Director Antonio and the player Gerald left Washington Airport in the United States that evening and arrived around the next afternoon.

They went straight to the Korean Awakening Administration and met Commissioner Jeon Gwangil.

He couldn’t suppress his curiosity.

Just what was the strategy for clearing the giant-monster zone?

A weapon?

Drugs? Magic scrolls, like dream-resistance kits?

But it turned out to be something no one had imagined.

“...A gun?”

“A gun? You mean the thing you pull the trigger on and fire?”

Well, a handgun could technically be brought in as a personal item.

“You’re saying you’ll clear Behemoth with a gun?”

“Yes.”

What kind of nonsense was that?

Earth-made guns were useless for dealing damage—good for nothing except pulling monsters from long range.

And with explosive reactions based on Earth science prohibited inside the Tower, even ranged pulling had to be done with crossbows.

“It’s not an Earth gun. It’s a specially manufactured item gun. It uses a player’s mana, so we named it a mana-gun. The operating principle is—”

They listened to the explanation, but honestly, it didn’t inspire much confidence.

The barrel was so huge it looked like some kind of oversized toy rifle—how were they supposed to kill a massive Behemoth with that?

“We’ve already conducted our own tests. You’ll understand once «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» you go in yourself.”

Right.

...

Had trusting the Korean Awakening Administration ever led to a loss before?

Also—

“Is this Player Bong’s creation?”

“Of course.”

Then it was trustworthy.

“We plan to handle this the same way as the holy sword—through a loan system. To use the mana-gun, you’ll have to come to Korea in person.”

“And the rental fee?”

“It’s free.”

Huh?

Free?

That was shocking.

The previous commissioner had charged ten million dollars every single time just to rent the holy sword.

“Instead, you’ll need to buy the ammunition. One round costs one million dollars.”

Jeon Gwangil opened a large box and revealed the massive bullets inside.

“They’re called delayed-drill explosive rounds. You can’t kill it without these.”

Ah.

That made sense.

There was no way it was really free.

“Can we do it right now?”

“Go in and try it. How many rounds would you like?”

“...How many does it take to kill it?”

“At least ten. If your aim is good and you hit the vital points, you might save one or two.”

“Hmm. Do the bullets go into the inventory?”

“They do. They aren’t made with gunpowder.”

Gerald hesitated.

How many rounds should he buy?

What was so hard about firing a gun?

Behemoth was so huge you could probably hit it even if you fired carelessly.

They had to clear two Towers anyway.

Ten rounds each.

“Give me twenty rounds.”

“Yes! That will be twenty million dollars. As for the wire transfer—”

Now it was time to negotiate.

Director Antonio spoke up.

“Commissioner.”

“Yes?”

“We’re old friends, aren’t we?”

“Personally, yes.”

Antonio frowned.

As expected, it wouldn’t be easy.

“Wasn’t there supposed to be an early-adopter benefit?”

“Hmm.”

“Let’s keep it simple. Ten million. How about it?”

Jeon Gwangil stared at him in disbelief.

“Come on, there’s a limit to haggling. You’re trying to cut it in half.”

“That’s how it was with the holy sword too. And our budget took a major hit buying mana-sealing scrolls.”

“Can’t you... do me this favor, at least?”

“Ugh.”

Gerald cut in.

“Director, you should know gratitude. This money goes to Player Bong. Even paying double wouldn’t be enough.”

“...Stay out of this.”

Fine.

He would give them a discount.

They were the first ones to come running, after all.

In truth, Antonio had expected this and had already spoken with Player Bong about it.

But should he really just give the discount outright?

It was better to act magnanimous.

“Sigh, fine. Half price. Player Bong told me to handle it this way.”

“Oh, as expected of Player Bong!”

“But! There’s a condition.”

“Name it. If it’s something we can do, anything.”

“Record the successful clear on a body cam and release it publicly. Add some suitable commentary too.”

Gerald answered immediately.

“No problem. I’ve done that before. I’ll do my best and make it look good.”

CLACK, CLACK, CLACK!

Jeon Gwangil took twenty rounds out of the box and set them on top.

Swish, swish.

Gerald placed the bullets into his inventory.

“They really go in.”

“Because they aren’t gunpowder-based. Then—good luck!”

“I’ll be back.”

SPOT!

Antonio and Jeon Gwangil were left in the office.

After chatting about this and that, an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Antonio grew a little anxious.

Would Gerald come back safely?

Even if he failed, as long as he came back alive—

At that moment!

SPOT!

“Gasp—huff—”

Gerald appeared, looking exhausted.

“Gerald! Are you okay?”

“Haaah...”

“How did it go?”

“I—I’ve got exactly one bullet left. The vibration made it hard to aim.”

So he really hadn’t been able to overcome the recoil after all?

A failure?

“...But I succeeded. Tower One is cleared. The performance is insane. A bullet that explodes inside Behemoth’s body.”

“Oh!”

“I think I’ll need to buy about twenty more rounds to clear Tower Two.”

The sound of money draining away was deafening, but Antonio’s face brightened.

The giant-monster zone that had completely blocked their progress had finally been breached.

Juhyeok was also on the 81st Floor.

The 81st Floor of Earth No. 675.

They waited.

The clear they were looking forward to the most.

The clash between the giant monster Behemoth and the giant golem Magnus Gigant.

“We have to film this.”

How could anyone resist?

Even filmed casually, it would rival a blockbuster movie.

“I’ll film it so it really feels real.”

“We need a good shot.”

Cossack smirked.

“Who do you think I am? A master of dynamic camera work, immersive action framing, ‘is this CG or is it real,’ no retakes, suffocating immersion. Whatever I film becomes art. A commercial film legend, a ten-million-view director—I’m Cossack.”

Indeed.

Was there anything Cossack couldn’t do?

But there was competition.

“At best, that’s just ground-level filming.”

Mackenzie challenged Cossack’s throne.

“This is a clash between monsters so huge you have to crane your neck to look up at them. Without aerial shots, the intensity will inevitably fall short. But this mage—”

FWOOSH!

Mackenzie rose into the air with flight magic, then looked at Juhyeok.

“Aerial filming is possible. Ground shots, aerial shots, close-range, long-range—switching freely between them. This is the age of drone filming. And am I not a fully prepared cinematographer?”

Oh.

Tempting.

That was true.

Ground-only filming had its limits.

“Mage Mackenzie, please handle it.”

“Hahaha, don’t worry. I’ll get you an amazing video.”

Mackenzie beamed.

Cossack, on the other hand, looked crestfallen.

It couldn’t be helped.

If you were going to film, then you had to do it right.

Did they know how much it cost just to activate the Gigant?

FWOOSH!

The Gigant emerged from Rajix’s subspace backpack.

Ding!

The mission had been accepted.

THUD, THUD, THUD!

With its massive body, the Gigant lumbered toward Behemoth.

FWOOSH!

Holding the latest smartphone, Mackenzie followed the Gigant and began filming.

“Grrrr...”

Behemoth noticed the Gigant.

It bared its grotesque teeth.

“KWAAAH!”

THUD, THUD, THUD!

With a monstrous roar, it charged.

—Combat command. Combat type input. Exterminate Behemoth.

And then,

the animal-type giant monster and the mechanical giant monster collided.

Like a bear, Behemoth swung its forelimbs and slammed them into the Gigant’s abdomen.

BAM!

The Gigant staggered for a moment—then grabbed Behemoth’s head with both hands and drove its knee straight into it.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

“GRAAEEEK!”

Behemoth wasn’t weak enough to go down that easily.

It opened its huge mouth, bit down on the Gigant’s left arm, and shook its head wildly.

“GRRK! GRRK! GRRRKK!”

So what?

The Gigant’s whole body was metal.

Only Behemoth’s teeth would suffer.

And the Gigant wasn’t limited to physical attacks.

Its eyes glowed red.

BZZZT!

A crimson beam of destruction struck Behemoth in the face.

“GUAAAH!”

Behemoth writhed in pain, its eyes injured by the beam.

—Combat command. Combat type input. Charge.

Creating distance, the Gigant charged at the half-blinded Behemoth.

SCREEEECH!

CRAAASH!

Rolling across the ground, the Gigant and Behemoth became a tangled mass.

—Combat command. Combat type input. Pounding stance.

After a fierce struggle,

the Gigant mounted Behemoth.

—Combat command. Combat type input. Pounding punch.

Raising its right arm high, the Gigant smashed Behemoth’s face.

BAM!

Once more.

BAM!

Again.

BAM, BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

“Whoa!” 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

“Damn...”

“That’s insane.”

“Incredible.”

Admiration came out naturally.

Magnus Gigant, moving according to L’s commands.

With exquisite movements, it completely dominated the exchange, pounding Behemoth into a bloody wreck.

“Our Gigant is stronger.”

“What’s the floor difference?”

“That thing’s on the 81st Floor. Our Gigant is from the 85th.”

“That’s right. Unless it’s an ultra-giant Titan Behemoth, a regular Behemoth is nothing.”

That jogged a memory.

The ultra-giant Titan Behemoth.

The one that had appeared in Hell Mode because of the administrator’s trickery.

It had been over ten times larger than a normal Behemoth.

Like a mountain in its own right.

A normal clear had been impossible.

Even the Gigant wouldn’t have been enough.

They had barely managed to kill it by bringing in a nuke from outside.

“Hold on...!”

A nuke.

Juhyeok looked at Rajix and spoke.

“Mr. Rajix.”

“WAAH?”

“You remember what I left with you before, right? The handgun and the ammo.”

“WAAH!”

The handgun and magazine he had once received from Jeon Gwangil for self-defense.

Thinking he probably would never need them, he had left them with Rajix.

“Give them to me.”

Swish!

Rajix pulled out the handgun and handed it to Juhyeok.

The magazine was still loaded.

Bullets fired by the power of gunpowder.

Click!

He pulled the slide back, chambered a round, and aimed at the sky.

Click!

BANG!

“...It fires?”

The gunpowder detonated.

An explosive reaction based on Earth science—strictly restricted back on their Earth.

Smoke rose from the muzzle, along with the sharp, acrid smell of gunpowder.

“Then nukes too?”

The Black Tower of Earth No. 675.

That meant it was possible here.

“Yes!”

He had gained a hidden card.

And this was probably something he would only be able to use once.

If the administrators here realized nuclear explosions were possible, they would patch it out immediately.

“Still... I should get one use out of it, right?”

Anyway, the battle was coming to an end.

Pinned beneath the Gigant, Behemoth couldn’t escape the barrage of pounding blows.

And finally—

[giant monster Behemoth 1/1]

[81st Floor mission completed.]

[Reward: 81 kg of high-grade Magic Stones.]

Quickly stash the Gigant away.

“WAAAH!”

SSSSSSH!

It went in smoothly and naturally.

All right, next floor.

Floor 82 didn’t really require the Gigant.

It was a cave environment, and the Gigant couldn’t be used there anyway.

So what if there was no Gigant?

The summoned entities could just smash heads themselves.

And so, the conquest of Apophis on the 82nd Floor—

[giant monster Apophis 1/1]

[82nd Floor mission completed.]

[Reward: 82 kg of high-grade Magic Stones.]

On top of that, because they had entered with a five-level difference—

[World Announcement: You have achieved clear grade S+++ on Black Tower (Germany), Floor 82.]

[S+++ Clear Reward: 2 Platinum Badges have been granted.]

Sadly, the world had already been destroyed, so there was no one left to hear the announcement.

With daily tower entries increased to five, they pushed through to the 83rd Floor.

The giant queen spider Arachroid, surrounded by countless spiderlings.

Their 9-circle grand archmage of fire, Mage Mackenzie—

“Flare Storm, Fire Rain, Hellfire!”

—melted everything away.

[World Announcement: You have achieved clear grade S+++ on Black Tower (Germany), Floor 83.]

[S+++ Clear Reward: 2 Platinum Badges have been granted.]

Easy.

That made four badges.

Total badges: 150.

Physical badges: 30.

Wow, the badges were pouring in.

They even came with perks.

Installing that elevator really had been the right call.

Before heading home,

they checked the progress of the German Black Tower.

Ding!

[Location: Black Tower, Berlin, Germany]

[Completed: 83rd Floor]

[In Progress: 84th Floor]

[Time Limit: 899 days 10 hours 15 minutes 34 seconds]

Plenty of time.

No need to come back for a while.

It was tragic.

The one and only Black Tower in the world was being ravaged.

By a player from another world.

Five times a day, no less.

And with S+++ clear grades.

Their self-esteem plummeted.

They couldn’t even mutter a word anymore.

[...Have you gotten in touch with those bastards managing Earth No. 1,001?]

[We talked.]

[What did they say?]

[They said they tried their best—even breaking causality.]

[Idiots.]

[They even signed a Hell Mode equivalent-exchange contract, but it still wasn’t enough.]

[Ha!]

All he could do was laugh.

If they were going to do it, they should have done it properly.

A Hell Mode equivalent-exchange contract.

A contract that drastically increased the Tower’s difficulty by mutual agreement between player and administrator.

They did that, and still ended up like this?

[Anything else?]

[They told me to experience it myself. Then I’d understand.]

[Fine. Then let’s try it ourselves.]

[What?]

[A Hell Mode equivalent-exchange contract.]

[Why bother?]

[No reason not to. He’ll accept it too—now that he’s had a taste.]

[Even if we leave it alone, it’ll stop at the 86th-Floor Ultra-Calamity Immortal Phoenix.]

[I agree. The Phoenix is impregnable.]

[This is about pride. Before facing the Phoenix, I’ll kill him—on the 85th Floor. Along with the Gigant they’re so proud of.]

He would tear it to pieces.

Juhyeok returned with his party to White Tower Floor 17.

The first thing he did was take out the Gigant and set it outside.

“Whew.”

It had fought well, but it hurt to look at.

He hadn’t noticed it on the 81st Floor, but now that it was outside, damaged areas were visible everywhere.

Starting tomorrow, he would have to bring back several Gigants through repeated 85th-Floor clears.

One wasn’t enough.

He needed spares—extras.

A surprise patch would be disastrous.

They couldn’t risk the Tower monsters being changed.

Before that happened, he had to haul them in.

There was plenty of space to store them, so it was better to stock up.

At that moment!

SPOT!

“Player Bong.”

It was Commissioner Jeon Gwangil.

“Welcome, Commissioner.”

“The mana-gun rental concluded successfully. Player Gerald purchased twenty delayed-drill explosive rounds—huh?!”

He froze mid-sentence, his eyes wide.

“Th-that... um...”

His finger trembled as he pointed at the Gigant.

“...Th-that Gigant... the 85th Floor... is that... correct?”

And then—

SPOT!

“Player Bong, mass production of the obesity-escape bracelet at the Pyongyang facility has been completed—”

The CEO of Rajix Trading arrived as well.

“Eek?! A T-Tower monster?!”

Juhyeok grinned and reassured them.

“It’s fine. He’s on our side.”

On their side...

“Our Gigant cleared Behemoth too.”

“Ah...”

“Uh...”

Oh, right.

He hadn’t checked the video yet.

“Mage Mackenzie.”

“Yes, Summoner.”

“You recorded the footage from the 81st Floor, right? Let’s watch it together.”

“Understood.”

Mackenzie connected his smartphone to a large monitor.

A vivid, crystal-clear 4K video filled the screen—the clash between Behemoth and the Gigant.

He had filmed it well.

From the air, from the ground, from afar, up close, with sweeping wide shots—

It rivaled a Hollywood action movie.

From now on, filming belonged to Mage Mackenzie.

Jeon Gwangil and the CEO were speechless.

They could only stare at the screen.

Well, of course.

Where else would you ever see something like that?

Pretty cool, right? Our Gigant.

And that was just the warm-up.

The final goal was dragon slaying.

Once it wielded a magic sword, it would even kill dragons.

“So, there’s something I’d like to ask you two.”

“W-what is it?”

“I want a sword forged. A bastard sword, at least 60 meters long.”

...

Did he hear that wrong?

Not 60 centimeters.

“...Sixty meters?”

“Yes. Use Tower metal—adamantine would be perfect.”

Was that even possible?

A super-super-giant sword, 60 meters long?

“It’s fine if it’s made in sections and welded together.”

Jeon Gwangil understood why Player Bong wanted such a colossal sword.

It was probably meant for that Gigant.

“...W-welding is possible, but wouldn’t that weaken its durability?”

“It’s fine. We’ll reinforce it anyway.”

With alchemy, magitech mana circuits, and enchantment magic.

“Don’t worry about the money.”

Still, it was enormous.

Seeing Jeon Gwangil hesitate, Juhyeok added—

“I saw on YouTube that Pakistani guys can even make car parts out of scrap metal from decommissioned ships. Should we outsource it to Pakistan?”

Absolutely not.

Was Korea’s steel technology inferior to Pakistan’s?

Jeon Gwangil stiffened and nodded.

“We’ll make it.”

It was Player Bong’s request.

Failure was not an option.

A mere 60-meter sword—what was that?

Even if it meant mobilizing all the know-how of Korea’s steel industry and every skilled technician they had, they would succeed no matter what.