While Juhyeok and the familiars were locked in a fierce battle against the twin gumihos at the waterfall—
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Rajiks was swinging his pickaxe like a madman.
With an LSSR-rank scouting skill, Rajiks possessed unparalleled detection ability. The moment he entered the 76th floor, he caught the dense scent of qi.
That scary-looking old man had said it too.
This place was where natural energy had converged.
A sea where rivers of qi gathered.
But Rajiks—far more sensitive than even the Mad Warrior—had gone a step further.
There was a specific spot that reeked with especially concentrated qi.
What could be over there?
Let's go.
"Ho-e!"
"Woof woof!"
Riding Bloodfang, Rajiks sprinted toward the source of the qi.
And what he found—
Massive boulders, as large as houses, scattered everywhere.
Like chocolate chips in a cookie, glittering substances were densely embedded in the boulders and exposed rock surfaces.
Mana stones.
That's right.
This place was practically an open-pit mana stone mine.
"Hoeee!"
"Woof!"
Rajiks hopped off Bloodfang and swung his pickaxe at a boulder.
Thunk!
A mana stone popped loose from the impact.
It was as big as an adult's fist.
What about its grade?
A mix of normal and advanced mana stones.
White meant normal.
Deep blue meant advanced.
Take both.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
While Rajiks mined, Bloodfang stood guard beside him.
He had to hurry.
He never knew when they'd be forced to exit the Tower.
Suddenly—
Spot!
"Hoeng?"
Bloodfang vanished in an instant.
"Hoee…."
Gone just like that.
Rajiks tilted his head.
There was no way it disappeared on its own.
The summoner must've recalled Bloodfang to summon someone else.
And the only one worth summoning right now—
Had to be the shy alchemist lady.
Did he need potions?
Then—
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KBOOOOM!
"Hu-e-e-ek?!"
Explosions echoed from far away.
What was that?
"Hu-e…."
Should he go check?
No.
There was no need.
His role wasn't combat.
Don't worry about it—just do your job.
Advanced mana stones.
The summoner had said he needed a lot of them.
Then he had to bring as many as possible.
KWA-KWA-BOOM! BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Explosions thundered nonstop in the distance.
Clang! Clang! Clang! CLAAANG!
The golden pickaxe bit into stone.
Mana stones spilled out in abundance.
Normal, advanced—no discrimination.
If anything, there were more advanced stones, likely due to the dense qi.
"Hoeeeek!"
Rajiks, too, was faithfully fighting his own battle.
Nearly fifty three-, five-, and seven-tailed foxes detonated and disintegrated in an instant.
The insane gumiho Yeopae, having lost all reason, struggled briefly—then her barrier collapsed, and her body was blasted apart, scattering into the air.
'Wait… it was like this?'
Juhyeok could only stare, eyes wide.
He'd honestly been doubtful.
He wasn't sure Mari could really help—
But she had scorched the battlefield.
Utterly invincible.
She appeared—and everything was neatly resolved.
Aliamari, elf and alchemist.
Weren't elves supposed to shoot bows or cast spirit magic?
But a bomber?
That didn't fit the image at all.
Those tiny humanoid homunculi—
Each one was a bomb.
Suicide-bomber homunculi.
Individually, their power wasn't impressive.
But when they clustered?
When they clustered and detonated all at once?
And not on the surface—
But inside the body?
The most astonishing part was the control.
It was unreal.
Managing that many homunculi—
Each one microscopic—
Individually?
'Could I do that?'
Probably not.
For one thing, the form was different.
Juhyeok's own homunculi were silver.
Mari's were red.
Their sizes were different too.
Mari's were far smaller than his—
Practically dust-sized.
How could anyone block something that small from entering nostrils or ear canals?
Even if he were given red homunculi, imitating this would be impossible.
How could anyone control dust-sized units with such precision?
Only Mari could do this.
She alone.
Juhyeok instinctively clenched his butt.
What if one stray homunculus crawled up that hole?
The other familiars were just as horrified.
At first, they'd wondered why she'd been summoned.
That socially anxious, shut-in alchemist still crouched on a rock with her head lowered.
Even if she was LSSR rank, a non-combat class on a battlefield was dangerous—
Or so they thought.
In reality, the ones in danger were the foxes.
Those homunculi they'd thought were toys—
Were monsters.
Crawling inside and exploding?
Mouth. Nose. Ears.
And anus…
Kosak.
Gobang.
Bardin.
All of them wore stunned expressions.
Their butts clenched tight.
Anal muscles locked down.
An unconscious Kegel exercise.
Even the Mad Warrior felt chills run down his spine.
The LSSR-rank Mad Gumiho Yeopae vanished without a trace.
Even he himself had been pushed back several steps by the blast.
If it had been him—
Could he have dealt with those red homunculi?
'Even if I used a protective qi barrier…'
The vanguard homunculi would rush in first and shatter the qi.
Then, through the opening, the follow-up homunculi would swarm in.
'In the end, I'd explode too.'
It wasn't that there was no countermeasure at all.
You could run.
Faster than the homunculi.
He was confident he could.
Yes.
The only way to escape Bomber Mari's attack—
Was to flee.
But Gumiho Yeochi couldn't run.
The homunculi swarmed her.
They clung to her body like a cloud of locusts.
"KYAAAAAH!!! N-No!!!"
And then—
BOOM!
The first explosion rang out—
BOOM! BOOM!
Detonations followed in sequence—
BOOOOOM!
And with the final massive blast, she was completely erased.
A brutal, horrifying sight.
Yet Gyeondallae watched Yeochi's destruction without blinking until the very end.
Her master's enemy.
Perhaps the very one who had brought about the fall of the Cheon Empire.
Of course, this was the Tower.
A copied world with copied souls.
But did that mean everything was fake?
She herself, the other familiars—
Yeochi, Yeopae, the fox underlings—
All were real souls bound by the Tower.
And through the Tower, space and time might truly connect to the past.
Her master was proof of that.
He had achieved ascension.
Freed from the Tower's bondage.
In any case—
She felt at peace.
No regrets remained.
The lingering resentment in her heart was finally gone.
Gyeondallae respectfully bowed, pouring her sincere gratitude toward the alchemist Aliamari, who was still crouched silently.
[All Floor 76 missions completed.]
[Reward: Advanced Mana Stones 76 kg / Familiar Rank Breakthrough Rune (Conditional).]
[Calculating clear rank.]
[World Announcement: Black Tower No.1 (Korea) Floor 76 cleared with S+++ rank.]
[S+++ Clear Reward: 2 Platinum Badges awarded.]
Spot!
Juhyeok and the familiars appeared in the penthouse.
Honestly, it still didn't feel real.
Bomber Mari.
He'd only known her as a non-combat alchemist—
Yet she was more terrifying than anyone here.
'Thank god it was just keyboard wars in the chat back then.'
What if they'd fought in real life?
Not that familiars would ever fight to the death—
Still.
Rajiks, who hadn't been present on the battlefield, also exited with them.
Covered head to toe in dust.
Looked like he'd been mining hard.
"Uh… good work, everyone."
"Ahem. The summoner worked hard as well. Still, I am ashamed. My lack of ability caused me to show an unsightly performance."
The Mad Warrior looked slightly embarrassed.
The others felt the same.
They'd all witnessed that overwhelming explosion firsthand.
But where was Mari?
She wasn't in the living room.
At some point, she'd slipped quietly back into her room.
With no choice, he sent a tablet message.
[RealMan]: Thank you so much today.
[Mari]: Not at all♥♡ I'm really happy I could help♪♪♬
Ugh.
Still can't get used to this.
The bomber typing like this…
[Mari]: But I won't be able to use my strength for a while.
[RealMan]: Why?
[Mari]: I used up all my explosive homunculi. Re-synthesizing them takes a long time.
Ah!
So they were consumables.
Of course—no way that was a skill.
If it were, it'd be completely broken.
Still, that was fine.
He wasn't planning to climb the Tower for a while anyway.
Oh!
What about Rajiks?
What had he been doing to get so dusty?
"Ho-e, this."
Rajiks pulled something out of his subspace backpack.
A bluish stone.
"Huh? That's an advanced mana stone."
Nothing special by itself—
'Wait…'
If there were a lot of them, it would be special.
"You got these on the 76th floor?"
"Ho-e, yes."
"A lot?"
"Ho-e, a lot."
How much was "a lot"?
Rajiks started taking them out.
Thud-thud-thud-thud—
They piled up in the living room.
More.
And more.
Thud-thud-thud… still more.
'Insane!'
All of these were advanced mana stones?
But there were way too many.
At this rate, the entire living room would be filled.
"W-Wait!"
"Ho-e?"
"There's more in the bag, isn't there?"
"Ho-e, yes. I mined a whole lot."
"L-Let's check later. The house might collapse."
"Hoeng!"
He'd definitely found a vein.
An advanced mana stone vein.
When asked, that was indeed the case.
He said he'd only mined a tiny portion due to time constraints.
Good grief—
What an incredible worker.
Ask for something, and he brings it back immediately.
Sorry to the other familiars, but honestly—
Was there anyone as reliable as Rajiks?
When he reached LSSR, what kind of performance would he show?
It was impossible to even imagine.
"Our quartermaster is amazing, isn't he? When he moves, it's not a squad—it's army-level supply."
"Well, he is a cosmic farmhand. Makes sense his logistics are cosmic too."
"I could never keep up."
"Was the assassin even trying? The warrior already gave up."
"He's the role model for all familiars."
The advanced mana stones scattered on the floor were returned to Rajiks's subspace backpack.
Now—
Next order of business.
Item check.
Clear out the clutter—focus on the essentials.
The Familiar Rank Breakthrough Rune rewarded for clearing all 76th-floor missions.
Same one Gobang had received.
A rune that allows a rank breakthrough.
With conditions.
Only Gyeondallae could use it.
Once used, she'd be unsummonable for two weeks.
And it required 25 Platinum Badges.
She already had four pinned to her chest.
Just twenty-one more to go.
He could hand them over later at the badge ceremony.
Lastly—
Perks.
Total accumulated badges: 106.
Physical badges: 46.
The last accumulated badge perk was at 90.
That meant perks at 95, 100, and 105—
Three perks available.
Open them all at once.
At least one good item should come out, right?
He opened his inventory and checked the newly unlocked perk.
[Perk granted for accumulating 95 Platinum Badges.]
First one.
Well, he wasn't expecting a Trait Enhancement Rune anyway.
No way they'd give that out.
Probably another mediocre item.
[Perk: Additional Item Acquisition Ticket.]
Called it.
Still, it was an item he'd never seen before.
So—
What about the second one?
[A perk is granted for accumulating 100 Platinum Badges.]
Like I said, I'm not expecting much.
Even if 100 is a symbolic number.
[Perk: Trait Enhancement Rune.]
See?!
It's a Trait Enhancement Rune!
What, like hitting 100 would make it special or something?
They'd just hand out the usual item and—
…Huh?
Huh??
'Wait. What did it just say?'
Did I mishear?
[A perk is granted for accumulating 105 Platinum Badges.]
The messages kept coming, but—
[Perk: Player Awakening Rune.]
Nothing else even registered.
Juhyeok blankly pulled the Trait Enhancement Rune out of his inventory.
That was it.
A small stone fragment.
Just the right size to slip into your mouth.
"G-Gasp! C-Commander Summoner, th-that is…?"
"Ho-e?"
"I-Isn't that a Trait Enhancement Rune? Congratulations!"
"Haha! What a joyous occasion!"
"Commander! Congratulations!"
"Glory to my lord!"
Ding!
[Mari]: Congratulations
He'd actually pulled one from the 100-badge perk.
Maximum simultaneous summons: 9.
That meant he could now summon all familiars currently registered in the catalog at once.
Well, that probably wouldn't last long.
Soon there'd be a random summon.
Then the catalog would expand to 10.
And once again—one slot short.
Ten catalog entries.
The number ten.
Did it mean something?
Hard to say.
But it might.
The Tower's progression was decimal-based too.
Bosses appeared every 5 or 10 floors.
The final boss of the undead section had been on Floor 70.
If the catalog filled up to ten…
'Would that trigger an achievement or something?'
Guess we'll find out when it happens.
Alright—calm down.
Let's check the other perks.
First, the ticket from the 95-badge milestone.
Item info.
Effect:
If used before clearing a Tower mission, item rewards increase by at least 2× and up to 10×.
Limitation:
Does not apply to tickets or rune-type items.
Oh!
'That's better than I expected.'
2× to 10× item rewards.
Sure, it doesn't apply to tickets or runes—but still.
What about the one from 105 badges?
Effect:
Awakens one ordinary person into a Player.
Traits are assigned randomly.
Limitation:
Requires 1 Platinum Badge in addition to the rune.
"..."
So items like this existed too.
Hard to say if it was good or not.
Awakening a normal person as a Player.
The odds were still slim.
And there were countless people who wanted to become Players.
A job that could completely turn your life around.
Even reaching Level 20 meant making serious money.
But forcibly awakening someone?
He didn't really want to.
At least not anyone close to him.
Still, there was no point letting it gather dust.
Maybe it was time to offload unused items—
To the Awakening Management Agency.
Anyway, perks checked.
Results: satisfying.
What was left on the schedule?
Party time.
Big time.
Plenty to do.
Head to the Namyangju villa.
Badge ceremony,
Gyeondallae's farewell,
welcoming the new family members,
and decorating White Tower Floor 17.
And on the way—
Make a quick stop at the Awakening Management Agency.