A Tower Occupation Declaration against the North Korean Tower by a player affiliated with the Republic of Korea.
Countries all around the world were watching this situation closely.
A mere individual player declaring the forced occupation of a nation's Black Tower?
Leaving aside whether such a thing was even truly possible—
The deed had already been done.
It was too late to argue about whether it could or couldn't happen.
What people were focused on was what came after the declaration.
How would North Korea respond?
With resistance? Or with submission?
And after ten days, would the nationality of the North Korean Black Tower truly change?
If it did, what would become of the players affiliated with the North Korean Tower?
Exactly.
What mattered was the result.
How would this declaration conclude?
North Korean Tower–affiliated players were secretly hopeful.
Both original-nationality players and those foreign players who had temporarily naturalized and ended up trapped.
Becoming Republic of Korea nationals wouldn't be bad.
They'd be able to climb the most lucrative, honey-sweet jackpot Tower with the highest item reward rates.
Meanwhile, the country that received the greatest shock—
Was China.
China and North Korea.
Even if relations had grown distant lately, they were still formally military allies.
Yet the situation was changing far too abruptly.
Chairman Kim In-jung's ambiguous attitude.
Especially his actions after miraculously recovering from a vegetative state were deeply suspicious.
Chinese President Liu Zhao received a report from the director of intelligence.
"They're not responding at all?"
"Yes. North Korea's Tower progress hasn't changed. They're not even attempting to climb to defend it."
"Hmph! So they intend to hand it over."
More than a week had passed since the declaration.
The Tower would soon change hands.
And yet they were doing nothing?
That wasn't like the North Korean government.
No matter how incapable they were of clearing the Tower, this was excessive.
The declarer was a South Korean player.
At the very least, couldn't they issue threats or condemnation?
They even had nuclear missiles.
The rumor might be true.
That Chairman Kim In-jung himself had requested it from the South Korean government.
And that wasn't all.
The deaths of key hardliners following the Tower Occupation Declaration.
The All-People's Representative Conference forced through despite that.
Moreover, political officials and military figures categorized as pro-China were being removed or purged.
Just what was going on?
It was suspicious beyond measure.
They might even be cutting ties with China and joining hands with the South.
Ultimately, the answer lay with Chairman Kim In-jung.
What was he planning?
And one more thing—
"This man here is emerging as the second-most powerful figure in North Korea after Kim In-jung."
"The new Minister of the People's Armed Forces?"
"Yes. His name is Gosageuk. He appears to have been deeply involved in the purge of hardliners and pro-China figures."
There was a photograph.
On the tablet screen, Gosageuk was leading chants of manse at the All-People's Representative Conference.
"He looks young."
His appearance was ordinary.
A typical East Asian face.
"Have you identified who he really is?"
"We haven't. His age, education, hometown—everything is a mystery. It's as if he fell straight from the sky."
Liu Zhao closely examined other photos of Chairman Kim In-jung and Minister Gosageuk.
They looked extremely close.
Wherever they went, the two were always together.
From morning until night.
Almost like lovers.
Anyone with half a brain could see it.
At the center of North Korea's current changes stood Chairman Kim In-jung—and this Minister Gosageuk.
"Gosageuk's identity is the key, then."
"Yes. We're investigating from every angle."
"How long will it take?"
"Well… with only a name and a face to go on…"
As if something had occurred to him, President Liu Zhao asked,
"…Could he be a player? One of those who can use abilities in the real world."
"You mean a player using a Rune Necklace of Liberation and a Ring of Form Transformation?"
"Yes. The way the hardliners were eliminated without a trace is suspicious."
At that, the intelligence director touched the tablet, enlarging Gosageuk's fingers.
"If you look at the moment he's chanting manse, he isn't wearing any rings. We also checked his neck—there doesn't appear to be a necklace either."
Then the chances of him being a liberated player were extremely low.
"Send people to investigate Gosageuk directly."
"Understood."
The North Korean Tower changing hands couldn't be helped.
China wasn't in a position to assist with Tower defense anyway.
But if the actual country were to pass to the South—
For example, through reunification—
That had to be stopped.
The practical reunification of North and South Korea was absolutely unacceptable.
And so, China dispatched elite special intelligence agents to North Korea.
Japan.
Prime Minister Kawaguchi had died screaming when the Tokyo Black Tower spawned, and Acting Prime Minister Usuda was also senselessly assassinated by coup forces.
The nation had fallen into chaos, but a general election still had to be held.
Japan's political scene changed as well.
The Minhyuk Party narrowly overtook the Liberal Party to become the ruling party.
A change of government.
Thus, Japan's current Prime Minister was Maeda Kenji of the Minhyuk Party.
One peculiarity—he was a former player.
An early-awakening player in his early forties.
But as a politician, he was extremely young.
The first thing he did after taking office was declare the clearing of Floor 58 of the Tokyo Tower.
He didn't jump in personally.
Though he was a player, he didn't have the talent to climb the upper floors.
Instead, he invested heavily in the most promising player among those previously nurtured by the state.
In that process, Korea's role was immense.
Fully decked out in Tower reward weapons and equipment purchased from the player shop, and under full doping with elixirs and potions, they took down the Frost Wyvern on Floor 58.
Maeda Kenji had no choice but to acknowledge it.
If Japan was to survive, Korea's help was essential.
And that wouldn't change going forward.
Regarding this Tower Occupation Declaration as well, Prime Minister Maeda adopted a flexible stance.
"They requested it first, didn't they?"
"That's correct. There's absolutely no movement to defend the North Korean Tower."
Maeda nodded.
"It's not a bad method. If you can't clear it, handing it over is the wise choice."
"But it seems they're trying to go one step further than that."
"What do you mean?"
The Chief Cabinet Secretary answered cautiously.
"The atmosphere is anything but normal. The military hardliners are dying one after another, and pro-China figures are being purged as well."
And then—
"They've put forward a new Minister of the People's Armed Forces and seized power in one fell swoop. It looks like Chairman Kim is trying to reshuffle the board entirely."
Reshuffling the board.
If that's the case…
"Don't tell me… reunification?"
"That's jumping to conclusions, but at the very least, it's certain they're attempting to improve relations with the South Korean government. Just considering that there was coordination between the Blue House and Chairman Kim In-jung regarding this Tower Occupation Declaration…"
"Hm."
Improving relations between North and South Korea.
In the past, they would have tried to block it at all costs.
But now, they had to mind Korea's reactions.
Japan still had to climb to Floor 71.
They needed to secure high-grade magic stones to prepare for the coming new industrial revolution.
To do that, they absolutely had to break through the undead zone.
Holy water alone wasn't enough.
Borrowing holy swords from the Korean Awakener Management Agency was essential.
"We should probably decide the cabinet's stance in advance."
A stance, huh—
"If relations between North and South improve, we should congratulate them. What more is there to do?"
But the secretary looked deeply concerned.
"There'll be strong backlash from the old guard."
"Hmph! What can those geezers possibly do?"
The Japanese right-wing factions?
Their era was over.
Japan had grown too old.
Politically, economically, culturally.
It was time for the younger generation to step forward.
Instead of just talking about the future, the future—
For the sake of a real future,
"We urgently need better relations with the South as well. If we keep worrying about the old men, we might miss our chance."
Japan, too, needed to reshuffle the board.
And at its center, there would be no place for the aging right-wing forces.
Fortunately, the younger generations of both countries got along fairly well.
Young Koreans wanted to travel to Japan, and young Japanese were crazy about the Korean Wave.
Maeda also felt no burden about improving relations with Korea.
With the collapse of the Japanese Black Tower and the annihilation of the Self-Defense Forces coup faction, the influence of the right wing had been utterly shattered.
Now was the opportunity.
Japan had to move more proactively.
Settling the past?
What was so difficult about that?
He was willing to accept whatever the Korean government demanded.
You could tell just by looking at this Tower Occupation Declaration.
Korea's S+++–rank clearing record holder—thanks to him, the Republic of Korea would become the leading power of East Asia, no, of the world.
However, Prime Minister Maeda was underestimating Japan's right wing.
He didn't realize just how tenacious and relentless they could be.
Kosak had begun his full-scale activities.
And so, waking up early every morning to send Kosak off to work had become the start of Juhyeok's daily routine.
Lately, Kosak had been doing far too much, and it worried him.
North Korea assignment, Black Tower clearing duties, moonlighting, overtime, late nights…
Should he brew him some kind of tonic?
Even though "working in North Korea" mostly meant sticking right next to Chairman Kim and watching to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.
Once Kosak was sent off to North Korea—
Well, there wasn't really anything left for Juhyeok to do.
He just relaxed.
He summoned his bonded ones to eat together, watch movies, go on drives—
He postponed upper-floor climbing.
Until the North Korean Black Tower's nationality changed completely.
After that, he'd climb Floors 75 and 76 in order, obtain the Rune of Rank Breakthrough, send Princess Gyeondallae off, and try some random summons.
After resting thoroughly like that, the day finally arrived.
Today.
The day the Tower's nationality would change.
"It's a moment worth commemorating. You might even get an achievement."
Right.
This wasn't a player nationality changing—it was a Tower's nationality. Of course it deserved an achievement.
"In that case, how about coming to Pyongyang today?"
"North Korea?"
"Yes, sir! I'll give you the full Pyongyang course. I'll go ahead first and set everything up."
"Hm."
He wasn't sure if that was okay.
Wouldn't that be an illegal visit to the North?
What if the National Intelligence Service caught him and investigated him as a spy?
"…There's no way we'd get caught, right?"
"Just put on an interference talisman before coming."
Should he go?
It sounded like a decent idea.
After all, it was a special place most people could never visit.
And so, Juhyeok made the decisive call to visit North Korea.
After attaching interference talismans to all his bonded ones—including the Mad Demon and even Rajiks—
He entered Floor 1 of the Republic of Korea Black Tower, abandoned the mission, and exited through the North Korean Black Tower.
In the distance, Pyongyang came into view.
He had really come to North Korea.
This feels strange.
Now all that remained was to meet Kosak.
But even after the scheduled time passed, he hadn't arrived yet.
"Hmph, this guy gets a fancy hat and suddenly he's arrogant. How dare he make his summoner and this venerable one wait?"
The Mad Demon complained irritably.
"The exit location is random, that's probably why. He'll come soon."
"Heh heh, as expected, the summoner is magnanimous. Still, by now he should have sensed our presence—"
In that instant!
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop…
A sound echoed from afar.
And a man in a People's uniform came running over in a panic.
An unfamiliar face—but he knew instantly.
Kosak, his face changed through polymorph.
"Salute! Summoner Bong, welcome! Comrades, please come this way as well."
Princess Gyeondallae chuckled.
"You're a hard man to meet. North Korea's number two—no, if we're being precise, number one in rank."
"Oh no, Princess. The moment I sensed you'd arrived, I ran here at full speed."
Veronica chimed in too.
"May I assassinate the Minister of the People's Armed Forces? He's the ringleader of the Republic of Korea's primary enemy anyway."
"Captain Be, why are you like this? I'm working so hard for the Juche revolution…."
Click!
Captain Be chambered her machine gun.
"This is clearly a double agent. He's been brainwashed."
"This warrior thinks so as well. Is the spy hotline 111?"
"Ghk!"
Kosak snorted with laughter.
"Since we're at it, how about Captain Be coming to North Korea as a revolutionary warrior? It'd be nice to let the counterrevolutionaries taste the Juche revolutionary fire baton."
Veronica's ears perked up.
She'd been feeling a bit jealous, thinking Kosak was having all the fun by himself.
"Is there an opening?"
"Oh, absolutely. How about Director of the General Political Bureau?"
"Is it a good position?"
"If you come, the two of us can stir North Korea up and chew it to bits."
"But would this face work? I don't have a face-changing skill."
"Ask Summoner Bong to lend you the Ring of Form Transformation."
At that, Veronica looked at Juhyeok with sparkling eyes.
"…Let's talk about it later."
"Certain victory!"
Once they left the area around the Pyongyang Black Tower, several vehicles and drivers were waiting for them.
"These comrades are my loyal followers. No need to worry."
The drivers snapped to attention, raising their hands high as they shouted,
"Welcome! Long live the Juche Revolutionary Spirit!"
"Long live Juhyeok!"
"Manse!"
"…"
What was that supposed to mean?
Juhyeok?
Why was my name coming up here?
"Uh, th-that's an abbreviation for the Juche Revolutionary Spirit."
North Korea really abbreviated everything.
Anyway, the group split up into the cars and entered Pyongyang proper.
A bleak Pyongyang cityscape.
The roads were wide, but there were barely any cars.
A cow-drawn cart even passed by.
In a world where people talked about fourth and fifth industrial revolutions powered by high-grade magic stones—seeing an ox cart was surreal.
On the other hand, the buildings themselves were surprisingly imposing.
Maybe that was because it was Pyongyang.
Red banners hung from every building.
All of them propaganda slogans.
But then—
"…"
And even at their final destination, the Okryugwan building in Pyongyang—
This was driving him insane.
Who did this?
There was only one person.
Minister of the People's Armed Forces Kosak Comrade, deliberately avoiding Juhyeok's gaze and pretending nothing was wrong.
The bonded ones seemed to have noticed too.
All of them smiled warmly.
"My lord's name is resounding across the world. Well done, assassin."
"How commendable. I didn't expect it. The Spirit of Juhyeok—I like it."
"This girl is impressed. I thought you were only after rank and title."
"Kosak, make a position for me too. I want to try being Director of the General Political Bureau."
"As expected of an assassin—sharp mind."
"Hoeeh, amazing. The Spirit of Juhyeok."
Praise piled on praise, and Kosak's grin stretched nearly to his ears.
"Ah, you flatter me. This Kosak thinks of Summoner Bong day and night."
"…"
This was bad.
At this point, illegal entry into North Korea wasn't the problem anymore.
The bonded ones were turning red.
They looked ready to stand at attention with sickles and hammers.
And he himself was about to become the ringleader of the reds.
Anyway, Juhyeok, the Minister of the People's Armed Forces, and their entourage entered Okryugwan.
"We have the place to ourselves. Full course starting now."
At the arrival of the undisputed second-in-command of North Korea, the staff of Okryugwan grew tense and hurried the dishes out.
The table was lavish.
Authentic Pyongyang cold noodles, Pyongyang onban, Gaeseong dumplings, meat hotpot, and even Taedonggang beer.
"…Hmm."
It looked delicious.
Let's eat first and think later.
That was when—
Ding!
[World Announcement: The 10-day defense period granted to players affiliated with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Black Tower has ended.]
Finally!
[World Announcement: Players of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have failed to defend against occupation.]
[World Announcement: The nationality of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Black Tower has been changed to the Republic of Korea.]
[World Announcement: Tower acquisition procedures have begun.]
From this point on, system messages that only Juhyeok could hear.
[We will now inform you of the status of players affiliated with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Black Tower.]
[Number of original-nationality players: 1,925. Number of temporarily affiliated players: 18,714.]
The number of native players and temporarily naturalized players differed by nearly tenfold.
No wonder there had been overcrowding.
In any case, the fact that the system mentioned them separately meant—
[Please decide whether to inherit or erase the status-window nationality of original-nationality players.]
So they could be handled separately.
The ultimate purpose of the Tower occupation was reunification.
Therefore—
"Inherit status-window nationality for original-nationality players."
[World Announcement: The nationalities of all players previously affiliated with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Black Tower have been collectively changed to the Republic of Korea.]
It was declared to the world.
Next—
[Please decide whether to inherit or erase the status-window nationality of temporarily affiliated players.]
"Erase nationality for temporary naturalized players."
[World Announcement: The nationalities of temporarily naturalized players affiliated with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Black Tower have been erased.]
Joy and sorrow split among the players.
And the achievement?
[Achievement: You are the first to change the nationality of another country's Black Tower.]
Of course it popped.