The Rabbit Merchant's Investment

I went out for a bit.

A quick stop at Daiso, then a visit to the Association shop, and back home again.

When I returned, my right hand held the rabbit mask I’d bought at Daiso, and my left hand dangled the low-grade healing potion I’d picked up at the Association shop.

“If I pretend to be a Tower Merchant, people won’t be on guard about me stealing their contribution points, right?”

Who would like someone else sticking a spoon into their own rice bowl (contribution points)?

Obviously, no one.

That was why I decided to act as a ‘Tower Merchant’ myself.

It was the perfect way to become a ‘hidden party member,’ reap the rewards, and avoid being viewed with suspicion by the ‘Floor Master’! The rabbit mask in my right hand was for that exact purpose.

And the low-grade healing potion in my left hand was...

“You don’t go to a friend’s house empty-handed, after all.”

It’s an unwritten rule in South Korea.

Even if it’s for Seo Ian, whom I’m about to meet? We’re meeting for the first time today.

How could I possibly show up empty-handed?

Especially when I wasn’t even invited!

So, I blew two months’ worth of my precious living expenses to buy the low-grade healing potion that she had been desperately searching for. It would be a lie to say the financial hit wasn’t painful.

But right now, I needed to make an investment, and investment costs are always highest at the beginning. Besides, it wasn’t as if I lacked the confidence to recoup those costs.

“Alright, let’s really head in now.”

I pulled up the Tower Intrusion window.

Then, I moved my hand to the very top line—the part where Seo Ian’s name was displayed.

“Obviously, it’s a Yes.”

-Pop!

In an instant, my vision went completely black.

The trait Intrusion.

I was quite disappointed at first because it wasn’t an attack-based trait. But not anymore.

No limit on the number of uses, and I could share in a portion of the contribution points (ticks). If I just repeated this infinitely, it would be a storm of growth.

It turned out to be the ultimate ‘click-to-win’ trait.

As soon as I realized that fact, I couldn’t control the corners of my mouth from curling upward.

Plus, I could leave whenever I wanted. If I drew aggro from a monster, I could run away immediately, and the mask provided a decent level of anonymity. Furthermore, the prevailing opinion was that Tower Merchants couldn’t be touched, so I didn’t have to worry too much about any unfortunate incidents.

Whatever the case, it meant I was safe.

When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t in a novel... I was on the 40th floor of the Tower.

My vision was obscured by the rabbit mask. I turned my head quite a bit to look around, and everything was ash-colored. At the end of the gray, a vast sky and fluffy, white clouds like sheep’s wool were draped across the horizon.

They were at eye level, as if I could reach out and touch them if I walked closer.

‘Wait, didn’t they say it was a sheer cliff?’

I couldn’t see a cliff; only the deep blue sky and the clouds bunched together like a flock of sheep filled my vision. As a bonus, there were things that looked like tree branches stuck into the ground here and there.

‘Huh?’

Then, the realization hit me late.

‘I’m on top of the cliff? Here?’

Then came the question.

‘Do I have to go down...? But aren’t cliffs usually places you climb up...?’

Finally, I reached a conclusion.

‘Seo Ian. First, I need to find Seo Ian!’

The owner of this floor was Seo Ian. I had to meet her to help her, and only then could I earn my contribution points.

I looked around again. There was no need to look carefully; it was just a vast, open field—no, a stone field.

‘Is she below?’

I slowly walked to the edge of the cliff and carefully looked down.

Where I was standing was high enough to make me dizzy just by looking down.

“…Seo Ian, I don’t see her?”

It looked like there was no one there. Just a place full of stones. I could infer that the dark brown dots visible here and there were probably dried-up trees below, and that flashing light over there was...

What was that?

I squinted to see better, but the flashing light seemed to shrink and move further away in an instant.

‘Is it just my imagination?’

And as if to let me know it wasn’t my imagination, a small sound—Thump!—echoed.

-Aaaargh!! You son of a biiiiiitch!!!

The sound flowed from the flashing light, which was even further away now, and echoed through the empty stone mountain.

“…Okay, Seo Ian is definitely here. Confirmed.”

Since it looked like she was struggling to climb up here, I decided to just wait for her. By the way, what should I do while I wait?

That thought didn’t last long. I was quickly distracted by a notification interrupting my thoughts.

Right. I remembered hearing about this. When you first awaken, your trait appears. After confirming your trait, entering the Tower reveals the skills you can use.

“But what kind of skill names are...”

They were what you’d call ‘lame’ names. I was already worried because my trait wasn’t a combat trait, but now my skills were like this too? Wasn’t this a bit too much?

How was I supposed to climb the Tower with these?

I put those questions aside for a moment and hovered my finger over the skill names. Maybe they would be different if I looked at the detailed descriptions.

Even after reading it carefully, it still looked useless. Then what about Synthesis?

They were six of one, half a dozen of the other. ‘Ah... they said the first skills you unlock reflect your trait...’

An internal sigh escaped me. Since it was a non-combat trait, it seemed non-combat skills had unlocked.

‘...Would Gathering at least be somewhat like a combat skill?’

Like, attacking with gathered grass roots? I was even having such stupid thoughts. People have a tendency to see what they want to see, after all.

Then, a thought that made me go ‘Oh!’ flashed through my mind.

‘...My trait is Intrusion. My skills are Gathering and Synthesis. Since I can buy skills and stats with ticks, does this mean I need to quickly gather capital and use that ‘capital’ to grow on my own?’

Even as I said it, I sounded pretty smart. It was a perfectly plausible theory.

For reference, there’s a rumor that traits and early skills represent the depths of an Awakened’s inner self. For example, someone with a fiery personality gets a Flame trait, someone with a cool-headed nature gets Ice, and someone with a naturally sturdy spirit gets Body Enhancement.

But me...

‘Am I a money-grubber?’

I reached a conclusion that left me feeling a bit bitter. But a rumor is just a rumor. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and started looking around again.

“Wait, that... now that I look at it, isn’t it a bit strange?”

A faint, white light appeared at some point. I had thought it was just a reflection earlier, but when I got a little closer, I could see it clearly. It seemed that the places where Gathering said I could collect items looked like this—with a light aura spreading around them.

“Gather!”

It was embarrassing to shout it out loud, so I recited it with confidence in a slightly louder voice. There wasn’t any major change. There was one tiny change, though: the word ‘Gathering’ in my skill window lit up.

“No, Mr. Tower. Isn’t it a bit much to make me do it myself?”

Of course, as a long-time lurker of Awakened communities, I knew that when an Awakened uses a skill, they have to control their own mana or aura. But couldn’t they have given me a ‘click-to-win’ skill since my trait is ‘click-to-win’ too? That was my small wish.

-Rustle, rustle.

“Well, it’s easy enough, so I’ll let it slide.”

Gathering it myself? It wasn’t as hard as I thought. No, to be honest, it was so easy it made me wonder, ‘Is this really gathering?’ I just gently brushed away the light aura with my hand, and it was done.

A root-like thing that had been hidden in the light aura revealed itself. As I grabbed it in my hand—

‘Oh? 4-star?’

The corners of my mouth rose on their own. This was a windfall of the highest order. At this point in time, the highest floor reached in South Korea was the 41st. And right now, I was on the 40th floor, just below that. It was definitely a high floor, so it made sense that a high-grade material would appear.

For reference, it’s known that items obtainable in the Tower range from 1-star to 5-star. The highest is 5-star, which currently only exists in China and the US. It’s academic consensus that 10th-floor ranges yield 1-star items, 20th-floor ranges yield 2-star items, and so on.

‘If I sell this to the Association, I could make some serious money, right?’

There’s a post that pops up in the Awakened community every morning, noon, and night: Association-affiliated enchanters desperately looking for 2-star or higher materials! But what I had in my hand? It wasn’t just a measly 2-star! It was a whopping 4-star!

I could already feel my pockets getting heavier. My mood felt bolstered as well.

But...

“They definitely said the Synthesis skill provides a production recipe book... can I make something with this too?”

So, I pulled it up. Then—

Along with a brief explanation, a giant, book-like hologram floated in front of me. It was divided into sections as if colorful sticky notes were plastered all over it. The thick index was labeled ‘Potions,’ ‘Weapons,’ ‘Accessories,’ and ‘Other,’ while the smaller index was subdivided in alphabetical order.

‘It’ll be convenient to find things later.’

Flip, flip.

‘But there’s nothing here?’

A moment of satisfaction, followed by dissatisfaction. I checked from ‘A’ to ‘Z,’ but there was nothing. Just blank pages? Was it a diary?

‘Ah! Do I have to put it in my inventory?’

I put the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠4-star flower I was holding into my inventory. Then, the ‘P’ index for ‘Potions’ lit up. I opened it.

It seemed like a recipe book I had to fill in myself. A ‘recipe book’ that I literally had to ‘produce’ as the name suggested. At the bottom right, the usage instructions were written in small letters: if you collect the materials and place them on the recipe book page, synthesis happens automatically.

‘I should try making it, right?’

Since it required a bunch of 4-star materials, it had to be highly efficient. The thought of selling the materials? It vanished without a trace in my head, like snow melting in the spring sun. It was a self-evident fact that making and selling the finished product would yield a higher value due to the added value.

“But the materials... don’t I need too many?”

I looked around. Since there were still plenty of light auras left, it didn’t look like I’d run out of materials to make it. It was the 40th floor, after all. I didn’t have combat traits or combat skills, so I couldn’t just go around beating up monsters to earn contribution points. I had to use the skills I had to do something. It was a waste to let them rot!

So, I continued to gather. But...

“Aaaaaaaargh!!”

The Gathering skill. It lived up to its F-rank status by failing. And at a much higher rate than I thought.

“No, seriously! What kind of logic is it to succeed only once after trying ten times!?”

Low-rank gathering was like a tree. Like a giant, old tree that only falls after you chop it ten times.

“Why on earth?”

I couldn’t understand it. I opened the skill window again. Maybe there was something I missed. And that hunch was correct.

Ugh! Why add the extra explanation now! I could fully understand why Awakened cursed the system for being unfriendly. Still, if a person starts something, they have to see it through to the end. Having barely collected all the materials, I ran the synthesis without checking the synthesis skill window on purpose.

‘Please work!!’

“Ugh! I was hoping for beginner’s luck!!”

My hands automatically flew up to cover my head. It was obvious that this, too, was because the success rate was ‘significantly reduced’ for attempting synthesis with materials that didn’t match my current level.

“Haha...”

My anger quickly cooled and turned into despondency. If I had just sold the materials, I would have at least made some money, but I blew it all at once because I was greedy.

Tremble, tremble.

I looked at my fingertips, which were trembling slightly—perhaps from exhaustion from the repetitive gathering. They were slightly scraped from the stone floor, and a reddish glow was lingering. I hadn’t felt it until now, but seeing it with my own eyes, a nasty, stinging sensation began to linger at my fingertips.

“I’ve even gotten hurt, so shouldn’t I at least earn more than the cost of the low-grade healing potion before I leave?”

I clenched my fist tightly to suppress the trembling in my fingertips. Since it had come to this, I would complete at least one Boss Damage Increase Potion—a.k.a. the Boss Potion—and hold it in my hand, no matter what. That was the only way I’d be satisfied.

Meanwhile, at that moment. Tower 40th Floor.

“God dammit, this 40th floor is a pain in the ass...!”

There was one person climbing the cliff wall, gnashing their teeth and spewing all sorts of curses. The person was wrapped from head to toe in shimmering silver armor, and two giant longswords were strapped to their back in an X-shape.

“Ugh! Can’t they at least make the path normal?! Like a bunch of bastards!!!”

Finally, Seo Ian, who had reached the top of the cliff, kicked a stone and erupted in anger. Today, while climbing the cliff, the rock Seo Ian grabbed had broken, and she had almost fallen to her death exactly five times. Four of those times, she used the skill Breakfall to absorb the impact, turning what would have been broken bones into minor injuries. After healing with a low-grade potion, she had headed back to the top of the cliff.

Then came the fifth fall. This time, too, she only sustained minor injuries thanks to Breakfall, but—

Thump!

A clear sound echoed at the bottom of the cliff. It was because Seo Ian, in her armor, had habitually slapped her forehead in frustration.

“No, dammit! I’ve already used up all the low-grade healing potions?!”

Low-grade healing potions were the most widely distributed item among those that came out of the Tower. They were called ‘luxury Tylenol’ or ‘premium Geborin’ because they were effective for headaches, toothaches, stomachaches, abrasions, and bruises, provided there wasn’t a problem with internal organs or a serious external wound. The price was exactly 1 million won per bottle. It wasn’t cheap for the average person, but for Awakened, whose average monthly income far exceeded hundreds of millions of won, it felt like just a standard household medicine. Any Awakened worth their salt would have at least 10 bottles stashed away.

There were two ways to get them: buy them from Association-affiliated enchanters or buy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them from the ‘Tower Merchant’ that appeared after clearing a floor. Buy them outside the Tower, or buy them after clearing the Tower.

This meant that Seo Ian needed them right now, but even if she offered a fortune, she couldn’t get them.

“Ugh! I definitely brought 100 of them! I filled an entire inventory slot!”

The money she had dumped into the Association all at once to buy low-grade healing potions was 100 million won. But she had already used them all. It was proof that Seo Ian’s challenge had been going on for a long time.

Seo ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ian, whose armor didn’t have pockets, took her phone out of her inventory and posted a complaint on the Awakened community while taking a short break. As a named user in the Awakened community, her post received a massive amount of comments shortly after she posted it. The main content was stuff that would scratch your insides, like ‘Serves you right’ or ‘Try again tomorrow lol.’

“Bullshit...!”

Seo Ian, fueled by stubbornness, dragged her exhausted body and started climbing the cliff again. And the result was this.

She had reached the top of the 40th-floor cliff, despite having an ankle injury and arms that stung every time she moved.

“But the problem starts now...”

Seo Ian’s eyes, peeking through her helmet, shone sharply. From here, she had to kill 50 Wyverns. Then, kill the boss monster, the ‘Big-Horned Wyvern.’ That was the content of the 40th-floor quest. She had to clear this to move on to the 41st floor.

-Shing.

Two swords were drawn from the scabbards on Seo Ian’s back, ringing with a clear sound. As if that sound were the trigger, a part of the clear sky began to be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠covered in black, casting a shadow.

Meanwhile, at that moment.

“Ah. Looks like something’s about to happen?”

A shadow suddenly cast over my head. I should start moving to find Seo Ian, the Floor Master. I turned my head slightly and saw someone flashing in the distance, much closer than before.

“And the timing is perfect, too.”

I grinned. A laugh escaped me before I knew it. In my right hand, my greatest achievement in life, newly updated! The 20% Boss Damage Potion was glowing brilliantly with a red light.