Contaminated Water Spirit Core

The contaminated water spirit core. A contaminated fire spirit core floated into view. This one, that one—every last one of them tainted. But why?

I slipped it into my inventory for now. The soggy ground began to dry at once, the moisture retreating as if it had never been there. Even the humidity clinging to the air seemed to vanish.

"Huh? It's coming back!"

"It's easier to breathe now."

"The whole area's drying out."

"Then do something about my shoes too, damn it…."

You should have dodged properly. Not my problem.

I glanced away.

"Everyone fall back. Head home and wash up first."

"Yes!"

After slogging through the mud, they all looked like hell.

'All raid members except the leader, resume the supply collection you were on before.'

I hauled Chaei—who had latched onto me again—onto my back and slipped out with Hana. The squishy, elastic sensation filling my palm felt strangely pleasant.

"Suhyuk, do you really need to keep groping it like that?"

"It's not on purpose. The ground's slippery, so I'm just gripping tight…."

Believe me.

Yeonhee noona was in the middle of washing Chaei when it happened.

Pop.

"Kyaaak!"

"Shit."

Of course it did. The power had gone out.

"Noona, hang on. The lights will come back in a second."

"Okay."

I'd already prepared for this.

'Start the diesel generator immediately. Hook up the solar storage batteries too.'

After issuing orders to the specialist, I made the next announcement.

'Power is out. Switching to emergency systems.'

I informed every resident first.

'From now on, consciously minimize all power usage except for refrigerators and freezers. Only one fluorescent light per household.'

The public notice was complete. Our power generation still had some margin. We could even store a little extra.

"Raid Captain! The water supply's cut too!"

"What?!"

The water technician's radio report hit like a hammer.

'Of all the times… Wait, no.'

In WAW we had simply ignored the fact that water still worked without electricity because it was a game. But in reality, when the power died, the water naturally died with it.

No helping it. Fortunately, I'd prepared for this too.

"Switch to the rooftop water tanks."

Gravity would handle the rest. After giving the water specialist his orders, I broadcast again.

'Water supply is cut. Use stored water, but conserve it strictly. Minimize showers. Minimize sewage output.'

More bad news for the residents. The only saving grace was that I'd made them stockpile water in advance. Each household had filled every container they could, so we could last a while. I'd even posted water-conservation guidelines.

The real problem was sewage. There was no clean solution. If we kept flushing, it would eventually backflow. We needed a method—fast.

Ugh, damn it.

Just imagining filthy sewage surging back up made my stomach turn.

Now that I think about it, this thing looks like sewage too.

Just what the hell had contaminated it? Could it be purified? Could the seal be released?

"What…?"

Was the System actually making a suggestion to me? A system message had never done this before. Not even in WAW.

Hmm…

First, the part about a new structure. Had any of the structures I'd summoned with Random Tower Summon ever been useless? Even setting towers aside, the Altar alone was so broken it was practically cheating.

What the hell is it trying to make?

When in doubt, ask directly.

"What kind of structure are you forming?"

Silence. The system message simply waited for my consent or refusal. One-sided as always. No choice but to roll with it.

"Fine. I don't know what this new structure is, but make it."

The moment I agreed, the skill tree window appeared. Inside it, the skill New Structure Formation glowed bright yellow. I tried to select it, but the requirements popped up.

"Hahaha, this is straight-up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠robbery?"

The conditions were so absurd I could only laugh. Twenty Random Tower Summon stacks hurt, but two skill points? Without the Altar that would have been a one-way ticket to becoming a worthless character.

I nearly accepted without thinking. And why the hell did it need a Zombie Cure? I only had one.

The conditions were ridiculous, yet the sheer audacity made me excited. Just how good was this thing going to be? With ingredients this expensive, it couldn't possibly be trash.

Whatever. Eyes closed, pull the trigger. I have the Altar anyway.

I currently had exactly two skill points. My entire fortune.

Nothing to lose.

With the mindset of a gambler maxing out leverage on stocks, coins, futures, and options, I shouted.

"To the moon, gazua!"

I was worried the negative stack would prevent it, but the System let me borrow against future stacks like leverage. Even a system message had some flexibility.

All that remained was waiting for the payoff. It had to be huge. If this failed… well, I could always grind more points with the Altar. Not like I'd become a total failure.

"Heave, ho. Heave, ho."

"Suhyuk, what are you doing?"

Chaei and Yeonhee noona had just come out.

"Nothing. Just a little ritual."

Wait. A brilliant idea suddenly hit me.

Maybe this will work too?

I took out the black magic stone.

"Noona, I'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be right back."

"You don't need to wash?"

"Urgent business."

I sprinted to the forge. After taking a deep breath and feeding the black magic stone into the furnace, sure enough—ingots of the stuff piled up.

"Am I actually a genius?"

Looked like I could make something with these black magic stones.

Then can I feed them to the Altar too?

I took half the ingots, summoned the Altar, and tossed them in. Flames roared up, straight pillars of smoke rising from each corner. Then—

Skill points had increased. I'd thought it would take longer. The effect was real.

"Hahaha."

Dopamine flooded my brain and laughter spilled out. This was insane. The value of black magic stones had just gone parabolic. Yet to other survivors they were nothing but ordinary rocks.

What if I bought them from the survivors for dirt cheap?

"Hehehehe! This is crazy. Is this Random Tower economics?"

Even without Random Tower Summon, the Altar alone might let someone become a transcendent. The thought actually crossed my mind.

Let's make some weapons too.

What kind? Simple arrowheads should be fine. They wouldn't consume much stone and wouldn't take long. I queued them up immediately.

The market was closed for the day. Time to wash up and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eat.

"Hehehehe."

I couldn't stop laughing.

"Did something good happen to our Suhyuk?"

"Mmm."

I answered while eating the ssam Yeonhee noona had wrapped for me. It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was the complete opposite of a blessing in disguise. Or maybe it was exactly that. Either way.

"We're a lot safer now."

It was too complicated to explain in detail, so I kept it simple.

"That's good."

The noona sitting beside me pulled me into her arms. On the other side, Chaei wrapped herself around me too. Nothing but happy things lately. Really.

After the meal, I went down to the apartment ground floor.

Perfect timing—the crafting just finished.

Weapons made at the forge could be retrieved straight into my inventory. I took out one of the arrowheads and examined it.

"Whoa?!"

An actual item had come out. Because I'd developed a new weapon, my stacks had decreased by one again. I'd only expected slightly better quality weapons, but an item dropped? I should have gone all-in on black magic stones with maximum leverage!

For a moment, a vision of the near future flashed through my mind. Maybe weapons made from these stones would let us hunt monsters even more easily. And if more uses were discovered?

"These things were basically gems?"

Hana had a good eye.

"At least take temporary measures."

"I'm truly sorry, but even if we pump the sewage out and dump it elsewhere, it will cause severe environmental contamination."

"Then what do we do?"

"Well… I'm a water-pipe and pump technician. I don't really know sewage-treatment methods…."

We were screwed. At this rate, living in a modern apartment would become impossible.

"How long can we last?"

"Two or three days at most."

The technician watched my expression carefully. It wasn't his fault. He'd done his job perfectly. Still, I'd hoped he'd have some idea since it was a related field.

"Understood. Good work."

"Yes, then…"

"Yeah, you can go."

"Understood."

Would we have to switch to traditional toilets? Just thinking about it made my head spin.

'Any resident who knows how to build traditional toilets, come to the apartment entrance.'

A short while later, I instructed the second-class residents who showed up to construct traditional toilets with the others. We had two days. They should be able to finish by then.

It was five o'clock by the time the entire raid team returned. Fortunately, they'd secured a large amount of food before it spoiled. Sixty percent of the secured food went to the raid members, ten percent to the second-class residents.

"Hana, let's go hunt some mutants."

It was time to relieve the stress the sewage problem had caused.

And I get to test these too!

More than anything, I was excited to try out the fragmentation arrowheads. At first I hadn't known how to use them, but the skill tree had the answer: after Tower Summon Dismissal/Re-summon, Tower Repair, and Module Summon came Tower Component Modification.

After learning the skill, I could attach the arrowheads to the Reinforced Warbow Tower. They were consumables, which was a shame, but if the effect was good it would be worth mass-producing them for emergencies.

"Alright, let's go! I think I'll hit level 10 today!"

"Oh, nice. You'll be able to use your inventory soon."

"What's an inventory?"

The way she tilted her head, trying to remember, was kind of cute.

"I guess I never explained it."

It was so obvious to me that I'd forgotten. Lee Geonwu had probably forgotten too.

I gave her a simple explanation.

"Whoa! That sounds so convenient!"

"Yeah. And you'll get good skills too."

"Let's hurry, hehe."

Chaei, hugging me from the front, looked up at me with an expression that said she had no idea what we were talking about.

"Chaei, I'll help you reach level 10 later too."

Once her mind returned, I could help her the same way I helped Hana.

From the moment I climbed into the fire truck, my chest swelled with anticipation.

Today we're getting items for sure.

It wasn't just a feeling. Today really was that kind of day. Even if we didn't get anything else, a Zombie Cure should drop. Let's wipe out every mutant we can find.