Juhyeok talked with Kosak late into the night.
Kosak insisted that it had been a mutually satisfying, win-win negotiation.
"Hehehe, he definitely said he was satisfied. I heard it loud and clear."
Satisfied with what?
From the sound of it, it was practically blackmail.
Well, to Kosak—the Artist of the Red Ribbon—that probably counted as a negotiation.
In any case, the result was good.
Everything was good, except…
"It's such a waste of the items. I barely even got to use them."
"That's exactly my point. It means we didn't need to use 'em at all."
"…"
"Anyway, non-holy attribute items are only useful up to the 60th floor. From the 61st floor onward, they're useless."
That was true.
From the 61st floor—the undead zone—it was all holy attribute.
And Juhyeok wasn't a player who fought with item power anyway; he fought with summoned power.
He knew that perfectly well.
He knew—but it still felt wasteful.
They were privilege items, after all.
"Then what about from the 71st floor? Couldn't we use them there?"
The zone where the Berserk Demon said towers would start collapsing everywhere.
"Not a chance. With junk like that, they're useless. You'd need at least Legendary Named–grade items just to maybe compete."
Useless?
"Why? What comes out up there?"
"Well, when you go past the 71st floor, some scary stuff starts popping up—like, really scary, um… monsters… uh… huh? What was it again?"
Kosak tilted his head, frowning deeply.
"That's weird. I can't remember."
"Have you even been up there? Or is this just old age?"
"I've been up there a few times. Heard lots of stories too. But… hmm, my head feels all foggy."
"Try to remember."
"Ugh, it's like there's an eraser in my brain. Or someone wiped it clean. It's driving me nuts."
He clutched his head and struggled for a while, then finally gave up.
"All I remember is that it was hard. Just the feeling. Only the feeling."
"Were the monsters insanely strong?"
"Well… more like they were hard to deal with. Yeah. Troublesome."
Troublesome to deal with.
What could that mean?
"I remember conversations from back then too. Stuff like, 'Didn't expect things like this to show up,' and 'Actually, it started back in the late 60s.'"
Late 60s, huh.
So something starts changing around there.
But which floors?
The 67th floor was already known.
The Undead Phantom Reaper.
That left the 68th, 69th, and 70th floors.
"Anything else?"
"Nothing. Not even a bit."
Suddenly, he got curious.
Until now, he hadn't even thought about floors beyond 71.
What kind of monsters appeared up there?
Why had the Berserk Demon said towers would collapse all over the place in the 70s?
He wanted to know more, but if Kosak couldn't remember, there was nothing to do.
And it wasn't like Kosak would lie.
Well—he'd find out once they climbed there.
The next day.
Juhyeok woke up early.
He used the bathroom, took a bath, brushed his teeth, trimmed his nails, changed into clean new clothes, and spent a short while meditating.
Once ready, he took out the Trait Enhancement Rune from his inventory.
This was his first time enhancing via an item.
So he felt slightly nervous.
Let's do it.
Using a rune was simple.
People often said they "eat" it—and that description was accurate.
You literally ate it.
When you brought the small stone with engraved characters to your mouth, it melted smoothly and slid down your throat on its own.
[Your awakened trait has been enhanced.]
And so—
Done.
Five now.
First, he summoned Kosak, Gobang, Gyeon-dallae, and Rajiks, and told them about the results of yesterday's negotiation.
"Kyahahaha! Who am I? The master negotiator—John Kosak, that's who!"
"Well done. Assassin."
"I said negotiator, you punk!"
"Hoe? I can stay too?"
"You can snack on carrots all you want."
"Young Master, congratulations. And Kosak-nim, you worked very hard as well."
"Ahem! It was nothing, really. Hehehehe."
Kosak went on and on about his heroic deeds to the others—he repeated himself so much Juhyeok felt like his ears might bleed—but still, the atmosphere was cheerful.
"Kosak."
"Yes, sir!"
"From the 51st floor onward—what monsters appear? You remember that, right?"
"Griffins. Just imagine a really huge bird."
Rajiks shot his hand up.
"Do we skin them?"
"Only feathers. You skin hides starting from the wyvern zone on the 56th floor."
"Hoe… then what do I do?"
"Mine ore during repeat clears."
Now all that remained was keeping the promise.
The deadline for clearing the UAE Black Tower was fourteen days—two weeks.
They had to speedrun their way to the 60th floor.
Of course, with one more summon.
"Alright, everyone gather up. Get ready to welcome a new member."
"Yes, sir!"
Hopefully, a combat-capable summoned one.
"Here we go."
But don't expect too much.
Whoever comes, accept them gladly.
Grade, class—none of that matters.
"Random summon!"
Fwoooosh! The summoning began.
A mass of light descended from the sky.
At the same time, it took on a human shape—
Pop!
Finally, they appeared.
The new summoned one—
Quite tall, a slender waist, and large—huh?
Juhyeok talked with Kosak late into the night.
Kosak claimed it had been a mutually satisfying, win-win negotiation.
"Hehehe, he definitely said he was satisfied. I heard it loud and clear."
Satisfied with what?
From the sound of it, it was practically intimidation.
Well, to Kosak—the Artist of the Red Ribbon—that probably counted as negotiation.
Either way, the outcome was good.
Everything was good, except…
"The items were such a waste. I barely even got to use them."
"That's exactly the point. It means there was no problem even without using them."
"…"
"Anyway, non-holy attribute items are only good up to the 60th floor. From the 61st floor onward, they're useless."
That was true.
From the 61st floor—the undead section—it was all about holy attributes.
And Juhyeok wasn't a player who fought by relying on item power, but on summoned allies.
He knew that.
He really did.
Still, it felt wasteful.
They were privilege items, after all.
"Then what about the 71st floor? Couldn't we use them there?"
That zone the Berserk Demon said would see towers collapsing everywhere.
"Not a chance. Junk like that won't cut it. You'd need at least Legendary Named–grade items just to maybe compete."
Useless?
"Why? What shows up there?"
"Well, once you go past the 71st floor, some scary things show up—like, really scary, um… monsters… uh… huh? What was it again?"
Kosak tilted his head, knitting his brows.
"That's weird. I can't remember."
"Have you even been there? Or are you just forgetful?"
"I've been up there a few times. Heard lots of stories too. But… hmm, my head feels all foggy."
"Try harder."
"Ugh, it's like there's an eraser in my head. Or someone wiped it. It's driving me crazy."
He clawed at his head for a while before giving up.
"All I remember is that it was hard. Just the feeling. Only the feeling."
"Were the monsters insanely strong?"
"Hmm… more like they were hard to deal with. Yeah. Troublesome."
Troublesome to deal with.
What could that be?
"I also remember what we talked about back then. Stuff like, 'We didn't expect things like this,' and 'Actually, it started in the late 60s.'"
Late 60s.
So that's when things start changing.
But which floors?
The 67th floor was already known.
The Undead Phantom Reaper.
That left the 68th, 69th, and 70th floors.
"Anything else?"
"Nothing. Not even a little."
Suddenly, curiosity stirred.
Up until now, he hadn't even thought about floors beyond 71.
What kind of monsters would appear there?
Why had the Berserk Demon said towers would collapse all over the place in the 70s?
He wanted to know more, but if Kosak couldn't remember, there was nothing to do.
And it wasn't like Kosak would lie.
Well, they'd find out once they climbed there.
The next day.
Juhyeok woke up early.
He went to the bathroom, washed up, brushed his teeth, trimmed his nails, changed into clean new clothes, and spent a short while meditating.
Once he was ready, he took the Trait Enhancement Rune out of his inventory.
This was his first time enhancing via an item.
So he felt a little nervous.
Let's do it.
Using a rune was simple.
People often said they "eat" it—and that description was accurate.
You really did eat it.
When you brought the small stone engraved with characters to your mouth, it melted smoothly and slid down your throat on its own.
[Your awakened trait has been enhanced.]
And so—
Done.
Now it was five.
First, he summoned Kosak, Gobang, Gyeon-dallae, and Rajiks, and told them about the results of yesterday's negotiation.
"Kyahahaha! Who am I? The master negotiator—John Kosak!"
"Well done. Assassin."
"Negotiator, you bastard!"
"Hoe? I can stay too?"
"You can munch on carrots and hang around."
"Young Master, congratulations. And Kosak-nim, you worked hard as well."
"Ahem! It wasn't that hard, really. Hehehehe."
Kosak kept bragging about his exploits to the others—repeating himself so much Juhyeok felt his ears might bleed—but the atmosphere was lively.
"Kosak."
"Yes, sir!"
"From the 51st floor onward, what monsters show up? You remember that, right?"
"Griffins. Just imagine a huge bird."
Rajiks shot his hand straight up.
"Do we skin them?"
"Only feathers. You skin hides starting from the wyvern zone on the 56th floor."
"Hoe… then what do I do?"
"Mine ore during repeat clears."
Now all that remained was keeping the promise.
The deadline to clear the UAE Black Tower was fourteen days—two weeks.
They had to climb to the 60th floor at breakneck speed.
Of course, with one more summon.
"Alright, everyone gather up. Get ready to welcome a new member."
"Yes, sir!"
Hopefully, a combat-capable summoned one.
"Here we go."
But don't expect too much.
Whoever comes, accept them gladly.
Grade, class—none of that matters.
"Random summon!"
Fwoooosh! The summoning began.
A mass of light descended from the sky.
At the same time, it took on human form—
Pop!
At last, the new summoned one appeared.
"…A woman."
"She's a woman."
"Hoeee?"
"The same gender as me."
Kosak glanced back and forth at Gyeon-dallae, then said,
"Same gender, but very different."
"W-what do you mean?"
"…You know exactly what I mean. Don't play dumb."
"Y-you bastard!!!"
Her appearance was clearly female.
Her figure made that obvious.
She wore a tight black full-body suit that clung to her form, outlining every curve—almost embarrassing to stare at for too long.
But the most striking thing—
Something caught the eye before even her face.
The very familiar object held in her hands.
Made of metal, long and thick, with a hefty body, a stock meant to be shouldered, and a trigger underneath.
A rifle?
Yes.
A firearm.
But it differed from ordinary guns in many ways.
First of all, it was huge.
Bigger and thicker than standard-issue military firearms.
So large you wondered how she even carried it around.
Overall, it looked old-fashioned, like an early rifle, yet parts of it were strangely sleek.
At the top was a faintly glowing blue glass panel, where unknown symbols and characters appeared and vanished like an LED display.
If you had to describe it, it felt like a fusion of a steampunk large-caliber antique rifle and a cyberpunk electronic firearm.
After taking in the gun, her appearance finally registered.
Black hair, black eyebrows.
By ethnicity, she looked closer to Latin.
Her long hair was tightly tied back, her face small and slender, lips red.
And her eyes were so narrow you could barely see them—
…No, not narrow.
It looked that way, but she actually had her eyes half-closed.
Swaying back and forth.
Don't tell me she's sleeping?
No way. Then—
Drip.
Sticky drool stretched down from the new summoned one's lips.
What?
She really was sleeping?
"A woman. She's asleep."
"It seems she may not even realize she's been summoned."
"Hoeee…"
"T-that's gross. If it keeps going, it might get sucked back in—"
Slurp!
"Eek! It got sucked back in!"
The drool disappeared back into her mouth, and the moment it did, the new summoned one's eyes snapped open.
"Oh my! Wh-where am I—"
Only then did she seem to grasp the situation.
She stared blankly at Juhyeok's face—
Then snapped to attention.
Feet together, right hand flat against her eyebrow, she shouted,
"Victory! Sergeant Veronica Caliber reporting! Thank you for summoning me, Captain!"
"…Ah! Y-yes."
Her name was Veronica Caliber.
And she was calling Juhyeok "Captain."
Name: Veronica Caliber
Rank: SR (Super Rare)
Type: Magic Gunner (Human)
Manifestation Duration: 6 hours
Satisfaction Rating: None
Resummon Cooldown: 3 hours (applies after dismissal)
A beautiful magic gunner from the Mage Empire's ranger unit.
But could that firearm be used inside the tower?
Well, if she was carrying it, she must be able to use it.
"Welcome."
No response.
She tilted, swayed—what now?
"…"
She saluted… and went back to sleep?
Snore, snore.
This was ridiculous.
She was even snoring.
"Hoeeng."
"Hmm."
"She's quite a unique summoned one."
Kosak frowned as well.
"I don't like that woman."
"Why?"
"That salute-and-slogan thing."
"Why does that matter—"
"It overlaps with my character. Salutes and slogans were my thing first. Look! 'Loyal!' That's mine!"
He wasn't entirely wrong, but—
"She's a soldier."
"…Huh?"
"Mage Empire Ranger Unit. I think she said her rank was sergeant."
"Oh."
"Kosak, did you ever serve in the military?"
Kosak's eyes darted around.
"I-I was exempt… flat feet."
"Ah."
"If it weren't for my flat feet, I'd have quit assassination and joined the army."
Flat feet, my ass.
He flew around when using Shadow Step.
Anyway, she was a strange one.
Being summoned while sleeping.
Was she always this sleepy?
Or did she die in her previous life without getting enough rest?
Sergeant Veronica Caliber was a veteran sniper of the Mage Empire's Northern Ranger Unit. In the freezing cold, amid daily battles against demonic beasts, she earned fame as a magic gunner with unfailing accuracy. Then came an unexpected massive wave of beasts—countless monsters surged toward the border fortress.
If the northern fortress fell, the empire would be finished. A desperate battle began. They had to hold out until reinforcements arrived. Day and night, relentless assaults by all kinds of beasts—there was no time to sleep. Fighting off drowsiness, she stabbed her thigh with a greatsword to stay awake and endured to the end. Her eyes grew so bloodshot that bloody tears flowed; she had long surpassed the limits a human could endure. After fighting for one hundred days and nights and finally confirming the arrival of reinforcements, Veronica at last entered peaceful rest.
So it was true.
She died from lack of sleep.
Well, technically a beast dealt the final blow—but she welcomed that death.
Because she could finally sleep peacefully.
I should probably not disturb her when she's sleeping.
Still, the expected damage dealer had arrived.
The rank was decent—SR, Super Rare—and the class was Magic Gunner.
He wanted to enter the tower right away to see her in action, but… she was sleeping like that. He couldn't exactly wake her.
"I'll wake her."
"She looks completely exhausted. Let's just let her sleep."
"No way! If she's out, she has to do her duty. I can't stand seeing someone sleep."
Kosak walked over to Veronica, who was nodding off while standing, and poked her in the side.
Instantly—
She sprang up.
"Sergeant! Veronica Cali—"
Then she saw Kosak standing in front of her.
"What are you staring at? Wanna die?"
"D-did you just say that to me?"
"Who else is here? You pretty-boy-looking bastard—"
"…I'm LSSR."
"So what? Think bullets won't go through an LSSR gut?"
Click!
Whiiing!
"Or should I shove something hot up your ass?"
"…"
Kosak froze, completely flustered.
Seriously, why does every woman Kosak meets end up like this?
With no choice, Juhyeok stepped in.
"Veronica?"
"Sergeant Veronica Caliber reporting!"
"We're thinking of entering the tower."
"Is it an operation?"
"Yes. We're planning to hunt a few scorpions."
"Scorpion extermination mission—will be executed flawlessly. Victory!"
Oh!
She was full of spirit.
And so, Juhyeok's party, with their new summoned member, began a repeat clear of the 50th-floor King Scorpion mission.
They exited thirty minutes later.
Everyone wore highly satisfied expressions.
Now that they'd confirmed Veronica's abilities, it was time to begin the serious climb into the uncharted upper floors.
[Entering the 51st floor of the Korean Black Tower.]
From the 51st to the 55th floor was a zone where flying demonic beasts—griffins—appeared.
Juhyeok's party finished preparing and moved toward the mission area.
But then—
Nod, nod. Stagger, stagger.
Veronica was dozing off even as she walked.
"Master Summoner, she's sleeping again."
"Hoeng."
"At any time, any place. Is that an illness?"
"At this point, it does seem like an illness. No wonder there's no time for bonding or conversation."
But there was nothing to worry about.
Once the battle started, her eyes would change.
Juhyeok poked her arm.
"Gah! Sergeant Veronica Caliber!"
"Sergeant, it's about time to get ready."
"Ah! Understood. Victory!"
[51st Floor Mission: Defeat 15 Sharp-Clawed Griffins.]
[Time Limit: 14 hours.]
[Failure Conditions: Death or mission abandonment.]
The mission appeared.
High in the sky, flocks of enormous birds circled.
"We'll begin the operation."
They had already witnessed the power of the magic gun during the 50th-floor repeat clears.
A large mana round that left the King Scorpion on the brink of death in a single shot, and small mana rounds that easily pierced the exoskeletons of ordinary scorpions.
In truth, her physical abilities were unremarkable.
Stronger than an average human, but far inferior compared to other summoned beings—even considering her rank.
Instead, her equipment was extraordinary.
The magic gun went without saying, but also the reinforced suit—those tights—combat boots that allowed rapid movement via mana discharge, and mana-defense gloves that protected her hands and fingers.
High-performance combat gear produced by the Mage Empire.
That seemed to be Veronica's true strength.
So how would she perform in a full-fledged S++-rank, time-attack mission?
Jjae-jae-jaeng!Dududung!
Drums and bells that stirred fighting spirit.
Gyeon-dallae's rhythm shifted slightly.
Heightened senses.
At the same time, increased strength and speed.
Adrenaline surged.
With more people present, Gyeon-dallae focused even harder, shaking the bells like a madwoman.
"Excellent, Princess. Thanks to you, morale is sky-high."
Veronica dashed forward.
She raised the barrel, took a standing firing stance, aimed at a Sharp-Clawed Griffin—
Jiiing—Pashuk!
A milky-white mana bullet struck the griffin's body.
"Skreee!"
The griffin hurtled toward Veronica at terrifying speed.
But she didn't retreat.
She kept firing small-caliber rounds, steadily whittling down its health.
Pashuk! Pashuk! Pashuk! Pashuk! Pashuk…
While firing, she slowly backed toward Gobang.
"Handover."
"Received."
The Sharp-Clawed Griffin's leg was seized by Gobang's hand.
Perfect aggro transfer.
As Gobang held the griffin in place, Kosak rushed in and smashed its head to pieces.
Meanwhile, Veronica kept moving.
The moment one was handed off, she pulled another.
Pashuk! Pashuk! Pashuk…
Dealing damage with small rounds, then handing it off to Gobang again.
The battle never paused for a second.
One kill led straight to another delivery.
Delivery after delivery.
Not a magic gunner—more like a courier.
Gobang and Kosak didn't even need to move from their spot.
All they did was finish off already-wounded, tattered griffins.
The speed was impressive—but more than that, it was incredibly stable.
A tank, a melee dealer, a ranged dealer, and Gyeon-dallae's buffs.
At this point, you could call this a complete party.
He felt proud.
He'd picked well.
As a summoner, he couldn't have been more satisfied.
[Notice: You have achieved an S++ clear rating on the 51st floor of the Black Tower (Korea).]
[S++ Clear Reward: Platinum Badge awarded.]