「The Demon King's Tower」
In the early days when the tower first appeared, people were consumed by fear—but that didn't last long. Nations around the world competitively began to conquer 「The Demon King's Tower」.
The reason was simple: the appearance of magic stones, items… new energy sources, and new weapons.
These things ushered in a new era of change for the world. As a result, every nation, without exception, began to pour all their resources into indiscriminate tower conquest.
And at the center of it all was the United States.
With overwhelming national power compared to other countries, the U.S. began to take the lead even in the age of 「The Demon King's Tower」.
While other nations were still clearing the lower floors—below the 10th floor—the U.S. had already pushed past the 20th floor.
Thanks to their immense national strength and full governmental support, American 「Breakers」 were able to rapidly advance through the tower.
As a result, they were able to maintain their status as a superpower in the new era, thanks to the enormous rewards from 「The Demon King's Tower」.
But….
For every action, there was a reaction. What seemed like an eternal American dominance—their meteoric rise in tower conquest—soon ran into trouble.
Namely,
「The Conquest Time Limit Dilemma!」
The difficulty of 「The Demon King's Tower」 naturally increases the higher you go. And that difficulty has no upper limit.
Eventually, at a certain point, they all had no choice but to realize the truth:
If they kept going like this, it would be dangerous….
But human greed knows no end, and the U.S. did not stop. After all, they had already been blinded by the benefits that 「The Demon King's Tower」 provided.
And so, the indiscriminate tower conquest continued.
Sufficient research and preparation—without them, reckless challenges eventually brought disaster.
The so-called Demon Section.
Eventually, the U.S. reached the floor known as the Catastrophe Zone.
And then, one failed conquest after another.
The conquest time limit quickly approached,
and finally,
「Judgment Day」
【The conquest time limit has expired. 「The Demon King's Tower」 will collapse.】
Along with a system message that rang out for every American… 「The Demon King's Tower」 collapsed. And from within, tens of thousands of magic beasts poured forth.
A day of calamity!
As a result of that shocking day, the United States permanently lost part of its territory.
….
From that point on,
everything changed.
Nations began to approach the 「Demon King's Towers」 located within their borders with caution.
Research on the towers and magic beasts, the utilization of magic stones and items, and even the nurturing of 「Breakers」—systematic frameworks began to be introduced.
The world had entered what could be called the era of the Second Great Cataclysm.
***
After finishing his part-time job at the convenience store, Ha-min returned home and immediately started searching through various news articles.
【Government Announces New Countermeasures Regarding 「Magic Rifts」!】
【Discussions on the Reorganization of the Anti-Magic Beast Capital Defense Force Are Now in Full Swing…】
【Avalon Corpse Transport and Dismantling – Private Companies Expected to Compete Fiercely for Bidding.】
【National Assembly! Ruling and Opposition Parties Reach Agreement to Propose a New Special Act on Compensation for Damages from 「Magic Rifts」!】
The news headlines were still fixed on that day's incident. And rightly so—the sudden appearance of a colossal magic beast had sent shockwaves through the entire nation.
└ No matter how I think about it, this has to be a new type of ability user!
└ What are you talking about! Yesterday, the National Disaster Headquarters announced it was one of their newly developed special weapons.
└ You idiot, you actually believe that? Do you think regular military forces could take down a commander-class magic beast?
└ On the flip side, if it was a 「Breaker」 that makes even less sense! What kind of skill could possibly one-shot a general-class!?
└ Can we really say we know all the skills of every 「Breaker」? It's not like we can see their status windows directly….
└ Occasionally, there are some miracle-grade traits out there.
└ The U.S. and China do have some monster-level individuals too….
└ Now that you mention it, even over in Europe they have a Saintess. So why not!
└ Still, don't you think this is a bit much? One-shotting a colossal magic beast??? That's crossing the line.
The government and the National Disaster Headquarters announced that the incident was thanks to a new type of magical wave cannon, but the public didn't believe it at all.
And wasn't that only natural? If such a weapon existed, why hadn't they used it until now?
Who would buy that?
In the end, the majority prediction was that the one who killed 「Avalon」 was a new type of 「Unique Trait」.
'Seriously, people's noses for gossip are like bloodhounds… just amazing.'
As expected, collective intelligence was frightening.
Some of these netizen sleuths even went so far as to analyze that day's incident using satellite imagery, magic power data, population movement patterns, and related photos—all to track down the 「Breaker」 who had been at the scene at that time. Their meticulous analysis was enough to make one click one's tongue in awe….
But even so, Ha-min wasn't too worried. After all, his 「Unique Trait」 would never be discovered.
The skill activation method, the manifestation process—there wasn't a single clue to be found. Unless he voluntarily came out and confessed, he was certain he would never be caught.
After that, Ha-min checked the news and community reactions a few more times. Now, he was waiting for something.
What was he waiting for, you ask?
Ddiring!
【Settling rewards for 「Avalon」 conquest.】
It was because of this very message.
'Ugh, how long are they going to make me wait? I'm getting dizzy here!'
A solo subjugation reward for a general-class magic beast, no less. How could he not be excited? With all his skill uses depleted, this was the only thing he could count on.
Thump thump
Would it be a 「Demon King's Tower」 item, perhaps?
「Demon King's Tower」 items are priced—depending on their grade—from as little as a few million won to as much as hundreds of billions. Some items are so valuable they can't even be priced at all.
And for a reward of this scale, from taking down such a massive magic beast? At the very least, he could be looking at billions. No, maybe tens of billions?….
"I'm sure of it!!!"
He had already looked it up through searches.
'So… please!!'
Ha-min needed money. Well, to be fair, is there anyone who doesn't need money?….
That was when—
Ddiring!
【Settlement complete. 】
"It's here."
Finally, the long-awaited moment had arrived.
But then—
【Magic stones and experience rewards cannot be obtained from 「Magic Rifts」. 】
"Huh? What?"
What the….
Unfortunately, in the case of magic beasts that have manifested in the real world, you cannot acquire magic stones or experience points upon defeating them.
Those can only be obtained inside the tower. It was a kind of penalty. But Ha-min, having just awakened, wasn't aware of that fact.
"Hey! You rotten—!!!"
So much for that.
But—
The next message blew that feeling away in an instant.
【An item reward for conquering 「Avalon」 will be granted. 】
!!!!!!
An item? It definitely just said an item!
Right after,
Ddiring!
【「Unique Trait Enhancement Rune」 x1 has been issued to your inventory. 】
!!!!!!!!!
"Whoa! Holy—!!"
Ha-min couldn't help but blurt out a curse.
And no wonder—
「Unique Trait Enhancement Rune」
This was the very item he'd only ever heard about—the one that, if put up at auction, would have a starting bid of at least 100 billion won.
And on top of that, it was a Legendary grade.
Saying 100 billion won was just the starting figure—in reality, no actual transaction had ever taken place. Because this item was directly managed by the state. In other words, it was classified as a national strategic asset!
Thump! Thump!
Ha-min's heart pounded, and his hands trembled.
The penalty of not getting any magic stones had already long since faded from his memory.
Who cared about that stuff! If he could just sell this one thing, he could retire on the spot.
Of course, there was one thing nagging at him, but….
….
Ddiring!
▶ Item Information
―Name: Unique Trait Enhancement Rune
Upon use, enhances the user's trait by one level.
※ Untradeable
"No!!!!!!!"
It said untradeable.
100 billion won had just vanished before his very eyes.
"This godforsaken system—who is it trying to mess with!!"
A curse slipped out, but what's done was done.
Phew… Calm down.
Right thoughts, good thoughts, pretty thoughts! Getting angry and cursing won't do me any good.
….
Anyway,
「Unique Trait Enhancement Rune」
Let's think positively. Isn't this something everyone's been clamoring for because they can't get it?
Who knows? If I enhance 「Absolute Command,」 maybe a recovery-type command will get added to the list? Absolute Recovery!! Something like that could actually exist.
'It… it'll show up, right?'
No, please show up. I'm begging you.
That's what he said, but even he thought the odds seemed slim.
The reason was his own affiliation.
Demon Clan
Honestly, doesn't that look like a class that's far removed from recovery skills to anyone who sees it? Rather than healing, it felt more natural for a curse skill to appear.
'Should I use it now?'
His body felt itchy with anticipation.
'No. Not right now….'
He gave up for the moment, but then again—
'Still, should I just try it out right away? It's not like I can trade it anyway!'
His mind went back and forth.
'But what if something goes wrong?'
He couldn't easily make up his mind.
***
At that same time,
「National Magic Disaster Response Headquarters」
Abbreviated as NMDRH.
This was the core government agency responsible for overseeing South Korea's 「Demon King's Tower.」
Park Gu-ho, head of the 1st Strategy Team at NMDRH.
He was currently focused on a certain screen. The footage he was watching was the very recording of Avalon's final moments. He had already replayed the same video numerous times.
"Stop it there again."
"Yes, sir."
"Rewind just a bit…."
The video rewound and played again.
"Here. This is the point."
At the spot Team Leader Park had marked—
"From this point on, the creature was in distress."
"Is that so? To me, it just looks like a simple fear effect…."
"No, look closely. When it uses fear, the color of its horns changes slightly. This isn't fear!"
"Could it be because of the military's attacks? Shells and such…."
"I'm not sure, but it's too unnatural. Were there any 「Breakers」 in the vicinity at the time? Give me the list again, please."
"Yes, sir."
To be fair, it could have been from the shells.
In the video, dozens of artillery rounds and missiles were constantly flying in….
But everyone knew.
All magic beasts, including 「Avalon,」 inherently possessed strong resistance to conventional weapons.
That was a basic trait of magic beasts.
And on top of that—large-sized! And a commander-class at that—ordinary military firearms couldn't even scratch it.
"Team Leader! Take a look at this for a moment!"
"What is it?"
"The combat magic power readings from the surrounding area at that time. But…."
"Is there something unusual?"
"Well… it's a bit strange. It's only for an instant, but… the reading is too high."
"High? How high?"
"For a moment, the peak value exceeded 1,000,000."
"What? 1 million?"
「Magic Power」
Both 「Breakers」 and magic beasts possess their own unique magic power readings. Simply put, it's a measure of strength. When they use their power, magic energy radiates into the surroundings, and that is converted into a numerical value.
But… what? 1 million?
That's a level beyond even a nuclear strike….
Moreover, their current equipment could only measure up to a maximum of 1 million. In other words, the actual value could have been even higher. In short, it had to be a measurement error.
"When things go wrong, even the readings are a mess."
In the video that followed,
the scene of 「Avalon's」 heart—its magic core—exploding played out.
'How could it happen without any warning?'
The more he watched, the more confused he became.
Just then,
"Team Leader, but doesn't this look like it's detonating itself?"
"What?"
"Look closely—since earlier, it seems like its magic power is being concentrated from the outside into its heart."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. At first glance, it looks like it's focusing magic power to use a skill, but watching it again, it feels like it's deliberately overloading its heart…."
"Are you saying it committed suicide?"
"They… that…."
They trailed off, at a loss for words.
Some speculated that the system had automatically eliminated it to correct an error.
In fact, that theory was becoming the established view….
But Team Leader Park thought differently.
The system… never makes errors. That was what he had come to know through years of experience.
'There's definitely something there!'
That was his conclusion.
"How about requesting cooperation from the U.S. side?"
"I doubt it. I don't think the U.S. would know much either."
Just then.
"Team Leader, we just received a contact from the 「U.S. Magic Beast Security Division」."
Those bastards are quick on their feet too.
"What do they want?"
"They say they want to see 「Avalon's」 corpse."
"What?!"
Team Leader Park's expression twisted.
The U.S. had also begun to take an interest in this incident.