For countries attempting to climb the undead section, the existence of the Holy Sword was like a reliable pillar of support.
If they tried challenging the 60th floor range and failed, they could just pay ten million dollars to rent it.
They could even use the Holy Sword right from the start—no problem.
Ten floors of the undead section.
If they rented the Holy Sword for every floor, it would cost one hundred million dollars.
Each floor had a six-month time limit.
Assuming they used the full time for each floor, they could hold out for five years.
Spending one hundred million dollars to prevent a tower collapse for five years was dirt cheap.
But then it broke.
The Holy Sword, that is.
And worse still, the moment it broke was witnessed live.
Articles exploded across the media.
ㄴ Fuck!
ㄴ Those damn oil bastards.
ㄴ Don't arrest me. I'll set the oil fields on fire.
ㄴ What? It broke after being returned? Then release the bodycam footage, you bastards!
ㄴ Isn't it obvious why they won't release it?
ㄴ Of course. They've got something to hide.
ㄴ They need to compensate us. At least 100 billion dollars.
ㄴ You think they'll pay? It's kind of ambiguous since it broke after being returned.
ㄴ More importantly, what now? The countries challenging the 60th floor are going to be crying bloody murder.
ㄴ Eh, they'll figure something out. It's not our problem.
ㄴ Ha! Countries with an S++-rank conqueror can relax.
The Awakening Management Agency's phones were ringing nonstop.
Countries that already had reservations, and countries planning to make reservations.
They demanded to know whether repair was truly impossible, and if it was, what countermeasures would be taken.
But as always—
They provided no answers.
It wasn't like the Agency had some miracle solution.
The original plan had been to stay outdoors for just one night and head back.
Whether it was travel or camping, one or two days was fun—beyond that, it became suffering.
At least for Juhyeok.
You couldn't wash comfortably, and the sleeping arrangements weren't ideal.
But now something had come up.
Repairing the Holy Sword.
They couldn't do it at the penthouse, so he'd have to camp out here until the repairs were finished.
For the Holy Sword repair, Rajiks requested exactly two items.
A small electric smelting furnace capable of melting metal.
And a forge used to heat steel.
That very day, the Agency delivered both the forge and the small electric furnace to Juhyeok's villa in Namyangju.
Rajiks poured every holy relic fragment he'd collected inside the tower into the furnace.
In the forge, the broken Holy Sword was being heated.
Holy relics.
Items imbued with holy power.
No—more precisely, they should be called holy attributes.
They'd been used interchangeably, but strictly speaking, they were different.
That was what Gyeon Dallae said.
"Holy power and holy attributes differ in their very nature."
"Oh? How are they different?"
"May I explain from the beginning?"
"We've got plenty of time. Perfect—go ahead."
After organizing her thoughts, Gyeon Dallae began.
"There is not just one god. In this world, there once existed countless gods, each with their own identity."
That was true.
If there wasn't just one dimension, why would there be only one god?
In the different worlds where the summoned beings had lived, gods existed as well.
Human gods, gods of dwarves and elves, gods of the beastfolk—gods of other dimensions.
"Young Master, do you think it's possible to lump together and combine the holy power that represents the unique authority of each god?"
"I'm not sure."
"It is impossible. They cannot mix. Authority is not something that can be blended."
Then what about the holy relics Rajiks collected?
"Those can be mixed."
Why was that?
Gyeon Dallae continued her explanation.
Imagine there are beverages.
Cola, soda, banana milk, orange juice, strawberry juice, apple juice, mango juice…
The distinct flavors, aromas, and pulp contained in each drink represented each god's unique authority and identity.
But if you stripped away all the flavor, aroma, and pulp from those drinks, what would remain?
Nothing but water and sugar.
That sugar was what could be called holy attributes.
The fundamental power left behind after the gods' unique personalities and authorities were gone.
If you add more sugar to sugar?
It's still just sugar.
It only gets sweeter.
Then why did the unique holy power disappear?
Because the worlds were destroyed.
The gods perished along with the worlds they were bound to.
Just look at Lucius Bardin.
A holy knight who worships the god Nigel, yet he can't resist a summoner's command at all.
Does that make sense?
Of course it does.
The god Nigel vanished, leaving only a name behind.
Lucius Bardin is nothing more—and nothing less—than a summoned being with holy attributes.
The holy relics Rajiks collected also contained only holy attributes.
If you melt them all down, fuse them to the Holy Sword, and reconstruct the damaged engravings—
Just like adding sugar to sugar to create an intensely sweet lump of sugar,
"Holy attributes are added to holy attributes, creating a Holy Sword with an overwhelmingly concentrated holy attribute."
"Ah-ha."
Rajiks already knew all of that.
That was why he'd confidently said from the start that it could be repaired.
"Ho-ee."
First, he placed the holy relic fragments he'd collected earlier together with an orichalcum ingot into the electric smelting furnace.
The metal fragments went in as they were; relics made of wood or stone were ground into powder first.
Then he switched on the furnace to melt them down.
After a short wait, holy-attribute molten metal began bubbling up.
The broken Holy Sword also needed to be heated.
Placed atop the forge, Gobang pumped the bellows—whoosh, whoosh—until the blade glowed red-hot.
Once it seemed hot enough, the molten holy-attribute metal was used to fuse the broken section of the Holy Sword back together.
Next, Rajiks took out a golden anvil and a golden hammer from his subspace backpack and began hammering the blade.
Reinforcement work.
From time to time, he poured more molten holy-attribute metal over it, then hammered again.
It took quite a while.
And a lot of materials.
Thankfully, he'd collected plenty inside the tower.
The final step was enchantment.
Among the skills and items unlocked when he advanced to S-rank was enchantment.
The worker's essential item—the encyclopedia—was one example; enchantment techniques were another.
Following the faintly remaining engravings on the blade exactly, Rajiks carved grooves of uniform depth and width.
He checked carefully with a magnifying glass and the encyclopedia to make sure there were no mistakes in the pattern.
He then mixed mana stones into the remaining holy-attribute molten metal to create the material needed for enchantment.
And filled the carved grooves with it.
Now it was almost complete.
All that remained was polishing.
He took out a whetstone from the subspace backpack and began sharpening—
Honing the edge, grinding it smooth.
Beads of sweat rolled down Rajiks's face.
If he was going to do it, he'd do it thoroughly.
At last—
"Ho-eeeeeek!"
Rajiks raised the Holy Sword high and shouted triumphantly.
Juhyeok rushed over in a hurry.
"It's done?!"
"Ho-ee, it's finished."
"Oh man! Our worker—seriously, great job."
"Ho-eng!"
"Wow, look at all this sweat. Hey! What are you doing? Bring something to wipe his sweat!"
The summoned ones came rushing over in a clatter.
"Ohhh, Worker Rajiks—this badge is basically guaranteed now. I'll fan you."
"My tears are flowing. Even ten truckloads of Kosak couldn't compare to one top-tier farmhand."
"Quartermaster, I'll hold you. Wipe your sweat on my chest."
"Ho-ee?"
"Kosak, you bastard! Get away! Why are you sticking so close?"
"…N-no, I'm sweating too—"
"Assassin, I'll wipe you down myself. Come here."
"Eeek?"
One final step remained.
Testing whether it functioned properly inside the tower.
Juhyeok entered the tower with the Holy Sword and the summoned ones.
Spot!
It didn't take long.
They came right back out.
Spot!
The moment they emerged, Juhyeok immediately picked up his smartphone and dialed a number.
"Hello. Deputy Commissioner, it's me. Come pick up the repaired Holy Sword."
He'd probably be shocked.
Once he saw how the Holy Sword had changed.
The repair took a full two days.
By the way… they should probably double the rental fee now, shouldn't they?
In the United States, an emergency countermeasure meeting was also underway.
With the Holy Sword damaged, how on earth were they supposed to clear the Phantom Reaper on the 67th floor?
Secretary of Homeland Security Macmillan, Director Antonio, and top player Gerald Watson gathered.
Player Gerald Watson was pessimistic.
Shaking his head vigorously—
"Absolutely impossible. Without something that can replace the Holy Sword, we can't clear it."
"…Even light-attribute items?"
"I'm telling you, they're basically useless. Compared to true radiance, they're trash."
"Phew."
This was infuriating.
What kind of disaster was this?
"Antonio, what did the Korean Awakening Management Agency say? Is repair possible?"
"We couldn't get a definitive answer. Korea probably…"
"They're not in a hurry. They have an S++-rank conqueror."
"And they won't be able to repair it anyway. We tried before, didn't we? Back when we attempted mass production of tower reward items."
"That's right."
Tower reward items were incomparably superior to manufactured items.
But their drop rate was extremely low.
So what if you scanned a reward item and reproduced it with something like a 3D printer?
Using tower metals as materials, of course.
It failed.
The copied items had zero options.
The same applied to damaged items.
No matter how perfectly you replicated them, once a critical part was destroyed, that was the end.
"And of all places, the engraving on the Holy Sword was on the broken section. Even if reattached, would the options really come back?"
"Damn it!"
Secretary Macmillan slammed with fury rising to his head.
"We need to get Nasser's bodycam footage of the run. I want to see with my own eyes what that lunatic did."
"Do you think they'll release it? They might've already deleted it."
"Fucking hell! From now on, Saudi Arabia is banned from renting light-attribute items."
France—next in line after Saudi Arabia—was just as desperate.
They still had more than three months left on their Black Tower deadline.
So why had they rushed to reserve the Holy Sword?
Because the condition of France's top player, Guillaume Loire, was alarming.
He was unstable.
So much so that even antidepressants couldn't control his symptoms.
They'd even advised him not to climb the tower at all.
The negative influence of the dark aura was undeniable.
Then they learned about one of the Holy Sword's options.
Steadfast Mind.
If it was that, might it help Guillaume as well?
That was why they'd hurriedly made a reservation.
Hoping that just holding the Holy Sword might stabilize him.
But now it was all gone.
Even the last thread of hope had vanished.
"Nasser… because of that bastard, the tower's going to collapse. It'd be better if the Eiffel Tower collapsed instead."
"We were next in line. How about using this as leverage?"
"Leverage how?"
"After all, Nasser cleared the 65th floor without the Holy Sword, didn't he? We demand temporary naturalization. Have him clear France's Black Tower 65th floor."
"I don't know if it'll work… but apply pressure. We've got nothing to lose."
But they wouldn't accept so easily.
Complying would mean admitting responsibility for the Holy Sword's destruction.
"And Guillaume?"
"He's at home right now."
"He didn't enter the tower, did he?"
"Th-that's… hard to say…"
He really hoped Guillaume hadn't entered the tower—but how could you stop a player from entering?
All they could do was hope his depression improved.
Officially known as Korea's top player, Nam Ga-eun went to work at the Management Agency again today.
Morning workout at the gym, breakfast at the cafeteria.
An elite player who had practically become a full-time agency employee.
Truth be told, Nam Ga-eun's mental state had taken a serious hit.
If she said the unexpected incident at the HG Hotel hadn't affected her, that would be a lie.
Being taken hostage, feeling a cold blade press into her neck—that horrifying experience.
It was terrifying.
The trauma ran deep.
So deep she couldn't sleep at night afterward.
But there was something that helped her every time.
The Holy Sword.
Whenever she entered the tower and simply held the Holy Sword, all fear, anxiety, and worries were strangely washed away.
Steadfast Mind.
That was the power that kept her standing.
But what was this now? The Holy Sword had broken.
Because of that bastard Nasser.
Haa…
Only a sigh escaped her.
What would she do without the Holy Sword? What about the upcoming 67th-floor challenge?
All kinds of negative thoughts flooded in at once.
I want to pull myself together, but…
Completely drained of motivation, Nam Ga-eun's shoulders slumped.
She didn't even want to enter the tower.
Should I just retire while I'm at it?
She knew she wasn't the only one suffering.
The agency staff all wore dark expressions too.
Especially Player Bong Juhyeok, the actual owner of the Holy Sword—his disappointment must be immense.
She wanted to meet him later and at least offer some words of comfort, but…
Just then—
"Player Nam Ga-eun."
"Oh, Deputy Commissioner."
"If you're not busy, come see me for a moment."
"Yes…"
What was he going to say?
Probably the usual—don't lose heart, hang in there, that kind of thing.
Nam Ga-eun followed Jeon Gwang-il into his office.
Inside, Team Leader Lee Min-ah was waiting.
"Unni?"
"Come in, Ga-eun."
And then—
Click. Jeon Gwang-il locked the door.
Why?
Why lock the door all of a sudden?
"Everything that happens from now on must remain strictly confidential. Can you do that?"
"…Uh, yes."
"You must promise."
"I understand."
Lee Min-ah reached into her inventory and took out a long object.
"Huh?"
She knew instantly.
How could she not?
"T-the Holy Sword? The Holy Sword?! But it broke! Isn't that a fake?"
"It's not a fake. It's been repaired."
"My god!"
It even looked different.
If the old Holy Sword had felt like a worn secondhand item, the one before her now could practically be called brand new.
"I already did the first test. The effects are insane. Ga-eun, you check the undead section."
As if possessed, Nam Ga-eun grabbed the Holy Sword. The item information appeared.
Effects:
– Increased attack power against undead
– Sacred Flame
– Steadfast Mind
– Increased critical hit chance
Limitation:
– Effects do not apply to enemies other than undead
Feature:
– Intense radiance imbues the user's sword and body
"…Oh my?"
Two things had changed.
From the limitations, the low durability option was gone.
And under features, the radiance was no longer faint—it was now intense.
How on earth…
No time to think.
She needed to verify it inside the tower.
"I'll be back."
Spot!
[Entering the 66th floor of the Korean Black Tower.]
Holy Sword in hand—
"…This is insane!"
Blazing flames of radiance engulfed her entire body.
At this moment, she was the sun itself.
"Yes!"
Courage surged. Her mind hardened, unshakable.
Nam Ga-eun stepped forward.
Shraaaak! A Specter flew at her.
"You picked the wrong opponent. Come on!"
Slash!
The first skill severed its wings.
Slash!
The second skill cut off its tail.
Slash!
The third skill cleaved its torso in two.
Fwoooosh!
The Specter burned away, scattering into ash.
"Aaah! Power! Power! Power!"
It was a Holy Sword with truly perfect effects.
Far stronger than before it had been repaired.