The Black Towers erected across each dimension.

And the players who challenge them.

In truth, it is no exaggeration to say that the outcome of the Black Towers is already decided.

The higher you climb, the more unfavorable it becomes for players.

Especially from the 81st Floor onward, gigantic monsters begin to appear, and with each floor the difficulty skyrockets.

No player has ever made it past this section.

Earth No. 1,001 is a bit of a special case, but even so.

Fine.

Let’s say they somehow kill everything.

What about the 89th Floor?

That’s where dragons appear.

True dragons—demonic dragons or berserk dragons—corrupted beings of pure destruction.

And then the 90th Floor.

The Black Tower’s ultimate bulwark.

An impregnable wall guarded by the strongest life-form in existence: the Ancient Dragon.

That was precisely why the administrators of the Black Tower on Earth No. 1,001 had given up on the summoner and simply let him climb freely.

In the end, he would stop.

Everything that begins must end, and that end was the dragon section.

And yet—

it appeared.

The summoner had entered the Republic of Korea Black Tower’s 88th Floor.

[So you’ve finally arrived.]

A holographic screen flickered to life.

[Nothing has changed, right?]

[Yes. All existing members remain the same.]

[What about the patch banning nuclear explosions? Any changes?]

[Still prohibited. Nuclear weapons will not function.]

[Hmm.]

Even so, they could not afford to relax.

It was always like this.

Every time they thought, He won’t clear it this time, he would conquer it in the blink of an eye and move up.

So they had to act on the assumption that even the Sand Dragon could be defeated.

They had already sent a warning to the free-contract dragon on the 89th Floor—

the Berserk Dragon Hasphus.

They told it not to be arrogant.

That the summoner was the strongest one they had ever encountered.

As for the 90th Floor...

Was there even any need to say anything?

Just then—

[Huh?!]

One of the administrator engineers gasped.

[What? What is it?]

[Uh—h-his level... it’s 90.]

[... What?]

Level 90.

Levels do not lie.

That meant not only the 88th-floor Sand Dragon, but the 89th Floor had already been cleared.

[You’re telling me he killed the 89th-floor free-contract dragon?]

[... I-it would seem so.]

But that could not have happened on this Earth’s Black Tower.

It was still uncleared.

Which meant—

Earth No. 675.

The free-contract dragon on that Black Tower’s 89th Floor had been defeated.

[This is insane. Just how did those idiots manage their tower?]

They let a dragon get killed?

No matter how much they trusted the Ancient Dragon on the 90th Floor.

Pathetic.

Unfit to be administrators.

Let’s hear what kind of excuse they come up with.

[Send a transmission to the administrators of No. 675. We need answers.]

But—

[I-I can’t. We can’t contact them.]

Those bastards.

[Are they retaliating because we ignored their communications before?]

No matter how bad the blood between us, if a dragon got wiped out, they should cooperate.

[... That’s not it.]

The engineer hesitated, then continued.

[They’re currently marked as absent. That’s what the status message says.]

Absent?

[All of them? Designer, engineer, maker?]

[It appears so.]

All three gone at once?

[Don’t tell me... higher-ups intervened—]

At that very moment—

[Ah!]

[What?!]

[T-this is insane!]

The administrators’ eyes flew wide open.

On the hologram feed from the 88th Floor—

the Sand Dragon was being torn to shreds.

By a single summoned entity.

Unbelievable.

That Sand Dragon—so easily?

The divine might the Mad Demon displayed.

Honestly, it shocked me.

Was this really the power of a soul and body whose frequencies had been aligned?

This is way too different.

A monster that once could not even be scratched by a crescent slash was now being ground into paste by crescent energy like it had been thrown into a blender?

Of course I was curious.

“So, while we were fighting that evil dragon in the mental realm, the Sword Immortal appeared. He said he sent his primal spirit instead of his true body...”

Primal spirit?

Is that some kind of game term?

Apparently, it was like an avatar.

In a space similar to the soul realm, the Sword Immortal’s primal spirit gave individualized guidance to each summoned entity.

“Oh!”

What about the others?

Carried away, Juhyeok cleared Tower No. 2’s 88th Floor as well.

And then he repeated it.

A total of five 88th-floor clears.

First up—Meatshield, using gigantification.

Our taciturn big brother.

Before, his gigantification had been like inflating a balloon.

But after his soul-body frequencies were aligned and the Sword Immortal taught him, it was on a completely different level.

Meatshield’s muscles compressed again and again—stronger, faster, more agile.

He grappled with the Sand Dragon, then in the blink of an eye moved behind it, grabbed its tail, swung it around, and slammed it into the sand—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

“Ha! Simple and merciless! This is true barbarism.”

“The warrior is pleased by the summoner’s praise.”

“Tail-type monsters are something to watch out for. If Meatshield grabs one and starts slamming it around, it’s over.”

Cossack?

A perfect fusion of Shadow Step and the Hartmann Sword Form.

“SHHK-SHHK! SHWAAK! SHSHSHSHSH!”

“Uh... you don’t really need to make sound effects with your mouth—”

“It feels more real with sound effects. SHWAAK!”

Then—

SPOT! SPOT! SPOT!

Moving faster than the eye could follow, he closed in on the Sand Dragon.

Slash—cut the arm.

Slash—cut the leg.

Slash—cut the tail.

Slash—cut the head.

“Pass. Grand Master Cossack.”

“I’m trembling myself. I’ve become complete. Have I become a Cossack of both pen and sword?”

“It’s like Zhuge Liang and Zhao Zilong combined. Hahaha!”

“Oh, you flatter me. Hehehe.”

Bardin’s radiance now carried sacred immortal power.

A mystical light that nullified not only the undead, but all unholy things.

Applied to his shield—

“Light!!!”

A beam of radiant brilliance shot forth from the shield.

Exposed to it, the Sand Dragon was blinded.

“Whew, I almost went blind myself. That shield’s reassuring.”

“Loyalty! For the glory of my lord!”

As for Veronica Caliber—

her magic power had nearly doubled.

The magigun’s power scaled with the user’s mana.

And mixed within her mana was a trace of immortal energy.

That alone was enough.

Her small-caliber rounds, once meant only for harassment and aggro control, now dealt real damage to the Sand Dragon.

There was no need to fire sub-light-speed rounds.

She would pepper holes through its hide with rapid small rounds, then ram a large-caliber shot straight into the openings.

The downside was that the recoil had increased along with the destructive power.

BANG! BANG-BANG!

LURCH! JOLT!

Crushing recoil, even from small rounds.

...Ahem.

She kept a straight face.

“Perfect accuracy and destructive power! Let’s promote Veronica Caliber. At this level, you earn stars. Says the archmage—no, forget archmage.”

“A promotion?”

“Yes. Skip junior officer and senior officer—straight to brigadier general.”

“... Brigadier general is a bit much.”

Too much?

“Colonel?”

Shake.

“... Lieutenant colonel?”

“Hmm.”

“Major it is. From now on, Major Veronica Caliber!”

Nod, nod.

Instant promotion.

If the summoner promotes a summoned entity, who is going to stop him?

“Major Veronica Caliber! Present your magigun to your commanding officer!”

And then—

the 9-circle archmage.

With her soul-body frequencies aligned, the nine magic circles engraved around her heart grew thicker, their rotation more ferocious.

The delay between spells was almost nonexistent now, and the power of her fire magic was enough to melt the Sand Dragon’s scales.

“Our fire mage is as fiery as ever.”

“Well, this much is nothing. Fire magic is trivial, really.”

“... Then what—?”

“The true lesson I gained is this.”

At that instant—

Swoong, swoong.

Two smartphones floated behind her.

“Telekinetic phones. I have been reborn as a true director of photography—still lacking, but.”

“......”

And then Gyeon Dallae.

Perhaps the one who benefited the most.

With one talisman, she bound the Sand Dragon’s body.

With another, she weakened it.

With yet another, she turned the dragon into an idiot.

Enhancement of talisman abilities through immortal energy.

If that was the case...

“Then what about luck talismans?”

“Young Master already possesses the highest possible fortune. Using one might actually backfire—”

“So you’re saying I shouldn’t be greedy?”

“You honor me with your understanding.”

On the other hand, Jepetto and Blood Wolf had not changed all that much.

They were stronger, but there was no dramatic leap.

Maybe it was an issue of rank?

“It’s okay. Don’t be too discouraged.”

“Yes...”

“Whiiine.”

Aliamari as well—

well, she was an alchemist.

She did not often accompany tower climbs anyway.

Still—

“This summoner is deeply moved by everyone’s brilliant growth. Let us give ourselves a round of applause!”

CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP!

“And also, let us send a message of thanks to the Sword Immortal, who gave so generously before leaving—even though he may not hear it.”

Thank you, truly.

Even though it was only a single meeting, it helped us immensely.

Sword Immortal, savior of Earth.

I hope we meet again someday.

I’ll prepare even better bikes, better snacks, better drinks—lots and lots of them.

Final tally.

Total Platinum Badges accumulated: 214.

There should have been 81 left, but because the Beyond Transcendence Random Summon consumed 30 badges, the number of physical Platinum Badges remaining was 51.

I’ll be able to claim two special rewards.

I won’t check them now. I’ll save them up and open them all at once.

So, what now?

Do we head up to the 89th Floor?

“No problem, even if it’s the 90th Floor.”

“Right. Supreme demon dragon, Ancient Dragon—swap them around and we’ll kill them. We’ll kill two.”

“Quite effortless. Though it would be better to start with Earth No. 675 rather than this tower.”

That’s right.

We still need to go to Earth No. 675.

Due to the administrators’ abuse of authority, the 89th- and 90th-floor mission targets had been swapped, so the Black Tower on Earth No. 675 now had the 89th-floor monster sitting there.

We already killed a supreme demon dragon—what’s one more? 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Let’s treat it like a field trip.

“Come to think of it, we still haven’t received the rewards.”

Were the errors fixed?

We’ll find out when we go.

But before that—

“Let’s go welcome our new members.”

Random summon, let’s go!

“It has truly been a long time.”

“Yes! Don’t worry about newbie training.”

We should brag to the new arrivals.

We’re a party that kills dragons.

And around the time Juhyeok had killed the 88th-floor Sand Dragon five times,

a video popped up on YouTube.

The title was:

<In Memory of Our Friend Magnus, Gigant Unit No. 2>

Video description: Please enjoy the late hero’s insanely awesome footage.

Unit No. 2 footage?

Insanely awesome, sure—but “in memory”?

Did it die again?

Is Unit No. 3 coming out too?

The Immortal Realm.

A world where immortals who transcended human limits dwell.

What do people usually imagine the Immortal Realm to be like?

Usually, something like this:

clear streams flowing through rugged mountains, immortal cranes and spiritual beasts frolicking about, and immortals playing Go atop broad stone slabs—a hidden paradise apart from the mortal world.

But there also existed a bizarre Immortal Realm that completely shattered such preconceptions.

An Immortal Realm into which the civilization of a parallel-universe Earth had been transplanted through dimensional travel.

A place so indistinguishable from 21st-century Earth that one could hardly call it the Immortal Realm at all.

In the heart of that Immortal Realm’s city center, buildings stood everywhere.

The tallest among them bore a sign:

Immortal Realm Multiplex.

Vrrr, vroom.

The Sword Immortal’s bike sped along the smooth asphalt road and arrived at the multiplex.

“Hey, Sword Immortal.”

“Hey, Guigok.”

The immortal called Guigok tilted his head as he looked at the bike.

“That’s a bike I’ve never seen before.”

“I got myself one.”

“How much did it cost? Must’ve been at least 30,000 celestial peaches. Did you put it on installments?”

“It was a gift.”

“Huh? A gift? That’s a violation of Immortal Realm law. They’ll confiscate it!”

“It’s fine. I brought it from another Earth.”

Guigok blinked, puzzled.

“... What? A completely different Earth, not the one connected to us?”

“That’s right. A separate Earth we’ve never experienced. I’ve got something to show you anyway, so gather everyone.”

The rumor spread.

The Sword Immortal had gone to a parallel-universe Earth not connected to the Immortal Realm.

Immortals packed the multiplex theater.

Then the footage the Sword Immortal had recorded was screened.

The Sword Immortal added his own explanations.

The current state of the parallel Earth where Great Hero Bong lived.

The dangers threatening that Earth.

How humanity was dealing with them.

But the immortals had little interest in Black Towers, tower raids, monsters, or supreme demon dragons.

Instead, they stared greedily at the items the Sword Immortal had brought back in his infinite space as “proof.”

“Good heavens, an Apple Pad Pro 8th Generation? Has it already launched over there? It hasn’t even gone up for preorder here yet.”

“It launched already. I got the high-end model.”

“An Andromeda 28S smartphone? Did the camera improve?”

“Two-hundred-times digital zoom.”

“And that liquor—what is it? Johnny Wicker Purple Label? That exists?”

“Top-tier. Over three million won per bottle.”

Enjoying the immortals’ excited reactions, the Sword Immortal continued.

“And did you know this?”

“What?”

“That drama we watched—The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate Family.”

“Huh? The one that butchered the ending of the original web novel?”

“Yes. That Earth adapted it too. The title is The Fourth Son of a Conglomerate Family.”

“Whoa—then the ending?”

“A refreshing, satisfying ending. Faithful to the original.”

“Ohhh! Not the ‘it was all a dream’ ending?”

“Exactly. I downloaded it onto this pad. We’ll screen it shortly. Admission is ten celestial peaches.”

The theater buzzed noisily.

But then—

“With all those precious items you brought back, what did you give in return?”

“... Hmm.”

The Sword Immortal frowned awkwardly, then slowly spoke.

“I used immortal energy to fix the unsynchronized bodies of Great Hero Bong’s allies. Whew, it was exhausting—I really worked hard.”

“That’s it?”

“Oh! I also gave them celestial peaches.”

“How many?”

“Quite a lot.”

“How many exactly? Don’t try to dodge.”

The Sword Immortal hesitated, then answered.

“... About a hundred?”

“What?”

“A hundred celestial peaches?”

“Are you insane?”

“Y-y-you—!”

The immortals jumped to their feet, pointing at the Sword Immortal.

“I knew it.”

“What a thief.”

“You brought back all these priceless items for just a hundred peaches?”

“A vicious scammer.”

“We knew Sword Immortal was a con artist, but this is too much.”

“That Apple Pad alone is worth well over three thousand peaches.”

The Sword Immortal stammered in defense.

“I-I only had that many peaches... Ah! I also gave them monkey fur.”

“Monkey fur? You should have given them the Ruyi Jingu Bang itself, and even that would not have been enough! And you gave them a few dirty hairs?”

“No shame at all.”

“At the very least, you should have wiped out all those Black Tower whatever-things for them.”

“That’s right. Then the karmic ties would have been stronger.”

“You should have made sure to establish a solid connection for the future.”

“Yeah, who knows? We might get summoned too.”

“Short-sighted greed led to great loss. Sword Immortal’s greed ruined everything.”

“We could have met that ultra-rich ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) Great Hero Bong ourselves.”

The criticism did not stop.

“Black Tower my ass. If it were me, I’d kick the whole thing over and smash it.”

“If I were summoned, I’d clear not the 90th Floor but the 900th.”

“If it got tough, you could just call Yama.”

“That old Jade Emperor has nothing to do anyway—just loafs around.”

“It’s because he’s stupid. Sword-ascended immortals never think straight.”

“Why lump everyone together? That’s the Sword Immortal’s problem.”

Finally—

“Send the Sword Immortal to the Netherworld. Charge him with fraud and corruption and throw him into the Scorching Hell!”

“Before that, make him cough up that infinite space.”

“That’s right! Make him take it all out.”

“If you don’t, we’ll report you!”

“Should we call right now?”

The Sword Immortal let out a long sigh.

Damn it. I shouldn’t have said anything.

I should have just enjoyed it quietly.

Looks like I’ll have to hand the stuff over.

I need to shut them up.

If this reaches the wrong ears, things will get very troublesome.