— The customer you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. After the beep…….

Call ended.

Kim Taemin pressed the call button again.

About thirty seconds later.

— The customer you are trying to reach is currently…….

Call ended.

He sent another call request to the same number.

About thirty seconds later.

— The customer you are trying to…….

Call ended.

……Ppagak!

Perhaps he had gripped the phone too tightly.

A long crack split across the front screen.

“……Hah.”

Kim Taemin let out a self-deprecating laugh and sank deep into the sofa.

“They’re not answering my calls?”

The person he had called was none other than Commissioner Jung Woojin of the Superhuman Management Agency.

Even if it was past midnight, that was no excuse for the Commissioner to miss his call.

How could the Commissioner of the Superhuman Management Agency ignore a call from Seoul Tower’s sole hope?

It wasn’t as though he contacted him frequently.

Whether it was midnight or three in the morning.

The Commissioner had never once ignored his calls.

Or so it had…… been.

Now the Commissioner wasn’t the only one.

Even Vice Commissioner Han Donggeon was ignoring his calls.

He had attempted to reach them more than ten times.

A considerable amount of time had already passed, yet not a single reply had come back.

This meant only one thing.

They had decided to shut him out entirely.

“The 1st-ranked superhuman of Seoul Tower…… and they dare treat me like this?”

Fury surged through him, and he surrendered to it completely.

An urge to smash everything in sight welled up inside him.

But giving in to that impulse might take the edge off his anger.

It would do nothing to break the deadlock he was in.

Kim Taemin funneled the rage building in his chest like an engine about to explode.

He racked his brain furiously, searching for a way out of this fucked-up situation.

The exemption from the top-floor conquest deadline.

Because of that, other superhumans now had time to climb to the 62nd floor where he stood.

His unrivaled authority stemmed from the fact that he was the only one capable of bearing the responsibility for Seoul Tower.

But that prerequisite had crumbled to dust with this Grace of Evasion.

All because of that goddamn bastard Mirinae!

“I…… I built this position with everything I had!”

The 1st floor first-time challenge.

He had charged into a horde of fifty zombies with a death-defying resolve, achieving a clear time no one could ever hope to match.

It had been so perilous that if asked to do it again, ninety-nine out of a hundred attempts would have ended in his death.

Next, the lower floor breakthrough alongside the Superhuman Management Agency.

After entrusting himself to the Agency alongside Kkamangi.

He had taken on every petty request they threw at him, earning their trust.

He had monopolized every form of support he could get his hands on, rapidly closing the gap with Seoul Tower’s rankers.

He had poured his heart and soul into it—surely that could be considered a fair exchange of mutual assistance, couldn’t it?

Then came the mid-floor breakthrough, which established his independence.

He had secretly egged on the Seoul Tower rankers.

Using that as leverage, he persuaded the Superhuman Management Agency to let him join the competition.

Numerous dangerous moments arose.

But he overcame them all and proudly claimed the 1st rank in Seoul Tower.

After that, he no longer needed to worry about the Agency’s approval and confidently began operating solo.

Finally, the autocratic top-floor conquest.

After becoming Seoul Tower’s 1st-ranked superhuman, he had surged to the top floor in one stroke, ensuring no one could catch up.

The 50th floor range required at least twenty days of conquest experience to clear safely.

He had broken through each one in under a week, eventually widening the gap between himself and 2nd place to more than five floors.

By then, he had placed Seoul Tower entirely under his control.

The Superhuman Management Agency had to jump at his every word.

Every other superhuman couldn’t even hold a candle to him.

Only the Electric Empress and Iron Heart.

The mere two who had survived among the ten rankers were granted the right to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

And he had believed he could manipulate those two as he pleased as well.

“……Where did it all start going wrong?”

The answer was clear.

Mirinae.

That bastard had stolen his Summoning Stone and eliminated Kkamangi.

That bastard had brought about the Grace of Evasion and bound his hands and feet.

The only way to break through this situation was to conquer the top floor.

But clearing the 62nd floor without Kkamangi had taken a heavy toll.

To progress safely from here, he needed a national-level weapon like Excalibur.

So he had intended to press the Commissioner to at least lend him Excalibur.

But both the Commissioner and the Vice Vice Commissioner were blatantly ignoring his calls.

And that wasn’t even the end of it.

└ Everyone! The Swordmaster is a shameless bastard who tried to rule Seoul Tower like a king using his pathetic authority! How can we stand by when such a person dared to harm the great Lord Mirinae!

└ Kkalkalkal! Who are you? Come to any of my shops and I’ll treat you to a Tower Entry Ticket!

└ Oh, is this really the Electric Empress? I’m a superhuman who briefly ran into you at Jeonjeon Bakery four months ago—would you happen to remember me?

└ I’m in a good mood right now, so I’ll let this one slide. A bitch in heat should go catch a passing mouse and let off some steam.

└ Ooh, this snappy comment really does sound like the Electric Empress!

└ It’s been ages since we saw the Three Emperors, kkk. Aren’t the other two going to pop out?

└ As if they would, kkk. They’ll just lurk and watch while flipping out and causing a massive fuss.

……Huu!

The chat room conversations, which seemed liable to give him a cerebral hemorrhage every time he looked at them, only deepened his distress.

Fine, the Electric Empress was in a temporary standoff, so he could accept her mingling with them.

But…….

That crazy Mirinae devotee……

For some reason, seemed like someone he knew……?

Kim Taemin calmed his mind as much as possible and called the person he suspected.

— Even when I’m lonely or sad, I won’t cry-♬

……This crazy bastard set a ringback tone and it’s something like this…!

About twenty seconds passed, but the call never connected.

Right…….

So that’s how it is……?

Just as Kim Taemin was about to steel his resolve—

the call connected, and a groggy voice came through the receiver.

— What…… do you want.

Even at a glance, it was the voice of someone who had just woken up.

This bastard…… it wasn’t him?

“Come here right now. It’s urgent.”

— ……I said, what.

This time, a hint of irritation was mixed in.

He felt like he was sinking deeper into an unfathomable labyrinth.

“An announcement went up. Something called the Grace of Evasion. Haven’t you seen it?”

— Huaam……! I don’t know…… it’s annoying, talk about it later.

Ttuk.

The call ended.

He tried calling again, but—

— Even when I’m lonely or sad, I won’t cry-♬

The call was never answered again.

Kim Taemin—

no longer wanted to hold onto the thread of reason.

Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!

Wangjangchang! Ppagakak!

A violent storm raged inside the house with every window tightly shut for a good long while.

* * *

└ Let us all praise Lord Mirinae, giving thanks for this precious grace bestowed upon us by the great Lord Mirinae! Oh, Mireluya!

└ Oh! Lord Mirinae! Oh! Mireluya!

└ kkkkk

└ Mireluya! Mireluya! Mireluyaaaa!

└ The world has gone mad, kkk

Shin Jungho quietly closed the chat room.

He felt that if he watched any longer, there was no telling which galaxy his sanity might fly off to.

……Isn’t this going a bit too far?

Of course, he knew the superhumans were half-jokingly playing along.

But this Mirinae devotee’s praise was truly bottomless and endless.

A new religion wasn’t going to be founded over this, was it?

……Nah, surely not.

Just then, his eyes met Lea’s, and she replied with a delighted smile.

“It seems even the common folk are finally recognizing Your Lordship’s grace. I am deeply moved!”

They’re not common folk, they’re all superhumans.

“……Are you happy about this?”

“But of course! My Lord is destined to rule the entire world! For Korea to be the starting point where Your Lordship is praised is only fitting!”

Our Lea.

You have quite grand dreams, don’t you?

“I have no intention of conquering the world, let alone ever revealing my identity?”

“Leave it to me, Lea! As long as Your Lordship’s existence remains hidden, keeping someone like Iron Heart under your thumb would make conquering Korea a simple matter!”

A sword-fighting enthusiast……

with a conquest trait on top of that?

“Hmm, I don’t know what you think, Lea, but I have absolutely no interest in such things. My only goal right now is to safely climb the Tower.”

“I humbly submit, though it may be presumptuous, that Your Lordship ruling this nation would make your desired Tower conquests far easier! The case of that wicked and treacherous scoundrel Kim Taemin alone proves that placing everyone beneath your feet is the only path to Korea’s boundless future!”

“Uh…… let’s talk about this again later.”

“Understood, my Lord.”

Maybe I should……

ban Lea from the Tower Chat Room for a few days?

He worried that a strange worldview might become entrenched at this rate.

After briefly considering this seriously, Shin Jungho held up the item in his hand.

Summoning Stone Blessing Ticket.

He had inquired through various channels, but an item like this had never been found anywhere, domestically or abroad.

Someone might have obtained one but never posted the information.

But considering it was an item from a Platinum Random Box, that possibility was remarkably low.

Whatever the case—

he would find out once he used it.

Shin Jungho presented the Summoning Stone Blessing Ticket and declared his intent to use it.

Light soon began to emanate from the Summoning Stone.

It was not the familiar red, but a vivid, ethereal blue.

The fiercely radiating blue light gradually faded as a red glow began to mingle in.

Then the two lights intertwined, creating a mystical spectacle.

[The Summoning Stone has received the power of blessing and can now summon one additional Summoned Being.]

……Huh?

I can summon…… two Summoned Beings?

That alone would have been astonishing enough—

but the power of blessing didn’t stop there.

[Blessed Summoning Stone]

– Owner: Shin Jungho

– Summoned Beings: Lea, (?)

– Summon Count: Twice daily

– Summon Duration: 8 hours

The summon count hadn’t increased, but counting each person individually, it amounted to a total of four summons.

On top of that, the summon duration had increased by four hours to eight hours.

……This is incredible.

Wow…….

And I can’t brag about this to anyone……!

“My Lord! Congratulations! I, Lea, am also deeply moved by the fact that I can now serve Your Lordship for longer!”

True.

At least there was one person here to share in the joy and celebrate with him.

“Thank you, Lea. At this rate…… it might even be possible to show you around Seoul.”

“That…… I am grateful for the words alone. However, I am content simply being by Your Lordship’s side, so please do not trouble yourself over it!”

That was her answer, but she couldn’t quite hide her slightly giddy expression.

I’ll have to take her sightseeing here and there later.

But right now, it was time to think about a new companion.

“What class would you like the new Summoned Being to be, Lea?”

“A strong and steadfast Tanker who can protect Your Lordship from any harm!”

So that Lea can play and sword-fight with monsters to her heart’s content, right?

At the answer that laid her inner thoughts bare, Shin Jungho let out a light chuckle and moved on.

It would be nice to have a Tanker who could defend against any meteor that fell, as Lea suggested.

But thinking about the monsters past the 20th floor, a rogue-type with good evasion and nimble movement seemed like the better choice.

That would also synergize well with his own skills.

One thing was certain, though.

It said Summoned Being, so Yongyong won’t appear, right?

Then again……

If he considered polymorph, the possibility wasn’t entirely zero, was it?

Worrying about it here wouldn’t give him an answer, but—

Let’s get right to it!

[Beginning summoning. A powerful blessing is being granted through the achievement of an Amazing Achievement.]

Ooh!

The Amazing Achievement blessing was being applied this time too?

His expectations were fully charged from the very start.

Blue light burst intensely from the Summoning Stone in all directions.

Blue light exploding inside the house might have seemed strange—

but it was already the late hour of 1 AM,

and with blackout curtains and blackout tape perfectly sealing everything, not a single ray of light would be visible from outside.

The blue light, which had been so bright it was impossible to keep one’s eyes open, vanished.

The Summoned Being finally revealed themselves.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness.”

The owner of that neat yet calm voice was—

neither a hulking Tanker,

nor a nimble-looking rogue.

The newly summoned individual was—

a girl with swaying purple hair that fell past her waist,

and bright eyes that seemed to hold all the wisdom of the world—

a highly intellectual and composed-looking……

girl.

About Lea’s age.

Or…… perhaps even younger than that.

There was one thing that could hint at her class.

It was the presence of a long wooden staff that reached above her head.

Hmm…….

A mage……

with eyes that somehow conveyed a sense of maturity……

After some deliberation, Shin Jungho carefully offered his first greeting.

“By any chance…… are you Yongyong?”