I'm the Tower's #1 Ranker!
Right now, I had 9 shop points and 6 free stat points. The real question was how to distribute them efficiently...
I'd use shop points as needed, but those free stat points were the key. Mana was already boosted plenty from the butter cake, so no need there. Still, my agility, strength, and stamina were all lacking.
How should I split them up? It was a dizzyingly happy dilemma.
Then a thought flashed through my mind.
"Oh yeah, I have that Goblin Head Smoothie, right?"
It had been overshadowed by the King Slime Butter Cake, but that was my second dish—and a lifeline for boosting agility.
"Alright, then just split the rest evenly between stamina and strength."
No need for deep agonizing. I'd dump points into stamina and strength. Agility could get covered by the smoothie to a decent level without using points.
Plus, I was way stronger now than at the start. A goblin? I could probably kill one with a flick of my finger.
Back then, no tools, so I made it automatically. Now? Fully equipped kitchen, all ingredients ready. Perfect setup for mass-producing proper smoothies.
Just one problem...
"...But I have to eat that shit again."
It tasted good. Really good. But I still couldn't forget that goblin head smell when I downed it. Even pinching my nose, that foul stench crept in.
They say scent makes up half of flavor. By that metric, goblin smoothie was straight-up inedible.
"But I can't exactly skip it..."
This felt tougher than most real dilemmas. Efficiency screamed "drink the smoothie." But my body and brain? Hard pass.
Momentary agony for agility stats and max efficiency? Or play it safe without the pain? That was the question.
"..."
After what felt like a millennium of pondering, my choice was...
"Ugh... sorry, nose. For efficiency's sake, no choice...!"
Do you really want to use free stat points?
"Yes."
Strength stat increased by 3.
Stamina stat increased by 3.
Short pain, max gains. I thought it through deep, but nothing better came to mind. Just endure a bit, and I'd max all stats eventually.
"Good luck, future me."
I dumped the blame on future me and checked my updated stats again.
Updated from the butter cake and fresh points. Strength and stamina up by 3 each, mana skyrocketing. But numbers alone? No real feel.
"Anything around to test?"
I scanned for experiments. Kitchen tools, unsorted mana stones, crown scattered about. Grabbed a kitchen knife from the pile.
Whoosh—
"Whoa, the difference is huge."
Swinging it around, pre- and post-stat felt worlds apart. Before, even holding it felt heavy and awkward. Now? Smooth as butter. And stamina—no fatigue no matter how much I swung.
Power-up real.
"Maybe hit the tower quick..."
Perfect test spot. Stamina and strength checked out, but mana? Body itching to verify.
"Nah, too bright still."
4 PM. Winter might've been dimmer, but spring sun blazed. Stuck killing time at home.
Gallery post it was. Nothing beats it for boredom. Plus, fishing for crown info, and yeah, I was antsy.
Dove into the computer, straight to the gallery. That blue logo always hit like pure dopamine.
Moused to the write post button.
Then—
"What the...?"
Top post, starred sticker. Rare as hell, only for notice posts.
But the title? Wild.
Today was end-of-week tower data pull for rankings. #1 changed. For real.
(Hunter Association Official Site Link)
(Ranking screenshot with ??? text at #1 spot)
"Uh... is that me?"
Brain freeze. Only ??? in the tower was me.
Rushed the linked site to confirm.
18,230 points
5,130 points
4,820 points
"Yup, that's me?!"
Difficulty straight-up ???. And no ??? after Floor 2? Definitely me.
"Knew it'd rank, but #1??"
I figured top 30 tops. Reality? Boldly #1. Hard mode spawns 4 goblins per floor, per posts. One weakened King Slime gets this gap? Mind-blowing.
Still...
"Heh—I'm #1."
Mood skyrocketed. Not 2nd or 3rd—first. How could it not?
Grin kept slipping out from the hype. But hold it. Needed cool head.
Overwhelming #1 meant guilds, Association, even nation hunting ???—me.
Scrubbed the post plan, lurked more.
New post popped above.
Probably real error or ??? hiding. One or the other.
If Ironlad panicked even briefly, upvote lol
Thank god. Hype died quick—Association and gallery calling it a glitch.
"Still, better safe. Time for VPN."
Fire cooled, but caution. Grabbed VPN, routed IP to some nowhere country.
Deleted butter cake photo data too. Wouldn't pin me as ??? alone, but no risks.
Transferred cleaned photo to PC, started gallery post.
(Photo: King Slime crown and blue butter cake lined up)
Texture kinda sucks but tasted good lol
"Yup, as expected."
No wild reactions yet. Just hate or quiet downvotes. No crown questions or knowsies.
Figured some interest in crown/cake. Bit disappointing.
Still, dopamine hit. Satisfaction. Crown post later anyway.
Checked reactions, about to stand—
"Oh..."
Totally different. The reaction I wanted. Dropped right there.