Chapter 2: Summoning the Holy Sword Requires Caution (2)

What… I’ll know once I try it anyway.

The skill cannot be used outside the tower.

“I will enter the Magic Tower.”

[The nearest Magic Tower is the Suseo Magic Tower.]

[Enterable floors: Maximum 1st floor]

[Would you like to enter?]

“I enter.”

Because Choi Junseok had traversed the lower levels so many times as a porter.

There was nothing to fear about entering the 1st floor.

The 1st floor of the Suseo Magic Tower is a floor that tests trap avoidance.

I had gone back and forth on the 1st floor alone 6-7 times a week.

And above all.

If you just stand there for 30 minutes after entering the 1st floor, you can return.

Because clearing isn’t the only way to return.

[Time limit: 30 minutes.]

[1st floor clear condition: Defeat the goblin.]

That goblin right there.

If you don’t break through the traps, the protective barrier surrounding the goblin won’t be released.

Paths laid out in a cross (十) shape.

Narrow passages just wide enough for one person to pass.

If you fall into the darkness on the left or right of the narrow path, it’s goodbye.

As befitting the 1st floor, you don’t die but are forcibly ejected outside the tower.

However, the sensation of endlessly falling into that darkness was not a pleasant experience.

Throughout the cross-shaped paths, giant anchor-shaped axe blades fly around.

At the same time, spike traps from the floor.

You have to break through such traps and hold down the buttons on the left and right with your hand for 5 seconds.

Only then will the protective barrier on the goblin, the clear condition for the straight course, be released.

Even for the 1st floor, the difficulty is on the high side.

Nevertheless, the reason for repeating this 1st floor was simple.

One reason is for farming, as the goblin drops a magic stone with 100% certainty.

The second reason was that the protective barrier doesn’t even get scratched by ranged attacks from most high-rankers.

In other words.

It was a labor dungeon that guaranteed reliable income, and also a dummy for high-level raid teams to practice attack linkages.

Before tackling the upper floors, they challenge the 1st floor to practice attack linkage patterns against that protective barrier.

Although the practice time was short, lasting at most 30 minutes.

It was true that there wasn’t a sandbag as sturdy as that one.

It was a perfect protective barrier created by the tower’s inscrutable system.

It was already a famous anecdote that even the raid team that cleared the 50th floor in the shortest time couldn’t scratch it even after pouring all their firepower.

[Remaining time: 29 minutes 24 seconds.]

Already 30 seconds had passed just from staring blankly. 

The hidden reward condition given only on the first entry to the tower.

The hidden quest given upon the first solo visit.

The summoning ticket for a summon is granted to the one person who arrives the fastest.

Only the record of the first person to clear that floor ‘solo for the first time’ is measured and recorded in the tower’s system.

And the S-rank player Lee Jiyu.

She achieved 1st place with a clear time of 1 minute 48 seconds using her unique ‘Super God’ skill.

Utilizing the activation gimmick of the first solo visit.

After many rankers had grown.

They researched various methods and challenged the 1st floor solo, but.

There was no record surpassing player Lee Jiyu.

“She cleared a place like this in less than 2 minutes?”

In the past, what Choi Junseok did was simple.

The combat team enters straight ahead.

Porter 1, Choi Junseok, goes to the left or right.

Porter 2, someone else, similarly rushes to the remaining side to release the protective barrier.

Thus, they quickly grab one guaranteed magic stone and repeat the farming once a day at most.

Easy to say.

If you let your guard down even a little, getting your hand or shoulder cut was the least of it.

At least five or six colleagues who died in the 1st floor farming work flashed through his mind.

Being used like consumables and discarded for earning magic stones in the lower levels was the fate of F-rank players.

Anyway.

The blind spot in the hidden clear condition of the 1st floor.

It records only the ‘first solo visit’.

Therefore, after the hidden reward condition of this 1st floor became known.

Many rankers challenged to update the hidden clear ranking.

Forgetting to climb the tower, they consumed precious entry tickets for training.

What if I summon a transcendent-grade weapon from a distance?

With the thought that he had nothing to lose, Choi Junseok reached into his inner inventory.

The one he had seen summonable just before.

Other items couldn’t be appraised due to insufficient level, but.

That one alone could be sensed.

At the same time, one of the abilities awakened as Inventory Master.

The very ability he had felt was truly useless until now.

The ability to summon items from the inventory at a distance.

He cast the spell to summon an item from the inventory at a distance.

Roughly the position in front of the goblin.

“Summon. Excalibur.”

At the same time.

A yellow holy sword fell from the sky like a meteor toward the center of the traps.

Shuuk-

Kwaaaaaang!!!

At the same time, Choi Junseok’s body floated backward from the massive shockwave and soared into the air.

[Congratulations!]

[You have cleared the 1st floor.]

[Congratulations!]

[Hidden reward condition: Achieved solo shortest time clear.]

[Clear time: 1 minute 27 seconds.]

[Rewards will be granted.]

[Would you like to register anonymously in the Hall of Fame? (Y/N)]

Choi Junseok’s answer was obviously.

“Uwaaaaah! Uh!”

It wasn’t easy since he was in mid-flight.

[Registered anonymously.]

[Hidden rewards and clear rewards will be granted.]

Due to the aftermath of the shockwave, Choi Junseok, who fell into the darkness, startled and sat up in reality.

It was Choi Junseok’s room.

Choi Junseok’s younger sister, Choi Hyeri, turned around in surprise.

“Aish! You scared me! If you were lying down, say something! I thought you weren’t here!”

“Where’s Mom?”

“What are you saying all of a sudden? She went to work.”

“……Ah.”

“Don’t talk in your sleep and just eat. Mom left some rice balls.”

Rice balls made by squeezing plain rice seasoned only with salt.

Not even a common sheet of seaweed.

“Hyeri. Now the tearful salt rice is over.”

“You crazy bastard… What nonsense all of a sudden. Did you win the lottery or something?”

Lottery?

The lottery?

This is beyond lottery level.

He instinctively sensed it.

His younger sister Choi Hyeri found her brother’s nodding appearance unfamiliar.

Something really happened?

“I… awakened. As a player.”

His younger sister’s eyes widened.

Yes. In the previous life, the reaction was like this too.

Though that awakening was the F-rank ability Inventory, optimized for porters.

Of course, even with this ability, making a living became easier.

But that was it.

The porter’s allowance for farming the lower levels of the Magic Tower wasn’t that much.

He couldn’t cure Mom’s arm and his sister’s lung disease that spread from magic stone infection.

But now it was different.

“Where does Mom work?”

“Why?”

He was thinking of using the healing potion in his inventory.

Magic Tower Countermeasures Defense Headquarters.

Abbreviated as ‘Mabangbu’

The huge conference room there.

From the President to minister-level officials were seated in a row.

Above their heads, a red electronic clock timer was placed.

On the huge electronic board, red numbers decreased by 1 second units.

Just looking at it made one’s breath catch, the timer decreasing moment by moment.

That timer was installed at the President’s request.

The intent was that if they couldn’t even feel the tension of those decreasing numbers, they should think about quitting.

The phrase written next to it also had a tragic air in bold red Gothic font.

[102 days 7 hours 21 minutes 44 seconds since the occurrence of the Suseo Magic Tower.]

In ordinary cases, they just return a tiny portion of the profits from the Magic Tower’s magic stones as compensation and evacuate within 300 days.

However, Suseo is different.

The Magic Tower that rose piercing through the department store attached to Suseo Station.

Suseo Magic Tower collapse simulation results.

Not the average 2km damage radius, but a 2.3km radius damage was expected.

It was because the ground in the adjacent river area was even weaker.

Upon collapse, not only the nearby Munjeong Station.

Reports followed that the weak ground would cause a domino effect sinking down to Seokchon Lake and Jamsil.

If the World Tower collapses, the secondary damage in the vicinity goes without saying.

It meant that the southeastern Jamsil area of the capital would be devastated.

“At this point with 198 days left until the Magic Tower collapse! Does it make sense that the top teams have only cleared up to the 58th floor?”

The Prime Minister cum Minister of Economy grumbled, but.

The Minister of National Defense replied as calmly as possible.

“Well, it can’t be helped. We suffered devastating damage at the Incheon Magic Tower. From 1st, 6th, 9th, 14th to 21st…”

“You should have prepared thoroughly for the upcoming situation.”

“Strong players don’t just appear with a snap! Minister…”

“I heard that player awakenings soar above average at the same time as a Magic Tower occurrence?”

“That’s correct. However, they still need to adapt to the tower’s rules and ability usage as players.”

The atmosphere resembled a hearing.

“What will you do around the 200-day mark? Will you be able to smile and take photos in front of the citizens like when you took office?”

“From the point with 120 days left, we’ll somehow deploy American players…”

“America, America! Listen here! There are 17 Magic Towers that occurred in America. Do you think they have the leeway?”

“Of course, America is also… in a difficult situation, but except for some areas, they’ve issued evacuation orders and are declaring all-out war on only 1-2 Magic Towers. Though difficult, as an ally, according to the agreement…”

“Oh, sure, they’d love to help. When their own backyard is sinking, according to that damn agreement, wasting precious time across the ocean…”

“Minister! I’ll ask. Isn’t self-reliant national defense important?”

“Of course… self-reliant defense is important. But… with the ranking 1st Sword God gone…”

“Isn’t alliance relations and cooperation according to them also important in emergencies?”

……

In fact, no concrete alternatives came out.

It was closer to a meeting to catch the culprit or grill related departments.

At that time, the conference room door quietly opened, and someone came running awkwardly and whispered something into the Defense Minister’s ear.

It was a moment when the minister-level officials’ brows furrowed deeply.

But seeing the Defense Minister’s surprised eyes, they sensed something unusual and waited for the story.

After hearing it all, he dry-washed his face and slowly opened his mouth.

“The… 1st floor 1st place player has changed.”

“Is that something to be so surprised about?”

“That player’s rank is F-rank. Above all, they registered anonymously.”

“?!”

Because they were minister-level officials who knew the players’ principles better than anyone.

They were flustered by the fact that it was uploaded ‘anonymously’.

If players usually take 1st place on a specific floor, don’t they reveal their names to the world?

“We’re checking if there’s any circumstance of foreign ranker players illegally entering Korea and challenging the Magic Tower, but at least there’s no evaluation of movement of forces capable of clearing 1st place.”

“That means?”

Defense Minister Yoo Incheol clenched his fist and nodded.

“One has appeared. An all-time rookie.”

At the same time.

The man called that all-time rookie.

Was placing water and praying to spin the draw from the 1st floor reward he just received.

An open space near the refugee village made by remodeling container boxes.

What had entered the inventory as a reward.

‘Summon Ticket (One-time use)’

“I pray. I pray! Please give S-rank. Please!”

Then, instead of asking if he would use it, an unfamiliar window popped up.

A small square box above the ‘Use’ button.

The explanation said this.

You can register a catalyst to use for the summon.

“Summon catalyst…?”

Soon, something caught in Choi Junseok’s mind.

“I offer the Lionheart King’s Gauntlet in the inventory as catalyst!”

“Waiiit!”

At that time, Yoo Junhyuk stopped him, but.

“Is there a law saying I have to wear it?”

It’s an item he can’t equip anyway.

Might as well use it as sacrifice.

Click.

The Lionheart King’s Gauntlet is placed in the catalyst slot.

“Stoooop!”

At the same time as Yoo Junhyuk’s scream.

The summon ticket paper tore, and smoke began to rise.

Through the thick smoke, a beautiful woman with long hair revealed herself.

Long hair with slight waves.

The color was unique.

Dark blonde with a subtle red tint. 

Or perhaps it should be called red-brown.

It was a blonde somewhere between gold and red.

Her height couldn’t be called small, but due to her clear skin, she gave the impression of a girl.

However, the words that came from her mouth were something Choi Junseok never expected.

“Lionheart King, Richard Lionheart. I meet my lord.”

‘Ri’chard ‘Lion’heart.

Abbreviated to Lee Nayeon.

It was the appearance of her who would become the 2nd generation Sword God in the future.

Following that.

Yoo Junhyuk’s admiring ‘Wow…’ was heard.

“It was an exceedingly excellent choice.”

The one who tried to stop him looked even more satisfied.