Rewinding time by a day, before Choi Junseok set foot on Japanese soil,
In a heavily secured hotel room, Choi Junseok and Team Leader Kang were having a conversation.
It was to share brief updates.
About how the situation was unfolding after the terrorist attack.
And about how the Korean government had decided to respond.
Thanks to the captured culprit, they were extracting a lot of information, but shockingly, they appeared to be brainwashed Koreans.
It was highly likely that another psychological manipulation summon was involved in this brainwashing.
“However, it’s certain that for such brainwashing to occur, spies or summons from North Korea or Japan would have had to infiltrate Korean society.”
“We don’t know if they’ve returned to their country or are waiting for surveillance to die down.”
“We’re mobilizing all resources with the resolve to capture them and exact bloody revenge.”
Given the scale of the incident, Choi Junseok thought it was already beyond his control.
But Team Leader Kang made a peculiar proposal to him.
One that could easily be misunderstood.
“Don’t you want to take a vacation, Junseok-nim?”
“Pardon?”
“It’s not that kind of strange proposal, so relax… It’s a genuine vacation offer.”
“If it’s a vacation offer, why add ‘it’s genuine’? That makes it suspicious.”
“Well, there’s one condition attached, but it’s a good deal for you too.”
“The vacation spot isn’t North Korea, is it?”
Team Leader Kang chuckled and shook his head.
“It’s Japan.”
“A vacation to Japan… That’s quite meaningful.”
“Of course, consider it a small reward for capturing one of the culprits this time.”
“It doesn’t feel like that’s the only reason.”
At Choi Junseok’s words, Team Leader Kang grinned and nodded.
The nuance was that he appreciated how quickly Choi Junseok caught on.
“There’s a Magic Tower in Shibuya, Tokyo. We don’t know what the Floor 1 clear reward is, but as with all Magic Towers, it’s certain to offer a chance at a Mythic-grade item.”
“You want me to steal it.”
“Exactly.”
But Choi Junseok had three concerns.
“There’s a problem, isn’t there?”
“Go ahead and say it.”
“First, even if I enter disguised with Song Hana’s help, the moment an F-rank solo player is recorded on Shibuya Magic Tower’s Floor 1, won’t everyone realize it’s Korea’s Hana?”
While the Japanese public might not know about the mysterious F-rank player called Hana,
The Japanese government would immediately recognize that this F-rank player is Korea’s Hana.
Team Leader Kang nodded, urging him to continue without denying it.
“It feels like you’re asking me to make a mess in Japan’s Magic Tower… Won’t that strain relations between Japan and Korea?”
“Could things get any worse than they already are?”
“Japan is already denying involvement despite the evidence we’ve presented. They’re saying not to make absurd claims, that they wouldn’t antagonize us based on the words of a brainwashed Korean player. If they’re going to act so brazen… well, we’ll do the same. ‘F-rank? Not us.’”
“So that’s the goal.”
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, right? As I mentioned earlier, Korean players are sweeping the major rewards from North Korea’s Magic Tower. At this rate, some are joking that Kaesong will reach Floor 100 faster than Suseo.”
Unlike the Suseo Magic Tower, where teams were split and talent was dispersed,
The Kaesong Magic Tower was being climbed with unity, driven by players’ anger and desire for revenge against North Korea.
Of course, being in the lower floors helped.
S-rank and A-rank players from different guilds formed a dream team to climb the Magic Tower.
The vanguard quickly ascended the Kaesong Magic Tower,
And whenever a floor with specific conditions or limited reward gimmicks appeared, an S-rank player on standby would step in to secure the hidden rewards.
“All responsibility for the outcome will be borne by the Player Management Office and the government. You just need to swoop in and take the items.”
“Alright. I get that I don’t need to worry about that. But can I come back alive?”
Team Leader Kang nodded reassuringly.
“For the disguise, Song Hana will help, and we’ll assist with a mask disguise as well.”
“Mask disguise?”
“You know, like in the movies—completely changing a person’s face as if wearing a new skin.”
Wasn’t that just in movies?
“Is that actually possible?”
“Of course it is. It doesn’t even take long. And for your return, you have that item, don’t you?”
“The item that lets me teleport to a designated location. You mentioned it briefly before, right? I’ll set it to Korea and go to Japan. That way, I can teleport back instantly.”
As Choi Junseok scratched his head, feeling overwhelmed by the complexity,
Team Leader Kang eased his concerns.
“As long as you’re not caught in Japan, there’s zero chance of your identity or information being exposed.”
Choi Junseok nodded with an “oh well” attitude.
“Fine, let’s do it.”
Stealing the Floor 1 reward from a foreign Magic Tower wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
Thus, Choi Junseok agreed to the stance of the Player Management Office and the government.
Go to Shibuya Magic Tower, clear Floor 1, and take revenge with the same excuse they used.
After Team Leader Kang left, Choi Junseok explained the plan to Song Hana and Lee Nayeon.
Song Hana seemed both terrified and excited.
“You’re going to clear Floor 1 of the Shibuya Magic Tower? That’s huge! But… doesn’t that mean you have to go to Japan?! Matsumoto won’t sit still…”
“To wage war, you have to charge into enemy territory. You can’t win a war by fearing the enemy.”
Lee Nayeon’s response was as expected.
Song Hana’s eyes trembled with anxiety,
But she soon spoke with resolve.
“I-I want to go too!”
Her determination was clear,
But Choi Junseok only tilted his head.
There was no need to put her in danger by bringing her along.
He could just summon her in the Magic Tower.
“I’ll only summon you two inside the Magic Tower. You can stay in Korea. Just forge my player profile.”
“Oh? Now that I think about it, you’re right! Ehe.”
Honestly, there wasn’t even a need to summon them in the Magic Tower.
What Choi Junseok summoned wasn’t the two summons but the holy sword.
Thus, he arrived at the Tokyo Magic Tower.
After getting out of the taxi and confusing his route with the help of the NIS,
He entered the Shibuya Magic Tower from a secluded spot.
[Would you like to enter Floor 1 of the Shibuya Magic Tower? (Y/N)]
He had already been briefed on the internal structure.
There were plenty of videos uploaded by Japanese player YouTubers, easily accessible with a quick search on YouTube.
Recalling the layout to summon directly to the target point, the moment he pressed to enter,
As the scenery changed, he summoned the holy sword without hesitation.
“Summon!”
The holy sword tore through the air, spiraling downward.
TUKWAAAAAANG!
Floor 1, similar to Korea’s trap-avoidance layout.
[Congratulations!]
[You have cleared Floor 1.]
[Congratulations!]
[Hidden Reward Condition: Achieved the fastest solo clear.]
[Clear Time: 0 seconds.]
[Would you like to register anonymously in the Hall of Fame? (Y/N)]
[Registered anonymously.]
[Hidden Rewards will be distributed.]
Having mercilessly cleared Floor 1, Choi Junseok immediately used an item upon returning to reality.
It was the Legendary-grade item Teleportation Summoning Circle.
Thus, right after leaving his mark as an “Anonymous F-rank” in the Shibuya Magic Tower’s Hall of Fame,
Choi Junseok vanished from Japan.
What vacation?
Lingering for a few hours could lead to who-knows-what kind of trouble.
As expected, Japan went on high alert.
At Japan’s Defense Ministry, their equivalent of Korea’s Player Management Office,
About four minutes after Hana obliterated Floor 1 of the Shibuya Magic Tower,
“An unknown F-rank appeared on Floor 1 of the Shibuya Magic Tower!”
The Player Management Bureau Director closed his eyes, nodded, and, realizing the time had come, immediately enacted Matsumoto’s strategy.
“Operation Hana Hunt begins.”
Indeed.
Japan had already anticipated that Korea would send Hana in this manner.
After all, their goal was to lure Hana to Japan.
As expected, the fool and naive Korea had played right into their script.
Matsumoto Hirobumi, the Defense Minister and S-rank ranker, clenched his fist and issued the order.
“Now he’s a rat in a trap! Capture him at all costs!”
Got you.
It took just ten minutes for the alert to be raised.
Five minutes later,
About 15 minutes after Hana’s Floor 1 clear incident,
All flights from Japan to Korea were ordered to stand by.
Simultaneously, identity checks were conducted on all entrants to Japan over the past three days.
They prioritized those who had flown directly from Korea to Japan,
But knowing the power of summons like Song Hana, Matsumoto didn’t limit the search to F-rank players.
Naturally, accounting for disguised identities, they thoroughly investigated every individual.
Half a day later,
“What? No likely suspects at all?”
“Among those who entered in the past three days, not a single player was found among those who took flights to Korea or other countries.”
If there’s not a single player…
He nodded.
Hana was still in Japan.
“Find him at all costs. He hasn’t left Japan. Monitor all ports 24/7 to prevent stowaways!”
Thus, Hana’s appearance and disappearance alone consumed significant administrative resources in Japan.
The hunt for Hana paralyzed other administrative tasks.
That alone was enough for Korea’s warning to Japan.
Junseok, Japan is neglecting government tasks to focus on finding Hana.
They’ve reportedly wasted 40 million yen in administrative resources and budget, roughly 400 million won.
But there was something even more satisfying.
According to intelligence, the Defense Minister is furious and lodging unofficial protests with our government, which is playing dumb.
Even in Japan’s player community, the anonymous F-rank who cleared Floor 1 in 0 seconds caused an uproar.
[KITDA-!!! Tokyo’s Super SSS-rank F-ranker!]
[Oi, oi… Don’t underestimate F-ranks anymore? Feeling kinda bad? (flower)]
[Current S-ranks trembling lololol]
[Mysterious F-rank registering anonymously is so cool~]
Indeed.
Whether in Japan or Korea, people’s reactions were quite similar.
While Japan was thrown into chaos and Hana vanished,
“Search all you want, you won’t find me.”
Hana was already back in Korea, opening the Floor 1 hidden reward with Song Hana.
The item that emerged exceeded Choi Junseok’s expectations, having opened Floor 1 hidden rewards twice before.
Once again, it was an item that defied the Magic Tower’s fundamental logic and system.