Activation of Yama’s Judge’s Hammer.

After the administrator’s hologram was restrained, a karmic sin-record video appeared behind him.

Starting from the beginning—

A world very similar to Earth appeared first.

It was probably Earth No. 675 before its destruction.

Then, suddenly, Black Towers began to rise everywhere.

It showed what the Black Towers actually were.

They occupied a certain volume of space, but could not be touched or approached—structures like that.

Like background graphics placed inside a game space.

Inactive objects.

That was why they could not be destroyed.

Missiles passed right through them, and even nuclear explosions left them unharmed.

Why was that?

Because Black Towers existed in four-dimensional space.

The so-called hidden world.

The Black Towers observed in three-dimensional reality were nothing more than shadows.

Players entered the four-dimensional Black Towers.

That was why entering a Tower was not a physical action—

they disappeared with a SPOT! as if shifting dimensions.

On the other hand, there was a time when the four-dimensional towers hidden in the reverse world manifested in three-dimensional reality.

That moment was Tower collapse.

If a Black Tower clear failed, the tower gained mass, became physical, and collapsed into the ground.

No—calling it collapse was not accurate.

The correct term was insertion.

Like plunging a blood-draw needle into Earth.

Piercing through the surface all the way down to the mantle.

“So dimensional energy is inside Earth?”

“That seems likely, my lord.”

“So Black Towers are blood-extraction devices.”

“They store the extracted energy in reservoirs.”

“And then send it to headquarters.”

Headquarters.

Whether it was the Earth No. 675 administrator, the Earth No. 1,001 administrator, or the section-chief-level administrator encountered at the dimensional energy storage facility—

they all came from a single world, a place they called headquarters.

“These bastards are running multibox on other worlds to secure resources for HQ. Black Towers are just workers. Same as mining minerals and gas.”

Headquarters and expansions.

Suddenly, a certain game came to mind.

But the location of headquarters was not shown.

That part was not revealed.

*****

Scene transition.

A small room.

Three people sat on chairs resembling massage chairs, talking.

Each was labeled: Designer, Engineer, Maker.

– Looks like our dispatch period is coming to an end.

– Not yet. Collapse needs to progress further, and if you factor in mining, we still need about 100 years.

– A hundred years is nothing. If this succeeds and we return to HQ, that’s a promotion.

– Finally escaping from bottom-tier Tower administrator?

There was hierarchy here too.

The Designer was the most senior.

“So it’s a company-like hierarchy.”

“Didn’t that guy at the dimensional energy storage facility say that? Tower admins are assistant managers, and he was section chief.”

“Then it’s a bureaucracy. They seem to divide labor—Black Towers, dimensional energy mining, management—based on rank.”

Gods were frequently mentioned in their conversations.

“For the sake of God,”

“By God’s will,”

“All things for God,”

“By God’s command.”

It seemed to be the same God people normally imagined.

Omniscience, divine power, creation, authority, dominion, destruction.

“Does God need dimensional energy?”

“That appears to be the case. Considering Black Towers are said to be God’s will.”

“So an outer god is sucking our Earth’s dimensional energy dry through Black Towers.”

“A real bastard.”

*****

Another scene transition.

Black Towers were collapsing one after another.

Each collapse created another tower, which was then inserted deep into Earth.

Next stage.

Earth No. 675.

From the sinkholes created by collapsed towers, monsters crawled out.

Goblins, orcs, trolls, minotaurs, ogres, wyverns—and undead.

The monster army began destroying human civilization.

Of course, surviving humanity resisted.

Armies deployed.

Fighter jets, missiles, even nuclear weapons.

And players too.

With boundaries erased, they manifested Tower abilities directly in the real world.

But it was a losing battle from the start.

They were outmatched in sheer numbers.

Eventually, dragons and great demons appeared.

These were the finishing blow.

The primary cause of humanity’s extinction.

“Did we kill those great demon bastards too easily? We should’ve harvested their internal organs too, not just the hearts.”

“Dragons are real bastards too.”

Cossack glanced sideways.

Crackers twitched slightly.

“Uh, I wasn’t there back then, okay? I only signed the contract recently.”

“If you were, it’d be the same.”

“No, it wouldn’t! I wouldn’t do that!”

“Yeah right!”

“Do you take me for a wild beast? I love human civilization.”

“A civilization that destroys nature and causes pollution?”

“So what if a little nature gets destroyed?”

Ah, right.

Half-dragon Crackers.

Despite being a green dragon, he burned and trampled forests.

Environmental concerns were probably meaningless to him.

“I am a converted defector entrusted with the mission of protecting Earth No. 1,001.”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure.”

*****

The conversation continued—likely recent.

– Fuck, because of that summoner, I’m facing annihilation instead of promotion.

– The Grand Archangel will definitely be dispatched to Earth No. 1,001. Transfer completes in 90 days.

– Either way, once the Grand Archangel arrives, that summoner is finished.

Grand Archangel.

Sent from headquarters by God’s command.

Destination: Earth No. 1,001.

Objective?

Eliminate player Bong Juhyeok.

“Grand Archangel my ass. They really slap ‘angel’ onto anything.”

“God is the real culprit.”

“They’re all bastards.”

“I’ll kill them all.”

“Mannyeon’s angry too. It’s suddenly getting cold.”

“Kyaa!”

“WAAH!”

So the Grand Archangel was an assassin?

That was comforting.

If that’s the case, why awaken us at all?

Thinking about it made me furious.

I had never even wanted to awaken.

If God’s goal was dimensional energy mining,

why not just insert towers directly?

Why involve players at all?

The karmic sin-record video gave the hint.

– I heard there was an anomaly in the dimensional link on the 91st floor of the Earth No. 1,001 Black Tower.

– Anomaly meaning the summoner didn’t go to the Demon Realm?

– Right. The player approached the dimensional energy management facility.

– Insane. How?

– There’s a high chance the White Tower intervened.

– Damn it! Every single time! What is God even doing? He should’ve eradicated the White Tower.

– Even God has trouble with the White Tower... it’s always been that way. Same with Player Awakening.

– They were inseparable from the start. Basically one and the same.

“Is this a proxy war?”

“Hard to say, but they aren’t allies.”

“They seem hostile to each other.”

“But not independent entities either. If they were originally one.”

“They might still be one.”

“Either way, the white one’s on our side.”

Black Tower and White Tower.

Inseparable.

One entity with two different purposes?

The Black Tower destroyed worlds to extract dimensional energy.

The White Tower seemed to save collapsing worlds.

That made sense.

Wasn’t the White Tower essentially a refuge?

A world that could recreate Earth’s environment.

And the White Tower did not exist only on Earth No. 1,001.

It existed on Earth No. 675 and other ruined dimensions, connected by elevators.

“Player Awakening is probably tied to the White Tower.”

“It may even be involved with the world of souls—us summoned entities.”

More conversation.

– What if he completely clears our Black Tower before the Grand Archangel arrives?

– That’s likely. Only five floors left.

– Shouldn’t we protect our tower first? If even one Black Tower fails, the White Tower’s influence will grow even stronger.

– God must’ve judged that killing the summoner was worth the risk.

– Where will the 96th to 99th floors connect?

– No idea. We knew about the Demon Realm because of contracts with great demons.

– Probably one of the Highlands. A realm above the human world, where immortals exist.

– Either way, that place will get looted too—like the Demon Realm.

– If we can stop him for just 100 days...

– Should we meet him once?

– Is that okay? It’s a self-reflection period.

– Fuck that. We’re facing annihilation. Is now the time to worry about rules?

CRACKLE.

The screen vanished.

End of the administrator’s karmic sin record.

Then—

SPOT!

The administrator’s hologram disappeared.

“So judgment doesn’t apply.”

“Yeah. We needed the full sentence—‘The defendant is sentenced to death.’”

Still, we learned several things from the final conversation.

Five more floors.

That was all it took to completely clear the Black Tower.

From the 96th to 99th floors, missions would occur in a specific dimension.

Even the administrators did not know where.

They could only guess it was a Highland, a realm of immortals like the Demon Realm.

Clear the 100th floor, and the Black Tower failed.

Administrators were annihilated.

The White Tower’s influence increased.

But information was still lacking.

The true identity of headquarters and God.

Why the towers had two identities.

How do we find out?

By climbing the unexplored upper floors.

“Our objective is full clear of the Black Tower’s 100th floor. Let’s start with Earth No. 675.”

“Yes, sir!”

“This will be their first failure.”

“Ooooh! That sounded cool!”

It did.

The line felt pretty cool.

“Are you planning to go straight to the 100th floor now?”

“Why not? We’ll finish it before that Grand Archangel arrives.”

“Kyaa! Manly Bong Juhyeok!”

“...Not that manly.”

At least a mid-level manly man?

“Shall we go?”

“Yes, sir!”

“As the Summoner wills.”

“Light!”

“Certain victory!”

“WAAH!”

Toward the mission area connected to the 96th floor.

[96th Floor Mission: Great Journey Toward Completion – Sixth.]

[Do you accept the sixth stage of the Great Journey Toward Completion mission?]

“Accept!”

SPOT!

Juhyeok and the summoned entities moved.

And then—

SPOT!

They appeared again.

“Huh?”

“Mmm.”

“This place?”

“...It’s the 96th floor.”

What?

What was going on?

It was the original location.

The 96th-floor waiting room, not the connected area.

Did I say it wrong?

I definitely said accept.

“...An error?”

[Do you accept the sixth stage of the Great Journey Toward Completion mission?]

The mission popped up again.

This time, I pronounced it clearly.

“Accept!”

SPOT!

They vanished—

SPOT!

Again?

“...We’re still here.”

“We have not been transported.”

“It’s looping.”

[Do you accept the sixth stage of the Great Journey Toward Completion mission?]

Third time.

“Accept!”

SPOT! SPOT!

Still the 96th floor.

Fourth time.

“Accept!”

SPOT! SPOT!

“Fuck?”

What the hell!

Five times, six times—

No movement.

Same spot.

Don’t tell me—

“...Whoa! Did they block entry entirely?”

“They blocked it.”

“It is clearly blocked.”

“Blocked.”

“Blocked, indeed.”

“WAAH!”

Unbelievable.

They made it so we could not even enter at all.

They prevented movement to the mission area linked to the 96th floor.

If this was intentional—

“Petty. So damn petty.”

Now they were just being shameless.

“Do you think the administrators did this?”

“More likely the so-called god—the root cause behind the Black Tower.”

Even Gyeon Dallae called him a bastard.

“What do we do?”

If it was blocked, there was no real workaround.

“Let’s go back to our Earth. We’ll check if the Black Tower there is the same.”

What about the Black Tower on Earth No. 1,001?

If it was the same there—

Juhyeok returned to his own Earth.

To the Black Tower on Earth No. 1,001.

Here, the upper floors started at the 92nd floor.

[Entering Republic of Korea Black Tower (NO.1), Floor 92.]

Arrival at the waiting room.

[92nd Floor Mission: Great Journey Toward Completion – Second.]

[Do you accept the second stage of the Great Journey Toward Completion mission?]

“Accept!”

SPOT!

SPOT!

Same place.

“Goddamn it!”

“You bastards!!!”

“I’ll kill you all!!!”

“Truly cowardly.”

“WAAH!!!”

This was really crossing the line.

Taking the ball away because you were losing?

It was no different from smashing the opponent’s mouse and keyboard to win a game.

That was a total violation of cool.

No matter what, you did not break the rules.

*****

White Tower Floor 17.

A full assembly meeting of Juhyeok and all summoned entities was underway in the plaza.

Agenda: discussing countermeasures against the deliberate blocking of upper-floor progression.

“Hmm.”

“Hrm.”

“Haa.”

“Sigh.”

“WAAH.”

Honestly, there was no good solution.

Cossack said he would brief us, but with no clear plan, he just kept sighing.

Both the Black Tower on Earth No. 675 and Earth No. 1,001 were blocked.

If you could not enter, how were you supposed to clear the upper floors?

Maybe meeting Yama would help?

If we stayed in the Demon Realm long enough, we might meet him.

If we were lucky, we might even see the Sword Immortal elder.

No. The Demon Realm is probably blocked too.

“...”

Since repeated clears past the 91st floor were impossible.

No way forward, no way back.

Frustrating.

The ones running the game had flipped the board entirely.

Were we just supposed to take it lying down?

Cossack fumed.

“What the hell is Whitey doing? Is he really just gonna watch Blackie pull this crap?”

True.

It sounded a bit racially charged, but he was not talking about people—he was talking about towers.

“Let’s think calmly for now. It might be a temporary phenomenon.”

It had better be.

If upper-floor progression stayed blocked, we might have to watch the Tower collapse with our own eyes.

This was serious.

After witnessing Earth No. 675’s destruction firsthand through the administrator’s sin-record video, the anxiety hit harder.

Worst case, we may have to evacuate all of Earth’s people.

To the White Tower shelter.

Assuming the evacuation of all 7 billion humans,

the required top-grade Magic Stones would be about 7 billion kg.

In the past, that would have been an unimaginable amount.

Now?

Not impossible.

Seven billion?

That was nothing—sell a few tablets and electronic devices at the auction house, and it was done.

Was this why they let us use the auction house in the first place?

If they broke the rules and blocked Tower climbing entirely, Earth’s future was nothing but extinction.

Then evacuation was the only option.

As long as there were enough Magic Stones, the White Tower could be made just like Earth.

Which reminded me—

How did the auction go?

The electric car should have sold by now.

Juhyeok opened the auction status board to check.

– Vehicle: ZV 900 Electric Off-road SUV.

– ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Winning bid: 2,502,225 kg of top-grade Magic Stones.

A full 2.5 million.

Insane.

It was basically free money.

Converted into Residency Rights?

Sell one car, grant Residency Rights to 2.5 million people.

Add everything collected so far—over ten million people.

...Wait. What if those bastards blocked the auction house too?

Better check.

Juhyeok went to the elevator,

opened the doors, and checked whether the button for the 5th floor still worked.

“Phew.”

The button was fine.

The 5th floor was operational.

That was when Juhyeok noticed something on the elevator panel.

“...Huh?”

There was a new button he had never seen before.

Right above the 17th-floor button.

The number was—

“96th floor?”

At that moment—

Ding!

[An emergency temporary elevator destination has been created.]

[Destination: The linked dimension of the Black Tower on Earth No. 675, Floor 96.]

“Oooooooh!!!”

At Juhyeok’s shout, the summoned entities rushed over.

“What is it?”

“WAAH?”

“W-what happened? An accident?”

“Is there a problem with the elevator?”

Juhyeok pointed at the panel and said,

“The elevator opened the back door.”

“Huh?”

“Oh!”

“Yes!”

“As expected!”

“Excellent.”

“Whitey is definitely on our side.”

A back door.

If you could not enter through the front door, you went in through the back.

That was how it should be.

Why play nice and get screwed?

Our White Tower—Whitey.

Good job.

Rule breakers deserved rule breakers in return.