During that period, Juhyeok had been using the Korean Awakening Administration’s YouTube channel to vividly reveal the appearances of gigantic monsters.

The Behemoth on the 81st floor,

Apophis on the 82nd floor,

the Arachnoid on the 83rd floor,

the Colossus Condor on the 84th floor,

the Magnus Gigant on the 85th floor,

and even the Superheated Calamity Phoenix on the 86th floor.

Since the purpose was information disclosure, the videos only showed the monsters’ appearances.

For ordinary people, they weren’t exactly entertaining or pleasant to watch.

Some even left malicious comments, asking why they were uploading such disturbing footage.

But the newly released video—

it was on an entirely different level from anything that had come before.

Our Friend, Magnus Gigant Unit No. 1?

They were really going to show insanely badass footage of their fallen friend?

This was the video.

A combat sequence in which Magnus Gigant Unit No. 1 subdued a Behemoth with fluid, graceful movements.

First it blinded the monster with a destruction beam, then charged in and knocked it down, pounded it into the ground, climbed on top of it, and finished it with punch after punch.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

The intensity overflowed.

The filming was so good it felt overwhelmingly real.

There was no way anyone could mistake it for CGI.

From the ground.

From the sky.

Zooming in and zooming out.

Not even drones could have captured footage like that.

Viewers went wild.

The Korean Awakening Administration’s YouTube channel gained subscribers at a terrifying rate, and the video hit 100 million views in a single day.

This is insane. It really is badass. Absolute peak.

That’s a lifetime collectible.

Gerald barely managed to beat a Behemoth, and this thing beats one to death with its fists.

Of course it does. If that really is the Magnus Gigant, then it’s basically an 81st-floor monster fighting an 85th-floor monster.

But why are monsters fighting each other?

Look at the title. The Gigant is our friend.

Our friend? Then it must belong to the top Player.

Who else could it be?

How did he even get something like that?

There’s a rumor the top Player’s Trait is Summoner, so it’s probably a summon.

He cleared the Tower with that thing. An S+++ clear makes perfect sense now.

Damn. My golem is a toy.

That’s a completely different class of existence. It’s over 100 meters tall.

A Gigant armed with the people’s self-reliant revolutionary spirit!

But if this is a memorial video, does that mean it’s dead? We’ll never get to see it again?

The title says No. 1. There’s probably a No. 2.

Whoa. How many units are there?

The mystery’s solved.

What mystery?

I work at a steel mill. We’re making a 60-meter sword right now.

Typo. You mean 60 centimeters.

No, I wrote it right. Sixty meters.

No way.

Think about it. Who would use a 60-meter weapon?

Right... a 100-meter Gigant could swing that perfectly.

So we’re going to see a 100-meter Gigant fighting with a 60-meter sword soon?

Blockbuster movies are doomed this year.

Won’t they show this in theaters?

It’d be insane on a big screen.

Release it!

Yeah, release it!

They’ve got theaters even in the Republic of Gojo.

Articles poured out nonstop.

The Korean Awakening Administration was flooded with calls asking whether the video was real.

A Gigant was practically a giant robot.

A robot versus a monster—how could that not excite people?

Kids and adults alike, especially men, felt their hearts race.

The popularity of Magnus Gigant Unit No. 1 soared into the heavens.

The Korean Awakening Administration even screened the “Gigant vs. Behemoth” video in theaters.

Since it was under ten minutes long, they played it as a pre-show advertisement before the movie.

Every theater was packed.

The “advertisement” was more popular than the movie itself.

That was how Juhyeok’s Magnus Gigant Unit No. 1 was etched deeply into people’s memories.

After finishing all preparations, Juhyeok and the summoned entities arrived on the first floor of the White Tower.

Their goal was to defeat the Superheated Calamity Phoenix.

The 86th-floor fire-suppression conquest of Earth No. 675’s Black Tower.

They wrapped themselves in Concealment Veil, went outside, and summoned the summoned entities one by one.

At that moment—

Ding!

[World Announcement: From now on, the use of conventional firearms inside the Tower will be strictly restricted. Explosive reactions based on Earth science—such as gunpowder, nuclear fission, or nuclear fusion—will not occur.]

“They blocked it.”

“They blocked it.”

“It’s blocked.”

“Blocked.”

“Blocked.”

“WAAH!”

Too bad.

Nuclear clears were no longer possible.

“Those administrator bastards really have no guts.”

Earth No. 1,001 or Earth No. 675—it was all the same.

The moment they took a hit, they started crying and changing the rules.

“What a bunch of pathetic cowards.”

Then again, the Tower still had to be cleared.

That was when Cossack spoke.

“Summoner Bong.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve been thinking. From now on, we should use this Black Tower as a testbed.”

A testbed?

“Even if we fail a clear here, that world can’t get any more ruined anyway, right?”

Juhyeok nodded.

After Max Kruger, the last survivor of Earth No. 675, died, that world was completely finished.

“Our Earth is different. If it collapses, it’s over.”

Exactly.

“As you’ve already experienced, the bosses on the 70th and 80th floors always bring out beings that can affect the real world.”

Right.

Kabalan on the 70th floor.

Diamat on the 80th floor.

They had both tried to exert influence on reality itself.

“So what about the 90th floor? If we reach it first and something happens to the world, it’ll be a disaster. People would curse us to hell and back.”

“Mm.”

He understood immediately.

Back then, Player Gieum reached the 70th floor first, and France nearly got branded a nuisance nation.

The same thing happened in the United States.

A Player who had fallen under Diamat’s temptation reached the 80th floor first.

That was why Diamat came out of the Tower,

and the United States ended up taking massive backlash.

In the end, Diamat defected and now stood at their side—

but still.

“So we climb the 90th floor on Earth No. 675 first?”

“Not just the 90th floor. We should start testing from the 87th floor onward.”

Oh!

That was a great idea.

This Black Tower was perfect for gathering advance information on uncleared upper floors—

a proving ground for trial climbs and data collection.

“Our strategist Cossack—how do you even come up with this stuff? Genius. An absolute genius!”

“This Cossack strives day and night to become a summoned entity worthy of the greatest genius in the universe, Summoner Bong.”

“Oh my, you really know how to flatter! Hahaha!”

“Hehehe! You flatter me!”

Meanwhile, several of the summoned entities didn’t look pleased at all.

They didn’t say it out loud, but—

I was going to say that first.

Once a suck-up, always a suck-up.

He’s transcendent at kissing up.

That level of cunning is almost admirable.

How are we supposed to beat that?

WAAH...

Anyway, the climb began.

The first thing they needed to check was whether administrators from different worlds were actually communicating with one another.

“Mr. Rajix.”

“Huh?”

“Do you have enough space to store one Gigant?”

“Huh?!”

He did.

In that case—

SPOT!

[Entering the German Black Tower, 85th floor.]

SSSSS—

Let’s pick up one of the Gigants produced on Earth No. 675.

Their suicide warrior had fallen here, so it was only fair to recruit a new warrior from the same place.

A true law of equivalent exchange.

First, he fired a magic EMP round from the Gigant-response magic gun.

FLASH!

After immobilizing it, Berserker Cossack was deployed.

CRACK! CLANK!

The armor plates opened.

“El-nim, check the circuitry. Is there a self-destruct mechanism?”

“I’ll bet everything I own and my hand that there isn’t. Unless you’re scared.”

“It’s the standard automatic type. No self-destruct circuit.”

Jackpot.

“The administrators don’t seem to be communicating with one another after all.”

“That’s what it looks like. If they were, they would’ve patched everything before the nuclear clears ever happened.”

As expected, every conflict in the world stemmed from bad communication.

Thanks to that, Juhyeok was the one benefiting.

“Let’s take it.”

SSSSS—

Rajix smoothly stored the Gigant away.

Repeat clear successful.

The rewards were collected as casually as ever.

[Exiting the German Black Tower.]

SPOT!

Then they went right back in.

[Entering the German Black Tower, 86th floor.]

It was time to conquer the Superheated Calamity Phoenix.

And the victory had to be overwhelming—

enough to make the administrators faint from shock.

To do that, they had brought forty chemical fire trucks and as much liquid nitrogen as possible.

Who would drive the fire trucks?

They didn’t need drivers.

Chemical fire trucks didn’t spray hoses.

Their extinguishing-agent launchers were mounted on top and could fire automatically by remote control.

Meanwhile, Mackenzie used flight magic to carry Rajix into the air, where he dropped all the liquid-nitrogen tanks at once.

The Berserker and Veronica Caliber then ruptured the tanks and spilled their contents.

Third attempt.

By now, they were used to it.

At Gyeon Dallae’s ritual drum signal—

“Veronica Caliber, pull it.”

“Veronica Caliber, delivery ready.”

The conquest of the phoenix began.

SHHHHHH!

Fire suppressant sprayed in every direction.

Liquid nitrogen poured down like a storm.

And there was one major difference from the earlier attempts—

Mari had joined the battle this time.

CRRRRRK!

A homunculus infused with frost potions coiled around the body of the Superheated Calamity Phoenix.

How could it possibly endure that?

Ding!

[Superheated Calamity Phoenix 1/1]

[86th-floor mission cleared.]

[Rewards: Phoenix Feather / 860 kg of high-grade Magic Stones]

It was a truly overwhelming victory.

They even got an extra Phoenix Feather.

The result was—

[World Announcement: You have achieved clear grade S+++ on the German Black Tower, Floor 86.]

“... Hah.”

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

Disappointing.

Honestly, he had been expecting EX.

“Tch. I cleared it as fast as possible too.”

A clear needed impact.

Speed alone wasn’t enough.

Juhyeok was still hungry.

Maybe it was because he had already experienced EX before.

“An S+++ clear just doesn’t satisfy me anymore.”

Black Tower (Earth No. 675) Control Room.

[They’re back again. ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) I’m sick of these bastards.]

[Don’t tell me... the 86th floor?]

[No, they entered the 85th floor.]

Thank goodness.

For a second they thought the 86th floor was getting cleared again.

But why the 85th?

A repeat clear?

[Huh?]

[... Whew.]

My head is pounding.

[What?]

[That labor bastard is stuffing a Gigant into subspace.]

Stuffing it inside?

[How?]

[He disabled it with a mana EMP and tampered with the circuitry.]

[Ahh...]

So that was how they had been hauling them away all this time.

[What do we do? That Gigant probably needs a patch too.]

The designer thought for a moment.

Then—

[Leave it. If they want to take it, let them.]

It would be useless past the 86th floor anyway.

A Gigant like that was nowhere near enough to deal with phoenixes or dragons.

[Huh?]

[Huh?]

[Oh.]

At this point, who cared whether they said “huh” or not?

[What is it? Say it.]

[They just entered the 86th floor. Are they trying to clear the phoenix?]

[... What?]

A phoenix?

They were trying to clear a phoenix?

[P-pull up the hologram.]

Click!

The clear began.

The administrators’ jaws dropped.

[... Fire trucks?]

How many did they bring?

The trucks spread out wide, like wings unfolding—

SHHHHH! SPLAAASH! SHRRRRRK!

An enormous flood of fire suppressant poured over the area.

Liquid nitrogen rained from the sky like a tropical downpour.

[I see.]

They had forgotten.

[That bastard came from a world that hasn’t collapsed yet.]

[Not just nukes. With that subspace, he can directly apply Earth’s intact scientific firefighting technology.]

[I’m losing my mind.]

In the end, even the 86th floor fell.

At this point, should they just give up?

But why did he look so disappointed after getting an S+++ clear?

SPOT!

Juhyeok exited the Tower.

Just as planned, the 86th floor had been cleared.

He got another Phoenix Feather.

He got more badges. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

And yet it still wasn’t enough.

“Tch.”

He wanted to drive the administrators’ blood pressure even higher.

“... Should we go up one more floor?”

Like Cossack had said, wasn’t Earth No. 675’s Black Tower supposed to be their test Tower?

Then they should use it properly.

If things went badly, they could just leave.

“Want to go in again?”

“... Huh?”

“87th floor?”

“I’m in!”

“This warrior believes it is a fine idea.”

“Proceed without hesitation.”

Everyone was on board.

All he needed was one more person.

“... Mari?”

Mari was crouched nearby, scribbling away.

—Summoner, I will stay by your side.

Perfect.

Then let’s go.

All together.

Up to the 87th floor.

What would come out this time?

[Entering the German Black Tower, 87th floor.]

SPOT!

Juhyeok and the summoned entities arrived on the 87th floor.

The environment was an open field.

Dead, withered grass.

A foul stench hanging in the air—

like the rot of animal carcasses.

“Creepy...”

Maybe coming here had been a mistake.

Regret set in.

The most dangerous moment was always when confidence swelled.

Complacency could kill.

They should have been satisfied and left.

But then—

“... Ha!”

Bardin exclaimed.

Then—

“Light!!!”

FWAAAAASH!

Brilliant, overwhelmingly dense radiance flooded the 87th floor.

“This humble one shall lead the way.”

What?

After advancing to LSSR, had he picked up a detection ability like Rajix?

Bardin strode forward.

And then—

Ding!

[87th-Floor Mission: Defeat the Undead Bone Dragon That Has Lost Its True Name.]

[Time Limit: 15 hours.]

[Completion Condition: Undead Bone Dragon That Has Lost Its True Name 0/1]

At the same time, something came flying toward them with its wings spread wide.

FLAPFLAPFLAPFLAP!

A skull for a head.

Skin and flesh still clung to parts of its body, but exposed bone jutted out everywhere.

A grotesque mixture of zombie and skeleton, wrapped in a chilling dark aura.

“A dragon.”

“It’s a dragon.”

“A dragon indeed.”

“A dragon?”

“But it’s undead...”

“An undead dragon can hardly be called a dragon.”

“And it has even lost its true name.”

“It’s far weaker than a real dragon.”

“But can we kill it?”

At that moment—

everyone’s gaze gathered in one place.

If it was undead, then they already had its natural enemy right here.

LSSR Holy Knight Bardin puffed out his chest proudly and raised his massive shield.

“Light!!!”

Ahh—

behold that dazzling radiance.

The perfect counter to the undead.

The sacred authority of a holy knight that repelled all corruption.

“Light!!!”

Brilliant.

Blinding.

Yes.

Let’s trust Bardin.

But at that exact moment—

CRRRRZZZZT!

Pfft.

The light vanished.

What?

Why did the light go out?

Bardin tilted his head in confusion.

“Light!!!”

FWAAAAASH!

But—

CRRRRZZZZT!

Pfft.

It went out again.

This was absurd.

What was this, premature radiance?

From an LSSR holy knight?

“L-light!!!”

FWAAAAASH!

CRRRRZZZZT!

Pfft.

“Why does it keep— ah!”

Then they realized why.

There was a culprit.

Veronica Caliber had a magic gun pressed against Bardin’s body.

The weapon in her hands glowed brilliantly with holy energy.

“It’s been a while since I used Attribute Absorption.”

“...”

Right.

Attribute Absorption existed.

Veronica had learned it back when she was SSR.

Now she was LSSR.

She was siphoning LSSR-grade Radiance with LSSR-grade Attribute Absorption.

“W-why are you absorbing my Radiance...?”

“It’s a flying monster. We need to pull it down.”

“Uh—uhh.”

Veronica Caliber took a firing stance.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ—

The magic gun vibrated violently and began to heat up.

“Y-you’re pulling it down with a sub-light-speed round?!”

Click.

She pulled the trigger.

“You could’ve just used a low-caliber round!!!”

Ignoring Bardin’s desperate scream—

BOOOOM!

A massive backblast erupted.

WHUUUURRRR—!!!

BANG!

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

KWA-BOOOOM!

The dark aura tore apart like paper.

The holy-attribute sub-light-speed round struck the Undead Bone Dragon square in the torso.

“KUAAAAAAAH!”

Radiance was the undead’s natural enemy.

And this wasn’t just any Radiance.

It was LSSR-enhanced Radiance—

loaded into a sub-light-speed round.

The Undead Bone Dragon plummeted helplessly.

“One shot?”

“One shot.”

“One shot, huh.”

“One shot?”

“Well... almost—”

“It doesn’t look dead yet.”

“One more shot?”

Then—

“Light!!!”

Holy Knight Bardin charged toward the place where the dragon had crashed at terrifying speed.

Even if he had lost the opening blow—

right.

The finishing strike belonged to the holy knight.

Are you watching, administrators?

These are my summoned entities.

[...]

[...]

[...]

The administrators of Earth No. 675 said nothing.