[The Missing Ranker and the Overseas List]

The Association has a front entrance, a back entrance, and a separate entrance for staff. The rule is that most people use the front or back, while enchanters and Association staff use the staff entrance.

Seo Ian, who had been kicked out of the building after 3:00 PM—the Association’s official closing time—was deep in thought.

‘If it’s Kim Uju, he’d go out the back, and Park Siwoo would use the staff entrance, right?’

It was physically impossible to meet both of them.

After a moment of deliberation, she strode purposefully toward the staff entrance. Since she had already exchanged numbers with Kim Uju and they had agreed to meet tomorrow, she felt an urgent need to confront the culprit who had been making her blood boil right now.

“You think you can just play me like that?”

How much time had passed since she started grinding her teeth? As she leaned against the wall near the back entrance, standing with her weight shifted to one leg, the figure she had been waiting for finally appeared.

“Hey, Park Siwoo. Did you buy it?”

“Ian. I heard you offered 50?”

Park Siwoo countered her question with one of his own.

“Huh? Did that guy tell you?”

“I offered 60.”

Park Siwoo’s signature gentle tone. The way his eyes curved into crescents. The look of blatant deception hidden within them. Her stomach was already churning at the sight of him.

“Ta-da~.”

“You son of a b*tch!!”

Seeing the Special Reinforcement Stone that Park Siwoo held up for all to see, her inner turmoil reached a boiling point and exploded in an instant.

“No, hey! You knew damn well I was running around like a headless chicken trying to get my hands on that! I’d be furious even if someone else bought it, but you just snatched it up?!”

It would have been infuriating if anyone else had bought it, but Park Siwoo? Seo Ian’s hands, clenched into tight fists, trembled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with a massive sense of betrayal as she raised her voice.

“But 50 is a pretty cheap offer for you, isn’t it? How much were you originally planning to bid?”

“900,000 T.C. Exactly three times the price. It would have been better if the deal ended before that, but that idiot…”

“Then I’ll sell it to you for 900,000 T.C.”

Park Siwoo extended the Special Reinforcement Stone toward Seo Ian.

“You little… you’re ripping off a newbie for 300,000 T.C.?”

Even while scolding him, Seo Ian diligently pulled 900,000 T.C. from her inventory.

“Ian. By the way, I heard that guy has Special Reinforcement Stone Fragments?”

“So what?”

“You can only get those with an Enchanter’s gathering skill.”

…But an Enchanter can’t possibly pull that kind of damage efficiency. Park Siwoo, recalling the sight of him in the special floor, added a final remark.

Tower of Others, 24th Floor, Orc Forest.

As soon as I woke up, I fled into Rackcho’s room. I simply didn’t have the energy to talk to anyone else today.

First, I quickly collected my rewards and scanned the shop window, but since both were duds, I closed them without a second thought. Then, I looked at Rackcho.

“But Uju-nim! You look so drained today, nyang.”

Rackcho looked up at me with worried eyes. Even in that moment, the way its thick, short eyebrows drooped was bad for my heart.

“It’s not just that I look like it; I actually am.”

Running errands for the Association since morning. The TF team I was suddenly saddled with. The team members I had to recruit from now on. The special floor season next month I had to prepare for. And in the midst of all that, I had to achieve as much growth as possible myself.

There was just too much to do.

Still.

“But Rackcho. This Tracking skill is insane.”

Still, my skill was top-tier. Of course, I’d used it on the 6th floor earlier, but I couldn’t brag to Rackcho. I knew Team Leader Oh Wontaek and Yoon Jinki were waiting outside; how could I just sit inside and chat?

“It’ll be even better if you use it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with Hawk’s Eye, nyang!”

“You’re right, you’re right!”

I highlight the weak point glowing in red with Hawk’s Eye, apply Tracking directly over it, and pull the trigger. Then, you can witness the spectacular scene where the damage is guaranteed to be at least double. If you hit the reverse scale, it adds a base 1.5x damage bonus. I could only speculate—what if I hit the reverse scale again in that state? Would the damage stack even further?

Regardless, thanks to that, I’d just seen the effectiveness of my secondary damage output.

“But Rackcho.”

“Nyang?”

“Why don’t I ever get hit with debuffs?”

The debuff removal potion Park Siwoo gave me. I’d heard it was useful on the 20th floor and above, but I never found a reason to use it.

“Debuffs can only be cast by bosses, nyang.”

“Then is the boss going easy on me? Does it think I’m a monster too because I’m wearing a rabbit mask? If that’s the case, I should never take this mask off even when I enter the Tower alone from now on.”

It was a logic flow worthy of a highway robber. As I finished speaking, I saw the look of pity in Rackcho’s eyes evaporate, replaced by sheer disbelief. Its tail even stiffened straight up.

“…Just kidding.”

“…Bosses cast something called ‘Gaze’ based on contribution, nyang.”

Rackcho continued the explanation.

“No matter how much of a boss it is, wouldn’t it feel the most threatened by the person who hits it the hardest and the most, nyang?”

“……That’s true, isn’t it?”

“That person gets the ‘Gaze’. That’s why when you form a party, the strongest party member is the one who gets hit by the boss the most! It’s their instinct to target the ‘Gazer’ first, nyang!”

Oh, so that’s why I’ve been able to watch others beat up the boss with such peace of mind until now!

But.

“What does that have to do with debuffs?”

“Debuffs are only cast on the person receiving the Gaze, nyang.”

“Oh. Nice.”

It meant that, at the very least, I wouldn’t be getting hit with debuffs in the Towers I intruded into. According to what Rackcho said before, the contribution I could earn as a hidden party member couldn’t exceed 50%. However, I decided that since there was a possibility of getting debuffed from the 20th floor onwards, I would keep the debuff removal potion on me at all times instead of selling it. Park Siwoo had actually given me something useful!

A few days later.

South Korea was peaceful, without any major incidents.

And I had just moved into my new home—the accommodation provided by the Association. The interior of the penthouse felt like it was at least 120 pyeong (approx. 4,200 sq ft). It was so spacious I thought I could play soccer in there. I started by flexing my budget to buy three robot vacuums because I had no confidence in cleaning it myself, then bought a new bed and a TV. Everything else was already there, so there was no need to buy more.

After hanging up the phone, I lay sprawled on the sofa, clutching my head without even thinking about unpacking my boxed clothes. The contract money I’d already received. The house I was lying in was one part of it, and the car key for the sports car sitting on the center table was another. Of course, I hadn’t even driven that car yet. Was I afraid of the steering wheel after so long? No. It was all because I had no time.

“Ugh! How am I supposed to find team members!”

Recently, South Korea had been fine, but my heart was in a bit of trouble. It was because Seo Ian, who had been my #1 choice for team recruitment, had suddenly cut off all contact after the day we were supposed to meet.

I tried calling, but all I got was, “The subscriber you are trying to reach is unavailable…” I contacted the next person on the list, Hong Jehun. Thanks to him leaving his number in a secret comment after I posted on the community, it wasn’t difficult. I had an appointment to meet him next week to talk.

And the rest of the team members? I was looking into them right now. By using the ‘Intrusion’ method and doing the legwork myself.

“Ugh… I don’t want to go to the Tower.”

Just like people say, “Ah, I want to go home” at school, or “Ah, I want to quit” at work, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I found myself saying, “Ah, I don’t want to go to the Tower” like I was breathing.

It made sense—the high floors were exhausting, and the low floors were inefficient. For reference, I entered the high floors to scout talent, and the low floors to create elixirs to provide to that talent on the special floors. It was for what you’d call securing supply.

In fact, I wanted to maintain the #1 spot on the special floors even if I hadn’t accepted the TF team contract. It was because I could see in many ways how the world’s perspective on Korea was changing moment by moment. Isn’t it better for the country I stand on to be called a developed nation rather than an awakened-power backwater?

“Still, I have to go!”

But thanks to that, I was able to meet more people, and I could enter one more place to farm experience points, so it was a helpful situation for me. Even if the slightly involuntary aspect of it was a bit of a problem.

Sitting up on the sofa, I first pulled up the Tower Intrusion window. Then, I picked up my phone and logged into the Awakened community. The reason, as everyone knows, is that doing this gives you peace of mind, as if you’re actually accomplishing something. It’s the same principle as sitting at a desk with a book open while playing games on your phone.

Anyway, while I was scrolling through smoothly, I noticed something.

“Hmm?”

A familiar username caught my eye. And the title of the post was even more intriguing, grabbing my attention.

I’d felt this for a long time, but do all Association staff get golden numbers? It was a reasonable suspicion. Yoon Jinki 0123, Team Leader Oh Wontaek 1111, Enchanter Park Siwoo 0000. While I was admiring the phone numbers that stuck in my head even if I didn’t want them to, comments started pouring in.

The firepower exploded in an instant. I felt the potential of Korea’s top two enchanters and pressed the back button.

‘…Come to think of it, is this why she didn’t answer my calls the day after we met?’

Looking back, I hadn’t seen Seo Ian’s name at all lately. In the Tower Intrusion window that popped up from time to time, that is.

“As expected, she’s not there today either?”

The highest floor was 11. Seo Ian wouldn’t be crazy enough to enter the 11th floor. It was a height I avoided, too. By the way, there was one function I’d been curious about for a long time but hadn’t touched because I was afraid.

The sentence floating separately at the very bottom of the Tower Intrusion window.

- Scroll to the side to view the overseas list!

The overseas list. The reason I hadn’t touched it was the fear that even if I entered, I wouldn’t be able to communicate due to the high language barrier. But not anymore.

‘Until now, I went as a Wandering ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Merchant, so I needed conversation to sell items, but that’s not the case now, is it? I have the secondary damage effect where I can just hit the boss together without talking and still get contribution, right?’

Even if it was a first-time clear and I couldn’t aim for the secondary damage effect, or if I couldn’t communicate and couldn’t get contribution, I could just shout “Exit” and leave. Isn’t that the advantage and strength of the ‘Intrusion’ trait!

Having become bolder regarding the Tower than before, I pressed the overseas list for the first time in my life.

Then.

“Oh. Why is it so kind for a change?”

The overseas Tower Intrusion window, translated into Korean, came into view. It was strange in many ways. But the strangest thing among them was what caught my eye at the very top.

…Wait, Awakened-nim? Why did you move to the next column?