The Next Equipment

A female attendant was already seated and waiting in the status inspection room.

"Hunter Kang Jia, you can go right in."

"Alright."

The female attendant flinched as well when she took in Jia's chest and face, but she walked her through the inspection procedure without a hitch.

"You're wearing all your equipped gear as-is, correct? Just stand still on that square platform over there."

"Yes."

This time she wouldn't have to wrap her arms around a giant orb or change into a fresh set of clothes, which was a relief. Having a woman in charge put her more at ease, too. To anyone watching it probably wouldn't have made a difference, but Jia couldn't help feeling more comfortable with another woman.

She stood on the platform and waited. The square plate unfolded and transformed into something like a treadmill. It was fascinating every time she saw it.

Like getting a body composition scan, she gripped two handrails and walked slowly as the platform beneath her began to move.

"Just walk comfortably for a little while."

"Okay."

Sway. Sway.

Even at that slow pace, her enormous breasts heaved and rolled like waves. They did it even with the underwear equipment on. Heat crept into her face, but the shame was more bearable than before — she hadn't realized how vast a difference a bra could make. The female attendant, for her part, was doing everything she could not to stare in open astonishment at that swaying chest.

She walked for a good while. After about five minutes the moving floor stopped, and the attendant spoke.

"Alright. You can let go of the bars now."

"Okay."

The moment she stopped and released her grip, the platform folded back into its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠original square shape.

"You can step down now. Thank you for your time."

"Thank you."

All she'd done was take a leisurely walk, but she still returned the courtesy and approached as the attendant directed.

"The results are in. Just as you mentioned — Stamina 36, Mana 11. We can confirm that your stamina is indeed three times what it was on your previous inspection. Would you mind swapping out just this one accessory and running it one more time? I know it's a bit of a hassle."

"Of course. That's no problem."

She removed one of her Skin Enhancement Rings and slotted a hoop earring into the accessory slot.

With her equipment tripling her stamina, that brought her from 13 to 39. The moment she equipped it, a silver hoop earring materialized on Jia's ear. She'd never had her ears pierced, yet the hoop settled into place as if it had always belonged there — a marvel she couldn't help but notice. Her pretty face made even a simple earring look lovely.

Then they ran the same status inspection again.

"Please go stand on the platform again."

"Alright."

Sway. Sway.

After one more round of watching those enormous breasts bounce and roll, the inspection was over.

A moment later, the status inspection attendant took the results sheet — and her small eyes went as wide as they could possibly go.

"Uh. Wow. This is... so. Your base stamina plus one, then tripled, so it shows 39... I mean, I understand it numerically, of course... but wow. How an ability like this just appeared all of a sudden... Well. I'll file a report on this, if that's alright?"

It was a result that couldn't help but shock. Jia herself was seeing it confirmed for the first time, and she swallowed her own surprise. Had these been pieces of gear she'd chosen to wear of her own will, she might have celebrated right along with them. The biggest problem was that none of this had anything to do with her own will.

"Yes. As quickly as you can, please. What I want right now is equipment support and to climb the Tower as much as possible. I'll go along with whatever else the guild wants."

"Ah... contracts, equipment rentals, and Tower hunter party operations aren't my department. I'll pass it along, though. Please return the equipment you're wearing and wait in the lobby. Someone will come for you."

"Ah... alright."

Why did every single thing have its own separate person in charge? A flicker of irritation rose in her amid everything else she had going on, but she tamped it down immediately and began removing her equipment and accessories. The bigger the guild, the more everything got divided up. That was just how it worked. She'd gotten sharp with people for no good reason.

Someone had already brought over the shoes she'd left in the changing room earlier and set them right in front of her.

One by one she removed nine rings, the earring, her shoes and gloves, and the black tights — top and bottom. Then she hesitated at the panties and the bra. Her original ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠panties were still on underneath, so she took off the lower underwear equipment. But she couldn't find the courage to take off the bra. Swallowing her shame, she made a careful request.

"I'm sorry, but there's a problem with my bra, and my parents are going to buy me a new one. Would it be alright if I kept the underwear equipment on until then?"

"Oh. Sure, that's fine. Just make sure you return it before you leave. The other sixteen pieces have all been accounted for. Thank you for your time. Please wait in the lobby."

"Phew. Yes. Thank you."

Having gotten permission more easily than expected, she headed to the lobby with the sturdy bra equipment still on and waited. As if on cue, a message arrived from her parents.

There had been some slightly humiliating moments, but seeing things proceed according to plan let her breathe a little easier. It was only four o'clock. Originally she would have been starting the inspection around now, but she'd managed to finish even earlier.

Even as she finished her inspection and waited to climb the Tower, Minwoo was still crafting equipment without much thought, listening to Jia's voice. He hadn't expected things to unfold this way either, and there wasn't much he could do about it now. All he could do was keep making equipment.

Still, he'd kept at it without rest. An hour and forty minutes had passed since he'd started deliberating, and by now he'd sold a full ten pieces of pubic hair equipment. His balance had changed to 105 silver and 700 copper.

It'll work out. Don't get impatient.

He shook his head to drive off the anxiety that kept welling up, and went over the recipes once more. It was about time he looked at what he could pre-craft and checked the material costs in advance.

The recipes worth making for her tomorrow narrowed down to those same two again. Pussy, and farts. But looking at it now, the clit one seemed pretty good too.

What he didn't know was that equipment worn as clothing would adjust itself to match bodily changes. He'd only recently Awakened and had never worn equipment himself, so he had no idea how much of a difference the security of wearing gear actually made.

If the clit gets bigger, will the equipment change to fit it and make things okay?

In the end it was only a matter of time. Applying all three would be best, but the anus one seemed worse than he'd thought. If she farted, she'd be embarrassed in the moment, but a girl like her would just pass it off as a medical condition and keep climbing the Tower anyway. If anything, the clit or the heightened senses would interfere more with her movement.

And with Heightened Senses, there was no way of knowing how sensitive she'd become, how much it would get in the way, or whether the sensitivity would be sexual too. Growing the clit seemed like the better call.

"Alright."

If a sensitive part got bigger, of course it would be hard on her. That was the most obvious fact of all. Having made up his mind, he looked over the clit equipment recipe.

Ordinarily he would have searched the materials online and estimated ten times the price, but here in the motel he could pull up the purchase window directly.

This is why people ought to live somewhere decent.

Feeling a fresh wave of satisfaction, he checked the price.

"Oh."

The sucker's listed price was 1 silver. Fortunately, it had come out cheap. Honestly, maybe last time's milk had just been ridiculously overpriced. The materials for making pubic hair were this cheap. The breast equipment had cost that much, and now the clit equipment was only 1 silver. The price difference between pieces of equipment was enormous. Then again, considering the size of those breasts, maybe that price had been fair. It left him with a strange feeling.

Pre-crafting one wouldn't be a problem, so he bought just one set of materials and tried making it. The low-grade mana stone was actually more expensive than the sucker, at 10 silver.

If his own abilities had been growing, he would have been running the Tower himself, earning money, gathering far more materials, and selling them at a markup. But this was more convenient, and he liked it better.

I'll just pay retail.

He bought them for 11 silver and started crafting. That left him with 94 silver and 700 copper.

He pulled the sucker and the mana stone into his hands.

"Ugh—"

The sucker was bigger than he'd expected. A single one was the size of his palm. How big was the rest of the thing, then? Just imagining having to hunt a monster like that himself was already terrifying.

He went straight into crafting.

Light flared as the materials vanished and crafting began. Estimated time: ten minutes again. At this point, ten minutes seemed to be the standard. Watching the light more closely this time, he confirmed that rare and common items definitely had a different glow when crafting started. Unfortunately, this piece was Common.

Ten minutes later, the finished equipment appeared in his inventory.