Cola
"Hey, you lot. Slow down. What are you going to do if you make yourselves sick?"
"There's water right there, so drink some with it. Hey, you! Who said you could take three rolls of kimbap apiece?"
Inside the convenience store, party leaders moved among their members, soothing and scolding them in turn. Before anyone had quite noticed, the place had filled with hunters.
Not every hunter in the Tower knew of it, but among those who did, it had already become a landmark. That was partly because the hunters in the know deliberately kept the information to themselves. Honey, after all, was best sucked alone. And so the store sat in a delicate balance—never so crowded that it overflowed, and never so quiet that it felt empty.
"That'll be fifty grams of magic stone."
"Aigoo. Thank you, Manager."
Somewhere along the way, the hunters had taken to calling Kim Dohyun Manager.
We've got enough drinking water and food now.
Bottled water, kimbap, kimchi stew, and instant rice alone were enough to leave the hunters thoroughly satisfied. Dohyun, however, had no intention of stopping there.
If only I had something that could pull in more magic stones.
He could feel that it was time to change his approach. Until now he had stocked with survival in mind, choosing goods solely to replenish water and food.
But from here on, I can't think only about survival. I have to think about what satisfies them.
And for that, what should he add?
He was slowly running his eyes down the product list when his gaze snagged on a single item.
Strictly speaking, this is banned in the Tower...
Depending on the circumstances, it was a product that could make survival even harder. Even so, Dohyun had the distinct sense that this was exactly what he needed now. More than anything, inside this convenience store, it would never put a life at risk.
Park Junhyuk, guild master of the Black Guild and the man in charge of the 10th Floor supply base, was scratching his head.
"Something's off. Why aren't the hunters coming?"
It wasn't his imagination. The supply base, which ought to have been packed by now, had nothing in it but buzzing flies.
Don't tell me it's because I raised the price of water the other day. No. Even then, where the hell would those nobodies get water?
"Hey, it's that thing, right?"
"I think it is..."
With no hunters showing up, the subordinates lounging on boxes and idly chatting had dropped their voices to whispers. Junhyuk's face twisted.
They're on about that bullshit rumor again?
The rumor that a convenience store had appeared on the 10th Floor. Among his men, word was spreading that hunters had stopped coming to the supply base because they were going to the store for water and food instead. The subordinates seemed halfway convinced. Junhyuk only snorted.
A convenience store. Yeah, right.
From what he'd heard, the fluorescent lights worked there, and so did the microwave. The refrigerator ran too, and you could drink cold bottled water. Junhyuk knew perfectly well that electronics didn't function in the Tower. He had no reason to believe a rumor like that.
"If you head a ways into the middle of the forest, there's a spot where the brush gets real thick. They say the convenience store's on the other side of it."
"I heard they sell bottled water, kimbap, even kimchi stew."
But as the rumor grew more and more specific, even Junhyuk found it harder to keep brushing it aside.
Maybe some other guild put up a supply base behind the Black Guild's back...
If that was true, it was no different from a declaration of war.
In the end, Junhyuk rose from his seat.
"Everyone, assemble!"
"...! Yes! Assemble!"
In an instant, the members gathered before him.
"From this moment, we move out for the convenience store."
"...! D-Don't tell me you're going to treat us to cold water and kimbap too...?"
Looks of genuine emotion rose among the members, and then—
"Cold water and kimbap, my ass. We're going to tear that so-called convenience store down."
"Yes!?"
"From the sound of the rumors, some other guild set up a supply base without us knowing. Everyone, grab your weapons!"
For one brief moment they had believed in their boss. Now they lowered their heads. Of course. Figures. They gathered their weapons with the limp resignation of men who had already given up.
Even so, Junhyuk didn't so much as twitch an eyebrow.
I don't know who they are, but the price for spreading that garbage rumor and putting up a supply base behind our backs is going to be very steep...
"The price for putting up a supply base behind the Black Guild's back is going to be very steep... or so I thought."
The sight before his eyes stole every word Junhyuk had.
Bustling. Packed solid.
The hunters who hadn't shown so much as a nose at the supply base were all crammed around a single rectangular building.
I-It's an actual convenience store!?
And the fluorescent lights were on, as if the electronics really did work.
Hunters passing by recognized Junhyuk and tossed remarks his way.
"Huh? Isn't that Park Junhyuk from the supply base?"
"What are they doing here?"
"I heard the convenience store stole all their hunters, and now there isn't a soul left looking for the supply base."
"Haha. Serves them right. All they ever did was jack up the prices."
They passed him laughing. Junhyuk's face flushed red, then went pale.
Those bastards. They used to grovel in front of me without daring to say a word...
But even he couldn't help his eyes going wide when he saw what the hunters coming out of the store were holding.
Bottled water cold enough for dew to bead on the plastic, and a roll of kimbap in the other hand.
Th-They're really selling bottled water? Cold bottled water? And kimbap on top of that?
Junhyuk stood with his mouth hanging open, staring blankly at the entrance.
"Captain... since we came all this way, maybe we ought to eat here too..."
When he turned, his members' eyes were desperate.
Guild members stationed at a supply base didn't have to worry about water or food. In exchange, they couldn't leave the Tower, and they had to remain for long stretches at a time. How badly people like that would crave the food in that store went without saying.
Junhyuk's face contorted.
"You idiots. Did we come here on a picnic? If that convenience store keeps doing business, what happens to the Black Guild? We go under. Every last one of us!"
Fuming, he strode toward the store. He didn't think his anger would settle unless he said something—anything—to the manager doing business inside.
"Welcome."
The moment he stepped through the door, the manager greeted him.
"Hey. Who gave you permission to do business here without the Black Guild's—"
The end of the sentence blurred away.
The sight of what the hunters inside were drinking had knocked his mind blank.
"C-Cola?"
"Yes. It's a product we added recently."
I was sure they only sold bottled water, kimbap, kimchi stew, and instant rice...
In the meantime, the stock had grown. But that wasn't the only reason Junhyuk was shocked.
"D-Drinking cola in the Tower? Are you out of your mind?"
Contrary to what people assumed, it wasn't that cola did nothing to replenish fluids. The real problem was that drinking it only made the thirst worse. Worse thirst meant drinking more water, and in the Tower, where drinking water was scarce, that was fatal. Among hunters, packing cola for a climb was treated as taboo.
The manager tilted his head.
"What's the matter? Is there a problem?"
"Of course there is. Don't you know cola makes you thirstier?"
"I know. But if you get thirsty, you can just drink some water, can't you?"
"Do you even know what water costs, talking like—"
That was when the bottled water lined up in the refrigerator entered his view.
"O-One gram!?"
Junhyuk's eyes widened as far as they could go.
He had heard the convenience store sold water cheap, and he had dismissed it as nonsense whether he listened or not. No matter how cheap it was, the nature of the Tower made resupply difficult, and the price of water could not fall below a certain line. Even if they undercut the supply base, he had assumed the difference wouldn't be that extreme.
But one gram...
This... this is actually dangerous.
An alarm went off in his head.
He hurried to the refrigerator, pulled out a cola, and carried it to the register.
"Five grams of magic stone."
The instant the manager finished speaking, Junhyuk threw it back.
Carbonation prickled sharp down his throat. At a taste he hadn't had in so long, his mind went blank for a moment.
If they're selling something like this at a convenience store, the Black Guild...
Was finished.
Completely. One hundred percent.
"By the way, weren't you about to say something a moment ago? That you need the Black Guild's permission to do business..."
"It's nothing."
Junhyuk walked out of the convenience store without a moment's hesitation.
"Captain. What are you going to do?"
The vice-captain came up beside him. He was asking whether they would raid the store, just as planned.
"We're going back like this."
"What?"
The vice-captain tilted his head.
"Didn't you say you were going to shut the convenience store down?"
"I did. But the situation's changed."
Junhyuk's eyes went sharp.
"Yes!?"
Junhyuk walked on without answering, and looked back at the store one last time.
Hunters clustered in twos and threes, laughing and talking. From tomorrow, that place would belong to the Black Guild.