Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: The Worker's Potential
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The Black Tower had a variety of environments on each floor.
There were caves, desert like wastelands, forests blending grass and trees, even denser jungles, rugged mountains, and snowfields swept by blizzards...
The inside of the Tower was no different from a real environment.
The rolling stones were real, the wood with its hard texture was real, the fluttering grass was real.
Did the Players who entered the Tower just stand there and look at those things?
As a memento of entering the Tower, they tried picking up stones and putting them in their Tower-exclusive inventory, breaking off branches to put inside, pulling up a few clumps of grass to store.
But when they exited the Tower, everything disappeared.
Stones, branches, grass, anything at all.
Maybe because it was in the inventory?
Perhaps it would be different if you held it in your hand when exiting.
But the result was the same.
No drops, no gathering.
Only conquest reward items.
Only items granted to the Tower-exclusive inventory could be taken out.
Nothing else was ever permitted.
So what about the items that came out of Razix's backpack?
He had skinned the hide of a giant ironclad basilisk, mined mana stones, and pulled up grass that looked like medicinal herbs, all apparently worked on at some point.
"You're saying Mr. Razix gathered and brought all this himself?"
"Hoeh, I'm sowwy, Summoner. Those people finished the conquest too early. This is all I could get,"
"What awful people! Just conquering on their own and ending it as they please."
"Hoeung!!!"
Anyway, it was simply astonishing.
It was strange that Razix was only Rare.
Well,
Gobang was also Rare at first.
Strong but not bright.
Similarly, Razix was competent but his combat power was weak.
Ah.
To think I tried to kick this precious person out just because his combat power was low.
I must reflect deeply.
Joo-hyuk gave Razix a big hug, rubbing his face against him.
So Fluffy and round.
"Ah, Mr. Razix! You're the best! The best! A true angel among angels! Tell that crazy demon to get lost!"
Then the others joined in.
"Y-yes. A most excellent Summoned Being."
"Mr. Razix, may this maiden hug you once?"
"Excellent. Warrior will protect Razix."
"Hoeung?"
Razix was at a loss.
He thought he'd be scolded for not filling the bag completely.
But they were praising him like this.
"Hohehe..."
The items Joo-hyuk had received up to the 41st floor.
Over 90% of them, with a few exceptions, were mana stones.
What do you get for an S++ conquest?
Just eat mana stones and drop down, they say.
Other Players were the same.
Being a Player was a job of selling mana stones to make a living.
Occasionally, conquest rewards like metals, hides, herbs, or items dropped, but the probability wasn't that high.
In this sense, Razix's Tower gathering ability was at a level to chew up an LSSR; for so many material items to roll out of such a small backpack.
'It seems like a backpack with performance similar to an inventory.'
It stays with you to the end.
No replacements.
What about the 51st floor?
Well, we'll just park there.
And do another Trait Enhancement.
By any means necessary.
"Mr. Razix, you must be disappointed that it ended so quickly, right?"
"...Yes."
"Then shall we go in one more time?"
"Tomorrow?"
"No, now."
"Hoeung? But it's once a day..."
"We can enter. I can do it twice. Hahaha."
"Hoheuk?"
Razix was startled.
His eyes went wide,
"...Hoeh, Summoner, you're cool. Amazing."
"Shall we go in now?"
"Yes."
"Then let's go!"
Snap!
[Entering the Black Tower of South Korea, 41st Floor.]
Before starting the conquest.
Joo-hyuk gathered the Summoned Beings.
"Alright, alright, we've already finished the S++ conquest on this floor. So take it as slow as possible. To make things comfortable for our Mr. Razix, understood?"
"Yes, sir! We'll drag it out until the mission time limit."
"I will try. Lizard, kill slowly."
"This maiden will move together with Mr. Razix."
"Hoeung!"
I'm looking forward to it.
Just how much material will he gather?
Razix, deploy.
Roll roll roll roll.
The enlarged Gobang stepped forward, blocking the path so the basilisks couldn't approach Razix.
Kosak assisted as well.
Razix was already far ahead, starting his gathering activities.
'Fast, so fast.'
His legs were just for decoration.
They posed no obstacle to Razix's movement.
Perhaps his round body was made for convenient mobility.
He'd roll over there, wiggle his butt while working, then roll somewhere else and wiggle his butt again.
It was so adorable, just watching him was a joy.
It wasn't just Joo-hyuk.
"Kyaak!!!"
Gyeon Dal-rae chased after Razix, screaming like a madwoman.
'Hmm,'
The image of a strict, solemn, and serious princess of the Heavenly Empire was nowhere to be seen.
Meanwhile, Gobang grabbed the tail of an approaching ironclad basilisk and flung it away, swinging it around.
He didn't even kill it.
Even after considerable time had passed, the kill count was 0.
It seemed he had finished gathering to some extent.
The rolling Razix stopped and was looking up at Gobang, who stood before him.
"Hoeh...,"
"Worker Razix, can I catch lizard now?"
"Just one, please."
"Understood."
The moment of greatest curiosity.
How exactly does he skin it whole?
Gobang grabbed the tail of a passing basilisk.
Then, with a swing, he spun it and slammed it into the ground!
Thud!
"Caught."
Instantly!
"Hueheng!"
Razix burst into tears.
Joo-hyuk immediately criticized Gobang.
"Hey, why are you making him cry?"
Kosak too,
Gyeon Dal-rae too,
"You bastard! I knew you'd cause trouble sooner or later! Now that you're SSR, you can't see what's in front of you!"
"That's too much, Mr. Gobang! Doing such a rough thing to this small, weak Mr. Razix! Even between fellow servants, you should observe propriety."
Gobang flinched in surprise, waving his hands.
"Uh, I, I just caught the basilisk."
Exactly.
Why did he cry?
So I asked.
"Hoeung, if you kill it like that, the hide gets damaged. We have to throw it away."
"Ah!"
He needed to skin it, but by slamming it so violently, it seemed the hide was ruined.
Originally, basilisk hide had an automatic scratch repair function, but it couldn't recover from impacts beyond a certain limit like this.
So, Joo-hyuk took out the Cold Twilight's Golden Mace he received as a special reward.
"Just trust me. I'll catch one cleanly for you."
"Hueng, if you hit with that, the hide freezes and shatters. Summoner, you don't have to catch it."
"..."
Why were they like this?
Each of them in their own way was stopping me from hunting.
I had no choice.
Joo-hyuk gave Kosak a look.
"Ah, Mr. Razix, you should have said so earlier. This SSR Kosak will catch one cleanly for you."
"Hoeung?"
"With the sword energy of this dagger, I'll stab that guy's eyeball..."
"Hoehehe,"
Razix's eyes sparkled.
The hunt began again.
Gyeon Dal-rae used a bell to cast confusion on a basilisk.
Then Gobang lightly broke its legs, restrained it, and Kosak finished it off.
Thus, a basilisk corpse without a single scratch.
Razix immediately stepped forward.
He took out a short knife from his chest, cut here and there.
Then, with his short arms, he grabbed the basilisk's jaw area,
"Hngk-cha!"
Rolling around while pulling strongly,
Riiip!
"Wow!"
Clap clap clap clap!
Joo-hyuk and the other Summoned Beings applauded.
A complete separation of body and hide.
It was like molting.
The removed hide automatically went into the small backpack.
'That seems like a skill too.'
Of course.
Razix wasn't Normal, he was Rare.
Extremely skilled and experienced.
No wonder he got such high praise.
We caught one, now another.
It took some time, but so what?
We weren't aiming for S++ anyway.
But after catching the sixth one,
"Hoeh, it's over."
Huh? Over?
"The bag is full."
"Ah...,"
It seems that backpack had its limits too.
Well, how big is a single hide anyway.
It's a shame, but we'll have to be satisfied here.
Monster hide,
This was rare and expensive.
The combat boots Joo-hyuk wore were also made from basilisk hide.
Used for crafting armor, but also for general crafting purposes.
Like bags, shoes, wallets, that sort of thing.
Extremely durable, and its rarity maked it command a high price.
But the supply was so small it couldn't commercialized.
Instead, celebrities like singers or actors, wealthy affluent figures, went through great pains to obtain monster hide.
How much fuss were animal protection groups making these days?
Protesting naked, saying don't skin poor animals for human greed, it was chaos.
So even celebrities had to mind the animal protection groups.
But what about custom-made items from monster hide?
The arguments of animal protection groups wouldn't hold water then.
Surely they woudln't claim monsters also had the right to live peacefully.
I had a sudden thought.
I wanted to feed Razix a Summoned Being Grade-Up Rune.
To create a worker who hid his strength, the strongest worker in history.
'I'm really curious.'
Razix as SR, Worker Razix as SSR.
How would he change when his grade rose?
The backpack capacity would definitely increase.
'Wouldn't he just start bringing out items as well, not only Tower materials?'
He was a worker comrade whose development was eagerly anticipated.
Joo-hyuk and his party exited the Tower.
It was the conquest that took the longest time so far.
The small living room of the officetel was piled high with the items Razix had gathered.
"Hahahaha!"
"Hehehehe."
"Hohehehe."
We were full even without eating.
Assuming we sold it all, how much would this be worth?
Six whole basilisk hides.
Plus the one skinned earlier, making seven total.
This alone left no room in the living room.
50kg of mana stones mined inside the Tower.
Market price: 25 million won.
Unknown medicinal herbs.
We'd know once we got them appraised.
Tower rewards gave dried herbs, but these were freshly picked raw herbs.
He said he couldn't mine ore.
Well, we could mine that later.
He put it all into Joo-hyuk's inventory.
Even though the space had grown with his level increase, it was nearly one-third full.
Now, Worker Razix was officially confirmed as a full member.
Total members: five.
'I can't delay any longer.'
Moving was an urgent situation.
I wanted to relocate immediately.
A spacious house was essential for the Summoned Beings' comfort.
Joo-hyuk took out his laptop and turned it on.
He opened a real estate trading site to search for a decent apartment.
Apartment prices were no joke.
Not quite a penthouse, but a reasonably large square footage easily exceeded 5 billion won.
Expensive ones were in the 10-billion range.
Well, in a market where 20-billion ones exist.
'Expensive, so expensive.'
If I turn my eyes to the provinces, the options broaden.
For a much cheaper price, you could buy an apartment with more square footage.
But I didn't want to leave Seoul.
This was Joo-hyuk's hometown.
His parents and family were also here.
Click, click,
While thinking, he continued searching for apartments.
Nothing caught his eye.
He knew the reason himself.
Because that penthouse Jeon Gwang-il had proposed earlier wouldn't leave his head.
It kept lingering in his mind.
How good would it be to live there?
It was hard to break away from something that had once caught his fancy.
This is why you never forgot your first love.
In the end, Joo-hyuk looked at the photos of the penthouse he had given up on.
Whether you had money or not, the alluring penthouse was always a burden.
If he were a real man, he would have bought it without hesitation.
'Right! What about the Holy Sword rental?'
Let's ask about it now.
He turned on his smartphone after a long time.
He was a civil servant, so he must be busy; I'll text him.
A moment later.
Tok-tok!
A text notification sounded.
The reply came sharp as a knife.
Let's see. The rental fee is...,
"Huh?"
What's this?
Joo-hyuk rubbed his eyes and checked the text again.
'They rented it... twice?'
Good heavens!
What kind of windfall is this?
Rented it twice?
And they even finished the exact calculations.
20 million dollars. 26 billion won.
'Then buying the penthouse won't be any problem at all.'
Aaaaah!
The Earth's strongest nation, the USA.
It was truly a country full of real men.
Thanks to the gracious American Player, a Holy Sword rental fee of 20 million dollars, 26 billion won, was soon to be deposited into his account.
Truly the best of Players.
It wouldn't be wrong to call him hyung.
Hyung Gerald Watson.
If you gave me 26 billion won, you're my hyung.
Yes! Absolutely.
If I knew he'd rent it twice, I would have given a discount.
He even said he'd visit again in a few months.
Of course.
To conquer the 67th floor.
"Alright, everyone, gather around. I have an important announcement."
"Yes, sir!"
"What is the matter?"
"Warrior is prepared to listen."
"Hoeh?"
He showed them the laptop screen.
"We're moving. To here."
"Th-this place?"
"Isn't this the palace we saw before?"
"It's a spacious house."
"Hoehehe...,"
"But how much is it?"
"20 billion."
"...What?"
Kosak trembled as he spoke.
"Th-that's too expensive. We'd have to get a loan. Then Summoner Bong will become house poor. We might not even be able to eat ramen."
Where did he hear about house poor?
"Then loan sharks will come find us. Then we'll need a ribbon."
"We're not borrowing money, though?"
How could he say such scary things so calmly?
"Uh, even if we bought it, who would clean such a big house?"
In that instant!
"Hoeh, please lift your foot. Your foot!"
"..."
Swish-swish-swish!
In an instant, Razix swept past with a mop, cleaning the floor.
Kosak stared blankly at Razix's retreating back.
"...We can buy it."
Gyeon Dal-rae also offered her final heartfelt advice.
"This maiden is worried. For the sake of the servants, to indulge in such great luxury... Please reconsider."
"It's fine. We can just earn more money. Right? Mr. Razix?"
"...Hoeung?"
We have a treasure trove,
What's there to worry about?