In front of the F-Rank Gate that had appeared in the kitchen of Seonggil's Snack Bar—
A sudden commotion broke out in a place where there should have been only a handful of Hunters and relaxed Association employees.
It was because of a man who had appeared wearing a black mask over his face.
At first, no one paid him much attention.
Black masks were an extremely common sight in the world of the Awakened.
There were plenty of eccentric Hunters, after all.
But the moment they heard his voice, everything changed.
"Kyahaha! Look at all these delicious prey crawling around!"
"……?!"
Then he pulled out a Gate Enhancement Stone.
Only then did they realize who he was.
The Black Mask Killer who had recently been murdering people inside low-ranked Gates!
An Association employee hurriedly rushed forward to stop him.
"Too late, idiots! Kyahaha!"
But he had already entered the Gate.
It was not too late.
They could simply follow him inside and catch him.
That thought vanished the moment they encountered the completely sealed entrance.
No matter what they tried, they could not enter.
Nor did they have any of the Items normally prepared for situations like this.
They had no choice but to wait helplessly for reinforcements.
And that was not all.
[Someone's possessed skill, 'Designation(C),' activates.]
[Everyone except one designated individual will be forcibly expelled!]
[Designated Individual: Lee Chanyoung]
"The last one is…… Whoa! Huh? What happened? Why did I suddenly get thrown out of the Gate?"
"We were right in the middle of fighting. What happened? Association employee, what is this?!"
"Damn it."
Everyone except one person had been expelled.
That confirmed it beyond any doubt.
It was the Black Mask Killer's usual method.
He entered a low-ranked Gate, sealed the entrance so no one could follow him, then tortured the sole remaining victim to death as painfully as possible.
The Association employees' minds went blank.
It was not because they would have to write reports if someone died in their assigned area.
'Our benefactor is going to die!'
'Low-rank duty has been unbelievably easy lately because of him!'
This was no time to stand around.
They had to call for reinforcements immediately if they wanted even the slightest chance of saving their benefactor.
They were just about to call for support and throw themselves at the Gate in an attempt to break through when—
"Huh?"
Everyone froze.
The reason was obvious.
The Gate was beginning to disappear—the phenomenon that occurred after a Gate had been cleared.
The Hunters who had realized the intruder was the Black Mask Killer reacted the same way.
They were well aware of the man who had been causing havoc lately.
They also knew how tenacious he was.
And yet the Gate had been cleared?
While everyone stood there in stunned silence, a man emerged, brushing dust from his clothes.
"It's nice that it ended in one hit, but why did I get covered in so much dirt? It doesn't even come off properly. Should I have this dry-cleaned? Can't the attack just avoid me completely?"
"……."
"……."
"If that's impossible, I suppose I could carry an umbrella around."
He looked slightly strange.
After muttering to himself for quite some time, he finally glanced around and hurriedly stuffed something red back inside his clothes.
"Ahem. Sorry about that. Well then, I'll be going!"
"What about the bounty?"
"Bounty?! I'll collect it when I get promoted for E-Rank Gate access! I'm busy right now!"
The man vanished in an instant.
No one had any idea what had just happened.
Once they finally came to their senses, several Association employees entered the Gate.
They needed to recover the Black Mask Killer's corpse and determine exactly what had happened before they could do anything else.
But the state of the Gate only made things even more confusing.
The vast forest that should have been there had become an open plain.
The only thing visible was—
"……."
An enormous crater so deep that it looked as though a meteor had struck.
"He's practically my guardian angel. C-Rank Gate rewards and a bounty on top of that?"
Talk about killing two birds with one stone.
Once I added the Gates I still planned to clear today, the profits would be incredible.
"Here. You worked hard, so have an A-Rank Mana Stone."
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) gives you a thumbs-up and says the Contractor is the best!]
[Fire(EX) hurriedly devours the High-Rank Mana Stone(A)!]
An A-Rank Mana Stone filled 50,000 Hunger.
With the amount I currently had, reaching Level 10 by tomorrow should be more than possible.
Thanks to that mysterious guardian angel, I felt reassured.
Even after buying Spirit Stones, I should still have plenty of money left.
Before I headed straight for another Gate—
"Let me just check the furniture I can craft."
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) says that's fine and tells you to take your time!]
Since I was already out, it was better to craft everything I could.
There were no entirely new options.
Instead, a new effect had appeared.
……A Plush Sofa(E+) can be crafted after acquiring Burning Stonewood (0/50), Strong Stone (0/40), Soft Cotton (0/50), and Blazing Cotton (0/20)
<Plush Sofa(E+)> Warm Bed(E), Set Effect +1
Description: A sofa crafted by properly combining Burning Stonewood, Strong Stone, Soft Cotton, and Blazing Cotton! The Set Effect increases rest efficiency by 1.2 times and reduces the complete recovery cooldown to 22 hours!
"A Set Effect!"
-As stated in the description of the Plush Sofa, the Set Effect improves efficiency and even affects the complete recovery ability. I recommend crafting furniture according to matching Set Effects.
After looking into it, I learned that every required material could be found inside F-Rank Gates.
I searched for nearby Gates with the Hunter-exclusive app.
I really must have cleared a lot of Gates.
There was only one F-Rank Gate anywhere nearby.
Afraid someone might clear it first, I hurried over.
The information post had said Soft Cotton was difficult to obtain.
After searching only one Gate, I immediately understood why.
"Only five?"
That was the result after thoroughly searching the entire F-Rank Gate.
Even the locations where it appeared were scattered randomly.
Without Spirit Eyes, I probably would have wandered around for ages.
The amount was disappointing, but there was nothing to worry about.
I had an S+ pickaxe!
[Pickaxe of Efficiency and Luck's Efficiency activates!]
[Pickaxe of Efficiency and Luck's Luck activates at 5×!]
[Soft Cotton × 5 acquired!]
"Ahhh! Now that's satisfying!"
The same applied to Strong Stone.
I had never imagined gathering materials could be this easy.
I could not even calculate how many times the S+ pickaxe had reduced my workload.
Did that mean I had given up on obtaining Mana Stones?
Of course not.
As if I ever would.
I gave Fire complete authority over that part.
I did not even need to order him around.
All I had to do was let him loose.
Once his leash was off, Fire took care of the monsters by himself.
[Fire(EX) revels in his freedom!]
[Fire(EX) wonders whether monsters are edible, lightly roasts one, and takes a bite!]
[Fire(EX) gags at the disgusting taste and burns it to ashes instead!]
"Why would you even eat that?"
Of course, I had told him to control his power.
There were plenty of Hunters around, so large-scale attacks were absolutely forbidden.
He could not burn down the forest either.
After visiting several Gates like that, I soon gathered all the materials I needed.
I moved somewhere safe and started crafting!
[Burning Stonewood: (50/50)]
[Strong Stone: (40/40)]
[Soft Cotton: (50/50)]
[Blazing Cotton: (20/20)]
[You have successfully fulfilled the condition!]
[Plush Sofa(E+) has been successfully crafted!]
A beautiful red two-seater sofa appeared.
I installed it beside the bed.
Perfect.
It finally felt as though I had finished moving into a new home.
There was only one minor problem.
"The Spirit Shelter is starting to get cramped."
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) pesters you to expand the floor area quickly!]
"I know. I'll expand it."
There was no urgent need.
I would add a few more pieces of furniture first, then start gathering materials for expansion.
The Set Effect was even better than I had expected.
The complete recovery ability should still have been on cooldown, but the Set Effect made it available again.
I immediately used it on the exhausted Fire.
[All of Fire(EX)'s abilities are restored!]
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) says he has been resurrected!]
The rest efficiency had improved as well.
When I went inside and rested, my stamina was completely restored in less than an hour.
I should try to maintain Set Effects whenever possible.
The benefits were incredible.
While we rested, evening arrived before I knew it.
The Association only operated until seven.
I also needed to sell my monster byproducts.
"I need to get promoted for E-Rank Gate access and collect the bounty too."
-Waaah! Waaah?!
[Fire(EX) asks when you're going to feed him!]
[Fire(EX) complains that his stomach is stuck to his back because he's been eating nothing but Mana Stones!]
"But I gave you plenty of Mana Stones."
He had devoured several thousand of them at minimum.
He had eaten them continuously while hunting monsters.
And he was still hungry?
"Do you ever actually get full?"
-Waaah?
[Fire(EX) asks what that means!]
"When we get home, let's eat Chinese food. We haven't had any lately."
-Waaah?
[Fire(EX) asks what Chinese food is!]
"You'll understand once you taste it. Let's go!"
It was already quite late, so I took a taxi.
I barely made it to the Association Headquarters in time.
The process of getting promoted for E-Rank Gate access and collecting the bounty went smoothly.
It was thanks to the Association employee I had met at my first Gate.
"Oh! Mr. Lee Chanyoung! Over here!"
"Ah, you're the Association employee from back then."
"Haha, your face kept slipping my mind, but I recognized you when I saw your name. I'll take care of everything for you. Ah! Your promotion for E-Rank Gate access too!"
Once the Association employee personally handled it, everything was completed in no time.
"Since it's only E-Rank, there isn't a separate promotion assessment. As for the Black Mask Killer, he's become rather notorious over the past few days, so the bounty is thirty million won. You don't need to worry about the fact that he died either."
"Thirty million won?!"
I had expected a few million at most.
Black Mask Killer, you were quite the celebrity, weren't you?
Once I added the monster byproducts I had obtained today, I should be able to move out of my studio apartment soon.
'I can send more money to my family too.'
What a wonderful day.
Thanks to how quickly the employee handled everything, I finished my business in less than five minutes.
I even had enough time to stop by Namdaemun.
"Thank you! Have a good— Hm?"
"Is something wrong?"
"No. I just felt like someone was watching me. Must've been my imagination. Have a good day!"
After I disappeared—
Jin Arin tilted her head.
"What is this? That man's Potential came out as C-Rank?"
Although it had been obscured by darkness, she had definitely seen it.
The power that had managed to perceive even a little of her presence.
And that was not all.
He had single-handedly swept through dozens of F-Rank Gates.
This time, he had even dealt with the Black Mask Killer.
The man had been a vicious criminal assessed as a C-Rank Hunter.
And Lee Chanyoung had apparently finished him in a single blow.
Together with the entire C-Rank Gate.
'According to the Association employee, the only thing left inside the Gate was an enormous crater.'
To be honest, when Jin Arin first saw him, she had merely thought she had found a useful recruit.
Someone capable of becoming the hands and feet of the plan she had devised.
But his accomplishments so far were absurd.
They were enough to make even countless Rankers look ordinary by comparison.
Someone came to mind.
The mysterious person overwhelmingly clearing the Trial Tower.
She needed to revise her plans.
This was an extraordinary talent.
How could she afford to drive away someone like that with a paltry offer?
'I need to prepare thoroughly.'
She would have to hurry before someone else set their sights on him.
After all, when a beautiful flower also held sweet nectar, countless insects were bound to swarm around it.