Re-entry to the 4th Floor

"Couldn't be better." Lee Jaedo, the Director of the Climbing Department, smiled as he looked over the documents. In 1999, the average life expectancy was about 85, and the average age was 32. With a total fertility rate of 3.5, the natural population increase was about 900,000 per year. While most countries were struggling to manage their points and implementing strict birth control policies, South Korea could easily support a population of 100 million with the amount of points it was currently generating.

The country ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was currently attempting to mass-produce mid-tier climbers by distributing points to recruit talented climbers from developing and middle-income nations, while simultaneously building an elite education and practical training system. This shift began after the emergence of the All-Purpose Crafter, a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠climber who had cleared the Hell difficulty and produced high-quality equipment.

Most production-class crafters, who previously only made one or two pieces of gear after their mandatory production skill usage before spending their time idling, had been spurred into action. They were now producing equipment incomparable to the past. This increase in supply led to higher success and survival rates for climbers, which in turn activated the trading of points, materials, and equipment. This synergy was causing an explosive increase in point acquisition rates nationwide.

While the activation of the consumer market due to the permanent increase in point acquisition was beneficial, what was most encouraging was the dramatic rise in the number of low-tier climbers attempting to climb the Tower after acquiring better gear.

"If this keeps up..." If the equipment distribution rate and quality continued to rise, it wouldn't be a dream to reclaim the three northern provinces—which had been purchased with points after the collapse of North Korea but were effectively left abandoned. Even now, they were slowly advancing northward to reclaim territory, but mid-tier climbers were essential for clearing the dungeons in the eroded areas. In the Tower, if you were in danger, you could leave the area, and once combat status was lifted, you could exit the Tower, so there weren't many ways to die. But this was reality.

Mid-tier climbers were precious, and the dungeons in the eroded lands of the real world were quite dangerous, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠leading to low support rates. Since there was a risk of death, they couldn't be forced into it. If you completely purified a dungeon, you could obtain artifacts, and since the monsters in the dungeons often dropped special byproducts, many chose not to purify them and intentionally left them uncleared.

Director Lee Jaedo's eyes rolled around. "The point consumption for 'loans for climbing equipment' and the point acquisition for 'equipment rentals' by low-tier climbers have increased significantly." Manager Lee Seungjun said, looking at the rental management window.

"Yes, loans have more than doubled compared to before. As for equipment rentals... we're running out of gear to rent."

"Handle the screenings according to the rules."

"Of course."

"For rentals, purchase more low-grade items."

"I will calculate the demand and allocate the budget."

Because equipment was so expensive, many climbers wanted to climb but couldn't because they lacked gear or had subpar equipment. Therefore, the government provided low-interest loans and rented out low-grade and common-grade equipment for a set amount of points. If rented equipment was destroyed, the climber had to capture a system message (important messages were automatically capturable) to prove it; if they did, the government covered half the cost, and the climber had to pay the rest. If they didn't bring a capture, they had to pay the full price of the equipment without exception. Low-grade equipment was relatively cheap, costing in the tens of millions of won, compared to common-grade gear which cost at least hundreds of millions.

"What about Perfect?"

"Other than going up to get side dishes from his mother, he hasn't stepped a foot out of his workshop for 35 days."

"He's diligent, perhaps because he hasn't been awakened for long."

"I saw him hammering away. Given his persistence, I think he'll be able to acquire the skill soon if he works as a blacksmith."

"Good."

Whether production-class or combat-class, while there were skill experience and production effect bonuses based on one's job, there were no restrictions on skill acquisition. Thus, many production-class individuals acquired and used the skills they desired.

"And the Sword Saint?"

"He is preparing to clear the 50th floor."

"The theme is a volcanic zone, right? The price of items with fire resistance effects will likely skyrocket."

"I will procure as many related items as possible."

By producing an average of 20 pieces of equipment a day through a five-week forced march, I was finally able to purchase the skill once all the produced gear was sold. I posted all the final pieces of equipment on the Gallery sales board.

"I'll buy it as soon as it all sells."

I had consumed a lot of Black Iron Stone, and since 35 days had passed, wouldn't there be quite a bit of it piled up? It was time to re-enter the 4th floor. When re-entering, monsters didn't appear, so I would just be mining materials from the field and digging up the ground. I could talk to the Baroness, and if there was no reaction, I could go mine Black Iron Stone.

"Re-enter the 4th floor."

As I entered the Tower, a cool breeze that I couldn't feel at home blew against me.

"It's the forest near the open-pit mine."

As I moved toward the open-pit mine, I heard the sound of pickaxes.

-Clang -Clang

At the open-pit mine, 10 soldiers were standing guard, and 30 miners were diligently swinging pickaxes to mine. The soldiers saw me and welcomed me with joy.

"Jaeil! It's good to see you! You disappeared so suddenly that the Lord and your family were all worried."

"I just looked around the surroundings."

"That's amazing."

The guard seemed to have some misunderstanding, but I couldn't explain that I had entered from outside the Tower, so I didn't correct him. Looking at other cases of Towers, even if you don't enter the Tower, time flows, and it is stored individually by floor. To explain, the cleared 4th floor had become a kind of material-mining quarry where time continued to flow without change, and monsters no longer appeared. When you go to the 5th floor, it's immediately after clearing the 4th floor, and new objectives appear in a repeating format. Is it something like multi-dimensional? Anyway, the 4th floor had become my perfect Black Iron Stone production base.

Since I could even learn artifact-related crafting methods from Baroness Helene after saving the territory, it was as good as a gold mine. I would have to enter for 12 hours every day to absorb the know-how.

"If you go to the territory, the Baroness will be waiting for you."

"What for?"

"I only heard that the preparations were complete."

Perhaps, since she said she would teach me the crafting methods once I completed the request, it meant she had prepared the items.

"You can take the Black Iron Stone from the territory's mineral warehouse."

"How much Black Iron Stone is mined per day?"

"Hmm... these 30 people are skilled miners, and each is mining an average of 20kg."

20kg per person per day, so with 30 people, that's 600kg. My share is 5%, so about 30kg. It had been 35 days since I last entered, but since they started mining at the open-pit mine from 5 days later, the amount to take was 900kg... a considerable amount.

"I'll head to the territory. Take care."

"May God's blessing be with you."

I infused mana into my shoes and headed quickly to the territory. I arrived in 2 hours, exchanged greetings with the guards I hadn't seen in a while, and immediately went to the warehouse to write my name on the ledger for the release of goods and put my share of 900kg into my sub-space. Afterward, I went straight to Baroness Helene's workshop.

"It's been a while, Jaeil."

"Nice to see you."

"You disappeared without a word, and Emily ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was quite sad."

"Hahaha..."

As I laughed and glossed over it, Baroness Helene smiled slightly and led me to the table. On the table were parchment, yellowish paper, finely ground mana stone powder, a water bottle, and a pen similar to a fountain pen.

"First, assuming you know the basics, I will teach you how to craft artifacts."

"Yes."

Baroness Helene mixed the mana stone powder into the water bottle and then filled the back of the pen-like tool with the water.

"This is for mana circuit work. I made it arbitrarily, but originally, you can also apply it to your fingers and draw."

"I see."

"Mana circuit work is simple. If you flow mana into the mana stone powder, it activates..."

"If you draw a mana circuit on paper and imbue it with attributes and magic, it becomes a scroll..."

"If you draw it on equipment, you can reinforce the equipment through magic engraving..."

"After flowing mana into the mana stone, grind it as finely as possible..."

After listening for a while to the artifact crafting methods using mana stone powder and special materials, a notification window appeared.

It wasn't very difficult, and I heard many tips needed when making artifacts. Mana circuits could also be used on already completed equipment to improve it, which could increase performance slightly. However, it was most effective to engrave the mana circuit in the material state from the beginning of crafting.

"When making potions, mix the juice squeezed from mana herbs with water in a 1:9 ratio..."

"If you use potions too much, absorption in the stomach becomes slow later. To prevent that, in solid form..."

I invested several days and extracted all of Baroness Helene's secret methods.