Chapter 180
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 180
Chapter Title: Ordinary Guy's Tower Strategy 180
Prototype magic gun.
Even for Bong Joo-hyuk, it was hard to handle.
Gun performance tests should be done by someone who knows how to shoot well.
So from the next floor on, he left it to Veronica.
Just needed to check if it was effective.
With low mana output, tuned to player levels.
"Sorceress Veronica Caliber, I'll inject even less mana than the commander."
The subsequent performance tests.
82nd floor: Giant Snake Apophis serrated blade rotating rounds.
83rd floor: Giant Queen Spider Arachnoid area incendiary rounds.
All successful.
But still too much for regular players.
Needed some tweaks.
Tricky to use, vibrations during mana injection, recoil on firing—stuff like that.
No matter how much of a bullet peddler you are, you still need practice to hit.
Anyway, the planned magic gun test firing was complete.
Confirmed effects for each attribute round too.
'Rental business looks good to go.'
Same system as the holy sword rentals.
Players from each country enter Korea, rent from the Awakening Management Bureau.
Grab the magic gun and ammo, enter the tower.
They'd return it after clearing.
'But how much per bullet?'
Truth was, money wasn't an issue.
Sure, more was always better,
but this magic gun rental was for the greater good of preventing tower collapse.
'Just cost price?'
But the materials weren't cheap.
Special metals mined from Giant, high-grade magic cores, labor from our garage alchemists Marie and Mackenzie, magic engineer El, and so on...
'Can't go too cheap.'
He'd Think it over slowly.
There was plenty of time.
Tons of countries hadn't even cleared the 80th yet.
Plus, after mana seal scrolls were fully distributed and the liberation rune necklace fiasco died down.
'At least that's one worry off my plate.'
The unclimbable giant monster sections.
He thought proxy clears for other countries' towers were the only option.
Now he could just rent out the magic gun.
And so today.
They done three tower climbs already.
But there was room for one more.
Joo-hyuk decided on four.
84th floor.
The layer with the upper mana vein.
Honestly, he wanted to see it.
Where Razix mined the Highest grade and high grade mana stones.
So they entered the 84th, he told Veronica, Gyeon Dal-rae, Mackenzie, and the Mad Demon to hold down the Colossus Condor.
Joo-hyuk headed to the hidden snowy ice wall ore vein with Razix, Gobang, and Kosak.
Razix rode on Gobang's shoulder,
Spapapap!
Finally they arrived at the ice wall.
And the hidden mine.
'Here it is.'
First time.
"Whoa..., what's all this?"
"I was shocked at first too."
"My eyes hurt."
Sparkling everywhere.
Incredible amounts of magic cores were embedded in the cave walls all around.
'This many?'
Soon.
Razix pulled out a matte platinum pickaxe from his sub-space backpack.
Getting ready to mine.
How good was an LSSR's mining skill?
Razix raised the pickaxe high behind his head.
Then.
"Hyup!"
Split!
Kwajik!
Not the magic core-embedded wall, but the ground.
'...Why?'
In that instant!
Crackle-crackle-crack, crackle-crackle-crackle...
Qi waves burst from the pickaxe, spreading everywhere,
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
High-grade magic cores popped out of the walls on their own.
One swing, and the mine floor was carpeted with countless high-grade cores.
"Hooaat!"
Ahh! The great LSSR miner.
Kosak picked up one extra-shiny rock and showed it to Joo-hyuk.
"Summoner Bong, check this out."
"Oh!"
Natural top-grade mana.
"King-grade. Gotta be over 3kg."
White Tower 17th-floor permanent residency x3.
Or Veronica hypervelocity rounds x3.
"So precious...,"
That was when.
Whoosh! Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
"Huh?"
What was that sound?
Turned toward it.
Razix.
He was sweeping up the upper mana scattered on the floor.
How?
Just thrust his hand forward, and the upper mana on the cave floor whooshed into the sub-space backpack.
Whoosh! Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Even the top-grade one in Kosak's hand.
"Whoa, remote storage."
Yeah.
Sub-space storage from range.
He Used to need direct hand contact.
'Insane, just insane.'
Now sucked in without touching.
'It's like...'
He finally got it.
The secret to Razix the LSSR's cleaning skills.
He saw him clean recently too.
But he assumed he was just that good.
'Dust and trash got sucked into the sub-space like this.'
A vacuum cleaner.
Not sucking anything willy-nilly—selectively pulling only what he wanted into sub-space, dimension-style.
Separate dust and trash later, pull out.
Cleaning was a breeze.
Joo-hyuk was pleased.
He felt bad watching Razix clean before, but knowing it was this easy made him happy.
In the early days of tower climbing, players weren't well off.
Superhumans conquering monsters with mana inside the tower, but in reality, just ordinary folks.
Even became crime targets.
More died outside than inside, they said.
But governments stepped up player protection, changing things.
Legal and institutional safeguards.
Talented ones got direct government care: salaries, safe housing, bodyguards.
Regular players too.
They were the new resource industry workers mining magic cores.
Not as elite as state-nurtured one, but they were still protected.
But liberation rune necklaces could neutralize those protections.
The Moment players were seen as enemies of the community, anything could happen.
Governments had no choice but to scramble for mana seal scrolls.
They were Distributed first to government agencies.
Police stations, substations, fire stations...
Not just South Korea—North Korea too.
Especially border areas with China.
China aside, was still quiet.
For now, it was just internal to China.
They'd overlooked one fact however.
Players don't have to be in their home country to enter their nation's tower.
A player living in the US with a Chinese status window nationality enters China's Black Tower.
Everyone knew.
Border seals or entry bans on Chinese were useless.
Suddenly, the first liberation rune necklace incident occured outside of China.
US.
A Chinese student player on a study visa getting a degree.
A Fight broke out on campus.
It Started as argument but escalated to racial discrimination as usual.
The Chinese student had a liberation rune necklace.
He received Occasional rewards from Chinese tower while living in US.
When it turned physical, activated necklace option instantly.
But with no intent to kill.
It was Normal for players.
They were Ordinary people, really.
Monsters were fine, but killing humans? The was Tough.
The Student's trait was a magic type.
Liberated power via necklace, went wild in dorm firing fireballs.
US police were dispatched immediately.
They Tore a mana seal scroll, drained his power, and tased him easily.
Flee to tower?
Just wait 'em out.
The Chinese student was arrested for property damage and arson, and sent to a player jail.
No casualties.
Zero dead or injured.
Secretary Macmillan and Director Antonio was very satisfied.
"Close call. What if we had no scroll?"
"A Shootout most likey. The Liberated player would of resisted to end."
Right.
Casualties were inevitable.
A Fireball villain and cops blasting guns.
"All thanks to me, huh."
"Suddenly?"
"I snapped 'em up fast, the scrolls arrived early."
"Ah...,"
"Holy sword rental first by us? 80th dream resistance kits too."
"That was me first...,"
"But the White House budget? That was Me."
Antonio chuckled at Macmillan's self-praise.
"Just watch Korea now. They try something, hands up first. We join in."
"Yeah, yeah."
They Both knew.
It was All thanks to world's top player Bong Joo-hyuk.
"Call Mr. Bong and offer thanks."
"I Did. No answer."
"The Former chief then."
"Already did."
The Incident wrapped up well.
All that was Left was,
"What about the student?"
"Investigation: racial slurs issue."
"Hm."
"Bullied for being Chinese before."
"Damn racists!"
"Mitigating circumstances?"
Mitigation.
It was Worth considering.
He Liberated but there was no direct harm to people.
Just a show of force.
He even waited for dorm evac.
The Charges: damage, arson.
"Should we Naturalize him to the US?"
"...Huh? The Liberated villain player?"
"It's his First mistake, but he didn't kill people, he has control. We can manage. But if we send him back to China? It will be the Death sentence for sure."
Macmillan noded.
"It'll be good PR too. Show mana seal scrolls solve things peacefully."
"I'll reach out."
The US case closed as first peaceful liberated villain takedown.
The White House promoted it heavily.
They Released CCTV of the arrest footage worldwide.
The Moment the mana seal scroll's real effect was confirmed visually.
China was dumbfounded.
Taken down that easily?
Magic gun tests were done.
Mana seal scrolls went into mass production.
No need to interfere; print factories ran smoothly.
Summoned beings just supplied special scroll paper and mana ink.
Even that, Razix was back with mass materials.
Joo-hyuk went to Pyongyang Presidential Palace alone with Kosak.
To meet Chairman Kim In-jung.
Planning major North Korea business.
He should at Least meet face-to-face, request nicely.
Not awkward.
Met before, knew his identity clear.
"Good thinking. Master's warm word makes servant dance."
"...North's top leader, servant's a bit...,"
"Spared the one who tried to kill, servant's promotion."
Arrived palace, met Kim In-jung.
Frozen stiff Chairman Kim.
"Su, Supreme Player Comrade, pl, please come in."
"Long time. Thanks always for factory in North."
"N, no problem. Use as you wish. Need palace? I'll vacate."
"No need palace... unless unification."
"Uni, unification quick too!"
Hm.
How was such a nice guy a pain before?
Firing missiles.
Joo-hyuk sat sofa.
Kosak behind, hands clasped politely.
"Kosak, sit."
"Thanks, but standing fine. Heh heh heh."
Kim tensed.
It was Scary People's Defense Minister fawning like that.
'Be careful.'
Slip up, head gone.
"Oh! Watching Pyongyang Black Tower factory,"
"Speak."
"Labor shortage. Need more workers ahead."
"No worry. Total mobilization order is out."
"No need for that. The DMZ front line troops, put them to work...,"
"Ah!"
"I'll hire them all. With Korean worker wages."
Why DMZ troops?
There would be no war was the reason.
"Gr, grand wisdom, Supreme Player Comrade! Start now."
Labor solved,
"I'm Always in your debt... do you want something? I'll do anything."
"Nothing. Just live long."
"Haha, you will."
"R, really?"
"Sure. Unless you suffer sudden illness."
"..."
Gulp.
Kim swallowed dryily.
It was a Warning.
If he didn't protect Player Bong's interests he'd be removed.
Sudden disease? Heart attack, stroke—something fatal.
Scary guy.
That Kind face hides cruelty.
The Defense Minister behind those eyes was a cold emotionless stare.
No funny business or he'd be dead.
"Wi...with eternal loyalty, wo...work hard!"
"Haha. Please continue."
Kim jumped up.
Arms high,
"Joo-hyuk for...,"
"Wait!"
"Yes?"
"Don't do that."
What Joo-hyuk forever?
He Cringed just hearing.
Kosak had disappointed eyes though.
But it Ended well.
Even though they were cooperative, wasn't meeting North Korea's leader too easy?
Good wishes were exchanged at least.
North Korean factories run smoothly now.
"Then...,"
Right then!
Bzzz,
Joo-hyuk's smartphone rang.
'Who?'
Dad Bong Su-cheol.
A Video call.
South-North networks were connected long ago.
Since the Korea Awakening Bureau Pyongyang branch.
North players had access to free SNS, forums.
"Got to take a call quick."
He excused himself.
"Yes, Dad, what's up?"
- Called to see your face. ...All good? The World is crazy with this liberation stuff lately.
The China incidents were worrying him.
Only family truly worries.
Ah! Minus his summoned.
"I'm Fine. Who am I? Your son. I Avoid danger."
- I Know, but i'm still worried. Where are now?
"Pyongyang, North Korea."
- ...What?
"I was Meeting Chairman Kim In-jung at the palace."
Dad's baffled face could be seen on screen.
- Nonsense...
Joo-hyuk turned his phone to Kim.
Then.
"Comrade's Father! I'm Kim In-jung. This is out first meeting."
- Gasp!
Dad freaked out.
Then trembling in a voice.
- Tr...treason, This is National Security Act violation.
"...Pardon?"
What treason?
Click!
The call ended.
Dad was shocked pretty badly.
Yeah, Kim was no ordinary guy.