Chapter 111 - Chapter 111

Chapter 111

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Translated by Jinmu

Read more at hivetoons.org

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Namyangju Villa.

Joo-hyuk sat facing Gwangma alone at an outdoor dining table.

The first round ended with everyone gathering together and cheering each other up.

Currently in the second round, there were only two people who enjoyed drinking, so it couldn't be helped.

The other summoned entities scattered to different places to take a rest.

Gyeon Dal-rae reading a book making the warm sunshine her friend, Rajix tending to the vegetable garden, Master Sergeant Be sleeping hidden away, and Gobang and Bardin having a friendly chat.

Joo-hyuk opened an authentic Maotai liquor purchased at a department store and poured it into Gwangma's glass with a trickle.

"Hmm, the aroma of the liquor is good. To think I would get to taste such liquor. Summoner, please take a glass too."

Trickle trickle.

"Thank you."

Cossack was in charge of the snacks.

He lit a charcoal fire next to them and placed meat on it.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle!

Perfectly grilling a piece of top-grade Korean beef ribeye cap to prevent the juices from escaping, he then slapped it onto a plate.

"Please try it, sir. It is meat grilled by me, Chef Co, a steak expert, a magician of heat control, Michelin 3-star, and Global Chef Master, sir."

What the heck is Chef Co again?

Gwangma opened his mouth, smirking and laughing.

"The order is wrong. You should serve the Summoner first before me."

"Huh? This ribeye cap is Summoner Bong's, sir."

"...Mine is?"

"I am grilling it right now, aren't I, sir?"

Cossack grilled a large piece of sirloin and placed it on a plate.

"Ahem, the meat is different."

"This is delicious meat too, sir. Are you looking down on Korean beef sirloin, sir?"

Saying so, putting a piece of sirloin in his own mouth too,

"It melts softly, sir."

And downing a glass of cola.

"Kyaaa!...Sir Gwangma, what are you doing, sir? Please eat quickly. If you don't eat, I will eat it all, sir."

"...Ahem! I, I got it."

Gwangma sneaking his chopsticks toward the meat.

"Not that meat, sir. I said the ribeye cap is Summoner Bong's, sir."

"...."

Wow! That spirit,

He was a Cossack without fear.

Even after witnessing Gwangma's mass destruction with his own eyes, he is openly acting slick like that.

Indeed,

It's all written in Cossack's background description.

Even when his capability was an SR, he tried to assassinate a Swordmaster and died.

Would it be any different just because the target is Gwangma.

Gwangma also seemed speechless.

Chewing a piece of sirloin with a bitter smile,

"Summoner."

"Yes?"

"You were very excellent today. I worried you might barge out, but since you held the center well."

It's easy to hold the center like that.

Since I just have to not step forward.

"Sir Gwangma also did well... um, well... hahaha."

"Hohoho, I know well what your heart is feeling. I am fine."

He wanted to praise him, but he couldn't get the words out.

It's a relief it was the tower, what would have happened if he had unleashed the crescent moon boomerang of astral aura on the Japanese anti-Korean protesters back then?

Tokyo would have become a sea of blood.

As expected of the dangerous summoned entity.

It's at least fortunate that he obeys his words.

Still, he can't let his guard down.

What if he steps forward declaring he'll activate Clause 3 of the Three Principles of Summoned Entities at some moment?

"By the way, when is the badge awarding ceremony...?"

"Ah! I am going to do it now."

"Oh! Is that so, ...Ahem, this old man too?"

"Oh my, of course I should give you one. For the mass destruction... no, wait, because you magnificently carried out the super high-difficulty mission. Haha."

He has to give it to him even if he did absolutely nothing.

To be honest, it's scary.

When he said he'll hold the badge awarding ceremony, the summoned entities flocked over.

Shall we start the evaluation of merits and demerits?

Gobang, who suffered the most.

He established a merit greater than anyone else, but he is excluded.

Because he's soon facing the LSSR ascension with 22 badges.

And Gyeon Dal-rae, Veronica, and Bardin. These guys also worked hard, but their established merits fall slightly short for acquiring a badge.

Seeing their expectation-less expressions, it seems they know it themselves as well.

First, starting with Gwangma.

"As the eldest brother of the summoned entities, you have established great merit by cleanly removing a potential threat with formidable martial arts, um... so I award you a badge for this."

"Ahem!"

Gwangma replying while adopting a cupped fist salute with both hands.

"I thank the martial arts world comrades for their enthusiastic support."

Next,

"Mr. Cossack."

"Yep!"

Cossack must receive one unconditionally.

Even if he lacks merit, he'll make one up and give it.

The most senior among the summoned entities.

Nevertheless, he was still only wearing 3 badges.

Even Gwangma and Veronica had 4.

That always weighed on his mind.

"Because you established great merit by guiding the Universal Top Servant to the Royal Palace Treasure Trove with godly trap dismantling abilities, I award you a badge."

1 badge for Cossack.

Actually, he wants to give him 2.

If it weren't for his mechanism dismantling and lock picking, would the Universal Top Servant have even been able to enter the Treasure Trove?

But he doesn't seem to expect that.

Cossack thrusting out his chest with the badge attached with a broad grin.

"Thank you, sir. I will work hard, sir."

Next is Rajix,

How many should he give him?

He gave him 2 before as well, so 2 this time too.

"Because you amazingly caught the scent of items this time as well and systematically stole... no, relocated a massive amount of items from the Royal Palace Treasure Trove, I award you 2 badges."

"Ho-e!"

Rajix threw both hands up and cheered.

He anticipates it.

If he attaches 2 badges, 5 are complete.

10 in total.

Will a skill upgrade occur this time too like before?

As he carefully attached them.

Whaaaak!

The 5 badges shone brilliantly.

And the badges disappearing quickly.

[The cumulative badges awarded to the summoned entity Rajix are 10.]

[The summoned entity Rajix has received trust and recognition from the Summoner.]

It popped up.

[One of the skills possessed by the summoned entity will be upgraded to the LSSR grade.]

[The skill to be upgraded is chosen by the summoned entity.]

The second skill upgrade.

Indeed?

What will he choose?

'He isn't going to upgrade a skill like cleaning, right?'

Well, cleaning is fine too.

How can he stop Rajix when he says he'll do it?

However, Joo-hyuk believed.

In the ambition flashing in Rajix's pupils.

"What did you choose?"

"Ho-e-e-e..."

Words were unnecessary.

Because he could confirm with his eyes what he had chosen.

Whaaaak!

The subspace backpack Rajix was wearing began to change.

"...Subspace?"

"Ho-e, yeees."

That's right.

The identity and signature skill of the Universal Top Servant.

Subspace upgraded to the LSSR grade.

First of all, the outwardly visible size of the backpack became very small.

If the previous size was at the level of a mountaineering backpack, it was now the size of a child's picnic bag.

Of course, its outward appearance and actual performance would be different.

"How much larger did it get?"

Rajix proving it with his actions this time as well.

He toddled over to the camper van in front of them, and,

Sseueuk, as he touched his hand to it,

Sreureuk,

The disappearing camper van.

'My goodness!'

And as he reached out his hand again,

Sreureuk,

It appeared again in the spot it was.

That thing fits inside?

He couldn't put bulky objects in before, though.

Just how much capacity does it have?

"How many of those camper vans can fit in the subspace? About 10?"

Rajix shook his head side to side.

"More?"

Rajix raising his hand high saying no,

Merely with that amount.

Meaning he should call a higher number,

"...U-uh, 100?"

His hand went up higher.

Even more?

"500?"

Still no.

Then?

"1,000?"

Then he tilted his head and thought, and,

"Ho-e, they all go in. More than that."

Gasp!

He says 1,000 camper vans can fit inside.

To think this is possible.

The vast subspace of the LSSR grade.

Just to what extent is it.

'It's crazy. This is crazy.'

The change in the subspace wasn't just the capacity.

When he reached out his hand, the desired items poured out separated by category.

In the wide empty lot, on one side were High-Grade Mana Stones, on another side were weapons, next to that were armors, next to that were elixirs and potions, jewels, and gold bars.

Stacked neatly.

Beautifully aligned items as if stacked on purpose.

"Can you also differentiate between tower-exclusive items and regular items?"

Nod nod. He says he can.

Applause naturally came out.

"Amazing. Worker! The warrior is in awe."

"Ahhh, Sir Rajix has surpassed the Universal Top Servant. He is the Infinite Transcendence Servant."

"Ay, that nuance isn't very good, sir. Universal Top Servant sticks to the mouth much better, sir."

"With the Quartermaster present, where would there be a war we cannot win?"

"As a knight serving the same liege, I am proud of you. Light!!!"

"This seat shall acknowledge you just this once."

Grin,

Rajix smiling.

'Ho-e.'

He was not satisfied.

His greed knew no bounds.

The ambition to be together with the Summoner forever, that is.

This 73rd floor S+++ grade clear was also globally announced.

A pouring of broadcast news and media articles.

Numerous posts were also uploaded on the Tower Climbing Gallery frequently visited by South Korean players.

[So the South Korea Black Tower? It's just a High-Grade Mana Stone mine now.]

[I guess he received a lot of rewards?]

[It's lamentable that we can only enter once a day.]

[Items too?]

[I dunno. But they say they drop well.]

[It's still just that. Even if it goes from 0.01% to 0.1%, would there be a difference?]

[If it's 0.1%, isn't that a super generous deal?]

[The probability really went up. Go check the Player Shop. The shopping god descended on me and my bank account flatlined.]

[Hehehe, so you guys hit up the items and climb the tower? Stupid bastards.]

[What are you talking about? Then what do you do after buying items? Do you boil them in a soup and eat them?]

[Resell. You don't know how many foreign players have entered Korea right now, do you? They buy it even when I ask for double, no, triple the price.]

[This bastard, you're a scalper, aren't you?]

[Hey, you son of a bitch! You're selling off Korean item assets to foreigners?]

[So what?]

[Our Top Player-nim would beat his chest if he knew.]

[Right. The path wasn't perfectly paved all the way to the 73rd floor for things like you.]

[Whether it's foreign player money or Korean player money, it's all the same money, wouldn't that person be happy too if it sells well?]

In reality, quite a lot of foreign players were buying items sold in the Korean Player Shop through brokers.

Because if they have decent items, the difficulty of clearing the tower plummets.

Is that amount of money the issue?

When they can mine High-Grade Mana Stones.

Meanwhile, an article came out in America as well.

[Bravo! Our America became the second High-Grade Mana Stone producing country.]

[It's the third, following China and Korea.]

[Ah! Right, there was China too. Because it's too quiet over there.]

[Are High-Grade Mana Stones the issue for China right now? Two supreme leader Chairmen died consecutively.]

[Good point.]

[Has anyone among you tried the Holy Water? Or is anyone planning to try it.]

[Me! I'm planning to climb the 61st floor tomorrow after drinking this.]

[Oh! What floor did it drop on?]

[Floor 56.]

[So it doesn't only drop above the 71st floor.]

[I'm going to drink the Holy Water and clear the 70th floor of the West Tower. The West Tower 4-piece gift set is mine.]

[Would the government just sit back and watch?]

[What's the problem? They wouldn't even know who received them.]

[Hmm, I should give it a try too.]

[Just buy items first. No matter how much Holy Water you have, it's probably better to go in fully equipped with tower reward items.]

[Taking this chance, I should go to Korea and buy a few.]

The Black Tower.

Until now, it had been the greatest threat looming over humanity.

However, the situation was different now.

The tower could be a blessing to humanity.

It really was.

A revolution was foretold across the industrial sector.

Every country in the world, having witnessed the successes of Korea and America, poured in all their efforts with the goal of climbing the 71st floor.

First, let's just climb up to the 71st floor.

And if we can clear beyond that, to the higher floors.

With this, the paradigm of the Black Tower clears completely changed.

Even though the Player Shop is bustling with customers, it's a fact that resellers, meaning scalpers, are becoming a problem.

Jeon Kwang-il and Park Kyung-soo also had a headache.

Is there no way to regulate scalpers?

"It is impossible."

"Why?"

"We can't just not sell goods at the Player Shop, and we can't catch them making trades again through that either."

"Hmm."

Because they are items that came from the tower, they go into the player's inventory.

How can they catch them? They absolutely cannot.

"So you're saying the only choice is to raise the selling price or put a limit on the total purchase amount."

"That's right. But that's not a very good method either. Because if we make a mistake, other players might suffer damages."

True.

A shop solely for players.

It didn't start as a profitable business in the first place.

They made it so that they could perform their duties safely inside the tower.

"However, I do plan to regulate habitual scalpers. A list has been drawn up too."

"Good. Delete their authority to use the Player Shop."

But it's not like they couldn't understand the overseas players either.

How frustrated must they be to even come all the way to Korea to buy items.

Those expensive items.

At least a hundred-million unit per item.

Accessories start from 500 million.

However, even this is selling it cheap.

It's much more expensive in foreign shops.

There are even things sold for over 10 times the price.

"Oh right! What about the Holy Water? Was it effective in the undead section?"

Jeon Kwang-il nodding his head with a heavy expression.

"Elite players tried using it and there was an effect. It falls short compared to the Holy Sword, but the undead dark aura became much weaker than before, so..."

"How is the supply volume?"

"It's dropping quite frequently from here and there."

"I see."

It seems the Holy Sword rental business should also slowly fold.

It had a time limit from the beginning.

Because they confirmed it was of no particular use once they passed the undead section.

Still, as if trying to flare up its final spark, the Awakening Management Agency was crowded with players from each country who came to rent the Holy Sword.

Even though Holy Water was dropping, there was still nothing like the Holy Sword.

Because they had to climb quickly.

"The Holy Sword rental is also at its tail end soon."

"Player Bong will be satisfied too since he earned as much as he could."

"But he will still definitely buy the building, with cash at that."

The 61-story Gangnam building, a 1.3 trillion won building.

It will soon pass into Player Bong Joo-hyuk's possession.

"I wonder if Player Bong's profit business will face setbacks when the rental business ends."

"It will be fine. Items are also selling well, and also Wyvern leather products will be released soon too."

Indeed, is the Holy Sword the only place money comes from?

What is there to worry about?

"How do you plan to handle the issue with the Japanese players, sir?"

"Even without you asking, my head hurts because of that."

20 Japanese players requested asylum as a group through the Korean Embassy.

Their stance is that they want to be naturalized to South Korea.

Currently, the political situation in Japan was very poor, so problems were also arising in public security.

It was natural for players to feel threatened.

Because players who cannot receive protection could become targets of crimes.

However, they couldn't just hastily accept them either.

Right at that moment!

Tti-ring!

A message notification sound ringing from Jeon Kwang-il's smartphone.

As he checked it sneakily.

"Hm?"

"What message is it?"

"Ah, yes, Player Bong says he will come to the Management Agency tomorrow."

"Really? For what matter?"

"That I do not know well."

Thereupon, Park Kyung-soo with eyes full of anticipation.

"He isn't going to ask us to act as a sales agent for a massive amount of items again, is he?"

Jeon Kwang-il laughed with a smirk and an expression saying that absolutely couldn't be true.

"Ay, surely not. Is there some treasure trove inside the tower or something?"

"Hahaha, I guess not?"

A 'surely not' attitude could spell disaster, but... still, surely not!