Family Under Threat
"…What the hell happened here?"
Lee Sia, back at Chwiwolru after a week away, took one look at the devastation surrounding Unmonghyang and asked the question with a look of pure disbelief.
The once-beautiful flower fields had blackened and died, and the whole area looked as if a war had rolled through and razed it to the ground. How could everything change this much in a single week?
"Nothing happened."
Arms crossed, Seong Yujin stared calmly at the wine cup on the table as he delivered the line with perfect nonchalance.
"What are you even saying, you lunatic. Anyone can see something went down."
Lee Sia looked at Yujin like he was a bug, then walked over to Vivian.
"Unnie, Unnie."
"We fought."
"Umm."
Unlike the lunatic, she at least gave an answer—though she'd chopped off the beginning and the end so thoroughly that it was basically useless.
"If the traces left behind are that bad, you must've fought someone ridiculously strong. Did you guys take down a boss without us?"
"Yeah, we did."
"Ah, you should've waited so we could do it together. What kind of rewards did you get? Something good, right?"
When had she gotten so greedy? Yujin looked away from Lee Sia with the expression of a father regarding a daughter he'd raised all wrong.
"Hyeong."
At that moment, Park Ji-hoo carefully spoke up.
"Go ahead."
"Um, about SID…"
"Right. Did you meet Uncle Lee Ki-seok?"
"Y-yes. I also passed along the message you wanted me to deliver. He said he understood, and that it shouldn't take too long."
"Good."
If they could improve the booster needles and increase the quantity, it would dramatically reduce the risks of climbing the Tower.
"What materials does he need?"
"Ah, Bone Golem's Spinal Cord [E], Grimy Grass Demon's Root [E], and Green Sap Troll's Sap [D]. He said the more the better."
"Hmm. Nothing difficult."
Things that could be gathered in the jungles below the 5th Layer. At Yujin's current level, he could haul them out by the dump truck if he wanted. It would just take a little time.
No need for me to do the hard work myself.
Especially when he had three perfectly good slaves he could put to work for exactly this kind of thing.
"Anything else?"
Yujin asked, smiling slyly to himself.
"About those weapons made of carbon…"
"Ah, right. How'd that turn out?"
"I'll show you directly."
Park Ji-hoo opened his Subspace. It was a top-grade Subspace that Vivian had bought for him.
"Players can bring these into the Tower like this."
A straight sword forged from carbon nanotubes appeared. Dark, almost black, with a sleek, cool design. Sharper than any blade crafted by a master smith, and so light it was incomparable. Yujin took it, examined it, and nodded.
"This level is fine for the guys on the lower layers."
Of course, it wasn't good enough as a main weapon. By grade, it was only E-grade. But there were plenty of people who would be grateful even for that much. If he brought a whole armful and handed them out, they'd swarm like chickens chasing feed.
"I'd like to see these upgraded a bit more, though."
"He actually mentioned that too. If you combine them with scrolls? He thinks the performance could be pushed even higher. More research is still needed, but he said that shouldn't take too long either."
"Is that so?"
Lee Ki-seok really was a cheat character. The way he casually cooked up methods Yujin himself had never even considered said it all.
"Lastly, about SID."
Park Ji-hoo's expression grew a little more cautious.
"What is it?"
"Player crime outside has exploded."
"Figured as much."
Nothing surprising there. Humans had always been like that. He'd seen it all in the first timeline too.
"SID asked me and Nuna to help with public security a bit."
"I heard that before."
"Y-yes. So we've done that work a few times now, and…"
"A few of the bastards started making a huge fuss about getting revenge on us."
Lee Sia picked up where Park Ji-hoo left off.
"Revenge?"
"They were screaming that if they run into us in the Tower, they'll kill us."
"Is that even possible?"
Those three might get treated like slaves, but aside from Yujin himself, they were basically invincible. Players who'd only just arrived at the 5th Layer couldn't so much as scratch them even if a hundred of them charged at once.
"Of course it's not."
Lee Sia knew that well enough, so she snorted. But the real problem was—
"Those bastards threatened us with our families."
That. Not the players themselves, but going after their families. That was enough to make Park Ji-hoo's eyes flip, and Lee Sia's too.
"SID said they'd assign bodyguards to my family and to Si-yeon, but…"
Protection? Not a chance. No matter how many ordinary people you threw at them, stopping a player who was serious about it was impossible. Unless you rained bullets down on them, maybe. But this was Korea. Unless it was a case of someone like Yujin directly attacking soldiers, they couldn't easily authorize the use of firearms. And there was no guarantee guns would even stop them.
"What do we do?"
Lee Sia chewed her nails with an anxious look.
"It's not an immediate danger, right?"
That much was true. For those bastards to get back outside, they'd have to climb to the 10th Floor first.
"You said we're going to be here for months. What if they come out in the meantime?"
"Then we settle it before then."
"How?"
Easy.
"Did you forget you can go down to the lower layers through the Stone Pillar?"
"Ah!"
Lee Sia's face lit up with realization as she clapped her hands.
"This kind of work is always more convenient inside the Tower than outside. And there's a Stone Pillar right here, so it's even easier."
Just head to the Stone Pillar, go down, and find the bastards. Make sure they never even think about threatening anyone's family again. As for the method…
Yujin glanced sideways at Park Ji-hoo, then spoke to Lee Sia.
"You go take care of it."
"By myself?"
"The kid and I have some things to do. If you don't think you can handle it alone, take Whitey with you."
At Yujin's words, Lee Sia looked at Vivian. But she didn't look like she was expecting much. Given everything Vivian had shown them so far, that was only natural. This time, though, it was different.
"Sure."
"Well, I guess I have no choi— wait, what?"
"I'll go with you."
To everyone's surprise, Vivian nodded. Lee Sia's eyes went wide, and so did Park Ji-hoo's.
"What? You don't want me to?"
"N-no? Why wouldn't I want that!"
Lee Sia waved her hands rapidly.
"Great. You two go down and rough those bastards up a bit. And while you're at it, gather those material items the kid just mentioned."
"Ah, we're doing that too?"
"You're going down anyway. It's not that hard, so there's no need for me and the kid to go along."
Spending that time hunting to raise their levels would be far more profitable. Lee Sia knew that too. She was just annoyed—because while she was off working, it felt like Yujin would just be sitting around freeloading.
"Your personality is seriously rotten."
Yujin let out a hollow laugh, reading her mind perfectly.
"Stop talking nonsense and get going."
He waved her off like he was shooing a bug, and she stood up with her lips stuck out in a pout.
"Let's go, Unnie."
Still, the thought of going with Vivian had her grinning in no time.
Simple creature.
Yujin shook his head and looked at Park Ji-hoo.
"What? You want to go too?"
Judging by how restless he looked, that seemed to be the case.
I know why, though.
Park Ji-hoo doted on his little sister more than anything. His family situation seemed to have quite the story behind it as well. So of course he'd want to settle this with his own hands.
"Y-yes."
He nodded slowly.
"And do what? Kill them?"
Park Ji-hoo flinched and shrank back. Seeing that, Yujin gave a bitter smile.
"Honestly, killing doesn't really do much for me. If there's enough reason to kill, then you kill. The bastards who threatened your family have more than earned that."
Not for the sake of his own pleasure like the Ten Evils—if there was a reason he could accept, Yujin could kill a person without the slightest hesitation. Like Eliyah Ventrick, Zygote, or Jin Taeho. He had both the skill and the temperament to tear someone apart on the spot without a shred of mercy. But Park Ji-hoo was different.
"If it was something that could be solved with a simple beating, I would've sent you too. But it's not, is it? You're still young."
Even Yujin wouldn't order a kid who was barely nineteen to go kill people. If there was no other way, maybe—but right now there were several people who could stand in for Park Ji-hoo, weren't there?
"So stay here. I know you're anxious, but those two will handle it just fine."
Yujin pointed at Lee Sia and Vivian with his chin.
"Y-yes."
Park Ji-hoo answered with his head hanging weakly. As if he couldn't fully accept it, but he understood anyway. Yujin watched him for a moment, then spoke to Lee Sia again.
"So take care of it properly. You understand what I mean, right?"
The words were light, but not light at all. Lee Sia's face hardened as she nodded.
"Don't worry. I'm the kind of person who can do anything for family."
Her cool voice made Yujin look satisfied.
"Then go. Whitey, look after her for me."
"Got it."
The two of them left the side building of Chwiwolru. Silence settled in. Yujin lifted the now-lukewarm wine cup and took a sip.
Tastes like crap.
Chwiwolru was fine, but the Silver Snow Wine from Eunryuhyeon was definitely better. Not that he'd ever get to drink it again. Still, since he'd ordered it, Yujin drained the rest of the wine and stood up.
"Let's go."
"Ah, yes!"
Park Ji-hoo snapped out of it and jumped to his feet. He didn't even ask where they were going.
"What's your level?"
"I'm at 60 now."
Good. Only two levels behind Yujin. He'd grown very well. Satisfied, Yujin started walking.
"You any good at meditating?"
"I've never tried it…"
Well, what high schooler would have a reason to meditate?
"Then try it this time. You might get something pretty decent out of it."
Yujin planned to go to the cliff with Park Ji-hoo. He himself had obtained a trait he still couldn't make sense of, and Vivian hadn't even told him what she'd gotten.
I'm curious what this kid will get.
At the very least C-grade or higher. Maybe even B-grade? He really hoped something good would come out of it. With a slight sense of anticipation, Yujin set off with Park Ji-hoo.
Like Vivian, the kid still didn't have a mount, so they had no choice but to run. Still, thanks to the ridiculously broken movement skill he'd obtained—Azure Cloud Wandering Step [B]—they reached the cliff far faster than when he'd gone with Vivian.
A sheer cliff face like a polished mirror. In front of it, Yujin spotted some familiar faces.
Kang Mu-hyun.
And two companions whose names he'd forgotten. They were standing around looking troubled as they stared at the cliff. After going outside and coming back, they'd come here as Yujin had advised, but they clearly had no idea what they were supposed to do.
"Just sit down in front of it and meditate. You know wall-facing training, right? It's similar to that."
"Seong Yujin-ssi!"
Startled by the sudden voice, Kang Mu-hyun turned and greeted Yujin with a bright, welcoming look.