A meteor shower rained down from the sky.

Naturally, Lea was unsummoned before that!

After confirming that Lea’s white dot had vanished from the map, he settled in to enjoy the meteor show with peace of mind.

The ones visible to the naked eye looked fairly substantial.

Roughly the size of a person, perhaps?

Having summoned the Copios Crumble meteor shower dozens of times by now.

At their smallest, fragments the size of a fingernail would fall; at their largest, boulders roughly the size of one or two adults would come crashing down.

The black holes from which the meteors emerged varied each time as well.

Sometimes, a wide hole would sparsely scatter large meteors.

Other times, a narrow hole would unleash a cascade of them in rapid succession—wadadada!

And what he was hoping for in this run was clearly the latter.

Unfortunately, the meteors emerged from an enormous hole.

Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwang!

Dozens of meteors slammed into the ground.

But their size was small enough that the shockwaves had no chance of reaching his position.

And the monsters?

# Remaining Monsters: Griffin (21)

Only six had been taken down.

{Maya! Cast your spell and get out of there!}

A powerful whirlwind spiraled to life in the far distance ahead.

With the Monster Lure Scroll gone, all the aggro would now funnel toward Maya, who was the nearest target.

One round wasn’t enough?

Then let’s unleash another barrage!

“Meteor Summoning!”

He immediately selected a meteor from Copios Crumble.

Guooooo-

This time, a much smaller hole opened.

Small enough that some griffins had already flown beyond the summoning hole’s range.

The distance made it difficult to gauge the size of the incoming meteor shower, but the density looked good enough to deal a considerable blow.

Moreover, a fair number of them had been caught in Maya’s Torrential Whirlwind, making evasion no easy task.

Kwagagagagagagagagang!

Shin Jungho watched in real time through the map as the griffins disappeared one by one.

# Remaining Monsters: Griffin (6)

Yes!

Fifteen down!

Only six griffins now soared across the vast sky.

Now, for the finale!

“Meteor Summoning!”

Meteor summoning was now possible up to three times a day!

Once again, his choice was Copios Crumble.

A single large meteor couldn’t possibly hit all the griffins scattered across the sky.

But summoning the largest meteor from Megastrum risked a mutual kill scenario.

He had tested it once before, out of curiosity.

And the result?

It wasn’t a meteor—it was practically an asteroid.

Naturally, he had scrambled to escape before the thing fully emerged from the black hole.

If that thing had landed, the Tower’s restoration would have been the least of his worries—everything would have been obliterated.

Shin Jungho focused his mind.

Watching the map, he waited for the moment the griffins clustered together!

He summoned the meteor shower at the midpoint between Maya and the griffin flock.

Guooooo-

Oh my!

Why is the hole so enormous!

It was the worst-case scenario.

The black hole stretched directly over Maya’s head, and from within it, a massive meteor twice the size of an adult came plummeting down.

Damn it!

Maya was unsummoned too!

Maya’s figure vanished instantly.

A missile barrage rained down across a wide area.

Kwang! Kwang! Kwaang! Kwang!

Explosions of that magnitude carried enough destructive power to flatten a small building.

The problem was that the bombardment covered too wide an area, and the targets were flying creatures in the sky.

# Remaining Monsters: Griffin (3)

Still, three griffins that had descended close to ground level pursuing Maya were caught in the bombardment and perished.

Only three remained.

An ordinary superhuman might have rejoiced at such fortune.

But someone who hadn’t fought a single proper battle had no business taking on griffins!

So what choice did he have?

He had to use this!

“Summon Lea!”

The Free Summon Ticket!

“You called, my Lord!”

Lea’s condition was far from good—she had single-handedly drawn all the aggro from the griffin flock.

So straight away, Summoner’s Complete Healing!

“Thank you! Thanks to your grace, my Lord, I believe I can take on dozens of griffins again!”

“That’s great! Only three left now! Go take care of them!”

“As you command!”

Lea charged back toward the griffins.

About ten minutes had already passed.

Now he could finally set aside his anxiety and simply watch Lea’s valor in action.

Perhaps because there were so few griffins left to fight, Lea adopted a far more aggressive stance than she had at the start.

Seogeok!

She struck elegantly at one griffin’s neck with her sword.

Kwaang!

Then sent her shield flying to knock another one out of the sky.

Tadat! Puk!

She landed on its body and drove her sword through its heart.

Hwiik! Puak!

With a high leap, she bisected the last one in spectacular fashion.

Wow, she was shooting an entire action movie solo!

[You have cleared the 31st floor of Tower 25.]

[31 Magic Stones and 1 Summon Limit Break Ticket (Bound) will be granted.]

[Automatic return in 10 seconds.]

“Return.”

Seupat!

[Announcement: Mirinae has cleared the 31st floor of Tower 25 in the fastest time.]

[Amazing Achievement attained!]

[As a reward for the Amazing Achievement, 1 Random Box has been provided.]

……Phew!

He’d been so nervous wondering if the achievement would even trigger!

“Once again, my Lord’s brilliant tactics have earned an Amazing Achievement! Truly, your strategic brilliance is unmatched in all the world!”

Without Maya, the praise ended after just the first verse.

Hmm…

Why did he feel a sense of disappointment?

Anyway, since good fortune shared is good fortune doubled, he summoned Maya back as well.

“It seems the heavens and earth marvel at Your Highness’s outstanding military prowess. To have obtained yet another treasure such as a Random Box—this is truly a testament to Your Highness’s boundless fortune.”

Hmm…

Now it felt like satisfaction was finally welling up?

“Thank you both. We’ve now reached the new section of the 31st floor, so perhaps…”

“I’ll take care of collecting the Magic Stones!”

“This humble one shall pray for Your Highness’s endless fortune in treasure hunting, right here.”

……Why did everyone avoid doing something this fun?

Shin Jungho opened the Random Box without any pressure.

Pung!

[You have obtained 66 Magic Stones.]

……Magic Stones appear even in the 30th floor range.

“Surely the next Random Box will yield a fine reward! This is but one step back for two steps forward!”

“With this, Your Highness’s fortune for the next treasure hunt has surely compounded. Please, do not be troubled.”

“It’s fine. This is money too, after all.”

Having opened trade with the Superhuman Management Agency, he could now freely trade Magic Stones as well.

In monetary terms, that was 66 million won.

Earning that much in a mere ten minutes—wasn’t that an incredible result?

Including the 31 Magic Stones from the first-clear run, it came to nearly 100 million won.

100 million won in ten minutes.

Money was starting to feel less and less real.

But more important than that was this:

[Summon Limit Break Ticket (Bound)]

– Raises the growth ceiling of a designated Summoned Being.

– One week is required for the limit break.

Lea and Maya.

Both had been complete from the start, so there had been no real room for growth until now.

But with this, the possibility opened for Lea to reach Swordmaster, and for Maya to grow into a 7th or 8th circle Grand Mage.

Then they’d be able to handle things far better than now, right?

……Meteors?

That left the question of who would receive this one and only Limit Break Ticket.

“Lea…”

“My Lord! If you grant me the Limit Break Ticket, I shall train relentlessly until my body breaks, and I will ascend to the rank of Swordmaster as you desire!”

Swordmaster Lea.

That sounded appealing.

“Maya…”

“If my rank were to rise here and I became a Grand Mage, I would surely be able to accomplish many things that would benefit Your Highness. Even now, my magic is being utilized in numerous areas—surrounding reconnaissance, noise prevention, house cleaning, monster aggro management, and herd hunting, to name but a few. I beg you to consider this matter most carefully and deeply!”

Grand Mage Maya.

That had a nice ring to it as well.

Above all, nothing beat magic when it came to versatility.

After organizing his thoughts for a moment.

He chose Lea.

“Thank you, my Lord! I shall give my utmost to never betray your expectations!”

“I… am disappointed, but I shall abide by Your Highness’s decision.”

Both clearly had high ceilings.

But when it came to properly handling meteors after growth, Lea seemed the better choice over Maya.

Especially for dealing with the griffins in this 30th floor section, Lea’s growth would be more beneficial.

Above all.

He was a mage (wasn’t he?), so wouldn’t it make sense to balance things out by strengthening his knight?

“See you in a week, then.”

“I shall return in a form that will surely satisfy you, my Lord!”

The blazing intensity in her eyes alone told him everything he needed to know about her resolve.

What if she didn’t meet expectations and didn’t come out even after a week?

……Nah, surely not.

[Summon Limit Break Ticket has been used on Summoned Being Lea.]

Seupat!

Lea vanished again, barely after being summoned.

What would she look like when she returned in a week?

* * *

While Lea was away, Shin Jungho continued repeated runs of the 31st floor with Maya.

The goal was to see whether the floor could be cleared using only Meteor Summoning without drawing aggro.

The result?

Failure.

And a complete failure at that!

For one thing, there was no way to block the shockwaves from meteor impacts, so Alpha Core and Megastrum were automatically disqualified.

Moreover, since the griffins flew far apart across the sky, dropping a single large meteor wouldn’t produce a total kill.

So he had to somehow herd and eliminate them through three meteor showers via Copios Crumble, but…

The area was so vast that reducing the griffin count proved far more difficult than expected.

Out of five attempts, he succeeded only once.

At clearing within 20 minutes.

At this rate, challenging the 32nd floor was out of reach.

Without obtaining more Monster Lure Scrolls, the 32nd floor run would have to wait.

Still, thanks to the Superhuman Management Agency scouring even overseas sources, two Monster Lure Scrolls would be arriving soon.

Lea would be summonable again the day after tomorrow, so the timing should roughly work out.

But more importantly, today held a special event.

The grand reopening of the Prestige War Cafe!

Park Soyul had said she’d reveal the details at the cafe, making it impossible to guess what was in store.

A membership-based cafe.

Could something like that actually turn a profit?

Shin Jungho left home at the appointed time.

The newly opened Prestige War Cafe occupied the entire sixth floor—the topmost level—of a commercial building.

The system was designed so that you had to ride a dedicated elevator from the underground parking garage; non-members couldn’t even glimpse the entrance, let alone the interior.

……This is seriously legit.

Using the card he’d received in advance, he rode the elevator to the top floor.

A whole new world unfolded before him.

The entire floor had been taken over, leaving the interior bright and wide open.

On one side, for reasons unknown, a long swimming pool was installed.

Were they expecting people to swim while sipping coffee?

The mindset of the wealthy was truly beyond his comprehension.

Other areas featured facilities for casual games like darts and billiards.

In the center, a massive TV appeared to rise from the floor itself.

……That looked three times bigger than the one he had installed at home?

In a word.

It felt less like a cafe and more like stepping into an ultra-luxurious mansion.

“Jungho.”

Park Soyul approached slowly, wearing an alluring red dress with a plunging neckline.

She closed the distance to a tantalizing proximity—intimate yet not quite touching—and leaning her captivating face close, she asked.

“You… missed me, didn’t you?”