Hephaestus's Forge (1)
“What do you mean, what’s my identity? I’m an F-grade porter.”
“…Cut the bullshit.”
Lee Jiyu stood before the devastated tenth floor.
The two summons had been called forth once more.
Song Hana whistled softly, equally stunned.
“You were flashy on the ninth floor too, but you really went all out here! That was amazing!”
“The record you’ve set so far… it wasn’t just because of your summons?”
She had already witnessed the two summons’ power when they slew the great warrior moments earlier.
Lee Jiyu was no fool.
She understood that he was using Inventory Master in some way to reach an extraordinary level.
Such people existed from time to time—those who displayed skills far beyond their rank.
Usually it was the result of rare items, artifacts, or an uncanny synergy between skills.
‘But no matter how I look at it, this goes way beyond normal skill usage.’
A rumor suddenly surfaced in her mind—the one that occasionally circulated among high-ranking players about transcendent awakeners.
“You… don’t tell me you’re that transcendent awakener? Is it you?”
It was one of those half-joking stories upper-rank players sometimes tossed around.
‘Maybe re-awakening really exists?’
Or a second awakening, or a transcendent awakening—some power that completely overshadowed the first.
But while the rumors were endless, no actual transcendent awakener had ever appeared.
Most dismissed it as idle industry gossip.
Choi Junseok stared down at the muttering Lee Jiyu with a blank expression, then casually tossed her the key.
Handing it over before they even left the tower was both a provocation and a display of composure.
Lee Jiyu could no longer deny or refuse to acknowledge his strength.
She caught the key with both hands, her face still pale with shock.
“That sword that fell earlier… what exactly is it?”
Choi Junseok answered as the return portal began to scatter his vision.
“Don’t try to figure it out. Just accept it.”
There was no need to explain everything.
Besides, she would accept it anyway.
How could she not believe what she had seen with her own eyes?
If anything, people would refuse to believe her if she tried to tell them.
Lee Jiyu clicked the YES button on the return prompt that appeared before her.
─┼
As expected of the tenth floor’s difficulty, his level had risen explosively.
When they defeated the three troll mid-bosses, his level climbed by two, one, and two respectively. The moment the Warlord fell, it jumped another five.
Nine levels in total—an absurd surge.
His level had reached thirty in one go.
Back at Choi Junseok’s house, Lee Jiyu grabbed him the moment they returned.
“Explain. How are you that strong?”
“Items.”
“…What?”
“I picked up some items. Really good ones. You should’ve been able to guess that much after seeing it.”
She had, in fact, guessed as much.
She simply couldn’t bring herself to believe it.
Choi Byeong-ryeol had said there was only one man who could clear Suseo Magic Tower.
It seemed he had been right.
Plenty of people cleared the tenth floor.
Some rankers might even do it in under thirty seconds.
But no player had ever destroyed both the floor boss and the very ground it stood on.
Lee Jiyu took a deep breath and spoke.
“I’ve decided.”
“…?”
“I’m going to bet everything on you.”
“What the hell are you talking about? You’re still drunk.”
What was she suddenly going on about? He had no intention of accepting any bets in the first place.
Her words were more like a soliloquy to organize her own thoughts.
“I’ve decided to follow Choi Byeong-ryeol’s dream. I’ll cut back on modeling and entertainment work. From now on, I’m focusing entirely on climbing the towers, Choi Junseok.”
She sat on the floor and looked up at him with determined eyes, but Choi Junseok’s gaze remained as indifferent as a half-moon.
“And what am I supposed to do about that? Clap for you?”
“That ruthless side of yours! I like it. Do you have a girlfriend?”
Lee Jiyu, the tower star.
Between male celebrities and S-grade players alone, a dozen or so sent her Starstagram DMs every single day.
Yet here she was, openly showing interest in Choi Junseok.
Any normal man would have been flustered by such a provocative remark, but Choi Junseok simply sighed and pulled her to her feet.
“If you’re done, go home.”
“Oh my… sending me home at this hour without even feeding me? After everything we’ve been through?”
“What exactly have we been through? We don’t even have a relationship.”
“Implicit tower-climbing partners. Secret friends? The kind who look out for each other in the dark.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
‘Was she always like this…?’
Living between Lee Nayeon and Song Hana had apparently raised his tolerance for beautiful women, which was proving useful right now.
Still, her sudden attempt to close the distance made Choi Junseok deeply uncomfortable.
“Just go. I’ll look forward to not seeing you again.”
“Ha. You’re making me act all clingy. Fine. I’ll leave quietly today. But if you move or anything… you know I’ll follow you to the other side of the planet, right?”
He had already sensed it when she first showed up drunk at his door.
This woman was not normal either.
Lee Nayeon, sensing an overt stalker, spoke with tension in her voice.
“Shall I kill her?”
“Hoeh! You can’t kill people! Nayeon-nim!”
“Oh my… how scary. Or are you jealous?”
Lee Jiyu flashed a bright smile as she put on her shoes.
“Well, I’m sure we’ll run into each other again somewhere, somehow. Ah… Unnie, seriously consider the modeling offer. Here’s my card.”
Lee Nayeon tilted her head and accepted the card.
It read: Lee Jiyu, CEO of Super Sonic.
Song Hana answered in her place, oddly flustered.
“Th-that would be you, Unnie!”
“Oh my. If you’re pretty, you’re automatically Unnie. You too, Hana-unnie. Well then…”
Just as Lee Jiyu was about to open the door in her boots, she came face-to-face with Choi Junseok’s mother, who had stepped out to throw away the trash.
“Oh my… a woman coming out of my son’s house?”
And not just one—three women were visible in the doorway…
One of them was someone even Lee Jun-hui recognized.
“Huk! Isn’t that the celebrity Lee Jiyu?!”
“Lee Jiyu?! The Lee Jiyu?”
Choi Hye-ri, who had followed to help with the recycling, burst out the door in shock.
“Hieeeek!”
She was going to faint. She was actually going to faint.
Imagining what would come next, Choi Junseok quietly closed his eyes.
“I-it-it’s really Lee Jiyu! Why is Lee Jiyu here?! Oppa?!”
“Oppa?”
Lee Jiyu grinned and grabbed Lee Jun-hui’s hand.
“Oh my! Mother! Hello! It’s nice to finally meet you!”
“M-Mother? J-Junseok, what is this? What’s going on? Why is this person coming out of your house?!”
Choi Hye-ri, who had been hopping in excitement, quickly dropped the trash bag and dashed back inside.
“J-just a second! I’ll get some paper! Please sign it!”
“Oh my. An autograph? Would it be all right if I came inside? Ah, Mother, have you eaten dinner yet?”
Lee Jiyu refused to let go of Lee Jun-hui’s hand as she smiled warmly.
“Would it be okay if I stayed for dinner?”
─┼
And so, all six of them ended up eating dinner together.
“I’m sorry, I should’ve gone shopping. All we have is ramen. Haha. I was planning to just eat ramen today…”
“Oh, it’s fine, Mother! I love ramen!”
It was obviously a lie.
Choi Hye-ri, who knew the entertainment industry inside out, saw through it immediately.
“Unnie… are you really okay? Don’t you avoid carbs to maintain your figure? With the drama filming coming up…”
“Ah! That? That’s all just for the cameras. How could a Korean live without eating ramen?”
Song Hana muttered quietly, as if she had seen through everything with her divine power.
“L-lying without even wetting your lips is a bad thing…”
Lee Jiyu shot Song Hana a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Hik… I take it back…”
Of course she would.
Lee Jiyu was famous for never touching carb-heavy foods like ramen in order to maintain her figure.
She quickly changed the subject, playing the role of the perfect daughter-in-law while Lee Jun-hui cooked ramen in the kitchen.
As expected of a professional actress, her composure was flawless.
“Mother, is there really nothing I can help with? I’ll do the dishes after we eat!”
Choi Hye-ri, who had already received photos and autographs, spoke excitedly.
“My mom makes the best ramen!”
“Aigoo… what are you saying? This is the first time I’ve cooked six packs at once…”
It was true.
Ramen and street food were cheaper than rice, so there had been plenty of days when they ate nothing but ramen.
“I’ll carry it.”
Lee Nayeon, who had been watching her superior cook stew, effortlessly lifted the pot.
Thud.
A massive pot filled with enough ramen for six people.
She had thrown in all six packs at once.
Lee Nayeon’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the food.
While she sat properly and stared at the pot, Choi Junseok distributed chopsticks and bowls.
‘I distinctly remember telling them they could use Team Leader Kang’s card for food and ingredients…’
Why ramen?
They must be sick of it by now.
At least he was.
‘Maybe… they’re short on money?’
Choi Junseok realized there were things he needed to ask later.
After all, the family’s finances were entirely dependent on him now.
They had a house, but the government could take it back at any time.
They could spend money freely, but none of it was actually theirs.
‘I’ve been too focused on climbing the tower.’
His mother and sister’s lives had only changed in terms of housing.
While housing was important, a real improvement in their quality of life required more fundamental changes.
He still had a long way to go.
Just like the ninety floors still left to climb.
“Everyone, dig in!”
Lee Nayeon sat properly and gazed at the pot.
It was just ramen with a single egg and some green onions from the freezer.
“Is this Eternal Stew?”
“Thank you for the meal.”
“Oh my! Mother, your cooking is wonderful!”
“Really? I only added green onions and an egg.”
“Of course. That’s not easy at all!”
“Hoeh… why is the ramen broth red?”
─┼
After Choi Junseok consecutively cleared the ninth and tenth floors, a different kind of emergency arose.
It concerned which S-grade player had set the record for clearing the tenth floor with only two people.
The Hall of Fame listed it as Anonymous and 1 other (S-grade).
“I believe it’s simply a playful act of defiance from an S-grade player who doesn’t want Function to take the tenth-floor record as well.”
“That aside, Function will be attempting the tenth floor tomorrow. It’s no easy floor. How about providing him with sufficient weapons and equipment?”
Weapons and equipment…
Items that surpassed the ordinary shop gear that wasn’t soul-bound.
Items made exclusively for tower players.
Team Leader Kang was currently investigating items that had been bound to someone else but were now useless to their owners, all for Choi Junseok’s sake.
However, he didn’t mention this to the director.
The ripple effect of possessing Lethe’s Scissors was enormous.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that a single mythic-grade item could shift the balance of power in the world and spark wars.
“By the way, I heard North Korea is still searching for the second Function.”
“They’re still looking?”
“They’re apparently determined to find every single F-grade player, even if it means investigating the entire population.”
“Thanks to Function, North Korea is wasting an enormous amount of manpower and administrative resources.”
“Exactly. He’s doing quite a lot of good in many ways. And that’s not all. I heard the National Intelligence Service caught two spies because of him.”
“…Because of Function?”
The director nodded with an expression of pure pride.
“Apparently North Korea is desperately trying to determine whether the South Korean Function’s actions were real or not. Thanks to that, the NIS had an easier time identifying suspicious individuals. A couple of them took the bait.”
“He really is accomplishing a lot.”
“So support him properly. That’s what I’m saying.”
“Understood, Director. I’ll make sure there are no shortcomings.”
“The tenth floor is the problem. The tenth floor. Every tenth floor is a raid floor.”
“I thought it would be a problem at first too, but strangely enough, I’m starting to believe in him.”
“If even a pessimist like you is saying that… he must really be the real deal.”
Of course, neither of them knew that Choi Junseok had already cleared the tenth floor without their knowledge.
“We’re continuously monitoring Function’s level. We’ll provide him with any equipment he can equip without holding back.”
“Good. We can’t afford to waste such a valuable asset on the tenth floor.”
However, the director, who wasn’t a player himself, didn’t understand.
There was no equipment that could be crafted in the real world or traded that would satisfy Function.
Even if such items existed, they could only be obtained through auctions worth hundreds of billions.
Around the same time, Function—Choi Junseok—was finding the solution to that problem on his own.
“This entry ticket isn’t single-use, right?”
“Hah. Do you think the Sword God would keep something so cheap in his inventory?”
A mythic-grade item.
It was a conversation between the Sword God and Choi Junseok regarding the Hephaestus’s Blacksmith Entry Ticket.
“My holy sword was also crafted there.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
When Choi Junseok pressed the use button on the ticket, a blazing red portal that looked extremely dangerous appeared before them.