A heated debate had erupted in the Tower Chat Room.

└ Wow, Russia, these crazy bastards! They’re trying to kill Seoul rankers?

This was because the news of Yoon Changdae walking into the Superhuman Management Agency carrying the severed head of a Russian assassin had spread like wildfire.

└ I heard they were targeting Aha and the Electric Empress.

└ What? Then what about Soma?

└ What do you think?

└ …Ha! Really? For real for real?

└ There’ll probably be an announcement tomorrow. You’ll be seeing Soma at the Moscow Tower before long.

└ Isn’t that bastard seriously insane? Wow…! Does that mean back when there were 10 rankers, Soma took them down one by one?

└ That’s entirely possible.

└ How do you catch a guy like that and not kill him? If he’s on a ship right now, shouldn’t we just fire a missile or something?

└ Even if they did, he would’ve escaped ages ago;;

└ What kind of shit is that bastard Soma trying to smear all over Seoul Tower?

└ fr, he should just shit his pants and be done with it

└ lolololol

No official press reports had been released, but every piece of information that could have leaked from insiders had already spread.

Yoon Changdae himself had been loudly boasting about it, so everyone around him had pieced together the general situation.

Swordmaster Kim Taemin had ordered a hit job in exchange for transferring his affiliation to the Moscow Tower.

But the Russian assassin had been caught by Iron Heart Yoon Changdae and ended up dead instead.

In essence, that was the gist of the incident.

Russia would naturally deny involvement, but the notion that a foreign nation’s superhuman had targeted their own—like something out of the Cold War—left them utterly aghast.

└ Aren’t we going to end up in a direct fight with Russia at this rate?

└ That’s unlikely, isn’t it? Russia has China as a reliable ally right next door, while our ally, the US, is way across the Pacific.

└ Yeah, it’s frustrating, but we don’t have the national power to do anything on our own.

└ This is so damn frustrating! Just let the Moscow Tower collapse already!

└ What about the innocent people living in Moscow;;;

└ Yeah, this kind of thing is ultimately a problem for the guys at the top.

They wanted to punish Moscow, but.

As long as the other side refused to acknowledge it, there was no accountability.

Why else would secret agents be called secret agents?

Whether captured or killed, nothing could be pinned on their country.

It only became a major issue when they were caught.

└ Getting angry here only hurts us. While we still have the Grace of Evasion, we should climb fast and push the top floor higher—that’s what raises Seoul Tower’s prestige.

└ Yeah, the more rankers Seoul Tower has, the less other countries will dare mess with us.

└ Everyone, let’s climb to the upper floors go go

└ go go go go go

It seemed as though the assassination attempt incident would end there.

But the next day.

The Tower Chat Room erupted in flames once again.

[Tower 25 Deceased List]

-Swordmaster

The name “Swordmaster” had appeared on Seoul Tower’s Deceased List.

└ Insane!

└ Soma’s dead? Really?

└ Not “Sword-taster” or “Sword-blaster”—it was actually “Swordmaster”

└ Whoa? What? Who? Why?

Swordmaster Kim Taemin was dead.

But he certainly hadn’t dropped dead from a simple heart attack.

└ Quite a few people saw Soma driving yesterday, apparently?

└ Probably trying to flee to Russia, right?

└ But why is he dead? Did Russia…?

└ Wow, those Russians drink their liquor strong, and damn if they aren’t just as ruthless;;;

Everyone assumed it was Russia’s doing.

A sort of loose-end tying, so to speak.

But this conversation became the turning point where everyone learned the truth.

└ The Swordmaster’s death screams were quite adorable, you know? His begging had a certain… flavor to it, shall I say?

└ Huh? Is this the Electric Empress?

└ Could be an impersonator… maybe?

└ But the chances of it being real are pretty high, right?

└ Thought it was Russia, but it was the Electric Empress all along… shudddder

└ With the Electric Empress’s personality, she’s exactly the type to settle the score herself… shdd

└ Why are Seoul rankers so bloodthirsty;;;

Electric Empress Park Soyul had taken down Swordmaster Kim Taemin!

Exactly how it transpired was something only they would ever know.

If this was true, it meant the Electric Empress had killed the rank 1 superhuman.

Yet if anything, people praised the Electric Empress—no one condemned her.

└ But he had it coming.

└ facts facts

└ The Electric Empress is really something. If she’d just kept quiet, no one would’ve known, but she went and blew it wide open.

└ Gotta respect that straightforward personality lol Plus it’s anonymous anyway, so it wouldn’t even count as evidence.

└ Even if I make it to the 63rd floor, I better stay on the Electric Empress’s good side lol

└ Fact: The Electric Empress has zero interest in you.

└ no cap

└ Seoul’s rank 1 is gone, and honestly it feels pretty refreshing lol

└ The problem is we’re the ones who have to clean up the shit that bastard splattered everywhere.

└ Stop messing around here and go climb lol

└ For now, wouldn’t Lee Seoah be the most likely candidate as the new ranker?

And so, the Swordmaster’s existence faded from people’s memories.

The dead.

Simply had their names added to the Deceased List.

* * *

Shin Jungho checked the tower’s Deceased List and nodded slowly.

Kim Taemin.

Seoul Tower’s rank 1 had finally changed.

…Just as he had planned.

Everyone believed that Iron Heart Yoon Changdae had dealt with the Russian assassin.

And the word was that Electric Empress Park Soyul had taken care of Swordmaster Kim Taemin.

Given her personality, he thought she might say something in the chat room.

And she really did reveal it boldly.

In any case, this put an end to the Mirinae vs. Kim Taemin rivalry.

With Kim Taemin exiting the stage.

In truth, he had never met Kim Taemin in person or spoken with him, so he felt nothing.

He merely felt that, as someone who had brought harm to Seoul Tower, the man had met a fitting end—no different from any other superhuman.

What surprised him more was the fact that even a rank 1 superhuman could die so easily.

The realization that a superhuman outside a tower’s sphere of influence was nothing more than an ordinary person struck him with particular poignancy.

At least he had Lea and Maya.

Even so, the best course of action would be—

to keep his identity hidden as much as possible. That seemed the right call.

Now then!

The moment to tackle the highly anticipated 30th floor had arrived.

The boss monster of the 30th floor was, naturally, the King Slime.

An enormous creature standing a full 3 meters tall.

But wait.

Is it really necessary to attach the descriptor “enormous” to a mere 3 meters?

Absolutely.

Three meters is roughly the height of a dump truck.

And if something that size is filled with liquid, its estimated weight would be approximately 15 tons.

No matter how remarkable a superhuman might be—

someone who had only climbed as far as the 30th floor couldn’t possibly survive being crushed under 15 tons.

Moreover, at 3 meters, a single bounce could carry it over 10 meters.

In other words, only a warrior-type physical class sprinting at full speed could hope to outrun it.

Perhaps for that reason, the 30th floor featured only a single King Slime.

The terrain was also much narrower, forcing constant movement from start to finish.

Most importantly, though—

the King Slime had magic immunity.

The one saving grace was that its attribute—flame, electric, freeze, and so on—cycled periodically, meaning an elemental mage could deal massive damage when a weakness-aligned attribute appeared.

So if the earth attribute appeared early on, Maya’s wind magic alone—its weakness—might make short work of it.

While Lea handled the slime, Maya could prepare her spell.

And though it wasn’t a major concern—

there was the King Slime’s invincibility mode.

Immune to both physical and magical attacks…

The probability of it appearing was so low that he hadn’t given it much thought.

Besides, even if it did appear, one meteor would—well…

Still, he wanted to achieve the Amazing Achievement without using a meteor this time.

That way, both Lea and Maya could feel a genuine sense of accomplishment, wouldn’t they?

“Now it’s time to take on the 30th floor. Are you both ready?”

“I shall always stand by my Lord’s will!”

“I only pray that we may achieve the Amazing Achievement without Your Highness needing to intervene.”

Now then…

Let’s go!

…Or not!

…Sseup.

What was this ominous feeling, wanting to go yet sensing that he shouldn’t?

Shin Jungho looked at the two pairs of eyes glistening at him and felt reassured.

Right—he had Lea and Maya. What could possibly go wrong?

Even if something did happen, their combined strength would be more than enough to handle it.

Alright!

Here we go!

Supat!

[You have entered the 30th floor of Tower 25.]

= Objective: Defeat 1 (Boss) King Slime.

= Time Limit: 3:00:00

# Remaining Monsters: King Slime (1)

# First Clear Reward: 30 Magic Stones, Item Acquisition Ticket — Upgraded to Platinum upon achieving Amazing Boss Clear Achievement

# Amazing Achievement Condition: First attempt, clear within 15 minutes

# Amazing Achievement Reward: 1 Platinum Random Box

# Amazing Boss Clear Achievement Condition: First attempt, clear within 10 minutes

# Amazing Boss Clear Achievement Reward: 1 Platinum Item Acquisition Ticket

# Bonus Reward: 5 Return Tickets

Oh, nice.

Just reading the reward list is already making me giddy.

“Lea! Take over, quickly!”

“Understood!”

The 30th floor, like the others, began at the center of the map.

But unlike other floors, the boss monster started right in front of them.

A superhuman fighting alone would have to grapple with the King Slime for the entire three hours.

But since he had summoned beings, he could simply sit back and watch.

The problem, however, was—

“It’s a green slime?”

The King Slime’s color was light green.

In other words—

the creature was currently completely immune to wind magic.

“Unfortunately, that is so. However, I shall do my utmost to help whittle down its health alongside Dame Lea.”

If there was a silver lining, it was that the King Slime’s attribute changed every 5 minutes.

In other words, after 5 minutes, wind magic would definitely work, and they could finish it off then.

Lea darted around the King Slime, firmly securing its aggro.

Since monsters tended to target summoned beasts first even when regular animal-type summoned beasts were present, it was unlikely that he himself would be targeted.

“Hat! Hap! Hat!”

Our Lea.

Her expression is absolutely radiant, isn’t it?

Since the King Slime currently had the wind attribute, whenever its body glowed, it spewed wind blades in all directions.

Kagagakang!

But Lea’s magic defense, bolstered by her Dragon Scale Shield, was exceptional!

She blocked the wind blades without yielding an inch, even launching counterattacks.

In truth, if left alone, Lea could probably defeat the King Slime by herself.

The problem was that the Amazing Boss Clear condition required defeating it within 10 minutes.

Even optimistically, the current battle seemed likely to take over 15 minutes, so Lea’s strength alone would fall short.

“Dodge!”

Maya had completed her spell.

Huuuuuung!

A small whirlwind began spinning in front of Maya, then surged forward, growing larger and larger.

6th circle wind magic.

Torrential Whirlwind.

The whirlwind, appearing several times taller than the King Slime, whipped up fierce gusts and engulfed the creature.

Gwaaaaaang!

The creature struggled to break free from the whirlwind.

Poljjak!

But the moment it jumped, its body was lifted, and it began rising into the sky along with the whirlwind.

Perhaps due to its weight, it spiraled upward at a leisurely pace.

Even so, it eventually reached the top of the whirlwind before being flung outward like a projectile.

As expected.

Would a fall from that height kill it!

The light green King Slime plummeted toward the ground.

Even if this attack didn’t kill it, it should have dealt considerable damage—or so he thought.

Huuung!

The King Slime emitted a glow, generating a gust of wind toward the ground.

Pongdang.

And landed softly on the floor.

“…I apologize, Your Highness. I have shown you an embarrassing display.”

Maya, in a rare sight, gripped her wooden staff tightly, appearing consumed with frustration.

So this is what they meant by complete immunity to wind magic.

If it had been the rigid earth attribute, this attack might have shattered it to pieces.

“It’s fine. The earth attribute will come up next time.”

“Your Highness’s encouragement means the world to me. I shall be sure to present you with a Platinum Random Box then.”

Lea took charge of the King Slime once again as it lay on the ground.

“Hat! Haap!”

Lea darted about like a flying squirrel, relentlessly ravaging the King Slime.

“Maya! Start now!”

“Understood!”

Since it was about time for the attribute to change, he had instructed Maya to begin casting her magic.

A moment later.

Porongporongporong!

The King Slime’s color shifted in a dazzling display.

Dugeun!

A new-colored King Slime emerged.

It was—

neither flame, nor freeze, nor electric, nor earth.

gleaming with a smooth, silvery luster.

Also known as—

the invincible King Slime.

…Are these odds for real?