Jungho replied nonchalantly.

“What do you mean, boss?”

Soyul leaned her face even closer, trying to probe his inner thoughts.

To a dizzying distance where they could feel each other’s breath!

“You really… don’t know?”

Jungho answered.

“This is sexual harassment, boss.”

Soyul suddenly burst into giggles, laughing uproariously.

“This is exactly why I love our Jungho! Your reactions are so different from everyone else’s!”

Most men would flush and grow highly flustered just from Soyul approaching them like this.

But Jungho—whether he was indifferent to women in general, or simply uninterested in her…

No.

Let’s just say he was indifferent to women.

Still, she had to protect her pride.

“So, who is this Mirinae?”

“They say it means ‘Milky Way.'”

“…But why are you suddenly looking for the Milky Way?”

Soyul pouted slightly, feigning a sulk.

“Jungho, do you not know who I am?”

“You’re the owner of the cafe where I work part-time.”

“Besides that.”

“…You’re Korea’s second-ranked superhuman, going by the alias Electric Empress.”

Every time Jungho uttered the title Electric Empress—a name that belonged in a video game and felt too cringeworthy to say out loud—he showed visible discomfort.

And every time the usually stoic Jungho displayed such an unfamiliar reaction, Soyul found him absolutely adorable.

“Hehe! With someone like that as your boss, shouldn’t you at least know a thing or two about the Tower as an employee? Actually, this has been on the news, so it’d be stranger if you didn’t know!”

Soyul flashed another enigmatic look and tried to lean into Jungho’s face again.

“I’m not a superhuman, I’m a cafe part-timer. And I don’t really watch the news.”

Disappointed that her attempt to probe Jungho’s reaction had fallen flat, Soyul returned to her usual seat.

“Aw, come on, why are you so boring? If you live that disconnected from the world, you won’t be popular with women, you know?”

“I’m not particularly interested in dating until I can properly take care of myself.”

“That kind of rigid thinking is also a minus!”

“Still, it’s better than being swayed this way and that.”

That made Soyul want to see it even more.

Jungho floundering about.

“The usual, please.”

“Yes, right away.”

Jungho prepared a café latte and served it.

Resting atop the dark brown coffee in the elegant cup was an adorable rabbit, rendered in full 3D latte art.

“Wow, your skills keep getting better by the day! Something like this should really sell for 200,000 won! Actually, starting today, I’m raising the café latte price to 200,000 won!”

“You just raised it from 50,000 to 100,000 won last week, though?”

“Jungho, business naturally thrives when prices are higher. They’re made from the same leather, so why are luxury brands priced ten times more? Coffee is the same way. The coffee you make is a true luxury. I’m telling you, I can’t live without drinking your coffee at least once a week!”

This was exactly why the cafe’s coffee prices had risen to abnormal levels.

Soyul, moved by the coffee Jungho brewed, had repeatedly raised the prices, insisting that such premium coffee shouldn’t be consumed by just anyone.

At first, he’d wondered if the business would even survive.

But just as Soyul had said, quite a few people actually paid those prices to buy and drink the coffee.

And they always left compliments about how delicious it was.

…Should he have become a barista instead of a superhuman?

He had such thoughts occasionally.

Regardless, there was nothing wrong with being good at many things.

“So, about who Mirinae is…!”

To humor Soyul’s chatter, Jungho naturally took a seat across from her.

She always told stories while sipping her coffee.

Mostly about the Tower and superhumans.

And befitting her lofty status as the Seoul Tower’s second-ranked, the information she shared often included rare insights that were hard to come by.

However.

Today’s story was something he knew better than anyone else.

“…is the situation! So everyone’s in an uproar trying to figure out who Mirinae really is!”

Jungho thought for a moment before posing a safe question.

“Are you also looking for Mirinae, boss?”

Soyul answered with a sudden mischievous smile.

“Yes, someone asked me for a favor.”

“A favor?”

“They said they’d give me two Return Tickets if I find Mirinae and kill him.”

Jungho barely suppressed a cough that threatened to escape and answered.

“…Excuse me?”

Taking his reaction in stride, Soyul burst into giggles again.

“Just kidding, kidding! Do you think I’m some kind of psychopath who goes around killing people?”

“O-oh, no, I was just surprised because the details were so specific.”

“…Hehe, is that so? You said you’re not interested in the Tower, but you seem to know quite well what a Return Ticket is?”

“I may not be interested, but I at least know what the Tower is.”

“Then do you also know how valuable a Return Ticket is?”

“I know they’re essentially spare lives for superhumans.”

Soyul fell silent for a moment, as if testing Jungho.

Wasn’t this… something you could know even without being interested?

Shouldn’t that have been a reasonably safe answer?

Fortunately, Soyul smiled sweetly and spoke again.

“Yes, that’s correct. So you must also understand how precious two Return Tickets are to me.”

“Yeees… I suppose so, but didn’t you just… say it was a joke?”

Soyul erupted in giggles again.

“Aw, why are you so scared! You know everything worth knowing! It’s not like you’re Mirinae, right?”

Jungho forced an awkward smile, barely holding back the cough that threatened to rise.

Completely unaware of his inner turmoil.

Soyul felt a thrill of excitement watching Jungho squirm.

So she decided to raise the stakes a little.

“Jungho, you said you live alone, right?”

“…Ahem, yes, that’s right.”

“A man living alone… must have it rough at night, no?”

Jungho realized Soyul’s mischievous streak had kicked in and quickly collected himself before answering.

“Nothing particularly difficult, really.”

“Aw, why play dumb? There are things a man can’t easily do alone… you know? If you want, I could… help you out?”

Soyul stuck her tongue out playfully as she asked.

But Jungho, already equipped with an impenetrable composure, didn’t fall for it.

“Please tell me specifically and precisely what you’re referring to, Boss Soyul.”

At Jungho’s cold reaction, Soyul figured she’d struck out again and dropped the teasing.

“Aw, you know what I mean! Like dishwashing, laundry, cooking. Men struggle with those things, don’t they?”

Jungho looked into Soyul’s eyes and answered earnestly.

“Boss.”

“Yes?”

“Everything you just mentioned—I’d do better than you.”

The words hit so close to bone that Soyul was left utterly speechless.

* * *

Returning home after his cafe shift, it was 7:00 PM.

From this point on.

He was no longer Jungho the part-timer.

It was time for Jungho the superhuman.

Normally, he would have begun gathering information at this hour.

But he had already finished that during his cafe shift.

Naturally, he had also formulated a meticulous plan of action.

Jungho immediately changed into his superhuman suit and placed his hand on the Summoning Stone.

Unlike the first time, a faint crimson aura lingered before Lea was summoned.

“At your service! This humble servant, Lea, presents herself before her noble Lord!”

“Hello. Just greet me casually from now on.”

“To commit such disrespect toward my noble Lord…!”

“That’s an order.”

“Understood, my Lord!”

Lea’s summon duration was one hour.

The first-floor clear time limit was also one hour.

Then shall we test a few things during that one hour?

Jungho entered the first floor of the Tower alongside Lea, baseball bat in hand.

[You have entered the Tower 25, 1st Floor.]

= Objective: Eliminate 50 zombies.

= Time Limit: 1:00:00

As expected of a revisit, the first-time-only bonus rewards had disappeared.

“I shall erase those repulsive monster hordes from before your eyes this instant!”

The young girl, a full head shorter than him, was remarkably aggressive.

Since she had to face monsters directly, it made sense—but at the same time, he wondered how well someone with such a diminutive frame could fight.

Even Taemin’s wyvern had struggled when surrounded by two or three zombies in its fledgling stage, or so he’d heard.

“I’d like to assess your skills first. Could you safely engage about ten of them? If you think you’ll get hurt, you can retreat immediately.”

“Give me the command, and I shall annihilate not ten, but a hundred, a thousand of them in a single breath!”

“…Since that’s an order, just safely handle ten and come back.”

“I shall follow your command!”

Cheok!

Lea placed her fist to her chest in salute, then…

drew her sword and charged toward the zombies.

Dududududu!

…Oh?

Her speed was quite… no, considerably faster than expected.

She covered the 100-meter distance in mere seconds.

At that pace, she was nearly as fast as a superhuman using a movement skill.

“Haah!”

Lea, having already closed in on the lead zombie, swung her sword.

Seugeok! Seugeok! Seugeok! Seugeok! Seugeok! Seugeok! Seugeok!

Seven strikes in total.

Slaying one or two zombies with each pass, Lea raced back like an arrow.

“I have perfectly executed the mission you assigned and returned, my Lord!”

Jungho checked the timer briefly.

= Time Limit: 0:59:01

…Not even a minute had passed?

If he had just let her handle all of them, she might have cleared all fifty zombies in under two minutes.

“By the way… how many zombies can you handle alone?”

“If you command it, my Lord, I shall slaughter a thousand, even ten thousand!”

“Since that’s an order, just tell me the truth.”

“I apologize! Taking my summon duration into account, I estimate approximately 3,500 to be my limit!”

…Overpowered from the start?

Of course, first-floor zombies were the weakest monsters that appeared in the Tower, so anyone with enough stamina could easily dispatch them.

Still, to think such formidable power lay hidden within that fragile-looking frame.

He certainly didn’t miss Yongyong in this situation.

Jungho decided to raise the difficulty of the missions.

“Kill just one zombie in the center of the horde and make it back safely.”

“Understood, my Lord!”

Mission accomplished.

“Don’t get hurt under any circumstances. Break through the zombie horde in a straight line and return.”

“Understood, my Lord!”

Mission accomplished.

“Don’t use your sword, don’t allow any attacks against you, enter the zombie horde, win a best-of-three rock-paper-scissors match, and return.”

“Understood, my Lord!”

Mission… accomplished.

No matter how absurd the mission, Lea simply gave her absolute best to carry out the command.

After conducting various tests for approximately fifty-eight minutes…

he was able to gauge Lea’s capabilities to some degree.

However, this was merely an estimate.

He would only know her true abilities for certain once she faced a monster in her weight class.

“I think this is the last one.”

“I am always ready!”

Lea’s skill assessment was over.

Now all that remained was to test the Meteor Summoning skill again.

A single zombie remained ahead.

No matter how large the meteor summoned this time.

No matter how devastating the aftermath.

He was fully prepared.

Between Lea’s defensive skills…

…and the option of using a Return Ticket to escape before death, even if that failed.

“Here we go.”

“Yes, my Lord!”

Jungho positioned Lea in front of him and activated the Meteor Summoning skill.

The vast expanse of the cosmos unfolded in his mind once more.

Now, which one should he pick this time?

He’d taken a big hit yesterday, so maybe the smallest one?

….

….

…That looks like the smallest one.

Among the cluster of meteorites traveling along various trajectories, he spotted one with a particularly faint glow.

More accurately, he sensed it rather than saw it.

Jungho immediately selected that meteorite.

This time, he set the impact point as far away as possible.

About 500 meters behind the zombie?

The designated meteorite was summoned from the vast cosmos.

A black hole tore open in the sky, and an object plummeted through.

A stone so minuscule it was barely visible, like a speck of dust.

Kwoong!

The meteorite crashed down 500 meters behind the lone remaining zombie.

Unsurprisingly.

No shockwave, no anything—nothing happened at all.

[The time limit has expired.]

[Automatically returning due to mission failure.]

And he returned home.

“My Lord! Please don’t be too disheartened…!”

Lea vanished with a Ppyong! as her summon duration expired.