The C-Grade Jackpot

The door opened without a sound. Thank god. I poked my head out cautiously and—

"Grrrk."

"Grrrrk."

Two zombies were fast asleep. 'They didn't wake up even when I yelled earlier. This place must have great soundproofing.' Maybe I should move into a soundproof apartment too. 'Who knows, I might actually be able to afford it soon.'

If a C-grade secure safe dropped an item, it would probably be priceless. After all, C-grade items had never been released on the market before. This could turn into a historic auction.

I closed the door again and explained the situation to I Junseong.

"There are two zombies outside."

"Then what should we do? Should we climb back down with the rope?"

"What are you talking about? We should just take care of two zombies."

"W-won't that be dangerous?"

You're way more dangerous than they are right now, buddy.

"We'll handle them one-on-one."

"Huh? You want me to fight one by myself?"

"Let's go."

"W-wait a second!"

I ignored I Junseong's protests and stepped outside. Then I gave him a hand signal while he peeked out with just his head. After hesitating for a moment, he moved behind the zombies.

I started by swinging my bat down hard.

CRACK!

"Kwek!"

"Ugh, damn it!"

THUD!

"Kuwak!"

The beatdown had begun.

"See? Not that hard, right?"

"Y-yeah, I guess."

To be honest, anyone could kill a completely passive zombie. That wasn't what made them scary.

THWACK! THWACK! CRUNCH!

After smashing the door lock with a hammer and breaking in, growls rose from the floor below.

"Kwoooaaar!"

"Kweeeek!"

But once we closed the door, the zombies shuffled around for a bit before wandering off. 'Idiots.' Zombies had low intelligence. If the target making the noise wasn't there when they arrived, they'd just stand there blankly for a while before leaving. They couldn't reason that the source might be hiding or had moved somewhere else.

If we'd been spotted entering the house, though, they would've tried to break the door down. 'Zombies taken care of.'

Now we just had to find the safe.

"Search the room over there. Call me if you find a safe."

"A safe? There's a safe here?"

"There might be. There might not."

I left the smaller room to I Junseong and searched the master bedroom myself.

"Oh, fuck."

Right beside the rotting bed sat a sleek black safe that practically screamed luxury. I quickly opened the Tower of Calamity app and scanned it.

"Nice!"

Luckily, the safe matched the grade of the key perfectly. Of course, a higher-grade key could open a lower-grade safe, but not the other way around. Plus, keys were single-use consumables. If it had been a D-grade safe, I would've hesitated to open it.

"Hehehehehe."

An evil chuckle slipped out on its own. I wondered what would come out of a C-grade safe.

"Hoo..."

I steadied my breathing, carefully inserted the key, turned it halfway, then finished the turn.

Click.

Clunk.

The lock released. 'Please! Something good! Expensive! Rare!'

When I opened the door, a brilliant light sparkled in the darkness. I scanned the contents with the app.

I read the descriptions with bloodshot eyes. The Black Void Backpack was a subspace bag that expanded capacity and reduced weight! The Echo Sonar Bike Helmet amplified external sounds!

"Fuck yeah!! Hell yeah!!! Puhahaha!!"

Subspace backpacks weren't the rarest items, but they were more expensive than anything else. The price was whatever the market would bear. It was literally a blank check.

Even if subspace backpacks were considered common among items, how many could have actually been released? Compared to the number of hunters, it was a drop in the bucket. And a C-grade one at that? If I posted about selling this, the government might try to confiscate ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it. There was a high chance it would be sold overseas. That's how valuable it was.

The D-grade Echo Sonar Bike Helmet was also incredible. Normal bike helmets blocked outside sound, but this one amplified it. Detection ability was crucial inside the tower. It would let me clearly hear zombies' guttural growls, other survivors' footsteps—everything. On top of that, at D-grade it could withstand attacks from first-stage zombies without taking damage. It was literally the perfect survival armor.

The E-grade hand axe was excellent too. It would easily split open a first-stage zombie's skull. The "sturdy" modifier meant I could swing it without worrying about it breaking.

'How much is 500 grams of gold worth anyway?' I only knew that gold was insanely expensive. 'But it's smaller than I thought. Guess it needs to be over a kilo to feel substantial. What a shame.' If I complained about that, I'd be pushing my luck. I'd just treat it as a souvenir.

"Jaeha, is everything okay?"

I Junseong, who had been searching the smaller room, came over.

"Ah, yeah. I got some items."

For a moment I debated whether to tell him or brag about it. Should I? Shouldn't I? In the end, I didn't feel like hiding it completely. Besides, once I started wearing the new gear it would be obvious anyway.

"Oh! Congratulations!"

"Thank you."

His congratulations and applause were completely genuine. There wasn't even a hint of envy or expectation for a share of the loot. 'Hmm. Should I give him something?'

I didn't have much to give right now, but there was this.

"Junseong, take this."

"Oh! Are you sure I can have it? Isn't a bag hard to get?"

It was indeed hard to get. We hadn't found anything even resembling a bag while farming so far. That's why even regular bags sold for more than luxury handbags.

"It's fine. I just got a new one."

"Whoa, thank you. I'll use it well."

I continued admiring my Black Void Backpack. The design was top-notch at first glance. The matte black texture gave it a luxurious yet understated look. The fit was incredible too—it clung perfectly to my back with zero discomfort while moving. It wasn't a huge backpack, so the capacity might feel a bit limited, but that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠actually made it less of a hindrance in combat.

The Echo Sonar Bike Helmet had an equally great design. Matte black with red interior lining accents—it looked expensive. 'This is so satisfying, hehehe.'

I was grinning like an idiot when my eyes met I Junseong's. Hmm. Maybe I was being too obvious because I got all the good stuff.

"If I find more items, I'll give you some too."

He smiled and waved his hands.

"No, no, it's okay."

"You don't have to refuse. Nothing else has dropped yet, but—"

"I'm really fine."

What? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠He was refusing so strongly it was almost suspicious. He wasn't planning to stab me in the back and loot my corpse, was he?

"I know I'm just dead weight right now."

Ah, so that's what he meant.

"Just saving my life is more than enough. I'm endlessly grateful."

"We saved each other, didn't we?"

If I Junseong hadn't helped me at the beginning, I would've been in serious danger. Though I repaid him right away.

"Haha, I guess so?"

"Exactly. Let's finish farming. Who knows? Maybe something good will drop."

"Okay."

Unfortunately, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the only things left on the fifth floor were junk items. At least there was some soda.

"Drink the soda when you're tired. It'll relieve your fatigue right away."

"Huh? It's not even a fatigue recovery drink?"

"The tower's items are special."

"Oh? I see."

After our casual chat, I opened the front door. We crept down the stairs, and I raised my fist in warning. The two zombies we'd passed earlier on the fourth floor were sleeping there.

'Time to test the hand axe.'

I left I Junseong waiting and went down alone. I brought the hand axe down hard.

CRUNCH!

It sank deep into the skull. The zombie couldn't even make a sound before collapsing. 'Holy shit!'

I'd thought the time to kill with a one-handed weapon wouldn't be much different from the wooden bat, but— 'It's way sharper than I expected?'

This was why people obsessed over items.

"Krrk?"

The other zombie a short distance away woke up from the noise. As it tried to turn—

THWACK!

I chopped its neck clean off before it could finish turning. The head flew off completely.

"Whoa, shit! It actually cut clean through?"

This thing was brutal. I was the one who needed to be careful with it. Come to think of it, the hunters in the videos I'd watched almost never wore items. Or maybe they did and I just couldn't tell. They had never revealed it publicly.

Now I understood why they hid the information. If people knew you were carrying items, you'd become a target. Human greed was inevitable.

"All done. Let's search the rooms."

"Ah, y-yes."

I called out to I Junseong, who was standing there stunned. Room 401 had nothing noteworthy. But room 402 gave us a nice little jackpot.

"Oh! We got something decent."

"What is it?"

I handed I Junseong a thick denim jacket.

"Whoa!"

"It's pretty sturdy, so it'll work well as armor. You could even sell it to hunters for a good price."

Denim jackets were popular because they could be layered with other armor.

"Are you really okay with me taking this?"

"Of course."

It wasn't an item, but it would still help with survival right away.

"Thank you, Jaeha. I'll use it well."

"Sure, sure."

We tried to search the third floor too, but—

"It's blocked off here?"

"Yeah."

The stairs were barricaded with chairs, desks, wardrobes, and other furniture. It looked like someone had tried to stop zombies from coming up. 'No wonder there was a safe. This place couldn't be entered through normal routes.'

The tower often had sections like this that were blocked off. Even if we cleared the barricade and went down, there probably wouldn't be anything but junk. 'Now that I think about it, the first-floor veranda door was blocked too.' I'd forgotten in the rush to get upstairs.

"Let's head back the way we came."

"Back?"

"Yeah. It's time to escape."

It was about time to part ways with I Junseong.