Inside a luxurious 50-pyeong apartment in Gangnam, Seoul—
Geum Chan, who had been lying on the sofa, could not contain his joy and began making a tremendous fuss.
“Kiyahoo! Yahoo! Kiyase!”
He did not care that he was kicking up dust.
So what if a little dust flew around?
Yesterday, he had caught two birds with one stone!
“I strengthened my Trait all by myself and even made an incredible connection! Ahhh! Geum Chan! Good thing you went alone!”
The fact that he had nearly died had long since vanished from his mind.
Even now, the scene from that moment remained vivid in his memory.
A Spirit whose mere presence had instantly calmed an enraged High-Rank Dark Spirit.
And skills possessing overwhelming power.
‘He’s definitely a Reclusive Master!’
People like that occasionally existed in every country.
Those who concealed their identities as much as possible because they did not want to become known to the public!
Merely meeting someone like that was already tremendous luck, yet he had even exchanged contact information with him.
How could he possibly not be delighted?
It was as though he had gained a powerful backer.
‘He probably lives somewhere even more extravagant than this, right? A penthouse? No. Maybe an enormous mansion?’
He was still grinning foolishly to himself when—
“Is opening the door really that difficult?”
Geum Chan jolted upright from the sofa when he saw a woman entering with her arms full of bags.
He was not startled because a random woman had suddenly entered.
If she had made it all the way inside, that meant she had broken the door.
Sure enough—
“Aagh! Now I have to repair it again!”
“Then you should’ve come running when I rang the bell. This is your fault.”
“That’s why I gave you the password! You gorilla!”
“What? You just called your older sister a gorilla?”
Her eyes gleamed sharply.
Under the overwhelming gaze that could reduce a mere B-Rank Hunter to nothing, Geum Chan instinctively shrank back.
‘So what if you’re a Trial Tower Ranker?’
On top of that, she was the Guild Master of Tiger Guild, which had been rapidly rising in prominence throughout South Korea.
If he genuinely crossed her, she could fold him in half.
So he wisely said nothing more.
Geum Chaea had not come here to fight either, so she let it end there.
“I told you to visit the family home at least once a month, didn’t I? Are you really going to make me run errands for you personally?”
“Sorry, sorry. I went to the Haunted House yesterday because I needed to strengthen my Trait. Ah! Actually, there was someone I met there that I wanted to ask you about. Perfect timing.”
“You went to the Haunted House alone? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“It was time-sensitive, so I didn’t have a choice. More importantly, do you know someone named Lee Chanyoung?”
“Lee Chanyoung?”
“I met this insanely strong guy there, and he…”
As Geum Chaea listened to everything that had happened inside the Haunted House, her eyes gradually widened.
Lee Chanyoung.
Even she, the Guild Master of Tiger Guild, knew that name.
He was suspected of being the person behind the overwhelming Gate clears and the continuous new records being set in the Trial Tower.
Still, it had only been speculation.
The youngest daughter of Ain Group seemed to be preparing something, but—
‘That alone wasn’t enough to make it likely he was the one. But this changes things.’
After hearing that he had subdued both a High-Rank Dark Spirit and a Hidden Monster, she became certain.
This was no time to sit around.
“Put the side dishes in the refrigerator yourself! And please, visit the family home once in a while!”
“Huh? Where are you going? Fix the door before you leave!”
“I’m busy! I’ll give you money, so fix it yourself!”
“Hey, you— Nice. Free money. Wait! Please don’t go bothering my benefactor!”
She scoffed.
Bothering him?
Her little brother clearly had no idea who this man really was.
Or just how much of a monster he might be.
‘So that’s why that woman was preparing so thoroughly.’
She did not even expect him to join her Guild.
Simply becoming friendly with him would be enough.
Geum Chaea hurried toward Tiger Guild.
My mouth fell open at the detailed information floating before me.
When I heard that more furniture had been unlocked, I had expected effects similar to the Warm Bed or Delicious Diffuser at best.
But something far beyond my expectations had appeared.
“You can enhance Mana Stones?”
-It is exactly as you see, Human. By enhancing Mana Stones, you can increase the amount of Hunger they restore for Fire. However, if the enhancement fails, it cannot be undone. Please keep that in mind.
“Anyone who’s ever enhanced anything knows failure is part of the deal.”
The required materials were not particularly complicated either.
They were all things that could be crafted without much difficulty if I simply brought the materials to a forge.
For a moment, I thought I could go there tomorrow while looking for a new home.
Then I noticed something beside the furniture’s name.
Where the Set Effect had appeared before, this time it read:
‘Research Stage 2 Unlock (×)’
Then, perhaps—
“Looks like I need to unlock Research Stage 2 before I can use it.”
-Oh! Correct, Human. You have become slightly more intelligent.
“Thaaanks for the compliment.”
There were four Research projects in Stage 1.
I had already completed the one that permanently reduced Hunger depletion by 1.1 times.
To unlock Research Stage 2, I needed to complete the remaining three.
“So I have to gather materials again. I’m missing some of them too.”
-Waaah? Waaah!
[Fire(EX) asks what you’re worried about when you have him!]
[Fire(EX) says to hurry up and gather everything!]
“Yes, yes. Finish what’s in your mouth before you talk, Your Majesty, King of Fire Spirits. You’re spraying crumbs all over the floor.”
He was right, though.
The same applied to Research.
Compared to Processed Sea Lava, these materials were easy to obtain.
It was simply annoying.
“Ah, and while we’re at it, I should use Spirit Stone Detection too. The cooldown is over.”
-Waaah.
[Fire(EX) says time passes quickly!]
“It’s only been ten days since we met.”
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) replies, ‘Oh, right!’]
After cleaning up the traces of everything he had devoured, I checked which Research project to start first.
……Permanently increases Hunger gained by 1.1 times after acquiring Burning Stonewood (0/150), Strong Stone (0/100), and Lowest-Rank Mana Stone(F) (0/1,000)
“I can do this one first.”
Fortunately, I already had enough materials to complete one Research project.
[Burning Stonewood: (150/150)]
[Strong Stone: (100/100)]
[Lowest-Rank Mana Stone(F): (1,000/1,000)]
[You have successfully fulfilled the condition!]
[Research on permanently increasing Hunger gained by 1.1 times begins!]
[00 : 59 : 59]
I could gather the materials for the remaining two Research projects afterward.
They could be found in most Gates, including F-Rank ones.
All I had to do was enter Gates and gather materials.
“I’m going to be busy for a while. Spirit Stone Detection, moving houses, gathering materials from Gates, and clearing the Trial Tower. That’s too much for one day, isn’t it? Ah, and the Random Treasure Chest will be ready again soon too.”
Busy, busy.
Research could wait a little.
It was not particularly urgent.
When there was too much to do, I needed to handle the urgent things first.
Spirit Stones and moving houses came before everything else.
Technically, Spirit Stone Detection was already available today.
If I followed my instincts, I wanted to take care of it immediately.
But—
“I’m already home. Today was exhausting too. Let’s just rest~.”
I needed days like this occasionally.
How could I possibly move at maximum efficiency every single day?
Besides, the Spirit Stone buff was still active.
There was no need to rush.
I decided to leave the work to tomorrow’s me.
Meanwhile, Fire finished devouring the tteokbokki, fried snacks, and blood sausage.
“Is it really that delicious?”
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) gives you a thumbs-up and says it tastes heavenly!]
[Fire(EX) says the combination of blood sausage and liver is especially incredible!]
Maybe it was because he was still a child, but his tastes seemed appropriate for his age.
He was continuing to grow larger as he leveled up.
‘When is he finally going to start talking?’
Would he need to gain several dozen more levels?
After cleaning everything up and finishing the housework, it was already late at night.
I confirmed that the Research had completed successfully, then threw myself into the Spirit Shelter so I could wake up early tomorrow.
The next morning, before dawn.
As usual, I woke up early and entered the Trial Tower before I was fully awake.
The 10th Floor.
More Monster Waves.
Weaker siege weapons and castle walls by comparison.
But it did not matter.
Fire could handle everything again.
[Fire(EX)’s possessed skill, ‘Hellfire(EX),’ activates.]
[Fire(EX)’s possessed skill, ‘Meteor(EX),’ activates.]
…….
…….
After repeatedly using those two skills, it ended in no time.
[You have cleared the 10th Floor of the Trial Tower!]
[Monster Wave: 12/12]
[Castle: 100/100]
[You have perfectly defended against the Monster Waves on the 10th Floor of the Trial Tower!]
[A new record has been achieved!]
[The Trial Tower 10th Floor World Ranking has been updated to Rank 1!]
[Clear Time: 2 minutes 3 seconds]
[You have succeeded in overwhelmingly clearing the 10th Floor of the Trial Tower!]
[Goblin’s Worn Equipment × 3,956 has been awarded!]
[Orc’s Elite Equipment × 1,799 has been awarded!]
[Kobold’s Superior High-Grade Equipment × 1,571 has been awarded!]
[Slime’s Healing Slime × 2,457 has been awarded!]
[Lowest-Rank Mana Stone(F) × 1,199 acquired!]
[Low-Rank Mana Stone(E) × 799 acquired!]
[Lower-Intermediate-Rank Mana Stone(D) × 599 acquired!]
[Intermediate-Rank Mana Stone(C) × 404 acquired!]
[Upper-Intermediate-Rank Mana Stone(B) × 303 acquired!]
[High-Rank Mana Stone(A) × 23 acquired!]
[Highest-Rank Mana Stone(S) × 7 acquired!]
The number of waves had more than doubled, yet the clear time had not even doubled.
Easy.
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) says it’s over, so he wants breakfast!]
He really was obsessed with meals.
Three meals a day had become mandatory now.
Unfortunately, breakfast would have to wait a little today.
“Let’s use Spirit Stone Detection first, then eat. It’ll be over quickly.”
-……Waaah!
[Fire(EX) thinks for a moment, then nods in agreement.]
Now that I had his permission, I activated the detection skill.
With a ten-kilometer radius, worrying that it would find nothing had been pointless.
[A Gate containing 6 Low-Rank Fire Spirit Stones has been discovered!]
[Spirit Stone Detection(C+) can be used again in 168 hours.]
“Yahoo! Low-Rank Fire Spirit Stones! I won’t need to buy Spirit Stones for a while!”
Little by little, I was becoming less dependent on buying Spirit Stones.
That meant I did not need to reinvest the money from selling today’s Trial Tower byproducts.
My bank account was gradually becoming healthier.
That was enough celebration.
I still needed to eat breakfast and go house hunting, so I moved quickly.
Using Meld into Darkness, I arrived at the entrance of the old alleyway near my studio apartment in an instant.
Fortunately, no one was around.
The Gate was C-Rank.
[Annihilate the Elite Lizard Village.]
[Elite Lizard Village: 0/1]
The objective was simple too.
Since it was a swamp, Hellfire would be less effective, so I wiped everything out with Meteor.
[You have annihilated the Elite Lizard Village!]
[Elite Lizard Village: 1/1]
[Elite Lizard Hide × 543 has been awarded!]
[Elite Lizard’s Sturdy Helmet × 755 has been awarded!]
[Elite Lizard’s Sturdy Trident × 878 has been awarded!]
[Elite Lizard Chieftain’s Eyeball × 3 has been awarded!]
[Elite Lizard Chief’s Command Baton × 1 has been awarded!]
[Low-Rank Fire Spirit Stone(B) × 6 acquired!]
[The Gate will disappear in 8 hours!]
[If you do not leave before it disappears, you will disappear along with it!]
I would not need to worry about Spirit Stones for a while.
-Waaah?
[Fire(EX) asks when he can eat the High-Rank Fire Spirit Stone!]
“Once the current Spirit Stone effect ends. Let’s eat.”
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) hurriedly runs toward home!]
What a commotion.
If only he had moved like that when we were searching for Microscopic Subspace in the Haunted House the other day.
Instead of using Meld into Darkness, I called the real estate agency I had looked up yesterday.
I called my landlord too.
The thought of finally leaving this studio apartment made my heart pound even harder than when I had awakened.