A Wimp's Strategy Guide to Conquer the Tower

While Juhyeok and the summoned entities were locked in a fierce battle against the Twin Nine-Tailed Foxes at the waterfall.

KRAK-KRAK-KRAK—!

Rajix was swinging his pickaxe like a madman.

With his LSSR-ranked exploration skill, Rajix possessed supreme detection ability, and the moment he entered Floor 76, he smelled the scent of dense qi.

That scary-looking old man had said it too.

This was a place where the energy of nature had condensed.

A sea where rivers of qi converged.

Rajix, even more sensitive than the Mad Demon, took it one step further.

There was a separate place where the scent of qi was especially dense.

What’s over there?

Let’s go see.

“WAAH!”

“BARK BARK!”

Rajix rode Blood Wolf ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ and ran.

Toward the place where he felt the energy.

And the place he found—

Huge boulders as large as houses lay scattered everywhere.

Like chocolate chips in a cookie, glittering substances were densely embedded across the surfaces of the rocks and the stone ground beneath his feet.

Magic Stones.

That was right.

This place was like an open-pit Magic Stone mine.

“WAAAH!”

“BARK!”

Rajix jumped down from Blood Wolf’s back and struck a boulder with his pickaxe.

CLUNK!

A Magic Stone came loose on the pickaxe.

It was as big as an adult’s fist.

What grade?

A mix of ordinary and high-grade came out.

The white ones were ordinary Magic Stones, and the ones tinged with deep blue light were high-grade Magic Stones.

Take both.

KRAK! KRAK-KRAK-KRAK—!

While Rajix mined Magic Stones, Blood Wolf stood guard beside him.

He had to mine fast.

Because there was no telling when they might leave the tower.

Then suddenly—

SPOT!

“WAAH?”

Blood Wolf vanished in an instant.

“WAAAH...”

It disappeared all of a sudden.

Rajix tilted his head.

There was no way it had simply vanished on its own.

The summoner must have sent Blood Wolf back because he wanted to call someone else.

And the only person worth calling, other than Blood Wolf, was the shy alchemist.

Did he need medicine?

And then—

KRAK-KRAK-KRAK-KRAK-KRAK-KRAK-KABOOOM!

“WAAAH?!”

An explosion rang out from far away.

What happened?

“WAAH...”

Should I go?

No.

There was no need.

His role was not combat.

He just had to ignore it and do his job.

High-grade Magic Stones.

The summoner had said he needed a lot of them.

Then Rajix absolutely had to bring them back.

KRAAASH! KWAANG! KWAANG-KWAANG-KWAANG-KWAANG!

Explosions rang out without pause.

KRAK! KRAK-KRAK-KRAK-KRAK!

The golden pickaxe dug into the rocks.

Magic Stones came rolling out in droves.

Ordinary Magic Stones and high-grade Magic Stones alike.

Maybe because this place was so dense with energy, there were actually more high-grade ones than ordinary ones.

“WAAAH!”

Rajix, too, was faithfully fighting his own battle.

*****

The nearly fifty Three-Tailed Foxes, Five-Tailed Foxes, and Seven-Tailed Foxes all burst apart and disintegrated in an instant.

The crazed Nine-Tailed Fox Yeopae, who had lost her reason, seemed like she might resist for a moment, but then her barrier was breached, and she shattered to pieces, her body scattering through the air.

‘Wait, it works like this?’

Juhyeok could only stare with wide eyes.

He really had been half in doubt.

He wasn’t sure she would really be any help, but instead she had reduced the entire battlefield to rubble.

She was truly invincible.

The moment she appeared, she cleaned everything up neatly.

Aliamari the elf and alchemist.

Weren’t elves supposed to shoot bows or use spirit magic?

But a bomber?

That did not fit the image of an elf at all.

Tiny human homunculi.

Every single one of them was a bomb.

Suicide-bomber homunculi.

The power of each individual one wasn’t that great.

But if they gathered?

If they clustered and exploded all at once?

And if they burrowed inside the body instead of exploding outside?

What was even more astonishing was the control.

It was simply unbelievable.

To control that many homunculi, each one so tiny, one by one—

‘Could I do that too?’

Well.

First of all, the form was different.

Juhyeok’s own homunculi were silver.

By contrast, Bomber Mari’s homunculi were red.

There was a difference in size too.

Mari’s homunculi were far smaller than his.

They were practically the size of dust. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

At that size, how could anyone stop them from burrowing into nostrils or earholes?

So even if he were given red homunculi himself, he probably wouldn’t even be able to imitate it.

How were you supposed to control something that delicate?

Things as small as dust.

That was something only Mari could do.

Only she could do it.

Juhyeok quietly clenched his butt.

What if even one stray homunculus lost its way and burrowed into that hole?

The other summoned entities were equally horrified.

At first they had wondered why he had called her.

That shut-in alchemist with severe social anxiety, the one still crouched on the rock with her head lowered.

No matter if she was LSSR-ranked, the battlefield should have been dangerous for a noncombat class.

But the ones truly in danger had been the foxes.

Those homunculi they had thought were toys were actually that terrifying?

They burrowed inside the body and exploded?

Mouth, nose, ears, and anus...

Cossack, Meatshield, and Bardin all wore expressions of disgust.

Their backsides tightened.

They clenched their anuses shut.

An unconscious Kegel exercise.

Even the Mad Demon felt goosebumps run down his spine.

The crazed LSSR Nine-Tailed Fox Yeopae had disappeared without leaving even a trace.

Even he himself had been pushed back several steps by the aftershock of the explosion.

If it were him?

Could he deal with those red homunculi?

‘Even if I blocked them with a protective aura barrier...’

The vanguard homunculi would rush in first and break the aura, then the rear wave would charge in through the gap.

‘In the end, even I’d get blown apart.’

It wasn’t that there was absolutely no method.

He could run away.

Faster than the homunculi.

And he was confident he could do that.

That was right.

The only way to escape Bomber Mari’s attack—

was to run.

But the Nine-Tailed Fox Yeochi could not run.

The homunculi rushed in.

They clung all over her body like a swarm of bees.

“KIAAAAK!!! N-no!!!”

And then—

KWAANG!

Starting with the first explosion,

KRAAASH!

They began detonating one after another.

KRAK-KRAK-KRAK-KRAK-KRAAASH!

And with the final great explosion, she was completely erased.

A miserable and cruel sight.

But Gyeon Dallae watched Yeochi explode all the way through without even blinking once.

The enemy of her teacher.

Perhaps the very one who had destroyed the Cheon Empire.

Of course, this was the tower.

A copied world, with copied souls.

But did that mean everything here was fake?

The same went for the summoned entities, including herself, and for Nine-Tailed Foxes like Yeochi and Yeopae and their fox subordinates.

They were real souls bound by the tower.

And through the tower, it might even truly be connected across time and space to the world of the past.

Her teacher alone was proof enough.

Haeryeong had achieved ascension.

And had been freed from the tower’s bondage.

In any case, she felt relieved.

Now she had no lingering regrets.

The last trace of attachment in one corner of her heart had been completely swept away.

Gyeon Dallae offered a sincere and respectful bow toward the alchemist Aliamari, who was still crouching there.

[You have completed all missions on Floor 76.]

[Reward: high-grade Magic Stones 76kg / Summoned Entity Rank Breakthrough Rune (conditional).]

[Calculating Clear Rank.]

[Global Notice: You have achieved Clear Rank S+++ on Black Tower NO.1 (Korea) Floor 76.]

[S+++ clear reward: 2 Platinum Badges will be granted.]

*****

SPOT!

Juhyeok and the summoned entities appeared in the penthouse.

To be honest, even now it didn’t feel real.

Bomber Mari.

He had thought she was nothing more than a noncombat alchemist, but she was more terrifying than anyone here.

‘Thank goodness it only turned into a keyboard fight in the chatroom that time.’

What would they have done if they had met in person and actually fought?

Not that the summoned entities would ever risk their lives fighting each other.

Rajix, who hadn’t been present at the battlefield itself, exited with them as well.

Covered in dust from head to toe.

He looked like he had been digging at something with all his might.

“Um, everyone, thank you for your hard work.”

“Ahem, you also worked hard, Summoner. But I can only feel ashamed. My own abilities proved lacking, and I showed an unsightly performance.”

The Mad Demon wore a slightly embarrassed expression.

The others were the same.

After all, they had witnessed that terrifying explosion with their own eyes.

But what about Mari?

She wasn’t in the living room.

At some point, she had slipped straight into her own room.

He had no choice but to use the tablet messenger.

[] : Thank you so much today.

[Mari] : Not at all♥♡ I’m so happy I could help♪♪♬

Man, this still feels weird.

Bomb Lady acting this cheerful in chat.

[Mari] : But I won’t be able to use my strength for a while.

[] : Why not?

[Mari] : I used up all the explosive homunculi. It takes a long time to refine more and replenish them.

Ah!

So they were consumables.

Well, of course.

There was no way that was a skill.

If it were a skill, it would be completely broken.

Still, that was fine.

He wasn’t planning to climb the tower for a while anyway. He was going to rest thoroughly.

Right!

What about Rajix?

What had he been doing, and why was he so filthy with dust?

“WAAH, this.”

Rajix pulled something out of his Subspace Backpack.

A bluish stone.

“Hm? That’s a high-grade Magic Stone.”

It wasn’t anything special, but...

‘Wait.’

If the quantity was large, then it could be special.

“You got that on Floor 76?”

“WAAH, yes.”

“Was there a lot?”

“WAAH, a lot.”

Just how much was a lot?

Rajix started pulling out high-grade Magic Stones.

Thudududud!

They piled up across the living room.

They kept piling up.

Thududududud... still more.

‘What the hell!’

These are all high-grade Magic Stones?

But there were way too many.

At this rate, the entire living room would fill up.

“...W-wait!”

“WAAH?”

“Don’t tell me there’s more in the bag?”

“WAAH, yes, I got a whole lot.”

“W-we’ll check later. At this rate the house might collapse.”

“WAAH!”

There was no question about it.

He had found a vein.

A high-grade Magic Stone vein.

When Juhyeok asked, that was exactly what Rajix said.

He had only mined a tiny portion of it because there hadn’t been enough time.

Good grief.

What an absurdly capable worker.

Ask him for something, and he immediately brings it back.

He felt a little sorry to the other summoned entities, but honestly, was there anyone else who could compare to Rajix?

When Rajix became LSSR, Juhyeok could hardly even imagine what kind of exploits he would pull off.

“Isn’t our Supply Officer truly amazing? Once he gets going, it’s supply on the scale of a division—no, an entire army.”

“Well, he is the cosmic bald farmhand. Of course his supply scale would be cosmic.”

“I couldn’t keep up even if I died trying.”

“An assassin was actually thinking of trying to keep up? This warrior gave up long ago.”

“He is the model for all our summoned entities.”

Srrrk.

The high-grade Magic Stones spread across the floor were put back into Rajix’s Subspace Backpack.

And now what was next?

Checking items.

Forget the miscellaneous stuff. Start with the important part.

The reward for clearing all of Floor 76’s missions—

the Summoned Entity Rank Breakthrough Rune.

It was the same one Meatshield had gotten.

A rune that let a summoned entity break through its rank.

This one had a condition attached.

Only Gyeon Dallae could use it.

Once used, she would be unable to be summoned for two weeks.

And the required Platinum Badges were 25.

Gyeon Dallae already had 4 pinned to her chest, so he only needed 21 more.

He could give them to her later during the badge-awarding ceremony.

And finally, the perks.

The total accumulated badges so far were 106, with 46 physical badges on hand.

The last accumulated-badge perk he had received before this had been at 90.

That meant he could now claim the 95-badge perk, the 100-badge perk, and the 105-badge perk.

Three of them.

Open them all at once.

At least one out of three ought to be good, right?

He opened his Inventory and checked the newly received badges.

[A perk will be granted for accumulating 95 Platinum Badges.]

The first one.

Well, he wasn’t expecting a Trait Enhancement Rune.

There was no way they would hand one out.

This one would probably just be some ordinary item again.

[Perk: Item Additional Acquisition Ticket.]

Knew it.

Still, it was an item he had never seen before.

What about the second one?

[A perk will be granted for accumulating 100 Platinum Badges.]

Again, he wasn’t expecting much.

Even if 100 was a symbolic number.

[Perk: Trait Enhancement Rune.]

See?

Wait.

That’s a Trait Enhancement Rune.

Would 100 really be something special?

They always just handed out the same old stuff, and... huh? Huh? Um.

‘What did that perk just say?’

Had he heard wrong?

[A perk will be granted for accumulating 105 Platinum Badges.]

The messages kept sounding off.

[Perk: Player Awakening Rune.]

But he didn’t hear anything else.

Juhyeok blankly pulled the Trait Enhancement Rune out of his Inventory.

That was definitely it.

A tiny piece of stone.

Small enough to fit right into his mouth.

“Gasp! M-M-Mr. Bong Summoner, th-that is?”

“WAAH?”

“Is th-that not a Trait Enhancement Rune? Congratulations.”

“Ha ha, what a joyous occasion!”

“Commander! Congratulations.”

“Glory to my lord!”

Ding!

[Mari] : Congratulations

He had actually pulled one from the 100 accumulated-badge perk.

Simultaneous summons possible: 9.

With this, he could now summon every summoned entity currently registered in the Catalog at once.

Well, that probably wouldn’t last long.

Soon there would be a random summon, and then the number of people in the Catalog would become 10.

Then he’d be short by one slot again.

Ten people in the Catalog.

The number ten.

Did it mean anything?

He wasn’t sure, but maybe it did.

The number system in tower clearing was decimal too.

A boss appeared every 5 or 10 floors.

And the final boss of the undead section had been Floor 70.

If the Catalog roster filled up to 10...

‘Maybe it’ll trigger an achievement or something?’

He’d find out once he pulled it.

So, calm down a little.

Should he check what the other perks were?

First, the ticket he got for 95.

Information check.

Effect: If used before succeeding in a tower mission, item rewards can be increased from a minimum of 2 times to a maximum of 10 times.

Limit: Does not apply to ticket or rune items.

Oh!

‘That’s actually a better item than I expected.’

Item rewards multiplied from 2 to 10 times.

Though there was the limit that it excluded tickets and runes.

And what about the one from 105?

Effect: Awakens one ordinary person into a Player. The Trait granted is random.

Limit: Requires 1 Platinum Badge along with the rune.

‘...’

So an item like this existed too.

He wasn’t really sure whether it was good or not.

Awakening an ordinary person into a Player.

The odds were still slim.

And there were already endless numbers of people who wanted to become Players.

A profession that could completely turn one’s life around.

Even if you only reached Level 20 or above, you could make a fortune.

But awakening someone by choice?

He didn’t particularly want to do that.

At least not to anyone he knew personally.

Still, he couldn’t just let it rot away unused now that he had it.

Should he use this chance to clean out all the items he didn’t use and hand them over?

To the Awakening Administration, that was.

Anyway, he had checked the perks.

The results were satisfying too.

So what was left on the schedule?

A party, of course.

Go all out.

There was plenty to do.

Time to head to the Namyangju villa.

The badge-awarding ceremony, Gyeon Dallae’s farewell party, the welcome party for the new family member, and decorating White Tower Floor 17.

And first, on the way there, he would stop by the TOWER PLAYER AWAKENING ADMINISTRATION for a bit.

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