[At that moment, the S-Rank Tower in Jeju Island. In front of the boss room.]
“Hey, shouldn’t we just head down now?”
“It’s already too late.”
A man and a woman were facing off in front of the boss room of the S-Rank Tower.
“They say an American aircraft carrier is circling near Dokdo. Shouldn’t we be in the East Sea to reassure the citizens?”
“We follow the orders given to us.”
The young man suggested retreating.
The woman insisted on advancing.
“Ha, damn it. We’ve already reached the boss room. We can always come back later! It’s not like the monsters here will multiply again!”
“Even that time is too precious. Outside, they’re already opening bets on who will conquer the S-Rank Tower first.”
“Bets… what?”
“It’s a thing.”
Blue Lightning tilted his head at Ironblood’s blunt words, but Ironblood didn’t bother explaining further and pointed to those hesitating nearby.
“We’re just one step away from the boss room. And yet you still want to leave now?”
“…”
“If you’re afraid for your life, then go. But make sure you spread the word clearly when you leave the tower—that I stood in front of the boss room and backed down like a coward.”
“What the hell…!”
“Otherwise, stay quiet and join the fight. This is a life-or-death operation, and I won’t tolerate cowards costing others their lives.”
“…”
The A-Rank Hunters exchanged uneasy glances between themselves and the most injured among them.
Most A-Rank Hunters had little to no injuries.
Those who were severely wounded had already retreated to the tower’s entrance, while the ones remaining were those who could still fight.
The only person who had visible cuts all over his body, or was forcing himself to move despite his wounds being cauterized—
“Blue Lightning. What about you?”
“Hah, damn it. This is crazy.”
Despite his injuries, Blue Lightning scratched his bandaged head in frustration and stepped forward.
“You keep acting like this, and you’re gonna regret it later. How long are you gonna rely on the government’s power?”
“No individual is greater than the state.”
“And what if the government collapses one day?”
“Then it’s the end of the world. Are you hoping for such a thing?”
Ironblood pointed at the choker around his neck.
At its center was a small camera lens-like device.
“You’re nothing but a dictator. It’s people like you that make Hunters like that cosplayer want to leave Korea and side with the U.S.”
“I have no interest in traitors who abandon their country.”
“…One day, you’re going to pay for this.”
“Being spoken to so rudely by someone younger than me is laughable.”
Blue Lightning felt his insides twist at Ironblood’s attitude, but he let out a deep sigh and moved toward the boss room entrance.
“Maybe I should just leave the country already. Damn it.”
“D-Daram, if you leave too….”
“You’re the worst, sis. You’re an S-Rank, and yet you just sit there doing nothing.”
Another S-Rank Hunter, reaching out toward Blue Lightning, hesitated in shock.
“H-Huh?”
“I’m a damn fool for stepping up like this, but how long are you going to be a puppet doing whatever the government tells you?”
“T-That’s….”
“Hmph.”
Ironblood ignored them and continued toward the boss room.
Seeing them sharpening their blades against each other at the very entrance instead of rallying together, the A-Rank Hunters behind them shook their heads or clicked their tongues.
The moment Ironblood and Blue Lightning stepped onto the teleportation circle leading to the boss room—
“…Damn it, I really don’t want to go abroad.”
“Should we go to the U.S.? Just for a long-term stay.”
“You think the government would allow that?”
“If we threaten to renounce our nationality and switch citizenship, maybe they’d reconsider.”
One by one, the A-Rank Hunters started grumbling.
“If we dress up like cosplayers and head to the U.S., maybe we won’t get an aircraft carrier, but at least a private jet, right?”
“And what would you cosplay as? Bat Man? Spider Man?”
“I don’t know. What about you? You could copy some wrestler or something.”
Even as they complained, none of them seemed entirely confident.
“Hey. But what if that cosplayer actually conquers Dokdo, and we fail here? What then?”
One thing, however, was certain.
“I don’t know. I guess we go wherever it’s safest.”
“Wasn’t Korea supposed to be the safest place, with so many strong Hunters in such a small land?”
“Ugh, whatever. The government keeps trying to put a leash on us. Even if they manage a vast land, I’ll just follow wherever the strongest Hunter goes. At least I’ll be safer there.”
Little by little, something inside them was being chipped away.
What could they call that feeling?
If something round were continuously shaved down by sharp blades, gradually transforming into something square and jagged—
But no one actually said that out loud.
The situation was too complicated for such a simple declaration.
“Let’s go. We’ve come this far—we should at least see the boss before we leave.”
“Oh, right. What’s the boss like in Dokdo? Over here, it’s…”
The moment they stepped through the magic circle and entered the boss room, a flickering light engulfed them.
“That’s… a giant statue.”
A massive statue towered toward the sky, extending multiple arms behind its back.
Each of those hands wielded a different weapon, their sharp edges gleaming ominously.
“No idea.”
One by one, the Hunters drew their weapons and aimed at the boss.
“Ironblood said the boss room in Dokdo doesn’t have a magic circle or mist. It’s impossible to find.”
“Ironblood went to Dokdo?”
“Must have. He wouldn’t be so sure otherwise.”
Up ahead, Ironblood clenched both fists and charged at the statue.
“If Dokdo was easier to conquer, that government dog wouldn’t be here twiddling his thumbs. He knows it’s impossible to take Dokdo, so he’s stalling and trying to clear this place first.”
* * *
Through Elaine’s vision, I observed the battlefield inside the S-Rank Tower in Dokdo and confirmed my suspicion.
‘For a pure physical damage dealer, this is nearly impossible.’
The ground.
Or rather, what I assumed was the ground.
From the horizon, Dokdo looked like two small islands, but beneath the surface, a vast landmass spread out.
Something even larger than a glacier—no, something far bigger than that.
If this entire land was the boss itself, then a mere physical attacker would be useless against it.
‘You’d need firepower capable of triggering a nuclear explosion or some other extraordinary method.’
Kaga-gagang!
As I contemplated strategies, Elaine was already doing her best to slash through the Earthworms.
She wasn’t responding to my direct commands but was instead cutting down the creatures to buy time for gathering mana.
[Elaine: Master, it’s almost time for the damage phase.]
Elaine gathered mana and kicked off the ground.
Dodging the lunging Earthworms, she adjusted her body to remain parallel to the surface.
Her cooldown had ended, and the mana was surging, begging to be unleashed.
The timing was—
‘Not yet.’
I didn’t issue a command, which could have confused Elaine, but instead, she stomped the ground hard and leaped upward.
Kyaaaak!
Multiple Earthworms burst from the ground, as if intent on absorbing Elaine’s attack with their own bodies—or swallowing her whole.
Shff!
Elaine stepped on an Earthworm’s head and jumped higher.
Every time she landed, another one lunged at her, forcing her to keep leaping to avoid their fangs.
She had risen over 10 meters, yet the Earthworms showed no signs of stopping.
They twisted around each other like thick ropes, stretching endlessly toward her.
Now.
Before I even moved my thumb, Elaine adjusted her stance.
Then, as if running vertically down a skyscraper, she used the Earthworms’ bodies as footholds and launched herself downward.
Elaine had set up the perfect angle.
Failing to capitalize on it would be inexcusable.
‘Now!’
Even before I pressed the button, Elaine had already positioned herself.
She unleashed a brutal combo, dealing every ounce of damage possible.
Gugugugugu!
The entire ground trembled.
As if a massive living being was having countless blades driven into its back, the earth shuddered in pain.
‘As expected.’
Two solid damage phases.
‘If I were some low-tier fighter, maybe I’d struggle, but with this build, three-fourths of its health should be gone by now.’
The boss’s health bar had already dropped to just one-fourth.
‘S-Rank Tower bosses, whether they’re weekly bosses or top-tier content, can’t surpass the power of a fully maxed-out character.’
Even with buffs, a fully optimized build was overwhelming.
And to me, this build was personal.
Unlike the days when I recklessly dumped thousands of dollars into games using a black card, back then, I had poured my own hard-earned money into building this setup.
For those wealthy enough to max out every character, this might not mean much.
But for someone who poured everything into fully maxing out a single character in countless mobile games, this meant something special.
Perhaps that desperation, that earnest devotion, made a difference.
[Elaine: Master, I believe… this will be the final strike.]
Elaine remained unscathed.
Standing calmly on the ground, sword extended to her side, she merely walked forward as the Earthworms lunged toward her.
Swish.
The moment I pressed dodge at the right timing, Elaine instantly became light itself, slicing through the air.
Crunch!
The Earthworms that had opened their maws toward Elaine ended up biting into each other, colliding with a sickening sound.
More Earthworms surged from the ground than ever before—an overwhelming tide of writhing bodies.
Gugugugugu!
The entire screen shook.
For a moment, I thought the aircraft carrier I was on was trembling.
It actually was.
‘The boss’s rampage phase inside the tower is affecting reality?’
I glanced at the monitor displaying the view outside the ship.
If we weren’t on an aircraft carrier, the waves alone would have capsized any normal vessel.
Wiiiiiing.
“!!”
A popup notification appeared on my phone.
“Damn it…!”
Earthquake alert. 5.4 magnitude.
Location: Dokdo.
Fortunately, the phone I was gripping—the one with the summoning management app—remained silent.
Instead, the alarm rang from my old work phone, the one I used for office tasks back when I was still employed.
Knock, Knock, Knock.
A tapping sound came from the window.
“Master, are you alright?!”
Patrick’s face was pale as he knocked urgently on the glass.
“We need to—”
“Patrick.”
“Yes?”
“One minute.”
I cracked the window slightly, raising a single finger.
“I’ll destroy the tower in one minute. Just hang in there.”
“…Yes!”
Patrick gave a firm nod.
I shut the window against the fierce winds and lowered my gaze back to the game.
“…”
Elaine was already dodging the enemy’s attacks flawlessly, even without my commands.
She was analyzing the situation, biding her time, clearly frustrated by the never-ending waves of Earthworms.
‘The boss understands, too.’
The moment Elaine got close, she had instinctively prepared to swing her sword toward the ground.
The Earthworms weren’t stretching too high—because if they did, they might expose their weak points and take direct hits.
Instead, they undulated like waves, trying only to sink their fangs into her ankles.
[Elaine: Master, at this rate—]
‘Ride the wave.’
I had pinpointed the location.
After pressing dodge, I guided Elaine to a precise spot.
Tap, tap, tap!
I sent a signal by pressing the still-locked special skill button.
Elaine immediately gathered mana, poised to strike, dashing through the tide of Earthworms.
“If I need to deal damage to the ground, it doesn’t have to be from a vertical angle.”
Elaine stepped onto an Earthworm’s head.
As she descended down the slope they unknowingly formed, her body tilted downward.
An artificial downhill slope.
And at the very bottom, the moment I pressed the button—I saw it.
A glimmering light beneath the ground.
I wasn’t sure if it was real or just my imagination.
But I knew.
Every gamer knows this feeling.
The moment when you unleash a fully charged attack—
You know whether it’s going to whiff into nothingness or land a devastating blow.
Which was it this time?
[Elaine: Ah…!]
Elaine gasped.
Whether it was in triumph or despair, the answer was about to be revealed.
There.
Beyond the glass window.
The S-Rank Tower in Dokdo—bursting with a radiant, blinding light.
