“It’s been a while, Ma’am. Have you been well?”

Park Soyul puffed out her cheeks at Shin Jungho’s utterly unwavering demeanor.

“Come on, a sexy woman is making a move on you, and that’s all you have to say?”

“Before a sexy woman, you’re my boss.”

“Is that so? Then shall we drop the ranks and talk?”

“Then I wouldn’t have a reason to be here.”

Right…

That’s our Shin Jungho!

Sometimes, I really wondered.

Whether this blockhead of a man actually had any interest in the opposite sex at all.

“Alright! First, brew me some coffee. I’m going crazy wanting to taste yours, Mr. Jungho.”

“Yes, understood.”

Even though it was her first time in this space, she made her way to the coffee station as naturally as if it were her own home.

Seeing such dazzling facilities should have been intimidating, yet she showed no signs of being overwhelmed.

At times like this, it really made her wonder what his true identity was.

A moment later.

Shin Jungho returned carrying a café latte with steam gently rising from it.

Hororok-

“Wow! I feel alive! How did I survive without this delicious coffee for three weeks?”

“Fortunately, it seems my skills haven’t rusted.”

Taking a few sips of coffee and expressing her bliss, Park Soyul suddenly flashed a sharp gaze and asked.

“So, who’s the rank one of Seoul Tower now?”

“Superhuman Lee Seoah.”

“No! Why! I reached the 62nd floor too! I got there first!”

It was true.

She just hadn’t achieved the fastest clear time, so it wasn’t announced.

“Then it’s Superhuman Electric Empress Park Soyul.”

“…Now I sound like a whining child. Anyway, you should learn more about tower-related matters from now on, Mr. Jungho.”

“Excuse me?”

“Cafe memberships will only be offered to the absolute elite, including various superhumans! The monthly fee is 1 billion won!”

His mind reeled.

Would anyone really seek out a place like this and pay such a monthly fee for… well, not exactly this, but still, would anyone bother?

“Huh? I thought someone just signed up for a monthly membership? But what do we do? The second member will arrive shortly. You know who the first one is without me saying, right?”

“…You, Ma’am?”

“You’re as perceptive as ever!”

Why would the owner of the cafe be a member…

“I thought of it after watching you, Mr. Jungho. People at the absolute top, whether superhumans or chaebols, have a certain loneliness that others can’t understand. If you gift a moment of respite with a sweet cup of coffee to those physically and mentally exhausted individuals, they’d probably come looking for it even if it cost them a fortune, right?”

…Is that so?

Not being part of the absolute elite himself, he couldn’t relate.

“I know because I’ve felt it myself, but your coffee would definitely reach those people! I even accepted that Yoon Changdae guy as the third member because he kept begging, and seeing that convinced me! Your coffee will work on the absolute elite!”

At this point, Shin Jungho couldn’t help but ask the most important question.

“What are you going to do if I’m not here?”

Park Soyul answered nonchalantly.

“Then we close the cafe.”

“…Wouldn’t that cause a lot of problems?”

“It’s fine! I explicitly stated in the terms and conditions that we’d close if you weren’t here. Everyone comes to drink your coffee, so it’s meaningless if you’re not around, right?”

The scale of her vision was so massive he didn’t know how to process it.

Well.

Park Soyul would handle it all herself, wouldn’t she?

He was just a part-timer, so all he had to do was work hard at what he was told.

Still, having superhumans and the absolute elite of society as customers…

He was somewhat curious about what kind of people they would be.

Meeting them wouldn’t be easy, either.

In a way, wouldn’t this place become a networking hub?

“So it’d be good for you to study up on various things, including the Tower. Oh, by the way, is there anything you’re curious about?”

It felt a bit like a trap card.

But if things were flowing this way, he thought it wouldn’t be bad to play along.

So, unlike his usual self, Shin Jungho immediately threw out a question he’d been wondering about.

“Are you no longer looking for Mirinae?”

Park Soyul’s eyes gleamed like a beast of prey that had spotted its quarry.

“Heh…? What ever made you interested in Mirinae, Mr. Jungho?”

Shin Jungho answered as if it were no big deal.

“I took an interest after the sudden death of Swordmaster Kim Taemin. It made me realize that the Tower could collapse at any moment, so it doesn’t feel like someone else’s problem anymore.”

Park Soyul stared quietly into his eyes, as if trying to gauge his sincerity.

Hmm…

That could…

happen?

For someone who had shown absolutely no interest in Tower-related matters to suddenly change like this was inexplicably suspicious.

But it wasn’t particularly unnatural either, so it was ambiguous to press him on it.

Right, I’ll find out if I keep talking to him.

“Well, I dropped it. The reason to look into him disappeared, and digging into Mirinae’s identity itself is a trend that gets you branded as a traitor right now, isn’t it? There’s no need to get swept up in such a troublesome affair.”

This time, Shin Jungho tried his best to figure out Park Soyul’s inner thoughts.

Since she wasn’t one to speak empty words, there was a high probability she was 100% sincere.

But there was a more important point to probe.

“But if Mirinae clears the 40th floor in the shortest time… wouldn’t you lose the special privilege you hold, Electric Empress Park Soyul?”

It was a sensitive issue.

He had managed to subdue Yoon Changdae, so the matter of the 20th-floor privilege had passed without a hitch.

But it was impossible to predict how Park Soyul would react if her privilege was taken.

“Ah, this?”

Park Soyul held up the Ring of Levitation on her finger and continued.

“Special privileges go to those who clear the floor best. That just shows how amazing Mirinae is, so I should hand it over, right?”

Her reaction was far more refreshing than expected.

Given Park Soyul’s personality, he thought she would either get angry or brush it off coolly, and fortunately, it seemed to be the latter.

“That’s… very like you, Ma’am.”

“Hoho, right? Why would I do something so childish like personally pickled trash. Don’t you agree?”

She was subtly slipping in some dangerous words there.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

Park Soyul snapped her fingers crisply.

“That’s exactly it!”

“…Excuse me?”

“Knowing when to step in and when to butt out. You’re really good at that, Mr. Jungho, you know?”

“…Is that a compliment?”

“Hehe, I wonder?”

It had been a while since they last met, but her personality was definitely not easy to adapt to.

Still, judging by her reaction, she had indeed lost interest in Mirinae.

And that was actually better for Park Soyul as well…

“Besides, Mirinae gives off a dangerous vibe, you know?”

“…A dangerous vibe?”

Park Soyul covered her mouth with her hand and whispered as if sharing a secret.

There’s no one else here, Ma’am.

“I just had a gut feeling that if I tried to dig deeper into Mirinae, I might end up dead.”

Her intuition was still alive and kicking.

“And he might be the founder of some new religious cult! I hear there are quite a few superhumans who have fallen into the Mirinae Cult lately!”

Was that a thing too…?

“Anyway, you should also refrain from talking about Mirinae as much as possible in the cafe. There’s a rumor that if you let the wrong words slip, you’ll vanish without a trace.”

Ah… Mr. Yoon Changdae.

What kind of grand scheme are you painting exactly?

“I’ll be… careful.”

Seeing Shin Jungho slightly frozen, Park Soyul chuckled.

“Keuk, probably half of it is just baseless rumors! And you’d know how to conduct yourself well anyway, Mr. Jungho!”

While they were chatting away to catch up, the promised guest soon arrived.

“Sis, I’m here!”

The person who appeared riding the elevator was none other than Lee Seoah from the Superhuman Management Agency.

“Ah, welcome! This is…”

Shin Jungho swiftly stepped forward and stood in front of Lee Seoah.

Blocking Park Soyul’s line of sight so she couldn’t see Lee Seoah’s face.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Shin Jungho, a part-timer at Jeonjeon Cafe. You’re Superhuman Lee Seoah from the Superhuman Management Agency’s Strategy Team, right? It’s an honor to meet you.”

Speaking far more than usual, he hoped Lee Seoah would understand his inner thoughts.

Fortunately, she wasn’t clueless; she initially looked quite surprised, but once the greeting was over, she managed her expression and gave a slight bow.

“You seem to know me well. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Lee Seoah, as you introduced in detail.”

Noticing something strange, Park Soyul abruptly wedged herself between the two.

“Huh? What’s with you being so proactive, Mr. Jungho? Are you two perhaps…”

Shin Jungho hastily threw out what he thought was the best answer in this situation.

“I’m a fan of Ms. Seoah.”

Both women’s eyes widened simultaneously.

Park Soyul asked as if it were absurd.

“Since when?”

“About two weeks.”

“Mr. Jungho… you weren’t interested in women, were you?”

“Whether it’s a man or a woman, becoming a fan shouldn’t matter, should it?”

“Uh… that’s a bit progressive, isn’t it?”

That would make sense.

Even he didn’t know what he was saying right now!

As an awkward silence lingered between the two, Lee Seoah smiled awkwardly and asked.

“If you’re a fan, would you like an autograph?”

To avoid suspicion, Shin Jungho answered immediately.

“It would be an honor.”

Park Soyul sensed the bizarre atmosphere rising between the two of them.

She was deeply troubled, wondering if she should forcefully revoke the second membership.

* * *

Shanghai Tower.

It was already a fairly tall Tower, with its top floor climbed to the 68th.

To the public, it was known as a very stable Tower, firmly defended by the Thirteen Heroes.

In reality, it was a situation where it was barely surviving on life support.

The Thirteen Heroes.

That was nothing more than a falsehood created by the media.

In truth, up to the 65th floor, a total of 13 superhumans had successfully climbed.

Barely.

But from the 66th floor onwards, the suddenly increased difficulty began to widen the gap between them one by one.

The problem was that the top floor had to be cleared every month before the Tower collapsed, making it impossible to provide equal support to all Thirteen Heroes.

At first, all the rewards obtained by superhumans below the 50th floor were confiscated and distributed evenly among the Thirteen Heroes.

This widened the gap between the other superhumans and the Thirteen Heroes even further, but they believed that 10 high-level superhumans were far more valuable than 1,000 low-level superhumans.

However, even with such support, it was difficult to make all 13 of them grow.

Eventually, a hierarchy formed even among the Thirteen Heroes, resulting in a system where they offered their rewards to those who had climbed to higher floors.

In other words.

Among the Thirteen Heroes, the superhuman who had successfully climbed to the 68th floor of the current Shanghai Tower…

was only one.

Wang Wei.

A false hero who had climbed upon the blood and sweat of the other 12 heroes.

Chinese authorities only brokered the successful clears of all Thirteen Heroes up to the 65th floor.

On the 66th floor, only 5.

The successful clear of the 67th floor was broadcasted for only one person: Wang Wei.

After that, the brokering schedule itself completely disappeared.

Externally, it was known that all Thirteen Heroes had reached the 68th floor.

In reality, it was nothing more than Wang Wei’s solitary struggle.

Only then did the Chinese authorities frantically begin to look for alternatives.

They thought that simply providing ample support to a fairly decent superhuman was the key to conquering the Tower.

But not just decent.

They had to provide unstinting support to an incredibly outstanding superhuman.

Thus, they scoured for new buds of heroes and raised them in secret, pouring growth booster packs onto them.

Among them, the two who stood out the most.

Liu Xiaolong, currently climbing the 55th floor.

Jin Taiyang, also climbing the 55th floor.

Those two received words of encouragement from the Chinese Chairman, Zhou Jianguo.

“Liu Xiaolong, like the momentum of a dragon, spread the prestige of our great nation far and wide.”

“I will engrave your words deeply in my heart, Comrade Chairman.”

“Jin Taiyang, like the brilliance of the sun, illuminate the dazzling future of our Chinese nation.”

“In the name of the People’s Republic of China, I will surely complete my mission and return.”

The destination of the two Shanghai superhumans was the neighboring country, Korea.

The Seoul Tower.

There were a few competitors.

But wielding the formidable financial power of 150 billion won, they eventually managed to obtain both Tower Affiliation Change Tickets.

The Korean Superhuman Management Agency was also in desperate need of money, so their needs perfectly aligned.

But Korea wouldn’t know.

What kind of mission these two superhumans had as they knocked on the doors of Seoul Tower!

On the surface, it would look like they were there to use the Grace of Evasion.

In reality, they planned to carry out various secret missions alongside that.

If Liu Xiaolong and Jin Taiyang successfully climbed to the 62nd floor of Seoul Tower.

And managed to overthrow Seoul Tower through various missions.

China, as a great power seizing hegemony in Asia, would take another step forward.

And so, to the Tower 25 in Seoul.

China’s two secret weapons transferred their affiliations.