[You have become the Lord of the First Floor.]
Before I could closely examine those unrealistic words, there was something I had to deal with first.
[Aqua.... Groan, groan.... (›´―\`‹ )]
I had to save the spirit.
The spirit that had run wild in drunkenness was now suffering from a hangover, its cheeks sunken in.
First, I decided to go home and give it water.
“Return!”
FLASH!
I safely returned to my studio.
I turned on the tap at the sink.
“Just hold on a little longer.”
[Aqua.... Not drun@##……k!%#%! One @##$% more!]
Judging by its slurred speech, it looked as though it would live a while longer. I placed it in the sink.
SHHHHAAAAA―!
Clean tap water poured down on the spirit. Seoul’s tap water even had a brand name.
Arisu....
Its rich chlorine flavor was exquisite.
The spirit that had been battered by Arisu regained its vitality, and its shriveled body became plump and fresh.
[Aqua.... Startled! (☉.☉)!!!]
The spirit had been greedily drinking Arisu, but it noticed me only afterward and began hopping around. It seemed to have sobered up a little at last....
[Aqua.... Raaawr! Hiss!]
(꜆꜄꜆⚆ ⚆ )o✧
Would you look at that? It was hissing the moment it regained its strength?
It was still trembling hard, but its bluster was no joke.
It seemed to have completely forgotten that I had saved it by pouring beer on it.
‘Its memory got wiped by the hangover.’
I decided not to be too hard on it.
Anyone could have a blackout.
Not that I had ever had one.
“It’s okay. This is my home. You’re a guest.”
My first guest in this rented room being a spirit. My life really was rough.
GRRRRRUMBLE!
Judging by the hearty rumble from the spirit’s stomach, it seemed very hungry.
I decided to boil and serve the dried pollock soup I had left over from a few days ago.
It was quite a demanding guest.
[Aqua.... Drool, drool, drool. (꜆꜄•o•)꜆꜄꜆]
Saliva dripped from the spirit’s mouth as it looked at the dried pollock soup.
DRIP, DRIP, DRIP.
DRIP, DRIP.
DRIPDRIPDRIPDRIPDRIPDRIPDRIPDRIPDRIPDRIPDRIPDRIP!!!!
“Argh!”
That startled me.
It was practically exploding with drool.
“You kept holding that in?”
It could not have been easy. Dried pollock soup during a hangover was a ticket to heaven.
[Aqua.... Suspicious, suspicious! ꒰\`•o•´꒱]
“Explain yourself!”
The spirit stubbornly refused the dried pollock soup as it demanded an explanation from me.
An explanation?
Of what?
It wanted me to explain my kindness, of course.
It was an outrageously presumptuous little thing, but I felt rather sorry for it instead. The spirit was confused by my kindness.
That was the kind of world inside the Tower.
Survival of the fittest!
The defeated were not protected.
This spirit had also been left to dry to death on the first floor.
[Aqua.... Fidget, fidget....]
When I did not react at all, the spirit became cowed on its own and shrank into the corner of the sink.
It had no home.
It did not have a thing to its name.
That was why it even doubted another’s goodwill. It had never received help from anyone.
Poor thing. I pushed the dried pollock soup closer to the spirit.
“Eat and drink as much as you want today. It’s on me!”
[Aqua.... Shocked! (๑•̀o•́)!!!]
“I’m not lying.”
[Aqua.... Gulp! (つ ◕\_◕ )つ]
After agonizing over it several times, the spirit began devouring the dried pollock soup.
GLUGGLUGGLUGGLUG!!!!!
It drank with incredible effort. It was truly using every last ounce of strength.
[Aqua.... Sob, sob....]
[Aqua.... Honey-sweet! ｡°(˃ɷ˂ഃ)°｡]
The spirit ate the dried pollock soup while shedding tears. Its tears poured out like a faucet, carrying all the sorrow it had endured.
I let it cry.
Inside the Tower, it might have needed to conserve even its tears, but it did not need to do that anymore.
Arisu cost 0.51 won per liter.
***
The spirit drank a great deal of water.
One liter.
Ten liters!
One hundred liters......?
Tired of waiting, I washed up and came back midway through. I even applied my cost-effective 10,000-won lotion and dried my hair with a blow dryer, but....
“What? You’re still drinking???”
[Aqua.... Pwah!]
The spirit took its mouth off the faucet. It had drunk nearly hundreds of liters of water, yet its body was still about the size of a coin.
Where had all that water gone?
It was the mystery of a spirit.
“That’s a relief, Spirit.”
[Aqua is.... Aqua! ( ◡̀\_◡́)ᕤ]
Aqua struck a pose and formally introduced itself.
So Aqua was its name?
Aqua, because it was a water spirit. It was easy enough to understand, but it made me wonder whether its parents had named it too carelessly.
[Aqua.... Dignified! (ง •̀ゝ•́)ง]
Ohh.
Aqua had become bold in no time!
Its status window had changed as well.
\=======
<Water Spirit Aqua>
[Health: Spirit level]
[Defense: Spirit level]
[Attack: Spirit level]
Status: [Dignified] [At Ease] [Life Sustained] [Joy]
\=======
Its condition had improved greatly. To become this healthy just by drinking water. The life of a spirit was convenient.
“What exactly are you?”
[Aqua.... Water Spirit! Q–(ᵔ.ᵔ Q )]
That was in the status window too....
Aqua described itself as a 「Great Genius Spirit」, an 「Amazing Intelligence Spirit」, and a 「Super Cool Jackpot Spirit」.
‘Hmm.’
The more answers I heard, the more a strange suspicion arose.
This thing.... Was there not a high chance that it was stupid...?
[Aqua.... Spirit of Spirits! (づᵔ.ᵔ)づ]
Since Aqua’s explanation was no help whatsoever, I decided to seek help from the internet.
“If we’re going to get along well from now on, I’ll need information.”
But no matter how much I searched, there were no cases of someone finding a spirit on the first floor.
There was at least a Class called a 「Spirit Master」.
I even found an interview with Robert, the world’s most famous number-one Spirit Master.
[Spirits are terrifying beings. I serve the spirits of wind and stone, and I follow fifty-two routines each day to cater to their tastes. I offer ninety-five percent of my income to them....]
......They call you a Spirit Master.
Aren’t you a spirit’s servant?
They said Spirit Masters could not even meet spirits directly. They could only pray hard and borrow their power.
Summoning was absolutely impossible.
Hmm.
I might be the first person in the world to pick up a spirit? I felt good.
“I... am a Spirit Tamer!”
[Aqua.... Hooray! (づᵔ.ᵔ)づ]
Thanks to Aqua, I had even claimed the first floor of the Tower.
Aqua was a true lucky charm.
“Right. I became the Lord of the First Floor! But was it okay for an individual to own the Tower?”
The Tower could not become private property.
Neither governments, armies, nor dictators could claim rights over the Tower.
Tower Climbers could enter their own country’s Tower anytime and anywhere by simply shouting 「Enter the Tower!」.
Furthermore, they could not meet other teams inside the Tower.
This was a little confusing. The Tower was a public resource, so what benefit was there to owning the first floor?
I looked at the Tower outside the window.
[Seoul’s Tower]
[Indestructible]
The Tower provided limitless resources.
The entire world’s economy depended on the Tower.
Tower Climbers sometimes risked their lives for rewards, but the first floor was an exception.
The first floor was safe to the point of being boring, but gold and treasure would never come pouring out of it.
How should I make use of the first floor?
“Let’s see for myself. Enter the first floor!”
Ah.
I had forgotten the daily entry limit. According to the Tower’s rules, you could enter only once a day.
“What?!”
FLASH!
A vast wasteland appeared. I had entered the first floor of the Tower.
[Lord Han Ja-in]
[Daily Entries: 9,997 remaining]
What.
Could I enter the first floor 9,999 times a day? Unable to believe it, I checked again.
“Exit!”
FLASH! I returned to my studio.
“Enter the first floor!”
FLASH!
I was transported to the wasteland on the first floor.
“Exit. Enter. Exit. Enter. Exit. Enter.”
ZIPZIPZIP!
After going back and forth between the Tower and my studio, I was able to accept it.
I was the Lord of the First Floor.
It was only natural that I had free access when entering my own land!
“Ha-ha-ha. This is all thanks to Aqua.”
[Aqua.... Ahem!]
[Aqua.... I’m rather capable! ( ◡̀\_◡́)ᕤ]
Heh-heh.
Aqua preened at my praise. I would let it preen to its heart’s content.
‘Should I try owning the second floor while I’m at it?’
With Aqua’s firepower, it should be entirely possible. Aqua was also highly motivated to climb the Tower.
[The First Floor Lord’s Declaration of Challenge!]
[If you move between floors, you will declare 「War」 on the other Lords.]
“What!”
Just like the first floor, the other floors had Lords too.
Then would the Lords welcome my visit?
Of course not.
Anyone could see it was an invasion.
Since I had become a Lord, moving between floors had become an extremely political act.
How was I supposed to climb the Tower from now on?
[Upon Declaring War]
[Diplomacy Completely Fucked +++]
[Public Statements of Condemnation +++]
[Coalition Army Formation +++]
Wow. Was that not a little too intimidating? This system was just like Civilization 13....
Right down to the part where stepping onto the wrong land started a war and drew condemnation from every country.
For now, I was a novice Lord.
What if I declared war, and a coalition of Lords came and smashed my studio to pieces?
“Ugh. My entire security deposit might vanish....”
I gave up on war.
Fortunately, there was a safe way to move between floors.
I just needed to be formally invited as a state guest.
\========
<Your Territory Level>
[Trash Terrain]
[Barbarian Civilization]
[Diplomatic Power: Beggar]
\========
“......”
It would be difficult to be treated as a state guest.
For now, at least.
SHHHH....
As I thought, countless stars appeared in the night sky.
They were the gazes of those I had yet to meet.
They spoke through the starlight.
Your territory is only a wasteland, so just give up.
“Ha-ha. Mind your own business.”
How would I develop my territory?
It was nothing.
“A person from Seoul, who gets hot-and-cold pressed on the subway for four hours a day, has acquired land.”
Did they know how hard it was to obtain even an inch of land in Seoul? If you put down a lump-sum lease deposit, you got scammed. If your business started doing well, the landlord raised the rent.
Government rental housing?
When would it ever be my turn?
“You need to save up 500,000 cans of beer to get one apartment unit!”
But look at this.
I had been given a vast expanse of land, as wide as the sea.
There was plenty to do here. From camping and farming that I could enjoy alone.
To a full-fledged land business.
“Since I have Aqua, should I build a hydroelectric power plant? What about a water park?”
TWINKLE, TWINKLE!
The stars in the sky still looked at me with suspicious eyes.
They had to be the Lords of the other floors.
“Seniors. Please wait. I’ll catch up soon.”
For now, let’s think of a simple business.
Tower Climbers had essential consumer goods, right? I could make use of my land to supply them!
I was about to search on my smartphone when I stopped.
“Right. Wi-Fi doesn’t work inside the Tower.”
As though to make my statement look foolish.
DUN DUN!
MyuTube, with its red logo, launched.
[Lord Han Ja-in]
[Tower Wi-Fi Access Granted]
...!!!
All electronic devices became useless inside the Tower.
But I was a Lord.
The perks were not bad, were they?
“If I supplied Tower Wi-Fi technology to Tower Climbers, it would be a huge success.”
It was a business guaranteed to succeed.
But telecommunications were still beyond my capabilities.
On MyuTube, I found a useful video explaining the needs of Tower Climbers.
「Ms. Wol Ha-yeon. What is the hardest part about climbing the Tower?」
It was an interview with Wol Ha-yeon, Asia’s greatest Spirit Master.
「Finding Tower-grown vegetables to eat is troublesome.」
「Hmm. Is there a reason you must eat vegetables grown inside the Tower?」
「Tower Climbers lose mana even when they simply breathe. We call this the Mana Dissipation Phenomenon.」
「Is it like muscle loss?」
「That’s right. Think how wasteful it is when mana you worked hard to accumulate disperses. But if you eat Tower-grown vegetables, the Mana Dissipation Phenomenon stops.」
「So vegetables are not vegetables—they’re elixirs!」
This was it.
Let’s grow vegetables inside the Tower.