Antonio, the Director, and Gerald, a player, departed from Washington Airport in the U.S. in the evening and arrived around the afternoon.
They went straight to the Awakened Management Agency and met Commissioner Jeon Gwang-il.
He couldn't stand the curiosity.
Just what was the strategy for clearing the giant-monster zone?
A weapon?
Or drugs or magic scrolls, like dream-resistance kits?
But it was something no one had imagined.
"... A gun?"
"A gun? You mean the thing you pull the trigger on and shoot?"
Well, a handgun could technically be brought in as a personal item.
"You're saying you'll clear Behemoth with a gun?"
"Yes."
What kind of nonsense was that?
Earth-made guns were utterly useless for damage dealing—good for nothing except long-range pulling.
And with gunpowder reactions prohibited inside the Tower, even ranged pulling of monsters had to be done with crossbows.
"It's not an Earth gun. It's a specially manufactured item gun. It requires a player's mana, so we named it a mana-gun. The way it works is—"
They listened to the explanation, but honestly, it didn't inspire much confidence.
That barrel was so huge it looked like a toy rifle—how were they supposed to kill a massive Behemoth with that?
"We've conducted our own tests. And you'll see once you go in yourself."
Right.
...
Had trusting the Awakened Management Agency ever led to a loss before?
Also—
"Is this Player Bong's creation?"
"Of course."
Then it was trustworthy.
"We're planning to handle this like the holy sword—through a loan system. To use the mana-gun, you'll need to come to Korea in person."
"And the rental fee?"
"It's free."
Huh?
Free?
That was a shock.
The previous commissioner had charged ten million dollars every time for renting the holy sword.
"Instead, you'll need to purchase the ammunition. One round costs one million dollars."
Jeon Gwang-il opened a large box and revealed the massive bullets inside.
"They're called delayed-drill explosive rounds. You can't kill it without these."
Ah!
That made sense.
There was no way it'd really be free.
"Can we do it right now?"
"Go in and try it. How many rounds would you like?"
"... How many does it take to kill it?"
"At least ten. If your aim is good and you hit the vital points, you might save one or two."
"Hmm. Do the bullets go into the inventory?"
"They do. They're not made with gunpowder."
Gerald hesitated.
How many rounds should he buy?
What's so hard about shooting a gun?
The Behemoth was so huge you could probably hit it even firing randomly.
We have to clear two Towers anyway.
Ten rounds each.
"Give me twenty rounds."
"Yes! That'll be twenty million dollars. As for the transfer—"
Now it was time for negotiation.
Director Antonio spoke up.
"Commissioner."
"Yes?"
"We're old friends, aren't we?"
"Personally, yes."
Antonio frowned.
As expected, it wouldn't be easy.
"Wasn't there an early-adopter benefit originally?"
"Hmm."
"Clean and simple—ten million. How about it?"
Jeon Gwang-il looked dumbfounded.
"Come on, there's a limit to haggling. You're trying to slash it in half."
"That's how it was with the holy sword too. And our budget took a huge hit buying mana-sealing scrolls."
"Can't you… do it for me, at least?"
"Ugh."
Gerald cut in.
"Director, one should know gratitude. This money goes to Player Bong. Even paying double wouldn't be enough."
"... You stay out of this."
Fine.
He'd give them a discount.
They were the first to come running, after all.
In truth, Antonio had expected this and had already talked it over with Player Bong.
But should he really just discount it outright?
Better to act magnanimous.
"Sigh, fine. Half price. Player Bong told me to do it this way."
"Oh, as expected of Player Bong!"
"But! There's a condition."
"Name it. If it's something we can do, anything."
"Record the successful clear on a body cam and release it publicly. Add some appropriate commentary too."
Gerald replied immediately.
"No problem. I've done it before. I'll do my best and make it look great."
Clack, clack, clack!
Jeon Gwang-il took out twenty rounds from the box and placed them on top.
Swish, swish.
Gerald put the bullets into his inventory.
"They really go in."
"Because they're not gunpowder-based. Then—good luck!"
"I'll be back."
Spot!
Antonio and Jeon Gwang-il were left in the office.
After chatting about this and that, an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
Antonio grew slightly anxious.
Would Gerald come back safely?
Even if he failed, as long as he returned alive—
At that moment!
Spot!
"Gasp—huff—"
Gerald appeared, looking exhausted.
"Gerald! Are you okay?"
"Haaah…"
"How was it?"
"I—I've got exactly one bullet left. The vibration made it hard to aim."
So he couldn't overcome the tremors after all?
Failure?
"... But I succeeded. Tower One is cleared. The performance is insane. A bullet that explodes inside Behemoth's body."
"Oh!"
"I think I'll need to buy about twenty more rounds to clear Tower Two."
The sound of money draining away was deafening, but Antonio's face brightened.
The giant-monster zone that had completely blocked progress was finally breached.
Juhyeok was also on the 81st floor.
The 81st floor of Earth No. 675.
They waited.
The most anticipated clear of all.
The clash between the giant monster Behemoth and the giant golem Magnus Gigant.
"We have to film this."
How could anyone resist?
Even shot casually, it would rival a blockbuster movie.
"I'll film it so it really feels real."
"We need to get a good shot."
Kosak smirked.
"Who do you think I am? A master of dynamic camera work, immersive action framing, 'is this CG or real?'—no retakes, suffocating immersion. Whatever I film becomes art. A commercial film legend, a ten-million-view director—I'm Kosak."
Indeed.
Was there anything Kosak couldn't do?
But there was competition.
"At best, that's just ground-level filming."
Mackenzie challenged Kosak's throne.
"This is a clash of giant monsters so massive you have to crane your neck to look up at them. Without aerial shots, the intensity will inevitably fall short. But this mage—"
Whoosh!
Mackenzie rose into the air using flight magic, then looked at Juhyeok.
"Aerial filming is possible. From the ground, from the sky, close-range, long-range—freely alternating shots. This is the age of drone filming. And am I not a fully prepared cinematographer?"
Oh!
Tempting.
That was true.
Ground-only filming had its limits.
"Mage Mackenzie, please handle it."
"Hahaha, don't worry. I'll give you an amazing video."
Mackenzie beamed.
Kosak, on the other hand, looked crestfallen.
It couldn't be helped.
If you film, you film it right.
Do you know how much it costs just to activate Gigant?
Fwoooosh!
Gigant emerged from Rajiks's subspace backpack.
Ding!
Mission accepted.
Thump, thump, thump!
Gigant lumbered toward Behemoth with its massive body.
Shuuuut!
Holding the latest smartphone, Mackenzie followed Gigant and began filming.
"Grrrr…"
Behemoth noticed Gigant.
It bared its grotesque teeth.
"Kwaaah!"
Thump, thump, thump!
Letting out a monstrous roar, it charged.
—Combat command. Combat type input. Exterminate Behemoth.
And then,
The animal-type giant monster and the mechanical giant monster collided.
Like a bear, Behemoth swung its forelimbs and smashed Gigant's abdomen.
Baaam!
Gigant staggered for a moment—then grabbed Behemoth's head with both hands and drove a knee straight into it.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
"Graaeeek!"
Behemoth wasn't a pushover.
It opened its huge mouth, bit down on Gigant's left arm, and shook its head wildly.
"Grrk! Grrk! Grrrkk!"
So what?
Gigant's entire body was metal.
Only Behemoth's teeth would hurt.
Gigant wasn't limited to physical attacks.
Its eyes glowed red.
Bzzzt!
A crimson beam of destruction struck Behemoth's face.
"Guaaaah!"
Behemoth writhed in pain, its eyes injured by the beam.
—Combat command. Combat type input. Charge.
Creating distance, Gigant charged toward the vision-impaired Behemoth.
Screeech!
Craaaash!
Rolling across the ground, Gigant and Behemoth became a tangled mass.
—Combat command. Combat type input. Pounding stance.
After a fierce struggle,
Gigant mounted Behemoth.
—Combat command. Combat type input. Pounding punch.
Raising its right arm high, Gigant smashed Behemoth's face.
Bam!
One more.
Bam!
Again.
Bam, bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
"Whoa!"
"Damn…"
"That's insane."
"Incredible."
Admiration poured out naturally.
Magnus Gigant, moving according to El's commands.
With exquisite movements, it dominated the pounding exchange, turning Behemoth into a bloody mess.
"Our Gigant is stronger."
"What's the floor difference?"
"That thing's on the 81st floor. Our Gigant is 85."
"That's right. Unless it's an ultra-giant Titan Behemoth, a regular Behemoth is nothing."
That jogged a memory.
The ultra-giant Titan Behemoth.
The one that appeared in Hell Mode due to the administrator's trickery.
It was over ten times larger than a normal Behemoth.
Like a mountain itself.
A normal clear was impossible.
Even Gigant wouldn't have been enough.
They had barely managed to kill it by bringing in a nuke from outside.
"Hold on…!"
A nuke.
Juhyeok looked at Rajiks and spoke.
"Mr. Rajiks."
"H-hoeng?"
"You remember what I left with you before, right? The handgun and the ammo."
"H-hoeng!"
The handgun and magazine he had once received from Jeon Gwang-il for self-defense.
Thinking he'd probably never need it, he had left it with Rajiks.
"Give that to me."
Swish!
Rajiks pulled out the handgun and handed it to Juhyeok.
The magazine still had bullets loaded.
Bullets fired by the power of gunpowder.
Click!
He pulled the slide back, chambered a round, and aimed at the sky.
Click!
Bang!
"… It fires?"
The gunpowder detonated.
A thermal-weapon explosive reaction—strictly restricted back on their Earth.
Smoke rose from the muzzle, along with the sharp, acrid smell of gunpowder.
"Then nukes too?"
The Black Tower of Earth No. 675.
That meant it was possible here.
"Yes!"
He had gained a hidden card.
And this would probably only be usable once.
If the administrators here realized that nuclear explosions were possible, they'd patch it out immediately.
"Still… I should get one use out of it, right?"
Anyway, the battle was coming to an end.
Pinned beneath Gigant, Behemoth couldn't escape the barrage of pounding punches.
And finally—
[ Giant Monster Behemoth 1/1 ]
[ You have successfully completed the 81st Floor mission. ]
[ Reward: 81 kg of High-Grade Magic Crystals ]
Quickly stash Gigant away.
"Hoaaah!"
Ssssssh!
It went in smoothly and naturally.
Alright, next floor.
Floor 82 didn't really require Gigant.
It was a cave environment, and Gigant couldn't be used there anyway.
So what if there's no Gigant?
The summoned ones could just smash heads.
And so, the conquest of Apophis on the 82nd floor—
[ Giant Serpent Apophis 1/1 ]
[ You have successfully completed the 82nd Floor mission. ]
[ Reward: 82 kg of High-Grade Magic Crystals ]
On top of that, since they entered with a five-level difference—
[ World Announcement: You have achieved S+++ Clear Rank on the 82nd Floor of the Black Tower (Germany). ]
[ S+++ Clear Reward: 2 Platinum Badges granted. ]
Sadly, the world was already destroyed, so there was no one left to hear the announcement.
With daily Tower entries increased to five, they pushed through to the 83rd floor.
The giant queen spider Arachroid, surrounded by countless spiderlings.
Their 9-circle grand archmage of fire, Mage Mackenzie—
"Flare Storm, Fire Rain, Hellfire!"
Melted everything away.
[ World Announcement: You have achieved S+++ Clear Rank on the 83rd Floor of the Black Tower (Germany). ]
[ S+++ Clear Reward: 2 Platinum Badges granted. ]
Easy.
That made four badges.
Total badges: 150.
Physical badges: 30.
Wow, badges are pouring in.
They even get perks.
Installing that elevator really was the right call.
Before heading home,
Check the progress of the German Black Tower.
Ding!
[ Location ]: Black Tower, Berlin, Germany
[ Completed ]: 83rd Floor
[ In Progress ]: 84th Floor
[ Time Limit ]: 899 days 10 hours 15 minutes 34 seconds
Plenty of time.
No need to come back for a while.
It was tragic.
The one and only Black Tower in the world was being ravaged.
By a player from another world.
Five times a day, no less.
And with S+++ clear ranks.
Self-esteem plummeted.
They couldn't even mutter a word anymore.
[… Have you gotten in touch with those bastards managing Earth No. 1,001?]
[We talked.]
[What did they say?]
[They said they tried their best—even breaking causality.]
[Idiots.]
[They even signed a Hell Mode equivalent-exchange contract, but it still wasn't enough.]
[Ha!]
All he could do was laugh.
If they were going to do it, they should've done it properly.
Hell Mode equivalent exchange.
A contract that drastically increases the Tower's difficulty by mutual agreement between player and administrator.
They did that, and still ended up like this?
[Anything else?]
[They told me to experience it myself. Then I'd understand.]
[Fine. Then let's try it ourselves.]
[What?]
[Hell Mode equivalent-exchange contract.]
[Why bother?]
[No reason we can't. He'll accept it too—now that he's had a taste.]
[Even if we leave it alone, it'll stop at the 86th-floor Ultra-Calamity Immortal Phoenix.]
[I agree. The Phoenix is impregnable.]
[This is about pride. Before facing the Phoenix, I'll kill it—on the 85th floor. Along with the Gigant they're so proud of.]
He would tear it to shreds.
Juhyeok returned with his party to the 17th floor of the White Tower.
The first thing he did was pull out Gigant and place it outside.
"Whew."
It fought well, but it hurt to see.
He hadn't noticed on the 81st floor, but now that it was out, there were damaged areas everywhere.
Starting tomorrow, he'd need to bring back several Gigants through repeated 85th-floor clears.
One wasn't enough.
He needed spares—extras.
A surprise patch would be disastrous.
They couldn't risk the Tower monsters being changed.
Before that, he'd haul them in.
There was plenty of space to store them, so better to stock up.
At that moment!
Spot!
"Player Bong."
It was Jeon Gwang-il.
"Welcome, Commissioner."
"The mana-gun rental concluded successfully. Player Gerald purchased twenty delayed-drill explosive rounds—huh?!"
He froze mid-sentence, eyes wide.
"Th-that… um…"
His finger trembled as he pointed at Gigant.
"… Th-that Gigant… 85th floor… is that… correct?"
And then—
Spot!
"Player Bong, mass production of the obesity-escape bracelet at the Pyongyang facility has been completed—"
The CEO of Rajiks Trading also arrived.
"Eeek?! A T-Tower monster?!"
Juhyeok grinned and reassured them.
"It's fine. He's on our side."
On their side…
"Our Gigant cleared Behemoth, too."
"Ah…"
"Uh…"
Oh, right!
He hadn't checked the video yet.
"Mage Mackenzie."
"Yes, Summoner."
"You recorded the footage from the 81st floor, right? Let's watch it together."
"Understood."
Mackenzie connected his smartphone to a large monitor.
A vivid, crystal-clear 4K video filled the screen—Behemoth and Gigant clashing.
He filmed it well.
From the air, from the ground, far away, up close, sweeping full shots—
It rivaled a Hollywood action movie.
From now on, filming goes to Mage Mackenzie.
Jeon Gwang-il and the CEO were speechless.
They could only stare at the screen.
Well, of course.
Where else would you ever see something like that?
Pretty cool, right? Our Gigant.
And that was just a warm-up.
The final goal is dragon slaying.
Once he wields a magic sword, he'll even kill dragons.
"So, there's something I'd like to ask you two."
"W-what is it?"
"I want to make a sword body. Bastard sword style, at least 60 meters long."
…
Did he hear that wrong?
Not 60 centimeters.
"… Sixty meters?"
"Yes. Use Tower metal—adamantine would be perfect."
Was that even possible?
A super-super-giant sword, 60 meters long?
"It's fine if it's made in sections and welded together."
Jeon Gwang-il understood why Player Bong wanted such a colossal sword.
It was probably meant for that Gigant.
"… W-welding is possible, but wouldn't that weaken durability?"
"It's fine. We'll reinforce it anyway."
With alchemy, magitech mana circuits, and enchantment magic.
"Don't worry about the money."
Still, it was enormous.
Seeing Jeon Gwang-il hesitate, Juhyeok added—
"I saw on YouTube that Pakistani guys can even make car parts out of scrap metal from decommissioned ships. Should we outsource it to Pakistan?"
Absolutely not.
Was Korea's steel technology inferior to Pakistan's?
Jeon Gwang-il stiffened and nodded.
"We'll make it."
It was Player Bong's request.
Failure was not an option.
A mere 60-meter sword—what's that?
Even if it meant mobilizing all the know-how of Korea's steel industry and every skilled technician available, they would succeed no matter what.