At the same time.
Ding!
[Global Announcement: The Korean record for Floor 1 of the Demon King's Tower has been broken.]
What? Who? Did what?
Park Gu-ho, a team leader of NMDRH, had been just about to fall asleep at home. The sudden global announcement jolted him slightly awake.
"Oh ho~ A Korean record?"
It had been a long time since he'd seen a new Korean record for the 「Demon King's Tower」.
"Floor 1? Has it been three years? Hmm. Not bad for a rookie."
Still half-asleep, Team Leader Park thought a remarkable new player had appeared. Even if it was only Floor 1, it was certainly no small feat.
"There'll be big news tomorrow morning."
He figured that much and was about to drift back off when—
Ding!
[Global Announcement: The world record for Floor 1 of the Demon King's Tower has been broken.]
!!!!!!!!!
Bolting upright!
"Wha— What did you say!!?"
Park Gu-ho shot up in bed.
He was wide awake now.
"A... world record?"
Something impossible had just happened.
"Th-This guy is completely insane!!!"
And, not long after, at the NMDRH's Main Conference Room.
The director of the NMDRH, along with the heads of Strategy Teams 1 through 4, the intelligence chiefs from various government ministries, and even the ruling party's top senior secretary...
and finally, the Senior Secretary for Political Affairs from the Blue House—all gathered in one place. This was the kind of lineup you'd only see during a national crisis.
"As you all know, at approximately 00:47 this morning, a global announcement came up. The content was a new record notification for Floor 1 of the 「Demon King's Tower」—someone has achieved both a new Korean record and a new world record simultaneously. The first announcement was delivered to domestic 「Breakers」... and the second to all 「Breakers」 around the world."
"A global announcement, you say?"
"How many years has it been since the last one?"
Murmur murmur!
The conference room buzzed with chatter.
A world record for a floor of the 「Demon King's Tower」 was not simply registered by being the first to clear it. Being the first to clear only registered a national ranking... For a world record, one had to surpass a certain threshold set by the Tower itself.
And humanity had last achieved a world record several years ago, on Floor 38—since then, no floor records had been registered as world records.
"Team Leader Park! Is this for real? A Korean achieved a new world record?"
Announcements are only visible to Awakened. The general public could not see them. Currently, in the conference room, including Team Leader Park, there were three Awakened.
The rest were all non-Awakened.
"Yes. It's a system message, so there's no mistake."
"Then who on earth did it?"
"We don't know yet. However, since both the Korean ranking and the world ranking were registered simultaneously, there's no doubt that it was a Korean."
Awakened are automatically assigned to their own country's 「Demon King's Tower」.
The fact that he appeared on the Korean ranking was definitive proof that he was Korean.
"We still haven't been able to identify the specific ranker in question."
As always, the system was unhelpful and didn't reveal everything. If anything, it allowed one to remain anonymous if they so chose.
"Haa..."
The director of NMDRH let out a deep sigh. This was a very... highly sensitive matter.
"Could another country be involved? Perhaps North Korea is trying to cause confusion for us with terrorist intentions..."
Research on the 「Demon King's Tower」 had long been a global obsession.
And it was still ongoing... It wasn't entirely unthinkable that other nations might be using the Tower for various experiments or arbitrary purposes.
"Well, I'm not so sure. No matter how you look at it, I still find it hard to believe that anyone could deceive the system. If they had tried, they would have been penalized instead. And as for North Korea, our National Intelligence Service's assessment is that they simply don't have that kind of capability."
Deceiving the system was impossible. It was something no country had ever managed to do.
"The system doesn't reveal who it is?"
"No. By default, the identity is kept hidden from everyone except the individual themselves."
"But aren't the clear rankings made public?"
"Users can also enter a nickname for the rankings. And if they don't want to, they can choose not to enter a name at all."
What made this global announcement most shocking was the fact that the record set by the United States had stood for a full 11 years.
And yet?
Someone had broken that record. And by an overwhelming margin at that...
"For now, judging by the entry level for Floor 1, it's highly likely to be a Level 10 Awakened."
"Yes. That's our assumption as well. There's no way a Level 1 Awakenedcould have done it!"
"Hmm... Who on earth could it be...?"
The mysterious Awakened.
A heavy silence fell over the conference room.
Then,
"We absolutely must find him. The US, Japan, and China are probably already making their moves."
A man who had been silent until now spoke up. It was the Senior Secretary for Political Affairs from the Blue House.
"The government will mobilize all ministries and form a joint investigation task force."
The Senior Secretary's proposal. He pressed firmly.
"NMDRH, please begin a full-scale investigation immediately on those who have recently completed Awakened registration and promising prospects."
"NIS, please focus your investigation on 「Breakers」 who have defected to Korea from overseas."
"National Police Agency, please conduct your investigation centered on Awakened criminals and unregistered 「Breakers」 across the country."
"Next..."
The division of roles came rapidly, one after another.
A moment later,
"As you all know, we must find that person and bring them to our side. If by any chance they end up going to Japan or the US, it could become a national loss. Never forget the incident that happened three years ago."
The atmosphere in the conference room grew heavier—that was how massive the aftermath of that incident was.
***
But whether they knew or cared,
at Ha-min's studio apartment.
"At your service! Hamin-nim, you really worked hard today, sir!"
They had left the tower immediately after clearing Floor 1 of the 「Demon King's Tower」.
"Uh... but I didn't really do anything, though."
It wasn't empty flattery. He truly hadn't done a thing. Before he could even use 「Absolute Command」, Bellamon had already finished everything off.
Injuries?
Not a single scratch.
Tired?
He hadn't even lifted a finger.
Danger?
He hadn't even gotten a glimpse of it. It was all thanks to Bellamon. He far surpassed Ha-min's expectations. By an absurd margin...
Is he really a private?
"At your service! Bellamon-nim! You worked hard!"
Ha-min finished with a salute.
And then,
Growwwl~!
A familiar sound coming from somewhere...
As if on cue, Ha-min and Bellamon's stomachs growled at the exact same time.
"Haha. You're hungry, right? I'll boil some ramyeon."
"Private! Be!lla!mon! No, sir! I will boil it!"
Whoosh—
Zoom~
Bellamon dashed off like a bullet.
With practiced skill, he began filling the pot with water for ramyeon.
He was so fast and nimble that there was no time to stop him.
'Looking at this, he really does seem like a real private...'
Are demon soldiers normally like this?
Probably not — maybe it's because of that 「Korean Patch」 thing? If that's the case, it would explain why Bellamon seems so overly disciplined.
...
"After a job well done, ramyeon is the rule, sir!"
'I've never heard of that rule before...'
"But you had ramyeon yesterday too... Are you sure that's—"
"Perfectly fine, sir!"
"Still, I—"
It was the second day in a row.
"Besides, you only have ramyeon at home anyway, right, sir?"
"...Ah, sorry. I haven't gone grocery shopping..."
That hit a sore spot. Not that it was wrong.
Because it was true...
"Ah! I'm sorry!!! That's not what I meant, sir!"
"Oh, I get my part-time pay tomorrow. I'll buy some other stuff then. And I'm planning to exchange the magic stones I got as a reward from clearing the tower too. I'll also register as an Awakened... then I'll have more money."
"Oh! That's great, sir! So how many packs should I boil?"
"...Three for now?"
"Yessir! Noodles going in now!! Noodle power!!"
It was just ramyeon... but he looked so serious about it.
He seemed less like a demon soldier and more like a mess hall cook. And then came the storm of meal time.
Slurp slurp~
Ahh~
It was served with kimchi.
"With ramyeon, it's always kimchi, sir!"
A foreigner to Korea—no, a demon soldier of Korea—Bellamon.
He even ate aged kimchi without complaint.
"Um... Hamin-nim?"
"Yes?"
"Um, after I finish my ramyeon, would it be alright if I watch some TV?"
"Huh? TV?"
"Yes, sir. There's still some summon time left, after all."
Now that he thought about it—
Bellamon's summon maintenance time was 8 hours. But since the battle ended in just 3 minutes... roughly 7 hours remained.
"Of course. Watch as much as you want."
The demon Bellamon—
he apparently knew how to relax and watch TV too.
And melodramas at that... But do demons even watch stuff like that?
'He's completely different from the demons I knew.'
Different didn't even begin to cover it.
Time passed like that, and then...
"At! Your! Service! Private Bellamon, reporting that I have completed my duties and will now return!"
Bellamon had not only watched TV but also cleaned the entire apartment.
"For a soldier, barracks life is the real military life, sir!"
...he said as he cleaned, but honestly, he was way too good at it.
Ha-min's studio apartment had become embarrassingly spotless.
Even the folded blanket had sharp creases.
'I don't think even my mom could do this well.'
Now that he thought about it—
Bellamon hadn't rested for even a single moment.
"Um, Bellamon-nim?"
"Private! Bel! La! Mon! Please speak, sir!"
"Bellamon-nim, aren't you tired?"
"Summons don't get tired, sir."
Ah... right.
He said they don't get tired.
Must be nice.
....
Finally, the summon time came to an end.
"At! Your! Service!"
With a salute,
poof
Bellamon disappeared.
Ding!
[Bellamon's summon has been released.]
The studio apartment suddenly fell quiet.
It felt a little strange. He must have grown attached already.
'Come to think of it...'
He had summoned him, made him work, and only fed him ramyeon twice in a row — he felt a little guilty.
'Still, he was a guest...'
Next time, he wanted to treat him to a proper meal. He wasn't sure if demons even ate human food... but judging by how Bellamon ate, he seemed like he'd eat just about anything.
The greatness of the Korean Patch, indeed!
....
Anyway, thanks to all that, his level went up.
Ding!
▶ Breaker
― Name : Kang Ha-min
― Level : Lv.2
― Magic Power : 13
― Class : Demon Class
― Unique Trait : Absolute Command (Lv.2)
Along with that, his combat magic power also increased slightly. Not that he felt particularly stronger, though...
And on top of that, he hadn't even used 「Absolute Command」 at all.
Now, what's next?
Time to check the rewards.
'Inventory!'
Shhhhhh—!
Ha-min pulled something out of his inventory. In his hand was a small stone, slightly smaller than his thumbnail.
'So this is a magic stone?'
It was his first time seeing one in person. From what he'd looked up, the current market price was around 30,000 won per stone.
Most of them were sent to magic factories, where the magic power was extracted and then discarded, or so he'd heard.
'I heard that in the early days, each magic stone sold for over 500,000 won...'
Ha-min had seen articles about that era too. Back then, anything that came out of the 「Demon King's Tower」 would make headlines — it was chaos. A very different time from now.
He'd heard that early Awakened made a fortune because of it.
He was envious, but there was nothing he could do about it now.
'Still, I made 60,000 won.'
He decided to look on the bright side.
60,000 won per tower entry... That was way better than a convenience store part-time job.
At this rate, even just clearing the same floor over and over for a while would be decently profitable.
'I need to exchange them for cash, though...'
Like anyone, Ha-min needed money. The catch was how to exchange magic stones for cash.
Only government-certified 「Breakers」 could do that. In other words, he needed to register officially.
'It'll be fine, right?'
Things had gotten noisy with the whole 「Avalon」 incident and this world record announcement, but no one knew it was him.
'What are they gonna do if I just say it wasn't me...?'
Deciding it probably wouldn't be a big issue, he made up his mind to register as an Awakened and exchange the stones right away.
And then, another reward appeared in his hand.
Namely—
「Gold Medal」
An item obtained as a reward for the world record. The name was grand too — Gold Medal.
'What is this...'
Ding!!
▶ Item Information
― Name : Gold Medal
A very special reward given to the brave one who achieved an EX record in a single challenge.
※ You can exchange 50 of these medals for a 「Purification Stone」 at the Golden Carriage.
Huh? Purification Stone?
What's that now?
He kept coming across things he'd never seen before.