Day 15 since entering the Tower.
His eyelids felt warm.
When he woke up, sunlight was shining inside the Dragon Lair.
Woo-jin squirmed inside the sleeping bag like a little worm, then pulled down the zipper and sat up.
“Nnnnghhhh. I slept well.”
That was when his eyes met someone else’s.
A handsome man with long, deep-black hair swept back.
He wore nothing on top, showing off firm muscles.
On his lower body, he wore greaves in a mix of black and gold.
It was the Polymorphed form of the Dragon Lord, the master of this place.
Woo-jin politely bowed to the landlord(?).
“Hello.”
The Dragon Lord had crossed over into the separate space where Woo-jin lived and was standing with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall. He looked like a landlord inspecting the room of a tenant paying monthly rent.
“It seems you have been living quite well.”
“Yes, sir. Thanks to you.”
He bowed his head once more.
A word of thanks was essential to a landlord who had let him use a room for free without paying a single coin.
“Your housemates have increased.”
The Dragon Lord’s gaze was on the Doppelganger.
The Doppelganger, in Woo-jin’s body shape and a form like a black shadow, was sitting side by side with Blackie.
For reference, Blackie had been bowing flat over and over this whole time.
“Yes. It’s a Doppelganger.”
(…….) Greeting!
The Doppelganger raised one hand high and greeted the Dragon Lord.
The Dragon Lord showed no particular reaction and shifted his gaze back to Woo-jin.
“Your low level became a benefit instead.”
The Dragon Lord spoke as if he roughly understood.
Woo-jin nodded.
“Raise your head, administrator.”
“M-may I really do that, nyah?”
“I will not say it twice.”
Blackie sprang upright.
The Dragon Lord looked at Woo-jin and said,
“I will no longer be in the lair from now on. Live as you see fit, on the condition that you do not leave this space.”
The Dragon Lair was vast.
The place Woo-jin currently lived was an attached side space within it.
“Yes, sir. I’ll keep that in mind. But where are you going?”
“W-Woo-jin! Asking something like that is rude, nyah!”
The Dragon Lord answered Woo-jin without paying any attention to Blackie’s reaction.
“The temple. The promised time is... There is no need to tell you that. To add one thing, even when I go to the temple, I can look down over the entire Tower. This place is no exception.”
In other words, if Woo-jin broke the rule of ‘do not leave this space,’ the Dragon Lord would be able to notice.
In the first place, the space Woo-jin lived in was already spacious enough, so he did not think he would need to cross over beyond the wall, but for now, he nodded.
“I see. But are you leaving right now?”
“Why do you ask?”
Woo-jin smiled brightly and said,
“I was thinking of having a pork belly party for lunch! Would you like to eat with us?”
“...A pork belly party? What is that?”
He took out the pork belly from the Subspace Backpack and showed it to him.
“I’m going to grill this and eat it. Hehe.”
“I see. I have no interest.”
With those words as his last, the Dragon Lord disappeared.
CRAAACK!
A dimensional gate opened, and he stepped inside.
The dimensional gate that swallowed the Dragon Lord closed immediately.
Once he disappeared, Blackie sagged like he was melting into putty.
“Nyaaaah. That was scary, nyah.”
“He seems like a nice person.”
“At times like this, Woo-jin seems fearless, nyah. Lord Constellation is someone so difficult to meet in person that even the Association President has only seen him a few times, nyah.”
Woo-jin shrugged.
“Let’s do national calisthenics and eat breakfast.”
They quickly finished, starting from the breathing exercise and ending with the final arm-and-leg movements. Blackie and the Doppelganger moved along by following Woo-jin’s demonstration.
Breakfast was cherry tomatoes.
Pop!
Juice burst in his mouth.
They had an excellent cool, fresh, sweet-and-sour taste, and although the amount was small, it was nice that they even raised his Magic Power.
After eating about ten.
Woo-jin decided to harvest the lettuce and perilla leaves with the Doppelganger.
To avoid Overheating like last time, he bought one equipment item from the Auction House that raised Magic Power.
[Immediately purchasing Grass-Leaf Magic Power Bracelet for 150 coins.]
[Grass-Leaf Magic Power Bracelet]
- Grade: D
- Effect: Magic Power +2
- Description: A bracelet made by weaving grass leaves imbued with Magic Power. Though small, Magic Power dwells within it, increasing maximum Magic Power by 2 while equipped. Its durability is low.
With this, Woo-jin’s Magic Power became 6 instead of 4, setting decimals aside.
His Magic Power had risen by a whopping 50 percent!
“Good. My Magic Power has risen too, so shall we start working?”
First was the lettuce field.
Fresh lettuce spread out before his eyes.
Every leaf gleamed as if filled with moisture.
This was enough.
Woo-jin smacked his lips without thinking.
The first thing that came to mind was none other than pork belly.
If I put one piece of golden-brown grilled meat on top, dip it lightly in ssamjang, and wrap it with grilled aged kimchi, it’ll be incredible.
“Hehe.”
After swallowing his saliva, Woo-jin crouched in front of one lettuce head.
He slipped his hand in and examined the leaves as if rummaging through them, then chose a wide leaf spreading along the outer edge.
“Harvest!”
Snap.
The single lettuce leaf that came off lightly was sturdier than he had expected.
When he placed it on the ground, it was the perfect size for making a wrap.
[Tower Sleep Lettuce]
- Grade: D
- Effect: Helps you sleep soundly when consumed. (Magic Power recovery speed increases by 30% during sound sleep.)
- Description: A Tower lettuce cultivated by someone. Eating it seems likely to improve sleep quality while sleeping.
[Harvesting Tower Sleep Lettuce.]
[Experience has increased by cultivating Tower Sleep Lettuce.]
[Harvest Lv. 4 proficiency has increased.]
[Harvest Lv. 4 proficiency has…….]
“Just do what I do. But don’t overdo it. If you work too hard, I might collapse from Magic Power exhaustion.”
(…….) Nod!
The Doppelganger crouched in front of one lettuce head.
Then it copied the movement Woo-jin had just made exactly.
Snap.
The two began harvesting lettuce side by side.
After the lettuce harvest was finished, Woo-jin immediately moved to the field beside it.
This time, it was the perilla leaves.
Perilla leaves, with deep-green leaves hanging in order along the stems. He went close, stuck his nose near them, and smelled them.
In that instant, their distinctive fragrance rose sharply.
“Sluuurp. That smell.”
In truth, when eating pork belly wraps, Woo-jin preferred perilla leaves over lettuce. That bitter perilla leaf scent felt like it suited pork belly better than lettuce did.
“Harvest, harvest!”
[Tower Vision-Enhancing Perilla Leaf]
- Grade: D
- Effect: Slightly improves eyesight when consumed.
- Description: A Tower perilla leaf cultivated by someone. Eating it seems likely to improve eyesight.
[Harvesting Tower Vision-Enhancing Perilla Leaf.]
[Experience has increased by cultivating Tower Vision-Enhancing Perilla Leaf.]
[Your level has increased to 8.]
[Harvest Lv. 4 proficiency has increased.]
[Harvest Lv. 4 proficiency has…….]
Snap.
Snap.
After neatly gathering the perilla leaves on the ground, they went straight into the Subspace Backpack.
“Wrap vegetables are ready.”
“Is lunch preparation finished, nyah?”
“Well…….”
Since he had an aluminum pot and a burner, grilling pork belly would be possible.
“...Hm.”
However.
Wouldn’t grilling pork belly in an aluminum pot make cleanup a bit difficult?
‘I want to get a bit of a camping vibe at a time like this.’
He was already sleeping in a sleeping bag.
This was outdoors, not a restaurant.
A place full of camping? Glamping? vibes.
Woo-jin immediately started a conversation with Anonymous 3861 and asked for a grill plate and firewood. No, he was about to start a conversation, then paused.
“No. I might be able to get that much myself…….”
First, the grill plate.
There was a solution nearby.
Rattle.
The place Woo-jin walked toward was the cave wall.
The place with the neatly opened hole.
The cave was made of something like stone, and since Woo-jin had dug it out with a large Shovel using the Soil Tilling skill, large and small slabs of stone were lying scattered on the ground.
In other words.
“Each and every one of these is a stone plate!”
Eco-friendly disposable stone plates!
Of course, he could use them again if he washed them!
If he set up three stone rods as supports.
Then placed a stone plate on top.
Then lit a firewood fire beneath it?
He could eat open-air stone-grilled pork belly.
‘I could use grass scraps for fuel, but it’ll taste better if I eat it over firewood.’
Until now, except when using the aluminum pot to boil water, Woo-jin had not used the gas burner. Instead, he had gathered things like cherry tomato suckers, potato leaves, and sweet potato leaves (shoots) to make fires.
They burned well enough.
But the downside was that they burned quickly and had to be constantly replenished.
Since he wanted to grill the meat slowly and leisurely as he ate, firewood seemed better.
‘Firewood…….’
Woo-jin thought of the 97th Floor, where he had picked up the S-Grade sword.
A cemetery-like place under eerie blue moonlight.
There had been trees there.
[Immediately purchasing Beginner’s Hand Axe for 30 coins.]
[Beginner’s Hand Axe]
- Grade: E
- Effect: Attack Power +3
- Description: A hand axe used by novice adventurers. It is heavy, but its attack power is strong.
“I’m going to the 97th Floor for a bit.”
“Nyah? Why are you going there again, nyah?”
“To get firewood.”
“D-dangerous, nyah! Isn’t the Demon Sword there, nyah?!”
“Come on. It was safe as long as I didn’t touch that Demon Sword or whatever.”
.
.
.
This body.
Arrived on the 97th Floor.
“There are so many! Trees!”
Perhaps because of the nature of the site, there were many dead trees.
With a cheerful smile, Woo-jin held the Hand Axe and approached a nearby dead tree.
“Hup!”
THWACK!
He gripped the Hand Axe tightly with both hands.
Using a swing with his waist rotation, he struck the tree with the axe blade.
The Hand Axe blade dug into the dry bark.
Each time he brought it down, wedge-like marks were carved into the dead tree’s trunk.
[You have learned Wood Chopping Lv. 1.]
“Ooh!”
He learned another skill!
Excited, Woo-jin began chopping the tree enthusiastically.
THWACK!
THWACKTHWACKTHWACK!
[Wood Chopping Lv. 1 proficiency has increased.]
[You have learned Wood Chopping Lv. 2.]
[Wood Chopping Lv. 2 proficiency has…….]
That was when it happened.
- Who the hell are you?
A rough voice reached Woo-jin’s ears.
When he turned his head toward the place the voice had come from, he saw the Demon Sword.