Seoul Awakened Management Bureau.
Fourth basement floor.
Because of the strangely chilly air and eerie atmosphere—
the Management Bureau employees called this place the underground prison.
“Baek Yulheon, Guild Master of White Lotus.”
“……Yes.”
Baek Yulheon broke into a cold sweat as he looked around.
He felt like a criminal locked inside an interrogation room.
‘They’re going this far over a single guild promotion evaluation……?’
This was not normal.
Ordinarily, the entire process would have ended with a single written submission.
The very fact that he had been summoned to a place like this was unusual.
‘……Damn it.’
Baek Yulheon looked at the man before him.
Jeong Cheongun.
Director of the Seoul Awakened Management Bureau.
The way he lounged around in front of the Guild Master of a medium-sized guild made him look like nothing more than a delinquent.
But his competence was unquestionable.
‘He’ll see through any clumsy lie.’
“Hmm…….”
Jeong Cheongun fiddled with the documents for a moment.
After a brief silence, he finally spoke.
“Let’s begin the supplementary interview for the Major Guild Evaluation.”
Two days earlier.
Jeong Sohyeok’s rooftop room.
“Ma…… na?”
“Mana!?”
At Jeong Sohyeok’s words—
neither of them managed to keep their voices down.
Mana.
The effect of the Tower Plant Jeong Sohyeok had just revealed.
The information was shocking enough to leave Baek Yulheon speechless, both as a businessman and as the Guild Master of White Lotus.
“S-Sohyeok, have you eaten it yourself……?”
“No. It only finished growing today.”
Even as he spoke with Jeong Sohyeok—
Baek Yulheon’s gaze remained fixed on the brilliant blue fruit.
The possibilities contained within that melon-sized fruit.
Demand.
Profit.
‘Is something like this really supposed to be sitting in a place like this?’
It was something every Awakened would covet.
The existence of this fruit alone could spark conflict between guilds.
And something like that—
was growing on the rooftop of a decrepit apartment building.
‘What a waste!’
That was Baek Yulheon’s first thought.
It was simply too much of a waste.
This man’s ability—
‘This isn’t a talent that should be rotting away in a place like this…… I wouldn’t trade this ability even for dozens of S-Rank Buffers.’
If only he had a better environment.
If only they could provide him with proper support!
“Then should we test it right now?”
“……Huh?”
“Let’s eat it.”
“W-What……!?”
Pop!
An object worth tens, perhaps even hundreds of billions of won—
something comparable to a lump of pure gold—
was plucked off by Jeong Sohyeok as casually as that.
“Ahhh……! B-Be a little more careful……!”
“Haha, I’m not going to drop it. More importantly, can this thing even be eaten?”
Jeong Sohyeok repeatedly tossed the fruit into the air and caught it.
Every time he did, Baek Yulheon felt his heart drop along with it.
‘Why is he so calm……?’
If Baek Yulheon had been the one to grow something like that—
if it had been growing in his own yard—
‘I’d be too scared to even touch it…….’
Was Jeong Sohyeok simply not thinking about it?
Or was he so confident he could produce more that something of this value meant nothing to him?
“Come inside. Let’s cut it open and try it.”
“Ah…… R-Right.”
Jeong Sohyeon followed beside her brother as he carried the fruit inside.
She was practically drooling.
“I wonder what it tastes like?”
“Who knows…… I don’t even know how we’re supposed to eat it in the first place…….”
That was indeed the problem.
The blue liquid inside seemed to fill the fruit halfway, sloshing visibly whenever it moved.
The moment they cut it open, all of it might spill out.
“Hmm…….”
Once they reached the kitchen, Jeong Sohyeok frowned while holding a kitchen knife.
He poked at the outer surface.
Tapped it with his hand.
Then—
“Whatever. I’ll just do it.”
SLICE!
He casually cut it in half.
“Oh!”
A sweet fragrance immediately spread through the room.
Startled, Baek Yulheon hurried closer.
“This is……!”
The fruit had split cleanly in two.
But the liquid inside had not spilled out.
Nor had the shell shattered like glass.
Instead, the cut surface was smooth and blue—
with several small seeds embedded throughout it.
It looked almost exactly like the cross-section of a watermelon.
“W-What happened to the liquid inside……?”
“……I guess it only looked like liquid from the outside. The inside seems pretty normal?”
“Wow, seriously…… What is that smell?”
Even Jeong Sohyeon, who had been waiting at the table, rushed into the kitchen to see the fruit.
‘As expected of a Tower Plant, I suppose.’
Its flesh looked nothing like what they had imagined.
Jeong Sohyeok gave a hollow laugh.
Relieved that none of their worries had come true—
he began cutting it.
“I’ll slice it like a watermelon.”
Chop, chop, chop, chop!
His knife moved quickly.
Before long, the fruit had been cut into wedges like a watermelon one might see in the countryside during midsummer.
“It’s blue…….”
“A blue watermelon…….”
Baek Yulheon and Jeong Sohyeok each held one of the sliced wedges and hesitated.
Poison.
Side effects.
And most importantly, taste.
There were plenty of things to worry about.
“Thanks for the food.”
Without the slightest hesitation—
Jeong Sohyeon was the first to move.
“Nom.”
““!””
Baek Yulheon and Jeong Sohyeok simultaneously turned toward her.
CRUNCH!
Blue juice sprayed outward.
Chew, chew.
The remaining two watched Jeong Sohyeon chew, their palms growing sweaty.
‘How does it taste……?’
‘Sh-She isn’t going to collapse, is she?’
But contrary to their worries—
“Mmm!! This is delicious!”
“……Whew.”
Jeong Sohyeon’s face was filled with happiness.
She smacked her lips regretfully, apparently already wanting more.
Then, just as she raised the fruit for another bite—
“Urgh!?”
The half-eaten wedge fell from Jeong Sohyeon’s hand.
“S-Sis!?”
Startled, Jeong Sohyeok hurried to her side.
Jeong Sohyeon had lowered her head and clutched her chest.
‘……She’s turning blue?’
The skin around her arms had taken on a bluish hue.
No matter how he looked at it, this was not normal.
‘Could it be poison?’
If so, this was serious.
There was no telling how anyone was supposed to detoxify poison from a Tower Plant—
“Guild Master!”
“J-Just wait! I’ll call support right now……!”
“D-Don’t…….”
“Sis!?”
Jeong Sohyeon grabbed Jeong Sohyeok’s arm.
Her hand trembled violently.
But—
“Urgh……!”
‘It hurts……!’
Her grip.
She was clutching his arm without controlling her strength.
‘It feels like my bones are going to shatter……!’
As though she had entered some kind of excited state—
Jeong Sohyeon was clearly not herself.
“G-Guild Master…….”
“Damn it……!”
Seeing Sohyeok writhing in pain, Baek Yulheon hurried over and tried to pry her hand away.
But—
“!?”
‘This is stronger than usual……!’
Baek Yulheon had occasionally sparred with Jeong Sohyeon himself.
His days of climbing the Tower directly were long behind him, so he was no longer a match for her.
Even so, he took pride in knowing the capabilities of every member of his guild.
But this was different.
It was not merely that she had failed to control her strength.
Her entire body had entered a heightened state of tension—
just as it did when she entered the Tower.
“Jeong Sohyeon! Hey! Sohyeon! Snap out of it! Are you trying to crush your brother’s arm!?”
“Uugh…… H-Huh……?”
At Baek Yulheon’s shout—
Jeong Sohyeon opened her tightly shut eyes.
“Gasp……!”
Then, just before Sohyeok’s arm broke, she finally released her grip.
A dark blue bruise had already formed on Jeong Sohyeok’s arm.
“Wh-What did I just…….”
Jeong Sohyeon grabbed her head and stood up.
And once she did—
they could see the condition of her entire body.
“Sis, your body…….”
“My body……?”
There was clearly something wrong with her.
Her skin had become uneven as veins bulged all across her body.
Yet there was no healthy flush to her complexion.
Instead, her skin had turned blue.
“……Are you okay, Sohyeon? Does anything hurt……?”
“I-I don’t know. My body feels fine, but…… my head is a little…….”
“First, calm down. I’m calling the Support Team right now, so stay still and rest.”
“My brother first, ugh……!”
“Sohyeon!?”
THUD!
The strength suddenly left her right leg, and Jeong Sohyeon collapsed.
“H-Her veins…….”
The bulging veins began writhing all at once.
Like snakes.
They crawled upward across her body—
toward her head.
Her face turned blue.
The veins gathered across her forehead, pulsing violently as though they might burst at any moment.
“Uuuurgh……!!”
“Sis!!”
And then—
“……Urp.”
She returned to normal.
“……?”
With one tiny burp.
“…….”
“…….”
……That was literally all it took.
The writhing veins disappeared.
The blue color faded from her skin.
Everything returned to normal.
Even her headache seemed to be gone as Jeong Sohyeon stood up, her face reddening in embarrassment.
“Are you…… okay?”
“Y-Yeah…….”
Apparently just as bewildered as everyone else, Jeong Sohyeon scratched her head.
As though wondering what exactly had just happened.
But then—
“H-Huh……!”
“What is it!?”
“I-It increased!”
“……What did?”
Jeong Sohyeon’s mouth remained open.
She merely moved her lips soundlessly, as though counting numbers in her head.
Baek Yulheon seemed to realize something.
He cautiously asked,
“Do you mean…… MP?”
Jeong Sohyeon looked at Baek Yulheon.
Then gave a small nod.
That was the answer.
“H-How much!?”
“My original MP was 3,000…… and now it’s…… 4-4,500…….”
“W-What!?”
4,500.
The number far exceeded anything they had imagined.
‘Normally, climbing a single Tower floor increases it by around fifty to one hundred points…….’
Even by the simplest calculation—
Jeong Sohyeon had effectively gained the equivalent of nearly twenty Tower floors in a single instant.
“H-Haha…….”
Baek Yulheon stared in disbelief at the appetizing slices of fruit sitting on the table.
‘That tiny piece alone is worth more than an S-Rank Artifact…….’
“Sohyeok.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Would you mind having a little conversation about the future?”
“The future……?”
Jeong Sohyeok looked directly into Baek Yulheon’s eyes.
They were not the eyes of a greedy opportunist.
Nor those of a gambler hoping to strike it rich.
They were simply the eyes of a Guild Master who wanted to invest in the future of his guild.
“……Sure. Let’s talk about the future.”
Sohyeok accepted my proposal.
He trusted me and promised to invest in White Lotus.
‘Now it’s my turn to repay that trust.’
A mediocre medium-sized guild could never properly support him.
If anything, we would only become shackles holding him back.
First—
we needed to take the very first step forward.
“We will now begin the interview.”
“……Yes!”