Skill Breakthrough Ticket
Choi Junseok headed straight for what had once been a ruined hill.
What he sought were the weapons the goblin legion had been carrying.
But as expected, there was nothing worth looting.
It was fine. Harvesting magic stones from these goblins wouldn’t even net him a million won.
What he really wanted were the weapons and equipment they had been holding—to test whether he could launch swords from his inventory.
“The aftereffects are no joke, though.”
Simply summoning the Holy Sword in midair had already caused massive repercussions. Now he had driven it straight down like a missile…
Honestly, I did it in a fit of rage, but I shouldn’t try that again.
Choi Junseok recalled the sensation of his arms being torn off and ran his hands over his newly regenerated limbs. Both arms and legs had healed so cleanly that a wave of nausea suddenly hit him.
“Uweeeek!”
When he lowered his head, something glinted in the dirt—a goblin’s arrowhead. Looking closer, he spotted more equipment buried in the rubble.
Nothing intact, huh.
Ah.
There was one thing.
A single sword that was completely inaccessible—the Sword God’s blade.
The hill had vanished without a trace. In its place stood a crater with one sword embedded at its center.
Warning!
Choi Junseok stared at the distant sword for only a moment, yet the warning window still appeared. He couldn’t help but find it absurd.
“Honestly, I was hoping it would unlock some kind of long-range retrieval ability.”
The skill had a fatal flaw. While a single activation could obliterate every floor, once the Holy Sword was summoned…
There’s no way to retrieve it.
Of course, that wasn’t a problem right now. The immediate concern was surviving the shockwave, not retrieval.
But things will be different once I reach the middle floors.
The higher floors consisted of multi-stage layouts, like game levels. Before facing the boss, climbers had to clear several trials and mid-bosses. Some floors were even divided by portals. On those floors the Holy Sword might auto-retrieve, but that hadn’t been confirmed.
There’s more than one or two things I need to fix.
“It’s been in my inventory for a while now. Can’t you treat it like my own property already?”
Technically it was his. He just couldn’t use it freely. If that weren’t the case, Yu Junhyeok’s soul wouldn’t be able to shout at him from inside his chest the way he was doing now.
“Fool! Such nonsense! Even Sword-Body Unity has stages. To claim the highest stage as your own without earning it—”
Choi Junseok tuned him out and focused on gathering arrowheads and broken swords. The moment his fingers brushed a goblin arrowhead, it dissolved into light and vanished into his inventory as yellow powder.
His gaze shifted to a broken iron sword lying nearby.
“Appraise.”
The grade was obvious, but he needed to confirm whether the new sub-skill recognized it as a weapon.
Item Name: Goblin’s Broken Iron Sword (Unranked)
Classification: Equipment – Weapon
Description: A crude sword made of scrap metal not even accepted by junk shops. (Broken)
Choi Junseok tossed the broken swords into his inventory and changed the subject.
“Just what kind of enemies are up on the higher floors that you need a sword like this?”
Honestly, it was terrifying. If even swinging an untouchable sword wasn’t enough, what awaited him on the climb through Suseo Magic Tower?
Yu Junhyeok answered firmly.
“No. That is not the case.”
“Huh?”
“The enemies on the upper floors are indeed powerful. However, a sword of that caliber would have cleaved them in two with a single strike.”
“Oh.”
“Naturally, the sword itself was never that strong to begin with. It only became so because a mythic-grade treasure was fused with me.”
That made sense. It was like embedding an enchantment or gem into a mythic item—except the strongest player to ever clear the 100th floor had been fused into it instead.
“The equippable level shows as 999, but it is not truly 999.”
In other words, it was simply unusable. The very idea of fighting while holding a sword no one could even approach was ridiculous.
Before worrying about that, though, he hadn’t even known an item grade above Mythic existed. No such grade had ever been discovered. Even combining everything he had seen before his regression and everything he had heard on Player Insider, the highest known grade had always been Mythic.
Yet that only meant it was the highest grade discovered so far. There was no law saying nothing existed above it.
If even Sword God Yu Junhyeok didn’t know about Transcendent-grade items…
At the very least, this would be the first in Korea. Even if one had appeared overseas, it would have been kept under strict secrecy.
A Mythic-grade item alone was something even single-digit rankers prayed to obtain. Some of them reportedly didn’t possess a single one.
I already felt the power of a Unique-grade item firsthand.
One Unique-grade potion had revived him after both arms were torn off and he had been on the verge of death. Now both hands and feet were perfectly fine again.
Korea’s first Transcendent-grade item owner.
And who is that?
Me.
The corner of his mouth twitched, but he knew he couldn’t truly call himself the owner yet. He couldn’t keep enduring that pain and burning a Unique-grade potion every time he cleared a tower.
Choi Junseok continued scouring the ground and collected several more arrowheads and broken iron swords.
“Honestly, I was hoping the Skill Breakthrough Ticket would give me long-range retrieval or something.”
He was disappointed. He had wanted an ability that would suck distant items straight into his inventory, like a magnet in some games.
Instead he had gotten something completely unexpected—Multiple Summon.
If long-range retrieval had been unlocked, he could have rained down the Holy Sword without limit. He might even have been able to summon it in the real world when needed.
Summoning the Holy Sword in reality was theoretically possible. But if he actually did it…
The damage would be catastrophic, and there would be no way to retrieve it. He would literally recreate the legend of King Arthur in the real world.
Yet if he could both summon and retrieve it, he would feel far more secure.
Firepower? It would surpass most modern missiles, and it came with built-in stealth. It was basically an instant stealth missile.
Yu Junhyeok, unaware of Choi Junseok’s wild fantasy, kept trying to console him.
“Everything depends on how you use it. Abilities are meant to be utilized.”
“Still, there are limits to being F-rank.”
Choi Junseok kept bending down to pick up broken swords and arrowheads. The moment they touched his hand, they vanished into his inventory.
Come to think of it, he possessed a single Transcendent-grade Holy Sword bound to his inventory—an item no one else could use.
“Even I, who was called the Sword God, could not equip that item. It is a different matter entirely. I can say with certainty that no one can use it. Yet you are using it to clear towers. That alone is enough.”
A sword no one could lift. Literally Excalibur.
Thanks to the single trait of “remote summoning,” he was already putting it to good use.
Of course, there were still two or three things that needed fixing. The biggest issue was protection against the massive aftershock. The second was finding a way to generate profit. The Holy Sword’s power was so overwhelming that he couldn’t collect monster byproducts or magic stones—the usual sources of income.
Honestly, even if he gathered every drop from this goblin legion, the magic stones would be worth next to nothing. Even if he scraped everything together and sold it, would he even make a million won for the day?
Still, there was a way. Once he cleared the 15th floor and beyond, the tower itself would grant fixed rewards, as if they were being inserted directly into his inventory.
There was also the matter of experience—leveling up. A player’s strength was self-corrected by their level the moment they entered a tower, regardless of real-world training. Level affected everything from item usage to combat and survival.
The inability to gain experience might finally be solvable.
“On top of that, your item summoning ability is growing.”
Yu Junhyeok was evaluating how Choi Junseok had used his power—specifically, setting the summoning direction and adding acceleration. Thanks to that, Choi Junseok had nearly died, but…
“Not a bad application of the skill. What matters most for a player is utilizing their abilities to two hundred, three hundred percent of their potential. Keep striving.”
Yu Junhyeok rarely gave praise. Even when training other players to conquer Incheon Magic Tower, he had been the same. So this wasn’t empty flattery.
Having watched from inside Choi Junseok, Yu Junhyeok had seen it clearly.
His judgment and grit are extraordinary. Or he’s just an idiot.
At first he had thought it was the courage of ignorance. Maybe that was it. Only an idiot would drive the Holy Sword straight down like that.
Yet even after suffering that pain, the boy had stood back up as if he had expected it.
What surprised Yu Junhyeok most was that Choi Junseok hadn’t spat out the potion in his mouth. The sensation of his hands and arms being torn off by the shockwave would have been enough to knock anyone unconscious from shock. Yet the boy had kept his mouth tightly shut and calmly swallowed the potion little by little so the regeneration effect would last longer. It had been the optimal choice.
This brat…
Among all the F-rank players Yu Junhyeok had seen, this one possessed the greatest talent.
“However, I forbid that insane stunt. Not until you develop a technique to withstand the aftershock.”
“Even if you told me to do it again, I wouldn’t.”
Who in their right mind would willingly endure that pain twice?
Choi Junseok sensed that five or six swords and arrowheads had gathered in his inventory. He found a lone tree and designated targets for Multiple Summon.
The moment he summoned them forward—
Thwack!
Arrowheads and broken iron swords flew and embedded themselves in the tree.
“Oh!”
It worked?
Just by setting a straight-line direction while summoning in midair, the weapons in his inventory had flown forward.
“You did it! You actually did it! To think you’ve learned the Flying Sword Technique! Magnificent!”
Yu Junhyeok’s praise was sincere, but the problem remained.
“It’s not exactly the Flying Sword Technique…”
It was more like a one-time-use missile that flew and headbutted the enemy. Plus, he still had to approach to retrieve it. Those were fatal flaws.
“If I kill enemies with Multiple Summon, will I still get experience?”
He had cleared the 5th floor in record time, yet his level was still stuck at 5.
The senior tower climber, Yu Junhyeok, answered without hesitation.
“Of course you will.”
“Why?”
“It is only natural. If you take a bow from your bag and shoot arrows to kill monsters, you still gain experience, do you not?”
“It’s the same as that?”
“Precisely because they are ‘equippable’ items, they become an extension of your body. Your understanding of the tower’s system is far too low. The middle floors will be rough for you.”
Ah…
If that was the case, it made sense. It was no different from using throwing weapons.
“Now do you understand, even a little, how distant the realm of Sword-Body Unity truly is?”
“I’m not particularly interested in knowing.”
“How could a mere porter comprehend the ideals of the Sword God? I understand.”
While they tested one thing after another, thirty minutes passed. The return notification appeared.
Automatic return in progress.
It had been a satisfying climb. If he filled his inventory with good items and threw them…
He could probably overpower most magic attacks. And more importantly, it would look incredibly cool—hundreds, thousands of cold weapons rising from above his head and surging toward the enemy.
“Heh heh heh…”
Unable to hold back his laughter, Choi Junseok heard Yu Junhyeok mutter in horror.
“Oh dear. The climber’s madness is already surfacing…”
With Yu Junhyeok’s worried words as the last thing he heard, Choi Junseok transformed into light and returned to reality.
Shuuuuk…!
The moment Choi Junseok returned to reality and tried to head back to the container house, he found Team Leader Kang Jinsu of the Player Management Agency waiting for him. Somehow the man had known exactly where to wait. He had flown all the way from the Sejong Player Management Agency building to the refugee village in southeastern Seoul using a helicopter.
Kang Jinsu immediately bowed at a perfect ninety degrees, his waist nearly touching his knees.
“Choi Junseok-nim. I’m sorry. I severely underestimated you.”
Uh…
He had roughly guessed this would happen when the hidden reward appeared, but only a little over thirty minutes had passed. The world outside the tower had apparently been turned upside down.
“I sincerely apologize for acting so arrogantly in front of you earlier.”
Choi Junseok nodded silently for now. But he still had to take what he could get, right?
“Ahem… So.”
The man’s shoulders flinched while he remained bowed.
“Do people these days apologize empty-handed? Ahem!”
Kang Jinsu straightened up with a bright business smile.
“Of course not. I’ll guide you straight to the Player Management Agency VIP shop.”
“I suppose that’s fine. What about my family?”
“You mean moving into the officetel. I already called the moving center as soon as the sun came up.”
“About that…”
“…”
Kang Jinsu’s lips twitched slightly, as if he sensed something ominous.
“I assumed my family and I would get separate units. I can’t keep entering the tower from outside the house every time, can I?”
“…That is, no matter how much the agency…”
Choi Junseok let out a long sigh and half-turned away.
“Aah. So the apology was just words after all. Typical Korean government official—”
“I-I’ll prepare it. Right away.”
The corner of Choi Junseok’s mouth curled upward.
He’s at least prepared to negotiate properly.
Satisfied, he nodded.
“Good. Then please guide me to that Player VIP shop or whatever it’s called.”
“Um… the shop only opens during the day.”
Choi Junseok sighed again.
“There’s about to be a massive sinkhole in a corner of Seoul, and you’re worried about work-life balance?”
“…I’ll have it opened immediately.”
Gate of Bar… no.
Ten Thousand Blossoms? Flying Sword Technique? Whatever it was called, it was time to find good ammunition to use with that new technique.