needed to seize the rank 1 spot of Seoul Tower soon!

Anyway, why wasn’t that gorilla rat here yet?

In that moment, Park Soyul realized what was going on and shot up from her seat.

Pacheutcheutcheut!

She immediately wrapped her right hand in electricity and glared down at Kim Taemin with icy eyes.

“Did you two scheme this together?”

Kim Taemin slipped both hands into his pants pockets and curled the corners of his mouth upward.

“Yoon Changdae mentioned it, you know? He said your side job was highly suspicious.”

Pajijijik!

Park Soyul didn’t hesitate and unleashed lightning.

Cheutcheutcheut!

But the lightning vanished without a trace before it even touched Kim Taemin’s body.

Simultaneously, faint sparks crackled—pachit, pachit—around his body.

Kim Taemin pulled his hand from his pocket and waved a scroll.

“I have to admit, whoever’s skill this is, the effect is remarkable. Ah, it served me well during the 62nd floor clear, thanks to you.”

It was a Blank Scroll containing Park Soyul’s lightning defense magic.

It was by no means a trivial item meant to be wasted on something like this.

But with a usage limit of only 10 days, it would have been discarded if left unused anyway.

Having her own attack blocked by her own skill was certainly enough to make anyone’s blood boil.

However, instead of flying into a rage, Park Soyul flashed a chilling smile and raised her voice slightly.

“You… started this?”

Kim Taemin struggled to hide the shiver running down his spine at her Joker-like expression.

…Crazy bitch.

The fact that he was the only one among the three who was still mentally sound was truly depressing.

“Weren’t you the one who started it? What exactly are you hiding from that part-timer that you’re so protective of him?”

Kwagwang!

Lightning struck the floor, and the impact sent the large circular table bouncing toward Kim Taemin.

Tat.

He caught it lightly with one hand and set it down, but by then the perpetrator had already vanished.

“…Well, if I toss her a Return Ticket, she’ll calm down on her own.”

Just as always.

However, Kim Taemin didn’t know.

Just how insane a choice a furious Park Soyul could make.

* * *

He had achieved three consecutive clears in total.

All by summoning pink meteorites.

“Building 123.2!”

“You can drop the decimal!”

“Building 123!”

“Building 191! My Lord! Please be careful!”

Honestly, he thought he was going to die during the 15th floor clear.

He’d been launched into the air along with that massive staff.

If Lea hadn’t steadied his posture in time, he would’ve been crushed beneath the staff and met a screaming demise.

A superhuman crushed to death by his own staff.

A horrific ending in more ways than one.

So then, what rewards had he obtained?

Three Random Boxes were guaranteed, for starters.

From the Random Box obtained by clearing the 13th floor—

[You have obtained 1 Tower Entry Ticket.]

Another Tower Entry Ticket.

Being able to attempt two clears per day made this a rather decent haul.

But isn’t that just how human greed works?

You always crave what you don’t have more than what you do.

Afterward, the moment midnight struck, he immediately tackled the 14th floor.

And from the 14th floor’s Random Box—

[You have obtained 1 Skill Acquisition Ticket (Bound).]

He hadn’t expected to actually pull a new—and quite valuable—item.

Riding high on momentum, he decided to save the Skill Acquisition Ticket for later and pushed straight through to the 15th floor.

And there… Building 191…

Anyway, a truly massive meteorite crashed down, and he got to experience firsthand what the end of the world might feel like.

After calming his racing heart, he opened the final Random Box.

[You have obtained 99 Magic Stones.]

An incredible stroke of bad luck (?) had struck.

99 Magic Stones.

Converted to cash, that was 99 million won…

Roughly 100 million won.

Fine.

Let’s assume he could trade them someday.

But how was he supposed to process the sight of fist-sized magic stones piled high, filling every corner of his cramped studio apartment?

A Summoning Stone the size of a Dol Hareubang stone statue.

A staff as large as a Summoning Stone.

And now a pile of magic stones that seemed to take up even more volume than the Summoning Stone.

More than anything else.

He was pretty sure he needed to move first.

Still, a glimmer of hope remained.

The Skill Acquisition Ticket.

One could argue the mood had reversed.

On the other hand, it could also be seen as warding off bad luck.

For one thing, it was a bound item, so he couldn’t give it to anyone else.

And since having more skills was always a good thing, he used the Skill Acquisition Ticket right away.

Hoping, if nothing else, for a decent defensive skill.

[You have obtained the Exclusive Skill: Quest Insight.]

But what appeared was something he’d never heard of before, just like Meteor Summoning.

And an Exclusive Skill that could only be used inside the Tower, at that.

[Quest Insight]

– Allows you to view the hidden content of quests.

A passive skill with no usage limit.

Given that it revealed hidden quest content, it seemed like it would show the conditions for Amazing Achievements and the like.

The only way to know for sure was to enter the Tower and find out.

The problem was that he’d used up all his Meteor Summoning charges, and he couldn’t bring himself to spend one of his remaining two Tower Entry Tickets just to check.

It was somewhat disappointing that it wasn’t a defensive skill.

But with such an unexpected skill obtained, he’d have to enter the Tower to judge just how useful it would be.

As he sat alone sorting through various thoughts, evening arrived before he knew it—11 PM.

Shin Jungho immediately summoned Lea.

The moment she was summoned, before even greeting him, she suddenly drew her sword and spoke.

“My Lord.”

Shin Jungho immediately understood the situation from Lea’s sudden action.

“Don’t tell me… someone’s there?”

“Yes. I sense a very faint presence. Approximately 15 meters away, motionless as a dead person.”

A presence far more insignificant than that of an ordinary person had been caught.

Like a rat.

However, the emission of that presence was extremely controlled, like a seasoned assassin.

Above all, there was no reason for a dying person to be on a building rooftop in the middle of Seoul.

“Just one person. Based on the detected presence, it seems they’ve been stationary in one spot for quite some time.”

Their skill at hiding their body using abilities was passable.

But Earth’s superhumans used skills without understanding their principles, much like a game, so their attempts at concealing their presence seemed utterly clumsy in Lea’s eyes.

“What would you have me do?”

Lea no longer made her own assertions.

She had realized that simply following her Lord’s will as his faithful sword and shield was the most knightly thing she could do.

Shin Jungho’s thoughts grew complicated.

If someone was hiding… it had to be Iron Heart, Yoon Changdae, right?

But he knew the man was classified as a Tank—so why was he using a skill to conceal his presence?

Was it just a skill he’d happened to acquire by chance?

Or was his known class a lie?

Given that he also knew the man was personally searching for the Summoning Stone’s location.

He suspected the latter might be the truth.

But whether his class was Tank or not.

He needed to bring this situation to a definitive close first.

Had Yoon Changdae confirmed that the Summoning Stone was in this location?

If not, when would he approach this studio to verify?

But…

Did he really need to wait for that?

“Lea.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

“Could you… subdue the target?”

“Yes. There are several methods. The easiest would be severing all four limbs.”

…That’s brutal.

Honestly, whether they’d come simply to identify him.

Or whether they had other motives—he hadn’t been able to determine their intent.

But killing him or cutting off his limbs would only amplify the potential danger lurking behind him.

So as he asked about alternative methods in turn, a viable option emerged at the end.

“Is that possible?”

“It would be my first time doing so to an Earth superhuman, but I believe it’s possible.”

Hmm… if that’s the case?

“Then I leave it to you, Lea.”

“Understood, My Lord.”

He didn’t know who the other party was.

But he was certain that after today, they would live a completely different life.