The Golden Pile in the Underground 2nd Level (5)
That was when it happened.
A scream I had never heard before echoed from the Ougre, and I turned my head just in time to see the creature activating its Rampage Dash skill.
Uwaaaaaah! Uwaaaaaah!
The Ougre let out a roar and, with eight arms swinging every kind of blunt weapon, charged forward like a mountain had been placed right in front of us.
Thud thud thud thud! Bang!
I watched as Loter Hasa barely dodged the Rampage Dash by a hair's breadth.
The Ougre staggered, clutching its head. Using Rampage Dash seemed to leave it stunned for a while.
Still, if things continued like this, Loter Hasa would be captured in no time.
I glanced at the compass and sprinted like a madman. The 2nd Basement Level wasn't as vast as the 1st, but for someone running, it felt endless enough to make you feel like dying.
And the spot the compass pointed to was far from the center—far enough to make you curse.
“Hic~ Hic~”
And then… I arrived.
Even though the mask had anti-odor functions, the stench still stabbed my nose.
A mountain of something piled everywhere.
It was the Ougre's excrement.
Of all places, here of all places.
But at that moment, I spotted Loter Hasa limping.
If this continued, I could end up with a full-blown disaster in just 1–2 minutes.
I immediately pulled out my titanium spade and started digging madly into the Ougre's pile of crap.
Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!
The inside of the Ougre's pile was filled with two types of foreign substances.
First was, of course, the gold coins that hadn't been digested and excreted!
Second were the Loter remnants that had been chewed, digested, and pooped out by the Ougre—still screaming and wailing in pain!
“Kill me already~~” “Uuuuu~~”
Some even grabbed my ankle with their fallen arms, and others had their still-beating hearts stomped on, startling me.
Some of them had already been released by my sacred digging, but the rest had to keep suffering.
Later… I'll free them all.
And then… I finally found it deep inside the tunnel dug sideways into the pile.
=== [★ Title Acquired! ★] Discoverer of the 2nd Basement Level Waypoint [Skill Points: +1]
I immediately headed to the 1st Basement Level waypoint.
Juuuuuung—
A suddenly opened 1st Basement Level waypoint appeared right in front of me. It had to be the location I had set near the bunker.
I immediately switched back to the 2nd Basement Level waypoint, stepped out of the pile of crap, and fired a mana flare straight up.
Puuuuuu!
Boom!
“Loter Hasa! Run quickly!”
At that moment.
Loter Hasa started running toward me, waving his hands desperately.
Loters summoned under the Absolute Principle couldn't be called back. So he had to reach the waypoint to survive.
The bastard zigzagged through his Rampage Dash, barely dodging the Ougre's attacks.
Uwaaaaaah! Uwaaaaaah!
Thud thud thud thud!
The Rotters roaming around slowly entered my vision and began walking this way.
Loter Hasa immediately dashed toward the nearest one, grabbed it, and threw it at the Ougre.
The Ougre ran over to the thrown Loter, grabbed it, and started eating.
The time it took to finish eating was only 1–2 seconds.
But that tiny difference created a remarkable distance for Loter Hasa's escape.
What a clever guy.
He seemed to realize he was an important asset.
Loter Hasa sacrificed the gathered Rotters like that and finally reached the Ougre's crap pile, shaped like an igloo.
With the Ougre on my back 10 meters away…
I grabbed his hand and entered deep into the cave.
And…
Uwaaaaaah! Uwaaaaaah!
Thud thud thud thud!
The Ougre's final Rampage Dash toward its own pile of crap began.
Juuuuuung—
“Haaah~ Haaaah~” “Uwaaaah~”
But… When I snapped out of it, Loter Hasa and I had already arrived at the 1st Basement Level.
The plan had been a complete success.
I had solved my long-standing cash-flow crisis, and I had achieved the highly important outcome of pioneering a new waypoint.
During the process, all the Loter soldiers had been sacrificed, but aside from a slight sense of guilt, there was no real loss.
Because the sacrificed ones weren't elite resources, they could be replenished in no time as long as we hung a banner.
The first step toward hunting the Ougre was successfully launched.
But there was still a lot of work left.
First, I needed to drill 3–4 more drainage holes.
I immediately summoned the six highest-level creatures from each floor of the tower and brought them along.
Huuuung~ Huuuuung~
As soon as they saw me, they turned hostile and attacked. But in less than a second, all of them had become loyal soldiers.
And then a short while later.
I successfully organized the best Loter Special Unit of seven members that I could currently assemble.
I devoted myself to the new drainage excavation work with the Loter Special Unit until my stamina was almost depleted that day.
After the work ended, I dragged my body that was about to collapse to the surface and headed toward the Centipede Cave.
Because the waypoint's output hadn't been set, I still had to exit the tower on foot.
* * *
I had all my equipment sent to a laundry service, showered, and was heading home. But then a text message from Eunpa came through my phone.
– It's family dinner today.
– There’s an important meeting too, so get home early.
What the hell?
“I’m back.”
At home, the samgyeopsal party was already fully prepared. Dongpa and Dad were grilling the meat in the yard, Mom was washing vegetables, and Eunpa was handling other settings.
But the overall atmosphere was a bit strange.
After that, we grilled and ate samgyeopsal in a cheerful atmosphere. It was meat with family in a long time, and meat after sweating from hard labor—no honey could compare.
After a few glasses of liquor, Dad opened his mouth first.
“Eunpa. Where have you been wandering around so late at night lately?”
“That… part-time job…”
“So… how much is in your account?”
At that time, my account had roughly 177 million won—6,000 won from money collected around the bunker plus the 117 million won worth of gold collected today.
If I told the truth, all sorts of problems would arise, so I decided to lie.
“About 420,000 won.”
Dad said it in a somewhat gentle tone.
“Yeah, it’s fine. It’s not shameful for a business owner to have little money.”
“……”
“But assaulting someone and running away is a bit problematic, don’t you think?”
“Assault? Me?”
At that moment, Mom, who had been silent until now, spoke up.
“The police came to our house today. You went near the burnt Royal Meridian yesterday, right? Huh? I heard it all from Eunpa.”
When I looked at Eunpa, she spoke.
“I told Dad everything about you getting a blind date. The day you went on a blind date with Yejin and fought someone near there?”
My mind snapped back instantly.
That was the day I jumped off the ladder truck, ran away, and ran into a YouTuber.
– Ah! Hero-nim, please say something…
The YouTuber guy only pushed me lightly and I slipped with my butt on the ground…
“How did the police find out about our house?”
“Someone who got hit by you filed a complaint and tracked us with CCTV.”
“And the person who sued you said if we don’t reach an agreement, he’ll sue for damages because his expensive camera broke. 5 million won…”
At that moment Mom spoke.
“But… don’t worry too much. When you weren’t home, we finished talking. Everyone pooled the money and decided on an agreement. Eunpa said she’d take 300,000 since she’s earning a lot now, Dad and I 100,000, and Dongpa 60,000 from tutoring money… Since you said you have 420,000 won, let’s finish this with that.”
I was so embarrassed and guilty that words just spilled out.
“That’s… everyone, please listen carefully to what I’m going to say from now on. That… I didn’t hit that person that day. I just slightly pushed him because he was trying to take a photo with a camera.”
Everyone lowered their heads and stayed silent.
Only Eunpa looked at me pityingly and asked.
“Why did that person want to take a photo of you? What did you say?”
I got so frustrated that I impulsively told the family the truth.
“Actually… ah, don’t tell anyone about this? Actually, I… that… I’m the Apaiderman who appeared on the news. That day, I saved a woman on the 20th floor from the burning Royal Meridian… you know, right?”
When I said that, everyone stayed silent and stared at me for a while.
And after about 20 seconds, Dad suddenly picked up the cigarette he had been smoking, Mom covered her face with both hands while lowering her head, and Dongpa silently shook his head and went to his room.
At that moment Eunpa glared at me, grabbed me, and pulled me into my room.
Knock—
After closing the door, Eunpa spoke.
“So you’re lying to your parents in front of them?”
“It’s not a lie…”
“I understand your feelings. There are times when you want to avoid something immediately. Yeah, it’s fine. Check your phone.”
“What? Why?”
“If you’re going to check, go ahead.”
When I looked at my phone, I saw that Hwang Eunpa had already transferred 5 million won to my account.
“…Why?”
“Mom said it earlier, didn’t she? I sent it as the representative. First, reach an agreement with that.”
“Hey, I have money…”
“420,000 won?”
“……”
“You’re getting too old… Ugh, you fought with someone you didn’t know, covered it up by lying to your parents, and now you’re past that age?”
“……”
“And I’m being serious. …What have you been doing lately?”
“…What, I’m just digging on the 0th floor, what else?”
“Eunpa.”
“Yeah?”
Eunpa said in a soft voice.
“This 5 million won doesn’t have to be repaid. And I’ll cover all your university tuition… until you graduate.”
“What?”
“Please return to school. Stop being a Tower Scavenger who can’t even dig on the tower. There aren’t just a couple of people who tried to gamble big and ended up crippled or dead. Eunpa, aren’t you going that way too? Honestly, you don’t have the aptitude for being a hunter?”
“How do you know I have no aptitude?”
Eunpa shouted.
“You haven’t even reached the 2nd floor after a month of tower life, so isn’t everything said?”
I had nothing to say.
Eunpa sighed and said.
“Eunpa, the only person living the tower life with their life on the line in our house… is just me. So Eunpa, now stop being a Tower Scavenger and live safely…”
That was when chaos broke out outside the house.
I opened the window and looked out. Suddenly, flashes started bursting outside the wall.
I instinctively pulled the curtains and said.
“What? Why are there broadcasting vans in front of our house?”
At that moment, a shout came from the next room.
“Ah, Dad, Mom, Noona! It’s crazy! Right now, a close-up video of Apaiderman has been released on YouTube, and… Apaiderman! L, older brother…”
I ran to the living room.
At that moment, I saw Dad and Mom also coming out to the living room to check the outside situation.
Dad looked at me and said.
“Ugh, what kind of big accident did you cause?!”
Mom sat on the sofa and said.
“Ugh, it’s going to be on TV now too. I’m so embarrassed I can’t go anywhere!”
Dad quickly turned on the TV. Then, right on a news channel, a scene showing our house appeared.
A female reporter was holding a microphone.
– This place is the home of the so-called ‘Apaiderman,’ the one who rescued the representative of Empire Medipharm’s wife and child, Kwon Mo, from their apartment two days ago.