novelraw Chapter 259 CHAPTER 258
Chapter 259 CHAPTER 258
When he had entered the Demon Realm through Earth No. 675's Black Tower in the past, he had rounded up the great demons in the Demon Realm and wiped them out in one sweep.
He did the same in the Celestial Realm.
He devastated the fallen Celestial Realm and the corrupted divine lands all at once, striking straight at the core.
Whether in the Demon Realm or the Celestial Realm, these were originally missions that were supposed to be carried out sequentially, climbing the Black Tower floor by floor.
But because he finished everything in one go, like a mass hunt—
The result was consecutive tower clearances.
This time seemed to be the same.
The notification sound kept ringing without pause.
Ding.
[All dimensional energy fuel-rod disassembly extractors have been destroyed.]
[You have completed the fourth stage of the Great Mission.]
The fourth fuel-rod disassembly extractor destroyed.
"Back-to-back?"
"It's consecutive."
"It's a streak."
"So it's consecutive destruction of fuel-rod disassembly extractors."
"Who knew such a thing even existed."
"So they dismantle fuel rods and siphon out the energy?"
It wasn't over yet.
Ding!
[Dimensional energy transport cables have been destroyed.]
[You have completed the fifth stage of the Great Mission.]
"The brakes are gone. It won't stop. Great Sage is going berserk."
Hard carry by the Great Sage.
He'd already soloed three floor missions.
Anyway, transport cables?
Devices that send extracted energy somewhere.
It was clear now.
This entire place was a comprehensive dimensional energy processing facility.
Storage units, extractors, transport cables—
What else could there be?
No need to even try to figure it out.
Just stand still and listen to the system messages.
The Great Sage was personally smashing everything and teaching them as he went.
[Dimensional energy conversion plant destroyed.]
[You have completed the sixth stage of the Great Mission.]
"Conversion plant."
"Sounds like a device that alters energy."
What's next?
I'm curious.
Please teach us.
Do it.
Just one more click, please.
[Dimensional energy refinery destroyed.]
Ah, much obliged.
[You have completed the seventh stage of the Great Mission.]
"So it was a refinery."
"Of course. Energy can't have impurities."
"But it's destroyed now."
"I kinda want to see the face of the section chief-level manager in charge here."
You don't even need to see it to know.
Next!
[Dimensional energy lossless compression line destroyed.]
[You have completed the eighth stage of the Great Mission.]
Lossless compression line.
"This is more complex than I thought."
"It's quite systematic too."
"It's like an industrial complex on Earth."
The Black Tower extracts dimensional energy and sends it to storage.
Once the storage fuel rods are full, they're dismantled and extracted.
The extracted energy is transported via cables to the conversion plant.
After refinement, it undergoes lossless compression.
All of these processes have one single purpose.
To bring dimensional energy all the way back to the main base.
Then the 99th floor is most likely a dimensional transfer device.
No idea what form it takes, though.
Are we going to the 99th floor too?
Brother Wukong, since you've come this far, how about the 100th floor as well?
Is that asking too much?
Still, you never know.
'Do it… please.'
Hm.
No message came.
Looks like the lossless compression line was the last one.
How many stages in total were completed?
Eight stages—so probably up to the 98th floor.
And the rewards?
All bound-summon upgrade rune bundles.
But he liked that.
It might actually be the most needed item at this point.
And so, this run came to an end.
All that remained was returning to the Black Tower.
Now the world announcement would ring six times in a row.
From the 92nd floor to the 98th floor.
That made seven times in one day.
'People are going to be shocked.'
Practically jaw-dropping.
But it would be a pleasant shock.
After all, it was a success announcement.
And all the way up to the 98th floor.
This was all thanks to the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
He led the golden stone monkeys and completely turned this entire sector upside down.
At that moment—
Shupapapapat!
With a sound like the air tearing apart, the Somersault Cloud appeared.
"Great Sage! You came back riding the Somersault Cloud!!!"
Shupapapa.
Shooting like a bullet.
Whiririririt!
Even spinning in acrobatic flight.
"Great Sage! You're showing off your tricks!!!"
A farewell?
"Great Sage! You're saying goodbye!!!"
Then we should too.
"Long live the Great Sage!!!"
"Thank you!"
"You're amazing!!!"
"We love you, Brother Wukong!"
"Take care!"
"See you again!"
"Hoeeeee!"
Shupapapapat!
The Great Sage waved from atop the Somersault Cloud.
Then he thrust the Ruyi Jingu Bang powerfully into empty space.
Jiiiing—a dimensional gate opened.
Shupapapapat!
Swoosh!
Through the dimensional gate, off to another world.
There, he'd probably handle his backlog of delivery calls and work hard to earn money.
Ahhh.
The Great Sage who hard-carried everything alone and quietly departed.
All they'd given him was a single piece of candy and a banana-flavored milk.
Who dares call this man a monster?
A magnanimous hero, a righteous knight, a sorrowful family man of this age, a Buddha of boundless generosity.
"Let us all pray. That everything the Great Sage does goes smoothly."
"Yes!"
And shortly after—
[Returning to the Republic of Korea (NO.1) Black Tower, 93rd Floor.]
Spot!
Juhyeok's group returned to the waiting room.
Now ring.
The world announcement.
[World Announcement: Black Tower NO.1 (Korea) has achieved EX-grade clearance on the 93rd floor.]
[EX Clearance Reward: 2 + 30 Platinum Badges, for a total of 32 awarded.]
Very nice!
Starting with the 93rd floor—
[Additional clearance records have been discovered.]
[Entering Republic of Korea Black Tower (NO.1) 94th floor.]
94th floor also cleared with EX grade.
Spot.
95th floor, EX-grade clearance.
Spot.
96th floor, EX-grade clearance.
[Additional clearance records have been discovered.]
But then—
[Error: Daily tower entry limit of 5 has been fully consumed.]
"Huh?"
[Error: Entry to the 97th floor is not possible.]
What is this?
[Error: The seventh stage of the Great Mission will be canceled.]
What now?
We finished everything.
Are you really going to be petty to the very end?
That was when—
Ding!
[Requesting temporary entry permission for the 97th and 98th floors.]
"Yes!"
Our god-tier Baek-hyung has appeared!
I was wondering why he hadn't shown up.
[Reason: These missions have already been completed. Tower entry is merely a confirmation procedure.]
Exactly.
We already did it all.
This Black Tower bastard—so petty.
Trying to trip people up over trivial nonsense?
[Temporary entry request accepted.]
"Yes!"
Spot! Spot.
Up to the 97th and 98th floors as well.
Automatic entry, automatic clearance recognition, automatic badge acquisition.
[World Announcement: Black Tower NO.1 (Korea) has achieved EX-grade clearance on the 98th floor.]
[EX Clearance Reward: 2 + 30 Platinum Badges, for a total of 32 awarded.]
Total Platinum Badges?
A whopping 224.
Just how many special perks is that?
He'd have to open them slowly.
Republic of Korea Awakened Management Agency.
Director Jeon Gwang-il was, as always, busy with work.
The population on the White Tower's 17th floor had increased dramatically.
They hurriedly completed resident registration and issued each person a smartphone, but the work was still endless.
The newly arrived residents were, in a sense, surplus manpower.
Even if there were many, what could they do—C rank at best?
Most of them had to remain on the 17th floor.
The maximum number Bong Player could summon at once was only about 22.
Still, they were valuable manpower.
Even if not immediately combat-ready, they qualified as a standing reserve.
People who were striving, somehow, to raise their ranks and play proper roles for Bong Player.
So what was the agency's job?
To support them.
So that every bound summon could train and grow without worry.
Besides, weren't they family?
Permanent residents with lifetime residency rights.
At that moment—
Spot!
Team Leader Lee Mina appeared in the office.
"Director, I'm back."
She had entered the 17th floor for an on-site inspection.
"How was it?"
"Each residence is pretty much stocked with appliances and daily necessities."
"Mm, good work."
With the recently established logistics transfer warp gate, supplies could be sent in unlimited amounts.
And tower materials were also being produced on that side.
That was why the area was under airtight military security.
Currently the most heavily guarded place in Korea.
"And Bong Player?"
"He wasn't there when I entered. He just finished clearing the 92nd floor, so he's probably heading up to the 93rd now."
Jeon Gwang-il also knew that Juhyeok had begun his attempt to clear Earth's Black Tower up to the 100th floor.
Before long, the world announcement for the 93rd floor would appear.
…Unless he failed.
Then there would be no message.
Living support was basically wrapped up.
"What about the additional nuclear warheads that came in?"
"They're currently stored in a mechanized division supply depot. Shall we send them through the logistics warp gate?"
Sending nukes through a gate?
"No. Leave them so Rajiks can take them directly."
"Understood."
That was absolutely not an option.
Who knew what might happen if they used a gate carelessly.
Putting them into Rajiks's subspace was the safest option.
Right at that moment!
[World Announcement: Black Tower NO.1 (Korea) has achieved EX-grade clearance on the 93rd floor.]
"Oh!"
"Oh my?"
93rd floor cleared.
"Good."
"So that makes two floors just today?"
"Yeah, at this pace, within a week—"
Ding!
[World Announcement: Black Tower NO.1 (Korea) has achieved EX-grade clearance on the 94th floor.]
"Gasp!"
"…Again?"
Three floors?
No—how?
Player Bong Juhyeok had mentioned it before.
From the 91st floor onward, missions take place in another world.
He'd also said that space-time is separated.
No matter how much time passes over there, it's only an instant here.
'So that's why the announcements are back-to-back?'
Even so, the interval between messages was absurdly short.
And then—
Ding!
"What now?"
"…Again?"
95th floor cleared.
Ding!
96th floor cleared.
It seemed to pause for a moment—
"Is… is that the end?"
"Uh… maybe?"
But—
Ding!
97th floor cleared.
Ding!
98th floor cleared.
Jeon Gwang-il and Lee Mina could only gape.
What on earth was happening?
At this rate, would it even go to the 100th floor?
But it stopped at the 98th floor.
No more announcements followed.
Still—
98 floors?!
"…Only two floors left?"
"Y-yeah. At this rate, it might even be over tomorrow."
"Then the Tower… d-does it disappear? That would be unsettling too."
That's right.
It's worrying if the Tower exists.
It's worrying if it doesn't.
But if it's a perfectly controlled Tower, that's a different story.
If Player Bong Juhyeok acquires administrative authority over it.
It was about time people knew.
What happens to the Black Tower when the 100th floor is cleared.
'He should be out by now, right?'
Let's contact him.
To congratulate him—and to ask for permission.
Will the call go through?
Buuuu—click.
—Hello, Director?
It connected.
"Player Bong! Congratulations. The 100th floor is right in front of you now."
—Hahaha. Was it really because I did well? Honestly, it was all thanks to the Great Sage, Sun Wukong.
"…Excuse me?"
What did he mean?
Was that a metaphor?
Probably.
His bound summons must have performed feats comparable to Sun Wukong.
"I see. In any case, since you've completed the 98th floor, only two floors remain until the 100th."
—That's right. A complete clear.
"Right now, the public is extremely curious. About what happens to the Black Tower once the 100th floor is completely cleared."
He paused briefly, then continued.
"At this point, wouldn't it be good to let people know? About acquiring the Tower's administrative authority."
…Ah.
"If you're uncomfortable with it, we won't make it public."
—Not at all. You can go ahead.
"How much should we disclose?"
—Well, what's there to hide? Reveal everything.
"U-understood."
Permission was granted.
"Team Leader Lee."
"Yes, Director."
"You heard him. Contact the broadcasting stations immediately. We'll be making an official statement from the Awakened Management Agency."
"I'll prepare right away."
—
White Tower, 17th Floor.
Juhyeok had just finished his call with Director Jeon Gwang-il.
The matter was whether to reveal the Black Tower's administrative authority.
He told them to do it.
Why keep it secret?
There was no need.
It was basically a spoiler for the ending—but this wasn't a movie or a drama.
If anything, knowing in advance was much better.
When the world announcement for full clearance came, the joy would be doubled.
Time for an interim tally.
For each Great Mission, he'd received a pouch-like Bound Summon Upgrade Rune Bundle.
Seven in total.
How many runes were in each bundle?
He opened one.
[20 Runes of Bound Summon Rank Increase and 5 Runes of Bound Summon Rank Breakthrough have been delivered to the Tower-exclusive inventory.]
'Whoa! That's generous.'
25 runes per bundle.
20 for rank increase, 5 for breakthrough.
If he opened all seven bundles?
140 rank-increase runes.
35 rank-breakthrough runes.
Items that would greatly enhance his bound summons' abilities.
Rank-increase runes could be used freely, but rank-breakthrough required 25 Platinum Badges each.
So how many badges did he have?
Before clearing the 92nd floor, he had a cumulative total of 542, with 369 on hand.
Now the cumulative total was 766.
Since perks were awarded every 25 badges starting from 545, that meant 25 perks in total.
'I'll open those later.'
What about on-hand badges?
Adding the newly earned 224 should make 593, but—
30 used for Rajiks's proxy tower climb.
3 awarded to Crackers, Mannyeon, and Baek Dan-a.
30 consumed for the Great Sage's transcendent summon.
Subtracting those, the remaining on-hand badge count was—
530.
Not exactly an abundance.
Why?
Because the number of people who needed rank breakthroughs had increased.
He needed to gather more diligently.
Enhancing bound summons meant directly enhancing himself.
And besides runes, he needed to consider other upgrade methods as well.
…
First, start with memory regression techniques for the Rursusal-class bound summons.
Create bodies for them through soul–body frequency synchronization.
Then what next?
Consuming immortal peaches and elixirs.
"Chief Administrator Princess Dallae."
"Yes, speak."
"Open the auction house status board and buy up all the elixir materials."
"Which ones specifically?"
"For now, Dragon Hearts, martial-world pills like the Zisu Pill or Grand Return Pill. Discuss the rest with Mari."
"This one receives the order."
It was time to clean out the auction house again.
—
Earth No. 1,001 Black Tower, 100th Floor Control Room.
In the central hall, a crystal core floated in the air.
The core device of tower administration.
Moments ago, the summoner had entered the 93rd floor.
And departed for the mission area.
The administrators had just received a dimensional transmission from headquarters.
Its contents?
An Archangel had arrived in the dimensional energy management zone.
That meant—
On the 93rd floor, the summoner and the Archangel would meet.
So they prayed desperately.
That the Archangel would deal with the summoner.
But the result?
Continuous defeats from the 93rd to the 98th floors.
Archangel annihilation confirmed.
[Haaah.]
Next was the 99th floor.
They knew what was there.
The core of the dimensional energy management facility.
It would be looted without fail.
And then he'd come to the 100th floor control room.
To seize the crystal core.
[Fuck!]
When he'd first been assigned to Earth No. 1,001, he thought he'd boarded the perfect promotion track.
But instead of a promotion, he was about to fall into hell.
Into the abyss of eternal annihilation.
Just then!
An engineer tilted his head and spoke.
[Designer, another dimensional transmission from headquarters just arrived.]
[What is it?]
[It's a notice about Black Tower renovation work across all dimensions.]
Renovation.
Rebuilding the tower floors.
[How?]
[The affected floors are from the 91st to the 100th. Instead of transporting players across dimensions, each floor will now run its missions independently.]
As expected.
The Demon Realm was blown up.
The Celestial Realm was blown up.
In a situation like this, where would they even send players who reached the 91st floor?
If they moved them carelessly and the White Tower intervened, they'd end up in restricted areas and get wiped again.
[Closing the barn after the cow's already gone.]
In truth, this wasn't even necessary.
Who else could reach the 91st floor anyway?
Other than that Earth summoner.
Renovation would be easy.
Across all dimensions, only two towers had been cleared past the 90th floor.
Earth No. 675 and Earth No. 1,001.
For example, Earth No. 843's Black Tower, currently under excavation, was only at the 70th floor.
It was suffering from Kabalon's Curse.
Just replace things.
Copy some suitable souls and place them as mission targets from the 91st floor onward. Done.
But it wouldn't apply here.
Even if it did—
How were they supposed to stop that summoner?
[Any other news? Like, maybe transferring us back to headquarters?]
[Uh… no.]
[Damn it! Fuck! Those goddamn gods used us until the end and now they're just discarding us?!]
Turns out he'd been nothing special at all.
[…What do we do?]
What do you think?
[Write your will. And pray they kill us cleanly, without pain.]
Immortality was over.
Once dismissed, death followed immediately.
Well, was he the only one?
The dimensional energy management facility had a control room too.
The controller, along with numerous staff members.
They wouldn't escape annihilation either.
All of them would be heading to the other side together.
If that was consolation—
Then at least they wouldn't be alone.
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