Inside the Black Tower, every floor has a different environment.
There are caves, desert-like wastelands, forests where grass and trees mingle, even denser jungles, rugged mountains, and snowfields whipped by blizzards…
The interior of the Tower was no different from the real world.
The stones lying around were real.
The trees with their hard texture were real.
The softly swaying grass was real.
Do you think players who entered the Tower just stood there and looked at those things?
To commemorate entering the Tower, they picked up stones and put them into the Tower-only inventory, snapped off tree branches and stored them, pulled up clumps of grass and put them in as well.
But the moment they exited the Tower, everything disappeared.
The stones, the branches, the grass—everything.
Was it because they were in the inventory?
Then maybe holding them in your hands when exiting would be different.
But the result was the same.
No drops. No gathering.
Only clear-reward items.
Only items granted through the Tower-exclusive inventory could be taken out.
Nothing else was permitted.
And yet—what about the items that came out of Rajiks's backpack?
At some point, he had skinned the massive Ironclad Basilisk and brought back its hide, mined magic crystals, and even pulled up grass that looked like herbs.
"All of this… Rajiks, did you gather all of it inside the Tower?"
"Ho-e, I'm sorry, Summoner. Those people finished the clear too early. This is all I could grab."
"They're terrible people! Clearing everything on their own and ending it whenever they want."
"Ho-eeng!!!"
In any case, it was astonishing.
It was strange that Rajiks was only considered Rare.
Then again—
Gobang had also started out as Rare.
Strong, but stupid.
Likewise, Rajiks was capable, but his combat power was weak.
Ah…
To think he'd tried to cast this precious being aside just because of low combat power.
He needed to deeply reflect on himself.
Juhyeok hugged Rajiks tightly and rubbed his face against him as he spoke.
Soft, round—
"Rajiks! You're the best! The best! Truly an angel among angels! Tell that Mad Demon to get lost!"
The others chimed in as well.
"Y-yes, that's right. An extremely outstanding summoned being."
"Sir Rajiks, may this maiden hug you just once?"
"Excellent. The warrior will protect Rajiks."
"Ho-eeng?"
Rajiks didn't know what to do.
He'd thought he'd be scolded for not filling his bag all the way.
But instead, they were praising him like this.
"Ho-ee…"
The items Juhyeok had received up through the 41st floor—
Aside from a few exceptions, more than 90% were magic crystals.
What's the point of an S++ clear?
They basically tell you to take your magic crystals and get lost.
It was the same for other players.
Players were a profession that lived off selling magic crystals.
Occasionally, clear rewards like metal, leather, herbs, or items would drop, but the probability wasn't very high.
Seen in that light, Rajiks's Tower-gathering ability completely crushed even LSSR-tier value. To think so many material items came pouring out of such a small bag.
'That backpack seems to have functionality similar to an inventory.'
He would go all the way together.
No replacements.
What about the 51st floor?
Well, they could just park there.
Do another trait enhancement too.
By any means necessary.
"Rajiks, you're disappointed because it ended so quickly, right?"
"…Yeees."
"Then shall we go in one more time?"
"Tomorrow?"
"No, now."
"Ho-eeng? But you can only enter once per day…"
"You can enter. I can do it twice. Hahaha."
"Ho-eek?!"
Rajiks was shocked.
His eyes went wide as he said,
"…Ho-e, Summoner, you're amazing. Incredible."
"Want to go in now?"
"Yes."
"Then let's go!"
Spot!
[Entering the 41st floor of the Black Tower (Republic of Korea).]
※ ※ ※
Before starting the clear—
Juhyeok gathered the summoned beings.
"All right, since this is already a floor we've cleared with S++. As slowly as possible. Make things easy for our Lord Rajiks, understood?"
"Yes! We'll drag it out until the mission time limit."
"I will try. Lizard, die late."
"This maiden shall move together with Lord Rajiks."
"Ho-eeng!"
Anticipation filled the air.
Just how many materials would he gather this time?
Rajiks set out.
Roll-roll-roll-roll.
The now-giant Gobang moved ahead, blocking the paths so the basilisks couldn't approach Rajiks.
Kosak supported him as well.
Far ahead, Rajiks had already started gathering.
'Fast—so fast.'
Those legs were just for show.
They posed no obstacle at all to Rajiks's movement.
His round body seemed designed for efficient mobility.
He'd roll over there, wiggle his butt as he worked, then roll off somewhere else and wiggle his butt again.
He was so cute that simply watching was entertaining.
And it wasn't just Juhyeok.
"Kyaaaak!!!"
Screaming like a madwoman, Gyeon Dallae chased after Rajiks.
'Hmm.'
The strict, dignified, serious image of the Heavenly Empire's princess was nowhere to be found.
Meanwhile, Gobang grabbed the tail of an approaching Ironclad Basilisk and flung it aside.
He didn't even kill it.
A fair amount of time had passed, yet the kill count was still zero.
It seemed Rajiks had finished gathering to some extent.
The rolling Rajiks came to a stop, then looked up at Gobang in front of him.
"Ho-e…"
"Worker Rajiks, may I kill a lizard?"
"Just one."
"Understood."
The moment everyone was most curious about.
How would he skin it whole?
Gobang grabbed the tail of a passing basilisk.
Then he swung it around and slammed it into the ground!
Boom!
"Got it."
In that instant—
"Hoo-eeeng!"
Rajiks burst into tears.
Juhyeok immediately scolded Gobang.
"Hey, why did you make him cry?"
Kosak joined in,
as did Gyeon Dallae.
"You little—! I knew you'd mess something up sooner or later! Now that you're SSSR, you think you're untouchable, huh?"
"This is too cruel, Sir Gobang! To treat small and fragile Lord Rajiks so roughly! Even fellow farmhands must observe basic courtesy."
Gobang panicked and waved his hands.
"N-no, I—I only killed the basilisk."
Right.
Then why was he crying?
So Juhyeok asked.
"Ho-eeng, if you kill it like that, the hide gets ruined. We have to throw it away."
"Ah!"
They needed to skin it, but slamming it around so violently must have damaged everything.
Normally, basilisk hide has an automatic scratch-regeneration property, but damage that exceeds its limits like this can't be restored.
So Juhyeok took out the Cold Twilight Golden Mace he'd received as a perk and said,
"Just trust me. I'll take one down cleanly."
"Hoo-eeng, if you hit it with that, the hide will freeze and shatter. Summoner doesn't need to kill it."
"…."
What is wrong with these guys?
Everyone's blocking him from hunting in their own way.
There was no choice.
Juhyeok glanced at Kosak.
"Ahem, Rajiks, you should've said so earlier. This SSSR Kosak will take it down cleanly."
"Ho-eeng?"
"With the blade energy of this dagger, I'll pierce its eye and—"
"Hoo-eeeh…"
Rajiks's eyes sparkled brightly.
The hunt began again.
Gyeon Dallae rang her bell, inflicting confusion on the basilisk.
Then Gobang lightly broke its legs and restrained it, and Kosak delivered the finishing blow.
Thus, a basilisk corpse without a single scratch.
Rajiks stepped forward immediately.
He pulled out a short knife from his clothes, cut here, sliced there—
Then he grabbed the basilisk's jaw with his short arms.
"Heave-ho!"
Rolling backward while pulling with all his might—
Riiip!
"Wow!"
Clap clap clap clap!
Juhyeok and the other summoned beings applauded.
The body and the hide separated perfectly.
It looked like it was shedding its skin.
The peeled hide automatically went into the small backpack.
That must be a skill too.
Of course.
Rajiks wasn't Normal—he was Rare.
He was incredibly skilled and experienced.
No wonder he was so highly regarded.
One down, then another.
It took some time, but so what?
They weren't going for an S++ clear anyway.
But after the sixth one—
"Ho-e, that's it."
Huh? That's it?
"The bag is full."
"Ah…"
It seemed that backpack had a limit too.
Well, considering how huge each hide was, that made sense.
It was a shame, but they'd have to be satisfied here.
Monster hides—
They were rare and expensive.
The combat boots Juhyeok was wearing were also made from basilisk hide.
They were used for armor crafting, but also for general manufacturing.
Bags, shoes, wallets, things like that.
Extremely durable, and because of their rarity, sellers could name their price.
However, the quantity was so limited that they couldn't be commercialized.
Instead, celebrities like singers and actors, as well as wealthy elites, desperately tried to obtain monster hides.
And these days, animal protection groups were making a huge fuss.
They staged nude protests and all kinds of uproar, shouting that people shouldn't skin innocent animals for human greed.
As a result, even famous figures had to watch the eyes of animal rights groups.
But what if it was custom-made from monster hide?
The arguments of animal protection groups wouldn't hold.
Surely they wouldn't claim that monsters also had the right to live peacefully.
A sudden thought struck him.
He wanted to feed Rajiks a Rune of Summoned Being Rank Increase.
He wanted to create a worker who hid his true power—
The strongest worker in history.
I'm genuinely curious.
SR Rajiks.
SSR worker Rajiks.
What would change when his rank increased?
The backpack capacity would definitely increase.
Would he start bringing out not just Tower materials, but items too?
Rajiks was a worker companion with tremendous growth potential.
※ ※ ※
Juhyeok and the group exited the Tower.
It had taken the longest time of any clear so far.
The narrow living room of the officetel was piled high with the items Rajiks had gathered.
"Hahahaha!"
"Hehehehe."
"Ho-ehehe."
They felt full even without eating.
If they sold everything, how much would it all be worth?
Six full basilisk hides.
Combined with the one from earlier, that made seven in total.
Just those alone left no room in the living room.
Fifty kilograms of magic crystals mined inside the Tower.
Market value: 25 million won.
Unknown herbs.
They'd know once they got them appraised.
Tower rewards usually gave dried herbs, but these were freshly harvested.
Rajiks said he couldn't mine ore.
Well, they could do that later.
Everything went straight into Juhyeok's inventory.
Even though his inventory space had increased with his level, it was already almost one-third full.
Worker Rajiks was now officially confirmed as a full member.
Five people total.
I can't put this off anymore.
Moving was urgent.
He wanted to relocate immediately.
For the summoned beings' comfort, a spacious home was essential.
Juhyeok took out his laptop and powered it on.
He needed to open a real estate site and search for a decent apartment.
Apartment prices were no joke.
Even without going as far as a penthouse, any reasonably large unit easily exceeded 5 billion won.
The expensive ones reached 10 billion.
There were even places going for 20 billion.
Expensive. So expensive.
If he looked outside the capital, his options would widen.
For much cheaper prices, he could get apartments with much more space.
But he didn't want to leave Seoul.
This was Juhyeok's hometown.
His parents and family were here.
Click, click—
Even as he thought, he continued searching through apartment listings.
There wasn't a single place he liked.
He knew why, even if he didn't want to admit it.
Because that penthouse Jeon Gwang-il had suggested was still stuck in his head.
It wouldn't leave his mind.
How wonderful would it be to live there?
Once something caught his fancy, it was hard to let go.
That's why people say you never forget your first love.
In the end, Juhyeok pulled up the photos of the penthouse he'd once given up on.
A devilish penthouse that was a burden whether you had money or not.
If he were a true macho man, he would've bought it without hesitation.
'Oh, right. What happened with the holy sword rental?'
Might as well ask while he was at it.
He turned on his smartphone for the first time in a while.
Since the man was a public official and likely busy, he sent a text.
A moment later—
Totok!
A message notification chimed.
That reply came fast.
Let's see. The rental fee is—
"Huh?"
What?
Juhyeok rubbed his eyes and checked the message again.
'They rented it… twice?'
Unbelievable!
What kind of windfall was this?
They rented it twice?
And they'd already calculated everything precisely.
Twenty million dollars.
26 billion won.
'Then buying the penthouse wouldn't be a problem at all.'
Aaaah!
The strongest country on Earth, the USA.
A nation overflowing with macho men.
Thanks to the generous American players, the holy sword rental fee—20 million dollars, 26 billion won—would soon be deposited into his account.
Truly worthy of being called top-tier players.
Calling him hyung would be perfectly appropriate.
Gerald Watson hyung.
Anyone who gives you 26 billion won is a hyung.
Of course. Naturally.
If he'd known they'd rent it twice, he would've given them a discount.
And on top of that, they were even planning to visit again in a few months.
As they should.
If they wanted to clear the 67th floor.
"All right, everyone, gather around. I have an important announcement."
"Yes, sir!"
"What is it?"
"The warrior is ready to listen."
"Ho-e?"
He turned the laptop screen toward them.
"We're moving. Here."
"Th-this place?"
"Isn't this the palace we saw before?"
"It is a large house."
"Ho-ee…"
"But how much is it?"
"20 billion won."
"…What?"
Kosak said, trembling all over.
"T-too expensive. You'll have to take out loans. Then Summoner Bong becomes house-poor. We won't even be able to eat ramen."
Where did he even learn the term house-poor?
"Then loan sharks will come again. We'll need ribbons."
He says terrifying things so casually.
"I'm not borrowing money."
"Oh—uh, even if you buy it, who's gonna clean a house that big?"
At that moment—
"Ho-e, feet up please. Feet!"
"…"
Shushashak!
In an instant, Rajiks swept across the floor with a mop.
Kosak stared blankly at Rajiks's retreating back.
"…We can buy it."
Gyeon Dallae offered one last piece of loyal advice.
"This maiden worries. Such extravagance for the sake of the farmhands… please reconsider."
"It's fine. I can just earn more money later. Right, Rajiks?"
"…Ho-eeng?"
We've got a treasure chest among us.
What's there to worry about?
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