└ Think Mirinae can clear the 20th floor range in 5 seconds?

└ Hey! How dare you! Not using an honorific for the great Lord Mirinae!

└ lmaooo let’s tone it down a bit lol

└ But isn’t the 21st floor tricky to handle with a single powerful skill? The slimes are scattered everywhere, and if you use an AoE at close range, you’d get caught in it too, right?

└ fr that’s a legit question. If it’s really Armageddon like everyone says, wouldn’t he be sending himself to heaven too? Or does he have a skill to block Armageddon? That’d be seriously OP though?

└ I don’t care if it’s OP lol. As long as they keep dropping blessings like Grace of Evasion when he hits the 30th or 40th floor lmaoo

└ fr this is the way lol. Honestly whatever happens, I just want Mirinae to succeed no matter what lol

└ me too lol. Korea thrives when Mirinae thrives lol

…These people are at it again.

Shin Jungho reviewed his upcoming climbing strategy.

Floors 21 through 30 constituted the slime section.

Each floor was populated with a variety of slimes—Common Slimes, Flame Slimes, Freeze Slimes, Electric Slimes, Steel Slimes, and more.

In a typical RPG, slimes would be the kind of monsters you’d encounter on the very first floor.

But here in the Tower, they didn’t appear until floor 21—outranking even minotaurs.

So just how powerful were these slimes to boldly claim the entire twentieth-floor range?

In truth, a single slime wasn’t particularly strong.

An adult could easily outrun one at a full sprint.

Swing a weapon at it diligently enough, and you’d eventually burst it apart.

A single decent skill was enough to finish it off.

Then why did slimes start appearing from the 21st floor?

The answer lay in sheer overwhelming numbers.

Floor 21.

Common Slimes that looked like green bouncy balls.

The required kill count: 500.

With a three-hour time limit, that meant killing roughly three per minute.

One slime every twenty seconds—nearly three hours of nonstop combat without a moment to catch your breath.

And that was assuming you could face them one at a time.

But they clustered in groups of ten, sometimes dozens, making solo engagement far from easy.

That was why superhumans would rather face the Minotaur King on floor 20 than venture up to floor 21 without thorough preparation.

But the most troublesome aspect of the slime section in the twenties was this:

You were summoned right in the middle of a monster swarm.

From the very start, slimes teemed in every direction, leaving nowhere to flee.

Which made cleanly resolving everything with a single meteor strike impossible.

Of course, clearing the floor itself wasn’t the issue.

But taking too long meant forfeiting the Amazing Achievement awarded only on the first attempt.

In the past, he might have figured he could afford to skip a Random Box or two.

Clear it first, re-enter later to figure out a faster method, and from then on, he’d earn Amazing Achievements on subsequent floors.

But now—

After achieving twenty consecutive Amazing Achievements, the Grace of Evasion had manifested.

So what about forty consecutive?

Or sixty consecutive Amazing Achievements?

Might there be another event waiting?

That was why he was reluctant to break the streak.

The Grace of Evasion was a benefit that worked in his favor as much as anyone else’s.

…Though he wondered how often he’d actually need to use it.

So the conclusion he’d reached was this:

He would properly assess Lea and Maya’s capabilities before attempting floor 21.

4:00 PM.

The moment Lea’s summon release took effect, he summoned both of them again.

“Have you been well, my Lord!”

I just saw you a second ago…!

What could possibly happen in under a second?

“Thank you for summoning me, Your Highness.”

The female knight stood at rigid, flawless attention.

The female mage assumed a posture of aristocratic formality.

Receiving such grandiose greetings every time, he wondered if he might develop delusions of grandeur.

“We’ll tackle the climb this evening, so rest up for now.”

“As you command!”

“I am infinitely grateful for Your Highness’s permission to enjoy personal time.”

Lea stood at attention and resumed watching her interrupted drama.

Maya sat at the edge of the bed, gathering information to absorb Earth’s culture.

When it had been just Lea, he hadn’t noticed.

But with Maya added, making three people, the studio apartment felt considerably cramped.

A Summoning Stone the size of a person.

A staff as large as the Summoning Stone.

And a pile of magic stone boxes as large as the staff.

Uh…

There’s nowhere decent to sit, is there?

What would happen if the magic stone boxes were stacked in two rows here?

Shin Jungho sat at the head of the bed and pondered.

The best option was moving to a larger place.

But doing so risked leaking the existence of the Summoning Stone.

Besides, finding a new home would require far more money than he currently had.

Selling the magic stones he’d collected would fetch hundreds of millions of won, but contacting the Superhuman Management Agency was the first hurdle.

…Easier said than done, huh?

Teolssak.

As he was lost in thought, Lea sat down in the middle of the bed, her back ramrod straight.

…Were her legs sore?

Three adults crammed onto a single bed made for an undeniably tight fit.

“Sir Lea, wouldn’t His Highness be uncomfortable with you sitting so close?”

Maya asked with a gentle smile, her eyes lifting from her phone.

Lea promptly turned her head and asked:

“M-My Lord. Are you uncomfortable?”

A faint blush colored her cheeks, suggesting she felt embarrassed.

“It’s fine. There’s nowhere else to sit anyway, so let’s just sit together nicely.”

Lea turned to Maya with a rather solemn voice.

“Did you hear that?”

Maya addressed Shin Jungho:

“My heart is deeply moved by Your Highness’s boundless generosity.”

Hmm…

He needed to find a bigger place as soon as possible.

.

.

.

Time slipped by, and evening arrived.

“Shall we head out now? Are you both ready?”

It was only natural to want to try out a new weapon as soon as you got it.

He’d pulled a knight and now a mage—how could he resist seeing their skills in action?

“I am ready at any time!”

“Simply give the command.”

Alright, let’s go!

Pabadat!

The three figures vanished.

[You have entered the 19th floor of Tower 25.]

= Objective: Defeat 30 Armored Tri-horn Minotaurs.

= Time Limit: 2:00:00

# Monsters Remaining: Armored Tri-horn Minotaur (30)

# Bonus Reward Selected: Armor Acquisition Ticket ×1

The 19th floor of the Tower featured thirty Armored Tri-horn Minotaurs, each wielding various weapons.

And since they traveled in groups of two to four, facing them one at a time wasn’t an option.

During his previous run, he’d ended it with a single meteor strike to achieve the Amazing Achievement.

But now, he planned to tackle them group by group to assess Lea and Maya’s full combat capabilities.

However…

Something new had appeared.

# Bonus Reward Selected: Armor Acquisition Ticket ×1

The reason superhumans repeatedly climbed floors.

Part of it was to grow accustomed to fighting monsters, of course.

But the most important reason was to obtain the bonus rewards that appeared only occasionally.

Since you never knew when a bonus would appear, you had to keep climbing like scratching instant lottery tickets.

But thanks to his Quest Insight skill, he could apparently check whether bonus rewards would appear or not.

…Was that a good thing?

He wasn’t going to fail the climb anyway.

Still, the feeling that came with seeing ‘Selected’ was undeniably pleasant.

“Let’s get moving.”

Shin Jungho checked his map and located a nearby group of just two.

“I shall take the lead.”

The formation had Lea at vanguard and Shin Jungho at rearguard.

Dudeungshil.

And Maya, demurely riding sidesaddle on her wooden staff, flew alongside Shin Jungho.

“If it pleases you, you may ride alongside me.”

“Huh? Is that okay?”

“Indeed it is.”

Flight was a rare experience, so he decided to see what it felt like while he had the chance.

And exactly ten seconds later—

Shin Jungho chose to walk on two feet again.

The wooden staff wasn’t particularly thick, so it dug into his backside, and sitting facing forward rather than sideways was… far too uncomfortable in a certain region.

Only then did Shin Jungho feel he’d uncovered the hidden truth behind why only witches flew around on staffs.

How long had they been walking since resuming formation?

Lea could dash like a bullet.

Maya could travel swiftly via flight.

But Shin Jungho had no choice but to walk, which made him feel a bit self-conscious.

Lea in particular seemed itching for a swordfight.

She would speed up, slow down when she noticed the gap widening, then speed up again—a cycle she repeated endlessly.

“Lea, shall we run?”

Lea glanced back, brightening as she moved to respond, but Maya beat her to it.

“Your Highness’s safety is paramount above all else. Should you rush, you might trip over a root and fall. I implore you to preserve your precious person.”

“T-That is correct, my Lord! D-Do not rush—simply walk briskly!”

Did she even realize what she’d just said?

“It’s fine. I’ll have to run hard on floor 21 anyway, so let’s treat this as practice. Besides, I have the Ring of Protection, right?”

The Ring of Protection, obtained by clearing floor 20 in the shortest time.

It had shattered under Lea’s Sword Aura, but it could block any first attack, no matter how powerful.

Of course, no matter how impressive its defense—

Being crushed beneath a massive meteor would render it meaningless.

Maya inclined her head with elegant grace.

“I failed to grasp the depth of Your Highness’s wisdom. Sir Lea, would you be so kind as to clear the obstacles blocking His Highness’s path?”

“Ah, of course. My Lord, please wait a moment!”

Lea dashed forward and began cutting down the trees in their path.

Seogeok! Seogeok!

Kugugugu!

Trees sliced at diagonal angles toppled left and right.

Seogeok! Seogeok! Seogeok!

Lea cleanly felled even the remaining stumps as she surged ahead.

Like a bulldozer had plowed through, a path opened clean through the forest.

“You may now run with ease, Your Highness.”

Uh…

Hmm…

“Alright then.”

Shin Jungho decided to run for now.

After all, they’d gone to the trouble for his sake—he couldn’t exactly ignore that.

Fortunately, the enemies were nearby, so Lea’s earthwork project didn’t drag on for long.

Eummeoeoeo-!

Two minotaurs wielding a sword and an axe.

“Haah!”

Seemingly unfatigued by the grueling manual labor, Lea bounded forward to engage both monsters.

The battle didn’t last long.

It ended in Lea’s overwhelming victory.

“Your next command!”

Lea was as excited as a child at a theme park.

She’d ruthlessly dismembered the minotaurs into pieces, yet there she was, smiling so innocently.

She was a knight who had to fight monsters, so he understood, but still…

“Maya’s turn next.”

“Ah… understood, my Lord.”

Lea’s expression instantly deflated.

There were still twenty-eight left—was she really that greedy?

He checked the map again and headed toward a group of three.

“Once again, I shall remove every insolent obstacle blocking my Lord’s path!”

What crime had those trees committed…?

“I said it’s not your turn, Lea.”

“If Lady Maya finishes quickly, my turn will come again sooner, won’t it?”

She looked like a child impatiently waiting to ride the most popular attraction at a theme park.

If nothing else, he needed to acquire a movement skill soon for Lea’s sake.

“This turn belongs to me, so I shall step forward.”

At last, Maya the Wind Mage took the stage!

Shin Jungho was curious what kind of magic she’d use and how devastating it would be.

Her description had sounded impressive enough on paper.

But would her actual magic live up to the explanation?

Maya stepped to the forefront and began chanting.

After some time passed—

The spell was complete.

Hwiiiiiiing-!

Sixth-circle wind magic—Blade Storm.

Countless wind blades swirled around Maya.

Maya sent the wind blades flying one by one, felling the trees ahead in succession.

Seogeogeok! Seogeogeok!

She adjusted the angle of each blade with precision, ensuring the trees fell only to the left and right.

Watching yet another road construction project unfold, Shin Jungho thought to himself:

What a sight it would be if those had been people instead of trees.

…She didn’t earn the title Witch of Massacre for nothing, did she?

But still.

Did she really need to break out a sixth-circle spell just for roadwork?

“Your Highness, you may now run with ease.”

A highway-clear path opened straight ahead.

Lea spoke as if stoking a competitive fire:

“…My Lord, I shall endeavor to do better as well.”

Did they come to the Tower to pave roads?

Maya had demonstrated tremendous destructive power in a single burst, but in terms of total time, it had taken roughly the same as Lea.

The chanting had taken quite a while.

Magic used by superhumans was instantaneous, firing off immediately.

But Maya required considerable time to cast her magic—especially for high-tier spells like the sixth circle.

Her destructive power seemed on par with magic skills from the sixtieth-floor range, but how to best utilize it would require further consideration.

A short while later.

Maya’s turn ended in a flash as well.

After blasting open the path three times—

She launched wind blades at the three charging minotaurs, sending their flesh scattering through the air in a spray of blood.

…Ruthless, isn’t she?

Whether Maya or Lea.

They were unquestionably remarkable individuals.

Summons obtained from Summoning Stones typically had to be raised from infancy with devoted care.

But his summons were already fully realized, each demonstrating their own prowess.

At this level of skill, these two alone might be enough to climb all the way to the top floor of the Seoul Tower—floor 63.

But considering Amazing Achievements…

Meteor Summoning was still the only answer.

The rest of the climb proceeded without a hitch.

Lea took on groups of two and three at once, dispatching them without issue.

Through this, he realized Lea was considerably stronger than he’d anticipated.

He’d been uncertain after subduing Iron Heart Yoon Changdae, the third-ranked superhuman, with a surprise attack before he could even use a skill.

But seeing her abilities now, he suspected she could have won even in a fair fight within the Tower, where superhumans could perform at their full potential.

As for Maya.

Her devastating display, befitting a mage, left a profound impression.

So long as monsters clustered together—

Whether five or ten, she dispatched them all in a single sweep.

Unlike skills used by superhumans, her spells required some preparation time.

But the power compensated for it, making it a trade-off with clear pros and cons.

And so, only one group of three minotaurs remained.

A group he’d deliberately skipped and left at the far edge of the map.

Now then, for the grand finale…

Time to put on a meteor show, wouldn’t you say?