Korean Coffee Mix Is the Best in the World!

That dreamlike twenty-four-hour leave.

No idea when I'd get another one, so I spent as much time with Mom as I could.

She'd taken a serious hit discovering that her only family—her son—had become a daughter!

Still, a full day of hard work went a long way toward smoothing over the awkwardness, which was a relief.

Alright. Time to head back into the Tower's basement.

My feet already felt heavy.

Dim lighting somewhere. And a faint smell—disinfectant? Bleach? The kind of place that reeked of that. Ugh, gross.

If I wanted to go home again, I'd need another leave of absence, which meant working hard, right?

To earn leave, I had to do the jobs the system handed me. And while I worked, I'd probably pick up leads on Lost Items, too.

Positive mindset. That was key!

"Gimme work!"

Ding!

It actually came!

That nasty little notification sound!

A quest the second I stepped into the Breakroom. Just how badly had it wanted to put me to work?

Find it within an hour?

Seriously? This brutal of a mission the second I clock in?!

But leave was on the line. This was not a job I could give up on…! And I couldn't afford to fail!

"Something to do in the office? What am I even supposed to do in an office?"

The office probably meant Floor –2.

As the basement manager, what was I supposed to handle on Floor –2? Figuring that out in an hour was the whole point of this quest.

"Work. What kind of work. What I need to do… turning off computers?"

Should I just shut down every computer that was on? Yeah—each one of those things had to be eating power like crazy. Cutting down on the Tower's energy waste was a manager's duty!

"What the hell. Why won't this turn off."

It wouldn't shut down. I mashed the power button, even yanked the plug—zero reaction.

Nope. This wasn't it. This was not my job.

So what else would a manager like me reasonably be doing?

I had no idea! And fifteen minutes were already gone!!!

Come to think of it…

When I'd signed the contract yesterday, the aptitude evaluation had clearly said that Entities were assets of the Tower. That meant managing Entities might be part of my actual job!

Entities. That would be…

Yesterday, when I'd gone outside, I'd looked up a bunch of unfamiliar terms. An Entity, put simply, meant an "individual" or a "being."

So managing a specific individual somewhere in the office was my work!

And that individual was probably the screaming office worker I'd seen the day before yesterday. The employee wailing that he didn't want to work.

But that monster. He'd looked terrifying.

If this wasn't the right answer, I was going to get grabbed by that thing and die horribly. A gamble with my life on the line!

I slowly approached the unpleasant presence I'd seen the day before yesterday.

Zzzt—!

"Huh?"

A sudden notification. At the same time my vision stuttered like static had cut through it, then snapped back to normal.

"W-what… why does he look like a person…?"

Yesterday he'd been a nightmare—a huge sphere for a head, arms and legs stretched so unnaturally long his clothes had torn. Today he just looked like an ordinary office worker.

Slumped shoulders. A face worn down by the weight of the entire world's worries. Male. More precisely, a middle-aged guy with a beard.

So managing that Entity is my job, right?

I had to find the work for the quest to clear, so I might as well talk to him. At least he didn't feel particularly dangerous today.

"U-um, excuse me?"

I carefully approached and spoke up. The office-worker ajusshi, who'd been staring a hole through his monitor, creaked his head around toward me.

"Manager. What is it."

"Ah, well, uh…"

What? He answered like it was the most natural thing in the world??? And how did ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he even know I was the manager?

"A manager. Is a manager."

"Ahaha. R-right. Of course."

"So. What do you need. I'm rather busy."

"Ah, well. Um…"

A manager was a manager. I didn't fully get it, but the bottomless sigh and bone-deep exhaustion in the office worker's voice somehow made me accept it.

Maybe once I'd gained Manager Authority, Entities stopped seeing me as an enemy to attack and started treating me like some kind of floor admin—an NPC of the Tower, basically.

"Is there anything I could help you with?"

"Help… not particularly… no…"

"Then how about I make you a cup of coffee?"

"What…!? C-coffee!? You mean actual coffee?"

"H-hold on a second! Please calm down!"

What was with this guy all of a sudden?! His eyes had gone huge. Was he a coffee addict!?

Well—I'd packed plenty of snacks and supplies from the fridge in the Breakroom, and I'd even brought a coffee pot from home. The Breakroom sink had infinite water, so coffee was easy. Just pour hot water. Was that really something to freak out over?

"Coffee… so it actually exists…"

"Huh? Of course it does?"

"I've only ever encountered it in records."

"What? There's no coffee he— oh."

Right. Of course there was no coffee here. Why had I assumed there would be? Finding coffee in a place this bizarre would have been the weirder outcome.

"Coffee… if I could just take in some caffeine… I would be willing to die…"

"No, wait! Don't start dying already! I'll make it right now!"

I still didn't fully understand, but I'd found something to do!

My first task in the Floor –2 office: brew coffee for the office-worker ajusshi!

Ding!

One day of leave added! And I got Almond Water, too!

That easy? What, was manager work no big deal after all?

"Ta-da! Here you go! It's instant mix coffee, but that's fine, right?"

"……"

"Ueh…? H-hey? Are you actually crying?"

"Manager. You are… a truly remarkable person."

"Huh…? Ehh?"

What was with this guy?! Korean coffee mix tasted amazing, sure, but enough to cry over? Why was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he weeping so bitterly over a single cup of coffee? Was it really that big a deal?

No way! This was just the world stacking the deck ridiculously in my favor!

A basement Entity crying in front of me over one cup of mix coffee—did that even make sense?

Apparently it did.

The Floor –2 office-worker ajusshi let tears roll down his face as he cradled the paper cup in both hands like something precious, savoring the coffee.

"This is… the bitterness of coffee. And the sweetness… it feels as though my very soul is being healed."

"Does it suit your taste? I mean—is it really that good?"

"In all the time since I was born discarded in a corner of the basement… this is the most rapturous moment of my existence."

Complete satisfaction. I could tell from his face alone. The worry-worn office worker was starting to look like a man with hope for life and a whole philosophy of existence packed into his expression…!

"Um… Manager."

"Yes. Yes?"

"Would it be alright… if I asked you for coffee again… from time to time."

"Of course. It's not hard or anything."

"Truly… thank you so much. It seems I've found one more reason to keep living."

"Haha… i-is it really that big a deal…?"

"To me, it is exactly that big a deal, Manager. If you ever need help going forward—please say the word. As far as my strength reaches, I will assist you."

"H-hypothetically… what kind of help could you even give?"

Honestly, I had no idea what this guy could do. At a glance he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just looked like a weird person staring at a glowing monitor all day. How was he supposed to help me?

"For a very brief moment. I can turn off the Tower's lights."

"Huh? Turn off the lights?"

"Yes. Click—and off they go. Only for a very short while, though."

Turn off the lights? What did that even mean? What happened if the Tower's lights went out?

"When the lights go out, even if only for a moment, the distinctions of difficulty and floor become meaningless."

"No, hold on! That means…"

"The Tower will become Hell. Only for an instant. But I believe that instant alone is more than enough."

If this office-worker ajusshi shut ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠off the Tower's lights, difficulty ranks and floor separations would vanish and everything would tangle into chaos—break down completely. Put simply, a 90th-floor boss monster could crawl out onto the 1st floor.

"Shall I try turning them off once, as a test?"

"N-no! Nonono! We're good!"

If the lights went out, everyone would die! No exaggeration—everyone! Borders wouldn't matter. Total annihilation.

"A shame."

"Not a shame at all!"

Hunters of the Tower—today, I just saved all your lives…

"Something else! Don't you have anything else!?"

"Something else… if it's something that might please the Manager… aah. How about this."

The office worker pulled a small monitor out of a drawer. About the size of a smartphone. Rechargeable, apparently.

"A small token of my goodwill for you, Manager."

"What is this? What can I do with it?"

"You can monitor climbers."

"What?"

Monitor? The act of watching a target or situation—tracking progress, status, and changes, and gathering whatever information you needed. That was possible?

"Whether they're outside the Tower or inside it—as long as the target is a climber, you can see them."

"Ooh…!?"

I could see every climber? Wasn't this basically a clairvoyance cheat? What an insane item!

"However, you must know the name and face of the climber you wish to observe."

Famous climbers were basically public figures, so learning their names and faces was easy. Korean rankers, well-known overseas hunters—plenty of those faces were common knowledge.

Ding!

"W-whoa…!"

It was even a Lost Item! Acquiring a Relic on my very first day as manager?

Then again, real-time climber intel was absurdly useful, so maybe it tracked.

"Thank you! I'll make you more coffee later!"

"Heh heh heh… I'll be looking forward to it, Manager."

I hugged the little monitor to my chest and hurried into the Breakroom.

Ziiing.

I pressed the power button. The screen lit up, and almost immediately began projecting the person I wanted to see.

"This is… actually real."

The one I'd chosen to watch was Korea's Rank 3 hunter—Kang Haesol.

Among the Korean hunters whose faces and names I knew, she held the highest rank. She'd already been fairly famous as a model, then rocketed to even greater fame after joining the vanguard raid team only two months after becoming a hunter. A genuine superstar. Any Korean who didn't know Kang Haesol was basically living under a rock.

Zzzt.

We're fucking screwed…

Kang Haesol's face and voice spilled from the screen, and the situation around her came into view.

"Where is this supposed to be."

Probably the 27th floor—or maybe the 28th?

In a snowfield, Kang Haesol clutched an injured arm through her heavy coat and kept muttering curses under her breath.

At this rate we're wiped out. We have to go down.

But… if we fail the raid again, the backlash over falling approval ratings is going to be vicious.

Jincheol, are you out of your mind? Why the hell should we care about those bastards' approval ratings? We can't all just die here!

What can we do? Blame the fact that every other country has fire mages and Korea somehow doesn't.

A bunch of unfamiliar people filled the screen. All of them were shivering. Poor things.

These people are the members of the vanguard raid team.

Plenty of them had never had their faces or names released to the press. Unexpected upside, then—being able to gather intel even on people I didn't know was a huge advantage. If I kept expanding my observation targets like this, eventually I'd be able to monitor just about any climber.

Whether a talented fire mage shows up in Korea, or we borrow the Flame Emperor's Sword from Japan—we need another way. Raising cold resistance doesn't do a damn thing. At this rate, we'll never take down the Frost Witch.

So we can't get past the wall of the 28th floor…

In the end, the raid team couldn't endure the blizzard and bailed out of the 28th floor.

So that was it—they couldn't clear it because of the cold.

Now I finally understood why they'd been stuck at the 27th. It was just too freezing to climb!

Ding!

"Huh?"

Agni's Heart? Wasn't Agni a god of fire? The kind that showed up as a fire deity in games all the time…

If I didn't know, I should look it up!

I immediately connected to the Babel Tower Gallery. Searching for Agni's Heart brought up a flood of posts. Looks like the rumor mill had already run this one around once.

In short, it was an incredibly important item for clearing the 28th floor right now?

And if I just went down to Floor 3, they'd hand it over for free?!

What even was the basement.

I make one cup of coffee and get a Lost Item for free. I go down to Floor –3 and they toss out a mythic-grade item as a quest reward. The basement… this place was just handing out freebies left and right…!