[Notice: Mirinae has cleared the 51st floor of Tower 25 in the shortest time on record.]

[Amazing Achievement attained!]

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

“Hah! Hah! Hah! Hah!”

“Phewwww….”

Perhaps because they had faced a proper adversary for the first time in a while, both Lea and Maya were drenched in sweat.

He had thought they could now effortlessly block medium-class meteorites, but upon closer inspection, that wasn’t the case.

Lea had apparently pushed herself hard on the front lines, as wounds large and small were visible across her.

This was the same Lea who had fought off two packs of Blood Wolves without breaking a sweat!

To reduce such a Lea to this state!

How terrifying! A medium-class meteorite!

Shin Jungho immediately used his skill to heal Lea.

“Thank you, Lord! This experience has made me realize anew just how far I still have to go!”

The meteorite from the Stormwing Griffin on the 40th floor had been a 3-pointer scale, and its shockwave had scattered only a modest pile of rocks, making it manageable.

This time, however, it was a whopping 5-pointer scale, and it mercilessly hurled massive debris—logs, boulders, and the like.

Even the Blood Wolves far from the impact site were swept up and killed by the shockwave without exception—which only proved how extraordinary Lea’s abilities truly were.

If one were to completely master the Swordmaster realm… could they even stand against a large-class meteorite?

But if someone could handle that, wouldn’t they practically be a god?

Hmm… I suppose we’ll find out when we get there.

“Boss! Do even bigger ones fall than what we just saw?”

Clara asked with an unusually serious expression.

Had the shock therapy been too strong from the start?

“No, we got lucky this time. Normally, much smaller ones come out.”

Shin Jungho gave her a detailed explanation of the Meteor Summoning skill.

After firing off various questions, Clara suddenly beamed with delight.

“Really? Then let’s set our sights on the Alpha Core first!”

“What target?”

Clara thrust out her hand, proudly forming a V, and declared:

“Surviving beneath an Alpha Core meteorite!”

…Do we have to?

“Once that becomes possible, even when we’re surrounded by monsters, we just drop a meteorite on their heads and it’s game over for all of them!”

…Wouldn’t it be better to just clear all the monsters first?

In any case, the prospect of facing the extraordinary opponent that was a meteorite seemed to have ignited Clara’s creative drive.

Well, better this than having her despondent.

Now then, it was time for the main event—the drawing.

A Random Box floated midair.

Would a Source Stone be inside?

“So this is a Random Box! Boss! Can I try pulling it?”

He had considered pulling it himself, but if someone else wanted to, there was no reason to refuse.

“You want to?”

“Thanks! Hehe, alright, what’ll it be!”

Without hesitation, Clara grabbed the string and pulled it open.

Paeng!

[You have acquired 5 Return Tickets.]

Five from the bonus rewards, five from the Random Box.

Ten Return Tickets in total.

He rarely had occasion to use them himself, but with the Grace of Evasion set to expire soon, the value of Return Tickets was gradually creeping back up.

So it wasn’t a complete dud, but…

As Shin Jungho wore an ambivalent expression, Maya and Lea approached and spoke.

“Your Highness, if it is your wish, I shall escort Clara to the Dimensional Room.”

“Lord, you need only give the order.”

Clara, reading the room with impressive speed, scurried behind Shin Jungho and cried out.

“N-no, what’s gotten into you both? You both had your turns already!”

Lea and Maya waited for orders without a single change in their expressions.

Figuring they were just teasing, Shin Jungho smiled.

“Go easy on her. Isn’t Clara my right hand? So Clara pulling is the same as me pulling.”

“…Your Highness’s magnanimity, as vast as the sea, has deeply moved my heart.”

“…Your Lord’s forbearance is truly a virtue that the rulers of all nations should aspire to.”

Their responses carried a slightly subdued tone, unlike their usual manner.

Wait… they weren’t joking?

In any case, the 51st-floor clear had gone as smoothly as expected.

Though unsealing the Sealed Rune had cost them some time, they had also secured an Amazing Achievement.

As long as the rune wasn’t located more than twenty minutes away, they would be able to claim both rewards on the first clear going forward as well.

Everyone’s condition was fine.

He still had five uses of Meteor Summoning remaining.

And he had a Strategy Reset Ticket in case of emergencies.

Shall we casually clear another two or three floors today?

* * *

Japan—a country both close to and distant from Korea.

In the heart of Tokyo, the capital, a massive tower towered over the city, displacing the Tokyo Imperial Palace and establishing itself as the city’s new landmark.

From the prime minister’s residence, gazing upon the Tokyo Tower, Prime Minister Sato Yumiko let out a sigh without realizing it.

“Haaah.”

Japan’s first female prime minister!

The Heroine of Revival who overcame Japan’s lost thirty years!

The world’s first superhuman head of state!

Many were the words of praise for her outstanding achievements, but.

Even her extraordinary talents could not solve one problem.

Namely, Japan itself.

No, more precisely, kicking the backsides of Tokyo’s youth into gear.

The Tokyo Tower was designated number 19.

A full six numbers ahead of Seoul’s Tower 25, yet.

Its highest reached floor was a mere 60.

From the outside, it might appear as though they were strategically pacing themselves, climbing slowly and methodically.

In reality, they were barely scraping their way up one floor at a time because no superhuman was willing to challenge the top.

Fujiwara Kensuke.

60th floor.

Miyazaki Shun.

60th floor.

Aside from these two, there was no one who could reasonably be called a ranker.

Most of Tokyo’s superhumans were stuck below the 30th floor, or even the 10th.

└ Sweated hard on the 1st floor again today! Phew!

└ Starting to feel attached to the zombies after seeing them so much. Isn’t there a way to resolve things through dialogue?

└ I learned zombie language! Try saying ‘Grrrr! Grrrrrr!’ It means let’s be friends!

└ What about ‘Grrrr! Grr-grr-grrr!’?

└ That means they want to eat your brain, so just kill them.

└ lololol

└ Zombie-chan is too cute to kill carelessly! I haven’t even killed 100,000 of them yet!

└ Still? I broke 100,000 last month!

└ Oh! Congrats, congrats!

“…Haaah.”

Just looking at the Tokyo Tower chat room, nothing but sighs came out.

At some point, Tokyo’s youth had grown to abhor competition.

Their fighting spirit had vanished as completely as a ninety-year-old grandmother’s.

The young superhumans wanted nothing more than to linger in the 20th-floor range where slimes appeared, or the nearly risk-free 1st-floor zombie zone.

If no one challenged the top floor, the Tokyo Tower would collapse?

It meant nothing to them.

└ How long will the Tokyo Tower hold out, I wonder?

└ They barely cleared the 59th floor—won’t it collapse on the 60th? Better sell off your items and buy a place in Osaka or Kyoto ASAP.

└ Already secured a room.

└ Nice call!

Even if Tokyo—Japan’s political and economic capital—were to vanish.

They would simply see it as the arrival of moving day.

How on earth did Japan end up like this?

If one were to trace the causes one by one, there would be countless culprits to point to—distorted historical perspectives, egalitarian education methods, and so on.

But her job as prime minister was not to dredge up past mistakes. It was to figure out how to safely navigate the great cruise ship that was Japan through this madhouse to its next destination.

“What would you estimate are the chances of those two clearing the 60th floor?”

In response to Sato Yumiko’s question, Chief Cabinet Secretary Mori Emi, who had been standing silently at her side all this time, offered her assessment.

“Based on their current abilities, I would estimate Fujiwara Kensuke’s probability of clearing the 60th floor within a month at 43%, and Miyazaki Shun’s at 47%.”

They hadn’t even reached the 60th-floor range, and yet their odds of merely surpassing the 60th floor didn’t even reach 50%.

One might think it wise to recruit promising superhumans from other nations at this point, but.

There was only a single Tower 19 Affiliation Change Ticket.

A wrong pick would lead straight to ruin.

But if they kept hoarding it, there was no telling when the superhuman they intended to recruit might surpass the Tokyo Tower’s top floor on their own.

The ideal scenario, of course, would be for Tokyo’s superhumans to wake up and dedicate themselves to climbing the Tower.

But when they doubled the magic stone purchase price to boost morale, they simply earned twice as much while diligently farming zombies.

Conversely, when they slashed the magic stone purchase price, the superhumans ignored their Tower duties and flooded the manual labor job market instead.

Or they would hold out until magic stone prices rebounded^[1], behaving in ways that had absolutely nothing to do with challenging the top floor.

She couldn’t exactly grab these soft-bodied, mollusk-willed Tokyo superhumans by the scruff and drag them to the top floor!

Even she, as prime minister, had carved out time to climb to the 43rd floor herself—how could Tokyo’s young superhumans think of nothing but living comfortably and doing nothing!

Should she just let the Tokyo Tower collapse?

It was a thought a Japanese prime minister should absolutely never entertain, but watching the behavior of Tokyo’s superhumans, the urge surged up within her several times a day.

“Ah, it seems Seoul’s Mirinae has just cleared the 51st floor in record time.”

At Mori Emi’s report, Sato Yumiko let out a sigh deep enough to swallow her whole.

“Haaaaah, why can’t Japan produce a superhuman like Mirinae?”

“Unfortunately, the current situation is Japan’s reality.”

“Who on earth created this mess…!”

“And you, Prime Minister Sato, are the one who solved those problems one by one to reach where you are now.”

“There’s no chance Mirinae would… come to Japan, is there?”

“He rejected even the United States’ recruitment overture. I would assess the probability of him coming to Japan as zero.”

Sato Yumiko shot a sideways glance at Mori Emi, who delivered her blunt assessments with infuriating candor, then made her decision.

“Please compile a shortlist for recruitment. Superhumans in the late 50th-floor range should at least give us a reasonable standard to separate the wheat from the chaff.”

She had put it off time and again, but for the sake of Tokyo’s future, there was no more room for hesitation.

Once again, the name of a Seoul superhuman lingered in Sato Yumiko’s mind.

Mirinae.

Was there truly no way for Japan to bring him into our fold…?

* * *

Paeng!

[You have acquired 50 Magic Stones.]

“Huh? Magic Stones this time? Is that good?”

Clara glanced around, caught eyes with Lea and Maya, and hastily retreated to the safe zone behind Shin Jungho.

“They’re just setting the mood. We already settled this last time. Right, you two?”

“…That is correct, Lord.”

“…Indeed, Your Highness.”

Why were their responses coming a beat late…?

A Random Box was, by definition, a matter of luck—so whoever pulled it shouldn’t make any difference.

What was more impressive was Clara’s mental fortitude.

After finishing another floor and returning.

“Boss! Me! Can I pull again this time?”

That was already the third time in a row she had volunteered to open the Random Box.

She clearly felt no pressure at all, did she?

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Yay!”

Despite the sharp glares from Lea and Maya, Clara steadfastly opened the Random Box.

Paeng!

[You have acquired 5 Magic Stones.]

“Ah…! I really thought a Source Stone would come out this time! Boss! Let’s go back into the Tower again!”

“…Let’s call it a day for now. We’ll start again tomorrow.”

And during the next day’s run.

Paeng!

[You have acquired 1 Magic Stone.]

“Ah! It’s a Magic Stone, not a Source Stone! But getting just one—doesn’t that mean a Source Stone must be coming soon?”

Clara radiated boundless optimism, showing not the slightest crack in her composure regardless of the outcome.

Honestly, getting a single Magic Stone in the 50th-floor range was a reward so pitiful that even crying ‘rigged’ wouldn’t raise eyebrows.

Not that there was any way to know the exact probabilities.

After finishing the 55th floor, standing before yet another Random Box.

“Boss! I’ve got a really good feeling about a Source Stone this time!”

Clara, as expected, wanted to open the Random Box herself.

“Your Highness, the Random Box is a precious artifact of strictly limited quantity. Do not hand it to a stallion in heat and jinx it—bestow your own divine touch upon it.”

“Clara is a criminal guilty of the grave offense of squandering four Random Boxes! Do not tolerate her atrocities any longer—I beseech you to demonstrate your golden hands, Lord!”

Maya and Lea harshly denounced Clara.

Truth be told, the timing was rather perfect.

The 54th floor had yielded just one Magic Stone—surely the 55th floor would produce something better than that, at the very least?

But he had no desire to join in piling on Clara.

A Random Box was luck, after all, and if Clara herself wanted to pull, there was no rational reason to stop her.

“Go ahead and open it, Clara.”

“Your Highness! Please reconsider!”

“Lord! We implore you to think again!”

“Hehe! Come on out, Source Stone!”

Amid Maya and Lea’s protests, Clara gaily opened the Random Box.

Paeng!

[You have acquired 1 Magic Stone.]

…Wow.

This was truly unexpected.

A single Magic Stone from a 50th-floor Random Box—twice?

In that moment, Clara uttered the words she should never have spoken.

“Maybe I really just have no talent for pulling? The duds come way more often than I expected.”

Shin Jungho turned his head in stiff, robotic increments and asked Clara.

“What, exactly, do, you, mean by that?”

“Huh? It just occurred to me—I think I heard a lot in my past life that I should never even set foot in a gambling den! They said I’d squander not only my own fortune but the mercenary company’s shared funds too, right?”

And that…

You just… now… remembered that?

Lea and Maya smoothly flanked Clara, crossed their arms, and waited silently for orders.

“Uh… B-Boss…? No, wait—”

Shin Jungho gazed at Clara’s large, terror-filled eyes for a long moment, then gave a heavy nod.

“Permission granted.”

And so, the three summoned beings entered the Dimensional Room in a most harmonious(?) fashion.