White Tower 17th Floor elevator.

Its function was dimensional travel.

Another floor, another dimension, had been unlocked.

Where would it lead?

First, an emergency meeting.

Juhyeok gathered the veteran summoned entities.

“The 6th Floor, huh? The key question is which world it’s connected to.”

“We won’t know until we go.”

“It would be wise to discuss it before going.”

“That is correct. Any world would be fine, but if it is the main base, you must decide carefully.”

“Agreed.”

“The main base is premature.”

That was right.

The main base was out of the question.

There was a god there.

The one called the God of Gluttony.

What if he went there and got eaten?

‘There’s no reason to charge in right now.’

If he rushed in recklessly, he would only be forcing himself to swallow a frustrating sweet potato.

How parched would his throat get?

It was a sweet potato he would have to eat someday, but not now.

Even if he eventually went, he needed to prepare a whole case of refreshing cider first.

Of course, there was no need to be scared in advance, but...

Even if he did go, he should at least meet the minimum conditions first.

For example, upgrading all 355 summoned entities to LSSR grade. Higher would be even better.

On top of that, at least 10 Beyond Transcendent Summons. Honestly, even that would not be enough against a god.

And on top of that, securing a way to definitely kill a god.

“Allow me to say something.”

“Please, go ahead, Zhuge Jaryong Cossack.”

“Yes!”

After briefly clearing his throat, Cossack spoke.

“Summoner Bong.”

“Yes.”

“You should trust Godbaek.”

“Hmm.”

“That man must have a plan too. He wouldn’t send you to the main base without warning.”

Was that so?

“Godbaek probably needs to expand his influence as well. Isn’t this elevator floor opening also because Summoner Bong completely conquered our Earth’s Black Tower?”

That made sense.

“The 6th Floor is likely connected to another parallel-universe Earth.”

Juhyeok nodded as well.

Godbaek would not have rashly opened an elevator to the main base.

“This elder thinks the same. The 6th Floor may be Earth NO.843.”

“When we interrogated the Controller, the mission on the 93rd Floor was actually to destroy Earth NO.843’s Dimensional Energy Storage. Logically, it makes sense for us to go there.”

Really?

Then they should go.

As long as it was not the main base.

Moreover, Earth NO.843 was a world in the process of destruction.

They should save the people there.

Did he not have the ability to do so?

What was the point of sitting on it?

“Then if it’s the main base, we retreat. If it’s Earth NO.843, we advance. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Deal.”

“Major Veronica Caliber, I shall obey the commander’s orders.”

“Hooooah!”

First, he assembled the advance team.

Cossack, Meatshield, Mad Demon, Gyeon Dallae, Rajix, Veronica Caliber, Bardin, Mackenzie, and Crackus.

Nine in total.

Ten including Juhyeok.

The rest would wait on standby.

There was no need to bring many.

Only the elite forces.

They were just going to check and come back.

Reconnaissance was essential, was it not?

The plan was to assess the situation sufficiently, make a plan, and then return.

Juhyeok boarded the dimensional-travel elevator with the summoned entities.

When he pressed the newly activated 6th Floor button...

[You have selected the 6th Floor.]

[White Tower 6th Floor currently has no owner.]

[Therefore, you may enter after paying the operating cost. Would you like to pay?]

‘Pay.’

[Operating cost of 10kg of highest-grade Magic Stones will be automatically deducted from your inventory.]

In that instant—

SWOOOONG!

The elevator began to vibrate.

SHAAAAK!

CRRRRACK!

Along with tremendous pressure. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

THUDUDUDUDU.

WHIRRRRRR.

Ding!

[The elevator has arrived at the 6th Floor.]

They were here.

When the doors opened, a simple white space with nothing in it came into view.

White Tower 6th Floor, completely undecorated because it had no owner.

[Your stay period is 24 hours.]

[If you exceed the stay period, you will be forcibly moved to the elevator.]

[The owner of White Tower 17th Floor becomes the temporary owner of White Tower 6th Floor for 24 hours.]

[The owner’s companions have also been automatically registered as temporary residents of the 6th Floor. Valid for 24 hours.]

[Entry and Exit skills for White Tower 6th Floor have been temporarily registered for 24 hours.]

It rambled on and on.

It was quite long.

‘Anyway, got it.’

But where was this?

‘What world is this place connected to?’

In that instant—

Ding!

【White Tower 6th Floor is connected to Earth NO.843, a parallel universe.】

“Ohhh!”

As expected, Earth NO.843.

A world in the process of destruction.

It was not the main base.

But now it answered when asked.

Godbaek really had changed a lot.

“What a relief.”

“The prediction of this Cossack, Summoner Bong’s favorite strategist, was correct.”

“Are you planning to conquer this Black Tower as well?”

Of course he had to.

The primary objective was conquering Earth NO.843’s Black Tower 90th Floor.

That alone would stop the destruction.

‘But first, I need to acquire White Tower 6th Floor too.’

Not temporary acquisition, but permanent acquisition.

It might take quite a bit of time.

They needed a forward operating base for comfortable operations.

The summoned entities on White Tower 17th Floor could not be summoned to Earth NO.843.

They needed to be on White Tower 6th Floor for Designated Summon to work outside.

‘Can I acquire this place?’

【Acquisition is not possible. Qualification requirements have not been met.】

Huh?

Why?

【You are not a Player of Earth NO.843. After obtaining nationality, you may enter the Black Tower and own the White Tower.】

‘Hmm.’

Juhyeok was essentially a foreigner.

He had no roots here.

That made sense.

White Tower 1st Floor, the one connected to Earth NO.675, was because he had inherited it from the original owner, Max Kruger, so he even had nationality there.

What about the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Floors?

Those were already destroyed worlds, so there was no need to acquire them.

Juhyeok’s Status Window was also set up like this.

[Name]: Bong Juhyeok

[Affiliation 1]: Black Tower (Earth NO.1001, Republic of Korea)

[Affiliation 2]: Black Tower (Earth NO.675, Germany)

He needed to acquire a third nationality.

On Earth NO.843.

‘Looks like I need to go outside first.’

【Earth NO.843 is currently under extreme influence of the Black Tower. White Tower intervention is difficult, so please take care of yourself.】

What was this about?

It was making him nervous.

“I’ll go take a look outside.”

“Please use the Concealment Veil.”

“Perform Instant Summon first.”

He was planning to do that anyway.

He would just scout what kind of place it was and come right back.

***

KABOOM!

SCRAPE, SCRAAAAAPE!

A fierce battle between Tower monsters and humans.

Colonel Lee Minseon of the Republic of Korea Awakened Army Special Team encouraged her subordinates with a voice that was almost worn out.

“Just hold on a bit longer! Air support will be here soon!”

Seoul, Gangnam.

Once the most prosperous area in Korea.

Now, a sinkhole ten kilometers in diameter gaped wide open there.

Horrific Tower monsters were crawling out from within.

It was a Sinkhole Wave.

Tower collapses were occurring all over the world.

At first, there were just holes and nothing happened.

But as the number of sinkholes gradually increased, monsters began crawling out.

In the beginning, it was goblins and orcs.

Those were still manageable.

They were weak.

Even personal firearms could deal with them.

But as the collapse continued to progress, the situation changed.

Tower monsters in the 30th Floor range appeared, then the 40th Floor range.

The problem was the 50th Floor range flying monsters.

Griffins and wyverns of various attributes.

When those things came out, the difficulty of the Sinkhole Wave skyrocketed.

With their fast mobility, magic attacks, and overwhelming physical power.

That was why the Awakened Army’s primary targets were also flying monsters.

They had to reduce their numbers so the Air Force fighters arriving soon could deal with them more easily.

“More are coming out! Focus fire! Put away your rifles! Engage with anti-materiel sniper rifles at minimum!”

In truth, even anti-materiel sniper rifles could not deal significant damage.

KABOOM! KABABABABOOM!

Anti-aircraft guns, surface-to-air missiles, and other heavy weapons spewed fire.

“Deploy ranged-trait Players! Close-combat traits, protect the ranged ones!”

Skills imbued with the mana of Players.

SHWOOOT! SHWOSHWOSHWOOOT!

THWACK! THWATHWATHWACK!

“Kyaaaaaak!”

“Kek!”

“Krarakrak!”

THUDUDUDUDUDUK!

Wyverns and griffins struck by shells, missiles, and Player ranged skills came crashing down.

“Stay sharp! Don’t conserve mana!”

Colonel Lee Minseon of the Awakened Army Special Team screamed until her throat was raw.

They had to stop them no matter what.

Normally, Sinkhole Waves occurred every ten days.

The wave lasted one day.

If they could successfully defend for 24 hours, they would buy ten days of time.

And during those ten days, they had to focus on conquering the 61st Floor of the Daejeon Black Tower.

That was the only way to escape Selected Nation status.

Kabalan’s Curse of Averages, triggered by the American Eastern Tower.

Countries with low Tower climbing progress were the targets.

The Black Towers of selected nations had their collapse deadlines accelerated, eventually leading to collapse.

Korea had been selected three times in a row.

But they ultimately failed to stop it.

As a result, the Gangwon-do Chuncheon Black Tower collapsed, followed by the creation of the Daegu Black Tower, which also collapsed.

The third?

It was Seoul.

A Black Tower had appeared in Seoul.

There had already been massive casualties just from its creation.

Because Towers regenerated without warning.

Chuncheon and Daegu were far from urban centers, so the damage was relatively light, but Seoul was right in the middle of the city.

They only needed to conquer the 61st Floor, but they could not.

They were simply not strong enough.

In the end, the Seoul Black Tower also collapsed.

The Gangnam Three Districts and the surrounding areas were blown wide open into a sinkhole of unknowable depth.

And so, Korea now had three holes.

Shock, terror, and despair.

When there was only one sinkhole, they could concentrate firepower and block the waves, but with three, the military’s firepower was scattered.

Fighter jet support was also not smooth.

Fighters were damaged or shot down while defending against the waves, steadily depleting their forces.

Resupply and repairs were impossible.

Currently, there were almost no people left in Seoul.

They had evacuated early and scattered throughout the country.

With Seoul paralyzed, all of Korea was paralyzed.

Still, administrative functions were barely being preserved, preventing complete anarchy, but...

In that instant—

SHWEEEEET!

“Support has arrived!”

It was the fighter jets.

Finally, the F-17s, F-36 fighters, and attack helicopter squadrons had arrived at the Seoul sinkhole.

PAPAPAPAT!

Missiles launched toward the wyverns and griffins.

“We focus on ground monsters! Just hold for one hour! The wave is almost over!”

Even so, they were still crawling up.

Various ground monsters climbing the sinkhole walls.

Goblins, orcs, trolls, ogres, minotaurs, basilisks.

There was no end to them.

The soldiers were getting exhausted too.

With some variation, Sinkhole Waves averaged 24 hours.

Monsters poured out for an entire day.

Regular soldiers alone could not stop them.

Awakened Players had to be deployed.

A world where the boundary between the Tower and reality had disappeared.

And thus, Players could use mana and skills from the Tower in the real world.

Their physical abilities were superior to ordinary people’s, and injuries could be healed with healing potions.

They could use items without restriction.

Whether Tower-exclusive or not.

Now, the number of Awakened Players was national power.

The more, the better.

That made it easier to escape the Curse of Averages, the accelerated collapse deadline selection.

Even if they failed and Tower collapse occurred, they could block it without difficulty.

That was the case for China and India, which had large numbers of Players proportional to their populations.

For this reason, the world was in a Player recruitment war.

Regardless of level, they were indiscriminately naturalizing Players into their countries.

But the number of Players was extremely limited.

For every country recruiting, there was a country being poached from.

Which side did Korea belong to?

Frustratingly, they were on the losing side.

And to Japan right next door, no less.

Japan was lucky when it came to Kabalan’s curse.

While other countries had three, five, or even over ten sinkholes, and some had completely collapsed, Japan had only one sinkhole.

The Hokkaido sinkhole.

The regenerated Tower was in Osaka.

They just had to plug the Hokkaido hole.

They were managing to block it relatively safely.

And their uncleared upper-floor count was not that high either.

Japan’s Black Tower conquest progress was at the 57th Floor.

Even if they were hit by the Curse of Averages again, they could clear it quickly.

Meanwhile, Korea had three holes.

Also, due to certain unfortunate reasons, they had to conquer the 61st Floor, which was the undead zone.

The undead zone was not easy to overcome.

Which was safer?

Obviously Japan.

It could not be helped.

Awakened Players also preferred the safer option.

So they migrated en masse to Japan.

In short, it was a vicious cycle.

Korea’s Awakened Players kept decreasing, while Japan’s kept increasing.

‘Fucking bastards.’

Colonel Lee Minseon had also received an offer from Japan.

She had refused, but quite a few of her fellow Awakened Army colleagues had crossed over.

Anyway, with the air support forces arriving, she could breathe a little easier.

The monsters emerging from the sinkhole had noticeably decreased too.

If it ended like this, they would buy ten days.

After that, they had to succeed in conquering the Daejeon Black Tower 61st Floor.

But right at that moment—

WOOOOOOONG!

A fluctuation of mana spread across the entire sinkhole.

Colonel Lee Minseon, who had been resting for a moment, shot to her feet.

An ominous energy was flowing out of the sinkhole.

Goosebumps prickled across her skin.

A chill ran down her spine.

Her legs trembled.

Cold sweat ran down her back.

‘No way.’

Minseon thought she knew what this phenomenon was.

If it was real, they were in deep trouble.

The worst of the Sinkhole Waves.

“...A Dark Wave?”

That must be it.

It really was.

“Undead! Undead monsters are coming up!”

“This is insane!”

Why did they think “Dark” was added in front of “Wave”?

Because undead appeared.

AAAAAAAH!

The thing that should never have happened finally did.

The sinkhole defenses would definitely be breached.

Undead armed with dark aura.

Zombies and ghouls, skeletons, dullahans.

But the most serious thing was...

“It’s a specter! Ev—evade!”

“Aaaaaargh!”

Flying undead specters.

Incorporeal monsters that physical attacks could not touch.

If those things got loose, it was over.

That was how Australia had fallen.

The undead legions, specters, and phantom reapers had completely wiped out all living things in Australia.

‘...Is this the end?’

Even 100 fighter jets could not stop this.

And the undead would spread in all directions.

Korea would fall just like Australia.

Colonel Lee Minseon felt all the strength drain from her body.

Even now, undead were crawling out of the sinkhole in droves.

Awakened Army Players were already being corrupted by the dark aura without even making contact.

Minseon was no different.

Negative energy assaulted her entire body.

Despair and helplessness, mental panic, the urge to give up on life.

She had to run.

She wanted to flee.

But her feet would not move.

‘Rather...’

Minseon drew her personal pistol from her hip.

CLICK!

She loaded it and pressed it to her temple...

That was when it happened.

FWAAAAASH!

A brilliant orb of light illuminated the area around the sinkhole.

“Huh?”

The negative energy vanished as if it had been washed away.

Gradually, her mind returned to normal.

“...What is this?”

And then—

FWIRIRIRIT!

One person flew through the air with two large, beautiful wings.

Minseon could not believe her eyes.

Wings.

“An... angel?”

Was she hallucinating because of the dark aura?

In that instant—

“Light!”

FWAAAAAAAAAAASH!

The light grew even more brilliant.

The undead were melting.

They were dripping down.

***

CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP.

Juhyeok sent applause and praise toward Bardin with a satisfied smile.

“For the Lord, Light!”

FWAAAAASH!

Paladin Bardin was going absolutely wild.

He had killed a Seraph and reached the transcendent tier.

“Our Bardin, maybe because he has wings, he’s very reliable.”

“He’s a radiant searchlight. It’s a civilian massacre. I feel sorry for the undead.”

“This warrior also wishes to go. Please permit me. I wish to earn merit.”

Meatshield seemed restless too.

How had he been holding back?

“Ah, of course you should go if you want to.”

Their Meatshield could do whatever he wanted.

“Major Veronica Caliber!”

Of course, Veronica Caliber too.