How to Earn 500 Million in 3 Days (1)
Congratulations!
You have cleared the 29th floor.
Clear Time: 1 minute 47 seconds.
Would you like to register anonymously on the Hall of Fame? (Y/N)
The Recovery Fairy Dragon's additional effect has activated.
Mid-floor clear rewards have been distributed.
Five-floor shortest record achievement bonus rewards have been distributed.
Choi Junseok immediately returned to Lee Jiyu's house.
Lee Jiyu's eyes widened in surprise.
“You already cleared the 29th floor?”
“That's right.”
Lee Nayeon clicked her tongue at Choi Junseok's tone, as if the question itself was absurd.
This was…
Basically the speed of a bathroom break. No, honestly, it was even faster than that.
He hadn't even given her time to get sentimental over Choi Byeong-ryeol's belongings.
Recalling when she had climbed the Magic Tower with Choi Junseok, she nodded to herself.
If it had taken longer, that would have been stranger.
What came next was even more bewildering: the black baby dragon Choi Junseok summoned.
The creature that materialized in the air tilted its head and looked up at Lee Jiyu.
Its expression seemed to say, “Who are you?” and “Why are you here?” It was almost offensive.
“This is my house, you know?”
“Kyarek?”
Kkamdori simply tilted its head again, as usual.
“Well… it is kind of cute.”
Song Hana and Lee Nayeon hadn't entered the tower with them in the first place.
Song Hana sensed Kkamdori's presence and came running. The house was so large that it took her dozens of seconds just to cross the living room from afar.
“Kkamdoooriiiii!”
“Kyarek?”
“Ah, so its name is Kkamdori.”
Song Hana threw her arms around Kkamdori in a big hug.
It looked fluffy and soft, like embracing an incredibly plush doll. Lee Jiyu, feeling a twinge of envy, reached out without thinking.
Chomp!
Kkamdori, still in Song Hana's arms, snapped at Lee Jiyu's hand.
All three of them were startled.
“A-are you okay?!”
Song Hana cried out in alarm and pried Kkamdori's mouth open.
Choi Junseok worried that her hand might have been severed, but Yu Junhyeok quickly reassured the startled man.
Choi Junseok's panic was simple: he needed to secure five hundred million won within three days. The last thing he could afford was Lee Jiyu's medical bills piling up right now.
— It is fine. Thou art unharmed.
Yu Junhyeok's senses had accurately assessed the injury. His words proved true.
“Ow, that scared me…”
Song Hana pulled Lee Jiyu's hand free from between Kkamdori's jaws.
Fortunately, she wasn't hurt. Instead, she gently patted Kkamdori's head. The dragon narrowed its eyes in displeasure at first, but soon relaxed under her touch and lost its hostility.
Back to its usual self, Kkamdori purred contentedly at the petting.
“Even its mouth is soft.”
“Really?”
Song Hana's eyes sparkled. She looked ready to offer her own arm for Kkamdori to bite.
“I don't think you need to let it bite you. Its teeth are small, like a cat's.”
Before long, Song Hana naturally handed Kkamdori over to Lee Jiyu.
The dragon nestled into her arms, tilting its head at the fluffy, warm sensation. A smile formed on her lips.
“It's cute.”
That hadn't been the goal. Choi Junseok had summoned it to check what items Kkamdori had absorbed, but this was fine too.
Important items probably hadn't dropped anyway. If items rained down on every floor every single day, players wouldn't be desperately farming the same floors over and over. They would just climb straight up.
“This is what matters.”
A small box appeared on Choi Junseok's palm.
The bonus reward for breaking the shortest record across five consecutive floors.
Every time, these boxes had yielded either valuable items or stat-boosting ones.
The reason he had been able to clear the 29th floor in under one minute and forty seconds was thanks to the Blink skill rune he had obtained from one of these bonus boxes.
“Come onnn… give me something good!”
Even without Choi Junseok saying anything, Song Hana immediately cast a blessing on the bonus box, as if she already knew what to do.
Usually, these boxes produced items that accelerated a player's growth. Even if the items were bound, it didn't matter.
He just needed something worth at least five hundred million won. No, after taxes and transaction fees, he needed something worth eight or nine hundred million at minimum.
Choi Junseok briefly recalled the items currently in his inventory.
1. Excalibur, the Promised King's Sword (Transcendent)
2. Perfect Healing Potion x 11
3. Recovery Fairy Dragon (Legendary)
4. Hephaestus's Blacksmith Entry Ticket (Mythic)
5. Spatial Summoning Magic Circle (Legendary)
6. Kim Chun-sik's Longsword (Unique)
7. Magic Tower High-Pass Entry Ticket (Legendary)
8. Lethe's Scissors (Mythic)
9. Magic Tower Return Scroll x 1
Would you like to use the Bonus Reward Box? (Y/N)
Choi Junseok pressed Y without hesitation. With a pop, an item slowly materialized.
“Area Magic Nullification Scroll…?”
Choi Junseok immediately used Appraisal.
◈ Removes all magic, diseases, curses, and derived status effects within a 100-meter radius.
◈ Usage: Tear the scroll.
Choi Junseok clicked his tongue. The item looked useful and useless at the same time. He wondered if Song Hana's prayer buff was finally wearing off.
Lee Jiyu, on the other hand, let out an impressed “Oh!”
“That's an item top-floor raid teams use a lot.”
“A lot?”
Did that mean there was plenty of supply?
“I don't know the exact market price, but it should easily go for over seven hundred million.”
Seven hundred million for a single consumable. It really drove home how astronomical the spending was for top-floor raid teams attempting a single floor.
“That's why teams farming the mid-floors repeatedly go after scroll and healing potion rewards.”
“Still, I won't trust the listed prices anymore.”
Even for items in the ten-million-won range, after all the fees and cuts, players only received about forty-five percent of the sale price.
If you sold a hundred-won item, the player only pocketed around forty-five won.
Even as he said this, Choi Junseok snapped a photo of the price and sent it to Team Leader Kang.
— This is an item the Player Management Agency is buying in unlimited quantities. The current official purchase price is 632 million won. The top-floor raid teams are in a rest period, so prices have dipped a bit. Are you planning to sell now?
— I'll hold off for now.
— Confirmed 29th floor clear. Good luck on the 30th floor.
“Tch, those guys. They say prices dropped because the upper-floor raids are in a reorganization period?”
“The raid teams are reorganizing, but the top rankers aren't just sitting on their entry tickets. Even if it's just soloing lower floors, they're still climbing.”
With each entry ticket potentially worth tens to hundreds of millions, it made sense.
“If we assume half goes to taxes, conservatively we're looking at around three hundred million.”
“Should I really try clearing the 100th floor of Kaesong Magic Tower and demand tax exemption privileges?”
It would mean risking his life, but the murderous tax rate made the thought tempting. Income over one billion won was taxed at forty-five percent.
Even as a player, he couldn't escape that tax framework.
“Wow… still, you've already earned half of the five hundred million in just one day? At this rate, it might actually be possible.”
What kind of player who hadn't even reached the 30th floor was pulling in hundreds of millions in cash per day?
Lee Jiyu suddenly let out a dry laugh.
“You might actually buy a house like this soon.”
“Have you ever earned ten billion from Magic Tower profits?”
“……No? I've never made that kind of money even before taxes.”
Even as an S-rank ranker, she had never earned ten billion from Magic Tower runs. It was only natural. Despite being active as a player for a little over six years, ten billion wasn't pocket change. If that kind of money came easily, players would retire immediately and live safely instead of desperately climbing towers.
You would need to obtain tradable legendary-grade items to reach tens of billions in profit.
Even then, if there were other party or raid members, the profits would be split according to the distribution ratio.
“Lately, I've become even more certain. If you want to make real money in Korea, you have to run a business.”
Lee Jiyu shrugged as if to say “do what you want.” After all, the house she lived in had been bought mostly with business and broadcasting income rather than pure player earnings.
Money earned as a player was no different from a high-income salaried worker making hundreds of millions annually.
“Being a player is perfect for a side job. Especially for someone like you.”
Players usually spent dozens of hours on preparation—coordinating with teammates, memorizing strategies—while actual time spent inside the tower was at most two or three hours a day.
Except for special floors, the maximum time one could stay inside a Magic Tower was only that long.
Yet Function spent less than ten minutes inside the tower and didn't even seem to study strategies for the 29th floor.
It was a life where you popped in for a moment and hundreds of millions in cash poured out.
“Running a business sounds incredibly stressful. Why not just live comfortably?”
“Then I'll run a business that doesn't cause stress.”
She could only nod, thinking he really didn't understand.
“Do you know there's a hidden clear condition on the 31st floor?”
Choi Junseok's eyes widened.
“There is?”
“If you recruit the leader of the low-ranking samurai that appear there instead of killing him, the floor clears immediately. There's even a hidden clear reward.”
“……Sounds like a hassle just hearing about it.”
“Well… I just thought I'd mention it. It came to mind while watching you open the bonus box.”
Still, it was valuable information. Details about hidden rewards were known only to a small number of rankers and weren't something even the Player Management Agency would share.
“From the 31st floor onward, martial artists appear. Think of them as humanoid monsters, but the problem is they feel too human. You can even talk to them. If it messes with your head, using the elevator might be better.”
“Hmm… it'll probably be fine.”
Honestly, Choi Junseok thought he could kill them if needed. But he didn't want to force that feeling of murder onto Song Hana and Lee Nayeon.
The Magic Tower had such a cruel side.
“Be careful on the 30th floor tomorrow. The 30th floor boss usually requires a dozen or so challengers… If it seems dangerous, should I come with you? I can tell the guild I can't climb tomorrow……”
“Why would I go tomorrow?”
“……?”
“I'm climbing today.”
Lee Jiyu asked as if it were obvious.
“I was wondering about that. How are you clearing two floors in one day?”
“State secret.”
“……Of course it is.”
Where else would an ordinary player earn money?
By climbing the Magic Tower.
Lee Nayeon had been about to share some tips, thinking he was finally preparing properly for the 30th floor, when—
“Before we go in, one thing……”
Choi Junseok immediately entered the 30th floor in succession, transforming into a streak of light and vanishing.
He ignored the warning window asking if he really intended to enter the 30th floor alone.
Lee Jiyu's words hung in the air.