The Cube That Changes Everything

The unique skill awakening began with a small, glowing cube. The first person who discovered it treated it like a mere souvenir. But experts soon revealed that this tiny cube contained an immense amount of energy. It was a perfectly clean energy source with no combustion, no exhaust fumes, and no radioactive waste. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say this was the entire reason every country in the world began encouraging and supporting entry into the Tower.

These cubes were mainly used to generate electricity. Even in our ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠country, a significant portion of power consumption already relied on them. Thirty percent of the nation's total electricity usage. Experts predicted it could replace that much power. It was quite literally an energy resource capable of reshaping the global order. Well, it was still just a prediction for now.

'It's like a country with no oil suddenly struck an energy goldmine.'

I picked up the glowing cube.

"Sia."

"Yeah?"

"I've thought of a strategy to raid a major hospital."

"What is it?"

We stared at the cube like people who'd lost our minds.

"Let's sell this and hire mercenaries. Wouldn't gathering about five hundred be enough?"

"There's a limit to how many hunters can enter at the same time."

"That's a shame. Then let's just buy the Tower-made chemotherapy drugs."

"I checked. There's no stock at all."

Every idea that came to mind was immediately shot down, but I couldn't help laughing. With this, it felt like I could do anything.

'My luck is seriously good.'

Not just good—doubly good.

"Two energy cubes dropped. Unbelievable."

"Hehehehehe...."

The cube even made Yu Sia laugh absentmindedly.

We each stored one in our spatial backpacks.

"Sia, let's escape now."

"Yes! If we get any greedier here, something bad is bound to happen."

I felt like I'd become a mega golden goblin.

'Once I escape, my life will completely turn around in one go!'

Yeah, right. Escaping required an exit to actually be open.

So we decided to spend the remaining time farming more. We'd finally cleared out the shopping district, and it felt like a waste to leave empty-handed.

When we stepped outside,

"It feels like we rented out the entire shopping district just to go shopping."

"It really does."

Even though the zombie wave had turned everything into a mess.

"Should we start farming from here?"

"Yeah, let's go in."

This time it was a regular clothing store. There should be clothes we could repurpose as armor.

Between the sparsely placed display racks,

'Lucky.'

I found a leather jacket.

'I'll take this for now.'

I planned to cut it up later to reinforce some armor. It would probably sell for an insane amount, but I wasn't desperate for money right now.

[Denim Jacket]

[Denim Pants]

[Leather Gloves]

[Leather Belt]

[Work Boots]

[Hooded Zip-up]

I'd farmed a lot, but unfortunately nothing I could wear myself. The leather gloves were tougher and more durable than mine, so I switched to those.

Yu Sia had already finished farming and was staring at her phone. There probably wasn't any gear here worth replacing hers with.

"Ah! Jaeha!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"The exit has opened! It's close from here!"

"Oh!"

I immediately checked the map. It was the entrance of the building we'd cleared earlier.

"Sia, let's go right now!"

"Okay!"

Was this finally the escape? A rush of emotions hit me. From the moment I'd entered the Tower until now, it had been an incredibly dense day.

The building entrance glowed with a green light. Before stepping into the exit,

"Should we exchange contacts first?"

"Ah! We hadn't done that yet?"

We needed each other's numbers to make plans. Just in case, we exchanged both KakaoTalk IDs and phone numbers.

"I hope you get a good unique skill, Jaeha."

"Me too. That way you can call me when you go raid the major hospital."

"Ugh! It's dangerous, so it'd be better if you didn't follow me."

"If I get a good skill, won't you be the one clinging to me instead?"

"I-I wouldn't cling that much, you know?"

We'd continue the rest of the conversation outside.

"Let's head in."

"Yeah."

There was still plenty of time left. If thirty seconds passed like this or the exit closed, we'd be automatically ejected.

"This is the real escape now."

"Get some good rest and then contact me."

"Will do."

It felt a bit disappointing to part ways like this, but we had plenty of time.

"Oh, right, Sia."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for helping me escape."

"Ugh, why are you saying that now? Besides, I received a lot of help too."

"Did you?"

I was trying to remember what I'd helped with when—

Flash—

"Whoa."

I was back in my semi-basement studio.

Ding.

As if on cue, a push notification rang out. I checked it and saw a message.

It seemed generating a unique skill took some time.

'Hmm, should I get some sleep first?'

I sent Yu Sia a message first, then lay down on my soft bed. We chatted back and forth through KakaoTalk until I quickly drifted off to sleep.

'This time I won't enter the Tower in my sleep, right?'

I couldn't go back in for another three days anyway.

"Mmm...."

My body melted pleasantly. I must have slept really deeply.

'But it's still bright?'

I'd returned right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠after sunrise. When I checked the time,

"It's morning? Just how long did I sleep?"

The surprise lasted only a moment.

'Well, it makes sense.'

I'd been in an awakened state inside the Tower so I hadn't noticed, but I must have been close to my limit.

I was about to put my phone down when—

"That's right! My unique skill!"

I immediately opened the Tower of Calamity app to check.

"Huh?"

Puppetry? What kind of skill was this?

Just looking at the name gave me zero clue what it did.

'Let's check the description first.'

I read it, but it only made me more confused.

'But what the hell is EX?'

I'd assumed unique skills were ranked from A to F. After all, the highest officially revealed grade so far was B-rank.

'There probably isn't an EX between A and F. So it's above A?'

There was a limit to guessing on my own. I'd probably understand once I actually used it.

'Puppetry... human shape... Then how about this?'

I took out the mannequin I'd farmed from the large sportswear store.

As I stared at the mannequin, the usage method came to me as if I'd known it from the beginning.

I placed my hand on the mannequin's chest.

"Bestow will."

A blue ripple of light began spreading from where my hand touched.

Vrrrrrrrr—

It ignited near the heart, then traveled along the spine to the arms and legs, spreading all the way to the fingertips and toes.

And then.

Kiiiiiiiiing!——

With a strange noise, lines and grooves were carved into every joint. It transformed to mimic the structure of a human body.

And finally.

"Holy shit, the mannequin is moving?"

The mannequin lifted its hand. It was as if it were confirming its own existence. Even its mitten-like hands now moved freely like human fingers.

'So it moves according to my commands, right?'

In that case, maybe...

"Punch the air."

Could it be used in combat?

Swoosh swoosh— Swoosh— Swoosh swoosh—

"Whoa?"

The movements were so fast and natural that I wouldn't have thought it was a mannequin. If I'd dressed it in clothes, I might have mistaken it for a person.

But what surprised me wasn't the movement itself.

'Its ability to carry out commands is abnormally good.'

It wasn't just following orders mechanically. It seemed to understand what I wanted to confirm and repeated the same motion multiple times.

'If it performs commands while accurately understanding them...'

Ways to utilize the mannequin grew clearer in my mind. But I still needed to test it more.

"Jump lightly."

Swoosh.

"Sit."

Even the way it crouched looked human.

"Stand up."

The mannequin stood as if it had been waiting for the command.

This reaction speed was ridiculously fast. Wait a second.

'Sit.'

It crouched again.

'I can give commands just by thinking?!'

This was a masterpiece. Inside the Tower, stealth was everything. No matter how good the performance, if I had to speak commands out loud, it would've been difficult to use.

'At this level, I could really use it in actual combat.'

Bzzzz.

My phone vibrated. It was Yu Sia.

Yu Sia must have been even more exhausted from her skill's recoil, so I was glad she'd slept well.

I'd only just checked it, so testing wasn't finished yet.

We decided to meet at the café where I'd farmed the LP player. Was I finally going to see Yu Sia's face in person?