Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: How to Eat the Tower Raw (3)
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Ever since Towers appeared all across the world and people started calling them 'dungeons' while referring to those who conquered them as Awakeners or Hunters, who do you think had the biggest headaches?
Politicians endlessly debating world peace? Or maybe bureaucrats?
There are plenty of candidates, but you can't overlook 'businessmen' at the core of it all.
The emergence of 'Tower Coins.'
The divine entities managing the System provided proper rewards to those conquering the Towers.
Not just the magic stones from clearing Towers, but all sorts of byproducts from each floor (dungeon).
Beyond those 'spoils of war,' there were the clear rewards given to Awakeners climbing the Tower, layer by layer.
Tower Coins.
This virtual currency, provided by the Tower's internal system, ended up building an entire economic system—not just within dungeons, but in the real world too.
The moment Awakeners could trade Tower Coins through the system window even with people on the opposite side of the globe, Tower Coins essentially established themselves as a new form of currency.
If cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin became hot investment spots for non-Awakeners from the late 2010s to early 2020s,
Tower Coins became the system currency market—by Awakeners, for Awakeners, of Awakeners.
One convenient aspect of the System was that, being run by divine beings who assisted Hunters' Awakenings, it tailored market prices and explanations to the individual user via the status window.
Just like the one floating in front of me right now.
[Current Tower Coins Held: 10 Billion] "........."
I'd earned 10 billion.
While I sat at home, firing up my computer and tablet to check community reactions, 10 billion had just appeared.
"If only it were in dollars."
"It's in won, sir."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
10 billion won.
The system's reward for Elaine fully conquering the Tower.
Conquest difficulty: -A.
You could complain that 10 billion was chump change for clearing an A-Rank Tower, but this 10 billion was more like a bonus.
"Elaine. You haven't put any of the magic stones or other stuff from your inventory up on the auction house yet, right? Wait, do you even know how?"
"I know how, but I wouldn't do it without your permission, Master. Everything I obtained from hunting belongs to you. It's all in the 'possessions' tab."
The real money came from items dropped by magical beasts.
The gold and materials from defeating beasts and bosses on each floor totaled 10 billion.
'They say Hunters get at least 100 million just for clearing one floor, and I monopolized it all.'
10 billion.
Bonus funds from conquering the Tower at the fountain in front of my officetel.
If I sold the magic stones and byproducts for their proper value, I could easily make at least ten times that.
About 110 billion.
Without Elaine, I never could have fully conquered an A-Rank Tower, climbed to the top floor, defeated its 'master,' destroyed the Tower, and earned this much in such a short time.
1 hour and 10 minutes.
And that was exactly why people judged her combat prowess as 'at least A-Rank.'
"Master."
"Yeah."
"The Guinness Committee has put up a bounty. What should we do?"
"Huh?"
Elaine showed me something she'd searched up on the sub-phone I'd given her.
"The Guinness Committee declared that the 'Hunter who cleared a dungeon the fastest' will receive about 1 billion won and a plaque."
"Predictable."
They called it the Guinness Committee, but the government was surely behind it.
"They're trying to track you down and get you to sign a contract, one way or another. Whether it's the nation or a corporation."
"Me?"
"Of course. They think you're..."
"It's fine to call me a Summon."
Summons.
The word ends with "su" (獸), meaning beast. Was that okay?
"In certain situations, I can be a beastly existence, so call me whatever's convenient. Humans fall under the animal kingdom too, don't they?"
"I guess so?"
"Yes, exactly."
If that was the case, no helping it.
"Got it. For now, no one knows you're a Summon. While you were clearing the dungeon, I scoured the internet. There's no one else like us—we're unique."
Not just unique in the country.
Unique in the world.
The Guinness Committee was talking now, but who knew—maybe some shadowy intelligence agency straight out of a movie was already hunting for us.
"Elaine."
"Yes, Master."
"If I suddenly withdrew this 10 billion to my 'real-world bank account,' it'd flag the National Intelligence Service right away, huh?"
Earnings from Tower Coins could be transferred to real bank accounts.
There was a small fee, but since the Bank of Korea managed Tower Coin-related assets, conversion to real-world won was possible.
"Yes. Comparing it to your life before Awakening..."
"I'd barely scraped together 100 million after years of grinding part-time jobs since age 20, and suddenly 10 billion pops up? Yeah, suspicious."
And converting 10 billion via Tower Coins, no less?
"Elaine."
"Yes, Master."
"To convert, I need to register as an Awakener first, but that'd be tricky, right?"
"It's your choice, but if you want to hide the Summoning aspect, you'd have to conceal it thoroughly."
Elaine mimed zipping her lips and tapped her smartphone.
"The knowledge I received from the 'System' upon being Summoned is basic knowledge based on what you already know, Master."
"Hmm..."
"It might differ from movies or games, but they could uncover info in ways we haven't anticipated."
"True."
They might have already.
Through my 'search history,' no less.
"Master, have you...?"
"It's fine. I was paranoid even before searching, so I layered VPNs two or three deep."
Skills I'd picked up dodging lawsuits while flame-warring on throwaway accounts, or playing overseas games banned in Korea— who knew they'd come in handy.
Of course, limits existed.
If a nation—or the whole world—got serious about tracking us, we'd be found eventually.
"Elaine. How do people with dirty money usually get nabbed by the tax office?"
"When they suddenly buy massive assets compared to their known wealth?"
"Exactly."
A guy earning 2 million a month suddenly buying an apartment in Seoul, dropping cash on a luxury sports car, or flexing designer bags on SNS.
In other words, don't abruptly change spending patterns.
Do it slowly, discreetly, in increments too small for data systems to flag.
And when using the actual funds, spend them where Tower Coins are accepted directly.
Tower Coins were pricier, but their anonymity was ironclad.
"So, Elaine."
"Ah."
I snatched her smartphone and pointed to the cart in the app linked to a shopping site.
"Buying big-ticket stuff like 10-million-won refrigerators or washers out of nowhere? Let's hold off."
"But Master."
Elaine solemnly pointed between me, herself, and the officetel interior.
"Wouldn't it be better to live a little nicer? At least somewhere other than here."
"........."
"One serious question."
Elaine reached for my work bag.
"Do you plan to keep doing your old job?"
"........."
Hide my identity, keep the day job, and moonlight as an unregistered Awakener?
Quit the job, register as a Hunter—but only me, keeping Elaine secret?
...Or go public with everything and surrender to the world's unknown currents?
"Elaine."
"Yes, Master."
"No matter the situation, can you protect me?"
"Of course. I'm a Perfect Maid, after all."
"Then one question."
I searched online and opened a page on a certain location.
"One of the S-Rank dungeons, [Mungyeong Saejae Tower]."
A place anyone alive might've visited once or heard of passing by—Mungyeong Saejae.
If you liked historical dramas, it'd ring a bell as one of those 'Ah, this spot!' historic sites.
In the heart of this provincial park, Mungyeong Saejae's fortress walls cradled a single Tower standing tall.
If Elaine could solo this Tower?
If a being with that kind of power saw me as her Master, her suggestion would become my decision.
"An S-Rank dungeon."
Elaine nodded curtly.
"Yes, possible."
She stated firmly.
"If you want to verify if my power measures up to modern S-Rank standards, we should move now."
"Now?"
"Yes. Over a million Awakeners have appeared worldwide, but the Awakener Management Committee will push for quick registrations to manage them."
She patted herself down.
"To identify the at-least-A-Rank Awakener—a lone [Maid]—who soloed a Tower."
"...Yeah."
A news headline caught my eye.
📰 Breaking News Awakener Committee: "Please register as a Hunter immediately." They're looking.
For us.
"Let's think it over slowly. It's night anyway, even if we wanted to head down now..."
Beeeep.
A sudden phone ring.
"Huh?"
Why's she calling at this hour?
I signaled Elaine to stay quiet, cleared my throat, and answered.
"Hello? Yeo-eun?"
[...Deputy Kim! Did you, uh, check?]
"Check what?"
My junior colleague at the company.
She texted now and then about lunch or whatever, but she never called first like this—
[The lottery you bought? Deputy Team Leader won! Second prize!]
"...For real?"
[Yes! But...!]
She yelled in a furious tone.
[He called me saying let's grab a meal tomorrow, and when I said since you bought it we should share with you too, he snapped asking why he has to split his winnings...!]
"......Yeo-eun."
Decision made.
"I'll buy you a meal later. I'm skipping work Monday."
Maybe for good.
"I'll call you soon about details, so handle it like that for now. Got it?"
[D-Deputy?!]
Click.
"...Elaine."
"Yes, Master."
"Let's go. To the Tower."