Goddess Discipline and the Goblin Jackpot
The summoning ability on the second floor could only be used once a day. On the flip side, he could now summon two gods.
"You have to summon me, obviously? You've done it every time so far!"
"Min-su still doesn't know how to use the power of Golden Melody. Wouldn't it make more sense to summon me first and learn how to wield it?"
And just like that, the question of who to summon arose.
"Why not just take turns...?"
"It's that important to them, I guess. Sigh."
From the perspective of Idaine and Lucia, who were connected to them, it didn't really matter either way. But for Rijet and Silvia, this was non-negotiable.
"Min-su, my apostle! Who's it gonna be today? Me, right?!"
"No, Min-su. Choose me."
This wasn't some tantrum over chores—it was ridiculous.
"Both of you, stop it."
As Min-su furrowed his brow, the two goddesses fell silent.
"......I'm going alone today."
They were all going to live together from now on. He couldn't just let them fight like this. It looked like he needed to lay down the law today.
Min-su sat the two goddesses down and gave them a stern talking-to. As the eldest cousin who always had to break up fights and discipline the younger ones at family gatherings, he had plenty of experience. Technically, these goddesses were older than him, but it seemed to work—they looked genuinely remorseful.
"Next time you two fight, I won't summon either of you. I'll summon some other constellation instead."
"Okay... I won't fight."
"I'm sorry, Min-su...."
Whew. They looked so majestic and awe-inspiring when they showed their true power, so why did they turn into kids at home?
Hoping they'd get along better, Min-su activated his ability and entered the Tower.
Floor 4. He'd been so startled by Lucia popping out yesterday that he'd bailed immediately, so the Tower put him back on the same floor.
"......A bit late, huh."
Nearly two weeks since awakening, and he was still stuck outside the fourth floor. That was painfully slow. Even mediocre C-rank players usually hit the tenth floor.
He'd been getting used to the Darkness ability, and Silvia's incident had set him back a little.
"Money's running low now, too."
With five mouths to feed, he couldn't keep scraping by on soy sauce egg rice and ramen. He needed to earn cash fast.
Today, he'd climb properly and sell off the rewards.
"Oh, right."
Speaking of rewards jogged his memory.
The first time he'd entered the Tower, he'd summoned the Dark Lord and cleared it in a jaw-dropping 1 minute 33 seconds—thanks to her full power. Even accounting for the chit-chat and distractions, a serious run probably would've been under ten seconds.
The System had mentioned a special record and that rewards were being calculated.
"Will they give it to me if I go back to the first floor?"
Min-su used the Tower's system to warp to floor 1.
Then—
- Achieved 1st place on Floor 1 clear time ranking
- Acquired special reward
- Extra Large Goblin Reward Box: Upon opening, receive rewards equivalent to slaying 10,000 goblins (awarded to the player with the unparalleled 1st place record on Floor 1)
Min-su claimed the suspiciously fancy box through the System.
"Goblins?"
Come on, first place and all I get is a goblin box? Lame for the top spot on floor 1, sure, but still.
He skimmed the details and his eyes went wide.
"......Ten thousand?!"
Goblins were the main foes on floor 1—the weakest monsters in the Tower, with the crappiest rewards. That's why even weak players skipped them for higher floors, except when chasing records. Higher floors meant better efficiency per hour.
But ten thousand? That changed everything.
Even if goblin loot was just the lowest-grade mana stones, that quantity would outpace high-floor earnings.
He opened the box, and his System reward window filled with around 3,000 low-grade mana stones.
Average market price for low-grade stones: 100,000 won each.
That was about 300 million won pouring in.
"Whoa......"
Borrowing a constellation's power, sure, but one Dark Lightning blast netting 300 million? His brain froze.
"Wouldn't it be better to just aim for first place everywhere?"
Even high floors probably couldn't match that in one go.
......Or maybe they could. He had no intel on upper floors unless you were in the know.
One thing was clear: topping each floor's leaderboard beat grinding to 10 or 20.
Luckily, the Tower let you retry cleared floors. Even his meh times on 2, 3, and 4 from casual checks could be broken.
Problem: He'd sworn off summons today.
Can't back out after saying that.
For household peace, no summons today.
"Let's see how far I can go with my own power."
Darkness and now Golden Melody. Dual apostle powers—impossible for most.
One alone could make him S-rank. Both? Unstoppable.
Min-su activated them together and stepped onto floor 2. Black energy cloaked his body, golden melody weaving through it.
- Would you like to start the Floor 2 challenge?
(Yes)
A forest like floor 1 unfolded. Ten goblins there; ten kobolds here. Not tough, but spread out like floor 1, which killed clear times.
Just like in that mental world.
Min-su thrust his hand forward, channeling power—the same instinctive feel from unconsciously borrowing divine might before.
Golden Wave!
Woooom!
Golden melody surged from him as a massive wave. It crashed like a tsunami, flooding the forest.
Min-su leaped high atop it.
Kraka-boom!
Dark Lightning!
He seized the plunging bolt. It solidified into a spear in his grip.
He hurled it earthward.
Kwa-gwang!
The lightning spear shattered into hundreds of bolts on impact with the wave, raining madness. The golden melody amplified the devastation outward.
Moments later—
- Cleared Floor 2.
- Clear time: 1 minute 29 seconds
- Calculating rewards.
"Oh."
Floor 2 cleared.
"It actually works."
- Would you like to start the Floor 3 challenge?
(Yes)
* * *
In a lavish palace deep within heavily guarded Beijing, China, a girl in flowing robes lounged against a pavilion.
"Hmm... So that's what happened."
She looked like any ordinary girl—stunningly beautiful, but otherwise unremarkable. Yet the chairman reporting to her couldn't help but tense up.
Every time her yellow eyes locked on him, he felt like prey before a predator.
China's modern emperor, towering over a billion people—yet before her, he was a meek lamb.
And why not? She was Cheorin, China's sole extra-spec player.
[What an intriguing tale.]
A bearded divine beast's head materialized in the air. If its full body appeared, it'd fill the palace—China's mightiest guardian spirit, usually concealed.
Gulp. Is this what facing a living god feels like?
The chairman bowed under the dragon's mere presence, an aura that crushed the air. He had to, or he'd break.
"Is that so? Just some player messing with abilities? Happens all the time."
The girl tilted her head and crossed her legs at the dragon's words.
"Infusing song with power to mind-control crowds? You could do that too."
[I could. But not through a medium. Even I can't manage that.]
She frowned.
"So the culprit's on your level?"
[High likelihood. At least not some S-rank nobody.]
"Hmm......"
Korea, huh. Constellations had been buzzing about it lately. Famous apostles flocking there...
Recently, someone obliterated floor 1 records—untouchable compared to others. When it turned out to be Korean, the world zeroed in.
A potential extra-spec super rookie?
But days passed with no follow-up climbs or records. People shrugged: Just luck on floor 1. Nothing special.
Yet why the ongoing constellation interest? Was this mass hypnosis concert tied in?
"Chairman."
"Y-yes? Yes, ma'am!"
"Investigate this properly and report back."
"Understood!"
A backwater speck like Korea? She'd ignore it normally.
But a being the dragon called its equal? Maybe...
"There might be kin who could satisfy me."
True kin like her dragon contractor—not these lowly humans.
That evening, Cheorin heard the news: An anonymous Korean player had shattered records from floor 1 to 7.