Ch-141
—
The four were decided.
All that remained was one more.
And just in time, one person came to mind.
“M–me? The Tower of Rift? Huh? Together?”
Balte, the spearman.
With him, the party finally had proper balance.
It was practically an Avengers lineup.
*
*
Before entering the Tower of Rift, one last preparation remained.
《The ‘Achievement Shop’ has opened.》
《You may use the Achievement Shop with the points earned through ‘Achievements.’》
《Additionally, depending on your ranking in the Hall of Honor, the Achievement Shop’s listings will change.》
《Rank 1, Randolph—welcome to your Achievement Shop.》
《You currently possess 4,500 Achievement Points.》
It was the Achievement Shop.
A new benefit-based shop that appeared after pushing through Main Quest 8.
Soon, the shop’s list of items surfaced.
‘…This is insane.’
I couldn’t help but shout *Eureka* again.
—
—
“Alliance Leader, it seems the Master will suffer major losses now that his ranking has dropped.”
The Hero Alliance of Korea.
One of the Alliance members spoke to the Alliance leader, Park Tae-woo, with a satisfied grin.
Hadn’t countless people almost died because of the Master’s scheming during the Jeju Island destruction incident?
Even the government had told him to pull out of Jeju Island.
Thus, the majority of the Hero Alliance antagonized the Master.
And that was no different for Park Tae-woo.
“Mm. He won’t be able to sell those ‘Warp Stones’ he’s been monopolizing among players.”
The most important item purchasable from the Achievement Shop was the Warp Stone.
Materials required to build or repair a warp—extremely difficult to obtain.
One of the very few supply sources had been the Master, and after achieving first place in the Achievement Shop rankings, he would sell Warp Stones to players and accumulate significant wealth.
“He even suddenly sold off the ruins in the city, didn’t he? The Master must be struggling financially.”
“It’s certain he took a huge hit from this.”
“Alliance Leader, is there any chance Phantom will sell Warp Stones cheaply?”
“Hm. I’m not sure he has enough Achievement Points to release them like that.”
Randolph did accomplish incredible feats, but there was a limit to the points he could earn pushing Main Quest 8.
Meanwhile, the Master had pushed the main quests to their limit, leaving him more room to work with.
“Still—wouldn’t he have at least 500 points?”
“Judging from everything he’s done, he should have *at least* that much…”
He might have a bit more than 500.
But it was unlikely Phantom would waste those points buying Warp Stones just to resell them.
Looking at Phantom’s track record, he was the type to pursue practical gains over money.
Park Tae-woo shook his head.
“He’ll raise the level of his benefits. That would be the wisest choice.”
“A shame. It would’ve been nice if he sold them cheap.”
“Even if he *did* buy Warp Stones, he wouldn’t sell them cheaply.”
That was who Phantom was.
He was not someone who sold Warp Stones at a loss.
Then, a Alliance member’s eyes gleamed.
“…Shouldn’t we begin the groundwork to take control of a ‘city’ too?”
Owning a city in Pangaenia.
They knew just how powerful that would make them.
But the Korean Alliance still had no foothold in Pangaenia.
Talk of Warp Stones itself was appearing because the time to seize cities was approaching.
Yet Park Tae-woo was pessimistic about this too.
“The second invasion is soon. The best we can do is climb the ‘Tower’ before then.”
“You mean the Tower of Rift.”
That’s right.
The Tower of Rift.
Every player was preparing to ascend it.
Korea was no exception.
If two announcements appeared, it meant there would be much to gain inside the tower.
‘The Abyss Labyrinth was also land of the Old Empire. The Tower of Rift may hold even greater value.’
Park Tae-woo solidified his resolve.
To do this, he needed the strongest party possible—and including several ‘players,’ recruitment was almost complete.
‘This time…’
This time, he would *produce results*.
Only with a strong Alliance would Korea grow stronger.
Only with power could they avoid being tossed around like during the Jeju Island incident.
‘…Phantom will challenge the tower too.’
And if he met Phantom inside the tower…
‘I must tell him about what was written in that diary.’
The diary Kim Hana had shown him.
Its contents included several peculiar things.
Kim Hana refused to reveal who wrote it.
But Park Tae-woo had *interpreted* enough to draw conclusions.
‘MintChoco… he is the most dangerous one.’
That MintChocoIsDelicious might become Phantom’s greatest threat.
*
*
《You have seized Rank 1 in the Hall of Honor with an astonishing score!》
《The Achievement Shop’s inventory has been upgraded by one tier.》
《You currently possess 4,500 Achievement Points.》
《Immortal Warp Stone (300)》, 《Warp Stone (20)》, 《Barrier of Protection Lv.11 → Level Up (1,100)》, 《Increase Barrier Duration by 1s (500)》, 《Expand Golden Scale Shop Inventory (1,000)》, 《Reduce Golden Scale Shop Refresh Time (1,000)》, 《Increase Secret Auction House Concurrent Listings (500)》, 《Status Window Level Up (10,000)》…
The reason I shouted “insane” upon seeing the list—
The items available from the Achievement Shop were that astonishing.
‘To think I can *upgrade the rank* of acquired privileges.’
The required points were high, but if one could purchase them, there was no better shop.
Some items couldn’t even be bought with my 4,500 points.
‘Status Window level up? What even changes if the Status Window levels up?’
The Status Window—
A system that objectively visualized my stats.
I had no idea how leveling *that* would change anything.
But requiring 10,000 points meant its importance was far from low.
‘I’d been wanting to level the Barrier anyway. Perfect timing.’
The Barrier was the privilege that protected my Earth body while I was in Pangainia.
At level 11, it nullified attacks of *1-star or lower* for 30 seconds.
Great, but not enough to guarantee perfect safety.
《Barrier of Protection has been raised to Level 12.》 -1,100 points
《Barrier of Protection has been raised to Level 13.》 -1,200 points
《Barrier of Protection has been raised to Level 14.》 -1,300 points
《The Barrier of Protection shines as it strengthens.》
There was no need to hesitate.
What mattered most now was the barrier’s level.
A satisfied smile tugged at my lips.
Soon, the window for the Barrier appeared before me.
【Advanced Barrier of Protection (Lv.14)】
★ Protects the logged-out body from danger and issues warnings.
★ The level determines the strength it can block.
★ At Level 14, the barrier nullifies attacks of *up to 4 stars* for 30 seconds.
★ In its ‘Advanced’ form, the barrier protects the body even more securely.
Advanced, huh.
It was the *Jin* enhancement—a type of ultimate enhancement.
Jin (進): a modifier indicating a function elevated to its extreme limits.
‘No harm in having extra effects.’
If I leveled it further, other enhancement modifiers would likely appear too.
At any rate, nullifying attacks up to 4 stars meant my Earth body now had considerable safety.
‘Remaining points: 900.’
The problem was that the remaining points were awkward.
Most privilege upgrades required at least a thousand points.
‘Immortal Warp Stone and ordinary Warp Stone, hm.’
Warp Stones—monopolized and sold by the Master.
But Immortal Warp Stones were something completely new.
Likely added due to my overwhelming Quest 8 score.
Rubbing my chin, I read the description.
【Immortal Warp Stone】
★ A warp infused with the Immortal Warp Stone cannot be destroyed.
★ A warp connected with an Immortal Warp Stone cannot be forcibly disconnected.
★ One Immortal Warp Stone may be installed per city.
My shoulders lifted in excitement.
“…This is insane too.”
Even a regular Warp Stone cost no less than a million gold.
Yet this Immortal Warp Stone—which had never appeared before.
City lords would drool over it the moment they saw the features.
Warp Stones cost 20 points—this one required 300.
Even by rough conversion, that meant 15 million gold.
With scarcity added, the price would skyrocket further.
It might even reach the hundred-million range.
Because the Immortal Warp Stone—
‘Prevents sinking into the Abyss to a certain extent.’
That alone made it worth far more.
It also prevented malicious acts like forcibly disconnecting a warp to sink a city.
It was a bit disappointing that only one could be placed per city.
‘One for the Labyrinth City, and the other—I’ll sell.’
No matter that the Labyrinth City sat on Old Empire land, I had spent far too much gold earlier.
With the city’s finances and the Throne of Light in mind, more gold was necessary.
Decision made, I opened the Achievement Shop again.
《Purchased two ‘Immortal Warp Stones.’》 -600 points
《Listed one ‘Immortal Warp Stone’ in the Secret Auction House.》
《Auction duration set to 7 days.》
《Starting bid: 10,000,000G.》
Anyone with sense would recognize its value. It would sell on its own.
Now, preparations were almost complete.
‘Ah.’
…Except for one last thing.
《Connecting to the Golden Scale Shop.》
《You possess 2 Complete Golden Rules and 2,355 hours of Golden Rule fragments.》
《Loading updated Golden Scale Shop inventory.》
*
*
Serengeti, High Dryad Rommel, Balte, Andrew, and me.
The five of us headed for the Tower of Rift.
As we approached the tower, Andrew swallowed nervously and said,
“…Successor. Do you perhaps doubt my healing abilities?”
This came right after I began distributing the *Highest-grade Elixirs.*
“I trust you. But there’s always the chance of the unexpected—so take three each.”
I trusted Andrew.
His priestly abilities were outstanding.
But since we didn’t know what awaited inside the tower, collateral was necessary.
The Golden Scale Shop sold Highest-grade Elixirs for 30 hours each, and I bought exactly fifteen to distribute.
“Three Highest-grade Elixirs each…”
Balte accepted the bottle containing the Elixir with a dumbfounded expression.
In most subjugation missions, people didn’t even bother bringing Elixirs.
But three of them?
That was luxury itself.
However, that wasn’t the end of it.
“Take one of these as well.”
“What is this…? A whistle?”
When Serengeti asked, I nodded.
“It’s a whistle that lets you pinpoint each other’s location even from far away. Only the registered user can activate it, so there’s no risk of someone stealing and using it.”
This too was purchased from the updated Golden Scale Shop.
At the very least, we wouldn’t lose each other.
And even if we did, we could quickly find one another.
“Successor…”
“This is so moving!”
“To think you cared about us this much…”
“Thank you, brother.”
…Why are they being so creepy about it?
This level of thorough preparation wasn’t only for safety.
The part in the Tower of Rift stating that ascending floors allowed ‘Level Limit Removal’ bothered me a lot.
But surely not everyone would receive that benefit.
The party as a whole needed to achieve a high score.
Which meant—this was simply an investment toward that.
“Let’s enter.”
“Yes!”
Serengeti shouted energetically.
And as we stepped into the Tower of Rift—
《The ‘entry requirements’ for the ‘Tower of Rift’ have been satisfied.》
《Floor 1: Tower of Fractured Levels.》
《The zones are divided according to your level.》
《Do your best in your respective zones!》
《The combined score will determine whether the final ‘Raid Boss Zone’ opens and whether you may proceed to Floor 2.》
……
《‘Heart of the Eternal Monarch’ activates!》
《The ‘Fractured Level Zones’ have been unlocked.》
《‘Randolph’ may enter starting from the Level 1 Zone.》
《The ‘Master of the Rift’ frowns.》
—
—
The Constellation of the Radiant Hero.
Having poured all starlight into completing the unique-grade reward, he was deeply satisfied.
Satisfied—but.
‘Still, it is a shame I could not witness the very end.’
If there was one lingering regret, it was that he had not seen the true “end” of it.
But he held no remorse.
Because as the emptiness was finally filled, he could now see the choice he had once failed to make.
‘The sacrifice of the few for the many. I branded it as a noble cause—but in truth, I had never intended to sacrifice *myself.*’
He had once been a hero.
Before being a Constellation, he had been called a pillar of an entire world.
Radiant, beautiful—a true hero in every sense.
But looking back, his life was filled only with regret.
In the end, he failed to protect what mattered, and his story ended in defeat and ruin.
Even after sacrificing countless people for the sake of some grand ideal to save the world—
‘I convinced myself that only *I* could save the world. And because of that, I drove everyone else into despair instead of myself.’
So he wanted to see it.
A hero who could sacrifice and devote themselves.
But he never did.
There was no such person.
