Tutorial Rewards and the Squishy Butter Cake Quest

I dragged my exhausted body to the floor and sat down. Chasing down that damn King Slime had burned through way more stamina than I'd bargained for.

As I caught my breath and wiped the sweat from my forehead—

A message popped up right in front of me, proof that all my blood, sweat, and tears hadn't been for nothing.

"Kuhhh! Yeah, that's why I went through all that hell."

I jumped right up to check out whatever this reward was. What delicious prize was waiting for me? I could barely contain my excitement.

And as if the Tower had read my mind, a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠new window appeared.

"Three whole items? As expected from an unknown difficulty—total jackpot, right?"

Three rewards, no less. Life really does favor the bold; guess I'm one of the chosen. Anyone would think I'd cleared floor 5 or higher with this haul. Staring at it, my grin stretched from ear to ear.

Then, out of thin air, a blue window materialized, and—

Whoosh—rewards poured out like candy from a piñata. Small blue stones, jelly-like blobs, and even a crown. Had to be the mana stones, King Slime jellies, and crown the Tower mentioned.

"Whoa…!"

I bolted over, snatched up a mana stone in my right hand, and examined it. A palm-sized gem glowing softly blue. Just looking at it had me beaming like an idiot.

"What's the market price on mana stones right now…? Don't care about the rest, just need to check that."

I fumbled for my phone to look it up. High-grade ones went for like 30 million won each. Even low-grade had to be worth a pretty penny.

"Ah… right, left it at home."

I was dying to check right now, but I'd forgotten my phone. Guess I figured it'd get in the way or break during the fight. Past me was kinda pissing me off.

"Sigh, whatever. Got everything worth grabbing anyway."

I could check when I got home for maintenance. I stuffed the mana stones in my pockets, grabbed the jellies and crown, and slipped out of the Tower. Sneaking around carefully to avoid anyone spotting me, I headed back to my one-room.

Luckily, no annoying encounters—I made it home smooth.

"Ugh, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'm beat for real."

Clock read 1 a.m. An hour of brawling in the Tower had my body screaming. As soon as I dumped the jellies and stones on the floor and flopped down, fatigue drained out like poison. Was home really the best?

Having just slain a slime, lying there made me feel like I was melting into one myself.

"No, snap out of it. Gotta check mana stone prices…"

I shook off the drowsiness, hauled myself to the computer.

"Suck it up—definitely said low-grade mana stones, right?"

I pulled out one from the tutorial reward and set it by the monitor. It shimmered with an enchanting blue hue. Smiling at its beauty, I dove into price checks: association site, galleries, mana stone markets—you name it.

"Roughly 4 mil each? Heh heh."

Not exact, but still had me grinning. Rumors of rising low-grade prices everywhere—perfect timing. Five stones total. Keep two or three? Minimum 10 mil profit easy.

"Euhhh…"

Just imagining it had drool pooling at my mouth. Living off convenience store scraps, the thrill of that cash hitting my account was unreal.

"Whew… nah, calm down first. Find a sales route."

I reined in the hype. From the sites I'd checked, ID and awakener registration were basically mandatory. But I had neither.

"Broker or dark web it is, then…"

Getting docs and registration? Too slow. And who'd even believe me? Broker or dark web seemed the play.

"Dark web's sketchy though…"

Yeah, gave me the creeps. Broker it was.

"Sigh! Whatever."

It'd work out somehow. Money was urgent, but I hadn't even fully checked the Tower rewards yet. Shaking off the headache, I turned to the pile: King Slime crown and jellies, all safe and sound.

"Appraise first."

I lined them up for Appraisal Eye: crown left, then jellies, mana stones. Just looking pumped me with dopamine—pure bliss already.

"Heh. Crown first."

I grabbed the crown, the one I'd been most curious about. What the hell was it for? Twirled it around—no clue. Time for the skill.

Appraise.

"Whoa—insane!"

Didn't expect much, but this crushed it. Not 10%, but 50%? Even a mana noob like me knew that was busted. No idea how it stacked against average artifacts, but I could brag on the gallery later.

"Next up!"

I reverently set the crown aside and lifted a jelly for appraisal.

"What? That's it?"

Super underwhelming. Just "squish squish"? How squishy was it to get such a lazy description? My head throbbed in disbelief.

Then—

"Phew, dodged a bullet there."

Quest related to the jelly—thank god. "Accept, duh." Slammed Y without hesitation.

"Wh-what? Make butter cake? And 5 points?!"

Bigger reward than I'd dreamed. No clue why butter cake or if the status window was chasing trends, but all I saw was stats and shop points. Whatever it took to earn that—I wasn't missing this quest.

Then—

"Oh, that's the recipe?"

Quest window shifted, recipe unlocked. I checked it immediately.

New recipe under Goblin Head Smoothie: King Slime Butter Cake. No idea how to make it from the name alone, so I tapped it.

"What…?!"

Thought it'd be meh, but the effect was nuts. Mind-blowing.

"Ugh… d-don't do instant cook, no way…!"

Effect halves on instant? I'd deserve getting memed on the gallery as a sucker. Had to manual cook this monster.

"Sh-show the recipe, quick."

I hit the button, focus razor-sharp.

"Mana stones… gotta sell 'em fast."

Way more stuff needed than I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thought. Sieve, whisk, piping bag, air fryer, blender—none at home. Looked like broker time, whatever it took.