Plans Set in Motion
◈ Ability: Water Generation
It wasn't much different from what he'd seen in the recipe.
Next, he pulled it up in the sell window.
"Huh."
The difference in time efficiency was staggering. It made him wonder what the breasts he'd crafted would have sold for—those had even been Rare grade. A flicker of regret crossed his mind: maybe he should have sold them instead of equipping them. He shook it off. He could always make more and sell those.
Equipping them on her was something he couldn't stop now anyway.
The materials hogging inventory slots looked useless to him. Crafting expensive gear wasn't worth the time, so he dumped every last bit of the pubic-hair materials he'd been working on until a moment ago. The remaining eighty goblin claws and eighty lowest-grade mana stones went for a measly three copper and ten copper apiece.
Ah. What a waste of money.
They'd dropped to a tenth of the purchase price, but he sold them without a second thought. Still, one silver and forty copper came in. That left him with ninety-five silver and seven hundred forty copper.
The instant he sold the clitoris equipment on top of that, the total leapt straight to one hundred ninety-five silver.
"Heh heh."
He bought ten of each material again. One hundred ten silver gone, back down to eighty-five. And then he dove straight back into crafting.
At this rate, minting gold coins would clearly be a breeze. Just imagining it filled Minwoo's face with delight. He felt a little sorry for her, but the thought of getting rich soon pulled a smile onto his lips.
First, burn through the two million won in cash. After that, hit the auction house once and convert a single gold coin into real money. It wasn't even completely illegally earned, so once he'd paid whatever taxes were due, he could bounce between motels and hotels like this and pile up wealth in safety.
This breathing room existed only because Jia hadn't told the guild her exact symptoms. Of course, if Jia—who had already gathered a fair amount of information on him—ever put out a wanted notice, he'd have to go to ground. Until then, though, he could take it easy. Besides, what would she even put on a wanted poster? She had no evidence. She possessed an unusual ability, but whether something was wrong with her mind or whether the system really displayed this kind of content was something other people had no way of knowing. Her social standing did give her words more weight, admittedly.
Meanwhile, Jia's own conversation was proceeding smoothly.
"Yes, that's correct. Right. Yes—it operates independently of the ability. That's right. Yes. And so. Yes."
She was walking someone through the examination results and talking through the terms of a guild contract: materials dropped from monsters slain while climbing the Tower, meal support and various other forms of care, rental of equipment that would complement her ability, transportation to the Tower, even the length of the contract itself. Even in the middle of all that busyness she was reading something over with meticulous care, and then she spoke up.
"The thing is, as this ability keeps growing, there may be more side effects on my body. So beyond the time constraints, I'll need a confidentiality clause as well. And later on I'll need to find a particular person—would help with that be possible too?"
Minwoo pricked up his ears, wondering if they were about to start talking about him.
"Yes. That's right. Yes, that's fine. You can take all the materials and the money. Aside from management and maintenance costs, I don't need to take anything. Yes. Just as it's written there. Yes. Let's do it that way."
The conversation paused. After another short wait, she seemed to be speaking with a different staff member. Of course, Minwoo was only inferring from the look of her.
"Yes, thank you. I know. That's why I already agreed to the additional five-year exclusive contract. Yes, that doesn't matter."
It's not like she's ever been through a situation like this, so how is she talking like she's so practiced at it? She's something else.
Young, pretty, and sharp. That was about the size of his impression.
Then it was back to crafting equipment and selling it. He kept making pieces in a daze. Whatever she was chattering about as she signed her contract never really reached his ears. He was simply producing clitoris equipment.
After a little more time had passed, she seemed to be talking with someone else. Whatever news she'd just heard, it wasn't good—her expression soured.
"It'll be difficult to go today? Then would it be all right if I went alone? I'm in a bit of a hurry. Yes, that's rather difficult. Well. Yes, that's true. Hmm."
After a moment's thought she nodded and waited a little longer. Things were not going according to plan, and she looked thoroughly frustrated.
"All right. Let's do it that way. Tomorrow from ten in the morning to six in the evening. Yes, I know that's the maximum. Thank you. Number eight. Yes. If we can at least make it to the twentieth floor tomorrow, that should be fine. Thank you."
She let out a sigh. It was already getting on toward six o'clock. Unlike him, who'd paused his crafting to order a burger delivery, it occurred to him that she hadn't eaten a single meal all day even as she kept moving so diligently. Maybe she didn't even have time to feel hungry. She really was driven.
Just as he'd thought, she was utterly exhausted.
"As Hunter Kang Jia requested, we'll have you go tomorrow with Hunter Song Yeonhee, who can maintain confidentiality, and two days from now Healer Hunter Park Woongchul will join as well. I'll register the three of you to enter the Tower together."
"Yes. Thank you so much."
Of all days, there hadn't been a single open slot in Changwoon Guild's Tower-climbing allocation—what a cosmic joke. She had made the request too urgently, too; the other hunters all had plans of their own. Plenty of disappointment lingered, but she was also so tired, and so hungry, that more than anything she just wanted to get home.
Her parents, summoned by the guild, had sat in on the contract discussion beside her, which was how she'd been able to sign without taking a loss on any of the terms.
"Was there anything else you wanted to add?"
"Ah. No, nothing. We'll be heading out. You'll be coming by our house at nine tomorrow, is that right?"
"That's correct. We'll also text you thirty minutes before we arrive, so you can get ready after you see it."
"I didn't expect you'd go this far to help. You've treated me far better than I anticipated. Thank you so much."
She had agreed to turn over every byproduct from her climbs to the guild, which made even this level of generosity a profitable arrangement for them. Both the guild and Jia knew it, of course. She was satisfied that they'd accommodated every urgent request she'd made, and the guild was satisfied that they were going to make an enormous amount of money. Mutual gain.
On top of that, her value at this point was beyond words. If she truly set her mind to it, becoming rank one—or a superstar—was only a matter of time. Especially those enormous breasts she called a side effect. Their presence was the kind of thing that stopped male and female staff alike as they walked past. And with a face that pretty, her face and her chest were practically fighting each other for attention.
The guild master had told them to lock her down even if it meant taking a loss right now, and they'd tried to accommodate her as much as possible—but she had conceded a great deal herself, and it had become a win-win. Lee Changwoon, guild master of Changwoon Guild, regretted terribly that he hadn't been able to be here in person.
"If you need anything else, text this number anytime. And you're welcome to keep the equipment you're currently wearing."
"Ah, that's all right. My mother already bought me gear. I'll turn this in before I go. Ah—yes. Here, the upper undergarment equipment."
She equipped the gear her mother had given her earlier and moved to take off the upper undergarment equipment she'd been wearing and hand it over. The thing about equipment, though, was that it conformed instantly to a hunter's body when it was put on—but the moment it was unequipped and pulled out of the inventory, it reverted to the size of the last person who had worn it.
A massive bra, looking as if it might still be faintly warm, materialized right in front of them. A brassiere nearly the size of a T-shirt appearing out of thin air left everyone in the room silent for a beat. Jia's face flushed a red so deep it looked ready to burst.
Her mother stepped in first, scrambling to salvage the mood.
"Ahaha. Thank you, everyone, for looking after our daughter in so many ways. We'll be going now."
"Not at all—we're the ones who should be thanking you. Shall we see you home?"
"That's all right. I brought the car."
Her father jumped in as well, and together they barely managed to defuse the atmosphere before everyone rose to say their goodbyes.
"I know how busy you all are, so I'm truly sorry for the last-minute demands. I'll see you tomorrow."
With Jia's farewell as the last word, she stepped out of the guild building, walked into the parking garage, and let out a long, long breath.
"Haaaah."
"You worked so hard, Jia. I'm worried—the real hardship starts tomorrow."
At her mother's concern, she shook her head.
"Once I catch that bastard, everything will be solved. The guild said they'll help find him too, so I just need to climb the Tower fast. I can endure anything. Don't worry."
"All right. Let's get home and eat first."
"Yeah."
On the way home, she called Yeonhee as well.
"Hey, Unnie. I signed the contract to start tomorrow."
"Yeah, I got the message. You really contracted exactly like you said you would? Confidentiality's one thing, but I heard you told them you'd fill every last run—ten times a day—climbing the Tower. And they actually agreed to that? The guild did?"
"Yeah. I told them I'd turn over every material I get to the guild."
"What? Do you have any idea how much that's worth? You—okay, this situation's way more serious than I thought. You'll tell me everything when I see you tomorrow, right?"
"Of course. What's the point of hiding it from you? We're climbing the Tower together."
"I also heard Hunter Park Woongchul's coming. Is that true too?"
"Yeah. Why? You interested in him?"
"Please. It's just—I worked pretty hard to break into the top ten thousand, and that guy's in the two thousands, so it's kind of wild. Not that he'll only be with us for a week before he heads back."
"Feeling competitive?"
"Mm. A little?"
"Pfft. Come on. You know I have a boyfriend."
The idle back-and-forth let her set the weight down, if only for a little while.
And once she was home, over dinner, she said it to her parents as well.
"Mom, Dad. From here on the guild's going to handle anything extra anyway, so you don't need to keep coming along. It actually makes me feel more pressured. And… honestly, it's uncomfortable having you see my body getting weird. Once the problem's solved I'll go back to normal, so it's okay if you both just take care of your own things. I mean it."
"We're still going to worry, though."
"I know. I know how you both feel. That's exactly why I want you to act like it's nothing. Watching you two suffer through it with me is harder on me than anything."
Her parents agreed to honor the request.
"But you have to tell us if something's wrong, okay? At the very least, if you get a new ability, say that much. You can skip the equipment names."
"We live in the same house, so you'd see it anyway. Fine. If I get an ability, I'll share it in the family group chat. Happy?"
"All right. If anything happens, we'll come running."
"I said I'm fine, geez."
In that warm atmosphere, she fought back the tears with everything she had.