After the 20th Floor: The Dungeon Shop Miracle
After Dungeon Floor 20, what welcomed the dungeon dwellers was the Dungeon Shop.
"Oh, I get it now! The Dungeon Shop appears every time you break through floor 10!"
Jonathan shouted it like he'd made some groundbreaking discovery, even though anyone could have guessed as much. Naturally, no one paid him any mind.
-How many Dungeon Coins do we have right now~?
At Kayla's question, Mitchell checked the total Dungeon Coins they'd been steadily accumulating.
"The total is 12,673 Dungeon Coins."
"Not bad—we've built up a decent amount."
"But there's nothing really worth buying, right?"
Jonathan's words came as he scanned the shop's displayed items. His tone was a bit annoying, but he wasn't wrong. The shop's wares hadn't changed at all from before. In other words, the Red Dragon Bone Armor they were all wearing outperformed everything here by a mile.
There were a few decent weapons, but they were all priced over 20,000 coins. Cheaper ones under 10,000 existed, but they weren't worth the cost. Might as well buy something like a Bonus Stat Addition Ticket instead.
Sighs of disappointment rose here and there.
"Brothers and sisters, a divine blessing has come upon us."
At Dennis's words, the dungeon dwellers rushed over to him.
"What's this? Mandragora?"
"High-grade Basic Stat Increase Potions! And there's... one, two, three... seventeen of them!"
"There are 100 Mid-grade Basic Stat Increase Potions too!"
And every single one was priced at just 1 Dungeon Coin each.
"It's Ji-woo."
Pierre was the one who said it. No one but Han Ji-woo could work miracles like this in the Dungeon Shop.
Suddenly, Red stepped forward, planting both hands on his hips in front of the shared items and thrusting out his chin proudly.
"...No way, it's Ji-woo's achievement—why are you looking so smug?"
Josh stared in disbelief, while Diya, standing nearby, smiled innocently at how cute Red seemed.
Meanwhile, Seol Ara was checking the details on each item.
"Everyone, these are amazing. The potions give buffs to all basic stats, and the first time you eat a Mandragora, it boosts your Magic Power by 50."
"Insane! Magic Power by 50?"
Jonathan's jaw dropped. Even the ever-calm Mitchell checked the potion info and let a hint of excitement color his voice.
"The buff amounts on these potions are impressive. If everyone carries a few, it'll make things a lot more secure."
Lisa chimed in enthusiastically.
"Yeah, yeah! Exactly! How does Han Ji-woo just whip stuff like this out so effortlessly?"
The more they praised Han Ji-woo, the higher Red's nose stuck up. With the most self-satisfied look on his face, he bobbed his head up and down vigorously.
Kayla burst into clear laughter at the sight.
-Hohoho~ Our Red gets so emotional whenever Ji-woo comes up~ Isn't he just too cute?
That's when the Onelli siblings raised their hands in unison.
"I wanna try the Mandragora quick."
"Enough gawking—let's buy 'em and eat."
Mitchell paid 134 Dungeon Coins to snap up everything Han Ji-woo had shared.
The twins chomped into their Mandragoras the second they hit their hands—no hesitation.
Crunch.Crunch.Gulp!
They both scrunched their faces at the same time.
"Tastes bad."
"Like eating dirt."
Everyone else downed their Mandragoras too. Instantly, Magic Power shot up by 50 for all of them. Skills that consumed mana got a nice boost as a result.
"This is unreal."
"I wonder if we can at least chat with Ji-woo like last time?"
Mitchell, seeing their hopeful faces, thought for a moment before announcing,
"We'll stay here for about two days before moving on."
17 Mandragoras have been sold. Acquired 17 Dungeon Coins.
17 High-grade Basic Stat Increase Potions have been sold. Acquired 17 Dungeon Coins.
100 Mid-grade Basic Stat Increase Potions have been sold. Acquired 100 Dungeon Coins.
"Oh?"
Han Ji-woo had just polished off some chicken porridge and was patting his full belly when the good news rolled in.
"They've reached the Dungeon Shop!"
Thrilled, Han Ji-woo pulled a dark salt lump and a pencil from his Inventory.
Scratch.Scritch-scratch.
He scraped the pencil across the salt lump's surface, writing a letter. But then a commotion erupted behind him.
"No way! The Dungeon Tree sapling's growth rate just went up!"
"Yo-ho-ho-ho~ It grew, didn't it~! It shot up zoom!zoom! all of a sudden?"
"What?"
Han Ji-woo whipped around in surprise. Sure enough, just as Ferrofero and Toryong said, the Dungeon Tree's growth had jumped to 9.8%.
"Why? How? What's the reason?"
Toryong scurried right up to him, wriggling wildly.
"Me! Ask me~! Throw your question my way!"
Toryong did have strong ties to the earth, so he might know something.
"Alright, Toryong. What happened?"
"No idea~!"
"You little punk!"
"Yo-ho-ho-ho-ho~"
...He was just bored, apparently.
Pao grabbed Toryong from behind in a bear hug.
"Back hug! Sorry, but we're from different worlds—we can never be...!"
As Toryong spouted nonsense, Lucy stalked over with a growl. She clearly didn't like him messing with Han Ji-woo.
But Toryong twisted it his own way.
"Lucy’s burning gaze toward me! No way. It's a proper love triangle~! Pao in the back! Lucy up front! But I can't choose either~"
Lucy leaped up with a kitty punch.
"I'll vanish~ Yo-ho-ho-ho!"
Before her paw connected, Toryong dove straight into the ground and vanished.
Wham!
"Gahhh!"
Pao took the hit instead, poor guy.
Ferrofero rushed over at the sight, fussing over Lucy's paw.
"Princess! Is your pink jelly paw alright? Hoo~ Hoo~"
"What are you all doing."
Han Ji-woo shook his head at the ridiculous farce, and Brisong, lying nearby, snorted derisively.
"By the way, where's the chubby one?"
When that guy was out of sight, it always made him uneasy. The least controllable of the bunch—who knew what trouble he'd cause?
Then, a steel-armored pumpkin bee flew in from afar, circled Han Ji-woo, and suddenly turned into Seibier.
He'd used Polymorph to disguise himself as a bee.
Kyurruk~
Sweet honey breath wafted from the cute, chirping Seibier, like he was asking if Han Ji-woo had been looking for him.
"Did you turn into a bee to suck honey?"
Kyuuu~
"Aigoo, you glutton."
Han Ji-woo stroked Seibier's head helplessly.
"Still, no clue on the real reason, huh?"
His gaze drifted to the Dungeon Tree sapling as he spoke. After pondering a bit, he shrugged and went back to writing on the salt lump.
Hello, everyone. It's Han Ji-woo.
I'm thrilled we can communicate indirectly through the Dungeon Shop like this.
Hmm, I have so much I want to say that even ten salt lumps wouldn't be enough, so straight to the point:
If there's anything I can do for you, let me know.
I'll set it up so your thoughts reach me the moment you buy this salt lump letter.
"It says," Seol Ara read Han Ji-woo's letter aloud as the group's representative, turning to the others. They were all deeply moved, without exception. The more sensitive ones like Lisa even teared up.
Han Ji-woo's care and thoughtfulness for them was overwhelmingly grateful.
"Let's buy it first."
Mitchell took the salt lump letter and paid 1 Dungeon Coin.
That's when something amazing happened to Han Ji-woo.
1 Salt Lump Letter has been sold. Acquired 1 Dungeon Coin.
"Okay."
Han Ji-woo confirmed the message and was about to write more on the salt lump when—
Your influence on the Dungeon Shop has increased.
Reward: Acquired 'Dungeon Shop Manifestation Ticket'.
A card materialized in midair alongside the messages. Han Ji-woo grabbed it and checked the info.
◈ Manifest as a hologram in the Dungeon Shop for 2 minutes.
◈ If people are present in the Dungeon Shop, communication is possible.
◈ Tear the card to activate.
"Whoa!"
Han Ji-woo had once communicated with the dungeon dwellers via voice alone. Back then, he'd gotten a Dungeon Shop Voice Manifestation Ticket. But this time, it was a full hologram manifestation.
In other words, face-to-face with the dungeon folks!
Thump. Thump.
His heart raced with excitement. Eager to tear the card right then, he caught himself.
"Wait, wait. Gotta be careful."
Only 2 minutes. He had to make every second count with meaningful talk. Rushing in without a plan might leave him stumbling and returning empty-handed.
Couldn't waste such precious time.
"Keep greetings short, ask what they need most first. And..."
What to tell Ara? Han Ji-woo pondered deeply.
Brody Miles. A 37-year-old man from America.
His awakened skill was Reshape.
Thanks to a lifetime working at a butcher shop, he'd acquired this skill. It let him see monsters' dissection diagrams—vital spots for critical hits and such.
With solid base stats too, he shone as a melee dealer.
Ariel Ray. Also American, a 34-year-old woman whose skill was Master Archer.
A former national archery representative, she was already a crack shot. Master Archer made her arrows hit 100% of the time.
As the skill leveled, she could now nock energy arrows of light just by drawing her bowstring without physical arrows. Plus, sub-skills like Thunder Arrow—imbuing shots with lightning—and Rain of Arrows—blanketing the sky in a barrage.
Sword-wielding melee dealer Brody and bow-wielding ranged dealer Ariel had become lovers recently.
Both were the quiet, non-forward type, so the others often overlooked them entirely. No one knew when or how they'd gotten together—it was a mystery.
Once lovers, they mostly talked just between themselves. Like now.
"Why hasn't our Ji-woo reached out yet?"
"Should I be jealous of a guy whose face I don't even know?"
"Jealous over this? If I'd known you were so petty..."
"Regretting it now?"
"Yeah."
"What?"
Brody fumed as Ariel giggled and teased.
Jonathan approached the pair.
"Lovebirds fighting again? My stomach hurts—cut it out."
"Jonathan, listen. Ariel's the one who—"
As Brody vented, Ariel's eyes went wide.
"Guys. Look over there."
Her trembling finger pointed. There stood a stranger with an awkward smile.
And the one person who knew his face called out his name.
"Ji-woo!"
"What?"
"J-Ji-woo?"
The dungeon dwellers gasped at Seol Ara's shout.
After so long apart, they could finally behold Han Ji-woo—their guardian deity—in the flesh.
Every eye looking at him welled with indescribable emotion.