One hour after my sister’s frantic phone call.
BANG!!
“Whoa!?”
I had been waiting for her on the rooftop.
Then, all of a sudden—
CRASH!
The metal door buckled and toppled onto the floor.
“Huff…… huff…….”
For once, my sister was actually sweating.
She was an A-Rank Awakened, so ordinary exercise was barely enough to tire her out.
“There was traffic…… Huff, so I ran here…….”
“F-From where?”
“Mangwon-dong.”
“……Seoul?”
“Yeah.”
……Wow.
My rooftop room was in Anseong.
Mangwon-dong was roughly eighty kilometers away.
“One hour?”
“No. I was stuck in traffic for thirty minutes. Then I ran for thirty.”
My sister was not a speed-type Awakened.
If anything, she was more of a strength-type.
Once again, I was reminded of just how monstrous the Awakened really were.
“Ugh, this thing is in the way.”
THUD!
My sister dropped something she had been carrying on her back.
Dust billowed into the air.
“What’s that?”
“Huh? Oh, my weapon. People told me to keep carrying it around because it’s symbolic or something, but I forgot I still had it with me.”
It was a greatsword.
And one almost as large as my entire body.
If I tried carrying that thing on my back, my waist would probably snap in half.
“Whew…… All right, fully recovered.”
“……Already?”
“Yeah. There’s something much more important than the condition of my body.”
Grab!
My sister suddenly seized me by the shoulders.
“You…… had a Second Awakening?”
A Second Awakening.
Her hands trembled as she said the words.
‘……She’s asking me that out of nowhere?’
Could it be because of Retainer of the World Tree?
“Did something happen?”
For now, I decided to play dumb.
I needed to know why my sister was reacting like this.
And what had happened to her.
That came first.
My sister spoke quietly.
“……I cleared the 50th Floor.”
“R-Really?”
“Yeah. I just left the celebration party.”
“Wow, haha! That’s incredible. You’ll probably be on the news soon!”
“……That isn’t the problem.”
Even though she was talking about the monumental achievement of clearing the 50th Floor—
my sister’s expression could not have been more serious.
She had been stuck on the 49th Floor for a long time.
Clearing the 50th Floor must have been something close to a lifelong wish for her.
“I didn’t clear it with my own strength.”
“Huh?”
“Status Window.”
My sister gestured through the air.
Not long afterward—
[Jeong Sohyeon’s Status Window has been shared with you.]
“Whoa!?”
A Status Window suddenly appeared before my eyes as well.
Except it was not mine.
It was my sister’s.
“You can do something like this!?”
“A lot more functions become available once you reach A-Rank or higher.”
“Wow…….”
What was this?
Wasn’t that blatant favoritism?
‘……I suppose A-Rank is impressive enough to deserve some favoritism.’
“Huh?”
Then a phrase caught my eye.
“Currently Active Buffs?”
Iron Will, Hero’s Strength, and countless other A-Rank buffs.
And among them—
‘Blessing of the World Tree’ was written there.
“……Press it.”
“Huh?”
“I said press it.”
I moved my finger as she instructed.
DING!
[Blessing of the World Tree]
[Rank: EX]
[Duration: Permanent]
“……Gasp.”
The sound escaped me as though the air had been knocked out of my lungs.
EX-Rank?
And the duration was permanent?
‘……Why?’
I already knew she had received the buff.
After all, my sister’s name had appeared under Retainer of the World Tree.
But I had assumed that, at most, my E-Rank buff had simply been applied to her.
“Explain.”
“……Huh?”
“Blessing of the World Tree. That’s your ability. Why is it applied to me? And…… wow, EX?”
My sister spoke firmly.
Her expression was deadly serious.
“Gulp.”
I was genuinely a little intimidated.
Not once in my life had I successfully lied to my sister when she wore that expression.
“You’re not going to explain……?”
“O-Okay! I’ll tell you!”
Before she hit me—
I slowly explained everything, one thing at a time.
How I had decided to grow cherry tomatoes.
How my buff had been applied to a plant.
How the cherry tomato plant had suddenly grown to an absurd size.
My sister’s gaze shifted behind me.
Toward the three-meter-tall cherry tomato plant.
“……You grew that?”
“Yeah.”
My sister covered her face with both hands for a moment.
“Uuuuuurrrrgh…….”
She groaned as though she were genuinely suffering.
Though it sounded less like a groan and more like some bizarre noise.
“W-What’s wrong?”
“No…… Haa…… This is complicated.”
“My ability?”
“This whole situation.”
My sister sat down right there on the rooftop floor.
Then she patted the ground beside her.
Pat, pat.
“Sit.”
“It’s probably dirty.”
“……Just sit.”
At times like this, obeying quietly was the wisest choice.
“……Hup.”
We sat side by side on the rooftop without saying anything.
It was still early in the morning, and the sun was gradually rising.
By the time even the shadows around us had begun to fade—
my sister finally spoke.
“First of all, congratulations.”
“……Huh?”
Those were the first words—
I had never expected her to say.
“And thank you.”
Ah.
I had not expected the second thing either.
“……You’re thanking me?”
“I cleared the 50th Floor because of you. I broke through my wall, and the guild can grow as well. I have plenty to thank you for.”
“Well, I mean…… It wasn’t entirely because of me, was it?”
My sister shook her head.
“I experienced it myself, so I know better than anyone. At the very least, it wasn’t something I accomplished through effort alone.”
“……Hmm.”
“I had already failed that floor twelve times. Do you really think it makes sense for my skills to suddenly improve enough to clear it? Haha, no matter how I look at it, that’s impossible.”
My sister placed her hand over mine.
Then she slowly tightened her grip.
“But that’s exactly why this is dangerous.”
“……Dangerous?”
“Yeah. C-Rank, B-Rank, A-Rank—it wouldn’t matter what rank you were. Even if you were S-Rank? That would still be fine.”
“…….”
“But this…… is outside the normal scale. It’s too dangerous. People will come after you.”
“Who?”
“Awakened, guilds, and if I exaggerate a little, the entire world.”
My sister turned toward me.
Her eyes were filled with genuine concern.
“If it were a combat-type ability, that would at least be somewhat better. But a Buffer is different. You have no means of protecting yourself.”
“What if a top-ranked Awakened from overseas seriously decided to target you? Even if our entire guild protected you, I couldn’t guarantee your safety.”
Gulp.
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
My head began filling with unpleasant possibilities.
What would happen if my ability became known?
Would guilds all over the world try to recruit me?
And if recruitment failed, perhaps someone would simply kill me out of fear that I might fall into someone else’s hands.
“This might sound strange, but if this was the kind of ability you were going to Awaken, I would rather you had simply remained E-Rank.”
“…….”
“No matter how difficult your life is, even if you have no motivation left, you have to be alive before anything else can matter.”
Every word struck deep into my chest.
She was not wrong.
I valued my life too.
“Promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“Never put yourself in the spotlight.”
“…….”
“This might be an opportunity for you, maybe even the last path you have left, but I don’t want you to succeed if it means putting yourself in danger. Of course, you may feel differently.”
My sister looked at me earnestly.
How many people could refuse a request like that from their own family?
“I promise.”
“……Really?”
“Yeah. I really promise. I’ll never do anything dangerous.”
“……Thank you.”
We hooked our little fingers together.
My sister smiled in satisfaction.
Yeah.
This was the right choice.
I did not want to risk my life just to make money either.
“Haha, now that I’ve said all that, it’s kind of embarrassing. Was I being too dramatic?”
She scratched her head awkwardly as she stood up.
“I still have some things to take care of at the guild. Sorry for coming over so early.”
“It’s fine. I was going to contact you soon anyway.”
“……Really?”
“O-Of course.”
“Sure you were.”
Flick!
Her finger struck my forehead.
I nearly toppled backward.
“I’m going. Take care of yourself∼.”
Yaaawn.
My sister turned to leave while yawning.
“Ah.”
As though she had suddenly remembered something, she stopped.
“……By the way, could you do your sister one more favor?”
“What?”
She pointed behind me.
Toward the enormous three-meter plant.
“Give me a few more cherry tomatoes.”
“……Haha.”
Heh.
I think you’re crossing the line now.
“Aaaah, please!”
“No! I couldn’t even sleep properly last night because you ate all my food!”
“I-I’ll cut your living allowance!?”
“You said you cleared the 50th Floor because of me!”
“That’s……! Urgh…….”
In the end, I gave her exactly one cherry tomato.
Only then did she leave satisfied.
Gwanghwamun, Seoul Awakened Management Bureau.
An unusual report had arrived.
“……A major guild? Wait, which one?”
“Yes. The White Lotus Guild has applied for promotion to major-guild status.”
“You mean the White Lotus I know?”
“If you mean the guild where A-Rank Awakened Jeong Sohyeon is a member and Baek Yulheon serves as Guild Master, then yes. That White Lotus.”
“……Huh.”
Director Jeong Cheongun spent several minutes reading through the submitted documents.
Then he rubbed his forehead and scoffed.
“This. Did you confirm that Jeong Sohyeon’s 50th Floor clear wasn’t manipulated?”
“Yes. There are no errors according to the System records.”
Jeong Cheongun frowned.
“Hey, twelve times. Jeong Sohyeon failed to clear the 50th Floor twelve times in a row. And now I’m supposed to believe, ‘Ta-da∼ She suddenly cleared it one day’?”
“According to domestic records so far, there has never been a case of someone recovering and succeeding after ten or more failed attempts…….”
“Exactly! And you expect me to believe that one of the few cases in the entire world just happened to occur in White Lotus?”
“……It isn’t impossible.”
Jeong Cheongun quietly clicked his tongue.
Of the three stamps lying before him, he chose the middle one and pressed it onto the document.
PENDING.
“……What reason should we give for putting the guild’s promotion on hold?”
“Make up something appropriate yourself. Investigate something else first.”
“Something else……?”
“What else could it be? A Buffer or a mercenary they brought in without reporting it to us.”
“You mean a buff-type Awakened?”
“What else could suddenly make an Awakened who had completely plateaued become stronger? A powerful buff! If it was enough to help clear the 50th Floor, we might even be dealing with an unidentified S-Rank.”
Deputy Director Han Gyeonho took the documents, gave a brief bow, and left the office.
Jeong Cheongun closed his eyes for a moment.
He remembered the request for support that White Lotus had submitted to the Management Bureau after Jeong Sohyeon’s ninth failed attempt at clearing the 50th Floor.
A request he had rejected.
“Baek Yulheon…….”
The man’s face suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Baek Yulheon had probably forgotten about him, but Jeong Cheongun had not forgotten Baek Yulheon.
‘That bastard is insane.’
Personal gain.
Personal ambition.
The man had none of those things.
He was obsessed with one thing and one thing alone: his guild.
Others might have regarded that as the ideal quality for a leader.
To Jeong Cheongun, however, it was simply some bizarre form of insanity.
And that was exactly why this was even stranger.
Baek Yulheon knew how guilds that meddled in the underworld eventually ended.
There was no way he would have resorted to something like that.
In the end, only one possibility remained.
“Whether he really managed to bring in some unidentified S-Rank or whatever else…….”
They would find out soon enough.
Three days later.
My sister contacted me again.
The vibration of my phone woke me from sleep.
Still half-conscious, I turned on the screen.
“……A package?”
Her message said she had sent me a package.
There was some additional text, but my sleepy brain could not process it.
I hurriedly put on some clothes and went outside……
As if.
I dropped my head back onto the pillow and slept for another three hours.
By the time the morning sunlight was once again assaulting my face—
“Ugh, my head hurts.”
I barely managed to get up before the sunlight reached my pillow.
I did some light stretching.
Then I checked my phone.
“Ah, right. Sis contacted me.”
The package was sitting near the stairs.
I glanced around.
Then I brought it inside while still wearing my pajamas.
“Whew.”
It was still morning, after all.
Then—
as I prepared to open the package—
I noticed something strange.
“Huh? Why is it in such good condition?”
My rooftop room was on the fifth floor.
There was not even an elevator.
Most delivery workers tended to toss packages down without much care.
Once, I had even heard one cursing furiously right outside my door.
“Could there be something valuable inside?”
Maybe it was a reward for what happened last time.
Feeling pleased, I opened the package.
And what came out was—
“What the heck is this?”
A suitcase.
The sort of suspicious-looking case that practically screamed that something important was inside.
At the very bottom of the package was an envelope.
“……Just in case.”
I decided to open the envelope first.
Riiip.
There were two pieces of paper inside.
“One is…… a letter?”
Ugh.
Why a letter?
How embarrassing.
I set the other piece of paper aside for the moment.
Then I started reading my sister’s handwritten letter.
“Hmm, hmm…….”
The contents were roughly as follows.
‘I’m sending this on paper just in case.’
‘After hearing about your ability, something occurred to me.’
‘You’ll understand once you open the case.’
‘I put in a little of the reward money I received from the guild.’
‘I’m not forcing you to do anything.’
‘I love you.’
“Hmm. Perfectly ordinary…….”
Wait.
There had been something strange in the middle……?
“……Reward money?”
I hurriedly checked inside the envelope.
“Whoa.”
Tremble, tremble.
My hands began shaking.
There was a white piece of paper slightly larger than a banknote.
And written across it was a number.
[100,000,000₩]
What people commonly called a check.
Except the amount written on this one was a little unusual.
“Just how much reward money did she get……?”