The Dark Wave had been dealt with.

According to Minseon, the waves also had a set timing.

One day every ten days.

And that interval was getting shorter.

The initial waves had been every two weeks, but before they knew it, that had shrunk to ten days.

That was not all.

The Chuncheon and Daegu sinkholes were also about to have waves soon.

Anyway, Seoul was done.

The summoned entities gathered in one place after completing their mission.

He praised them for their hard work.

“Meatshield, I’m telling you. You were the absolute star!”

“This warrior is embarrassed. It was nothing special, yet I received praise.”

“Our Bardin! The natural enemy of the undead.”

“Light! Thank you, my lord.”

“Mackenzie and Crackus too. The monsters couldn’t even climb up, could they?”

“Those pathetic things.”

“It was a piece of cake.”

“Mad Demon and Brigadier General Veronica Caliber were dazzling too.”

Then Cossack asked in surprise.

“Brigadier General? Veronica Caliber got promoted?”

“Yes, she’s a brigadier general starting today.”

“Ho-oh! A general, then.”

“Congratulations, Brigadier General Veronica Caliber.”

“You’re flag officer rank now. You must always conduct yourself properly.”

“Just because you got a star, don’t go around playing golf all the time.”

“Hoeng!”

Anyway, this was really fascinating.

That similar people existed in this world and that world.

Were their souls the same?

“Cossack.”

“Yes, sir!”

“By any chance, was there someone named Bong Ju... whatever in the world you lived in before?”

“How could there be? Korean-style names don’t even exist there.”

Ah! That was right.

A Bong family name would be strange in a fantasy world.

Then what about the murim world?

“The Bong family clan? This old man has never heard of it either. Hm, there might have been someone with a similar face, though.”

What about Gyeon Dallae’s world, which was most similar?

“Well, there probably was one, was there not?”

“Right? There must have been?”

“However, even if there was, it would have been difficult to recognize them.”

Why?

“The timeline is completely different, is it not? This is an advanced modern society, while the era in which this young lady and Mad Demon Elder lived was long ago, in the past.”

Aha!

“Therefore, even if the same person exists, they might not have been born yet. Or they might already be dead. For spacetime to align is not an easy matter.”

Then why was it the case here?

“Because this is a parallel universe where the timeline also matches, and spatial characteristics—for example, the civilization—are very similar. There is no other way to explain it than that...”

Juhyeok nodded as well.

Earth NO.1001 and Earth NO.843.

Nearly identical worlds based on modern scientific civilization.

Even the time period was the same.

For that reason, the probability of identical people existing was high, and they could easily recognize each other.

“Anyway, I was really surprised. Team Leader Lee Mina and Director Jeon Gwangil are dead ringers.”

“This mage is the same. To the point where I suspected they might be doppelgangers.”

“They could practically be called twins.”

Doppelgangers.

What would it feel like to meet someone identical to yourself?

“But the thing is. There’s one thing I’m worried about.”

“What is it?”

“Whether there’s someone similar to Summoner Bong too...”

Why?

Was there a problem?

Was it because there might be one more person to absolutely obey?

“Eh, how could that be? We don’t do business with knockoffs.”

“Indeed. No matter how countless the parallel universes may be, this young lady’s Young Master is one and only.”

“This old man feels the same.”

Then why?

“There’s an old saying that when identical people meet, one of them will definitely die.”

“It was the same in the world I lived in. They even say both will die.”

“That’s right. They go boom! and explode.”

Hmm.

Come to think of it, there was a similar legend on Earth too.

‘I should avoid meeting them if possible.’

Still, he was curious.

Whether there really was an identical person.

Anyway, since he had handled the urgent matter...

Let’s hurry up and get nationality.

The highest-ranking person here was Lee Mina—no, Colonel Lee Minseon.

Going to her...

“Colonel?”

“...Ah! Yes, yes.”

“I’d like to speak quietly. Could you spare some time?”

“O-of course. This way.”

Bong Juhyeok had grown a lot.

To casually ask a woman to spare some time.

In truth, there was no hesitation.

She was totally Team Leader Lee Mina.

Even if they said she was a different person, they were identical.

He had built up immunity from seeing her so much.

So he did not stammer either.

***

Republic of Korea, Daejeon, Joint Chiefs of Staff Headquarters.

Underground Bunker, Wartime Operations Command Control Room.

Inside the control room, commanders from each unit were watching the Seoul sinkhole wave conquest footage sent from the unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.

Everyone had their mouths shut.

Because they were dumbfounded.

Martial Law Commander Jeon Seongil was the same.

Who were those Players?

“Are they part of our military? Does anyone know them?”

“I don’t think so. If they were that level, there’s no way we wouldn’t know.”

That seemed to be the case.

They were not part of their forces.

Currently, they were under martial law.

So they were in the middle of conscripting Players into military service.

This meant they either had not been conscripted yet, or they had a different nationality.

“Play the footage again. From when the Dark Wave started.”

The screen that appeared on the large monitor.

Undead crawling up from inside the sinkhole.

It was horrifying even on screen.

The reason those things were the worst monsters was that pitch-black dark aura.

You did not even need to get close to be affected.

All sorts of negative energy devoured the Player’s mind.

It was the same now.

Awakened Army Players retreating with expressions of terror.

But then...

FWAAAAASH!

Brilliant light filled the screen.

An angel had appeared.

The tide turned in an instant.

Was that all?

The highlight of the conquest was after the giant appeared.

He handled all the monsters by himself.

Like the Pied Piper, he sucked in all the monsters.

There was no need to mention the others.

Every single one of them possessed powerful and terrifying abilities.

‘If those people were Players on our side...’

They would not need to worry about sinkhole waves in the future.

Of course, the same went for Kabalan’s Curse of Averages and the Black Tower conquest.

“I’ll go see them myself.”

Then the staff officers tried to stop him.

“You must not. Their identities have not been clearly confirmed yet. When we don’t even know who they are...”

“Then should I just sit here and do nothing? By now, other countries would have noticed their existence too.”

That was true.

The United States, of course, and Japan, and even China.

Intelligence about the Seoul sinkhole Dark Wave conquest would have reached them all.

“I need to go quickly and recruit them. I told them to hold those people, but if I’m late, they might leave.”

“If they’re Players with a different nationality, we’d have to naturalize them, and it might take time to get it approved.”

“...Hmm.”

General Jeon Seongil stopped mid-sentence.

Player naturalization.

Changing the nationality on the Status Window.

This was not easy.

The procedures were very strict.

In the early days, Player naturalization had been very active.

Even the naturalization process had been very simple.

Even more so after Kabalan’s curse was triggered.

How many talented Players had the Republic of Korea naturalized?

They had to change nationalities quickly and send them into the Black Tower.

But after that incident, at least in the Republic of Korea, Player naturalization had become a very difficult matter.

First, they had to go through the naturalization hearing process at the Temporary National Assembly in Busan.

The Player’s identity also had to be verified as a prerequisite, and there was even a location tracking chip.

But...

“Whatever the case, we absolutely have to bring them to our side.”

The future of the Republic of Korea depended on them.

If they let them slip away, it might become an eternal regret.

“Have a helicopter on standby!”

“C-Commander!”

He would go meet them now.

Before any other bastards could try to take them.

***

Earth NO.843, Black Tower Management Office.

The administrators were very busy.

Because of the dimensional communication that came from headquarters.

Black Tower renewal.

Reorganization work from Floor 91 to Floor 99.

They filled it with the strongest souls bound to the Tower.

Copied transcendent-level demons, copied fallen angels.

Of course, they were far inferior compared to the originals.

Because they were copied souls.

In truth, there was no need for this.

Were there any Players from Earth NO.843 who could break through the giant monster zone?

They would be taken care of at the Floor 81 Behemoth.

They would not even get to see Floor 91.

And there was another dimensional communication.

The dimensional energy storage had been reset.

Currently, a new storage was being constructed in a dimensional rift.

Once it was complete, they planned to store dimensional energy there.

[When did they say the storage would be completed?]

[I’m not sure exactly, but it should be done soon. They seem to be proceeding with construction quickly.]

[Headquarters is also in a situation where dimensional energy supply is extremely insufficient. The God will be putting all effort into it.]

Earth NO.843’s Black Towers also needed to quickly mine dimensional energy.

The dimensional energy they had filled and sent before had all been destroyed before even reaching headquarters.

[Headquarters must be in a hurry too.]

Why had this situation come about?

The administrators of Earth NO.843 knew as well.

The summoner Player from Earth NO.1001.

Because of that bastard.

But there was no way he would come here.

Since he had completely conquered his own world’s Black Tower.

He would not move for the time being.

Even if he did move, how would he get here?

[Anyway, we need to collapse towers quickly too.]

Because the more they collapsed, the more dimensional energy they could mine.

[How did the sinkhole wave go?]

[Just a moment. I’ll check.]

The sinkhole wave was important too.

Because they needed to reduce the number of Players.

Then the human resources that could conquer the Tower would gradually decrease.

Of course, to maintain a certain level of Players, someone would awaken again.

Well, even so, they would only be Level 1.

Not even a threat.

So the Management Office was paying a lot of attention to this too.

They were consuming dimensional energy to send as many undead outside as possible.

Today too, one nation would have fallen.

Like Australia.

But then...

[Huh?]

[What’s wrong?]

[There was definitely a sinkhole wave today... but all the Tower monsters were completely annihilated.]

Huh?

How could that be?

[Did you send undead too?]

[Yes, even specters.]

[Did a nuke go off?]

[No.]

[And yet they were annihilated?]

Could it be?

[There must have been some mistake. Like the undead not coming out.]

[I-Is that so?]

[Manage the next wave thoroughly.]

[U-Understood.]

The administrators thought it was an impossible situation.

How could they deal with an undead wave without nukes?

Unless a knight order composed of holy knights and saints came.

***

Juhyeok was in a temporary military tent, conversing with Colonel Lee Minseon.

The summoned entities were with him too.

There was a lot to ask.

“...So you’re saying the country that first triggered Kabalan’s curse was the United States, and after that, the Tower climbing promotion country selection happened ten times?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Tsk, tsk.

It seemed America had caused trouble.

“The America here is really hopeless. They just let the Player climb?”

“You can’t stop a Player from climbing the Tower, can you?”

Fair point.

But how did they manage to break through the undead zone?

Who on earth?

“Lumitri Romenkupp. It’s because of that guy.”

“Huh?”

Lumitri?

“Who’s that?”

“You don’t know? He’s the CEO of the world’s largest distribution company, a major Player in the Tower conquest item market, and there are rumors he’s the boss of the black market too...”

“Ah!”

The boss of the black market.

He thought he knew who it was.

There was someone similar on their Earth too.

“Using his enormous wealth as his foundation, he swept up all the Trait Enhancement Runes.”

“How many?”

“I’m not sure exactly, but at least 25 times.”

That was crazy.

How much money was that?

Twenty-five Trait Enhancements was enormous.

Just wearing a few light-attribute items, he could laugh off dark aura.

Max Kruger from Earth NO.675 had also climbed above Floor 71 with 20 Trait Enhancements.

“He has so much money. He might still have Trait Enhancement Runes even now.”

Tsk, tsk.

That was worrying.

At the mention that he might have Trait Enhancement Runes, Cossack’s eyes were sparkling far too brightly.

He also heard about the Korean situation.

They were barely climbing Floor 61.

And even that, they were floundering because they could not conquer it.

‘On Earth NO.1001, Korea is an advanced country in Tower climbing, so why is it here...’

On top of that, three Towers had collapsed.

Anyway, martial law had been declared due to the sinkhole waves.

And so, that Martial Law Commander was General Jeon Seongil.

He was coming here soon.

‘Should I give him a holy sword or something?’

That would be nice, but it would be better to quickly conquer Kabalan.

Then the undead would weaken too, and holy water items would come as rewards later.

‘I need to enter quickly.’

Let’s acquire nationality first.

It should not be difficult.

They saw it all, right?

The majesty of their summoned entities.

So...

“Colonel, I have a request.”

“If it’s something I can grant...”

“I would like to acquire Republic of Korea nationality. In the form of permanent naturalization.”

“...Ah! Then what about your existing nationality?”

“I don’t have one. Something like nationality.”

What did that mean?

“Pardon?”

“This is my first time here.”

Minseon’s eyes went wide.

“Y-you don’t have nationality?”

“Due to circumstances.”

“Then those people too?”

“Yes, they don’t have any. But they don’t need it. Just me for now.”

A Player without nationality.

Was that not a contradiction?

What exactly was the identity of these people?

They were suspicious beyond measure.

Moreover, naturalization was not something they granted to just anyone.

Especially at this point in time.

Furthermore, it was not her decision to make.

“May I ask what the circumstances are?”

What should he do?

If he said he came from a parallel-universe Earth, they would treat him like a lunatic.

“Life just happened that way, hahaha.”

“...”

Minseon’s expression became serious.

“Please just close your eyes and trust me. If I could get nationality through naturalization registration by today...”

“Naturalization is not something that can be handled hastily. The procedures are strict. We have to investigate as well.”

This was strange.

Normally, if a Player said they wanted to naturalize, was it not normal to accept eagerly?

Was she still not convinced?

Should he just tell her he was Level 100?

Rather than that...

“I’m really good at it.”

“A-at what?”

“I can do it five times a day.”

“...”

Minseon’s expression went blank.

What could he do five times?

“That’s right. Our Summoner Bong really can do it five times a day.”

“This young lady can attest to it. And he does it very quickly at that.”

“...”

Brigadier General Veronica Caliber too.

“He is a commander who does it five times a day. That is why it is a bit disappointing, though.”

Gyeon Dallae tilted her head and asked,

“What is Brigadier General Veronica Caliber so disappointed about?”

“It’s too fast. So we can’t fully enjoy it...”

“Ah, this lady agrees with that as well. He is someone who finishes things in a flash.”

Excuse me, everyone?

If you say it like that, what does that make me?

Why did you leave out the object?

“Colonel, just so there’s no misunderstanding, the five times a day refers to Tower climbing...”

That was when...

THWUPTUPTUPTUPTUPTUP!

The sound of a helicopter came from outside the tent.

“H-he’s here.”

Minseon sprang up as she spoke.

“Who?”

“Martial Law Commander Jeon Seongil.”

Oh!

Finally!

The important person had arrived.

Naturalization would proceed smoothly now.

“By the way! The five times a day is Tower climbing. Please don’t misunderstand.”

Minseon still had an uncomfortable expression.

It really was a misunderstanding!

Anyway, the helicopter landed.

Thud, thud, thud.

General Jeon Seongil entered the tent with his adjutants.

“Loyalty!”

“At ease, Colonel Lee. Good work.”

Wow.

Seeing him in person, they were spitting images.

He did look slightly older than Jeon Gwangil, though.