The willingness to provide nuclear warheads poured in from countries all over the world.
Honestly, it was something no one had expected.
They had only planned to get around ten or so from the United States.
Nuclear weapons had been used in actual combat exactly twice.
And only by a single country.
After that, their value lay less in practical battlefield use and more in serving as a strategic nuclear umbrella.
A tool of war deterrence—if you fire, I fire too; if you want to die, come at me—that kind of threat.
They couldn't be easily discarded.
If you were going to get rid of them, you had to do it together.
Up until now, there had been countless nuclear disarmament treaties.
Since possessing them was such a headache, the idea was to reduce nuclear arsenals simultaneously.
But none produced satisfactory results.
Everyone had just been watching each other warily.
But now.
A path had opened to reduce nuclear weapons very effectively.
There was even a justification.
The invasion of the Black Tower by the Outer Gods.
If aliens invaded, Earthlings had to unite.
And if a nation's nuclear weapons were used in that process, it would actually be a point of pride.
India was the first to express its willingness to provide them.
The Korean Awakening Management Agency immediately responded in kind.
India was designated as the top-priority reservation country for renting Magchongs.
They also promised to clear content for them for free when it proved too difficult.
And that wasn't all.
Items sold at Rajiks Trading and the Awakening Management Agency's player shop would also be discounted.
Not to be outdone, Pakistan also expressed its intent to cooperate.
Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and even the United States followed.
Only China was missing.
Were they planning to hold onto their nukes and pull something later?
When everyone else was handing theirs over.
"It's an obvious ploy."
"Indeed. It seems they intend to maintain nuclear hegemony on their own."
Juhyeok thought the same.
Then Kosak spoke up.
"Greenie, the succubus, the dimensional farmhand, and me—send just the four of us to China, please."
"And what would you do there? Set off another nuke?"
"Huh? No way. I'm a mature civilized being now. I'd never do something like that."
Then?
"We'll steal them all. Greenie handles transport, the succubus puts the guards to sleep, I pick the locks, and Rajiks goes sseusseut."
"...You said you were civilized?"
"But we won't set them off, right?"
That's true.
If everyone else was handing over nuclear warheads without hesitation, hoarding them alone would just be creepy and shameless.
"Let's decide slowly."
"Yes, sir!"
Today was the day they would receive their first nuclear weapon.
Juhyeok headed to the Pyeongtaek–Osan Base.
The first country to express willingness had been India.
But the country that showed up fastest with nuclear warheads was the United States.
Arriving at the U.S. base with Jeon Gwang-il, Juhyeok entered a hangar beside a massive aircraft runway.
"Mr. Bong!"
Waiting for him were Minister MacMillan and Director Antonio, along with U.S. soldiers.
"Hmm, how are you?"
"Haha, I've been well. You've been doing well too, Player Bong, right? It must have been tough clearing the Tower."
His Korean was good.
When did he practice that much?
"Yes, I've been well. It was a difficult request—thank you for helping us."
"Not at all. Ah! The nuclear warheads are ready, by the way."
Large boxes stacked on one side of the hangar.
Roughly over thirty of them.
"This is the first batch. If you need more, just let us know anytime."
"And the price—"
"Haha, what do you take the United States for? These have been officially decommissioned. If anything, we should be paying you the disposal cost."
"Oh my, thank you."
Got them for free.
"Do you need delivery systems? Missiles to transport the warheads, for example?"
"No, that won't be necessary."
They'd probably give him a missile launcher too if he asked, but how would he use it?
There were no satellites in the other world, so coordinate systems wouldn't work.
Using Gigants was far better.
Carry them in both hands, walk over, and boom.
Now, let's take them.
How?
Call someone, of course.
Turning away from the expectant gazes of Minister MacMillan and Director Antonio, Juhyeok spoke in a low voice.
"Rajiks, designated summon."
Spot!
"Hoeng!"
Their dimensional farmhand appeared inside the U.S. base.
People gasped.
"Oooooh!"
"Rajiks!"
"Rajiks is here!"
"My god!"
"To see him in person!"
"C-can we take pictures?"
The universally popular, cosmic superstar Rajiks shrugged, puffing out his chest proudly.
"Huee."
The biggest beneficiary of the video reveal.
Even his name had been made public.
In fact, both MacMillan and Director Antonio had personally come just to see Rajiks in person.
"Mr. Rajiks?"
"Hoe."
"Those big boxes over there—they're nuclear warheads, so please handle them carefully."
"Hoe-ee."
Rajiks waddled over toward the nuclear warheads on his short legs.
Then—
"Hoaaat!"
Taeng!Panggeureureu.
He performed a somersault for his fans watching him.
"Hoet!!!"
Sseusseut, sseusseut, sseusseusseut.
The nuclear warhead boxes were sucked into his subspace backpack.
"Woooooo!!!"
Clap clap clap clap.
Thunderous applause erupted.
A subspace storage show that only Rajiks could pull off.
"Hueg!!!"
A roar that echoed through the hangar.
Click! Click! Click!
Smartphone cameras went off nonstop.
"Good work. See you later."
"Hoeng!"
Summon dismissed.
Spot!
The first step in collecting nuclear warheads was complete.
Now India, Pakistan, Russia, Europe… one by one, they'd load nukes and come to Korea.
"...They'll be overflowing."
Well, so what?
If there are leftovers, they can just blow them all up.
The world's greatest nuclear holder.
A walking strategic weapon.
But nuclear weapons were only meant for the great journey missions carried out in dimensions connected to the Tower.
Having them alone wouldn't solve everything.
Especially the archangel.
That thing was coming to kill him.
So where would the battle with the archangel take place?
Inside the Tower.
Or outside the Tower.
Wherever it happened, he had to assume nukes wouldn't be usable.
So, a method other than nuclear weapons.
Well, the summoned beings' abilities had skyrocketed, so there wasn't much to worry about.
Still, the Tower-clearing principle Juhyeok had established—
Overwhelming, single-click clearing.
A comfortable run with not a shred of anxiety.
To achieve that, something more was needed.
A reliable means to thud! smash the archangel and bam! finish it off.
The Judge's Hammer could fill that role, but even that wasn't quite enough.
"Should I just buy the Godslayer's Long Spear?"
2.5 billion.
It'd probably be good to give it to Gobang or Bardin.
"...I'll think about it after going back."
Anyway, the first task was done.
Next?
While handing over the nuclear warheads, the United States had made a request.
It wasn't difficult, so he intended to grant it.
"Minister, you requested a tour of Earth No. 675, correct?"
"Ah! That's right. Is it possible?"
"Of course. First, we'll need to enter the Tower."
"...But we're not players, so we can't enter the Tower."
"It's fine. Awakening status doesn't matter."
Ordinary people can't enter the Black Tower.
But they can enter the White Tower.
As long as they have an entry ticket.
"Here, take one each."
"What? This paper is—"
"A one-day trial pass. It lets you enter the White Tower for a single day."
"Oh—"
MacMillan and Antonio's eyes widened in shock.
The White Tower.
Juhyeok handed them each a trial pass.
Sseusseut. Sseusseut.
Names were automatically engraved.
"Gasp!"
"T-this is—?"
They were utterly stunned.
"Did you gain an entry skill?"
"Yes, I did."
"Me too."
It was shocking.
They weren't awakened, yet they had status windows.
"After 24 hours, the status window will disappear."
"Hmm, yes, yes."
"For now, let's go in. Just say 'Enter Floor 17.'"
MacMillan and Antonio did as Juhyeok instructed.
As they recited the entry command in their minds—
Spot! Spot! Spot!
They entered the White Tower, Floor 17.
The sight that greeted them was towering high-rise buildings and dozens of Gigants.
Both MacMillan and Antonio were left speechless.
In such an absurd situation, what more needed to be said?
In a distant parallel universe.
The Infernal Palace of the Netherworld, known as the Underworld.
The god of the netherworld, Yama, puffed away on filtered cigarettes while watching movies on a tablet.
"Hm, so it ends like this again?"
The tablet he'd received after meeting Great Hero Bong in the Demon Realm.
It wasn't a brand-new item.
It was secondhand.
More precisely, it was a tablet loaded with permanently downloaded content, allowing offline viewing.
Just how precious was it?
He'd even received enough cigarettes to smoke freely for five whole months.
And the price?
Just an old, well-worn hammer.
A hammer was easy enough to replace with a new one.
Compared to this incredible gift, it was laughably insignificant.
That's why he always felt guilty.
"If I ever get the chance to meet him again, I'll repay him properly—"
That was when—
Vroom, vroom, vrook, vrrrk!
The sound of a motorcycle engine came from outside.
"Eek!"
That bastard.
"Why is he here again?"
He hurriedly stubbed out his cigarette and hid the tablet.
A sword immortal had already barged into the Infernal Palace.
"Hey, Yama. It's been a while."
Hah, that damn scoundrel.
"I don't recall inviting you. Is this your house?"
"Haha, are you sulking?"
"I'm not sulking, damn it!"
"Tsk, you lose your temper so easily. Keep that up and you'll get heartburn."
"I won't get heartburn if I don't have to see your face! So please, just get lost. I'm begging you."
The Sword Immortal narrowed his eyes.
Why was this old man reacting so sensitively?
Something was going on.
He slowly released his senses and scanned the Infernal Palace.
"…Huh?"
This smell of tobacco.
It wasn't the crude scent of pipe tobacco mixed with all kinds of impurities.
It was a refined scent, as if it had been filtered once.
Which meant—
'Filtered cigarettes.'
Strange.
Earth-made filtered cigarettes should've been banned from the shopping mall by the Longevity Immortals for the health of the Celestials.
So where did he get these?
Smuggling?
"…Wait."
Don't tell me—
"Yama!"
"…Huh? What is it now?"
"What were you doing just now? It looked like you were watching a movie."
"And why do you care? I can watch movies if I want."
"That thing behind you— isn't that a tablet? Why did you hide it?"
Did this bastard notice?
"Bought it from the shopping mall. So what?"
"That's not an Earth item."
"…Ah."
"Could it be… Great Hero Bong's Earth item?"
Caught.
If he'd known the Sword Immortal would show up, he should've hidden it better.
"You did it. You really did it. You traded with him. Smuggling!"
"Where did you meet him?"
Damn it!
"Did Great Hero Bong open the Earth gate himself?"
"N-no, of course not."
"Then where?"
Hoo.
After letting out a sigh—
"…We met in the Demon Realm."
"Explain in detail."
Yama explained what had happened in the Demon Realm to the Sword Immortal.
"Hoh. So that's where it was. They say it's darkest under the lamp— the Demon Realm was the link."
In truth, the Sword Immortal himself had crossed dimensions many times to meet Great Hero Bong again.
But the places he ended up were always worlds of magic or the Martial World.
He could never return to a place resembling Earth.
That frustration was why he had come to Yama.
After all, he had learned dimensional movement techniques from him.
"Well then, instead of this, let's open the Demon Realm gate. I have business with Great Hero Bong anyway."
Yama shook his head slowly.
"No."
"Huh? Why not? Oh, I see— you want to monopolize Great Hero Bong for yourself?"
"That's not it."
"Look at this greedy bastard. You extorted all those precious items for the price of one lousy hammer."
"Guh… I admit that much, at least."
"Then hurry up and open it."
"The Demon Realm is blocked because of causality. I stirred things up too much."
The Sword Immortal's expression twisted sharply.
He understood.
"…Tsk."
Yama was a god of another world.
In places outside his own domain, he was a being that disrupted the laws of that world.
In fact, the Sword Immortal was similar.
Not to Yama's degree, but he couldn't stay long in a specific dimension either.
The more influence he exerted, the shorter his allowable stay became.
"Hah… I even plucked plenty of monkey hair to give to Great Hero Bong."
"Hey, take it easy plucking hair from that poor monkey. He's still a Buddha, you know."
"Half Buddha, half demon— so what? It grows back anyway."
It had been weighing on his mind as well.
Great Hero Bong was someone carrying the duty of saving the world on his shoulders.
"Is it because I covet Earth items? As an Immortal, I regret that I only gave him such paltry help."
Yama chuckled softly.
"If you really want to, why don't you open the gate yourself?"
"As if I haven't tried. I can't pinpoint the location."
Opening a dimensional gate.
Opening one randomly without specifying a location wasn't difficult.
You just tore open a dimensional rift and stepped inside.
But once you tried to specify a location, it was a completely different story.
Like searching for a grain of sand on a beach—
a perfectly ordinary grain with no distinguishing features.
When the Sword Immortal had previously gone to the Black Tower,
there had been a summons from Great Hero Bong.
That fixed the location, allowing him to slice through dimensional space with his sword and meet him.
But there had been no summons since.
Without a fixed location, he couldn't return to where Great Hero Bong was.
"If you're lucky, you might find it, and if you do, you could open a single tiny hole."
"A hole? Like a smuggling hole?"
"Yes. That."
The Sword Immortal's ears perked up.
"How do you do it?"
"Close your eyes."
The Sword Immortal closed his eyes at Yama's command.
Swooong.
Netherworld energy seeped into his body.
"What is this for—"
"Enough! Focus! Where is the place you stayed the longest?"
A place he stayed for a long time.
Not the Black Tower.
Great Hero Bong's residence.
The White Tower, 17th floor, where his subordinates lived.
"If traces of immortal energy remain there—"
"Do you really think immortal energy would still remain?"
"Didn't you say you gave him Immortal Peaches?"
"That trivial fruit—"
"Silence! Do you think Immortal Peaches are mere fruit? They are treasures that carry karmic bonds themselves."
Well… true, but—
"First, raise your sword and split space. Tear open a dimensional rift!"
"…Hmm."
No choice.
He had to try as instructed, even if it seemed unlikely.
The Sword Immortal raised his sword and sliced space.
Shhk!
At the same time—
Craaaack.
Space split open.
"Pour your immortal energy into the rift. With everything you have."
"A-alright."
Would this really work?
The universe was vast.
The Sword Immortal wasn't ignorant of science.
Even traveling hundreds of millions of light-years at light speed meant practically nothing in the universe.
By probability alone—
finding Great Hero Bong's Earth again was less likely than winning the lottery.
"Find it! The traces of energy you left behind!"
"…"
Suuuk.
Immortal energy drained out in clumps.
But it was nowhere near enough to cover the vast universe.
His strength was already fading.
"…Kuhhh."
Seeing this, Yama smirked inwardly.
'You idiot. How could this possibly work?'
Did he think opening even a tiny hole to a specific dimension was that easy?
Even opening the gate to Earth—connected to the Netherworld—had been difficult.
And that was with the location specified.
It had taken a very long time.
So how could he possibly open a gate to Great Hero Bong's Earth, which had no connection at all?
This was all just to mess with the Sword Immortal.
That brat kept flitting around everywhere.
He'd drain him dry this time.
Make him bedridden in his chamber for at least a month.
"Focus! Pour out your immortal energy!"
"Guhk!"
"Endure it!!!"
That was when—
The Sword Immortal's hand slowly rose.
"Huh?"
He lifted a finger and poked a point in empty space—
Puuk!
Jjit!
A tiny hole, no wider than a finger, appeared.
And from it bloomed the scent of immortal energy.
"…What?"
What was this?
'H-he opened it?'
For real?
The Sword Immortal collapsed to the floor, his strength completely spent.
'This crazy bastard.'
But now wasn't the time for that.
The hole was shrinking by the second.
"What are you doing? The hole you made is about to disappear."
"…A hole? What did I even do?"
It seemed he didn't even remember what he'd done.
He truly had poured out every last ounce of strength.
"What was it you wanted to give to Great Hero Bong?"
"T-this."
With trembling hands, the Sword Immortal reached into his robe and pulled out a bundle of golden hair.
Yama quickly took it from him.
Then he compressed it to fit the hole's size, tightly tied it with hair so it wouldn't scatter—
And whoosh! pushed it into the hole the Sword Immortal had made.
At the same time, the dimensional rift closed srrrk.
"Haha."
Just in time.
He hadn't been too late.
'What an absurd coincidence.'
Unbelievable.
How could this happen?
The odds were like a blind turtle surfacing once every hundred years,
only for a wooden plank with a hole to be floating on the sea at that exact moment,
and the turtle's head passing perfectly through that hole.
In other words— impossible.
He probably couldn't do it twice.
Even so, he was extraordinary.
Even now, gasping on the floor after exhausting all his energy.
"Dongbin."
"…W-why are you calling my name? D-don't act familiar."
"Fine, Sword Immortal. Have you ever considered taking the position of King Yama?"
"N-not a chance… I-I need to cleanse my ears."
Insolent brat.
What's wrong with the King Yama position?
Still, his talent was undeniable.
How did he even open it?
Even if it was just a tiny hole that closed immediately.
White Tower, 17th Floor.
Farmer Duu frowned.
That was because something strange was hanging from the tip of the Immortal Peach tree branch.
It looked like a clump of hair— what the hell was that?
He should report it to the summoner right away.
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