The lightning rain that fell from the sky struck the pit.
A fierce barrage of thunder that shook the entire uninhabited island.
Faced with such overwhelming force, Karen Whittaker and the American team stepped back.
No one had suggested retreating.
It just felt like they had to.
Because if they got caught up in it, even their bones wouldn't be recoverable.
"Wow... Runner-nim..."
Eun Gangseok, who had sensed something coming with his demon eye and retreated far back in advance, clicked his tongue and applauded.
Setting aside the power, the effect of shaking the entire island and sea was insane.
It probably would have been clearly visible even from the mainland far away.
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.
He turned his head at the sound of applause coming from somewhere.
"...?"
He couldn't help but squint.
On top of a large rock.
A small heat source was clapping enthusiastically.
He tried covering his demon eye with his palm.
It wasn't visible with the other eye.
It seemed to be a stealth-type ability.
'A raccoon? No? A meerkat?'
Since he was seeing it through thermal detection, he couldn't tell the exact appearance.
He could only infer from its small size and the roughly perked ears.
But it was curious.
If it was going to clap that loudly, why bother hiding?
Was it just that excited?
Perk!?
It seemed to have belatedly noticed his gaze.
The perked-eared creature showed unstable movement, then turned its head toward him.
Poof!
"!?"
Gangseok's eyes widened as the raccoon vanished in an instant.
He couldn't help but form a question mark.
His demon eye could see the flow of power like mana, ki, and wavelengths.
Even teleportation should leave traces the moment it's activated.
But it had disappeared with unbelievable cleanliness.
Trickle.
He wiped away the dripping drops of blood.
'...Was I seeing things?'
Come to think of it, he had overused his demon eye today.
He shrugged and deactivated it.
Then he walked toward the person who had gifted silence to the uninhabited island.
Crackle... Crack.
Jinhyuk, standing by the pit, pressed down on his hair.
Probably because lightning had struck right in front of him, it was completely disheveled.
Pssshhh...!
He peeked into the pit, where black smoke was rising.
"Ugh."
The remains of what had been Nekiel came into view.
Properly roasted and fried, Nekiel had turned into black ash.
Even Min Soyul, the leader of the cult, wouldn't recognize it.
Oh, right. That was Min Soyul.
He had momentarily forgotten that Nekiel had descended upon Min Soyul.
'Killing two birds with one stone. Nice!'
He was throwing uppercuts into the air with his clenched fist when—
Ding!
[You have defeated Nekiel, the king of Lumend, who was not a god but sought to become one!]
[Nekiel had realized long ago! That he could not reign as the one and only god in the world he belonged to!]
[Nekiel, who prepared for a long time to descend into the present world to become the one and only god! Sacrificing countless followers and his own power, he eventually succeeded in making a deal with the Tower of Despair!]
[Though he suffered a considerable loss of power, Nekiel did not care! Because he judged that with even this half of his power, he could dominate once he escaped this tower!]
[Player Yoo Jinhyuk shattered Nekiel's long-held dreams and hopes in less than an hour!]
He swallowed dryly.
He was being portrayed as someone who had mercilessly kicked away a creature that had struggled to crawl up from the bottom.
[An advantage is granted to the country to which Player Yoo Jinhyuk belongs!]
The message paused here.
As he waited, text like squid ink appeared before his eyes.
[From now on, the recipients of the messages being broadcast are the entire world to which the player belongs.]
[Please select the name to be inscribed on this message! Upon agreement, the player's real name will be broadcast!]
'Nooo!'
[Due to the player's refusal, the name 'Runner' is inscribed instead of the real name Yoo Jinhyuk!]
Ding!
[The Tower of Despair's judgment that the transition of floors 81-90 would not adversely affect that world was completely wrong!]
[Nekiel, who sought to wage a war of conquest by raising things buried in the transition floors! If Nekiel and his legion had not been stopped, the balance of the two worlds would have been greatly disrupted!]
[Player Runner annihilated these beings before they could even escape the island!]
[The Tower of Despair provides an advantage to the country 'South Korea' to which the player belongs!]
[A transition grace period of 90 days is set! For the next three months, no transitions will occur in South Korea!]
[Floors 81-90 of the Tower of Despair belonging to South Korea are eliminated!]
[Upon clearing floor 80, that section is automatically cleared, and the experience and附属物 from 10 floors are granted collectively!]
[Items that randomly dropped in that section receive a greatly improved correction probability! More players can acquire items!]
[All 10 floors are processed as S-rank clears, and special boxes are given!]
[All advantages except the transition grace period are permanent!]
[In one hour, this advantage will be applied to the country of South Korea!]
Eun Gangseok, who had been walking toward Jinhyuk, stopped.
And rubbed his eyes.
This was different from the ghost raccoon that had disappeared earlier.
No matter how many times he rubbed, it didn't disappear.
Ding!
He turned his gaze to the side.
This one had appeared to Eun Gangseok personally.
[You are a player attempting floor 84 of the Tower of Despair!]
[Due to the advantage, floors 84-90 are cleared!]
[Upon your next entry into the Tower of Despair, everything will be settled collectively!]
"Jesus."
It wasn't that he couldn't clear it.
Thanks to Jinhyuk catching Azrael last time, the troublesome divine shields had all been removed.
He had just put it off due to various things happening, but it turned out for the better.
'There's going to be another uproar.'
Runner Yoo Jinhyuk's tower climb, bringing changes almost every day.
His influence so far had been immense, but today's was truly unprecedented.
Not floors 11-20, but a pass for floors 81-90.
On top of that, increased random item acquisition probability and clear special rewards.
The power of mid-to-high level players who had reached floor 80 would jump in one go.
Considering that most of them were key forces supporting South Korea, the national power had also skyrocketed absurdly.
'Even if a Runner cult formed, it would be understandable at this point.'
Eun Gangseok rubbed his chin with a serious expression.
He felt like starting one right away.
With a promotional slogan like, 'From now on, it's Runner instead of K-culture!'
He should seriously consider it, also as preparation for his retirement.
Rustle, rustle.
He rubbed his palms together and started walking again.
He should hurry over to Runner-nim, who would become a god in the future.
"Kuuuuh!"
Jinhyuk stretched refreshingly and took a breath.
The refreshing scent of the sea seeped into his nose.
Of course, it was mixed with a bit of the smell of burnt Nekiel, but it was bearable.
'Ah! Moving houses was definitely the right call.'
That was his first impression upon seeing the message.
It was already chaotic, and that advantage had poured oil on the fire.
People looking for him would visit West Pangyo every single day.
Then a peaceful, sweet rest would have been impossible, but with the early move, he no longer had to worry.
The secret island Baekyado, where no one knew about, was the best!
'I should go home and check the labyrinth site.'
He had checked it out last time while voice chatting with Cheon Seyeon, and it was a blast.
If she wasn't busy today, he'd ask to watch it together again.
"Jinhyuk-nim!"
He waved at Eun Gangseok as he approached.
"No injuries on your precious body... I see there aren't."
He gave a thumbs up.
His clothes were in tatters, but his body was fine.
All thanks to Nekiel using up all his power to raise the undead legion.
If not for that, it would have been quite tricky and taken a long time.
"Are you okay, Gangseok-nim? Your eyes are bleeding."
"I overused them a bit more than usual, so they're overloaded. I'll recover with a little rest."
"Good to hear. Have one of these bottles when you rest. It'll speed up your recovery."
Jinhyuk rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a small bottle.
Eun Gangseok formed a question mark.
The fact that it had no label was somehow threatening, but since Jinhyuk was giving it, he'd gladly accept it.
"It's an honor! I'll drink it well!"
"Oh, come on, honor."
"Can I drink it right now?"
"No."
Jinhyuk firmly shook his head.
If he drank it now, he might have to be moved to Seoul on a stretcher.
"Go home, take a hot shower, recover some stamina, and drink it when you feel like you could pass out."
Eun Gangseok swallowed dryly.
It was scarier because it seemed sincere.
What kind of potion was this!?
"Ah, I understand. I'll drink it after recovering a bit. By the way, Jinhyuk-nim. This island was a bit strange."
"Strange?"
"I'm not sure if I saw it right, but earlier, a transparent raccoon was clapping."
Flinch!
He barely managed to hold back his widening eyes.
Kanchoooooo!!
It had come out again, unable to control itself, and clapped like a seal.
"Hahaha! A transparent raccoon, that's funny. Well, the world is full of all kinds of things. Maybe the raccoon awakened too."
"Oh? That's an interesting possibility. But I probably saw it wrong. My demon eye was overloaded..."
He breathed a sigh of relief as Eun Gangseok brushed it off.
He had almost had to force the excuse that it was his pet raccoon again.
It was supposed to be a raccoon concept, but it kept barking 'Mung!' at random times, making him nervous.
"Well... Gangseok-nim."
"Yes?"
Eun Gangseok smiled at Jinhyuk, who was hesitating and fidgeting for some reason.
"Don't worry. It's safe."
He took out the Yodel Compass from his pocket and handed it over.
"Oh!"
Jinhyuk quickly received it with both hands and rubbed his face against it.
He had been worried the whole time it was away, but now he could finally relax.
"I used it well. Thanks to this, I was able to get to the uninhabited island. And I could report the location in time."
After carefully putting away the Yodel Compass, he opened his mouth.
"What happened before I got here?"
He looked at the Americans standing far away.
Cheon Ilgyo's Min Soyul, Eun Gangseok, and the American player Hunter Cheong.
It was an unnatural combination to be huddled together.
"Well."
Eun Gangseok shrugged and continued.
There was still something to settle on that side.
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T/N:
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