The great journey of annihilation.
However, the time that passed on Earth amounted only to the exact moment they entered and exited the 91st floor.
Even the auction hadn't progressed at all.
Only now was the bidding about to begin.
Time hadn't flowed, but the hardship of the great journey was real.
So it should have been exhausting—but it wasn't at all.
That went for the transcendent summoned beings as well, and as for himself, he had even taken an enhanced elixir.
Rest at home first, then head to the White Tower.
Jephet could be dispatched from the penthouse to the world of souls.
Jephet was already itching with impatience.
He had experienced something utterly extraordinary.
The destruction of a dimensional energy storage.
How many stories would there be to tell about that?
Anyway, the first-stage mission of the great journey had ended safely.
If he totaled up everything he had been rewarded with so far—
First, two tower mission save tickets.
He should stash them in his inventory.
There was no need to use them at the first stage, but he might end up short later.
As for platinum badges?
The cumulative number Juhyeok had gathered so far was 250.
He hadn't even checked the perks for 250 yet.
He was planning to do them all at once.
As for physical badges, from the initial 87, he deducted 10 used as the registration fee for the immortal summoned-being catalog, leaving 77.
Then the 32 badges received this time for an EX-rank clear.
Add them together?
A cumulative total of 282.
Physical badges: 109.
Scheduled perks… a total of 7 times.
'Check them now?'
No.
Let's gather more.
Clear one more EX-rank and he'd get another 32.
That would make the cumulative total 314, which meant 13 perks he could receive.
Open them all at once.
At least one of them should give a trait enhancement rune.
A skill reset ticket would be good too.
Meanwhile, the summoned beings were murmuring while watching TV.
Did something happen?
The biggest news domestically and internationally right now was none other than Juhyeok himself.
His name was already known, and on top of that, the world announcement of his EX-rank success on the 91st-floor great journey must have gone out.
"Is there some interesting news or something?"
"Summoner Bong, you're on the news."
What's so special about that?
His name was already public.
"It's your middle school graduation album photo."
What?
Spot!
He rushed over to the TV in a panic.
"Huh…!"
A middle school photo with an innocent face covered in acne filled the screen.
It was him.
Middle schooler Bong Juhyeok.
'How did that get leaked?'
It wasn't entirely unexpected.
Once his name was known, it was only a matter of time before his face was revealed.
The anchor pointed at Juhyeok's middle school photo while continuing the broadcast.
— This is presumed to be a middle school photo of Bong Juhyeok, the world's top player. According to testimonies from classmates who attended school with him, he was known as someone with firm convictions and a righteous personality who couldn't tolerate injustice…
What kind of fake news is that?
He was the type who tolerated injustice just fine as long as things stayed peaceful.
"Oh wow, you look cute. You must've been popular with the girls."
Not at all?
"Truly, one can glimpse the young master's grand spirit even in his youth. How admirable indeed."
Grand spirit, my ass.
"You should be careful when going out. Make sure to use a form-altering ring or polymorph magic."
I was planning to anyway.
"Ugh…"
A grueling future flashed before his eyes.
At this rate, he wouldn't even be able to casually go to the café in front of his house.
If people recognized his face, they wouldn't leave him alone.
For example, if he went to a café.
"I'll have an iced Americano," he'd say.
"Oh—are you perhaps Bong Juhyeok?"
"Yes, that's me."
"Oh my! I've been cheering for you after all your amazing achievements!"
"Haha, it's nothing."
"Here's your coffee."
"Thank you."
And when he received the receipt, on the back would be written: 010… a phone number.
Aaaah!
Is this what life as a celebrity is like?
What should he do?
Should he practice giving autographs or something?
"…Summoner Bong?"
"Hm?"
"Why are you grinning like that?"
"Uh, ah, I was just thinking about how to get through the upcoming tower climbs."
"Kyaa! As expected of Summoner Bong. Thinking about tower climbing day and night—you must be working so hard."
Since it came up, he might as well check.
He should clear up his questions about the tower climbing to come.
So Juhyeok decided to enter the tower.
Not to actually clear it.
First—
"Let's re-enter Tower No.1, floor 91. We need to check whether it proceeds with the same strategy."
"Yes, sir!"
Normally, when you clear a special tower mission, messages like "This has been replaced with such-and-such monsters" appear.
But there was nothing like that now.
So, to confirm, he re-entered Tower No.1.
Spot!
[Entering the Black Tower (NO.1) of South Korea, Floor 91.]
The background hadn't changed.
A white room.
But—
[This floor has already been cleared.]
[Repeat clears are not possible.]
"…Ah!"
You can't repeat it.
It's one-and-done.
"In that case, it's probably for the best. Compared to the effort we put in, the rewards were rather paltry—there'd be no need for repeat clears."
That's true.
All for just a single save ticket.
Next?
Tower No.2.
He just wanted to take a look and see how it was.
Honestly, this was what he was most curious about.
It was a different tower.
Wouldn't this be an uncleared upper-floor climb?
Spot!
[Entering the Black Tower (NO.2) of South Korea, Floor 91.]
In Tower No.2—
Normally, a message about the great journey would pop up.
Then, upon accepting the mission, you'd be transported to the world with the dimensional storage.
But—
Ding.
[A record of the first-stage clear of the Great Journey on Floor 91 already exists for this player.]
[Mission success without strategy execution is acknowledged.]
Huh?
Mission success without even clearing it?
[The clear grade is judged as equivalent to the first clear.]
Ooh!
Then—
[World Announcement: You have achieved an EX clear grade on Floor 91 of Black Tower NO.2 (Korea).]
Yes!
This is completely broken—in a good way.
Thank you very much.
Yes, indeed.
Is there really any need to do the same clear twice?
You'd obviously succeed again.
It makes sense to just acknowledge it and move on.
[EX clear reward: 2 platinum badges will be awarded.]
…What?
Did he hear that wrong?
"How many badges did they say?"
"…Two."
Shouldn't it be 32, including the extra 30?
Then it's not really EX.
It's just S+++.
"Seems the additional badges only apply once, regardless of the tower."
You son of a—!
"Tower management is complete trash!"*
"They're absolute bastards!"
"What a mess. No wonder something felt off starting from floor 91."
"We should protest."
"Where?"
"Well, anyway, we can't just let this slide."
"Hey, you assholes!!!"
"Hand over the 30 badges!"
"Make 146 storage facilities! I'll smash them all!!!"
After unleashing a storm of curses,
and calming down a bit—
"…Still, the other towers' floor 91s should be fine."
Right.
The same should apply to towers in other countries.
Mission success without clearing.
Just enter and it counts as a clear.
Even if it only gives 2 badges.
'Still, 2 badges are better than nothing, right?'
Of course, one question remained.
What about other players besides himself?
How would the floor-91 Great Journey mission be assigned to them?
But that was something he couldn't know right now.
Now, lastly—
Not Earth, but another world.
Black Tower Floor 91 of Earth No. 675.
What would it be like there?
Would his clear record be recognized?
"It's a different world. You'll probably have to clear floor 91 again from scratch."
"Probably, yeah."
But it wouldn't be difficult.
Because there was only one tower.
If his prediction was right, there'd only be one dimensional energy storage too.
With that in mind—
"Let's take the elevator."
To World No. 675.
[Entering the Black Tower of Germany, Floor 91.]
What would happen?
Earth's towers were one thing, but this was another world.
Surely his clear record wouldn't apply here—
Ding!
A system message rang out.
[Floor 91 Mission: The Great Journey Toward Completion – First Stage.]
Nothing had changed.
A normal mission assignment notice.
"The mission popped up."
"It did."
"It really did."
"It's up."
"It has appeared."
"Hoeeh."
And then—
[Would you like to accept the first stage of the Great Journey Toward Completion mission?]
What should he do?
If he accepted here, he'd be transported to the place connected to floor 91, right?
The place where the dimensional energy storages were gathered.
'Accept it?'
He decided to ask for opinions first.
"Since we've already experienced it once, it shouldn't be difficult."
"That's right. The trip to the mission location is a bit long, but we can take it easy and enjoy ourselves."
"And since Black Tower No. 675 has only one tower, there's a good chance there's only one dimensional energy storage."
"The monsters guarding the storage are a concern, but it should be manageable."
"Hoorat!"
Everyone was in favor of going in.
Juhyeok thought the same.
Since they were already here, they couldn't just leave.
They even had two save tickets.
If things went wrong, they could always use one.
"Alright. Let's go."
So—
"Accept!"
Fwaaaaah!
A mass of light rose up—
Spot!
[You have arrived at the starting point of the Great Journey.]
They entered the mission area.
But—
"Hm?"
"Huh?"
"…?"
"Ah…"
"What is this?"
"Where are we?"
It was different.
Completely different from the Great Journey mission area of Earth's Black Tower.
Back then, the background had been outer space.
But here—
A gloomy sky.
A desolate atmosphere.
And pitch-black land.
There were similarities, though.
A straight road stretching endlessly ahead.
Before, the road had been blue.
Now it was yellow.
And the mission—
[Mission: Confront the Demon at the Crossroads.]
[Time Limit: None.]
[Completion Reward: Mission Save Point Designation Ticket.]
'The Demon at the Crossroads?'
Before, it had just been "Reach the crossroads."
'A demon?'
That's right.
It told them to meet a demon.
Had the genre suddenly turned into horror?
If it was a demon, there was someone here who knew about those.
Juhyeok looked at Diamat, who was standing there with a dazed expression, and asked—
"Mr. Diamat."
"U-uh, yes, master."
"Do you happen to know what kind of place this is?"
"Th-that is…"
At Juhyeok's question, Diamat glanced around once more—
"This looks like the Demon Realm."
"The Demon Realm?"
"Yes. The place where the demon race lives."
So that's how it is.
To think he'd actually come all the way to the Demon Realm.
"What about the Demon at the Crossroads?"
"He's a lord, like me."
A lord, huh.
"Are lords the strongest beings in the Demon Realm?"
"Not at all. There's a hierarchy here too."
"Could you explain in more detail?"
Diamat nodded.
Gulping once, he continued.
"It's easiest to compare it to a feudal system. First, there are ordinary demons. They're like commoners. Above them are the nobles. And above the nobles are the lords, who keep the nobles beneath their feet."
Ah!
Commoners, nobles, then lords.
"And above that?"
"The Demon Kings, who command lords beneath them. They each rule one of the seventy-two nations that exist in the Demon Realm."
Demon Kings.
The final boss that shows up so often in subculture.
"So the Demon King is the highest?"
"No."
"There's something above even kings?"
"Yes."
"What kind of…?"
"Great Demons, transcendents who dwell in the Demon Realm."
Huh?
Transcendents?
Just how strong are they?
"Immortals who reign above Demon Kings—beings of absolute authority said to tear even ancient dragon-class beings to shreds…"
Fear surfaced on Diamat's face.
He looked terrified just talking about them.
Summing it up—
Diamat and the Demon at the Crossroads were both lord-class.
In other words, comparable to Rususral.
Demon Kings were stronger than Rususral.
About on par with their current summoned beings?
And at the very top—Great Demons.
Transcendent-class.
'That's creepy.'
The first mission was to meet the Demon at the Crossroads.
Just meeting him would complete it.
But how could that possibly be easy?
Even getting to the crossroads was a problem.
Along the way, monsters would attack, they'd run into ordinary demons or nobles, and maybe even have a Demon King blocking the road.
Worst case, a Great Demon might show up and say, "Oh, hello. How did you get here? You can come in freely, but leaving is another matter."
"So what should we do? Everyone, give your opinions."
The meeting began.
Though calling it a meeting was generous.
Everyone agreed on one thing.
"We should bail. Screw the mission."
"This is Earth No. 675 anyway. Not even our Earth."
"There's no rush. No one's holding a knife to our throats forcing us to clear it."
"It's too early to face transcendents. Maybe in a year or two."
"And the fact that the mission takes place in the Demon Realm is a problem. The demon race gets stronger here."
"Let's wait until we reach a higher realm."
Juhyeok agreed.
Right.
Was there really any need to clear this now?
At best, they'd get a world announcement no one cared about and 32 platinum badges.
And the abilities of the summoned beings—
They were growing day by day.
Given time, even transcendent-class wasn't a dream.
They could decide after reaching that level.
Let's leave.
Safe tower climbing.
Stick to the basics.
"Then we'll give up—"
That was when—
Kugugugugugugu!
The Demon Realm's ground shook.
"Hah!"
Sssshhh—
The air suddenly turned icy.
Crack, crack, craaash!
The surroundings began to warp and distort.
'What? What's happening?'
Clouds gathered in the sky.
Flash! Kuuurrrr—!
Thunder and lightning crashed down.
Did the world end or something?
Why all of a sudden—
The summoned beings turned pale in shock.
But none of them could move.
Kossak, the Mad Demon, Gyeondallae, Gobang, even Manny, who'd been smiling nonstop—
It was as if some force was constricting their very bodies.
The same went for Juhyeok.
An overwhelming power pressed down on the entire space he stood in.
And the emotion flooding over him—
Fear?
No.
The feeling of being able to do nothing.
Helplessness.
"I-I abandon the mission—"
But nothing happened.
It felt as though time and space themselves had frozen.
'Damn it!'
At that very moment—
Crack!
The air split apart.
Swoooong!
A pitch-black door suddenly appeared in midair.
This is bad.
That's how Sword Saint had appeared before—
…by slicing space with his blade.
But this was different.
The color of the door was deep black.
Don't tell me—
'A Great Demon?'
Then—
Swoosh!
Someone stepped out through the black.
"…Huh?"
A well-built, middle-aged man with a plump frame and a reddish jujube-colored face emerged.
Juhyeok and the man locked eyes.
"Huh?"
At the same time, the pressure vanished completely.
The trembling ground stilled, and the thunder and lightning disappeared in an instant.
The jujube-faced middle-aged man looked at Juhyeok and broke into a wide smile.
"Well, well—if it isn't Hero Bong! Haha, fancy meeting you here. I'm not sure if you remember me."
"…King Yama?"
"That's right. It's me."
It was Yama.
The one who had taught him the reincarnation memory technique.
But why was he here?
"What brings you here, King Yama?"
"I'm just here for a bit of sightseeing."
"Ohhh, sightseeing."
He nearly had a heart attack.
He thought he was about to meet a Great Demon.
"You seem to come here often?"
"Haha, now and then. For exercise, and to relieve stress."
"Exercise is good. And stress—yeah, that's the root of all illness."
As expected of King Yama.
Someone who comes to the Demon Realm—crawling with Great Demons—just to work out.
"You really startled me. There was thunder and everything."
"Oh dear! I didn't mean to frighten you. If I'd known you were here, I'd have come quietly."
Juhyeok and Yama chatted casually.
But the summoned beings couldn't join in.
They knew the moment they saw him—
What kind of being Yama was.
A terrifying soul they couldn't even dare approach.
"But tell me, Hero Bong—what brings you to such a filthy and wretched place?"
"Well, that is…"
Juhyeok explained how they ended up here.
Yama nodded.
"I see. Still busy saving worlds, I see. Remarkable."
"Oh no, not at all."
This world was already ruined, actually.
Though it was recovering.
"Anyway, the Demon at the Crossroads, huh."
"Do you know him?"
"I think I might. Hold on a moment."
Yama raised his hand and rotated it in the air a few times.
Ziiing!
A door appeared.
Then he reached inside, rummaged around—
Swoosh!
He pulled something out.
A demon.
The horned kind.
A demon trembling violently as Yama held him by the horn.
Whoa.
He just pulled a demon straight out of thin air.
Well, he is King Yama.
"Is this the Demon at the Crossroads?"
Juhyeok didn't know.
Would Diamat know?
He looked over—and Diamat shook his head frantically, eyes wide with fear.
"He says no."
"Then—"
Yama tossed the demon aside.
Whoosh!
Then again—
Ziiing!
He opened another door, reached in, and pulled out another one.
"How about this one?"
Diamat shook his head again.
"He says no."
Whoosh!
Ziiing.
Swoosh.
"How about this guy?"
At that moment—
Ding!
[You have confronted the Demon at the Crossroads.]
[A Tower Mission Save Ticket has been issued to the Tower-exclusive inventory.]
No need to ask anymore.
"Oh! This one's the right one."
"Hohoho! As expected of you, Hero Bong. I'll give you all three."
No, that's not necessary—
We won't take them.
This isn't a gold axe, silver axe situation.
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