Faraway Beijing.
A meeting of the upper leadership was being held.
“We will begin the report on the loss of the Super-Grade Alchemy Device, 「Artificial Holy Grail: Ji-cheong」....”
The Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China reported on the situation, while the Origin Masters, China’s scientific leaders, listened.
Origin Masters.
Those called the gods of mana engineering....
With unlimited manpower and capital, the Origin Masters were bringing the future closer.
Therefore.
The Origin Masters’ expressions became grim.
“Damn it! There are things you can afford to lose and things you cannot!”
When Origin Master Zhen Wei, a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China and an authority on mana circuit design, roared, the reporters trembled.
The scolding of an Origin Master carried meaning beyond mere rebuke.
The Origin Masters had modified their own bodies, making them Ranker-level Tower Climbers as well.
CRACKLE.
As Zhen Wei’s rage reached the heavens, the air compressed and squeezed the reporters’ lungs.
“C-Cough! Please calm your anger!”
“The Super-Grade Alchemy Device 「Ji-cheong」 is China’s third daughter of science! After the first and second suffered tremendous failures, we finally reached success this time!”
“I-I’m sorry....”
“How did you even think of leaving our daughter on the first floor and coming out!”
The reporter had to swallow his sorrow.
This fucking bastard....
From the start, it had been the Origin Masters who ordered terraforming with the Super-Grade Alchemy Device 「Ji-cheong」.
The Thirteen Origin Masters believed in Ji-cheong’s performance.
Because they had created Ji-cheong themselves.
The Tower was merely a structure.
Ji-cheong!
Ji-cheong, at least!
They believed it would definitely overcome Reset.
The result was a total failure.
Ji-cheong had drifted off somewhere inside the Tower.
It was the most terrible failure in the history of Chinese science.
‘That goddamned first-floor experiment!’
The reporter gritted their molars and endured the Origin Masters’ rebukes. Endure it. Endure it.
“You pigs! It was the finest among the mana circuits I crafted!”
Origin Master Zhen Wei drank cold water.
“I also installed the Foresight Model I conceived personally into Ji-cheong. Its value alone is equivalent to one hundred million Chinese citizens.”
Origin Master Zhu Xiao.
The director of the Mana Quantum Technology Bureau agreed.
“And that is not all. Our team also installed an Environmental Modification System into Ji-cheong.”
Origin Master Li Xuelong.
The chairman of the Phase Reformation Committee muttered.
“......”
The reporter was internally stunned.
‘These bastards... They used technology like that and sent Ji-cheong to the first floor? What were they trusting?’
If it was such a treasure, should they not have cherished it all the more?
No. Wait and think about it....
The reporter lowered their eyes.
The Origin Masters were not fools.
They were a gathering of mad scientists. Had people like them forced the experiment through anyway?
‘There is something on the first floor!’
Cold sweat ran down the reporter’s back.
The Tower’s principle was Reset.
Was there something on the first floor that could disregard that principle?
“We must find Ji-cheong!”
All the Origin Masters agreed.
But how?
No one could readily answer.
***
Huh!
I sprang up from the dirt floor. I had fallen asleep without realizing it.
“Holy shit. I really passed out after eating lettuce.”
First, I brushed the dirt from my cheek. I tried eating lettuce as a test, and sleepiness had washed over me before I fell into a deep sleep.
I had often heard that eating lettuce made you sleepy, but this effect was far beyond that.
And.
I was not the only one asleep.
[Aqua.... Snore-son. ԅ(◜¬◝ ԅ)]
Aqua was asleep too.
I thought it ate lettuce with me. Aqua was a free-spirited little thing, so I supposed that made sense.
“......Geumsul?”
Snore, snore.
Geumsul was fast asleep too.
[Nya-nya. Circuit power-saving mode.... Babbling continues rising.... Sleep-talking rises dramatically....]
Come on.
Even a robot had passed out.
[Farewell. Everyone. I cast off. My nation’s chains. And leave. To find happiness.]
What incredible sleep-talking.
A little while later.
The little ones woke up.
“Did everyone sleep well?”
I poured each of them a glass of cold milk. I had snuck it in from the studio.
[Aqua.... Kya~ (づᵔ.ᵔ)づ]
[Great Lord. I am. Very grateful.]
The two drank their milk in big gulps. The more I looked at Geumsul, the stranger it was.
You were a coin, right? Where was the milk going?
Anyway, we had slept to our hearts’ content, then had a glass of milk.
Since we were in peak condition, we discussed lettuce.
[Aqua.... I dreamed a prophetic dream of world domination! Emperor Aqua was truly incredible!]
[Q–(ᵔ.ᵔ Q )]
Aqua said it had a happy dream. Geumsul and I had vivid, pleasant dreams too.
“Because they were only dreams, I don’t remember exactly what happened, but the feeling was warmly fuzzy.”
[REM sleep. Activated at. 500 percent.]
If I summarized the lettuce’s effect, it would be something like <Induces Pleasant Dreams>. Would Tower Climbers like this sort of effect too?
At a glance, its practicality was very low.
Dreams were not reality, after all.
“Geumsul. Analyze lettuce’s benefits in greater detail.”
[Beginning. Analysis.]
FLASH, FLASH!
Geumsul’s metal frame lit up, and extremely difficult equations began appearing.
Even a scientific novice like me could feel that tremendous technology was involved.
Soon, Geumsul began pouring out an enormous quantity of reports.
The print was tiny and packed with technical terminology, so I could not understand a single thing.
“Geumsul. It’s too long. Summarize it in three lines.”
[Deep sleep good.]
[Happy dreams good.]
[Mana Dissipation. Cannot be stopped.]
“What did you say?”
[The Farms have been enhanced. The plants’ own performance. Has also been amplified.]
In other words, every plant cultivated from now on would have its own strong personality.
Unfortunately, lettuce could not suppress Mana Dissipation.
“I’ll have to use a two-track sales strategy with Chlorella and lettuce.”
Tower Climbers would set the price of lettuce on their own.
\=======
[Fresh Lettuce Grown in the Tower]
Description: Pleasant Dreams & Deep Sleep
Caution: Does not stop Mana Dissipation.
Weight: 100g
Price: 100,000 won
\=======
I listed it for 100,000 won for now, but this time I truly expected the price to crash.
“At least lettuce grows at light speed, so if I move into mass sales, I can still secure some profitability.”
Otherwise, I could think of it merely as a stopover on the way to a Level 4 Farm.
At that moment.
HUMMMMM!
The Exchange burst into life.
[1,000,000 won deposited]
[3,000,000 won deposited]
[6,000,000 won deposited]
[12,000,000 won deposited]
“Keeeeeeek!”
I screamed like an evil ghost that had encountered the Buddha. Was this happening again! This time too?
“Please!!!! Stop the hype rally!!!!”
The effect was only pleasant dreams!
Read the cautions!
“Stop!”
My shout did not reach them.
The madness of Tower Climbers had already begun riding the current.
***
The community for high-grade Tower Climbers, 「Epsilon」, was stirred up.
It was because of Lord Merchant’s new product.
\========
Title: Are there still suckers who haven’t gotten lettuce?
Author: I Have Three Knife Scars
Views 4821 | Likes 113 | Dislikes 2
Lolllllllll, I got lettuce.
I can finally sleep at night, wow.
↳ I want to buy it too!! I’ll pay!!!!!
↳ Th-th-th-fuuuuuck! Why do only you get to buy it? Die, you bastards!
↳ Lol, if you did not buy it, nightmares are confirmed lol.
↳ My guild members shared some with me!!! Keh-heh-keh-heh.
↳ Finally escaping those fucking nightmares!!!
\========
Rankers who had experienced every kind of hardship were causing chaos.
Epsilon had been turned upside down during the previous Chlorella wave too.
But the shock of this new product was no less than that.
Deep sleep!
Quite a few Tower Climbers had been deprived of that common yet precious happiness.
\=======
Title: This site is ruined;;;
Author: Realm Hunter
Views 2321 | Likes 1 | Dislikes 22
Stop the hype.
Are people called Rankers really losing their minds over grass?
Tch, tch. I’m leaving this site.
↳ Yeah, get lost.
↳ The community runs just fine without you.
↳ Never buy it for the rest of your life. I’ll use it by myself.
↳ Pharmaceutical company IP noted.
↳ You have never met a murderer in your dreams, huh? Lol.
\=======
Tower Climbers’ insomnia was unusual.
For most of them, a debuff called [Nightmare] was active.
Once affected by it, everyone had the same nightmare.
「A Psycho Killer with a Chainsaw」
When they fell asleep, there was a certain chance that they would arrive in the Realm of Nightmares, where a masked killer appeared.
The bastard swung a chainsaw as he chased Tower Climbers. If you were caught by the killer, you had to feel the pain of having your limbs dismembered.
The pain was so vivid that you could not tell whether it was a dream or waking life.
This was difficult even for Tower Climbers to handle.
Because it was inside a dream.
Your body became sluggish when you fought inside a dream, did it not?
It was that same principle.
You could at least fight in reality, but in dreams, you were helpless....
\=======
Title: Nightmare Debuff three-line summary.txt
Author: Insomnia Master
Views 5521 | Likes 131 | Dislikes 7
It is difficult to know when you were infected by the debuff.
Nightmare Vegetables cannot be distinguished.
The answer is to avoid the Fairy Zone, the major outbreak location.
↳ Ugh, those fairy bastards.
↳ Fucking fairy idiots. This is why they went extinct. Tch, tch, tch.
↳ I got infected on the middle floors too T_T
↳ The Fairy Zone has good item drops, so you cannot stop the traffic;;;
↳ Seriously, it is the most profitable region on the middle floors.
\=======
The infection route for the Nightmare debuff was consuming vegetables.
They were plants called <Nightmare Vegetables>, fake Tower-grown vegetables that possessed harmful properties.
They looked like fresh Tower-grown vegetables on the surface, so mid-floor Tower Climbers could not help but be deceived often.
In particular, Nightmare Vegetables appeared in huge quantities in a middle-floor field called [The Lost Kingdom of the Fairies]. Unfortunately, it was a hunting ground where you could earn a great deal of money.
It was structured perfectly for Nightmare Vegetables to circulate indiscriminately.
And for innocent victims to increase.
What was more.
The Nightmare debuff stacked.
The more you died in nightmares, the stronger the killer became.
It turned into an increasingly lethal nightmare, eventually breaking down even healthy Tower Climbers.
There were plenty of cases where people went completely insane.
A Dream Cure was in circulation, but its price was insane.
You had to take the Dream Cure periodically, but its price was difficult even for mid-floor Tower Climbers to afford.
In that situation!
Lettuce was released!
All you had to do was eat it to sleep deeply!
Rankers on Epsilon began posting testimonials. They were all smiles as they said they had eaten lettuce and dreamed happy dreams.
\=======
Title: Lettuce is only 8 million won!
Author: Emerald Dream
Views 1521 | Likes 41 | Dislikes 3
I, who have cured my Nightmare debuff.
Sortie.
From today onward, I will begin bombing the Tower.
↳ Is that price seriously real?
↳ It is four or five times cheaper than Dream Cures on the market?
↳ Am I dreaming right now????
↳ The boss has gone crazy.
↳ The Lord has gone crazy.
↳ Long live the Lord!!!!!
↳ I almost went bankrupt buying Dream Cures lol.
↳ I sold my house, fuck.
\=======
Lettuce, cheaper than Dream Cures.
Most people spared no praise for Lord Merchant while harshly criticizing pharmaceutical companies.
\=======
Title: (Deadly Serious) (Explanatory Post) Never eat lettuce!!!!!
Author: Thump Thump
Views 5521 | Likes 181 | Dislikes 13
Upvote if you are a pharmaceutical company that rushed in after seeing the title lol.
Yeah~ Pharmaceutical companies, you are truly ruined.
A nuclear bomb has fallen on your monopoly market~
From now on, Lord Merchant will be your nightmare, so good luck.
↳ Lord Bro is the best at keeping pharmaceutical companies in line lol.
↳ Lord Bro is a real man.
↳ Pharmaceutical company bastards really want to get rid of Lord Merchant, right?
↳ Seriously, pharmaceutical companies would have killed him already.
↳ Protect the Lord.
↳ I love the Lord.
↳ I will protect the Lord!!!
***
<Lord System>
!!Current influence is rising rapidly!!
[Reputation +1]
[Achievement +1]
[Loyalty +5]