After Louis finished choosing the list of characters he wanted to summon, he moved his fingers lightly and opened another tab in the system.
[System Shop]
In the next moment, the screen in front of him filled with many new pages.
Items from countless worlds appeared:
Cursed swords from a hell-like world…
Haki scrolls from the world of One Piece…
Senzu beans from the world of Dragon Ball…
Combat skills, magic techniques, strange treasures, rare bloodlines…
And many things he didn't even recognize.
Louis' eyes moved calmly as he checked the names and prices:
[Senzu Bean – 300 World Points per bean]
[Observation Haki Scroll (Basic) – 3,000 World Points]
[Secondary Bloodline (Demonic Dragon – Low Level) – 8,000 World Points]
"Hmmm…" He narrowed his eyes, then looked at the top corner of the screen.
[World Points Remaining: 12,000]
He stayed silent for a second, then sighed deeply.
"I'm still poor…"
With all these treasures in front of him… he could only buy a few of them, and probably the weaker ones.
He shook his head lightly and started searching for the item he really needed right now.
After a short search, his eyes stopped on one specific item:
[Identity Hiding Mask (Semi-Transparent)]
[Effect: Hides facial features and voice, slightly distorts the user's aura, and prevents most players from recognizing the real identity.]
[Price: 2,000 World Points – per piece]
"This is perfect."
Louis thought calmly:
"I don't want anyone except the people I trust to know that I am the one who summoned characters from the Tower this time… at least, not until I have the strength to stand confidently in this world."
He opened the quantity box:
[Quantity: 5]
[Total: 10,000 World Points]
[Confirm Purchase?]
"Yes."
A part of his total points disappeared from the top.
[World Points Remaining: 2,000]
"Alright, simple shopping… but useful."
He closed the System Shop, and the blue interface slowly faded away.
In the next moment, his awareness returned fully to the wide Tower space.
It was a huge field, stretching with no clear end, filled with players from different races.
Some of them wore black cloaks and strange masks, carefully hiding their identities.
Others stood confidently in the open, showing their real faces without fear, full of arrogance, relying on their terrifying backgrounds or the powers behind them.
Louis gave the area a quick look.
This place… felt like a mix between a market, a battlefield, and a waiting hall for small gods climbing towards the top.
He thought for a moment about visiting some stalls or walking around a bit… but then a system screen suddenly appeared in front of him.
[You are receiving a private call]
[Do you want to answer?]
A small icon popped up in the corner of his vision.
Louis stared at it silently, then remembered.
"…There's only one person in my contact list."
That masked girl from the Death Note world.
He remembered their agreement: "We'll trade tomorrow."
He looked at the notification for a few seconds, then closed it calmly.
"I'll walk around later."
Then he opened the transfer menu.
[Return to the Real World]
In the next moment, his body disappeared from the Tower space.
His awareness returned to the cold room deep inside the ship.
The smell of salt, the distant sound of waves, dim lighting, and the wet cold that slowly crawled into the bones…
He looked at the clock in the corner of the room.
Five in the morning.
Almost the same time as usual…
Right on time.
[Notification: Summoning requests have been processed.]
[Please confirm the execution of the summoning.]
The notification appeared in front of his eyes, followed by the names of the five characters he had chosen.
Louis didn't rush.
"First…"
He called for Robert, who was guarding his room at that time.
"Young Master." Robert bowed respectfully.
Inside, Robert was full of questions.
The system announcement about Louis clearing his first main world stage and gaining a chance to summon characters from One Punch Man had already reached all the knights on the ship through the global notification.
Even so, he didn't ask anything before his master spoke.
Louis smiled lightly.
"You came at the right time, Robert. Today, we're going to see the start of a new phase."
After a short talk, where he explained some general things, Louis reached out his hand towards the confirmation button.
[Confirm Summoning]
[Yes / No]
"Yes."
In the next moment, the atmosphere in the room changed.
A strange, heavy energy filled the air, as if the room itself became denser.
Five transparent summoning circles appeared on the wooden floor, each one glowing with a different light.
Then—
"Whoooom…!"
In a series of quick flashes, five figures, some human and some not, appeared in the center of the room.
Boros.
Tatsumaki.
Fubuki.
Garou.
Psykos.
Robert's eyes widened. His trained body tried to stay still, but the shock was clear in his expression.
Two men… and three women.
Robert unconsciously stepped back half a step.
"Boros…" he thought silently, feeling his heart tighten.
He remembered Boros' reputation in the One Punch world—
The creature who slaughtered millions of promising players and crushed their hopes.
"And also…"
The strongest female hero from the Hero Association.
The psychic woman so many players dreamt of winning over…
The other three… Robert frowned slightly.
Their faces were unfamiliar to him; he couldn't match them clearly with the public information he knew.
The confusion didn't last long.
After a few seconds, the light of the summoning circles began to fade, and the eyes of the five summoned beings slowly regained focus.
A shadow of confusion appeared on almost all of their faces.
"…Tower of the Multiverse?..."
"Summoning?..."
"One Punch World?…"
"Main World?…"
Louis watched them in silence.
In his previous life…
He was just a person sitting in front of a screen, watching these characters as anime on TV, or as drawings on manga pages.
And now…
They were standing in front of him. Real. Breathing the same air. Connected to him as their master through the system.
It felt strange…
A mix of quiet excitement… and something close to a dream that millions of nerds in his old world would kill to experience.
He took a slow breath, then smiled softly as he looked at them one by one.
"Alright… I believe the system has already given you a basic explanation of the situation."
He raised his head a little, and his voice became clearer.
"But now, I'll give you a more detailed explanation…"
All their eyes turned towards him.
Louis, who was just a "viewer" yesterday…
Now stood before them as their summoner and master—
and their new future, without a doubt… was tied to him, and him alone.