The Mysterious Frail Beauty

"T-ten million won..."

Yena murmured it over and over, staring at the bundle of Gold, when a damp sensation at the tip of her nose made her lift a hand.

"...Ah."

A red liquid stained her fingertips. A nosebleed. Only then did her mind finally catch up. Had she gotten too excited? She hadn't noticed at all. However much she'd already lost, it was still trickling down the back of her hand, slowly staining the floor beneath her.

Coming sharply to her senses, Yena hurriedly checked her condition again.

Fortunately, her mana itself still had some room to spare. Which meant this nosebleed wasn't a mana problem. I overdid it, huh.

It had been a slash with power left over even after cutting down every last goblin. Her body was already frail — it would have been stranger if she'd walked away fine after using a skill of that caliber.

"I should head back for now."

This was no time to get greedy. Thoughts of the second floor and anything beyond it were set cleanly aside. Right now, taking care of her body came first.

Yena staggered to her feet. Her legs still trembled, but she was in far better shape than before. Looking around, the goblin corpses still scattered everywhere caught her eye. This is a scene I couldn't even have imagined before.

She stared blankly at the bodies for a moment, then pulled out her Tower Access Device. Her fingertips were still shaking, but operating it was no problem.

"Yeah."

She answered without hesitation, and her vision flooded white. When the flashing light receded, dazzling sunlight poured straight into her face.

"...Ugh."

It was a moment that made her truly appreciate how precious a parasol was. Turning her back on the enormous tower, Yena began trudging toward home.

She looked a wreck. Dried bloodstains stood out all too vividly on the back of her hand, her collar — everywhere.

"I need to wash up first."

Cough.

Oh no. Coughing up blood again.

Meanwhile, around that same time, a post had become a hot topic on a community board.

Comments were piling up just as fast.

Yena had no idea the post even existed. All she wanted was to get home as fast as possible and lie down.

Once she got home and washed up, Yena slept like the dead. It had been an endlessly long day, but thanks to replenishing so much mana, she'd been able to fall asleep without a worry in the world.

She'd gotten home around five in the afternoon. When she woke, it was eight in the morning.

"...Hah!"

After lingering a moment, she checked the wall clock and bolted upright in a panic.

"M-mana... I have to check my mana first."

She tapped at empty air for a moment.

"Phew..."

Seeing the window appear, Yena let out a sigh of relief. The number had dropped a little, but nothing in the world was more unfair than dying in your sleep. She gently smoothed her rumpled hair and stood before the mirror.

The pajamas were the ones she'd already been wearing, so they looked far too large — and yet even that somehow came off as adorable, given how unfairly good the original canvas was.

"...This is a real problem."

Wasn't she too pretty? Pretty enough that a fan club wouldn't even be strange.

"Wait. Maybe one already exists?"

She said it playfully, covering her mouth. Should she practice her autograph, just in case?

She was still following that train of thought when it hit her.

"Ah, right. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had a lot to do today."

She needed to stock spare Magic Stones in advance, buy more clothes, call a technician to fix the house... Anyway, there was a ton to do.

"Busy, busy~"

She headed into the bathroom and started washing. Even as she cleaned herself thoroughly, a strange feeling made her flinch every time her hands found her body. She'd probably need some time to get used to this.

After washing, Yena diligently started drying her body and hair.

A moment that made damn this message slip out all on its own. Fortunately, she'd already searched online and learned the proper technique for drying her hair.

Thirty minutes into it—

"...Hah, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hah. All dry."

Reduced to a wreck, Yena leaned against the bed at an angle and started panting. It felt like she'd burned through an entire day's stamina. Did women have to do this every single day? Should I just not wash my hair anymore...

She was seriously entertaining that thought when yesterday's Floor 1 clear suddenly came to mind.

"Ah, right."

Yena tapped the air to open her status window. She wanted to see how much she'd leveled up.

"...Whoa!"

Her eyes went wide. She'd gone up a full sixteen levels, reaching Level 17.

"I did beat up that many goblins, so I guess that tracks?"

Goblins were definitely weak monsters, but even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they were a tough opponent for F-Rank hunters. In practice, two or three of them gathering meant fighting for your life. And she'd taken down a hundred of those goblins.

"I'm kind of amazing."

A peculiar swell of pride lifted her shoulders. And since she'd leveled up, her basic physical stats would have been adjusted to match. That was a kind of benefit hunters received upon awakening.

"Stamina... went up too, right?"

Strength and agility mattered, but this was essentially the most important number. There was no way to check it with her eyes, so she'd have to move her body herself.

"I can't stay bedridden forever. Maybe some light jogging would be okay?"

With that thought, she started tackling today's to-do list one by one.

First, Magic Stones — they were still directly tied to her life, even if she had a little more breathing room now.

"I've eaten way too many F-Rank ones."

Earning a bit of money had made her appetite grow.

"I'm getting tired of that distinctive dirt taste, too."

Yena logged into Hunter Eats and slowly scrolled down. Past the F-Rank Magic Stones, her gaze locked onto the more lustrous E-Rank ones. Was it because her constitution had changed? They were nothing more than rocks that held mana, and yet her mouth was watering. It was like eating nothing but cup ramen every day and then ordering delivery for the first time.

Drool.

"...Ah."

She hurriedly wiped the corner of her mouth and looked at the E-Rank Magic Stones again.

"The price is..."

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"O-one and a half million won?!"

It wasn't even a bundle. A single stone cost 1.5 million won. With the ten million she'd earned yesterday, she could only buy six.

"I don't even know the effects yet, so buying a lot would be a bit much, right?"

Mm-hmm. She nodded and put just one in her cart. Then, just in case, she added ten more F-Rank Magic Stones. The payment total came to 6.5 million won.

"So freaking expensive, seriously..."

But it was all for survival. Yena pressed the payment button with tears in her eyes. The inevitable notification that her account balance had dropped appeared as always.

Still, she decided to take comfort in how different things were from yesterday. Yesterday she'd ordered without earning a thing; today she'd made money and then placed the order.

"...I'll just have to work harder. Yeah. Harder."

Tears pricked at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her eyes, but she held them back with everything she had. She made it through without crying.

Next was shopping. She had no eye for women's clothes anyway, so Yena browsed the popularity rankings. Everything from sexy outfits to cute ones, all kinds.

"...There's no comparison with men's clothes."

But as varied as they were, the prices were on a whole different level. Even the same jeans felt one and a half times more expensive.

"I'll just order a few things I can mix and match."

If she spent too freely, her account might be empty in no time.

Once she'd finished ordering, Yena exchanged texts with a technician about the other problem — the house repairs. Fortunately, she was able to book an appointment for tomorrow. She could finally say goodbye to the days of stuffing the gaps with her blanket when she slept.

Problems were getting sorted out one by one, and a peculiar little rush of dopamine even started to kick in. Maybe this was why people needed to make money after all.

"I slept well today, so let's do a stamina test!"

She stretched out long and put on the tracksuit she'd bought yesterday. Whether it was her imagination or not, her body felt incredibly light. She flung the front door wide open and called out cheerfully.

"Alright, let's gooo~"

...She really shouldn't have thought something so dangerous.

A short while later, Yena went to a park not far from home and started jogging.

"C-cough! Ghk!"

And at a spot not even thirty meters from the starting point—

Thud.

She collapsed onto the ground in a pitiful heap.

"I... leveled up..."

The tears she'd thought she was holding in just fine started streaming down her face.

At the same time, in the Tower Management Bureau Monitoring Office at the Association.

"Team Leader, do you have a moment?"

A staff member pointed at a monitor with an urgent expression. The middle-aged man called Team Leader adjusted his glasses and looked at the screen.

"What is it."

"Some weird data just popped up in the Tower of Ordeals clear record system. It's from yesterday — looks like the update was delayed."

When you cleared a tower, the results were automatically logged in the system. Though all you got were fragmentary numbers like which floor and how long it took.

"Weird data?"

"Yes. It says Hell Difficulty... and it's Floor 1? Honestly, I can't believe it even looking at the numbers..."

Hell Difficulty. The moment that word was uttered, the Team Leader's expression turned distinctly grave.

"What kind of record is it supposed to be..."

The staff member pointed at the screen.

Clack.

The ballpoint pen caught between the Team Leader's fingers fell weakly to the floor.

"Does this even make sense...?"

Seven seconds. Only that long to take down a hundred monsters. It would have been hard to believe even if they'd been slimes.

Was it a user of some terrifying skill? If they'd swept everything away in a single blow with overwhelming firepower, it wouldn't be an impossible story. But hunters with that kind of firepower could practically be counted on one hand.

Which meant they had to recruit this person to the Association by any means necessary.

A staff member cautiously asked the Team Leader, who had sunk into thought.

"...Should we look into who it is?"

There was no need to ask why.