'I'm not seeing many promising recruits.'
Jin Arin thought as she closed the list of people who had undergone Potential assessments.
Most were F-Rank, and even the better ones only reached D-Rank.
She had seen a C-Rank today.
But—
'It's still a little lacking for Ain Group's Guild.'
The reason she had gone out of her way to join the Association's Talent Recruitment Team and take the position of Team Leader was simple.
She was searching for talented people.
Ain Group surpassed nearly everyone in financial power, but there was one thing it lacked.
Awakened.
The value of Mana Stones and monster byproducts was rising by the day.
Moreover, Awakened did not demonstrate their abilities only inside Gates and the Trial Tower.
They were beginning to display their capabilities in other fields as well, causing their influence to grow at an absurd rate.
The gap between companies with powerful Awakened and those without them was widening more and more.
And the higher one stood, the more pronounced that difference became.
Jin Arin understood that better than anyone, which was why she had used her father's connections to reach the Director and secure this position.
She had believed that working inside the Association would make it easy to find talented people.
'I didn't expect things to go this badly.'
She needed to produce results quickly if she wanted to earn recognition within the Group.
As the youngest daughter, she had started far later than her older sisters and brothers.
She needed to hurry even more because of that, yet she had never expected talented recruits to be this difficult to find.
"Haah... Can't a decent prospect just fall out of the sky somewhere? There's still no trace of whoever took first place in the Trial Tower."
"Team Leader, would you like to go on patrol? I heard a D-Rank Gate recently appeared inside a building under construction."
"Let's go right away."
There should be at least a few noticeable people around a D-Rank Gate.
She could start with them one by one.
There was no point trying to strike gold from the very beginning.
They soon arrived at the building under construction where the D-Rank Gate had appeared.
However, the moment they arrived, Jin Arin could not help becoming confused.
The D-Rank Gate that should have been there—
"It's been cleared?"
"Huh? Why has it already been cleared?"
"That's what I'd like to know."
It had already been cleared.
There was only one possible answer.
'Someone cleared it before us?'
This was a D-Rank Gate.
Even Awakened who had climbed high in the Tower and veteran Hunters could not clear one in only a few minutes.
Unlike the employee who was simply relieved that an annoying problem had resolved itself, Jin Arin's instincts immediately flared.
She had a feeling.
A feeling that she had finally found the talented person she had been searching for.
My body felt as heavy as lead, yet a satisfied smile remained on my face.
It was all thanks to the amount filling my bank account.
'20.6 million won!'
It felt like a dream.
There had been times when even getting my hands on a few tens of thousands of won felt nearly impossible.
Yet how long had it been since I awakened?
And I already had over twenty million won.
Even after paying all my living expenses, plenty would remain.
So this was what being Awakened was like.
Gates in particular were a gold mine.
There was no daily entry limit.
After running around for a single day, I had already completed half the objective required to gain access to E-Rank Gates.
At this rate, being able to clear E-Rank Gates was only a matter of time.
There was just one concern.
"Clone, there's a pretty high chance I'll attract attention from this, right?"
-Please limit your questions to matters concerning the System, Human. However, if I may add my personal opinion, you single-handedly swept through multiple F-Rank Gates, so you will certainly attract attention. You also secretly cleared a D-Rank Gate.
"I guess it'd be stranger if no one noticed. I did all of it alone. The Association will hear about it too."
If people discovered that I had even cleared a D-Rank Gate?
Becoming a famous star would probably happen in the blink of an eye.
If that was what it took to raise Fire, I would have to accept it.
It was not as though I planned to hide forever.
"Once I finish the Trial Tower each day, I'll have to visit at least one Gate too."
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) glares sharply at you and tells you to do it only occasionally!]
[Fire(EX) pouts, saying that he gets tired too.]
Even if activating his skills only took a moment, repeatedly using them seemed exhausting.
Considering how vast and powerful his skills were, that made sense.
"All right. I only went around that much because it was my first day. I'll take it easier from now on."
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) nods in satisfaction.]
"But that means you won't get as much delicious food either."
-Waaah?
[Fire(EX) glares at you, demanding to know what you mean.]
This little bastard was trying to take only the benefits.
"Of course. South Korea is a capitalist society. That means you only get paid according to how much you work. But if that's what you really want, I suppose we'll have to do it that way. What choice do I have?"
Fire visibly panicked at my words.
As though he had never imagined that possibility, he froze for a moment before hurriedly grabbing onto my pant leg.
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) says he was joking!]
[Fire(EX) says he'll do whatever you ask!]
"Really?"
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) asks you to make sure you feed him plenty in return!]
"Of course."
I felt like I had more or less figured out how to handle Fire.
I had made a fortune today, and I could not enter the Tower again anyway.
So what was there left to do?
"Party time!"
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) shouts, 'Amazing!']
We had worked hard, so we deserved to enjoy ourselves.
A good meal would give us the energy to work hard again tomorrow.
I ordered one signature chicken dish from every major chicken brand.
After finishing the housework I had put off and taking a shower, the doorbell rang at just the right time.
Chicken boxes soon covered my battered dining table.
There were so many that the small table could not hold them all, forcing me to place some on the floor.
Happiness was not something far away.
"This is happiness! Hahaha!"
-Waaah? Waaah!
[Fire(EX) asks whether this is chicken.]
[Fire(EX) says it smells incredibly delicious!]
"Beef is delicious, but chicken can hold its own too. Here!"
Fire grabbed a drumstick and immediately took a bite.
His jaw slowly moved.
At the same time, his eyes gradually widened.
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) says it's unbelievably delicious!]
[Fire(EX) says he wants nothing but this for a while!]
"Chicken really is delicious. There's a reason people call it soul food."
I took a bite as well.
As expected, it was incredible.
Crispy batter on the outside, tender and juicy meat within.
One bite washed away all the exhaustion that had built up throughout the day.
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) tells you to hurry up and give him the Spirit Stones too!]
[Fire(EX) says eating them together makes everything taste even better!]
"Ah, right. Here."
Spirit Stones looked almost identical to Mana Stones.
Only their colors and the patterns engraved upon them were different.
Fire stacked a Spirit Stone together with the chicken and shoved them into his mouth.
He crunched through even the bone, then made an expression far more blissful than when he had eaten jokbal or beef.
He looked as though some god had descended into him.
"Does eating them together really make it taste better?"
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) says of course it tastes better!]
[Fire(EX) says the Spirit Stone in particular has an amazing fiery flavor!]
Apparently, it tasted even better than a Mana Stone.
"I don't know when we'll get more, so savor them properly."
After confirming that he had completely eaten one Spirit Stone, I opened the System message.
Since he had eaten an entire one, the counter should have increased by one.
[Lowest-Rank Fire Spirit Stone(C-): (1/10)]
"Good."
Now all I had to do was wait.
I ate chicken in the meantime.
Fire was finishing half a chicken for every Spirit Stone.
At this rate, I would not even get to eat a whole chicken myself.
After focusing entirely on eating, I finally managed to finish one.
Fire ate every remaining piece.
I had ordered more than ten chickens and thought at least a few would be left over, yet he polished them all off without leaving a scrap.
'How does a Spirit have such an insane appetite?'
Still, he earned more than enough to make up for what he ate.
By the time he sat there patting his swollen belly, he had also devoured all ten Lowest-Rank Fire Spirit Stones.
I was about to give him the remaining two as well, but decided to check the newly unlocked skill first.
[Lowest-Rank Fire Spirit Stone(C-): (10/10)]
[You have successfully fulfilled the condition!]
[Skill, 'Meteor(EX),' acquired!]
<Meteor(EX)>
Description: A massive meteor falls upon the surrounding area.
❰Fire(EX) Lv. 5❱
❰Possessed Skills: Hellfire(EX), Meteor(EX)❱
❰Hunger: (1,400/16,000)❱
……A new skill will be unlocked upon reaching Lv. 10
……Lee Chanyoung will unlock a new skill upon reaching 16,000 Hunger
"Meteor? The same Meteor I'm thinking of?"
-It is exactly as the description states. Can you not read, Human?
"I'm asking again because I'm surprised. So it really is Meteor."
His first skill had already been extraordinary, so I had expected the second to be equally impressive.
But what came out was even better than I had imagined.
I was already looking forward to tomorrow's Tower.
However, my joy did not last long.
I sighed when I noticed the Hunger value.
"The Spirit Stones used for the condition didn't count toward Hunger? Clone, explain."
-That is correct. They were consumed to fulfill the skill-unlock condition, Human.
"Come on. That's stingy. You could've counted them too."
Why was the System so heartless?
Still, I had two Spirit Stones left.
When Fire ate one—
❰Hunger: (11,400/16,000)❱
"Ten thousand?!"
And that was not all.
[Lowest-Rank Fire Spirit Stone(C-) consumed!]
[Hunger fills 1.2 times faster than usual!]
[Hunger depletion is reduced by 1.3 times compared to normal!]
[Duration: 24 hours!]
I immediately understood why Spirit Stones were so rare and expensive.
The amount of Hunger they restored was one thing, but they even granted a buff!
When Fire tried to eat the final one, I stopped him.
-Waaah?!
[Fire(EX) demands to know what you're doing!]
[Fire(EX) glares sharply at you.]
"It's because of the buff. Let's save the last Spirit Stone for later, okay?"
After hearing me plead, he reluctantly refrained from eating it.
Even he understood.
A buff had to be used as efficiently as possible.
"Instead, eat as many Mana Stones as you want!"
Only then did his crumpled expression relax.
Fire immediately charged toward the enormous pile of Mana Stones.
I was glad he liked them, but the sight was still absurd.
"Just how much can you eat?"
He had already eaten nine chickens, Spirit Stones, and Mana Stones.
Spirits should still be capable of feeling full.
Was it because he was a Spirit King?
I could only marvel.
Early the next morning.
The moment I shook off my drowsiness and got out of bed, I headed straight for—
[Would you like to enter the 3rd Floor of the Trial Tower?]
[Yes/No]
"Yes."
The Trial Tower.
There was a small rule governing its trials.
The type of trial changed every three floors.
From the Tutorial through the 2nd Floor, the trials involved monsters.
Starting from the 3rd Floor, they became mazes.
The maze trials continued through the 5th Floor, and a different type would begin from the 6th Floor onward.
[You have arrived at the 3rd Floor of the Trial Tower.]
[Break through the traps and reach the destination.]
[Destination: 0/1]
As the darkness receded, a maze of towering walls tangled chaotically before my eyes.
Simply finding the correct path was only the most basic challenge.
The real problem was the traps scattered throughout the maze.
-Tricks will not work. You must break through the traps and personally make your way to the destination.
"The maze walls can't be destroyed either?"
-They can be destroyed, but the destination is some distance away, so I do not recommend breaking through them.
"So they can be destroyed?"
That meant—
'Hellfire might not be enough, but Meteor should do it.'
The clock was already ticking.
"Let's go, Fire!"
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) asks for Mana Stones once it's over!]
"Fine, just hurry!"
The moment Fire climbed onto my head and extended his hand—
The blue sky turned pitch-black.
This time, it was not because of fire.
When I looked closely, I saw glittering starlight scattered across the darkness.
It was as though a section of outer space had temporarily been transplanted into the sky.
Then something enormous emerged from within it.
A burning rock.
A very simple thing in itself.
But the story changed entirely when that rock became enormous.
Especially when it was large enough to cover the entire 3rd Floor.
It plummeted at tremendous speed.
[Fire(EX)'s possessed skill, 'Meteor(EX),' activates.]
KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!
It literally crushed the entire 3rd Floor.
When the thick cloud of dust finally cleared, nothing remained except an enormous crater gouged into the earth.
I did not have time to admire it.
I quickly headed toward the destination.
With the 3rd Floor reduced to a barren wasteland, the destination was plainly visible.
[You have cleared the 3rd Floor of the Trial Tower!]
[Destination: 1/1]
[You have annihilated every trap on the 3rd Floor of the Trial Tower!]
[A new record has been achieved!]
[The Trial Tower 3rd Floor World Ranking has been updated to Rank 1!]
[Clear Time: 31 seconds]
[You have succeeded in overwhelmingly clearing the 3rd Floor of the Trial Tower!]
[Lowest-Rank Mana Stone(F) × 142 acquired!]
[Low-Rank Mana Stone(E) × 98 acquired!]
[Lower-Intermediate-Rank Mana Stone(D) × 11 acquired!]
[Intermediate-Rank Mana Stone(C) × 2 acquired!]
Done.
People said the Trial Tower was brutally difficult even when you had unlimited lives.
'It's nothing but easy, though?'
Difficult?
Where else could I possibly find a better gold mine than this?
My mood was already fantastic, and it was barely dawn.