[Notice: Mirinae has cleared the 39th floor of Tower 25 in the shortest recorded time.]

└ Whoa, he’s on fire again? Just zooming right up, isn’t he?

└ When I was on floor 30, he was clearing floor 1, and now that I’ve reached floor 34, he’s already hit floor 40 damn

└ Four floors in two months? What the hell was he doing all that time?

└ That’s a normal pace lol. There are tons of people stuck on floor 30 for over a month.

└ Yeah, unless you’re aiming for the top floor, there’s no reason to push yourself.

└ Seriously, even if the tower collapses, you just need to get yourself out before that lol

└ On floor 32 he was going once a day, but now he’s climbing one floor every three or four days? He seems pretty relaxed about it.

└ The 30s have flying monsters so it’s probably not easy. Still, clearing each floor in under 20 minutes is miraculous in itself ;;;

└ He might have run out of Tower Entry Tickets lol. Every superhuman in Seoul is probably scrambling to hoard them right now haha

└ Last time someone posted 10 Tower Entry Tickets on the Agency board, they sold out in 1 second damn

Mirinae’s climb, which had been quiet for some time, had begun anew.

However, unlike his previous high-speed breakthroughs, the intervals between climbs were noticeably longer this time.

Up to floor 35, once a day.

After that, once every two or three days.

The final floor, 39, took five days to clear.

Because of this, everyone was secretly anticipating when the 40th floor would be cleared.

└ But if he achieves Amazing Achievements consecutively up to floor 40, wouldn’t he get something like the Grace of Evasion again?

└ It could be 40 consecutive, or maybe 50 consecutive lol

└ There are special rewards every 20 floors, so wouldn’t it be based on 20?

└ What if he receives a new blessing and the existing Grace of Evasion disappears?

└ That would be messed up lol. How do you take back something you already gave lol

└ Still, you never know. It’s up to the Tower’s whim ;;;

└ If the Grace of Evasion really disappears, that’d be so unfair damn

└ If the new blessing is even better, wouldn’t that be fine? lol

└ I hope it’s something like doubling skill attack power lol

└ Seriously lol

No one had offered anything yet, but the superhumans were already counting their chickens before they hatched.

However, contrary to expectations that a floor 40 clear announcement would come soon.

News of Mirinae’s climb didn’t surface for over a week.

└ It’s taking a while this time, isn’t it?

└ Don’t tell me he failed the Amazing Achievement on floor 40?

└ No way damn

└ God Miri! You must not fall here! ;_;

└ The floor 40 boss was a Stormwing Griffin, right? It’s incredibly fast, so it’s not easy to take down in a short time.

└ Even the Electric Empress took 2 hours and 29 minutes for first place. If first place is at that level, is it even possible to clear it in under 20 minutes?

Mirinae’s clear times for the 30s floors were all around 15 minutes.

Because of this, people speculated that he would need to clear it in under 20 minutes to achieve an Amazing Achievement.

But who could have known?

That no clear news would surface for a full two weeks!

└ Gasp! Did Mirinae really fail his climb?

└ Well, he’s not on the deceased list.

└ Why would anyone kill Mirinae lol

└ Ah… so does that mean there’s no next blessing? ;_;

└ Stop whining and make good use of the Grace of Evasion while you have it lol. I’ve already climbed from floor 42 to floor 48.

└ Nice, I just went from floor 48 to floor 53.

└ I’m on floor 55 now. The 50s are absolutely brutal ;;; If I didn’t have the Grace of Evasion, I’d have parked myself in the 50s. You guys should be bowing to Mirinae in every direction whenever you get the chance. Yours truly is doing it too, obviously.

└ Whoa, there are quite a few high-level players, huh? Could we really see 10 Rankers within 100 days?

└ Let’s get our own Ten Heroes too, goooo!!!

And so, time passed once more.

A full… month!

And that much time was enough for the attention directed at Mirinae to fade.

Moreover.

A rumor circulating in secret had also unsettled the atmosphere.

└ Stealth guys, be careful. Seems like someone’s been specifically kidnapping stealth superhumans lately.

└ Isn’t that just an urban legend?

└ No no, getting scammed when trading in the shadows used to happen sometimes, but this time it seems like people are straight-up disappearing.

└ One of my acquaintances is unreachable too damn. He used to leave people on read a lot, but now he doesn’t even open the messages.

└ Aren’t you just getting ghosted?

└ I’m not joking. There’s definitely something going on lately.

└ Could it be the work of those Shanghai superhumans who recently transferred to the Seoul Tower?

└ They’re not stupid. Would they really do something that openly?

└ But what was his name… Jin Taiyang? He seemed to be going around stirring up trouble at clubs and places like that.

└ Yeah, last time I saw him deliberately ramming into someone. But since they were in the 50s, the Korean superhumans there actually got absolutely wrecked ;;;

Stealth superhumans in Seoul began disappearing.

At first, people dismissed it as mere urban legends.

But as more and more people came forward who knew the missing superhumans, the incident began to gain public attention.

Who, then, was kidnapping Seoul’s superhumans?

To find out.

The Superhuman Management Agency was dealing with an unexpected ordeal.

“So, there are five superhumans who can’t be reached?”

“Based on what we’ve investigated so far, yes.”

Commissioner Jung Woojin and Vice Commissioner Han Donggeon exchanged views regarding the recent superhuman disappearance case.

“Who on earth would do something like this, and how?”

“I suspect it might be Russia… or perhaps China.”

Woojin’s expression grew darker.

“Don’t tell me… the superhuman biological experiments are real?”

“According to the Intelligence Division, the probability is high.”

“…Those bastards!”

A profanity rarely heard from Woojin’s lips slipped out.

That was how outrageous and infuriating the incident was.

“All of the missing superhumans had previously failed their personality assessments. I believe that since they couldn’t trade with the Superhuman Management Agency, they resorted to underground channels and had their identities exposed.”

Even though the Agency didn’t actively assist them, it periodically kept track of their identities.

However, starting a few weeks ago, some of the secretly managed superhumans had gone completely off the grid.

Such cases had occurred from time to time, but having this many go unreachable in such a short period was a first.

Upon conducting their own investigation.

They realized that all of them had recently gone missing.

“You’ve posted a notice in the Tower Love Room, I assume?”

“Yes, I’ve posted one to raise awareness. Still, this is… I’m not sure how to handle it.”

“I see… The situation’s become quite absurd, hasn’t it.”

A kidnapping spree targeting only stealth superhumans.

Once such rumors spread, stealth superhumans who felt their lives were in danger all requested official registration with the Agency.

As a result, even the previously managed stealth superhumans had nearly all been converted to official superhumans.

For the Agency, which had always intended to run all of Seoul’s superhumans under a registration system, it was a situation where they couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry.

“Still, it seems they haven’t left the country yet, so we should find them quickly.”

“Indeed. Of course we should. I’ll dig into the overseas angle on this matter, so you handle getting cooperation from the other superhumans.”

“Yes, I was already planning to hold a meeting with three Rankers.”

In the past, the Three Emperors were completely beyond their control, leaving the Agency always playing second fiddle.

But now that the official number one Ranker in Seoul was Lee Seoah, who belonged to the Agency, they could finally take the lead in such superhuman representative meetings.

In many ways, Lee Seoah had proven to be quite a blessing.

“Good, that’s a relief. The meeting will be held here, I presume?”

At Woojin’s question, Donggeon wore a troubled expression.

“Well… they said they’d prefer to hold the meeting somewhere else.”

“I suppose even back in the Three Emperors’ era, they had their own gathering spot. So, where do they want to hold it?”

“The… Prestige War Cafe.”

Woojin’s eyes went wide.

“What? The Prestige… Cafe?”

Donggeon scratched his face as he answered.

“Apparently the coffee there is… absolutely exquisite.”

“Why the sudden talk about coffee? Who suggested it? Park Soyul?”

Donggeon gave a bitter smile.

“No… it was Lee Seoah.”

* * *

Shin Jungho could not make sense of the situation at all.

“Hello. I’m Han Donggeon, Vice Vice Commissioner of the Superhuman Management Agency.”

“Hello. I’m Shin Jungho, part-timer… and barista at the Prestige War Cafe.”

Why was he exchanging greetings with Han Donggeon—whom he had previously met as a stealth superhuman—as if they were meeting for the first time, in the very cafe where he worked?

“Jungho, I’ll have an a-shot-chu!”

“Iced tea with an extra shot, right?”

“Yes!”

Why was he taking orders for trendy new drinks from the superhuman Lee Seoah?

“Kahaha! Can I take on the Hydra today? Make it a caramel macchiato, please!”

“Understood.”

Why was he being demanded to create high-difficulty 3D latte art by Yoon Changdae, who usually fawned over him and called him “sir” all the time?

“Jungho! Come sit with us, Jungho! You must be bored all by yourself!”

“I’m comfortable here.”

Why was Park Soyul inviting him to join a meeting involving Seoul’s top three Rankers?

…What in the world was going on?

But whether Jungho was flustered or not, the meeting proceeded in a rather solemn atmosphere.

“First, I’ll share what the Superhuman Management Agency has uncovered.”

Donggeon confirmed that the recent superhuman kidnapping incidents were indeed real, and explained that this gathering had been arranged to formulate countermeasures.

…So why were they discussing such secret and important matters in front of a cafe part-timer…?

“On that note, I’d like to show you this. Could you compare it for me?”

What Park Soyul produced was none other than the Kim Taemin list.

It was information she had originally intended to keep to herself.

After all, handing it over to the Agency wouldn’t change much anyway.

“Hmm…! This is conclusive. It seems this document has been leaked to the outside.”

At Donggeon’s certainty, Changdae slammed his fist into his palm.

“Kim Taemin, that piece of trash! Still making a mess even from the grave!”

Seoah immediately proposed a solution.

“Then if we at least warn the superhumans on this list, couldn’t we prevent further casualties?”

Donggeon shook his head gravely.

“That’s true, but among the recently missing superhumans, there are some who aren’t on the list. In particular… one of them had a run-in with Jin Taiyang, who came from Shanghai.”

Changdae let out a hollow laugh.

“What? Those bastards are the culprits?”

“We can’t be certain of that yet. Both of their alibis are solid. That’s why I’d like to ask the superhumans here for their help.”

To stop crimes committed by superhumans, it was better to have fellow superhumans step forward.

Especially high-level superhumans who could use not only Universal Skills but even weakened Exclusive Skills—they were the ones who needed to step up.

“Of course I should help as a Seoul superhuman! I’ve already reached floor 62, so I have plenty of time! I’ll investigate the eastern area! You two will help too, right?”

Seoah was the first to volunteer boldly.

This was said with the other two Rankers, Park Soyul and Yoon Changdae, in mind.

But instead of answering, Changdae secretly glanced toward where Jungho was.

And then.

Jungho noticed Changdae’s gaze and lightly flicked his right index finger once.

Once meant yes.

Twice meant no.

Three times meant exit.

It was a prearranged signal.

Changdae answered with a hearty laugh.

“Kahahaha! I can’t let these miserable bastards run wild in my city! I’ll take the western area, then.”

Finally, Park Soyul, the last one remaining.

Turned to look at Jungho and smirked.

“Jungho, what should I do?”

Why on earth are you asking me that…