A Wimp's Strategy Guide to Conquer the Tower

Green Dragon Crackers surrendered.

The request for ideological conversion and defection was accepted.

Thus, the 90th floor of the Black Tower on Earth No. 675 had been conquered.

[You have succeeded in the 90th-floor mission.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Reward: 900 kg of high-grade Magic Stones.]

However, the S+++ clear message did not ring out.

The reward was not much either.

Was it because this was not a “proper” conquest?

What was wrong with accepting a surrender?

It was a peaceful method.

If not S+++, then at least give me EX.

But?

[Achievement: You are the first to successfully conquer the 90th floor of the Black Tower.]

“So the achievement counts.”

[Achievement rewards will be distributed.]

World-class?

[World Announcement: Restoration of the world outside the Black Tower is underway.]

[World Announcement: The concentration of mana on Earth is thinning.]

[World Announcement: Earth’s natural ecosystem is recovering.]

[World Announcement: The holes created by the tower collapse are slowly being filled.]

[World Announcement: Monsters that escaped outside the Tower are gradually disappearing.]

Was this... a good thing?

I was not sure.

What was the point of restoring the world now?

There was no one left here to live in it.

But if it applied to our Earth, then it was a meaningful reward.

Because the pierced holes would be filled.

“India and Japan both have holes, right?”

We could erase those.

If we conquered the 90th floor of the Black Tower on our Earth, Earth No. 1,001.

While I was thinking that—

FLAPFLAP.

Spreading his massive wings, Green Dragon Crackers flew over.

“He got smaller.”

“He turned into a hatchling. WAAH! A baby dragon.”

Even if a stat drop was unavoidable, we would have to recover it somehow.

“Even as a hatchling, he must not be underestimated. By summoned entity standards, he is just below RSR, so SSR should be the proper rating.”

That seemed right.

Even a baby dragon was still a dragon.

“It seems he has escaped his corrupted dragon state as well.”

“Huh? Then does he have a proper Dragon Heart now?”

“That seems to be the case. The color is vividly green. He has found his identity.”

“Oh!”

Cossack’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Mackenzie.

“Elder Mackenzie, if we extract that Dragon Heart, can we make medicine for our summoner boss?”

“We can. But I do not know whether another Dragon Heart will form when he revives.”

“I hope it does. Is he a Dragon Heart vending machine?”

“But since he is a hatchling, the medicinal effect will be weaker.”

Crackers descended from the sky to the ground.

Then—

BANG!

Polymorph magic.

He transformed into a green-haired boy.

“Even polymorphed, he is in child form because he is a hatchling.”

He looked cute enough.

Now that he was a converted defector, what about his information?

Name: Crackers

Rank: SSR+++ (Special Super Rare+++)

Type: Green Hatchling (Dragon)

Manifestation Time Limit: 3 hours

Triple-plus SSR.

How were we supposed to raise this one’s abilities?

Runes of Defector Rank Advancement only went up to SSR.

Since this was the main body, memory-regression techniques would not work either.

Let’s think about it slowly.

First, since we had a new family member—

“Mr. Crackers.”

“Yes!”

“Let’s do well together.”

“...Yes.”

Still looking bewildered, Crackers kept watching Juhyeok’s expression.

“But we might have to kill other dragons. Can you do that?”

“That will not be a problem.”

“Really? They are still your kin.”

“Humans do not refrain from killing other humans just because they are human.”

A factual bombardment.

Well, after mosquitoes, the species that killed the most humans was humans.

That aside, what were green dragons good at?

“My mission is to destroy forests and flora—no, to protect them.”

“Really? That’s perfect.”

“Perfect, you say?”

“I’ll introduce you to a farmer when we get home. The two of you should work together.”

“Ah-ha!”

A farmer and green.

They went very well together.

There should be synergy effects too.

“Shall we head home, then?”

It was a solid conquest.

“As for the 91st floor...”

Put it on hold for now.

We would deal with the 89th and 90th floors of our Earth first.

Now stripped of their authority, with nothing to do but watch, the administrators of Earth No. 675’s Black Tower—

[...]

[...]

[...]

No one opened their mouth.

They were utterly dumbfounded.

Whatever they had imagined, reality had exceeded imagination itself.

They had diligently traveled through other dimensions, deploying freely contracted dragons—

only for one to be cut in half, and another to be stolen alive.

[...Do not ever tell that side.]

[Are you insane? Why would we tell them?]

[Still, imagining the 1,001st administrators freaking out makes me feel a little better.]

Right.

At least they could take solace in that.

White Tower Floor 17.

The Human Ice Crystal Baek Danya slowly opened her eyes.

“...I survived?”

How did I survive?

“What on earth...?”

Not every soul living in the world of souls wished to be randomly summoned.

There were souls who desperately hoped not to be summoned.

Baek Danya was a prime example.

In the past, she had once been summoned by a summoner and gone outside.

But the moment she went out, the eternal ice crystal went berserk.

She trembled violently and died.

The pain was terrible, but she felt even worse for the summoner who had called her.

If she went out again, she would certainly die instantly.

She would become nothing more than a difficult-to-dispose summoned entity,

occupying only a name in the Catalog.

So she hoped not to be summoned.

In the end, she had been summoned anyway.

But why am I fine?

Did the eternal ice crystal disappear?

That could not be.

“No... I should check, just in case.”

Baek Danya quietly operated the Ice-White Divine Art.

A martial art only direct descendants of the Northern Sea Ice Palace could learn.

WOOOONG!

Cold energy stirred in her dantian.

Ice-white true energy flowed through her blood vessels.

But—

SSSSSSSSSS!

“Ahck!”

As expected.

The eternal ice crystal surged again.

This was the result of operating the Ice-White Divine Art.

In the blink of an eye, her body froze.

CRK-CRK-CRK...

“Uuugh!”

Baek Danya curled up, shivering violently.

“I—I’m crazy. Why did I use the Ice-White Divine Art...”

That was when—

CRRRRZZZZT!

The cold was suddenly sucked away somewhere.

“...Huh?”

Her face was covered in frost.

SRRRK.

The rampaging eternal ice crystal quickly calmed down.

It even tucked in its tail and hid.

“Are you okay?”

A voice came from beside her.

“W-who?”

Someone was holding a white frost-covered rod.

What she was holding looked like a cannon.

Another summoned companion?

“Don’t worry. I’ll just slurp up things like eternal ice crystals.”

Then, up toward the sky—

ZIIING!

BOOM!

FWOOSH!

She fired the cannon.

BANG!

Ice crystal energy spread across the sky.

At the same time, snowflakes poured down in bursts.

“Ah!”

She could guess.

Absorption Art.

But instead of a person directly using martial arts to absorb true energy,

this was indirect absorption using that cannon.

Using Absorption Art to control eternal ice crystals had a clear drawback.

If someone directly absorbed the cold using the art, that person would not be safe either.

The cold would consume that person.

But with that cannon?

It was a very simple and safe method.

“...I’m Baek Danya.”

“I know. I’m Veronica Caliber. Call me Major Ver.”

“Thank you, Major Ver, for saving me.”

“Heh, thank our commander—no, our summoner. He is the one who taught us the method.”

Ah...

I see.

It was the summoner.

How grateful I am.

“The summoner is...?”

“He stepped out to another world for a bit.”

Another world?

She had heard.

The summoner of this Earth, ruler of two dimensions.

She had heard rumors about how amazing he was,

but she had never dreamed he could heal her heavenly affliction.

“Congratulations. You are now a resident of the White Tower.”

“Um... I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“I’m useless. With my body like this, I can’t do anything.”

“Why can’t you do anything? Just stick right next to me when we go conquering the Tower.”

Veronica Caliber really liked Baek Danya.

Wasn’t she a precious cold-ammunition supplier?

She got treated, and Veronica absorbed cold attributes.

Win-win.

Suddenly—

“Ah! Commander is coming back.”

Ding!

The sliding door over there.

As it slid open, people came out.

Baek Danya knew immediately

which of them was the summoner.

She hurriedly straightened her clothes.

She hastily wiped her face.

“Summoner.”

“Oh! You’re awake?”

“Yes, thanks to you.”

“Hahaha, it’s late, but welcome.”

“Thank you for healing my body.”

“For what? I only gave you first aid. Let’s find a fundamental cure as soon as possible.”

Baek Danya’s eyes welled up with tears.

How could someone be so kind?

He did not abandon her, the lowest-rank, useless one—he even treated her.

Juhyeok felt relieved too.

How much must she have suffered?

But she looked fine now.

She was not in pain either.

From here on, they just needed to steadily raise her rank

and find a way to control the eternal ice crystal.

“All right, all right. We’ve got three new family members now. Time for a welcome party.”

Veronica Caliber tilted her head.

“Three? Isn’t it two?”

“Nope. This is Mr. Crackers here, a dragon. He decided to join our team.”

“...Excuse me? A dragon?”

Had she heard wrong?

Now that she looked, there was someone unfamiliar.

A small figure, green-haired, a child.

“Nice to meet you. I’m the Green Dragon, Crackers—”

Suddenly, Cossack shouted angrily.

“What do you think you are doing right now? A converted defector speaking casually to our Major Ver? Are you joking around with a field-grade officer?”

“Uh, I—I didn’t know.”

“As the disciplinary officer, Cossack cannot overlook this. If you want to live a happy dragon life on White Tower Floor 17, you will strictly observe the chain of command.”

“...Y-yes.”

In truth, Crackers’ mind was in complete chaos.

He had already been shocked just reaching the 1st floor of the White Tower, but coming up to the 17th floor felt like entering an entirely different world.

The first thing that caught his eye was the skyscrapers.

Good heavens!

Buildings that tall?

They rose as if piercing the sky. How did they not collapse?

And that was not all.

A colossal golem erected in the plaza, exotic houses, roads made of some black, hardened material, and iron carriages running atop them.

This was not any human civilization he had ever experienced.

What kind of evolutionary path had this civilization taken?

Suddenly—

Ding!

A notification sound rang out.

Letters appeared on a huge rectangular panel.

: Cossack, did you recruit a dragon?

It was Mari.

For ease of communication, her smartphone screen was mirrored onto a large standing monitor.

“Yes, ma’am! Our summoner accepted his defection.”

: Is it another corrupted dragon?

“Half corrupted, ma’am. But due to his loss of power, he escaped the corrupted state. He’s green now.”

: Green is perfect. The Dragon Heart should be clean too. Can we extract it?

“Huh?”

Crackers’ face went pale.

Why were they talking about extracting his heart?

“It is clean, but he is a hatchling. Is that okay?”

: Damn, a hatchling? That’s disappointing. No, that won’t do. The medicinal effect will be insufficient. We’ll have to raise him first, then extract it.

What?

Raise him... then extract it?

How could she say something so vicious?

Who was this woman named Mari?

A demon?

A summoned entity from the demon race?

Ding!

: Summoner ♥♡

Why was she suddenly acting so gentle with the summoner?

“Yes, Ms. Mari.”

: I have a favor.

“Go ahead.”

: You still have the Dragon Heart you got as a reward from the Sand Dragon, right?

“Yes, I do.”

The rock-hard Sand Dragon Heart.

That must be what she meant.

: Give that to this green hatchling ♥♡

...What?

“Wasn’t that useless?”

: Dragons should be able to absorb it. One is not enough, but if he eats three or four, he should break out of the hatchling stage and quickly grow into an adult.

“Uh...”

Juhyeok looked at Green Dragon Crackers.

“Is Mari right?”

Crackers nodded reflexively.

“The Sand Dragon is still a dragon. Consuming its heart does help improve abilities.”

So it worked.

Juhyeok took the hardened Sand Dragon Heart out of his inventory.

“Here. It’s hard, so melt it carefully before eating.”

Crackers hesitated slightly.

“You are feeding me this... raising me... and then extracting my heart...”

“Hey, we’re not extracting it. Why would I take the heart of our own family’s dragon?”

“Recover your strength quickly. That way, you can manage the farm and raise livestock.”

“Th-thank you.”

What a relief.

Crackers was certain the summoner would not do such ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) a thing.

But the others?

Even now, the summoned entities were licking their lips as they looked at him.

Cold.

They were all eyeing his Dragon Heart.

Their gazes screamed how desperately they needed it.

He did not know why they needed Dragon Hearts so badly, but he had to find a substitute as soon as possible.

A heart from another dragon—not his.

“There is a Black Tower here too.”

There should be freely contracted dragons on the 89th floor.

“I should suggest conquering it quickly.”

And so, a feast was held. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

They even called Farmer Dou over from far away, where he had been plowing the fields.

“Mr. Dou, this is Green Dragon Crackers. From now on, he’ll help you take care of the crops.”

“Green dragon. Farming. Helpful.”

They introduced the two.

“Hooray!”

The party began.

Food and alcohol poured out from Rajix’s subspace.

Meatshield and Bardin prepared to grill meat.

Music blasted from large speakers.

This—

this was happiness.

How could it not be great?

As the atmosphere grew livelier, the new members—Dou, Baek Danya, and Crackers—blended in smoothly.

But could Juhyeok just sit back?

Everyone had worked hard.

There had to be rewards.

Instead of Platinum Badges—

“Mr. Rajix.”

“H-huh?”

“Take out the Immortal Peaches. One per person.”

“H-huhhh...”

Rajix looked troubled.

So did the other summoned entities.

“Please reconsider. These are precious Immortal Peaches imbued with immortal energy. Only you should eat them, young master.”

“That’s right. We don’t need to eat them.”

“Indeed. Save them.”

Juhyeok snapped.

“Come on! I told you before—your strength is my strength. Eat them. No excuses. Absolute obedience!”

At his command, the summoned entities reluctantly each took an Immortal Peach.

“Now! Eat up!”

CRUNCH, CRUNCH.

After a few bites, the peach disappeared.

Setting aside the replenishment of immortal energy, it was incredibly tasty.

Still, with only about sixty left, it felt wasteful.

But so what?

Saving them for later would not help anyone.

Better to eat them quickly.

Then—

“Hm?”

Farmer Dou was just staring at the Immortal Peach in his hand.

“What’s wrong? No appetite?”

“No. Precious fruit. Want to cultivate.”

...Cultivate?

You can cultivate Immortal Peaches?

“But there aren’t even seeds.”

“Fruit form is enough. Can sprout.”

Wow!

Only then did Juhyeok recall Farmer Dou’s background.

In terms of farming skill alone, he was practically transcendent.

“Then try planting them.”

“There is a problem. Must resolve.”

“What is it?”

“Immortal Peaches grow by absorbing energy. Without suitable energy as fertilizer, growth impossible.”

Ah!

So Immortal Peaches fed on immortal energy.

They naturally grew only in the Immortal Realm.

But this was not the Immortal Realm.

“Cultivation possible if immortal energy is supplied. Impossible without it. That is why regretful.”

Tsk!

That would not do.

Where were they supposed to get immortal energy from?

Mana or internal energy, maybe—but—

“...Huh?”

A sudden thought struck him.

The achievement reward he received—

Omnipotent Aether Conversion Stake Totem.

If a specific energy was injected, the aether transformed into that energy and influenced the surroundings.

Could it work?

It might.

It was not a mission reward.

Not a special perk reward.

It was an achievement reward.

And especially the item modifier—

Omnipotent.

Meaning there was nothing it could not do.

An audacious description.

But if it truly was a myth-grade, omnipotent item?

The item description even said there was no restriction on the type of energy that could be injected.

“The effect radius is one meter... If I activate it, drive it into the ground, and plant the Immortal Peach right next to it...”

Juhyeok took the totem out of his inventory.

He had been unsure what energy to inject.

Now it was decided.

Immortal energy.

Let’s try it.

He had eaten plenty of Immortal Peaches before.

When learning the memory-regression technique from King Yama, he had also learned how to use immortal energy.

The summoned entities seemed to realize what he was about to do.

They burst into exclamations.

“Eek?”

“Young master, surely not—?”

“Wow!”

“Ho ho, what a clever move.”

“In-incredible.”

“WAAH...”

The energies currently residing in Juhyeok’s body:

internal energy, mana, and immortal energy.

He had to extract only the immortal energy and inject it into the Omnipotent Aether Conversion Stake Totem.

Focus.

He gathered immortal energy into his palm, then carefully pushed it into the totem.

ZIIIII...

The totem shone brilliantly and mystically.

“It worked!!!”

Juhyeok lifted the totem high.

“Truly awe-inspiring.”

“Amazing, Summoner.”

“The warrior is proud of the summoner.”

“Hurrah!!!”

“Long live Juhyeok!”

“Long live the totem!”

“Long live immortal energy!”

“WAAH!”

Yes.

This was it.

Cheer even louder.

Who am I?

Summoner Bong Juhyeok.

The Player who will conquer the Black Tower.

His chest swelled with pride.

Holding the totem aloft, Juhyeok walked in a circle.

CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP!

The applause did not stop.

After basking in praise, Juhyeok asked Dou.

“Would this level of energy be enough?”

Dou nodded.

“Enough.”

Good.

Let’s choose a suitable spot and drive it into the ground.

Immortal Peach farming begins.