Identity (1)
Thanks to the recovery potion, my vision was starting to clear up bit by bit. I could finally breathe a little easier. It'd been a real brush with death.
"Not a full recovery, huh. Still hurts a bit."
As expected, the recovery potion was just first aid—it didn't heal everything completely. My whole body was still creaking, with lingering aches here and there.
"Sigh, but hey, I'm alive. That's something."
At least it was a high-grade recovery potion, getting me this far. Without it, I'd probably be high-fiving King Sejong in the afterlife by now.
I let out a sigh of relief and dragged my creaky body upright to check my rewards. That's when it popped up right in front of me, like it was waiting for me to get my head straight—the blue window I'd ignored while gasping on death's door.
You have cleared the ??? Difficulty 5th Floor Boss Room.
My heart started pounding the second I saw it. What kind of reward would I get? This was the first boss clear for the unaffiliated ??? Difficulty. And even though I'd used one already, a high-grade recovery potion had been mixed in with the rewards. No way it was ordinary.
??? Difficulty bonus applied.
◈ Absorb 10 types of recipe foods to hatch.
◈ Permanent Mana +5 (each)
Hell's Furnace Fire acquired.
"Urgh—now that's solid. My belly's gonna burst, lmao."
The rewards marched on in an impressive lineup, making my stomach feel full just looking at them. All these goodies pouring in before my eyes. Totally worth the ordeal.
"Gotta grab 'em first, check details back home. Heh."
I scooped up the rewards one by one with my creaky body. Dumped the mana stones into the black bag with the mixer, hugged the mystery egg and jellies to my chest, and bolted straight home.
The second I got there, I shoved the jellies in the fridge, tossed the mana stones anywhere, plopped down on the floor, and placed the thing I was most curious about—the so-called Companion Egg—right in front of me.
"So, what's this for? Grill it up?"
No clue why an egg was this huge, but it sure didn't seem edible.
"No choice then. Time for Appraisal Eye!"
Best way to figure out unknowns was appraisal. I stared down the ostrich-egg-sized behemoth and activated the skill.
Companion Egg
This is not edible!!!
Absorb 10 types of recipe foods to hatch.
"Oh... yeah, not food..."
The description said to feed it 10 types of my recipe foods to hatch it. Probably turns into a pet-like companion to help me out.
"Gotcha... but feed it my recipes?"
My dishes had killer effects each. Feeding them to this thing instead of eating them myself? Felt wrong.
"Hmm... ask the gallery?"
No clear answer after mulling it over, so gallery it was. I snapped a pic of the egg-or-whatever (metadata scrubbed, VPN on, of course) and posted.
Even at this late hour, comments were flying in true gallery fashion.
"So... good or bad?"
Posted and... mixed reactions. No consensus. Kept refreshing, same vague stuff. No straight answers. About to give up and Google it...
"What the— this guy's insta-trustworthy aura is off the charts."
Word choice screamed expert. Jackpot. Prime chance to learn about the egg. Replied ASAP.
"Just spill it, why the dodge?"
Classic high-nic tsundere act. Annoying, but I waited patiently. And it paid off.
"Better than I thought."
Expert's detailed explanation, capped with "keep it." Flashed back to lugging mana stones everywhere. Logical af—totally convinced, weird bits aside. Tucked the egg away safely.
About to crash and close the gallery...
'Sense of wrongness... sense of wrongness...'
Déjà vu scene. One post caught my eye.
"What the hell...?"
??? was definitely me. What went down while I climbed?
Dove into the piled-up posts.
1. Checked tower logs, no clue who ??? is.
2. Global ranking, no nation ID.
3. We dunno, quit bitching. Tower security up tho. (Frog fist meme)
"Ah..."
It clicked instantly. Floor 1 was "glitch," but 2-3 confirmed real. Now hunting me with tighter tower security. And Ironclad Lee Cheolho on the case.
"Need that ID stat."
ID and Awakening cert urgency skyrocketed. Dodgy towers worked before, but strict security? No dice. Even if, excuses thin if caught. Semi-must-have now.
But...
"How tho?"
Female body, no birth reg, no family, no existence. Ghost in the system.
Brokers? Dark web? Every angle, no solid plan. Racking brain, nada—going insane.
Then genius spark:
...Phone? Cheonhwa?
Eyed the phone on the floor. Could forge ID, showed favor, slipped me 40 mil and contact.
Grabbed it, dug out the note, copied number, sent:
Steadied shaky heart and hit send.