My mouth fell open at the sight of the spotless home.
I had heard there were countless places that looked much worse in person than in their photos.
“This place is in pretty good condition.”
“Oh-ho-ho! Of course! You’re Awakened, so naturally I have to treat you well! When I heard an Awakened person was coming to look at homes, I made sure to show you our best listing!”
The floor area was fifteen pyeong.
It had two bedrooms, came with appliances and furnishings, and the location was fairly good too.
The price was a 200-million-won deposit with monthly rent of 800,000 won.
It was hard to imagine finding anything better.
My decision was quick.
“I’ll take this one.”
“You’ve made an excellent choice! Ho-ho. Please review the contract and sign here!”
DING-DIDDLY-DING-DONG!
“Ah, excuse me for a moment! This is an urgent call.”
Once the real estate agent disappeared, Fire emerged from the Spirit Shelter and alternated between staring at me and looking around the house with a strange expression.
-Waaah? Waaah?
[Fire(EX) repeatedly asks whether this is really the new house.]
[Fire(EX) asks why the house barely looks any different after he worked so hard to help the Contractor!]
The Spirit Shelter itself was fifteen pyeong.
No matter how I looked at it, Fire apparently thought this was ridiculous.
He seemed to be wondering whether it would not simply be better to live inside the Spirit Shelter.
“It’s only been eleven days since you met me, you know? This is more than good enough. You really don’t understand how the world works.”
I had gone from barely scraping by in a studio apartment to upgrading to a villa in only eleven days.
Unless you won the lottery, an upgrade like this would have been impossible.
And these days, even winning the lottery did not always mean much.
-Waaah. Waaah.
[Fire(EX) says that no matter how he looks at it, the prison has merely become a slightly more luxurious prison!]
[Fire(EX) says he is still glad that the Contractor is satisfied.]
“Thaaanks.”
I sent about ten million won to my parents.
It seemed the time to tell them I had awakened had come sooner than expected.
I only hoped they would not worry too much.
I calmed my startled parents and gave them a vague explanation.
After promising that I would visit home soon, I ended the call and faced the real estate agent, who had returned.
“Ho-ho, sorry about that. Shall we proceed with the contract? We need to settle when you’ll move in and how you’ll pay the deposit. Ah, and please make sure you thoroughly check that there are no legal issues with the property.”
The contract proceeded smoothly.
Even after examining everything thoroughly, I could not find a single problem.
I told her I would move in as soon as I vacated my studio apartment, and the process ended surprisingly easily.
We also agreed that I would transfer the money then.
It was eleven in the morning.
“That ended faster than I expected. I thought this would take the whole day.”
In that case, I could spend the rest of the day gathering materials from Gates.
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) says you should eat first!]
“We had a huge breakfast. Pork belly, remember?”
We had even made proper lettuce wraps.
And we had eaten ten kilograms of pork belly first thing in the morning.
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) says breakfast is breakfast and lunch is lunch!]
[Fire(EX) asks what you think about Chinese food for lunch!]
“Ah, yes, yes. Let’s go to a Chinese restaurant.”
The villa’s rent was cheaper than I had expected, so I still had plenty of money.
We headed to an upscale Chinese restaurant with private rooms.
Shark fin, dongpo pork, fried rice, laziji, and more.
Fire devoured everything like a fish thrown back into water.
He ate Mana Stones alongside the food too.
I really could not get used to this appetite.
Maybe he should become a mukbang streamer.
By the time he was finally somewhat satisfied—
[Hunger has reached 2,500,000!]
[Fire(EX)’s Level increases by 1!]
❰Fire(EX) Lv. 12❱
❰Possessed Skills: Hellfire(EX), Meteor(EX), Hell Spear(EX)❱
❰Hunger: (0/6,000,000)❱
……A new skill will be unlocked upon reaching Lv. 15
……Lee Chanyoung will unlock a new skill upon reaching 6,000,000 Hunger
“This one took a little longer.”
That was because I had leveled up False Fullness.
I had spent 300,000 Hunger on it.
Still, I had no regrets.
In six days, it would restore a full one million Hunger.
What caught my attention more was the next Hunger requirement.
“Six million. I have a lot more ways to fill Hunger now, but that’s still ridiculous.”
-There is a saying that one who wears the crown must bear its weight.
“That’s true, but there should be limits. It went up by more than double again. What kind of shameless System is this?”
-Due to the nature of the System, greater power requires correspondingly greater resources. Please understand.
It certainly had a smooth answer ready.
And annoyingly enough, it was not wrong.
I was probably the only person in the world who possessed a Spirit like this.
“Why can’t you show a little sympathy?”
-Because I am an AI.
“AI is terrifying.”
Leaving the completely unsympathetic Clone behind, I checked my new skill.
At least this skill would comfort me.
As expected—
[Successfully reached 2,500,000 Hunger.]
[Skill, ‘Nature’s Blessing(C),’ acquired!]
<Nature’s Blessing(C)>
Description: Receiving the blessing of all nature randomly increases the quantity of materials you obtain!
“Huh? This is basically a weaker version of the Pickaxe of Efficiency and Luck.”
Did that mean it was bad?
Of course not.
It was slightly disappointing that it only increased materials.
It would have been even better if it increased Mana Stones and monster byproducts too.
But—
“This alone is more than enough.”
It was plenty.
I should be able to gather materials much faster and in far greater quantities today.
The Research project I needed to complete today was this.
……Skill, Hunger Booster(C+), can be acquired after obtaining Burning Stonewood (0/300), Blazing Cotton (0/100), Strong Stone (0/50), and Lowest-Rank Mana Stone(F) (0/1,500)
<Hunger Booster(C+)>
Description: For 1 minute, Hunger gained increases by 3 times!
“Oh? Triple Hunger?!”
The reward was quite good considering how many materials it required.
It only lasted for one minute, but that did not matter.
Considering Fire’s appetite, he could easily devour fifty Mana Stones in that time.
If he really put his mind to eating, definitely more.
By the time I finished checking everything, the meal was over.
-Waaah! Waaah?
[Fire(EX) says he ate his fill!]
[Fire(EX) asks what you’re having for dessert!]
“……Dessert?”
His complete lack of fullness made his appetite terrifying.
He was even asking for dessert.
Since we would be running around all day, I bought him the largest tub available from Baskin-Robbins.
While we headed toward the Gate, an employee entered the room to clear away the dishes.
“They ordered a lot today. Just how much could they possibly have— Gasp?!”
The employee froze at the sight of empty plates stacked nearly to the ceiling.
I headed toward the nearest Gate, whether it was F-Rank or E-Rank.
The number of Hunters inside did not matter much when I was gathering materials.
As long as it was a Gate, it was fine.
Strong Stone, the material I was searching for, appeared in most Gates.
Thanks to Spirit Eyes and Fire, finding it took almost no time.
I had mined it several times before too.
I asked Fire to guard the area, then pulled out the Pickaxe of Efficiency and Luck.
After only one or two swings, the Strong Stone came loose.
At first, everything was the same as usual.
[Pickaxe of Efficiency and Luck’s Efficiency activates!]
[Pickaxe of Efficiency and Luck’s Luck activates at 5×!]
[Strong Stone × 5 acquired!]
The Luck effect always activated whenever I harvested materials.
This time, it multiplied the harvest by five.
But that was not the end.
What happened when Nature’s Blessing activated too?
[Nature’s Blessing(C) activates, multiplying Strong Stone by 3!]
[Strong Stone × 15 acquired!]
“Hahaha! The materials are multiplying! Now this is what I’m talking about!”
I had mined only one, yet the final result was fifteen times greater.
This was no C-Rank Skill.
Judging by its effect alone, it was at least A-Rank.
There was no need to travel through several Gates anymore.
Two or three should be more than enough to fill my target quota.
‘I can even visit Gwanaksan afterward.’
Hehehe.
Burning Stonewood?
Blazing Cotton?
It was all mine!
Everyone kept complaining about how brutally difficult material farming was.
But—
“This is nothing but fun!”
CLANG!
I could digest everything I had eaten while working too.
It was truly killing two birds with one stone!
With Fire hunting monsters on top of that, the profits multiplied several times over.
There really was no reason to buy materials with money.
While I happily continued mining—
Two men were secretly watching me.
“That’s definitely the bastard, right? The one who killed our friend.”
“Not ninety-nine-point-nine percent. One hundred percent. I receive his vision every time, so there’s no way I’d mistake him. And whatever he normally keeps active seems to be turned off this time, so I can see his face much more clearly. His ID checks out too.”
“Okay! Let’s avenge Black Mask. And let’s make it as painful as possible.”
Sharp daggers were clutched in their hands.
They were not ordinary daggers.
They were Absolute Paralysis Daggers, capable of inflicting paralysis on any being.
Even a graze was enough to activate the effect.
Their plan was to paralyze him with the daggers and torture him.
All for revenge.
The two men were just about to sneak closer when—
“Someone’s actually mining Strong Stones. He must be seriously broke.”
“Strong Stones still sell for a decent amount, though. Demand is pretty steady. Should we mine some too?”
“Just kill Goblins instead. We don’t have the equipment. How are we supposed to mine that stuff?”
“Right? Equipment’s the problem.”
“……?!”
“……?!”
Hunters had entered without them noticing.
The two men hurriedly concealed themselves.
They could deal with those Hunters without much difficulty.
Who did they think they were?
People wandering around F- and E-Rank Gates were nothing to them.
But this particular job had to be done properly.
There was no harm in being cautious.
“Let’s move when we’re absolutely certain. Our guy probably didn’t get killed for no reason.”
“Nothing good comes from being discovered. We’ll get another chance eventually.”
They carefully withdrew and waited for the perfect opportunity.
Fortunately, they did not have to wait long.
There was only one minor problem.
“That crazy bastard! Of all places, why did he have to come to Gwanaksan?!”
“Good thing I still had the protective gear from last time in my Inventory. Phew. But why is that bastard completely fine?”
“How the hell should I know?! He probably has some kind of fire-resistance skill!”
Even with protective equipment, they felt like they were being steamed alive.
Their bodies were steadily growing exhausted.
It did not matter.
Their opportunity had finally arrived.
“You’re sure there’s no one around?”
“Of course. I confirmed there isn’t a single person within a five-hundred-meter radius. He has some kind of counterattack skill, but it won’t interfere with us at all.”
“Good, good. Let’s do it.”
There was no reason to hesitate any longer.
They cautiously began moving forward.
Then something appeared in front of them first.
“Fire?”
“It’s shaped like a tiny person. What is that? Was something like this here before? Interesting.”
-Waaah?
“It just said ‘Waaah.’ This thing’s cute. Should we take it?”
“Do you even have to ask? What a bonus. We get something unusual like this too.”
Those were their last words.
An enormous dark crimson spear swept through them in an instant.
-Waaah. Tsk.
[Fire(EX)’s possessed skill, ‘Hell Spear(EX),’ activates.]
[Fire(EX) recoils in horror, saying they tried to touch him with their filthy hands.]
Where the two men had disappeared—
-Waaah?
[Fire(EX) discovers a dagger!]
Fire’s eyes lit up at the sight of the only dagger left intact.
It looked special at a glance.
Thinking he would be praised for finding something useful, Fire picked up the dagger and hurriedly ran toward his Contractor.