In the undead section, it goes without saying that a Holy Sword is an essential element.
However, that only applies to other players—Juhyeok is the exception.
His power comes entirely from his summoned beings.
Therefore, strengthening traits takes priority over restoring the Holy Sword.
"The Holy Sword is just something that sucks up rental fees."
And once you pass the undead section?
The Holy Sword's usefulness drops sharply.
Besides, restoring the Holy Sword isn't permanently impossible.
Rajiks said he'd handle everything once all the repair materials were gathered.
So the Restore scrolls would be used on rune fragments.
To do that, they first needed to identify exactly what the rune fragments were.
"I need to find more fragments."
They had just finished clearing the 64th floor.
But it had been too fast.
Because of that, Rajiks hadn't had enough time to fully exercise his abilities.
In that case?
Two Tower entries per day.
There was still one run left.
"Let's proceed with a repeat clear of the 64th floor."
"Ready, sir."
"If we find rune fragments during a repeat clear, that'd be insanely huge."
"Do we award a badge to whoever finds one?"
"Isn't that obvious? If you find one, it's an automatic badge."
Twitch.
Rajiks's hamster ears snapped upright.
Badge, badge, badge…
Rummaging around,
Rajiks pulled a golden pickaxe from the subspace backpack and began carefully polishing it.
A resolute expression, as if determined to succeed no matter what.
"Hoeng!"
[Entering Republic of Korea Black Tower, 64th Floor.]
"Mr. Gobang."
"Give the order, Summoner."
"Gather as many ghouls as possible and stall for time."
"Understood. I will stall."
He also spoke to Kosak and Veronica.
"It's fine even if the clear fails—deal damage slowly, and protect Mr. Rajiks and Princess Gyeondallae."
"Leave it to me."
"Sergeant Veronica Caliber, you've acknowledged the instructions, correct, sir?"
Repeat clear.
Before long, the ghouls reset and came pouring out of their holes.
"Uoooooh!!! Come at me, you filthy monsters!"
A swarm of ghouls lunged at Gobang, Gyeondallae's exorcism ritual began, and Rajiks's search started simultaneously.
Rumble. Crack-crack-crack-crack!
The golden pickaxe gleamed as it reflected the torchlight.
Everyone was working hard.
Everyone except two people.
Kosak, despite not having any detection abilities, was sniffing the air and poking the ground here and there with his dagger.
'What is he, an archaeological excavator or something?'
Veronica was nodding off, occasionally jolting awake to fire her gun.
'If there's nothing to do, she just sleeps.'
It was understandable.
This wasn't a situation that required ghoul clearing.
'Still, aren't they slacking off a bit too much?'
Juhyeok took out a ballpoint pen and notebook he'd prepared in advance and started writing.
"Hm."
Kosak, wandering around the cave with his hands behind his back, seemed curious about Juhyeok writing and came closer.
"What're you writing, sir? A diary?"
"No, a merit record."
"Huh?"
"For reference when awarding badges. If we just hand them out based on mood, there'll be fairness issues."
"…"
It was time for a systematic badge-awarding system.
"Mr. Gobang, you're working alone, so 20 points. Princess Gyeondallae gets 20 points too. Mr. Rajiks gets 40 points…"
"Uh, h-how many points do I get, sir?"
"Zero points. Same for Sergeant Veronica—seems like you're not doing much…"
"…Y-yes, sir?"
"Oh dear, Mr. Rajiks, your face is covered in dirt. You're working so frantically—at this rate, you wouldn't even notice a ghoul right behind you."
Spot!
Kosak vanished in an instant.
"Gobang! I'll help!"
"Unnecessary. Assassin. You're no help."
"You punk! I can tank too—don't you know about evasion tanking?"
"Go away. The ghouls are mine."
"Shut up! Let me get some too."
Stab, stab, stab!
After peeling a few ghouls off Gobang with dagger strikes,
Kosak frantically cast Shadow Step, luring enemies here and there.
"Commander Summoner, look at this. Seasoned evasion tanking. Truly fantastic, sir."
It seemed Veronica had heard the conversation too…
She jolted awake from her nap, regained focus—
Pashut! Pashut! Pashut!
—and began suppressive fire with light rounds.
"Commander! I will cover Quartermaster Rajiks. I won't let a single one get close."
Gyeondallae's exorcism ritual grew more intense.
"By the command of the greatest shaman of the Heavenly Empire, you vermin shall rot and depart for the Scorching Hell!"
Gobang grabbed the charging ghouls, shoved them away, and threw them aside, perfectly maintaining aggro.
The ghouls were pushed back in a long line, all the way to the end of the cave passage.
'This is going well.'
Thanks to that, Rajiks was freed up.
His detection range expanded dramatically.
Appearing here, appearing there, swinging his pickaxe nonstop.
Crack-crack-crack-crack! Smash-smash-smash-smash!
Time flew by. At last, Rajiks's pickaxe stopped.
It seemed there was no more scent. He rolled back over.
"Hoeng, I'm done."
Judging by how drenched in sweat he was, he must have searched every nook and cranny.
"Okay! Alright, let's wrap up and head out."
Thus, the repeat-clear mission on the 64th floor was completed.
[64th Floor mission successful.]
[Reward: Magic Stones 6.4 kg]
Back at the penthouse,
Just how many rune fragments had Rajiks found?
"Take them out."
"Hoe."
Rattle-rattle.
Rajiks scattered the collected rune and ticket fragments across the floor.
There were quite a lot.
Six rune fragments, four ticket fragments.
Along with broken wood shards and bits of metal.
Just because there were many didn't mean they were all useful.
More didn't fit together than did.
Juhyeok also took out a few assembled ticket fragments from his inventory. Did any match?
Then one of the four fragments slid over and attached itself.
"Oh!"
…A Vaporization Ticket.
What could it be?
Obviously, a skill reset ticket.
Its utility was extremely high, but—
'I'm not using a Restore scroll on this.'
The remaining ticket fragments didn't attach to anything. They simply didn't match.
Whether they were duplicate fragments or simply too badly damaged.
Even so, they had to be stored.
Next came the runes.
There were six pieces to try matching.
When he lightly tested the one labeled
"Hmm."
The rune fragments didn't move at all.
The same was true for several others.
Next.
What about
"…"
No movement.
Not this one either.
Now the last one.
Only one remained.
Juhyeok carefully tried attaching the stone fragments one by one.
"This one has to fit…"
It didn't work.
Didn't work again.
Still didn't work.
"Just one piece, please!"
They had found six rune fragments, yet not a single one fit!
"I–it'll definitely stick."
Even Kosak sounded anxious.
"It's because your desperation's lacking. Everyone, repeat after me! When I say heave! you all say ho! Heave!"
"Ho!"
"Heave!"
"…Ho, sir."
"Heave-ho!"
"Heave-ho!"
"Heave-cha—ah, no, heave-ho!"
"Hoeeeeng, heave-hooo…."
At that very moment!
Slide—
As if drawn by a magnet, a fingernail-sized fragment slowly began to move.
"Uh—uh?"
"Go!"
"It's going!"
"Let's go!!!"
Click!
They snapped together as if they'd always been one.
Juhyeok shot his hand up.
"It stuck!"
"It has attached."
"It's stuck tight! Princess, strike up the music!"
"Excellent."
"Hoeeeeng!"
But it wasn't time to celebrate yet.
One final step remained.
Checking the item information.
To use a Restore scroll, at least a minimal hint had to be visible.
Gulp.
Juhyeok swallowed dryly.
A tense moment. What would it be?
'Check item information.'
"…Rune of Fire?"
As soon as Juhyeok spoke,
"Fire, is it?"
"If it's a Rune of Fire… t-trait enhancement? Is that correct, sir?"
No doubt about it.
A damaged trait-enhancement rune.
What else could it be?
"T–the heave-ho worked!"
"That's right! Kosak, 10 points!"
"Yes!"
Restore it immediately.
Juhyeok took out a Restore scroll.
The method was simple—bring the Restore scroll into contact with the item to be restored.
With trembling hands, he moved the scroll toward
Then froze.
A sudden thought crossed his mind.
'A Rune of Fire…'
Was this really a trait-enhancement rune? There was also the possibility it was a new kind of item.
Kosak had said that as you went higher, more varied items appeared.
The Restore scroll itself was something he'd never seen before.
Enhancement wouldn't be limited to traits alone.
What if it were a weapon-enhancement rune? Or an equipment-enhancement rune? Or even a skill-enhancement rune?
And it might not even be "enhancement" fire at all.
Harmony, purification, conversation, cinema, fairy tale, fresh flowers, chrysanthemums, boots, beautification, gold coins, silver coins, sneakers, indoor slippers…
Ah, damn it—his weakling syndrome was flaring up again.
Negative thoughts chained endlessly together. But still—
"Fuck it!"
What's life anyway?
Either you hit the jackpot or you go bust.
[You have used a Restore scroll.]
[The item is being restored to its original state.]
Fwoooosh!
A brilliant radiance burst from the rune fragments.
In the next instant—
[Restoration of the damaged ??... Rune of Fire has begun.]
[Time remaining until restoration is complete: 23:59:59]
"…Damn it."
It wasn't instant.
He'd have to wait until tomorrow to find out.
Making people nervous for nothing.
The Prime Minister's Residence, Japan.
Officials, including the Director of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, gathered in the conference room.
"Age twenty-five, Bong Juhyeok. As far as we know, he recently signed an elite player contract with the Awakening Management Administration."
Prime Minister Kawaguchi frowned as he looked at the photo displayed on the screen.
"You're saying this man is highly likely to be the true owner of the Holy Sword?"
"Yes."
"He looks completely different."
Gobang and the giant revealed during the HG Hotel terror incident—
Compared to them, this was an utterly ordinary face, with not a single similar feature.
"How reliable is this data?"
"The source is the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. We believe it's credible."
"Are you certain?"
"I have a close acquaintance among DHS executives. He personally passed this information to me."
"Hmmm…"
Up to now, Japan had assumed that the S++-rank record holder, the true owner of the Holy Sword, and the supplier of basilisk hides and tower ore were all the same individual.
That was the only explanation that made sense.
Multiple people with entirely different abilities appearing all at once?
Impossible.
"Has the United States made contact with this Bong Juhyeok?"
"At present, there are no signs of that."
"I see."
Prime Minister Kawaguchi let out a cold snort.
'Such an obvious ploy.'
The United States isn't confident.
This information was likely discarded on their end.
That's why it was leaked to Japan.
'They want us to investigate in their place?'
That was highly likely.
Considering relations with South Korea, it would be risky for the U.S. to move directly—
Especially on unconfirmed information.
The same applied to Japan.
For now, restraint was necessary.
Reaching out recklessly to a foreign player was taboo.
After all, there was precedent.
Other countries would not look kindly on Japan.
On top of that, there was also the exposure of China's player abduction incident.
Still, it wasn't like they could simply discard the information they'd worked so hard to gather.
Wouldn't at least a basic confirmation be necessary?
"Which company is receiving exclusive supply of basilisk leather?"
"That would be HG Fashion, under the Wildflower & Basilisk brand."
"And HG Fashion's biggest competitor?"
"The company that originally dominated the Korean fashion market is Ilseong Apparel."
"Ilseong, huh…"
A major Korean conglomerate.
Kawaguchi had personal ties with Ilseong's chairman.
"Go to Korea yourself and leak the information to Ilseong. Tell them that the Holy Sword—no, the basilisk leather supplier—might be Bong Juhyeok."
"Yes! Understood."
Let's see how things unfold. Who knows?
In the process, a clue about the S++-rank record holder might surface.
The next morning.
The moment he woke up, Juhyeok pulled the rune out of his inventory to check the restoration progress.
[The characters are becoming clearer… Enhancement Rune restoration in progress.]
[Time remaining until restoration is complete: 3 hours 17 minutes 32 seconds]
'Whew, it's enhancement.'
He'd cleared one big hurdle.
It was definitely an Enhancement Rune.
Now all that remained was to confirm whether the word in front of it was trait, item, or skill.
'If even a single character shows up—if it's a …-trait Enhancement Rune, then it's basically confirmed.'
Today was the day he'd planned to go shopping with his summoned beings.
They were going in the evening.
Within a few hours, the rune's identity would be revealed, so he'd check that first.
He used the bathroom, took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and grabbed a simple breakfast.
'Let's return the Holy Sword.'
Juhyeok contacted the Awakening Management Administration.
He told them he'd be returning the Holy Sword.
A short while later—
Ding! A message arrived.
He went down to the underground parking lot.
As usual, it was a different car—different model, different license plate every time.
But the people were always the same.
Jeon Gwang-il, or Lee Min-ah.
Today's driver was Team Leader Lee Min-ah.
"I'll return the Holy Sword…"
"Yes! Received. We'll store it safely so there won't be any issues with rentals. Oh! The Deputy Commissioner asked if you could spare a moment to see him. Do you have time?"
"…Ah, yes."
"We'll escort you to the Administration."
Juhyeok got into the car driven by Team Leader Lee Min-ah and headed to the Awakening Management Administration.
Soon, the car arrived at the tower-material storage warehouse.
"Player Bong."
"Have you been well?"
"Hahaha, I've been fine. This way."
Jeon Gwang-il was waiting near where the basilisk leather was stored.
The stock was being depleted quickly—business must have been good.
"The payment for the leather will be settled soon. I think you'll be quite pleased."
Money was flowing in steadily. When would he even get around to spending it all?
"And we also looked into the land near Gyeonggi Province that you mentioned before."
Jeon Gwang-il unfolded a map and pointed to an area marked in red.
"It's a three-thousand-pyeong plot on the outskirts of Namyangju. A quiet area. No villages nearby. There's a road, so access is convenient."
There were photos as well.
A prefabricated container stood on a flat open lot. But it looked surprisingly nice.
"This is a container?"
"These days, residential containers are all built like this."
"What about the price? Land plus the container."
"It's state-owned land. The title transfer has already been completed. The container is included as a service."
"Huh? I said I'd pay for it."
"Please, just this once, bear with us. The land itself isn't very expensive."
"…"
Well, there was nothing he could do.
They were asking so earnestly.
"Um, if I may—there's something I'd like to propose."
"What is it?"
"About those people."
By those people, he meant Kosak and Gobang.
"Why? Is there some problem—"
"The Awakening Management Administration can register them as players."
"…What?"
Registering them as players in Korea?
"Strictly speaking, they'd be naturalized players. Their pasts would be completely wiped clean, and they'd become players with South Korean nationality, just like you."
"Oh!"
Something he'd never even imagined.
Kosak and Gobang becoming Korean nationals like him.
However—
"I'm not so sure."
He wasn't particularly inclined.
Was having a nationality really a good thing?
It came with just as much responsibility.
And beyond his own opinion, he'd need to ask the parties involved as well.
"There would be no obligations tied to acquiring nationality. It's merely an intention to provide them with convenience so they can live in Korea without issues."
Jeon Gwang-il spoke carefully.
"And to be honest, our government doesn't have the power to do anything to them anyway."
That was true.
If anything, it was the opposite.
Who in this world could possibly handle them?
"It's fine even if this falls through. If you ever feel inclined, please contact me anytime."
"Alright. Let's discuss the nationality issue slowly…"
That was when it happened.
A system message echoed in Juhyeok's mind.
[Item restoration completed.]
'Huh?'
What was it?
[You have obtained a Trait Enhancement Rune.]
"…Hahaha!"
"Hm? Did something good happen?"
"Yes. Something very good."
"Hahaha, I don't know what it is, but now I'm in a good mood too."
In the end, his choice had been the right one.
'Looks like I can recruit one more person now.'
Let's go ahead and do a random summon today.
And go shopping together in the evening, too.
READ MORE CHAPTERS HERE-https://shinchan1.podia.com/