Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: What's All the Fuss About That Money?
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Name: Ramju Thunder.
Age: 2 years old.
Gender: Male.
This mountain squirrel, twenty years old in human terms, was now facing the greatest crisis of his life.
The culprit was the new recruit who'd recently rolled in.
"Ooh, alloy club, oh alloy club. Look at this dazzling sheen...! The ultimate destructive weapon in the world! The inventor must be a god!"
Clap! Clap!
Look at that nauseating display...
Kim Ji-woo, the human leader of the team, was cradling the black alloy club the new recruit had gifted him yesterday like a newborn baby.
That rapturous, idiotic grin was seriously pissing him off.
And beside him, the culprit new recruit was clapping enthusiastically in support.
For some reason, Thunder found the newbie who could only clap even more annoying.
"Chit..."
So what about that stupid club...
—But he couldn't say that, having witnessed its power with his own eyes.
Ever since switching weapons, the tough golems on floors 6 through 9 were shattering in a single swing from Ji-woo's club.
Maybe a good weapon just felt that great in the hand. These days, during repeat clears, Ji-woo was eagerly charging ahead of the others, reveling in the fights.
And the one who'd made it all so easy was that terrifying newbie Frankenstein!
Ramju Thunder was now sensing a major threat to his position within the team.
"Chiiik..."
Hmm...
Ramju Thunder rested his little squirrel chin on his tiny squirrel paw, lost in deep thought.
What was the difference between him and that cocky newbie?
Strength? They could both one-shot a golem, so probably even.
Durability? Unlike the glass-cannon Thunder, the newbie was sturdy enough to serve as a shield protecting the vital leader Kim Ji-woo.
Mana? Thunder had suspiciously high mana, but with no magic skills to use, it was pointless.
Stamina? No comparison to an inexhaustible golem.
With every comparison, Ramju Thunder's face paled.
The worst possible future began painting itself in his tiny squirrel brain.
"What~? You still haven't evolved? Oh~ me~ what am I gonna do with you, you useless little rat!?"
"No special abilities... no evolution... what can you even do?"
"Eh, now that we have Frank for hunting, we don't need this rat anymore. Just a precious(?) coffee bean guzzler... rot away forever in that empty white sub-space waiting room!!"
"Chiiiik!!"
Nooooo!!
As he shrieked, both the human and the rock noticed him.
That pitying look in the human's eyes, like he was the most pathetic thing alive!
The worst future he'd just imagined flashed before him. Ramju Thunder sprang into action.
Time to appeal with his unique talent—one the newbie could never imitate.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh—
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh—
"......What are you doing? You're making me dizzy."
Ramju Thunder zipped back and forth in interval sprints with explosive agility no slowpoke golem could match.
The newbie clapped clap-clap in approval, but the human clutched his throbbing forehead, eyes spinning.
And with an irritated swipe, he batted away the frantically performing Thunder.
"Stop being annoying and go play over there, punk."
"Chit!?"
How dare he say something so cruel to this body!?
Stunned by the verbal abuse, Ramju Thunder bolted to the mirror.
Reflected there was the cutest, most perfect creature in the world.
And yet he'd spew such insults at this face...!
Kim Ji-yeon, the leader's little sister, cooed over how cute he was every day and even brushed his fur.
Why wouldn't this human worship such perfection...?
"Chit... chit-chit...!"
Yeah... it had to be that cocky newbie's fault...!
Ever since he showed up, this was how he'd been treated...!
Ramju Thunder remained completely oblivious to the fact that Ji-woo's attitude toward him hadn't changed at all before or after Frankenstein arrived.
Clunk.
"Chit!?"
As he glared daggers, the newbie suddenly turned his head this way.
Thunder quickly averted his eyes and feigned innocence, but the golem rose with a clunk-clunk and approached.
A bit tense, Ramju Thunder struck a pose.
"Chit! Chit-chit?"
You wanna go?
But what Frankenstein offered the bristling Ramju Thunder... was a tiny suit-like doll outfit.
"Chit...?"
Clunk.
The golem nodded as if to say, Try it on.
Thunder dazedly slipped into the suit.
It was lightweight, comfortable, and offered solid defense against external attacks—a perfect piece of gear.
Lifting his arms revealed wing-like flaps underneath.
This was a flying squirrel suit!
Thunder scampered up to the top of a tall bookshelf and leaped off with gusto.
The flying squirrel suit spread wide for an exhilarating glide show!
"Chit-chiiiik—!"
Ji-woo, who'd watched the entire farce, could only let out a hollow chuckle.
"Man... is there anyone else in the world this simple?"
Of course, Ji-woo loved Ramju Thunder's sheer simplicity.
"Alright, I'm off then. ...But bro, you're really not coming this time either?"
"Where am I supposed to go? I've got work."
"It's not like the world will end if you take a day or two off..."
"Nah, forget it. I'll just end up fighting with Grandpa. Take that money and deliver it properly. It has to go to Grandma, right? If you give it to Grandpa, he'll throw a fit about never taking my money, even if he dies."
"Even so, what do you mean 'throw a fit' about Grandpa?"
Today was the day his sister headed to their countryside grandparents' house.
As a high school senior, she might find it burdensome to visit during summer break... but with their only son in that state, someone had to check in occasionally.
He'd love to go himself, but after one big blowout, he and Grandpa weren't on speaking terms.
Instead, he'd stuffed a thick envelope of cash into her hands and sent her off.
After she left early that morning, he did his daily grind: manual labor, repeat clears in the tower, then back home for some beer and chicken.
"Chit. Chit-chit."
"I said no beer. Have some chicken and coffee beans, punk."
"Chiiik..."
"Oh, right. No Ji-yeon today, so... Summon Frankenstein."
Clunk.
Unlike Thunder, who could pass as a pet squirrel, Frank lived in the stuffy sub-space waiting room.
He never complained... but it was best to let him out when possible.
Time for a modest party today.
He'd sip his beer and chicken while checking his accumulated rewards.
Thunder could gorge on chicken, coffee beans, and fruit.
Frank couldn't eat, so he'd put on some National Geographic. Luckily, he was watching with rapt interest.
With his companions entertained, Ji-woo tallied his magic stones and drops, then picked up his latest dilemma.
"Hmm— I really can't decide."
The dilemma was the Star Fragment, newly completed from five pieces.
Why the hesitation? Hadn't he decided on Taming level-up no matter what?
That was the problem—it wasn't an option.
The Star Fragment's wishes couldn't duplicate previous ones—a stingy rule.
To be precise, he had to use the remaining two: 'Random Skill Acquisition' or 'Random S-Rank Item Acquisition' to reset all three wishes.
And he couldn't decide between those two.
They both seemed equally valuable to him.
"Chit! Chit-chit!"
Clunk.
Having heard his companions' opinions, Ji-woo placed a hand on Frank's shoulder.
"Brother. You're the only one who gets me."
"Chit!? Chit... chit-chit!"
Anyway, enough joking.
No need to decide right now.
He was climbing the tower with plenty of leeway anyway.
He could push to floor 15 without agonizing and make both wishes at once.
Time to wrap up the golem section repeats soon, too.
"Let's see. We've stacked up a ton."
Magic stones from floors 1-10. The sacks were bursting at the seams.
Constant speedruns had amassed a fortune even in just ten floors.
Five mid-grade stones at ten million won each, and countless low-grade ones at fifty thousand.
Rough estimate: seventy million won combined.
It'd only been a couple months with Thunder and Frank, and he'd already made this much...
Enough to get buzzed without snacks.
Ji-woo rattled the sacks and boasted loudly.
"This adds up to seventy million won. Seventy million! Do you get it? I could buy whatever you want with this. What'll it be?"
"Chit-chit!"
Clunk.
"......"
Ji-woo shut his boastful mouth and quietly stowed the magic stone sacks.
What was with these guys and their massive scale?
Mountains, labs... seventy million wouldn't cut it—try seven hundred million.
And where the hell do coffee bean trees even exist, you idiots?
"Still... climbing the tower might let me buy a mountain or a lab for real someday."
Top hunters raked in otherworldly cash.
Sure, he was regulating liquidity now and stuck with day labor... but with his talents, it'd happen eventually. No doubt.
He itched to conquer the Challenge Tower ASAP, but rushing could ruin everything.
"No urgent need for big money anyway. Best to save up for now."
Avoiding cash-outs kept him off the radar unless absolutely necessary.
"Grandma~"
"Is my little pup here? Come on in. Hungry?"
"Yeah~ I wanna eat Grandma's cooking pronto, hehe."
"Aigoo, studying for exams must be exhausting. Come inside."
Grandma warmly patted her now-larger granddaughter's back in fervent welcome.
For the elderly, a monthly visit from a granddaughter was pure joy.
Nothing beat frequent visits—that was true filial piety.
Inside, Grandpa Ji-hwan sat on the sofa reading the newspaper. A peek showed tower-related news.
"Grampy~ I'm heeeere~"
"Good, good. ...That boy's not with you again."
"Ah, well, hehe... Bro's swamped with work..."
"What's so hard about sparing a day or two? He just doesn't wanna see me."
"N-nooo, that's not it..."
The cold war between Grandpa and her brother.
Ji-yeon was always the shrimp caught in the crossfire.
The rift stemmed from their parents in the capsules.
Grandpa insisted the living must live on and opposed Ji-woo's dropout, but Ji-woo wouldn't budge.
From eighteen, he'd earned via manual labor and part-time gigs; post-awakening, more labor and hunter jobs.
Grandpa despised his only grandson wasting his youth sustaining vegetative parents.
Every meeting devolved: one side urging to let parents go, the other insisting they'd awaken someday... until they stopped seeing each other.
Both sides made sense, so Ji-yeon sided with neither and suffered in the middle.
At dinner, Grandpa started nagging Ji-woo despite his absence.
"That boy's stubbornness must come from somewhere... never listens to a word."
"Aigoo, who else? He's just like you."
"Like me how?"
"You know damn well. Identical to you in your youth."
Ji-yeon nodded at Grandma's jab.
Ji-woo's bullheaded tenacity was pure Grandpa inheritance.
Dad often recounted how Grandpa unflinchingly cleared mountains of debt from Great-Grandpa through sheer grit.
Ji-woo had inherited that stubborn persistence completely—not Dad's son, but Grandpa's.
Aware or not, Ji-hwan coughed awkwardly and shook his head.
"Anyway, it's different from my day. Who knows when that tower'll be cleared—who knows when those kids'll wake. Why keep suffering? ...They wouldn't want their son slaving away."
"Enough now.... It's our Ji-yeon's visit day."
"...Sorry, dear."
"It's the truth, though..."
Ji-yeon shook her head at Grandpa's apology.
She empathized with both Grandpa and her brother.
Seeing her brother toil alone filled her with guilt and pity; sometimes she wondered if it was time to let parents go.
Yet hope lingered: what if a miracle drug emerged, or the tower got conquered?
And that ambivalence...
Extended to Grandpa Ji-hwan, who'd only ever scolded Ji-woo.
"If only I were a bit younger..."
After dinner, alone in the yard, Ji-hwan swallowed bitter tears, picturing his son.
Who'd abandon their child-couple to die?
A child dying first was the ultimate filial impiety—who'd doom their kid to that?
...Lately, it felt like heaven might grant a small wish.
"Cough! Cough! Kugh... aaah..."
The searing chest pain came with blood-mixed coughs.
Without telling his wife, the hospital diagnosis was mana poisoning—a sporadic hunter-era affliction.
No solid papers, but theories linked it to family awakeners boosting risk.
Couldn't burden his hunter grandson with that.
"Is heaven punishing this worthless fool who couldn't protect one child... or sending me first to spare him the impiety... heh."
Crafty insurers dodged coverage for tower-induced diseases with excuses.
Mana poisoning defied normal medicine, demanding absurd treatment costs.
No money to save son and daughter-in-law—where to get funds for this?
Ji-hwan was already contemplating death.