Credit Delinquent
Credit Delinquent [C]
When owned funds are insufficient, activates a powerful recovery skill using future credit as collateral. However, failure to repay within 3 days will trigger interest [Debuff] thereafter.
Absurd. Completely absurd.
Lee Sia muttered it under her breath without realizing, listening to Vivian’s explanation. Not content with financial therapy, now it was handing out credit loans. Just what kind of existence was the Akasha System supposed to be?
She gave up thinking about it. There was nothing to do but accept it as it was. Whatever the name, the skill’s actual effect was outstanding. The Akasha System hadn’t slapped on the word “powerful” for nothing. That meant recovery so far beyond imagination it was hard to picture—and of course the interest debuff would be just as far beyond imagination. Even accounting for that, the performance itself seemed to blow past C-grade by a wide margin.
“A-anything else?”
“This.”
Vivian raised both hands. A matching pair of white and black bracelets sat on her wrists.
“What’s that?”
“Black-White Twin Wheels [C]. Weapon item. Looks like you throw them, more or less.”
This one at least seemed relatively normal. Being C-grade, the attack power should be solid too.
“Show me how you use it later.”
It wasn’t a request born of simple curiosity. Vivian was their companion now. Knowing exactly what abilities the person watching your back possessed made combat safer and more efficient. That meant laying out information on one another without holding back. Sia hadn’t spilled everything herself without a second thought either. Well, Park Ji-hoo was a bit of an exception—but once he got used to things he’d talk on his own. They only had to wait until then.
“That crazy bastard said to hit level 50 by the time he reaches the 15th floor… is that even possible?”
Lee Sia and Park Ji-hoo were currently level 36. Vivian sat a little lower at 31. Level 50 was still a long way off.
“We’ll just have to try.”
Vivian didn’t look particularly worried. Or maybe she simply wasn’t thinking about it at all.
“R-right. We’ll have to try.”
As Sia nodded, flustered, Park Ji-hoo spoke up from beside her.
“If we focus more on hunting than climbing, I think it should be possible. Like on the 1st floor.”
“Ah, the Red Goblins?”
There had been a stretch when they’d herded those bright-red things a hundred at a time and slaughtered them. Barely two months ago, yet it already felt like ancient history. Far too much had happened since then.
“From the 6th floor on it was mostly quests rather than hunting. The zombies didn’t give much exp either.”
“True enough.”
Between the two of them they had killed well over ten thousand zombies, and still the experience gain had been a pure pittance. Without the quests, even gaining a single level would have been a struggle.
“If we’d killed that many Red Goblins we would’ve gained more than ten levels.”
That was true even accounting for how weak the 1st-floor monsters were. The zombies had simply been trash—they didn’t even drop junk items.
“The 11th floor is different. From here through the 14th, if we focus on hunting we’ll hit 50 easily and then some.”
Sia nodded at Ji-hoo’s words. At times like this she really appreciated his quiet, serious nature. Even though he was the younger one, she found herself relying on him a little.
“But that crazy uncle told us to focus on hunting, so why did he go up first?”
Seong Yujin had left them here with no explanation at all and climbed alone. All he’d said was to meet on the 15th floor. When Sia asked, genuinely unable to understand, Vivian surprisingly answered for her.
“Efficiency problem.”
“…Efficiency?”
Sia’s eyes went round as she looked at her. She hadn’t expected an answer to come from Vivian rather than Ji-hoo.
“Party system. Exp gets split. If Seong Yujin is with us, efficiency is bad.”
It wasn’t exactly a kind explanation—half the words seemed to have been cut out of the middle—but it wasn’t hard to follow.
“Ah…”
Sia nodded in understanding. So the four of them were sharing experience through the party system. Distance didn’t matter; even different floors didn’t matter. In that situation, hunting together with Seong Yujin was inefficient. Unlike the three of them, he had the power and ability to wipe out monsters on his own whenever he felt like it. Hunting higher-floor monsters by himself would let him pull in experience far faster. That was what she meant.
Sia and Ji-hoo both looked at Vivian with open admiration. They’d always thought she just sat there blankly with nothing in her head, yet here she was with that kind of insight. Sia especially felt something close to envy. Beautiful and smart.
“Unnie, you’re cool.”
The words slipped out before she could stop them. For some reason Ji-hoo’s face went red with embarrassment and he stood up from his seat.
“S-should we go hunt again? We’ve rested enough, I think.”
At that, Vivian rose as well, putting a step of distance between herself and Sia.
“We’ll have to move hard if we want to hit level 50. If we reach the 15th floor and haven’t made it…”
Ji-hoo’s face went black in an instant. The aftermath of that particular failure was far too terrifying to contemplate.
“…Let’s go.”
Sia shot to her feet. The Black Wing [C] in her hand shed a dark light.
Eliyah washed the filth from his body at the inn [Pine Hill], then came down to the first floor and took a seat at a table. His companions still hadn’t appeared; no one else was in sight.
“What would you like?”
The innkeeper approached and asked.
“Ah, is a simple meal possible?”
Eliyah asked with a small smile, and the keeper nodded as if it were obvious.
“Nothing grand, but bread and soup as much as you like.”
“…And the money?”
“A few junk items will do.”
“That’s a relief. I can provide as many of those as you need.”
The Tower did have currency of its own. The representative one was Coins. But those were rare—mostly used for high-value or scarce goods. At this stage, most players didn’t even know they existed. So for inns and daily necessities there was a separate currency: Credits. Money created not by the Akasha System but by the needs of the NPCs living inside the Tower. Players could obtain them without trouble, of course, but most had no idea how, which was why barter remained common on the lower floors. Exactly like now.
“I’ll bring it right away. Shall I prepare for your companions as well?”
When the keeper asked, Eliyah merely shrugged.
“They’ll ask themselves if they need anything. Just mine for now will be fine.”
“Ah, then I’ll do that.”
The keeper gave a short nod and headed for the kitchen.
“Hmm.”
Alone again, Eliyah furrowed his brow deeply and turned over the story he had heard earlier.
Four people. And one of them has already reached the 10th floor.
He had been turning it over from then until now, and it still refused to make sense. His own level was a full 16—overwhelming compared to other players. Even the companions currently washing up had only just cleared level 10, which showed just how high he sat. The only ones who could currently be compared to him were a handful including Kang Mu-hyun, the one he’d made the bet with. Even at the most generous count, fewer than ten people. That was how ferociously Eliyah had been leveling and climbing.
And yet…
I can’t even compete.
What level was the one who had already gone to the 10th floor? What skills, traits, and items had he obtained to climb that fast? Eliyah was curious. And angry. The existence of people above his head was something he simply could not accept.
How do I catch up?
He turned the problem over. One method rose immediately to mind.
Fusion [C].
A skill obtained by completing a random quest from an NPC he had met by chance in Terra. A full C-grade—and one with the ability to grow infinitely. The reason he had pulled ahead of everyone else was precisely because he had used it well.
If I use this…?
He didn’t know the exact numbers, but he would become at least twice as strong as he was now. And yet…
No.
After running the calculations this way and that, Eliyah shook his head. Comparing the results of using it versus not using it, the latter came out far more advantageous. Even if he did use it, doing so later rather than now would produce a far greater effect.
His teeth ground together. His handsome face twisted, turning almost demonic.
Looks like I’ll have to advance the plan a little.
Originally he had intended to use Fusion [C] around the 20th floor. Impatience rewrote the schedule.
The 10th floor.
The place one of those four above him had already reached. He would use it the moment he arrived. It was the conclusion he had forced out while barely suppressing the violent collision thrashing through his mind. Once the decision was made, his heart gradually settled.
I’ll just endure until then.
He took a small breath. At that moment the keeper emerged from the kitchen carrying a large tray and approached.
“Pine Hill’s special butter bread and mushroom soup. Refills are free, so just say the word if you need more.”
“Ah, thank you.”
As if the earlier expression had never existed, Eliyah offered the keeper a warm smile of gratitude.
“Enjoy your meal.”
The keeper set the food on the table and turned back. Eliyah eyed it with a soft hum. It looked quite appetizing. After eating things that barely qualified as food out in the jungle, his appetite had returned in force. He lifted the butter bread. The warm texture was soft. A tear—tougher than it looked. But he didn’t care. Compared to what he had been eating, this was a feast. He soaked the bread in the soup and put it in his mouth. The moist bread seemed to melt and unravel across his tongue. The flavor snapped his mind wide awake. After nothing but garbage for so long, it felt even more so. Eliyah devoured the bread and soup without pause. The moment the table was empty he raised a hand and asked the keeper for a refill. As if he had expected exactly that, the man promptly set out more bread and soup.
“What? Eating alone?”
Just then, the sound of his companions coming down the stairs and grumbling reached him.
“Bread, huh. Is it good?”
“Whoa, me too, me too! Mister, same thing for us! And is there any meat?”
Four companions. Cleaned up now, unlike before, they came flying down the stairs in a noisy rush. Eliyah’s gaze shifted to them. In that instant, all interest in the bread in his hand went completely cold. There was only one reason.
Far more delicious-looking food had just appeared in front of him.
Eliyah swallowed the saliva rising in his throat and wore a bright, open smile—the smile one gives to livestock that will soon be swallowed into one’s own belly.