Safe Mountain, Ansan

After finding a suitable spot out of sight of any CCTV cameras, I deactivated my Stealth skill, walked over to the road, and hailed a taxi.

"Gwangmyeong Station, please."

"Uh... little girl, are you all by yourself...?"

Ever since Awakeners first appeared, there had been people whose physical appearances changed upon awakening their abilities. The most common change was hair color. In South Korea, silver hair was no longer a rare sight.

However, a young child being chosen as an Awakener was something that had never been reported anywhere in the world. For a child who looked barely old enough for elementary school to have silver hair and purple eyes was still an exceedingly rare occurrence.

Cold sweat beaded on the forehead of the middle-aged taxi driver.

"Um... Gwangmyeong Station is really close to Ansan, so it's dangerous. A little girl shouldn't be going there all alone."

"Someone I know is waiting for me there. It's fine, so please just go."

"Sigh... I really shouldn't..."

The driver fidgeted, glancing back and forth between the car door and me. Was he really that worried about taking a young child near a high-risk zone? It's not even his business. It was a kind of concern I had never experienced in my past life. Left with no choice, I let out a soft sigh and spoke up.

"My dad works at the military base. He said he'd come out to meet me, so it'll be fine."

"Ah, I see. All right then."

"I'm tired, so I'm going to sleep for a bit."

"Sure, go ahead."

Only then did the driver look straight ahead and start driving. Watching him, I began to regret leaving the Tower without ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠allocating my stats or acquiring new skills. I had rushed out of the Tower immediately, fearing that days might have passed while I was unconscious. But in reality, I had only been passed out in the Spawning Pool for three hours.

Even factoring in everything that happened before that, the total time I spent in the Tower didn't exceed five hours. There was no way my former colleagues would have raided my house already, so I could have easily taken my time selecting skills before leaving. Once I re-entered the Tower, I wouldn't be able to leave until I cleared the second floor. Putting my regrets aside, I closed my eyes and opened the system window.

Although points could only be spent in the safe zones of the Tower, bonus stats could be allocated at any time.

Except for Mana, everything is set to exactly 20...

Generally, 20 was known as the maximum stat value a human could achieve through sheer effort. Even then, that was only true for a handful of gifted individuals; most ordinary people hit a wall in the low to mid-teens.

The question is, which one should I raise to 100...

Stats experienced an explosive spike in growth the moment they gained an extra digit. Although the difference between 99 and 100 was a mere single point, the actual difference in performance was nearly double. The defining standard of a true high ranker was having at least one stat that exceeded 1,000.

Come to think of it, I need to check the effects of this hoodie too.

Judging by the faint flow of mana through the fabric, it was definitely an item. However, I wouldn't know its exact effects without having it appraised. The problem was that every Awakener avoided letting others know the details of their gear. Unless you had an exceptionally trustworthy appraiser, handing over an item for appraisal was out of the question.

I can't exactly go crawling back to my old workplace over something like this.

Having handled countless items in my past job, I didn't sense the dark energy characteristic of cursed items from this clothing. As long as it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠didn't have any penalty traits, there was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no need to be overly cautious. I turned my attention back to my stat distribution.

In a situation like this, most Awakeners would dump their points into Mana. Unless their skills were complete garbage, the utility of Mana far outweighed the other three stats combined.

The problem was that my skills were simply too good.

None of the skills I currently possessed consumed any mana. Of course, I could obtain new skills by using the Point Shop in the Tower, but... for now, it remained true that I had absolutely no need for Mana.

If a dangerous situation arises, I can just allocate them then.

I added 15 points each to Strength and Perception, then closed the status window. Deciding which stat to raise to 100 could wait until after I checked the skills available for purchase. Generally, Vitality was considered the least useful stat, but just in case, I left 170 points unallocated. That was enough to bring any two stats up to 100.

I wonder what kind of skills will be available...

The skills offered in the Tower's Point Shop usually followed the path of one's initial awakening skill tree. It wasn't as if Kim Minchul, who had awakened as an SS-rank Martial Artist, would suddenly start casting fireballs. While I had a rough idea of what skills I might get, it was best not to make assumptions.

While I was pondering my stats, the taxi sped along and soon arrived at Gwangmyeong Station.

"Thank you."

"Little girl, where is your father? I can walk you over to..."

"I'm fine!"

I paid the fare with some cash I had grabbed from home, got out of the taxi, and slipped into an alleyway. After confirming there were no CCTV cameras around, I activated my Stealth skill.

"Little girl! ...Where did she go so fast?"

The driver had actually gotten out of his taxi and followed me into the alley. Was he really that worried about leaving a child alone in such a dangerous area? To me, it was unnecessary meddling, but it didn't leave a bad taste in my mouth.

I set off along the Seohaean Expressway toward the city reclaimed by monsters—Ansan.

After walking down the highway for quite some time, a tall barbed-wire fence and guarding soldiers came into view. Atop the guard post, a Thermal Observation Device (TOD) scanned the area, its head turning slowly. Around it, mid-range cameras and CCTV monitored the gate and the surrounding roads.

I just need to be careful of those.

Stealth hid my physical form from cameras, but it didn't mask my body heat. Since the sun was still high in the sky, the thermal imaging cameras wouldn't be active yet. I only had to watch out for the TOD, which operated both standard and thermal cameras simultaneously.

I crouched by the side of the road and studied the movement patterns of the TOD.

Fifteen seconds scanning the left ridge, three seconds on the road ahead, twelve seconds on the opposite ridge.

If I took the mountain path and hid behind the trees, I wouldn't have to worry about this surveillance. However, that area was rigged with anti-monster landmines. While stepping on a mine wouldn't kill me, it would inevitably trigger a loud explosion and draw unwanted attention. Besides, I would be using this route constantly to travel back and forth to Seoul in the future. Familiarizing myself with its layout now would save me a lot of trouble later.

Once I had mapped out the TOD's operational pattern, I walked toward the gate. Facing the three-meter-high barbed-wire fence, I leaped lightly over it. Since the main road used by the soldiers wouldn't have any landmines, I kept a watchful eye on the TOD and headed toward the distant city.

Ansan, a city that once boasted a population of over 700,000. The city whose name literally meant "Safe Mountain" could no longer live up to its moniker. Goblins roamed the streets everywhere. Every now and then, a wolf monster would leap out, snatch a goblin in its jaws, and vanish.

Following the collapse of a medium-scale Gate three years ago, the government had officially abandoned Ansan. Now, a self-sustaining ecosystem of monsters had established itself there.

I slipped into a nearby supermarket and headed straight for the food section.

It's been thoroughly picked clean...

It seemed people still lived in this city, as the canned goods and non-perishables in the food section were almost entirely gone. Among the debris, there were empty cans that had clearly been opened by human hands.

Since the appearance of the Tower and the Gates, humanity's living space had shrunk drastically. Among the cities claimed by monsters, Ansan was occupied by relatively weak creatures. This made it the perfect haven for Awakener criminals. Fleeing from the Heaven's Bow Guild and the government, criminal Awakeners capable of handling low-tier monsters flocked to these abandoned ruins.

I had come to the supermarket wondering if ordinary food could be used as resources for my legion, but finding anything edible was harder than I thought. After rummaging through the aisles for a while, I managed to find an unopened can. Peeling it open slightly, I saw a block of processed ham that still looked perfectly fine.

Having found what I came for, I left the supermarket and headed toward my planned destination. Thanks to the geographical knowledge I had gained during the Ansan Reclamation Campaign in my past life, finding my way was easy.

In the distance, a two-story traditional pavilion stood beside a lake. Next to the pavilion lay a shattered sign that read "Hwarang Lake." Across the water, the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art was visible.

I walked over to a small stream feeding into the lake and dipped my hand into the water.

The water of the small stream dyed a murky green. I scooped up some dirt to block the trickling flow, creating a small pool. Once the Spawning Pool was complete, I dropped the ham from the can into it. As the meat dissolved completely and vanished, a new message popped up.

Even to breed a single Void Grub—the cheapest unit—I would need a hundred cans of food.

That's way too expensive.

Was the efficiency low because it was processed food? I summoned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Poppy and gave an order.

"Go catch a goblin and bring it to me."

"Woof!"

Wagging its tail, Poppy vanished into the city. A moment later, it returned with an eighty-centimeter-tall goblin clamped in its jaws. The goblin was still alive, its limbs flailing wildly. I raised my hand and pointed toward the Spawning Pool.

The moment the goblin fell into the Spawning Pool, its skin began to dissolve with a violent hiss. Its vocal cords must have been damaged, as it couldn't even scream before it melted away into nothingness.

"Hmm..."

The efficiency was better than before, but it was still a bit underwhelming. Still, having no other choice, I kept sending Poppy out to bring back more goblins.

Once I had gathered enough resources, I began producing Void Grubs.

Several ostrich-egg-sized eggs formed inside the Spawning Pool. Five minutes later, the eggs cracked open, and Void Grubs crawled out.

With Poppy hunting and the Void Grubs transporting the carcasses, resource harvesting would become much faster.

"Go gather resources."

The Void Grubs, which had been huddled in front of me, scurried out of the stream and headed toward Hwarang Lake.

"Huh? Why are you going over there?"

Poppy had gone toward the city, so there shouldn't be any goblin carcasses near the lake. Ignoring my confusion, the Void Grubs clung to the trees near the shore and began stripping away the bark.

"...No way."

On a whim, I snapped off a branch about the size of my forearm and tossed it into the Spawning Pool.

"...Holy crap."

The Void Grubs were already marching back toward the Spawning Pool, carrying twigs and clumps of grass in their mouths.