Earth No. 675 – Black Tower Control Room

[The contract has been signed.]

[Hah... so it’s begun. What did he put on the scale?]

[A Trait Enhancement Rune, 3,000 tons of high-grade Magic Stones, 1 ton of top-grade Magic Stones, and 20 Platinum Badges. Four items in total.]

[... He was blinded by greed. He doesn’t even know how heavy the counterweight will be.]

[He succeeded once, so he thought nothing could stop him. He believed he could succeed again.]

[Stupid bastard.]

Before the contract, they had investigated the conditions of the equivalent-exchange scale deal he had made on Earth No. 1,001.

Back then, he had placed only one thing on the scale:

the liberation of souls bound to the Tower.

Of course, allowing enslaved souls to leave the Tower was an enormous act, one that twisted causality itself.

That alone was enough to justify Hell Mode difficulty.

But this time, he had been far too greedy.

He had placed four rewards on the scale.

[How should we design this...?]

[The original monster on the 85th floor is Magnus Gigant, right?]

[Yes. But that one can’t be strengthened.]

[Right. That’s already the final version.]

[Then let’s design the mission without Gigant.]

The rules for enhancing Tower monsters were clear.

You couldn’t invent imaginary beings and place them there.

They had to actually exist.

For example, the Ultra-Giant Titan Behemoth—

the final evolution route of Behemoth.

It wasn’t imaginary.

It truly existed in a certain dimension.

But Magnus Gigant was a manufactured construct.

There was no stronger Gigant golem than that.

So instead of altering the existing mission—

[... What about designing it like this?]

[Hmm... that tilts things too heavily in our favor. That would violate causality.]

[It’s fine. Proceed as is.]

It was excessive.

The final condition they added was the real problem.

Without it, the scale would have balanced.

They could have taken a normal route—

simply designing the 85th floor as an uncleared floor and preventing him from going any higher.

But the summoner had crossed the line.

He had humiliated and disgraced them in front of his subordinates.

He would pay the price.

[The summoner will die on the 85th floor.]

[I can’t wait to watch him die.]

[This ends up helping the administrators of Earth No. 1,001.]

[Yeah. We’re solving their problem for them without them lifting a finger.]

[I don’t like that.]

[It’s annoying, but what can you do?]

It was a race against time.

If communication had already begun between the administrators of Earth No. 675 and Earth No. 1,001, they would soon figure out why the equivalent-exchange deal would fail.

Before that—

finish the nuclear strategy.

A patch would be a nightmare.

Juhyeok went to North Korea with Cossack and Rajix.

At the underground nuclear facility in Yongbyon, ten medium tactical nuclear warheads were ready, each fitted with timed detonators.

“Whoa, isn’t ten a bit much? When are we going to use all of those? Three or four should be plenty.”

Even during Earth No. 1,001’s equivalent-exchange deal, they had detonated only two.

“The rest are for emergencies. If we keep them in storage, they’ll come in handy someday, won’t they?”

That was true enough.

Better to have too many than too few.

If they didn’t need them, they could always dump them in a Tower later.

“Let’s load them.”

“Got it.”

SWISH!

All ten warheads vanished into Rajix’s subspace.

Next came reinforcing the bunker.

To the existing shelter made of lead plates, steel plates, and concrete,

El installed shock-absorption circuits.

Gyeon Dallae added talismans.

Mackenzie layered barrier-enchantment magic circles over the whole thing.

“That should be enough, right?”

“Nope. One thing’s left.”

“What is it?”

“We need to film the nuclear explosion too.”

“Oh. Right. I almost forgot.”

This wasn’t a normal clear.

It might even be the last one.

“Gotta leave a record.”

Mackenzie immediately raised his hand.

“I shall film it from the air using Flight magic.”

Cossack went pale.

“Good grief, Elder Mackenzie. If you film a nuclear explosion from up close, you’ll die. What are you thinking?”

Huh?

Cossack was worried about Mackenzie?

“I’m fine. So what if I die once? I’ve already been hit by a meteor before. I can revive later with a Summoned Entity Resurrection Rune—”

“Who cares whether you live or die? If the blast melts your smartphone, we won’t be able to watch the footage later.”

Of course.

That was the real problem.

“... Do you have a solution?”

“Set up camera lenses outside, run cables into the bunker, and record it in real time on a laptop.”

“Oh. I see.”

“Try using your brain once in a while. If you’re on Earth, take advantage of Earth’s technology. If it’s always magic, magic, magic, you’ll never make progress.”

“......”

So—

“Cossack, you handle the filming.”

“Yes, sir!”

Cossack grinned broadly.

Mackenzie sulked.

All preparations were complete.

The day of the decisive battle had come.

Juhyeok gathered all his summoned entities and went to the first floor of the White Tower.

Even Mari, who hated leaving home, came along.

She crouched in a corner of the elevator, staring at the wall.

They formed the nuclear strategy party.

First team members:

Rajix, the porter.

El, the Gigant pilot.

Cossack, the cameraman.

Bardin, the holy knight.

Mackenzie, the runner.

The rest stayed behind on the White Tower’s first floor as reserves.

Juhyeok first wrapped himself in a Transcendent Concealment Shroud, went outside, and used Designated Summon on the first team.

Then they entered the Tower.

SPOT!

[Entering the 85th Floor of the German Black Tower.]

At last.

The floor whose difficulty had been adjusted by contract.

Then—

[Due to the contract, the difficulty of the German Black Tower’s 85th Floor will be changed to Extreme Hell Mode.]

“... Huh?”

Extreme Hell?

What the hell is that?

Harder than Hell?

That was a problem.

[If the clear is successful, the difficulty of the German Black Tower’s 85th Floor will return to Normal Mode.]

[Have you confirmed the contract conditions?]

“Hmmm...”

What now?

Back out?

Screw it.

We’re already here.

Hell or Extreme Hell—what’s the difference?

If it’s impossible, we can just check the mission and leave. Or reset it.

“Confirm.”

[The contract has been executed.]

[The mission of the German Black Tower’s 85th Floor has been changed.]

[Upon completion, a Trait Enhancement Rune, 3,000 tons of high-grade Magic Stones, 1 ton of top-grade Magic Stones, and 20 Platinum Badges will be granted as guaranteed rewards.]

Just hearing the rewards was intoxicating.

“So what if I got a little greedy?”

All I had to do was clear it.

Before taking the mission—

“Mr. Rajix.”

“Yes?”

“Take it out.”

“Right away!”

SWISH!

Rajix handed Juhyeok a bundle of fireworks, the kind you saw on beaches in summer.

He lit the fuse with a lighter.

TSHHT!

POP-POP-POP-POP!

The fireworks exploded, scattering multicolored sparks.

Gunpowder explosions still worked.

No patch yet.

“Beautiful.”

The fireworks—and the rewards to come.

Meanwhile—

[The summoner has entered the 85th floor. He has confirmed the contract.]

[Really?]

The first step had succeeded.

[Has he taken the mission yet?]

[He’s still in the safe zone. The message should appear soon.]

[He’s not going to chicken out and run, is he?]

[No way. The rewards are practically dancing right in front of his eyes.]

He had to take the mission.

Only then would the plan be complete.

Then—

[Huh?]

[What now?]

[They’re setting off fireworks.]

Fireworks?

[Like... celebratory fireworks?]

[Are they congratulating themselves in advance?]

[Heh. Pathetic fools. Let’s see if they’re still doing that after they take the mission.]

After confirming that the nuclear warheads still worked, Juhyeok stretched out his arm and pointed forward.

“Advance.”

“Yes, sir!”

It was time to take the mission.

After that, depending on the situation, he would summon Meatshield, Mad Demon, Gyeon Dallae, Veronica Caliber, Diamat, and Mari.

“Three or four nukes should be enough.”

Even medium tactical warheads—

each one was stronger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

No matter how much Gigant had been strengthened, how could it survive a nuclear detonation?

Then—

Ding!

The mission message appeared.

[85th Floor Mission: Defeat 1 each of the following—

Giant Golem Magnus Gigant / Ultra-Giant Titan Behemoth / Ultra-Giant Serpent Mega-Mutant Apophis / Ultra-Giant Queen Spider Demonic Arachroid.]

[Completion Time Limit: None.]

... What?

Are they insane?

[Completion Condition 1: Giant Golem Magnus Gigant 0/1]

[Completion Condition 2: Ultra-Giant Titan Behemoth 0/1]

[Completion Condition 3: Ultra-Giant Serpent Mega-Mutant Apophis 0/1]

[Completion Condition 4: Ultra-Giant Queen Spider Demonic Arachroid 0/1]

All of them?

Ultra-giant. Titan. Mutant. Demonic.

Even the modifiers sounded ominous.

He had fought Titan Behemoth before.

But the others?

“What the hell...?”

He didn’t need to go looking for them.

Just turning his head was enough.

BOOM... BOOM... BOOM...

In the distance, colossal shapes writhed.

Grotesque.

So enormous they defied description.

The serpent and the spider were both obscene in scale.

Magnus Gigant was there too.

It was the smallest of them all.

Like a toy.

“... Should I give up?”

Even placing the nukes would be difficult.

Then—

[Mid-mission withdrawal is not possible. You may exit only after completing the mission.]

“What the hell?!”

So that was why there was no time limit.

It was a trap.

Fail the mission—

and die here.

That possibility had never even crossed his mind.

“Hey, you dog-shit /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ administrators!!!”

“You bastards!”

“To dare set a trap for our summoner... I cannot tolerate this.”

“They’re even more despicable than me. I’m impressed.”

“Huuu...”

The summoned entities were furious.

Juhyeok was too.

“Wow! What the hell did I even do wrong...?”

Climbing the Tower as a player wasn’t a crime, was it?

Then why go this far?

Did they really want me dead that badly?

Sure, I’d been in no-withdrawal content once before, but still.

Can we kill them?

No—we have to.

No matter what.

“How many nuclear warheads did we bring again?”

“Ten in total.”

“... That’ll be enough, right?”

“It’s more than enough.”

Right.

No matter how big they were, they were still living beings made of flesh and blood.

Ten medium tactical nukes detonated at once would rival a strategic nuclear strike.

How were they supposed to survive that kind of blast?

“That would be even more destructive than the meteor I dropped,” Mackenzie said.

That was reassuring.

Mackenzie’s meteor had wiped out even dragons—if this was stronger than that?

“Two wouldn’t have been anywhere near enough.”

Good thing we brought ten.

“Take them all out.”

“Yes, sir!”

At this point, blow everything up.

“I’ll start setting up the bunker.”

Work began.

They dug deep into the ground.

A bunker with a thick steel door was buried underground.

Since they planned to film it, they installed cameras too—three of them in total.

To keep them recording until the very end, they placed barriers over the cameras and ran wired connections into the bunker to a laptop for real-time recording.

Basic preparations were complete.

[Got it. He’s taken the mission.]

[Good. Put the video up.]

Now they couldn’t escape.

They would have to watch everything with their own eyes.

[Hehehe.]

On the hologram feed, the administrator’s face was visibly flustered.

That’s right—despair.

Cry and beg.

Who knows? I might spare your lives.

But then—

[... Hm, what are they doing?]

[Looks like they’re digging.]

[Why are they digging into the ground?]

[Do they think they can reach another floor by digging down?]

[No way...?]

[That one is installing cameras all over the place.]

[What in the world are they...?]

They couldn’t understand it at all.

Surely they weren’t digging their own graves.

After checking the bunker’s sturdiness and camera operation one last time—

“Rajix, take out the nuclear warheads. We need to hurry if we’re going to place all ten.”

“I’ll help too.”

“This mage as well—”

“Shouldn’t we summon more?”

“... Hmm.”

Direct installation was too dangerous.

If one went off early, they would die instantly.

A safe method—wait.

“Hold on.”

An idea struck him.

“Rajix?”

“Yes?”

“Take out a Gigant.”

“Got it!”

SSSSSSH!

A Gigant emerged from the subspace backpack.

Let the Gigant handle transporting the nukes.

It would be faster and safer.

“Oh! That’s clever.”

“My lord’s brilliance never ceases to impress me,” Bardin said.

“Oh my, Summoner Bong, how did you even think of that?”

But it hurt.

His eyes even stung.

My first Gigant.

Now it was going to be a suicide bomber.

Don’t misunderstand.

I’m not sending you off just because I brought back newer models.

It’s not because you’re damaged here and there, covered in scratches, or down to only an hour of fuel.

Absolutely not.

You know how I feel, right?

You don’t have a soul, so it won’t hurt when you explode... right?

At El’s command, the Gigant stood up, holding all ten nuclear warheads in its hands.

Time to move.

The solemn march of a Gigant on a suicide mission.

—Mobility command. Mode input: Advance.

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

The Gigant marched forward.

The summoner’s loyal warrior, carrying ten medium tactical nukes, advanced proudly to clear the 85th floor’s Extreme Hell Mode.

“... Gigant!”

There was no response.

“I—I’m sorryyyyy!!!”

My first unit.

I’d gotten attached to it.

“You should enter the bunker now.”

“Haa...”

Juhyeok looked one last time at the Gigant’s back as it continued marching forward.

“I’ll remember you.”

“Let’s go in.”

They entered the bunker.

The summoned entities followed.

El stayed outside until the very end, gauged the distance and timing, and then—

Click!

The timed detonators activated.

“Sixty seconds remaining.”

El sealed the hatch and came inside.

The bunker went dark.

“O Light!!!”

FWAAAAASH!

Warm radiance spread through the bunker.

At the same time—

Whoooosh!

Bardin’s shield expanded, covering the entire interior of the bunker.

“Barrier, barrier, barrier...”

Mackenzie layered protective spells over Juhyeok and the others.

“Designated Summon: Aliamari.”

SPOT!

The instant she was summoned, Mari deployed her defensive homunculi.

SHASHASHASHASH.

They spread densely throughout the bunker.

Her homunculi activated their shield fields, packing the bunker full of shock absorbers.

Now then—

“Ten seconds remaining.”

Juhyeok zoomed in on the external camera feed on the laptop.

On the screen, the ultra-giant monsters were charging toward the Gigant carrying the nuclear warheads.

The Gigant kept walking steadily.

Finally, it came face-to-face with the monsters.

It almost looked like it was politely offering them the nukes.

Here you go.

What is this? Food?

Yes. It’ll be delicious.

“Three... two... one... detonation.”

Then—

FLASH! BOOOOM!

The bunker shook violently.

The explosion flashed across the screen, and then—

The laptop went dark.

And then—

CRAAASH!

The terrifying shockwave from the nuclear explosion reached even the inside of the bunker.

“Ugh!”

“Ghk!”

“Hng...”

“Haa...”

It was a massive detonation.

Ultra-high-temperature plasma, approaching the heat of the sun’s core, melted everything on the 85th floor.

The heat felt like it was reaching even inside the bunker.

That alone would have been enough.

PAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAK!!!

A second overwhelming shockwave followed, finishing off any ultra-giant monsters that might somehow have survived.

Ten nuclear warheads had detonated at the same time.

A colossal mushroom cloud rose.

The result?

[Giant Golem Magnus Gigant 1/1]

[Ultra-Giant Titan Behemoth 1/1]

[Ultra-Giant Serpent Mega-Mutant Apophis 1/1]

[Ultra-Giant Queen Spider Demonic Arachroid 1/1]

[You have successfully completed the 85th floor mission.]

Damn. That was exhilarating.

I could get addicted to this.

The administrators of Earth No. 675 were speechless.

[...]

[...]

[...]

They didn’t even know how to express what they were feeling.

Stunned.

Shocked.

Angry.

Empty.

Resigned.

A storm of conflicting emotions.

[... So that’s why he set off fireworks earlier.]

It must have been a test.

To check whether gunpowder explosions still worked.

[Did the administrators of Earth No. 1,001 know about this?]

[... O-of course! They must have cleared it like that too!]

[Those bastard dogs!!!]

They hated the summoner.

But they hated the administrators of Earth No. 1,001 even more.

[Connect communications.]

The administrators of Earth No. 1,001 were idly killing time.

There was nothing to do.

Whether players climbed the Tower or not.

Whether they rented mana guns and cleared giant monster zones.

Life became easy once you gave up.

At least until the 90th floors, they planned to do nothing but wait.

Then—

[Designer, Earth No. 675 is requesting a connection.]

Tch. Those guys were seriously annoying.

What do they even want this time?

[Don’t accept it.]

[Yes.]

Why do they keep calling and making a fuss?