Frustration
"Haa... haa... huuu..."
Someone is rushing toward me as I gasp for air.
Even just seeing that slender silhouette, I knew it was Jin A-ram-seonsaeng from the medical team.
However, her face, coming into my view, was so blurry that I couldn't distinguish a single one of her delicate features.
"Potion!! Bring a high-grade potion! Hurry!"
She shouts roughly.
And the answers that follow.
"Jin-seonsaeng-nim, but you know we don't have much high-grade potion stock left."
"What did you say!? Can't you see someone is dying right now? Bring it immediately!! Right now!"
"But..."
Ah.
Even though my mind is hazy from excessive blood loss and I can't even accurately recognize the expressions of the people approaching...
I could understand this situation perfectly.
Yeah, that high-grade potion, which costs a fortune, would be a waste to use on me, someone who is bleeding out... and dying...
A dirty reality.
But...
The same words spill out of my own mouth, living in this dirty reality.
"Lo...low-grade, a low-grade potion is... hic... enough, Jin-seonsaeng-nim."
"Nonsense! With this level of injury and blood loss, it wouldn't be strange for even a player to die right now! Ugh! Move aside!"
Jin A-ram-seonsaeng pushes past two nurses, runs over herself, and soon heads back this way, clutching a bottle filled with red liquid.
"Hup...!"
As the sound of Jin-seonsaeng's urgent footsteps rushing toward me hits my ears, I finally let go of the thread of consciousness I had been barely holding onto.
Warm sunlight streaming through the window taps on my face, and the chirping of birds pleasantly rings in my ears.
"Huu... Ah, I collapsed, didn't I..."
Since I couldn't see the dreary ceiling of my rooftop room that always greeted me when I woke up, I was able to come to my senses quite quickly.
The sound of beeping medical equipment and the nose-stinging smell of medicine.
Opening my eyes on the hospital bed, I try to sit up.
Whoosh
Whoosh
I wave my arms and turn my head up, down, left, and right.
Shoulders that rotate so well.
A lower abdomen without a single drop of blood.
Even my left arm, which had been dangling, is attached perfectly, as if nothing had ever happened.
"Ah... it doesn't hurt..."
The fact that my body didn't hurt at all wasn't something I could just be happy about.
Click
Yeah, here it comes.
The hospital room door opens, and a sturdy, middle-aged man and a young woman with short hair enter.
"Section Chief Choi, Assistant Manager Lee, you've come..."
They don't answer as they look at me bowing my head in greeting.
The two of them have serious expressions.
For a moment, an awkward silence wraps around the three of us...
Eventually, I couldn't stand it and opened my mouth first.
"I'm... sorry. I failed... the 24th-floor raid... again."
"I thought as much. Well, I didn't expect anything anyway."
It wasn't a loud scolding, but it was a sentence clearly filled with contempt.
However, I was in no position to even show displeasure right now.
"I'm sorry for wasting the high-grade potion, which is already in short supply..."
Even though I had come back from the dead, I was still the sinner here.
"Well... the medical team couldn't just watch someone die, I suppose. Was it Jin A-ram-seonsaeng on duty yesterday? You're quite lucky."
An expression as if he were displeased that I had come back alive.
As Section Chief Choi's mouth closed again, I started pouring out words like someone whose weakness had been caught.
"Still, this 24th-floor raid wasn't completely in vain! I've gotten quite used to the Goblin's attack patterns, and I have quite a bit of Magic Crystals and materials for item crafting. If you look here-"
As I tried to open my inventory in the air to take out the items I had acquired, Section Chief Choi raised his hand to stop me.
"Stop, stop. Whether you go to the center or the black market, sell it on your own; why are you trying to take it out here?"
"Huh?"
At my surprised question, Section Chief Choi feigns ignorance.
"What do you mean by that, Section Chief Choi?"
As a player belonging to the Player Management Bureau, I report and return all loot obtained from the Tower of Trials to the Bureau. Then, the principle is for the Bureau to pay me compensation based on a fair market price.
Selling it directly at the center or on the black market is something that only applies to unregistered, ordinary players...
"This contract renewal... has become difficult, Player Kang Seo-jin."
It was a remark from Assistant Manager Lee, who had been listening quietly from the side.
"...Didn't you say that the 1-year contract renewal was just a formality? What on earth is this..."
"That's how it is. Honestly, hasn't our Bureau done enough for you, Player Kang? The whole world is pouring everything into fostering talented players to conquer the 60th floors of the Tower of Trials, and we can't invest more in you, who hasn't even been able to get past the 20th floors for years. There are 30 players belonging to the Bureau. Frankly speaking, do you think it makes sense for you, Kang Seo-jin, to keep occupying one of those 30 spots? You have no talent. Just making a living by doing low-floor raids and collecting Magic Crystals is about the right level for you."
"Stone of Time..."
Whoosh
He must have known I would say this, but Section Chief Choi couldn't hide his stiffening expression when it actually came out.
"When you took the Stone of Time-"
"What are you talking about from ages ago!"
Section Chief Choi cut me off and started shouting so loud the hospital room shook.
The Tower of Trials.
It is a terrifying existence that threatens the lives of all humanity, but sometimes absurd things come out of it and surprise the world.
The Stone of Time, which I obtained by chance when I was clearing the 7th floor not long after I awakened, was one of those things.
[Powerful strength exchanged for 50 years of lifespan]
The 50-Year Button, crafted from the Stone of Time, takes away 50 years of the player's lifespan but grants immense power corresponding to it.
The fact that our country has been able to hold out up to the 60th floors without a single Tower of Trials collapsing for the past 5 years was also entirely thanks to the 50-Year Button.
And the increase in national finances by selling the usage rights of the 50-Year Button to players in countries where the collapse of the Tower of Trials is imminent is a huge bonus, too.
"Was it you who made the Stone of Time into a 50-Year Button? If it weren't for our Bureau's long-standing technical know-how, the Stone of Time would have literally just been a pebble. And! Have you already forgotten all the support the Bureau has given you? The money and special items that went into saving your future mother-in-law? The weapons, armor, and medical services you, talentless as you are, have received all this time! Do you really want me to count them all one by one in such a pathetic way?"
Behind Section Chief Choi, who was screaming, someone was walking over, fluttering a white gown.
"What is this commotion in the hospital room? Player Kang Seo-jin, don't you know he's still recovering?"
Jin A-ram-seonsaeng.
She was the ace of the Bureau's medical team, who had saved my dying self several times.
"Ahem... ahem, he seems to have recovered completely with the high-grade potion, what recovery-"
"Section Chief Choi! This is the medical team's area, and my word is law here. If I say he's a patient, even a perfectly healthy person has to shut up and lie down, do you understand?"
"Ahem... ahem... Ah, I was just about to leave after finishing what I had to say... Jin-seonsaeng, you always take that guy's side."
Section Chief Choi led Assistant Manager Lee out as if running away, and stuck a dagger into me one last time.
"Anyway, the contract termination is a decided matter, so you, Kang Seo-jin, stop having useless thoughts and clear out your spot. For the sake of the country, try thinking a little- Eek!"
As Jin-seonsaeng's sharp gaze pierced him again, Section Chief Choi left the hospital room as if chased out, without even finishing his sentence.
"Haa..."
Jin-seonsaeng offers comfort to my dejected expression.
"Player Kang. Why don't you think of it as a good thing? Working within the Bureau, I've seen so many players who couldn't return from the Tower. Safely re-clearing low-floor towers or getting a new job that isn't a player is also a decent method, right? There is nothing more precious than human life in this world."
While I sent a smile of gratitude for Jin A-ram-seonsaeng's sincere comfort, I couldn't help the bitterness that washed over me.
I came out of the Bureau's medical team and trudged along.
The effect of the high-grade potion seems truly amazing.
Since I, who was dying just like that, can walk out so perfectly fine like this.
But apart from my lightened body, my footsteps were too heavy.
It was because the face of my girlfriend, Hyo-jeong, who would be disappointed to hear about the Bureau contract termination, came to mind.
Since we've been dating for 5 years and it was about time for marriage talk to come up, contract termination from the Bureau at a time when even more money would be needed...
Haa.
'No, maybe it's a good thing, like Jin-seonsaeng said. Her mother's illness is all cured, too...'
5 years ago, when I took the Stone of Time to the Bureau.
The conditions I proposed were only two.
To mobilize all the capabilities of the Bureau's medical team to cure Hyo-jeong's mother's unknown illness. And, to support me so I could grow into a high-earning player.
I don't know about the second condition, but wasn't the first condition kept?
To me, who grew up as an orphan, Hyo-jeong and her mother were already like family.
As I was organizing my thoughts and walking, I saw Hyo-jeong out in front of my house and ran to her.
"Hyo-jeong! Were you waiting for me? How did you know when I'd come-"
"Oppa, is it true that your Bureau contract was terminated?"
"Huh? How did you know that?"
I had left the house without a word before going to the Bureau to raid the Tower, fearing she would worry.
But how did she know about the contract termination that happened just a while ago... I tilted my head in confusion.
However, her next words threw me to the bottom of hell in an instant.
"Let's stop, Oppa. Seeing you like this, just spending your days without any dreams or ambition, you look pathetic now."
Thump
"Hyo...Hyo-jeong? What does that mean?"
"You heard me. Exactly what I said."
Dreams? My dream was to cure your mother's illness and let you live without worrying about money! What did I, with no talent, trade with the Bureau for, and why did I risk my life raiding the Tower...
I couldn't hear any of the next things Hyo-jeong was rambling on about.
I stood frozen in place like a robot that had its power cut off in an instant, just watching her as she walked away.
Like that, how much time had passed?
From the sky that had grown quite dark, raindrops suddenly poured down noisily.
Rainwater coldly soaking me from my head.
I searched my pockets, took out my phone, and made a call as if possessed.
"Section Chief Choi, this is Kang Seo-jin. I will accept the contract termination without complaint. However, please let me press the 50-Year Button just once."
It felt like something in my head had snapped.