Ten minutes before the incident occurred.

In other words, before Bardin melted the undead with Radiance, and before Meatshield and Veronica Caliber saw that and could not resist charging out.

Juhyeok came out of White Tower 6th Floor using the Concealment Veil.

SPOT!

It was the middle of an urban center.

Towering high-rise buildings, Korean signs, Korean traffic signs.

He had known it was Earth NO.843 before coming, but...

“...Seoul?”

It seemed so.

‘But why isn’t there a single car on the road?’

In Seoul, the traffic hell.

There were hardly any people either.

Had it already fallen?

In that instant—

KABABABOOM! KABOOM!

Explosions sounded from far away.

“Mmm.”

He heard something exploding in the capital of the Republic of Korea.

Whether it was war or terrorism, either way, it seemed serious.

First, the summoned entities.

“Group 2 Designated Summon.”

SPAPAPAT!

The summoned entities also looked shocked, their eyes going wide.

That was understandable.

It was a very familiar city.

“Oh! Seoul?”

“Is this Earth NO.843’s Seoul?”

“Fortunately, it’s still standing.”

“It hasn’t fallen ye—”

KABABABOOM!

“Has it fallen?”

“Is it falling?”

“Did it fall?”

“It’s falling.”

“Did a missile hit or something?”

“It seems the people have all evacuated.”

Juhyeok had been wondering the same thing since earlier.

What was going on?

“My lord, Bardin will fly up high, check, and return.”

A paladin who flew around at the drop of a hat now that he had wings.

“Please do.”

FWEEEEET!

He soared high into the sky and flew off in that direction.

FWEEEEET!

After coming back and landing with a thud, Bardin spoke.

“What is it?”

“My lord, there is a sinkhole ahead.”

“What? But this is Seoul...”

Ah! Right.

This was not their Earth.

It was a different world.

Earth NO.843, a parallel universe.

It seemed a Black Tower had been created in the middle of Seoul here.

Like their Earth’s Tokyo Tower.

But it had collapsed and created a sinkhole.

“That is not all. Tower monsters were crawling out from inside the hole.”

“Whoa!”

Tower monsters?

This was a full-on apocalypse.

So that was why there were no people or cars.

“Currently, military forces and Players are holding back the monsters.”

“Is it dangerous? Are our forces being pushed back, or...”

“They are holding quite well.”

That was a relief.

They had better hold.

Was Korea not a military superpower?

It would be the same on Earth NO.843.

Still, he was worried about human casualties.

This was more urgent than acquiring nationality.

“Let’s hurry over.”

SPAPAPAPAT!

Meatshield and Cossack were already ahead of them.

As they made their way, they saw tanks, armored vehicles, and self-propelled artillery units forming a defensive line.

There were numerous soldiers as well.

It was probably a rear defense line to stop monsters coming out of the sinkhole.

‘So there are people here.’

Then...

“Dimensional Supreme Servant?”

“Hoeh?”

“Put on a Recognition Interference Talisman.”

They might be misunderstood.

As monsters, that is.

After putting the talisman on Rajix, Juhyeok approached the rear defense line.

Soldiers stepped forward to block them.

Their expressions were very dark.

“Please halt for a moment.”

If told to do something, he should comply.

He might get shot otherwise.

“Are you Players?”

“...Yes.”

“Entry is not possible right now.”

“Why?”

“Haah, a withdrawal order is about to be issued. A Dark Wave alert has been declared.”

Dark Wave?

“Yes, it’s an undead Dark Wave. Please retreat to the rear. It seems we’ll have to abandon Seoul.”

So undead were coming out too.

In the past, on their Earth’s Black Tower, monsters with dark aura had been like the Wailing Wall.

They would be deadly to civilians and Players alike.

But...

‘What’s so special about undead?’

Just look at Bardin.

The moment he heard “undead,” he was already excited.

He was positively antsy.

“My lord!”

Juhyeok also smirked.

“Go ahead.”

“Thank you for this opportunity.”

FWAAT!

Spreading his wings.

FWIRIRIRIT!

Bardin took flight.

“Gasp!”

“Wh-what?”

“My word!”

The soldiers were shocked.

A person... flying?

“We’ll be passing through too.”

“It’s danger—”

“Don’t worry. Just take your time preparing to retreat.”

Juhyeok left the soldiers behind and headed forward.

But then Rajix said,

“Hoeh? ...Nuke?”

What was this “Hoeh, nuke?” thing?

Oh dear.

Their Dimensional Explosion Mage.

He had gotten a taste for dropping nukes.

“Not here. If you use a nuke here, it’ll be a disaster.”

“Hooehhh...”

A dejected Rajix.

Well, there would be chances to use it next time.

“Light!”

Bardin flying through the sky.

The brilliant radiance of light.

He was already slaughtering undead.

Meatshield could not hold back either, it seemed.

After getting permission from Juhyeok...

SUUUUUK!

His body grew with gigantification.

THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD!

He charged out.

Veronica Caliber followed right after.

She probably would not need Attribute Absorption either.

Having trained in the White Tower environment, her mana would already contain holy qi and divine power.

“Anyone else going out?”

“This old man as well...”

“The 9-circle Grand Mage is always ready.”

“Me too!”

Even Crackus.

“No true form transformation for greenie.”

“Why? One breath and...”

“Look at the sky. Don’t you see the fighter jets? Better not get hit by a stray missile. Stick to human form and just use magic.”

Indeed, the clever Cossack.

That was exactly what he had been about to say.

But he was not joining the fight?

“I must protect Summoner Bong. Am I not Security Chief Cossack? Hehehe.”

Security Chief, my ass.

He was the one wielding the Judge’s Mallet across the battlefield.

Still just a greenhouse flower.

What could he do?

Might as well watch.

Bardin’s momentum was terrifying.

Flying through the sky, melting the undead crawling up from the sinkhole in an instant—the majesty of Radiance.

Even the undead that had already reached the surface and were approaching Players.

“Evil ones, go to hell!”

CRUNCH!!!

An enormous shield of Radiance drove down into the ground.

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!

Cracks etched into the surface.

Light flowed along those cracks.

The moment the undead touched that light, they melted away.

And Meatshield?

He demonstrated his abilities without fail.

In fact, he was the most impressive.

“KUOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Beating his massive chest with his huge fists while letting out a thunderous roar.

“Come! Come to me!”

A fearsome decibel level that could rupture eardrums.

The majestic roar spread far and wide through the air.

Right at that moment—

TWITCH, FLINCH, SWOOSH!

The undead and monsters reacted.

They turned their heads toward Meatshield and rushed at him frantically.

“KRAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The cry of wide-range mass provocation.

The monsters looked at nothing but Meatshield.

It was on a completely different level from before.

Was this not almost transcendent-tier?

Taunting Roar drew all aggro from every monster scattered throughout Seoul.

Like a vacuum cleaner.

Not missing a single one.

Including undead monsters, trolls, ogres, minotaurs, basilisks, even griffins and wyverns that had been flying.

They all swarmed toward Meatshield.

Even so, Meatshield stood with arms spread wide, not moving a single step.

Come.

Stick to me.

I am the party’s tank.

I’ll take it all.

Ahh!

The image of a true alpha male.

He had thought he himself had also been shedding his wimp image, but...

‘Compared to Meatshield, I’m a triple-wimp.’

Thanks to this, Mackenzie could cast magic comfortably.

The Grand Mage floating in the air with Fly magic.

He poured white fire rain of extreme flame into the sinkhole.

Human-form Crackus joined in too.

He also summoned a giant poison cloud and made poison rain fall into the sinkhole.

Fire rain and poison rain.

Precisely, without leaking outside.

Only into the sinkhole.

As a result, no more Tower monsters were coming up from inside the hole.

Veronica Caliber too.

Targeting monsters trying to cling to Meatshield, she fired small rounds on semi-auto.

PAJUK! CHAJUJUK! PAJUJUK!

PUBEOK! PUBEOBEOBEOBEOK! PUBEOBEOK!

The crescent-moon qi blades of Mad Demon went without saying.

UUWOONG, SHWIP! SHWIRIRIT!

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH...

Wherever the crescent moon passed, heads and bodies were separated.

But the protagonists of this battle were not them.

The supreme one, their Meatshield.

The extraordinary provocation ability he had shown.

The monsters looked at nothing but Meatshield.

Tower monsters rushing only toward Meatshield.

The dealer summoned entities just stood there picking off easy kills.

Meatshield too—swatting the charging ones with his giant fists, grabbing and snapping them, slamming them into the ground.

‘Maybe I should also gradually...’

Grab.

Gyeon Dallae gently caught Juhyeok’s sleeve.

“Please exercise self-restraint.”

Ugh!

That damn self-restraint.

“The strict princess is right. Please just set it to auto-hunt.”

“...”

In that instant—

“Huuuurk!”

Juhyeok pointed behind them with his finger, startled.

“C-crazy! O-over there!”

WHIP! WHIP!

The heads of Cossack and Gyeon Dallae spun around.

SPOT!

Juhyeok exploited that opening.

SPAPAPAPAT!

He quickly stepped forward and dashed out.

A wyvern descending toward Meatshield’s head—he struck its skull with the Judge’s Mallet.

FWIRIT!

PPAGAK!

PSSSSSSS!

One wyvern disappeared.

‘Ahh, finally loosened up.’

Beating monsters outside the Tower felt different.

Cossack shook his head side to side.

Gyeon Dallae let out a deep sigh.

What!

So what?

***

Colonel Lee Minseon could not accept this situation.

‘How is this possible?’

The other Awakened Army Players felt the same.

They could only stare in a daze.

There was nothing they could do.

Currently, there were eight units in the sinkhole wave defense force.

Radio transmissions came from all of them.

All the Tower monsters from Seoul’s sinkhole were suddenly moving toward Colonel Lee Minseon’s unit’s area.

Even the undead, even the specters.

It was dangerous, so retreat.

They were retreating too.

Retreat?

Was there any need?

The monsters were only rushing at that one giant, like a tank in a game.

A warrior using Taunting Roar.

‘How in the world?’

But the monsters could not even get close to the giant.

They were being smashed to pieces beforehand.

By unknown Players who seemed to be the giant’s allies.

‘Who the hell are these people...’

They were definitely Players.

But their nationality?

Korean? Chinese? American?

‘Is the commander watching this too?’

There probably was no need to report.

The higher-ups would be watching all of this through the reconnaissance drone.

The fighter jets that had been dispatched to provide air support to the sinkhole had also returned.

Minseon still stared at the battlefield in a daze.

She simply could not take her eyes off it.

Then she noticed something strange.

The people who were playing around with the Tower monsters as they dealt with them.

Every time they used a skill, they turned their heads to look at someone.

With expressions that seemed to say, “Did I do well?”

As if seeking praise.

Minseon also turned her gaze in that direction.

There was one young man.

A man with a very ordinary-looking appearance.

‘...Who?’

Was that person also a Player?

Looking at the wooden mallet in his hand, he almost looked like a carpenter.

Anyway, whenever those terrifying Players sent looks begging for praise toward that young man, the man clapped as if satisfied.

‘What’s going on?’

Was that guy really the leader?

Some of them even looked quite old.

The more she looked, the more certain it became.

Those Players wanted to be praised by that man.

When they received praise, they got even more excited and went on massacring monsters.

‘Looking at him just standing there, he doesn’t seem particularly strong...’

In that instant—

SPAPAPAT!

The man dashed out at a speed invisible to the eye.

PPAGAK!

A wyvern’s head exploded in one hit.

‘...He’s strong.’

He was really fast.

His movements were no ordinary thing.

Seeing him take out a wyvern with just a wooden mallet, he must be very high level.

Right at that moment, a radio operator came running to her.

“Colonel.”

“...Uh, yeah, what?”

“A communication came from headquarters.”

“What did they say?”

“They want us to hold those people for a moment.”

They would have seen everything through the reconnaissance drone.

They must be in emergency mode over there too.

“Tell them I’ll try.”

She could not give a definite answer.

If they said they were leaving, how was she supposed to stop them?

***

It was almost over.

Juhyeok dealt with exactly one wyvern and, after that, just clapped.

Sometimes he gave a thumbs-up too.

Was this not a refreshing battle after such a long time?

The summoned entities of massacre.

They were having a refreshing workout.

That aside...

“There seem to be Players among the soldiers too.”

“There appear to be quite a few as well.”

“They can use abilities in reality... It’s not the Liberation Rune Necklace, is it?”

“It is not the Rune Necklace. It seems the boundary between the Tower and reality has already collapsed.”

Of course.

Tower monsters had come outside.

“A few Tower collapses wouldn’t cause this phenomenon. There must have been at least fifty collapses worldwide.”

Then?

“It must be Kabalan.”

“There’s a high probability it’s the Curse of Averages.”

“That bastard...”

Unlike Diamat, who was a free agent, this was a demon bound to the Tower.

They needed to catch the original.

To be precise, it could not even be called the original.

In truth, they were all copies.

One of the copies had the key to lifting the Curse of Averages.

That was the one they called the original.

This was like a game, after all.

‘I need to get nationality quickly and enter the Tower.’

They had to catch Kabalan and smash his skull.

Then a curse like this would end quickly.

Right at that moment—

Someone caught Juhyeok’s eye.

It was a female soldier.

Looking at her shoulder insignia, she was a commanding officer.

And she was also looking at him.

‘Sheesh, this popularity of mine. Am I really that handsome?’

Well, he did receive the love of an elf and a succubus in equal measure...

‘Huh?’

Something was strange.

The female soldier’s face was very familiar.

‘No way.’

Juhyeok walked toward her with heavy steps.

The female officer slowly backed away.

“Whoa!”

He knew who it was.

‘It’s Team Leader Lee Mina.’

No, why was she here?

And why was she in a military uniform?

‘Did she get pulled along when we took the elevator?’

That could not be.

“Team Leader Lee Mina, how did you get all the way here?”

She was startled.

“I-I’m not Team Leader Lee Mina.”

“What?”

Then who was she?

“I am Colonel Lee Minseon, Commander of the Awakened Army Special Team.”

“Ah!”

So it was a different person.

But her face, voice, and speech pattern were all dead ringers.

The only difference was one character in her name.

Was it because of the parallel universe?

Were the people living here all similar too?

He should check.

“Your superior wouldn’t happen to be Director Jeon Gwangil, would it?”

“...No.”

So it was not.

It was just a coincidence.

“It’s General Jeon Seongil. The Martial Law Commander and Corps Commander of the Awakened Army.”

“...Pardon?”

Jeon Seongil?

Not Jeon Gwangil?

Again, just one character different in the name.

This was fascinating.

“Jeon Gwang—no, do you have a photo of General Jeon Seongil?”

Minseon found this sudden.

He had called her Lee Mina, and now he was asking to see a photo of the General.

“Please. This is a serious matter.”

After hesitating and deliberating for a moment...

“...Okay. I’ll show you.”

Orders had come from above anyway.

To hold these people.

Then it would be better to be friendly.

Colonel Lee Minseon showed him a photo she had taken with General Jeon Seongil on her smartphone.

Juhyeok took the smartphone.

When he zoomed in on the photo with his finger...

“...Oh my.”

They were identical.

It was Director Jeon Gwangil.

On Earth NO.1001, Director Jeon Gwangil of the Korean Awakening Administration.

On Earth NO.843, General Jeon Seongil, Corps Commander of the Awakened Army.

‘This is crazy.’

Not only was the civilization similar, but even the people were similar?

If that was the case...

‘Is there someone similar to me too?’

Maybe Bong Junhyeok.

Or Bong Juhyeon.

‘Surely not Bong Jupal or Bong Jubal, right?’

If they existed, would they also be a summoner?

Had they awakened as a Player?

He was suddenly very curious.

Before long, the explosions died down.

“Major Veronica Caliber! Enemy annihilation complete! No more enemies are climbing up either.”

It seemed the cleanup was done.

“Good work, Veronica Caliber.”

“Victory!”

Then Colonel Lee Minseon tilted her head.

“A major? Which unit...”

“...Yes? Mm.”

Veronica Caliber flinched, flustered.

She looked intimidated by the colonel’s insignia.

Hmm.

Juhyeok also noticed the three eagles on Minseon’s shoulders.

Minseon was a colonel.

Veronica Caliber was a major.

Were military personnel not all about following the chain of command?

Regardless of ability, she would be swayed by rank.

This would not do.

It would not do for their Veronica Caliber to be outranked.

So...

“Veronica Caliber!”

“Yes! Major Veronica Caliber!”

“As of today, you are promoted three ranks. Brigadier General Veronica Caliber.”

Colonel Lee Minseon looked dumbfounded.

What?

Was this a joke?

Looking at the person called Veronica Caliber, she did seem to be a soldier.

The disciplined movements, speech, and shooting skills too.

But this was absurd.

Promotions did not just happen at the drop of a hat.

She would just laugh it off.

Since they were clearly just joking with each other.

“Brigadier General Veronica Caliber! Thank you, Commander!”

For real?

“Impressive, Brigadier General Veronica Caliber.”

Snap!

Standing at attention with disciplined posture, she saluted.

“Vic—, toryyyyyy!”

She was overjoyed.

As if she had really been promoted.