#1
“Whew. What a madhouse.”
Hwanung shook his head as he waited for the stage to begin.
If he hadn’t pressed Join Game at just the right moment, he would have been mobbed.
He’d thought he was prepared, but far more people had swarmed him than expected, leaving him badly flustered.
All the more so because it was his first time experiencing anything like it.
‘I’m never showing my real face.’
Now he understood why famous Climbers kept their faces covered in public.
He quietly vowed to do the same.
“Come on out, everyone.”
A pocket dimension opened, and his summons sprang out.
There was still a little time left before the twenty-four hours were up.
He would have to clear a stage or two using only his new summons.
Originally, he’d planned to kill some time in the lobby, but someone had recognized him, forcing him to rush in.
Things had gotten tangled up in all sorts of ways, but that was fine.
Competition mattered, but increasing the number of summons was fundamentally important.
[Tower of Madness]
[Stages: ??]
[Stages will continue until only one team remains in the session.]
[Objects will be summoned for every team except the first to reach the required kill count.]
[Object: Random Boss]
[Time Limit per Stage: 30 minutes]
The Tower of Madness was what people called a “horde-slaying” tower.
The monsters were consumed by madness, but Climbers could also descend into a frenzy, killing enemies in a mindless trance.
It certainly had an apt name.
Seeing who else was in his session, Hwanung was pleased to recognize some familiar names.
“Weren’t these people with me last time?”
Apparently, they were following a similar route.
If they belonged to the Baldhead Climbing Club, they were bound to be streaming.
In that case, why not give them some spectacular footage?
‘Just you wait.’
The moment all his summons returned, the Objects would come pouring out.
The first stage began.
[Stage 1]
[Kills Required to Activate Objects: 150]
A hundred and fifty, huh.
With his summons overwhelming the enemy through sheer numbers, that should be perfectly doable.
Glad he hadn’t evolved them to R-rank, Hwanung gave his orders.
“Everyone, get into formation! Wipe them out as they come.”
“Understood!”
“For the Master!”
His loyal summons moved into formation as one.
Melee fighters in front, ranged attackers in back.
The healers stood ready to treat injuries at a moment’s notice.
“The first stage is nothing special. Ranged attackers, start by wrecking the ones in the back.”
“Understood!”
Figures with glowing red eyes began swarming toward them.
There were plenty of them, but individually, they were nothing more than small fry.
The battle began.
He decided it wasn’t time to get an R-rank yet.
‘For now, I need to overwhelm them with numbers.’
The difficulty would rise sharply from Stage 3 onward.
By then, the summons knocked out yesterday would be back, letting him push through with sheer numbers.
Hwanung couldn’t help wishing he had the spirit.
“Should I try my luck?”
The kill counts of everyone in the session were displayed in the left corner of his vision.
Hwanung currently had twelve kills.
Below him, the Tete Crew had ten.
The rest were all much the same.
“Let’s keep this pace for now.”
Taking a chance was all well and good, but there was something to be said for playing it safe.
He folded his arms and watched how things developed.
Keep it up, summons.
#2
Meanwhile, the Tete Crew was fighting the enemies with everything they had.
Avatars with area-of-effect skills held a clear advantage in the Tower of Madness.
Though even those lost their punch in the later stages, as if they’d passed their expiration date.
Tete’s class was mage.
Her stats leaned heavily toward Mana and Agility, and she had purchased skills to match.
She drew on her mana and activated a skill.
[Mana Cannon]
WHOOOOOSH!
Vivid blue light shot forward in a straight line.
Watching the monsters caught in its path scatter into dust was the ultimate rush.
Wasn’t this exactly why people played mages?
“Yes! We’ve taken the lead!”
“We can win this!”
“Famous last words! Don’t jinx us!”
- Famous last words.
- FLW.
- lol They’re having fun.
- Lord 93’s giving them some prime streaming material.
- Lord93isthebest!Lord93isthebest!Lord93isthebest!Lord93isthebest!Lord93isthebest!Lord93isthebest!
The Tete Crew’s current kill count was thirty-three.
Lord 93—Hwanung—had twenty-eight.
Tete’s last attack had put them ahead in a single shot!
But there was still a long, hard road to a hundred and fifty kills.
Carefully balancing her natural mana recovery against her expenditure, Tete took down the enemies one by one.
All the while, thoughts of Lord 93 kept bubbling up.
A little friendly competition was essential, after all.
At the same time, Hwanung was watching both the kill counts and the enemies.
His summons were still holding steady against them.
Ten minutes would be up soon.
With reinforcements, he could push even harder.
‘Eastern-style civilians?’
Now that things had settled into a rhythm, he began noticing other details.
The enemies had reddened skin and wore ragged clothes.
Men and women alike moved with a frenzied air.
As though possessed by something, they seemed to be coming here simply to die.
Hwanung felt uneasy, but shook it off.
‘Focus on the competition for now.’
[Time Until Return – 48 minutes 25 seconds]
Forty-eight minutes left.
He had to hope his new summons could hold out until then.
About twenty minutes passed, and at last, a team reached a hundred and fifty kills.
It was the Tete Crew.
Tete’s powerful area spells had racked up kills in batches at regular intervals.
“So close.”
By then, Hwanung had a hundred and thirty-eight kills.
Apparently, his N-rank summons were just a little short on firepower.
That was fine.
It wasn’t the first time someone had beaten him to the Objects.
“This should make a fun video.”
Watching their lead get overturned in spectacular fashion.
That kind of content would raise his own value while making Tete’s video entertaining in its own right.
That was what Hwanung’s instincts told him.
For now, it was time to play the “secretly overpowered nobody” and let his rival shine.
#3
At the same time.
Having finished Stage 1, the Tete Crew burst into cheers.
They had beaten the incredible summoner, Lord 93!
Being able to send Objects meant they could gain an advantage in the battles ahead!
But then they remembered.
Things had played out much the same way in the Tower of Protection, only for them to lose by a single second.
Even so, they were drunk on their fleeting victory.
“We won!”
“We’ve gotten stronger, too!”
“Lord 93, down!”
- Oh, you lot!
- They’re about to get wrecked, aren’t they?
- Go, Lord 93! Please win, Lord 93!
- Famous last words mode: on.
- And then they get absolutely destroyed.
“Hey! Whose side are you people on?!”
- Yours, of course, dear streamer. ^^
- Yay. Go. Lady. Tete. You. Can. Do. It.
- Lord 93, please teach our arrogant streamer a lesson.
“I’ve got all your names memorized! Just watch and see who wins.”
A good start would get the snowball rolling all on its own!
Tete clenched both fists and prepared for the next stage.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—not a single team had been eliminated in Stage 1.
The first stage was only a warm-up anyway.
The real climb began now.
Armed figures had appeared in place of civilians.
“All right, let’s take first in Stage 2, too!”
“Let’s do it!”
[Stage 2 is beginning.]
[Kills Required to Activate Objects: 250]
“Aaaaaaaaaah!”
“Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!”
The cries were enough to make their heads reel.
Hundreds, thousands of figures consumed by madness spawned.
A chill ran through Tete, but she sharpened her focus.
The realism was on a completely different level from any game she had played before.
Experiencing it firsthand, through all five senses—that was the appeal of the pastime that dominated this age.
Her crewmates were fired up as well, their fighting spirit blazing.
“First place again! Let’s goooo!”
“All right, everyone to your positions!”
“To your positions!”
With the pride of the Baldhead Climbing Club on the line, they vowed to get their revenge properly.
Without the slightest idea what was about to happen to them.
#4
[Uuuuurgh!]
‘Jiangshi.’
Jiangshi appeared as Objects.
He knew all their attack patterns by heart.
Tough skin and low magic resistance.
Two attacks: a straight charge and a high leap followed by a downward strike.
He put the information organized in his head into clear instructions for his summons.
Tactics flowed from Hwanung’s lips.
“Just three melee fighters on the jiangshi. Keep it occupied. One mage deals damage to it, and everyone else attacks the armed enemies first.”
“Understood!”
At the same time, Hwanung checked the clock.
Roughly twenty minutes until his summons returned.
He had close to twenty N-rank summons, but he still had no intention of evolving them.
‘Just a little longer.’
The summons assigned to hold the jiangshi were expendable.
He planned to wear it down, then finish it off with his returning summons.
The two sides clashed, and the kill count began rising.
[Rooooar!]
With monstrous howls, they lunged at the summon at the very front.
The [shield bearer] in front took the jiangshi’s attack.
BOOOM!
Its tough body packed terrifying destructive power.
Even though it had struck the shield barehanded, it was the shield that crumpled, not its fist.
Naturally, the startled shield bearer’s stance broke under the tremendous force.
Another tank took their place, buying time.
[Fire]
The first-circle spell, Fire.
A jet of flame engulfed the jiangshi like a flamethrower.
[Rooooar!]
It was in pain, but incapacitating it was out of the question.
Hwanung watched the enemies pressing relentlessly forward.
Tick, tick. The timer counted down, and one summon was unsummoned.
“Aaaaargh!”
Struck by the jiangshi’s fist, the shield bearer lost their shield, then vanished into dust beneath a swarm of lesser enemies.
[‘shield bearer’ has been unsummoned after sustaining critical damage.]
Unfazed, Hwanung kept the jiangshi occupied.
His diminished forces slowly began losing ground, and a second summon went down.
[‘Novice Swordsman’ has been unsummoned after sustaining critical damage.]
“Draw.”
Just then, ten minutes elapsed, and a new N-rank summon appeared.
Hwanung’s mana dipped ever so slightly, and the newcomer filled the gap.
[N-rank Summon: Low-Level Assassin]
“Druid, bind the jiangshi’s feet for a moment.”
“Yes, Master.”
[Nature’s Wrath]
CRRRACK!
The surrounding plants bound the jiangshi’s limbs.
He had originally kept the druid free to rack up kills. It was a shame to have to use them like this.
[Uuuuurgh!]
CRACK!
The jiangshi was stronger than expected.
The mage’s constant fire spells were also making the woody stems deteriorate faster.
The crazed jiangshi screamed and thrashed.
Even the tough stems couldn’t withstand the boss’s brute strength for long before snapping.
Still, there was one encouraging sign.
“Looks like its health has dropped below fifty percent.”
The jiangshi’s attack pattern changed.
It grew stronger and faster.
What people called going Berserk.
“Don’t take it head-on! Keep dodging and buy as much time as you can!”
“Underst—Gaaagh!”
[‘shield bearer’ has been unsummoned after sustaining critical damage.]
Should’ve dodged instead of answering.
The jiangshi’s destructive power was so immense that he couldn’t see any way for N-rank summons to stop it.
But if he evolved them, it seemed like too much for a single R-rank summon to handle.
So Hwanung kept stalling.
‘The kill counts are still close.’
[Tete and 4 others: 88 kills]
[Avatar No. 19930211: 71 kills]
[…]
[After sustaining critical damage…]
[After sustaining critical…]
His summons were steadily being pushed back.
The jiangshi’s entire body was covered in burns and wounds, but it still wasn’t dead.
It seemed as though all that remained was to be overrun—until a welcome voice rang out at just the right moment.
“You have waited long, my lord.”
[Your summons have recovered from their injuries and are returning.]
“Lucas, reporting back.”
Two summons emerged through a tear in the pocket dimension.
And three Land Wolves.
On top of that, he decided to evolve his N-rank summons, of which he had more than ten.
The result?
[R-rank Summon: Jina, the Archmage’s Apprentice]
[This summon is capable of growth.]
[Strength: 15 Mana: 38 Stamina: 15 Agility: 20]
[Skills: ‘Archmage’s Talent,’ ‘Third-Circle Fire Magic,’ ‘Third-Circle Common Magic,’ ‘Mana Amplification’]
“So many disgusting things. Makes me want to roast them whole.”
A summon capable of turning the tide had arrived.
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