Range Expansion

Three options came up.

Cost reduction. A longer cast. A wider range.

They all look good...

If the cost dropped, I could cast it more often. If the magic lasted longer, I'd bring down more. And if the range expanded?

I'd bring down even more in a single cast.

Hm. I turned it over for a moment. Which one was actually efficient?

Even if the mana cost fell by twenty percent, this mana pool would still barely manage a single cast. I'd have to raise it several more times before I saw any real effect. A longer cast didn't seem necessary for the moment, either.

Shaving the cost wouldn't change the size of the problem. And the cast time—well, it was one shot anyway. So I settled on number three.

I checked the change. The range had grown to fifteen kilometers. At that size, it covered roughly a third of the area. I could clear far more now.

Still, I'd heard these enhancement options were divided into grades, too.

The choice I'd taken had carried a [Normal] tag. So what did the grades above it actually do? Even a plain expansion of range already felt broken.

"......"

Thump. Thump. My heart was hammering.

Two in the morning. I should have been asleep, but sleep wouldn't come. There were too many astonishing things, and one of them was the crafting stations.

I made the two of them first. When I looked to see what they could do—

Basic weapons.

Basic armor. Somewhere around thirty things I could make—and this, after a single trip inside.

So the other crafting stations can't be built with first-floor materials.

I looked over what it would take to activate the rest. A lot of the materials were things I'd never seen. They had to start dropping from the second floor up. A shame, but this was as far as it went.

Still. What do these even sell for?

Even if I crafted what I needed for myself, there'd be plenty left over. Better to sell them than leave them sitting in storage, wasn't it? I stepped straight into the next bit of fun: the Hunter Auction House.

Something like this called for a filtered search. I entered the weapons tab and sorted by lowest price, and up came the basic weapons.

"Huh?"

What was this? Weren't these the most basic of the basic? They cost this much?

I checked the armor, too. Those sat in the hundred-thousands. Not bad at all.

But there really is no stock.

Plenty of listings weren't even registered. It struck me all over again. This country really was running on fumes.

Anyway. Let's make them.

I set to work. The gear came together one piece after another. And once it was finished?

Twenties and thirties at a time. I listed every last one. The items themselves were scarce, so they'd sell the moment they went up.

"......What are you doing up instead of sleeping?"

That was when my wife came in, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Huh? No. I was just taking care of something."

"Mm. Okay. Still, you've got work tomorrow, so get to bed early."

"Yeah. But listen..."

"......Hm?"

It still felt like a dream. I'd come out of the Tower, made the news, put things up for auction. But this wasn't a dream. It was real. News this good had to be shared.

"I think I've awakened."

"Hm? What did you say?"

"I awakened."

"......"

She stared at me through sleepy eyes.

"Mm. Sure. Congratulations."

"......"

"I wish I could awaken, too. I hear hunters make a lot of money if they do it right. Don't they?"

"No, I really did."

"Mm, I know. I know."

She didn't believe me. But how was I supposed to prove it?

I can't use the ability out here.

The ability worked only inside the Tower. Out in reality, using it was impossible.

"I'm going to bed first. Hurry up and sleep."

My wife didn't believe me.

"Hah."

Well, fine. She'd find out on her own soon enough.

What time is it.

Three in the morning. I was supposed to be asleep.

Just one can.

I wanted to raise a toast to something.

The next morning.

"Dad! Wake up! Play with me!"

"Daaad! Daaad!"

"Ugh. Mmgh."

I'd been so worked up the night before that two cans of beer had gone down instead of one. I hadn't been asleep for long, but I was hauled awake anyway.

"Ayun, Doyun—did you sleep well?"

"Yeah! Did Daddy sleep good too?"

"Daddy slept great! Hahaha!"

The energy came on its own. Was it the awakening? Or the money?

Ah. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠auction!

Had the things I'd listed yesterday sold? I checked at once.

"Hrk—"

"Hrrrrk! Daddy, hrrrrk!"

"Hrrrrk! Hrrrrk!"

Not all of them had sold. Only some. But how much was this?

Twelve million won? That sold in this short a time?

Close to a third of my annual salary. And I'd made it in a few hours?

Transfer! Transfer! Transfer!

I fired off the transfer at once. Then—

A bright chime rang.

"Ha. It's real."

"What's wrong?"

My wife, in the middle of getting breakfast ready, came over at the look on my face.

"I told you last night I'd awakened, remember?"

"Hm? Wasn't that a dream? I feel like I heard you say something like that..."

"No, it's real. Really."

I stole a glance at the kids. Lately they repeated everything I said, so I had to be careful. I couldn't have them running around announcing that I'd awakened. I drew my wife aside and dropped my voice.

"It's real. I really awakened."

"......You mean it?"

"Yeah. Look at this."

I showed her the hunter account. It wasn't a smartphone or anything of the sort, of course. The account rose in front of her as a hologram.

"Wh—what?"

"See? I told you."

"W-wait. Th-this is real?"

My wife's eyes went wide as a startled rabbit's, and her hands started to shake. With trembling fingers, she counted the numbers.

"R-right now, in this account... wh-why does it say twelve million won?"

"I went to the first floor yesterday and made items out of the materials I picked up. I listed them on the auction, and that's what they sold for."

"What? Y-you already went into the Tower?"

I nodded.

"......"

Her mouth fell open, and those widened eyes showed no sign of shrinking back.

"J-jackpot."

The commute.

I left without breakfast. I was full anyway.

Vrrrm.

I started up my old compact sedan. I'd driven it long enough that the engine didn't sound like much.

But what did any of that matter? Even a bird passing overhead was enough to delight me. Everyone out walking looked happy. And the clouds—why were they this beautiful today?

"Good morning!"

I sang it out with everything I had. Every one of them startled, caught flat-footed.

"Assistant Manager Jeonghwan, did something good happen? Why are you overflowing like this?"

"No, nothing like that. It's just nicer when you say good morning like you mean it, right? Haha!"

"Well. I suppose it is."

I dropped into my seat with that same energy, turned on the computer and the messenger, made sure the hunters under my management were all right, and got the simple morning work underway.

"Sujin. Did you see the news yesterday? A hunter from our country went in alone and took down four hundred and fifty people."

"Oh! I saw it, I saw it! Isn't that incredible? Hundreds of them, all by himself!"

That was when I caught the talk from the next desk.

......That's about me.

"My husband got chills watching it. He said at that level, isn't it disaster-level?"

"......Disaster-level? That doesn't exist anywhere in the world yet, does it?"

"Right, right. I told him even so it couldn't be that much, and he got all frustrated—asked how I could still say that after seeing the kill count."

......Me, a disaster-level hunter?

Well. The trait was named something like that.

The truth was, I still didn't really know. Making money was clearly a different matter. But it hadn't even been twenty-four hours since I'd awakened, so...

Tak. Taktak! Tak!

I was getting on with the day's work when Dept Head Choi quietly sent me a message, asking me to come talk in her office.

"Yes, Department Head."

"Assistant Manager Kim. Have you thought about what we discussed yesterday?"

"Ah. That."

Of course I had. I'd even thought about quitting.

"Yes. I'm grateful for the offer, but I intend to keep working hard right where I am."

"......"

"Then I'll be going."

I didn't even take a seat. There was nothing more worth saying.

And if she meant to pull some underhanded stunt with this? Fine. Then I'd have no choice. I'd walk in already ready to quit and meet her head-on. Until then, I'd stay where I was.

You never know, after all.

It was only the second day since I'd awakened at EX-rank. There was still plenty I needed to confirm.

Managing hunters and doing the work myself had turned out to be very different things. And the way things stood, I was a father with a family depending on me.

If the hunter work went wrong, it would be a genuine disaster. So I decided to watch how things played out a little longer.

And so the day ended. Before I headed home, I didn't start the car. There was something I had to do first.

"Enter."

Straight into a challenge of the second floor.

I was inside the second floor. The setting was a forest, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠much like the first, though something about it was subtly, slightly off.

Well. Does it matter?

Snap.

I flicked my fingers. The sky bled red, and the reach of it was unmistakably wider. Then the rain of fire came pouring down.

"Ah. It's landing again."

Was it because I'd widened the range? The number cleared in a single go: 810.

The second floor was mine, too.