“Good morning, Nayeon! You’re in a great mood today, Junseok!”
He was indeed in a great mood.
Lately, he had been acquiring some incredible rewards one after another.
“There’s some good news, and it applies to you too, Hana.”
“Huh? Me? What is it? A gift?”
“Not exactly a gift… but something similar.”
If she was summoned in Japan and escaped from there, she either killed her original summoner or simply fled.
Either way, he had an item that could sever any soul-binding contract.
Choi Junseok summoned a pair of scissors into his palm.
The Mythic-grade item, Lethe’s Scissors.
They glowed pink, as if carved from rose quartz.
The moment Song Hana saw them, she took a couple of steps back.
“Eek!”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“It’s a Mythic item…”
“What’s wrong with a Mythic item?”
“Junseok, you’re a scary person.
People with Mythic items are scary.”
It was an odd way to categorize things, but she wasn’t entirely wrong.
It was a well-known fact that even some top 10 rankers didn’t possess Mythic items.
Looking at his inventory, it was hard to believe this belonged to someone who hadn’t even reached the 10th floor.
Summonable Items:
1. Excalibur, the Promised King’s Sword (Transcendent)
2. Perfect Healing Potion (Unique) x 11
3. Fairy’s Harvest (Legendary)
4. Hephaestus’s Forge Entry Ticket (Mythic)
5. Teleportation Summoning Circle (Legendary)
6. Kim Chunsik’s Longsword (Unique)
7. Magic Tower High-Pass Entry Ticket (Legendary)
8. Lethe’s Scissors (Mythic)
Even just the key items were like this.
On top of that, Lee Nayeon’s Lionheart King’s Gauntlet, which was bonded to her, was also Mythic-grade.
Various miscellaneous cold weapons used as bullet substitutes were neatly stored in his inventory.
Since the items weren’t bulky or heavy, he still had plenty of inventory capacity left.
One Transcendent, three Mythic, and three Legendary items.
How could this be the inventory of a player who hadn’t even cleared the 10th floor?
It was comparable to—or honestly, surpassed—the specs of a level 300 or 400 top-tier raid team player.
“You must have been born with insane item luck! Probably because you’re a porter!”
“Is that a compliment?”
“Of course!”
Her cheerful voice carried a natural charm.
“So, what’s the gift?!”
“Didn’t you already appraise this item?”
“Right! It releases soul-binding! For items!”
“…Items.”
“Yes! Items!”
She tilted her head like a rabbit, then nodded.
Her bright smile suggested she genuinely believed she was fully human.
“It’s about you.”
Song Hana blinked for a moment, then her expression turned gloomy as she nodded, realizing what he meant.
“If you need my talisman paper… I’ll give it to you!”
What she pulled out was none other than a stack of yellow talisman paper.
The same stack she had used to draw on the spot and tear off like a receipt.
It looked like a notepad made of yellow paper.
When appraised, it was a Legendary-grade item called “Infinite Talisman Paper.”
“No, not that. I was wondering if I could release your soul-binding, if you’re okay with it.”
Song Hana’s large eyes widened even more.
Her eyelashes trembled.
Then, she burst into tears.
“Waaah! Waaah!”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“I’m just… so grateful. So grateful I’m crying.”
Sobbing, she collapsed onto Lee Nayeon’s lap, who was sitting nearby.
Startled, Lee Nayeon looked at Choi Junseok in confusion, then cautiously patted Song Hana’s back.
Lee Nayeon, equally startled, looked at Choi Junseok before gently stroking Song Hana’s head and back.
Her attempt at comfort was something else.
“Sadness is an unnecessary emotion in battle.”
That’s supposed to comfort her?
But surprisingly, it worked.
“You’re right… I can’t just keep sniffling!”
Rubbing her face on Lee Nayeon’s lap, she suddenly looked up.
Choi Junseok couldn’t quite understand their chemistry.
“Please release the soul-binding now!”
There was a strange determination in Song Hana’s eyes.
“It’s my first time using it on something outside the inventory, so it might take some trial and error.”
As he held the scissors, he saw a transparent thread extending from Song Hana’s head into the air.
“Is that what I need to cut?”
When he brought the scissors above her head, she flinched and shrank back.
But the moment he tried to cut the thread, the scissors stopped, gripping the thread.
“Eek! A status window popped up!”
“What does it say?”
“It’s asking if I want to release the soul-binding with Matsumoto Hirobumi! Yes, yes, release it now!”
Snip!
The thread was cut instantly.
A strong gust of wind followed the severance.
After the wind subsided, Song Hana’s shoulders trembled as she bowed her head.
Drip, drip.
Tears fell to the floor.
Looking at her small hands, she clenched and unclenched them repeatedly.
“Ohh…”
They were tears of joy, and she was smiling.
Then, Song Hana lunged at Choi Junseok, clinging to him.
Her small stature meant her head hit just below his chest, shaking with emotion.
She was shedding tears.
“Even with talismans… I couldn’t erase it. It’s finally gone…”
He didn’t know her full story, but it seemed heavy with meaning.
Caught off guard, Choi Junseok patted her head to calm her.
After clinging to him and then Lee Nayeon for a while, Song Hana regained her composure.
Returning to her usual expression, she grabbed Choi Junseok’s hand and said,
“Let’s make a contract!”
Her teary, sparkling eyes looked up at him.
A status window appeared in Choi Junseok’s vision.
[Would you like to register the summoned being ‘Song Hana’? (Y/N)]
“I’ll protect you with all sorts of talismans and skills! I’ll be a huge help in climbing!”
Her confidence had already been proven at the Kaesong Magic Tower.
The clear conditions were simple, and the first floor’s structure helped, so there was little to fear from summoning at a distance.
The protection talisman’s effect had been confirmed there.
Though Choi Junseok didn’t see it himself, he had sent Lee Nayeon to verify its effect.
The talisman burned, creating a transparent dome around Lee Nayeon that lasted quite a while.
And that wasn’t all—it even provided various protective measures in the real world through talisman techniques.
An S-rank all-purpose supporter as a summoned being?
There was no reason to refuse.
“Register.”
Another status window appeared.
[The summon function for ‘Song Hana’ has been added to the general skill ‘Summon Being.’]
This significantly reduces the risk of summoning the holy sword.
“Junseok! How was the protection talisman’s effect?”
“Could you make… I mean, produce more protection talismans?”
“Hehe! Of course!”
Excited, she opened her talisman paper and began drawing with her finger.
“Here’s one!”
Rip!
After making one protection talisman, she started on a second.
Thud.
She collapsed into Choi Junseok’s arms, nose bleeding.
Just before she reached him, Lee Nayeon grabbed her and lifted her up.
She laid her on the sofa.
Song Hana’s face was pale, almost blue.
“Ugh… dizzy.”
“It might be because your level dropped.”
“Ugh… so dizzy…”
Lee Nayeon looked down at her with concern.
“It’s probably not just the level. It’s a taxing skill to begin with.”
“It’s not entirely unrelated. Your level’s probably dropped to 21.”
A summoned being’s level synchronizes with the summoner’s.
After clearing the first floor of the Kaesong Magic Tower and the 8th floor of the Suseo Magic Tower, his level had risen by 3 to 21.
At the mention of level 21, Song Hana quietly blinked.
“Huh… you’re right.”
“What was your original level?”
“I don’t remember exactly, but around 372…? Something like that. But the talismans’ performance should be the same.”
Lee Nayeon asked coolly,
“How many can you produce per day?”
“In this condition, maybe three at most? Two should be doable…”
Two protection talismans a day?
That was more than enough.
***
Around the same time, at the Magic Tower Defense Headquarters, or “Mabangbu” for short, an emergency meeting was held.
The agenda was, of course, the Kaesong Magic Tower in North Korea and the emergence of the so-called F-rank “Quadratic Function.”
“You’re saying it wasn’t an F-rank sent by South Korea?”
“We didn’t engage in such reckless provocations.”
Before the “Quadratic Function,” an F-rank irregular, appeared, the record holder was a South Korean player.
“You sent rankers, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“So we don’t know their identity?”
“That’s correct.”
The Player Management Office Director pretended not to know, despite knowing.
Only Choi Junseok, Kang Jinsu, the Director, and the President knew that Choi Junseok had cleared the first floor of the Kaesong Magic Tower.
The reason was simple.
The benefits outweighed the risks.
Of course, the Director had reported directly to the President that the Quadratic Function was a result of sending South Korea’s Function.
But other officials were kept in the dark.
The President agreed with the Player Management Office’s judgment.
There was nothing wrong with North Korea wasting administrative resources searching for an unidentified F-rank within their borders.
The decisive reason was that spreading this information internally was tantamount to informing North Korea.
With potential spies embedded anywhere, admitting that South Korea sent a player to mess with the first floor?
That would be akin to admitting a preemptive attack, giving North Korea justification for further provocations and erratic actions.
From the Player Management Office’s perspective, hiding the Quadratic Function’s existence brought significant advantages.
The tension that North Korea might achieve economic growth through the Magic Tower.
That tension translated into budget support and attention for the Player Management Office.
“Are there any cases of F-rank irregulars appearing worldwide?”
“No reports of F-ranks this strong outside South and North Korea. Other countries are closely monitoring the situation.”
“Russia has conducted a full investigation of new F-ranks.”
“It seems the Player Management Office has located South Korea’s Function? The news has been quiet, and the prosecution’s investigation seems to have wrapped up.”
“I can only say it’s being managed confidentially.”
“Tch… If everything’s a secret in a Mabangbu meeting, when will anything be revealed?”
Attendees tapped their pens or clicked their tongues, showing dissatisfaction.
“So how will you respond to North Korea’s Quadratic Function?”
“The first floor of the Kaesong Magic Tower has a very simple structure. It’s far easier than Suseo’s first floor.”
“And?”
“North Korea has many players who were rankers abroad. If they’ve returned to tackle it, a solo clear in 1 second is possible…”
“It’s 0 seconds! 0 seconds!”
Due to the Magic Tower’s system rounding down decimals, the Quadratic Function’s record was listed as 0 seconds.
An absurd figure.
“They cleared it before visual information could even register!”
The Player Management Office Director nodded and responded.
“Exactly. It’s ridiculous, isn’t it?”
“So we’ve internally concluded that North Korea has a player or item capable of intentionally disrupting the tower’s system.”
“That’s just a hypothesis.”
“It’s the only explanation that makes sense.”
“Does that even make sense…”
The Director spoke gravely to the ministers from various departments.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not here to explain to the ministries. I’m reporting.”
In other words, don’t meddle in our business.
“So how’s the攻略 of the upper floors going?”
“We’ve consecutively cleared the 58th and 59th floors. We’re now focusing on scouting and strategizing for the 60th floor, a boss floor.”
The officials naturally knew that Choi Junseok had cleared the 8th floor with a record time.
“When do you think Function will hit their limit?”
The Director smirked inwardly.
These people really don’t know Function.
“Limit? Is there such a thing?”
***
That night, exactly 24 hours after entering the Kaesong Magic Tower, Choi Junseok cleared the 9th floor with a record time, confirming the protection talisman’s reliability.
Before tackling the 10th floor, he was explaining its structure to his two summoned beings.
“Every 10th floor is called a boss floor. Here, you need to defeat mid-bosses on three separate paths to summon the clear condition, the Troll Warlord.”
“Junseok, can you win? Troll Warlord, Troll Great Shaman, Troll Great Spiritmaster. Which one will you fight?”
“No, I can beat any—”
Before he could finish, Lee Nayeon raised a finger to silence him.
Song Hana, looking at the 10th floor map Choi Junseok showed, was trembling, worrying about which to fight.
Only after Lee Nayeon patted her shoulder did she seem to notice an intruder.
Lee Nayeon’s detection ability was superior.
“Choi Junseok! I know you’re in there! Come out now!”
Choi Junseok immediately recognized the voice.
It was Lee Jiyu, the Supersonic Bunny, but her pronunciation was slightly slurred, as if she were drunk.
What’s wrong with the Player Management Office? How did she find out?
He hesitated, wondering whether to ignore her or respond.
Then came Lee Jiyu’s unexpected words.
“I have a request! I’m not here to fight! Open the door, or I’ll tell the five major guilds that you’re Function!”
What kind of development was this?
In just a few days, S-rank players and summoned beings kept showing up.
Is the security here really okay?
It didn’t seem like she had hostile intentions.
If she meant harm, she wouldn’t have bothered with words.
She’d have come with guns, swords, or bombs instead.
There’s some other motive here.
Some might be thrilled at women showing up, but this was Lee Jiyu—an S-rank ranker, successful businesswoman, and top celebrity.
And didn’t she see him as the enemy of her missing summoned being?
For now… I’ll pretend I’m not here and escape to the Magic Tower.
As he tried to enter the 10th floor, a warning appeared.
Warning: Recommended entry party size for the 10th floor (minimum 3 players).
No players meeting the recommended party size detected nearby.
Would you like to enter? (Y/N)
Just as he was about to press Y, a sound came.
Crackle, crackle—
Something was freezing.
No doubt, it was the sound of Lee Jiyu, who had touched the door, being frozen.