Chapter 12

Chapter 12

I hadn’t known.

I hadn’t known the achievements of a monster under my Command could contribute to climbing the Tower.

It was something I had never imagined at all, so I was startled.

Even in the game, there had been no classes or skills that handled monsters.

There was a class called necromancer, but that felt closer to summons in the first place.

Its mechanism was different from the [Command] skill.

Compared to how surprised I was, the actual party who had produced the achievement did not seem moved at all.

“Ha-jin, did I do good?”

The slime, which had already returned to the form of a girl, took a step closer and asked.

Unlike the skill it had shown by swallowing the Goblin Shaman whole in a single gulp, if you only looked at this side of it, it was no different from a child.

“What’s your name?”

“Name…? I don’t have one of those.”

“You don’t?”

I found it strange for a moment.

Then I quickly accepted it.

Well, monsters had individual names, but I had never heard of them having personal names.

A name…

We might keep traveling together from now on, so it would be strange to keep calling it “you.”

Since things had come to this, should I just give it a name?

That sounded good.

Since it kept bouncing around with boings….

I would take that trait and,

“How about Pongpong?”

“…….”

At my question, the girl’s face, which had always been smiling brightly, stiffened.

I learned something for the first time.

It could make that kind of face.

‘Yeah, it’s not a pet nickname. That’s kind of….’

Now that I had said it, my conscience pricked me.

That wasn’t right.

Calling a child Pongpong was a bit much.

I hurriedly changed the name.

“Then how about Poing?”

“Poing?”

Was this one not great either?

Just as I was about to think of another name, an unexpected reaction came back.

“Poing! I think that’s good! From now on, my name is Poing!”

The girl smiled brightly and hopped up and down in place.

Thankfully, it seemed to like this one.

Hmm, wasn’t there no real difference between Pongpong and Poing?

Well, did that matter?

As long as the person in question was satisfied with the name, that was enough.

[The unique name 『Poing』 has been granted to the Rainbow Servant Slime.]

[A faint demonic nature is contained within the unique name.]

[Under the influence of the demonic nature, Poing’s level rises.]

[Rainbow Servant Slime(Poing) 0Lv → 2Lv]

“Oh.”

System windows stating that its level had risen appeared one after another.

So monsters could level up too.

I had thought they only grew stronger through evolution, so this was the first time I had learned they had levels.

If I had known this would happen, I would have given it a name earlier.

Still, since noticing it now wasn’t exactly late, I did not worry about it.

Then did monsters need to raise their levels to evolve?

I wasn’t sure, but wasn’t that probably the case?

“That’s right! Just like Ha-jin thought. To evolve, I need to raise my level!”

‘…Huh?’

This was the second time.

Even though I had not said it out loud, Poing answered as if it had read my thoughts.

How on earth did it know?

It gave me the creeps.

Something similar had happened last time too.

Back then, I had just let it pass, but this time I could not ignore it.

I had to ask.

“Did you read my thoughts?”

“Read? Wrong. I don’t read them. I can feel them. Ha-jin’s thoughts, kind of faintly.”

Ah, so that was it.

Slimes did not originally have the ability to read another person’s will.

Maybe it was because of [Command].

The only fortunate part was that it did not seem to be reading my thoughts in real time.

I had just thought something weird a moment ago.

Poing merely tilted its head, showing no particular reaction.

Whew, that was a relief.

No matter what, having my head monitored twenty-four hours a day was not my taste.

‘This could be useful in battle if I handle it well.’

Being able to communicate without words was a tremendous advantage.

Especially in urgent situations.

‘Though it’s a shame it’s one-way instead of two-way.’

Even that was enough.

As the command tower, I only had to give Poing good orders.

Besides, I had reviewed the battle from earlier.

Poing fought far better than expected.

When it was locked in the prison, it had not seemed that strong.

Was it because it had evolved?

“So are we going to the next floor right away?”

This time, Poing spoke first.

Apparently, defeating the Goblin Shaman had made its confidence soar.

Poing wiggled its short fingers and made both eyes sparkle.

It was like a little kid asking their parents for permission to play computer games on the weekend.

How could I refuse after seeing this?

I couldn’t.

Even if this had not been in the plan, I had no choice but to call “go.”

“Yeah, we’re going.”

“Wow!! Ha-jin is awesome! You’re amazing after all!”

At my answer, Poing let out a cheer.

The truth was, I had intended to keep climbing without stopping anyway.

But being praised like this did not feel bad.

Besides.

I had no time to stop at the mere 4th Floor.

Maybe if I had been alone, but now I had a reliable ally too.

[Moving to the 5th Floor.]

Just like that, we went straight up to the 5th Floor.

[Defeat all enemies.]

The monsters that appeared on the 5th Floor were two Goblin Shamans and three Goblin Warriors.

Compared to the previous floor, the number of enemies had clearly increased.

However.

“Kraaaaaak!”

The Goblin Warrior was sent to paradise inside Poing’s mouth.

Three of them in a row, at that.

[You have defeated the Goblin Warrior.]

[You have defeated the Goblin Warrior.]

[You have defeated the Goblin Warrior.]

It was the obvious result.

The Tower was in the palm of my hand.

It was thanks to me tipping Poing off in advance about the positions and timings where the Goblin Warriors would ambush us.

“Ha-jin! Over there! Over there, I can feel tons of bad energy!”

When I turned my head in the direction Poing pointed, I sensed a presence in the bushes.

It was obvious without looking.

Goblin Shamans.

I would not get caught off guard anymore.

I had already experienced your methods on the 4th Floor, so I was used to them now.

“Blink, Electric Shock.”

Flash, bzzzzzt!

A golden flash burst out, followed immediately by bright yellow lightning.

[You have defeated the Goblin Shaman.]

[You have defeated the Goblin Shaman.]

Five goblins were taken down in an instant.

[You have cleared the 5th Floor.]

System windows appeared one after another.

It was a fairly satisfying result.

[Reading total subjugation score.]

[You have been selected as the MVP.]

As expected, the result was just as I had predicted.

MVP achieved for five floors in a row.

The name Pingkkyu Gyongdyu swept first place for five consecutive floors.

I felt no shame.

‘It’s not as if my face is being exposed anyway, so what does it matter?’

If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it. How are you going to stop someone who has already decided to enjoy it?

[Rainbow Servant Slime(Poing) 2Lv → 6Lv]

In addition.

Poing’s level shot up by a large margin.

“Nice. Very nice.”

Since things had turned out this way, let’s keep this pace and move quickly.

***

[The 3rd Floor Hall of Fame has been updated.]

[Pingkkyu Gyongdyu has achieved MVP.]

“Team Leader! Pingkkyu Gyongdyu has started climbing the Tower!”

A system window suddenly appeared.

Han-sol, who had been dozing off while working overtime, shot up from her seat and shouted.

“What? Climbing the Tower? Already?”

At the noisy voice, Kang Han-seok rubbed his eyes and replied.

Dark circles had sunk heavily under his eyes, and the pile of energy drinks on his desk proved how overworked he was.

It was only natural.

Because of the previous Gangseo-gu incident, everything from handling the media to resolving the situation, preparing future countermeasures, and more—All of it was the Republic of Korea Crisis Response Committee’s work.

“Team Leader, how many floors do you think he’ll climb this time?”

“Who knows. Last time, he climbed up to the 2nd Floor, right? This time, he’ll probably make it safely to the 4th Floor.”

The early part of the Tower was climbed relatively quickly.

It was an answer based on data about the Chosen accumulated over several years.

The top-ranked Chosen in various countries around the world, including the current Seven Stars, climbed in leaps and bounds from the 1st Floor to the 2nd, from the 2nd to the 4th.

Of course, that was limited to the lower floors.

Once a Chosen climbed above a certain level in the Tower, the time it took to climb each floor increased dramatically.

On some floors, the average climb reportedly took over a month.

[The 4th Floor Hall of Fame has been updated.]

[Pingkkyu Gyongdyu has achieved MVP.]

While they were chatting, another system window appeared.

“See? With Pingkkyu Gyongdyu’s skill, he’d have more than enough to climb the 4th Floor in one go.”

Kang Han-seok spoke proudly while sipping his coffee.

He was not simply saying it offhand.

Considering his previous Tower-climbing history and his achievements in the Gangseo-gu incident—Just from that alone, Pingkkyu Gyongdyu was not the sort of talent who would be blocked on the Tower’s lower floors.

“All right, all right! Now that we’re awake, let’s get back to work.”

Pingkkyu Gyongdyu must have finished climbing the Tower around this point.

Just as he thought that and was about to rise from his seat,

“Huh? Hold on a second. It says the Hall of Fame got updated again.”

[The 5th Floor Hall of Fame has been updated.]

“5th Floor? Oh… that’s fast. Was he planning to end it on the 5th Floor this time? I mean, just looking at the number, the 5th Floor does feel cleaner than the 4th Floor. Maybe he pushed himself a little.”

Climbing three floors in a row.

It was not unprecedented.

There had even been a Chosen who made it into the Guinness Book of Records by climbing four floors in a row in Tower history.

[The 6th Floor Hall of Fame has been updated.]

Then, in the middle of that, another system window appeared.

The 6th Floor.

The MVP had been updated.

The name was Pingkkyu Gyongdyu.

Four consecutive floors climbed.

In the brief moment he had been dazed, a world record in Tower history had been reached.

At the sudden event that happened without any warning, Kang Han-seok’s brain froze.

“….Uh? Wait. Just how far is this bastard Pingkkyu Gyongdyu going to climb?”

However, Pingkkyu Gyongdyu’s progress did not stop there.

[The 7th Floor Hall of Fame has been updated.]

[The 8th Floor Hall of Fame has been updated.]

In the span of only a few minutes, the 7th and 8th Floors were broken through.

“Team Leader, I think my eyes have finally gone weird. Or can these system windows actually break? Fuck… fuck… I’ve never heard of anyone climbing six floors in a row… Just what the hell is happening inside the Tower?”

“….Don’t ask me right now. I’m confused too.”

The 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Floors, followed by…. Pingkkyu Gyongdyu’s breakthrough of the 8th Floor.

And on top of that, he had achieved an unprecedented five consecutive Tower floors, climbed and swept MVP in the Hall of Fame for eight consecutive floors across the entire world.

That news once again shook the Korean Peninsula.

***

Meanwhile.

Inside the Tower….

“Should we start going to the 9th Floor?”

“Good! The 9th Floor!”

Without even dreaming of the commotion outside, Sung Ha-jin and Poing were burning with determination.