Shattering the First Floor Record
"Did you see that?"
The goddess puffed out her chest with an expression screaming, How's that? Totally badass, right? Min-su couldn't close his gaping mouth.
A record of 1 minute and 33 seconds. Most of that time had been spent climbing the Tower and chatting idly. The actual time it took her to unleash her power and reduce the first floor to rubble? Less than 10 seconds. No—considering the clear message popped up right after the lightning strike, it was practically instantaneous.
It had felt like a nuclear explosion. An ear-shattering roar that could deafen anyone, destructive force that turned the dense thickets into ash heaps. Without the shield she'd made for him, Min-su would've been pulverized by the aftermath alone.
Gods really are on another level, huh. But even so, he felt no fear or awe toward her. He'd seen her all-too-human side, after all. And besides...
"G-Goddess! Teach me how to do that too!"
That power was one she'd bestowed upon him. The thought that maybe he could do it too made his chest swell with excitement.
"Hehehe. Now you get the greatness of this [Darkness], right? Come here. I'll show you how it's done."
...Oh yeah. Almost forgot about that.
The [Dark Lord] radiated black divinity. At her will, billowing smoke poured out, blotting out the starlight illuminating the ground from the Tower's peak.
"This is tricky..."
Black electricity crackled and flickered from Min-su's outstretched hand with a sharp pzzt. He was trying to drop a black lightning bolt like the [Dark Lord] had on the ruined first floor after clearing it, but it wasn't going as planned.
"It's your first time, so of course. You haven't even used abilities in this category before, and now you're jumping straight to divine authority. That's impressive enough."
"Oh, really?"
Encouraged by the [Dark Lord]'s words—which he figured she said just to keep his spirits up—Min-su redoubled his efforts to wield the [Darkness] authority.
"Darkness Lightning!"
Boom!
As Min-su shouted and thrust his hand skyward, lightning crashed down from above, carving out a massive crater.
"Whoa! Goddess! I did it!"
The crater was about 4 meters wide and 1 meter deep. Cute compared to the devastation she'd wrought.
...What the hell is this?
But the [Dark Lord] was genuinely shocked. The [Darkness] authority clung to Min-su during the lightning generation and strike, refusing to let go—like it was even more attached to him than to her, its original master. As if the power itself was submitting to him.
Is it because he's an Honorary Apostle?
It was a phenomenon she couldn't quite grasp, but since this was her first Honorary Apostle too, she chalked it up to that.
"Goddess. Can you make summons with this, by any chance?"
"Summons? You have the ultimate summon—me—and you want more?"
"No, that's not what I mean."
Min-su's awakened ability was summoning, after all. That's what he'd registered as a player too. If he was going to operate as a player going forward, he'd have to play the part of a summoner.
The problem? He couldn't reveal the true nature of his summons.
"There've never been any humanoid summons before. And now suddenly a constellation? It wouldn't just be 'the first humanoid summoner' level of uproar. The whole world would flip out."
How much attention would a summoner who could call forth gods attract? The eyes of the entire planet would turn to Min-su. Most would be positive, sure—but there'd be plenty of bad ones too. What if someone tried to kidnap him to exploit that power for nefarious ends? Sure, he could summon gods, but only for 6 hours. The rest of the time, he'd be defenseless.
Regrettably, he had to keep the god-summoning part secret.
"So I want to hide my real ability... but it's registered as summoning."
His player profile listed it as summoning ability. He'd have to fake being a summoner. While hiding the real ones.
"Oh... yeah."
The [Dark Lord], who'd been listening, nodded. She had zero interest in Earth's politics or current events, but she'd seen enough human malice over the ages to agree with him.
"No problem then. Forgot my constellation name already?"
"Your constellation name? Uh..."
Min-su racked his brain for her name. [Dark Lord]—where [Darkness] was her special authority. So the "Lord" part after that...
"Watch closely."
Vrrr!
As the [Dark Lord] raised her hand and clenched it into a fist, [Darkness] authority flooded the ground. The earth turned pitch black. Ripples—hundreds of them—spread across it. From each epicenter, shadowy black figures rose.
"No way..."
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Innumerable black knights knelt on one knee, swords planted before them.
"This is my army, the [Dark Legion]."
A legion of divine knights. The aura of loyalty from hundreds was beyond majestic.
"...You made all of those?"
Having accepted and used the [Darkness], Min-su could sense it. They weren't living beings—they were creations of the [Darkness].
"Yup. Think of 'em like puppets."
Like when she'd instantly forged armor from authority. Maybe her true power wasn't that lightning, but this creation ability.
"It takes a bit longer for knights of this caliber, but regular soldiers are easy. Hmm... You've still got some summon time left, so today I'll teach you how to make soldiers. This is super fun!"
The [Dark Lord] fiddled with the [Darkness] authority, looking thrilled.
A new record on the Tower's first floor!
The sudden news rocked the player community—and the entire world.
Ranking on any Tower floor nets the player hefty rewards, and their nation gets Tower perks. For the first floor, the top ranker's country gets boosted EXP gains for all its players. Higher floors add item drop quantity or rarity boosts, massively impacting national mana stone output.
That's why ranking updates draw global eyes—and why players endlessly retry cleared floors.
This update was a shocker. The new top time? 1:33. Worlds apart from the previous 7:00.
Attention zeroed in on the mystery top player. Unlike other rankers, even their nickname was hidden—fanning the flames.
But one public detail stood out.
The first-floor perk revealed the nationality.
Impressive, sure—but just the first floor.
Interest waned. No first-floor feat could vault someone past top players.
But then constellations ordered their apostles to investigate. A player drawing constellations out like this? Something big was up. The world turned its gaze to Korea.