Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Ominous Rumors
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⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Day 7 begins.] [The 'Ration System' has been activated.] [From now on, Summoners can receive bread and water for minimal survival once per day from the shop.] "Haa... fuck, another chunk of bread."
Cheol-min spat curses as he stared at the rock-hard, pitch-black bread. Could this even be called food?
It was more like fodder you force down just to stay alive. He grumbled to his teammate Sang-ho, who was chewing on an identical piece beside him.
"Hey, Sang-ho. Is this really okay? How long do we have to live off this shitty bread?"
Sang-ho swallowed his bite silently and rinsed his mouth with water from his canteen. Exhaustion was plain on his face.
"What can we do? At least we're still breathing. Be grateful for that."
"Grateful? Don't make me laugh. Haven't you heard the creepy rumors spreading on the first floor lately?"
Sang-ho's expression darkened at Cheol-min's words. Of course he'd heard them. Every Summoner in the Tower knew that terrifying tale.
"Yeah. The ones who go out hunting monsters aren't coming back."
"Exactly! It wasn't like this the first few days. Everyone went to the forest, killed a few goblins, got some points if they were lucky... But a few days ago, it suddenly got weird. Whole parties vanishing into thin air!"
The atmosphere on the first floor had turned grim in recent days.
At first, everyone rushed to the forest competitively for levels and points. But at some point, people who left to hunt stopped returning. It became commonplace.
The plummeting survival rate was enough to sow terror among the Summoners.
Sang-ho spoke cautiously.
"People are guessing. Maybe a strong monster appeared in the forest. Like an orc or a troll..."
"Hey! You think this is a game? Why would an orc pop up in a forest full of nothing but goblins? Makes no sense."
"Then what? You think they just fell into the ground?"
"My take? It's people doing it."
Sang-ho's eyes widened at Cheol-min's words.
"People?"
"Yeah. PK. Crazy bastards blinded by points and items, hunting other Summoners. They say humans are scarier than monsters."
His theory was pretty convincing. But it sparked an even greater fear. Humans right next to you became less trustworthy than invisible monsters.
Because of these rumors, most Summoners now avoided leaving the village.
Hunting was seen as dangerous, and public opinion shifted to questioning the need to risk your life for levels.
"Honestly, what's the point of leveling up a bit? We're not stuck here forever. Just endure, and a solution will come eventually. Most people don't see the need to risk it. Hell, I feel the same."
Cheol-min grumbled. That was the mainstream view among first-floor Summoners.
"Plus, we haven't seen the admins lately. The angel and demon both vanished, so no one's asking what's going on."
The demons Fellios and angel Ariel, who had been handling questions and complaints in the village the first few days, had completely disappeared at some point.
Their absence filled the Summoners with a sense of abandonment.
"Sigh, whatever. Let's round up some people and do personal missions."
Sang-ho stood up. Hunting was risky, but they couldn't just sit around eating bread forever. Luckily, the Tower system hadn't completely forsaken them.
Lately, a new trend had emerged among Summoners: earning points safely without hunting monsters. 'Personal mission parties.'
The 'Mission System' had activated on Day 2.
At first, everyone was too focused on hunting to care. But as the dangers mounted, they sought safer ways to make money. They found missions anyone could complete with minimal risk.
📜 PERSONAL MISSION 📜 Find the Lost Cat 'Nabi'
📍 Objective: Find villager NPC 'Sera's' cat 'Nabi' and bring it back.
🎁 Reward: 50pt
Similar personal missions unrelated to combat littered the village. The rewards were small, but zero risk.
The downside? Poor time efficiency.
But Summoners found a workaround: exploiting the party system.
'Form a party, each take a personal mission, clear them individually. In party mode, quest rewards share to all members. Whoever figured this out is a genius.'
A 5-person party clearing five 50pt missions simultaneously meant each got 250pt shared.
This method quickly became the first floor's new trend. No more risking life for gear and hunting—points piled up safely inside the village.
"Yeah, let's do that. Plenty of people with similar missions at the plaza. That crazy cigarette seller said he'd come back in two days—where is he? Withdrawal's killing me."
Cheol-min and Sang-ho grumbled as they headed to the central plaza.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Meanwhile, atop a tree over 20 meters away, a woman had eavesdropped on their entire conversation.
Her name: Im Ji-hye.
A normal human couldn't hear from that distance, but Im Ji-hye closed her eyes, focusing on their voices as naturally as listening to the wind.
The reason? At level 10, upon job-changing to Spirit User, she gained the skill [Spirit's Whisper].
'...Just as Joo-hyuk planned.'
From Cheol-min and Sang-ho's talk, Im Ji-hye confirmed the first floor's opinion was shifting exactly as Kim Joo-hyuk wanted. She opened her eyes quietly, pulled out her tablet, and whispered to him.
💬 Whisper — Im Ji-hye Joo-hyuk, the idea that hunting is dangerous is taking root among people. — Kim Joo-hyuk Good. Keep it up. — Im Ji-hye Any mild cup ramen left? Craving it again. — Kim Joo-hyuk Meet up after you're done. I'll give you some then. — Im Ji-hye Okay. I'll wait. She finished her report with a faint smile. Im Ji-hye was no longer the timid, powerless college girl from before. She was the unseen ruler of the first floor, Kim Joo-hyuk's sharpest eyes and ears.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The plaza buzzed with Summoners gathered for the same purpose.
"Need 3 for herb gathering mission!!"
"Party for letter delivery! First come, first served—one spot!"
Cheol-min and Sang-ho looked around and teamed up with two others on fence repair quests, forming a 4-person party.
"Good, just need one more."
Right then, a woman approached cautiously. Im Ji-hye.
"Um... can I join your party? I have the 'fence repair' mission too."
Seeing her innocent, scared expression, Cheol-min and Sang-ho dropped their guard. Adding one weak-looking woman wouldn't hurt.
"Sure. Let's do it together."
A 5-person party formed.
They split up to complete their simple missions. Cheol-min hammered fences, Sang-ho sawed wood.
No-combat clears took less than an hour.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [5 personal missions completed!] [250pt reward granted to all party members!] "Hell yeah!"
Cheol-min and Sang-ho cheered at the points on their tablets.
With shared goals done, people started dispersing.
"Good work. I'll head out then..."
One party member said goodbye and turned.
"Yeah, you too."
Im Ji-hye replied warmly. The moment he moved away from the others, she whispered at his back.
"Spirit, put that man to sleep." An invisible wind spirit followed at her command.
Thud. The man face-planted mid-stride, but the spirit muffled the sound—no one noticed.
Party members scattered. Im Ji-hye tailed and quietly downed them one by one unnoticed.
Last were Cheol-min and Sang-ho.
"Man, this is sweet. Do it again tomorrow, we'll be rich quick."
As Cheol-min chattered excitedly, Sang-ho sensed something off.
"Hey, Cheol-min. Where'd the others go?"
"They went back to the village first, probably."
"No footprints heading inward."
"Nah, you must've missed them."
"Look here. Our tracks from heading outskirts are still there."
Sang-ho pointed at the ground.
"Whoa, true."
Cheol-min crouched to check.
"Hey... this the thing you mentioned earlier?"
"What? Oh, PK—"
"What're you two chatting about so enjoyably?"
"Gyaah!!"
A woman's voice from behind startled Cheol-min into leaping forward.
"Ah, sorry. I approached too quietly."
"Wh-who are you?"
"It's me, Im Ji-hye. I was with you on the quest earlier."
"Oh, the one who first talked to us?"
Im Ji-hye nodded at Sang-ho's question.
"Yes, that's right."
"What brings you to us?"
"Nothing much. How about we each do one more mission just us? Herb gathering's super close."
"Hm..."
Cheol-min pondered her suggestion briefly. Fence repair ended quicker than expected—one more seemed fine.
"Just one quick—"
"Sorry, we need to head to the village first."
Sang-ho grabbed puzzled Cheol-min's arm and hurried off.
"Hey, what're you doing?"
"No time to explain. Just run to the village."
Sang-ho bolted; Cheol-min followed blindly.
"What's wrong?!"
"Huff... that woman's gear is way better than ours. Super expensive stuff."
"So?"
"Fuck! She's a hunter!"
No sooner had Sang-ho finished than he pitched forward.
"S-Sang-ho? Kim Sang-ho!?"
Cheol-min stopped, slapping his fallen friend's body.
"Hey! Wake up!"
"No need to worry about your friend. He's just in a deep sleep."
Im Ji-hye wiped sweat from her forehead with her hand.
"You two run better than I thought. Nearly lost you."
"Y-you! Who the hell are you?"
Cheol-min drew his dagger from his belt, aiming threateningly.
"Same as you—a Summoner. But Cheol-min, how about sleeping nicely like your friend?"
"Fuck off!"
"Tch... no choice. Skill change: Fire Spirit."
A red lizard appeared near Im Ji-hye's shoulder.
"Spirit, burn his feet so he can't run?"
"What?"
Hiss!
The red lizard inhaled deeply, cheeks puffing, then spewed flames like a flamethrower.
Fwoosh!
The fire scorched Cheol-min's feet and entire legs.
"Gaaahhh!"
"Oops! Sorry. I'm still not used to handling spirits. Want me to cut off your legs? No more burning pain then."
"G-get lost, fuck!"
Im Ji-hye looked pityingly at his writhing, then switched to wind spirit and put him to sleep.
💬 Whisper — Im Ji-hye Joo-hyuk, packed 4 lunchboxes. One got damaged from resistance—eat it today.