[Congratulations!]
[You have cleared the 29th floor.]
[Clear time: 1 minute 47 seconds.]
[Would you like to register anonymously in the Hall of Fame? (Y/N)]
[The additional effect of ‘Fairy’s Harvest (Toothless)’ has been activated.]
[Middle-floor clear rewards will be distributed.]
[5-floor fastest-record streak bonus reward will be distributed.]
Choi Junseok immediately returned to Lee Jiyu’s house.
Lee Jiyu’s eyes widened in shock.
“You already cleared the 29th floor?”
“Yep.”
The way he said it, as if asking why she was even questioning the obvious, made Lee Nayeon stick out her tongue.
This is ridiculous…
It was faster than going to the bathroom.
No, honestly faster than that.
He didn’t even give her time to get sentimental looking at Choi Byeongryeol’s things.
She nodded inwardly, remembering the time she climbed with him.
If it took long, that would’ve been weirder.
What shocked her next was the little black baby dragon Choi Junseok summoned.
The creature materialized gently in the air, tilted its head, and looked up at Lee Jiyu.
Its eyes clearly said, Who are you? and Why are you here?
She felt wronged.
“This is my house, you know?”
“Kyuu?”
Kamdori just kept tilting its head.
“Well… it is cute, I guess.”
Song Hana and Lee Nayeon apparently hadn’t even entered the tower this time.
As soon as Song Hana sensed Kamdori, she came sprinting across the massive living room; it took dozens of seconds just to cross it.
“KKAMDORI~!”
“Kyuu?”
“Ah, so its name is Kamdori.”
Song Hana scooped the little dragon into a big hug.
It looked so fluffy and squishy that Lee Jiyu, feeling a little jealous, instinctively reached out.
CHOMP!
Kamdori, still in Song Hana’s arms, suddenly bit Lee Jiyu’s hand.
All three of them panicked at once.
“A-are you okay?!”
Song Hana frantically pried open Kamdori’s mouth.
Choi Junseok was worried her hand might be gone; he needed Lee Jiyu healthy because he had to earn 500 million in three days, and medical bills would be a problem.
– She’s fine. No injury.
Yoo Junhyuk’s senses had already checked the wound more accurately. He was right.
“Ow, you scared me…”
Lee Jiyu pulled her hand out from between Kamdori’s open jaws.
Fortunately unharmed.
She even started petting its head.
Kamdori glared with round eyes at first, then gradually relaxed and began purring under her touch.
“Its mouth is squishy too.”
“Really?”
Song Hana’s eyes sparkled, as if ready to offer her own arm next.
“I don’t think it’ll bite hard enough to hurt. It has tiny teeth like a kitten.”
Somehow, Song Hana naturally passed Kamdori over to Lee Jiyu.
The warm, fluffy sensation made Lee Jiyu smile as the little dragon tilted its head in her arms.
“It’s cute.”
He hadn’t summoned it for that reason; he just wanted to check what items Kamdori had absorbed, but this was fine too.
Important items probably hadn’t dropped anyway.
If items poured out every floor every day, players wouldn’t grind the same floors for loot; they’d just speed-run upward.
“The real deal is this.”
A small box appeared on Choi Junseok’s palm.
The bonus reward for fastest-record streak across five floors.
Every time, this box gave either a huge chunk of cash or a stat-boosting item.
The reason he could clear the 29th floor in the 1:40 range was thanks to the Blink skill rune he got from a previous bonus box.
“Here we go… give me something good!”
Even without being told, Song Hana immediately blessed the bonus box.
Usually it gave player-growth items.
Even if it was untradeable, that was fine.
He just needed something worth 500 million or more; no, after taxes and fees, it had to be at least 800–900 million.
Choi Junseok quickly recalled the items in his inventory.
Summonable Items
1. Promised King’s Sword Excalibur (Transcendent)
2. Perfect Healing Potion × 11
3. Fairy’s Harvest (Toothless) (Legendary)
4. Hephaestus’s Forge Entry Ticket (Mythic)
5. Teleportation Summoning Circle (Legendary)
6. Kim Chunsik’s Longsword (Unique)
7. Magic Tower High-Pass Ticket (Legendary)
8. Lethe’s Scissors (Mythic)
9. Magic Tower Return Scroll ×1
[Will you use the bonus reward box? (Y/N)]
He pressed Y without hesitation. Pop! An item slowly materialized.
“Wide-Area Magic Nullification Scroll…?”
He immediately used Appraisal.
Item Name: Wide-Area Magic Nullification Scroll (Rare)
Category: Consumable
Description: Removes all magic, diseases, curses, and derivative status effects within 100 meters.
Usage: Tear the scroll.
An item that looked both useful and useless at the same time.
Tch—
Choi Junseok clicked his tongue, wondering if Song Hana’s blessing luck was running out.
Meanwhile Lee Jiyu let out an impressed “Ooh!”
“This is an item the top-floor raid teams use a lot.”
“A lot?”
Meaning there was plenty of supply?
“I’m not sure of the exact market price, but it easily goes over 700 million.”
700 million for a single consumable. That alone showed how astronomical the cost of attempting even one top-floor trial was.
“No wonder mid-floor farming teams dig for consumables like this scroll or healing potions.”
“Still, I don’t trust surface prices anymore.”
Even 10-million-won items end up netting only about 45% after all the deductions.
Selling a 100-won item means the player gets roughly 45 won.
Choi Junseok sent the price screenshot to Team Leader Kang anyway.
– This is an item the Player Management Office buys unlimited. Current official buy price is 632 million won. The price dropped a bit because the top-floor raid teams are on break. Want to sell now?
I’ll hold for now.
– Confirmed 29th floor clear. Good luck and stay safe on the 30th.
“Those punks. They say the price dropped because the top teams are reorganizing.”
“Raid teams rest, but top rankers don’t let their entry tickets sit idle. They at least solo-farm lower floors.”
Their entry tickets alone were worth tens to hundreds of millions, so of course.
“After taxes take half, conservatively I’m looking at about 300 million.”
Should I really clear the 100th floor of the Kaesong tower and demand tax immunity or something?
He’d have to risk his life, but the murderous tax rate made the thought cross his mind.
Over 45% tax on ultra-high earners over 1 billion won.
Even players couldn’t escape that bracket.
“Wow… so you really earned half of the 500 million in one day? At this rate it might actually be possible.”
A player who hasn’t even reached the 30th floor pulling hundreds of millions in cash per day?
Lee Jiyu suddenly let out a hollow laugh.
“You’ll buy a place like this soon.”
“Have you ever earned 10 billion from tower income?”
“…No? I’ve never even come close, even pre-tax.”
Even she, a top-tier ranker, had never made 10 billion purely from climbing.
Of course. She’d been active a little over six years, but 10 billion wasn’t pocket change.
If players could make that much easily, they’d all retire and live safely instead of risking their lives climbing.
You’d need to eat a tradeable Legendary item to see hundreds of billions, and even then you’d have to split it with party or raid members.
“I’m feeling it more and more these days; if you want to make real money in Korea, you have to run a business.”
She shrugged as if to say do whatever. After all, her own house was bought mostly with business and broadcasting income.
Pure climbing income was just a normal high-salary job in the hundreds of millions per year.
“Being a player is perfect for a side job. Especially for you.”
Normal players spend dozens of hours preparing strategies and coordination, then only get 2–3 hours inside the tower per day.”
Except for special floors, total stay time was limited to that anyway.
But the Function spent less than 10 minutes inside and didn’t even seem to study strategies for the 29th floor.
He literally popped in and out, and hundreds of millions poured in.
“Business is insanely stressful. Why not just be satisfied with this life?”
“Then do a business with no stress.”
She could only nod, thinking he really didn’t know how the world worked.
“You know there’s a hidden clear condition on the 31st floor, right?”
Choi Junseok’s eyes lit up.
“There is?”
“If you recruit instead of kill the leader of the low-class warriors that appear, the floor clears instantly. You get the hidden reward too.”
“…Sounds annoying.”
“Just saying. It came to mind when you opened the bonus box.”
Still, useful information.
Hidden rewards were known only to a handful of rankers, so even the Player Management Office couldn’t tell him.
“Starting from the 31st floor, martial artists appear. Think of them as humanoid monsters; it’s a little easier mentally.The problem is they’re too human-like. They even talk. If it messes with your head, it’s okay to take the elevator.”
“Hmm… I’ll be fine.”
Honestly, he thought he could kill them without issue.
But he didn’t want to force Song Hana and Lee Nayeon to feel like murderers.
The tower had this kind of cruelty.
“You should be careful on the 30th floor tomorrow. Usually fifteen or more people challenge the boss… If it looks dangerous, want me to come with? I can tell the guild I can’t climb tomorrow—”
“Why tomorrow?”
“…?”
“I’m going today.”
Lee Jiyu asked, half relieved.
“I’ve been curious anyway. How do you clear two floors a day?”
“State secret.”
“…Of course it is.”
Where else would normal players earn money?
From climbing the tower, obviously.
Lee Nayeon was about to give some tips, thinking he was finally preparing properly for the 30th floor, when—
“Before I go, just one thing…”
Choi Junseok immediately turned into light again and entered the 30th floor in succession.
He ignored even the warning window asking if he really intended to solo the 30th floor.
Lee Jiyu’s words hung unfinished in the air.