The Price of Power and a Fox Who Can't Look Me in the Eye
The second floor shop was filled with a chaotic symphony of sobs, sniffles, and desperate pleas for more. What the hell was going on?
Yuhwa snapped back to her senses. She remembered clearing the second floor, at least. After that… she thought she’d seen Rika. The fox girl had shoved something into her mouth, but the details were hazy.
Dragging her exhausted body upright, Yuhwa took stock of herself and nearly recoiled. She looked like absolute garbage. Every piece of clothing she wore was torn to rags, her entire body caked in ash and dried blood that gave off a nauseating stench.
Oh.
There was a lake here now. It definitely hadn’t been here last time. Did the space expand with every clear? Whatever. First things first.
Let’s wash up and change clothes.
Yuhwa summoned a translucent shop window into the air. Just because it was labeled the Extreme Difficulty Exclusive Shop didn’t mean it only sold overpowered items worth millions of coins. With the search function, everyday goods could be bought for pocket change.
[Search: Clothing.]
Thousands of garments flooded the holographic display. Yuhwa picked the most practical and comfortable option: a loose-fitting black silk shirt and wide-leg pants set. The price? A measly five coins.
Just as she was about to tap the purchase button, curiosity struck. How many coins had she actually earned from clearing the second floor on Extreme?
Current Accumulated Coins: 4,305,199 C
“Oh.”
When she cleared the first floor on Extreme, she remembered receiving around a million coins. So the reward had quadrupled? Of course the multiplier wouldn’t keep scaling by four every single floor, but this was still an insane jump in compensation.
She’d spend a bit here and then use some back in reality too. Yuhwa paid the five coins. Particles of light gathered in midair, forming a crisp new outfit. She set it neatly on the ground for now.
Completely naked, Yuhwa walked toward the lake.
Splash.
The cold, clear water soothed her overheated skin.
“Haa… I finally feel alive again.”
The lingering heat in her body washed away. Even her cracked skin seemed to regain its pale smoothness. As blood, sweat, and ash rinsed off, the lake water turned a faint gray, but some kind of automatic purification kicked in and it cleared again almost instantly.
Yuhwa bought a one-coin towel from the shop, roughly dried her wet hair and body, then draped the towel around her neck and stepped out.
When she emerged from the lake, shaking water from her hair, she paused.
“Hm?”
“….”
“Why are you staring like that, Rika?”
Rika was peeking out from behind a tree, watching her. The most notable detail was the nosebleed trickling down her face.
“Hiiik…! S-sorry!”
“You don’t have to… react that strongly.”
Rika frantically averted her gaze, though Yuhwa still caught her sneaking glances through her fingers. It wasn’t particularly bothersome.
“What are you so embarrassed about? We’re both girls.”
“B-but… your body is just… so lewd, sis…!”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. Come here. We have things to discuss.”
Yuhwa slipped into the fresh clothes. The soft, clean fabric against her skin finally made her feel human again. Rika approached with flushed cheeks, ears twitching nervously. The two sat across from each other at the small table in front of the carriage.
“Let’s do some shopping. Recommend something, Rika. What do you think would be best?”
Rika’s ears folded completely flat. She even scooted her chair back a little.
Why is she acting like this? I didn’t even do anything!
Now she was looking down and mumbling under her breath.
“Um… sis. Are you… planning to keep climbing the Tower?”
Yuhwa fell silent for a moment, various thoughts swirling through her mind. But in the end—
“Yes.”
She nodded firmly. Stopping here would mean breaking her promise to rescue that trapped baby dragon. Plus, she was curious about the Steps of Ascension the skeleton guard had mentioned.
At Yuhwa’s answer, Rika nodded with determination.
“Got it. If you’re going to keep climbing… then I recommend buying another Trait this time too.”
Rika manipulated the catalog as she continued.
“And before you climb higher… how about hunting the disaster-class monsters on Earth first?”
“Monsters on Earth… you mean that tiger and rabbit that nearly destroyed Russia and Australia?”
“Yep, exactly.”
Rika lowered her voice to a whisper, glancing around as if afraid of being overheard.
“Buy information on those monsters from the shop first, then take them down. They’re actually from this Tower. Defeating them will drop an enormous amount of coins and special rewards.”
Yuhwa narrowed her eyes.
“Really? Is it okay for you to tell me this? It feels like hidden information.”
Rika’s ears perked up, then twitched. Her cheeks turned even redder.
So cute.
“W-well…”
Rika fidgeted with her fingers.
“The imprint of our master-servant bond took priority over the Tower’s rules, I guess…”
“Master-servant bond? What did I even do?”
“….”
Rika suddenly lifted her head, mouth falling open in an expression of pure disbelief.
“What?”
“No… it’s nothing.”
“You clearly have something to say. I won’t get mad, so spit it out.”
“Sis… you’re such a huge player.”
“A player? That’s ridiculous.”
What exactly had she done to deserve that accusation?
Is she saying I’m pretty?
Probably. After all… she was incredibly beautiful and majestic. Anyone, man or woman, would fall for this face. This body.
“Anyway, let’s start by buying information on the tiger in Russia.”
Ding.
The coins were deducted, and a detailed status window for the Russian tiger appeared before Yuhwa’s eyes.
Species: Tiger
Name: Vladi Catastropha
—A name personally given by the Tsar of Russia. A combination of “Vladi” (meaning ruler) and “Catastrophe.”
Awakened Abilities: Gigantification, Body Reinforcement, Acceleration
Insane…
Yuhwa nearly had a heart attack. Gigantification, body reinforcement, and acceleration? What kind of broken abilities were these?
Next came the information on the disaster-class rabbit in Australia.
Species: Rabbit
Name: Bunyip Slasher
—A combination of the mythical Australian monster “Bunyip” and “Slasher,” one who wields blades.
Awakened Abilities: Division, Sword Qi, Acceleration
What the actual hell.
Both the tiger and the rabbit had completely broken abilities. No wonder both countries had been half-destroyed. It actually made sense now.
“Anyway… show me the price for the next Trait.”
Rika flipped to the next page of the catalog.
Trait 2 Unlocked (Growth Type) — 5,000,000 C
“Five million coins. You only have 4.3 million right now, so you’re still short. But after you hunt those disaster-class monsters, you should have more than enough.”
“Understood…”
Yuhwa stood up. There was no time to waste.
“See you next time, little bunny.”
“I’m a fox… never mind. I guess I really am a rabbit now…”
Her ears drooped visibly. Rika gently grabbed the hem of Yuhwa’s clothes.
“Sis… next time…”
“Hm?”
“Can you… be gentler?”
Yuhwa had no idea what “gentler” referred to, but she nodded anyway.
“Sure, sure.”
She pressed the [Return to Reality] button in the system window.
Flash—!
The shop scenery vanished in a burst of light.
“Huu…”
That took forever. Honestly, she had no idea how much time had actually passed inside. Thankfully, time flowed differently between the Tower and the real world. No matter how long she’d suffered on the second floor, only a day or two seemed to have passed in reality.
“Ah! Master! You’re back!”
An excited voice rang out from the living room.
“Yeah… Yujin, I’m seriously exhausted…”
Yuhwa massaged her stiff neck as she headed toward the living room.
“Hehe! For our great and mighty Master who worked so hard, I prepared a special present!”
Her tail was wagging energetically. That tail was ridiculously cute too.
“While waiting for you, I went out hunting for fun!”
“Oh? What did you catch? Is it something tasty?”
“It’s in the master bedroom! Ta-da~!”
“…?”
The moment Yuhwa saw the scene inside the bedroom, she had to doubt her own eyes.
Because there was a woman wearing a priestess outfit… on her knees in a perfect dogeza, forehead pressed to the floor, trembling violently.
What kind of insane situation was this?
“What the…? Who is this person?”
“She’s the ruler of Japan!”
“…?”
“In other words, if you want, Master, you can take complete control of the entire nation of Japan starting tomorrow!”
Excuse me?